Warning: New Virus Disguised as Internet Explorer

If you receive an e-mail in the next few days offering a download of Internet Explorer 7 Beta 2, delete it. A new virus is making the rounds that comes disguised as a test version of Microsoft's current Web browser.

Security experts say the virus is notable for a couple of reasons. First, the e-mail includes a convincing graphic that looks like it could really be from Microsoft. Second, and most importantly, the virus is delivered when recipients click on a link rather than in an attachment, which makes it harder for anti-virus software to stop it from reaching your in-box. The idea of sending a virus disguised as a link is new, but is catching on among virus distributors.

As for this new threat, the e-mails carries the subject line "Internet Explorer 7 Downloads" and appears to come from admin@microsoft.com. They include a blue, Microsoft-style graphic offering a download of IE 7 beta 2. Clicking the graphic will download an executable file called IE 7.exe. The file is actually a new virus called Virus.Win32.Grum.A, and security experts are still analyzing it as of this writing to see what it does. For sure, it can spread by e-mailing itself to contacts in a user's address book. The virus tampers also with registry files to ensure it gets installed, and it tries to download additional files from the Internet. Also, this kind of virus often installs a keystroke logger to steal personal information, and establish a network of infected computers to launch a denial of service attack, although this has not yet been confirmed.

The virus is being hosted on several servers around the world, which will increase the time it takes to identify and clean them all. They appear to be Web servers that have been hacked. The SANS Internet Storm Center asked administrators to check their logs to make sure they are not hosting the file. Only a few anti-virus and spyware programs are identifying it right now, but that will probably change for the better in the next 24-48 hours. By the way, it only infects users of the Windows Operating System.

Yahoo is at it Again

Not content to leave things alone, Yahoo is changing things yet again. Time will tell whether the changes will be good or bad. but, after their badly botched attempts to improve their TV listings, I get nervous every time they announce any kind of change.

First, an upgrade to their Yahoo Widgets will probably turn out OK. They have just released version 4 of their Widget program designed to give the look and feel of Vista. Like Klipfolio and DeskTopSidebar (which we have written about here in the recent past), the program now puts all the Widgets (in an abbreviated form) in a single bar that can be attached to the right side of the screen, or anywhere, for that matter. Then, you can click on anyone of the places on the bar that represents the one Widget you wish to open, and it pops open to full size.

I know my description of it does not do it justice, so it's best if you head over to the Yahoo Widget Web site and try it out for yourself. They also now have a 2 minute video which explains it even better. I have only tried out the new Widget upgrade for a short time, and my first impression is that I like DeskTopSideBar better for functionality. But, since there are thousands of Widgets available, it does make it quite intriguing.

The other Yahoo "improvement" that really has me worried is the new beta version of "My Yahoo." Long-time readers know that I have been using "My Yahoo" for almost as long as I have been surfing the Web, about 10 years now. My Yahoo used to be called a portal, a Web page that you could customize and add information about the subjects that interest you most.

Over the years I have populated my own page with available subject materials about the current events, weather, art, photography, computers, TV listings, healthy recipes, travel information, personalized stock quotes, financial news, airline fares, and much more. With the advent of blogs, I can even add my favorite blogs to the page.

Every time I open My Yahoo, all the information is reloaded to give me the most recent additions to my favorites. My Yahoo is definitely the most-often used page on the Web for me. I have tweaked it any number of times to make it even better.

Now, however, Yahoo has announced that they are going into beta testing on a new My Yahoo that will use the Web programming tool Ajax as its basis. This makes me nervous because their TV listings that they so royally messed up also used Ajax. Now, I have seen Ajax used successfully on other pages so I know it can work.

But, as soon as they announced the beta of My Yahoo (which is only available for testing for a select few), my own Yahoo started screwing up. First, around 2/3 of the modules I have running would not work. This went on for several days until I posted my problem on the Yahoo user reporting page. Within 48 hours, everything started working fine...well, almost anyway. My listings suddenly got put out of order. I changed the order back to normal. But the next time I accessed the page, everything was out of order again. This continues to this day.

So, you can see why I am nervous about this one. I have tried other web portal pages, but none offer me the extensive amount of information that Yahoo does. I sure hope My Yahoo doesn't go down the toilet like their TV listings did. Keep your fingers crossed.

Hi Tech Helps Capture Car Thieves

I love this story out of Western Washington. Police in Bellevue are battling a large car theft crime spree. One of their tools is remote-controlled, life-sized real car, including a regular-looking Honda Civic with a few tricks up its sleeve. (The Honda Civic was the natural choice because it is one of the favorite targets of car thieves.)

Here is how they use it: Bellevue police simply park the dummy car on the side of the road in a location known to be frequented by car thieves and then wait. When a car thief steals the car, the vehicle sends a signal to police notifying them of the theft. It contains a GPS-tracking device so the police can locate the car and the thief.

When the police think the car, with its illegal occupant, is in a safe location, they send a satellite signal to remotely shut down the car’s engine. The even bigger surprise to the thief comes when the car doors are remotely locked and cannot be opened. The cornered and gift-wrapped perpetrator is so stunned that, although they could easily break the window glass, they normally sit there astounded until the arresting police arrive to extricate them.

Not surprisingly, thieves are already learning how to get around this: Car thieves know that most owners won't notice the car missing for at least a few hours, maybe longer. So, the thief steals the car and then parks it a large, nearby public parking lot. He waits one or two days, and if the car is still there, comes back and takes it for good. Hopefully, most car thieves will not be smart enough this little trick. What a world!

The Coming Trend in Retailing?

I find the following story fascinating, in that it possibly foreshadows some new trends in retailing. The Borders Group, the company that owns Borders Bookstores and WaldenBooks, is closing a large number of its stores and setting up its own Web site. Here is why this is interesting: Several years ago, Borders made a conscious decision to focus its energies on its world-wide retail stores. It still understood the need for a Web presence, but it turned over its Internet operations to Amazon.

Apparently, their strategy, however well executed, has not worked. The company reported a dismal fourth quarter that ended with a loss of $73.6 million, in contrast to a profit of $119.1 million in the period the year before. As a result, Borders will close nearly half of its Waldenbook stores in the United States...and close or sell off almost all of its 73 superstores outside of the US. The company already closed 124 Waldenbook stores in 2006.

In addition, the company will eventually sever its relationship with Amazon and open up its own Web site early in 2008. The reorganization will still put much of the company's focus on its remaining 500 domestic superstores, but will also add a new technology-heavy concept that has been in development since late 2006. Borders will also introduce "digital centers" in its stores that will allow customers to buy audio books, MP3 players and electronic books.

A couple of years ago, I remember reading a story about Barnes and Noble that said they were finding many of their customers browsing in their bookstores, but actually going home to order the books on-line as they were cheaper. I confess I am one of those folks who does that. I also do the same thing for other products. As a small-town resident, I am used to ordering on-line and I don't mind waiting a few days to get what I want at a lesser price. Could this attitude be spreading to the folks that shop at Borders?

As I said, I find this most interesting because here is a company that worked hard to focus all its energies at their retail outlets and, in the long run, it is not working. Are they setting a trend? Will other mega-retailers switch to a more Web-oriented business? We have seen that already with CompUSA stores. Even electronic superstore Fry's has gone big time with their own Web site. Circuit City and other retailers offer the ability to buy on their Web site, then pick it up in their stores.

Obviously, stores like Home Depot and Lowes need to have retail stores because the majority of their items are too big to ship effectively to the consumer. But they still maintain a huge Web presence. We shall have to see if more vendors of small, easier shipping items will be following Borders' example.

Satellite Radio Update

In case you haven't heard, the two consumer satellite radio companies, XM and Sirius, have agreed to merge sometime this year. I say "sometime", because the merger deal, worth some $13 billion, must be first approved by the Federal Communications Commission...and that august group has already announced that approval will not come easy. In fact, they say now that an approval is highly unlikely.

I, and many real experts, believe that a merger is the only way that satellite radio will survive. Both companies are losing millions of dollars each year and have yet to turn a profit. Both continue to try and outdo the other, driving up their programming costs. In fact, both of them are so far in debt that even a merger may not guarantee survival.

And merger approval is only one hurdle that the two companies now face. This week, Austin, Texas-based company Keystone Autonics filed a patent infringement suit against both Sirius and XM, claiming that technology used by both companies is being taken directly from patents that belong to Keystone Autonics. The patent in question was awarded to George Hindman of Keystone Autonics just back in January of this year. Look for this case to definitely go to court.

But wait...there's more. Both Sirius and XM find themselves in the crosshairs of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The RIAA is lobbying for support of a bill that would restrict users from being able to locally store and record songs aired over satellite radio. XM voiced its opinion against the RIAA and said that such restrictions would harm consumers' recording rights. I swear, the RIAA is becoming so obnoxious that I fully expect that someday when we are walking down the street humming our favorite tune that an RIAA lawyer will jump out of the bushes and slap us with a lawsuit.

On a different, but related subject, I have now had the opportunity to sample both Sirius and XM. We had XM in our home as part of our subscription to Direct TV. But recently, we switched over to Dish TV, which carries Sirius as part of its lineup. Now, while I haven't sampled all the various types of music carried by both companies (no, I am not going to compare their rap and hip-hop channels) I will say unequivocally that if I went out today to buy a satellite system for my car, it would be XM.

To me, the differences come down to the programming of the music on the channels I listen to the most. Both providers are very similar in the channels they offer. For instance, each has three classical channels, three jazz channels, one New Age channel and a huge variety of pop and rock channels. I just like the music chosen to be played by XM much more than Sirius. To me, the difference is quite noticeable. I hope if they merge, that the XM programming people stay. Again, these are my opinions and I am sure you could probably find a host of people who disagree with me.

I hope in all honesty that satellite radio does survive. They offer a terrific alternative to the radio stations that infect our airwaves today (except for Public Radio). Predigested, overproduced, and uninspired tunes play endlessly on bland Top 40 radio stations across the U.S., whether it be rock, country, or any other genre. And forget about jazz and classical...it almost does not even exist. Satellite radio fills a real need for those of us that love music at its best.

Olympus Steals Photo Show

Sorry I haven't written anything for a few days, but I have been plagued with a nasty cold that only now is starting to get better...and I had a couple of photo jobs that took up whatever healthy time I could manage to scrape together.

And speaking of photography, here is some info that came out of this year's Photo Marketing Association (PMA) annual show in Las Vegas which recently wrapped up a four day run. The PMA show is probably the most important photographic show of them all as it is where the new year's hottest digital cameras and related products are announced.

And this year was no exception as their were 110 new cameras announced at or just before the show. But, according to some of the articles I read, there was little to get excited about. For the most part the products announced where minor upgrades or restyled versions of last year’s cameras...with a couple of notable exceptions.

Sony almost succeeded in stealing the show with the rather vague announcement of some new models coming in the future...including one model that will take pictures at night with almost no available light necessary. Another of their new models will feature a high definition connection that will connect the camera directly to an HDTV and yield HD-quality results.

But, for the here and now, Olympus may have stolen the show with two new digital Single Lens Reflex cameras, the E-510 and the E-410. The 510 features built-in image stabilization in the camera's body . This is the first DSLR camera to do it since the now defunct Konica-Minolta first did it a couple of years ago.

Canon and Nikon both have versions of image stabilization in some of their lenses, which work very well, as I personally can attest to. But the new 510 has it built in to the body, which makes it much better and useful in all situations. With image stabilization, you can hand-hold the camera at much slower shutter speeds without having camera-shake show up in the pictures.

Both the 510 and the 410 have a feature called Live Preview. Olympus is the first DSLR company to offer viewing not only thru-the-lens, but also on a large screen on the back of the camera. And with these models, you can actually zoom in on the scene (without using the lens) to make sure everything is in focus.

There are also 18 different easy-to-use special scene programs for photographing in unusual places like snow, sunsets, night photography, and others. They also feature a black and white mode that adds built-in digital red, green, and blue filters, a must for anyone that shoots black and white. There are a host of other features that have appeared on Olympus cameras before, including dust-free sensors. The 410 model only differs from the 510 because it does not have image stabilization.

I still use my Olympus E-300 camera and can tell you from experience that Olympus puts out and excellent product. I also think their Zuiko lenses are excellent. So, if you are thinking of moving into SRL photography, you definitely should think about this new E-510.

SEC Goes After Stock Spammers

Has your e-mail in-box been bombarded with "hot tips" on certain stocks about companies you have never hear of before and that guarantee enormous returns on your investment? I know my in-boxes have. And what's more, they seem to have the ability to get by many spam filters that have even been trained to block them.

Well, expect to see a slowdown in this type of garbage, at least I hope so. The Securities and Exchange Commission has taken action against alleged stock promoters and hackers thought to have broken into trading accounts to perpetrate their alleged frauds. The SEC has suspended trading in the securities of 35 companies that were heavily promoted in spam e-mail campaigns, it said in a statement. The trading suspensions, the most ever aimed at spammed companies, were ordered because of questions about the adequacy and accuracy of information about the companies.

The SEC also won an emergency court order freezing assets in a Latvian-based bank's trading account that allegedly was used in "pump and dump" manipulation of shares in 15 different companies. The "pump and dump" scheme is designed to quickly and cheaply disperse false information about a company's stock, along with information obtained from recent press releases, to potential investors via e-mail. Typically targeting microcap companies' stock, the idea is to get many people to buy this stock all at once and drive up the price...then these fraudsters dump their shares at an inflated price. Of course, the stock price then falls and investors ultimately lose their cash.

As part of the pump-and-dump scheme, online brokerage accounts at seven firms were breached and used to manipulate the market and boost the price of specific stocks, the SEC said. Through this technique, the unknown hacker-traders generated $732,941 in illicit profits and cost U.S. brokerages some $2 million in losses.

The trading suspensions are part of an SEC effort code-named "Operation Spamalot." The effort seeks to shield investors from the potentially fraudulent spam e-mail campaigns that hype penny stocks. The SEC estimates that 100 million such e-mail messages are sent every week, triggering spikes in share prices and trading volume. Investors then lose their money when the spam campaign stops, according to the SEC.

I just want the e-mail to go away so I don't have to waste my time marking it for deletion.

Safe Tips for Wireless Surfing

Did you know that laptops are now outselling desktop computers? And did you also know that the number of free wireless Internet access locations is also growing? And that people with laptops and desktop computers are using wireless routers in their homes? Putting these three facts together, it means that more and more folks find themselves at coffee shops and other free Wi-Fi locales with their laptops so they can surf the net while sipping their latte. Or if they are at home and their wireless router is active, it means that other folks that are nearby with a wireless laptop can also use their router.

If you are one of those folks (I know I am), you could find yourself at risk if you don't take some simple precautions. Here are a few things you should know before using Wi-Fi publicly or privately:

1. Practice Safe Computing. Most security experts are on record saying that slight behavior modifications in public places is most important. The surfing you do online in a public wireless environment should not be what you surf at home on a much more secured wired connection. For example, don't check your bank balance online, despite what that Bank of America ad says, or type in your credit card to order flowers online while sitting in an Internet cafe.
2. Disable the Windows Automatic Network Connecting Feature. Don't let your laptop connect just anywhere. To do so, right-click your current wireless network connection, click Properties, then click the Wireless Networks tab. Here you'll see a box with all of the last known connections you've made. After each, if it says "automatic," highlight and click properties, then select the connection tab for that network. Uncheck the box labeled "Connect when this network is in range." The downside is that the next time you fire up your laptop, you won't be connected right away. Instead, you should see a list of available wireless networks. It'll cost you a few seconds to choose one and connect to the right network, but at least you'll know what you're connecting to.
3. Use a Wireless Broadband Card. Rather than use a public cafe's open wireless, get a wireless broadband account and use your laptop to connect to Verizon, Sprint, or AT&T via cell modem. Overall wireless broadband accounts are more secure (it's harder to hack into a cellular call) and, in some cases, more reliable than public 802.11 wireless.
4. Change Your Home of Office Wireless Router Name. This tip applies when you are using your laptop (or any computer for that matter) wirelessly at home. Change the router's name and login passwords via the router's firmware (usually this requires typing a specific address into a browser's address bar), then change the default SSID (used by Linksys, D-Link, Netgear, or the like) to something original (for example, Farfarout, or something similar). While you're at it, change the router's default admin ID and password, and enable some form of encryption (WEP, WPA, or WPA2).
5. Shutdown Wireless at Home if You Don't Use it. Most routers today come with a wireless option. I have wire/wireless routers both at home and at the studio. Since I never use wireless at the office and almost never at home, I have shut down both routers' wireless features so that only computers connected via a Cat5 wire connection can get on the net. It's a simple matter to turn them back on if I need to.
6. Disable Ad Hoc Connections. This is a connection that allows you to connect with other computers on the same wireless network. It was meant to be for businesses who employees need to be connected with each other as well as the wireless network. But, if an attacker wanted to snare other wireless users, he could deliberately set up an ad hoc network in a public space, then listen in (or sniff, as its called) on wireless traffic. To disable ad hoc settings in Windows XP SP2, to go the Control Panel, click Network Connection, then Wireless Network Connection, right-click Properties, click the Advanced tab, then deselect "Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection."

Just give a little thought about what you are doing when working wirelessly and you will probably be just fine. My thanks to Robert Vamosi at Cnet for his help with these tips.

FAQ on Daylight Savings Time

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog about the date changes for the new Daylight Savings time. As we are about to make the change on Sunday morning, I thought I would write a quick reminder about it and send you to a CNET web page that has a quick down-and-dirty FAQ on what is affected and what you might have to do about it.

As a side note, I read an angry e-mail from a company executive whose firm will have to pay a few thousand dollars to make the change because his company still uses Windows 2000 and an older version of Exchange. Microsoft stopped supporting both of them a while back and the only way you can get a fix is to pay a fair amount of money to Microsoft for the "extra" support. You gotta love 'em.

And for Windows XP users, that kind of nonsense is going to happen to us in the near future because with the release of Vista, we are becoming obsolete.

IP Telephony Gets a Boost

In what may be a decision that could affect all of us, the Federal Communications Commission has ruled that local telephone companies must connect Internet-based calls shuttled over broadband lines owned by wholesalers like Sprint Nextel and Verizon Communications. Initially, this ruling affects only South Carolina and Nebraska as state regulators in those two state had decided that local phone companies did not have to connect calls originated by Voice-over-IP (VoIP) and cable phone companies. But, in fact, this ruling affects the entire nation.

FCC Chairman Kevin Martion said the two states had misinterpreted federal telecommunications law. "Our decision will enhance consumers' choice for phone service by making clear that cable and other VoIP providers must be able to use local phone numbers and be allowed to put calls through to other phone networks," Martin said in a statement.

This ruling makes it absolutely clear that Internet-base phone services such as Vonage, Packet8 (our home phone carrier), and other similar phone services put together by large cable companies such as Time-Warner and Comcast must be allowed to make use of standard phone lines to complete their calls.

On a personal note, long-time readers know that Susan and I switched over a few years ago to IP telephony and save a ton of money every year and the service is just fine. I personally have no love for the large old-time phone companies that thought they "ruled the roost" and am glad that the FCC is making it easier for new competition to enter the market.

More Tech Stores to Close

News in the retail technology storefront business is not good these days. Two recent big announcements shook up the retail world as both Circuit City and CompUSA announced that they are closing several of their stores.

CompUSA is going to close over half of its stores nationwide. CompUSA said in a statement it would close 126 of its stores and would receive a $440 million cash capital infusion, but it was not specific as to the source of the cash. The company also said it would cut costs and restructure. The company currently operates 225 stores, which its Web site says are located in the United States and Puerto Rico. It also says that it wants to focus its business on the high volume stores, which are remaining open. CompuUSA is owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, the third richest man in the world.

Meanwhile, Circuit City announced it is closing about 70 stores, most of them in Canada. The retailer, which lags behind rival Best Buy, is restructuring after facing intense gross margin pressure in the flat panel television category in the third quarter.

The nearest CompUSA for us is in Spokane, and I don't know if it is marked for closure. I enjoy browsing there when I am in Spokane and I hope it doesn't close. I also bought a couple of sale items at Thanksgiving in their store in Salt Lake City, which is a very nice store. I am assuming that none of our Washington-based Circuit City stores are going to close, but I don't have any way of knowing for sure.

Thunderbird and Lightning

How would like an e-mail program that has nearly the same functionality as Microsoft's Outlook for free? Well, you can now, thanks to Mozilla. The good folks there have created a calendaring add-on called "Lightning" that comes complete with to-do lists and works inside of their excellent "Thunderbird" e-mail program.

I have written about Thunderbird here a few times in past blogs. It is the e-mail program I use on my office computer. If you are a long-time reader, you know I use Outlook on my laptop, but I couldn't make it work on my office computer when I first purchased it...and Microsoft was no help at all in solving the problem. So I downloaded Thunderbird and have been very satisfied with it.

I like Thunderbird for its built-in functionality. I like it so much that I had a hard time deciding whether to use it or Outlook on my new home computer. I started out with Outlook (Outlook 2000), but after a week, I missed the functionality of Thunderbird and changed over to it and haven't looked back. I admit that some of my decision were based on the fact that I now use Lotus Organizer as my default organizational program...so I didn't need all the goodies that comes with Outlook. But I digress.

Mozilla has been promising for some time that they would deliver a calendar add-on program that works inside of Thunderbird...and now they have. It is a good first attempt at adding calendaring and I am sure they will improve it as time goes on. Right now, Lightning adds a "Calendar" menu item at the top of the Thunderbird screen for changing the way you work with it. It also adds calendaring and to-do lists on the left side of the program , right below the e-mail folders menu. When you click on calendar, it fills the spot normally reserved for your e-mails with a calendar set for daily, weekly, or monthly events.

You can create more than one calendar and even import a holiday list that will appear in your main calendar. To-do lists can be kept separate or integrated with the calendar. It is easy to switch from the calendar back to e-mail. In short, Outlook may have more features, but Lightning adds the functionality that most of us use. I have experimented with several calendaring and organizational programs in the last few years, and while I am still happily wed to Lotus Organizer, I find Thunderbird and Lightning to be a very credible and useful set of programs. You might want to give them a look. After all, the price is sure right.

You can download the Lightning add-on by heading over to the Mozilla Web site. If you don't have Thunderbird, you can also get it on the same Website You can also read more about the two programs at the CNet Website.