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Entries in Google (113)

Monday
Dec222008

You tracking Santa, here's how!

So as Christmas is almost upon us we are faced with the problem of tracking Santa.
Norad decided to start tracking Santa Clause, Here's the Wikipedia information from the site:
[ad#ad2-right]
In 1955, a Colorado Springs-based Sears store ran an advertisement encouraging children to call Santa Claus on a special telephone hotline. Due to a printing error, the phone number that was printed was the hotline for the Director of Operations at the Continental Air Defense (CONAD). Colonel Harry Shoup took the first Santa call on Christmas Eve of 1955 from a six-year old boy who began reciting his Christmas list. Shoup didn't find the call funny, but after asking the mother of the second caller what was happening, then realizing the mistake that occurred, he instructed his staff to give Santa's position to any child who called in.
[Via Wikipedia]

So how can you track Santa, here are a few ways to keep up to date on where he is around the world:

These are just a few good website to watch him travel around the world.   Are you tracking Santa?  Because I am!!
Thursday
Dec112008

WordPress 2.7 is available.

Having installed the latest update, I must say this new dashboard is quite good.  I love the new dashboard.  So lets take a quick look at what you can do:

wordpress27-dashClick Image to View it in full screen!!


After I installed it, this is what it was like.   I then decided to change it around to show you what it looks like now.  You have the option of changing the right row and also the windows to where you want.  Like this:

wordpress27-dash1Click Image to view it full screen.


As you can see you can change so much stuff on the dashboard it is like having your own very wordpress operating system on your system.   You can customize what you want where you want.   I like this new look.   I'd thought I show you the Wordpress 2.7 Dashboard and show just how nice this looks.   I want to hear everyone  thoughts on this new dashboard do you like it or hate it?

[ad#ad2-right]My Opinion is this is so nice and easy for the blogger and people who use the Podpress, it makes it even easier and quicker.  Oh and you can now use Google Gears to speed up the dashboard so you don't have to wait for the page to load.   You can also use it offline and post it online when you get a signal.  That is  my understanding of Google Gears although I've not tested that part out.  I am almost sure you could do that with Wordpress.
Wednesday
Dec102008

Yet another Turn For Yahoo, They lay off 1,500 people.

As much as I like Yahoo, they decide to lay off workers due to money. It's really not un-expected due to the fact that they've been doing poorly.
Yahoo began laying off 1,500 workers on Wednesday as part of a plan, announced in October, to slash expenses by $400 million a year. The cost cutting, however, may have to go deeper in the coming year.

[New York Times]



[ad#ad2-left]Now we know the Google and Yahoo planned on getting together but that went south due to the Lawsuit.  Some think Yahoo's systems is flaky and is bound to fail.  Although I don't know much of the back story, I'd just wanted to let my readers know about Yahoo.  If you want to read the other articles on Layoffs by all means.   I also suggest people search my site for some good tid bits
Tuesday
Dec092008

The Important Windows patches Released Today

As many of you know we talked about the Non-critical patches that Microsoft will release today.  IF you want to read those please go and check it out.   I'll be talking about the REALLY important ones that Microsoft has kept tight until now.    These are the more important ones but I will list the ones that I previous talked about to better help people recognize the non-important ones:



[ad#ad2-right]
  • KB955839

  • KB957388

  • KB890830

  • KB905866

  • These are just the tip of the iceberg. although this list are not A lot.  I'd wanted to let people know about what people coin "Exploit Wednesday".  I really don't know if this is a Myth or actually does exist but I'd figure we discuss the problems associated with installing the critical updates and try to tell you which ones should be installed As soon as possible.  Though people have in the past used a Virtual Machine to see if there is any problem, that should be your first step if you don't want to have any problems with these updates.  I don't suggest testing it more than a couple days.  Here are some good Virtual Machine software to try out yourself:




    Here is the list of updates that are critical that Microsoft released today.   Each one of these are quite important and should be considered installed when you get a chance.


    [ad#ad2-left]Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-073 - Critical
    Cumulative Security Update for Internet Explorer (KB958215)

    This security update resolves four privately reported vulnerabilities. The vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.



    Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-071 – Critical
    Vulnerabilities in GDI Could Allow Remote Code Execution (KB956802)

    This security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in GDI. Exploitation of either of these vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens a specially crafted WMF image file. An attacker who successfully exploited these vulnerabilities could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.



    [ad#ad2-right]Microsoft Security Bulletin MS08-075 – Critical
    Vulnerabilities in Windows Search Could Allow Remote Code Execution (KB959349)

    This security update resolves two privately reported vulnerabilities in Windows Search. These vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution if a user opens and saves a specially crafted saved-search file within Windows Explorer or if a user clicks a specially crafted search URL. An attacker who successfully exploited these vulnerabilities could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts with full user rights. Users whose accounts are configured to have fewer user rights on the system could be less impacted than users who operate with administrative user rights.



    KB952069
    (not quite sure what this one is, when I go do a Google search this is what pops up. It was in German but Google translated it for me)

    In the Windows Media Runtime to the default in Windows XP SP3 contains Windows Media Player (WMP) 9 were discovered vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker to compromise your Windows-based system and gain control over it. See Security Bulletin MS08-076 ( englisch bzw. deutsch ) See Security Bulletin MS08-076 (English or German)


    These are just ones that I found and wanted to let you know, the others have been explained on the other article.  So check them all out and I suggest installing them quickly as possible.

    Tuesday
    Dec092008

    Google let your work from home with Task Lists!!

    As the day go by we have all have tasks, and that means we have to keep a way to remember them.  Google decided to add that to there Google Mail.  Pcworld said it the right way:


    [ad#ad2-left]If keeping Gmail open all the time just wasn't enough, Google gave us one more reason to stay glued to our computer screens. The Labs Team have released yesterday a new feature for Gmail - Tasks - basically a To-Do list manager. But besides the usual task list bonanza, the new feature can also associate emails with tasks and create multiple to-do lists.


    [Via Pcworld]



    [ad#ad2-right]So how do you get that to work.  Pcworld has a great resource for people to find out how to get it to work.   Just think it gives you one more reason to work from home.   Google actually did something quite nice when it comes to mail.   It can even convert email into tasks.  If you know of any good uses of this little feature leave a comment.
    Tuesday
    Dec092008

    The Next big Wave of Layoffs is Sony. (9,000 workers)

    In a report from Engadget, there seems to be more Layoffs going on.   One such one is Sony.  Here is what Engadget said:


    [ad#ad2-right]


    The bad news from the Japanese consumer electronics industry continues. Sony just announced plans to cut about 8,000 global jobs from its beleaguered electronics business while making unspecified reductions to its seasonal and temporary workforce. The move, as Sony explains it, comes "in response to the sudden and rapid changes in the global economic environment." Ominously, it looks like Sony will also be raising prices in the countries where "Sony makes significant sales" (read: US and Europe) if we're reading this statement correctly:


    [Via Engadget]


    [ad#ad2-left]In Today's economy, you need to be prepared.  So I thought I bring back some old Favorites of mine and talk about them.  To see the other layoffs that I've talked about CLICK HERE.   If you wanted to know what you can do to be prepared here are some great resources for people who are worried about there jobs:



    If you have any others you would like to suggest please leave a comment and let everyone know.   These are hard economic times and we all could use the help.

    Thursday
    Dec042008

    sinowal.trojan Problems.

    Trojan-PSW:W32/Sinowal.CP drops and loads a password stealing component on the infected system and tries to steal account information from it. It also tries to steal information that is required to access certain online banks' and online payment systems' websites.

    [via F-secure]

    [ad#ad2-right]It seems to be a very hard virus to remove but there are ways to get rid of this virus.   Some tips and tricks to get rid are:

    This are the beginning steps to get rid of a Virus but it will be a really hard virus because it wants to stay in your system.  You should also Restart in Safe mode and Try to remove that virus that one.   You will also want to disable your system restore due to the fact that it will be in there and might come back if you restore your system.  Just some simple tips to help keep you safe on the net.
    Tuesday
    Nov252008

    Some program Vulnebilities Detected!!

    Just got done looking at some of my security sites and according to SecuriTeam there are are several programs that have vulnerabilities. here are the Ones that I've found:
    Google chrome is vulnerable to URI Obfuscation vulnerability.
    An attacker can easily perform malicious redirection by manipulating the browser functionality. The link can not be traversed properly in status address bar.This could facilitate the impersonation of legitimate web sites in order to steal sensitive information from unsuspecting users. The URI specified with @ character with or without NULL character causes the vulnerability.


    [ad#ad2-right]iPhone Configuration Web Utility for Windows Directory Traversal
    iPhone Configuration Web Utility lets "you easily create, sign and distribute configuration profiles using a web browser". A vulnerability in iPhone Configuration Web Utility allows remote attackers to access files that reside outside the bounding root directory of the program's files folder.


    Streamripper Multiple Buffer Overflows
    Streamripper "records Shoutcast and Live365 MP3 streams to a hard disk, creating separate files for each track. Runs under Unix and Windows." Secunia Research has discovered some vulnerabilities in Streamripper, which can be exploited by malicious people to compromise a user's system.


    Amaya URL Bar Stack Overflow Vulnerability
    A vulnerability in Amaya browser allows remote attackers to cause it to overflow an internal buffer which in turn can be leveraged to execute arbitrary code.

    These are the ones that I found and wanted to let you know about these so you can make your system even more secure.   if I find any others I'll let you know!!!
    Friday
    Nov212008

    Youtube gets ready to Launch "LIVE Event!!" 5pm PST/8pm EST

    As the time approaches for the live even for Youtube. There are many confirmed and only one I want to see right now. As many people will agree that Mythbusters is the best show on Discovery Channel. They have been confirmed to be there tomorrow.

    They are getting ready!!!


    Some of the major players confirmed to be there are Mythbusters, Soulja Boy Tell'em, Katy Perry, Esmee Denters, Akon, FRED, and Will. I. Am.   Now I don't know all these stars.   I do Know Mythbusters and I've heard of FRED.   I'm just stating who is going to be there.

    [ad#ad2-left]Then the Obvious question comes to my mind and I am sure this is being asked by everyone right now.  Is Mythbusters shows coming to Youtube?  I would say from what all is going on with Youtube, they might become a competitor to Hulu.  With them adding High Defination Viewing and allowing bigger video to be uploaded. There is no question that Youtube and Google is getting ready to release a major statement, or change there direction.   So be ready tomorrow at 8 PM EST/5 PM PST and let's see what happens.
    Friday
    Nov212008

    Google Creates the ultimate Search Wiki!!

    Google has started to do let people rate the searches and help find the better articles. Google is calling it Searchwiki. Here is a screen shot:



    [ad#ad2-left]You can now help judge and rate search results.   You can also X out the ones that are not right.   I am going to play around with this even more.  It started out on Google Trends and Now people are all wanting to know more about this.   This could help my site even more.   I want to know what others are thinking about this?  Is this Good or can this be good for the spammers?  You decide.

    Some other Websites talking about this are:

    These are just a few but I wanted to let you see what other websites are talking about this new feature. I do want to hear what you think about all this and what is likely to come later on?


    Friday
    Nov212008

    How to disable autorun the easy way!!!

    I read a report from Cnet about USB devices spreading Virus and I will quote:
    The bad guys are intentionally developing new flavors of malware designed to propagate through USB devices," said Gunter Ollmann, chief security strategist for IBM's ISS security division. "They are today's floppy drives."

    [ad#ad2-right]An infected computer can spread a virus to a clean USB thumb drive that is inserted. That USB drive will then be spreading the virus onto other computers if the operating system on those machines has an AutoRun-type feature enabled. The AutoRun function in Windows launches installers and other programs automatically when a flash drive or CD is inserted. The Mac has an equivalent function, according to Ollmann.

    [Via Cnet]

    In order to disable "autorun", which in Vista is called Autoplay. In order to disable Autoplay from starting when you insert media into your computer here is how you do it:

    You will need to be Logged in as Administrator before this can be done:

    Next click start and type "Autoplay" without quotes. It will bring up a screen but all you have to worry about is this:

    Vista autorun

    You will need to make sure there  is no check mark for "Use AutoPlay for all media and Devices".   Click save and close.

    [ad#ad2-left]Once that is done, you will have no more Autoruns from USB devices.  If you want to disable Autorun in XP, I'd suggest reading some of these articles for XP.

    These are just a few and are really nice to articles but there are others out there that might be more to your liking.  I suggest searching Google for them.   I hope this helps you out!!!
    Wednesday
    Nov192008

    Did the Xbox Experience break netflix on Demand activation?

    [ad#ad2-left]According to Google Trends people are trying to activate there Xbox Experience with Netflix.  This could be a problem for Netflix, I just tried and they are extremely slow in response.   I am willing to guess that later on tonight the Netflix will go down when everyone comes home from work and tries the new Xbox Experience with Netflix.   I've heard of problems with activating the Netflix on the Xbox 360, this will become 10 times as bad tonight when people want to hook up and try out this new service from Netflix.   Microsoft should of released this one day at a time for each time zone.   Some blogs talking about the problems that might come along with the update are:

    Although this is just a few that talks about the experience and Netflix problems there are going to be more tonight when people start to come home from work wanting this service.   I would bet over 100$ it will probably go down because to many request to sign up!! I hope they have the IT guys ready for this tonight or it will be a long night!!
    Tuesday
    Nov112008

    Google Now lets you Video/Voice chat!!

    After checking out some of what Google has been doing.  I find out that you can now Video Conference for free.  That is to say that you can conference with someone on line and do cloud computing.   According to Google:



    To Get this Video and Voice chat Click this link


    [ad#ad2-right]Now I might not a lot but this will be most likely be used in association with the new Google Phone, the G1. So I thought about how this will be used? This will be used in several ways. To keep in touch with family, to make it easier to telecommute and to Video Conference with associates from work. Google Model is "DO NO EVIL". There is a flaw to this I am sure, this is a Internet Protocol to Internet Protocol connection and in doing so you create so much possibility of a virus getting through. There is no doubt that this is using flash. It also is know to make the infrastructure of a business weak. The Intranet of the business would be compromised. I am sure there are vulnerabilities in this and we will hear them shortly. I'd give it a week or two, remember the problem with Google Chrome and how un-secure it is. These are just a few of what would cause security headaches to all who work in the IT field. I just want to bring that up to prove a point. Google's mantra isn't perfect, it is what it is.
    Tuesday
    Nov112008

    AVG Detected a False Positive

    [ad#ad2-left]According to Security and The Net:

    An update for the AVG virus scanner released yesterday contained an incorrect virus signature, which led it to think user32.dll contained the Trojan Horses PSW.Banker4.APSA or Generic9TBN. AVG then recommended deleting this file; this causes the affected systems to either stop booting or go into a continuous reboot cycle. So far, the problem only appears to affect Windows XP, but there is no guarantee that other versions of Windows don’t have the same issue.

    [Via Security and The Net]


    [ad#ad2-right]I bring this up because this is a false positive according to AVG. AVG since sent out another update to there Database and you can go and update the database to get rid of this problem. If you need to restore that DLL check out the article Security and The Net, they got some excellent suggestions on fixing the problem.

    If you've not been affected by this yet, you probably won't be. It is yet unknown how many people have been affected. I'm blogging about this to tell people about this and to warn people that not all of warnings from AVG are true and that is why you should always ask before you delete or do anything to your system. I always USE google when it comes to these types of questions
    Saturday
    Nov082008

    Avg detected Trojan Horse Generic 12.htc?



    Just got a warning from AVG about, trojan horse generic 12.HTC, haven't heard of it, anyone out there hear if this one? apparently it infects explore.exe, and after months of explore.exe crashing I'd say it's a legit virus.


    [Via Answer Bag]



    Some tricks and tips to remove this little virus is quite simple. It is embedded in your system so how do you remove this threat? Easy follow these steps and you will have a better chance of getting rid of the virus:

    1. Find out all you can on the virus -- Finding out the extent of where the virus lays is really a good idea.  Just because you found one place doesn't mean it isn't also hiding some other place.  Some good ways to figure out where it might be is to download Hijackthis and Then onces you download it and install.  Run it, and when you get the LOG file you will want to go to HijackThis Log Analysis Site 1 and HijackThis Log Analysis Site 2, and see what it says.


    2. See if you can remove the Hidden Virus -- After you find out what the extent of virus may lay.  You will need to download these programs.  Run whichever ones you like to see if you can locate and delete the virus.  You may also consider using one of the several onine services to see what they might suggest or see if they can find this virus.

    3. Check your services and reboot sequence -- After you think you've gotten rid of the virus, reboot and do a rescan.  Usually the Virus will respawn after you reboot, some of them have a command in the reboot sequence.   You may want to check your reboot sequence, by check with MSCONFIG.  Sometimes it is hidden but if you check through the MSCONFIG for any files that might not need to load.  Also check the services tab and see if there is any services that may not be needed.  The best bet is to google search each service or program that is in there and see if that might fix the problem.


    4. Might be time to re-install Windows -- Although this is the hard for people, this can sometimes fix the most challenging virus.  You need not have to loose your important data.  The only thing to remember when you back up is when restore you data after you re-install windows.  Just remember one thing, if it is  an .EXE, .COM, .BAT, and .MSI extensions than that might risk you getting the virus all over again.  Although remember that you will need the other tools I talked about on #2 to keep from getting the virus again.


    These are some tricks I use to get rid of a virus and now I've shared them with you and now it is up to you do the work.  If you have any tips or tricks to get rid of a virus leave a comment.
    Tuesday
    Nov042008

    Today everyone is doing there homework! Links to Election Day Results


    [ad]
    Yep, You see it just like I do. People are studying to vote. People have been doing this from the time they went to school. It never fails the day before. To see who wins the election you might check out these links:

    [ad]
    Now I won't tell you who to vote for but I will tell you  that today we will be making History in more ways then one.  Whoever we pick will be historic, a black president or a Lady VP.  You decide go Vote and Here are some links to find out where you can vote at:

    These should help you go and vote. Now go and vote and remember to think about who you will vote for.
    Wednesday
    Oct292008

    The Magazine Time, plans to elimate 600 jobs in the near future!

    According to Time Inc. Editor in Chief John Huey is planning on Laying off over 600 jobs:
    Time Inc., the world’s largest magazine publisher, plans to cut 6 percent of its work force — more than 600 positions — and will revamp the organization in a way that could radically alter the culture at the company.

    [via Nytimes.com]

    With the way the economy is, we have more and more people who are having trouble with Layoffs.   I got a list of companies right now who is laying people off.  If you want to check it out just CLICK HERE.

    Now let's talk about the bigger picture, people are worried and want to get through this with out getting hit hard.   So what is true hardship, that comes when you least expect it and want it.  I've come to the conclusion that it will happen in the best of times.  You see most people don't know what hardship is until it hits them in the square on the head.


    [ad]



    Having seen this coming a mile a way, I thought I would come up with ways to be prepared and I've done a lot of hard work to be prepared, you two could be prepared.  If your interested just click this link and check out all my article on getting prepared.  If that doesn't help you just go out and use google to the fullest.  You see if your not ready for the end how can you be ready for the beginning.  You will sooner or later be dealt a deck of cards and not know where to go next.



    I am not trying to say everyone will loose there jobs but that doesn't mean your safe where you are.  You must strive to be better than are RIGHT now!! For if you don't you will never have the chance to survice this Recession.  I am so sure we are heading into the mouth of t he tiger right now, there is no turning back.  Are you prepared?
    Wednesday
    Oct292008

    Windows 7 Milestone 1 Leaked!

    Many people have been wanting a copy of this so called elusive copy from PDC to test out and see where Microsoft is going.   Most developers are wanting to start to get into the stage of figuring out how they can get a step ahead of everyone else.   That being said, people have started to leak the Windows 7 on the Torrent sites.

    We must assume Microsoft expected this and kinda wanted this to happen because when they gave this out they didn't make it have any major copy protection.  Although we must not forget that there will be fakes out there and people are downloading this at a tramendous rate.  Most people will download it in under a day if you let it go!! I have not downloaded it because I am trying to get into the beta team for Windows 7 and don't want to be to critical on the system.


    [ad]



    Note to some of you who intend to this there is ways to activitate Window 7 and you can always play with it for 30 days for grace period.  People must release that even though it says Windows Vista it is actually Window 7 and they were originally going call this "Vienna" and "Blackcomb".   So if you want it badly enough you can find it by going to the promising torrent sites and download it yourself.  Your best bet it to Google : WINDOWS 7 Torrent


    Windows 7 has the same hardware requirements and Windows Vista for those interested!!

    Monday
    Oct272008

    It's Offical, Calicanis says Your on your own.

    In the Newsletter, Calicanis says this:
    As a startup, you are now, officially, on your own. You can't count on
    your VCs saving you or some magical offer from Yahoo or Google showing
    up to bail you out. Chances are Yahoo and Google are going to be
    shutting down and/or selling off companies they've already
    bought--like EBAY and AOL have started doing. Parents don't adopt
    while they're putting their kids up for adoption.

    Now I don't know about you but I am really worried about what people are going to do next. Some other things Jason said is that the storm is upon us. That's right, in the next thirty days you will have to figure out how to survive. It won't be easy. Is this the beginning or the ending of this so called storm? I say only time will tell. I hope this becomes a rebound soon. We are definitely in for the long haul.