The Blue Screen of Death

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:

1. The Blue Screen that says "Windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer..." etc.
   
2. The one that says that but includes a "STOP: OxOOOOOOca" or something similar.
3. 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?

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

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

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.