5 things I learned while moving to a new Hosting Provider!
If you haven’t noticed, I have switched from Godaddy Hosting to Justhost And I do think the load up time on this blog has double or tripled. We all fall in to that little trap where we want to keep our hosting and domains together and then I started hating the slow speed of the page loading. So that is why I decided to switch. Now this is so much faster on my end, and I am sure it is on your end too. While moving this blog, I did learn some things:
- No matter how prepared you think you are, it is never enough – I don’t say this lightly. When I started doing the move, I thought I understood how to do it. I now know, I should of been more prepared by testing it on a local drive by using Xamp. If I would of done that, I would of figured out that the backup file was incomplete and would of fixed that but I didn’t. That is why the Site was down for more than 12 hours.
Computer Security : How not to get Infected.
Comments OffIn my previous blog post we talked about how the computer would get infected with Malware. Now on this blog post we will discuss how you can prevent most to all of these from ever happening again on your system.
Now let’s face it we are more and more going to be on the internet. This is almost a necessity for a business or individuals. You see Businesses have built there product around the internet and that is why it is necessary to be on the internet.
What program not to use to Surf the web
You should consider getting away from Internet Explorer, I don’t say this lightly. It may take Microsoft Months to fix a hole in something that involves ActiveX or Something like that. We know how Microsoft will only push out the really big security holes out of Cycle but keep the minor ones in Cycle. Hackers have jumped on exploits before when it comes Internet Explorer and use them on Black Wednesday, not less than 24 hours after the patches have been released.
Although these examples I showing doesn’t mean that they haven’t been fixed they are showing you how long it takes sometimes to fix them.
5 ways to get more followers in Twitter
Comments OffI’ve been doing something different in Twitter and I would like to talk about it. I have learned so much today it and yet after the end of the day I’ve gotten even more followers. I’ve gained over 123 so far today alone and I want to share with you some ways to increase your followers.
- Provide Great Value — This one I learned today finding some great articles and retweeting the good articles. This is essential Twitter tactics. If you don’t do this your just going to be keep who you have and not grow.
- Be Funny — Don’t be funny just to be a class clown, that will draw followers but it can also hinder your likely hood of engaging in good conversation. Twitter is a stream of Conversations that doesn’t do well with constant funniness and if your always being the class clown, you will have a hard time keeping a conversation. Now that being said it doesn’t mean to not be funny but to be funny in your way. People like to laugh people are drawn to people who want to communicate about the topics at hand.
And the Oscar goes to . . . Not these guys!
Comments OffSans Internet Storm is reporting on Anti-virus Scareware tactic. I’ll quote from them:
ISC reader Gary wrote in to let us know that searching for “oscar presenters” and “oscar winners” with Google brings up a prominently ranked result on a web server in Poland, on a subdomain of “beepl”, which – surprise, surprise – includes a malicious JavaScript. The end result currently seems to reside on stabilitytraceweb com, and is yet another incarnation of the “Fake Anti-Virus Program” malware that we have covered repeatedly. Watch out, the EXE has a meager 6/39 on Virustotal.
[Via Sans]
I did my own research and it is true they are at least 3 sites with the .pl Domain that are used to send you to these fake sites. You should consider checking your system for possible viruses if you been to these sites and are worried. You should also report any site like this to Phishtank to fight this type of scare tactics. Please remember if you are worried about your system this is the best time to install software to prevent these types of scare tactics. Remember you don’t always have to buy software to be safe. There are free anti-virus and Firewall solutions at your fingertips, use them well. It is also a good idea to make sure you have the latest updates from Microsoft while your at it.
Facebook: Virus Variant comes back from the dead!
Comments OffIn my recent post, I talked about a Virus that is circulating around on Facebook. It is know as the Koobface virus and has been changed a little by the programers. So I what is Techworld saying, just this:
In fact, Koobface is now using one of Facebook’s own features against it, Lovet said. The latest variant uses Facebook’s ability to redirect web links to drive users to malicious websites, often hosted on Geocities.com, Lovet said.
[Via Techworld]
If you have been victim to this little virus, you should check out my Virus removal page and download the programs that should fix this little virus for good on your system. You should also check out my Previous post I also have some good tips and tricks to prevent the user(YOU) from getting hit by this virus in the first place. This virus is a Good social engineered virus, so please be careful.
sinowal.trojan Problems.
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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]
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.
Viacom and ATT layoff some people. (12,850 People)
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Today, we are announcing a company-wide restructuring plan that includes staffing reductions in all divisions. This will result in a reduction of our worldwide workforce of approximately 7 percent, or about 850 positions. We are also suspending salary increases for the Company’s senior level management in 2009. In addition, after a comprehensive review of our operations, we will write down certain programming and other assets. These three actions will bring us significant cost savings and other efficiencies.
[via Gawker]
AT&T Inc. joined the recession’s parade of layoffs Thursday by announcing plans to cut 12,000 jobs, about 4 percent of its work force.
[Via Associated Press]
So in all today total that is 12,850 people who are going to be laid off. This is another set of layoffs but isn’t the last to see the whole list of of Layoffs in the Tech industry that I’ve talked about please click this link. You may find some usefull tidbits if you search my blog enough, I’ve got some great tips on getting hired and what you should do to be prepared.
Microsoft kills a fake antivirus tool from 994,061 computers!
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According to Arstechnica and I’ll quote:Win32/FakeSecSen has gone by various names, including Micro Antivirus 2009, MS Antivirus, Spyware Preventer, Vista Antivirus 2008, Advanced Antivirus, System Antivirus 2008, Ultimate Antivirus 2008, Windows Antivirus, XPert Antivirus, Power Antivirus, and Ultra Antivirus 2009. Furthermore, it is skinnable, so each of these variants has a different GUI, although the basic functionality is the same: bother users with warnings of malware until they pay up.The Microsoft Malware Protection Center recently released some data on how the removal tool performed this month: FakeSecSen was removed from 994,061 machines. That number isn’t the highest Microsoft has recorded before, and the number of removals depends on which malware Microsoft adds each month and how widespread it is.
[via Arstechnica]
This seemed to of happened this month with the usual Windows update. If you haven’t updated your system just yet you should. This troublesome fake virus seems to have been killed from several systems. This could effectively make it harder for these guys who ever designed this program to make money. I hope microsoft does even more virus removals in next month. If you still want to try to get rid of these viruses don’t forget to check out my tips on Virus removal.
5 ways to improve your chance of getting hired.
Having seen the economy this week, I’ve come to the conclusion that it is time to redo all the important essentials and get all my ducks in the order as they say. I’ve been thinking of how best to be ready in case the dreaded day comes when my employer no longer needs my assistance and what could I do to be prepared.
- Get Someone to Critique your Resume — This is the most important step because this is the first place employers look when they want to hire someone. So how do you get it critiqued? Here are some good links to help you start off with: Careerbuilder Critique, Mind of Root Peer Critique(Last until Oct 30, 2008).
- Have your Resume Ready to upload to Resume sites – You should always register at all the important resume sites just in case. The Sites that I recommend are : Monster, Career Builder, Hot jobs, Dice, US jobs, Best Jobs USA, Computer Jobs, and Nation Job.
- Use your website as a place to put your Resume – Have your resume available in case some contacts you and tells you they know someone who is looking to hire people. Have this resume hidden and only give it out to people you know. This is also known as networking.
Backup your Mozzila Thunderbird profiles
Comments OffSo you have all this mail you want to back up in case something terrible happens to your hard drive. So here is ways to backup your email and other programs in Vista. I think Vista has a new way of keeping program profiles in an hierarchical setup. So what is the HIDDEN directory it is:
C:\Users\[USER]\AppData\Roaming\Thunderbird\Profiles
Now as you can see your Thunderbird profile is in a hidden directory in the AppData Directory. You can easily get to the hidden directory by typing %appdata% {enter} in the search bar of Vista. Now How do you backup and restore. The program I use to backup is GoodSync. I send the data to the cloud and when I need it I can restore it back to the directory. Now what about restoring, if you have to do a complete re-install of Thunderbird you can always copy over the back up to the Thunderbird Profiles directory and install Mozilla Thunder bird and it should see it. If by chance you load up Thunderbird and you have to re add everything you would have to delete everything in that directory and then restore from the back up.
Fixing the Adobe Problem!!
Comments OffIf your have been having problems with Flash Players stoping after 2 seconds of playing. I have a few ideas to try to get rid of the problem. It used to happen all the time with Vista in the early days. Here’s what I did to occasionally get the flash player to work:
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Cleaning out the Prefetch Directory! — Having seen this from time to time. If you have programs startup that might need to be refreshed this will refresh them so that they run like new. You occasionally can get programs that will load in a odd way and this will fix that also.
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You want to be more anonymous? — Cleaning out your cache on your browser can sometimes fix the problem. It’s like anything else it can sometimes be corrupted.
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Some Important programs to prevent yourself from having viruses and Malware!! — Having seen this with my own two eyes, if you have a viruses or malware on your system that too can cause problems with playback of flash media. So just double check making sure you don’t have any viruses.
Limiting Use of Your Bandwidth!!
Comments OffWith the Recent Comcast deciding to declare how much of bandwidth you can use. I decided to talk about how to limit your bandwidth. So Here are some tips and tricks to get the most out of your bandwidth:
Chapter 1 – Understanding your Wireless Router : This is a must. This chapter talks about how to access your router and and how what is an IP!!
Chapter 2 — 10 Ways to keep your wireless router Secure – This one will help with those pesky neighbors who are leeching of your internet and Bandwidth!
Chapter 3
- Turn off Auto Update to Unimportant programs : Having several programs checking for updates can start to add up. Although this is a small amount of bandwidth. It will give your that extra amount.
- When not using your Internet turn off your Modem : This one is the most useful because when your not using your internet just turning off the modem will prevent you from using to much bandwidth.
Undeleting the Recycle Bin in Vista!!
Having been using Windows Vista there are some things you must remember with Vista. You can easily delete the recycle bin or even the Compuer icon with much thought. I recently had a problem with that. My son wanted to play on my computer and hit the delete key and hit enter. So there I was without a recycle bin. Thanks to a little figuring out, I’ve come to understand that it is just as easy to put back the icon. Unlike Ubuntu and other linux distros if you delete the recycle bin, you have to go through some hoops. I know I have used them in the past. So let’s start out with what vista says when you try to delete the recycle bin.
There it says you must go to the personalization menu to fix that. Ok so I go there and then I would need to click this:
You would have to click on “Change Desktop Icons” and then you are almost home. Here is where you have some choices.
Fighting an endless battle!
Comments OffHaving been perusing my email inbox the last few days. I’ve noticed that Gmail hasn’t been catching all the spam. So I’ve deciding to write an How to fight spam the hard way. Why write about something people know all about spam. It is the fact that we have come to be complacent and ignore the spam that comes from our inbox.
SamSpade.org is the first part of this epic adventure. I say it’s the easiest part because it doesn’t take a lot of know how to find out the information you need. So let’s start with you get a spam message in your inbox and you want to report this spam to the proper people and make it harder for the spammers to get away with this.
Adobe Flash tips and Tricks!
Comments OffHaving been using Hulu for the last few months, I’ve had to tweak the Flash Player and I’d thought I share some tips to get your movies and shows to run smoother on some systems. I will say this, it is not some times the system but the connection to the Internet. Bandwitdth, for some shows are sometimes the hardest part of getting to watch the show.
From time to time, Check for updates:
Having updates will sometimes resolve the most common issues with the Flash player. I’ve had that happen in the past, a certain version would not work right with my system. After updating on those occasions, I’d be ready go!! So here’s the website to go to download and install the latest version:
Download and Install Adobe Player
Why should I have to check it from time to time?
Adobe seems to not want to tell you if you have the lastest version. So I’ve got a schedule to check it ever month and see if I have the latest version. How can you figure that out? By downloading and installing. If you’ve got the current version then you do not have to install it again!!
10 ways to keep your wireless router secure!!
Comments OffI have been doing quite a few router reworks. I’ve got a wireless G router from my DSL provider and Have had problems with someone in my neighborhood trying to get onto my router. They were trying everything. I wanted to give you some suggestions that would help you keep your secure and have some piece of mind!!
- Turn off Signal Identification (What your router name is)- By turning of the signal so no one can see the broadcast name will greatly make it harder for anyone to get onto your router.
- Change your router identification – Creating a unique router identification will also make it harder for anyone to guess router identification. Keep the identification something that is unidentifiable to the location where you live.
- USE WPA and not WEP – WEP has been cracked so if at all possible use WPA encryption and that too will make it harder for an unwanted guest.
- Use a Random Password Generator (Roboform an generate secure random passwords) ["Use one these promo codes to get it cheaper"] – By using a random password you prevent hackers from guessing the Network password of your WPA key.
Enable Firefox Address Bar Auto-completion
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As you type a web site address into Firefox’s location bar, by default a dropdown with suggestions based on your history expands, and you can use the down arrow key to select one. For more aggressive URL auto-completion, head on into Firefox’sabout:configarea and set thebrowser.urlbar.autoFillvalue to true. The result takes away the arrow key step for the first hit. Check out the How-To Geek’s full explanation if you’re new toabout:config, and see also our top Firefox 2 config tweaks.
I’ve done this already but couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to tell people these people do!! 
I like how they did it.
iPhone Re-Reviewed (Verdict: Don’t Buy)
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It’s about 3 months after the iPhone launch, and happy with the improvements, I was planning to change our “Wait” verdict to a full-on and rabid “Buy”. That wasn’t because of Apple, but because of the cool apps being offered by independent developers. All that came to an end yesterday after the new Apple firmware 1.1.1 neutered the handset. Sure, unlocked iPhones were broken. But more importantly, Apple wiped away the powerful programs that helped push the iPhone to greatness. With this, I’m going to have to move our recommendation from “Wait” to “Don’t hold your breath.” I’m done with this handset until third-party apps come back.
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/iphone/iphone-re+reviewed-verdict-dont-buy-302075.php
Well Gizmodo pretty much sums up what I have being thinking, It’s not worth buying due to no Third party applications. When they let people use third party applications then It will be an Awesome phone, but until then it isn’t worth buying
Find Out If Your Computer Is Secretly Connecting to the Web
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If you are trying to track down why your computer is running so slooowwwly, try using this simple DOS command from Digital Inspiration to uncover a possible problem:
* Type cmd in your Windows Run box.
* Type “netstat -b 5 > activity.txt” and press enter.
* After say 2 minutes, press Ctrl+C.
* Type “activity.txt” on the command line to open the log file in notepad (or your default text editor)
If you ever wondered if someone is on your system you can find out by doing this!
20 Vista Downloads to Tweak & Improve Your System
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Looking for software to get the most out of Windows Vista? As yet, there hasn’t been a flood of great downloads designed specifically for Microsoft’s latest operating system. But that didn’t stopped us from searching high and low for the best free Vista apps available–and we’ve come up with 20 real keepers.For your convenience, we’ve arranged them into four categories: System Tweakers; Startup, Log-On, and Boot Tweakers; Vista Component Tweakers; and Miscellaneous Tools. So if you’ve got Vista and you’re longing to make it better, rev up your browser and start downloading.
System Tweakers
Want to bend practically every aspect of Vista to your will, from improving system performance to customizing the interface? Then try out the following six system tweakers. With them, you’ll be the master of your own private Vista universe.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,137214/article.html
I will have to check this out, some are paid programs but some are also free.
