A fan wants to Release Windows 7 Now : My Security Concerns

By Paul | Jan 29, 2009

windows7now

After reading about this from Kelly Poe) to find out the site he put up and I am quite impressed.    Here are few things that I am concerned about starting with the website.

I love the idea and all but I am quite concerned with the privacy of my email account.  I don’t know if you have to submit your email account but I would caution people not enter one until the site says what it will do with your email address.

Now that being said that’s the only thing I can think of when it comes to security for your email address, you don’t want to someone to give out your email address to spammers. That would just make it even worse for your email account.   You could however use a 10 min Email account to use but that might make it harder for Microsoft to contact you if they want to verify these accounts!!

Now my main concern is Windows 7  right now and Security.   You know the Conflicker/Conflickr/Downadup Worm is currently loose on the internet.  It uses the the Ms 08-067 Exploit and currently Windows 7  does not protect against this Worm in fact Microsoft has released information that you would need to install the updates manually to fix this problem.

sinowal.trojan Problems.

By Paul | Dec 4, 2008


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]

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.

Facebook Virus strikes again

By Paul | Dec 4, 2008


“Look you were filmed all naked!” read the subject header on one iteration of the virus-spreading message, which is being sent automatically from infected accounts to the “friend” list for that account. Clicking the link usually takes users to a page that looks like YouTube, and a pop-up message advises the user to download a Flash plug-in. The download contains the virus, which replicates by contacting everyone on the victim’s Facebook friend list and advancing the hoax.

[Via Boston Media]

This is a good social engineered attack, they seem to have you download a virus into your system.  I Keep talking about how you need to be careful with emails.  I also suggest that you do a complete Virus scan if you think you’ve been hit with this.  There is only one way to prevent yourself from getting this little facebook virus and that is not to click it. Some other things to consider if you found out this was a virus is to contact the person who sent this to them so they to could do a virus scan on their system.

Windows 7 will sport Direct X 10 Compliance!

By Paul | Dec 2, 2008


The new feature is called WARP10, for “Windows Advanced Rasterization Platform,” and it’s essentially a DX10-compliant, software-only rasterizer that was written by Microsoft; it runs directly on the CPU. In a situation where a DX10 app needs to run but can’t find DX10-compliant hardware, it will run on WARP10, albeit very, very slowly. Ultimately, you can think of WARP10 as a “software DX10 GPU” that will exist as a fallback in Windows.

[via Arstechnica]

This will make Windows 7 work more smoothly with Windows XP and Vista games.   This looks to be like having more compatibility with the older games.   When Vista came out they were complaining about not being able to play games on Vista.   Vista has been really updated with being able to play games. People are starting to play games on a Vista machine.   This is also a step for Windows 7 to be one that Microsoft, being that they are trying to get the next O/s to look like an Angel probably.  What I expect is Microsoft will advertise about Windows 7 will be gamer friendly.   This is a move on Microsoft to get gamers on board with this release and to try to get people to forget about Vista.

Hello Twitter, Goodbye Pounce!

By Laforge129 | Dec 1, 2008

In a move that feels more like a cruel prank than a financial strategy, Six Apart has purchased Pownce–only to shut the company down. The blogging company acquired the micro-blogging site for an undisclosed sum before announcing that it would shut Pownce in a mere two weeks.

[via PcMag]

Although This is nothing to big because those who use Pownce was using just o play around with.  People who are using Pownce will have to go back to Twitter or something other like Twit Army.   If you have an account there you will need to start looking around for another social outlet.   Some of the ones I like are on my About me page and should give you some ideas on where you look.

Although if Six Apart was smart they should of tried to Monitize the service but I guess they just wasted there money in buying Pounce.   They wanted something else from the company that owned Pounce but not sure what.

Google SearchWiki dies after two days!!

By Paul | Nov 22, 2008

According to Techcrunch Google Pulls the Google SearchWiki.  Unsure as to way  but here’s what they said:

Users are reporting that the recent changes to Google’s search engine, called SearchWiki, have simply disappeared from the site. It’s certainly gone from my account.

User reactions were mixed but weighted heavily towards “this is lame,” and there was no way to turn off the features other than to conduct Google searches without being logged in. Another way to turn it off was to switch search engines.

[via TechCrunch]

I’ve got my theory on this, and it’s quite a good theory.   I think it was a making search results come up wrong or not at all.   The last two days they’ve had that going my page views have drop BIG time.    According to my Stats I’ve had 236 Unique Visits for Thursday, and 232 Wednesday.   My Friday stats show that I only got 185 Unique Visits, dropping 40 to 50 people.  My stats for today which is incomplete shows that I’ve only gotten 136 unique visits.  Although that is complete you can see where I dropped drastically.   I think Google was getting yelled at by websites due to the stats dropping.   I am guessing people could tell if they wanted to go to a site just by reading the comments.  This will hurt every site, including TechCrunch.   I will say this is only a theory and this might or might not be the case.

Looks like a scam to me : Personal Shopping Assistant!

By Paul | Nov 14, 2008

Good afternoon!

We found your resume at _________________ and we would like to propose you a
position of Personal Shopping Assistant.

Imagine having an exciting job with incredible salary (up to $100,000/year) that
lets you use your creativity while being paid to shop. Welcome to the world of
personal shopping!

As we know shopping is the world’s favorite leisure activity, but in our busy
society an increasing number of people need to hire someone to do their
shopping. Thus personal shoppers are more in demand than ever before.

There are absolutely NO START-UP FEES and NO FEES for being employed at this
position. As long as you live in the USA, and you have a credit card or any
other line of credit, have 1 or 2 free hours during the day – you are eligible
for this job!

This is what you will have to do in short:
• Purchase the requested goods using your credit card.
• Send us receipts.
• Wait for us to issue a credit to your credit card in the amount of purchase
plus shipping fee plus your commission which comprises 10%.
• Ship out the goods.
• You are finished, come back for a new list of goods.

Some bloggers are Hyping Windows 7 operating System.

By Paul | Oct 30, 2008

After looking around the blogosphere, I’ve come to the realization that people are starting to get hyped up over Windows 7.   In one blog post from it.toolbox.com:

Windows 7 is due to hit beta and release in 2009, and odds are likely that if the pundits, all of us on the blogosphere and other places like PC World, Cnet, and others all agree that this works the way a computer was supposed to work will help drive sales. What is also interesting is that Microsoft is really pushing to get this puppy out. Along with the bloat are gone the five years of development.

[Via It.Toolbox.com]

I totally agree with what he is saying on the possibility to have an operating system actually do what it is told. Some things people have been looking for in there Searches in regards to Windows Vista are:

Microsoft Releases MS08-062 to the Public a Month Early!

By Paul | Oct 29, 2008


Vulnerability in Windows Internet Printing Service Could Allow Remote Code Execution (KB953155)

This update resolves a privately reported vulnerability in the Windows Internet Printing Service that could allow remote code execution. An attacker who successfully exploited this vulnerability could take complete control of an affected system. An attacker could then install programs; view, change, or delete data; or create new accounts.

This update is rated Important for all supported editions of Microsoft Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, and Windows Server 2008. For more information, see the subsection, Affected and Non-Affected Software, in this section.

The security update addresses this vulnerability by changing the way that memory is allocated within the Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) service. For more information about the vulnerability, see the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) subsection for the specific vulnerability entry under the next section, Vulnerability Information.

[via Microsoft Bulletin]

Now from what I understand, if you have a Network attached printer on your system this would make you more vulnerable to someone taking control over your system. So this patch is supposed to fix that. I am recommending to all to update this and fix this update ASAP. I do not know if you don’t have one what that would do so just install this update, because you will undoubtedly still be runing the Internet Printer Protocol even if you don’t have a printer.

Mahalo Lay’s off around 10% of it’s workforce!!

By Paul | Oct 22, 2008

In an email he sent to the readers of his publication, Jason Calicanis talks about having to lay off around 10% of people from Mahalo.  Here’s the quote:

We’ve laid off a just under 10% of our full-time staff, cut our overhead by doing smart things like renting desks (we have six desks/offices available fyi), and reorganized our editorial department to focus on freelance positions over in-house editors. The net result
of the effort is we are giving Mahalo another year of “dry powder” (or runway) to complete our mission.

This is not to be unexpected after all the talk about the recession coming our way. It does however emphasizes the need for companies to consider there profit margins and accounting strategy.

Mahalo was launched in May 2007 as an Alpha test. That is to say only a select number of people were able to access the site and create feedback to the development of the site. As of January of 2008 it is in what we call the Beta test phase. Which means more people are testing it out and find out it’s flaws to report back about where they need to improve.  Mahalo’s directory employs human editors to review websites and search engine results.

Are you asking to be scammed?

By Paul | Oct 15, 2008

As we go further into the economic death, we are faced with the most undesirable aspect of the human culture.  That is to say, scammers are going to use the chance to find people to scam.  I don’t say this lightly because scammers have become more cunning and dubious through the years.  They are actually using the internet as well as most companies.  They are going to sites like Monster.com, Careerbuilder.com, and other hiring sites to get people to apply for jobs.

<<See Previous Post – Nationwide Marketing Scam

Having said that, I recently had a problem with being tried to be scammed.  I applied to a job posted on Careerbuilder and that is how they got a hold of my home address.  I did not think about the security problems associated with applying for jobs on line, until recently.

As you can see that is how they got a hold of my information and have made myself vulnerable to scams and also, other potential problems.  I am talking about Theft ID and also spam.  Although spam is to be expected with anything we do online.  I’ve come to the conclusion that we will always have to deal with spam.   I wanted to talk about how to be careful when you apply for online jobs and  put your information out on the internet.  I’ve started taking some steps to prevent this from happening again.

Google Ups the Anti!!

By Paul | Oct 4, 2008


As part of our effort to protect the accounts of AdSense publishers, we have mailed a Personal Identification Number (PIN) to the payment address entered in your account. This PIN must be entered on the PIN Information page before any payments can be issued to you. In the meantime, your account remains active, and you may continue to show ads and accrue earnings.

You will now be required to enter in a PIN for Adsense!!

Well that came unexpectedly, Google actually is trying to protect our accounts now from getting phished and or/taken over by some malicious person. This is called two factor verification**, Something you know and something you have.  You can also get verify through your Cell Phone.  Here is what they said in my Email:

Filling the Internet Needs 3/3

By Paul | Aug 14, 2008

Microsoft Sans Serif,sans-serif;”>Is Google part of your you blog Body?

Having Google be part of your blog is essential to keeping people coming to your site. Google is kind, intelligent enough, forgiving, and nice to have on your site. Having Google juice helps you give your blog a chance to thrive. Making enemies is fine if you must, but don’t make enemies with Google. You need to understand that Google is right now the Alpha Dog. It can make or break your site. If you get removed from Google, guess what you will probably be removed from other search sites almost certainly because of Google.


Time is the essence of creating a good blog!

It takes time to get people to come to your blog and stay at your blog. It isn’t something that will come almost instantly. It has taken me a year now to start getting people a high volume of people coming to my site. Some people think blogging should bring people to there site almost instantly. I would say that is almost impossible unless you do some things that I will not go into but it will never keep people to come to your blog, it’s how you talk to your web users. I’ll talk more about that later. I hope this helps you figure out how to start yoru blog and understand the challenges of having a blog. If you want to comment about what I’ve said please go right ahead!!

Filling the Internet need 2/3

By Paul | Aug 13, 2008

How do I get people to come to my blog?

This comes with some problems and some answers. Finding something that your passionate about is one way to get other people who are passionate about the same thing to come find your blog. The only problem is that you create a single group of people who are at your blog for a single reason. Having been doing the Hulu clues, I’ve seen that and understand that will happen. I am trying to get people to stay at my site is the hardest part of having what I call a point of entry campaign. I know most of them will see my site and go do something else. I almost expect that but I know I will keep a few people who like what they see and want to keep seeing this type of stuff. I never expect to keep everyone who comes to my blog. I expect I’ll probably keep around 10% or so from just doing the point of entry campaign.

I must verify my Gmail account! (That’s a laugh)

By Paul | Dec 21, 2007


Dear Member,
Account Alert

VERIFY YOUR GMAIL ACCOUNT NOW TO AVOID CLOSE !!!
GMAIL lettering
Dear Member,
This message is from gmail message center to all gmail free account owners and premium account owners. We are currently upgrading our data base and e-mail account center. We are deleting all unused gmail account to create more space for new accounts.

To prevent your account from closing, you will have to verify it below so that we will know that it’s a present used account.

CONFIRM YOUR IDENTITY. VERIFY YOUR FREE GMAIL ACCOUNT NOW !!!

Gmail! ID:…………………….

Password:……………………

Your Birthday:……………..

Your Country or Territory:………..
Enter the letter from the Security Image :……… Registration Verification Code

Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his or her account before two weeks of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.

Sincerely,
Gmail Team


This actually got through the spam filter. I did some checking with Google and here are the results if anyone else gets the email:

I must verify my Gmail account! (That’s a laugh)

By Paul | Dec 21, 2007


Dear Member,
Account Alert

VERIFY YOUR GMAIL ACCOUNT NOW TO AVOID CLOSE !!!
GMAIL lettering
Dear Member,
This message is from gmail message center to all gmail free account owners and premium account owners. We are currently upgrading our data base and e-mail account center. We are deleting all unused gmail account to create more space for new accounts.

To prevent your account from closing, you will have to verify it below so that we will know that it’s a present used account.

CONFIRM YOUR IDENTITY. VERIFY YOUR FREE GMAIL ACCOUNT NOW !!!

Gmail! ID:…………………….

Password:……………………

Your Birthday:……………..

Your Country or Territory:………..
Enter the letter from the Security Image :……… Registration Verification Code

Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his or her account before two weeks of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.

Sincerely,
Gmail Team


This actually got through the spam filter. I did some checking with Google and here are the results if anyone else gets the email:

Bad Behavior has blocked 941 access attempts in the last 7 days.

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