Identity Theft is Easier Than You Think

Finding someone's Social Security number, age, address, phone number and other such information is the first step a thief needs to steal your identity. Today, we closely associate phishing scams, where hackers trick you into revealing your personal information by claiming to be your bank, or e-Bay, or some other such organization where you have an account.

In fact, stealing identities is much easier than that. There are places where that kind of personal information is continuously placed on the Net and it is guaranteed not to be shut down by the government. Why? Because it is legitimate government web sites that is posting this information for all to see!

In many counties around the US, County Clerks offices are digitizing their record and posting them on the web. All kinds of legal documents are now available that contain very personal information about people's live and their personal information.

For instance, in Fort Bend County in Texas, their on-line records show a 1980 tax lien against Senator Tom DeLay that lists his Social Security Number and address. In New York City, you can get all kinds of info about Donald Trump.

But, now there are companies, called data compilers, who go out and gather all this information and sell it to information brokers, like Choicepoint, the company that recently admitted that thousands of personal records containing people's private information had been stolen.

But, there are many counties that do not publish their data on the web. For these counties, it is very inexpensive for data compilers to obtain thousands of documents on computer disk from county clerks offices. They then send them oversees to places like India where computer labor is cheap and the data is sorted and reclassified for dissemination all over the world.

I have only touched the tip of this information iceberg. You need to read a sobering article just published by SmartMoney Magazine that details even more abuse of our privacy and how information about you, me, and everyone else in America is so readily available. Go to:

http://yahoo.smartmoney.com/consumer/index.cfm?

Microsoft: No New Fixes for March

In spite of a host of claims from various security companies around the world, Microsoft says it plans no new fixes or security patches for its software for March. There also will be no new security bulletins for the month, even though we are only a few days into this month!

It is hard to believe that a company that makes the most used and open-to-abuse software says there is nothing to fix. The last time this happened was in December of 2003. Last month Microsoft issued 12 security bulletins covering 17 security flaws.

In the last days of February, Microsoft pushed out a patch for a bug that had the capacity to crash some Windows systems running other vendors' antivirus and firewall software. The bug affected only computers running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 installed along with Windows Server 2003 and XP Tablet PC Edition 2005.

According to the Denmark-based, IT security company Secunia, security managers should not consider the absence of security patches from Microsoft a reason to relax. Secunia has issued advisories of 30 unpatched or only partial fixed security holes on MS Internet Explorer 6 alone.

Other security companies are saying the same thing. But, according to Microsoft, happy days are here again...well, at least when you are working with Microsoft products.

Donobi Gets Another Extension

After a hearing this morning in Grant County Superior Court, the judge extended the temporary restraining order against the PUD for one more week. This means that service provider Donobi and its customers will not be turned off today.

My sources who attended the hearing said the judge stated that by next Friday, 3/11/05, Donobi is to pay off all its debt to the PUD (well over $100,000) or he will remove the order and the PUD can disconnect Donobi from the Grant County ZIPP fiber optic system. The judge made no mention of the over $96,000 deposit that the PUD is demanding from Donobi.

So for one more week, Donobi customers do not have to fear a disconnect.

I hope this gets settled soon as I am getting tired of this story.

On Changing Providers

Just to let you know, my web site and e-mail may be off line for a short time tomorrow (Friday, 3/4/05) as I am changing my Internet service provider. When you change providers, you need to obtain a new IP address. For most users, that is not a big deal as the number is provided to your computer behind the scenes, so to speak.

But, because I have a web site and my own e-mail server, I need a static IP address and it does take a little time to not only supply my system with the new address, but I also have to tell DNS servers around the world that corkrum.com now has a new IP address. The same applies for e-mail. All this takes a little time.

Because my art business relies on Internet sales and e-mail's, not to mention my web log readers, I cannot afford to be down. So, as much as I would like not to change providers, certain circumstances that have been well documented in our local papers have forced me to make a business decision to change providers.

Please understand that this is my decision and is not a recommendation for anyone else to do the same. I am just letting you know that I may be having some connection difficulties tomorrow because of the changeover.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Updates

Every once in a while, I like to write a blog that updates you on stories I've written here in the past. Life and technology is always changing, so I thought you should have the latest information.

1. New Version of Firefox. The fastest growing alternate web browser keeps on growing. In that spirit, the folks at Mozilla thought they would be releasing an updated version of their fine product about now. However, they just announced that it will probably be May or June before it is released as they want all the time they can have to make sure it works properly.

2. Latest on Donobi. I recently wrote a blog saying that all Donobi customers on the Grant County Fiber Optic System (ZIPP) were safe from disconnection and that everything had been taken care of regarding their overdue bills and security deposit. As you may know, that turned out not to be true. While I went away to do an art show, the PUD apparently refused to accept their letter of credit so we were right back to square one. Donobi got a temporary restraining order from our local Superior Court, thereby delaying disconnect. That order expires on 3/4/05 (this Friday) and the judge has said he will not extend it further. What is going to happen is unknown at this time. I will try to keep you informed when I learn more.

3. More on the PUD. Our PUD is in trouble again...this time with the State Auditor's Office. The latter has issued a report saying the GCPUD violated state law and its own practices in four separate instances in 2004. The biggest apparent violation was in dealings with Internet/TV provider VIB. It is a very complicated story, so if you want to learn more you can read about it at: http://www.columbiabasinherald.com/articles/2005/03/01/news/news01.txt

4. More on Spamfighter. I wrote about a month ago that I was trying out a free spam killer program called Spamfighter. I just wanted to let you know that I have deleted the program and have switched to a new one. While Spamfighter was good, it only caught about 60% of the junk mail. I had to manually delete the rest. And it did not do a good job of learning. I continually got many of the same pieces of junk almost daily, even though I told the program numerous times that the mail was junk. I will let you know about the new one after I test it for a couple of weeks.

5. More on Netflix. Last week, I wrote a 3 part blog on my experiences with Netflix and Blockbuster. In that report, I mentioned that you could pretty much count on a two day delivery from Netflix. In the last few days, I have been getting almost all my DVD's overnight. I can only attribute that to the opening of the Netflix Spokane warehouse. Yesterday, I did mail two DVD's back to them, but only one arrived in Spokane this morning, according to their website. But, whatever the case, Netflix seems to be improving its already great service.

6. My son is home from the Middle East. Just to let you all know on a personal note that my son Eric is home permanently from the Middle East. He and his fellow National Guardsman (mostly from Washington State) did their one year tour over there and are now home. Actually that isn't quite true. Eric is back at Ft. Lewis for demobilization, whatever that is. And he must be recertified this month as a combat medic. In April, he is being sent to sergeant's School in the Midwest. He will be completely done with his service around the first of May. Thanks to all of you who kept him and his fellow soldiers in your prayers.

What's Happening at PMA 2005

This week, the PMA trade show 2005 is underway in Orlando, Florida. What is PMA? Actually it stands for Photographic Marketing Association, which means the major manufacturers of digital cameras are then in force to show their newest wares.

Highlights, for me at least, include the newest Canon Rebel XT SLR that is now an 8 Megapixel camera. That explains why I have been seeing bargain prices on the 6 Megapixel version.

I was also impressed with the new storage devices that allow you to download your pictures in the field without carrying your laptop around. There is now one that includes a DVD burner for far more storage than the traditional CD-R. For me, that would be very handy, especially in Europe where you don't want to leave your laptop in your hotel room, or even carry it around, for that matter.

If you have an interesting in digital cameras, I suggest you head to the following web site to catch up on all the latest equipment. Go to:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-6451_7-5664718-1.html?

Are Handheld Computers Becoming Extinct?

This week, Sony announced they were getting out of the handheld computer business (PDA's) completely. This was no surprises as they stopped selling handhelds in the United States and Europe a year ago.

This, along with the fact that overall sales for PDA's have dropped for the third year in a row, leads one to ask the question if the handheld market is fading into the sunset. Last year, manufacturers only shipped 10 million PDA units worldwide.

Right now, there are two basic types of handhelds...the Palm-based system and the Pocket PC. Many observers claim that it is the Palm-based systems (like Sony) that are dead and that the more expensive Pocket PC is the winner of the category.

I, like other tech columnists, believe the whole genre is dying out. I base this not only on my own needs, but in the fact that sales for other portable devices are growing quite nicely.

For me, the biggest reason is that my cell phone will now do almost all of what my PDA (ironically it is a Sony) used to do. My phone hooks directly into my computer and Outlook to download phone numbers, to-d0 lists and appointments. Why carry two devices when one will do the same functions plus make phone calls and write e-mail's (not to mention take pictures)?

When I held a regular job, my PDA did carry some documents and spreadsheets, but then I went to using a laptop and I lost my need to carry a PDA. Sales figures show that many other users have been doing the same. Sales for laptops for the last few years have been booming.

The third device that just might kill off the PDA's for good is the rise of the portable media player. Devices like the i-Pod and video players are adding more and more features that just might make them the equal of PDA's plus play movies and music.

Many of you may disagree with me and say that you could not live without your PDA. That is fine. I am not saying that they don't have their useful functions and that they are still going to be around for a while. I am just saying that those of you who are contemplating buying one might think about if you really need it with all the other options available to you. Apparently consumers world wide have rethought their needs because they are not buying very many of them.

So many toys...so little time.

Netflix vs. Blockbuster Part 3

This is the final installation of our head-to-head comparison of the two most popular DVD mail order rental companies. If you missed the first two installments, the entire article can be found on my website.

Customer Service

It would not be fair to rate the two services side-by-side in this category as I only had Blockbuster for two weeks and Netflix for over three years.

I can just say that I did have some interaction with Blockbuster’s customer service and it went fine. They e-mailed me that after I cancelled to say that I had to return my movies in 6 days. I wrote them back saying their contract specifically calls for 10 days and with their slow shipping times, it would be impossible to get them back in six days. They wrote back and said send them back any time I wanted and that would be fine.

I also had one bad disk with Blockbuster, but I could do nothing about it as I had already cancelled my membership when I discovered it.

With Netflix, I have had the occasional bad disk. When you notify them, they immediately send you out a new one of the same DVD without waiting for the bad disk to arrive. Fortunately, I average about one bad disk every five months, so I don’t have much to complain about.

The other day, I asked Netflix to e-mail me my entire list of rentals since I have been a member. One day later it showed up.

While I won’t give an award here for the above-mentioned reasons, I will just say that the Netflix customer service has been nothing short of outstanding.

Miscellaneous

One nice thing that Blockbuster does is that it gives you two free additional rentals each month from one of their brick and mortar stores. For me, that meant a trip to Moses Lake to redeem my coupons. But, I did it one day when I had to go to Moses Lake on other business. Then, my wife returned them as her office is near the Port of Moses Lake.

Conclusions

For me, there is little doubt that Netflix is the superior mail order video rental service. While their price is $3 higher, they can supply you with more movies each month because of the inferior shipping times for Blockbuster. I ran the numbers, and the cost of each Netflix movie is actually significantly less per film than those from Blockbuster because of the turnaround time differences.

Netflix also has far more films truly available to you at any one time. Blockbuster’s service may get better in the future when they build more warehouses, but that may take some time. For now, I will stick with Netflix.

Netflix vs. Blockbuster Part Two

We now continue with out head-to-head comparison of the two most popular DVD mail order rental companies. If you missed part one, you can read yesterday's post on-line at http://jcorkrum.blogspot.com

DVD Selections

Having a large selection of DVD’s to choose from is extremely important to most customers. Netflix has over 35,000 titles, a number that is probably close to the total number of DVD’s ever made. Blockbuster says they have 30,000 titles.

But making a claim as to how many DVD titles one has in stock vs. actually having them available right now for a customer are two very different things.

For instance, right now in my queue at Netflix, there are 70 films listed that I want to see. Of those, 67 show that they are available right now. One shows “Short Wait” and two show “Very Long Wait.”

In my Blockbuster queue, I had 20 films listed. Only nine of them were available at that moment, the rest were listed as “Short Wait” and “Very Long Wait.” Of the films that were available now, most were newer releases.

In searching for films at Netflix, I always have found every film I searched for. Even if a film has not been released on DVD, it will tell you so and allow you to add the film to a special section of your queue called “Saved.” The films will then move into your queue when the film is released. It will also show you the planned release date, if there is one.

At Blockbuster, it is a different story. There were a few films that I searched for that they do not have at all, including some that are only a few years old. I also did a search on one film that is not on DVD yet and it put it in my queue as “Very Long Wait,” rather than stating that it wasn’t out yet and putting it a different section as Netflix does.

The clear winner in this category is Netflix.

Mailing Times

While many of us usually go to a local video store to pick up our selection, Netflix and Blockbuster mail customers must wait for the movie to arrive by mail…then wait after it is sent back for the film to arrive at the warehouse so another one can be shipped.

At Netflix, the wait is two days about 95% of the time in both directions. Occasionally, a film will take three days to arrive, but I usually attribute that to the post office. Lately, on occasion, the films arrive back at their warehouse in one day. Almost always, replacement DVD’s are sent out on the same day. The bottom line for Netflix is that you can almost always count on two day shipping in either direction.

For the longest time, the closest Netflix warehouse was located in Western Washington. I see now that they have also opened a Spokane warehouse, which explains the one-day shipping times.

As for Blockbuster, I can only tell you the facts for my two-week free trial period, and judging on this short time period may not be considered fair, but it was enough for me to not want to continue.

My first three movies were all shipped out on a Monday, according to the e-mail’s I received from Blockbuster. The first film took four days to arrive, showing up on Friday. The next two films arrived on Saturday, making it five days shipping time.

The first one was shipped back on Friday and the next two were mailed on Monday. The first replacement film was shipped on Monday and arrived on Thursday, for a three-day turnaround. The other two we shipped on Tuesday and arrived on Saturday for a four-day turnaround.

One nice thing that Blockbuster says they have is the ability to ship your next movie before the returning DVD arrives at the warehouse. They are somehow tied in with US Postal computers that scan the barcode at their facility and pass it on to Blockbuster. This system seems to work as the last three DVD’s were shipped prior to arrival at their warehouse.

But, it still takes far too long for the films to arrive, so that advantage is lost.

Clearly, Netflix again wins in this category.

In part three, I will finish up our head-to-head comparison and give you my recommendation. After reading this edition, you can probably guess which one I favor.

Netflix vs. Blockbuster - Part One

As long time readers know, I have been a Netflix subscriber for over three years. And during that time, I have been a very satisfied customer. Their selection of DVD’s is outstanding and their customer service has been exemplary.

I have watched their prices go from $19.95 per month to $21.95, to the current price of $17.99 per month. Recently, Blockbuster came out with the same kind of program for the price of $14.99 per month. As I wrote here in one of my blogs, I decided to stay with Netflix because I was so pleased with their overall service.

But after some consideration, I decided to try Blockbuster for two weeks because it was free for that time and I wanted to write a blog comparing the two services. What follows here is my head-to-head comparison of the two video rental mail services. I think you will find at the end of my review that the choice of which company is better is an easy one to make.

Basics – How the System Works

First of all, video rental services such as Netflix and Blockbuster that use the US Postal Service to transport your video selections, only rent DVD’s. Neither company (nor any others that I am aware of) rent videotapes. So, you must have a DVD player. As DVD players have become so inexpensive, videotapes are starting to fade away into the sunset anyway.

Second, you need to be connected to the Internet as all of your video selections are done online. Since you are reading this blog via the Net, this shouldn’t be a problem for you.

Third, your monthly fees are paid for automatically each month via credit card. For $14.99 a month with Blockbuster and $17.99 at Netflix, you get to have three DVD’s out at any one time. For a higher monthly fee, you can have more DVD’s out at any one time.

The first thing you do after signing up for the service online is to create a “Queue” of the films you want to rent. You keep this queue updated continuously as new DVD’s come out or as you hear about films or TV shows that you want to see. You just add them to your queue in order of preference that you want to see them.

After viewing a DVD and sending it back, the rental company will then take the next film at the top of your queue and automatically ship it off to you (if it is available). You can change the order of your queue at anytime and add and remove selections at will. I currently have 70 films in my queue at Netflix. My Blockbuster queue, which is now cancelled, had over 20 films listed.

As already mentioned, US Mail handles all shipping. Both companies us unique envelopes that allow you to mail back the DVD in the same envelope that it came in. All postage is part of your monthly fee so no additional postage is required. Both companies make it as easy as possible to get the movies back to them.

One thing that both companies encourage you to do is to rate the movies you have seen to help out other customers and to make yourself aware that you have already seen this film. I have found the latter to be very helpful, especially when dealing with DVD’s of TV shows that are released slowly over a few years. A long running show such as Midsomer Murders releases about 6 new episodes every six months, and having the previous episodes marked with my ratings tells me at a glance which ones I have seen so I won’t “double rent” one.

In the next installment, I will start comparing the two services head-to-head.

Three New Virus-Infected E-Mails

Three sets of e-mails which promise either nude pictures of Paris Hilton, a scary official-looking warning from the FBI, or a secret admirer who says "I love you" have appeared in the last two days.

They all deliver a package that could grind networks to a halt. Fortunately, none of these will reach "Anna Kornikova" worm or "Love" bug proportions but they will take away hours of productive work time. Be on the lookout!

In a statement released late Tuesday, the FBI detailed the threat, which attempts to lure e-mail users into opening an attachment containing computer virus.

The mail is disguised as correspondence warning people that their Internet use has been monitored by the FBI's Internet Fraud Complaint Center and that they have "accessed illegal Web sites." The e-mails then direct recipients to open the virus-laden attachment to answer a series of questions.

The newest "I Love You" virus was discovered by antivirus company Sophos and has been dubbed Assiral. It mimics the earlier virus, which used the phrase "I love you" in subject lines to entice recipients into opening the destructive e-mail and attachment (which was typically titled "love-letter-for-you").

The Paris Hilton e-mail contains a new variant of the Sober virus and sends itself in German and English, using a variety of subject lines, including "Paris Hilton, pure!" and "Paris Hilton SexVideos."

Google Headed for The Dalles

Almost at the same moment that I was driving through The Dalles, OR, on my way to my first art show of the year in Corvallis, Google was announcing the they had bought 30 acres of land in The Dalles for a new technology infrastructure facility

Google, which is headquartered in Mountain View, CA, is expected to pay $1.87 million for a parcel of industrial-zoned land 85 miles east of Portland, with an option to buy three other area sites.

The new facility would be Google's second operations outpost up here in the Pacific Northwest. Last November, Google opened an office in Kirkland, WA, just a few miles from the headquarters of Microsoft, which recently launched a rival search engine.

Spokesmen for both Google and the Port of The Dalles declined to detail specific plans for facilities at the site. Construction is expected to begin soon, which is estimated to cost between $5 million and $20 million.

Google's search engine, which pulls data from an index of more than 8 billion Web pages, is run over a distributed network of computers housed in numerous facilities worldwide. The facility would likely create between 50 and 100 jobs over time, paying an estimated average of $60,000 annually with salary and benefits.

New High Speed Processors from Intel

Intel has introduced a new line of Pentium 4 desktop chips that contain 2MB of secondary cache, twice as much as current Pentium 4s, as well as technology from its notebook line that's designed to cut power consumption. Larger caches, a pool of memory located on the processor, generally improve performance.

The four new chips included in the new 600 series of Pentium 4s range in speeds from 3GHz to 3.6GHz, and all of them feature an 800MHz bus. As you might expect, the new chips are a bit pricey. The top-of-the-line 660 Pentium 4 sells for $605 in quantities of 1,000, while the 630 sells for $224.

Intel also unveiled another member of the Pentium 4 Extreme Edition processor family, which runs at 3.73GHz and contains a 1.066GHz bus. These chips are used inside computers for gamers and serious hobbyists.

The new chips in some ways can be seen as some of the last of their kind. Starting in the second quarter, Intel will begin to sell dual-core processors. These chips won't run as fast as single-core chips (or at least won't continue to maintain the pace of the current speed increases) but they will contain two separate "brains," thereby improving overall performance.

Rival Advanced Micro Devices has said it will come out with dual-core chips in the summer and deliver a new family of energy-efficient notebook chips called Turion.

New Bank Transfer Phishing Scam

There is a new phishing scam making the rounds that you should know about. For those of you unfamiliar with "phishing," this is scheme whereby criminals trick you into revealing very pertinent information about yourself such as name, social security number, bank account and credit card numbers.

Most phishing schemes disguise themselves as being e-mails from your bank (or some other bank) asking you to update your account information. I have also seen them from scammers pretending to be e-Bay and PayPal. I usually get at least one per day and mostly from banks where I don't even have an account. They don't care that I don't have an account as they send out millions of them at a time hoping some will stick.

This new phishing scam takes a new path. It starts with an e-mail from a phony bank, claiming that a large amount of money has been placed into a new account opened in your name. A link to the bogus bank is included, along with an account number and a PIN. The message goes on to say that the recipient can transfer the money by logging into this account, which shows a large balance. Of course, then they want the information about your bank so the transfer can be completed.

Here is one example of the scam:

The text begins, "We have been directed by the Mega Magic Foundation of France to notify you that the sum of One Million Euros has been deposited in our bank, DBS Bank, in your name, awaiting immediate transfer to your personal bank account."

The message concludes with the kicker: "Once logged in to your account, you can transfer via wire directly to your personal bank account by clicking on the 'click here to transfer' link."

The logo displayed in the message is fake, although there is a holding company that goes by the name of DBS Bank.

I received a similar e-mail the other day saying that I had won a British Lottery and that the money was waiting for me to transfer it into my own account.

Of course, the best rule of thumb is never to provide any kind of information about yourself over the web unless you are absolutely sure that you are logged in to the correct place on the web. My banks, as well as e-Bay and PayPal have all sent out e-mail's saying they will never ask you again for any information that you have already supplied to them, such as SS #'s and account numbers.

There is also that famous adage to live by: "Anything that appears to be too good to be true, usually is."

New Google Toolbar

Google has released a fresh version of its Web-searching toolbar with a trio of new utilities. Available free in beta at Toolbar.google.com, the downloadable software lets people search the Web from a static box on the Internet Explorer Web browser and block annoying pop-up ads.

Version 3 of the software also lets people automatically check their spelling in Web forms; translate words in English into several languages; and add Web links to certain plain text. For example, an address could be enhanced with a hypertext link to its location on a map, with the click of a button on the toolbar.

The software joins a fleet of new toolbars from mainstream and niche Internet companies alike. Many such companies are trying to ingratiate themselves on consumer desktops for marketing purposes. Google, for example, makes money from sponsored listings that appear after people perform a Web search, whether it's from the desktop, the browser or its own site.

Last week, Yahoo introduced a version of its search toolbar for the Firefox Web browser, which has quickly become a contender to Microsoft's dominant IE. Google has not said whether they are developing a version for Apple Computer's Safari or Firefox Web browsers, but the search giant in recent months has developed deeper ties with the Mozilla Foundation, the open-source group that created Firefox.

Microsoft Anti-Spyware Will Be Free

In yesterday's blog, I talked about Bill Gates surprise announcement regarding a new version of Internet Explorer. But, Mr. Gates also made another announcement:

The consumer version of Microsoft's anti-spyware software will be continue to be free for genuine Windows users. The beta version, which we reviewed here last month, has been free, but it was unclear whether Microsoft would charge for future versions. Said Gates:

"We've looked hard at the nature of this problem, and made a decision that this anti-spyware capability will become something that's available at no additional charge for Windows users—both the blocking capability, and the scanning and removal capabilities. Those are features we think should be available to protect every system."

Gytis Barzdukas, director of product management in Microsoft's security business technology unit, said the free anti-spyware tools would only be available for a "personal edition" and made it clear that an enterprise version with management capabilities will carry a price tag.

"We're planning a refresh [of the anti-spyware beta] within the next few months. In the meantime, we're talking to enterprise customers, asking them about the management capabilities they need. Once we figure all that out, we will release a managed version."

Note: I am leaving shortly for Corvallis, OR for my first art show of the year. I may not be able to write my blog for a few days unless I can find a wireless connection. So, if you don't hear from me for a couple of days, now you will know why.

Microsoft's Big Surprise Announcement

Bill Gates shocked the tech world yesterday by reversing a longstanding Microsoft policy. Microsoft will ship an update to its Internet Explorer browser separately from the next major version of Windows. Gates made the surprise announcement at the RSA Conference in San Francisco.

A test version of Internet Explorer 7 will debut this summer. The company had previously said that it would not ship a new IE version before the next major update to Windows, code-named Longhorn, which is scheduled to arrive sometime next year.

In announcing the plan, Gates acknowledged something that many outside the company had been arguing for some time, that the browser itself has become a security risk.

The bad news for some of us is that the new browser will only work on machines running on Windows XP Service Pack 2, a security-focused update to the operating system that the company launched last summer. It has not been decided whether IE 7 will come with a different Windows update, such as a security revamp.

As recently as August, Microsoft said that no new stand-alone version was planned before Longhorn, and the company reiterated back then that its plan was to make new IE features available with major Windows releases.

Microsoft's decision to announce plans for IE 7 at a security conference was no coincidence. IE 6's security reputation has suffered over the years, dogged by a long string of security bugs, phishing schemes and patches. The company sought to allay security concerns last year by issuing the SP2 update for Windows XP, which included a number of changes to browser security.

But critics complained that the update would benefit only those people who either already owned XP or who had paid for an operating system upgrade, leaving about half the Windows world out in the cold.

There is a great deal of speculation that the success of Firefox has driven Microsoft to change its policy. I am sure that there is some truth to that. It will be interesting to see if the new IE will bring back users from Firefox...or will Firefox keep growing.

New DVD Copy Protection is Released

Macrovision has released a new DVD copy-protection technology in hopes of substantially broadening its role in Hollywood's antipiracy effort. Macrovision executives said that even if it's not perfect, the new RipGuard DVD technology can prevent much of the copying done with such tools and can help bolster studios' DVD sales.

The content-protection company is pointing to the failure of the copy-proofing on today's DVD's, which was broken in 1999. Courts have ordered that DVD-copying tools be taken off the market, but variations of the software remain widely available online. The best known tool is DVD Shrink which works extremely well.

Macrovision could be hard pressed to break into the DVD protection market, which has historically been managed by companies or industry groups closely associated with the Hollywood studios themselves. However, studios have been deeply concerned by the failure of today's DVD copy protection and may be willing to experiment with an alternative if it proves practical.

The original DVD copy protection tool, called Content Scramble System, was developed by a technology coalition that included studio representatives. The tool is licensed by a group with close ties to Hollywood.

A new coalition, which includes Warner Bros., Walt Disney, IBM, Sony, Microsoft and Intel, is working on another content-protection technology for next-generation DVDs. That technology called the Advanced Access Content System, which is not designed for today's DVDs, is being designed to let movies be moved around a home though a digital network.

Anti-Spyware Review

I have spent no small amount of time in this blog discussing anti-spyware. Why? Because spyware is everywhere and can sneak into your computer without you even noticing it. And if you get enough of it, your computer will slow to a crawl, if not crash.

The bad news that's now starting to come out is that most, if not all anti-spyware programs do not catch all the spyware in your computer. Now that is not a comforting thought! The reason is that new types of spyware are coming out far faster than anti-spyware software writers can keep up.

One software engineer did a test. He tried out the latest version of Spybot and picked up 14 instances of spyware. He then downloaded a 30 day trial of Spy Sweeper and picked up 56 instances (over 1,200 traces in all). Quite a difference. With two sweeps of Spy Sweeper (the second in Safe Mode), the computer was clean.

And just to show you how fast spyware multiplies, when this same engineer download Spy Sweeper, it came with 4,000 spyware definitions. At the end of his 30 day trial, the program had updated his software to include over 34,000 definitions.

PC Magazine has recently published a review of 9 different anti-spyware software packages. Because Microsoft's new software is still in beta, they did not include it with this round of testing, but you can click on a link in the article and see their first reaction to it. By the way, the Editor's Choice was Spy Sweeper.

You should strongly consider reading this article for yourself. To see it, go to:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1758380,00.asp

Bulletin - Update on Donobi Service

For those of you who live in Grant County and use the ZIPP fiber service, you should know that service provider Donobi has met all the requirements of the Grant County PUD and service will not be disconnected.

As you may have read in the newspapers over the last few weeks, Donobi had fallen way behind in their payments, according to the PUD. The PUD was demanding that Donobi pay in excess of $211,000 by today, including past due bills and a large deposit, or service would be turned off tomorrow. That would have disconnected over 1,200 customers.

I personally spoke with a representative of the Grant County PUD this afternoon and was told that Donobi just completed the PUD requirements earlier today and that service will continue on uninterrupted.

That is good news for me as I am still one of their customers and I would not like my web site or e-mail interrupted while I searched for a new provider and obtained a new IP address for my web site.

HP Chief Resigns!

The biggest story of the day in the tech world and on Wall Street is the resignation of Carly Fiorina from Hewlett-Packard. She served as both Chairman of the Board and CEO of this large company. Her controversial six years as head of Hewlett-Packard was highlighted by the company's purchase of Compaq Computer Corp. in 2002.

If you read my newsletters back then, you know that the Compaq merger was extremely controversial and was opposed by nearly half of the stockholders at one time, including the son of the company's co-founder William Hewlett. Members of the Packard family also were against the merger. Walter Hewlett immediately resigned from the board.

Fiorina said that the resignation was the result of disagreements on HP's future. HP Chief Financial Officer Robert Wayman will step in as interim CEO, while a search begins for a new CEO.

Board of Director's member Patricia Dunn said that the board reached a decision on Tuesday and asked Fiorina to resign. She agreed. Dunn also said that the board had been discussing options for several weeks.

Fiorina's resignation follows months of criticism from inside the industry and inconsistent results. In the third quarter last year, HP stunned analysts when it announced that its Enterprise Storage and Servers group lost $208 million, due to problems with order fulfillment and a migration of its order management operations.

Over the past year, Fiorina also has consolidated HP's businesses, last year combining its enterprise systems group with its services unit, and earlier this year folding its PC business into the highly profitable Imaging and Printing Group, which generates almost three quarters of HP's revenues.

For the past few years, one of the key issues debated in the industry has been whether HP should spin off a part of its business, in particular, the Imaging and Printing Group, to give HP a better focus. During a meeting with financial analysts in December, Fiorina said the board over the past few years had addressed that issue at least three times, and each time decided against it. Fiorina and other executives said one of HP's strengths was its large portfolio of products, giving customers a single place for most of their IT needs.

Wall Street seemed to approve of the move as the stock closed up nearly 7% in today's trading.

Music Industry Sues Dead Woman

In a recent issue, I told you about the latest round of lawsuits filed against alledged music pirates. One such suit was filed against Gertrude Walton, of Beckley, West Virginia, one of the worst sort of music pirates, according to the RIAA. By sharing 700 songs on the Internet, she was impoverishing artists and depriving the music industry of its rightfully earned profits.

The only problem with the RIAA's accusations and lawsuit is that Mrs. Walton is actually deceased and, even during her golden years, never ever owned a computer. Not only that...according to her daughter, she hated computers.

However the RIAA's embarrassment doesn't end there. The daughter said that she had sent a copy of her mother's death certificate to record company lawyers in response to an initial warning letter, over a week before the suit was filed. The RIAA says it will dismiss the lawsuit against Mrs. Walton.

While Mrs. Walton may have been the oldest person sued by the RIAA, the youngest was a 12 year old girl who was sued for having one MP3 of her favorite TV program on her hard drive. Her working class parents in a housing project in New York were forced to pay two thousand dollars in a settlement.

Only the unborn, it seems, have yet to receive an infringement suit.

New From Mozilla - Sunbird

First, there was Firefox; then came Thunderbird; now there is Sunbird. Mozilla has introduced the third piece of their open source software project...at least the first beta version of it.

Sunbird is standalone calendar application, for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. The eventual goal of Sunbird is to integrate it into Mozilla's e-mail software,Thunderbird making that program very similar to Microsoft's Outlook. The project, code-named Lightning, is scheduled for its first general release in the middle of 2005, according to the Mozilla Web site.

However, according to some postings on the MozillaZine news site, some consumers don't believe that Sunbird is a viable alternative to Outlook just yet. Mozilla admits this, but says wait for the final product before judgment is made. But of course, the price point is going to be much better than Outlook since Outlook is only included in the entire Microsoft Office Suite. The Mozilla programs are free.

Sunbird 0.2 offers various features, including the ability to create scheduled events and to see an overview of events on a particular day, week or month.

The Sunbird application is available for free download on Mozilla's Web site.

Great Plugins for Firefox

If you have switched to the Firefox browser or are just experimenting with it like myself, you will want to to take a look at a short article in PC Magazine that lists 15 different plug-ins that you can download for free and use inside of Firefox.

I like the tool that allows you to check your bandwidth speed inside of the browser. I was also impressed with the weather tool and the dictionary search that allows you to right click on a word on the web page to get an immediate definition.

There is also a tool for using Mapquest without leaving the web page you are currently viewing and 27 different solitaire games.

If you have Firefox, take a look at the article. If you don't have Firefox, you might want to give it a try. It can also be downloaded for free.

Yahoo Searches Web Page While You Read It

In its latest move to expand the reach of its search results, Yahoo released a new service that provides related search results within the context of a Web page.

Yahoo launched a beta test of the service called Y!Q in an attempt to automatically provide users with relevant search results without requiring them to initiate a query. In other words, Yahoo will search for more information based on the web page you are viewing. By analyzing the content on a Web page, the service is able to display related results within a dynamic box on the page itself.

While Yahoo is demonstrating the functionality on a test version of its Yahoo News site, it also is offering it widely to other Web sites. Webmasters can embed Y!Q's contextual search results into their pages by incorporating code for the DHTML (Dynamic HTML) module. Because users receive the results within the Web page, they remain on a given site rather than being redirected to the Yahoo Search site.

Users also can download an Internet Explorer toolbar or one of several plug-in options for Mozilla Firefox to receive Y!Q results while browsing any Web page.

All the Y!Q installation options are available through Yahoo Next, the company's site for prototyping new technology.

Virus Writers Find New Delivery Vehicle

Always on the cutting edge of new techniques, virus writers have found a new way to slip their evilware into your computer. This new method is so foolproof, that no anti-virus software has yet to detect a virus when it comes into your inbox.

Late in December, administrators and service providers realized that virus-infected messages with a new type of attachment were hitting their mail servers: an .rar archive. .Rar files are similar to .zip files in that they are containers used to hold one or more compressed files. The .rar format is not as widely known as .zip, but it is used for a number of tasks, including compressing very large files, such as music and video.

Experts say .rar files carrying viruses have been sailing past commercial anti-virus products and finding their way into the mailboxes of users, who are often unfamiliar with the file format. Administrators who have seen .rar-packed malware say that none of the messages have been stopped by their anti-virus defenses.

Many of the messages in .rar virus e-mail are slick invitations to view pornographic content, which is part of the reason for the viruses' success, experts say. .Rar's compression algorithm is 30 percent more efficient than .zip technology, so it is often used to compress such content. E-mail purporting to deliver images and video in an .rar archive may well be taken as legitimate.

One recent .rar virus that appeared at the end of last week is disguised as a patch from Microsoft. Although the text of the e-mail is poorly written, users have often proved willing to fall for such pitches. Franklin said that he has seen about six or seven new .rar viruses each week this month and that all of them are getting past the anti-virus products installed on his network.

The emergence of .rar-packed viruses highlights the lengths to which virus writers are willing to go to evade anti-virus systems, as well as the limitations of these traditional signature-based defenses.

Anti-virus vendors have acknowledged the presence of viruses delivered as .rar files in the past few weeks and are scrambling to develop tools to identify and eradicate the malware. Let us hope they find a way soon. Until then, don't open any .rar attachments.


PS. Sorry about not writing in the last three days, but have been on the road on business and am feeling a little under the weather.

Music Industry Files 717 More Lawsuits

One of our favorite groups, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has filed 717 new lawsuits against peer to peer (P-to-P) users allegedly trading music for free. I call them favorites because they are about the only group of folks I know that sue their best customers.

This new round of lawsuits include 68 alleged song-swappers using 23 university networks to distribute music files, more than three times the number of university users sued when the RIAA announced 754 such lawsuits in mid-December. The RIAA said it is stepping up enforcement of copyright violations on college campuses.

Among the universities targeted in this latest round of RIAA lawsuits are Georgetown University, Harvard University Medical School, Old Dominion University, Ohio State University, the University of Kentucky, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.

Users of the Kazaa, eDonkey and Limeware P-to-P software were among the 717 people sued, according to the RIAA.

With the new round of lawsuits, the RIAA has now sued more than 8,400 alleged file-swappers since September 2003.

RIAA officials noted people who want to pay for music online, instead of using P-to-P software to exchange music for free, now have about 230 vendors to choose from. About one million songs are now available on "legitimate" pay-per-download sites.

Microsoft's New Plan to Stop Piracy

Microsoft wants to crack down hard on counterfeit software. Later this year, the company plans to require all customers to verify that their copy of Windows is genuine before downloading security patches and other add-ons to the operating system.

For the past few months, Microsoft has been testing a tool that can check whether a particular version of Windows is legitimate. The checks have been voluntary, up to now. If you downloaded a copy of Microsoft's Anti-Spyware software that I wrote about recently, you ran into this as part of the download procedure. They didn't mention that it was voluntary, but I was able to bypass the verification procedure and directly download the anti-spyware software.

But, beginning on 2/7/05, the verification will be mandatory for many downloads for people in three countries: China, Norway and the Czech Republic. In those countries, people whose copies are found not to be legitimate can get a discount on a genuine copy of Windows, though the price varies from $10 to $150 depending on the country.

By midsummer, Microsoft plans to make the verification mandatory in all countries for both add-on features to Windows as well as for all OS updates, including security patches. The program, known as Windows Genuine Advantage, also offers perks to those who verify their copy of Windows. Those who do can get free software as well as discounts on other Microsoft products and services.

It is estimated that of all the software in use today, roughly 1/3 of it is pirated, with annual losses totaling $29 billion. Microsoft does not have an estimate for its losses, but does say that over the last 10 years, the company has lost billions of dollars.

Yellow Pages Like You Have Never Seen Before

You have got to see this!!

Amazon subsidiary A9 has rolled out a new Yellow Pages service that allows users to view pictures of the storefronts and locations of businesses in 10 cities, including New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Dallas, Seattle and cities in the San Francisco Bay area.

"We allow people from their computer to look at the street, to walk to the left, to walk to the right, to see the neighborhood, to see parking. It's virtually like you're there," A9 President Udi Manber told Search Engine Watch. "Pictures get you information faster than any other way. Very often you remember a place but not its name. This is a very easy way to find it."

Indeed, search on "Art" for instance, and the site returns a list of stores in the city you select, a map showing where they are, and a photo panorama of the city block in which each of those businesses is located (pedestrians and all). Click on the photo and you can virtually stroll down that block, getting a feel for the neighborhood while thanking fate that you weren't one of those poor camera-equipped interns sent out to document the urban landscape.

So what's in this for Amazon? Right now, not much more than the satisfaction of stealing a march on Google, which owns its own digital mapping company, Keyhole, and is no doubt cooking up something that involves search, maps, pictures and ads. I suspect one day it may take commission fees for referrals to bricks-and-mortar stores. Or it will begin charging for "Click to Call, " a feature that lets customers phone a business at the click of a mouse, for free.

Says John Battelle, who runs the widely read Searchblog: "This is one small step away from a pay-per-call model, which is one of the most sought-after features from businesses."

Others see an untapped market for a mobile version. "This service should be formatted so that cell phones can access the service, not just computers, because the chance of using this on a cell phone will be much higher," Mark Anderson, the publisher of the tech newsletter Strategic News Service, told the Seattle Post Intelligencer. "I think we need the info, but I am not sure that it has been offered in a way that has been useful, such as in the right devices. I think these things are kind of spontaneous, because I am more likely to be in the streets when I want to know where the nearest Italian restaurant is."

To see an example, go to:
http://www.a9.com/art

This will take you to a search on art stores. From here, you can type any subject you want and the city you want to search. Have fun.

Google Goes Video

Google has added another search engine service this week..."Google Video." This new search engine that Google has quietly been developing for some time now allows users to search the text of TV shows. Currently, the service will scour programming from PBS, Fox News, C-SPAN, ABC, and the NBA, among others, making broadcasts searchable the same day that the shows are aired.

For instance, you can search on a term, such as "Bush Inauguration," to find the TV shows in which it was mentioned, a still image of the video and closed-captioning text of that particular segment of the program.

However, people will not be able to watch the video clip, nor will the Web pages contain the company's signature text advertising, at least for now. But Google expects to add video playback down the road, after ironing out the complexities of broadcasting rights and business models with various content owners.

The search engine uses the closed-captioning text that accompanies video for its searches. Closed-captioning is usually hidden from view for most people. We only see it at our house when we push the mute button.

In response, Yahoo said it will begin promoting the video search engine it introduced in December by adding a tab from its home page. Also, the company has teamed with TVeyes to begin searching closed-captioning text of Bloomberg and BBC programs. That partnership will add to Yahoo's core capability of searching Internet video, putting Yahoo's service more on a par with Google's.

Broadcasting video of any kind is tricky because of unions, contractual relationship, royalties, owner's right, etc. So it may be some time before actual video is attached to a search engine, although there is little doubt that it will come some day. Personally, I can't think of one TV show that I want to run a search on, so I won't be using Google or Yahoo's video search engines much, if at all.

Technology Headline News

It is Sunday, and besides some of my normal weekend tasks, I will be occupied with the AFC and NFC Championship football games. So rather than write a whole blog, I am going to give you the headlines of some recent interesting news and link them to the full stories. That way, if the story interests you, you can read it. If not...well you get the idea. Here goes:

The "Evil Twin" of Wireless Hot Spots could Steal Data From Your Computer.

Phishing Attacks Increasing in Frequency and Deviousness.

Internet Explorer Use Continues to Fall.

More Info on Intel's New Centrino Chip for Laptops.

Update on the Best Satellite Radios

Google's Releases New, Free Version of its Photo Organizer

Maxell Introduces Scratch-Resistant DVD's

Saturn's Moon Titan Contains Oceans of Liquid Natural Gas.

Learning to Live Without Microsoft Office.

A Free, Easy-to-Use Alternative to Microsoft Office.

Wireless Outpacing Wired

Wireless technology, known as "Wi-Fi," has surpassed Ethernet cables as the main technology for wiring home networks, according to a new research report.

The survey, by research firms Parks Associates, found that 52 percent of U.S. households with a home network were using wireless technology, compared with 50 percent for Ethernet and about 5 percent for power line networking via electrical wires. (The numbers don't add up to 100 because some homes use a combination of technologies.)

It's the first time Wi-Fi has outpaced Ethernet, which the report attributes to growing Wi-Fi support among broadband providers. Most major broadband companies offer to help you hook up a new account via Wi-Fi equipment, an attractive option for those who haven't set up a home network yet or want to do more than the Ethernet setup allows.

This may become more significant in the future as companies from Intel to Whirlpool are pushing media gadgets, appliances and other devices that require a connection to the Internet, a central PC or both. Having wireless makes these products far more attractive since you don't have to run more wire throughout your house.

Our home uses both Ethernet and wireless technology for connecting computers to each other and to the Internet. The main reason we chose Ethernet was we were wired long before wireless was available at a reasonable price. Adding wireless technology has allowed me to use my laptop anywhere inside the house or on the patio during warmer times...and it allows our guests to connect to the Internet. I think if I were going to start over today, I would use wireless only, as it is so much easier to setup ( I hate crawling under my house to run wire).

If you want to consider a wireless network for your home, you might consider one of these three routers. We use the Netgear and it has performed flawlessly.

Be Aware of These Two New Worms!

There are two new worms making the rounds these days. One plays on your fear of having hidden pornography on your computer...the other on your sympathy for tsunami victims.

The first is a new mass-mailing worm that tries to spread itself by fooling users into believing that they have pornographic content on their PCs. The "Baba-C" worm travels by e-mail and includes the words "Windows Evidence Checker has found XXX material on your computer." The e-mail claims that people can clear their PCs of this material by running a program called "Evidence Cleaner" attached to the message, but does not actually look for porn. When activated, this program runs malicious code that allows hackers access to the data on the computer.

The second worm, also spread by e-mail, poses as a plea for aid to help the victims of last month's Asian tsunami disaster. The worm appears with the subject line: "Tsunami donation! Please help!" and invites recipients to open an attachment called "tsunami.exe," which, if opened, will forward the virus to other Internet users. It could also initiate a denial-of-service attack against a German hacking Web Site, in which the site's server would be bombarded with messages, putting it out of action.

While using the tsunami disaster to spread a virus marks a new low for virus writers, this virus is not the first attempt to take advantage of people's sympathies for the victims. Another worm earlier this month spread the message that the tsunami was God's revenge on "people who did bad on earth."

There have also been a number of mass e-mails sent out in an attempt to steal money, many of them versions of the so-called Nigerian Letter scam, in which readers are invited to reply with their details, apparently in order to help transfer large sums of money and receive a cut themselves.

One appears to be from a wealthy Thai merchant suffering from a fatal disease who has lost his family in the tsunami disaster and needs someone to collect millions of U.S. dollars from a European security firm to distribute it to charities.

"I need a God-fearing and trustworthy person that will be able to travel to Europe, to collect this deposit from the security company," the mail reads.

What About Those Rebates?

How many times have you walked into a store or went to a retail outlet on the Internet to buy some item at a great price, only to find that you had to pay full price at the store and then send in for a rebate?

It has happened to me more times than I care to remember. Although I have never been cheated, I still don't like the fact that you have to do it in the first place. I set up a system at home so that when I send in for a rebate, there is always something to remind me that it hasn't come in yet (I think it is called a tickler system). When the rebate check arrives, the tickler is deactivated (so to speak).

Of course, the reason rebates are used rather than giving the customer a lower price at the checkout is because so many people forget to send them in, thereby saving the manufacturer a great deal of money. I have forgotten to do that with a couple of small rebates.

Rebates are often used in the technology business. I once got a $100 rebate on a printer and a $50 rebate on a hard drive. You bet I sent those in...and got them, too.

Here is a true story: I once had a $5.00 rebate coupon for an item and was about ready to send it in. Then I read the fine print: They wanted a check included for $4.50 for a handling charge. My net gain of 50 cents was obviously not worth it.

The reason I bring this up is that I recently read two interesting articles about rebates in one of the technical journals I subscribe to, so I thought you might also find it interesting. Click here for the first article, then scroll down just a very short way and you will see it.

When you are done, click here for a followup article with true stories from readers about there experiences with rebates. It is definitely worth it.

Free Fax Machine in Windows XP

I'll just bet you did not know that there is a FAX machine included in Windows XP. Actually, it is not really a fax machine as much as it is a FAX component. And the reason you probably don't know about is that Windows XP does not automatically install it.

Of course, to make it work, you still need to have a fax/modem installed in the computer, connected to a regular phone line. But, if you have one and want to install the FAX component, here is how you do it.

1. Click Start, then Control Panel.
2. Then, open the Add/Remove Programs applet.
3. Click Add/Remove Windows Components.
4. Then, in the list of Windows components, scroll down to select Fax Services and check the check box.
5. Click Next. You may be asked to insert the Windows XP installation disk. Click OK (you can also specify a network path for the XP installation files).

That's it. I hope it works for you.

Two New Products from Apple

Apple Computer fans descended on San Francisco this last week to see and hear the latest news and products at the Macworld Expo. Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs introduced a new budget PC dubbed the Mac Mini during his keynote address at the expo, promising that the machine will expand Apple's audience well beyond the current Mac faithful and make the Mac more appealing to us folks who use Windows-based computers. The Mac Mini, which will retail for $499, is a tiny machine with a processor, a hard drive and an optical drive. But you must supply the monitor, mouse and keyboard.

However, while the the starting price is low, it still costs about $100 more than similarly configured PCs from Gateway, Hewlett-Packard and others, according to analysts and price checks. And, when one market researcher started to add in all the normal options things that buyers want on their computers, the final price came to $1,300

The other new Apple product that Jobs introduced was a new version of its popular music player, the iPod Shuffle, priced as low as $99. Based on flash memory, rather than the more expensive computer-like hard drives that have been the centerpiece of all other iPods, the new player is aimed at the low end of the market.

The Shuffle comes in two sizes. The $99 version has 512MB of storage and holds about 120 songs; the $149 version has 1GB of storage and holds about 240 songs. Unlike most similar devices, the Shuffle has no display screen to show songs or playlists; it consists only of a slender white rectangle with the trademark iPod navigation wheel on one side.

Reviews of Microsoft's Anti-Spyware Software

I couldn't resist it. It was free. Even though it was a Microsoft product, I just had to try it out. As mentioned here in a couple of my blogs, Microsoft's Anti-Spyware (MAS) software is available free for a short time. So, I just had to try it out and see if my Spybot-Search and Destroy was better. I had every reason to believe it was.

The early reviews by a couple of other users like myself sounded favorable. A new review by PC World, just out today, also gave it good notices. In reading their review, I felt like I was reading my own review as we both found many of the same things.

Downloading it was a breeze, although Microsoft says that you need to verify first that you have a genuine Microsoft Operating System. You can skip that part, which I did, because my system is genuine, but I don't want to give Microsoft the satisfaction of knowing that. Installation was also easy and right after installation, it automatically ran a complete systems check.

I should mention at this point that just before I installed it, I updated my Spybot software and ran a systems check with it. I did this both on my desktop computer and on my laptop. Spybot found no infections on my desktop and two new infections on my laptop. I removed them both.

On my desktop, MAS found three threats previously undetected by Spybot. One was adware and the other was spyware done on my IE explorer as a plug-in. They were removed. The other were 106 Kazaa entries in my registry, which I found strange at first since I don't use Kazaa, but rather Kazaa Light. Then I figured out that these were fake entries done by Kazaa Light to fool Kazaa into believing I was using the real Kazaa product. So, I left those in place.

When I ran the same scans on my laptop, I didn't find the Kazaa entries as it is not on the laptop, but I found the same two adware/spyware found on my desktop plus one additional spyware. I took care of them also. MAS, like Spybot, immunizes you from existing threats. But, better than Spybot, MAS goes out in the middle of the night to Microsoft's web site to see if there are any updates for the program...then it scans your system, whether there is a new update or not. Very nice.

One thing I didn't like was that after I removed the IE plugin that was really spyware, it reset my browser's home page to MSN. I had to go back and reset my home page. Also, MAS does not check for other browser's possible spyware. By other browsers, I mean Opera, Firefox and Netscape.

There are some good things about Microsoft's new software, especially the free part. I would give it a try, if I were you, but keep Spybot around to check also. For more info, I encourage you to read the PC World Review at:

http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,119300,00.asp

My Week with Thunderbird

A week ago, I decided to try living without Microsoft's Outlook and installed the new Thunderbird e-mail software from Mozilla. I have mentioned Thunderbird in this column on a few occasions and have even posted links to reviews by industry publications, all of which were favorable. In fact, here is another one from eWeek. Those good reviews got me excited enough to give it a try.

So with that all said, here is my review:

First, I found it easy to install and use. It automatically went to my Outlook program and imported all the e-mail's, both from the in-box and from other sub categories I've created over time. It also easily imported all my addresses flawlessly.

It worked fast and efficiently whenever the mail came in. I love the way it blocks all pictures included in many e-mail's since those can hold hidden codes, especially the junk mail and pornography. You have to click on a button to let the pictures be seen. Thunderbird really works hard to protect your privacy.

Changing the options was a little tricky, just because I wasn't used to it. I found it difficult at first, for instance, to find out how to use signatures. But after I figured it all out, it was easy. And there are plenty of options to make the program work your way.

One thing that drove me crazy on the first day was that the program told me I had new messages, but it wouldn't show them. What I finally figured out was that the software was checking my e-mail server to see if I had messages, but it wasn't downloading them. Once I checked that option in the setup, all the mail came right in just like it did with Outlook.

There are many good things to like about this program. But there is one feature and one feature only that did not work well enough for me to warrant keeping this program. And that was its junk mail feature.

As mentioned here before, I get 500-600 junk mails a day. So having a filter to take care of them is very important to me. And while Thunderbird did well in that department, it did not do well enough for me. The software claims that the junk mail filter learns as you continue to mark software that comes in as junk or non-junk. Well, I think it must be a slow learner.

I have been training Thunderbird for a week now and it still misses far too many. I have seen it take my own web log e-mail's and put them in the junk file. One morning I found my daily updates from the New York Times and ZDNet in the junk file, while some obvious spam and pornography e-mail's were still in my in-box.

Experience tells me that a good junk e-mail filter takes about a week to train. After a week, it should be picking off 95-99% of all junk mail. After a week with Thunderbird, I am at about 60%. Obvious spam and pornography e-mail's are still slipping through. And some of the same e-mail's that I have already marked as junk many times keep slipping through.

Going through and marking spam after every e-mail download is time consuming for me. Doing it over and over is getting tiresome. So, I am afraid I will have to back to Outlook. If you don't get very many spam mails, Thunderbird is a great program and I recommend you give it a try...at least for a week.

Yahoo's New Desktop Search Utility

Yahoo is now the latest search engine company to offer a desktop search utility, following similar launches by rivals Google, Microsoft and Ask Jeeves. Although still in beta, Yahoo Desktop Search, appears to be a bit more comprehensive than rival offerings.

For starters, it indexes some 200 file types, among them Microsoft Outlook e-mail, Word files, Adobe PDF documents, and audio and video, and allows users to preview them as well. That's a compelling feature and one that really gets at what Yahoo's vision of desktop search is all about.

"The notion of a 'desktop' is changing," Bradley Horowitz and Jeremy Zawodny write in the Yahoo Search Blog. "Most products are built with the premise that your desktop is just a way of seeing what's on your computer's hard disk. But in today's world, many of us create, find, use, and share information that lives in many places. Some of it lives on your computer, some lives on Yahoo and other online services, some may live on other computers or devices on your home network. We don't think you should have to think about where your stuff is stored in order to find it. That's where this is all headed. And as YDS evolves, you'll see that becoming more and more clear."

Since its release a few months ago, Google Desktop Search utility has received rave reviews from several sources. However, the Google tool only lists 8 file types that it searches, while the new Yahoo tool will work with 200 file types. If the Yahoo tool turns out to work well, it will set the new standard for all others to follow.

To download the Yahoo Desktop Search Utility, go to:
http://desktop.yahoo.com/

What is the Future of the Internet?

OK...what is the future of the Internet? My stock answer is:

"Darned if I know."

Oh I may have some thoughts on it, but I have never really sat down and analyzed it closer so that I could come up with some intelligent answers. But, thank God some other people have. And you can find their thoughts on-line.

Imagining the Internet is a joint web site done by Elon University and the Pew Internet & American Life Project. They have taken great care to survey knowledgeable people to get their views and record them in a database. You can read the results of their most recent in-depth surveys.

But even more fun is to look back at predictions made in the 1990's. Some are right on and some missed the mark completely. But, best of all is that you can participate in the project and enter your views.

Take some time to glance at this web site and see what the future might possibly hold. Go to:

http://www.elon.edu/predictions/

Highlights of the Consumer Electronic Show

The biggest annual technology trade show in the world just finished its 5 day run in Las Vegas. As usual, a lot happened and a lot of new products were released. I would write about them for you, but other more qualified experts have already done it, so I am going to let you read their roundup. There are some pretty exciting things coming our way, so you might want to take a few minutes to browse through some of them.

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) has grown in leaps and bounds from its early days as a showcase for such things as TV's and stereos and other forms of home entertainment. Actually, there used to be two huge trade shows in Las Vegas: Comdex in November and CES in January. Comdex did all the computer things, leaving home entertainment to CES.

But, over the years, Comdex got greedy. It started charging outrageous fees for show floor space. Then, as more and more consumers got into the show (it used to be for computer industry folks only) more and more of the large computer companies like Microsoft stopped buying floor space. They still came to Vegas for Comdex, but they took hotel suites rather than show floor space to meet with the regular and potential customers. It was much cheaper for them.

Comdex started to die. It took a few years and it is still not officially dead, but it is close. The last show was 2003 and attendance was way down. In the meantime, computers and home entertainment started getting closer and closer to the point today where they are almost integrated. So computer-related companies now show their wares at CES.

In a way, that is sad for me. I attended several Comdex shows over the years and usually came back with hundreds of dollars of free goods and I enjoyed my 3-5 days in Vegas. I never have been to CES, but maybe sometime in the future. I can't say Vegas interests me much these days.

To read the CES roundup, go to:
http://www.cnet.com/4520-10602_1-5579129-1.html

Update on Avast!

Last month, I wrote about the free anti-virus software called "Avast!". In that article, I wrote that I was currently using it on my laptop only and would keep testing it. In about three weeks, my main desktop computer's subscription to Norton Anti-Virus will run out and I will have to make a decision whether to re-up my Norton subscription or switch to Avast!.

Well, the decision became much easier yesterday. Let me give you a little background that will help you understand.

On my e-mail server, I am also running Norton Anti-Virus. Its job is to pick off viruses in incoming e-mail's before they are sent on to anyone having a corkrum.com mail address. Since late October when I set it up on my new mail server, it has worked just fine. No infected e-mail got to any user...that is until yesterday.

I was sitting down in my office working on a new painting on my main computer with the large 19" screen. My laptop was also on and was sitting off to my right, monitoring the stock market. All of a sudden, I heard a series of alarms go off on my laptop as I have never heard before!

When I turned to see what was going on, there was a large notice on the screen that Avast! had detected an incoming virus attached to an e-mail. It was a virus whose name I didn't recognize, so I assumed that it may be a new one.

So what had happened? Obviously a virus had slipped through the Norton Anti-Virus protection, but it was caught by Avast! How had that happened? All I can figure is that Norton was not up-to-date with its virus definition. I don't know if that is true, but usually Norton updates its definitions once a week, while Avast! does it on the average of 4-5 times a week.

Again, I don't know if any of this true, but whatever happened, I am certainly impressed with Avast!. I also recently read that Norton is a system's resource hog and will slow down all but the fastest computer.

I think I am very close to making my final decision now. Any guesses as to which I will choose?

Internet Explorer Flaws Just Got Very Serious

A security company is warning all of us that three unpatched flaws in Internet Explorer now pose a very high danger. Their emergency warning comes after code to exploit one of the issues was published to the Internet.

The company, Secunia, has raised its rating of the vulnerabilities in Microsoft's browser to "extremely critical," its highest rating. The flaws, which affect IE 6, could enable attackers to place and execute programs such as spyware and pornography dialers on victims' computers without their knowledge. Exploit code for one of the vulnerabilities, a flaw in an HTML Help control, was published on the Internet on Dec. 21.

The exploit code can be used to attack computers running Windows XP even if Microsoft's Service Pack 2 patch has been installed. The company is advising people to disable IE's Active X support as a preventative measure, until Microsoft develops a patch for the problem. It also suggests using another browser product.

According to Secunia, Microsoft has known about these flaws for three months, but has not issued a security fix yet. Microsoft said it is investigating the public reports of the exploit, adding that the delay in fixing the IE patch was related to the extensive work needed to produce an effective patch.

Secunia offers users the ability to conduct an online test of their systems to see if they are vulnerable. But it just might be time for you to change browsers.

Laughing At and Learning with Bill Gates

First...a good laugh filled with ironic truths:

According to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, 5 percent of Windows machines crash, on average, twice daily. If that is true, it would only a matter of time before Gates found himself standing before an audience of thousands with the infamous Blue Screen of Death behind him. And that's exactly what happened on Wednesday.

In his annual keynote address at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Gates re-iterated Microsoft's ambitious vision of digital entertainment, in a presentation filled with technical gaffes ranging from a frozen digital-photo slideshow to the aforementioned Blue Screen of Death. Gates, it should be noted, handled the errors particularly well, graciously suffering the quips of celebrity guest Conan O'Brien, with whom he shared the stage.

"I don't know who's running things here," O'Brien joked during Gates' ill-starred slide show. "Who's in charge of Microsoft?" he asked, looking at Gates. "Oh."

Now...Part Two...Learning where Microsoft is headed:

Here is an interesting interview with Bill Gates done just before his keynote address. I always find it interesting to listen to what the main man has to say. Enjoy.

How is Your Cell Phone Service?

Most of you who read this web log probably have cell phones. Susan and I each have our own cell phones. So, how do you feel about your cell phone service and your provider?

Recently, a nation-wide survey was conducted that asked the same question. I thought you might be interested in the results...and rather than have you read my abbreviated version of the story, I will just let you read the whole thing yourself. Go to:

http://news.com.com/Consumers:+Cell+phone+service+still+stinks/2100-1039_3-5512458.html?

The Best TV is Yet to Come

If you have been to Best Buy or some other store where they have a massive display of HDTV's you had to be impressed with the$5,000-$8,000 plasma HDTV's. They are an absolute knockout!! I still dream of watching an NFL game on one of these babies in my den(my art is selling well, but not that well).

Well guess what? A better quality TV is under development...and it will be cheaper than plasma. Several companies are working to perfect the technology behind a new type of flat-panel display that will use diamonds or carbon nanotubes, two forms of pure carbon, to produce images. Theoretically, these "field effect displays," or FEDs, will consume less energy than plasma or liquid crystal display (LCD) TV's, deliver a better picture and even cost less.

Electronics giant Samsung has already produced a prototype of a TV-size display made with CNI's nanotubes. Televisions based on the new screens will nudge onto shelves in late 2006. Meanwhile, Advance Nanotech is developing a similar panel that relies on specially doped diamond dust. The company hopes to have working prototypes in 18 months to two years.

Even though prices falling on HDTV's, it still might be worth waiting for these carbon-based TV's to come into the market.

Microsoft's Free Anti-Spyware Software

As mentioned in a previous web log entry last month, Microsoft plans to offer its new anti-spyware software for free. Beginning today, ordinary folks like you and me can go to their web site and download the package. By the way, its official name is, "Microsoft Windows Anti-Spyware." To get the software, go to:

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

As for me, I am in sort of an anti-Microsoft mood (more on that in a future blog), so I am sticking with "Spybot-Search and Destroy."

Speeding Up Your Windows

I found this great article on Cnet this week about how to speed up your Windows XP computer. Some of the tips listed here also apply to other Windows Operating Systems. It is worth a read. Go to:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10165_7-5554402-1.html?

And while we are talking about speeding up your Windows, have you ever cleaned out your registry files? Gosh, I hope not because unless you really know what your are doing, you shouldn't even consider fooling with your registry.

Like a lot of things that Microsoft touches, it doesn't do a good job of self cleaning the registry and over time, improper and un-removed lines in the registry will pile up as you add and remove programs. After a while your registry becomes a complete mess, causing errors, sluggishness, and even crashes.

What is the solution? Get yourself a utility program that will look for unneeded lines and remove them safely for you. There are a few out there, but I recently found one for free that does a great job. It is called RegScrubXP and it is made by Lexun Freeware. I have used it on both an XP-based computer and a Windows 2000 computer with no problems. To get a copy for yourself at:

http://www.lexundesigns.com/LexunFreeware/

TV - When and Where You Want It

TiVo has rolled out its TiVoToGo, a service that allows subscribers to transfer television programs from their TiVo box to a PC or laptop...as long as the shows are not specially tagged with copy restrictions. This means that TiVo, who originally pioneered digital video recording as a new way of watching television, now offers TV both when and where you want it.

In the near future, users also will be able to copy shows onto a DVD, although it is not clear when this additional service will be added.

Digital video recorders let viewers record TV shows onto hard disks, fast-forward through commercials and pause live broadcasts. TiVo subscribers account for about a third of the estimated 6.5 million of the nation's households that have DVRs.

For TiVo, which faces ever-increasing competition from the cable industry, the new service could be an ace in the hole...one that taps into a consumer market accustomed to transferring music to portable digital players and expects the same flexibility with other forms of entertainment. According to the company, about 50 percent of consumers are interested in watching recorded TV shows when they're on the road.

TiVoToGo will be an automatic, free service upgrade for subscribers who own standalone Series2 TiVo DVRs. It will not work for subscribers owning DirecTV-TiVo satellite boxes. Also, the technology will work only with computers based on Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP or 2000 operating systems, although a version for Macintosh computers is planned, according to the company.

Friends who have TiVo or some other digital video recording system like those offer for DISH satellite receivers, tell me it has changed the way they watch TV for the better. I believe them, especially the part of skipping the obnoxious commercials that plague our sets these days.

Free Wireless at Las Vegas Airport

Are you heading for Las Vegas in the future? Well, you should know that you can now connect to the Internet with your laptop for free when you are in the Las Vegas Airport. The McCarran Airport, which is among the 15 busiest airports in the world, is the first of these large airports to offer the service at no cost to travelers.

There are several regional airports around the country that offer the free service, such as my local airport in Moses Lake. However, the big ones all charge a fee to use their wireless services.

Several wireless hot-spot providers such as Wayport Inc. and T-Mobile U.S.A. Inc. offer Wi-Fi at multiple airports. Customers have a range of payment options ranging from $6 to $10 for a single connection to $30 to $50 per month for frequent fliers, depending on the contract agreement.

Actually, Las Vegas did consider ways to charge customers for using their wireless, but airport officials said they could not find any revenue models that seemed fair to passengers.