VIRUS AND OTHER STINKY STUFF
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING
INTERESTING SITES

VIRUS AND OTHER STINKY STUFF
 

THE TALLY:
Thursday, September 16 -- Thursday, September 23
According to Sophos, a leader in Anti Virus Software development, 22new/improved viruses which required Anti Virus upgrades were released into cyberspace via email. This tied the highest number of releases in many months.
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KCnet's anti virus program caught and "defanged" 19,527 email viruses in addition to refusing 163,013 spam messages. This was was a bit of a jump for viruses this week.  The spam like the rain, came in big buckets.

IF YOU SUSPECT THAT YOU HAVE A VIRUS OR IF YOU HAVE NOT SUCCESSFULLY SCANNED YOUR DRIVES FOR VIRUSES LATELY... THIS NEXT SITE IS FOR YOU.
Free Virus scans.
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.

Computer Associates, another reputable and reliable anti virus developer introduced a new free program  which allows anyone to do a virus scan without downloading any software or registering for an anti virus program.  You must use Internet Explorer for access to Computer Associates and to perform the scan.  This is a good one and very simple to operate  The address is http://www3.ca.com/securityadvisor/virusinfo/scan.aspx

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/us/us_dwnl_free.php
Another good free program to take a look at is:
http://www.free-av.com/

Top 5 Viruses for September 10 to September 16 from Trend Micro
 1  WORM_SASSER.B
 2  PE_ZAFI.B
 3  WORM_NETSKY.P
 4  HTML_NETSKY.P
 5  WORM_KORGO.R
 

True Viruses and Warning Letters of Impending Doom.
Believe it or not, the amount of harm done by sending false computer virus alarms and letters of impending doom 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 or latest doom warning, 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 anti virus software provider probably knows about it too and already has an update for it.
Sophos supplies this current information about actual hoaxes.  Look at them. Read about them.  If you are sent one of them, delete it.

Here are a few sites of many that can help you determine if an email is a hoax or real.
http://www.quatloos.com/
http://www.snopes.com/
http://www.urbanlegends.com/ulz/
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/HBHoaxIndex.html
http://vil.nai.com/VIL/hoaxes.asp
http://kumite.com/myths/
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html
http://www.scambusters.org/VirusHoaxes.html
http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/hoaxes/
http://www.truthorfiction.com/

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING:
I'll be featuring some interesting articles with supporting data about the browser game, Internet Explorer vs the other guys.

Microsoft to secure IE for XP only    Published: September 23, 2004, By Paul Festa, Staff Writer, CNET News.com
If you're one of about 200 million people using older versions of Windows and you want the latest security enhancements to Internet Explorer, get your credit card ready.
Microsoft this week reiterated that it would keep the new version of Microsoft's IE Web browser available only as part of the recently released Windows XP operating system, Service Pack 2. The upgrade to XP from any previous Windows versions is $99 when ordered from Microsoft. Starting from scratch, the operating system costs $199.
What's new:
People using older versions of Windows can't get an important security update to the Internet Explorer browser without paying for an XP upgrade.
Bottom line:
Microsoft's policy could drive XP upgrades, but it also risks alienating Web surfers and prompting them to turn to free alternatives such as Firefox.
That, analysts say, is a steep price to pay to secure a browser that swept the market as a free, standalone product.
"It's a problem that people should have to pay for a whole OS upgrade to get a safe browser," said Michael Cherry, analyst with Directions on Microsoft in Redmond, Wash. "It does look like a certain amount of this is to encourage upgrade to XP."
Microsoft affirmed that its recent security improvements to IE would be made available only to XP users.
"We do not have plans to deliver Windows XP SP2 enhancements for Windows 2000 or other older versions of Windows," the company said in a statement. "The most secure version of Windows today is Windows XP with SP2. We recommend that customers upgrade to XP and SP2 as quickly as possible."
The Internet's security mess has proved profitable for many companies, particularly antivirus firms. Microsoft has declared security job No. 1.
By refusing to offer IE's security upgrades to users of older operating systems except through paid upgrades to XP, Microsoft may be turning the lemons of its browser's security reputation into the lemonade of a powerful upgrade selling point.
That lemonade comes in the midst of a painfully dry spell for the company's operating system business.
Three years have passed since Microsoft introduced its last new operating system, and its upcoming release, code-named Longhorn, has been plagued by delays. Microsoft last month scaled back technical ambitions for Longhorn in order to meet a 2006 deadline.
While Wall Street anxiously awaits an operating system release that can produce revenues until Longhorn appears, Microsoft is eyeing the nearly half of the world's 390 million Windows users who have opted to stick with operating systems older than XP, including Windows versions 2000, ME, 98 and 95.
"Ancient history"
Microsoft denied it was deliberately capitalizing on the Internet's security woes to stimulate demand for XP.
"Microsoft is not using security issues or any security situation to try to drive upgrades," said a company representative. "But it only makes sense that the latest products are the most secure."
"Should Ford have gone back and retrofitted every Pinto with anti-lock brakes when the technology came out? Should OnStar be available for 1989 Dodge Aries K cars? If you want the new technology, you have to stay current with the new products."
Microsoft has maintained that the browser is part of the operating system, a point of contention in its antitrust battle with the U.S. government.
Last year, the company ruled out future releases of IE as a standalone product. This week, the company reiterated that stance.
"IE has been a part of the operating system since its release," said the Microsoft representative. "IE is a feature of Windows."
When asked about IE's origin as a free, standalone product, the representative said, "You're talking in software terms that might be considered ancient history."
Microsoft promised "ongoing security updates" for all supported versions of Windows and IE.
The ongoing security updates do not, as Microsoft points out, include the latest security fixes with Service Pack 2, released last month. Those include a new pop-up blocker and a new system of handling ActiveX controls and downloaded content.
And it's those more substantial changes, rather than the bug fixes that come with routine upgrades for supported products, that security organizations have lauded for addressing IE's graver security concerns.
Now it's unclear whether even half the Windows world will have access to the shored up IE.
"It's particularly bothersome if a product is in mainstream support, because what does mainstream support mean then?" said Directions on Microsoft's Cherry.
Microsoft currently commands about 94 percent of the worldwide operating system market measured by software shipments, according to IDC. (That number factors in revenue-producing copies of the open-source Linux operating system, but not free ones).
Of Microsoft's approximately 390 million operating system installations around the world, Windows XP Pro constitutes 26.1 percent, Windows XP Home 24.7 percent, IDC said.  The remaining 49.2 percent is composed of Windows 2000 Professional (17.5 percent), Windows 98 (14.9 percent), Windows ME (6.5 percent), Windows 95 (5.4 percent), and Windows NT Workstation (4.9 percent).
That 49.2 percent of Windows users are left out in the cold when it comes to significant updates to IE and other software.
People running Internet Explorer without SP2 face an array of security scenarios, many of them linked to lax security associated with the ActiveX API, or application programming interface.
SP2 also brought IE up to date with its competitors with a robust pop-up blocker.
"Although I can understand the reasons why Microsoft would like to simplify its internal processes, I'm not in favor of bundling security patches, bug fixes and new features into one package," said IDC Vice President Dan Kusnetsky. "Organizations wanting only security-related updates or just a specific new feature are forced to make an all-or-nothing choice."
Firefox in the hunt
While organizations and individuals weigh the merits of all and nothing with respect to Windows and IE, a competing open-source browser may benefit from Microsoft's decision to reserve SP2's browser upgrades for XP users.
The Mozilla Foundation's Firefox browser is potentially eroding Microsoft's overwhelming market share even prior to its final version 1.0 release. Last week's release of the first preview release of Firefox 1.0 blew past its 10-day goal of 1 million downloads in just more than 4 days.
"Who says that Microsoft isn't trying to monopolize the browser/os market? If it weren't for the fact that I provide tech support to the less technical members of my family, certain friends and work contraints, I'd probably have dumped Windows long ago for a different os."
--Jeanine Jeffrey
Firefox, Apple Computer's Safari browser and Opera Software's desktop browser together command a mere sliver of market share. But features such as tabbed browsing and earlier adoption of pop-up controls have won them adherents among potentially influential early adopters and technology buffs.
Even some Microsoft bloggers have admitted to liking Firefox.
With Longhorn still years away, Microsoft is feeling the heat to produce a browser.
That heat has come in many forms, from grassroots campaigns by Web developers urging people to switch from IE to Firefox and other alternatives, to Mozilla's own marketing push, to a steady drumbeat of lacerating Web log and newsgroup posts decrying IE's years of stagnation.
"I've always wondered what the problem is with the IE team," one respondent wrote in a feedback thread on IE evangelist Dave Massy's blog. "I mean, it's just a browser. You need to render a page based on well-documented standards...and that's it! You've opted to not have tabbed browsing or any other personalization. It's just a window shell and the browser content...I wonder if there are only like four people who work on IE or something? I seriously don't get it."
Massy and others have defended the company by explaining that recent development efforts have been geared at security improvements.
A representative for Firefox, which will face security scrutiny of its own should it make good on its competitive threat to IE, said any pressure it was exerting on Microsoft to update IE was evidence of its success.
"IE users need all the help they can get," said Mozilla Foundation spokesman Bart Decrem. "And we're trying to help them. If Microsoft will help them, all the better. At the end of the day, the mission of the Mozilla Foundation is to provide meaningful choice, and the reason there hasn't been a lot of innovation from the dominant provider is because of their monopoly position. So if they are forced to innovate and respond to the success of Firefox, we are achieving our mission."
Some analysts say Microsoft's reluctance to issue SP2's browser security features to non-XP users has as much to do with being shorthanded as wanting to drive XP adoption.
"Their main focus now is on Longhorn IE," said Matt Rosoff, another analyst with Directions on Microsoft. "It's a staffing and a cost issue."
Rosoff agreed that Firefox and other second-tier browsers might benefit from Microsoft's IE distribution policies, but he noted that the vast majority of consumers are far less likely to download a browser than the typical Firefox early adopter.
"From a consumer standpoint, I think evaluating other browsers makes sense," Rosoff said. "And Microsoft is going to face more and more users who are on dual platforms, who won't see any reason to upgrade once they see that Firefox offers the pop-up blocker and other features they'd have to pay for in IE? But most consumers don't download anything if they can avoid it."

Microsoft may be losing ground in the Internet browser battle.
Web metrics suggest that the software giant's Internet Explorer has been losing a significant number of users in the past nine months to open-source browser Mozilla and its offspring, Firefox. The gains for the two browsers, which are both produced by the Mozilla Foundation, are most noticeable at Web sites popular among geek-chic early adopters.
W3Schools.com, a Web development tutorial site, found that 18 percent of its visitors in September used Mozilla-based browsers, compared with 8 percent in January. Internet Explorer use dropped to 75 percent from 84 percent in the same period.
Among CNET News.com readers, site visitors using Mozilla and Firefox jumped to 18 percent for the first two weeks of September, from 8 percent in January.
In the hours since Tuesday's preview release of version 1.0 of Firefox, the Mozilla Foundation was already well on its way to reaching a stated goal of 1 million downloads in 10 days. In the first five hours that the new Firefox was available, it was downloaded more than 100,000 times.
Even before this week, Firefox was gaining speed. The last two months alone saw nearly 5 million downloads of the software.
The latest releases of Mozilla and Firefox, along with the related Thunderbird e-mail software, also fix 10 security issues. These issues include three critical vulnerabilities that could let an attacker run code on the victim's computer.

Firefox beats million-download deadline  By Paul Festa Staff Writer, CNET News September 20, 2004
With days to spare, the Mozilla Foundation beat its 10-day goal of 1 million Firefox downloads.
Released six days ago, the first preview release of the Firefox 1.0 Web browser passed the million-download mark early in its fifth day, according to the Mozilla Foundation.  By Monday afternoon, the download number had swelled to 1.3 million.
"Beaten would be an understatement," said Mozilla spokesman Bart Decrem when asked about the 10-day goal.  "I think we're setting new records here in terms of new browser downloads, and it shows that people are ready for an alternative."
An alternative, that is, to Microsoft's dominant Internet Explorer browser.  With Microsoft having abandoned development of standalone IE, and with Firefox getting an increasingly warm reception from Web surfers and developers alike, scattered statistics suggest that Firefox may be starting to chip away at IE's market share.
The Mozilla Foundation, spun off from AOL Time Warner last year as a nonprofit, carries on the open-source development work launched in 1998 by Netscape Communications and its Mozilla.org wing.  Considered a pioneer in the realm of company-sponsored open-source work, Mozilla nonetheless failed until recently to produce a strong challenger to IE.
While IE's reputation took a beating after a long string of security problems and years without significant feature or standards upgrades, Mozilla put its efforts into designing Firefox as a smaller, faster version of its Mozilla browser.  Months before the preview release of version 1.0, Firefox had begun attracting users, prizes and buzz.
Now Mozilla is facing the problems that come with success: handling increased security scrutiny by security experts and malicious hackers, and coping with hundreds of thousands of downloads per day.
Decrem noted that Firefox had achieved its million downloads despite being a preview release.  The final Firefox 1.0 is scheduled to be finished this fall.
The browser's pre-release status hasn't hurt recruitment efforts at the Mozilla Foundation's newly launched volunteer marketing site, Spread Firefox.  There, more than 7,500 volunteers have signed up since Tuesday's launch, and more than a million and a half people are visiting per day, according to Decrem.
Decrem said the next few days would bring new initiatives that would deploy Spread Firefox volunteers to market Firefox to a broader audience.  Anecdotal evidence suggests that the browser has proved popular primarily with early adopters and technology enthusiasts.

Accolades, reviews & download http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/shelf.html

Butler Jeeves gets 'extreme makeover'   By Stefanie Olsen Staff Writer, CNET News  September 20, 2004
Ask Jeeves has expanded its Web search services and given its hallmark butler a younger look.  The Emeryville, Calif.-based company said Tuesday it has developed My Jeeves, a personalized storage locker for Web surfers' search results.  It's also built a site devoted to helping people find local businesses; improved its general Web search technology Teoma; and set the debut of its branded desktop-search application for late 2004.
Finally, Ask Jeeves has taken 20 or so years off the life of its Jeeves' butler--the P.G.  Wodehouse character that's been the cornerstone of Ask Jeeves' brand for eight years, but has been absent from the site since last week.
"We thought we'd modernize him, now that the site is," said Jim Lanzone, senior vice president of search products at Ask Jeeves.
Despite the modernization, Ask Jeeves is mainly keeping up with the Joneses with most of its new products.  Among the top five Web search engines, Ask Jeeves is vying against heavyweights Google and Yahoo to build the most state-of-the-art tools for navigating the Web--and reap the rewards of the multibillion-dollar advertising business tied to it.
Yahoo and Google are one step ahead of Ask Jeeves on recently expanded local search sites.  And Google has a clear head start with its Deskbar application, which lets people navigate the Web without a browser.  Yahoo has also said it would launch a desktop-search application.
Still, Ask Jeeves has taken the lead in offering Web surfers the ability to store, personalize and manage search results.  With My Jeeves, people can save search results, file them into folders and add notes to particular Web pages--all without registering personal information.  With registration, My Jeeves will password-protect the users' storage locker with search history, granting login and access from any PC.  Also, registration grants the user unlimited storage of search history, whereas the anonymous version caps storage at 1,000 items.
more @:
http://news.com.com/Butler+Jeeves+gets+extreme+makeover/2100-1024-5375030.html?part=dht&tag=ntop

The next duo of tech tips are from a recent Worldstart Tech Tip Email Newsletter.
Did you know that just about every program out there has a help file?
Did you also know that the ones that don't usually have online support or message boards for users?
You would be amazed at how much you can find out with a simple click. Try it. Find "Help" up there in your toolbar and click (or you can just hit F1 on your keyboard).

Ever want to find out what version of a program you have? That's there too. Just choose "About..." to get all the info you need. Sometimes it will give you the developer's website where you can go for additional help and software updates.
So, next time you have a problem, just go to Help.

Security Tip  XP Service pack 2 Firewall: Helpful Hints
Well I've been doing a lot with Service Pack 2 (SP2) since it's release, and this week is no exception. The new XP firewall has some serious improvements over the previous version; the changes are so great that the only similarity is the fact that they can stop incoming traffic. It's evident that Microsoft has put a lot more effort into their integrated firewall, and today we are going to run down the features of the firewall, and some configuration settings you might want to know about.
If you're familiar with the previous XP Firewall you know it was nothing more than a check box in the "Network Connections" under the "Advanced" tab. Now the firewall has it's own icon in the Control Panel (CP) and a lot more configuration options to go along with it. If you select the Firewall Icon from CP you'll be looking at the general tab of the firewall's configuration window. This is where you simply turn On/Off the firewall along with a check box to not allow exceptions to pass through the firewall.

The next Tab you see is the "Exceptions" tab, and this is, you guessed it, where you can allow programs and services explicit permissions to pass through your firewall. This is an important feature if you share folders with others on a network, and if you play, or host online games you're going to have to probably set up the appropriate ports to allow connectivity. You can configure these exceptions through one of the three buttons at the bottom of this panel (Advanced, Add Port, and Edit). At the very bottom of this panel is the check box to notify you if a program or service attempts to solicit your machine.
The third tab is the "Advanced" tab, which has three sub-sections the first being the "Network Connections Settings". This is for the more advanced users and I can't see a lot of casual end-users really fooling with these settings too much. Networks Connections is a list of networks that you are connected to and would like to allow only certain services within this connection. In lay terms it's like fine tuning your exceptions to say "Yes" you can connect to my PC, but you can only connect to use my FTP service or Remote Desktop, and nothing else. In the Network Connections section of the Advanced tab there is a Settings button this is the advanced settings for your allowed services that others may be able to connect to on a particular connection (i.e. FTP, Remote Desktop). There is also the ICMP (Internet Control Management Protocol) tab, which is a set of network commands that help to manage a network. These commands can also be a vulnerability, and under this tab you can disable all or some of the ICMP commands. The next section under the Advanced tab is the Security log, which I love and always turn on. You can configure this to log dropped packets, log successful connections, both, or none. From this location you can also choose where and how large you would like the log file to get. The last section of the Advanced tab is the Default Settings section; this consists of one button that if selected will bring all the settings in your firewall back to where they were right after SP2 was first installed.
XP SP2 Firewall is head-and-shoulders above its predecessor, and is enabled by default with the install of the new service pack. If you have a third party firewall it probably still has more features than XP's so you may want to go and turn XP's off so it will not interfere with your internet or network connectivity. If you don't have a firewall, and especially if you have a broadband always-on connection, you want to leave this "ON". Don't worry, the new security notification in SP2 will let you know if your system is unprotected with one of it's new pop-up security warnings.

Sasser worm author hired by computer security firm
A German firewall security company has been criticized for hiring the teenager who admitted to writing the Sasser and Netsky worms which hit businesses and home users hard earlier this year.  Sophos believes that a dangerous message may be being sent to other future virus writers.
More:  http://www.sophos.com/virusinfo/articles/jaschanjob.html

Should spam whistle blowers be rewarded?
The Federal Trade Commission has submitted a report to Congress, stating that the information provided by the vast majority of consumers who re forwarding spam emails to the FTC's database, is not helping to identify spammers.  Their suggestion?  That whistle blowers inside spam gangs should be paid to pass on evidence that may lead to convictions.
More:   http://www.sophos.com/spaminfo/articles/spamwhistle.html
 

INTERESTING SITES:
Here are two local sites featuring photography. Both of these site's owners are KCnet members.
The first site is loaded with photos from the recent high water in the Lock Haven/Mill Hall areas.  In fact the site owner has a pool and spa business, Homestead Estates, on Hogan Boulevard.  They were in the middle of the dirty brown water.
http://www.homesteadpools.com/web_gal/pages/100_0919.html
The second site, developed by Bill Raco, features many excellent and award winning photos spanning numerous categories and interests.  Bill has a special eye for photographic opportunities and he captures these subjects and scenes that others just do not see.  In addition to excellence in photography he also is an accomplished photo manipulator.  He manages photo software programs as if he developed them.  There are hours of enjoyment on his web pages.  By the way, framed examples of Bill's work are displayed on many walls at KCnet.
http://www.williamracophotography.com/

More Ivan Flood sites:
Milesburg and Bellefonte
http://community.webshots.com/album/189127228tUtKSP
More Clinton County via the Clinton County page:
http://www.clintoncountypa.com/flooding.htm

Sree's Top Three Sites for Home Improvement Projects  Sree is the resident tech guru for New York-WABC, TV.
If you are thinking of having some work done on your house, then here are some sites you should visit.
BobVila.com: A how-to library, TV excerpts and projects parents and kids can do together from the TV master.
http://www.bobvila.com/
BHG.com:   Better Homes and Gardens  Plenty of tools and guides on home improvement issues.
http://www.bhg.com/bhg/househome/index.jhtml
Remodeling.hw.net: A really useful site, including a "cost vs value report" so you can compare what you'd get for what improvements you are planning to make.
http://www.remodeling.hw.net/

Discovering Lewis and Clark  Amanda suggested this one.
I am very excited to be bringing you this site on Lewis & Clark and their journey. This has to be one of the nicest history sites I've found. It has the one thing that makes a site a step above in my eyes—both a flash version and an html version for those who don't like the time flash takes to load. So even on a slower connection you can enjoy this site. You can look at three different aspects of their journey: The Preparation, Exploration, and The Return Trip.
The Preparation—Learn all about the Presidential Mission that they were given, which President gave it to them, and learn all about their preparation for this journey. What supplies did they take with them? Did you know: "The President authorized Lewis to select a co-commander, and in June of 1803 Lewis offered the position to a 33-year-old ex-army lieutenant from Kentucky, William Clark. Once, for a brief period, Clark had been Meriwether Lewis's commanding officer."
Exploration—This is where you can follow their journey step by step. And in the meantime learn all about the trek across America from location to location. With beautiful pictures, both historical and current, you can even get an idea of what these places looked like as they journeyed. This section will also fill you in on their adventures. Who did they meet? What kind of animals did they run into?
The Return Trip—While this section is not as varied as the Exploration section you will finish the journey back where they began. Learn about the people and places that were a part of their trip home.
I highly recommend clicking on the "New in August 2004" link. You'll find some really great updates and information—you should really check it out.
Enjoy the Journey!
http://www.lewis-clark.org/

More photography!!
Scott  Haefner had an inspiration.  He rigged cams and cameras to kites and then traveled.  The kites frolicked in the breezes and captured interesting photos below the treeses.  UH, boy that was bad.  Take a peek.
http://www.scotthaefner.com/kap/gallery/?g=favorites

Wanna jazz up your system look?  This was a Kim Komando find.
I'm not talking about changing the operating system, just some of the paint and curtains.
Stay up to date on the latest software releases and other graphical user interface news for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, and Linux.
Getting tired of the default desktop backgrounds supplied by your operating system? InterfaceLIFT offers high quality wallpaper from the best photographers and digital artists on the web.
Icons are here too.
http://www.interfacelift.com/news/

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