VIRUS AND OTHER STINKY STUFF TECHNICALLY SPEAKING INTERESTING SITES
THE TALLY: Thursday, October 14 -- Thursday, October 21 According to Sophos, a leader in Anti Virus Software development, 18 new/improved viruses which required Anti Virus upgrades were released into cyberspace via email. & KCnet's anti virus program caught and "defanged" 12,684 email viruses in addition to refusing 179,902 spam messages. There were 208,845 non spam or non virus messages delivered to KCnet subscribers.
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 October 11 to October 17 from Computer Associates 1. Win32.Netsky.P 2. Win32.Netsky.D 3. Win32.Netsky.C 4. Win32.Mydoom.O 5. Win32.Netsky.Z 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: GrabCaptureScreen 2.0 released! In the Advanced Users Class this past Wednesday we explored an upgrade, actually a complete rework for very useful and popular program. The new program is called GrapCaptureScreen. This program is free and simple to operate. It takes a couple of cumbersome steps out of the standard Windows screensave procedure. In a nutshell: Install, run, capture using the main window. Minimize it, press PrtSc to grab the screen at any time. Images will go to the "My Pictures" folder. Dig your way through the options to customize everything: Grabbing keys, folders, file names, ... The long version: Its key features are: * Distinguishes between grabbing and capturing: o Grabbing is non-interactive. Press a key, done. The program will automatically save images to a predefined folder with predefined filenames following an auto-numbering scheme. You can define a set of commands to be performed before the image is saved. o CapturingCapturing is interactive. You specify what to capture (7 capture modes are available) and the program will open a new document with the capture. Then, you can edit the image and finally save it to disk. o Grab the screen at predefined time intervals. * Standard MDI interface. No need to learn a somehow different user interface. * Supports all kinds of keys: keyboard, mouse, even joysticks. You don't have to adjust to the program, the program will adjust to you! * Multi-lingual. English and German available, more to come! * Can be minimized to the system tray so you can quickly access it when needed. * Add a mouse cursor (also automatically, if desired), resize the image (3 modes available), change image gamma, color depth, send your screenshots by email and much more. * Saves .png, .jpg, .bmp, .gif, .tga * and, of course: it's freeware! The download button is at the bottom of the page. http://www.boumchalak.net/content/view/18/39/
Worldstart featured this tip in a recent Newsletter. We installed this one during the Advanced Users Session this past Wednesday. Our Outlook Express Users liked it very much. Is there a way to delete email in Outlook Express without having to look at it? Usually, as soon as you click on an e-mail it displays in the preview area. If it contains something nasty that you don't want to see, or it could be a huge file that freezes up your computer. What can you do? Here's an easy way to turn off (or on) your Outlook Express preview pane—just add a button to your toolbar for it! Here's how: 1. Right-click the Toolbar in Outlook Express and select Customize from the resulting menu. 2. Scroll down the "Available toolbar buttons" list until you find a button labeled "Preview." Click the button (to select it) and then click the "Add" button to add it to your toolbar. 3. That's it. Close the screen and click the Preview pane button on your toolbar to toggle the preview pane on and off.
On with the show! Learn PowerPoint Master the newest techniques for creating unforgettable, information-packed slide shows. Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 is easier to use and packed with more features than ever. Now anyone can put together compelling, information-rich presentations to impress the boss or wow your relatives at a family event. Introduction to PowerPoint 2003 is a FREE online course that runs through Nov. 15. In five sessions, you’ll learn how to organize your show, spruce it up with color schemes and graphics that make it more attractive, and add finishing touches like transition and animation effects. ENROLL today in CNET Help.com's Introduction to PowerPoint 2003 online class. http://courses.help.com/courses/overview.jsp?courseId=2108
Digital Imaging Tip: Exposure Compensation Worldstart featured this one. Have you ever shot an outdoor scene and had it come out a little too light or a little too dark? Yup, it happens to all of us at one time or another. For whatever reason, the camera misreads the scene and your exposure is all wrong. So, what do you do when you look at the LCD panel and the photo you just shot is too light / dark? Well, a lot of people try shooting the scene again—only to get the exact same problem. Nope, that isn't the way to fix it. Of course, there's the crowd that just ignores the problem and "fixes" it in their imaging software. Sure, that works sometimes, but not always. Plus, if the pixels you capture don't have enough information, no amount of digital manipulation is going to save that photo. So, what's the solution? Hire a pro! Just kidding :-) Almost every digital camera on the planet has an Exposure Compensation control of some sort. It's normally a little button with "+/-" on it and it's normally used in conjunction with a dial or some sort. Normally, you just press and hold that little button and turn a dial. You should see a graph of some sort with a "+" on one side and a "-" on the other. The camera may also just show you numbers as you turn the dial - like +.5, +1, +1.5 etc. (these are "stops"—we'll discuss them in another issue). At any rate, turn towards the "+" to lighten the exposure, towards the "-" to darken. OK, let's say you just shot a photo and it looks a bit too dark. You remember you read this great little article on exposure compensation in Computer Tips & Techniques and you're ready to fix this problem. First, how dark is the photo? Try dialing up the exposure a couple notches and re-shooting the photo (like to +1). Does the new image look the way it should? If it does, you're all set. If not, use the exposure compensation dial to adjust it and re-shoot. It's really that easy. One important note—Digital camera LCD screens are often a poor guide to correct exposure. Sometimes it looks too light / dark on the screen, but the image is actually OK. So, if you're unsure about an image, keep the original and all your exposure compensation variants. One should (hopefully) be good.
INTERESTING SITES: Some Halloween sites. Ben and Jerry did it again. There is a ton of halloween fun on these pages. I would like to sample some of their ice cream one of these days. They have some intriguing flavor names. The home page here is a Flash presentation. Use the grabbing hand to manipulate the page. Don't have your speakers too high at first. Touch all the characters including the door and the cat. Be prepared. Then you have to go to the Flavor Graveyard - Touch all the tombstones. All the links are fun. http://www.benjerry.com/halloween/
There is a political ad here but the Halloween stuff is pretty good. It ottobe because they got they registered the halloween.com address. http://www.halloween.com/
Halloween Online hopes you have a great Halloween! This is not a links page! Halloween Online has created every website listed here to act as individual "how-to guides" to help make your Halloween celebration as fun and frightful as possible. http://www.halloween-online.com/
Halloween Halloween is an annual celebration, but just what is it actually a celebration of? And how did this peculiar custom originate? Is it, as some claim, a kind of demon worship? Or is it just a harmless vestige of some ancient pagan ritual? http://wilstar.com/holidays/hallown.htm
The Upside-down Map Page Amanda found another interesting gem of a site. How do you like the word "learnt"? I looked it up - chiefly British past and past participle of LEARN. How 'bout that. This site puts a whole new perspective on the world. I had never thought of viewing the world from a different angle, whether it is upside down or sideways. Maps were always just maps to me with a justification of North at the top and South at the bottom. Here you will see maps with South at the top and North at the bottom. And you can read about other maps that are printed with the East in the top or center of the map. Or you can read about the history of maps. For instance, in ancient Arabia they put south at the top. "This is because when you wake up and face the sun, south is on the right. Because of positive associations with the right as opposed to left, they put that on top... Europeans learnt mapmaking from the Arabians and flipped the map to make themselves on top." [Source: email from Jessica who heard a talk by an American Muslim scholar called Hamza Yusuf.]" Isn't that fascinating? It makes me want to rethink it all. I love the pictures on this site as well, it brings to home the difference in perspective. http://www.flourish.org/upsidedownmap/
TRACK THE POLLS like a POLL TRACKER They're making the final turn and are coming down the stretch...Polls, oh those polls. Thank goodness it is almost over!!! Every day, zillions of Presidential Polls come out, watch the ebb and flow in this spreadsheet, just like Jennings, Brokaw and Rather. You will be amazed at how many polls there are. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/bush_vs_kerry.html
Let's go to Mars, oh we did and guess what? If you are expecting to see evidence of intelligent aliens, or flying saucers, or monuments, or anything even remotely connected to such ideas, you are going to be sorely disappointed. I have found absolutely no evidence (nor do I expect to find any) of such things. Mars is essentially a fossil planet that shows a cross section of organisms similar to what Earth supported about half a billion years ago. Do you know what trilobites, squids, eurypterids, and crinoids are? The photos and documentation are excellent. You will enjoy this site. http://www.xenotechresearch.com/marsindx.htm
Science Fair Projects for Students This one from Amanda too. It is an excellent site to recommend to kids and grandkids who are considering a science project. Why not recommend it to all kids it just might stimulate the next Einstein? This site is full of science projects with full instructions on how to complete them. It's geared for all levels of students and you can use their handy dandy search engine to search by topic. Or you can click the big orange circle that says "Browse" and view a list of all topics. By clicking the Browse circle you are taken to the listing of all the topics. Here you can even browse by the type of science you want to do a project for: Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth Sciences, and Engineering. I loved the "Food Science" category under Chemistry. My favorite under this category was the Popcorn experiment. The point of the experiment is to find out if different brands of popcorn have varying amounts of un-popped popcorn kernels. You can tell which level the project is by looking at the top of description where it says difficulty. There is also a really wonderful encyclopedia for help with terms and concepts. http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/