The Learning Page

Page 11

As stated on the preceeding page, I just got through a teaching/learning experience by giving a course on computer basics to a group of students here on Manitoulin through Cambrian College.
I have to admit that it was my first time at the front of a classroom other than years and years ago when Christian Brothers called me up to the front of the class for a demonstration of corporal punishment. It was rather refreshing not having to bend over and have a goaltenders hockey stick applied to my bottomside.

So, .......to continue on...

Spyware Terminator:

This is probably my best find in many months and it comes highly recommended. Read the reviews below - there are many more out there, I've only indicated three.

This anti-malware program has it all and when run in concert with Spybot and Adaware, your system should be free of spyware.

You can download it here. I recommend that you refrain from using the toolbar available with it.

http://www.net-security.org/

Spyware Terminator is an effective anti malware application. It sports a number of great functions you cannot find within its competitors and I must say that the application itself is fantastic.

Almost every aspect of it worked flawlessly, the user interface looks great, if only the developers removed the Crawler toolbar out of the picture it would be perfect. The application is free and I understand that the toolbar probably provides some kind of a revenue stream, but "silently" installing it with a security application is surely not a good step.

Read the complete review below.
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http://maximillianx.blogspot.com - Confessions of a Freeware Junkie Blog

I don't know about you, but when I hear the names of any of the anti-spyware programs out there, I cringe. Especially if the name includes the word 'Spyware' in it. Seems odd, I know - the reason is that a lot of malware will advertise themselves as an anti-spyware tool, con you into installing it, then it turns out to be adware, or much, much, worse.

When I first heard the name 'Spyware Terminator', I had that same familiar reaction, but then saw it mentioned on some very reputable sites. So, I had to check it out.

Read the complete review below.
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http://www.webuser.co.uk/ - UK Internet Magazine:

Spyware Terminator was one of the few packages to spot all our malicious programs, both with its real-time protection and file scanner. On top of this it offers an easy-to-use interface and provided meaningful, yet unobtrusive, warnings and alerts.

Even before testing we had high hopes, as Terminator has a good range of features. Real-time protection is a key element, with tasks, start-up and services all monitored. It offers specific Internet Explorer protection, covering the places spyware developers most like to exploit, such as toolbars. Full-scan times, while not amazingly quick, were certainly better than some of the other scanners.

The real-time protection system either spotted and warned, or blocked entirely, the malicious programs, toolbars and website exploits we ran past it. Similarly it spotted those pre-installed with its file scanner, helping protect you from existing or future attacks. It can also install a web filter, which will block known malicious sites and, if you use the built-in search engine, provides site ratings. While it's hard to evaluate its total effectiveness against all threats, Terminator offers comprehensive protection and keeps you well informed of potential problems.

Read the net-security.org review.

Read the maximillianx.blogspot.com review.

Digital Photographs:

You bought a great digital camera but every time you send a pic in an e-mail to a friend, the friend squacks that it took him half an hour to download the attachment.

What's the deal with that?
Okay Einstein, have a good look on that new camera of yours. Somewhere, depending on make and model, you'll find a setting that dictates how many pics you can take in such 'n such setting. The setting that allows the least number of pics that can be taken is for - you guessed it, pictures you intend to print and put up on the wall. The file size of that type of picture will be enormous.

At the other end of the spectrum, the setting that allows the most number of pics, thus - the smallest file sizes, is intended for the type of pic you may wish to attach in an e-mail.

But before you download your pics to your pc and start sending everybody pics of your recent trip to Thailand, you might want to take a few more steps.

Download the pics to a folder of your choice on your pc.
View the pics and delete any crappy looking pics that you'd prefer nobody see.
In Windows Explorer, set your View to Details and check out the file sizes of your pics.
Determine which pics you wish to attach to e-mails.
Using Irfanview you can crop, resize, colorize, and God knows what else to these pics until you have them looking like something. Irfanview is freeware and a fantastic ware.
When doing the above, save these "new" files in the format of your choice (jpg is always good) and then check out their file size in Windows Explorer.
If the file size is still too large to send in the mail, put them through Irfanview again and increase the compression (look for a sliding bar that dictates the compression when saving).
Check file sizes again and now it is probably safe to attach these jewels to your e-mails.

For a better understanding of how compression works, go to this article by How Stuff Works and see a picture at various compression rates - you'll see how the quality of the pic deteriorates the more the file is compressed. Also, the file size goes down.
It will be up to you to experiment and find the setting that works best for you. And don't let that article tempt you into buying Paint Shop Pro - why spend good money when Irfanview does just as good a job!
If you are gonna be sending a gaggle of pics all in one e-mail, you had better find yourself a compression/zipping tool so you can squeeze all the pics into one file whose size will be a lot smaller than the sum total of all the pics you wish to send. You can grab a free one over at Pricelessware.

Special Note:
If your wife is between the ages of 25 to 45 and in reasonably good health, I would appreciate you send me any pool-side photos where she is wearing a bikini or revealing dress. I'm really only interested in making sure you have your camera settings correct and not making a fool of yourself to George and Mildred. Uh... I cannot return photos, I should point out.

Want To Really Impress Uncle George?:

The above post tells you about attaching small-sized pics to e-mails, but if you are willing to spend a bit of time and effort you can really impress Uncle George and Aunt Mildred by creating a slideshow of your pics on a cd.

When you do it this way, file size is not really all that important as cd's allow for up to 700 megs of data. You'd have a hard time of filling that unless you really went bananas taking pics in Thailand. Of course, you might want to resize your pics anyway to a width of 900 or so just so they display nicely on Uncle George's monitor.

There are many freewares that can build a slideshow for you. You might want to try FastStone.

So get started burning that cd and pop it in the mail - your relatives will think you are a genius.

Rootkits - Something Else To Worry About:

Rootkits are a type of stealth malware that is often "dropped" or buried by other computer infections. The buried rootkits then modify the Operating System of the infected PC to hide themselves from both the user and their PC's security products. By doing this, and evading detection, rootkits can gain total power over the PC allowing criminals to remotely monitor, record, modify, steal and transfer any information entered or stored on it.

Derby, England (PRWEB) December 12, 2007 - Prevx , leaders in Automated Malware Research, today announced that updated statistics collected by its Prevx CSI spotlight a growing concern in both the number of infected PCs and those harboring silent rootkit infections - so called Stealth Malware - the worst possible form of malicious software. The Prevx CSI Scanner, in use by over 725,000 PCs during the past two months shows that increasing numbers are falling prey to rootkit infections. Rootkits are a major concern because while a user believes his or her computer is "clean" from infection and continues to use it, he or she is exposing more and more information to criminals who can use this type of malware to gather personal information across the web, often as it is being entered. Information is fast becoming the new currency of the cyber criminal and rootkits are stealing it often without any trace.

Prevx claims both detection and removal of rootkits are �well beyond the capabilities of traditional antivirus, anti-spyware and so called internet security suites.� Whether or not this is just a fear-based marketing strategy to sell more software is up to debate. In any case, a free version of the company�s scanning application can be found here.

Big Brother Is Watching:

We live in a very different world these days and you have to be very careful what you say and who you say it to.

While surfing the net the other day I came across a graphic that caught my attention. A good web designer uses these sort of strategies to hook the reader. The graphic is presented here.

Clicking that graphic will lead you to another site that gets into the nitty gritty of what "the boyz' in Washington are doing.

Unless you've been living under a rock for several years, none of this is really news. America has been fighting a war on drugs for years. They're also at war with terrorism and anybody who has ever visited New York City and seen the changing skyline will tell you that certain steps have to be taken.

I have a security background having worked for the Canadian agency that used to spy on Mother Russia during the Cold War so I have no problem with surveilance where necessary and being a web designer I also see the need for security to protect our data and resources.

My Best Advice:

Attend church regularly and pray a lot.
Keep your virus def's updated.
Don't believe everything you read on the internet. ~~especially stuff I write~~
Avoid demonstrations where police are videotaping the crowd. ~~video makes you look a lot heavier than you really are~~
Do everything possible to avoid being caught in a house of ill repute.
Wash your hands often and especially after you pee.
Do not attend baseball games - these guys use steroids.
Bend your knees when lifting heavy objects. ~~do what I do and try to avoid any kind of physical labour~~

Go ahead and call me two-faced - okay, so I don't go to church regularly. Everything else listed there are things I hold dear. And yes, I wash my hands well after I pee and no - I've never been caught in a police raid. Close on a few occasions, but that don't count.

See Naples And Die:

To coin an old phrase, the post was titled "See Naple And Die". And there are several ways you can see it:

Dig deep into your pockets and buy yourself that vacation.
Use Microsoft Virtual Earth online.
Download Google Earth.

If you choose the first option, you'll probably die when the MasterCard bill comes in the mail. But if you want to plan your vacation or just snoop about to get to know foreign lands better, visit What Travel Writers Say, a site I webmaster.

This is getting too long, eh.

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" in my dreams "

I would've had this company do a web page, but Marie wasn't too keen on it. Go ahead and call me henpecked. You weren't the guy who had to sleep with her.

We could have wiped out the Nazis in eight weeks if only we had this guy in our IT department.

I asked him but he had the idea that I was connected to a porn site.

Tony Curtis was hot, but I would never had sung to the President if this guy was born twenty years earlier. I bet I'd still be alive too!
Yes, it's true I sleep very soundly and when I do I am prone to talking with dead people and sponges. Don't let that scare you away - you can depend on a well-designed website and it is guaranteed not to be spooky.

I'm just a cartoon character from Day by Day but I know a ~~whiner~~ winner when I see one. Visit us on our web page.

And Please... If it's past your bedtime and you can't sleep, please think of your good friends around the world who just may or may not be in bed.

Being Indispensable
Sometime, when you are feeling important,
Sometime, when your ego's in full bloom,
Sometime, when you take it for granted,
You're the only qualified one in the room...
Sometime, when you feel that your going,
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these few simple instructions
And see how it humbles your soul.
Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up tio your wrist,
Pull it out, and the hole that is remaining,
Is the measure of how you'll be missed!
You may splash all you please when you enter,
You can stir up the water galore ~
But stop and you'll find in a minute, That it looks quite the same as before.
The moral of this quaint observation,
Is to do the very best that you can,
Be proud of yourself, but remember,
There is only one indispensable man.

This above Is Dedicatated To The Memory Of Correctional Sergeant Hal Burchfield
12/16/47 - 6/8/85
Killed In The Line Of Duty
San Quentin State Prison, California Department of Corrections

Dang,

Looks like I gotta find some content to fill this thing up more...

'You know Bert, that POKO sure is opinionated !'