Since this is a simple tip I’m including it in the basics category. I ran across a pc with a Dell Multimedia Keyboard and they wanted to disable the hotkeys (sound mixer was always popping up because the key was in the way.) Anyway, on older systems, there would be a standalone program running to monitor the extra keys from the keyboard. (Calculator, email, web shortcut keys as well as sound control keys.)
The security fix has some news today on some bogus security software makers (the wolves in sheeps clothing as I tend to think of them…) Anyway, they’re settling deceptive trade practice chargers that were brought by the FTC. SpywareAssassin and Spykiller were facing a civil suit over their ads which invariably found infestations on a users pc and offered to clean it up for ~$30 or so.
Microsoft has updated their security bulletin on the WMF vulnerability to note a couple things. One, they acknowledge that embedded images within a document can trigger the exploit. Previously they said this needed further investigation. Second, they are seconding what I’ve been finding that Windows 98 and other pre-XP systems are not as critically at risk for this vulnerability….
Well, antivirus vendors and IT security folks are waiting now for the expected activation of the sober.y worm searching for a new downloads and a new revision of the pest. kaspersky’s log indicates the expected activation time is 00:00 GMT January 6th, which means here in the EST zone that would be 7PM EST… Of course many of the expected sites have been shut down. It appears that the virus will look periodically for sites to “upgrade” from for some time.
There are all sorts of rumors circulating about Google’s product announcements tomorrow at CES. There are still stories floating around about a Google PC running linux and there are stories about pay-download videos and a software bundle. No official word on these from Google. (They had denials about PC talks from some of the retailers that were supposedly approached.) The Google Cube is listed as the codename for the Google PC according to one article.
Brian Krebs at the SecurityFix today has questions about Microsoft OneCare. In fact, with Microsoft saying that OneCare is “more than just antivirus” you wonder whether that’s just marketing speak, or if that’s really the case…. he speculates about OneCare doing the registry patch that was a recommended workaround and a few other things related to OneCare.
When I first checked this morning the site wasn’t responding. According to the logs I got hammered last night from avantgo (2 requests a second?). (So a couple hundred requests over a couple minutes?) Different IP addresses, all in the avantgo netblock. I guess I had a link from a popular page among AvantGo users…. Anyway, a simple restart (of httpd and mysql) got things going. That was weird.
I didn’t see this reported anywhere, but since yesterday when there was an update to the metasploit module for the WMF vulnerability I think there’s been yet another update. I read yesterday that it had been updated and could evade all known IDS signatures. I downloaded the update to continue my Win98 testing. Then today found that there was another update. I haven’t compared the old/new versions but can’t help but wonder if this means more scrambling of antivirus writers for new signatures to keep up.
The word “ping” is used in computer networking. It’s usually used to test and see if a machine is able to be “reached” or “talked to” over a network. The terminology reminds me of the concept of radar systems. I have a tendency to think of it as “bouncing a test” off the other machine. Most every operating system that has networking support can ping, or should be able to answer a ping request. Many times it’s used as a basic test of the ability to access the internet.
I’ve added a new Computers-Basics category that will be a catchall for all sorts of “what is a” articles and hopefully very simple how-to’s (the kind of things that will have some viewers rushing for the exits, or the search boxes…) One of the things I like trying to do is explaining tech stuff in less than tech terms, or at least in an approachable way. On this site, so far, I’ve dealt with pretty technical issues and the kind of stuff that has a new user searching for an exit (probably the x in the upper right hand corner, or the back button), or maybe a translator. I hope that this series will not need extra referencing to understand. I’ll probably post to this category in spurts….
Bookmark this site now by pressing Ctrl+D
