Happy Halloween….Google Style!!!

In the search giant’s true form, Google has, once again, changed it’s Home Search Page to mark the celebration of a holiday or event.  But, this time they seem to have really outdone themselves and the rumors are flying all over the internet regarding their new search page celebrating Halloween. Shown below, when you first go to a Google search you will be given the Google banner, a blank search bar, and nothing else except the phrase “This space intentionally left blank”.  Why?  Who knows.  Google claims that they are testing a new search home in which the 28 word Google standard page is replaced with one that is even more plain.

But hang on as this gets even better.  Simply by moving the mouse, the normal Google Home Page will appear with a little Halloween kick to it.

By clicking on the Google banner, the word Google will change, with all of the letters being made of various kinds of candy, pretty Google-like.

Click the banner again and the word Google will simply change to a pile of unopened candy, that is just that, a pile.  No wording.

Click on it yet again, and the pile of candy will transform into the same pile of candy, except this time all of the candy is opened and has been eaten.  I got a stomach ache by just doing that.

And lastly, with another click on the eaten pile of candy, will present you with a Google search result for “Halloween 2009”.

All in all this is a pretty fun, if not somewhat bizzare, home page for Google. But, being that it is Halloween after all, it is nothing short of what I have come to expect from the search giant.

Happy Halloween!!!!!

H1N1….Should I Panic?

With President Obama having recently declared the H1N1 virus pandemic a national emergency, should this be a reason for panic?  Actually, the answer is an overwhelming NO.  Even though the virus has been the cause of more than 1000 deaths, including over 100 of them being children, the reason for the national emergency declaration is one of precaution.  What this does, is enable the government to react to a full blown out break more quickly. Meaning, that it enables authorities to bypass the bureaucracy that often slows initial reactions to a true emergency.  The Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius now has the authority to bypass federal rules if and when alternative care centers are needed, at a hospitals request, such as at schools and community centers. The thought here is, in the event of a serious outbreak, to keep infected persons out of emergency rooms, thus decreasing the chance of spreading the virus through human contact with non-infected persons.  This makes sense to me.

H1N1 serums are available but are in short supply.  The production of the vaccine has to be done in chicken eggs and the production has been slower than first predicted. However, the vaccine is becoming more available to the public.  The vaccine dose quantities have increased to 22.4 million from 14 million in just over a week, but is far short of the 225 million doses that the U.S. Government has ordered.

So what can I do to protect myself from becoming infected?  Well, first and foremost, since the virus is spread through direct contact, is to keep yourself clean.  This means to wash your hands and wash them often.  Using alcohol based hand sanitizers helps if used properly.  To learn the proper use of these cleansers, click HERE. Note that the use of anti-bacterial soaps have not been shown to help deter the contraction of any infections, and in fact, could do just the opposite by killing bacteria that is helpful as well as harmful. Next, make sure that you do not cough or sneeze without covering your mouth, this is best done by covering your mouth with the inside of your elbow or shoulder and not your hand.  When coming in contact with people, such as a handshake, wash your hands afterwards, and most importantly, keep your hands away from your mouth and nose as this is the main venue of infection.

Despite being co-named the Swine Flu, eating pork, as long as it is properly cooked, cannot spread the H1N1 virus.

Now for the tech side of all this…..

Following are links to sites that will provide valuable information regarding the H1N1 virus….

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

FLU.gov

Obama Declares Swine Flu a National Emergency (From the AP)

Vaccine Recommendations from the CDC

Vaccine Safety Concerns

Now keep in mind that I am in no way, shape, or form an expert on this subject, but felt that it was worth bringing up.

Let me know what your thoughts and concerns are regarding H1N1……Leave a comment!!

Wicked Cool Site #15

Google has been known to do some things in the past that are just plain different, and, although Google -like, this site is not actually from Google however, this site is certainly one for the books.  A new search that, uhm….., well…. doesn’t work at all.  If you put in a search term, your results will not even be remotely close to a match.  What you get is the result of the previous search query that was done at Google.  It is interesting to see what other people are searching for (OK, for about 5 minutes anyway).  But let’s not say that the creator doesn’t have a geek-like sense of humor. Do a search for “What is Mystery Google” and see the result that you get. I must say that it did bring the 17 facial muscles, needed to smile, to life on my face. I don’t really see the point to this search tool, but it will give you a few minutes of pleasure.   Anyway this is my pick for a “Wicked Cool Site” or maybe it should be titled a “Wicked Weird Site”.

Google must have said something as this site is now titled “Mystery Seeker”

Check out Mystery Google (Seeker) HERE…..

Enjoy!!!

It Is Only Getting Worse!!!!

Scareware, I have talked about it before.  You are warned that your computer is infected with a myriad of infections and that for $49.95, this miraculous software will fix all of these problems.  The site looks legitimate so you decide to download the software and fix this, seemingly, serious problem. However, what appears to be a problem is really a scam, you pay the money and what makes a bad situation worse, is that by downloading this software, that is supposed to fix all of your problems, you are actually downloading malware.  So you basically just paid a scammer to infect an otherwise healthy computer.  Well, just when you think that this could not get any worse……it does!!!  Panda Security has just found a new and nastier way in which the bad guys are taking advantage of innocent users.  This new technique is more invasive and can be more costly than anything that has been seen in the past.  Known as “Total Security 2009”, this new scam not only wants you to purchase their software, but will take your computer hostage in order to get it.  By clicking on their warning, software is installed on your computer which makes your file system useless.  Meaning that you cannot do anything, nothing will work on your computer, except you browser.  You have two choices at this point, either pay them the ransom, which by the way has increased, from the $49.95 to around $79.95, or reformat your drive and reinstall Windows.  So we pay the ransom.  This is a bad idea, as not only have you wasted your money, but the malware is still on your computer.  Yeah, you can now scan with a legitimate anti-malware software now and hopefully clean your computer, but I would not put a lot of hope in that.

Luis Corrons, the Technical Director of PandaLabs states that “Users are often infected unknowingly, in most cases, through visiting hacked websites, and once a computer is infected it is extremely difficult to eliminate the threat, even for those with a certain degree of technical knowledge. Users are also prevented from using any type of detection or disinfection tool, as all programs are blocked. The only application that can be used is the Internet browser, conveniently allowing the victim to pay for the fake antivirus. For this reason, on the PandaLabs blog, we have published the serial numbers required to unblock the computer if it has been hijacked. Users can then install genuine security software to scan the computer in-depth and eliminate all traces of this fake antivirus”.

So you see, this is a serious new threat to users everywhere.  This new threat is probably being implemented by scammers as users have become more aware of the previous threats and thus make them less effective.  This is just another example of how the scammers are staying one step ahead of the providers of malware protection.  Panda Security has a real nice overview of this new threat.  You can find it HERE and get the serial numbers at Panda’s Blog Site  HERE.

Keep this in mind when web surfing and checking emails.  As always, never click on links in emails, unless you are sure they are safe, and never open any media files (movies, photos, audio) from sites that you are not 100% sure are secure.  Also make sure that the site you are searching for is, in fact, the site that you are going to.  Always check the URL to make sure you are pointed at the site that you are really looking for.

Here is an article entitled “The Business of Rogueware” written by Sean-Paul Correll and Luis Corrons from Panda Security. (download the PDF)

By doing these things, it may prevent you from being held ransom from some hacker who just wants your money.  Ransom-ware is fast becoming a serious threat to regular users and not just large organizations and corporations anymore.

What are your thoughts…..Leave a comment!!!!

It’s That Time of the Month Again!!!!

Yup, it is that time of the month again…..where does the time go?  But tomorrow 10/13/09 is Patch Tuesday once again.  The only thing different is that this update is purportedly going to be the largest security update ever from Microsoft.  Make sure that you have your Automatic Update turned on or go to www.update.microsoft.com (using Internet Explorer as it will not work with other browsers) to get the updates which will be available at some point tomorrow.  Make sure that this gets done as there are some critical updates in this patch that, unless fixed, could allow remote access of your computer. Hackers know this and will be launching malicious code as soon as they can see what these updates are, so that they can create malicious sites in order to attack computers that have not been updated.

Now as always, make sure that you create a new restore point before installing the updates as well as making sure that your back-ups are current.  For more information on Back-ups, check out my post HERE

And as always, this update will include definition updates for Microsoft’s Malicious Software Removal Tool.  Even though, it does a quick scan after installing, it is my recommendation that you do a Full Scan just to be sure that anything malicious on your computer is removed.  To do a Full Scan, Vista users, click on Start, then in the Search Dialog Field, type in “MRT.exe” and press Enter.  Then do a Full Scan. If you are using XP, click on Start, then Run, in the dialog field that opens type in “MRT.exe” and press enter.  Again, do a Full Scan.  Keep in mind that this scan takes a long time, and could take 3 hours or more depending on your computer and it will slow your computer while scanning.  I recommend you do the scan overnight.

These updates are listed as critical so take the time and keep your computer secure.

Happy Computing to all!!!!

Eight-Oh-Two Dot Eleven…What????

Ever go out to purchase a new wireless router so that you can finally get away from having to be physically plugged-in in order to get to the internet.  A wireless network gives you the freedom to use the web from anywhere in your house.  But, if you have never dealt with a router before, purchasing one can be a real puzzling thing to do.  Well, I am going to explain what all that jargon on the router box is all about.  First off, lets address some of the terminology that is used in router specifications.  The first is Frequency, which is measured in hertz (hz), kilohertz (khz),megahertz (mhz) or, in the case of routers, gigahertz (ghz).  All routers work at either 2.4 ghz  or 5 ghz. I’ll explain the differences later.  The second terminology that you are going to deal with is Bandwidth.  In router terminology, bandwidth deals with speed and is measured in bits per second (bps) or mega-bits per second (mbps).  The higher the bandwidth speed, the faster your network will be.

The next term that you may see is IEEE which stands for the Intstitute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers.  They oversee and create the standards in which a local area network (LAN) is broadcasted.  Now there are many different standards but I am only going to explain the ones that directly relate to routers and LAN’s.

Legacy 802.11 – The original standard was known only as 802.11 and was first adopted in 1997.  It sustained a maximum bandwidth of only 2 mbps, which is much too slow for any kind of networking and worked on the 2.4 ghz spectrum.  The original or Legacy 802.11 standard was quickly updated to the next iterations…..802.11a & b.

802.11a – Introduced in October, 1999, this standard worked on the faster 5 ghz spectrum and had a maximum speed of 54 mbps.  The problem with the 5 ghz spectrum is that it had a serious problem penetrating solid objects, such as a wall.  What this equated to is that all of the connected objects in a house would have to have a direct line of site with the router, which is unreasonable in most situations.  Because of this, the standard know as 802.11b was introduced at the same time, October 1999.

802.11b – As stated above, was introduced almost simultaneously with the 802.11a standard.  802.11b worked in the 2.4 ghz range which made it’s speeds a lot slower (only 11 mbps) than the 802.11a version. However, this version was usable as it was not hampered by solid objects like a wall, that plagued the 802.11a standard. 802.11b also had a transmission range that was 3 times that of 802.11a (up to 150 ft.).  The problem with 802.11b is that it works in the 2.4 ghz range which is the same spectrum as household appliances such as microwaves, baby monitors, and cordless telephones.  The interference caused by these appliances could disrupt the signal from the router and cut your connection to the internet.  This led to the next version which was 802.11g.

802.11g  – This version worked on the same 2.4 ghz frequency as 802.11b, however it used the the transmission scheme that was utilized in 802.11a, making it much faster.  Compared to the 11 mbps of the previous version, the maximum speed of 54 mbps was very appealing to most people with a LAN.  Although, the average speed was only around 22 mbps, it was still twice as fast, on average.  Because of this, the 802.11g was widely used by January of 2003, almost 6 months before it was ratified by the IEEE in June of that same year.  802.11g, was also backwards compatible with both 802.11 a and b.  For this reason, many of the routers were listed as IEEE 802.11a/b/g.

802.11n – Although just recently ratified on September 11, 2009, this itertion has been in use for the past 6 months or more.  802.11n transmits by either the 2.4 ghz or the 5 ghz frequency, which allows it to transmit without a direct line of sight, and will also get minimal interference from household appliances like the aforementioned microwave ovens, baby monitors, and cordless phones.  802.11n also has the fastest transmit rates of any of the previous versions, maximum of 600 mbps.  The reason for this is the new MIMO technology, which stands for “Multiple Input/Multiple Output”.  In past versions the antennas on the router could only be transmitting or receiving, but could not do both at the same time.  The new MIMO technology allows, one antenna on the router to be transmitting, while the second antenna is receiving. Essentially, the router is using multiple connections at the same time. As a result, this increases the transmit rates substantially. The problems with 802.11n is that it is more expensive than 802.11g technology, and as a result, “n Type” routers are normally $30 to $40 more than a “g Type” router.  The second downside is that since 802.11n transmits on multiple signals, it could greatly interfere with existing “g & b Type” networks that are nearby.

I hope that this may clarify some of the confusion related to router terminology so that the next time you need to get a router or a wireless network adapter, it will not make your head spin.

Does this help? Let me know by leaving a comment……

Ahhhh, I Dropped My Cell In The Toilet…..

Sooner or later, this happens to all of us, and the panic that ensues can be horrific.  However, all may not be lost. Believe it or not, water does not really harm electronics.  It is not the mix of the electronics and water that does damage, but add power, and then you have another problem…..namely Short Circuits.  Dropping a powered down cell phone in water has a much better chance of surviving than one that is powered up. However, in either occasion, there are things that can save the phone and your data.  OK, first the disclaimer…..none of these recommendations are a guarantee that your water logged cell phone will come back to life.  OK that is done!!! Now first off, if you drop a powered up cell phone into a clean bowl of water, immediately remove the battery, do not try to use the phone, just get the power source out of the phone.  Chances are that it is too late, but you still need to try.  If the phone was powered off, you have a much better chance of getting that phone to come back to life. By all means, if the phone was turned off, do NOT try to turn it on, which is probably going to be your first reaction, but it will just short the phone out.

In either case, if you are using a GSM phone (T-Mobile or AT&T), immediately remove the SIM Card as even if the phone is fried, the SIM card may still work and your data may survive.  Next, pat the phone dry with a towel and blow out as much water as possible.  You can use compressed air to do this.  Just do not use too much pressure, just enough to remove the water. Now this may sound crazy, but insert the phone into a bowl of white rice.  White rice will absorb any water that may be remaining in the phone.  You will see the rice become bloated as the water is absorbed.  Change the rice when it becomes wet.  This may take several days.  Make sure that the phone is completely dry before you try to power it back up.

Now once you are sure that the phone is completely dry, you can try to re-insert the battery and turn it on but I have to say, your battery is probably done.  So before replacing the phone, I would try to borrow a battery from a working phone and see if it powers up, and if it does, then all you need to do is replace the battery.

OK, but I dropped my phone into a muddy puddle of water, or a chlorinated swimming pool…..now what do I do?

Solids can be a real problem here, any water that leaves a residue on the circuitry on your phone will tend to short it out. So this is a little different and it may sound counter intuitive but this is what you need to do.  First off, as before, do not try to turn on or use the phone.  Get the battery and SIM card out of the phone.  Now what you need to do is get a couple of bottles of rubbing alcohol.  What???  Yup, and soak the phone in the alcohol.  Make sure that it is the purest form of isopropyl alcohol that you can find.  They tend to water it down, and you certainly do not need any more water.  But isopropyl alcohol will work as a solvent, and will remove the solids, plus it evaborates fast. This will not hurt a cell phone that is not powered.  Just gently swish the phone around in the rubbing alcohol until all of the contaminates are removed.  Do not worry about liquid at this point.  Get the dirt, chlorine, or whatever other solids may be in the water out of the phone.  Once the phone is clean, albeit wet, do the rice thing as stated above and make sure the phone is completely dry.  You can even use a hair dryer to get it dried, but do not use too much heat as you may wind up with a phone that is not short circuited, but melted…..heat is just as deadly as water to a phone.

Like I said, this is not a sure fix, but it just may save your water logged phone.  The key is not to apply any power to the phone.

Does anyone have another way……I would love to hear it……Leave a comment….