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in
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Greetings!
April Meeting Topic
Linux and Open Source-What is This?
Presented by Sal Tepedino
Our presentation for April 14th will be presented by Sal Tepedino.
Sal is a Linux programmer and an expert on all things Linux. We will
also have a presentation on Open Source Software. Did you know that
Linux and Open Source Software is generally free to use? No more paying
money to Bill G and others? The Open Source Software we will demonstrate
will operate on both Linux and Windows and is "free" to use.
We will have several copies of this software to give away. So why give
away "free" software? We save you the time and bandwidth to
download these 650 MB+ programs. Make sure you come to this informative
and exciting presentation. It's your money, you don't have to spend it.
Views From the Top 
Richard Kinkel, President
Can you believe it, another year has gone by. That is another
computer year has gone by, since the end of April starts the beginning
of the clubs fiscal year. That means that the beginning of April starts
a new calendar year and a new slate of Officer's are elected. Well the
elections have come and gone and every position has been filled. So we
all look forward to another year of club business, which includes great
programs and great SIGs.
Don't forget to come to the general meeting. You might be surprised
at the quality programs we have.
I would like to point out an important change made by your board at
the last board meeting. We decided to change the membership period from:
all memberships starting each April going through to the next April; to
a variable membership expiration so all dues are now for 12 months. So
if you pay your membership dues in February, you don't have to pay
another $15 in April. Your February membership will go through to the
next year, and you'll receive an email reminder from Bob letting you
know that your membership is up for renewal. Just come to the next
meeting and I'll explain. Or post your question on the club forum.
One more item, please support the SIGs and the club's forum. You can
go to pc3.org and get SIG dates, their different you know, or check out
the newsletter. You can get all of your computer questions answered by
going to the forum, or you can come to a general meeting and ask them
their.
See you Thursday.
Go
to the PC Club's Website
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From
the Reviewing Stand |
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| Keith
Wales, Sr.
It seems like every time you turn on your computer and check
email it is full of Spam and not the kind that comes in a can.
Almost every time you give a site on the "NET" your
email address they spread it around to all their friends who
feel that it is their job to fill up your In Box. On the surface
it seems easy to stop just don't give your email address to any
sites out there. It is hard to bid on things on E-Bay without
giving them an address.
But real culprit is nasty Spyware that you get from
just visiting some sites on the NET. These little programs imbed
themselves in your system and then send messages to many friends
to come enjoy this wonderful email address and sell you
something.
A couple of years ago my wife's computer was running very
slow opening Web pages and in general acting very sluggish.
After a program at the PCCC General Meeting on Spyware, I
downloaded and ran Spybot Search and Destroy. This is a
freeware program that had been talked about at the meeting. I
had to run it three times to get all the Bad Stuff off her
computer. After that all the performance problems went away and
I was sold on Spybot. I have run the program on both of our
computers every since. Every time I start it up it reminds me to
Update my program and every time when I do it tells me there are
NO updates. This began to bother me because I was sure that
there had to be new Spyware coming out.
So I started looking around to see what was available. I
firmly believe that there are as many Spyware Killers as there
are versions of Spyware. But one stuck out for me, Counter
Spy by Sun-Belt Software. This is a regular retail program
but they offer a FREE check of your system on their web site and
you can download a trial version that has limited capabilities.
What really got my attention was that like the common Anti-Virus
Programs this is a subscription that allows you to get updates,
automatically if you like, for 365 days. I ran the test
application and it not only found many Spywares that Spybot
failed to recognize but it also found a "Key Logger"
running on my system. That more than convinced me that this was
worth the $19.95 that they were asking to register the program
and provide 365 days of updates. The interface and the search
engine work fast and the results are easy to deal with. It will
tell you what it found and how critical the various ones are.
For very dangerous ones like the Key Logger I had it has a
quarantine function much like an Anti-Virus Program. When you
move things to the quarantine area it creates and System
Restore, in WINXP just in case of disaster. I have been very
pleased with the program so far.
I recently got an email from Microsoft talking about their
new AntiSpyware program, Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta1. I
decided to try it as well. Unlike Anti-Virus programs you can
run one, two or many Spyware Removal Tools simultaneously. In
fact in talking to other Club members it seems that running
multiple programs is a good idea. I downloaded the Microsoft
Program. I will tell you that it will ask you for your Microsoft
.Net Passport account but if you tell it I don't have one it
will go ahead anyway. This is not normal to Microsoft and it is
I feel an acknowledgement of the severity of the problem in
Microsoft's eye.
The program downloaded very quickly and set it's self up with
no hassles at all. The program offers many features from the
main switchboard. These include Running a Scan to see what is
there that should not be. Real Time Protection works like an
AntiVirus program in stopping known Spyware before they can get
on your system. The last tool set is in the Advanced and it
includes a Browser Restore, System Explorer, this one is not for
the faint of heart and then Track Eraser which does just what it
implies, it erases IE History file as well as those from Real
Player and others.
So where am I today I have all three Spyware Killers on my
computer and I run CounterSpy and Microsoft on a regular basis.
It does not matter which one I run first the other will almost
always find something else.
In conclusion here is how I rate these products.
SpyBot Seach and Destroy, a good program but I believe
because it is freeware it is a labor of love and not a business.
Counter Spy is a very easy program to run and at $19.95
for the program and 365 days of updates I feel it is good deal.
Counter Spy just recently won the PC World Best Buy Award.
Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta1 is a very full featured
program and it is free. But, it is a Beta and there is no way to
know how Microsoft will handle this program going forward, i.e.
Free or Fee.
If you have a favorite Spyware program give me a review of it
and I will gladly publish here.
The present plan for next month's review is a program called AllMyMovies.
It is a movie database program with some twists.
Copy and Paste Links from below to your Browser
CounterSpy
http://www.sunbelt-software.com/CounterSpy.cfm
SpyBot Search & Destroy
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html
Microsoft Anti-Spyware
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/default.msp x
then click on Spyware on left hand side
Contact
Editor » |
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Upcoming
Meeting Topics |
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April
Linux and Open Source Software
- May
Using your computer can sometimes seem to be a cruel
game of hide and seek. Smart Computing and The PC3 know how
you feel. So on May 12th, 2005 Amber Coffin from Smart
Computing in conjunction with the PC3 will present a
workshop to guide us through Smart Computing and put an end
to the nerve racking game of find the feature in Windows.
- June
More on Security
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Firefox
Security Fix |
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Brian
Livingston
From the Windows Secrets Newsletter (Paid Version).
Sent By Dr. Paul Reiss
1. Firefox 1.0.1 released to fix security holes
The Mozilla Foundation released on Feb. 24 Firefox 1.0.1, a
security upgrade for its wildly successful 1.0 browser. More
than 25 million people have downloaded 1.0 since its release on
Nov. 9, according to the foundation.
I immediately felt that the security improvements in Firefox
1.0.1 warranted me publishing a newsletter update. But I held
off until now because installation problems were causing severe
confusion. I found it extremely difficult to nail down the best
upgrade procedure.
Firefox 1.0's "check for updates" feature, for
example, didn't report that any Firefox updates were available
for six days after 1.0.1 became available. The foundation had
kept the feature from reporting the existence of this update
because of concern that 25 million people downloading the update
simultaneously couldn't be supported by the existing
infrastructure. This problem was apparently solved by Mar. 1,
and checking for updates now reports that 1.0.1 is ready.
Rumors had also been flying that installing 1.0.1 required
that Firefox 1.0 first be uninstalled. It's now clear that
uninstalling 1.0 is necessary only if you want to install a
".exe" version of 1.0.1 over an instance of Firefox
1.0 that you obtained in a ".zip" file. Downloading
1.0.1 and installing it on top of a 1.0 .exe setup file you
downloaded (as most people did) is fine. We've tested this and
it works without deleting any bookmarks or Firefox extensions.
I recommend that Firefox 1.0 users upgrade to 1.0.1
immediately. The new version fixes a security problem with
international domain names (IDN). The address bar can appear to
show "paypay.com," for example, by composing a domain
name of look-alike Unicode characters. Some registrars,
unfortunately, are selling Unicode domain names that look
identical to ASCII domains. Firefox 1.0.1 cures this by
displaying all Unicode in "punycode," a plain-text
equivalent. The punycode for the PayPal fake wouldn't fool
anyone: "www.xn--pypal- 4ve.com". This is a better fix
than the two workarounds we published in the paid version of the
Feb. 10 and 24 newsletters.
Firefox 1.0.1 also closes 16 other bugs, some of them
potentially serious security weaknesses. This update is a good
one to have.
Here, therefore, are the steps I recommend for this upgrade:
1. Read the Firefox 1.0.1 release-notes page carefully to see
if any issues affect you:
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/releases/ 2. To be safe,
back up your PC, or at least make a copy of Firefox's Profiles
folder, which contains your bookmarks and other settings. The
location of the Profiles folder differs in various versions of
Windows. See the release-notes page for the exact location.
3. In Firefox 1.0, click Tools, Extensions and make a note of
any extensions you've installed. After upgrading to Firefox
1.0.1, you may need to re-enable or re-install one or more
extensions.
4. Close the Extensions window. In Firefox 1.0, click Tools,
Options, Advanced. In the Software Update section, make sure
"Periodically check for updates to Firefox" is ON.
Click the "Check Now" button. A window should open to
announce that a 1.0.1 ".exe" file is ready to
download. Download this file, which will save itself to your
Desktop and then start to install. You'll need to close any open
Firefox window when prompted to do so.
5. The download process may present you with Firefox 1.0.1 in a
language other than your preferred one (for example, en-US for
U.S. English instead of it-IT for Italian). If so, halt the
download and go to the foundation's All Downloads page, which
offers language- specific versions (note: British English is not
yet available):
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/all.html
6. If you're running the ".exe" upgrade, but you
originally installed Firefox 1.0 from a ".zip" file,
you'll need to halt the upgrade and uninstall Firefox 1.0 before
continuing. Running the ".exe" file to upgrade a
version of Firefox 1.0 you originally installed from a
".exe" file, however, doesn't require uninstalling
anything. (Some people recommend uninstalling *any* program
before you install a new version, but this seems unnecessary.)
7. After Firefox 1.0.1 is installed, make sure your bookmarks
are still intact and check that your extensions still work. If
an extension isn't certified to work with 1.0.1, Firefox may
disable it. In that case, click Tools, Extensions and try to
download a new version of the extension. (We'll print in the
Mar. 10 newsletter a way to make any Firefox 1.0 extension run
in 1.0.1, even if it hasn't been certified to run in 1.0.1 by
its developer yet.)
8. If you installed Firefox 1.0.1 over 1.0, the Add/Remove
Programs applet in your Control Panel will show two
uninstallers: one for "Mozilla Firefox (1.0)" and one
for "Mozilla Firefox (1.0.1)." Running either routine
at this point will uninstall Firefox 1.0.1. This is a known bug.
Don't run either uninstall routine unless you want to uninstall
Firefox 1.0.1.
That's it. In my opinion, the Mozilla Foundation should have
written better instructions and made the process much smoother
for Firefox users than they did. Hopefully, this will open the
foundation's eyes to the usability problems that can arise with
even a minor upgrade.
One fundamental issue with Firefox 1.x, which both Paul
Thurrott and I have written about previously, is that it doesn't
offer the kind of tools that Internet Explorer does for
deploying the browser in a corporate environment.
The best method I've seen for doing this has been described
by a Firefox user who modified the FFDeploy routine. The
procedure is explained on the independent Microsoft Software
Forum Network:
http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php? showtopic=40138&st=0&p=279478&#entry279478
From Dr.Paul Reiss, Internet SIG Director
Be sure to see the SIG newsletter for more information on search
tools and sites. We will also continue exploring features of the
Firefox browser.
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Special
Interest Group (SIG) |
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| Special
Interest Group
The NEW SIG schedule is as follows:
Web Design
Temporarily Not Meeting
Office SIG
No Meeting Before June
Internet SIG
Thursday, April 21, 2005 7:00pm
CompUSA, South Boulevard and I-485
The Topic is Fire Fox
Digital Camera SIG
Tuesday, April 26, 2005, 7:00pm
CompUSA, South Boulevard and I-485
The Topic is Open Forum Part 2
SIG
Calendar » |
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March
Board Minutes |
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| Pat
Rogers, Secretary
In Attendance:
Richard Kinkel, Pam & Keith Wales, Galen Bolen, Dewey
Williams, Paul Reiss, Jim McClanahan, Pat Rogers
1. Call to Order (by Richard Kinkel @ 5:34PM)
2. Approval of Minutes
3. President's Report: Commended Jack LaPointe & Bill Barnes
for their presentation on Security.
4. Publicity Report: Not available at this time
5. Treasurer's Report: Balance as of 03/28/05 $2568.34
6. Program's For the month April, Linux OS
7. Membership Report: Not available at this time
8. Newsletter Editor's Report: Articles for newsletter, forward
by 04/09/05
9. Web Master's Report (Updating Club's Website)
10. SIG Reports:
Internet Sig: Program for the month of April Firefox
Digital Sig: Program for the month of April Open Forum Pt.2
MS Office : No Meeting This Month
Web Design: Will Try to Restart in the Fall
11. Other Business: Next Board Meeting 25 April 2005 5:30PM
Gus' Sir Beef Restaurant (Monroe Rd. & Eastway Dr.)
12. Adjournment 6:50PM (Jim McClanahan, 2nd by Dewey Williams)
March Treasurers Report
Beginning Balance...................$2646.44
Current Balance......................$2568.34
Submitted By Pam Wales
Volunteer!
» |
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MarketPro
Show
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| Bill
Barnes PCCC
MarketPro Show will be back at Metrolina Expo on 16 & 17
April.
Volunteers are needed for the PCCC Booth. You get free
admission is you volunteer. Contact Dewey Williams at webmaster@pc3.org
if you can help.
See link below to a coupon good for $1.00 off admission at
the door.
Coupon
»
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SPAM
Tech Tip |
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| Bill
Barnes, PCCC
As more people use email as part of their daily business and
personal routine, the threat of unwanted emails increases
greatly. There are many ways in which you can decrease the
number of these nuisances in your inbox.
Be aware of the sender of your emails. If you do not
recognize the name or if the subject line is something you would
never ask about, it is probably SPAM. Never open these emails,
and if you do by accident, do not reply to any of them. They can
have viruses and spyware attached to them and if you reply, the
sender knows they have a valid address and will send more to
you. Just delete them!
Do not put your email out there for everyone on the Internet
to see. If you are asked to provide your email address, make
sure you trust the place or person you are giving it to. If your
not sure, there are many free email accounts you can sign up for
like, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, or Google Mail just to name a few.
Use these addresses instead of your primary email address to cut
down on junk email.
These are great ideas to get you started with cleaning up
your inbox. Another great way to filter out SPAM is to one of
the many Fee or Free SPAM Filters. This is a device that is
placed on your network between you and the Internet to intercept
and filter out junk email. Once configured to your needs these
can filter virtually all SPAM. The learning curve on some can be
long and difficult. Look for one that offers a Free Trial and
give it test drive to see if want the work. |
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Web
Potpourri |
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| Keith
Wales, Sr., PCCC
Contributed by: Dr. Paul Reiss
Star Trek to SETI
See how the popular TV series sparked interest in SETI.
Send me your favorite sites and you to could be in the spotlight
next month.
Click
for Live Links » |
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