Malwarebytes
Destroying malware, one byte at a time
We like to share the applications we've used and found to be effective. There are so many programs out there it's very difficult for people to test all of them. Over the past few months we've been using and found Malwarebytes to be a very effective program for removing malware and other system risks.
Have you ever considered what makes an anti-malware application effective? Ease of use tends to be an important factor for most people. Malwarebytes has created an easy-to-use, simple, and effective anti-malware application. Whether you know it or not your computer is always at risk of becoming infected with viruses, worms, trojans, rootkits, dialers, spyware, and malware that are constantly evolving and becoming harder to detect and remove. Only the most sophisticated anti-malware techniques can detect and remove these malicious programs from your computer.
Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware is being touted as the next step in the detection and removal of malware. They've compiled a number of new technologies that are designed to quickly detect, destroy, and prevent malware. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware can detect and remove malware that even the most well known anti-virus and anti-malware applications fail to detect. We've proven this repeatedly by running scans with some of the major antivirus engines that report no problems found then we run Malwarebytes and identify and remove many instances of infected files. And all of these tests were completed using only the “Free” version.
If you decide to upgrade and purchase the full registered version, Malwarebytes monitors every process and stops malicious processes before they even start. The Realtime Protection Module uses advanced heuristic scanning technology which monitors your system to keep it safe and secure. In addition, there's a threats center which will allow you to keep up to date with the latest malware threats.
Activating the full version unlocks the real time protection, scheduled scanning, and scheduled updating. For consumers and personal use, there's a one-time fee of $24.95. For corporate and business customers, licensing is required.
As more and more exploits are released on the web, it's becoming very important to protect your computer with high quality detection and removal tools. I feel Malwarebytes is one application of this caliber. I'm not saying that this is the end all-be all of anti-malware programs as we have encountered a few “false positives”. I am saying that it is worthy of your time and money.
Here's the site where you can download the fee version as well as purchase the full blown registered application. http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php
CNet gave this program its' editor's choice award in April 2009 ranking it 4½ Stars out of a possible 5.
Don't Google Zuma Rossdale – Who is Zuma Rossdale? Gwen Stefani's son of course….
There's a sucker born every minute.... and it seems a lot of us love surfing the Web.
A worrisome new study by McAfee found that scammers are turning to search engine technology to attract a steady supply of marks. Apparently, hackers are identifying search terms that deliver the largest audiences—and then embedding their hacking code in these often legitimate sites. In some cases, McAfee found that scammers simply boost the search engine results of their own fraudulent sites. The cybercriminals then capture credit card numbers and personally indentifiable information from visitors.
Either way, web surfers are at risk. According to McAfee, the single most dangerous search term is 'word unscrambler,' with an average risk of more than 16%. In other words, out of 250 search results across a number of pages, close to 40 hits took visitors to risky web sites. Worse, McAfee found that the maximum risk for 'word unscrambler' (that is, a single results page with the greatest danger) was around 50%. In other words, up to half of the hits for the term "word unscrambler' on that one page led users to bogus or infected web sites.
Given the growth of smart phones and netbooks—and the number of parents buying their kids smartphones and netbooks—it's not surprising that search terms targeting kids dominated the results. Indeed, anything to do with music can be a bad bet. The keywords 'lyrics,' 'free music downloads' and 'free music' made the list of the top ten riskiest search results.
McAfee searched for more than 2,600 popular keywords, examining more than 413,000 unique URLs. Their security specialist found that the average risk level of all results pages was just 1.7%. In other words, only four out of 250 hits were dangerous. The average for the most dangerous pages, however, was much higher. For those pages, a list of 250 results produced about 25 risky hits.
Beyond music-related terms, the worst maximum risk profile was for searches that contained the word "free." That category generated a 21.3% maximum risk profile. "Work from home" was another high-risk term--understandable given the current economic condition and unemployment rates.
In fact, it appears that hackers are keeping tabs on current events in an effort to attract the most victims. For example, three popular female celebrities generated high risk profiles: Angelina Jolie (8.3% maximum risk) Oprah Winfrey (10%) and Beyonce Knowles (10%). But searches for Zuma Rossdale, the son of trendy rockers Gavin Rossdale and Gwen Stefani, can be as risky as 25%
Let's not forget that US Corporations were not immune from these cyber deceptions either. Both 'Lowes' and 'Costco' made McAfee's list of the top 50 most dangerous search terms.
What to do?
As always – keep your anti-virus protection up to date and ALWAYS turned on. Lately, we've found that many of these exploits (also known as drive-by downloads) are written specifically for Microsoft Internet Explorer v6. I strongly recommend updating to Internet Explorer v8 for better built in protection and/or simply using Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox as your browser of choice for surfing. As these two browsers are still the underdogs in the Internet browser wars, hackers haven't written as many exploits or malicious code to attack them.
Below is McAfee's list of the "50 riskiest search terms". Take a look - are you searching for any?
User Names and Passwords:
How to Manage the Keys to the Kingdom
Part Duex
Earlier this year, many of us were surprised to discover that several famous Twitter accounts were compromised, including President Obama's and Britney Spears'. Even more surprising was the simple trick used to gain access to these accounts: a simple password-guessing scheme. Like so many other emerging social networking sites, Twitter failed to provide even the simplest password-protection techniques, such as locking an account and resetting the session if multiple incorrect passwords are entered.
Why are we still discussing passwords in 2009?
I thought that by now we'd be using fingerprint scans, digital certificates, or retinal scans of some kind. Instead, we're still primarily using passwords, a secret combination of keyboard characters that uniquely identifies the user as that specific person. (At least, that's the theory behind passwords.)
Passwords
Password-guessing scripts became commonplace years ago. These scripts would attempt to log in to a account using a known ID and a word from a dictionary file as a potential password; tirelessly, patiently trying one word after another.
These scripts could pretty much guess any password eventually. So we humans became a little smarter and started substituting punctuation characters for letters. The word "password" became "p@$$w0rd" because that's not a dictionary word, right?
Soon, vast dictionaries of "script kiddies" passwords were available for download. As a secondary response to this threat, operating system and application vendors began increasing the length of acceptable passwords as the old systems of eight uppercase characters for passwords was too limiting. Additionally, some vendors decided to implement a system that would automatically lock the account after too many incorrect guesses, thereby rendering it useless to an attacker.
Is this enough?
Considering all these factors together, here's the password protection system:
•Longer passwords
•More complex passwords
•Account lockup after too many incorrect guesses
These controls made passwords reasonably secure, for a while.
Now that we connect to a world full of websites that implement security inconsistently, we all need to review website security carefully. You don't want to become (or remain) a member of a website that has weak security policies. To make matters worse, if you use the same or similar passwords on all websites, the website with the poorest password capabilities will force you to have a lowest-common-denominator password, significantly weakening your security across the Internet.
We advise you configure a different password for each site you join but even using different passwords can cause issues. If you have an email account on a system with poor password capabilities, that still weakens your security a great deal. How? Many websites send password-reset email to your registered email account. So if your email can be compromised, that email account could be used to receive password reset notices, for those accounts that have stronger password policies.
Before joining or remaining with an Internet site, review its password security practices and capabilities.
•Is the password sent over an encrypted connection? It does you little good to create an unguessable password if it will be sent across the Internet unencrypted. Find out whether encryption is used with the application.
•What is the password's minimum and maximum length? Beware of websites and applications that don't insist on a minimum length, or that declare a maximum password length in the single digits. I no longer recommend anything less than 12 characters – the more characters, the more secure your password.
•What characters does the site support? Is the password limited to uppercase or lowercase? Are punctuation characters allowed in the password? If not, these limitations may force you into using passwords that are more guessable than you want.
•Are the password-reset challenge questions predictable or easily researched? Once the challenge answers are guessed, what can the attacker do? Vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin's Yahoo! account was cracked because the hacker simply learned all he could about her. Thus, he was able to answer all of her challenge questions and then take control of her account.
Some Words Of CAUTION
Consider very carefully whether you should share so much of "you" with the Internet. In the old days, hackers were good at asking you to take surveys that would ask your children's names, favorite sports teams, and so on. Why? These were likely passwords. As you go online (and reveal every detail in your life), you allow people to guess your challenge-question answers, (or at least allow them to claim to be you when talking to Help Desk staff half a world away).
•Is the account locked if too many incorrect responses are given? Beware of assuming that this feature is implemented and that it will work. Many systems cannot implement a persistent counter, so hacker tools take two tries at your password and then skip to another account. When the tool returns to hacking your ID and password, will the system "remember" the past two incorrect guesses?
•What are the automated password-reset mechanics? Is the password reset info sent to an email account with weak password policies?
•Is the account lockout permanent or temporary? I've got good news and bad news for you. Good news: Your account is locked. Bad news: The lockout resets automatically after 20 seconds—enough time for the hackers script to work on three other accounts before trying your account again.
Passwords are very easy to break or guess, because people choose simplistic values. Even those applications with account lockout features often create breakable backdoors with ineffective challenge questions or weak temporary timeouts. So here's the bottom line… •Use complex passwords/passphrases whenever possible.
•Ensure that password-reset functionalities are configured to use your email account with the most secure password policies. Avoid using “free” email accounts – remember the old saying: you get what you pay for.
Here's additional information on Pass Phrase's from Wikipedia. This will be the next wave of security once websites and application programmers adapt their security procedure to accept them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passphrase
It's COMING For Us …. No, not the Blob – Windows 7
Yes… I realize this is a long post but there's lots of good information on everyone's BFF (sorry) Microsoft.
Microsoft announced on Friday, April 24th, that it will distribute the near-final "release candidate" version of Windows 7 beginning this week.
Subscribers to Microsoft's MSDN and TechNet developer programs will get the code on April 30, with plans to make it broadly available starting May 5. The May 5 date matches one that was in a note briefly posted on Microsoft's Web site.
Build 7100 of Windows 7, the version presumed to be the release candidate, has been making the rounds on file-sharing services for the past day or so. The software maker has reportedly given the build to some early testers, though it has declined to confirm that.
Near-Final Release Candidate?
The near-final release candidate version is expected to be the last public milestone before Microsoft finalizes the code for the new operating system. The software maker has refused to commit to launching the product before next January, but Microsoft has been aiming to get the product done so that it can find its way onto PCs sold during this year's holiday PC buying season.
This “release candidate” timing puts Microsoft within striking distance of a late June, early July release of gold code. Early summer delivery would give some OEMs just enough time to get Windows 7 in market for some back-to-school PCs.
Microsoft's Sales Are Hurting
T they need Windows 7's released sooner rather than later. A double whammy of falling PC sales (lower revenues)and rising netbook sales (lower margins) brought record Windows sales declines in Microsoft's fiscal third quarter, ending March 31.
Microsoft's revenue fell 16 percent to $3.14 billion and operating income declined by 19 percent to $2.51 billion. Windows 7 could give a badly needed boost to back-to-school PC sales and, of course, holiday 2009.
Friday Was A Big Announcement Day For Microsoft
Apparently money is so tight in Redmond, the software giant notified its workers that it is cancelling the annual summer picnic for the Seattle area workers.
Microsoft spokesman Lou Gellos said that the company made the move as part of its effort to pare its expenses and said workers were notified on Friday because this is around the time of year that the company typically sends out a reminder about the event.
Gellos also noted that the event has become a growing logistical challenge as Microsoft's Puget Sound workforce has grown. "It becomes a bigger and bigger issue every year," he said. The company now has about 41,000 workers in the region. The annual picnic was one of the few events that brought together the bulk of Microsoft's Puget Sound workforce, which is spread out over many different parts of the region, including Seattle, Bellevue, and Redmond.
Personally, I don't intend to lose any sleep over these numbers and cut backs, Microsoft is still in great financial shape – we should all be so well off.
One Final Note:
Microsoft is trying to make it easier to sway users of Windows XP onto the latest version of its operating system.
For some time now, Microsoft has been quietly building a "Windows XP mode" that uses virtualization to allow Windows 7 to easily run applications designed for Windows XP. According to sources familiar with the product, the application compatibility mode is built on the Virtual PC technology they acquired in 2003, when it scooped up Connectix.
By adding the compatibility mode, Microsoft is aiming to address one of the key shortcomings of Windows Vista: its compatibility issues with software designed for Windows XP and earlier versions of their operating systems.
Windows XP Mode
Details of the Windows XP mode, previously known as Virtual Windows XP, were first published earlier Friday by the Windows SuperSite blog. The technology has not been part of the beta version of Windows 7 or previously disclosed by Microsoft, but is expected to be released alongside the upcoming release candidate version.
According to the SuperSite report, written by bloggers Paul Thurrott and Rafael Rivera, the XP mode won't come in the box with Windows 7, but will be made available as a free download for those who buy the professional, enterprise, or "ultimate" versions of Windows 7. The site also has some screenshots of the mode in action .
Local Recycling Event Benefits Marshfield's Grad Nite Live!
Where: Furnace Brook Middle School When: Saturday, April 18, 9am to 1pm
Steve Beck has been holding these events since 2002, they have now raised $514,000 for non-profit, educational and community service organizations. Steve's events have become regular events at many local towns and are usually held twice per year. Agencies that have benefited include Thayer Public Library ($21,000), Dedham HS Music Program ($15,000), Norwell Science Center ($4,000), Martha's Vineyard Community Service center ($34,000) and a host of high school music, fine arts and girls athletic programs.
It's So Easy
Local residents can simply put their unwanted electronics into their vehicle and drive to the Marshfield Middle School, where workers will remove the items from their car. Hard drives are destroyed, some items are crushed and sold as construction filler and televisions and monitors are reburbished for resale all over the world. Here's the listing of what they'll take at this recycling event:
Grad Nite Live
Grad Nite Live benefits financially as all donations received are given to this worthy organization. In these troubled times, events such as this are necessary to fund important community groups like Grad Nite Live. http://www.GradNiteLive.com
For a Cash Donation of any size, folks can drop off the following items:
Computers
Monitors
Notebooks
DVD/VCR players
Turntables and stereo equipment (speakers, etc)
Printers
Faxes
Copiers
Air conditioners
Microwaves
Dehumidifiers
Cell phones (are donated to cell phones for soldiers)
Routers, hubs and networking equipment
PDA's
Televisions ($10-$20 each - price varies due to size). This is the only item for which there is a charge at this event. Note: This time around, they CANNOT take appliances, lawn mowers or diagnostic equipment.
This event also accepts donations of gently used clothing to benefit the Big Brother Big Sister foundation. There's no charge to drop off clothing and donors are asked to please put their donations into plastic bags.
Be as generous as you can with your cash donations and help Grad Nite Live continue their good work in our community.
Internet Explorer 8 Features Are Good But Do You Need To Switch?
I procrastinated for nearly two weeks before installing Microsoft's latest browser upgrade. To be totally transparent, I never installed IE7 on my production systems because, after much testing, I wasn't happy with it at all.
I'd been happily using IE6 and some competitor's products like Firefox and Chrome at both the office and at home, and old habits are hard to break. There's also the memory of an upgrade I did many years ago that broke my operating system causing me untold hours spent restoring files and other important information – did I mention I didn't have a backup?
In essence, all browsers have gotten so good at delivering the basics that I think there's reason to change. The frills are what sets each browser apart, but getting unique offerings in one usually means giving up features in another. However thrilling IE8's new offerings may be, I will still keep Firefox or Chrome installed on my machine.
Accelerators
Most notable in Microsoft's free browser are tools called Accelerators, which are designed to better mirror how people use the Web these days. Accelerators help you share content and blend services from various sites.
You can install Accelerators written by Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Facebook or any developer that wants to participate -- no one needs permission from Microsoft. Using a mapping Accelerator, I can simply right-click on an address to launch an online map from Microsoft, Yahoo or Google or with a dictionary Accelerator, I can right-click on a word to get the definition from Dictionary.com, Urban Dictionary or Microsoft's search engine. http://www.ieaddons.com/en/accelerators/
There are Accelerators for e-mail, news stories, currency conversions, eBay auctions, searching through Facebook friends and more. Microsoft's "Add-ons” Gallery shows more than 110 currently available and you can be sure the list will continue to grow. http://www.ieaddons.com/en/
Web Slices
IE8 also offers "Web Slices" to quickly alert users to updates on their eBay auctions, stock quotes, sports scores and other frequently viewed services. They appear on your favorites bar just like other bookmarks, but instead of static pages or text headlines, you get the latest photos and other goodies as well. http://www.ieaddons.com/en/webslices/
The new Microsoft browser also makes it easier to switch between search engines from the search box. And it offers a "private" mode during which IE8 doesn't store the addresses of sites you visit or keep the small advertising data files called cookies.
Firefox lets me quickly find information with an "Awesome Bar" that offers suggestions as I type, based not only on previously visited Web addresses but also the Web page's title, bookmarks and the descriptive tags I've added. Microsoft's new address bar is an improvement from previous versions but doesn't go as far.
And Google's Chrome, which has a private browsing mode similar to IE8's, lets me enter search queries and Web addresses from a single box, so I don't have to pause before typing to remind myself which one to use. I'm not ready to give up on any of that yet.
IE8 Tabs Feature
One other notable IE8 feature is grouped tabs. Let's say you're on the home page of a news site and want to read a story without losing your place. You can right-click and open that story in a new tab next to your current one showing the home page. That was possible before, but now related tabs are given a common color, so tabs opened from that news site might be assigned green, while ones from Facebook might be yellow.
Still Dominanting The Browser War
Internet Explorer is still the dominant browser, but Microsoft has been gradually losing share to Firefox and other rivals as these competitors innovate. As a result, Microsoft has had to come up with new ideas as well.
Users of Microsoft's IE7 browser might consider an upgrade. Some sites won't work with the new version, but it has an IE7 mode available for you to temporarily switch back. I upgraded from IE6 which allows me to use “compatibility mode” in case I encounter a website that doesn't work. Note: I haven't experienced this yet so I can't tell you how it works.
The Bottom Line
If you're not unhappy with the browser you're already using, I don't believe there's a compelling reason to abandon it unless you're still on IE6 as I was.
Let me know what you think – Did you upgrade? Are you planning to upgrade? What do you like and dislike about IE8. Post a message on my blog and keep the conversation going. http://actsmartblog.goamerican.com
Time Is Running Out - XP Users Face Tough Call. Upgrade or Wait - what's a person to do?
Planning to save a few bucks by holding onto your Windows XP desktop and Office 2003? You'd better consider your support options, because Microsoft has confirmed it's ending mainstream support for Office 2003, Exchange 2003 and XP on April 14 th .
When mainstream support ends, so will bug fixes and service packs for that software. Microsoft will provide security updates until 2014, but only if it deems the flaw to be critical.
Customers can buy a premier support program and an extended support agreement separately for each product directly from Microsoft. I couldn't find pricing on these options but Iyou can bet it will cost far more than most of us would be willing to pay.
Microsoft's decision to end mainstream support has angered some, who see the move as an attempt to force upgrades to inferior products. Windows Vista - with its compatibility issues and cumbersome user access controls - has been a nonstarter for most businesses. Office 2007's sweeping user interface changes have confounded some users and caused much confusion with the new .docx format and the inability of Office 2003 users to open files created with Office 2007.
Windows 7, the successor to Vista, is expected to arrive late this year or early 2010. Steve Ballmer has said Windows 7 with be "the best version of Windows ever," built for simplicity, reliability and speed. (Didn't they say that about Vista just a few short years ago?) Windows 7 promises to boot more quickly, allow longer battery life on Laptops and require fewer alerts.
Just a week ago, Ballmer said Windows 7 will be available for Netbooks also, those low cost, mini laptops with limited features on which XP and Linux are the dominate operating systems today.
It's projected that Microsoft will finalize the code for Windows 7, now in beta, by June or July and, although it won't be here this year, the next version of Office, code-named Office 14, should come our early next year (2010).
Officially, Microsoft has said only that it will have Windows 7 on the market by next January, the three-year anniversary of Windows Vista's mainstream launch. However, the company has been aiming to have it out in time to be on PCs that ship during this year's holiday shopping season.
Financial analysts are saying that the release of Windows 7 will allow Microsoft to earn $1.5 billion in additional revenue, with nearly $1 billion coming from the upgrade market and as much as $680 million possible if Microsoft is able to increase the number of premium versions of Windows being used on Netbooks.
You've probably seen the Superbowl TV commercial starring Alec Baldwin - alien spokesperson for Hulu.com. Alec explains that Hulu beams TV programming to portable computing devices for free, giving humans MORE "brain softening" TV content in their quest to take over our minds. Tag line: Hulu - an evil plot to destroy the world - Enjoy.
Well, Hulu will be celebrating its 1st anniversary on March 12 and some industry folks think this web service will surpass YouTube for unique views in their second year online.
Just a few reasons to visit Hulu.com
Missed the last episode of Burn Notice or 30 Rock? Don't suffer any longer - they're available online.
How about the Oscar winner - The Times Of Harvey Milk - playing now and it's free.
OR watch your favorite late night talk show during the day and get more sleep.
So what is Hulu.com?
Hulu is a website that offers commercial-supported streaming video of TV shows and movies from NBC, Fox and many other networks and studios. Hulu videos are currently available only to users in the United States.
Hulu provides video in Flash Video format, including many films and shows that are available in 480p. In addition, some TV shows and movies are now offered in high-definition. Hulu also provides web syndication services for other websites including AOL, MSN, MySpace, Yahoo! and Comcast's Fancast.com.
Hulu is a joint venture of NBC Universal and News Corp, with funding by Providence Equity Partners, which made a $100 million equity investment and holds a 10% stake. One of Hulu's primary competitors in the streaming TV / professional video market is Joost.
For its one-year anniversary, Hulu's pulled our favorite videos in 10 different categories to let you decide the best moments in Hulu, from political spoofs and classic "Family Guy" moments to a few products that are too good to be true, and a whole lot more. Viewers will be able to cast their votes until March 11; winners will be announced on Hulu's one-year anniversary, March 12.
If you haven't seen Hulu yet, you'll be impressed by the playback speed and clarity of the videos and movies available. In my opinion, this is the service provider to watch with Joost a distant second. Yes - you may be subjected to some commercials and advertisements, but as long as the advertisers are the ones footing the bill for the service, I can put up with it. Now for a really killer app, what we need is a remote to let us "speed through" the commercials.
Is FREE Remote Access A Viable Alternative?
Last week we looked at Free email accounts and concluded you get what you pay for. This week, let's talk about some Free remote access applications that seem to do the same as the "pay as you go" application - GoToMyPC - and in some instances, even more.
GoToMyPC Install GoToMyPC on your work PC, and no matter how far you are from the office, access to your essential apps and files is as close as the nearest Web browser. It's simple to set up, and it offers 128-bit encryption to keep both machines secure.
The monthly fee makes it expensive to use over time, however, and the host software won't run on a Mac. One of these free alternatives is worth a try. The only thing you risk losing is a recurring monthly charge to your credit card.
• Setup and ease of use rival the pay for version of GoToMyPC
• Access to all files and programs via Web browser
• 256-bit encryption
LogMeIn Free is a boon for PC users looking to access a single PC while they're out of the office or away from home. While it won't actually let you transfer files, you can e-mail them via the host PC or use a free file-sharing service to transfer large files.
Upload the file from your host PC to the file-sharing site, click a link on the PC you're using, and files up to 500MB will download to the computer you're currently using. An OS X version is available for Mac users. Install it on an OS X machine, and you'll be able to control your Mac from the Web even if you're on a PC and the built-in 256-bit encryption puts GoToMyPC to shame.
TeamViewer lets users access their desktops remotely, run programs, and transfer files between computers. For private, noncommercial use, it's 100 percent free and secures sessions with 256-bit encryption. While you will have to launch a program to gain access to your PC remotely, the file is available from the front page of the TeamViewer site; it's less than 2MB and runs as a simple executable, so there's nothing to install. This app is also available in an OS X-friendly version for Mac users.
If you're looking for a free file-sharing application, sign up at Driveway.com - These folks provide up to 2 GB of storage with their Free account which makes transferring files between computers a snap. http://www.driveway.com
FREE Email Accounts? You get what you pay for!
We've all been told there is no such thing as a free lunch; yet it's hard to resist the call of "FREE." That's one of the reasons so many people have free e-mail accounts through Hotmail, MSN, and Gmail.
And while you might not be paying out of pocket for these services, there IS a cost. Here's the price you pay when you use a free e-mail account:
An Extra Helping Of Spam: And loads of it. Are these free services selling your e-mail account? Do spammers have ways of gleaning your e-mail account? No one seems to know for sure (or at least they're not talking). But the bottom line is you'll end up with a lot more ads for Viagra than you bargained for.
Your E-mails Aren't Guaranteed Delivery: The majority of spam messages come from free e-mail accounts. Even though you aren't sending them, spam filters look at the server sending the message and, if it's a known source for spam, will block the e-mail from going through. That means your e-mails might be getting blocked before they even reach the sender.
Customer Service? Non-existent: See you DO get what you pay for! If you have a problem, you're usually on your own to figure it out.
Difficulty In Moving, Forwarding, or Downloading: Free e-mail services require that you read your e-mail through their web interface. If you want to move, forward or download your e-mail, contacts or other information, the process is cumbersome and sometimes impossible.
No Archiving: E-mail archiving, or storing old e-mails in a searchable, retrievable format has become very important (even a legal requirement) in some industries like medical and financial. E-mail is considered a form of communication and if you use it to support customers, order products, or to negotiate any type of deals, you want to keep a record.
So while these free services are okay for chatting casually with your friends, they are NOT recommended for business purposes or for sending anything you consider important.
Here's a question to ask yourself: if your e-mail account was erased tomorrow and all of the messages, contact information, and history went bye-bye, would it be a slight inconvenience or a catastrophe? If it's the latter, then you need to bite the bullet and get a "real" e-mail account. And, while you're at it, you should also get an account that reflects your own domain name.
The only reason for keeping a free e-mail account is to provide certain web sites with an e-mail address when you don't care about getting communications from them, or that may spam you later on. If you have your email configured through your own domain, we've even got a solution for that - disposable email addresses -but that's a topic for another article.
Why Your Laptop Needs An "Instant Kill" Switch
It's lunch time and you stop by your favorite café to check e-mail and grab a bite to eat. You settle in at a table when your pickup number is called. Returning to your table, you find your laptop and appetite-has disappeared!
Okay, maybe you're not foolish enough to leave your laptop unattended in a public place, but one of your employees might think it's okay to leave a laptop or PDA in their car, a hotel room, or in their gym bag and end up exposing your company's data and network to thieves.
If it hasn't happened to you or someone you know, according to the FBI, it will. Sure you have a backup of the data, but now detailed information about you, your family, your business and your clients is in the hands of a criminal intent on stealing your money, identity or worse. There is a lot of software and hardware that protects your data from being stolen by online criminals, but how do you protect your data when someone steals your physical laptop or PDA?
Until now, your only recourse was to change the passwords to your network, financial websites, etc., watch your credit report and cross your fingers hoping for the best. But thanks to new security software, you can instantly erase all of the data on your laptop or PDA preventing thieves from accessing the data.
Here's how it works: Special security software is installed on your laptop that checks for your "kill" command whenever it connects to the Internet. This happens even before Windows prompts for the user name and password. If it receives the "kill" message, the data on your computer is instantly destroyed. You may not get your laptop back, but you'll prevent the thief from stealing the information it contains.
Over the years, we have had a few clients experience lost or stolen laptops and PDA's. In some cases, there was real concern about the data that was on those systems.
We have been researching and evaluating the various technologies that are available to provide this level of protection and we've selected GadgetTrak ProActive Security as our recommended technology. GadgetTrak supports PC's, Mac's, Smart Phones, PDA's, iPhones and USB devices like USB keys, iPods, Cameras and more.
If your PDA is stolen, you simply text a message to it that includes your password and the PDA is reset it to its blank factory default condition. What could be easier?
As with all theft and hacker deterrents, thieves can circumvent this software by downloading your data before connecting the device to the Internet. Surprisingly, the typical thief isn't smart enough to know this. So, for absolute security, data encryption still remains the most reliable form of protection. Encrypted data is unreadable to thieves unless they have your encryption key. There are pros and cons to both approaches, but it's important for you to have SOME protection. For help in determining the best solution for you and your business, give us a call @ 781-834-9208.
A new digital plague has hit the Internet, infecting millions of personal and business computers in what seems to be the first step of a multistage attack. Leading computer security experts do not yet know who programmed the infection, or what the next stage will be.
In recent weeks a worm, a malicious software program, has swept through corporate, educational and public computer networks around the world. Known as Conficker or Downadup, it is spread by a recently discovered Microsoft Windows Vulnerability, by guessing network passwords and by hand-carried consumer gadgets like USB keys.
Experts say it is the worst infection since the Slammer worm sped through the Internet in January 2003, and it's estimated to have infected as many as ten million personal computers around the world and it's still growing.
Worms like Conficker not only ricochet around the Internet at lightning speed, they harness infected computers into unified systems called botnets, which can then accept programming instructions from their clandestine masters. "If you're looking for a digital Pearl Harbor, we now have the Japanese ships steaming toward us on the horizon," said Rick Wesson, chief executive of Support Intelligence, a computer security consulting firm based in San Francisco.
Many computer users may not notice that their machines have been infected, and computer security researchers said they were waiting for the instructions to materialize, to determine what impact the botnet will have on PC users. It might operate in the background, using the infected computer to send spam or infect other computers, or it might steal the PC user's personal information.
"I don't know why people aren't more afraid of these programs. This is like having a mole in your organization that can do things like send out any information it finds on machines it infects."
Microsoft rushed an emergency patch to defend the Windows operating systems against this vulnerability back on October 23rd, 2008, yet the worm has continued to spread even as the level of warnings has grown in recent weeks.
Earlier this week, security researchers at Qualys, a Silicon Valley security firm, estimated that about 30 percent of Windows-based computers attached to the Internet remain vulnerable to infection because they have not been updated with the patch, despite the fact that it was made available in October.
Security researchers said the success of Conficker was due in part to lax security practices by both companies and individuals, who frequently do not immediately install updates.
And as usual, Microsoft executives defended the company's security update service, saying there is no single solution to the malware problem.
Alfred Huger, vice president of development at Symantec's security response division, said, "This is a really well-written worm." He said security companies were still racing to try to unlock all of its secrets.
Unraveling this particular program has been particularly challenging because it comes with encryption mechanisms that hide its internal workings from those seeking to disable it.
Most security firms have updated their programs to detect and eradicate the software, and a variety of companies offer specialized software programs for detecting and removing it.
The program uses an elaborate shell-game-style technique to permit someone to command it remotely. Each day it generates a new list of 250 domain names. Instructions from any one of these domain names would be obeyed. To control the botnet, an attacker would need only to register a single domain to send instructions to the botnet globally, greatly complicating the task of law enforcement and security companies trying to intervene and block the activation of the botnet.
Computer security researchers expect that within days or weeks the bot-herder who controls the programs will send out commands to force the botnet to perform some as yet unknown illegal activity.
Based on information found on the web, several computer security firms said that although Conficker appeared to have been written from scratch, it had parallels to the work of a suspected Eastern European criminal gang that has profited by sending programs known as "scareware" to personal computers that seem to warn users of an infection and ask for credit card numbers to pay for bogus antivirus software that actually further infects their computer.
One intriguing clue left by the malware authors is that the first version of the program checked to see if the computer had a Ukrainian keyboard layout. If it found it had such a keyboard, it would not infect the machine. This fact could point to the origin of the worm and help investigators round up those responsible.
What to do? Computer users are advised to ensure their antivirus software, operating system and firewall are up to date, and install a Microsoft patch to combat the problem, MS08-067, which is available from its website. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS08-067.mspx
Microsoft's Silverlight To Stream Obama's Inauguration
Microsoft's Silverlight technology has been chosen to stream U.S. President-elect Barack Obama's swearing-in ceremony live on the Presidential Inaugural Committee's Web site , Microsoft said last Friday.
Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden are due to be sworn in and deliver inauguration speeches Tuesday January 20 th in Washington, D.C. Both events will be streamed live on the PIC site using Silverlight, a cross-browser technology for delivering live and on-demand video over the Web.
The PIC will also stream video of an event with Obama and Biden in Baltimore on Saturday as part of their "Whistle Stop Tour," which will take them from Philadelphia to Washington for the inaugural ceremony and celebrations.
The inaugural event is the latest high-profile use of Silverlight, which was first released in April 2007 as a rival to Adobe Flash. The technology comprises a tool for developing and designing Internet applications and a media player for delivering content.
It wasn't until the release of Silverlight 2 in October, however, that the technology became a viable alternative to Flash for building rich Internet applications.
While Silverlight 2 was in beta in August, the 2008 Democratic National Convention Committee used it to stream proceedings from the convention, including Obama's acceptance speech to more than 80,000 people at an outdoor stadium in Denver.
Microsoft also teamed up with U.S. television network NBC that month to deliver thousands of hours of both live and on-demand coverage from the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
This is the 3 rd high profile win for Silverlight. If you don't already have Silverlight installed just click the following link and you'll be able to watch all the festivities.
Bad news for Mac, Linux or FreeBSD users - there's no compatible application available for these systems so I guess you'll just have to watch this history making event the old fashioned way - on TV
Windows 7 for $0? That might just make up for Vista -NOT!
So, you bought a PC with Vista, and maybe you don't like it so much, and you're thinking that you spent a bunch of money for not much in return. Well, you'd be wrong -- because you didn't just buy Vista. You also bought Windows 7. Maybe.
Apparently, Microsoft might be preparing to give free upgrades from Vista to Windows 7. At the time of writing this, we're still not sure whether that's true. But according to a Web site that actually manages to get things right occasionally, Microsoft is going to (with restrictions, of course) give Vista buyers a free pass to the next level.
Now, for those of us who are mainly concerned with the enterprise, Redmond's little gesture, should it actually come to pass, is pretty irrelevant, in large part because not many enterprises bothered to buy into Vista in the first place. Beyond that, this is, or would be, clearly a consumer-focused effort aimed at burying the mostly lousy legacy of Vista. We have no idea at this point how or whether the free upgrades would work with volume licensing -- but, again, unless we're talking upgrades from XP here, a lot of companies won't care.
What interests us here is Microsoft's attitude toward Vista in particular and Windows in general. As recently as July, Steve Ballmer was banging on at the Worldwide Partner Conference about how Microsoft wasn't giving up on Vista and how partners should continue to push the operating system. There were even pro-Vista sessions with partners and IT folks at the conference.
And now this upgrade program comes along -- Microsoft won't -- can't -- admit that Vista, despite all its hype, was pretty much a dog in many users' eyes. So instead of just saying that it was a bust, Redmond is trying to move us all along...nothing to see here...to Windows 7.
Of course, with 90-plus percent market share, the Windows franchise isn't exactly crumbling. And it probably won't for a while, until Software-as-a-Service becomes the norm and the operating system becomes mostly irrelevant, anyway.
How excited are you about Windows 7? What do you want from it? Will you ever give up XP? Let us know - send your thoughts to me David@GoAmerican.com. I can't promise you a free upgrade but I can promise you'll feel better getting it (what ever it is) off your chest.
Part 2: Microsoft Blocks XP-to-Windows 7 Beta Upgrades
The version of Windows 7 Beta 1 that Microsoft made available for download on its Technet site last Thursday does not support upgrades from systems running its Windows XP operating system. It does, however, permit upgrades from Vista SP1 to Windows 7.
A Microsoft spokesman said that no final decisions have yet been made about what will be included or not included in the generally available version of Windows 7, but that the company as a practice advises only clean installations of operating systems during the beta phase anyway.
"We've just been telling people like we always do, conduct a clean install. That's the safest bet anyway," the spokesman said. "It shouldn't be too much of a surprise."
For now, the beta version of Windows 7 only permits upgrades from Vista SP1 -- meaning there is at the moment no way to test or evaluate a straight XP-to-Windows 7 migration.
Microsoft announced late Wednesday night in Las Vegas that it was making its first beta version of its next generation desktop OS available via Technet and MSDN, and CEO Steve Ballmer said the general public would have access to the beta -- for free-- as of Friday. The beta will work through August of this year, giving virtually the entire market an opportunity to play around with it and evaluate Windows 7 before they have to pay for it.
Let me "make one thing perfectly clear" I DO NOT advise anyone download and install Windows 7 on a production machine. If you insist on testing this operating system do so on a machine you are willing to loose all the data on. BETA software is famous for being unstable - that's because the BETA versions are released to the public so we - the people - can test it, crash and report the problems to Microsoft.
A note of caution: The initial upgrade to Windows 7 takes about 1 and 1/2 hours. If you attempt to upgrade a Vista PC and you haven't yet installed SP 1 and all essential updates from Microsoft, the process could take an additional two hours or more.
More testing on Windows 7 will be needed to evaluate its security, network management and support for more applications and drivers. It remains to be seen, however, how the market will respond if Microsoft continues to deny an upgrade path from XP to Windows 7
This question is one of the more common ones we've fielded over the years and the answer is: Yes and No!
Much like any “insurance” policy, you only get value from it if you have to use it, so understanding what the exposure risks are for what you are buying before you make your decision is very helpful. For instance, most desktop computers (with the exception of the non-standard, all-in-one units or those built by Apple) use common parts that are readily available and very competitively priced from hundreds of sources.
Many of the individual parts in a standard desktop computer can be replaced for less than most desktop computer extended warranties (especially if you are comfortable swapping parts yourself). In most cases, unless you have multiple failures during the warranty period, you may not recoup the cost of the extended warranty.
When it comes to laptop computers, the scenario is quite different. Virtually every laptop made is a proprietary design, so you have only one source for most replacement parts; the original manufacturer. The laws of supply and demand are in full effect with laptops which causes most replacement parts for a laptop to be higher than most extended warranties (especially when it comes to the screen or motherboard).
There are several different types of warranties that you can buy for a laptop, including some that are called “no fault” which means even if you drop it (which is very common), you're covered. Once again, you must weigh the cost of the coverage with the potential odds that you will need the coverage.
Road warriors and college students that are constantly lugging their portable computers around have a much higher likelihood of experiencing a “catastrophic" event that could render their laptop useless, so this coverage may make sense. For those that mainly use their laptop around the house and on the occasional family vacation, your exposure to the additional risks are lessened, therefore it may be a closer call.
The bottom line is to make sure you understand what is covered and what is not. The exclamation of “but I thought my extended warranty covered that” is all too common because the purchaser did not look at the exclusions before making the decision.
In computers especially, the vast majority of service issues have nothing to do with the hardware, which is generally the only thing that is covered by many extended warranties. Common problems like virus and spyware infections, operating system corruption, miscommunication of devices or inability to get something to function the way you expected it to are expressly not covered by the extended warranty.
Understanding that all “insurance” products must make the supplier a profit or they wouldn’t do it, you can bet that the “house” has the advantage when it comes to extended warranties (just ask any employee that has ever worked at any of those big box electronics stores).
If you ever get the chance to chat with an individual whose responsibility it is to process extended warranty claims in the computer world, you will likely hear that more claims are denied than approved, mainly because the purchaser of the warranty didn’t really understand what they bought. A final piece of advice:don’t take any salesman’s word on what is covered and excluded by an extended warranty. Get it in writing and review it in detail before making a decision. Rarely is the person that is selling you the warranty the same person that is responsible for processing it. Unfortunately, by the time you figure out that the warranty wasn’t quite what you thought it was, it is too late for you so "buyer beware"!
Norad has been successfully tracking Santa for 52 years now – with 2008 being 53.
First, it may help to know what NORAD stands for. NORAD is an abbreviation for the North American Air Defense Command, which was known as CONAD, or the Continental Air Defense Command, until the late 1950s. In 1958, the United States and Canada joined forces to form NORAD in order to warn and defend the continent more effectively in the case of an attack. The North American Air Defense Command watches the airways for intrusions such as planes or missiles and warns if any unrecognized object should enter protected airways and more recently, waterways as well.
So, why does such an important entity like NORAD track Santa Claus? That also started back in the 1950s and came about because of a simple mistake. In 1955, a Sears store, at the time known as Sears Roebuck and Company, placed Christmas advertising that included a phone number where children could call and reach Santa Claus. The only problem was that the phone number was printed incorrectly.
As excited children began dialing on Christmas Eve, they reached CONAD, instead of Santa. The Colonel in charge recognized what had occurred, and in an act of kindness, had his team check the radar to see where Santa might be. Children were told of his speculated location when they called.
Tracking Santa became a Christmas Eve custom after that. When CONAD became NORAD, the custom was passed along and is still in practice today. Information about Santa is now available in six different languages and children and their families can track Santa by calling or by viewing the NORAD website. The NORAD site also has a countdown that shows exactly how long it will be until Santa leaves the North Pole which includes the days, the hours, the minutes, and even the seconds. Children can learn the very second Santa begins his journey, and track his progress toward their locations.
Track Santa in 3D
With the help of Google Earth (a Free download) this year folks can track Santa in 3D.
Then, return to this linked page on Dec. 24th and click on the red button that will appear in the middle of the page to download the special Santa Tracking file. Once you've downloaded both the application and the special file, you'll be able to track Santa in Google Earth!
For those “Grinch' type folks who might be concerned about this use of taxpayer's dollars, remember that much of this effort is simply an exercise in creativity and imagination. In addition, NORAD states that people from both the United States and Canada work voluntarily to help track Santa Claus. If you would like to learn more about this Christmas Eve tradition, or if you would like to follow Santa's progress, please visit the NORAD website for more information.
Between Nov. 17 and Dec. 31, 2007 the NORAD Tracks Santa Web site, received 907,958,865 hits from 210 countries and territories around the world.
NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center The NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center (NTSOC) opens on December 24th at 6:00am EST (5:00am CST, 4:00am MST, and 3:00am PST) until 5:00am EST (4:00am CST, 3:00am MST, and 2:00am PST) on December 25, Christmas Day!
Located at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the NTSOC receives up-to-the-minute status reports from our radar, satellites, and Santa cams on Christmas Eve. They are standing by to update you on Santa's current location!
Call or Email the NORAD Tracks Santa Operations Center for Santa's current location!
Call:
1 (877) HI NORAD (1 877 446-6723)
From Colorado Springs or overseas: 1 (719) 556-5211 (Cost may be incurred)
Hearing Impaired should contact their service provider.
From the entire ACTSmart team, Merry Christmas to all and to Santa, good flight!
Getting A New Computer For Christmas?
What's with all the "stuff" already installed?????
There’s nothing quite like unboxing a new computer. The anticipation of a speedy new processor, a fresh and clean Windows installation and a big roomy hard drive!
But, the reality is - the last time I got a new computer, there were more than a dozen shortcuts on the desktop. They were all for trial programs and services that I didn't want or ever plan to use.
There was so much to do to get the computer ready for use. I had to install all my everyday software and move my data to the new system. Then I had to configure my security options, paswords and so forth. I didn’t have time to remove all the junk installed by the manufacturer. So what did I do? I used PC Decrapifier.
This free program removes many common trial programs and offers. You’ll be amazed at the list of the stuff it removes! It got rid of the junk quickly and easily.
PC Decrapifier won’t take care of everything, but it is a great place to start. The newest version, v2.0.0, was just released a few months and it's now a faster and more stable application than the previous version. http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/download
For the "rest" of the stuff there's - Easy Uninstaller
Easy uninstaller is a fast, advanced, powerful, and easy to use replacement for the slow, and user unfriendly windows Add/Remove control panel applet.
Apart from providing you with a view advantage over default windows Add/Remove applet, it displays the additional information with clickable URLs (if available). In addition, it allows you to perform multiple uninstalls in a row - just check all the software that you want to remove and the program will automatically launch the next uninstaller after the previous has finished. This really comes in handy if you're the type that downloads a lot of software from the Internet or install programs from those monthly CD's that come with PC magazines. These actions leave you with a lot of unneeded software that you tried out and now want to clean up.
Easy Uninstaller also offers an option to backup your uninstall list, and to remove items from the list, if they are corrupt.
The programs main features:
(1). 5-10 times faster than windows Add/Remove Programs applet
(2). Provides function like Uninstall list Backup Manager and Obsolete key deletion.
(3). Displays detailed information of the application.
(4). Has a very pleasant, easy to use user-interface.
(5). Select many applications and uninstall them in one go (One after another), very handy for cleaning your computer from unwanted applications. http://www.freewareplaza.com/downloads/easy-uninsataller/free-software-easy-uninstaller.html
Now that all the "crap" is cleaned up - have fun with that brand new PC. Happy Holidays!
Remote Help For You And Your Computer
With the holidays just around the corner and many family members intending to upgrade their computer system, it's time once again to talk about remote assistance.
One of the current highly rated options is from a consumer Internet company named CrossLoop. They have a free and easy-to-use software application for desktop sharing that empowers folks to help other computer users anywhere in the world.
CrossLoop connects computer users with trusted, qualified service providers and friends who can provide the support they need quickly and conveniently.
CrossLoop opens up a whole new world of collaborative possibilities. People of any level of technical expertise can now remotely collaborate with others over the Internet. Many of the problems and frustrations associated with using computers can be solved if those who have the answer to a PC problem can quickly link to those who have the problem.
Although most of us embrace technology in our lives, there is a technology paradox – along with tremendous benefit comes a high cost… we all get stuck from time to time and lose productivity. For some, it might be a date with the blue screen of death; for others it’s a need to eliminate the unlimited number of browser pop-ups that show up without an appointment. Have you ever found yourself in need of help with nowhere to turn? Have you ever spent hours on hold with a computer manufacturer only to realize they can’t solve the problem? We have.
CrossLoop believes everybody helps and their vision embraces the philosophy that there is always someone with deep expertise in a particular area of focus – this is true in life as well as with technology.
For example, a person who is excellent with optimizing the speed of a computer might need help with photo editing tools or someone with expertise in software development may need help with online marketing. Everyone should be able to find a trusted source for expertise they need. Those who have the expertise to make a difference should be able to easily share their knowledge and be recognized.
Inherently, there is tremendous potential for knowledge to be transferred – a grandparent who has been taught how to edit and post videos online should be able to take that knowledge to a peer. With CrossLoop, you can teach someone (or even a class) remotely. CrossLoop shrinks distances – between countries and between those who have and do not have expertise.
CrossLoop's very popular and easy-to-use desktop sharing technology simplifies working securely with others in different physical locations across diverse network environments. Combined with the Help Marketplace, a community of more than 13,000 technology experts in over 130 countries, CrossLoop brings personal relationships back to tech support and helps with virtually any technology issue. Technology experts in the Help Marketplace have a wide range of expertise, including hardware support, software and applications support and training, and have logged more than 65 million help minutes to date (equivalent to 120 years of connectivity amongst users).
There's also an opportunity for technically savvy individuals to make some extra cash with Crossloops "Help Marketplace". "Help Marketplace" is the online portal where low-cost, qualified technical help is immediately available.
CrossLoop Launches Transaction System for Tech Support Help Marketplace.
On November 18th, 2008, CrossLoop launched a new payment system. This empowers technology experts in its Help Marketplace to more effectively provide computer support and training to consumers and small businesses. It comes with a 48-hour money back guarantee to ensure customer satisfaction. Additionally, the new transaction system simplifies payment processing for CrossLoop Helpers and customers by accepting any major credit card and PayPal, while tracking each tech support interaction.
CrossLoop is available in 21 languages and is used by individuals and businesses in over 150 countries for technical support, training and collaboration.
So if you need to lend a technical hand to Aunty Annette or Grampy Roy, CrossLoop should be all the software you need. If you're interested in doing a little moonlighting and have some technical knowledge you would like to share with others, sign up and get involved with the "Help Marketplace".
Setup a free account and give it a try. You can't beat the price!
Microsoft to offer Free “Morro” Anti-Virus/Malware/Spyware Solution and Discontinue Windows Live OneCare
Still busy looking for free anti-virus, anti-malware or anti-spyware security protection product? Most Windows users will not have such a worry by the second half of 2009, as Microsoft has announced plans to offer a no-cost consumer security offering to “address the growing need for a PC security solution tailored to the demands of emerging markets, smaller PC form factors and rapid increases in the incidence of malware”.
The new security offering, code-named “Morro” will feature a streamlined solution with a smaller footprint that focuses on core anti-malware protection and will provide comprehensive protection from malware including viruses, spyware, rootkits and trojans, according to Microsoft press release. The security product won’t provide additional non-security features or advanced functions that comes with commercial consumer security suites from other third-party vendors with the possible exception of a firewall.
“Morro” will be built from the existing anti-malware technology that fuels the company’s current line of security products, Windows Live OneCare. As such, Microsoft also announced that it will discontinue Windows Live OneCare on June 30, 2009, although paid subscription users can continue to receive up-to-date virus signatures throughout the whole subscription period, as explained in Windows Live OneCare blog. The freeware “Morro” will be available as a stand-alone free download and support Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 operating systems.
Microsoft: Morro Won't Compete With Symantec, McAfee?
Microsoft says it will not compete with security companies like Symantec (NSDQ:SYMC) or McAfee, despite its announced plans to discontinue sales of its subscription-based security service and instead offer free security software for users to download. Microsoft's free download, which the company is calling "Morro," is designed to defend consumers' PCs against malware, such as viruses, spyware and Trojans.
Following Microsoft's announcement, Symantec and McAfee stocks took a nosedive over concerns that the software giant would take a significant portion of their market share in the PC security space. Symantec shares fell 9.44 percent to $11.23, while McAfee's dropped 6.62 percent to $26.68. However, Microsoft also fell 6 percent at $18.45. The stock market is still a mess so I don't put much stock in these numbers. Let's look at them again as we near the June 30th, 2009 time table.
Some security companies maintain that Microsoft's announcement is a sign of capitulation and an attempt to edge into a market dominated by established security vendors. McAfee said that OneCare, Microsoft's consumer online security solution, captured less than 2 percent of the market since it was released two years ago, according to Reuters. Microsoft, however, contends that it is not undermining either Symantec's nor McAfee's marketshare due to the fact that its new free download only provides protection against malware -- a term referring mainly to online threats such as Trojans, spyware and other forms of malicious code.
Meanwhile, Symantec, McAfee and other large security companies offer comprehensive suites and high-end point products that include an array of security features such as encryption, data loss prevention, firewalls and parental controls.
Although the free Morro download will be available to anyone, McAfee said that Microsoft will be going after emerging markets, such as Brazil and other countries that require increased IT security infrastructure but whose residents often lack financial resources to buy and install security software.
"This product is really focused on the 50 to 60 percent (of PC users) who don't have, or won't pay for, antivirus protection, antimalware protection," said Amy Barzdukas, senior director of product management for Microsoft's Online Services and Windows Division.
Microsoft Launches First U.S. Store
Last Thursday, amid the souring economy, Microsoft opened its first online store in the U.S., selling all of its products at a one-stop-shop. Customers will be able to buy and download products via Electronic Software Distribution (ESD) and can also get direct shipments.
With the launch, U.S. customers can buy first-party software and hardware directly from the company via an online catalog. Products include software, devices and hardware, such as Office 2007, Vista, Visual 2008, Windows Server 2008, Xbox 360 consoles and accessories and the new Zune.
In a Microsoft blog, Trevin Chow, senior program manager, said customers will be able to pay for ESD product the same as they would for ones that would be physically shipped. Chow said that the difference is that after payments are confirmed, customers can immediately download products and install them right away. There's no longer any need to pay shipping costs and waiting for a delivery to your home or office.
In an effort to alleviate concerns that customers may have about not having the software on physical media to reinstall the product at a later time. The store will let users re-download products until mainstream support for the product ends, which is typically five years after the product is released. Customers will always have the option of copying downloaded products to physical media on their own if they want to have it available longer than the mainstream support lifetime.
One major advantage of buying via ESD from the Microsoft Store is that it gives customers the advantage of having perpetual storage of their product keys. Product keys are stored in a Microsoft Store Account alongside a purchase history so they can be recalled and used to re-install software at any time.
The store can be considered a green initiative and better for the environment. Microsoft wants us to think about all the savings of gasoline in shipping products, driving back and forth in your car to a retail store, or even the plastic manufactured and used for the CD jewel cases.
This isn't a first for Microsoft as stores are already available in the U.K., Germany and Korea. Launches in Japan, France, Spain and the Netherlands are expected in the near future, and more countries will be added throughout the year.
Many VAR's and software retailers are concerned that Microsoft's foray into retail sales will negatively affect their business. In a recent interview, Allison Watson, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Group, made no mention of the Microsoft Store and said that there were plenty of opportunities for VARs to grow, as long as they stay focused on projects that improve energy efficiency, boost productivity and drive down costs. "We are committed to working with our partners to help customers realize maximum value and efficiencies from their IT investments in this tough economic climate," she said. I think the committment is to Microsoft's bottom line and let the partners chips fall where they may.
YouTube began building its full-length streaming movie stronghold today, announcing a partnership between the Google-owned company and MGM Studios.
Late last week rumors flew about when and which movie studios would start offering content on the video Website. MGM Studios was the first on board with ten-year-old episodes of "American Gladiators" and a baby-sized handful of films, including "Legally Blonde" and "Bulletproof Monk."
Though the announcement is exciting in that more studios are likely to come fast on MGM's heels, the initial offerings are less than enticing; in fact, they're depressing.
The big unaddressed issue? Quality of the videos.
YouTube's main competitor for streaming movies, Hulu, has a history of posting quality content via exclusive partnerships. While YouTube may grab some hot tickets as time goes on, the implementation will be little more than worthless if the streaming quality on YouTube does not increase exponentially. (Maybe MGM is trying ensure we keep buying DVDs).
MGM co-president Jim Packer seems to agree. Packer told the New York Times that MGM is starting out slowly with YouTube, but doesn't feel it is the platform to have a vast catalog. "I feel much more comfortable doing that on a site like Hulu," Packer said.
It's not a good sign when MGM itself doesn't sound psyched. If you haven't checked out Hulu.com you're missing the boat on Internet Video. Give it a shot and let me know what you think. http://www.hulu.com
Windows XP Problem Solving
The June 30 date for Windows XP "end of life" has come and gone, and Microsoft has officially placed Windows XP on the long road to retirement. Support for the most widely used operating system in the world will still be available for some time, but there are signs that the software giant is forging ahead deeper into an all .Net model, while scrapping the Win32 code altogether-even in legacy mode. Windows 7 might just be that turning point.
With the fundamental shift in the way its desktop operating system functions, Microsoft has placed millions of users in a tough position. The new XP technician must be crafty and resourceful to solve performance problems, security flaws, unstable environments and countless other issues.
But not everyone is tech-savvy enough to solve the arcane errors that pop up from time to time. With that in mind, here's a simple list of fixes, tools and automated techniques that can satisfy most users needs with little to no technical understanding of XP.
Prepare Yourself
Similar to adjusting a carburetor to produce the right mix, XP requires up-front adjustments to get the OS to perform at optimal conditions. But before looking under the XP "hood," follow these steps:
1st. Back up all your critical data to an external storage device.
2nd. If working with a laptop, make sure the laptop is plugged in and not running on battery power.
3rd. Make sure you have administrative access and are logged on as the administrator.
Probably the simplest and most reliable way to optimize storage and improve OS performance is to buy Diskeeper 2008 Professional. But for those on tight budgets, free solutions (and free is always my personal favorite) are also available.
Increasing the physical RAM size is probably the easiest way to manage memory, but if that's too expensive or not an option, I'd recommend resizing the Windows System Cache and its Registry settings. Here's how:
1. Go to the Control Panel, click on System Properties, Advanced tab, Performance/settings button. In the Performance Options pane click on the advanced tab, users can increase the size of the virtual memory, and set up processor and memory usage priorities.
2. Controlling cached icons in memory is simple to change in XP. To change the system cache, go to Start, Run and type and run Regedit. Press F3 to find this key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer. Lower the value of the Max Cached Icons.
3. To optimize memory, we recommend using Process Lasso. The tool is free, reliable and powerful. Process Lasso provides fine control over applications and services by allowing users to change running priorities and restrain memory usage. Process Lasso:http://www.bitsum.com/prolasso.php
4. Have only a single primary disk partition for XP. Creating a single hard drive partition for XP has been proven to be the fastest way to set up system storage.
5. Detect and repair disk errors on a regular basis. There's no special software to complete this function as the feature is built into Windows XP SP2 and above. Go to Start | My Computer | and right click on the hard disk you want to check, then click Properties. In the properties dialog box, click on the Tools tab and click the Check Now button. In the Check Disk dialog box, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box and click Start. You do not have to select "Automatically fix file system errors" unless you think that your disk contains bad sectors. If bad sectords are found, simply choose to fix them.
IMPORTANT! Back up the Registry by simply saving copies every time software is installed. By this I mean to backup your registry BEFORE you install a new software package. That way, if the installation messes up your computer and you can't successfully uninstall the offending software, you'll be able to revert to a good registry
And lastly, here's how to know if you've been hacked:
Never depend on antivirus software and personal firewalls to automatically protect an XP computer. If a user knows what to look for, even sophisticated Windows forensic tools can work quite well.
For years now we've been been using Process Explorer and we highly recommend it. Process Explorer provides a listing of all processes running within an XP system, including all interdependencies for the processes. Process Explorer: http://www.download.com/Process-Explorer/3000-2094_4-10223605.html
Becoming an XP mechanic doesn't require popping the hood and getting your hands dirty. Users just need to be proactive and smart enough to use sophisticated tools without having to learn the inner complexities of XP. Fortunately, the information provided here can help even the most nontechnical user figure out tough problems in minutes.
HI-YO Silverlight - AWAY!
What are you waiting for Tonto?
My heading might be lost on some younger viewers/listeners but I thought it was cute...
The Internet remains the biggest opportunity for most companies jockeying for your eyeballs and Silverlight is Microsoft’s attempt at gaining market share in the enormous Internet multimedia market (sometimes referred to as RIA – Rich Internet Applications).
Essentially, Silverlight is a competitor to Adobe’s Flash which currently has an estimated 90% market share; both are web development platforms.
Most everyone is familiar with Adobe’s Flash as the engine that renders the videos at sights like YouTube.com and CNN.com, but it’s also the technology used for just about anything visual that has movement or animation (if you right-click on any video or animation that is being generated in flash, a dialog box will appear with the last item being “About Adobe Flash Player…”)
Microsoft’s approach with Silverlight is quite different from Adobe’s Flash in that it is currently more focused on application development (it works directly with the .Net development platform), but at the end of the day, they both want you to use their software to view video and rich media on the Internet.
In order for Microsoft to get more web surfers to use the Silverlight viewing software (often referred to as a ‘plug-in’), they have to convince more website developers to use their development tools for generating multimedia content. In order for more website developers to commit to using Silverlight development tools, they want to see more web surfers that have the Silverlight viewing software installed, so it is a bit of a ‘Catch-22’ at the moment.
One of the highest profile partnerships that Microsoft landed for Silverlight was NBC’s Olympics website, which required the Silverlight software in order to view the live streams that were available during the games.
Oddly enough, now that the Olympic games are over, all of the archive videos at NBCOlympics.com are encoded using Adobe’s Flash. Many are speculating that NBC realized that 40 million US visitors to their Olympics site did not have Silverlight installed yet and that the extra annoyance of having to download the software in order to view the video was not worth the hassle.
So the real question is, do YOU need it? The answer to that question is different for everyone reading this and the sights you visit on the Internet will be the biggest factor. Until you go to a website that requires the download and you deem the content valuable enough to do so, you don’t need to install it.
Many of you may be seeing it as a download during Windows updates, which is another way to get it installed. In general, I am not seeing anything outside the ordinary problems for those that have installed Silverlight, so installing it before you find a need for it shouldn’t impact a properly running computer (never install anything new if your computer is not running properly – it just adds more variables to the problem).
Silverlight is still in its infancy (Version 2 is currently in Beta testing and available at microsoft.com/silverlight), so Microsoft has another long battle in front of it if they want to grab market share away from Adobe.
If you happened to be a business and in the market for development tools for web-based applications, you would do well to evaluate all of the options in the family of development tools offered by Microsoft including Silverlight (www.silverlight.net) in your search.
As for my headline: Backed by the William Tell Overture, the full mantra of the Lone Ranger went like this: "A firey horse with the speed of light. a cloud of dust and a hearty Hi-Yo Silver!" Want to hear it for yourself - click here
Just doing what I can to keep the legend of the Lone Ranger and Tonto alive.
Do You Pay Comcast For Your High Speed Internet Access?
If so - pay close attention to their "new" rules effective Oct 1, 2008.
Here's a copy of the email I've received from my account on Comcast.
Dear Comcast High-Speed Internet Customer,
We appreciate your business and strive to provide you with the best online experience possible. One of the ways we do this is through our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). The AUP outlines acceptable use of our service as well as steps we take to protect our customers from things that can negatively impact their experience online. This policy has been in place for many years and we update it periodically to keep it current with our customers' use of our service.
On October 1, 2008, we will post an updated AUP that will go into effect at that time.
In the updated AUP, we clarify that monthly data (or bandwidth) usage of more than 250 Gigabytes (GB) is the specific threshold that defines excessive use of our service. We have an excessive use policy because a fraction of one percent of our customers use such a disproportionate amount of bandwidth every month that they may degrade the online experience of other customers.
250 GB/month is an extremely large amount of bandwidth and it's very likely that your monthly data usage doesn't even come close to that amount. In fact, the threshold is approximately 100 times greater than the typical or median residential customer usage, which is 2 to 3 GB/month. To put it in perspective, to reach 250 GB of data usage in one month a customer would have to do any one of the following:
* Send more than 50 million plain text emails (at 5 KB/email);
* Download 62,500 songs (at 4 MB/song); or
* Download 125 standard definition movies (at 2 GB/movie).
And online gamers should know that even the heaviest multi- or single-player gaming activity would not typically come close to this threshold over the course of a month.
One of the reasons I mention this is that there's long been talk about ISP's (Internet Service Providers) charging customers based on the bandwidth they consume. Until now, ISP's have been afraid to upset the apple cart and institute a pay as you use service model. Looks like that reluctance is finally gone. Comcast is instituting "bandwidth" control and calling it a benefit for those users who do not take advantage of the system and use excessive amounts of bandwidth.
So... let's all just wait and see who else jumps on this gravy train. Can Verizon be far behind? Will Comcast users simply sit still and take it or will they rebel and take their internet elsewhere. In the future, will we be paying for every email we send, every video we view or download and perhaps every website we visit? Only time wil tell, but now that Comcast has taken the first step, others are sure to follow.
On a lighter note - Comcast is announcing a new service called SmartZone. This service is supposed to make your comcast.net email experience better with an imporved design, email, voice mail and address book all in one area and get upgraded to 10 Gigabytes of mailbox storage (apparently 40x more then the current account has). Take a sneak peek here: http://www.comcast.net/smartzonetour/
Lastly, Comcast has instituted a new Online Security Newsletter for subscribers with a link to a service/site named comcast.net Security. This website is very informational and goes a long way towards helping computer users identify and protect themselves from many Internet threats. Take a look - you don't even have to be a Comcast subscriber to avail yourself of this resource so take advantage of it while you can. http://security.comcast.net/get-smart/security-trends/news-and-alerts.aspx?cid=NET_33_78&cmpid=null
Napster and Best Buy Will Soon Be Making Music Together
Napster Inc., the online music community that rose from a dorm room project to became the scourge of the global recording industry, is being purchased by Best Buy Inc. for nearly $127 million as the electronics retailer tries to boost its digital music business.
On Monday, Best Buy, agreed to acquire Napster for $126.9 million, or $2.65 a share. The deal, which is nearly double Napster's Friday closing price of $1.36 a share, has been approved by the company's board and will be supported by its directors and executive officers.
In a statement, Best Buy valued the deal at $121 million, and said the difference was due to unvested employee stock awards at Napster. According to its most recently quarterly filing, Napster had about 47.9 million shares outstanding as of Aug. 8, implying a price of $126.9 million.
Napster, a once-free file-sharing network, was a favorite tool among college students earlier in the decade. But as the service gained popularity, the company became the sworn enemy of heavy metal band Metallica and along the way fueled a cultural, legal and political debate about copyrights and intellectual property while at the same time helping popularize digital music.
Although Best Buy and Napster have digital music download services, the companies hope the combined service will put pressure on Apple's iTunes, which currently holds roughly 70.0% on the digital music download market. Best Buy's relationships with mobile device makers and access to new digital device buyers will use Napster's well-known brand and Web platform to offer new ways to find and use digital entertainment across a broader range of devices.
Best Buy has been making headway into selling mobile handsets recently, and has been offering a Best Buy Music Store (powered by Rhapsody) for some time. Best Buy will most likely utilize Napster as a means of bundling digital content with its PC and mobile handset offerings.
This deal is also a boon for Napster, which last month reported a loss of $4.4 million, or 10 cents per share, as revenue slid 6 percent. Experts said Napster would likely face more struggles on its own as the popularity of Apple Inc.'s iTunes grows.
The takeover, which must receive regulatory and shareholder approval, is expected to close in the fourth quarter.
Remember When? Napster was launched in 1999 as an online file-sharing service by Northeastern University student Shawn Fanning. Members could access millions of songs stored on other members' computers without paying a fee. The music industry, through the Recording Industry Association of America and performers such as Metallica and Dr. Dre, claimed copyright violations and attempted to shut down the service with numerous lawsuits.
The lawsuits were effective and Napster, in its original incarnation, was eventually forced to close in 2001. However, it soon reemerged as a seller of fully licensed digital music tracks after its brand and logo were acquired by private concerns. Today Napster has a subscriber base of over 700,000.
Users anxious to upgrade their Web browser to Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 may encounter a snag if they've downloaded Windows XP Service Pack 3. After announcing IE8 Beta 2, the Microsoft team quickly wrote a blog post warning users that IE 8 Beta 2 combined with Windows XP SP3 will not be able to uninstall IE8 Beta 1 or SP3.
Here's how it breaks down. Microsoft released IE8 Beta 1 before XP Service Pack 3 became available. Users who downloaded and installed SP3 after IE8 Beta 1 are urged by Microsoft to manually uninstall Beta 1 before upgrading to Beta 2; otherwise, neither SP3 or Beta 1 will be able to be uninstalled from your machine.
According to the Internet Explorer Blog, users who have Automatic Updates turned on will be prompted by the operating system to upgrade to Beta 2, but the update message won't explain the ramifications of putting IE8 Beta 2 on top of Beta 1 and SP3.
Personally, I think it might be a scheme orchestrated by Microsoft to retroactively add another feature to IE8. Is it too outlandish to consider that Microsoft is hedging its bets on IE8 Beta 2 by making sure Beta 1 will always be tied to a machine? And isn't it just a tad suspicious that the flaw only affects Windows XP -- the very operating system that many users refuse to migrate away from in favor of Vista?
Download Explorer 8 Beta 2
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/beta/
So what's next in the browser wars.
I'm sure you've all heard about Google and their newly released "Chrome" browser. Here's a link to their 38 page comic book introducing Chrome - way too much information in my opinion but here it is. http://books.google.com/books?id=8UsqHohwwVYC&printsec=frontcover#PPA1,M1
I'll report back on how Chrome works when I've had an opportunity to fully test it - stand by.....
The Top 10 reasons you don't want GM to engineer cars
like Microsoft engineers their Windows Operating Systems.
Below is the content of an email I received last week. The original author of the content is not known and the quotes have not been verified. Even so, it provides food for thought and could be the beginnings of some interesting water cooler discussions.
For all of us who feel only the deepest love and affection for the way computers have enhanced our lives, please read on.
At a recent computer expo (COMDEX), Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, ''If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25.00 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.''
In response to Bill's comments, General Motors issued a press release stating: If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:
TOP 10 LIST
Microsoft vs General Motors
1. For no reason whatsoever, your car would crash........Twice a day.
2. Every time they repainted the lines in the road, you would have to buy a new car.
3. Occasionally your car would die on the freeway for no reason. You would have to pull to the side of the road, close all of the windows, shut off the car, restart it, and reopen the windows before you could continue. For some reason you would simply accept this.
4. Occasionally, executing a maneuver such as a left turn would cause your car to shut down and refuse to restart, in which case you would have to reinstall the engine.
5. Macintosh would make a car that was powered by the sun, was reliable, five times as fast and twice as easy to drive - but would run on only five percent of the roads.
6. The oil, water temperature, and alternator warning lights would all be replaced by a single ''This Car Has Performed An Illegal Operation'' warning light.
I love the next one!!!
7. The airbag system would ask ''Are you sure?'' before deploying.
8. Occasionally, for no reason whatsoever, your car would lock you out and refuse to let you in until you simultaneously lifted the door handle, turned the key and grabbed hold of the radio antenna.
9. Every time a new car was introduced, car buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.
10. You have to press the ''Start'' button to turn the engine off.
Have a GREAT Day!
Windows 7 “Ultimate” video First glimpse - let's fire up the rumor mill!
Windows 7 “appears” to look a lot like Windows Vista, judging from a video purporting to show the "Ultimate" version of Microsoft's next operating system. The video popped up on the Internet and has drawn more than one and a half million hits on YouTube.
The three minute and 48 second video claims to show Windows 7 Ultimate at "Milestone 1." For the record, Windows 7 isn't slated for release until January 2010 at the earliest.
Not much happens in the video's first 30 seconds, then a screen appears showing the words "Windows 7 Ultimate", version 6.1, along with Microsoft's usual licensing disclaimers. The video then runs through an assortment of screens.
The most interesting, and credible, portion shows a scrollable menu that's subdivided into areas such as TV and Movies, Pictures and Videos, Music, Tasks and Online Media. It doesn't feature the sort of touch screen interface that Microsoft demonstrated for Windows 7 "Surface" technology earlier this year at the All Things Digital Conference. You can view a YouTube video of Surface technology in action here - it's pretty darn cool: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqDQ0wUcSPQ
But beyond a few new bells and whistles, what's most noticeable about Windows 7, at least as it's shown on this video, is how similar it looks to Windows Vista. That's probably bad news for Microsoft, if it turns out to really be the case.
Early word from Microsoft indicates that Windows 7 will include many of Vista's useless CPU and memory munching "features" and then some. In other words, it will be time to upgrade your hardware again when the OS arrives in the next year or so.
The fact is, most users don't want all these extras, especially if they require hundreds of dollars worth of additional hardware. Computer users -- in business and at home – simply want a machine that can handle word processing, e-mail and the Internet, and that's about it.
To experience all of Vista 's bloated features, PC users need a computer with at least a 1-GHz processor, 1 GB of memory, and a 40-GB hard drive. By contrast, Windows XP Professional requires only a 300-MHz processor, 128 Mbytes of RAM, and a 1.5 GB hard drive.
Microsoft has also launched a blog called Engineering Windows 7 to keep developers informed on progress on its forthcoming operating system. Take a look.
I procrastinated for nearly two weeks before installing Microsoft's latest browser upgrade. To be totally transparent, I never installed IE7 on my production systems because, after much testing, I wasn't happy with it at all. 
