Alphecca, by Jeff Soyer

ComputersJeff Soyer on 01 Mar 2013 06:27 am

I’d been a confirmed Mac user for many years (not the least of which because the company I worked at for 10+ years used them) and when my Mac Book (using OS X 4.9) died a couple years ago, I wasn’t happy (I expressed that here) at having to — in my words — “settle” for a Windows computer.

Well, I’m back at that company (and glad about it) but they’re still Mac based and using one with Mountain Lion has left me singularly unimpressed. Apple removed much of the customization that was previously possible. And, it’s kind of buggy.

So, with an apology to AZRon, I have to admit that I now prefer Windows 7. I’m not crazy about Windows Explorer — it still lacks many ease of use features of OS X’s Finder — but overall I’m finding Windows (believe it or not) a bit more user friendly these days.

Incidentally, I did take the advice of many of you and switched to AVAST anti-virus. It’s definitely better and faster than Norton.

I have one trepidation: From what I’ve read, Windows 8 is designed for the more mobile/touch screen users and I’m a confirmed touch typist and hot-keys user.

Hopefully MS will continue to support Windows 7 for many years to come.

ComputersJeff Soyer on 14 Jan 2013 05:14 am

Got Java?

Better fix it.

Or: Forget Oracle’s Latest Java Patch. Just Kill The Program In Your Browser For Good.

ComputersJeff Soyer on 10 Dec 2012 07:49 am

I’ve Eliminated Most Virus Risks on My Computer

For years (probably because I was using a Mac) I simply had Thunderbird retrieve my email from my gunnut account (which also aggregates all my other accounts) and download it to my computer. Since involuntarily switching to a PC (Windows 7) I continued to use Thunderbird. And every week when I ran my anti-virus program, “back door trojans” and other threats were found.

I decided to investigate a little further. All the threats seemed to be ‘housed’ in Thunderbird’s caches. So, even though I was not reading but simply deleting suspicious emails, the computer was getting infected, or at least had the viruses on the hard-drive.

A few weeks ago I decided to log directly to my Hosting Matters accounts with my browser and scan the email headers using — usually — Horde. I’d delete all spam and other suspicious stuff and only then would I use Thunderbird to bring the remaining emails down.

I haven’t (or at least the anti-virus program hasn’t) found a single threat since then.

You probably already do this but I’m a little slow on the uptake . . .

ComputersJeff Soyer on 27 Nov 2012 04:41 am

Google Helping You Find Everything

The search engine giant is researching how it can help you Google the UnGoogleable.

And yes, it’s tough to not capitalize nouns being used as verbs . . .

2012 Election and ComputersJeff Soyer on 05 Nov 2012 08:57 am

Why You Can’t Vote Online Tomorrow

Computer security and privacy isn’t all it’s cracked-up to be. From Technology Review:

The unsolved problems include the ability of malicious actors to intercept Internet communications, log in as someone else, and hack into servers to rewrite or corrupt code. While these are also big problems in e-ecommerce, if a hacker steals money, the theft can soon be discovered. A bank or store can decide whether any losses are an acceptable cost of doing business.

Voting is a different and harder problem. Lost votes aren’t acceptable. And a voting system is supposed to protect the anonymity of a person’s vote—quite unlike a banking or e-commerce transaction—while at the same time validating that it was cast accurately, in a manner that maintains records that a losing candidate will accept as valid and verified.

Imagine how a computer virus could ‘throw’ an election. It would be worse than how the Main Stream Media tries to.

Lots more at the link.

ComputersJeff Soyer on 05 Nov 2012 08:20 am

Silly Movie Computers

Wired Magazine has an expanded (with reader suggestions) version of the World’s Most Wonderfully Ridiculous Movie Computers.

ComputersJeff Soyer on 17 Oct 2012 04:51 am

Computer Viruses “Rampant” on Hospital Medical Devices

That equipment keeping a hospitalized loved one alive could very well be ill itself. From Technology Review:

The worries over possible consequences for patients were described last Thursday at a meeting of a medical-device panel . . . At the meeting, Olson described how malware at one point slowed down fetal monitors used on women with high-risk pregnancies being treated in intensive-care wards.

“It’s not unusual for those devices, for reasons we don’t fully understand, to become compromised to the point where they can’t record and track the data,” Olson said during the meeting, referring to high-risk pregnancy monitors. “Fortunately, we have a fallback model because they are high-risk [patients]. They are in an IC unit—there’s someone physically there to watch. But if they are stepping away to another patient, there is a window of time for things to go in the wrong direction.”

Read the whole thing for far more details.

Related: What a Botnet looks like.

ComputersJeff Soyer on 21 Aug 2012 05:48 pm

Re-Think Your Passwords

You have many online passwords; email, websites, Amazon, Twitter, your bank, credit card accounts, etc. If your passwords are eight characters or less, they can be cracked in 12-hours. And, don’t use simple words (pet names, etc.) for them. AND, use a different password for every single account.

Read the ARS article and start changing your passwords and habits.

ComputersJeff Soyer on 12 Mar 2012 07:08 am

Apple’s Politically Correct Spell-Checker

The latest version of Apple OS doesn’t support older versions of MS Word. Instead, Apple wants to sell you its own word processing program, Page. Over at National Review, Mona Charen discovers a gender-specific problem with it:

Pages has traits that are not immediately apparent, however. While it’s a sturdy little word processor, its true personality is not revealed until you use the proofreader — or Proofreadress, as I now think of her. Yes, she’s female all right. Seems to have been designed and programmed by the women’s-studies department of the Cupertino community college.

[ . . . ]

Apple’s language sentinel has been schooled in political correctness at the expense of English. In another column I mentioned that the collapse of marriage was “aggravating” inequality in America. Consider “irritating” or “exasperating” instead, Proofreadress advised.

No, those are words I reserve for her.

She gives a lot of examples. Page might only cost $20 dollars, but you’d be better off spending a lot more to upgrade your version of Word.

On a side note, there hasn’t been an upgrade to Open Office in quite some time. I run it on the little Toshiba netbook of mine. I wonder if Oracle is abandoning it?

ComputersJeff Soyer on 02 Jan 2012 08:31 am

Worst Passwords

As an article on Forbes points out; if your password is on THIS list, you need to change it NOW!

Computers

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