Watch out Mac Users - Hackers Have You In Their Sights

Image via Wikipedia

If you haven’t heard the Black Hat security conference is going on in Las Vegas. This conference attracts many hackers along with 4000 security professionals.

We’ve all heard that Macs are immune from attacks or viruses. But let’s face it .. nothing that is written in code completely locks hackers out. To error is human and humans are programmers. Meaning there are always holes in software code if you take the time to really look for them. Also, Macs operating systems have far more code than Windows, which leads to more vulnerabilities and bugs that hackers can exploit.

This year security experts have identified at least three viruses affecting Macs over the past year:

The most sophisticated of them is spread via pirated versions of Apple iWorks software, which allows cybercriminals to take complete control of an infected Mac.

Another virus, OSXPuper a, is spread when a user enters an infected website and downloads what they believe is a video player. In reality they’re downloading malicious software that can subsequently download other types of viruses.

On Wednesday a technique that works on previously victimized machines, called “Machiavelli”, steals encrypted data from a user’s bank accounts.

Expect the number of viruses, worms, and exploits to increase as hackers start to focus more on Macs.

Wi-Fi Basics You Should Know

Image via Wikipedia

If your PC or Laptop has a wireless WI-FI network you need to make sure your wireless router is secure. An easy way to access your router setting page is by entering its IP address into a browser.

1. Change the router's name
   Using the default name leaves you open for hackers
2. Change the admin password
   The default admin passwords for every router is easily available to anyone with the desire to know it
3. Activate the router's encryption
   Be sure to use WPA encryption instead of WFP because its more secure
   

If you want to use someone elses Wi-Fi here's a couple tricks:

1. Check the list of listed routers for those still using the factory-default router name, like 'linksys' or 'belkin' since these are most likely not to be encrypted or poorly protected.
2. If they are encrypted, try common default passwords such as 'admin' 'password' or the name of the router.

See why it's so important to make those simple changes on your router settings? It's so easy to tap into someone elses wireless connection.

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CATS: Who's in Control?

Image by Kevin via Flickr

I came across this study that wondered if cats trained their owners to respond to various meows.

The study gave microphones to cat owners to record the sounds their cat made when they were seeking food and when they were not. Then compared the sounds. These cats all made the same distinct manipulative 'purr-cry' sound when they wanted their owners to respond.

Previous studies have found similarities between a domestic cat's cry and the cry of a human baby - a sound that humans are highly sensitive to.

Cats learn to dramatically exaggerate this purr-embeded high-pitched cry when it proves effective in generating a response from humans. Now this doesn't work on all humans. But often develop in cats that have a one-on-one relationship with their owners rather than those living in large households.

So the next time your tend to your kitty when he starts to purr & cry.. remember.. he's got you trained.

The results were published in the July 14 issue of the journal Current Biology.

WARNING: New Microsoft Video ActiveX computer security hole

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Is your PC running XP or Windows Server 2003? If you are your vulnerable to hackers that via hacked websites are allowed to remotely take control of your computer. You don't have to do a thing except visit one of the thousand sites!

The vulnerability stems from the way the IE software allows videos to be played. From what I understand, this has been going on for over a week now.

Microsoft urged vulnerable users to disable the problematic part of its software, which can be done from Microsoft's Web site, while the company works on a "patch" — or software fix — for the problem.

Microsoft rarely departs from its practice of issuing security updates the second Tuesday of each month. When the Redmond, Wash.-based company does issue security reminders at other times, it's because the vulnerabilities are very serious.

To implement the workaround that disables the Microsoft Video ActiveX Control automatically on a computer that is running Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 go to http://support.microsoft.com/kb/972890#FixItForMe and click on the Microsoft FIX IT button.

Or, To fix this problem yourself, follow the instructions under Workarounds in the Suggested Actions section of http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/972890.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/advisory/972890.mspx) .

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Men Care About Their Belly More Than We Think

In the past men have been comfortable with their beer bellies. But not any more. Now, men and boys are under huge pressures to look good. Men have become subject to the same unhealthy unrealistic physical expectations that woman have been for decades. It's often actors, models and celebrities who are blamed for putting pressure on the rest of us to look slim and muscular.

Seven in 10 men were worried about baring their body, with 47% most concerned about revealing their stomachs.

Nearly half of men are worried about baring their stomachs on the beach, and one in three has considered avoiding a beach holiday altogether because of how they look in their swimming trunks.

Three-quarters of men get just as nervous as women do when it comes to slipping on the swimwear. The men deploy a number of tactics to cover up in the heat, with nearly a quarter wearing shorts or a T-shirt even in the sea, 40% dieting and around a third stripping off only when in the water.

More than three-quarters of men were jealous of toned, athletic men they spotted on the beach. A third said they were most worried about how they look to the opposite sex, compared with just 13% who worried about what other men would think.

Considering us women do notice your bodies, almost as much as you men notice ours, it's good that you guys finally want to do something about it. Not to mention the fact that four out of five men with beer bellies could die prematurely from heart attack, cancer, or high blood pressure. Makes me want to visit the beach ;)

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Video Calls on Your Cell Phone

Image via CrunchBase

I keep waiting for iPhone to add video chat to phone calls. Video chat has been available for many years on applications like Windows Yahoo & AOL IM, Skype, and Netmeeting. Beemer also created a device you attached to your landline that enables video chat calls. So the technology is not impossible. So I ask.. Why hasn't it been done on the single most logical platform for video chat.. the mobile phone?!

Techradar.com in their "12 high technologies that failed- and why" article tries their best to provide an answer:

• Mobile video chat
  
  In the UK and US, video chat over a smartphone is still a distant dream. Part of the problem is bandwidth – there just isn't enough of it for two-way video. Part of the issue is ease of use: it should be as quick to place a video call as one where you only use your voice.
  "Vendors didn't realise that the problems were more behavioural than technical and didn't approach the market properly," says tech analysts Enderle. Maybe Apple can turn this one around?

So they say it's a bandwith problem. ok, this I can understand. Also, AT&T is already chinzy with airtime. Lots of apps for the iPhone are denied access to their 3G service, leaving WiFi access limited to availability around each user. But the ease of use issue is BS to me. Users have no problem easily using video chat in other platforms. It's extremely easy to use once set up.

I think if enough people demand video chat on their cell phones providers will break down and provide the service.

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Older technology not so easy for today's youth

I read a blog about a 13 yr old boy who traded his iPod in for a Sony Walkman to commemorate the device's 30th anniversary. It took the boy three days to figure out there was music on the other side of the cassette tape and couldn't believe people actually used a device that held such a limited amount of low quality sounding music compared to what people use today.

Technology has changed drastically over the years. I still remember when 8-track players were common place in cars and quadrophonic was the latest & greatest in home stereo systems.. and yes.. home stereo systems had turntables. Now I can't think of life without DVD's, computers, iPhones. OMG! Nobody had cell phones when I was a teen. We had to rely on PayPhones (something you rarely see today..but you can find them in old movies).

But back to that 13 yr old boy's experience with older technology and a similar experience in my family. I have a clunky portable cassette player near my bird cage that I use to play "teach your bird to talk" cassettes tapes. One day I asked my youngest son (18 yr old) to start it for me. He had no clue how to turn the cassette tape over and make it play. I had to go over and explain how the player worked.. which really surprised me! Wonder how he would react to an 8-track player.

How can a generation in such a technical age be so perplexed when it comes to older, less advanced technology, while computers and other high tech devices come naturally?

The blog "Walkman, at 30, a mystery to teen" can be found at http://www.sfgate.com

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Need an Alarm Clock? Maybe a Second Alarm?

Funny video, but seriously... If your alarm just isn't getting you out of bed like it used to, you might want to consider a back-up alarm from Kuku Klok .

This alarm clock works like any other. You set the time and choose one of 4 interesting sounds (rooster, electric guitar, electronic sound, military trumpet or classic alarm). Don't worry about an internet connection, it's a flash script so it doesn't need the internet to work.

Enjoy!

Is your Username or Vanity URL taken?

Would you like to check to see if your desired username or vanity url is still available at dozens of popular Social Networking and Social Bookmarking websites... without spending all day?

Then you might want to check out namechk .

Simply type in a desired username and it checks availability on sites like Facebook, Flickr, Blogger, Bebo, Blimp.fm, Friendfeed, MySpace, Tribe, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. (122 sites in all) and display whether the username is taken or available.

Top 10 Grossest Things in Your House

By the Science Channel via MSN Encarta

9. Your sheets
Did you know that you shed as many as 1.5 million skin flakes every hour? And do you know what really like skin flakes? Dust mites. That’s right, the disgusting, dead-skin eating, allergen-causing bugs are all over your bedding. And if that's not bad enough, you know what's also possibly a bedfellow? Fecal bacteria. Thinking that you’d better go home and wash your sheets, like, NOW? Well, be careful: you might want to leave out your underwear. The washing machine itself can be a source of the above-mentioned fecal bacteria (from underwear and towels) and those germs can and will survive detergent, cold water and a dryer’s heat. To be safe, you can bleach the hell out of everything, scald it in hot water, dry it in the UV-rich rays of the sun and wash your underwear separately from your sheets and towels. You can also invest in some silver or copper or bamboo-infused anti-bacterial sheets.

8. Your toothbrush
Ick. It’s probably not what you wanted to hear, but your toothbrush (and anything else left out in your bathroom) may be really, really disgusting. The reason? That foul beast living next door to your toothbrush. That’s right, it’s your toilet. If you don’t close the lid when you flush, you can actually aerosolize all the filth (including fecal bacteria) that lurks in the ceramic monster. And a toothbrush, with its moist, bacteria-friendly environment and plenty of microbe-ready hiding spots in between its bristles, might be the home of a bacterium’s dreams. Please, just close the lid. Is it that hard to do?

7. Your drain
Drains are gross. Hey, there's a reason plumbers cost so much. Some parts of your home, like drains, just act like giant incubators, as reservoirs for ick. But what about drain bugs? It turns out your drains may not be quite as disgusting as you think. Most bathroom bugs enter through cracks, crevices and doors. They end up in bathtubs and kitchen sinks only because they get trapped and can't climb out. Or, maybe because they smell that disgusting, rotting food that’s trapped in your kitchen drain or (eek) garbage disposal. Might make sense to give that a good scrub -- and make sure you use some bleach while you're at it.

6. Your refrigerator
The whole intention of a refrigerator is to prevent grossness (in the form of spoilage and decay) ... so why does yours sometimes smell so foul? We all let things go and cold temperatures don't actually stop the spread of mold, bacteria and the like; they just slow them, since microbes move and reproduce a whole lot slower in the cold. And, by the way, mold likes to move. So if you have some moldy strawberries in your fridge, there are probably mold spores floating around in the air, ready to land on whatever else you put in there. Now you know why plastic wrap is such a good idea.

5. Your garbage pail
So, it makes sense, right? All the food scraps that you don't eat wind up in your trash. If you had wanted this stuff to stay fresh so you could eat it, you would have put it in the fridge, but you didn't. At room temperature and with plenty of organic material to chomp through, bacteria and fungi thrive and your trash bin starts to stink. Spoilage is, in essence, microbe-caused decomposition and everyone knows that garbage pails are full of spoiled food. So, thanks to those microbes, your trash now also contains a lot of sliminess and smelliness. Not to mention a whole lotta life forms.

4. Your loofah or washcloth or sponge
You need water to live, right? Well, so do bacteria and viruses. Microbes generally like humid environments. They also tend to like to hide from the deadly UV rays in light. So what stays wet and has lots of little cavities that get nice and shady and dark? Why, it's that sponge in your kitchen sink or the loofah in your shower. Don't freak out too much. Much of the life growing in that loofah has ancestral roots on your own body, so you're pretty well acclimated. In fact, some of it may be of the "good" kind of flora and fauna, the kind that fight off the bad guys and give your immune system a helping hand from time to time. Still, a single bacteria cell can multiple into an army of a billion overnight, so maybe it's time to buy a new kitchen sponge, huh?

3. Your vacuum cleaner (and bag)
Your carpet is a perfect home for a lot of nasty stuff. Wet shoes drag in moisture and dirt, spills lead to mildew and mold, bacteria breeds in the dark recesses. Carpets, particularly those of the wall-to-wall variety, can be pretty nasty: as many as 200,000 bacteria can lurk per square inch (remember that the next time you lie down on a rug). And where does it all go? Either in your vacuum's bag or out its exhaust. You throw that bag out, right? But what about the vacuum cleaner's brush? Do you ever clean that? One study found mold, bacteria and fecal matter in those brushes. Ick. What can you do? Well, you can clean the brush, invest in a vacuum with a HEPA filter, or maybe even attack things head-on with a new vacuum that zaps all your filth with UV light right when it enters the brushes. Who knew vacuums were so high-tech?

2. Your toilet
OK, it's kind of a no-brainer: your toilet is disgusting ... but not as disgusting as it could be. At least it gets washed out with every flush. Still, everything that goes in there is really gross, and as a repository for pretty much all the fecal matter in your house, it really isn't the cleanest surface. And what about the infamous toilet seat? Should you sit on it? Look, you probably wouldn't want to lick it, but a toilet seat is far from the dirtiest thing out there. If your immune system is relatively healthy, you probably won't have to worry about any STDs, common colds or hepatitis viruses that may be lurking. When it comes down to it, your own skin is pretty good at keeping you safe.

1. You
At the end of the day, YOU are pretty disgusting. Your body is home to a wide array of microbes, from bacteria and viruses to (perhaps even) bugs and parasites. There are 10 times as many bacterial cells as human cells in the ecosystem that is your body -- and as many as 182 different species of bacteria live on your skin alone. Yep, if you're looking for the biggest source of grossness in your home, you need look no further than your own fingers, feet and belly button, not to mention those disease-carrying mucous membranes. Much of your own cohabitants are harmless to you, but can potentially cause problems for other humans. So, if you wanted to be supersafe, you could simply avoid all human contact. Sounds like a plan.

Do you Tweet?

Image via CrunchBase

I recently joined something called Twitter. It's a social blogging network where you and your Twitter friends keep up-to-date by answering one simple question "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?". Personally I think the question should be "WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND" because people tweet anything and everything that's currently on their mind.

I've ran across some very interesting people and made some great friends on Twitter since I signed up. I've shared thoughts, views, pictures, videos, news & blog links and amazed how much Twitter is growing every day. If you can share what's on your mind within 140 words or less, then Twitter might be right for you.

Come find out why CNN, MSNBC, FOX NEWS, CELEBRITIES and TALK SHOW HOSTS all have jumped on board. If you currently Tweet or decide to join up, add me @LORI_SF to your group.

Your USB Stick can be a mobile platform for your essential apps? You betcha!!

I love USB Sticks. They are small, convenient, and capable of holding a large amount of data. Most geeks have a handful of USB flash storage drives scattered around their home or office and everyone who owns a computer with a USB Port should own at least one. But did you know they can be used as a mobile platform for your browser, e-mail, IM client, office suite, audio player, and anti-virus apps that can be accessed, settings intact, from any computer that has a USB Port. Just think... never worry about leaving any personal data behind again when using a public or friends computer!

How you ask? I found this wonderful program called PortableApps. It's a truly open platform. Meaning it can work on a USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive, etc. and its completely FREE. No ads, no spyware, no limited or trial versions, no additional software or hardware to buy, no e-mail address to give. It's 100% free to use, free to copy and free to share. lol its almost better than chocolate. Sorry but for a female, even a female geek, nothing is better than chocolate :)

Go to http://www.portableapps.com/ and download the portable suite version that best suits your needs. Run the Installer and choose to install to the root dir of your USB drive. If you want to add more portable applications, download the app, select "Add a new app" from the menu and install. Then browse to the paf.exe file you downloaded. Your new app will automatically install to the proper location for you. How easy is that!


Consider the Possibilities...
· Carry your web browser with all your favorite bookmarks
· Carry your calendar with all your appointments
· Carry your email client with all your contacts and settings
· Carry your instant messenger and your buddy list
· Carry your whole office suite along with your documents and presentations
· Carry your antivirus program and other computer utilities
· Carry all your important passwords and account information securely

Oh.. and PortableApps comes with it's own data backup utility.

Lori_SF
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