VIRUS AND OTHER STINKY STUFF:
IF YOU SUSPECT THAT YOU HAVE A VIRUS OR IF YOU HAVE NOT SUCCESSFULLY SCANNED YOUR DRIVES FOR VIRUSES LATELY... THEN THE NEXT SUGGESTION IS FOR YOU. Free Virus scan. Trend Micro, more commonly referred to as Housecall, offers free virus scans and in most cases can fix damage down by a virus or worm that your computer may have contacted. The program works well. The first time one uses the free program it is necessary to download a small program. Trend Micro walks you through the process. Then the virus scans are quite simple for each return. You should disable any anti virus program that you have running. If you do not have a virus program I recommend that you use this program first and then download one of the free programs listed above of install any anti virus program you have purchased. Go to http://housecall.antivirus.com/ then choose the link "Scan without registering". Follow the directions.
Free Virus programs to download Quite a few KCnet members use these programs and like them. Be careful if you download a virus program and you already have one installed on your computer. You need to at least disable the program already installed. http://www.grisoft.com/html/us_index.cfm Another good free program to take a look at is: http://www.free-av.com/
Not So Lovely - PE_LOVGATE.J This one from Trend Micro PE_LOVGATE.J is a file-infecting virus that propagates via shared network drives and email. It runs on Windows NT, 2000, and XP systems. To spread through network shares, it searches for shared folders with read/write access in the same network and drops copies of itself into these folders using the following file names: * 100 free essays school.pif * Age of empires 2 crack.exe * AN-YOU-SUCK-IT.txt.pif * Are you looking for Love.doc.exe * autoexec.bat * CloneCD + crack.exe * How To Hack Websites.exe * Mafia Trainer!!!.exe * MoviezChannelsInstaler.exe * MSN Password Hacker and Stealer.exe * Panda Titanium Crack.zip.exe * Sex_For_You_Life.JPG.pif * SIMS FullDownloader.zip.exe * Star Wars II Movie Full Downloader.exe * The world of lovers.txt.exe * Winrar + crack.exe It propagates via email using Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express by replying to all new messages with the following: From: <Infected User's Name> To: <Original Sender> Subject: RE: <Original Subject> Message Body: '''<Infected User's Name>' wrote: ==== ><Original Body> > ==== YAHOO.COM Mail auto-reply: If you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you; If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or, being lied about,don't deal in lies, Or, being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise; ... ... more look to the attachment. Get your FREE <Original Sender's SMTP account> account now! < Attachment: (Randomly selected from any of the following:) I am For u.doc.exe" Britney spears nude.exe.txt.exe joke.pif DSL Modem Uncapper.rar.exe Industry Giant II.exe StarWars2 - CloneAttack.rm.scr dreamweaver MX (crack).exe Shakira.zip.exe SETUP.EXE Macromedia Flash.scr How to Crack all gamez.exe Me_nude.AVI.pif s3msong.MP3.pif Deutsch BloodPatch!.exe Sex in Office.rm.scr the hardcore game-.pif This malware also gathers target email addresses from HTML files that it finds in the current folder and Windows folders, and a specific registry key, and sends an email message with itself as an attachment to these email addresses. This email message is randomly generated, using one of several possible subject lines, message bodies, and attachments. This malware also has backdoor capabilities that allow remote users to access the infected system. It opens specific ports and immediately sends an email notifying a remote user that the infected machine is online and accessible.
10 Most Prevalent Viruses Surveyed by Trend Micro US (week of: May 05 to May 11, 2003) 1. JS_EXCEPTION.GEN 2. JS_NOCLOSE.E 3. BKDR_SDBOT.14176 4. WORM_KLEZ.H 5. WORM_KWBOT.C 6. WORM_LOVGATE.F 7. VBS_REDLOF.A 8. TROJ_SMALL.M 9. TROJ_SMALL.M 10. BKDR_DELODER.A
Tried and Untrue Viruses Believe it or not, the amount of harm done by sending false computer virus alarms to your thousand closest friends can be just as damaging as the alleged virus (if it even exists!); if you remember the story of the boy who cried wolf, you understand why. If you think you've got the scoop on the latest new devastating virus, check it out at the Web sites below before taking it on yourself to alert the world. If the virus is as terrible as you think it is, odds are the virus fighters already know about it and -- good news here! -- your antivirus software provider probably knows about it too and already has an update for it. Here are a few sites of many that can help you determine if an email is a hoax or real. http://www.snopes.com/ http://www.urbanlegends.com/ulz/ http://www.snopes.com/ http://vil.nai.com/VIL/hoaxes.asp http://kumite.com/myths/ http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html http://www.scambusters.org/VirusHoaxes.html
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING: Changing Drive Letters (All Windows Versions) This one from Langalist. Fred... I could sure use your expertise right now. Just last week I added a SanDisk Compact Flash reader to my computer via a USB hub, as well as a USB cable that allows me to directly connect a new digital camera. One would expect those plug-an- play devices to immediately show up as new, distinct drives with their own icons in "My Computer" and Windows Explorer. They didn't...I have "lost" the drive letters specific to the CF card reader and the direct camera connection (in my case Drives F and G). Do you have any advice for this poor, frustrated fellow? I can only imagine some of the strange, even bizarre requests you get for help, and this must be right up there with the best of them, but I would be most grateful for any help you might provide. Best regards, Ralph Kaye Actually, it's not bizarre at all, but can be a common problem in all versions of Windows, as a quick look at the Microsoft Knowledgebase shows: http://tinyurl.com/brhf or http://snurl.com/1cvz Problems can happen fairly easily when upgrading from one version of Windows to another, or adding a new device (USB, ZIP drive, new CD, etc) to a system where the drive letters are already mapped. But there's plenty of help available online. Here are some of the best links I've found: A specific How-To on drive letter assignments in XP is here: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=307844 Similar info for Win2000: http://snurl.com/1cvw or http://tinyurl.com/1tzk Similar info for Win98/ME: http://www.area450.com/thesampozone/articles/driveletter2.htm General Info: http://www.google.com/search?q=Change+Drive+Letter+Assignment
WinZip: Compression's reigning champ Wayne Cunningham Senior Editor, CNET Download.com For many people, the idea of popularity conjures up visions of glamour and flash. The Download.com Most Popular list contains all sorts of glamorous software, such as chat clients and file-sharing applications. But one very utilitarian piece of software has established permanent residency in the Top 10. WinZip remains incredibly popular even after six years and eight full versions, aside from the fact that file compression is one of the least glamorous things you can do with a computer. But its sheer usefulness carries it along, and so it remains an essential download for people who need to open archives or compress files for fitting on disks or sending over the Internet. WinZip's ease of use also gives it an edge over other compression software. With heavy competition coming from WinRAR, WinZip shows its desire to hold onto its top spot with the beta for version 9.0. This latest version features fairly strong encryption and different levels of compression. At the maximum setting, you gain the most disk space, but creating the archive takes longer, while less compression runs faster.
The next two are from Worldstart and they deal with two vital issues facing the internet user, spamming and privacy. OK, you've been complaining all week about anti-spam tactics going too far, but are there any good spam filters out there? If you search our software store, you will notice that we do not sell any spam filters. Is this because we want your inbox to be flooded with porn and scams? Is it just an oversight on our behalf? Well, no. I'm sure I'll be bombarded with recommendations from y'all, but so far the anti-spam tools available are mediocre, at best. Let's look at what we feel is the worst kind—keyword filters. Basically, if they detect a certain keyword in the text of your e-mail, it gets blocked. We've put together a common list of these on our site and show them used in regular conversation. Wait till you see how easy it would be to have an e-mail accidentally blocked that was sent by a friend or business associate. (We couldn't put it in here or anyone with keyword spam filters wouldn't get this newsletter!) Check them out: http://www.worldstart.com/tips/email-tips/spammywords.htm Now, some keyword filters operate on a point system that counts occurrences of "filtered" words (or, believe it or not, text color and size). Each is awarded a value and if it adds up too high, it gets blocked. We ran across one that was so ridiculous that disclaimer and removal information added up to enough to block our newsletter! However, if we sent our e-mail without that information, that same ISP would accuse us of spamming! The sad thing is that spammers get around this by making the entire newsletter a graphic. You open the e-mail, it loads the picture with the ad, and your spam filter is bypassed. However, there is another form a spam filter that tries to take care of this too. It basically tries to block any pictures from coming in. So much for using e-mail to send family photos. MSN and Hotmail recently bragged about adding this "feature" in the near future. If someone isn't in your address book, then any pictures coming from them get blocked by default. (Add steve@worldstart.com to your address book now so you don't end up with a red X where a picture should be—this takes effect soon). We've also seen another type of "spam filtering" service show up recently. They basically act as an intermediary between you and your e-mail. When someone sends you an e-mail, it has to pass through this service first. If it's an unknown e-mail, the service mails the sender a message requiring a real person to confirm that the mail is coming from a legitimate address. Sounds OK, right? Well, it gets better (or worse). We did reply to one of these "sender verification" services, only to have them spam us a few days later trying to get us to join! There was no mention that they were going to collect our e-mail when we sent the confirmation message, but here they were spamming us! Then we went to their site and took a closer look. Turns out that if you sign up for their service, they will do the check-and-confirm thing for you, but in return they reserve the right to send you messages from their adverting partners (anyone with a checkbook). That's right, they block all the spam—but their own! So, you'll still get junk mail, only now you'll only get their junk mail. If that's not a scam, I don't know what is. The next type of spam filter is not as bad, but can still cause problems. Basically, it checks email against a "blacklist" of known spam sites. Better blacklists have a process where a publisher or ISP can get "unlisted" if they were put on by mistake, but not all take this common sense approach. We recently found a service that many ISPs are using as a blacklist source. This company has a "take no prisoners" policy. Once they decide you're a "spammer", they put you—and anyone else using that webhost—on the blacklist. You may not be able to receive e-mail from a friend because of something some site you've never heard of did. This company doesn't even provide contact info, but ISPs all over the place are using them. Just this month dozens of technology experts, government officials, industry executives and lawyers flocked to Washington to discuss the problem of spam and basically concluded that it's just part of life for now. FTC commissioner Orson Swindle (ironic name ;-) said. ``No single law, no single new technology, no new initiative, no new meetings are going to solve this problem alone.'' So, I guess we'll just work with what we have until a clearer, more comprehensive approach can be found. Your own email program (Outlook Express, Netscape Mail, web-based) should have built in features you can use to reduce unwanted email. We regularly run tips on how to create filters, block addresses / domains, and how to stay off spammer mailing lists. Loyal reader John K. wrote to tell us, "Using your tips I have reduced my spam almost 100%. I used your tips on adding domains to the blocked sender list, disabled Windows Messenger and Messenger." So, it can be done. These helpful tips can be found on our website and in the newsletter archive: http://www.worldstart.com/tips or http://www.worldstart.com/archives/computer-tips/
Online Privacy I've posted info about this in the past. However, newbies will learn a bunch and the oldtimers to the Newsletter will learn some new twists about personal security and Internet sellers. (MLF) Giving out your personal information to sites on the net is a touchy subject. My suggestion would be to only give out info to sites that you trust. If you don't know a particular site, don't give out your info. I'm not too worried about giving out my info to most business / major contest sites but I'm not going to give it to someone who just would like to have it in order to see where their visitors are coming from. Note that most good, reputable sites will have some sort of privacy policy that tells you exactly how the information you give them will be used. If you're at all unsure, it may be worth reading the privacy policy for the site in question. If you can't find one, any paranoia you have regarding that site is probably justified. Most sites that ask for your personal information are doing so because you're signing up for something or making some type of purchase. After all, how can you buy something online if you won't give out your address and credit card info? When this is the case, I carefully look through the site to make sure it looks OK (I check for stuff like contact info, real-world addresses, etc.) before I give out my any of my information. If a site is asking for a credit card number, they will only get it if I'm actually making a purchase. If it's for any other reason, forget it. If they are trying to get my social security number, they don't have a chance unless I see good reason for them to have it (applying for a loan, joining an affiliate program, etc.) Oh, one more thing since we mentioned credit cards. I get a lot of people who are worried about sending their credit card info to a company via the internet. As long as the site is secure (you should see a little "lock" in the Status Bar of your browser - lower left hand corner), you should be safe. The address will also begin with HTTPS. Of course, you have to trust the company you're dealing with. If you give your card to a site that's shady (porn, illegal items, etc), then you shouldn't be too surprised if you run into problems. On the other hand, if you're dealing with a good, legit site, then you shouldn't have any problems. However, remember, not all companies are the same—before you give any site your credit card info, be sure they have stuff like contact information, a privacy policy, and you may want to check their return policy, too (assuming it applies). Doesn't hurt to do a little homework. For the most part, it seems like credit card theft on the internet is more likely the result of having a dishonest employee (and that's not just an internet problem), than the transmission getting intercepted. It just kills me when I see people who won't use their card online, but they don't hesitate to pass it to any scummy looking store clerk, never giving it a second thought. In my opinion, you're usually as safe, if not more so, online. I guess the best advice is to be careful. If you don't have a good reason to give out your info, then don't. If you don't feel comfortable with a site or don't completely understand why they need your info, then don't give it out.
Mailbox Full... Another Langalist. I'll bet that most of the readers did not know what happens to the mailbox when it gets full. I thought just over 100 emails a day was a load...Bob better be a fast reader. (MLF) Fred This may be a rather dumb question, but - if one doesn't open one's e-mail, say for three months, does it accumulate forever or is there some built-in mechanism somewhere that wipes out unaccessed mail? (After a certain time period?) --- Gary Ireland If it's on your ISP's server, what usually happens is your mail box fills up to its allowed limit (sometimes as little as 2MB or so), and then all further emails are bounced back to the sender with a "mailbox full" message. The old mail just sits there (for as long as you pay your ISP bills) while no new mail is delivered. Even when the mailbox limits are higher, you still can run into trouble of you get a lot of mail, or mail with large attachments. That's why it's generally NOT a good idea to store old mail or attachments on the mail server because they'll clog your mailbox and may cause new mail to bounce. Instead, download the mail and attachments and store everything locally, on a hard drive. Even though my website has generous email allowances, I can max out the online storage in just a couple days, if I don't keep up with the mail. (My mailbox stats show I got 44,511 inbound emails just last month; and the email volume is climbing steadily.) If I take a vacation or even break for a weekend, I have to leave a PC running just to grab the mail periodically and keep the server unclogged. No matter what size your online mailbox is, it's smart NOT to let it fill up!
INTERESTING SITES : Here are some sites to get one started into reviewing the history of our conflicts and the patriots that served us well. Remember the events and honor the participants this Memorial Day. World War I http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/ World War II http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/ The Forgotten War, Korean. http://www.koreanwar.com/ Viet Nam http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/vietnam/ Gulf War 1002 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/ Bosnia http://www.hri.org/nodes/balkans.html Gulf War 2003 http://www.historyguy.com/GulfWar2.html
WHISTLE LIKE A WILD MAN! I had fun here, some reminiscing too since I've lost the touch. (MLF) Wouldn't you like to be able to squeal out a super loud whistle like those macho guys at the ball park? It's easy enough, if you have two hands... Generally I can teach someone how to whistle with their hands in two minutes or less, but that's when they are standing in front of me and I can show them the technique. Still, I suspect that if you give it a try you'll get the hang of it in ten minutes of real effort. Write me and let me know how it goes. http://pobox.upenn.edu/~thompson/whistle.html
LIGHTS... CAMERA... SCRIPTS! Say did ya ever have a discussion about a movie and you needed to prove what someone said. Those discussions usually end with silence and bot combatants still convinced they are correct. Well, here is the solution. The shooting scripts of 1000s of Hollywood's finest are freely available to give a quick read. Need a script for this summer's neighborhood play? Try "Clueless" or "Back to the Future" or even "A Clockwork Orange" (that's a real crowd-pleaser). http://www.script-o-rama.com/table.shtml And a plus THE INTERNET MOVIE DATABASE now owns it Where was all this data prior to the internet? Excrutiating detail on every movie ever made, hot-linked and cross-referenced like a mofo. http://us.imdb.com/ Another plus OK So you watched Letterman and you wander what Leno said in his opening or vice versa. The full monologues of Letterman, Leno and the others are compulsively transcripted here, and I must say, are funnier when wide awake! Here is a Leno sample excerpt from Monday Night May 19. · Hey, let me ask you something – did "The Matrix” open yet? I haven’t heard anything about it. · What did it make - $93 million! Unbelievable. I tell you something, the producers of "The Matrix: Reloaded" were really smart in getting the film distributed around the world quickly. What they did was ... they released it in China, the government denied it existed, and then it just spread everywhere. · They say the next two "Matrix" movies will cost a combined $300 million. That makes them the most expensive sequels of all time – not counting the war in Iraq. · This is big news out of Washington – White House spokesman Ari Fleischer announced that he will retire this July … good luck finding a job in this economy. · He said that when he told Bush he was leaving, the president ended the conversation by kissing him on the head. Which is kinda funny because that’s how Clinton began every conversation. And on and on and on Now Letterman's offering: · I was watching TV earlier and saw the movie about "Martha Stewart" – also known as the eight of clubs. · Big birthday over the weekend. Pope John Paul II turned 83. There was a big celebration. The pope celebrated the same way he does every year – a bunch of cardinals got together and took him to Hooters. They got crazy! · Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein were both captured today. I guess this is true, it was in the New York Times. · Congrats to a New York horse – Funny Cide has won two legs of the Triple Crown. He won the Preakness this weekend down in Baltimore. A New York-bred horse now has won the second jewel. He’s a gelding; the gelding procedure was done on him to calm him down. Today Hillary Clinton said, "You can do that?” http://www.newsmax.com/liners.shtml Hey it beats staying awake or video taping. (MLF)