CHRISdotTODD

EWeek reports a new trojan virus that removes other viruses from your computer. The creators of the trojan virus want to use your computer to send spam email, and do not want to share your computer with other malware programs. This is accomplished through downloading Kaspersky AntiVirus for WinGate and modifying it to skip over itself.

Remember a few weeks back when Apple released iTunes 7 and Windows users had several problems? My advise at the time was to never be the first to download a new product version; wait for others to give it a try first. BTW: Apple has already release iTunes 7.1 , but I still have not updated, as there are still some issues for listening to podcasts. Well, Microsoft just released Internet Explorer 7, and a bug has already been reported . Apparently the problem manifests itself in Outlook Express , but because the two are closely integrated the cause was from IE 7. Let's review: Never be the first to try a new version of a product (if you really must, test it in a sandbox first) Use Firefox , not Internet Explorer Use Thunderbird , not Outlook Express Any questions?

Apple reported today that some versions of iPods (and here ) manufactured on September 12th inadvertently went out with a Windows virus. From the sounds of it, you should be fine if your virus definition files are up-to-date.

After many months, Sony has finally issued a recall of their batteries in their Vaio laptops . The list of companies who have recalled Sony batteries now include Dell, Apple, Toshiba, Sharp , Fujitsu, Lenovo , Hitachi, and Sony. The only major manufacture that has not recalled Sony batteries is HP, which is a bit odd considering all the other manufacturers eventually placing a recall. As you may recall, Sony originally said the problem was limited to Dell, and then Dell and Apple . Seem just a matter of time before HP is part of the crowd too. U.S. Today posted on article on October 2nd that indicated Sony will end up replacing 10 million batteries.

Here's some fun, old PC ads put together by PC World.

Have you ever wondered why you need many of the Services running in your Windows XP environment? Or perhaps you want to know if you can disable any to gain some extra performance. I have scoured the web, viewing article from Microsoft and The Elder Geek ; I have also used my own reference materials and notes that I have collected over the years; and have produced a description and recommendation for each of the Services in XP . If you consider yourself an average user, stick with the Standard recommendations. But if you are a Power User or Gamer, there are recommendations for you too. Undoubtably you will find a service that is not listed, if so, try searching Google . And I am sure you will have a difference on some setting or another... well that is okay too. For the Power User, this should give you enough information to make your own decision. download

I found some good tips for power users of XP, 20 Things the average person doesn't know about XP . The tips include how to speed up the time it takes for XP to expand the Start menu; to how to configure Delete to delete, not send files to the Recycle Bin; to how to enable Clear Type. This is well worth adding to your XP toolkit.

Firefox has a very powerful bookmark feature. By simply giving the bookmark a keyword, you can reference it in the address bar, instead of searching through your list or typing the URL. You can extend this functionality and have it take a variable. Let me tell you through a few examples. First bookmark a site, say this one: http://the-cream.blogspot.com . Now open up the Bookmark Manager (or find the bookmark in your list) and open the Properties field. Add a keyword and save it (OK). Go to the Address bar, type in the keyword and hit enter. You should now be directed to this site. Let's try another example. Suppose you want to see all the blog posts specific to one label (i.e. Firefox or security). The URL to view all the Firefox blogs is: http://the-cream.blogspot.com/search/label/Firefox . Create a bookmark with this URL. Go back to the Properties and add your keyword as before. Remove Firefox from the end (this was the label), and replace it with %s . Save it (OK). Go to the Ad

Occasionally we all have a bad day -- maybe we send an email with some embarrassing typos, or we get a flat tire, or maybe an argument with our boss. But when millions of people count on you for their PC to be secure, you cannot afford to have a bad day. Unfortunately for Windows users, that is what Microsoft had today (and here ). Microsoft was supposed to automatically send 11 fixes, 6 categorized as critical . You already know how I feel about Internet Explorer -- do not use it. And recently, I have changed to Thunderbird for my email . If you are on the Internet, do not expose yourself with Microsoft tools. In some future post, I will talk more about Thunderbird -- for now, know that the upgrade went without a hitch plus I found that I like the RSS reader included, too. So depending on your level of risk taking and the security measures you have in place, you can wait fro Microsoft to fix their distribution problems, or you can go to their website and manually get all the patch

I had so much fun assembling the Windows XP Keyboard Shortcuts, and they proved to be so popular, that I put together another one just for Firefox . In addition to the shortcuts, I included additional reference information for configuring Firefox . Download the Firefox Keyboard Shortcuts tri -fold. Just as with the latest version of the Windows XP Keyboard Shortcuts, do not forget to print double-sided on a single sheet of paper. Also be sure to validate the driver is set to print in landscape.