How To Survive The Password Apocalypse

Some time ago, I said that passwords were not secure and that I would be doing a blog post about it so you would know what to do.
At long last, this is that post.

When I first posted that warning to Facebook, I had just read an article talking about how successful hackers are in breaking passwords.  The article contained alot of information about the methods and tools that hackers use.

Since I read that article, I have read a second article in Wired magazine about how one of its technology reporters had gotten his entire life hacked; everything he owned that was stored online was broken into and stolen.
Did this reporter have weak passwords or some other easy reason why it happened to him? No.  His Gmail password was as long(16 characters including dashes -, upper and lower case, numbers and an exclamation point).

And it was still broken into.

So, if a techno-geek can be hacked with all he knows about security, what hope is there for us normal people?
Actually, there is hope.  I will outline several Do's and Dont's for password creation and general online security.

But before I do that, a word:  I am talking about online security, not about the computer you are sitting in front of right now.  I dont want anyone to be confused about what I am saying.
Yes, you need good security on your computer, but an antivirus program will not keep someone on the internet from trying to break into your bank account.

So here's what to do(from the Wired article):
DONT:
Reuse passwords. If you do, a hacker who gets just one of your accounts will own them all. Dont use variants, either.  I know its tempting, but dont.
Use a dictionary word as your password. If you must, then string several together into a pass phrase.
Use standard number substitutions. Think “P455w0rd” is a good password? N0p3! Cracking tools now have those built in.
Use a short password—no matter how weird. Today’s processing speeds mean that even passwords like “h6!r$q” are quickly crackable. Your best defense is the longest possible password.

DO:
Enable two-factor authentication when offered. When you log in from a strange location, a system like this will send you a text message with a code to confirm.
Give bogus answers to security questions. Think of them as a secondary password. Just keep your answers memorable. My first car? Why, it was a “Camper Van Beethoven Freaking Rules.”
Scrub your online presence. One of the easiest ways to hack into an account is through your email and billing address information. Sites like Spokeo and WhitePages.com offer opt-out mechanisms to get your information removed from their databases.
Use a unique, secure email address for password recoveries. If a hacker knows where your password reset goes, that’s a line of attack. So create a special account you never use for communications. And make sure to choose a username that isn’t tied to your name, so it can’t be easily guessed.

I know that doing these things are and will be complicated and frustrating, but right now its what we have.
A tip for remembering all of these new complicated things is to Write Them Down.

Get a little notebook from your local office supply store and write down all of your new passwords.
Set up a new online email account, or better yet, two.  With different passwords.

One of these new emails is to be never used unless you are resetting a password, so that it wont be compromised.  The other email address is one that you dont care about; these secondary emails are called "dump" or "dummy" emails.  They are used when you are asked to register for a place that you will only use once, so that your main email doesnt get clogged with spam.

Now all you need to do is reset all of your current passwords to something stronger.

But, what is "stronger"?  What you do is, take a book, open to a random page and choose four words from different places that dont go together.
For example, "correct horse battery staple".  If the reset form says you need an upper case and a number, then put one in.  Just not at the beginning or end.

And Write Them All Down.

Dark iClouds on the Horizon

With all of the rush to "cloud computing," few people are taking the time to think about what it means.  Those who are able to understand "the cloud" are not really explaining it well to their friends and families.
I am probably guilty of this as well.

So I want to take some time here, and probably in the future, to explain what the "cloud" is and some of the problems that are looming.

So, first off, a definition: what the heck is "the cloud" anyway?  The Cloud(tm) is an engineers way of discussing the networks that make up the Internet.  Because all of the networks that make up the Internet would be a nightmare to diagram, whenever someone wants to indicate  "the Internet" they draw a cloud.
Hence, "the cloud."

Yes, but what is the cloud?  Any computer you can store data(pictures, documents, etc.) on that is not a computer that you own or have immediate access to, that is reachable only through an Internet connection, is the cloud.  All of them.
Ok, thats just "cloud storage". Cloud Computing is something else entirely.
But we're dealing with cloud storage today.
(Whats the difference? Wouldnt you like to know?  Stay Tuned.)

Ok, so thats the cloud.  Whats the Big Deal?  The Big Deal is nearly instant access to all of your data from any device, anywhere.  Anywhere you can get good signal, that is.
It takes some imagining, but the idea is that if you upload (that is, store) your data to an Internet computer, then you can retrieve it from any device with an Internet connection.
Like photos.
Or Netflix.
Or your music.
Or that document you need for your work, but forgot to take with you.

It could be really, really convenient.

Or really, really bad.

Any cloud storage provider in the U.S. and allied nations(Australia, New Zealand, Europe, etc) must give up any and all data to any U.S. government agency upon request.
Currently, any data stored outside of your home computer or personal computing device is not subject to Constitutional protections.  It can be seized unreasonably, or by corrupt federal agents.  Your cloud-stored data can be used to incriminate you for crimes where data stored on your home computer cannot.

Any data stored in the cloud is vulnerable to theft.  Most cloud service providers do not encrypt your data as it is stored, so thieves can break in and steal it (think credit card breaches).

Whats worse than data theft?  Having a non-governmental agency, for example the RIAA, demand that you provide purchase records for all of the music you have stored on iCloud.

And what happens if you choose the wrong cloud storage provider?  Your data could be deleted without warning (even if you are paid up), it could be sold off, it could even be seized by a government who then decides that the type of data you have stored indicates that you have taken part in a crime. (Especially if you are innocent; real criminals take precautions against that sort of thing.)

If you decide that cloud storage and privacy are as important, and you encrypt everything with an older, but still good, encryption algorithm, the government can force you at gunpoint to give up the key.

But dont worry about it, the chances of the government coming after you are slim to none, right?

You just keep telling yourself that.

You probably think that e-commerce is safe, too.

Hacker, Crackers and Pirates, Oh My! (Part 3)

Ok, so I've talked about hacker and crackers, so now its on to Pirates.

But wait, what is a Pirate? Am I talking about "Arrr! Shiver me timbers!" or "I'm going to download this movie"?

Actually, neither.

What is meant by "pirate"? Well, it depends on who you ask. According to the dictionary, "pirate" is "a person who robs or commits illegal violence at sea or on the shores of the sea" or "any plunderer or predator".

According to the Recording Industry Association of America(RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America(MPAA) a pirate is "a person who uses or reproduces the work of another without authorization" and "to use or reproduce (a book, movie, song/audio recording etc.) without authorization or legal right" or "any person who buys our product and uses it in any manner by which we make no money."
Ok, I made that last one up; but if you've ever been frustrated in an attempt to use your legally purchased song or movie on your legally purchased hardware, it sure seems like it.

Now that the definition is out of the way, who is a pirate. Again, it depends on who you ask.
Are overseas counterfeiters who acquire master disks of music and movies, and then use industrial duplicators to make thousands of copies, pirates?
According to the RIAA and the MPAA, no.
Why not? Because they are outside U.S. jurisdiction.

Does that mean that the teenage daughter of the past president of the RIAA, who was caught downloading songs from the Internet that she didnt pay for, is a pirate?
No. Because that would have embarrassed the RIAA too much in the media.

So who is a pirate? The accepted (as far as anything is accepted on the Internet) definition is the person who takes a camcorder into a movie theater, records the movies and posts the 'shaky-cam' version online. And all the people who download it.

Really? Thats a pirate? No, not just them. Anyone who downloads anything off the Internet that they dont own, and havent paid for(or given the rights-holder something in exchange) is technically a pirate. This includes pictures, artwork, articles, lol-cats, anything and everything.

Even the things you think are free, but aren't actually.

Even the cute things you put on Facebook, but down own, and dont have the legal right to re-distribute.

How is it for you, living the pirate life?

Really, its a matter of degree, as you may already have surmised. Re-distributing pictures and videos via your Facebook Wall, is technically pirating, but nobody will accuse you of it because the culture of the Internet (and broader society) accepts it.
Have you ever seen one of those Internet videos that is so funny, or emotional or whatever that you just have to tell your friends about it? Of course you have.

That's a "viral video." Videos cant go viral without "piracy". Remember the definition above: "to use without authorization or legal right"?
What did you think you were doing by forwarding that email joke? Or by reposting that viral video?

Yep. Piracy.

So, yes; a matter of degree. But who gets to decide to what degree you are a dirty, dirty pirate and must be punished?
Is it the police? Nope. Copyright enforcement is a civil matter not a criminal one.
Is it the courts? Nope. They merely weigh the claims for and against you and apply the appropriate laws. Its called "the system" because it just a big machine.

So who, then?
The copyright owner. In most cases, one or more representatives of Hollywood. Usually the RIAA or the MPAA.

Yep, Hollywood gets to determine whether you have committed a crime, and what your punishment should be.

But wait, I hear you say; Isnt this America? Dont we have laws and courts and stuff?
Yes, this is America; and we do have laws and courts and stuff. And they are all dedicated to eradicating the scourge of PIRACY!

So, lets sum up; piracy is taking something you dont own and havent paid for. It usually happens willingly; everyone does it, and only Hollywood gets to determine who goes to jail and for how long.

That about sums it up, except for two things. And these are Big Things, one of which will get you into protracted arguments which make our current political climate seem all lovey-dovey.

1) This is just an overview, without any of the fine detail and nuance which will drive you insane if you try to understand it all.

2)Computer and Internet Piracy are not theft. It may seem like it, because they both involve taking other peoples stuff without paying, but they arent.

If you steal a physical object, the owner is deprived of its use and value(not to mention the thing itself). If you steal something off the Internet, you have not deprived the owner of the thing itself, because the owner retains possession of it. Nor have you deprived the owner of the use or value of the downloaded object(depending on the object, you may have lessened its value but you cannot take away all of it).

If you download a picture from Flickr, does the owner of that picture lose it; does it then vanish from the Internet?
Of course not.

That is why "piracy" is copyright infringement, and not theft.

Legally, theft is removal or deprivation of a single physical object from its rightful owner.
"Piracy" is Copyright Infringement; you are depriving the rightful owner of the ability to distribute and make money off of their creation. You are not removing the physical presence of that creation.

See, its sticky. And argument-inducing. Try it on your friends! Hours of fun!

Hacker, Crackers and Pirates, Oh My! (Part 2)

In my last post, I talked about hackers; who they were and who they are, as well as a look into their motivations.
Now, in this second of three posts, I am going to give crackers a similar treatment.

"Crackers" are the least known of all of the computer hobbyists (with the possible exception of 'phreakers'; but they're not a part of this post), so they have received less of the Hollywood treatment that glamorizes yet muddies who and what they are.

So who are crackers, and why are they called that, anyway? Crackers are people who, at the most basic level, enjoy math puzzles. But I'm not talking about sodoku here, in this case "math puzzle" means deciphering secret codes, such as the ones behind DVD encryption.
Crackers are the people who allow you to jailbreak your iPhone and play your DVD and Blu-ray movies outside of your TV's.

Crackers are called that because they "crack" codes. They hate pointless restrictions on hardware or software whose existence serves only to make the legitimate consumers life harder.
Examples of such pointless restrictions are DVD region coding, the unskippable warnings at the beginning of every DVD, and consumer electronics that come from the manufacturer with built in restrictions(known as 'crippleware' because it has been intentionally crippled at the factory).

Did you know that, on average, it takes 17 steps in order to play a standard DVD, and it only takes 2 steps to play a 'cracked' DVD?
Is it any wonder that the average consumer is frustrated with the record and movie companies?

The easier it becomes for any person who is technologically literate to overcome these restrictions(and there are lots of 'how-to's' out there, at all skill levels), the more gruesome laws Hollywood demands be passed by Congress to further lock-down the consumer.
This makes it much easier to restrict individual freedoms and imprison otherwise law-abiding citizens for the merest offense.
Better watch how you use that screwdriver! It could land you in federal prison for up to five years and up to a $500,000 fine (Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Section 1201, subsection a).

So you see, while you may not have heard of the name, crackers are right here with us; enabling the technological freedom we (sometimes) take for granted.

Eventually, it will be crackers that will be the forefront of the revolution. Which revolution? All of them.

Hackers, Crackers and Pirates; Oh My!

Hackers are in the news at the moment, and there is a great debate over who and what is or is not a pirate, so I thought I would take some time and give some detail and a little background and these people: who they are, what they're doing, and why the heck they're doing it.

To start off, lets explain the names. Hackers you have heard of, I'm sure. But what of "crackers" and the eponymous "pirate"?
Lets tackle hackers first, because they are the most well known.

A "hacker" is any person who "hacks" at programming code, much like Indiana Jones hacks his way through jungle vines. At least originally. Now, a hacker is any person the media or Fortune 500 company wishes to blame for all the ills in the world.
So, who really is a hacker? A hacker is a person who knows computers and networks inside out, they are enthusiastic hobbyists who go places they shouldnt be, and do things they shouldnt do.

Why? For the same reason a mountain climber climbs mountains. "Because its there." "Because it hasnt been done before." "Because I was told 'it cant be done', or 'I shouldnt do it'."

Is there a guiding principle hackers follow, or is it all vandalism, spam and credit card theft?
Yes, there is; and it has nothing to do with crime, theft or money.
It is called "the hacker ethic." (linked to the Wikipedia page here)
But, like all codes of conduct, some follow this principle more closely than others.

In the last few years, as some people feel justice has become increasingly hard to come by, some hackers have become activists, aka "hacktivists."

The best known of these is the group called Anonymous. You've may have heard of them when they are in the news. In the last few days, a spin-off group called "LulzSec" have been arrested by the FBI and various police agencies.
Where did Anonymous and LulzSec come from? In a very real way, they came from the Internet. From the image forum website known as 4chan, and its /b/ section, specifically.

Why did Anonymous and LulzSec attack the websites and companies that they did? When they were asked, mostly the answer was "for fun." But not always. The attack on HBGary was retaliatory, because HBGary's CEO said he could and would reveal the top members of Anonymous to the world.

Anonymous, the group, sometimes takes a dislike to people or organizations. Usually this is when someone high profile threatens them. Sometimes, its because they think the result will be funny(at least to them). And sometimes they feel it is to correct an injustice.
When Anonymous does attack, they can be destructive. Sometimes this is in the public interest; such as the cases of HBGary and the Church of Scientology.
And sometimes not, as in the case of the English women who was caught on video putting a cat into a garbage bin, and whose life was brought to such an utter standstill that she sought protective custody from the police.

So thats what hackers are; a collection of hobbyists, enthusiasts, explorers and activists.
But what hackers are not is criminals.
You might think "but where does all that spam come from if not hackers?"
Because it comes from actual criminals.
"But arent hackers criminals?"
No; for the same reason speeding drivers are not criminals, or for the same reason an office worker who takes a pen or a paper clip is not a criminal.

Thats not to say all hackers are misunderstood saints. They're not. There are are good guy hacker and bad guy hackers, known as "white hats" and "black hats."
Just like the old cowboy movies.
But even the bad guy hackers, the black hats, are not "criminals", per se. Yes, they do stuff they shouldnt, but they dont go in for the credit card stealing and data breaching and ID theft stuff.

Because it isnt "fun."

Even when LulzSec broke into StratFor and looted credit card numbers, they didnt take any of the money for themselves. They thought it was "fun" to donate other peoples money to charities and non-profit organizations right at Christmas time when the money would be most needed.

Obviously, this was double-plus un-good. But not criminal in the sense of stealing all of that money for themselves.

So, painting all hackers as criminal, in the same vein as burglars, murderers, rapists, drug-dealers and Wall Street bankers, would be wrong, because not all hackers do the wrong things. Without white hat hackers, real computer criminals would never be brought to justice.

This has been your primer on who and what hackers are. Tune in for Part Two, where I explain crackers and pirates.

What is Jailbreaking?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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.