Page 8

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 Removal:

One of my best defences against spyware is an app called SpyBot: Search and Destroy and it is totally free. It has been around for some time and most experienced computer users use and recommend it.

I found a well done review of Spybot on a website I frequent and it would be a good one to read.

System Restore:

System Restore is a feature built into Windows XP that enables the user to recover from many a disaster. While system restore automatically creates a restore point at a given time each day, if your PC is not switched on at that given time then the system restore cannot be created; therefore, it is necessary for you to have to wait for the next scheduled restore file creation point.
While installing most software applications will automatically trigger a system restore point, it is advisable that you are aware of System Restore's capabilities. Having said that, you should be aware that System Restore is probably best left alone to use as a final resort in troubleshooting problems you have with your computer.

System Restore changes many files and registry entries, and in some cases might replace more files than you want restored.

So, as you can see, System Restore is something best left to experienced users and certainly not something a newbie like yourself should do.

For experienced users, System Restore is available through your Start Button
Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/System Restore

An excellent description of System Restore can be found at Windows XP System Restore Is Easy to Use.

Picture Gone Reddish on Your Monitor?:

Something that I just came across was my monitor going a reddish hue. I thought my graphics card was starting to go south.

Pictured here are examples of the types of connectors plugged into the back of your computer. It uses a male/female approach. Little pins go into the appropriate little holes making the connection needed and if you do not have a good connection then your monitor does not produce all the colours it is supposed to display.
I had disconnected my connections while doing a bit of some very necessary housekeeping and when I reconnected the 'puter I failed to secure the port connector completely. Later, I adjusted the position of my tower and the connector became slightly unattached.
Ergo - my monitor displayed a reddish hue.

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer:

Before I went to bed in the wee hours of the morning today I was visiting Microsoft's Download Centre reading about Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer v2.0.1 as I had seen it referenced on a tech site I previously visited. It had noted that MBSA was an often forgotten utility not taken advantage of by many computer users and well worth investigating.
Coincidentally, as I was reading my favourite newsgroup (alt.comp.freeware) this morning, one of the posts mentionned MBSA and I thought to myself I'd install this thing and give it a try - I'm glad I did, so thanks Frank Bohan for pushing me the extra bit I needed to do this.

As it turned out the security report it produced advised me that I, in fact, was NOT up to date with my Windows Updates. This seemed strange as I have updates set to download automatically. Nevertheless, I downloaded and installed two fixes put out by Microsoft to get my machine up to date.
In all fairness to Microsoft, these updates may have fallen into the "optional variey", not the critical updates and I may have overlooked them.

Click For Larger Image

So yes - I do recommend you give this one a try. It checks other features besides Windows Updates and you might find it handy in resolving any troubleshooting concerns you may run into.
You may download the program from FileHippo - 1.26 megs. Simply install it and run it to produce a security report on your system.

Another System Analyzer:

Best that I mention another system analysis tool - this one you run on-line. It is called PC Pitstop Optimizer and has been around for a considerable length of time. It too comes fully recommended by myself and others.
Note that you will find more than one on-line scan available there - run them all!

Be Careful Out There:

When I taught the computer newbie course I told the students that the internet could be a very dangerous place. I also told them that their young children should only use a computer in a common family room, not their bedroom as supervision was critical.

And I previously posted here that you should not subscribe to FaceBook. Well, the same could be said for MySpace or any of the social web portals that seem to attract youngsters.

What follows is from a newspaper column written Dec 8th - it could have involved your kid:

Orlando Sentinel

Hacker gets 110 years for threats on MySpace

A 33-year-old North Carolina man sentenced Friday to 110 years in prison used "tools of terror" to hack into the computers of Brevard County girls and extort nude pictures from them, an assistant U.S. attorney said.

Ivory Dickerson, a civil engineer, gained remote access to their computers, giving him the ability to type words onto their screens. He was arrested last December after girls at Rockledge High School told authorities their MySpace profiles had been hacked into and the person on the other end was demanding revealing and pornographic images.

He threatened to harm their family members, post nude pictures of them on the Web and, in one case, make a 17-year-old "the most well known girl at school" if they didn't do what he said, according to court records.

One victim, who was 15 at the time of the incident, told U.S. District Court Judge Anne Conway during Friday's sentencing hearing that she felt as though the computer intruder was watching her every move.

"I was afraid to walk outside because I didn't know if it was the neighbor," the girl said.

The victim's father called it a "living hell."

"The whole thing has turned our life upside down," the man said. His name is being withheld to protect the identity of his daughter.

Members of Dickerson's family in North Carolina also spoke, calling him a fair and honest person with many achievements, including being named "outstanding student" at his community college. They said Dickerson had a knack for making 
people laugh and that they would stand by him.

"I hate for this mistake to define the bigger picture of who he is," said his mother, Carmen Wake.

Dickerson's attorney, Harrison "Butch" Slaughter, urged a sentence that would give "light at the end of the tunnel."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg told the court that Dickerson used his computer-hacking skills -- "tools of terror," he called them -- to do evil.

While investigating the hacking case, the local FBI Innocent Images Task Force uncovered a cache of child pornography dating to 1998 and videos of Dickerson with young girls, thought to be about 15 years old. In the video, Dickerson boasts of drinking with them in his room and having sexual encounters with them, according to court records.

Conway handed Dickerson the maximum sentence on three counts of manufacturing child pornography, two counts of unlawful computer intrusion and one count of possession of child pornography. He pleaded guilty earlier this year.

Dickerson apologized but insisted that an unnamed co-conspirator was the one responsible for having direct contact with the girls.

"I would never have taunted those girls," he said.

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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 !'