Blog for "the-enabler" of the letsnet.org network

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Here's a the lick to my Yahoo briefcase were you'll find I've stored a graphic of the Richter Scale. Let me know and I'll show or tell you how to copy it to your puter, http://f1.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/the_web_ster. Just look for and click on the folder called "Saved for Bolg". The graphic is in there.
Save the lick or not as I'll be using it more and more so that I can gave you the graphic I want you to have. No need to spend good money just so I can upload directly to here. Yahoo gaves me 30 mb free, you too ya know.

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Troublemakers steal passwords either by collecting the password as you enter it or by figuring it out. Collecting the password as you enter is why at your safer using Opera than Microsoft's IE for your browser and that at Yahoo and others that lets you use the "SECURE" link to sing in. That will encryped your password. You can prevent crackers from stealing your passwords or otherwise gaining access to your accounts by setting up hard-to-guess passwords and changing them frequently.

To set up strong passwords and close that entry door to online crooks, follow as many of these rules as you can, first make it 16 characters long then:

Avoid real words, names, or dates that mean something in your life, because a crook who knows you may guess them. Keep honest people honest.

Make passwords harder to guess by adding punctuation or numbers as in brain*scan or gue55thi5pa55word.

Combine the first letters of a common phrase to make your password. For example, you might take the phrase "If elected I promise to lower taxes for all" and turn it into the password "ieip2ltfa".


Another; open notepad.

Make a strike at the keyboard at least 3 times with multiple fingers.
Be sure to add at least 2 non letter/number characters.
Make sure there are at least 2 numbers.
Never use this dictionary word, english or otherwise.
Avoid sequential letters and numbers in the final password.

Make it random.
select 16 or more charachters and use them

example :
4 strikes here.

o5 (*& erwxy 987

I mix to get

7o5(e9r&x8y

Drop the * because it is not allowed on most systems as a chracter


Change your passwords regularly. That doesn't mean once a year whether you've been attacked or not; it means changing passwords as often as every two weeks, or every month at a minimum. It's not as convenient, but convenience and security don't always go together.

If you've got any ideas click on the comment link and I'll get'em and pass them on or just let me hear from ya with your thoughts

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When Your Money Is All Wet

The term liquidity refers to how long and at what cost you can convert an investment into cash. The money in your wallet is considered perfectly liquid -- it's already cash.

You can sell most stocks quickly through a broker for a nominal fee any day that the financial markets are open (normal working days). Real estate is generally much less liquid than stock; and a privately run small business is among the least liquid of the better growth investments that you can make. Selling such a business typically takes longer than selling most real estate.

So that you're not forced to sell one of your investments that you intend to hold for long-term purposes, keep an emergency reserve of three to six months' worth of living expenses in a money market account. Also, consider investing some money in bonds, which pay higher than money market yields without the high risk or volatility that comes with the stock market.

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And after that, by one hour, it's "Techno Files" and then Understanding. Thursday a The tech day on the Science Channel. Tuesday is Tech day at Yahoo. But like I said Thursday is tech day on The science channel and all three programs repeat again later on Thursday as well. Check out the Yahoo TV listing. And by just clicking on the list you can put that event in your Yahoo calendar and if you've have your Yahoo Instant Messenger on it well tell you that it's time to watch it. And if you store the evern right it well repeat every week.

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A Maximum View
You don't have to click the maximize button to maximize a window. Just double-click its "title bar," the thick strip along the window's top bearing its name. That double-click does the same thing as clicking the maximize button, and the title bar is easier to aim for.

Note: This tip works in Windows Me, but it may also work in other versions of Windows with little alteration. Give it a try!

And the bar at the bottom is the "status bar" it should tell you wear your going when you run your pointer over a Hyper link or hot spot. You can remove the status bar, just click on VIEW back up on top, well just under the title bar anyway, and where you see status Bar click on it. And look around and you'll see the other Bars and how they can be changed.

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Bye-Bye Divorce Settlement Many times, divorce and bankruptcy go hand in hand. If you become entitled to a divorce property settlement within 180 days after your petition date, the property can be used to pay creditors. These rules apply to property divisions (where a divorce court splits assets and allocates debts) but not to alimony or support, which usually are exempt.

Sometimes, filing bankruptcy and then waiting 180 days before filing for divorce is a better strategy. And, of course, make sure that your divorce lawyer knows about your bankruptcy plans, and your bankruptcy lawyer knows about your divorce.

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Nervous about using a credit card while shopping online with your wireless device? By following a few simple tips, you can greatly reduce the likelihood of having any problems with credit card theft online:

Stick to well-known Web sites that are recognized by the general public. Also, watch for site notices, such as "Secure Server" or "Secure Shopping Cart."

The Web site should give you information about its privacy policy and security methods. In fact, some sites guarantee that you will never be responsible for anything charged to your account that you did not want to buy.

Watch out for "too good to be true" deals and other promotions that just do not sound plausible.

Obtain a credit card that is designed for Internet usage. These card use chip technology and guarantees that you will never be held responsible for any transactions that you do not authorize.

No, as you might think, I'm not using wireless anything right now. I'll let you know...

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About a week ago I started switching over from Cable to DSL. I choose to put the DSL on a stand-alone machine so if anything happened I wouldn’t lose the whole network and before I could put a router on it, we talking something less than an hour, I had my browser hijacked. Now I can't do a thing with the machine as part of what is happening to me is it's now having a java script program running typing into the sign in windows, so I can't sign in. And the processor is working so hard that it's at 100% use. So the machine takes forever to do anything. I'm going to have me fdisk (taking everything off my drive and reloading the Operating Sys. on to it. Fun. Now you know how I and the other half will be spending most of our weekend.
See you just can't be too careful And
NOW YOU KNOW WHY NO ENTERY FOR WED.

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February 2004
Moving Bytes By WALTER S. MOSSBERG
ONE OF THE biggest obstacles to buying a new PC is the drudgery of moving all your programs, files and settings from the old machine to the new one. It can take days to move every file using disks, then reinstall all your programs and re-create all the preferences and settings you have built up over the years. You may also have to download and reapply numerous patches and upgrades to your programs.

This is the sort of thing your operating system ought to handle with ease. But the "Files and Settings Transfer Wizard" that Microsoft builds into Windows XP doesn't even try to move software to a new machine. And I have never been able to get it to work properly even for moving files and settings.

Techies, and those with techies in their employ, sometimes move the entire hard disk from the old computer into the new one, configuring it as a secondary or "slave" drive, from which data files, and even programs, with settings intact, can be accessed as before. But this technique is beyond the knowledge and ability of mainstream users.

Another option is to buy an external hard disk, attach it to your old PC, and copy to it all of your key data files and settings — things such as your Web browser bookmarks. Then you can move this external drive over to your new computer and copy everything to that new machine's main hard disk. But this procedure still won't transfer your programs, and it can be costly.

So for most people, the best option lies in so-called migration products — combinations of software and cables. To use these products, you install the software on both computers, connect the machines with one of the included cables and select the stuff you want to move. The software does the rest.

Unfortunately, these products have a spotty track record, mainly because the cables don't always work well. The best type is a special USB cable with a bulbous section in the middle containing some transfer circuitry. But while all recent personal computers have USB ports, some older models don't. So some of these products also come with a so-called parallel cable, the kind used by old-fashioned printers. The trouble is, some new computers no longer come with a parallel port built in, since all new printers use USB.

A third kind of cable is a special type for Ethernet networking called a crossover cable. This theoretically works on all PCs that have an Ethernet networking port. But using it properly for file transfers requires changing detailed networking settings in Windows, a procedure beyond the ability of most users.

In the past, I've recommended a product called Alohabob's PC Relocator Ultra Control, from Eisenworld ($69.95). It's the only consumer migration product that can transfer programs as well as files and settings. But the company recently dropped the superior USB cable from PC Relocator, claiming users had trouble with it. Instead, the product now comes with an Ethernet crossover cable — which the manual warns requires networking knowledge to use — and a special "high speed" parallel cable.

Unfortunately, however, this special parallel cable also requires too much technical skill, in my view. You have to go into the computer's very guts — the setup menu accessible only before Windows launches — and change a setting to make it work.

I recently tested PC Relocator and couldn't get either cable to work. The program succeeded only when I borrowed a USB cable from the box of a competing program, Detto's IntelliMover. And even then, PC Relocator reported that it couldn't transfer many of the programs on the old machine, and at least one of the programs it did transfer didn't work right.

A second program I tested, Miramar Systems' Desktop DNA Professional, comes with only the network crossover cable ($39 without the cable; $49 with the cable). No average mainstream user would be able to perform the Windows network configuration required to make this cable work. And despite my own networking knowledge, I couldn't do it either.

By contrast, IntelliMover worked like a charm. It set up easily, the included USB cable worked smoothly and quickly, and all the files and settings I selected were transferred perfectly. For PCs that can't use the USB cable, IntelliMover is also available with a parallel cable, which is slow but doesn't demand any setting changes ($49.95 with parallel cable; $59.95 with USB).

Even IntelliMover isn't an ideal solution, however. For instance, it has no cable that works when the old computer lacks a USB port and the new one lacks a parallel port. And even if it works well, you still have to reinstall all your programs by hand — a tedious process.

All of this is much easier in the Apple world. If you are moving up from an old Macintosh to a new one, and both machines have FireWire ports — common on Macintoshes — you can just link the two computers with a standard FireWire cable. No special software is required.

After setting up the new Macintosh, you just reboot it while holding down the "T" key. That puts the computer in a special mode in which it acts like an extra hard disk on the old Mac, and it shows up on the old Mac's screen as a hard-drive icon. To move data files and settings, you simply drag the contents of the "Home" folder from the old Mac to the "Home" folder on the new one. Most programs can also be transferred in a similar way, by simply dragging the icons representing them from the Applications folder on the old machine to the Applications folder on the new one.

Someday, perhaps, Microsoft will come up with something just as simple and effective for long-suffering Windows users. At least, we can dare to dream.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Walt Mossberg's Mossberg Report column appears monthly in SmartMoney, The Wall Street Journal Magazine of Personal Business, published by Hearst Communications Inc. and Dow Jones & Company Inc. To learn more, visit SmartMoney.com




MY ADVICE endeavors at keen.com. The number is 1-800-275-5336 (800-ask-keen) + ext. 0329063 for tech stuff, 0329117 for running a small business, and 0329144 on investing. Want to CHAT, I use Yahoo's IM as the_web_ster. View me in the Friends & Family part of webcamnow.com, just click on "view cams", then in the Java window click on WebcamNow Communities drop down arrow & select Friends & Family. Under the live webcams look for & click on me "the_webster".

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To copy a CD's music to your hard drive, click the CD Audio button while in the Windows Me Media Player, then unselect those titles you do NOT want. Go to Tools, then Options and make sure that Digital Copying is selected within the CD Audio Tab. Click OK. Click the Copy Music button on the toolbar. The button will change to Stop Copy while copying. The music will then be copied automatically to your "My Music" folder within "My Documents."

If, after pressing the Copy Music, you get an error stating that your CD does not support digital formats, and switches the format to Analogue, your CD player may not support Digital CD playing and the quality might not be as good. The files, however, will still copy. Remember to observe all copyright laws when duplicating music.




MY ADVICE endeavors at keen.com. The number is 1-800-275-5336 (800-ask-keen) + ext. 0329063 for tech stuff, 0329117 for running a small business, and 0329144 on investing. Want to CHAT, I use Yahoo's IM as the_web_ster. View me in the Friends & Family part of webcamnow.com, just click on "view cams", then in the Java window click on WebcamNow Communities drop down arrow & select Friends & Family. Under the live webcams look for & click on me "the_webster".

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This is common sense to most of us. Life would be so simple if we just keep our priorities straight!

A Professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items

in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very

large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf

balls.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it

was.

So the Professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them

into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the

open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the

jar was full. They agreed it was. The Professor next picked up a box

of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up

everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous

"Yes." The Professor then produced two cans of beer from under the

table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling

the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now", said the Professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you

to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things - your family, your

children, your health, your friends, your favorite passions - things

that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life

would still be full.

The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your

house, your car. The sand is everything else - the small stuff."

"If you put the sand into the jar first", he continued, "there

is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for

life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,

you will never have room for the things that are important to

you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.

Play with your children.

Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner.

Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house, and

fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first, the things that

really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand." When he had

finished, there was a profound silence.



Then one of the students raised her hand and with a puzzled _expression, inquired what the

beer represented. The Professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It

just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem,

there's always room for a couple of beers."

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This touches on many different things. reading it will help you
understand the need to do things like "updates" and how even updating
windows will protect you from many virus's like the blaster and sobig.f.
please take a minute to read.
D

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A34978-2003Aug23.html

By Rob Pegoraro
The Washington Post
Sunday, August 24, 2003; Page F07

Between the Blaster worm and the Sobig virus, it's been a long two
weeks for Windows users. But nobody with a Mac or a Linux PC has had
to lose a moment of sleep over these outbreaks -- just like in earlier
"malware" epidemics.

This is not a coincidence.

The usual theory has been that Windows gets all the attacks because
almost everybody uses it. But millions of people do use Mac OS X and
Linux, a sufficiently big market for plenty of legitimate software
developers -- so why do the authors of viruses and worms rarely take
aim at either system?

Even if that changed, Windows would still be an easier target. In its
default setup, Windows XP on the Internet amounts to a car parked in a
bad part of town, with the doors unlocked, the key in the ignition and
a Post-It note on the dashboard saying, "Please don't steal this."

Not opening strange e-mail attachments helps to keep Windows secure
(not to mention it's plain common sense), but it isn't enough.

The vulnerabilities built in: Security starts with closing doors that
don't need to be open. On a PC, these doors are called "ports" --
channels to the Internet reserved for specific tasks, such as
publishing a Web page.

These ports are what network worms like Blaster crawl in through,
exploiting bugs in an operating system to implant themselves. (Viruses
can't move on their own and need other mechanisms, such as e-mail or
floppy disks, to spread.) It's canonical among security experts that
unneeded ports should be closed.

Windows XP Home Edition, however, ships with five ports open, behind
which run "services" that serve no purpose except on a computer
network.

"Messenger Service," for instance, is designed to listen for alerts
sent out by a network's owner, but on a home computer all it does is
receive ads broadcast by spammers. The "Remote Procedure Call" feature
exploited by Blaster is, to quote a Microsoft advisory, "not intended
to be used in hostile environments such as the Internet."

Jeff Jones, Microsoft's senior director for "trustworthy computing,"
said the company was heeding user requests when XP was designed: "What
customers were demanding was network compatibility, application
compatibility."

But they weren't asking for easily cracked PCs either. Now, Jones
said, Microsoft believes it's better to leave ports shut until users
open the ones they need. But any change to this dangerous default
configuration will only come in some future update.

In comparison, Mac OS X ships with zero ports open to the Internet.

The firewall that's down: A firewall provides further defense against
worms, rejecting dangerous Internet traffic.

Windows XP includes basic firewall software (it doesn't monitor
outgoing connections), but it's inactive unless you use its "wizard"
software to set up a broadband connection. Turning it on is a
five-step task in Microsoft's directions (www.microsoft.com/protect)
that must be repeated for every Internet connection on a PC.

Mac OS X's firewall isn't enabled by default either, but it's much
simpler to enable. Red Hat Linux is better yet: Its firewall is on
from the start.

The patches that aren't downloaded: Windows is better than most
operating systems at easing the drudgery of staying on top of patches
and bug fixes, since it can automatically download them. A PC kept
current with Microsoft's security updates would have survived this
week unscathed.

But hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of Windows systems still
got Blasted, even though the patch to stop this worm was released
weeks ago.

Part of this is users' fault. "Critical updates" are called that for a
reason, and it's foolish to ignore them. (The same goes for not
installing and updating anti-virus software.)

The chance of a patch wrecking Windows is dwarfed by the odds that an
unpatched PC will get hit. And for those saying they don't trust
Microsoft to fix their systems, I have one question: If you don't
trust this company, why did you give it your money?

Microsoft, however, must share blame, too. Windows XP's pop-up
invitations to use Windows Update must compete for attention with all
of XP's other, less important nags -- get a Passport account, take a
tour of XP, hide unused desktop icons, blah, blah, blah.

Microsoft's critical updates also are absent from retail copies of
Windows XP, forcing buyers into lengthy Windows Update sessions to get
the fixes since last year's Service Pack 1 upgrade. At least the
version of XP provided to PC manufacturers is refreshed once a quarter
or so -- and Microsoft says it's working to shorten this lag.

The lack of any limit to damage: Windows XP, by default, provides
unrestricted, "administrator" access to a computer. This sounds like a
good thing but is not, because any program, worms and viruses
included, also has unrestricted access.

Yet administrator mode is the only realistic choice: XP Home's
"limited account," the only other option, doesn't even let you adjust
a PC's clock.

Mac OS X and Linux get this right: Users get broad rights, but
critical system tasks require entering a password. If, for instance, a
virus wants to install a "backdoor" for further intrusions, you'll
have to authorize it. This fail-safe isn't immune to user gullibility
and still allows the total loss or theft of your data, but it beats
Windows' anything-goes approach.

Because Microsoft blew off security concerns for so long, millions of
PCs remain unpatched, ready for the next Windows-transmitted disease.
Microsoft needs to do more than order up another round of "Protect
Your PC" ads.

Here's a modest proposal: Microsoft should use some of its $49 billion
hoard to mail an update CD to anybody who wants one. At $3 a pop (a
liberal estimate), it could ship a disc to every human being on Earth
-- and still have $30 billion in the bank.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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If you or a family member receive a Dell PC as a gift this Christmas, you may be in for a surprise, if it becomes infected with spyware.

Dell has instituted what has to be the most misguided tech support policy I have ever seen. Not only will Dell refuse to tell you how to remove the spyware, they won't even refer you to web sites that can help.

Why does Dell do this? Dell cites the possibility that removing spyware might violate user agreements between the user and some other company. The following is an email sent to Dell tech support persons announcing the new policy:

Subject: Spyware: What we can say to the customer

Dell does not support or endorse the use of spyware removal programs.

NOTICE: Use of spyware removal software may conflict with user license agreements of other applications installed on your system. Please consult your user license agreements for further information. Dell does not endorse the use of spyware removal software and cannot provide support on these products.

This means we do not take callers to download.com or doxdesk.com, nor do we recommend spyware removal programs, nor do we advise callers on the use of spyware removal programs. This includes using phrases "We don't support the removal of spyware, but I use..."

Please reply to this e-mail to indicate that you have read and understand this information.

Thanks,
Vader


This is bull. Doesn't Dell realize that the majority of spyware and other parasites now are classified as viruses? Does Dell really care more about the writers of spyware and viruses than they do about their own paying customers?

It is perfectly understandable that Dell does not want to provide manual spyware removal instructions over the telephone. It's hard enough doing it on message boards where you have access to log files and specialized removal tools. However, to withhold the addresses of web sites that can help is callous and irresponsible. All they have to do is refer them to doxdesk.com, cexx.org, or to my site and let the experts handle it.

Several of us in the antispyware/antivirus community have signed an open letter to Dell Inc. asking them to retract this foolish and misguided policy. That letter is located at http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/dell/support_letter.php. Consider that a press release and feel free to post the entire letter anywhere you please. People need to hear about this rubbish.
END, TY spywareinfo

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Yahoo said it learned of the security issue late Tuesday (12-9)and issued the patch by Wednesday(12-9) afternoon. Security researcher Tri Huynh discovered a vulnerability that, if exploited, could allow a malicious Web site to run code on a user's computer, according to an advisory issued Wednesday by Danish security company Secunia.
The vulnerability stems from an error in the "yauto.dll" file, an ActiveX component of Messenger. Another good reason to be behind a router or a firewall or "port blocker" software. The security hole affects Yahoo Messenger versions 5.6.0.1347 and earlier, the advisory said.

To see if your copy of the messenger is 1347 or earlier go to your IM window(the main window that lists your friends that are or are not online. Click on Help , then click on "About Yahoo Messenger" at the bottom of the list. You'll see "Yahoo Messenger ( 5, 6, 0, 13??) If it reads 1347 or anything less than that go to www.messenger.yahoo.com and there you'll be able to download the latest changes to the messenger.

Also note the "Security updates" check at messenger.yahoo.com in the upper part of the left hand column. This does what you would think, by clicking on the "click here" bottom Yahoo will do a check for you on the Security of your Module or build of the messenger. Modules or builds are small, but could be very inportant changes to a program. Where as and in this case the program is 5.6 and the latest build is 1356. Get it?
Some time the word just isn't heard the first couple of times.

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50% of all corporate and government computer networks have been hacked.
Another 15% have no idea whether they have ever been violated, says a survey by the FBI. That's 65%. Now what does that tell you about you and your info.
You can do better than them, if you've done just some of the things that you've learned from these emails and or blog enteries....And those are 1 yr. old #'s now

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Mini-Flicks Online


The Internet has created a new way for makers of short and experimental movies to find an audience. Many sites feature mini-flicks you can watch for free. IFILM has a good selection. You can find a long list of movie sites from Yahoo!. Be aware that the quality of these films varies from dreadful to inspired and the subject matter can be disturbing. You might watch a lot of frogs.

These film sites use a variety of video formats — QuickTime, RealNetwork, Windows Media Player, and so on — so expect to download some plug-ins. A fast Internet connection helps a lot. If you're dialing in, particularly at a slow speed, skip videos until you can get higher speed access.

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Home-Buying Lingo: "Buyer's Brokers"

An increasing number of agents are marketing themselves as buyer's brokers. Supposedly, these brokers represent your interests as a property buyer exclusively.

Legally speaking, buyer's brokers may sign a contract saying that they represent your — and only your — interests. Before this enlightened era, all agents contractually worked for the property seller.

The title "buyer's broker" is one of those things that sounds better than it really is. Agents who represent you as buyer's brokers still get paid only when you buy. And they still get paid on commission as a percentage of the purchase price. So they still have an incentive to sell you a piece of real estate; and the more expensive it is, the more commission they make.

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Go look at the very left handside of the address window itself. See that black D with the white back ground where you expected to see that blue "e" like you do most of the time. Well that's my website URL logo. Using you mouse put you pointer right on top of my D. Hold you left mouse button down and drag that graphic to your disktop and you'll have a link to the blog right there on your disktop. Yes, this works for any website. It's another way to save link without having to your the "bookmark" or "favorites".

BUT you well lost them all if you ever have to re-instill windows, but if you keep you "bookmart/favorites" in a folder on your desktop and you do have to re-instill Windows, something we had to do more offen than I care to think about, OR IF YOU UPGRADE TO XP from 2k or something like that you'll only have to save that fold to a disk and after the re-install or update you can put the folder right back on your desktop. And yes this well work on other folders you might have made. And yes is I find that keeping my info outside of the "my Doc" is better for me and I put everthing in two folder on the desktop; 1. Doc's of mine. 2. Other desktop items. WHY? Well as I've said in the pass, but not here in the blog, I use differant browsers for differant things. I use IE, from Microsoft, Opera, Mozilla to name a few. They all have good reasons for being in your "Other Desktop Items" folder.
TY, T

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"MyDoom B" yes these new news. And Today is the day to read me as tomorrow will be too late...