Computer Mechanics, Computer Repairs Perth Western Australia

Computer Mechanics Security

  • The Likes worm

    Another Facebook worm, similar to the Try Not To Laugh worm we wrote about recently. Not damaging, just puts repetitive posts on your Facebook wall and spreads to your friends' accounts. Delete the junk entries on your wall to stop it spreading. Via Sophos and Mashable.
    Tue, 01 Jun 2010

  • Adobe Flash hole

    Adobe have flagged a security vulnerability with Flash and Acrobat PDF Reader; two of the world's most commonly used applications. They're working on a fix; if you're security conscious and don't want to wait for the patch (which you will be prompted to install) search your computer for the file authplay.dll and then delete it. Source.
    Sun, 06 Jun 2010

  • World Cup

    McAfee are warning about World Cup-related spam; the one they've found contains a banking password harvester. Popular events are a common attack vector; people let their guard down if the subject interests them. Don't get sucked in. Source.
    Sun, 06 Jun 2010

  • FB friend or enemy?

    We continue to receive completely convincing looking (but fake) Facebook friend invitations by email. Clicking on that Confirm link will create Facebook spam on your wall. Do your Facebooking on the Facebook web site; do not click on a link in an unsolicited email.
    Sun, 06 Jun 2010
  • Important: XP usersOn July 13th Microsoft stops supporting XP Service Pack 2 (SP2). This is important if you didn't upgrade to SP3 because it means your operating system will very quickly become vulnerable to security issues; ie, you can't rely on automatic updates to keep you protected. [More]
    Sun, 06 Jun 2010
  • iPad email hackingA major security breach by Apple and their communications partner AT&T has revealed the email addresses and names of 114,000 iPad buyers, possibly many more. [More]
    Mon, 14 Jun 2010
  • XP security

    Another exploit that targets Windows XP users highlights the benefits of upgrading to Win7. Contact us if you need assistance. 9325 1196. For people sticking with XP, Krebs recommends they create a User Account with limited security permissions and use that for normal web browsing. Use the Admin account only for updates.

    [More]
    Sat, 26 Jun 2010
  • Farmville cheats

     No, I don't understand why, but Farmville is hugely popular, particularly on Facebook. Warn your 14 year old that web pages promising cheats on Farmville may carry a trojan rootkit.

    [More]
    Sat, 26 Jun 2010

Help Desk

Tips and Tricks

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.