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Tip of the Week: Send attachments out for a virus scan
You've heard us say it a million times: DON'T OPEN E-MAIL or TEXT MESSAGE FILE ATTACHMENTS! The file attachment is the modern day equivalent of the letter bomb. They don't look any different from the outside, but when you open them...watch out! This blanket advice will keep you safe if you never open a file attachment, but what happens when you think an attachment might be legit, but can't be sure?
The next time you have a file attachment that you think you want to open, but aren't sure, send it out for a free analysis by a couple of dozen virus scanning engines. You can send the file(s) by e-mail:
Create a new message or forward the message with the attachment to scan@virustotal.com as the destination address of your email.
1. Write SCAN in the Subject field (remove the old subject line if you are forwarding a message).
2. If you are not forwarding the message, attach the file to be scanned. Files can not exceed 10 MB in size. If the attached file is larger, the system will reject it automatically.
3. You will receive an email with a report of the file analysis. Response time will vary depending on the load of the system at the time of placing your request.
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Headwhack of the Week: How to report spam?
Spam (unsolicited commercial e-mail messages) is not going away and will continue to plague us all, but that doesn't mean that you can't fight back. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offers you a place to report spam (forward it to spam@uce.gov) but don't expect much to happen as they are looking for large scale scammers.
Another option is to sign up for a free reporting account at Spamcop.net. Many Internet Service Providers use Spamcop's blacklist service, which is partially compiled by the information gathered from all of the various folks that are reporting spam. They also have pay services for webmasters and e-mail list masters, but for the average Joe, all you need is the free reporting account (you don't have to use your real name or your primary e-mail address...this is a perfect place to use a secondary free e-mail account from Gmail or Yahoo to protect your privacy!)
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Geek Speak of the Week: PPC
Pay Per Click - an Internet advertising model used on search engines, advertising networks, and content websites, where advertisers only pay when a user actually clicks on an advertisement.
PPC is one of the easiest ways to leverage search engines to promote your business, because you can bid on "keywords" that pertain to your business. This gets you in front of those that are specifically searching for your product or service right now!
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Security: FBI warns of Storm Worm variant
This warning seems to have made it out to the mass media, so you may have already heard about it but just in case....watch for an e-mail with "F.B.I. vs. Facebook" in the subject line. I have yet to see a single instance of it, but all the same, making sure no one that subscribes to this newsletter clicks on the links in the message (which performs a "drive-by download" in the background) is worth the risk of being repetitive!
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News: Study: 60 Percent of Top Sites Involved in Online Attacks
Another research report has been issued that finds continued growth in the use of hacked Web sites among cyber-criminals and other electronic scammers looking to infect end users online.
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News: Gas Crisis Fuels Dubious Online Offers
Want to cut your fuel costs by 60 percent, use water as fuel, receive a free $1000 gas card, or lock down the price of gas to $2.49 a gallon? You can find these offers on the Web--but experts say most are bogus, designed to collect personal information, to get you to sign up for services you may not want, or to sell you pricey gizmos that won't save you a dime in fuel costs.
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Data Doctors Video on Cnn.com: Smartphone Security tips
If you have a smartphone loaded with tasty personal info, you need to take some basic steps to secure the info and know what to do the minute you realize that your smartphone has been lost or stolen...
Watch the video and help our rankings on CNN.com! You can watch us live every Saturday morning at 9:30AM Pacific, 12:30PM Eastern or watch the archived versions of our segments whenever you want at CNN.com/video.
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MacLife: Quick Look - Lightning fast preview tool for the MacOS
Louis from MacMedia has yet another tip for you Mac OS users - Quick Look is a lightning fast preview tool Developed by Apple for Mac OS 10.5 Leopard.
To activate Quick Look, select the document and press the space bar and the file will be viewable in a separate window.
Quick Look works with nearly every file format under the sun, including images, text files, PDF documents, movies, Keynote presentations, Mail attachments, and Microsoft Word and Excel files. Simply click on the Space bar to see a file in Quick Look, or tap the Quick Look icon in the Finder window (if it’s not there already, add it by selecting Customize Toolbar from the View menu in the Finder). Clicking on the arrow keys towards the bottom of the preview window will toggle the image from windowed mode to full screen. You can even view video in the preview window. Now how’s that for cool.
Quick Look can be expanded by 3rd party plug-ins, which will allow Quick Look to preview more files in the future. For information pertaining to third party plug-ins go to www.quicklookplugins.com. The list is almost endless so you won’t get left in the dark.
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Opinion: Pirated Music Crackdown...at the Airport?
Ah, airport security. It's all about keeping our skies safe from weapons, dangerous chemicals -- and now, possibly pirated music says JR Raphael at PCWorld.com.
The Australian government is apparently looking at a plan to start searching iPods and other MP3 players at security checkpoints. The sole purpose? Seeking out illegally downloaded songs and the Aussies may not be he only ones considering the idea, either: The proposal is said to be part of a broader international treaty -- one believed to include the good ol' U.S. of A. -- so we could ultimately see the concept pop up here, there, or anywhere.
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Weekly Advice Column: Why is my cell phone causing noise in my speakers?
Certain cell phones can cause certain speakers, PA systems, clock radios or anything with the ability to amplify sound to generate loud pulsating crackling sounds? Find out which type of cell phones are guilty of this activity and how it all occurs by reading this week's advice column.
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This Week's Show: The Past, Present and Future of SEARCH
The Internet is the single most comprehensive collection of information in the history of mankind. But when you have virtually every piece of information ever compiled in one place, how the heck do you find anything?
That challenge is what folks have been working with since before the Internet became a public utility. Do you remember some of the old search engines you used to use? Do you use anything other than Google today? Are you even aware of all of the alternative search engines available.
Listen in as we take a stroll down the Internet Search memory lane and look forward to the next generation of Search!
Join us Saturdays from 12:00PM–2:00PM (Pacific) on News 92.3 KTAR or listen LIVE via the Internet at KTAR.com as we discuss your computer questions at: 602.277.5827 or ask your questions during (or before) the broadcast using the ask a question page.
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