October Tech News (reverse chronological order)
10-29-04
Windows Media Player Has Security Patches
CNET reports that security patches for QuickTime 6.5.2 and RealPlayer 10 and 10.5 have been released by Apple and RealNetworks, respectively. The flaws affect multiple platform users and Mac and Windows people should install the patches ASAP; Mac users have had a update available since late September, and if you're a regular visitor to this page, you already have it installed and if you aren't not sure, just click on the Apple icon in your toolbar and select Software Update then follow the prompts from the dialogue box.
Remote Desktop Directions
If you have Windows XP Pro, you can control your desktop remotely and the application isn't limited to when you're away from home; we use Remote Desktop to run our PCs from one monitor, or from our Macs. You can also install XP Pro on your non-geeky friend or relative's computer then you can log-on to their computer when necessary to perform routine maintenance, help them fill out that Excel spreadsheet, or get them out of a jam. Windows-help.net has good information for PC users to help you implement this application.
Fast Navigating For Macs
Speed through changing programs by heeding the advice of the Apple Pro; switch to icon view when using the Finder window and then move between programs with the arrow key. Read more at the Apple Pro Tip of the Week.
Listen To The Tech Guy
Leo Laporte, The Tech Guy on KFI is getting ready to answer your questions on all things digital this (and every) weekend from 12-3 pm PDT live on AM640 or listen on the Internet. Leo reads all the tech manuals, and loves it! Join the crowd in the chat room, listen on the radio, the net, or call Leo and pick his brain with your problem this and every weekend.
Secunia Reports Flaw in OmniWeb
We just checked this browser out again because we noticed an admirable security record, so much for theories like that; Secunia is reporting that a flaw exists in OmniWeb that could allow for a cracker to spoof a web site. OmniWeb will undoubtedly respond quickly with a patch, we'll keep you posted.
Open Source Updates
Updates are available for the following system according to Secunia: Gentoo Linux 1.x (1,2), Conectiva and Debian.
What is Overclocking?
Wikipedia has this definition for overclocking, "Overclocking is the practice of making a component run at a higher clock speed than the manufacturer's specification. The idea is to increase performance for free or to exceed current performance limits, but this may come at the cost of stability.
Overclocking is mostly practiced by PC enthusiasts in order to squeeze the most performance out of their machines. Some enthusiasts will do this so they can buy a lower-end system, overclock it, and achieve the performance of a higher-end system. However, the cost of an adequate cooling system, and often even the cost of choice overclocking components results in a base of overclockers who mostly overclock as a hobby, or as a 'sport' of sorts - always striving for more speed.
Many enthusiasts will purchase high-end components to begin with, and then overclock them to achieve even more performance. The fastest home computers in the world are overclocked, and a stock (running at manufacturer's specifications) system is often no match for an overclocked one."
| 10-28-04 Don't Buy Flu Vaccines Online As a flu vaccine shortage is hyped by the media, the sharks smell blood and are circling the Internet ocean looking for an opening in your security blanket, and you can avoid being crunched by these people-eaters by not falling for the latest scam, flu vaccines online. PC World is reporting that this is indeed the motive behind many of the online offers popping up (excuse the pun) all over the net. As a biologist, I can assure you that you do not want to risk your life by injecting yourself or the ones you love with anything that you can buy online without a prescription. Please don't take this chance. Mac Users Should Install QuickTime First MacFixIt is advising that the new updates released by Apple for QuickTime and iTunes 4.7 are best installed in that order. Installing the pair in the reverse order has caused conflicts with some Macs according to MacFixIt. To download the QuickTime update first, click on the Apple icon in your tool bar and select Software Update, then uncheck the other updates except for QuickTime 6.5.2 and click on the install button. After you have installed the QuickTime update, then you can use the same technique to install the iTunes update. Remote Desktop Update for Apple Apple has also released an update for Apple Remote Desktop, CVE-ID: CAN-2004-0962, and you can determine if you need this update by following the same procedure explained above for Software Updates. Picasa Get Nod From PC World We endorsed this product earlier this week and now PC World has backed us up by giving the thumbs up to Picasa 1.6. This free application allows you to organize your photos into albums and much more. Read more about it at PC World or below. Open Source Updates These open source operating systems have updates available according to Secunia: Gentoo Linux 1.x (1,2) and Fedora Core 2. |
| 10-27-04 New iPod Picture The new iPod photo has been released by Apple and this new gem has a color screen that can be used to display any photos you might have stored on your massive 40 or 60 GB hard drive. The new iPod requires the latest update released for iTunes and you can learn more by reading the item below. Update For iTunes Released Apple has released a companion update for iTunes and the iPod that is required if you are planning on purchasing the latest iPod pictured above. The update is available free for multiple platform users from the Apple iTunes Store. Update Your Spybot S&D An update has been released for Spybot S&D, the excellent free spyware remover. Open Spybot S&D and select the Search For Updates button. Then run a spyware check, bet you'll remove more than one. If you are not using a spyware remover, scroll down to the bottom of this page and choose one or both of the applications available for this task. Disappearing Hard Drive Space Jeanette contacted us regarding disappearing hard drive space, she has two hard drives on her system, and the storage space seems to be vanishing quickly. She also wanted to know if it is okay to remove temporary files. The answer to the latter is yes and the article above regarding cleaning your PC contains directions on how to perform this operation. The disappearing storage issue came up recently during a call to Leo Laporte, The Tech Guy on KFI. Leo suggested disconnecting from the Internet to determine if the hard drive space continued to disappear. If so, then the hard drive is probably to blame and failure of the same is probable. If the disconnection from the Internet stopped the problem, then the system is more than likely infected with a virus. Open Source Updates The following operating systems have update or security issues according to Secunia: Gentoo Linux 1.x , SuSE Linux 8.x to 9.1 , Slackware Linux 8.x to 9.1/. What is a Bit Image? According to Microsoft a bit image is, "A sequential collection of bits that represents in memory an image to be displayed on the screen, particularly in systems having a graphical user interface. Each bit in a bit image corresponds to one pixel (dot) on the screen. The screen itself, for example, represents a single bit image; similarly, the dot patterns for all the characters in a font represent a bit image of the font. In a black-and-white display, each pixel is either white or black, so it can be represented by a single bit. The "pattern" of 0s and 1s in the bit image then determines the pattern of white and black dots forming an image on the screen. In a color display the corresponding description of on-screen bits is called a pixel image because more than one bit is needed to represent each pixel." |
| 10-26-04 Apple's Big Announcement: iPod With Color Screen The big news from Apple is another new version of the popular iPod, this variant is equipped with color screen that will display up to 65, 536 colors. According to the report from CNET, the two models will sell for $499 and $599 for the 40 GB and 60 GB, respectively. Mac Attack Over-Hyped According to a variety of sources including CNET and others, the sky is falling and the end is near for the carefree days of surfing on your Mac. Not so fast according to MacFixIt, while you certainly don't want to download and allow this script to be run on your Mac, the chances of it happening are remote. However, there are several precautions that Apple-heads can use to remain safe; perhaps the safest choice is to not surf as the Administrator. Create a new account to surf with by opening System Preferences and then choose Accounts (in the System Section). Click on the + icon located below the login options tab and add a new user by completing the Password field; then choose the Limitations tab and assign that account either limited or managed status. This will deny any cracker from access to your root password that could allow them to gain access to your system. PC Owners Have False Sense of Security According to Wired News, most PC owners have a false sense of security when it comes to their own computers. The survey found that most PC users were relying on antivirus programs that had not been updated. Most people were also unaware of the amount of spyware programs gathering information about there surfing habits. Some PCs examined during the survey contained more than 600 spyware programs slowing the computer to a crawl. If your computer is slowing down this could be the cause and you can use free spyware removal tools like Ad-aware Personal SE and Spybot S&D to remove the latest plague to complicate your computer world. Red Hat Hoax ComputerWorld.com is carrying a story regarding an e-mail hoax circulating about Red Hat updates that contain code that can compromise the operating system. Red Hat reminds their users that, "official messages from the Red Hat security team are never sent unsolicited" and are always sent from the address secalert@redhat.com. All security messages are also digitally signed using GNU Privacy Guard security keys to prove their authenticity, the Raleigh, N.C.-based Company said." Read more on this issue by visiting ComputerWorld. PC World Recommends Firewall PC World has a recommendation for firewall protection for PC people and the price is right. The product is one that we have been suggesting and using for some time and we join PC World in their endorsement of ZoneAlarm Free. Visit PC World to learn more or scroll to the bottom of this page and click on the Zone Alarm link. Apple Has Networking 101, too Yesterday we featured a link to Microsoft's take on networking your computers and today we highlight Apple's information on how to network Macs and PCs. To learn more visit the Apple support site. What is a Driver? If you're a computer geek and not Tiger Woods, a driver according to 5 Star Support.com is, "A program that controls a device. Every device, whether it is a printer, disk drive, or keyboard, must have a driver program. Many drivers, such as the keyboard driver, come with the operating system. For other devices, you may need to load a new driver when you connect the device to your computer. In DOS systems, drivers are files with a .SYS extension. In Windows environments, drivers often have a .DRV extension. A driver acts like a translator between the device and programs that use the device. Each device has its own set of specialized commands that only its driver knows. In contrast, most programs access devices by using generic commands. The driver, therefore, accepts generic commands from a program and then translates them into specialized commands for the device." |
| 10-25-04 Internet Explorer Flaw in Mac Version Secunia is reporting a flaw has been discovered in Microsoft's Internet Explorer 5.2 for Macs. According to Secunia, "A vulnerability has been discovered in Internet Explorer for Mac, which can be exploited by malicious web sites to spoof dialog boxes. Inactive windows can launch dialog boxes so they appear to be displayed by a web site in another window. This can be exploited by a malicious web site to show a dialog box, which seems to originate from a trusted web site. Successful exploitation would normally require that a user is tricked into opening a link from a malicious web site to a trusted web site in a new window." Networking PC 101 Microsoft has a detailed article on the methods available to network PCs post-Service Pack 2. If you have been experiencing difficulties networking since you installed the update, or if you want to network two or more PCs, then you should visit the Microsoft Support site to learn more on this issue. We haven't experienced any problems and we are able to leave the Windows Firewall active. Backing Up iTunes Music You should backup your iTunes Music just like any other packet of data on your computer. Apple has directions on this painless task and you'll be glad you surfed there and followed directions if a day comes when you start up your Mac or iPod and all those tunes are nothing more than dust in the wind. Open Source UpdatesMore than ten, less than twenty Secunia issued a plethora of security updates and bulletins late-Friday (post-publishing) and the following systems have one or more issues or updates: Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (1,2,3,4), Fedora Core 2 (1,2), Mandrakelinux 10.0 (1,2,3,4,5,6,7), Gentoo Linux 1.x (1,2,3), Linux Kernel 2.6.x (1,2), and SuSE Linux 8.x to 9.1x/. What Is A Kernel Panic What is a kernel panic? No, it is not when they run out of gravy at the local Kentucky Fried Chicken. Apple provides this definition; "UNIX-style operating systems (such as Mac OS X, Mac OS X Server, AIX, and A/UX) may experience a type of error called a "kernel panic," which may provide information useful for software developers. A kernel panic is a type of error that occurs when the core (kernel) of an operating system receives an instruction in an unexpected format, or that it fails to handle properly. A kernel panic may also follow when the operating system is not able to recover from a different type of error. A kernel panic can be caused by damaged or incompatible software or, more rarely, damaged or incompatible hardware." |
| 10-22-04 Can You Google Me Now? Are you being Goggled? According to CNET, the answer to that question is yes. In fact, a quarter of those Internet users surveyed have used a search tool to glean information about a client or employee. Are your ears burning, or fingers tingling now? Drop Dead Date for iTunes Are you still hanging out with your favorite old version of Apple's iTunes? Well get ready for your bubble to be burst, as Apple plans to discontinue your access to the Apple iTunes store based on a report published by AppleInsider. The days of ignoring the "update now prompts" are over and most of the initial barriers we had for migrating to the newer versions of iTunes are not only gone, but forgotten; update after you backup, better safe-than-sorry. Free Photo Software Picasa 1.6 is a great tool for a PC person that will allow you to transfer images from your digital camera, create slide shows, edit your photos, add effects, then print and share the results with your friends. To learn more about this free tool visit the Picasa home page. Catch A Glimpse of the Tiger Tiger, the soon-to-be-released operating system from Apple, is available for preview at the Apple web site. The new OS will include a number of cool features including a new search tool named Spotlight that will feature the same functionality of the recently released version of Google's desktop search for PCs, RSS feed capability (what is RSS? Find out by reading the article below), Automator to help with repetitive tasks, and Dashboard (the much discussed Widget-like feature). Open Source Information The following open source operating systems have updates or security issues according to Secunia: Gentoo Linux 1.x (1,2), Linux Kernel 2.6x, SuSE Linux 9.1, and Debian GNU/Linux 3.0. What is RSS? According to Wikipedia.org, "RSS can be understood as a web syndication protocol that is primarily used by news websites and weblogs. RSS allows a web developer to publish content on their website in a format that a computer program can easily understand and digest. This allows users to easily repackage the content on their own websites or blogs, or privately on their own computers. RSS simply repackages the content as a list of data items, such as the date of a news story, a summary of the story and a link to it. A program known as an RSS aggregator or feed reader can then check RSS-enabled web pages for the user, and display any updated articles that it finds. This is more convenient than having the user repeatedly visit their favorite news websites, because it makes sure that the reader only sees material that they haven't seen before. Web-based RSS aggregators are also available, offering the user an alternative to using dedicated software, and making the user's feeds available on any computer with Web access." |
| 10-21-04 Bug A Browser Day Secunia has reported new flaws in Mozilla, Opera, Konqueror, Internet Explorer, and CNET has information regarding all of these issues. The advice from Secunia is to disable JavaScript or "avoid visiting a trusted web sites when an un-trusted web site is open in a one of the browser tabs". Phishing Schemes 101 The Microsoft Office web site has an introduction and suggestion about the scam de jour, phishing. Learn how to recognize these crooked cons by visiting the MS web site. Update Your Outlook 2003 Junk Mail Filter If you use Outlook 2003, Microsoft has an update available for the junk mail filter. If you don't keep this filter updated, you will soon be drowned by a new wave of spam. Try It Free You can take Microsoft's OneNote 2003 for a test drive at no cost for sixty days by visiting the Microsoft web site. If you are a Mac person, two great note taking applications to try are Circus Ponies or AquaMinds, both with free trials. Windows Friendly Attachments Mac users could make friends and influence enemies if they would just send all their email with Windows friendly attachments. MacOSXHints has the directions on how to use this feature of .Mail; we found this trick some time ago, and it seems to work for a majority of PC receivers. Comments Can Help You Organize The Apple-Pro Tip of the week is a suggestion that helps you organize and quickly locate important files. This hint is posed as an alternative to using last week's hint, labels. Visit the Apple web site to learn more about this nifty feature. What is IDE? IDE is an acronym for Integrated Development Environment and according to Saugus, "Loosely speaking, a disk format sometimes used by MS-Windows, Mac OS, AmigaOS, and (rarely) UNIX. EIDE is enhanced IDE; it is much faster. Generally IDE is inferior (but less expensive) to SCSI, but it varies somewhat with system load and the individual IDE and SCSI components themselves. The quick rundown is that: SCSI-I and SCSI-II will almost always outperform IDE; EIDE will almost always outperform SCSI-I and SCSI-II; SCSI-III and UltraSCSI will almost always outperform EIDE; and heavy system loads give an advantage to SCSI. Note that although loosely speaking it is just a format difference, it is deep down a hardware difference." |
| 10-20-04 Flaw With Microsoft's XP Firewall Secunia reports that a flaw long ago exposed in Windows XP (Pro and Home) has again been left unguarded after the latest SP2 update. According to Secunia, "A weakness has been reported in Windows XP, which can be exploited to bypass certain rules in the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF). The problem is caused due to the firewall by default accepting incoming connections to ports listened on by the "sessmgr.exe" process. This can e.g. be exploited by malicious, unprivileged users to host an unauthorized service or by a Trojan to accept incoming connections by starting "sessmgr.exe" and then inject malicious code into the running process. Successful exploitation does not require administrative privileges on an affected system. The weakness has been reported in Windows XP SP2. Other versions may also be affected. Solution: Uncheck "Remote Assistance" under the "Exceptions" tab for the ICF configuration." Follow this Path to uncheck Remote Assistance: Start/ Control Panel/ Windows Firewall, and then select the Exceptions tab and remove the check mark from Remote Assistance. Then click OK and you are protected from another possible attack. Don't Choose Remove Option From Spam PC World has advice for those contemplating opting out of the barrage of spam that clutters up the inbox daily. The nitty-gritty down and dirty is don't for a number of reasons. Learn why by visiting PC World's web site. Apple Releases New iBook The price has dropped on the iBook and the package is getting better as Apple packed in a 1.2 GHz G4 in the 12-inch iBook for $999. Apple's press release comes just in time for those considering a new laptop before the holiday season. Apple also introduced an entry level G5 PowerMac today, and rumors have are flying regarding next weeks announcement in conjunction with U2. Apple stockholders might be receiving more good news by the next quarterly report if this keeps up. Top 10 Do's and Don'ts in PowerPoint We give PowerPoint presentations weekly and tips to punch-up a dull subject are welcome news. Microsoft has the top 10 dos and don'ts of PowerPoint presentation available for you at the MS Support site. Open Source Updates The following open source systems have updates or security issues according to Secunia: Gentoo Linux 1.x (1,2,3), Conectiva Linux 9, and Sun Solaris 8/9. What is an Extension? According to Sinclair Community College, "One or several letters at the end of a filename. Filename extensions usually follow a period (dot) and indicate the type of information stored in the file. For example, in the filename EDIT.COM, the extension is COM, which indicates that the file is a command file. Other extensions include .doc (Word document), .ppt (PowerPoint file), .xls (Excel spreadsheet), .pdf, .rtf, .wav, .mov, .midi, .avi." |
| 10-19-04 New Worm Declares Targets: Antivirus Programs The latest version of the MyDoom worm includes threats of an upcoming assault on many of the commercial antivirus products available for PCs. According to CNET, the worm claims it will attack McAfee, Trend Micro, F-Secure, and Symantec security systems. The code writer of this worm also included several slams regarding Netsky and the arrest of the cracker responsible for the same. High-Speed Users More Likely Phishing Victims If you have a high-speed Internet connection, are you more likely to be a target of phishers? PC World has a report that indicates the answer to the phishing question is yes. The article also states that a majority of these attacks occur from five sources. How can you protect yourself if you have a high-speed Internet connection? Put your computer behind a router, this will provide you with Network Address Translation (NAT) protection. To learn more about NAT protection check out the definition below. Norton Has Glitch Secunia is reporting that Norton Internet Security 2004, Norton Internet Security 2004 Pro, and Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2004. Visit Secunia to learn more about this issue if you use these products. Microsoft Office v.X 10.1.6 Bugs MacFixIt is reporting that some versions for French and German Microsoft Office v.X 10.1.6 are causing problem and a similar issue exists with one English version. Visit MacFixIt to learn more about the issues that include missing file post-install. How To Carry Your New iMac How should you carry your new iMac? Gently and according to Apple, "Pick up the iMac G5 by grasping both sides of the computer. Carry it to wherever you wish." Remember to unplug all the cords first! KDE Has New Advice Open source users that prefer the KDE flavor will find new information available from the KDE.news web site. Learn how to cure your performance problems or provide your input for other open source people to learn from. Open Source Updates Secunia has issued bulletins for updates for Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (1,2,3). What is NAT? What is NAT? NAT is the protection you get when you have a router and according to MSG.net NAT is an: "acronym for Network Address Translation, a system included with many routers and some operation systems where many hosts "behind" the router, or firewall host are translated to a single real IP address. Fundamentally, NAT is great for any use where the inside client opens a connection out to a remote site (web browsing), or where the two ends rendevous on a selected, random port (IRC's CTCP, FTP), but problematic where a specific port is used and more than one of the translated machines need to accept new connections in from outside, such as in web serving, online games, and other servers." |
| 10-18-04 Gift Certificate is New Hoax The email chain letter circulating during the past several days regarding an Applebees's gift certificate is nothing more than wishful thinking on the part of the perpetrators according to a report released by Secunia. Read more by visiting Multipleplatforms.com's Sophos Virus page. Leo Said It, Just Do It If you missed Leo Laporte, The Tech Guy on KFI you missed a lot. Leo talked about the importance of downloading the latest patches from Windows that are a follow-up to Service Pack 2. What else did Leo talk about? Surf on over to his web site where you can find links to Leo's show notes and more. Google Launches Desktop Search Tool Google has rolled out their latest tool and we like it! The free beta application allows you to search your PC for files in many different formats. Compared to X1's free trial of a similar product, we prefer Google's tool for searching after it has indexed your machines files. You can read more about this cool tool at Yahoo News; sorry Mac people, it is only available for the PC World at this time. Dig Up the Root LinuxGazette has the advice you need if you are trying to recover your root password in RedHat Linux. Visit their web site to learn how to use "chroot /mnt/sysimage" to solve your problem. Issues With Office 2004 Service Pack 1 for Macs MacFixIt is reporting some conflicts with PowerPoint after the latest fix from Microsoft, Service Pack 1 for Office 2004. If you are experiencing issues with PowerPoint and PDFMaker, click on the link above to read more about this annoyance. 150 Million and Counting Apple has plenty to crow about as they celebrate the sale of their 150 millionth iTunes Music Store download. The store is selling 4 million songs per week according to the press release from Apple. Don't forget to download your free iTunes song every week by clicking on our iTunes Music store link below. If you need to install iTunes for your Windows PC or Mac, click on the icon above and to the right it too is free. Birthdays Equal Long Weekends We celebrated two birthdays over the weekend at Multipleplatforms.com and as a result took a long weekend. Thanks for visiting while we were gone. What is a Firewall? According to CIO.com a firewall is, "A method of guarding a private network by analyzing the data leaving and entering. Firewalls can also provide network address translation, so the IP addresses of computers inside the firewall stay hidden from view. Packet-filtering firewalls use rules based on a packet's source, destination, port or other basic information to determine whether or not to allow it into the network. More advanced stateful packet filtering firewalls have access to more information from which to make their decisions. Proxy firewalls, which look at content and can involve authentication and encryption, can be more flexible and secure but also tend to be far slower. Although firewalls are difficult to configure correctly, security experts generally agree that they are a critical component of network security" |
| 10-14-04 AVG Anti-Virus Update If you are using AVG Anti-virus Free Edition, (and you should) you can download an update from the AVG web site according to PC World. After installing the update make sure you run the program to insure your PC is free of bad things. Microsoft Update for Mac Office 2004 Accelerate Your Mac reports that Microsoft has released an update for Mac Office 2004. This is an important update, but you may want to wait for several days before installing this update, we'll keep you posted. Microsoft Update for Office v. X Another report by Accelerate Your Mac has released an update for Office v. X, version 10.1.6/. Same advice as above, we use this version and we'll keep you posted. PCI-Express for You? The newest wave of video cards are on the way and you can find out if the PCI-Express is the right choice for you by surfing to the article on the same by PC World. PC Show and Tell Tutorials Learn Office programs through Flash tutorials and online quizzes and tune-up your Office skills by visiting the Microsoft web site. What is NTFS? According to Microsoft, "A file system designed for use specifically with the Windows operating system. It supports long file names, full security access control, file system recovery, extremely large storage media, and various features for the Windows POSIX subsystem. It also supports object-oriented applications by treating all files as objects with user-defined and system-defined attributes. See also file allocation table (FAT) file system." |
| 10-13-04 Microsoft Security Bulletin You can view all the security bulletins released by Microsoft from September 14, 2004 until October 12, 2004 at the Microsoft TechNet web site. Listen To Your Mac Life Shawn King brings Your Mac Life from the virtual world to reality on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 pm PDT and you can listen on the Internet by visiting the YML web site; there you'll find links to the audio/video streams, the chat rooms, archives, and more. Reminder: PowerBook Battery Recall The Apple web site has the following information regarding a recall on batteries sold for use with the 15-inch PowerBook: "Apple is voluntarily recalling certain lithium ion rechargeable batteries that were sold worldwide from January 2004 through August 2004 for use with 15-inch PowerBook G4 (Aluminum) notebook computers. These batteries were manufactured by LG Chem, Ltd. of South Korea. The affected batteries could overheat, posing a fire hazard. Apple received four reports of these batteries overheating. No injuries have been reported. Apple urges you to stop using your battery and to order a replacement battery immediately. If you continue to use your battery, do not leave it unattended and check for signs of overheating. Apple has initiated an exchange program and will provide eligible customers with a new replacement battery, free of charge. " Visit the Apple web site to learn more on this issue. Keyboard Shortcuts for iPhoto Learn about the time saving keyboard shortcuts available for iPhoto users by visiting the Apple iLife web site. Office Training Online You can brush up on your Office skills online by surfing to Microsoft's Office web site. There you can take tutorials or skip right to a quiz to judge your Office skills. Max Your Notebook Battery Power PC World has good advice for Notebook owners on making the juice from your batteries last just longer and you can learn the tricks by visiting PC World's web site. Open Source Updates Secunia has released the following information regarding open source systems: Fedora Core 2 and Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (1,2). What is GDI? According to Softwareshelf.com GDI is a, "Graphics Device Interface; The graphics display system in Microsoft Windows. When an application needs to display or print, it makes a call to a GDI function and sends it the parameters for the object that must be created. GDI in turn "draws" the object by sending commands to the screen and printer drivers, which actually render the images." |
| 10-12-04 Microsoft Has An Update For You If you use a Microsoft product, there is probably an update available for your PC. The company issued a number of security patches today for XP and many Office products. Visit the Microsoft web site to check if your PC needs an update and don't forget to check for that Office update too. MSN Messenger Problems Microsoft it working on a fix for their MSN Messenger software as problems continued to plague users over the weekend and into Monday. According to CNET, the problems started around the time that a new virus named Funner made an appearance. Norton Anti-Virus and Error If you receive error message when trying to start Norton AntiVirus 2005, visit WindowsITPro for an easy solution to your problem. Better yet, bag the Norton AntiVirus and use AVG-Free Antivirus. Better Browser for Microsoft? Will competition from other browsers force Microsoft to produce a better browser? We think they must respond to the other guy's efforts, and quickly to if they want PC users to use Internet Explorer for anything more than downloading the latest security update from MS. We have noticed a steady decline in the percentage of IE users visiting this web page and a corresponding increase in other browser's usage. PC World adds their two-cents worth and they concur, MS needs to act quickly. Office 2003 Free Trial Need to take a test run before you spend the money on Office 2003? Try before you buy by visiting the Microsoft Office web site for your free trial. Hot Tips from iPhoto This week's hot tips are a virtual smorgasbord full of helpful hints to make your iLife better when you use iPhoto. Learn to make Smart Albums and batch changes by visiting the Apple web site. Open Source Updates The following open source systems have updates or security bulletins issued from Secunia: Gentoo Linux 1.x (1,2,3,4), Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (1,2,3), Slackware, Sun Solaris 8/9. What is PCI? PCI is, according to SystemSoft: "Peripheral Component Interconnect - PCI is an interconnection system between a microprocessor and attached devices in which expansion slots are spaced closely for high speed operation. Using PCI, a computer can support both new PCI (32 bit) cards while continuing to support Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) expansion cards (16 bit), currently the most common kind of expansion card." |
| 10-11-04 Dell Recalls Power Adapters Dell has issued a recall notice for AC adapters that could affect more than 4 million of their customers according to a report by CNET. The Latitude, Inspiron, and the Precision computers are the models affected by the flaw that could cause a fire and an electrical shock. If you have one of these Dells, visit their web site for information on obtaining your replacement adapter. More Internet Explorer Issues Secunia has issued another security bulletin regarding flaws with Internet Explorer. The problem effects IE versions 5.0 to 6.0 and according to Secunia, "The vulnerability is caused due to insufficient cross-site restrictions when handling XML documents in some situations. This can be exploited on e.g. a malicious web site to view well-formed XML documents on arbitrary servers in the context of a user's session. SOLUTION: Disable Active Scripting support. Use another browser." Apple Update May Create Safari Connectivity Problem MacFixIt has an update of the issues regarding Apple's latest update for Mac users. Most of the aggravation stems from the problems with connecting to sites on the Internet. The solution: try again. If you have been experiencing annoyances post-update install, visit MacFixIt to find if other Mac-heads have been frustrated by the same problem. Scary Clip Art The Halloween season is here and Microsoft's Office web site has scary clip art for you to add to your documents, emails, or your web site. Visit the MS web site for cool clip art to kick your next letter up a notch. Top 20 Security Issues From SANS PC World has the scoop on the top 20 security issues plaguing Windows people. The list actually includes the top ten Windows vulnerabilities exploited by crackers and the top ten exploited vulnerabilities of Unix and Linux targeted by bad guys. The Fedora Project LinuxISO.org has another great link for open source users to access, The Fedora Project. To learn more about this free open source operating system, visit The Fedora Project web site. Open Source Updates Secunia has issued the following updates or security bulletins for these open source systems: Mandrakelinux 10.0 (1,2), Mandrake Linux 9.x/, Fedora Core 2 (1,2), Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 (1,2), SuSE Linux 8.x, SuSE Linux 9.0, SuSE Linux 9.1, Gentoo Linux 1.x/. What is IM? What is IM? Star-choice.com defines it as, "Instant messaging (sometimes called IM or IMing) is the ability to easily see whether a chosen friend or co-worker is connected to the Internet and, if they are, to exchange messages with them. Instant messaging differs from ordinary e-mail in the immediacy of the message exchange and also makes a continued exchange simpler than sending e-mail back and forth. Most exchanges are text-only. However, some services allow attachments." |
| 10-8-04 Microsoft Office Has More Flaws Secunia and CNET have reports regarding newly discovered security flaws that exist in Microsoft's Office 2000, Office XP , Word 2000, and Word 2002. If the flaw were to be exploited, denial of service and a compromised PC could result from this coding error according to Secunia. Share Your Music Choices Apple provides you with several methods to share your musical appreciation with the world and all you have to do is visit their web site to learn more about this feature. Disable SP2 Firewall Alerts If the firewall alerts are already beginning to annoy you and you can't take it anymore, visit the Microsoft web site to learn how you can disable those annoying firewall alerts. The Tech Guy Is Ready The Tech Guy on KFI, Leo Laporte, is ready to answer your questions on all things with a chip from 12-3pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Listen to Leo live on AM 640 in Southern California or listen on the Internet feed to improve your knowledge and have fun. Web Site of the Day: Slackware Linux This web site is an open source users dream, and Slackware users already know of the mission of this web site, "This site is dedicated to providing the latest news about the Slackware Linux distribution, as well as installation help, configuration help, and other general information about Slackware Linux." Check this site out if you use Slackware Linux, or are considering making a switch to open source. What is Linux? Yellow Dog Linux supplies the following definition of Linux: "Linux is similar to Mac OS or MS Windows, or Sun Solaris in that it is an operating system. Linux is unique from other operating systems, however, in that the Linux source code (the underlying "stuff" that makes it all work) is freely available to anyone with minimal restrictions on how it is to be copied or used. Yellow Dog Linux is built from the Red Hat Linux distribution. While Red Hat's primary focus is on x86 (Intel and IBM compatibles) computers, Yellow Dog Linux is for PowerPC (IBM and Motorola CPUs as used in Apple Macintosh computers)." What is? What is it you would like to know? Send us your computer-speak question, or any question regarding your computer(s) to http://mailhide.recaptcha.net/d?k=01_CYdbG3G8Bh7MdskTeTP0w==&c=pKEf2yrBRdKaLmzwt1ln6WdZae-yMxuGo0u42mijLo8=/. You can also submit a question anonymously if you visit our Contact page, but make sure you include as much information on the problem, system, and anything you might have done to the computer before your annoyance started. |
| Tech News 10-8-04 Microsoft Office Has More Flaws Secunia and CNET have reports regarding newly discovered security flaws that exist in Microsoft's Office 2000, Office XP , Word 2000, and Word 2002. If the flaw were to be exploited, denial of service and a compromised PC could result from this coding error according to Secunia. Share Your Music Choices Apple provides you with several methods to share your musical appreciation with the world and all you have to do is visit their web site to learn more about this feature. Disable SP2 Firewall Alerts If the firewall alerts are already beginning to annoy you and you can't take it anymore, visit the Microsoft web site to learn how you can disable those annoying firewall alerts. The Tech Guy Is Ready The Tech Guy on KFI, Leo Laporte, is ready to answer your questions on all things with a chip from 12-3pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Listen to Leo live on AM 640 in Southern California or listen on the Internet feed to improve your knowledge and have fun. Web Site of the Day: Slackware Linux This web site is an open source users dream, and Slackware users already know of the mission of this web site, "This site is dedicated to providing the latest news about the Slackware Linux distribution, as well as installation help, configuration help, and other general information about Slackware Linux." Check this site out if you use Slackware Linux, or are considering making a switch to open source. What is Linux? Yellow Dog Linux supplies the following definition of Linux: "Linux is similar to Mac OS or MS Windows, or Sun Solaris in that it is an operating system. Linux is unique from other operating systems, however, in that the Linux source code (the underlying "stuff" that makes it all work) is freely available to anyone with minimal restrictions on how it is to be copied or used. Yellow Dog Linux is built from the Red Hat Linux distribution. While Red Hat's primary focus is on x86 (Intel and IBM compatibles) computers, Yellow Dog Linux is for PowerPC (IBM and Motorola CPUs as used in Apple Macintosh computers)." |
| 10-7-04 Microsoft Ships Virtual PC 7 Microsoft has finally shipped the long-promised Virtual PC 7 for Apple users according to CNET. The new version is now compatible with Apple's G5 processor and according to the report most programs operate faster than previous versions. Review of SP2 PC World has a review on the update of Windows XP, Service Pack 2 and what it will do for you. You can learn about the good, the bad, and the ugly by surfing to PC World. Trouble With Norton Secunia Security issued a "not critical" notice regarding Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2003, Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2004, Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2005. Secunia reports that, "The problem is caused due to an error within the handling of files and directories on the system with reserved MS-DOS device names and can be exploited by including malware in a file or directory with such a name (e.g. "prn" or "aux"). Successful exploitation causes malware to evade detection during automatic and manual scans. NOTE: Malware will reportedly still be detected by the email scanning functionality and upon execution. SOLUTION: The vendor has issued a fix for Symantec Norton AntiVirus 2004, which is available via LiveUpdate. The fix will be available for other versions via LiveUpdate later." Thumbs Up for New Apple Update MacFixIt reports the latest update from Apple is one of the most trouble free updates in recent memory. Some Mac Heads are reporting problems with Rendevous printing and a few other bugs have been noted by MacFixIt readers. We have installed it on our G4 and G3 Macs without problems. Secrets of Importing for iTunes You can learn everything you always wanted to know about importing music into your iTune's Library by visiting the Apple support site. What does the site cover? From AAC to signal processing technology, the article has useful information for the newbie iTunes users. SP2 Has New Security Dialog Box After installation of SP2, based on information from Microsoft, Windows users may receive a dialogue box that state: "When a program tries to use one or more of the resources or the ports on your system that are covered by the firewall, a Security Alert dialog box appears." Learn more about this mysterious box by visiting the MS web site. Open Source News from Secunia The following open source systems have updates or security bulletins from Secunia: Gentoo Linux 1.x (1,2), Fedora Core 2 Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 Sun Solaris 8 Debian GNU/Linux 3.0 Top Five Reasons To Use Linux Yellow Dog Linux has a list of the top five reasons to use Linux: 1. Free 2. All inclusive 3. Scalable 4. Industry support 5. It's the right thing to do What is FTP? According to the University of Washington FTP is, "A method of transfering files from one computer to another. Usually, it is used to copy files from a personal computer to a server, so that they can be accessed by others. There are several common software programs that are used to transfer files (depending on which operating system your computer is running): WS_FTP, Internet Neighborhood, or Fetch. FTP is often used to download files from Internet sites, many of which allow users to log in anonymously and download public repositories of material (programs, images, text, etc.). These sites are called ëanonymous ftp sites'." |
| 10-6-04 New E-mail Ploy Uses Election The latest spam scam is trying to use the United States of America's Presidential elections as bait to lure unwary victims into paying $1.99 USD per minute for a bogus support poll according to The Laporte Report and the BBC. Share Your iTunes With Multiple Platforms Apple has information on how you can share and stream your iTunes music library among your computers, even if you use multiple platforms! Visit the Apple web site to learn more about sharing and streaming your music. SP2 Allows for One-Stop Security Tests According to Microsoft, "SP2 contains a collection of new technologies designed to help keep your PC and your personal information more secure. SP2 also makes it easier to monitor these settings with the new Windows Security Center, available through the Control Panel." Listen To Your Mac Life Shawn King brings Your Mac Life from the virtual world to reality on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 pm PDT and you can listen on the Internet by visiting the YML web site; there you'll find links to the audio/video streams, the chat rooms, archives, and more. Secunia Advisory for SuSE Secunia has issued an update bulletin for SuSE Linux 8 and 9. Is FreeBSD Your Flavor? If you are looking for an open source distro, check out the latest operating systems from FreeBSD. What is FreeBSD? The web site describes FreeBSD as: "FreeBSD is an advanced operating system for x86 compatible (including Pentium and Athlon), amd64 compatible (including Opteron, Athlon 64, and EM64T), Alpha/AXP, IA-64, PC-98 and UltraSPARCÆ architectures. It is derived from BSD, the version of UNIXÆ developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It is developed and maintained by a large team of individuals. Additional platforms are in various stages of development." What is a Hub? A network hub is not a router, nor are we referring to the hub from a bicycle; so what is a network hub? According to BinaryGraphics.com/, a network hub is: " A hardware device providing the interconnection between networked devices. It is called a hub because the network wiring can be sketched like a spoked wheel with the hub at the center. A Network Hub is used with 10-Base T and 100-Base T EtherNet wiring. Hubs differ in the number of ports they have and in large networks multiple hubs can be bridged together." |
| 10-5-04 Apple Security Update Apple released a security update: 2004-09-30 on Monday that addresses several security issues and a QuickTime Flaw according to Secunia. We will check MacFixIt and the other trouble-shooting sites before installing this patch (that appears to be delayed several days by Apple based on the name) and keep you advised. Spyware Is Everywhere CNET is reporting that the average PC is being watched by 26 spyware programs based on a study done by Earthlink. Spyware comes via freeware, shareware, email, and instant messaging. Other spyware is placed on your computer by software or even by your PC maker. For free spyware removal tools, please check the products offered below by Ad-aware and Spybot S&D. Firefox Update Available Secunia reports that an update is available for Firefox and users of that browser should visit Mozilla.org to install the update ASAP. Sync Your iPod If you have an iPod then you need to know about the Auto-Sync feature that will make your digital life more rewarding. For the directions on how to transfer your music automatically or by play-lists, visit the Apple web site. Block Pop-ups With Internet Explorer When you must use Internet Explorer, Microsoft has advice on the pop-up blocker now available for IE. If you would like to learn more about this latest feature from Microsoft, visit their web site. Control Automatic Update With System Properties If you have installed Microsoft's XP SP2, you will now receive and install Windows updates automatically. If you want more control use this path: Start/Control Panel/System/Automatic Updates, and then choose any option that suits you. We selected the option to "Download updates for me, but let me choose when to install them". This gives us the convenience of knowing an update is available and the flexibility to install it if and when we choose. Open Source Updates Secunia has issued security bulletins or updates for the following systems: Mandrake Linux 9.x , Gentoo Linux 1.x, Slackware Linux 9.1, FreeBSD 5.x. Learn Open Source With Knoppix Our favorite open source web site has the links and information on the great operating systems by Knoppix. LinuxISO describes the Knoppix distro as: "(A) Linux distribution (that) runs entirely from a bootable CD. Data on the CD is uncompressed on the fly, allowing them to fit 2 GB worth of system and programs on one CD, including a complete X server, KDE, and large packages like OpenOffice and The Gimp. Since it runs solely off the CD, Knoppix makes an excellent portable Linux demo or system rescue disk, but its completeness makes it a good general purpose distribution as well." What is a PDF? According to Walthowe.com, a PDF is, "Adobe's Page Description Format. It is often used as a format which allows much more complete, controlled layout of a page and its graphics and text than conventional HTML does. It requires a browser plug-in to see a web page in PDF format. Files will usually have a .pdf extension. To create a page in PDF format, you need Adobe Acrobat (not the free Acrobat Reader) or other premium Adobe software. PhotoShop does. Adobe Illustrator does. PageMaker probably does (I haven't checked). Adobe GoLive does not. Adobe ImageStyler and ImageReady do not. Word and WordPerfect do not. Paint Shop Pro does not. The latest version 5.0 or Adobe Acrobat adds the capability to convert PDF files to text files in Rich Text Format." |
| 10-4-04 Can You Do The Party Shuffle? Multiple Platforms users of Apple's iTunes can do the Party Shuffle, a nice feature for listening to your music library. If you aren't doing the party shuffle already, visit the Apple Support site to learn how to make the guests at your next party believe you hired a DJ to spin the songs. Windows Firewall 101 It used to be named Internet Connection Firewall and most Windows XP people never new it existed. But with a new name and a default setting with attitude, Windows Firewall is ready to go to work for you. As a good supervisor, you should know more than your employee and you can gain that knowledge by visiting Microsoft's support site. Open Source Site of the Day: College Linux College Linux is a great web site for those newbies interested in open source operating systems. The web site's concept is: "The basic concept of CollegeLinux is to provide you with an alternative, user-friendly operating system and a way to learn more using linux. Whilst maintaining simplicity and a user friendly system, we want to introduce our users to more advanced features and why not, to maintain the ëgeek' side of linux by providing an excellent development environment." What is a GIF? Last week we defined a TIFF, following our definition of a JPEG image. Today Commnet.edu provides the explanation for a GIF, "(Graphic Interchange Format) -- A common format for image files, especially suitable for images containing large areas of the same color. GIF format files of simple images are often smaller than the same file would be if stored in JPEG format, but GIF format does not store photographic images as well as JPEG." |
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10-2-04 Leo Live |
| 10-1-04 Don't Take It Seriously A poll to assess computer users views on the likelihood of a computer virus striking their PC revealed some startling results; most respondents felt they were more likely to be struck by lighting! The poll was conducted by the nonprofit National Cyber Security Alliance according to CNET. If you are a computer geek who carefully reads all the latest information, you are protected by a router, antivirus, spyware removers, a firewall, have sworn off using Internet Explorer (except when necessary), and have downloaded and installed the SP2 and the updates since the SP2 release, then you might have a better chance of being struck by lighting than being infected froma virus, otherwise; forget-about-it. Need the above protection? Scroll down to the bottom of this page for our recommendations of antivirus, spyware removers, and firewall protection available to you for free. Connect to Windows File Sharing With Your Mac We use multiple platforms to produce this web site everyday, so we love when two of our favorite tools, Window's and Apple's operating systems work in harmony. If you would like to learn about sharing your PCs file with your Mac, visit the Apple Support site for more information on this topic. Do You Need An Office Update? The latest rounds of threats from the evil crackers also attempts to exploit your Office applications; to prevent you and your PC from falling victim to a cracker, visit Microsoft Support to insure your Windows box has the most recent updates. Yellow Dog On The Way The following is a press release from Terra Soft Solutions: "Loveland, Colorado -- 29 September 2004 -- Terra Soft Solutions(R), Inc., the leading developer of integrated PowerPC Linux solutions, is pleased to announce release of Yellow Dog Linux(TM) v4.0. The final Yellow Dog Linux v4.0 CD-Rs have been created and will today be delivered to a CD production facility for glass mastering and replication. While shipping product will be available in approximately two weeks, Yellow Dog Linux v4.0 is immediately available through YDL.net Enhanced accounts. Six months in development, Yellow Dog Linux v4.0 is built upon Fedora Core 2, offering both KDE 3.3 and GNOME 2.6.0 desktops with an all-new presentation for both the Installer and post-installed desktop environment. Included apps are OpenOffice 1.1.1, Rhythmbox 0.8.3, Mozilla 1.7 and development tools glibc 2.3.3 and gcc 3.3.3 built upon the 32-bit kernel 2.6.8." Virex 7 DAT Update Apple computer owners that have .Mac accounts should update and install the latest Virex 7 DAT update. This update was released on the last day of September, and post-instillation you should run a virus scan on your system. What is Firewire? Tecksel.com has this definition of firewire, "Invented by Apple Computer in the mid-1990's, Firewire has become one of the leading peripheral standards. Firewire can be used to connect devices such as digital camcorders, digital cameras, hard drives, and MP3 players, such as the Apple iPod, to your computer. Its uses are similar the USB, but Firewire can transfer data at 400 Mbps, which is roughly 30 times faster than USB. This blazing speed allows for quick transfers of large video files, which is great for video-editing professionals. You may see Firewire referred to by its technical name, IEEE 1394, since it was standardized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Both terms refer to the same serial input/output technology. If your computer doesn't have Firewire and you wish it did, fear not. You can always buy a PCI Firewire card to add Firewire ports to your computer." |
