COMPUTERS, THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY

[chinatyke]

Found this on Google:

click here

superfish website

Hope that helps. Seems it could have been installed with Internet Explorer Tab Plus.

[Pluggy]

Welcome to Windows in the 21st Century. It will have either piggy backed in with something else you installed or some website (dodgy or hacked) installed it as a 'drive by' or you clicked on something you shouldn't (Facebook?, Email?). See PM

[Gloria]

Sugar, thanks both. Pluggy, I have pm'd you back.

[Stanley]

Gloria, commiserations. What you describe is the main reason why I ditched Windows and all their works. They are always trying to increase their hold on users and this means that you don't actually fully control your own machine. The great thing about Ubuntu is that you have complete control of your own world.

[Tizer]

A scam has arisen from the Government's attempts to increase competition in the banking industry by making it easier for smaller new banks and lenders to set up. Rogues are setting up as online banks offering accounts and claiming prominently to be covered by the Government's guarantee that you'll get your money back if they go bust...but they are not covered. There are said to be some good small banks appearing but anyone considering using them is advised to check they are genuinely included in the guarantee.

[Stanley]

I saw in the Panorama programme on the Dating Site scam last night that one of the controls they are going to introduce is that people will only be allowed to post if their IP address is in the country covered ny the site targeted. Didn't I note in our banning thread that IP addresses no longer denote residence? Another possible example of unintended consequences when a government that has such a terrible record with IT tries to write the rules.

[Pluggy]

I've got Gloria's machine on my desk now and it appears to be some lowlife ad software that has come in via a spywere updater (numerous toolbars on IE). It only half installed by the looks which is probably causing the freeze. I'm on it......

On the plus side there doesn't appear to be too much else wrong with it despite it being quite an old machine.

I've stayed away from ripping XP off and replacing it with Ubuntu, there looks to be numerous bits of Geneology software on it which wouldn't run without windows.

[Pluggy]

I saw in the Panorama programme on the Dating Site scam last night that one of the controls they are going to introduce is that people will only be allowed to post if their IP address is in the country covered ny the site targeted. Didn't I note in our banning thread that IP addresses no longer denote residence? Another possible example of unintended consequences when a government that has such a terrible record with IT tries to write the rules.

IP addresses don't mean an whole lot in the modern world, they will tie you to an ISP and the ISP could probably trace you from it, but for those in the know, its next door to trivial to circumvent the 'real' IP. BBC Iplayer only works if you have an IP address in the UK, but there are an awful lot of people watching it outside the UK with the right 'tweaks'. If you want to access some dodgy site that didn't allow access to UK addresses , it isn't too difficult to appear from the US or pretty much any where else for that matter. (or nowhere at at all if you're a real privacy nut or have paranoid tendencies).

[Stanley]

IP addresses... I thought so....
Ubuntu sent me an upgrade yesterday, complete core system renewal. Thanks lads.....
Childish I know but I get a lot of satisfaction from knowing I have the most cutting-edge OS available. My other IT guru, daughter Janet uses me as an example to 'professionals' who still struggle against MSoft with their everyday computing....

[Gloria]

Pluggy solved my problem, but the ancient (7yo) laptop is going to have to be replaced quite soon---christmas present???. It is now working without any problems and is noticably faster. Many thanks Stephen, and it was nice to put a face to a name.

[Stanley]

Gloria, if you do get a new one and stick to Windows, get Pluggy to load Ubuntu on your old laptop and have a play with it. You could well find that the old one is faster than the new! I know you need Windows for the genealogical applications, I lost mine when I went to Linux but still have them on the old IBM as a backstop.

[Tizer]

Beware of an email message claiming to be from Wendy Heatley on email address WHeatley@northamptoncounty.org and with the text: "Plz download and View the attached payment slip for details of our payment made to your account today.
Thank you. Wendy." The attached file is named payslip.rar and is no doubt malicious - the file extension .rar is (like .zip) an envelope which can contain anything and can be used to hide nasty files. The email address is a genuine one and has been `stolen', the northamptoncounty.org domain belonging to Northampton County in USA (nothing to do with Northampton in the UK).

[Pluggy]

I get about 2 or 3 similar emails a week. I give up trying to keep track. The last one was on the 27th July and was titled "Complaint Case #525721477638". The attached zip file contained a windows executable, no surprises there.....

[Stanley]

Strange thing is that I get very few of these malicious emails. I got the old Lloyds Bank one the other day.... My rule is quite simple, if I don't recognise the origin I treat emails with great caution. Luckily the people asking for information on historical matters and steam usually flag up their interest in the title. Another immediate red flag for me is anything marked 'Urgent!' or 'Important', automatic trash material....

[Gearce]

Sorry. Couldn't delete post.

Problem solved.

[Steven Chorkley]

I saw in the Panorama programme on the Dating Site scam last night that one of the controls they are going to introduce is that people will only be allowed to post if their IP address is in the country covered ny the site targeted. Didn't I note in our banning thread that IP addresses no longer denote residence? Another possible example of unintended consequences when a government that has such a terrible record with IT tries to write the rules.

IP addresses don't mean an whole lot in the modern world, they will tie you to an ISP and the ISP could probably trace you from it, but for those in the know, its next door to trivial to circumvent the 'real' IP. BBC Iplayer only works if you have an IP address in the UK, but there are an awful lot of people watching it outside the UK with the right 'tweaks'. If you want to access some dodgy site that didn't allow access to UK addresses , it isn't too difficult to appear from the US or pretty much any where else for that matter. (or nowhere at at all if you're a real privacy nut or have paranoid tendencies).

IP addresses mean everything in the modern world, although not for the average user. The IP addresses handed to the ISP's from organisations such as RIPE are matched to their respected countries.

They are the phone numbers of the internet. 01282, 01254, 01524 ect....

[Steven Chorkley]

Hi,

I have learned that the BT Exchange in Barnoldswick is FTTC capable and is accepting orders for some cabinets. Is this true?

The FTTC guys told me this over email although some information doesnt match: SamKnowshttp://www.samknows.com/broadband/exchange/LCBAN. He did say though he would update this information. I am hoping someone can confirm this!!! This 14meg line is killing me!!! Especially having 1gigabit at boarding school!!!

Edit. Quote from email

Exchange Barnoldswick
Cabinet 7
Postcode BB18 5SE


The exchange that your line is fed from BARNOLDSWICK is enabled and accepting orders for cabinets that have already been deployed.


However the cabinet feeding your line PCP 7 is not due for deployment until Phase 12a Which is Q3 2013/14 (Nov – Dec 2103), the cabinet in question is current planned as FTTC.

Please be aware that the engineering required to commission a Fibre Broadband cabinet is often complex and should conditions on the ground change, there is a small risk that the delivery date may be effected.

Please track the date for commissioning through the line checker of your chosen service provider.

Please note all orders are subject to line length and line loss checks.

[Stanley]

Brand new Firefox from the lads. Nice to know you are looking after me!

[Stanley]

A question. As my eyes deteriorate I am thinking of a new screen bigger than my present 22" (diagonal measurement) one. Any recommendations as to what I should be looking for? Have screens changed at all? Present one is iiyama and has given no problems.

[Pluggy]

The computer monitor market has gone very TV of late, and many of the larger ones are stuck at the 'holy' vertical resolution of 1080 Pixels so as to be classified as full HD. Often to the detriment of aspect ratio. Computer monitors have traditionally been way ahead of TVs on resolution, now it seems they are being held back to suit the utter stupidity of the TV market. Your existing monitor is probably already 1080 pixels vertically, so a bigger one will have bigger pixels vertically, but whereas your 22" monitor is probably 1680 or 1920 Pixels wide, a new larger one could be 2500+ pixels, presumably with asymmetric pixels to maintain aspect ratio.

I did find this Asus http://www.dabs.com/products/asus-ve278 ... -7MZ6.html which is probably the same resolution as your 22" but its bigger so the stuff you want to see is bigger too. It does the now common connectors of VGA,DVI and HDMI. So its a direct replacement.

The linked page kind of displays the futility of using wide screen format monitors (standard these days) for the interweb, they just stick adverts in the extra bits at the side. Life is so much better these days..........

[Stanley]

Have a look at the advert when you ask it to add to basket, what is this bundle business all about? If you tell me what to do about it I'll order it and let you know so you can install it for me.

[Pluggy]

You don't want the bundle Stanley, its just the vendor trying to sell you something extra. You just need the monitor.

[Big Kev]

Seems a bit expensive to me, have you looked here? http://www.scan.co.uk/shop/computer-har ... /led-19-27

[Stanley]

Thanks for that Kev. I like the look of number 10 because it's an iiyama same as this one and isn't complicated by having speakers. I was going to have a search myself because the carrier Dabs uses gave me lots of grief the last time I used them.
Does this choice make sense?

[Big Kev]

Thanks for that Kev. I like the look of number 10 because it's an iiyama same as this one and isn't complicated by having speakers. I was going to have a search myself because the carrier Dabs uses gave me lots of grief the last time I used them.
Does this choice make sense?

Ilyama were always the best when I was using CRT monitors. I can't comment on their flat screen products, we use Viewsonic at the office. I've used Scan on several occassions and delivery has always been good. They're only in Bolton.