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"Wonderland By Night"

KCNET NEWSLETTER
12/11/05
TECHNICAL PAGE

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING
VIRUS AND OTHER STINKY STUFF
DOWNLOAD FREE ANTI VIRUS, SPYWARE AND ADWARE
INTERESTING SITES

TECHNICALLY SPEAKING:

What is "tabbed browsing"? This is a tip from Worldstart.
Tabbed browsing is a really cool feature found in Firefox and Opera web browsers (and as an add-on for IE). It allows you to open several web pages in the same window with tabs for each at the top. Click the tab, see the page.

It also comes in handy when you want to open a link, but don't want to lose the page you are on. Just open in a new tab. To do this, hold down the Ctrl key (in Firefox), the Shift key (in Opera) or the ALT key (in Internet Explorer) then click the link.

Microsoft has thrown us a bone as we wait for IE 7—Here are some features to help get your Internet Explorer IE up to speed. These are features that may put IE back in contention... New Tabbed browsing and Desktop Search download you get:
1) Three new Search bars:
· Search the web with MSN's new search engine
· Search your Outlook
· Search your hard drive
2) Automatic Form Fill, which will fill out any web form per your specifications. This, eliminates the need from 3rd party form filler programs such as Gator.
3) Tabbed browsing makes doing in-depth searches online so much easier
4) Pop-up stopper
5) Highlighted web search to help you locate your search results quickly

There is a help link on the download site that touches on every aspect of the software, complete with screenshots and procedural instructions.
There is also an Add-Ins site where you download customizable search filters to help you with particular file types.
The MSN search bar can import your settings and asks you a bunch of questions when it installs.
The fact is there may be some features you won't need.
http://toolbar.msn.com/

Multiple Home pages in Firefox Another good browser tip from Worldstart.
You heard correctly. Thanks to tabbed browsing, the Mozilla Firefox web browser lets you have more than one homage come up at startup.
Let's say you like to check the news, weather and our newsletter every morning. All you do is open up all the pages you want in separate tabs in a single window then go to Tools/Options and click the "General" button. Under "Home Page" press the "Use Current Pages" button.
When you press the "Home" button or open up Firefox you will be greeted with all your favorite sites. Since all the pages load at the same time this is also a big time saver

Faster Troubleshooting Another good tip from the Langalist.
Google keeps growing, and spinning off tools and sub-tools that can be enormously helpful:
Fred, I found a service running on my Windows XP Pro workstation when I checked via MSConfig.... So I thought I'd check google for possible problems and found that google has added a special lookup page devoted to Microsoft sites.
---David
Thanks, David!
Google today is like what Microsoft was in the early 1990's--- a seemingly unstoppable juggernaut rapidly assuming a totally dominant position over its competitors. Microsoft's subsequent missteps cost it the confidence of the computing community, and overshadowed the enormously positive contribution the company made to personal computing; a problem Microsoft is only now starting to get past. I hope Google can manage its success without such missteps.
http://www.google.com/microsoft.html

Shocked!!!! This one from ZDNET.
AMD scores huge 7-round TKO over Intel in dual-core benchmarks    by David Berlind    December 2, 2005
The news keeps getting worse for Intel when it comes to arch nemesis AMD. The last time I checked in on AMD's rising star, the company's Turion mobile processor was holding its own against Intel's Pentium M. In the last month alone:
    * AMD served more than 15 companies with subpoenas as of part of its antitrust lawsuit against Intel (as Microsoft just recently proved, all it takes is one employee to make have made a dumb mistake to spark serious legal concerns). Intel has to be worried that there's a bent needle or two in that subpoena haystack.   To make matters worse, VoodooPC founder Rahul Sood came forward to News.com to say that Intel was using strong-arm tactics to influence the Canadian PC manufacturer's AMD vs. Intel balance of offerings.
    * AMD reported big financial results. According to News.com's Michael Kanellos, "Advanced Micro Devices saw sales jump 23 percent and net income rise by 72 percent in the third quarter, thanks to increasing demand for PCs combined with greater acceptance for its products." In addition, AMD surpassed Intel in sales in the US retail channel and announced that it expects 2006 to be a banner year.
    * News surfaced that AMD's newest fab should go a long way towards wiping out shipping delays that have dogged the company while allowing it to participate in segments that the company's current manufacturing capacity simply couldn't service.
    * Dell became a channel for AMD's chips. Although the chips are not yet included in any of the Austin-based PC-maker's systems, the company claimed it that it started to sell AMD's chips because customers were demanding it. Well, if customers are demanding it, and the AMD-Dell relationship now officially involves cash flow, the next logical step if that cash flow proves to be significant (and considering the aforementioned retail sales data) is pretty obvious.

But if that news isn't bad enough for Intel (and good for AMD), now comes this: AMD's 7-round clean sweep technical knockout in ZDNet's comparative review that benchmarked the two companies' dual-core offerings against each other. When I saw how the review was going to be a 7-round test of sorts, I completely expected AMD to win a round or two. As I paged through the review and AMD won one round after another after another, I thought for sure that Intel would eventually get on the scoreboard. But it never did. In this David and Goliath matchup, the gloves have clearly come off. And David is winning.

Two upgrades to consider: We downloaded and installed these in the Advanced Users Class this past Wednesday. I've been using them on my home machine and really like the improvements. (Mike)

Firefox 1.5, the latest Mozilla release
New or improved features include: Tabbed Browsing - Surf more than one website at the same time to make browsing more convenient. Live Bookmarks - Read up-to-date headlines from your favorite websites and blogs. Search Bar - Find what you want, when you want. Anti Phishing identifier plus many new extensions.
Download the 1.5 version at http://www.mozilla.com/

The latest Toolbar add-on for Internet Explorer
It too has new features for IE users such as: Tabbed browsing - Easily switch between web pages, without hitting the back button. Form Fill - Automatically complete forms so you can shop and log-on to web sites more quickly. Pop-up Blocker - Block bothersome advertisements, adjust settings as needed. One click access - Click to check your Hotmail, MSN Messenger, or MSN Spaces. Add-ins including weather, games, and anti-phishing.
Download the MSN Toolbar at: http://toolbar.msn.com/

VIRUS AND OTHER STINKY STUFF:

Sober code cracked By Munir Kotadia Special to CNET News.com Published: December 9, 2005, 9:48

Antivirus companies say they have cracked an algorithm that was being used by the Sober worm to "communicate" with its author.

The latest variant of the Sober worm caused havoc in November by duping users into executing it by masking itself as e-mails from the FBI and CIA. Antivirus companies were aware that the worm somehow knew how to update itself via the Web. The worm's author programmed this functionality to control infected machines and, if required, change their behavior.

On Thursday, Finnish antivirus firm F-Secure revealed that it had cracked the algorithm used by the worm and could now calculate the exact URLs the worm would check on a particular day. Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at F-Secure, explained that the virus author has not used a constant URL because authorities would easily be able to block it.

"Sober has been using an algorithm to create pseudorandom URLs which will change based on dates. Ninety-nine percent of the URLs simply don't exist...However, the virus author can pre-calculate the URL for any date, and when he wants to run something on all the infected machines, he just registers the right URL, uploads his program and BANG! It's run globally on hundreds of thousands of machines," Hypponen wrote in his blog.
According to F-Secure's calculations, on Jan. 5, 2006, all computers infected with the latest variant of Sober will look for an updated file located in a list of domains, including:
http://people.freenet.de/gixcihnm/
http://scifi.pages.at/agzytvfbybn/
http://home.pages.at/bdalczxpctcb/
http://free.pages.at/ftvuefbumebug/
http://home.arcor.de/ijdsqkkxuwp/

Hypponen advised administrators to ensure any infected PCs can't upgrade automatically by blocking access to the domains.
Adam Biviano, premium services manager at Trend Micro, said that blocking the URLs could be beneficial, but the safest bet would be to ensure that PCs are safe.
"Blocking those URLs is not a bad idea but administrators need to make sure their machines are not infected in the first place," Biviano said.

New IM worm chats with intended victims By Joris Evers, CNET News.com
ZDNet News: December 6, 2005
You can now instant message with a worm.
A new worm that targets users of America Online's AOL Instant Messenger is believed to be the first that actually chats with the intended victim to dupe the target into activating a malicious payload, IM security vendor IMlogic warned Tuesday.
According to IMlogic, the worm, dubbed IM.Myspace04.AIM, has arrived in instant messages that state: "lol thats cool" and included a URL to a malicious file "clarissa17.pif." When unsuspecting users have responded, perhaps asking if the attachment contained a virus, the worm has replied: "lol no its not its a virus", IMlogic said.
The malicious file disables security software, installs a backdoor and tweaks system files, the company said. Then it starts sending itself to contacts on the victim's buddy list.
But the worm is programmed so that the infected user cannot see the messages that are being sent out by the worm, according to IMlogic.
"This is a first," said Andrew Burton, director of product management at Waltham, Mass.-based IMlogic. This worm is not widespread, but attackers are just trying out this new technique, he said. "We will see one or two instances of an attack, there will be a refinement and then there will be an outbreak."
The inclusion of an IM bot is another sign that IM worms are becoming more sophisticated. Another worm, also spotted on Tuesday, takes a more traditional route: it spreads under the guise of a holiday greeting card, IM security specialist Akonix Systems said Tuesday.
The holiday worm, dubbed Aimdes.E, targets AIM users and arrives with the message: "The user has sent you a Greeting Card, to open it visit:" followed by a link. Once the target clicks on the link, the worm installs itself on the system. It opens a backdoor on the computer and sends itself to contacts on the buddy list, Akonix said.
Advice to users is to be careful when clicking on links in IM messages--even when they seem to come from friends--and to use up-to-date antivirus software. When receiving a link in an instant message, the best practice is to verify with the sender if the link was sent intentionally or not.

I reported this problem to the Advanced Users group this past Wednesday. I was pleased and surprised to find this announcement in my email when I arrived at the home computer that afternoon. (Mike)

Google Desktop tweaked to block attackers By Joris Evers, CNET News.com Published on ZDNet News: December 6, 2005
Google has made an adjustment to its desktop search tool to foil attacks that take advantage of an unpatched vulnerability in Microsoft's ubiquitous Internet Explorer Web browser.
The IE bug was disclosed late last week by Matan Gillon, a security researcher in Israel. He found a way to steal information from unwitting Google Desktop users by exploiting the Web browser flaw.
"We did make an adjustment to the product to help protect users," Google representative Sonya Boralv said Tuesday. "We made the adjustment on our end. Users don't need to download a patch or take any action."
The bug in IE allows an attacker to retrieve private user data or execute operations on the user's behalf from remote domains, Gillon wrote in his description of the attack method. He crafted a Web page which, when viewed in IE on a computer with Google Desktop installed, used the search tool and returned results for the query "password."
A test of the proof-of-concept page created by Gillon confirmed on Tuesday that the attack no longer works.
Microsoft on Friday said it was investigating the IE bug. The company has said it might issue a security update or an advisory on the problem.

THE TALLY:
Friday, November 18 -- Thursday, November 24
According to Sophos, a leader in Anti Virus Software development, 33 new/improved viruses, which required Anti Virus upgrades, were released into cyberspace via email.
&
KCnet's anti virus program caught and "defanged" 30,401 email viruses in addition to sending 196,007 non spam and non virus messages and refusing 234,843 spam messages.

Sophos notes that this is virus season. Many of these buggers constantly replicate themselves on infected computers, sending themselves to every email address in that computer each time the user reboots. Each one sent and not blocked by a service provider or personal antivirus program can replicate itself and send to every email address in the new host's computer, and on and on and on.

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.

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.

********************************************************************************************************************** Free Spybot/Adware programs for download
Microsoft has what most think to be the best of the Anti Spyware programs, Microsoft Anti Spyware Beta. (Free at this time) It is a Beta version, still in testing, only works with XP though.
Download the beta of our new anti-spyware software today
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.4 - product description
Application to scan for spyware, adware, hijackers and other malicious software.
Choose one of the sites to download from.
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html

Ad-Aware Personal provides advanced protection from known data-mining, aggressive advertising, Trojans, dialers, malware, browser hijackers, and tracking components. This software is downloadable free of charge.
http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

The table below lists the top 5 virus and malware files submitted to Computer Associates during the week from November 14 to November 20, 2005.
   1. Win32.Netsky.P
   2. Win32.Sober.W
   3. Win32.Mytob.KM
   4. Win32.Qweasy.F
   5. Java.Shinwow Family

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.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/
http://www.quatloos.com/

INTERESTING SITES:

Send a letter to Santa and a whole lot more.
http://www.northpole.com/

Another send a letter plus
http://www.merry-christmas.com/

For the Kids. Another send a letter site.
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/xmas/

Here for your entertainment are some fun Holiday things for you and your family.
http://www.holidays.net/christmas/

How Christmas Works. Everything you wanted to know about Christmas.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/christmas.htm

Christmas Recipes--The Internet's most complete selection of trusted Christmas recipes and advice
http://christmas.allrecipes.com/

Sree's Top Three Toys Sree Sreenivasan The Tech Guru New York-WABC, December 1, 2005
Tech tips and tricks from Sree Sreenivasan. This week, as part of "Gearing Up for The Holidays," he brings you toy ideas for the little ones in your life.

Roboraptor:
When we opened this box, my 2.5-year-old twins were scared of it. It's pretty initmidating. It's almost three-feet long and looks like it's come to life. Roboraptor has lots of lifelike movements and motions. They call it a "fusion of technology and personality" and they are right. Available at many electronic stores. About $100.00
This one is fun just playing with it on line. (Mike)
http://www.roboraptoronline.com/

Fly Pentop Computer:
Forget desktops and laptops or even palmtops. How about a pentop? This is an expandable computer that's pen-based, and is aimed at 8 to 14-year-olds. You can buy software modules for all kinds of subjects. From the makers of LeapFrog brand of educational technology products. $100, with accessories ranging from $5 to $35.
I enjoyed playing the demos on line. I can see this one being a winner for a couple of my grandkids. (Grandpa)
http://www.flypentop.com/

iDog:
This cute dog works with your music player (iPod or otherwise) to act as a speaker and has moods that reflect the music you play. $30.
This one not quite as exciting as the prior two. For the right kid it could be a hoot. (Mike)
http://www.hasbro.com/tiger/

Eye Movement and Direction and How it Can Reveal the Truth or a Lie This is a very interesting article with diagrams depicting typical eye movement for various questions asked.
This is a continuation of our previous article " Detecting Lies". Many comments by our visitors have asked about how eye direction can indicate the presence of a lie.
So can the direction a person's eyes reveal whether or not they are making a truthful statement? Short answer: sort of. But, it isn't as simple as some recent television shows or movies make it seem. In these shows a detective will deduce a person is being untruthful simply because they looked to the left or right while making a statement.
In reality, it would be foolish to make such a snap judgment without further investigation... but the technique does have some merit. So, here it is... read, ponder and test it on your friends and family to see how reliable it is for yourself.
There are a number of other good subjects addresssed at this site including puzzles, riddles, games, jokes, etc.
http://www.blifaloo.com/info/lies_eyes.php

Healthy Fridge Amanda always finds good sites.
One of the big health concerns facing people right now is heart disease. This site is devoted to providing heart healthy tips for you and you family. Navigation is pretty simple. There are buttons near the top of the page that break the site down into four sections. Under those there are two more links the What's New and Search sections.
The Healthy Fridge has 10 tips to a heart healthy refrigerator, the site FAQ, Meet the Doctor, and "Open the Door to a Healthy Heart." The tips had great suggestions for organizing your fridge so you eat better, and the FAQ had great information.
Good Nutrition has a quiz to test your knowledge of "Sat Fat", recipes for both kids and adults, a section on Women's eating habits, and so much more. This section is all about good nutrition, and how you can start eating well if you don't already.
Heart of the Matter has all you need to know about heart disease. This section talks about cholesterol and how to count it. It also has a calculator for your risk of heart disease. You need to know your Total Cholesterol, HDL Cholesterol, and Systolic Blood Pressure to use the calculator. Don't you deserve to know the facts about heart disease?
In the Just for Kids section, you can make sure your kids learn to eat heart smart early on. Here they can check out recipes, take a quiz, play with a word search, and learn the facts about children and heart disease.
This is a great site for the whole family; it teaches us all about heart disease and healthier eating. It even has great tips on how to better shop for, plan for, and make heart healthy meals. I'd say it's definitely worth checking out.
http://www.healthyfridge.org/

DOG HOUSE PUZZLE Herb Larson sent this fun puzzle for kids.
Just put the puzzle together. Then, wait a few seconds for the dog to come out! This is probably one of the cutest things you'll see all day!
Click here: http://www.riversongs.com/Flas/today.swf

Take your time and follow the instructions. Jack Laubscher suggested this one
1) Go to the link below. After reading each window click on the boy in the lower right corner of the picture
2) In the last window type in your answer in the white box using the keyboard (there is NO cursor). You will be amazed....
Click here: http://digicc.com/fido/

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