Look out for a program called either Anti-Virus 2008 or 2009 (no brand name). Its a NASTY piece of malware that could do major damage to your PC, it affects both Macs and Windows! It looks like and acts like a anti-virus program, very professional looking and "scans" files, but is really looking for places to put keyloggers, viruses, and trojans.  

According to what I've read about it is that it gets onto your computer via web banners or pop ups that inform you that you're infected with some sort of virus. You should never have 2 anti-vrus programs installed at the same time, they can really screw things up. If you are using Norton and a notification pops up that is not from Norton do not click on it at all either end the process or close it via the bar at the bottom of the screen (not sure how it works on the MAC).

I had to fix a computer with this installed, its a witch to get rid of! I think i got it but wouldn't be surprised if I didn't get everything off, I suspect I may have to reformat the whole computer!  Arggh!

8.0 is BUGGY, I installed it last night and it promptly crashed my PC.  Itunes 8 is more unstable than a drunk Tim Allen at dangerous hardware convention. I've had it installed for 24 hours and it has crashed my computer 4 times,  4 TIMES! It refuses to start then I get the infamous Windows Blue Screen of death. I went to Apple's website, as per usual they blame everyone but themselves.

The new Genius feature is kind of cool. Genius analyzes your music and reccomends new music to you and can create a  playlist made up of similar tracks. For example, if you like Sheryl Crow Genius will create a playlist of like artists like Stevie Nicks, Jewel, and others to go a long with your selection.  I haven't played around much with it, its slooooowww but I can see the potental in it.

We also get a new view method which is really just a grid of Album art, nothing special.

NBC shows are back and Apple now offers HD video, with quite a few HD shows being offered for free.  The HD files take up quite a bit of space so beware. I also noticed that they're added a bunch of new TV networks in addition to NBC.

I advise everyone to wait a week or two for updates to come out, till then don't bother with this turkey!

http://n ews.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10019622-38.html?tag=cnetfd.mt

This is an article about the RIAA and Motion Picture Industry demanding that ISPs (Comcast, AT&T, Verizon, etc), allow them to track customer internet traffic in order to prevent piracy!

I also heard on a Podcast by Leo Laporte that ISP's will eventually be limiting bandwidth. What this means is that you'll be given say 5 gigabytes every month, if you exceed your set amount you'll either be cut off, have your broadband connection slowed, or be charged for overages. The ISPs are already doing this without notifying customers in some areas, Comcast has started doing this and maybe sued for doing so. This is simply a way for Internet providers to squeeze more money outta our pockets and its BS! I'll also point out that more and more of us are downloading movies and videos on daily basis

I am also concerned about the increasing amount of websites that want a subscription fee to use thier sites. Online gaming is a prime example, not only do you have to pay for the game itself but you also have to pay a monthly fee to play it.

I don't know about the rest of you but if all this comes to pass I'm done, finished, no more internet for me. I'm not paying my ISP every month for access only to be spied upon, then be limited when I wasn't limited before, and then also be increasingly charged to access the websites I visit. No way, not going to happen.

No really, when will 'they' stop this foolishness?

I got really lucky to find this one, but thought I'd share it with you.

This is a tool for I-Tunes that will name and download your mP3 files when I-Tunes can't or won't download them for you. All you have to do is click on a file or files and drag them to a window that is docked to I-Tunes, the program will search the Gracenote Database then suggest a match, if you find the proper match click save then you're done! Doing all that would be time consuming by had this program will save you tons of time. It also has a feature that will update just your album art. Finally if your play a song this program also alert you to any upcoming concerts to your area, You Tube videos, song recommendations, and artist merchandise.

I did find a few draw backs. The first drawback was this is trailware, meaning that you get 500 matches for free, then you have to pay for anything above the 500 match limit. A one year subscription was $12 while a lifetime subscription fee is only $20. I found that the Gracenote database didn't always return a match, out of 500 only 50 songs were not matched.  

I am so impressed with this software that I plan on buying the full version.  To get the program's free version download it here: http://help.cnet.com/9602-12576_39-0.html?messageID=2510959&tag=nl.e410

A new law will soon go into affect in Canada designed to curb piracy, a good thing right?  Not so fast!  This law gives customs the right to seize any electronic device that may contain any kind data on it. All a customs officer has to do is have even the slightest inkling that it may contain anything illegal. 

I can tell you from living right on the border that dealing with customs on either side of the border can already be a major hassle. If a customs officer takes a disliking to you he can make life difficult for you. They can literally tear your car apart and are not required to put it back together, if they rip up your seats looking for drugs they don't have to fix them. You could also be taken into custody, strip searched, cavity searched, or X-rayed. People have even handcuffed and guns in their faces.

So if you're planning on going to Canada anytime soon you may wanna leave the laptop, I-Pod, or Mixed Cd's/Dvd's at home. The real kicker here is that they can hold the items for as long as they like, even if its proven nothing illegal was found. 

I heard about all this on the radio I'll look for a printed article then post it here whan I can.  We go to Canada often but when this law takes effect we'll be going a lot less often.

******update******

http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2222788/international-piracy-plans-acta

Damn I missed some of the radio news, according to that link it is just not Canada, but the USA and other countries too! Well slap me and call me surprised at this one!

Ever wanna put videos from your pc onto an I-Pod, PSP, or other personal video player? 

 http://handbrake.fr/

Administrators are the real unsung heroes in any office today. They hold great importance in the running of a business. They keep the network clutter-free and ensure that no malwares make their way into the system. They configure all the computers and terminals that are attached to the network. This is for ignorilla and the rest of the staff at My Pet Peeves! Especially in keeping the off setting of the boards that pop up now and again! Thanks guys!

July 14th, 2008

Spammers announce World War III with spam emails packing malicious payloads

Posted by Nathan McFeters @ 1:48 am

Update: Dancho Danchev informed that this actually relates back to his article on from last week. Apparently I reposted with less information than the original, so I apologize to Dancho for that. Guess that’s what I get for poking my nose into the malware realm. Dancho informed me that the security research community intercepted the campaign within its first 30 minutes of mass spamming an quickly took actions to shut down the domains used by blacklisting them and approaching the domain registrar that was managing them.

From Robert Jaques of ITNews Australia:

Hackers are deluging web users with malware-laden spam claiming that World War III has started following a US invasion of Iran.

Security experts warned today that spam emails with subject lines including ‘Third World War has begun’, ‘20000 US Soldiers in Iran’ and ‘US Army crossed Iran’s borders’ have been intercepted.

The emails contain links to a malicious webpage that displays what appears to be a video player showing the mushroom cloud of a nuclear explosion.

Text on the page reads: ‘Just now US Army’s Delta Force and US Air Force have invaded Iran. Approximately 20000 soldiers crossed the border into Iran and broke down the Iran’s Army resistance. The video made by US soldier was made today morning. Click on the video to see the first minutes of the beginning of World War III. God save us.’

However, Sophos warned that users visiting the webpage and clicking on the ‘video player’ run the risk of being infected with the Troj/Tibs-UO Trojan and a malicious JavaScript hidden on the website as Mal/ObfJS-AY.

Perfect example of hackers/phishers/spammers/whatever playing emotions against their victims. So, take it upon yourself to spread the world word, especially consider friends or family that might have loved ones across seas, as they’re probably most likely to react emotionally and click without thinking hear here.

-Nate

Windows, Mac, or Linux:

WideScreen Monitor or Standard:

Why is it that everytime I install new software I am aways being asked if I want to install a new Toolbar? I freaking hate this if its not Google then its Yahoo, AOL, or whatever. The most recent example would be AVG antivirus, it asked to install it's own bar which, so far as I can tell, really doesn't do very much. Why can't these companies understand that we, or at least I, don't want all this tool bars cluttering out web browsers?

I recently tried Linux Ubuntu, what a peice of crap this OS is! If you been thinking of switching DON'T, its a pain in the rear to get everything working and isn't any faster than Windows Vista or XP. 

I also get peeved when I go to a friend or relative's house to fix their computer and they lord over me!  "Why are you defragging"? "Why Don't I Have Anti-Virus programs installed"   I especially hate when I get "Thats not the way I do that", yeah well thats why your PC is screwed up.

…are the most annoying commercials EVER! The Mac guy is biggest dork I've ever seen but is supposed to be cool. Hey Mac Guy, here's a dollar go buy a personality!  It's interesting that these commercials tell you NOTHING about the Apple product but the sole purpose is to rip on somelse's product. I would consider this a bad approach, drawing attention to a rivals product and not promoting your own is not good marketing.

Lets says you know nothing about computers…what would you get out of these ads?  Nothing. You've got two guys talking bout Vista and MAC with no visuals or product placement at all, just two guys talking.

Come on Apple I know you can do better!

Personally, I hate that a laptop might be able to do this without me knowing about it, but in this case. . . .

OK OK OK… I know I have posted saying I will buy a MAC for my next computer, but I have now been reassured. My coworker is on vacation (her son is graduating from bootcamp) and I am house sitting for her. Love it here too, no smoking roommate stinking up my mornings!! The fish are a bit scary (HUGE) and the dogs are SWEETIE PIES. She gave me the password to get on her computer so I could use it while here. I didn't realize when putting the password in that it's Vista. Then all of a sudden out of no where I get this pop up *internet explorer is having problems, please wait while it's figured out*…. What?? I don't care what the problem is, and I don't like Microsoft (Bill Gates isn't in charge anymore) so just reboot my internet browser!! I like the old windows where they say "You had a problem, do you want to send info to Microsoft" because I was able to say NO. No Microsoft, I don't want you to know what the problem was. Maybe I was doing something secretive that I don't want ANYONE to know about?

Also - I play games at pogo.com, and it was near impossible to get my games going. I had to hold 2-3 keys down to get it to allow the "pop-up" even though I had stated 4 times to allow it. I know this is only my first time using it, but this is NOT user friendly!!! It's user-pissed-off!!!

And IGGY - Where the hell is the "computer" category?????? I don't know what to click now! While you add the computer one, you should add an internet as a sub.