srspg3_05

KCNET NEWSLETTER
05/08/05
TECHNICAL PAGE

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING
VIRUS AND OTHER STINKY STUFF
INTERESTING SITES

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING:
I try to send pictures to friends but they are too big. How do I resize them? This is a common question and Worldstart has a good answer.
What's the "right" size for a picture? Well, that depends on the photo. Most monitors display at 72 dpi (dots per inch). So, if you want the picture to be 5 inches wide (probably about the biggest you would want for an e-mail message), the picture would be 360 pixels wide (5 inches x 72 dpi = 360 pixels).
Pixel is short for "Picture Element" and is the smallest unit of visual information used to build an image. If you have ever zoomed in on an image, Pixels are those little squares that you see. The more pixels in an image, the better the resolution.
So, how do you make the picture the right size? Use your imaging software! Most scanners and digital cameras come with some sort of imaging software that will allow you to resize an image.
Open the picture in your imaging software and resize the image to your desired resolution. You can usually do this via an Image or Edit menu. Your menu style and commands may vary depending on your software.
Usually, you'll get a screen that lets you input the image size in pixels. If there's a check box that allows you to constrain proportions, make sure that's checked (this insures that when you change the height or width the picture remains proportional).

That should do it. Since you've changed the picture size, you may want to save it under a different name. Use the Save As command under the File menu of your imaging software.
This comes in handy when you want to place a picture on your desktop or if you send it by email. Now your friends won't wait forever to download a 10 meg picture file that is WAY too big when it could have been 10K and just the right size.

Another way to resize pics for email, also from Worldstart.
Let XP Resize Pictures for Your Email
One of the Send To options listed is "Mail Recipient" which allows you to send a document or picture to someone via email (using your default email client).
If you choose this option for a picture you will be given the option to "Make all my pictures smaller". This is a great feature, saving you the time of resizing it in your imaging software.
Now, let's look at this a bit slower...
Find a picture that you want to email and right click.
Choose "Send to" and select "Mail Recipient"

A window will pop up with the option "Make my pictures smaller"

Click OK. You should see an email with the picture as an attachment.
Now, with smaller files under 50k you won't see much change, but with large files you will. I had a 120k picture and it was reduced to 34k!

Good News for the MAC Users
This week in Tiger By Steven Musil, ZDNet News: April 29, 2005
Apple Computer released this week its new operating system, Mac OS X 10.4, or more simply--Tiger.
The highly anticipated launch attracted crowds to Apple stores worldwide. Apple used the release to launch the new Apple store in Birmingham, England--only the second in Europe. While the store didn't attract opening crowds of the size seen at its brethren store to the south in London last November, Birmingham's Bullring shopping center saw its share of Mac fans camping out for the grand opening of Apple's retail outlet there on Friday.
An hour before the scheduled release, more than 400 people had lined up outside the store. Most of those waiting said they were looking forward to features such as Spotlight and Dashboard. Some of the laptops in the line, in fact, were already running development versions of Tiger.
Promising more than 200 new features, Tiger has been one of the most anticipated software events of the year.
Typically, new operating systems from Apple don't generate this much buzz because the company comes out with one just about every year. But new features such as Spotlight, a desktop-search technology, and Dashboard, a new way to access information, got people talking as the release date neared. Spotlight is considered the most important of the new features because it promises to let people search their hard drive for files just as they would search for a Web page using Google.
However, corporate customers that use Cisco Systems' virtual private network technology to connect to their company's network while on the road will have to a wait to use Tiger. Cisco confirmed that Tiger won't come with support for Cisco's VPN client. Cisco is advising users of its VPN client to delay upgrading to the new operating system until support is ready--sometime in May.
Apple also introduced upgraded models of its Power Mac G5 desktop that come up with to 8GB of 400MHz DDR SDRAM and a graphics card with up to 256MB of video memory.
The top model in the series has two 2.7GHz processors, each with an independent 1.35GHz front-side bus for bandwidth of up to 21.6 gigabytes per second, the company said. The computer, which supports Apple's 30-inch cinema high-definition display, comes with a 250GB hard drive and starts at $2,999.

Longhorn will run on some older PCs too By Ina Fried ZDNet News April 28, 2005
Although Microsoft is recommending that computers be pretty modern to fully run the next version of Windows, Longhorn will probably also run on a good number of older machines.
That's the good news. The bad news is that Longhorn is going to look and run quite differently on those older systems. Computers with a 3GHz processor and 512MB of memory, for example, will get all of the bells and whistles including fancy graphics and the ability to handle multiple video streams. According to its early testing, Microsoft says that older PCs--probably those with as little as 128MB of memory--will be able to run Longhorn, but the OS may not look like it does on a newer, more powerful machine.
Many of these older machines that run Longhorn will have experiences that are "quite XP-like," said Richard Russell, a developer in Microsoft's Windows core operating system division.
There are at least four different levels of graphics for the new Windows. Two of them--Aero and Aero Glass--will have new composited graphics, with the high-end Glass shell adding more three-dimensional effects and transitions. Another view, dubbed "To Go" is designed for laptops and other new consumer machines and has many of the same color schemes as Aero, but not the fancy graphics tricks. Finally, a classic mode will look much like XP or even Windows 2000.
But there are performance differences as well, with more-capable systems able to do more things in the new OS.
That represents a big philosophical shift for Microsoft. With past versions of Windows, including Windows XP, the operating system typically either ran on a machine in all its glory or didn't run at all.
"XP is XP is XP," Russell said. "Longhorn is much different. It will really scale."
Such variability poses a couple of challenges for the software giant. First, it has to educate businesses and consumers that being able to run Longhorn does not equate to being fully able to take advantage of all of its features. To that end, Microsoft is planning a new logo program for PCs that will separately identify machines that are optimized for Longhorn as opposed to those that are merely capable of loading the OS. The company also is working on a program that lets computer makers designate a PC as "Longhorn-ready."
A second challenge, which Microsoft said it is already planning to address, is putting the burden on the software to figure out what settings are most appropriate to the type of machine one has.
Russell said Microsoft will ensure that when people upgrade to Longhorn, settings are optimized for their machines, though users will still have the ability to change those settings.
"We don't want users to have to hunt and peck to find out if they can run (Aero) Glass," he said. Similarly, computer makers are encouraged to set defaults relative to the capabilities of their machines, though again, consumers can change those settings.
Directions on Microsoft analyst Michael Cherry believes Microsoft was too vague with its guidance on which hardware is needed for which features. Though the company offered some detail on processor and memory requirements, Cherry said, businesses still may not have enough information to know which graphics cards to look for on a new PC. He added that he was disappointed Microsoft doesn't have the "Longhorn-ready" guidelines already ironed out so that corporations can buy PCs now and know whether they will be good for the new OS.
"I don't understand why, at a hardware show, they aren't ready to give us the Longhorn-ready specification today," he said.

I keep getting a message that says a dll file is missing, but I did a search for the file and it was there. How do I get it to work? This happens, often to some, especially the tweakers who install and uninstall frequently. Worldstart explains this one. (Mike)
Somehow the .dll was deactivated. This can sometimes happen when new software or applications are installed. Thankfully, with Windows ME, 2000, and XP Microsoft made a way to re-activate the dll files called Regsvr32.
If you get a missing dll or missing ActiveX message, first do a search for the file. If you find it, then go to Start/Run and type in "regsrv32 (space) dll name" then hit OK.

VIRUS AND OTHER STINKY STUFF:

A Trifecta of Infecta
In the past few weeks several things came up that I thought should be brought to your attention. So, I decided to write up a security medley to touch on what's out there. I've got a serious warning for you Netscape users, a new Pope email scam on the horizon, and a Google mistype attack that will have you searching for answers. So let's get started, and take a closer look at this "Trifecta of Infecta".
Netscape Flaw
The first of our troublesome triad is the Netscape Exploit. This was brought to light at the end of April by the security company Secuna, who said that this thing was so bad that the fix was to use a different browser. Wow! This was partly due to the fact that there was no fix for the browser, but a Netscape representative said that version 8, which is still in beta, can be downloaded and is not susceptible to this exploit.
If a Netscape user finds themselves on a site specially crafted to exploit Netscape's flaw there is almost nothing you can do. The hacker can then execute the code of their choice and ultimately take control of your PC. So if you're a Netscapian then you should think about using another browser just until there is an official patch. You can also try their new version 8, which, as I said, is still in Beta.
Netscape 8.0 beta
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/default.jsp

The Googkle? Attack
Some of you may have heard about this or have even witnessed it on your own. I'm talking about when you go surfing and mistype a word and come up with an alternative search portal or other kooky site that throws non-stop adds in your face and spawns yet more when you try to close them out. You eventually have to shut the browser because all your doing is putting out fires.
Now picture that about 100 times worse and instead of pop-ups annoyances you have a host of Trojans waiting to besiege your system. Googkle.com may not mean anything to you, but it does to some Russian hackers who thought the brilliant idea of creating a trap for people who, for one reason or another, misspell Google. Since the “K” is right next to the “L” on the keyboard it really is easy to "Fat Finger" the keys end up down this road.
This Cyber-Jacking isn't new, but using one of the web's brightest stars as your bait is. Not only will just visiting the site infect you, but also there are two pop-ups that link out to other infectious sites. These sites will put everything from downloaders, proxies, and droppers on you machine. Infection also takes away any chance of updating your anti-virus software—if you use McAfee or Norton.
The exploit takes advantage of all browsers, so don't feel safe just because you use FireFox or Opera. For the most part these attacks appear to be going after personal information that may be stored on the PC: usernames, passwords, social security numbers, bank account info. This makes the situation that much more dire.
As I was saying earlier, this is not a new trick and your bound to see more of it. If you think that you have inadvertently visited a bogus site with all sorts of download notifications and pop-up that just don't stop, shut down your browser and clean out your PC. Do a manual anti-virus update and run it, along with your favorite anti-spyware—don't be surprised if you see some junk in your system.

Pope Spam
The last of the three deviants is Spam that uses the Pope's name to get you to click on the link. Spammers always look to reach the numbers, and what better way to do this than to take something huge out of the news and use it as a cloak to attack unaware recipients. Free books about, or written by, the late Pope are being offered and they can be all yours just follow the link. Other spam messages stated things such as building a Cathedral in the pope's name but donations were needed—then a click invitation if you want to help. You know, your run of the mill spam.
The best practice is to just delete these or any suspicious emails for that matter. If you are truly interested in a book by or about the Pope, you can go to Amazon and find it yourself, not buy it from a dubious email.
Well, that's it for this week race fans. Until next time...

The above Trifecta of Infecta was published as a recent Worldstart Tech Tip. I'm researching the Netscape warning. I do not know if the warning would include the other Gecko Browsers like Mozilla and Firefox. Stay tuned!! (Mike)

********************************************************************************************************************** WARNING...New Credit Card Scam. - Note, the callers do not ask for your card number.
(First person account.)
This information is worth reading. By understanding how the VISA & MasterCard Telephone Credit Card Scam works, you'll be better prepared to protect yourself.
My husband was called on Wednesday from "VISA", and I was called on Thursday from "MasterCard".

The scam works like this: Person calling says, "This is (name), and I'm calling from the Security and Fraud Department at VISA. My Badge number is 12460 your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern, and I'm calling to verify. This would be on your VISA card which was issued by (name of bank). Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 from a Marketing company based in Arizona?"

When you say "No", the caller continues with, "Then we will be issuing a credit to your account. This is a company we have been watching and the charges range >from $297 to $497, just under the $500 purchase pattern that flags most cards. Before your next statement, the credit will be sent to (gives you your address), is that correct?"

You say "yes". The caller continues - "I will be starting a Fraud investigation. If you have any questions, you should call the 1-800 number listed on the back of your card (1-800-VISA) and ask for Security. You will need to refer to this Control Number. The caller then gives you a 6 digit number. "Do you need me to read it again?"

Here's the IMPORTANT part on how the scam works The caller then says, "I need to verify you are in possession of your card". He'll ask you to "turn your card over and look for some numbers". There are 7 numbers; the first 4 are part of your card number, the next 3 are the security numbers that verify you are the possessor of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to make Internet purchases to prove you have the card.

The caller will ask you to read the 3 numbers to him. After you tell the caller the 3 numbers, he'll say, "That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do you have any other questions?" After you say No, the caller then thanks you and states, "Don't hesitate to call back if you do", and hangs up.

You actually say very little, and they never ask for or tell you the Card number. But after we were called on Wednesday, we called back within 20 minutes to ask a question. Are we glad we did! The REAL VISA Security Department told us it was a scam and in the last 15 minutes a new purchase of $497.99 was charged to our card.

Long story made short - we made a real fraud report and closed the VISA account. VISA is reissuing us a new number. What the scammers want is the 3-digit PIN number on the back of the card. Don't give it to them.
Instead, tell them you'll call VISA or Master card directly for verification of their conversation.

The real VISA told us that they will never ask for anything on the card as they already know the information since they issued the card! If you give the scammers your 3 Digit PIN Number, you think you're receiving a credit.
However, by the time you get your statement you'll see charges for purchases you didn't make, and by then it's almost to late and/or more difficult to actually file a fraud report.

What makes this more remarkable is that on Thursday, I got a call from a "Jason Richardson of MasterCard" with a word-for-word repeat of the VISA scam. This time I didn't let him finish. I hung up! We filed a police report, as instructed by VISA. The police said they are taking several of these reports daily! They also urged us to tell everybody we know that this scam is happening.
MY NOTE TO EVERYONE:
Not only do not give any numbers over the phone or on your computer unless you
are absolutely positive you are on a secure line. IF YOU HAVE ANY DOUBT ASK
FOR A PHONE NUMBER AND TELL THEM YOU WILL CALL THEM BACK.
IF STILL IN DOUBT CALL THE POLICE FOR ADVICE.

**********************************************************************************************************************

THE TALLY:
Thursday, April 22 -- Thursday, April 28
According to Sophos, a leader in Anti Virus Software development, 22 new/improved viruses, which required Anti Virus upgrades were released into cyberspace via email.
&
KCnet's anti virus program caught and "defanged" 10,367 email viruses (this is a record number of viruses stopped) in addition to
refusing 168,203 spam messages. There were 173,166 non spam and
non virus messages delivered to KCnet subscribers.

Have you updated your anti virus program lately?
If not, may I recommend that you do it now?

**********************************************************************************************************************

Sober World Cup soccer worm spotted in over 40 countries
Since the Sober-N worm first emerged this week it has dominated the chart of most commonly encountered viruses. Find out about the impact it has having worldwide, as Sophos experts calculate that the worm is now accounting for an astonishing 4.5% of all email sent across the internet.
http://s398.link.sophos.com/sober40?pl_id=9

*********************************************************************************************************************

Dialer Malware This warning from Worldstart
Something I have yet to talk about in all the articles I have written thus far are dialers.
A dialer is a program that dials your modem access number, you will find this component in certain software suites for various reasons, but you also see it in malware or viruses. If you have broadband then this is something you may not have to worry about but if you recently jumped on to the broadband wagon you may have your modem still hooked up. My advice on this situation is: if you don't need a modem unplug and disable it.
Dialer enabled viruses are picked up just like other viruses with some sort of bait, or lure of free software or downloads. Once infected the dialer attempts to change your access numbers to some ultra high cost access numbers that are often in another country. The user may not even notice—besides a little slow down everything will seem normal, especially if you have a very fast PC. Then you get the bill! Dialers, for the most part, attempt to put a dent in your wallet, so you may have to do some explaining to get out of some absurd charge.
If you feel like you may be the victim of a dialer attack, try updating and running your antivirus software, spyware remover, and checking your access numbers to make sure everything is correct. **********************************************************************************************************************

Free Anti Virus programs for 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.

TRY ETRUST BY COMPUTER ASSOCIATES (Ken Condo found this link-thanks Ken)
1 year free trial of eTrust or 2 years for $19.95.
http://home.ca.com/dr/v2/ec_main.entry25?page=PYPCTrialPage&client=ComputerAssociates&sid=35715&CID=185351

AVG Free
AVG Free Edition is the well-known anti-virus protection tool. AVG Free is available free-of-charge to home users for the life of the product! Rapid virus database updates are available for the lifetime of the product, thereby providing the high-level of detection capability that millions of users around the world trust to protect their computers. AVG Free is easy-to-use and will not slow your system down (low system resource requirements).
http://free.grisoft.com/freeweb.php/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5

Avast
Avast has been "anti virusing" for quite awhile. The following info comes from their download page: Avast! Home is now free of charge for HOME users for NON-COMMERCIAL use. You can find more info here.
http://www.avast.com/eng/down_home.html
Note: This product is free for home non-commercial use after registration!
HINTS: Click on the English Version Link and download the installation file. Then click on the installation file and follow the directions. You will need to return to the download page and click on the link to get the registration key. It will be sent to you in an email after you provide some registration information. This will give you 14 months of coverage including any updates which can be set to auto download. You can reregister for additional free coverage at the end of the 14 months.
You will want to browse around and choose from the many options available for operation. This process will take some time and digging.

Another good free program is:
http://www.free-av.com/
This one installs a bit easier than Avast.

**********************************************************************************************************************

Top 5 Viruses for April 12 to April 28 from Trend Micro.

   1. HTML_NETSKY.P
   2. JAVA_BYTEVER.A
   3. HKTL_BRUTFORCE.A
   4. WORM_NETSKY.P
   5. TSPY_SMALL.SN

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://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/

INTERESTING SITES:
Hey Mike...How about a Health Section in your Newsletter ???
A couple of weeks ago Gary n' Patti suggested having a section on Health. I'll start the subject here with her first suggestion and follow with the three sites she sent.
Valuable info that can save lives...
She had driven to the garage to have her car worked on. She tried to talk to the mechanic and she could not speak. She did not know anything was wrong until this happened. They took her right to the hospital and she has made a full recovery.
IS IT A STROKE? Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify. Unfortunately, the lack of awareness spells disaster. The stroke victim may suffer brain damage when people nearby fail to recognize the symptoms of a stroke. Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple questions:
1. Ask the individual to smile.
2. Ask him or her to raise both arms.
3. Ask the person to speak a simple sentence.
Ask the person to 'stick' out his/her tongue...if the tongue is NOT 'straight' but goes off to one side, that is another indication of a stroke.
IF he or she has trouble with any of these tasks, call 9-1-1 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
After discovering that a group of non-medical volunteers could identify facial weakness, arm weakness and speech problems, researchers urged the general public to learn the three questions. They presented their conclusions at the American Stroke Association's annual meeting last February. Widespread use of this test could result in prompt diagnosis and treatment of the stroke and prevent brain damage.

http://www.cdc.gov/

http://www.diagnose-me.com/?page=main/

http://www.yourdiagnosis.com/yourdiagnosis/start_diagnosis.htm

I'm open to other good Health Topics or Health Sites.
Send suggestions to mfoust@kcnet.org

Gary n' Patti also suggested this extensive Pennsylvania Flea Market Guide.
http://www.fleamarketguide.com/pa.htm

C Wayne Wert found these sites. I don't know what it is about clocks and time but they are both popular. This site goes up and down depending on traffic. Be patient.
http://t2.technion.ac.il/~snoom/cable_clock.swf
http://t2.technion.ac.il/~snoom/3dc2.swf
http://t2.technion.ac.il/~snoom/hand.swf

Three sites featuring Google options. These from Sree, WABC TV, New York's Computer Guru.
Google Maps: Even better than MapQuest, if you can believe it. What's different? You can click-n-drag across the maps; fast magnification of specific spots along the map and, now, satellite images.
http://maps.google.com/
Google Alerts: Allows you to receive e-mails as soon as a phrase you wish to track shows up on either the main Google Index (web) or on Google News (news). Excellent way to track particular stories and topics that interest you - including items about you, your boss (or your third-grade crush).
http://www.google.com/alerts
Yagoohoogle: Finally! Yahoo and Google results, side-by-side.
http://www.yagoohoogle.com/

Webcams from around the world. I was surprised how fast these cams load even with dialup. Some beautiful sites and some very interesting sites here.
http://www.tmmnet.com/webcams/index.html

Netsmartz Kids Amanda found this one.
This brightly colored, fun site is perfect for your children to learn NetSmartz. By clicking on the characters in the middle of the page your children can meet the characters that they will find around this site.
This site is all about teaching your child internet safety. With no outside links for them to click you can be sure that they will be safe while surfing this site. The characters teach all about internet safety through games and activities, as well as song and skits.
Children learn all about UYN (Use Your NetSmartz): from what they should Tell a Trusted Adult, to Be Safer Online, to the Theme Song, and other activities.
This is a wonderful resource to help teach your children to be safer online.
http://www.netsmartzkids.org/indexfl.htm

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