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

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Larry Seltzer - eWEEK

A couple versions ago I looked at Secure IE from Winferno Software and was unkind to it. As I said at the time, it largely just automated settings in Internet Explorer you could make on your own and for free. END

One of those products is now NO LONGER sold (http://www.paessler.com/iebooster).

Larry met some resistance at the time from colleagues who felt that the product could still be a convenience for users who would be intimidated by the IE settings. With that in mind and with the passage of time and feature advances in Secure IE I thought it was time to look again. After all, as you may have heard, there have been a couple of alleged security problems in Internet Explorer recently. And that's all well and good, but

Open source browsers get repaired in days not weeks

If your intimidated, fine, use whatever means you can to be safe. But learn what you need to do know how to be and MAKE yourself safe.

I try to never put all my eyes in ONE basket. Microsoft gets too much of my eggs, thats all. I don't use whatever produsts of theirs that I can swithch from. God know don't use their "netmeeting". What is netmeeting, well, I use Yahoo's Instant Messenger. As far as I can tell it's safer than others. But I don't use my cam on it as that opens up "ports" and doing that without a router is like opening up your front door and putting out a sign that says "Come on in & take whatever you want". I found Webcamnow.com for camming with others. A pic is worth a thousand word when you have a problem and I can show ya what is what. Just don't go to their "Unmonitored Section" thats all. Yes, I have a router, but I still don't use any Instant Messenger for camming. And I still don't use the Yahoo's IMVironments eaither as that opens "posts" as well. Opening a port, no matter what you use to keep people out, lets them in.

And in case anyone missed it, just this week Steelhoof, the oldest member of letsnet.org, gave up on IE as his browser as well as his use of OE (Outlook Express). He is now looking at Mozilla's firefox for a browser and Mozilla's email clint Thunderbird. Mozilla itself has all this rounded up in one. I do have Mozilla, Firefox, and Thunderbird is coming as soon I'll need an Email clint on my puters so that letsnet.org can use it's email addresses. And thanks to Steelhoof's very good pricing for hosting for websites we can make this jump in a timely and safe manner. By the way Steelhboof uses linux as an operating sys. Think about it. More "open source".


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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By Security Pipeline

I wanted to follow up with you on your 6/22 article addressing authentication solutions. In your piece, you have quoted Ken Hickman of Yahoo! as saying that we are hoping to take anonymity out of email. In making this comment, Ken was referring to the fact that there is complete anonymity for spammers because there is no authentication solution. Yahoo! is, in fact, committed to preserving user anonymity.

With the DomainKeys authentication technologies we are providing traceability - and this is to the domain-level, not to the user-level. Therefore, individual users' anonymity will not be affected. However, the domain from which the email was sent will be validated - and therefore we will be able to solve the email forgery problem.

Below I have pulled out an excerpt from Yahoo!'s DomainKeys site which addresses this.

How will this help stop spam? Several ways. First, it can allow receiving companies to drop or quarantine unsigned email that comes from domains that are known to always sign their emails with DomainKeys, thus impacting spam and phishing attacks. Second, the ability to verify sender domain will allow email service providers to begin to build reputation databases that can be shared with the community and also applied to spam policy. For example, one ISP could share their "spam vs. legit email ratio" for the domain www.example.com with other ISPs that may not yet have built up information about the credibility and "spamminess" of email coming from www.example.com. Last, by eliminating forged From: addresses, we can bring server-level traceability back to email (not user-level - we believe that should be a policy of the provider and the choice of the user). Spammers don't want to be traced, so they will be forced to only spam companies that aren't using verification solutions.

Terrell Karlsten
PR Manager
Yahoo! Inc



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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By Vincent A. Randazzese and Frank J. Ohlhorst, CRN 9:00 AM EDT Fri. Jul. 23, 2004

The real surprise with Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 isn't potential compatibility issues, but the mayhem that can occur when SP2 is downloaded onto a system.

CRN Test Center engineers evaluated a release candidate two (RC2) version of SP2, and upon completion of the install on three out of five systems, the machines blue-screened. A message stated that "winserv" was missing. The blue screen occurred on both Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and Intel platforms, and all systems were running Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 1 installed. Every possible avenue to get back into Windows failed.

To remedy the problem, CRN Test Center engineers reached out to Microsoft. The company provided instructions on how to work around the blue screen and uninstall SP2, but it didn't answer questions on what causes the blue screen or the specific systems that may be affected. Microsoft recommended using the Windows XP recovery console to boot the system and then accessing the "%windir%\$NtServicePackUninstall$\spuninst" folder.

Once in the folder, engineers had to rename "spuninst.txt" to "spuninst.bat" and execute the batch command "batch spuninst.bat." When that process was completed, a rollback of the Service Pack file should have occurred. That didn't happen. So the batch file had to be executed a second time, and then access to Windows XP was restored--but with some caveats. Once back in the Windows operating system, Test Center engineers had to open the registry... END

OK, that were you should stop reading and not do it at all. I don't go into my own "Registry". I want someone I pay to do that so that if something goes BAD they have to make it right. I well bring someone in to do this for me. And they do a BACK-UP first.

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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By TechWeb News

Microsoft on Wednesday said it would contribute both software and a paid analyst to a forensics organization that's fighting phishing scams.

The Redmond, Wash.-based developer is handing over $46,000 in software and the services of a full-time analyst to the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA), a group created by the FBI, the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and others.

The analyst's primary responsibility will be to analyze data related to phishing attacks, although he'll also assist in investigating data about compliance with the CAN-SPAM Act, the federal anti-spam legislation that went into effect Jan. 1.

The analyst will be drawn from Microsoft's Internet Safety Enforcement group.

Phishing scams typically begin with spammed e-mail messages that entice users to fake Web sites which mimic legit sites. Once at the bogus site, consumers are asked to enter passwords and other confidential information, such as bank and credit card numbers.

Phishing attacks have skyrocketed this year, increasing nearly 200 percent in April over the previous month, and have been linked to organized crime rings in Eastern Europe.

"The tactics of spammers, hackers, and other online con artists are becoming increasingly sophisticated," said Nancy Anderson, deputy general counsel for Microsoft, in a statement. "These collaborative partnerships among law enforcement, government, industry, and academia are one important mechanism to contain this illegal and destructive activity, and restore consumer confidence in the Internet."



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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By WALTER S. MOSSBERG

The race to help consumers wirelessly stream music from their computers to their stereos continues apace. And now it has been joined by a real heavy hitter: Apple Computer.

Apple is uniquely positioned to do this job right. It was the first computer maker to offer Wi-Fi networking widely, and its iconic iPod portable music player makes it the unquestioned leader in digital music. So I tried out Apple's new $129 streaming gadget, AirPort Express, which not only transfers music wirelessly around a house but is also a full-fledged Wi-Fi base station.

Alas, I found that while AirPort Express works as promised, it falls far short of being an ideal solution for listening to computer-based music in a distant room.

The rest of the story



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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OK, what is Lindows? Lindows is a windows looking and working interface for Linux (the other Operationing Sys.) "Lindows" now "Linspire" is the operation sys. interface that lets you and I use linux OS as you and I are not programers.

The story:
By Allison Linn, AP Business Writer
It will pay $20 million to the Linux upstart, which agreed to change its name to Linspire.

SEATTLE (AP) -- Microsoft Corp. settled all its trademark infringement suits against Lindows Inc. with a $20 million payment to the Linux operating system upstart, which agreed to change its name to Linspire.

Details of the settlement, reached Friday, were disclosed in documents Lindows filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of plans for an initial public offering.

In a statement, the companies said the settlement ends a spate of litigation in the United States and abroad.

"We are pleased that Lindows will now compete in the market place with a name distinctly its own," said Tom Burt, Microsoft's deputy general counsel.

Lindows chief executive Michael Robertson said the terms "make business sense for all parties."

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., sued San Diego-based Lindows in 2001 in U.S. District Court here, alleging the name infringed on its trademark for the ubiquitous Windows operating system. Microsoft then filed similar complaints in Europe and Canada. It won preliminary injunctions in the Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden, before quietly settling the Dutch case.

In addition to the U.S. litigation, cases were pending in France, Spain, and Canada.

In April, Lindows changed the name of its products to Linspire after U.S. District Judge John Coughenour refused to halt the trademark infringement cases outside the United States.

But the company had until now stuck with Lindows as a corporate name.

Lindows makes a computer operating system that competes with Windows but is based on the Linux operating system.

Proponents of Linux and other open-source technology say it is cheaper and can be more secure, in part because the underlying software blueprints and any improvements are freely shared.

Microsoft tightly guards the proprietary blueprints for Windows.

Under the settlement, Lindows has 60 days to stop using the Lindows name on its products.

Microsoft will pay Lindows $15 million in the next 30 days. The remaining $5 million will paid out once Lindows transfers control of most of Lindows-related Web site names over to Microsoft. That must be done by Jan. 25.

Lindows has four years to continue using two of its Web addresses--www.lindows.com and www.lindowsinc.com--but only to redirect visitors to its new Web sites. After the four years have passed, those sites will also be transferred to Microsoft.

The San Diego company said the cash settlement and the public offering could help eliminate concerns that it will not be able to stay afloat, but it noted that it still expects to have significant losses over the next several years. END

So, you didn't know to buy Microsoft went it went PUBLIC, what are you going to do now that you know that you've got a chance to get in on day one of Linspise???


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 remove the Sasser infection follow these steps:

Disconnect from the Internet.
Disable Sasser to keep your system from rebooting. Click Start, select Run... and enter shutdown -a then press OK. That will stop the worm.
Turn on your Windows XP firewall. Open Network Connections, right-click your network connection icon and select Properties. Click the Advanced tab and turn on the firewall. This will prevent reinfection.
Reconnect to the Internet
Update your anti-virus and disinfect your computer, or download the free Sasser removal tool from SARC.
Run Windows Update and install all critical updates. You should do this regularly.




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".