Internet threats

[Hoerninger]

All going smoothly.

[MikeBrewster77]

Why so grouchy /grumpy?

Sorry if I seemed grumpy/grouchy/cranky et. al., - I just saw the thread going in the direction of "which O/S is better," and that seemed counterproductive to me, and out of line with the OP. Certainly not my intent to come off as an a$$

OK, so anyone have any problems so far today?
Know of anyone who has, related to this?

Not a one, thankfully. Joke's on us from what I can tell thus far (and happily so)

[Doc Mark]

Hey, Mike,

I have to admit being more than a little surprised by you feeling that this thread degenerated, at all. Here I was reading along, and enjoying the good-natured ribbing that was going back and forth, and until you made a comment about things going South, I must truthfully say, I didn't think it went anywhere like that. Just some friends, talking about their different OS. I have Macs because I love them. I have NO problem with someone wanting to have, or use, a PC. Why not? It's a free Country, and each to his/her own, right?! I thought the "ad" about PC's and Macs was hilarious, and I'd love a copy of it!!!! Where can I get that, please? Again, I didn't see any problem developing, and I'm sorry that you did. I certainly hope my own pro-Mac comments did not help fuel the fire. I believe that such discussions should never be meant to try and sway anyone from their personal choice, in anything. Sweet Bride and I love our Macs; we love our L300's; I am quickly falling in love with our new 4645/2242H combination subwoofer, and after listening to it tonight for the first time, I think she is, too; Sweet Bride and I love to shoot firearms; we both love to eat fine food, and to enjoy a fine glass of wine, or two, with our meal; we love lots of things that might, or might not, be attractive, or enjoyable to others. That matters not. As long as we love them, that's just fine. Everyone else can love whatever they choose to love. Sounds pretty simple to me. What do ya' think, Lad?!! Am I on the right track, or have I just lost my last remaining cell of grey matter???!!

Not to worry, enjoy your PC, and I'll enjoy my Mac, and we'll enjoy LH, and all the wonderful JBL-ista Friends we have her, together!! Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

[Zilch]

Seems like the Conflicter Worm has struck this thread.

Which is better, JBL or Altec?

[Kiss me.... ]

[Titanium Dome]

Seems like the Conflicter Worm has struck this thread.

Which is better, JBL or Altec?

[Kiss me.... ]

We concluded several years back it was Edirol, remember?

[MikeBrewster77]

Hey Doc,

Clearly, it was me that took things out of context, as has been respectfully pointed out. I wholeheartedly agree with everyone being entitled to their own opinions, and free to love and enjoy whatever they like (within the limits of the law, of course )

So, as the kids these days say, "my bad."

Truth be told, I'm O/S agnostic as I don't have broad enough experience with Mac's to comment one way or the other. I do, however, think Windows frequently gets a bad rap; correspondingly, I don't think it's a result of inferiority in their products, rather inferiority in people's ability to use and maintain them.

P.S., I honestly don't recall where I originally stumbled across the mock ad I posted. I had it stored on my hard drive, but I did a quick Google search and found it here:

http://www.catscanman.net/blog/wp-co...i-am-armed.jpg

Best,
- Mike

Hey, Mike,

I have to admit being more than a little surprised by you feeling that this thread degenerated, at all. Here I was reading along, and enjoying the good-natured ribbing that was going back and forth, and until you made a comment about things going South, I must truthfully say, I didn't think it went anywhere like that. Just some friends, talking about their different OS. I have Macs because I love them. I have NO problem with someone wanting to have, or use, a PC. Why not? It's a free Country, and each to his/her own, right?! I thought the "ad" about PC's and Macs was hilarious, and I'd love a copy of it!!!! Where can I get that, please? Again, I didn't see any problem developing, and I'm sorry that you did. I certainly hope my own pro-Mac comments did not help fuel the fire. I believe that such discussions should never be meant to try and sway anyone from their personal choice, in anything. Sweet Bride and I love our Macs; we love our L300's; I am quickly falling in love with our new 4645/2242H combination subwoofer, and after listening to it tonight for the first time, I think she is, too; Sweet Bride and I love to shoot firearms; we both love to eat fine food, and to enjoy a fine glass of wine, or two, with our meal; we love lots of things that might, or might not, be attractive, or enjoyable to others. That matters not. As long as we love them, that's just fine. Everyone else can love whatever they choose to love. Sounds pretty simple to me. What do ya' think, Lad?!! Am I on the right track, or have I just lost my last remaining cell of grey matter???!!

Not to worry, enjoy your PC, and I'll enjoy my Mac, and we'll enjoy LH, and all the wonderful JBL-ista Friends we have her, together!! Take care, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

[Doc Mark]

Hey, Mike,

Cool! Thanks, very much, for the link to that neat mock ad! I've saved it and will send it to a few friends whom I know will appreciate it. Talk to you later, and God Bless!

Every Good Wish,
Doc

[hjames]

Here is a very cool way to check your machine -
they call it the Conficker Eye chart:

http://www.confickerworkinggroup.org...feyechart.html

There are 3 images at the top that load from common anti-virus sites.
if you don't see the images, you may have conficker

Note: you may have images turned off in your browser if ALL images are missing.

Legend is at the bottom of their page.
Its all self explanatory and a real easy test.

[Mr. Widget]

Here is a very cool way to check your machine -
they call it the Conficker Eye chart:

http://www.confickerworkinggroup.org...feyechart.html

There are 3 images at the top that load from common anti-virus sites.
if you don't see the images, you may have conficker

Note: you may have images turned off in your browser if ALL images are missing.

Legend is at the bottom of their page.
Its all self explanatory and a real easy test.

That is very cool... I suppose the top images are links to the various anti-virus company's sites. Clever.

I have used Trend Micro on my Windows PCs for years now and highly recommend them. Far more secure than Mcafee or Norton.


Widget

[Ian Mackenzie]

Just a warning that there is a significant increase in internet threats given the global credit crisis.

As a result of a recent event I have disabled my own ISP (in the Tardis) and will now only access public domain internet via a remote server.

Be particularly with internet Banking (fake web pages) and web sites offering services like job searches where you might be asked to provide certain information or downloads of any kind.

Be also careful about what hard copy information you throw out in the rubbish. Shred everything.

Bank Eftpos/credit card skimming has also increased significantly with major losses being reported.

Do not let your credit card out of your sight and be cautious about using ATM machines you are not familiar with.

[MikeBrewster77]

so we can begin beating it to death all over again :

Substantial conficker activity noted yesterday:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-102...?tag=mncol;txt

For a more comprehensive overview, or if you're just really bored and want to whip yourself into a state of paranoia , visit here:
http://blogs.technet.com/mmpc/archiv...cker-worm.aspx

All the other advice previously offered remains valid in terms of protection and testing for infection (this is starting to sound like a public saftey announcement for safe ... well, nevermind.)

Best,
- Mike

[Titanium Dome]

(this is starting to sound like a public saftey announcement for safe ... well, nevermind.)

Sex? Well, you can never have too much safe sex, and you can never have too little unsafe sex.

Unless of course the former approaches infinity

and the latter is absolute zero.

[MikeBrewster77]

Sex??? I was talking about safe computing of course ... how dare you insinuate that such vile thoughts cross my pristine mind?

That being said, I'm a very strong proponent of safe sex:

Sex? Well, you can never have too much safe sex, and you can never have too little unsafe sex.

Unless of course the former approaches infinity

and the latter is absolute zero.

[Hoerninger]

The new iBotnet
http://www.virusbtn.com/index

Mario Ballano Barcena and Alfredo Pesoli take a detailed look at what appears to be the first real attempt to create a Mac botnet.

Blog:
http://notahat.com/posts/28/
____________
Peter

[hjames]

The new iBotnet
http://www.virusbtn.com/index
Blog:
http://notahat.com/posts/28/
____________
Peter

Thanks for the info, Peter!

The significant part of the story is that the author downloaded a copy of some commercial software (iWork09 - sells for $80!) off a fileshare network, installed it onto his system, typed in his password to approve the install, and later found that it was software that had been hacked with a trojan before he got it.
He knowingly installed stolen software.

Thats a lot different level of vulnerability than some of the trojans and malware for Win systems,
where just going to a hostile website is enough to get you infected.

So, by trying to save $80 ... he got to wipe everything, reformat his system and reinstall EVERYTHING!

Its almost poetic - its his Karma, right?