24January2012
Posted by John D under: Backup and Restore; Security.
It has been said that when it comes to data security, there are three rules: Backup, backup and backup. Usually, when someone says “security”, though, the thought is more about preventing access to unauthorized people rather than how to keep the data safe from unauthorized or unintended destruction. While keeping access restricted to people who might use the data in ways that are less than desirable are a huge concern, keeping the data intact is necessary for authorized users to access the data in the first place.
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17January2012
Posted by John D under: Government; Internet; Legal.
According to the Los Angeles Times article “Wikipedia blackout: Wednesday shaping up to be productive workday”, Wikipedia and Reddit are going dark tomorrow. Google isn’t going totally out, but it will put information about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) controversy on its homepage.
Starting at midnight tonight, you are likely to notice a significant difference in how you surf in order to force people to remember what it was (and will) be like without the web. If SOPA passes, the web as we know it will change, and I am still predicting it will drive some web companies (and their jobs) offshore.
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15January2012
Posted by John D under: Internet; Legal.
In a particularly odd story, The Telegraph reported that “Student Richard O’Dwyer can be extradited over TV website”. O’Dwyer is a computer science major who ran TVShack, of which it is claimed violated copyright laws. Apparently, it gained attention because it was too successful, becoming ranked within the top 1,800 sites in the world. That isn’t the only twist, however. The site itself did not even contain any video streams! Rather, it was a directory site that linked to other sites.
The US government continues to bow to pressure of special interest groups driven by greed. If you think Wall Street is greedy, then you haven’t been paying attention to the entertainment industry.
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15January2012
Posted by John D under: Economics; Government; Internet; Legal.
I’m a pretty conservative person most of the time. Just ask any of my friends. There are very few issues where I completely split from a conservative viewpoint, but the Republicans are completely blowing it when it comes to the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) going through the House of Representatives now. Now, MSNBC.com reports that the “White House voices concern over online piracy legislation”. In essence, some very large IT related companies have come out in opposition to the bill, while the greedy and already overpaid entertainment industry is trying to claim that the bill will save US jobs.
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10January2012
Posted by John D under: PCs.
You pull out that shiny new PC, and you set it up, and the manufacturer has put all sorts of junk on it. It runs like a 386 did in 1992. Some manufacturers are worse than others, but all put on various trial programs or programs that basically just take up space or, worse, memory.
For the number one rule, just remember: “No Syman Nor Mac”. In other words, no Symantec, no Norton and no McAfee. Oh, and did I mention to get rid of Norton/Symantec?
I was actually reading a sticker on a new PC today, and Norton was touting its “100% protection score”. This was interesting to me, since there isn’t an AV in the world that is “100%” effective at anything. It is impossible. Malware is a moving target, as those who wish to do harm to others’ systems and/or data are constantly improving and modifying their code to stay one step ahead of security suites and AV programs. I smelled bull, so I went home to Google some information.
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6January2012
Posted by John D under: Geek Friday; Reviews; Utilities.
Well, I like lists and checklists and what-not, but it is sometimes difficult to keep track of where you started in order to know where you are going. There are tools that help, like Secunia Online Software Inspector, which is nice for check for out of date software. It is especially nice because it will even catch those pesky out of date Flash OCX files that don’t show up in Add/Remove Programs.
However, it really would help to have a list of programs, and even a list of devices, just to get an idea of what you are starting with. There are tons of programs out there that do this, but they are expensive for the most part. I just wanted something to list the program and the version – nothing fancy. In addition, I want to be able to carry it on a memory stick (aka thumb drive, flash drive, etc.) and not have to actually install it.
Well, it turns out that WinAudit fits this bill quite nicely. Not only that, but it is free. For that price, all I expected was that it would produce a text output that I could print out and cross items off as I go. However, while it will produce a text report, it can also create a comma separated file (CSV) to import into Excel or an HTML to bring up in a web browser.
It is a nice, down-and-dirty program that cuts to the chase. It reminds me a lot of how software used to be written back in the 640k days. If you want bells and whistles, then this isn’t the program for you, but if you just want something quick and easy to use, then give it a whirl.
Between these two utilities, WinAudit and Secunia OSI, it should be easy to keep your PC clean and up to date. Don’t forget that Secunia also has a Personal Software Inspector that runs on your own machine and provides you a more thorough inspection.
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5January2012
Posted by John D under: Internet.
The Stop Online Protection Act (SOPA) is so overreaching that “Wikipedia co-founder threatens blackout over anti-piracy law”. Wikipedia is the large “open source encyclopedia” that some love and some love to hate. Jimmy Wales, cofounder of Wikipedia, has also been a controversial figure with his outspoken opinions on a wide range of matters, but it appears that he may get cooperation in this particular matter from some rather large web entities, if a recent BBC report is to be believed.
It isn’t just the BBC reporting the rumor, either. Time Moneyland reports in “SOPA: What if Google, Facebook and Twitter Went Offline in Protest?”:
Companies including Google, Facebook, Twitter, PayPal, Yahoo! and Wikipedia are said to be discussing a coordinated blackout of services to demonstrate the potential effect SOPA would have on the Internet, something already being called a “nuclear option” of protesting. The rumors surrounding the potential blackout were only strengthened by Markham Erickson, executive director of trade association NetCoalition, who told FoxNews that “a number of companies have had discussions about [blacking out services]” last week.
Such a maneuver would be risky, naturally, but it is bound to make the point. In addition, it really should point out the folly of trying to regulate something that is global on a national level in an otherwise free society. In fact, this is a move more akin to China than a democracy, and anyone who would vote for such a bill should be voted out of office as soon as possible.
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3January2012
Posted by John D under: Collaboration; Microsoft Office.
A common question I get is about the difference between Microsoft Office, especially Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Works. Works has spreadsheet and word processor programs, so why would you need to pay for Office? Worse, how can you still use Works and still collaborate with someone who has Office? Well, it turns out that it might be a few more steps, but it is possible.
As a background, some computers come with Microsoft Works already installed and working. This program suite comes bundled with the computer. However, Works natively uses different formatting and file extensions than Office does. In the past, this was a royal pain, and converter programs had to be used to convert back and forth. This almost always resulted in significantly changing the formatting of the data file.
Well, Microsoft has made available the Office Compatibility Pack. According to article KB933428, as long as this is installed, you can open MS Word files in Microsoft Works. If you don’t have Office installed, you can just double-click on the .doc or .docx file and open it in Works Word Processor or double-click on the .xls or .xlsx file and open it in Works Spreadsheet. Using the Office Compatibility Pack should allow you to make changes and save them as well.
If you are using Works, you might want to get in the habit of using Save As to save Works files in the compatible Office format. Note as well that you can use the file format converter in Word to open a Works document in Word 2007+.
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30December2011
Posted by John D under: Microsoft Windows; Security.
According to PCWorld, “Microsoft Ruins Perfect Record with Out-Of-Band Patch” by releasing the first emergency patch of the year. Yes, less than 48 hours away from the next year, Microsoft had to release this patch. This is especially interesting, as MS apparently isn’t currently aware of any specific attack. However, it seems that it is worse than a normal Denial of Service (DoS) attack in that each ping can tie up a CPU core for 90 seconds, which means it doesn’t require a coordinated attack or botnet.
eWeek’s Fahmida Y Rashid was quoted in RedOrbit article “Microsoft Releases Emergency Patch To Address Zero-Day Vulnerability”:
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28December2011
Posted by John D under: Troubleshooting; WordPress.
Yesterday, I wrote about “Using WordPress as a Regular Website with a Static Front Page”, in which I wrote:
As long as your WordPress theme already supports it, that’s really all there is to it! You will now have a static landing page called “Home” and a blog attached to it (if you chose to set it).
Well, as it so happens, I was working on a site when I wrote this article. Up until that point, I have created WordPress sites with a static front page without any incident, but I forgot to put up an article about it. Well, I’ve been trying out a brand new cool WordPress theme, TechGo. I did what I normally do, and there they are: two Home menu items. This is the first theme that I’ve had this issue with.
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