srspg3_07

"The Great Escape"

KCNET NEWSLETTER
07/17/05
TECHNICAL PAGE

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING
VIRUS AND OTHER STINKY STUFF
INTERESTING SITES

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING:

Man Charged With Stealing Wi-Fi Signal Wed July 6, 2005 Judy Yoho suggested this one. It is a beginning. Mike
It takes a lot of nerve to park your SUV in a neighbor's yard and then fire up the laptop and access using the neighbor's Wi-Fi. What's next? -- maybe so bold to use the neighbor's garbage, lawn furniture, dog, backyard cooker, and a dip in the Hot Tub? A small group of KCneters had a conflab about this event last Friday evening. Some felt that there is no harm in using another's Wi-Fi. Others were strongly opposed to the theft of services. (Mike)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Police have arrested a man for using someone else's wireless Internet network in one of the first criminal cases involving this fairly common practice.
Benjamin Smith III, 41, faces a pretrial hearing this month following his April arrest on charges of unauthorized access to a computer network, a third-degree felony.
Police say Smith admitted using the Wi-Fi signal from the home of Richard Dinon, who had noticed Smith sitting in an SUV outside Dinon's house using a laptop computer.
The practice is so new that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement doesn't even keep statistics, according to the St. Petersburg Times, which reported Smith's arrest this week.
Innocuous use of other people's unsecured Wi-Fi networks is common, though experts say that plenty of illegal use also goes undetected: such as people sneaking on others' networks to traffic in child pornography, steal credit card information and send death threats.
Security experts say people can prevent such access by turning on encryption or requiring passwords, but few bother or are unsure how to do so.
Wi-Fi, short for Wireless Fidelity, has enjoyed prolific growth since 2000. Millions of households have set up wireless home networks that give people like Dinon the ability to use the Web from their backyards but also reach the house next door or down the street.
It's not clear why Smith was using Dinon's network. Prosecutors declined to comment, and a working phone number could not be located for Smith.

Ask Bob Bob Rankin is a contributing writer for the Tourbus, a widely read computer Newsletter.
Got a burning question about your computer or the Internet? Need tech support? Don't be shy... ask me about computers, viruses, spyware, search engines or almost anything about the Internet.
Chances are, you're not the only person who has that question. If I answer your question on my new blog, others will benefit too.
There's no charge for the service, so pop in now...
Ask Bob Rankin - http://www.AskBobRankin.com

From a recent Tourbus Newsletter - Subject was Travel and the Computer
If you're looking for links to official airport websites, airlines and travel services in over 200 countries, we've got you covered, everywhere from Austria to Zimbabwe. Information at the first site listed below is available in English, French, German, Spanish.
You'll find help with Airport Guides, Tourist Attractions, and international Travel, Cruise and Weather Guides.
http://www.worldairportguide.com
http://www.hotelstravel.com/airports.html
The UK Airport Guide offers information you'll need when planning your trip how-to-get-there directions and advice, contact telephone numbers for local taxi, bus, and trains, local accommodation, and airport parking. Covers all major airports in England, Scotland and Ireland.
http://www.a2btravel.com/airports
Related News -
http://www.tourbus.com/airport-news.html

The next two from a recent Langalist
My flat screen (LCD) monitor image is distorted and I get this message telling me to change the signal timing. How can I fix this?
When you run some games with Windows XP on an LCD monitor you may get a message that says, "Attention-signal frequency is out of range...change signal timing".
The fix is to change to a supported mode. But what does that mean? Although your video card can run at a particular refresh rate, your monitor can't. Check your monitor settings and lower the rate.
Right-click the desktop and choose "Properties" then the "Settings" tab. Click the "Advanced" button then select the "Monitor" tab.
If it is set high (like 85Hz or more) lower it to 60Hz—all monitors will work at that rate. While you're there, if it isn't grayed out, check the "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display" box so the rate doesn't accidentally get changed to an unsupported mode again.

Apply the change and try the game again.
You may still have a problem. Some games lock in a refresh rate beyond what your monitor can display. In some instances you may be able to change the rate in the game options. If so, then, again, I recommend 60Hz. Otherwise, just toss it in the "not compatible with XP" box you keep next to your desk.

Old Games on XP Second tip from Worldstart
Now that you have Windows XP, have you tried to play an old game but you only get sound and a blank screen? I ran into this with an old program that my kids love. It turns out that we had to change the screen resolution to 256 colors.
What you can do is look for the monitor icon in the system tray. It probably looks like a computer screen. Double click and you should get some options for screen resolution and size (mine said "Display Modes").

Once you get that set to 256 colors and the correct screen size, everything should be fine. After you're done with the game, just set it back to your original setting.
A better way with Windows XP, however, is our old pal Compatibility Mode. Not only can you make XP think it is an older version of Windows, you can also specify the display settings, so every time you use that program it will automatically change to 256 colors.
Right-click the program icon and choose Properties (or hold down ALT and double left-click). Select the "Compatibility" tab and look for "Display Settings". Check "Run in 256 Colors", then OK.

You should be able to see the program correctly. When you close out, your display settings will go back to normal.

PCs falling victim to Windows flaws By Joris Evers, CNET News.com Published on ZDNet News: July 12, 2005
Hackers are actively exploiting two serious security vulnerabilities in Windows, Microsoft warned on Tuesday as it released "critical" alerts about the flaws.
One of the problems affects the Microsoft Color Management Module, a component of Windows that handles colors. The other relates to the JView Profiler, part of Microsoft's Java Virtual Machine. The vulnerabilities could be used to commandeer a PC, Microsoft said.
"Attackers are already using the JView Profiler flaw to download and install Trojan horses on victims' machines," said Dan Hubbard, senior director at Websense Security Labs. The Trojan horses would let the miscreants remotely control the hijacked PCs and make it part of a network of such computers known as a botnet, an increasing cyberthreat.
The Windows vulnerabilities are described in two bulletins issued as part of Microsoft's monthly patch cycle. A third alert deals with a bug affecting Word 2000 and Word 2002. The Word flaw could allow an attacker to take control of a vulnerable PC, the software maker said.
Read more: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5785181.html?tag=zdnn.alert

VIRUS AND OTHER STINKY STUFF:

THE TALLY:
Friday, July 08-- Thursday, July 14
According to Sophos, a leader in Anti Virus Software development, 27 new/improved viruses, which required Anti Virus upgrades were released into cyberspace via email.
&
KCnet's anti virus program caught and "defanged" 4,312 email viruses in addition to
refusing 215,040 spam messages. There were 162,414 non spam and
non virus messages delivered to KCnet subscribers.
This was a very bad week for viruses and spam.

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

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

Free Virus Scans
Best done with The Internet Explorer Browser.
Computer Associates, a 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

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. Go to http://housecall.antivirus.com/ then choose the link "Scan without registering". Follow the directions.

You should disable any anti virus program that you have running. If you do not have a virus program I recommend that you use one of the programs offered above first and then download and install one of the free programs listed below or install any anti virus program you have purchased.

********************************************************************************************************************* 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.

********************************************************************************************************************** Computer Associates latest virus alerts for July 01 to July 07, 2005.

   1. JAVA_BYTEVER.A
   2. HTML_NETSKY.P
   3. SPYW_GATOR
   4. TSPY_SMALL.SN
   5. SPYW_DASHBAR.300

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:
3D wrap-around Outstanding photography and you can rotate the pic.
360 degree panaramic widescreen view complete. Pull down "Panoramas" for dozens of famous locales and events.
I'll start you off with the Blue Mountains. There are dozens of sites and events. Use the "Panarama Window" upper right corner of page to choose the next site. You will be at this site all day. And then return for more.
http://www.panoramas.dk/fullscreen5/f12-blue-mountains.html

Why oh why?
Have you ever read a news story and wondered about the science behind it? You will find many answers at the Why Files.
The Why Files is part of the National Institute for Science Education. Its goal is to help us understand the science of daily life. Many of its stories cover topics that have recently been in the news.
You can read in-depth articles or single-page briefs. Check out the interactive animations. Or explore the images – categories range from Earth and Space to Biology. They include descriptions to help you understand what you’re viewing.
The Why Files includes links to sites where you can ask your own questions.
www.whyfiles.org

American Journeys This one from Amanda
This site is chocked full of interesting information. Here's a small excerpt from their introduction:
"American Journeys contains more than 18,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of North American exploration, from the sagas of Vikings in Canada in AD1000 to the diaries of mountain men in the Rockies 800 years later."
That's a lot of information to cover on one site. You'll find manuscripts, letters, images, a search engine, and much, much more.
"Find a Document" allows you to look through the information from a timeline. You can then choose what you'd like to study from there.
Images — this section lets you do an image search, or if you scroll down near the bottom you can choose to browse. Some of the images were quite amazing.
Highlights — gives you a condensed version of the time line with the really large events chosen for your perusal.
Teachers — this is an excellent section for teachers, and fully shows them how to use this site to their advantage with lesson plans, topic planning, and evaluations.
http://www.americanjourneys.org/

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