Computer Mechanics, Computer Repairs Perth Western Australia

Computer Mechanics Security

  • Blogging software

    People who host their own blogs on WordPress software need to upgrade immediately. Unless you're running version 2.8.4 you should upgrade. There's a worm circulating that installs itself as the WordPress Admin and posts junk comments etc. If you have your blog on wordpress.com (eg. www.jones.wordpress.com) there is no problem. Source.

    The Jones Wordpress blog is, incidentally, full of great discourse on epistemic situations and I quote:

    "Except there is one world the inductivist wins every time. That is a world in which some of the relations that we posit in one given epistemic s [More]

    Thu, 10 Sep 2009
  • Stolen laptops

    Your laptop has just been stolen. Let's assume that. What happens next? It depends whether you've encrypted your hard drive or not. You might think it's a pain to type a password in when your screensaver comes on but it WILL protect you from identity theft if your notebook is stolen. And heaven help us if you have an unencrypted database there with lots of other people's email addresses.

    [More]
    Thu, 10 Sep 2009

  • Software firewall

    Chris Pirillo makes a case here for a software firewall in addition to your router. There's a special offer that gets you one for US$10. If you want the best computer security, get one. Also, do the maintenance thing ONCE A YEAR at least: 9325 1196.
    Fri, 11 Sep 2009

  • Lottery win?

    A client recently received notification of an internet lottery win. He opened the email and clicked on the link to collect his winnings.

    Only prize turned out to be a bunch of trojan viruses loaded on to his PC. Beware of geeks bearing gifts.

    Tue, 15 Sep 2009
  • Hacking Facebook

    Here's a new one: a Ukranian hacker claims to be able to hack into any Facebook account and provide you with the password information for US$100. Some would say that if you are evil enough to want to hack into someone's Facebook account you deserve to lose US$100. 

    Security boffins confirm the hack doesn't work. Relax, your photos are safe with me. Source.

    [More]
    Sun, 20 Sep 2009
  • Patrick Swayze funeral

    I've never understood why people go and buy records of a recording artist when the artist dies. It ensures the singer will never receive any song royalties from you. The other consequence of dying these days is a funeral video that download viruses.

    Actually, this email had a joke: it said that Kanye West interrupted Patrick Swayze's funeral to say that Michael Jackson's funeral was better. Beware mysteriously arriving emails that coincide with pop-culture news. Source.

    [More]
    Sun, 20 Sep 2009

  • Tip: close your browser

    When you get a scary message pop up on your screen while you're browsing the web, instead of clicking its Yes, No or Cancel buttons, it's best to close your browser using Ctl Alt Delete. Brian Krebs explains.
    Sun, 20 Sep 2009

  • Security winners

    Like you, we read Information Security Magazine cover-to-cover every issue. Their 2009 Reader's Choice Awards are enterprise-focussed rather than consumer but these winners also make consumer products: Sophos - email security and anti-malware. Cisco - network and wireless security.
    Sun, 27 Sep 2009

  • Bank security

    Article in Tech Republic outlines risks of electronic banking. Do you use an electronic token when banking? That is necessary because it generates a one-use password that prevents remote exploits. You must have multi-factor authentication (not just a password) to be properly secured.
    Sun, 27 Sep 2009
  • Fan Check; Facebook

    The Fan Check Application was not a virus within Facebook; just a poorly written application that damaged your Facebook page until you removed it. However, if you GOOGLED looking for information about a Fan Check virus you could easily visit web sites which give fake anti-virus warnings and potentially download malware.

    Only visit reputable sites for advice and if you think you've been compromised, call Computer Mechanics on 9325 1196. Video. More info.

    [More]
    Sun, 27 Sep 2009

  • Trusted web sites

    Trusted sites (popular, well known web sites you are familiar with) have become the major growth target for hackers. 61% of the Top 100 sites (US data) host malicious code or re-directs put there by hackers. This is from the recent Websense survey. Herewith a concise summary of the research.

    What can you do to protect yourself? Up to date anti-virus and anti-spyware, regular maintenance and use a program like NoScript that turns off scripts unless you give permission.

    Tue, 29 Sep 2009

Help Desk

Tips and Tricks

Mon, 06 Sep 2010

Infographics

I love this stuff. If you're interested in how to present information with great visuals, visit Infosthetics; it's the best aggregation of infographics EVAR.
Mon, 06 Sep 2010

End of Yellow Pages

If you never use your Yellow Pages or White Pages because you're always using this thing you're using now, you can go here and tell Telstra/Sensis to please not deliver those door stops.
Wed, 01 Sep 2010

Google Priority Inbox

Google's doing that thing they do again; improving their products. Gmail is introducing Priority Inbox, giving you the ability to automatically prioritise your email based on which emails you've previously read and/or replied to. If you need a web based email account, Gmail is the go.
Tue, 31 Aug 2010

The Arc Touch mouse

The rumoured new Microsoft Arc Touch mouse. Looks very sexy but not yet released. Funny comment on that blog: "I too have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the capabilities and limitations of yet to be released hardware."
Tue, 31 Aug 2010

Pretty desktops

Smashing Magazine invites designers to contribute monthly calendar designs that people can use as desktops on their PCs. Lots of elegant choices for September, though many designers seem confused about what season it is. Includes a number of Ramadan desktops for our Islamic readers.
Sat, 28 Aug 2010

MS Office GAME

Ribbon Hero is the Microsoft game that sneakily trains you in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote. Do challenges, compete, share on Facebook. No, we don't know why you'd want to share it on Facebook. But then we're not big on Farmville either. Versions of Officer earlier than 2007 won't handle it. You'll have to Read the Manual.
Tue, 24 Aug 2010

Laptop bags

Engadget U.S. reviews a range of the cheap and the fabulous laptop bags - in Australia, you can get Kata bags and the LowePro CompuPrimus at Quality Camera. The Case Logic Slimline ships from Deals Rebate but the Timbuk2 bags aren't available locally.  
Tue, 24 Aug 2010

3D laptop

Gamers! 1600 bucks gets you the latest in 3D laptopery. The Toshiba Satellite A665 comes with NVidia Active LCD Shutter Glasses. See, I don't even know what that is but it sounds SO GREAT.
Tue, 24 Aug 2010

Cheap eBook

The Laser eBook lets you listen to music while reading your eBook, is colour and has video. But it doesn't have wi-fi; you have to download your books to a PC first. $150. Cheap. Via The Australian. More.
Sun, 15 Aug 2010

Best Windows laptops

Electric Pig journos chose the Dell Studio 15, the HP Envy 15 (15 is big this year), the Samsung Q430 & 320 and the ASUS EeePC1201N as the best value laptops on the market. They're a UK site but all those models are available in Australia. You'll need to check the local prices of course.
Sun, 15 Aug 2010

Hacking into mobiles

An American security guy has demonstrated how he can intercept mobile calls on the GSM mobile phone network using relatively cheap hardware. Scary stuff since that network is the world's most popular and is predominant in Australia. Newer network technologies (3G) are not vulnerable. *Going back to pen and ink*.
Sun, 15 Aug 2010

Biz card transcription

Networkers of the world, pay attention. Here's how it works. You take photos of the business cards you collect at the conference/function, then send them to CardMunch. They have people transcribe the contents (guaranteeing accuracy) into a web based address book you then sync with your phone. Time saver, much. Via Mashable.
Wed, 28 Jul 2010

Upgrade essentials

Here's what you need to know about upgrading from Vista to Windows 7. Actually, you don't need to know all of this, pick the relevant bits. But FIRST, this applies to everyone: back up before you upgrade. If you don't know how, call us because things can and do go wrong during upgrades.

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Mon, 26 Jul 2010

Review Asus EeePC

Engadget do the best reviews. Here is their thorough look at the new ASUS netbooks. Having used an iPad for a month or so now I'm can tell you the web browsing experience falls well short of a netbook.
Mon, 26 Jul 2010

Searching in Outlook

Most of us know that you can click on a column heading in Outlook to sort the column into alphabeti order. Do you ever used the Advanced Find option? Click on Find, then Options, then Advanced.

 

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