Magic Box Broken, Fix Magic Box!

What is Jailbreaking?

2011-09-07T09:35:00.000-07:00

What is "jailbreaking" you ask? What does it mean? Why is it called that?

Jailbreaking is the term used by owners of iPhones and iPads when they want to use more features of the device than Apple will allow. If you have an "Android" device, the term is "rooting" because you are being given "root" access to the device.

People in the computer press often describe Apple products as a "walled garden." Imagine a beautiful walled garden filled with all the things you could desire; happy people, fun parties, all the desirable things you might find in say, a Hollywood stars mansion or a luxurious spa resort.

But, some people feel that this beautiful garden is nothing but a prison.
A prison that gives everything a person could want, except freedom. These people feel as though they are in "jail".

So they break out of jail; they perform a "jailbreak". They find ways to get around the restrictions that Apple (the jail warden) has put on them.

Like in the real world, breaking out of Apples' "jail" carries consequences. You could cause your iDevice to stop functioning, a condition called "bricking"; because your shiny device is now nothing more useful than a brick. Or, Apple could sneakily re-capture you and put you back "in jail."

One consequence that no longer applies is going to real-world prison. Yes, thats right; until last year, you could have gone to real jail because of un-jailing your phone.

So, now you know. Any questions?

On The Nature of Technological Progress

2011-09-06T12:41:00.000-07:00

Next week will be the 10th anniversary of the attacks of September 11th, 2001.

At that time, the only way people knew about the attacks was through traditional broadcast media; TV and radio.
Today, when momentous events occur the first notice of them is produced by citizens who broadcast news of the event over the Internet; through Facebook or Twitter or YouTube.

10 years ago, none of that existed. 10 years ago, the Internet was there but most people did not use it, nor did they have convenient, fast access to it.

Today, we have pocket-sized super-computers that also make phone-calls. Today, people are assumed to have Internet access; not only access but fast, always-on and convenient access.

In the last 10 years, we, society, have embraced so much technological change we dont even think about what it was like without it.

10 years ago next week, we were told "the world has changed."

They didnt know the half of it. What were you doing the first time you had convenient access to fast Internet?
Or you got your first "smart" phone?

Can you really imagine your life without the gadgets you use now?

On The Nature of Computers

2011-08-30T07:45:00.000-07:00

Withe the news of Steve Jobs' departure from Apple, I am reminded of all the things he did to world of computers that has changed everyones life.

In the early days of computers, there was one choice for a Personal Computer: IBM. It was a white or beige box, with a green on black TV-style screen sitting on top.

To make it work, you had to type commands at the blinking cursor. There is a reason why all highly-skilled computer people are called "wizards". If you knew what you were doing, you looking like a wizard from a fantasy novel casting a spell; writing arcane formulae on the magic screen. If you were successful at your invocation, the computer did something; often inscrutably.

And then, 10 years later and a century of drudgery later, came a computer whose very screen said "Hello." Just by looking at it, you could tell that the user would not have to be a wizened old man performing arcane rituals just to turn on a program.
This was, of course, the Macintosh; a computer so simple a normal person could use it.

Steve Jobs always made pronouncements, not just announcements. One of the first things he did after being allowed to come back to Apple, was to say "The floppy disk is dead."
At the time, every computer came with a floppy disk. How else could you save your work to a transportable medium?

At the time, everyone in the PC world, including myself, scoffed at this obviously flawed pronouncement. But in the course of time, the floppy disk did die; even though you can still buy computers with floppy disks in them. Or at least holes for the drive should you wish to put one in.

You may have noticed, the Windows based computer world is not exactly big on innovation. Its like taking a basic car frame, chassis, engine, suspension, wheels, etc., and putting different body shells and interiors and it and selling that car as every type available: Ford, Corvette, Ferrari.
You can gussy it up however you like, but its always the same thing underneath.

Macs are similar to PCs in this way, but instead of just saying "here's a new outside; have fun"; Apple, meaning Steve, took some ideas and ran with them, often opening up entirely new market as he did so: the All-in-one computer, the iMac; the incredibly tough laptop; the incredibly light and thin laptop; the all-in-one pocketable computer and internet device, the iPhone, the iPad, etc.
You get the idea.

Apple has, for a long time but not always, taken great risks with trying new products. A famous flop was the Newton.
Famous for its bad design, and amazingly bad handwriting recognition.
But, it was a thing no one had tried before. And after its famous flop, companies sprang up in its wake trying to do better.

Palm, anyone?

So, today, what is the nature of computers?

Are they frustratingly hard to use, and inscrutable when the unusual happens? Or are they rainbow-hued delights that say "what you want to do is right there on the screen"?

When they break, and they all do, even the rainbow-hued delights of intuitiveness, what can be done about it?
Do you unplug it and take it to the manufacturers retail store and service center, or do you call up a number that takes you to a land of gibberish and incomprehensibility, where you are told to do the same thing (that you have already tried) over and over again?
Or do you have a repairman that come in and charges by the hour?
(Hmmm, who could that be..?)

The nature of computers today is one of magic and wonder, as well as frustration and drudgery.

On the one hand we have the tool that makes modern life possible (though some would disagree), and on the other hand we have a tool that make modern life enjoyable.

Do we take the one that is all things to everyone and enjoys great adaptability and expandability, because it is able to do anything we ask of it, or do we take the one that is easiest to use and might reduce the stress level in our lives and allow us to concentrate on living rather than tool-induced frustration?
Even if that second road is the less well-paved road, and we might encounter potholes, blockades or other obstacles?

Ultimately it is up to the end-user to decide which nature of computers is the right one for them.
Versatility and frustration or freedom and speedbumps?

What is it for you?

Data Breaches and You

2011-08-15T11:40:00.000-07:00

PC World has an article on corporations' overall response to securing your data against breaches.

What is that response? "We dont really care about our customers as long as our brand still looks good."
For the more nuanced explanation, go here.

But, fear not; for there is a solution to keep yourself safe from data breaches. Be warned, however, that while the solution is easy, there is work involved.
Read it here.

Should you desire assistance with preventing (or dealing with the aftermath of) data leakage, call me.

The Joys of Editing Someone Else's Webpage

2011-08-11T11:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes, I get asked "Can you make some changes to my webpage/site?"
Since I can, and they dont usually take a lot of time, I say "Sure."

But sometimes, those small changes can turn into a head-pounding nightmare, where I end up screaming at the ceiling, "Why? Dear God, why did they have to do *that*?"

Most of you have probably never built a website from scratch, and then had to set up hosting, upload the pages and then troubleshoot any problems (and no, Wordpress is not "from scratch," because Wordpress has done of the hard parts for you; especially on the .com site).

Last week, I was consulting with a good customer on the changes he wanted done on his company's website(his previous webmistress was often out of town on church business). So there I was, I had downloaded the page I was working on and the images that went with it.
I fired up my trusty, but old, copy of Dreamweaver and set about making the changes that the customer had asked for.
When I uploaded the changed page, and refreshed my browser window, I saw that all but one of the images were "broken": broken means no pictures were displayed. Technically, the link that tells the web page where to find the pictures was broken.
So, no pictures. On the company's front page of their website.
I kinda freaked out. The website was live, and and totally broken.
I went and looked for where the image links said the pictures were, and no such folder existed.

On the server, there was an "images" folder. The images folder is where all young designers are suggested to put the pictures for their website, because it makes everything easier.

The young woman who had been maintaining the website previously(who was a professional web designer person) had not been using the images folder.

In fact, it looked like my downloading of the web page had somehow mysteriously moved (not copied) the entire folder with all of the pictures in it to my computer, and erased said folder from the server.
I dont think thats even possible, but its what it looked like. Or, even more impossibly, the download process re-wrote all of the image links in the web page so that they would correspond to an appropriate folder on my hard drive.

After I discovered this had happened is when I was screaming at the ceiling (metaphorically, anyway).

After a brief break, and some deep breaths, I found all of the pictures and was able to move them to the images folder. I refreshed the page, and...
Still broken.
Re-uploaded everything.
Still broken.
Checked image links.
Now only partly broken.

It had been a half-hour by now, and in the middle of the day. I was kind of expecting my phone to ring and hear the customer ask, "Peter, what happened to the website?" (Fortunately he didnt).

I went back into Dreamweaver and did a global search and replace on all the image links to point them to the right folder.
I saved the page and re-uploaded, and...
Still two images broken.

"How?" I asked my self. It turned a couple of the graphics files were scattered about and I had missed moving them the first time.
I fixed that, refreshed the page, and...

All better.

Just something to remember the next time you change website maintainers and there is gibbering when you call for an update.

Inside Your Computer, Part 4: Fans and Cooling

2011-08-09T10:18:00.000-07:00

This is the fourth part in an ongoing series about the parts and pieces that make up the innards of your computer.
This time I will talk about the fans and ways of cooling your PC.

First off, why do PC's even need cooling? As the electrons that compose electricity move along wires, they generate heat. The faster they move, or the more of them that are moving, the more heat that is generated.

As I mentioned in the previous post in this series, the CPU and other components generate a lot of heat, which has to go somewhere.

A CPU has a heatsink and a fan to dissipate its built-up heat, but that heat has to go somewhere too. So, now we come to case fans (or chassis fans). The are the fans that pull in cool outside air and exhaust the hot inside air.

Every computer you buy has at least two fans that come with it, even laptops. One is the CPU fan and one is the power supply fan.

If you put your hand behind a computer's case, you will feel a breeze of warm air. That is the power supply fan keeping the power supply cool, and in the process helping to keep the computer cool as well.

These fans usually come in three sizes, 60mm, 80mm, and 120mm; or small, medium and large.

Computer cases, except for the small ones, can usually add one or two more fans. Some cases can add several fans; fans for cooling hard drives, cooling the RAM, cooling the chipset, even.

Why? Because cold computers work better, faster and longer. Think of it this way; do you work better when it is 110 degrees out or when it is 70?

In the continuation of this post, I will talk about the other ways of cooling your PC: Water, Immersion, and Peltier.

An Easy To Use Back-up Plan

2011-08-03T10:07:00.000-07:00

Most computer users dont back up their important data at all; some back up occasionally but not often enough.

The questions I get when I mention backing up are, "How?" "When?" and "What data?"

So, here are the answers and an easy to do plan.
How do I back up?

The easiest way to back up is to buy an external hard drive that come with a back up program included. Install the program and allow it 2-4 hours to make an entire copy of your hard drive.

Other than that, you back up by copying your files and folders to any device that is not inside your machine, which is why they're called "external."
Flash drives, memory sticks, and camera style memory cards are not recommended for back up purposes because they are too small and can be easily lost.
If you know how to "burn" a CD, that is another good option.

When do I back up?
At least once a week. If you are creating data that is important to a business, or otherwise difficult to replace, you should back up every evening (The external drive and back up program mentioned above will give you options as to what, when and how often to back up.)

What do I back up?
Pictures, documents, financial data, music, and everything else. You should back thing up in this order, because this is the order of irreplaceability.
Since most people have huge amounts of everything, the easiest way to back things up is from oldest to newest; especially with photos. Last weeks might be able to be replaced, or re-taken, but last years or ten years ago can never be replaced (everything changes over the course of years, you could never re-create the exact pictures you took).

A common mis-perception when backing up is thinking that once the data is off your computer, its "backed up."
Not so. A backup means you have your data in at least two places at once, so that if something happens to one place, you can replace it from the other place.

In other words, redundancy.

An Easy To Use Security Tool

2011-08-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

As most of you are aware, security between your computer and the Internet is of utmost importance.
In order to assist you with making sure your computer is as secure as possible, here is a link to a website (Gibson Research) which will scan your Internet connection for any open holes through which malicious attacks may come.
Shields Up! is an online vulnerability scanner. It tests whether Windows is leaking information about you to the Web, whether your firewall is actually protecting you, and what websites see about you when you visit them.

I suggest that you click on each of the top row of tests, see what happens, and read what it says about the results. If it says you have passed entirely, feel good; if you get any other result, you should call me and I will come over and fix things up so that you will pass.

More than just computers

2011-07-26T10:01:00.000-07:00

I often say than I do more than just computer repair, but I imagine people wonder "what other things are there?"
So I thought I would tell you some of the other things I have helped people with.

One day, I was working on a laptop at a customer's home, and some of their friends arrived with a Wii game system. As I worked along, they were having trouble hooking up the Wii to their big rear-projection TV that used a stereo receiver for for the speakers.

When I had finished repairing the laptop, they were still having trouble getting the sound to work right. I went across the room and asked the husband if he would like my help; full of frustration, he said "Sure."
I took the RCA a/v cable that Wii comes with and started plugging it into the various likely plugs.

If any of you have ever seen the back of one of the huge projection TV's or worked with stereos. you know the multitude of various plugs there are. I didnt think there could be so many plug-ins.
After a few minutes of plugging and unplugging, we managed to get the sound working properly.

They paid me for the laptop repair, and thanked me for getting the Wii's sound to work and I left feeling good that I had not only fixed a laptop, but had taken the frustration of of setting up their evenings entertainment.

So if you need technical expertise outside of your computer, I can help.

Why does the computer work for the tech but not for me?

2011-07-19T06:32:00.000-07:00

When I go to peoples houses to repair their computers, I always ask the customer to demonstrate the problem they're having.
Naturally, when I sit at the computer and turn it on, it works normally. Isnt that just they way things work for mechanics and repairmen? Of course it is; just like when you take your car to be fixed.

When this happens, I try to give the customer an explanation of why this may be happening.
"It's a peculiar form of electromagnetic radiation," I say. I call it the 'tech-field radius;' its the distance a broken object must be from a repairman who is intent on repairing it.

This description works for any repairman or mechanic.

One day I was at a customers house, an older gentleman, and he asked the question I had heard many times before, "Why...?"
As I was in the middle of my somewhat complicated technical-sounding explanation of EMF's and radiations and such, he interrupted me and said, with a very definite tone, "Nonsense! It's pixie dust!"

And that's now what I tell people. It just makes more sense.

Junk Emails

2011-07-16T11:37:00.000-07:00

Question: When I get junk email and add the address to the "blocked sender" list, and create a rule to delete junk email when it comes in, why do I keep getting it?

If it were that simple to block spam, the spammers would have gone out of business long ago.

When you "block" a sender, the mail program takes your command literally and only blocks that sender. Spammers dont wait for you to block an address before they move on, they send their spams from dozens of different adresses all at once.

When you get spam, look at the sending address; are any two the same? Chances are, no.

When you create a rule to delete spam as it comes in, your rule has to be specific enough to catch the spam but general enough so that all of your email doesnt get auto-deleted.
This is hard.
Also, the email program will only delete mail that exactly fits the rule. Which means it catches maybe one in ten or less.

In order to get around all of the many creative ways to block spam, spam mailers have to be even more creative. This is why you keep getting spam. It makes people money.

Oh, that and stupid people. Those are the two reasons...

So now that you know that spam is a never ending flood of junk email that threatens to overwhelm the carrying capacity of the Internet, and that setting up logical rules to block the spam wont work against an illogical and highly creative enemy, what can be done?

Bayesian Filtering. If you are using any sort of Webmail (gmail, msn, aol, hotmail) this wont work for you unless you install a mail program on your computer.

Mail programs, called 'clients', are Thunderbird, Outlook, Pine, Eudora, etc. T-bird and Outlook have the most advanced spam filters. Thunderbird actively uses Bayesian filtering and will tell you how to make it work.
Outlook is very passive about spam filtering. There are downloadable add-ons that will give it Bayesian filtering, such as SpamAssassin, and SpamBayes.

I suggest Thunderbird; its the mail program I use, and once the filter gets going, I hardly see any spam.
The reason Bayesian filtering is so effective is that you teach it what you consider spam. As you go along, the filter will learn what to look for and will delete those emails that match the general idea of spam instead of the exact match.
In practical use, it will take about a month for the filter to be running at maximum efficiency.

In the never-ending battle against spam, isnt it worth the time?

'Indestructible' Rootkit Gets Upgrade

2011-07-12T10:17:00.000-07:00

The Alureon rootkit has just undergone an upgrade according to Russian antivirus firm Kasperkey Labs. It has gone from version 3 to version 4.

The original version made it so that Microsoft could not download Windows Updates in an attempt to get rid of it. When Windows updated, the rootkit caused a Blue Screen of Death, so Microsoft modified the updated to scan for the presence of the rootkit and, if present, Windows would not be updated.

Alureon 4.0 now has the capability to infect 64-bit machines, create its own web hosting service within Windows (through DHCP), to remove any other types of rootkits or malicious spyware from an infected machine, to prevent any other malware on an infected machine from using the Internet, and the ability to spread itself via its own encrypted Peer-toPeer network.

But, there are defenses against this malicious software.
The first defense is not to be infected in the first place because you have up-to-date and effective anti-virus software.
The second defense against it is to format your hard drive and re-install Windows.

Aren't computers fun?

You can read more about this here, and here.

"1 Little Trick" Ads Are Credit Card Scam

2011-07-11T10:44:00.001-07:00

I'm sure you have seen the "1 Little/Simple/Weird old Trick" ads on the edges of websites; in fact, they may be the ad that "ate the Internet."

As it happens, the Washington Post is reporting that these ads (and others like them) are doing nothing but taking advantage of people's gullibility when it comes to ads on the Internet.

These ads have the cute (or gross, depending on the ad) animation that attracts your attention, then it promises a free sample of a miracle cure-all. After you have clicked on the ad, you go to a website that looks like a consumer reporting site that boasts endorsements, sometimes from celebrities like Oprah and Rachael Ray, often will have an article from someone claiming to be a skeptical consumer reporter who then goes on to pitch the product.

Once you have read all of this, you are shown how to order your "free sample." What you arent told is what that free sample will cost.
Usually, the tiny fine print will tell you that the sample will cost $79.99 for Shipping and Handling, and every month you are billed another $79.99 until you call and cancel.
But, the article goes on to say, just try to cancel over the phone. After multiple hang-ups, you may just succeed.

So, the conclusion is, dont click on any ad that promises something that sounds too good to be true, because it probably is.

The article is here.

Inside Your Computer, Part 3: CPU

2011-07-06T09:50:00.000-07:00

Part three of this series will look at the CPU: The Central Processing Unit.

If the power supply is the lifeblood of a computer, and the motherboard the part that keeps it all together, then the CPU, also called a "processor" or "chip", is the brains of the operation.

The CPU handles all of the instructions of the computer. It tells all of the other parts where to go and what to do. The CPU is assisted in this task by the chipset (more on this later).

The primary function of the CPU is to execute software instructions. Everything in the computer, hardware and software, is processed in series' of steps. The lines of code that make up all software tell the CPU what needs to be done and in what order.

There are four basic steps the CPU does(which are explained in greater, and more technical, detail here): retrieve instructions from memory(RAM) or storage(hard drive) and place them into a holding area(cache) to await processing.
After retrieval, the instructions are broken down into their various part and handed off to the parts of the CPU designed to execute those parts.
After decoding what instruction need what done done with them, the CPU will execute those instructions, and send the results to the output area.
Finally, the CPU will assemble all of the executed instructed and sends the result back to the working memory where the operating system works with them.

Modern CPUs do so much processing so quickly that they generate quite a bit of heat. So much heat, in fact, that you could fry an egg on an uncovered CPU(provided the egg was less than an inch square, and could be cooked in the 30 seconds or so before the CPUs casing broke from the heat).

Because CPUs generate so much heat that they would cook themselves to death, two measures have been implemented to keep this from happening: a thermostat, and a heatsink/fan combination.

The thermostat measures the CPUs temperature and will turn off the power if the CPUs temperature reaches a dangerous level.
The heatsink and fan combination are whats used to keep the CPU cool. A heatsink is a block of metal that conducts heat away from the CPU and allows the heat to dissipate in the outside air. Its like your cars radiator.

The fan usually sits on top of the heatsink and pulls air over the fins of the heatsink and blows it away from the CPU and motherboard.

Any questions?

Announcement

2011-07-05T10:31:00.000-07:00

As you can tell, I have changed the background of my blog; I felt the old colors were a little dated.

Since I am now "blue-skying" ideas for this blog, I thought a little blue sky in the background would be nice.

An In-Depth Look at Public Wifi Insecurity

2011-06-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

Recently, I wrote about the vulnerability of public (or "open") Wifi. Now a reporter for CNN has written an article demonstrating how the wifi-eavesdropping tool called Firesheep actually works.

The article is here.

I hate to be the guy who rains on everyones parade (like we need more rain!), but this is (capital I) Important.
If you are in a Starbucks, or some other place with open wifi ("open" means unencrypted), you need to know that there is a risk in going to websites which require a user name and password to get in. Like Facebook, Twitter, your bank, your email, etc.

Gmail is an exception, because you can go to https://www.gmail.com and set up an encrypted session before you put in your user name and password.

If you use the Firefox browser (which you can get here), there is an add-on you can get that will tell you when someone is using Firesheep; it is called Blacksheep, and you can get it here.

Computer Maintenance

2011-06-24T12:01:00.000-07:00

Diane, from Real Feng Shui Solutions, has asked recently about "blowing out your computer." (Note that this is different from "blowing up your computer.")

Computer get dusty, just like anything else in your house, so you need to occasionally dust them. However, you cant just take a feather duster to them and call it good.
What you need to do is get a can of compressed air from your local office supply store (it will say on the label "computer duster" or similar).
Once you have it, turn off the computer. Using short bursts of air, clean the dust from the outside areas of the case; anywhere you see dust, blow it away.

Diane also asked about opening up the case and blowing out the dust from the inside. This is a good idea, but there are precautions that must be taken, for your safety and the safety of your computer.
The easiest way to do it is to slide the side panel of of your computer where it sits, and blow the dust out. However, some cases are harder to open than others.

First, check to see if the side panels are held closed with screws, it probably is; you will need a fairly small Phillips head screwdriver to undo them.
Most computers have 2 side panels than can be removed, you want to remove the side panel that is opposite (further away from) all the plugs in the back of your computer.
The panel will slide toward the back of the computer, often with a click or thud as it releases.

Once it is opened, you will see the innards of your computer.

DONT TOUCH ANYTHING!

The static electricity in your finger is enough to seriously harm several of the components inside your computer.
Before you start blowing out the dust, touch a metal part of the case; this will safely discharge any static electricity you have built up.
Now, blow out the dust with short bursts just like you did on the outside. You should blow from an angle to allow the dust to have a way out instead of billowing up in your face.

If you are going to venture into the crevices of your case in pursuit of dust bunnies, always touch a metal part of the case before putting any part of your body (or the can of air) inside the case.

Remember, turn the computer off first, and always touch a metal part of the case before you touch anything else and you should be safe.

If, however, you do touch something and you feel a "zap," back away from the computer and call me. Dont turn the computer back on until you have a computer professional inspect it.

I know this is wordy, but I hope it answers your question Diane.

RSS, Feeds, and Suscriptions

2011-06-23T11:11:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a break from the Inside Your Computer series this week, to talk about bookmarking, feeds, and RSS.
I have been asked how I keep track of all the things I read. Some customers have asked me about "feeds" and "subscriptions," so I am going to take this time to explain them and what you can do with them.

A "feed" is a continuously updating source of information, like "newsfeed." The most
common type of feed is called RSS: this stands for Really Simple Syndication. When you
see the orange symbol to the right, that means that page is followable.

You dont need to enter an email address for an RSS feed, but you do need a program that will let see and read your feeds.
This program is called an aggregator, or "feed reader." Most email programs have one built in, including Gmail.

As for what i do, I just grab the bookmark icon (called a "favicon") and left-click drag it to my list of bookmarks.

Inside Your Computer, Part 2: Motherboard

2011-06-21T09:13:00.000-07:00

The next component I am going to talk about is the Motherboard.

What is it: The motherboard is a printed circuit board that contain all of the circuits, sockets, plugs and power couplings needed to make the computer run. Basically, its where you plug everything in.

Where is it: Inside the chassis (which is what the tower/box/case is called) the motherboard is attached vertically along one of the long sides of the case so that the other components that plug into the motherboard have enough space without banging into the case or the other components, as well as having enough room for airflow to cool everything.

If you have any questions, please put them in the comments. Thank you.

Inside Your Computer, Part 1: Power Supply

2011-06-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

Q: Whats a computer without power?
A: A boat anchor.

The first part of the computer I am going to talk about is the power supply.

What is it? The power supply is an electrical transformer that takes house current (120 volts AC) and turns it into 12, 5, and 3.3 volts DC, as well as other voltages depending on what hardware is hooked up.

Where is it inside the computer? When you take the cord from the wall and plug it into the computer (or any electrical appliance or gadget), you are plugging into the power supply.

Why does it make noise, why does it have a fan in there? Power supplies are noisy because they must have a cooling fan to keep the internal components from overheating. The faster electricity moves through wires and circuitry, the hotter those wires etc. get. If they get too hot, the components could melt or otherwise fail.

Inside Your Computer, Introduction

2011-06-14T07:53:00.000-07:00

In this series, we will take a look inside your computer and explain what the components are and what they do.

I will also tell you which parts can be replaced easily and talk about some cautions you will need to know before putting any hands inside the box.

If you have any questions, please put them in the comments, and I will answer them either in the comments or in the next post.

How much RAM is enough RAM?

2011-06-11T13:19:00.000-07:00

With the advances in speed and capabilities, as well as the transition from 32-bit to 64-bit computing, this isnt as easy a question as it used to be.

First off, what is RAM? Random Access Memory is the workspace your computer uses to do everything it does.
RAM is often confused with the Hard Drive. The hard drive is storage, whereas RAM is where the files that have been pulled out of storage are worked with. Just like in an office where you pull a file out of the file cabinet and take it to your desk to work with it.

So, how much do I need? This depends on three things: the version of Windows you have; the age of your computers motherboard; and how much money you have.

If you have Windows XP, the most you can have is 4GB, regardless of the other factors.
If you have a really old computer with Windows XP, then the maximum is between 2GB and 4; a little investigation is required to find the exact amount you can have.

If you have Windows Vista, you have to look in "Computer Properties" to see if you have 32-bit or 64-bit; the first is restricted to 4GB, the second may or may not be.

If you have Windows 7, and you bought it at a store, then you have 64-bit and you are only restricted by your budget and the motherboards circuitry.

How much do you need? For Windows XP and 7, 1GB will do, but more is better.
For Windows Vista, 3GB; and more will make your life easier.

There you go.

The Blue Screen of Death

2011-05-24T09:58:00.000-07:00

Blue Screens of Death, or blue screens or BSOD's, are those annoying and mysterious screens that pop up and tell you that something horribly wrong has happened to your computer, and that give you the secret code to fixing the problem.

Ok, what is a Blue Screen of Death, anyway? Technically, it is called a Stop Error. It happens when Windows notices a problem that cant be dealt with normally, so Windows puts on the brakes and everything comes to a screeching halt.

Thats why it's called a "stop" error, because there is an error so big everything has to stop.

Where do they come from? Typically, Blue Screens happen because of software corruption. Sometimes a display driver malfunctions, or there is file corruption because of a virus.

Blue Screens have variations in what say they and in the severity of the problem, although they are usually only visible to an experienced eye.
There are typically three variations:

The Blue Screen that says "Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer..." etc.
The one that says that but includes a "STOP: OxOOOOOOca" or something similar.
The last one has words in ALL CAPS with underlines between the words. These messages say something like "DRIVER_IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL"

What can be done about Blue Screens?
With the first type, you can restart the computer by pushing the power switch on the case, counting to 10 and pushing the power switch again and hope.
If that doesnt work, restart again, and try Safe Mode. During intial power up, when you see the logo of the machines manufacturer (HP, Dell, etc.) repeatedly tap the F8 key and click on Safe Mode in the menu that appears.
Then restart normally.

With the second type, also try restarting and Safe Mode. Otherwise call a repairman.

With the third type, write down what the all caps words say and call a repairman. Also withy the third type, try to remember when your last backup of the data you feel you cant lose was.
Hope that it was recently.

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments section and I will answer them.

Is This the Mac Apocalypse?

2011-05-21T08:38:00.000-07:00

For those who dont know or havent heard, in the last month Macintosh computers have been attacked by a fake security program.
Generally, fake or "rogue" security programs and warning popups are not harmful to the computer because their creators are looking to convince you to give up your credit card numbers in exchange for the fake security program fixing whatever it said was wrong.

These types of programs attempt to scare unsuspecting people into giving up their credit card numbers; for this reason, they are called "scareware" or "crimeware".

For a long time, Macintoshs have been malware (MALicious softWARE) free. The term malware is meant to encompass both "viruses" and "spyware" (the two most prevalent types of malicious software).
The people who create viruses and spyware have long felt it was not an efficient money-making move to create malware for the Mac OS, because it is harder to do than for Windows.

This new rogue program is the first one gain wide attention since OS X has been released, and has at least three different names, one of which is Mac Defender.
I am not to mention all of the various names this program has, because names are not important to this discussion.

The way to defend yourself against this type of threat (regardless of its name) is to NEVER give your administrative password to any program you dont recognize. If you didnt download it or put its disc into the disc drive, do not install it; drag it to the Trash Can.

So, after all of that, what do we know?
1) Macs are harder to virus than a Windows machine, but just as easy to scareware.
2) This attack is NOT a virus, but rather a clever con job that attempts to fool unwary people.
3) If you are not installing a program, and a pop-up asks for your admin password, do not give it out.

Ok, then; whats the answer to the lead-in question?
The answer is No, this is not the Apocalypse. (Unless it is already 6 pm EDT, Sat. May 21, 2011 where you live)

But, and this is a big but, this IS the opening salvo in what could be flood of new malware for the Mac.

Lets all be careful out there.

Blocking Video Ads

2011-05-19T09:12:00.000-07:00

I was asked recently at a Biznik.com blogger support group meeting what could be done about the video ads on some websites that load video and play with volume as soon as the page loads.

I agree that this is terribly annoying. There are two things you can do about this; leave the volume on "mute" all the time, or download flash and/or ad-blocking software for your browser.

Be aware, though; you cant just Google for "ad-blocking software," this will get you into trouble especially if you dont know what you are looking for.

If you are using Firefox, go to the add-ons page and search for "ad-block" and "no-script".
The installation procedures are easy, just follow the steps given.

If you are using Internet Explorer, I dont know what to suggest, because there is no established base of user-addable software for Microsofts browser.

If you're using Chrome, go to Chromes websites and search for the same terms as at Firefox's add-ons page.

Regardless of which browser you end up modifying this way, be aware that the no-scripting and ad-blocking may cause certain websites to look funny or otherwise malfunction.
If this happens, follow the instructions that came with the add-ons about how to "white-list" a particular website.

I will post a follow-up to this blog with more detail instructions later. Watch This Space.

NFC: What is it and should you care

2011-05-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

NFC stands for Near Field Communication. It is a very short distance radio signal that would allow you to you use your phone as a credit/debit card; just like the Japanese and some Europeans have been doing for almost 10 years.

There are rumors that Apple will be including this capability in the next version of the iPhone. I have not heard of any inclusion in future models of competing phones.

What this will allow you to do is let your wireless phone carrier (AT&T-Mobile, Verizon or Sprint) manage your day-to-day finances for you. For a suitable charge, of course.

Will this actually happen? Who knows? This capability has been talked about since the days of dial-up modems and Palm Pilots, so it may yet be a ways off.

If it does come about, you should be wary of your mobile phone provider giving you short term loans that you promise to pay off when the cell phone bill comes.

What you should know about 'The Cloud'

2011-03-31T10:12:00.000-07:00

When computer people and marketing people talk about 'the cloud', they are talking about doing or storing something on a computer that is only reachable through the Internet.

When diagrams of computer networks are drawn out, the Internet has always been represented by a "cloud", because it would be impossible to diagram all of the computers and other hardware that comprise the Internet.

So, now that you know that all of the 'cloud' stuff means that your stuff is now outside of your computer, what should you know?
First, anything of yours that exists outside of your computer or your control, no longer belongs to you. You may tell your cloud storage or service provider that it does, and they may agree with you, but really, it doesnt. Whoever has control over it, owns it.

Second, there may be hidden costs or frustrations dealing with cloud services. What happens if your cloud service or storage provider goes out of business? There goes your stuff.
Also, if you store controversial material online, such as your music collection, then if the record companies decide to sue your storage provider for "abetting piracy" and get a court order to delete all "pirated" music unless the owners of that music can prove that none of it is pirated; what do you do? (In case you are wondering, the record companies believe that any and all music that exists outside of a CD is pirated, even music copied from a CD to a computer.)

So you see, there are a couple of considerations to think about before storing anything online, in the "cloud". Because the cloud might rain on your parade.

How-to: Adjust your monitor resolution

2011-03-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

Are the icons and writing on your computer screen too small, or to large?
You need to change the resolution of your screen.
Resolution means how many pixels can fit into your screen. You have probably heard of or read somewhere numbers like 800x600 or 1024x768 or something like that. Those numbers are the resolution of the screen.

To change the resolution (in Windows XP), right-click on an empty area of the Desktop and click on Properties.
Then click on the Settings tab, and down at the bottom left, there will be a slider which will alow you to change your screens resolution.
When you are finished, click on Apply and then OK.
The screen will go black for a moment, and the re-appear in its new size. When it does, there will be a Dialog Box asking if you want to keep the new resolution. If you are happy with it, click yes.

How-to: Get your printer printing again

2011-03-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

We've all been there; one moment you're printing and everything's fine, and the next moment the printer is stuck, and even after you clear the paper jam and reset the printer so the light isnt blinking anymore and everything looks fine, the darn thing wont print.

You tell it to print over and over again and you just give up in frustration. Why wont it print?

If you click on the Start button, sometimes there is a link on the right side of the Start Menu labeled 'Printers', if not, go to the Control Panel and double-click on Printers.
Once you are in the Printers window, go up to File and click on 'Cancel All Documents'.
Windows will ask you if you are sure, say yes.

This should clear most of the print jobs that are jamming up the Print Spooler. If they all go away, you should be able to print. If there is one print job left behind, close all of your windows, making to save any unfinished work, and restart the computer.

Once the computer is back up and ready to go, you should be able to print.

How-to: Boot into Safe Mode

2011-03-22T15:33:00.000-07:00

A lot of my customers ask "how do you boot into safe mode?"

Here is the procedure: If the computer is off, push the power and as soon as there is any sort of writing on the screen, repeatedly tap the F8 key until the computer beeps or until the Windows Advanced Options Menu appears.

When you arrive at the Advanced Options menu, there will be a list of options which will start with Safe Mode, then Safe Mode with Networking and several others. If you have Windows Vista or Seven, the list will begin with Repair Your Computer.

Using the arrow keys on your keyboard, move down to Safe Mode with Networking, and press Enter.

After 30 seconds or so, you will see the Windows login screen. Click on your user name and wait. You will then see a dialog box that ask if you want to use System Restore or work with Windows. Choose the one appropriate to you need, and you are in Safe Mode.

If you are restarting your computer, the same steps apply once the computer has started up.

Microsoft helps prevent attacks on older Office

2011-03-22T10:13:00.000-07:00

Most people have an older version of Microsoft Office. Computer attackers know this, so they attempt to attack computers through known loopholes in protection, called "exploits".

So Microsoft has a program, called EMET, that helps ward off attacks made through older versions of Office.

A PC World contributor has a short description of this program that you can read about and a download link to the program here.

Pros and Cons of At&t buyout of Tmobile

2011-03-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

PC World has a short article on what the buyout will mean for you. Here.

Android Security Woes

2011-03-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

Life for the Android is just getting tougher all the time. First there is a researcher who finds a way to infect Android phones through the Marketplace(and tells Google about it).
Then some enterprising hackers (some of them Chinese) found a way to virus 50 different already existing and popular apps on the Marketplace.
Now, it has been reported that Google has a remote kill switch for anything running on the phone, including the OS. Wherever there is a remote anything switch, there can also be remote surveillance. I, for one, do not welcome our new Google overlords...

Or maybe I just like my iPhone better.

Here is an article on why maybe the Apple approach is better. http://tinyurl.com/4lk6tr9

The iPhone may be a walled garden, but its a safer place to be than outside. Once you've "broken out of jail," the world can be scary.

Two new problems to watch out for.

2011-02-24T09:56:00.000-08:00

The first is OddJob, a new trojan horse program, that prevents you from seeing that have not logged out of your banks website.
Once OddJob detects that you have clicked on the "log out" or "exit" link, it intercepts and negates that command while sending an image to your browser that looks like you successfully logged out.

Once you have left the website, OddJob can then transfer money out of your account without you knowing it.

The second thing is more of an advancement than an object, carberp malware checks for antivirus before infecting. Carberps creators are submitting it to virus-analysis websites and improving whichever parts are bad.
So if it is effective at removing, say, AVG antivirus, it will infect computers using that program.

Anti-virus for Android Phones

2011-02-18T10:15:00.000-08:00

As a follow up to my post on a data-stealing Trojan Horse on Android phones, I have seen that AVG has an antivirus program for Android phones.

Now your Android phone can be every bit as safe as your home PC. Just make sure to keep that antivirus updated!

They're At It Again

2011-02-15T14:08:00.000-08:00

Every once in a while, you see a TV ad for a website that promises to "speed up" or "clean out" your PC via a website.

Sometimes it's MaxMySpeed, or CleanUpMyPC or something similar. It all looks so slick and so polished and it has such realistic testimonials from such real-looking people, how is the lay-person supposed to know that its all a scam?

How is it a scam? If you are having virus issues, one of the first symptoms is a lack of internet connectivity.
So, if you cant get to their website, how can they clean up your computer? Simple. They can't.

And they know it. And they know you dont know it.

Just think about it for a second, these TV ads sound like a miracle cure for computer stresses; if they really worked, wouldnt you be hearing about from other places?

If it sounds to good to be true, can it be true?

Dont fall for a TV ad scam; if you have computer troubles, call a repairman or a repair shop.
They'll know what to do.

Trojan Horse on Android Phones

2011-02-08T09:39:00.000-08:00

Security guru Bruce Schneier has posted an article on his website about a new Trojan Horse program that runs on Android-based mobile phones.

Read it here.

The article talks about how a malicious program can fool the user into granting permission for the app to search the phone for stored credit card information and relay it back to the apps creator.

Top Troubleshooting Tools for your PC

2011-02-03T10:17:00.002-08:00

PC World has a great article on downloadable programs that can be used to diagnose problems on your PC.

Read it here.

Will Denial of Service Attacks be the Future?

2011-02-02T15:19:00.000-08:00

Over at PC World, Arbor Networks thinks so. The article lays out several reasons why Denial of Service attacks wont go away any time soon.

Read it here.

But, I hear you asking, what in the world is a denial of service(aka DOS or DDOS) attack?

This is what it is: If you could get ten or a hundred thousand computers to all ask for the same web page (like cnn.com or amazon.com) at the same instant, the computers that contain that one web page (called 'servers') would overload and reset (the technical term is 'fail-over') and while the servers are resetting themselves, the web page is not available (404: page not found).

While this may sound complicated, think of it this way: When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and everyone was trying to reach their friends and family in New Orleans, the phone system overloaded and callers got the "all circuits are busy" message.
Because everybody wanted to call New Orleans at the same time, nobody got through. This is an accidental denial of service.
When computers do the same thing, it is an intentional denial of service.

Oh, and the second D in DDOS stands for 'distributed', meaning widespread.

New Anti-virus Ratings

2011-01-28T10:21:00.000-08:00

PC World has new anti-virus ratings out for the New Year.
You can find the article here.

The article talks about how well the top paid anti-virus suites are doing not just in protecting you against known threats, but also emerging threats, such as banking-related malware.
Still the top rated paid security program: Norton 2011

PC World also rates the performance impacts of these program.
Lowest total memory use: Trend Micro, Norton, and Kaspersky.
Highest total memory use: PC Tools, G Data, and Bit Defender.

What does those Blue Screen numbers mean?

2011-01-24T09:36:00.000-08:00

If you've ever gotten the Blue Screen of Death you know that there are always numbers there; numbers like 0x000000C. Often these numbers come right after the word STOP.

I found a website that lists, in order, all of those stop error numbers and the words that are most often associated with them.

You can find it here.

Why you should always encrypt your smartphone

2011-01-21T09:44:00.000-08:00

Ars Technica has a great article on why smart phone encryption is a good idea, and also why limited government is a good idea.
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/guides/2011/01/why-you-should-always-encrypt-your-smartphone.ars

New phone coming to Verizon Wireless

2011-01-14T10:09:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't heard, the iPhone is coming to Verizon. I can't wait.

I'm in the market for an upgrade to my phone and this came at just the right time.

I'll let you know the progress.

How to fix desktop shortcuts after uninstalling Google Chrome

2011-01-07T09:48:00.000-08:00

If you have used Google's new web browser, Chrome, and decided you dont like it enough to want to uninstall it, you will an unexpected consequence:
None of your desktop shortcuts will work. Windows will give you a polite error message about not finding the program you had clicked the shortcut for.

A little bit of clicking around and you will find that nothing is missing, the programs, web pages and all of your data are still there, it's just that the shortcuts dont work.
What's more, you will find that even if you create new shortcuts, they dont work either.

So, what to do? Turn on Internet Explorer, go to Tools, then Internet options and click on "Make Internet Explorer the default browser", click Apply then OK and close Explorer.

Your shortcuts will now work.

A New Year, A New Chance to Keep Posting

2011-01-06T09:55:00.000-08:00

This is my third year of promising to post more and more often. Do you suppose this year I'll actually do it? They say third time is the charm; I hope so.

Now on to the post.
Ten Threats for 2011

Bob Sullivan's Red Tape Chronicles has presented his ten threats for 2011 that Web users will have to watch out for.
They are:
1: Geolocation (apps like Foursquare and Latitude)
2: More Internet connected gadgets (Anti-virus for your TV, anyone?)
3 & 4: Mobile phones, iDevices and Tablets
5: URL shortening (tinyurl and bit.ly)
6: Friendly Fire (personalized attacks pretending to be someone you trust)
7: Less spam (but more infected Facebook posts and tweets)
8: The Cloud (If Amazon can delete Wikileaks, they can delete you)
9: Hactivism (Hacker Activism)
10: Government sponsored virus/spyware.

If you wonder how likely these are, you can check out last years predictions here.

Jailbreaking iPhones no longer a federal crime

2010-07-29T10:54:00.000-07:00

The Librarian of Congress has ruled that 'jailbreaking,' or unlocking your iPhone's computer to use non-App Store programs, is now legal and no longer a federal crime under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Details here: http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2010/07/26

Third party apps failing to use Windows security

2010-07-14T10:09:00.001-07:00

Yep, thats about it. Several popular program written by people outside of Microsoft(which is why theyre called 'third-party') are failing to use the new security features in Windows 7.

Data Execution Prevention and Address Space Layout Randomization were introduced in Windows XP SP2 and Windows vista respectively, but have not been the easiest things to include in a third party program until the release of Windows 7.
Microsoft has made it easier to include these security features in programs designed to run on Windows 7, but only programs made by Google (Chrome and Picasa) are taking advantage of them.

You can read the article about this here.

AT&T raises data prices for iPhone lovers; lowers them for everyone else.

2010-06-02T12:08:00.000-07:00

If you are an AT&T customer, there is good news on the horizon; your phone bill will go down. Unless you are a heavy iPhone user, that is.

AT&T is introducing tiered pricing for iPhone users. (Read article here.) The lower tier is for people who dont use alot of the data functionality of their iPhone. These people will see a low to modest reduction in their billing.
The upper tier is for people who use more than 2GB of data per month. These prices are designed to cover the cost of lowering pricing for everyone else.
So you can expect to pay modestly to significantly more than you are now.

In case you are wondering how much is 2GB per month, Comcast reports that the average Comcast customer uses about 2GB per month for email alone.

Game site Mop.com compromised

2010-06-01T09:18:00.000-07:00

Cnet reports that the popular Web-based game site Mop.com has been compromised; which means that user accounts may be stolen. Capsule summary here. Full article here.

How to recognize untrustworthy computer security companies

2010-05-27T11:04:00.000-07:00

A blog post on Bruce Schneier's personal blog brought to my attention a video commercial from someone who is arguably the worst representative of the computer security industry.

See the video here. But be warned, the company who put out the ad wants you to Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid. (The link to the video does not go to the company mentioned.)

So, how to recognize a bad IT guy from a good IT guy? The bad ones are the ones who speak in hip-hop gangsta language, or who respond to email correspondence like this:

"(name of emailer) you are a fucking joke!!!!! You been doing pen test for 6 years I have been doing for 27 years. I have been in business for 20 years doing it. I wrote 8 books on security. I have contracts with goverment agencies. I will challenge you and any one who wants to go up against me. We can put up $1 million each and have the processed go to charity. If you don't have a $1 million lying around then you are not a real hacker. 6 years is a joke. You are still a rookie!!!!!!! Now I am call you and everyone else out!!!!!"

Also, the bad ones are the ones who try to frighten you into buying their product or hiring their services.
I think that's called a protection racket.

New malware threat turns out to be only hype

2010-05-20T12:23:00.000-07:00

Researchers at the pay-us-to-fix-a-problem-only-we-know-about website matousec.com have recently been getting alot of press stemming from their conclusion that all anti-virus programs are worthless and helpless in the face of a new threat they have just discovered.

You may have seen screaming headlines declaring "New attack bypasses EVERY Windows security product! "; it turns out that this is mostly hype the matousec.com website has generated in order for them to make some money by selling a solution to this oh-so-scary sounding problem.

There is a very good article explaining why this is not something to worry about on the Sunbelt Security blog here. Some language may be technical.
The article explains that the portion of Windows this problem exploits has been known about for years, and no-one has been able to take advantage of it yet, because there must be pre-conditions met for this attack to even work.
Your computer must already be infected with a certain type of virus (not just any will do), the attacker, whether human or software, must be able to run a program on your computer without your knowledge, and this particular attack is, for malware, a very large program(which would make you wonder why everything got so slow all of a sudden).

So, in the end, dont believe the screaming headlines. If you are unsure of your protection, call your local friendly repairman. I dont suggest calling the Geek Squad, or your city's equivalent, because they will see your question as a money-making opportunity, instead of trying to reassure a nervous client.

An Easier Way to Move to Windows 7

2010-05-19T11:19:00.001-07:00

If you are currently using Windows XP (and most people still are), the upgrade to Windows 7 (which is highly recommended) is problematic.

First, you have to back up everything you want to save, including some things which are hard or cumbersome;
Second, you have to make sure you still have copies of all of your programs;
Third, you must format the hard drive;
And then, you can install Windows 7.

Now there is an easier way. Cnet has an article on a new product soon to be released which will make the process much easier. (Click here to read the article.)

Is your browser giving you away?

2010-05-18T11:55:00.000-07:00

Short answer, yes. Ars Technica has a good article, here, about how you can be individually tracked across the Internet by way of your browser; even if you turn off cookies.

It turns out that the most privacy conscious people are the easiest to track, because of the methods they use to try and be anonymous. Its hard to get lost in the crowd if you are the only one wearing hot pink.

Because of the way the browser talks to websites, even without cookies, websites (and tracking software) can uniquely identify the computer that your browser is installed on, as well as learning all of your browser plugins and other modifications. If you have Flash installed, Flash will reveal all of the fonts on your computer, too.

If you want to be private on the Internet you have to be so normal, so average, that you put your computers health at risk; OR, you have to cripple your browser to the point at which you can hardly see anything or do anything.

How Your Computer Connects To The Internet (in plain English)

2010-05-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

The Remote Help Expert 's Blog has a great post on how your computer connects to the Internet, and explains what that box with the funny antennas is and what it does.

And he does it in Plain English! (Just like I try to do.)

The post is here.

All your Facebook posts are now open to entire Internet

2010-05-11T11:15:00.000-07:00

Facebook's newest privacy and marketing changes now allow search engines, such as Google, Bing and Yahoo, to index and make readable all of your posts.

Facebook used to require that you were a 'friend' of any person whose posts and other details you wanted to see. The new default position is that everything in your Facebook profile is open to everyone to see unless you specify that it is private, post by post, and photo by photo.

If you dont specify privacy, Facebook opens you up for searching by the Internet. Including such people as: your boss, your future employer, your wife/husband/mother/father/etc, and last but not least, credit rating agencies and lenders who have started searching Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to see if you are a respectable and credit-worthy person.

So if you dont get that job, or that loan, just remember "next time, I'll remember to set privacy."

Apple and Nokia continue patent fight

2010-05-07T11:04:00.000-07:00

Nokia has increased it patent claims against Apple's iPad.

This means, when things eventually shake out, that the iPad will be ~1% more expensive, because Nokia most likely just wants royalty payments.

See the article here: http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2010/05/nokia-applies-patent-thumbscrews-to-apples-ipad.ars

Email options with Windows 7

2010-04-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

Deb Shinder, editor of Win7 News, has some really informative things to say about your email options in Windows 7.

There's Outlook(of course), but, "you have to pay for it - usually a little under $100 (You can buy Outlook 2007 from Amazon for $87.94 at the time of this writing). To me, it's well worth the price, since I depend on my email, calendar and contacts for doing business. "

She gives a little history on why there is no longer an Outlook Express, and what happened to its successor, Windows Mail:
"OE was introduced in 1997 as part of Internet Explorer 4.0 and was included in Windows 98, 2000, Me and XP. Recently, as many XP users have bought new computers that come with Windows 7, they have been unhappy to find that part of Microsoft's initiative to cut down on "operating system bloat" included leaving out some of the extra applications - such as the email client.

"Microsoft actually dropped OE when they released Vista, which included an updated mail client called Windows Mail. Unlike OE, it wasn't designed as a part of Internet Explorer, but its interface was very similar to that of OE. One big difference "under the hood" was that WM stored messages as individual files, rather than in one big database file as OE did. This was a very good change, since with OE if the single file got corrupted, you lost all of your messages. Windows Mail also added better security, including the SmartScreen filter and phishing filter. Windows Mail also blocks certain attachment types, and although you can disable this, you can't granularly allow those attachments only from specific senders.

There were some other changes that weren't so great, too. Many folks were not happy that Windows Mail didn't allow for management of multiple identities like OE did. In fact, it will consolidate your identities into a single user profile if you upgrade from OE. Another point of dissatisfaction: Windows Mail couldn't be configured to use a web-based email account such as Hotmail or Gmail"

So, besides Outlook, what can you use with Windows 7?

Thunderbird(from Mozilla, makers of Firefox); Windows Live Mail (the current successor to Outlook Express, downloadable from Microsoft); and numerous others.

Isn't it funny how...

2010-04-29T11:13:00.000-07:00

Most computer repair people who advertise on Craigslist dont tell you who they are?

Why hide your email address if you're a legitimate business?

They dont even tell you their name.

And, I've noticed, the cheaper they are, the more they go out of their way to hide any contact information.

It's just like my customers tell me: "You get what you pay for."

Controversial National Security-level Internet treaty trimmed

2010-04-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

ACTA, the secret police-state copyright "trade agreement" (so it doesnt have to be ratified by elected officials), has had the paragraph that would have forced your Internet Service Provider to cut off your Internet service if you did something the movie studios or record companies didnt like taken out.

This "trade agreement" is still so horrible it will turn all developed nations into police states, though.

Article here: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/04/acta-treaty/ .

Another reason why you shouldnt use McAfee Antivirus

2010-04-21T17:43:00.000-07:00

Because a poorly tested virus update file might kill Windows dead.

check out the article here: http://arstechnica.com/business/news/2010/04/broken-mcafee-dat-update-cripples-windows-workstations.ars

Craigslist phish almost catches me

2010-04-19T11:10:00.000-07:00

Just about everyone has heard of "phishing," the emails that are supposedly from a trusted website or business that are actually from criminals and scammers.

As you know, all scams that succeed do so because they play on the essential human desire to get ahead, get something for nothing, or to gain an advantage over one's competition. So, on Saturday last, I received an email that looked like it came from Craigslist, and since I have ads on Craigslist I read the email instead of dismissing it.
But because the email promised a reasonable product (free premium ad placement on Craigslist) and because the email did not have any spelling errors or funny grammar, I clicked on the link provided, exactly like I should not have.

This shows how sophisticated some phishing can be, even when the when the message is simple.
This also shows how easy it is to fall victim to scams, even when you know what is going on.

If you are reading this, you may be wondering what the outcome of my encounter with this phishing email was. That outcome was nothing.
I clicked on the link, just like I shouldnt have, and Firefox opened up a new tab and instead of loading the scammers page, Firefox gave me a bright red page with a policeman holding a stop sign next to a warning that said "This page is known to be fraudulent, do you wish to continue?"

This warning stopped me in my tracks and made me go back to the email and examine it more closely. When I did, I saw the obvious markings of a phishing email.

This is why I use Firefox, and why you should too.

The Future of Innovation Requires Ending Copyright Tyranny Now

2010-04-16T10:31:00.000-07:00

If you dont know about the current state of copyright or think there is nothing wrong with it, check out this article on Cnet: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31322_3-20002541-256.html?tag=newsFeaturedBlogArea.0

The writer makes a great point about how America, you know, The Land of the Free, is quietly and every so subtly become a copyright police state, where Hollywood's movie studios and the record industry corporations are using Congress to demand that the police (yes, your *local* police), the FBI, and the Border Patrol stop, search and seize iPods and any other type of portable media player including iPhones and Blackberrys.

Forget terrorists, murderers, rapists, bank robbers and illegal immigrants, the RIAA and MPAA are even now demanding that every level of law enforcement stop what they are doing and make sure that every portable music or video player contains only legally purchased music or videos.
If the owner cannot produce proof of purchase at the time of search, the player must be seized and destroyed on the spot, lest the police themselves become corrupted.

The problem with having music or video on a portable player, according to the RIAA and MPAA, is that no music or video that exists on a portable player is legal, since the terms of the End User License Agreement clearly state that the music or video is not legally allowed to be transferred to any portable player.

Like the article says, this leads to a copyright police state. In America.

Govt spying on online purchases

2010-03-29T12:19:00.000-07:00

Unveiled recently at a wiretapping and eavesdroppers conference, a small Arizona company is selling a box* you can plug into a network and use to secretly spy on what people are saying and doing (i.e. shopping) on what are supposedly "secure" websites, such as Gmail, Ebay, Amazon, etc.

This companies wiretap box requires the cooperation of the same companies who tell your browser what websites are safe to go to.
This box, with the (voluntary, coerced, blackmailed, or bribed) cooperation of the Certifying Authority (CA) allows government agencies, law enforcement or anyone with enough money to use this box to intercept your email, read it and then let go on to its destination.
Also, it can be used to spy on your shopping habits (because its been proven that most bureaucrats are bored and curious voyeurs).

So just be aware that you may be being spied upon by people you would rather not know what your email says or what you are buying.

And no, there's nothing you can do about it.

Here the link to a couple of articles on the topic, here, and here.

*I say "box," but it is actually a router; "box" is easier to understand for the non-technical audience.

Should you care about 4G?

2010-03-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

4G is the new next-generation of cell phone network speeds.
Technically, 4G means "4th Generation network." Yes, the ads promise it to be faster, better, etc.,etc.; but should you care?

The short answer is "not really."

The long answer is if you are an average user with a non-smart phone, this wont matter to you.
If you have a smart (Windows, Android, or i) phone, the speed difference wont be tremendous, and probably not existent anywhere 3G doesnt reach now.

You're better off using Wi-fi, wherever its available. In fact, most major networks (except Verizon) are expanding their wi-fi networks to handle the expected increase in data traffic.

PDF overtakes Word as virus spreader

2010-03-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

As it happens, Adobe's Acrobat PDF(Portable Document Format) program has overtaken Microsoft Word as the program most attacked by viruses.

This is because Microsoft has been trying very hard to fix any and all of the loopholes in Word and Office that allow viruses to attack them, while Adobe has not.

This has become a problem because more computers have some version of Adobe Acrobat on them than have Word, and most installed versions of Acrobat are old and unpatched; this allows loopholes in the program to be exploited by the bad guys.

See the article here: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/09/adobe_reader_attacks/

If you would like an alternative to Acrobat, try the free Foxit PDF Reader: http://download.cnet.com/Foxit-Reader/3000-10743_4-10313206.html

MagicJack's agreement allow spying on your phone calls

2010-03-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

If you have the MagicJack USB phone service you may want to know that by using it you are allowing the MagicJack company to listen in on your phone calls and sell any information obtained to advertisers who will then pay MagicJack.

I'm not saying that you should not use the service; just be aware that anything you say while on the phone will be used to target advertising at you, and that confidential information between you and the person to whom you are speaking may be sold to interested third parties such as your employer or your health insurer.

Here is the link to the article: http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/04/14/magicjacks-eula-says.html

Malware causes Windows crash during Auto Update

2010-03-22T09:40:00.000-07:00

ZDNet has a story about a piece of of malware(virus, spyware, etc.) which infects Windows below the operating level, which caused some PC's to stop working during or right after Automatic Updates in February.

This type of malware is called a 'rootkit', because it is a 'kit' of programs that infects Windows at the 'root' of the software.
If you looked at the listing of all of your files and folders, you would notice that all of the folders appear to start downward from the Desktop and branch out from there; kind of like an upside down tree. (This is why the listing is called a "folder tree.")

The very top is called the "root," like the root of a tree; If you have access to the root of any computer, you can do anything you want, even reprogram the whole computer.

Next Explorer wont run on XP

2010-03-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

Microsoft's newest version of Internet Explorer wont run on Windows XP, according to the general manager of Microsoft's Internet Explorer group.

He said at a recent conference that a "modern browser" needed a "modern operating system" to run.

Also, of note, because of security concerns surrounding Internet Explorer 6, some large and popular websites have announced that they will no longer be allowing computers who are using IE 6 to access their websites.

This may not seem fair, but it is in the best interests of all concerned. Anyone who is still using Internet Explorer 6 really should be using IE 7 or 8.
The newer versions will help in preventing virus attacks for you and help these websites from being attacked; which is also good for you.

New hard drives may hurt XP performance

2010-03-17T12:40:00.000-07:00

Ars Technica has a good article on why Windows XP may be slower when using brand new hard drives: http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2010/03/why-new-hard-disks-might-not-be-much-fun-for-xp-users.ars

It boils down to bigger hard drives need more error correction space to keep your data intact; and so, as hard drives get bigger, it becomes harder to maintain the integrity of your data.
The solution is to change the size of the storage areas on the hard drive so that it is easier to maintain the integrity of the data.
Because Windows XP was created before this was an issue XP has to perform more actions to read and write data of off these newer hard drives, which makes everything slow down.

This is another good reason to move on to Windows 7 as soon as possible.

First post of the New Year

2010-01-08T09:46:00.000-08:00

Here it is, the first post of the New Year.

Last year, I resolved to post more often and I almost made it. Three quarters of the year, I posted at least once a week (on average).

Lets see if I can do better this year.

So, until I have something to write about, have some free stuff. This is Maximum PC magazines's Best Free Applications of 2009.

See you next time.

Online reviews

2009-11-05T12:09:00.000-08:00

If you've ever searched for anything online, you have no doubt read online reviews for it. Whether it is a piece of clothing, an electronic item or a store or professional service, there are reviews for it.

As an aware consumer, you need to be skeptical of all user reviews because of the anonymous nature of the Internet and the competitive nature of some businesses (like computer repair).

If there are 'tons' of negative reviews for a business and few positive reviews, check to see if the negative reviews were posted within a day or two of each other. If there were really that many unhappy customers, the reviews would be spread out and what the people said would be different from review to review (fake reviews tend to say the same thing over and over again).

Also, check the website of the person or company involve to see if the complaints mention thing that the company actually does; for instance, if the website says they never give estimates, but all the reviews claim that the final charge was "over the estimate", its probably a fake review posted by a competitor.

Also, check other review sites, and see if the review are more even somewhere else.

There, now you are a more informed and knowledgeable consumer.

Some things to know about Windows 7

2009-10-22T12:14:00.000-07:00

Hardware Minimums:
Yes, you need to know what hardware you machine has, in order to know whether you can put Win 7 on it. These requirements are for the lowest amount of acceptable operation.
These requirements are (as I have tested them):

A CPU of 1.5 Ghz or better. You find this out by right-clicking on My Computer, going the list and clicking on Properties. This will also tell you how much RAM you have.
1 GB of RAM. There doesnt seem to be appreciable lag in opening programs with this amount of RAM installed. At least half of you have this amount already; the rest will need to spend the $40 to meet this requirement.
A 20 GB hard drive or larger. Since even the cheapest computer these days comes with at least 40 GB or more, you should be fine without even looking.
A video card that is DirectX 9.0 hardware compliant. If you have a installed a video card at any time in the last three years, you are OK. Dont know if you have a video card? Look at the back of your tower; if the blue cable is coming from near the bottom, you do. If the cable is coming from the top(or top of the middle area), you dont. But thats OK, video cards are very inexpensive (unless you intend to play video games or start editing movies).
A DVD drive. Also very cheap.

There you have it; the least you need to run Windows 7 on your existing computer.

Next time, can you just put Windows 7 in the computer and say "Go!"?

Windows 7

2009-10-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

Windows 7 comes out today; I will be buying it (if not today, then soon).

Will you, my vast reading audience, also be buying Windows 7? Will you buy the boxed software and keep your current hardware, or will you buy an entirely new computer?

If you are wondering whether you should or not, the answer is Yes, if your budget allows.

I have said previously that Windows 7 is a worthwhile product based on other peoples reviews and a limited amount of my own testing. I think that it deserves the chance to prove to you that it is safer than XP, as easy to use as XP(after the somewhat short learning curve), and at least as fast as XP.

And no, I dont work for Microsoft, nor have I been compensated for saying nice things about Windows.

I Know I've Said This Before, But...

2009-10-22T11:39:00.000-07:00

If you search Craigslist for computer help, you will find dozens of ads for people only too willing to help out with your troubles, myself included.
What concerns me is when I see an ad that says "Hi, I am an experienced computer person, but I dont want to tell you who I am, give you any sense I really might know what I am doing or give you any actual contact information." The ads dont actually say that, of course; but it is the sense one gets from reading them.
It is quite possible that I get this sense only because they are competing with me for business, but I dont think so. I am quite happy to share the large customer base around here, but... I would prefer that people selling a service to people who may not know any better at least provide a phone number, if not an email address and a website address, instead of using Craigslists anonymous email system.
How does anyone know that this anonymous person on Craigslist is who they claim to be if the only contact is through an anonymous email?

I know, I am just being paranoid, but it still bugs me. Am I right to be this concerned, or not?

Device driver not installing?

2009-08-26T14:25:00.000-07:00

If you are installing a device driver for a new piece of hardware, or more often, installing the same driver as part of a re-installation process, you may find that the installer will run but the driver wont install.
There are many reasons for this, but, more importantly, the question is 'if the installer program wont install the driver, how do I get the driver put in?'
The answer is to go to Device Manager, find the piece of hardware you are installing, right-click on it and click on 'Update Driver'. Then you follow the prompts, browse for your device driver, and click OK.

This should allow the driver to be installed.

Cats are bad for laptops

2009-08-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

Especially when they urinate on the keyboard when no-one is looking.

If you have a laptop, and are not sure of your kitty's temperament, always close the screen on your laptop when you walk away from or are not using it.

If you notice any sort of liquid on your laptop, and it is running, turn it off. DO NOT move your laptop or attempt to drain off the liquid; there are enough cracks and seams on the face of a laptop that any movement will allow the liquid the run inside and cause additional damage.

Instead, take a paper towel or anything handy that is absorbent and pat up the liquid. Once you have patted up all the liquid you can see, remove the battery while keeping the laptop as level as possible.

If the liquid appears clear and is thought to be water, let the laptop sit open so the water can evaporate.

If the liquid appears colored, pat up all the liquid you can, then get a hand towel or several paper towels and lay them over the wet area and gently close the lid.

What we want to happen is that the weight of the lid will force the towel(s) close enough to any remaining liquid so that over the course of several hours or overnight the towel(s) will soak up any remaining liquid.

After letting the laptop sit, replace the battery and attempt to start Windows. If Windows does not start normally, shut down the laptop, remove the battery and call a repair person.

And pray that your backups are up to date. You have been making backups of everything you can't lose, havent you?

Is this the year of Microsoft's success?

2009-08-18T09:48:00.000-07:00

I think the answer is Yes.

When you consider that the 3 major products that Microsoft is releasing this year, Windows 7, Bing! search, and Security Essentials(code-named 'Morro'), have all gotten positive reviews by some of the biggest critics of Microsoft, it looks Microsoft has achieved something truly memorable for the company and its products.

Windows 7 has become more than 'just Vista Service Pack 2'; Microsoft has improved all of the things that worked about Vista to make them easier to use, fixed or otherwise adjusted all of the things that Vista's critics felt were unusable.
The smallest amount of computer hardware needed to run Windows 7, and have it not feel like swimming through molasses, is equivalent to what Windows XP was running on when Vista was released (2 Ghz CPU, 1GB of RAM, and video hardware capable of running Direct X 9).
This is like running tomorrows high-needs programs on a three year old computer and never noticing the difference in speed.

Bing! search is now what Google was like to begin with but with all of the knowledge of what people want and how they look for it. Bing! isnt quite as good as Google, yet, but there are some areas where the supplemental information that Bing! provides alongside the search results make it as or more useful than the same search on Google.
Search engine reviewers say that if Microsoft focuses on making Bing! searches better, rather than more marketable or whatever Microsoft usually does that turns a bright idea into garbage, that in 2 years Bing! will be a serious competitor to Google.
Don't hold your breath on that, though; this is Microsoft we're talking about here. They somehow always find some way to turn a diamond into glass.

Microsoft's Security Essentials software, which is their latest attempt at serious and effective protection software, is a suite of programs that includes anti-virus, firewall and anti-spyware.
It appears that the third time really is a charm for Microsoft's attempts at security software; reviewers who have tried out the test, or 'beta', release have had positive things to say about it.

Which is unusual for an industry which has grown accustomed to warning people about avoiding certain Microsoft programs.

There you have it; the very real possibility of Microsoft having a year of successes for the first time since Windows 95, perhaps for the first time in the company's history.

Craigslist competitors

2009-07-09T11:13:00.000-07:00

Like a lot of computer repair guys, I advertise on Craigslist. Craigslist is a goood way to get a listing in front of the public, and I get a fair amount of work from my ads on Craigslist.

What frustrates me the most are people who say that a computer problem can be fixed in minutes, and for tiny amounts of money (free to 20/hr.)
I know I shouldnt, but I worry about the quality of service that these people, some of whom admit that computer repair is 'just a hobby', are providing their customers.
People trust advertisers on Craigslist more than they should, so a 'computer repair guy' who doesnt give a name, phone number or website could be looking for homes to rob. Probably not, but any reputable serviceperson, whether janitor, handyman, plumber, landscaper etc. provides information about themselves so that potential customers can see that they are "real".

Lest someone think that I am merely complaining because of being undercut, I am not. Anybody has the ability to advertise on Craigslist and it is up to me to make my ad more compelling than the next persons ad.

Even so, I wonder about some of these ads I see. What with the poor grammar, poor spelling and no contact information its a good thing these people arent trying to to make a living.

As far as the obvious competitors go, more power to them; every de-virused computer make the Internet safer for all of us.

New Places To Find Me

2009-06-26T11:01:00.000-07:00

Well, I've gone and done it. I have just now registered on Yelp, signed up for Twitter and now have a Facebook page.

I guess I've truly joined the 21st Century now.

You can expect to see new posts there as often as there are new posts here...

Amd vs. Intel

2009-06-25T09:49:00.000-07:00

AMD has long been the second-best CPU maker in the computer industry, behind Intel (maker of Pentium CPU's). A few years ago, when AMD came out with its Athlon line of CPU's, they took first place in the race to be best chipmaker.
After the release of the Athlon CPU's, Intel came out with several less than outstanding chips, allowing AMD to rest on its laurels as fastest chipmaker.
But, while AMD was resting on its laurels, Intel came out with a plan to release newer, better and faster chips every year and a half, while shrinking the size of the CPU and adding more stuff to them.
And so Intel has done exactly what they said they would, much to AMD's chagrin. In order to catch up, AMD has done several things, some very risky, which has led to new and underperforming CPU releases.

But now, it appears that AMD may finally have caught up to Intel with their new Phenom II CPU.

Revies are underway; if you are a gamer, you may want to check this chip out for your next system.

More Windows 7

2009-06-23T14:57:00.000-07:00

Once i fixed my boot problems, the actual installation of Windows went fairly smoothly, wiuth the exception of one error message saying that my blank hard drive was not bootable. Once I got that issue sorted out, the install went quickly.

There is not alot of movement on screen to make it look like something is happening; you sort of take it on faith that Windows is doing its thing.
There are three steps Windows goes through in its installation routine:
Gathering information, Installing, and Finishing Up.

The installation is said to take about a half an hour. I didnt time mine so I cant say whether that is true. The installation did take a lot less time than Windows XP, and I was able to walk away without fear that something horrible would happen if I did not babysit it.

Once installed, Windows asks for the serial number ("Product Key") asks asks a few general setup questions, including 'do you want to activate the first time you are online?'

When the desktop comes up, which seems quite quick compared to Vista and XP, the default resolution (with a video card installed but no drivers) is a reasonable 1024 x 768. With drivers installed, the resolution increases to the native resolution of the monitor; in my case i have a 15 inch monitor with a 1200dpi resolution.

Installing Windows 7

2009-06-19T12:48:00.000-07:00

I've just installed Windows 7 on an old computer to see if it could be done.

The installation is large enough that it requires a DVD, and a DVD drive. The only problem with that is that older computer generally cant boot from a DVD.

Windows 7 was designed to be installed on top of (or beside) an existing operating system, one that has DVD drivers already loaded.

To get around this limitation, I found it was possible to use a Vista Repair Disk that Microsoft provides. It has the bootloader and DVD drivers necessary to load Windows from the DVD.

My Windows 7 installation is running on an AMD Athlon 1.1 Ghz cpu, with 1GB of RAM and a Radeon 9550 video card.

People Search Engines

2009-06-16T12:43:00.000-07:00

There are new search engines on the Web now that will attempt to find anyone based on the information you have already given out in various locations.
If you have a Facebook page, a Twitter account or other type of publicly available account where you list things you wouldnt normally want strangers seeing, be careful to adjust your privacy settings.

One such search site, Spokeo, boasts that it will "uncover personal photos, videos and secrets" that are "juicy" and "mouth-watering." If you dont want to be the next person who inadvertently ends up on the evening news, be careful what you put online.

Trojan Troubles: The Results

2009-06-16T12:15:00.000-07:00

My customer had an ultra-portable laptop (that I had initially confused with a netbook) that he thought had trojan horse programs on it, and he wanted them removed and the laptop fixed.

He did have trojans; and viruses and spyware. Multiples. One of them had lodged inside the 'winlogon' service that allows you in to the desktop, and I couldnt remove it.

Usually this calls for formatting the hard drive and re-installing Windows. Not an exceptionally hard thing to do. Except in this case. No version of Windows that I installed would work properly; none of my three versions would install properly, nor his.
Upon further investigation, it turns out that Dell had (has?) some kind of mechanism that prevents people from re-installing Windows on that model of laptop without the specific Recovery Disk that came with the computer(or Recovery Partition).

Afterwards, I returned the laptop to the customer, letting him know what I had done, what I had found out and what his options might be.

Trojan Troubles

2009-03-31T13:22:00.000-07:00

A customer has just called wanting me to get rid of a pesky trojan horse for him.
For this I usually boot into Safe Mode and use MalwareBytes' Anti-Malware program.

Results later.

Troubleshooting 101

2009-03-31T10:44:00.000-07:00

The other day, I had a customer ask to me to fix his sound. This called for Troubleshooting 101; figure out and solve the problem.

First, is there a defined problem? Yes; "the sound doesnt work."

Second, is the problem hardware, software or both? In this case, both.

Third, check the software:
Is the volume muted? Yes/No
Is the volume turned all the down, or otherwise turned off? Yes/No

Then check the hardware:
Are the speakers on? Yes/No
If no, are the speakers plugged in to power?
Are the speakers plugged into the computer? The correct plug?

Finally, check all other connections. Follow all cords to make sure everything is plugged in to its proper place, including sub-woofers and surround-sound.

If none of this works, then it is time to check for device driver errors. But that is Troubleshooting 102.

As it turned out, my customer had unplugged his sub-woofers power cord, and that had unplugged his speakers. So, I plugged the sub-woofer in and all was well.

Why Updating Windows Is Important

2009-03-25T12:49:00.000-07:00

You might think that with all of today's security measures for your computer, that massive virus outbreaks are a thing of the past, but you would be wrong.

Right now, there is a worm called Conficker (also called Downadup) that is exploiting missing Windows patches. What Conficker does is allow other infected computers to attack yours, which would allow your computer to be taken over in turn and used to attack yet more computers.

Conficker has also been seen to allow downloads of fake antivirus programs that attempt to scare you into buying the fake program, when then gives your credit card number to criminals.

Windows Updates are an important part of keeping your computer healthy. I know that sometimes the update notifier can be annoying and a nag, but it really is important that you let your computer be updated.

If you are in the middle of an important project, let it go until you are done; but then find a time when your computer is not busy and install the updates.

Beware the fake stimulus

2009-03-18T11:32:00.000-07:00

Email scams are nothing new; for example, look at the 'Nigerian Prince' (aka 419) emails.

But with the down economy, email scammers have a new tack, the 'fake stimulus' email. Because so many people are in trouble, either with their mortgage or with jobs and money in general, people are willing to be more gullible than ever if it means that they have a chance a getting some of the government stimulus money.
Emails are going out that look and sound official, as if some heretofore unknown government agency was telling people how to apply for government assistance. These emails do not come from a .gov address, nor do they have any official seals on them(even though a govt. seal is easy to fake).
People are just very willing right now to take a strangers word that this stranger knows how to get government stimulus money, that they are willing to share it with you, and it will only cost you a small administrative fee.

You should know by now that any email that says they know a secret way to get money from the government is fake, and a scam.
And, in addition, any email that asks for money is crooked and will only get you in trouble. Not with the government, but with your wallet.

So dont believe it. There is no stimulus money being given out to individual citizens. Even if there was, the government would not send you an anonymous email telling you so.

Why doesnt my Wi-fi work

2009-03-17T16:49:00.000-07:00

If you live in an old house, that is, really old, your walls are probably made of a combination of hardwood sticks and a cement-like mortar; this is called 'lathe and plaster'.

Tests on wi-fi signal strengths have shown that lathe and plaster walls are so dense that they reflect the radio signals that make up your wi-fi signal. The next worse thing to have in your walls between you and your router are metal ductwork. The metal of the ductwork also reflects the radio signals.

The solution is one of two things: buy a stronger router(or a booster for your existing one), or move the router closer to where you want to work.

If you go the new router route, you will want to buy an "N" router(that means 802.11n, Draft 2.0); these are the newest and strongest routers, designed to bounce the signal around obstacles.

Printing (or not) from Mac's to PC's

2009-02-26T10:47:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I had a customer whose daughter had an older iMac who wanted to print over the network to a printer hooked to a PC.

The PC was an older Dell and the printer was an older Dell All-In-One. Dell printers are made by Lexmark, the printer software is made by Lexmark, but the printer drivers are written by Dell.
(Drivers are small pieces of software that tell a piece of hardware how to operate; in this case how to print a document.)

It turns out that the Dell AIO did not have Macintosh drivers. The Mac could see the PC (who was acting as a print server), could send the print job to the PC, the printer would say "printing" and yet nothing happened.

The moral of the story: make sure your PC's printer has Mac drivers available.

More on the fake Anti-virus front

2009-02-23T11:48:00.000-08:00

I've talked before about fake anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. Normally you can write down the name of the suspicious program and Google it or go to respected review sites for answers.

Now, maybe not.

The newest fake anti-virus, Antivirus-1 or AntiVirus2010, will change the listing of known good websites contained in your browser(this is called the hosts file), and if you try to go to a well-known website like PC magazine, ZD Net, etc. the fake antivirus will re-direct your browser to a fake site controlled by the virus' author, where it will show glowing, wonderful reviews about the fake anti-virus program.

The best way to avoid this is to have a good anti-virus program running and updated. Also, it is good to be suspicious of any program you dont remember installing.

New Security Threats

2009-02-16T12:54:00.000-08:00

It seems like there are always more threats to look out for. Today, some new ones you might not have heard of.

Variations on 'phishing': Voicemail and Twitter.
Voicemail Phishing ("vishing"): A voicemail call (sometimes called a 'robo-call') from your bank or a company you've recently done business with telling you that a large transaction, usually something you havent done, has been held up.
The call includes a tol free number tha tyou are asked to call right away to fix the problem. Once you do, a voice menu prompts you to key in your credit card number, as well as the expiration date and 3-digit security code on the back. After which, the caller is usually hung up on, or placed on terminal hold.

Twitter Phishing ("twishing"): A fake tweet (blog posts on Twitter are called 'tweets') is sent to your account with a link that supposedly sends you somewhere harmless, such as youtube or Flickr, but really sends you to a fake login page where you are asked to give up all of your info.

Power Leeches

2009-02-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

PC World had an article recently about electronic gadget and how much power they consume even when turned off, or even when just the charger is plugged in but not charging anything.

It appears that the answer to "should I turn my computer off at night?" is "only if you want to save money on your power bill." The tower itself consumes about $7 dollars a month if you leave it on 24/7. Your entire computer setup (tower, monitor, speakers, etc) can cost you as much as $60 month; even in 'power-save' mode.

Un-dunking your cell phone

2009-02-05T11:02:00.001-08:00

If you've ever dunked, washed, or otherwise immersed your phone in water, you feel like you've lost everything. But what if you could undo the dunking?

Take your freshly dunked phone, get a cooking pot or deep bowl, fill it full of uncooked rice. Submerge the phone in the rice and leave it there for a few hours or overnight.
Afterward, it should work as normal.

It needs to be noted, however, that this is not guaranteed to work; but it should.

And now, a couple of things that you should definitely not do with a wet phone:

Use a hair dryer to dry it off. The heat can damage components.
Put it in the microwave. The metal will spark and internal components can short out, so even if they were to dry, they would be fried.
Leaving it out to air dry. This would work with a CRT monitor, but not with a phone; the water would have no where to go, and could continue damaging internal components.

Also, this is intended to work with water or water-based liquids (like coffee), not with syrup based liquids like soda (the water leaves, leaving the sticky syrup behind).

Blue Screen Errors

2009-02-05T10:48:00.000-08:00

Sometimes fixing similar Blue Screen of Death(BSoD) error messages isnt as easy as it seems.

When you have an IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL error, the first thing you do is swap out the RAM; but when you add DRIVER_IRQL to the error message, it becomes much harder.
You might think, as I did, swap out the RAM first. That doesnt work. You might also think that there is a driver issue, after all, the error message says 'driver' in it.
Ok, but which driver? In my case, it was a video problem. Changing the video driver didnt help.

Now, you might be thinking, Google for the answer. I did; at least 4 different answers, including Microsoft's. All of them suggested something besides the RAM and the video drivers; so I tried them all (Microsoft's answer was to change the video drivers).

After everything was tried, I used System Restore and went back further than the time the problem had occurred. I got the rid of the video problem, but the Blue Screen remained.

If you know a definitive answer, I'd love to hear it.

A Bad Valentine

2009-01-30T10:48:00.000-08:00

There is an email currently making the rounds that has a Valentines Day-themed romantic message. The email has only one or two lines of text and a link to a web page.

Surely, I dont need to remind you NOT to click on any links in mysterious or spam emails, do I?

But, if you do need the reminder, and you DID click the link, it takes you to a web-page full of cute little hearts and a message that says "Guess which one is for you?" If you click anywhere on or near the heart pictures, you will be asked to run a program. This program is a virus, and it will 'zombify' your computer(allow someone from the Internet to take remote control).

The virus doesnt happen automatically; the email contains no virus, visiting the website will not automatically virus your computer(as can sometimes happen), YOU must download and run the virus. You will even be asked 'are you sure?' If you are using the Firefox browser, you will be asked twice.

So why the concern? Because in the month the email has been circulating, the amount of infected computers has been steadily rising.

So dont click the link! If you do, dont click on the webpage! If you do, dont run the program!

If, after all of this, you do run the program, save up some money for the sooner-rather-than-later repair you will need.

What you might not know about the Digital Transition

2009-01-28T13:00:00.000-08:00

With all of this talk about the transition to digital over-the-air broadcasting, some things have gotten lost. There is some confusion about what needs to be replaced, or added, or whatnot.

First, you do not need to replace your TV; your TV will work just as well as it ever has, but unless it can receive the new TV signal you wont be able to watch any programs.
With current over the air broadcasts, which are called analog (because they're simple radio waves), if you receive a weak signal it shows up as static, and you can try to tune in a better signal.

With digital broadcast signals, there is no 'weak' signal, it is either strong and bright or not there at all. If you live in a place where your current TV signal is weak, you will receive no signal at all after the changeover.

Consumer Reports suggests that if you receive the error message from a digital tuner(the add-on box you will need to receive the new TV signal) that says "weak signal" that you get a bigger antenna, move your current antenna near to a window, or to a higher point in your house, such as an attic, or buy a signal booster (which you can attach to the TV).

If you live in a Comcast service area, they are required to sell over the air channels at low cost (sometimes as low $11/mo); however, they are not required to tell customers that this service is available; you will have to ask for it.

Credit Card Fraud

2009-01-27T11:10:00.000-08:00

A recent Wired magazine article made me think about credit cards and the possibility of theft and abuse.
Your credit (or debit/"check guarantee") card is an amazing thing; it allows you to buy things without using money. However, most people look at their credit cards as if they were pieces of plastic instead of being as good as cash.
It is possible these days for a waiter/waitress to pass your card through a miniature card reader, called a "skimmer," before they pass it through the point of sale machine. Skimming can happen anywhere; anyone you hand your card to can pass it through a reader in only a second or two.

The best way to avoid having your card "skimmed" is to not hand it to anyone, or, at the very least, watch the person you hand it to until they hand it back.
While is not possible everywhere, you should do it whenever possible.

The reason you should treat your credit/debit card as if it were cash is because criminals can make an exact copy of your card, and max it out, in less than a day.

It is always good policy to closely watch your statements when they come, because most credit card companies will forgive charges made with a stolen card IF you report them as soon as they are noticed.
Debit cards, however, do not have this same protection. Debit cards are hooked up to your bank account and if they are stolen, your bank account can be emptied in hours. This is why you should treat your cards, especially debit cards, as if they were cash.

Netbooks and Error Messages

2009-01-22T13:25:00.000-08:00

Recently, a customer had a netbook that would not boot up; when he tried to re-install from restore disks, his netbook gave him a series of unusual error messages.

Because it looked like a problem with the restore disc, I tried several other discs that I knew were good, but I got the same results. After some more testing, I got a Blue Screen (of Death) whose error message, IRQ_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL, I knew to be indicative of bad RAM. So, I replaced the RAM in the socket on the bottom of the netbook.

No change. Same error messages. I searched for a resolution on Google (the researchers friend) and all the results said 'RAM issue'. But I had changed the RAM. So what was going on?

As it turns out, most netbook computers have a secondary RAM socket underneath the keyboard.

I pried up the bezel above the keyboard where the power switch usually is, lifted up the keyboard, and opened up this secondary RAM socket and replaced that RAM with the RAM originally taken from the primary socket.

Problem solved. (Once I placed the cover back on the socket.) No more error messages!

Except for the one preventing Windows from booting. Which was taken care of in short order.

On Modems and Routers

2009-01-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

Sometimes technology just doesnt work.

Most people in large cities and towns have some form of connection to the Internet. Quite a few of these have "broadband", which is a generic term for a fast connection to the Internet; accomplished by a DSL or cable modem.
Alot of people also have more than one computer, thus needing a way to connect all of them to the Internet easily; hence, the router.

Normally, once hooked up, the router and modem work just fine. But, when they dont, the usual fix is to unplug one or both of them and wait.

As it happens, if you have a non-standard or older modem, you have to wait longer. As was the case last night, a lot longer.

Then you plug the modem in first, and wait. A few minutes (or an hour) later, you plug in the router. A few minutes after that, you turn on the computer(s) that you had turned off previously when you unplugged everything else.
Then you wait a few more minutes for everything to load and settle down and decide whether it wants to work properly.

Then you either celebrate your good fortune, or you curse and reach for the phone to call a guy to come out and do the same thing.