more computer disease prevention

even more insidious that virus infections are spyware and adware. do yourself a favor and download and USE these two programs on a regular basis.

ad-aware (not ada-ware)
spybot search and destroy

both of these programs can be found at www.download.com or you can find ad-aware at www.lavasoft.de or spybot at www.spybot.info/en/index.html

when looking for spybot on download.com - search for “spybot” and READ THE LISTING - don’t just go download the first thing you see - look for “spybot search & destroy” - there are other “spybot” posers that are actually spyware in and of themselves.

never install spyware that requires that you pay to get the full version. there’s just no sense in it. instead, use these two FREE programs and make a donation to the programmers!

install these programs, update them, then RUN THEM and run them regularly, ESPECIALLY if you frequently surf aimlessly, visit any open diary or online journal site, use any peer-to-peer software-sharing programs, or visit any site that gives away free downloads.

also, odd as it sounds, if you want to kill pop-ups (another source of spyware), the best prevention i’ve found, in that it reliably works, has been in the form of the free google toolbar. also the free alexa tool bar popup blocker works excellently as well, however alexa is amazon.com’s own adware and supposedly tracks a lot of into that you simply can’t turn off (like values that you type into forms). i’ve use norton’s internet tools pop up blocker and it sucks. i’ve been much more happy with alexa and google toolbar pop-up blockers.

there is a potential problem in using these combinations that you should be aware of - since the alexa tool bar is defined as spyware by spybot and ad-aware, they will both tr to remove it. on an XP system, if you allow spybot to “fix” the alexa entries, it will mess up your browser until you re-install the alexa toolbar. if you want to get rid of the alexa tool bar, use it’s included “uninstall” feature.

virii, worms and other sundries…

i started my computer industry work back in 1990 when many people in the industry would have been somewhat excited to get a real live virus on their computer.

these days, it’s amazing to me the number of folks who do not invest in simple virus protection - or worse, who buy the programs and fail to keep them up to date.

every day, my FIX mail is full of email rejections notices - you know, they say “your mail to _____ was not delivered because it contains one or more viruses or trojans” or whatever… i probably get about 30 or 40 of those on a good day. the fun thing is the email address these bounce back to, our fix chicks tips email address, is NOT a real email address. it’s an alias. we couldn’t actually send anyone email FROM that address if we wanted to… so why do we get all these bounced messages?

very simply put, someone (or several someones) browsing our site has an infected computer. THEY are sending these emails.

here’s how it works:
email-based virii and trojans are quite self-reliant. they pack their own SMTP programs and they mail themselves with efficiency mr. spock would be proud of. about two years ago some smart cookie came up with the idea to pull email addresses, not from the outlook address book (everyone does that) but out of the computer’s temporary internet files - the cache. the cache stores images of every page a person visits… everywhere a person browses on the internet where there’s a text-based email link in the clear (not encrypted or hidden) gest saved in the cache…

when the virus gets ready to mail itself out, it pulls randomly assorted email addresses from the browser cache and inserts one in the FROM field and one in the TO field. then using its self-contained SMTP program, it takes over the computer’s internet connection and starts mailing itself out, disguised as email coming from some random name from a site that person has been to. the only way to find out for sure where the virus laden email came from is to trace the IP address in the header, of it’s not corrupted by the time you see the email.

usually the first clue a non-protected user has that they are infected with this kind of computer disease is that their hi-speed internet connection isn’t… things drag and slow down to a crawl. a look at the transmission lights on the cable modem or DSL modem will tell you that even though you aren’t doing anything, your computer is VERY busy.

when virii get to be intelligent enough that they’ll sit in the background and not run until the computer is idle, like say, overnight, it will be even harder for un-protected users to figure out they have a problem.

if you have a computer, you need a virus prevention program. take heed and take your pick - i’m not endorsing any of these - i just went to a search tool and entered “virus scanner.”

www.stop-sign.com
www.antivirus.com
www.pandasoftware.com
www.symantec.com
www.mcafee.com
www.kaspersky.com
www.ravantivirus.com
www.norman.com
www.trendmicro.com

several of these places have free online one-time scans for particular bugs but you will do yourself (and the rest of us) a favor if you buy a full-fledged anti-virus package and keep it updated…

- pretty please?

sharing your internet connection wirelessly - part II

We left off talking about protocols and their transfer speeds… remember?

Keep in mind that the transfer rate of 11mbps will probably only come into play on transmissions from computer to computer within your LAN – say you have an MP3 on your computer that your son in the other room wants to listen to – he’ll get it at 11mbps. But if he were to try to get it through the internet from his friend on the next block, he’s not going to be able to go any faster than the slowest connection between your modem and his friend’s modem. On my cable modem system, the ISP advertises a download speed of 13mbps but I’ve never gotten anything faster than 7mbps. So in my case, even if I have the slower B protocol router, I probably won’t ever realize a speed of 11mbps except when I transfer files from one computer to another within my own LAN.

Ok, for the sake of argument, let’s say we want two desktops and a laptop to share the same internet connection (which is the number one reason for having a home LAN - sharing the internet connection). The cable modem is in the office where the “main” computer is now. The laptop moves around the house and the other desktop computer is in the kids’ room. We’re going to need a router and three adapters and we’ve decided to go with 802.11G just because we seem to transfer a lot of digital art (Photoshop files) from the main desktop to the laptop for work and we don’t have a portable USB drive so fast file transfer through our LAN will be a big plus.

We either run to the local electronics store, or hop online and look at the selection of wireless products… ok, here’s where some people get really confused. Whose stuff do you buy? Let’s see, I started working with networks in 1992 so that’s what, twelve years? In all that time I’ve used pretty much everyone’s hardware and no one’s is any better than anyone else’s… seems unreasonable but that’s how it is. They either work or they don’t work. If they don’t work, they’re defective and you take them back. It doesn’t matter if you buy D-Link, Linksys, NetGear, Microsoft, whatever… it does NOT matter. As long as all your parts speak the same language (802.11G in this case) and each adapter is approved for the operating system on the computer where you plan to install it into, they should all work and play well together. Here’s the second caveat – don’t bother trying to connect a Windows 95 or first edition Windows 98 machine to a wireless network – it won’t work. You need to have Windows 98 SE or higher in order for the OS to have the guts to work in a wireless environment.

Ok, let’s say my computers run Windows 2000, Windows 98 and Windows XP Home, so I’m safe with the OS compatibility. Let’s say on this day, Linksys has the best overall prices and product selection so I’m going with their lineup. I get an 802.11G Wireless Router (not an access point or a cable modem, a router – I already have a cable modem, remember) that also has four wired Ethernet ports in the back. Yay, this means that I only have to buy two wireless interfaces for computers – why? Remember the set-up in the office – the main computer is near the cable modem. When I install the router, I will have the internet service run from the wall outlet to the cable modem, then from the cable modem to the router (rather than to the computer like it is now), and then since it’s all sitting right there near the main computer anyway, I can connect that computer to the router using an Ethernet cable.

That means the I save about $50 since I now only have to buy two wireless LAN cards. For the desktop in the kids’ room my choices for adding wireless capability include an internal NIC (network interface card) or a portable box-looking thing that connects to the computer with a USB cable. Since my kids’ computer has about 5 USB ports and I’m not all that keen to open up a machine that they just got for Christmas, I’m going to opt for the portable USB adapter.

My choices for the laptop are between a PCMCIA card that slides into the side slot (also confusingly known as a PC card), a USB adapter device that’s about the size of a Bic lighter, and the same portable USB box thing that I chose for the kids’ computer. Since I like the idea that I can move the USB box around to find the best “reception” when I’m out on the patio with the laptop, I’m also going to chose that same device for use with my laptop. The extra benefit of using these two kinds of adapters is that they can be used on any computer with a free USB port, so if I have a friend over for a weekend and they want to plug in, they can use one of my USB adapters without any fuss. Because I got all these USB adapters, I need to be sure to get cables if they aren’t included with the adapters. Also, since the Ethernet cable that used to run from the cable modem to the computer will now go from the cable modem to the router, I still need one more Ethernet cable to connect the main computer to the new router.

With older operating systems, you might have some real fun getting this whole set up to work but if you have Windows 2000 or later, getting all this stuff working should be a breeze as long as you READ THE DIRECTIONS and follow them to the letter, especially when it comes to installing the USB adapters. I don’t have room this time around to go into the details for computer settings, but if your OS is pretty current, the networking wizards should be able to walk you through the set-up without too many second glances.

But here’s caveat number three – be sure to read the instructions for using the firewall or any other protection hardware or software that comes with your router. If you notice the neighbor kid sitting on your sidewalk every afternoon with a laptop, laughing his head off as he shoots up enemies in a MMORPG, you need to take a serious look at your security. It is possible for persons other than the obvious persons in your own home to access your wireless router if you don’t take the simple precautions suggested in the security section of your instructions manual. Some of these are no more complicated than prompting for a secret password with accessing the router – if the neighbor kid doesn’t know the password, he can’t suck up your bandwidth.

You can expect to pay between $60 and $160 for a wireless router, depending on the protocol and the brand (and the occasional rebate). The adapters can run from $40 to $100, again, depending on the protocol, the brand, and applicable rebates. A wired LAN is still cheaper, with NICs running about $20 and Ethernet hubs running about $30, but then you have all those wires to worry about. The best part is there’s no $10 a month fee for having your ISP come out and put in a wireless router for you – you can do it yourself and share the same internet connection you’ve always had. If you aren’t in the land of the LAN yet, go wireless. Installing a LAN has become so easy it seems rather silly to have a certification in LAN management anymore…

do-it-all printers

seems like the latest craze in computer printers is the all-in-one machine… here are a few things to consider if you’re shopping for one of those multi- printers that will handle printing, faxing, copying and scanning:

how does the “original” go in?
– otherwise know as the sheet feed, think about how you intend to use your printer’s fax and copy functions before you pick a printer. The style of sheet feeder is important. If you are just an average user who needs to make a copy once in a while, a flatbed style with a lift up “lid” is fine, but if your printer will be in an office where you need to fax or copy multiple pages all the time, you need something that handles multiple pages, not just that one-page-at-a-time flatbed style of copying.

how does the blank paper feed in?
– there is one rule i use for this since i seem to end up living in muggy areas where paper sticks together: i will never use a top-fed printer ever again. That instantly limits me to mostly HP printers since they are all fed from the bottom and the paper lays flat while it’s waiting to be used.

how does the printer hook up to the computer?
– almost every single printer manufactured today connects via USB port, so make sure you have an available USB port first. Also, almost every printer manufactured today does NOT include a cable, regardless of the interface style, so get a cable. If the multi-function printer you look at also functions as a stand alone fax, check to see if the phone cable is included.

how does the printer print?
– ask for a test print of the kind of stuff you plan to print. Id you want a printer to print out photos from your vacation, make sure the printer you get is advetised as a “photo” printer and prints at high resolution (at LEAST 4800 dpi both ways). And keep in mind that if you want to print photos, you should invest in photo paper - it DOES make a difference.

what are the scan specs?
– if scanning and copying are in your plans, you also want high-res scanning capability, at least 1200 dpi and 48-bit color depth.

do you take digital photos?
– several all-in-one (as well as home “photo” printers) include media slots that can accept digital media, allowing you to pull your media storage card out of the camera and put it straight into the printer without going through the computer first… if this option is important to you, look for a printer with a 7- or 8-in-one media reader built in. Some printers also have little LCD preview screens that are very useful in determining which photos off the media you want to print out.

Don’t be afraid to shop around and ask for samples - you should see what the printer is capable of before you plop down $200-300 for a multi-function printer.

sharing your internet connection wirelessly - part I

I always laugh at the local commercial out here where they advertise providing you with wireless internet access for 10 extra dollars a month. What a scam. You still have a regular cable modem connection in your house. If you want a wireless shared internet connection, you can do it yourself without paying anything extra to anyone.

With the normal cable modem or DSL installation, a signal runs from outside in to a modem of some sort in your house and then the modem is connected to a computer. When you want to share your internet connection using a wired Ethernet connection, you either pay extra for a router/modem that will let you connect all your computers to the modem, or you install two network cards in your main computer, connect one to the modem and one to an Ethernet hub and then all the computers talk to the hub, which then talks to the main computer.

With wireless sharing, things are set up just a little differently. First of all, you have to realize that for a wireless connection to work, your computers have to be equipped to communicate with a wireless router. Just as a computer needs a network card for an Ethernet connection, a computer needs a wireless network card for a wireless network connection. The best advice here is pay attention to protocol. You will get the best results if all your wireless devices are using the same protocol. Here’s where it gets technical – there are a couple of different “kinds” of wireless equipment. They are designated by numbers – 802.11A, 802.11B and 802.11G. In the real world, they’re referred to by that last letter – A, B and G.

Forget about A –it’s defunct. Unless you have to be able to connect to someone else’s antiquated 802.11A router as well as your own newer router, don’t bother with anything that has A at the end of it. The B type protocol is probably the most prevalent at the moment, because it’s been around long enough to be pervasive. Wireless devices that operate using the 802.11B protocol can send info through the air at 11mbps (megabits per second). That’s pretty darn fast for a home LAN (local area network).

The latest protocols are two flavors of 802.11G – one runs at 54mbps and one runs at 108mbps. (Don’t ask me why the faster speed didn’t warrant a new letter – that’s one of those mysteries like what happened to C, D, E, and F?) One philosophy is that faster is always better. If you agree with that, then look for 802.11G products, or simply G. Some items are now being designated as G54 or G108. Of course, the faster the speed, the more the devices cost.

The not-so-obvious caveat here is that you will be limited to the highest speed of the slowest part. Yeah, that’s the unfortunate law of the entire internet too… if you have a G108 wireless card in your PC but an 802.11B router, you’re not going to be transmitting any faster than the B router can handle, if you can get them to work and play well together in the first place. I always advocate matching speeds. If you have a B router, put in B network cards.

stay tuned for part II

how does the vcr work?

most problems with tuning, recording, and/or playing a video game in the midst of a stack of vcrs, gaming consoles, satellite receivers and so on can be solved by learning how to use 1) the TV/VIDEO switch on your tv and 2) the TV/VCR switch on your VCR.

before you rip apart or put together your tv/video center, take a moment to think logically about the sequence in which your devices must be chained in order for the signal to get from the wall (or the box) to the screen, make sure all channel selectable devices like game consoles and satellite recievers are set to the correct channel, and learn how to switch your tv from television mode to simple video monitor.

in general, your tv only has to be in TV mode when you’re watching a broadcast. if you have cable, you’ll probably change channels with the tv tuner. if you have satellite, you will keep your tv on one channel and change what you watch through the satellite receiver.

a VCR also has a tuner - that’s how it records - the signal has to go through the VCR before it ever gets to the TV. the TV/VCR switch usually has to be set to VCR in order to watch a video tape, but remains on TV most of the rest of the time, so as not to block the received signal. usually the VCR-pass-thru feature that allows the signal to go through the vcr as if it were invisible requires that the TV/VCR switch be set to TV, but check your manual. if you’re recording from a satellite receiver, you generally have to tune the VCR just like the tv - to channel 3 or 4 - and use the satellite reciever to change the channel.

to view a dvd, play a video game, hook up a digital camera, web tv, or other device where your tv does nothing but SHOW a picture, you will probably use VIDEO mode on your television. in some cases, a tv will have VIDEO 1 and VIDEO 2 - this is so you can keep multiple video sources hoooked up without interfering with each other - you can put the DVD player on VID1 and the X-box on VID2 and they won’t clash.

if you can remember which entertainment center functions are actually “tuning in” a signal as opposed to simply displaying a picture, it’s easy to figure out which switches need to be where in order for you to see what you’re trying to see.

oh yeah, here’s the basic order i use for chaining my video devices:

satellite dish >to> sat receiver
sat receiver & DVD player & game console >to> a/v amp
audio/video amp >to> TV

my TV has three input selections - TV, VID1 and VID2 - the basic logic is that the TUNED signals (VCR, Satellite receiver) go to the TV input, while the DVD player and the game console can go to separate VID outputs so they don’t interefere with each other. if i only had one VIDEO input then i would have to turn off the game console to use the DVD player and vice versa.

*NOTE*
most VCRs have selectable inputs now - Line, Tuner, and Simultaneous. the VCR tv signal pass thru feature almost always only works if you have the VCR input set to TUNER, however, you can use the LINE input, which will take a signal from the RCA jacks in the back instead of the threaded coax connection, to run a video game console into a TV that doesn’t have RCA jacks of it’s own or a suitable adaptor… but that’s another topic altogether.

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