Snow storms and worms
by Robert on Feb.24, 2010, under PC Tips
Wow. What a couple of weeks it’s been. We have done a lot of traveling, and some strange camping. My oldest son is a big Detroit Lions Fan (I don’t understand ether), and his greatest football hero is Berry Sanders. There was an autograph signing in the Dallas area a couple of weeks ago and he asked us (his parents) to come wait in line with him to get a few things signed. Ok, a chance to visit, not a big deal. However, the waiting in line would begin Friday morning and the signing would be Saturday morning; a little over 24 hours waiting. Well, not too big of a deal. We left on Thursday evening, drove into the worst snowstorm in 100 years, and camped out in Dallas in one foot of snow; now it is a big deal. We did it and I will relish the memories for the rest of my life. It was quite an event. So what does that have to do with technology? Absolutely nothing, unless you consider that it was like stepping back 100 years or so and braving the winter. I just thought I would share with you and hopefully explain some of why it has been a while since the last update.
Now for the technology. This week at the university where I work we had an incident involving malware that came through Facebook. Social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twiter, etc. are extremely dangerous places when it comes to exposure to viruses and worms. The lady that was in charge of the Facebook group for the university linked in a video, which she though was of an event at the university, only to discover a few minutes later that it was not, and it had a worm embedded in it. Because it was a group, the notification was sent throughout campus and several users clicked on the video before we could get it removed from the site. The work is known as the “koobface” worm. It has been around for about a year and a half, but it is the type of worm that morphs itself so it has been able to stick around for a while. After a bit of investigation and research we finally came up with a fix to clean up the machine if it has been infected. If you want to check to see if you may have the worm, simply go to some security software site such as www.avg.com or www.symantec.com. If your browser will not open the site, you have the worm. Here is a link to instruction on how to clean up your machine. It is part of the university Facebook group, and feel free to join if you like.
This particular worm has been around a while and indications are that it will soon be showing up on Twiter as well. Please take a moment to run updates on your computer and make sure your anti virus is up to date. Feel free to post to this site if you have questions on recovering from attacks like this one.
“You of all people?”
by Robert on Feb.09, 2010, under PC Tips
Last night I set down just before bedtime to check my email. I was checking my business mail (University system where I work) and everything went blank. I have quite a bit of mail, stuff in folders, contacts, calendar, etc. I closed everything thinking it was probably a problem with my connection or something. I logged back into the web mail, and it puts me through the process of setting up a new mailbox. Horror. Where had all my stuff gone, and how was I ever going to function when I didn’t even know what was on the schedule for tomorrow? Glad to say that it is now 24 hours later, all my mail is back and once again my slave driver is back in control. When I got up this morning to discover that the problem with my mail had progressed to others at the university, I was quite concerned (after all, I am the guy in charge of such things at the university). As I was telling my wife of the disaster facing me today, she interrupted me with the Question “You of all people don’t have a backup of something like that?” Great question, and something that has stuck with me all day.
My youngest daughter got married a few years ago; to a great guy I might add (just in case he reads this. Just kidding) and they went off on their honeymoon cruse. I guess it was nearly a year later she came to me almost in tears. Her home computer had crashed, not from hardware failure but from a worm, and guess where all the photos of her honeymoon were? That’s right, on the machine that was toasted. After several hours of triage, I was able to rescue her photos. The irony; she had a CD burner in the machine, but no copy of these irreplaceable photos.
Backing up your information, photos, music, etc. is one of the most important things you should be doing where technology is concerned. Computers have become so reliable that we sometimes forget that they are man made and will fail, not may, will. There are many methods to accomplish this, depending on how much data you have. One of the most reliable ways is a memory stick. They get cheaper everyday, and greater capacity. They are quite reliable and are not prone to fail. Today they can hold a great deal more than CD’s, but can be overwritten easily, so consider that when deciding what to use. CD’s and DVD’s work great for photos, just make sure to protect them from scratches or heat. If you have a larger amount of data, like I do, external hard drives are your best bet. Today a terabyte drive is very affordable. However, use caution. One of our teachers was using one and knocked it off the table. That’s right, it was destroyed. It was her only copy of some of the data. Use care when using these drives, they are great but drops and falls will ruin them. For things like data for business I recommend purchasing a service from one of the better know online backup services. Your business is worth it.
Take care of those backups; much of what you have collected cannot be replaced. Also, today is patch day for Microsoft, and they have several critical patches out. Find time soon to get them on, they are like a software recall and need your attention.
Robert.
Software Recall?
by Robert on Feb.05, 2010, under PC Tips
Unless you are living under a rock, or somewhere in the outback, (in either case you would not be reading this) you have heard about Toyota’s woes. The problem they are having has nothing to do with the sticking accelerator, believe it or not. Their problem has to do with the owners of their product. True, they have an engineering problem and it needs to be fixed. If you looked at the Fox news website Friday morning there was a picture of the part needed to fix the problem. It is about the size of a fingernail. Small part, inexpensive, and easy to fix. So why do I think their problem has nothing to do with the sticking accelerator? Think about it, do you honestly believe that all the sudden the car simply takes off on its own. If you read about the problem in depth, you will find that the accelerator, over time, begins to stick and the engine takes longer to slow down when the foot is lifted off the accelerator. I drive a 1980 ford pickup, and just recently I begin to have the same problem. Like most, I ignored the warning signs when it first begin, kept driving the truck, and almost had an accident because the engine just would not slow down. The problem, the linkage need a little lubricant. I’m not saying that a little WD40 would have fixed Toyota’s problem, but personal responsibility of the drivers to have the problem investigated before they had an accident may have been lacking. Before you start to blast me for being uncaring for those who were injured or killed, let me say I agree that Toyota should have issued a recall much sooner and because the fix is so simple and cheap, it should not have taken so long to begin the fix.
So what does this have to do with technology? Simple, personal responsibility. Toyota designed the accelerator to have a part that created friction because the consumer wanted it to have “feel”. In other words, the new technology they were using to control the engine had eliminated the friction and resistance we have grown used to in the older cars. To improve user satisfaction they engineered in friction, which can cause sticking. The point is, technology changed, and the users didn’t change with it. Compare this to computers. We the users learn to do things a particular way. Microsoft designs the system to fit our wants. Things are fine, but as technology changes we don’t. We do however expect our actions and desires to continue to have no adverse effects. That is where the personal responsibility comes in. Microsoft, and Apple both strive to give us systems that meet our expectations, but from time to time the engineering flaws come to light. That is when patches come out for their products; call it a recall. Do you think anyone with a Toyota will ignore the recall? Some will. When Microsoft issues a patch, a recall, how many ignore it? The point is that as users of the product, if we all would take responsibility for what we own and follow the manufactures recommendations, there would be a lot less problems with viruses, worms, and Trojans. So my advise is to run the updates on your machine. Set automatic updates to do it automatically so you won’t forget. Microsoft and Apple, as well as the producers of other software such as Adobe reader, are doing their best to give you a safe and reliable product, but it is up to you to maintain it; just like maintaining your car.
Robert
Welcome
by Robert on Feb.04, 2010, under Uncategorized
I don’t know of too many households today that don’t have at least one computer. My wife and I are friends with a couple that are in their mid 80’s, and even they have a computer and are quite literate with the processes needed to keep in touch with their grandchildren. Because of this proliferation of computers in homes, and users who have little to no training in their use and maintenance, the propagation of worms, Trojans, and viruses is rampant. There is a multi-billion dollar industry dedicated to luring users to click on links to install Trojans to build bot-nets (computers controlled by someone who is not the owner for the purpose of producing spam mail, steal bank account info, identities, etc.) To combat this propagation there is another multi-billion dollar business dedicated to providing tools and user support. The result is a confusing array of tools and services that untrained users must navigate through in hopes of finding the right solution to protect themselves and their equipment. My goal with this site is to provide some guidance for the un-techie user. There are many tools available at no cost that can help users restore their machine without having to pay hundreds of dollars to have it done. I will also provide links to resources with reviews and summaries to help the home user find the best solutions to protect their machines from further attacks, and infections. I will also keep you up to date on the latest threats and developments in the world of technology. My goal is to keep technology simple, as it should be, and help all users get the most out of the technology they have. Check back often for updates.
Robert
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