In the past few minutes, I have been on FB and have seen several posts warning about strange emails received thru FB today. They apparently contain links to virus laden web pages.  Most importantly, they are coming from people you may know: There accounts have been hijacked.

What to do?  C’mon now, it’s been then years since the ‘Melissa’ virus. Don’t click on what you are not entirely certain of!

If you go to a site and it tells you it needs your user name and password, think three or four times as to why…then bail out of that page.

Additionally, I direct all my FB emails into a separate bucket in hotmail. I know to be a tad more careful if I open any of them.

If you want to protect yourself to another level, let’s set up a free email account just for 'play and socialization. Use Live.com or yahoo.com and set up another account, then direct all your FB mail there.  This will help further in protecting your personal information and identity.

Many of my friends are suddenly on a voyage to other sites, and one that keeps popping up is Facebook.

Facebook is a big place, and rapidly growing still.  With all the attention drawn to it, there’s a natural draw of the underside of humanity to visit and cause some level of consternation.

Rule#1: Don’t publish your real date of birth, phone number, address etc.   Let’s not give them pieces to walk away your identity because you gave it to them!

Don’t share everything with everybody!  Most don’t want to know to begin with. Others don’t need to know!

I wish to thank The makers of SnagIt for their great product that enables the following screenshots.

See the arrows below?  You can use these settings to make granular changes to who see what on your profile.   I’ve found it quite easy to make some groups , and as new friends join, I assign them to groups which are already set on certain privacy points.

Let’s not be so quick to jump in with both feet either!  Facebook is busy and can be confusing.  You don’t have to accept every thing ‘sent’ to you, not every invite.

Now, once you start adding applications, you might wish to practice a little net etiquette yourself, and limit the amount of information you are feeing to all your friends.  They will like you more if you do so. :)

The screenshot below shows how you can limit or stop the various notifications from applications in Facebook that you are using.

In closing, I wish you a great time on Facebook, and Happy Birthday…whenever it may be!

According to many, this coming Wednesday, April first, is when some variants of the Conficker virus will start calling home.

Depending on who one reads, they may fall victim to many horrible, vile, nasty things that will happen to computers worldwide on that day.

I dare say: If you wish to avoid all that: patch your machine!

Rather simple eh?  A fully patched machine will turn away from the advances of Conficker.

The idea behind this particular critter is to use a loophole when it finds a machine that hasn’t been updated with MS08-067

Now, if you choose not to believe me, that’s your choice, and I’ve included some links to necessary reading:

http://blogs.technet.com/msrc/default.aspx

http://blogs.technet.com/mmpc/default.aspx

http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/Entry.aspx?name=Worm%3aWin32%2fConficker.B 

http://download.nai.com/products/mcafee-avert/documents/combating_w32_conficker_worm.pdf

Now, for those who do get stung, here’s a free tool to remove it!

My mantra says: Trust Microsoft patches. Keep an eye on those from Java (JRE 6_13 is out, make sure you remove all older versions) and Adobe Reader and Flash Player. Be wary of QuickTime, and who needs Real Player anyways?

I’ve just returned from Seattle and Redmond Washington where I’ve had a most fulfilling engagement at the 2009 Global Microsoft MVP Summit.

Great weather was had, especially by Seattle standards, and the foot plus of snow that chased me out of Boston on the trip out.

If you find you Microsoft hardware working funky after installing the Beta of Windows 7; go HERE and check for new drivers.

With all the exuberance seen about the public availability of the Windows 7 Operating System Beta by Microsoft, I thought I could add a few tips in for those new to the beta scene.

There are a few ground rules:

1. You need a DVD burner;

2. You need to back up your data;

3. Make sure you did #2;

4. It should NOT be used on a production machine. If you only have one machine, simply don’t do it.

5. The Windows 7 Beta only supports Windows Vista SP1 to Windows 7 upgrades.

6. It expires on August 31, 2009

7. Do you understand #2 yet?

They don’t call us ‘software crash dummies’ for nothing. You run the risk of flattening your machine, and worse, losing your data: you pictures, music, documents etc. if you are not very, very careful.  Running a beta Operating System is NOT a walk in the park, and does come with RISKS. It does NOT come with official technical support from Microsoft or any company you call for help let’s say with a driver issue. You say Beta, they say Good-Bye.

Yes, I am running  the beta of Windows 7 as a technical beta tester. I installed it on an empty drive on a machine that I don’t use for production.  I follow my rules as stated above, and so should you.

For more info: Windows 7

and the Windows 7 Team Blog                               Direct info on installing Windows 7

I’ve been asked about how to be signed into Hotmail etc and QnA at the same time.

1. Open browser: go to http://qna.live.com

2. See the little tab to the right of that? OK, open that tab, and go to http://www.hotmail.com

You should now be able to sign in , and flip from one to the other!

Yes, you can have and add even more tabs to the browser session.

Note; Your screen view may differ just a little as I’m running IE8 on this machine.

Hit Here and find out if you have the latest, and by default more secure version on your machine.

The Team at Windows Live has just posted an important blog post regarding the recent changes that came out with Wave 3.

Read it, and follow the prompts HERE

The Live Team has also added an entry regarding FAQ’s for the release. Read that HERE

I recently received an e-mail, purporting to be from the FBI advising me that it was safe to pull my prize $$ from a bank in Nigeria. Yeah. Sure.

C’mon folks, let’s not go there with these birds. You know the economy is tight, and they are out there waving the possibility of your gaining some ‘free’ cash. It ain’t so. Get over it please. Do not hurt yourself or your families by falling for these things.

Below is the text of the mail, with names and information redacted by X’s.  If you get a letter such as this, please, just dump it.

Anti-Terrorist and Monitory Crimes Division.

Federal Bureau Of Investigation.

FBI XXXXXXXXXXX Division

1110 Third Avenue

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Telephone Number :XXXXXXXXXX

ATTN: BENEFICIARY

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has discovered through our intelligence Monitoring Network, that you have an on going transaction with a Financial Institution in Nigeria, as the owner of $7,500,000 United States Dollars.

Therefore, the FBI Seattle Division U.S.A in conjunction with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) Nigeria, Has screened through our various Monitoring Networks and has been confirmed and notified that the transaction you have with the Financial Institution is Legal and you have the Lawful Right to claim your due funds. We advise you to go ahead with the transaction as we are monitoring all their services and networks. Be advised that any letter or claims notification received from anybody or company should be forwarded to us with immediate effect.

Meanwhile, you are advised to follow the procedure of the Financial Institution. They have their own legal procedure which we have examined and confirmed legal. Follow their instructions while you keep us updated for more details. You are advised to contact the necessary office for more details of transfer as we are monitoring every move now.

Please, be advised and be aware that your funds had been insured and the necessary charges would be taken care of by you, as confirmed by the Monitoring network. For your own good you are advised to confirm any transaction or lottery promo you have either involved yourself with in the past to enable us trace this scammers. Only the Financial Institution has been confirmed Legal any other are still under investigation, and so many others are scam, most especially from Nigeria and Africa.

Please contact the Head of Operations Dr. XXXXXXXXXXXX, Central Bank of Nigeria who would direct you to the above said financial institution as the Central bank doesn’t have direct dealings with individuals.

Dr. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX (Head of Operations)

International Remmitance Department

Telephone: +XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Fax: +XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Email: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX@live.com

Provide him with the information below for verification:

Your name:

Residential Address:

Telephone number:

Age:

Gender:

If you need to contact me at any stage please do not hesitate to call XXXXXXXXXXXX.

Sincerely,

XXXXXXXXXXX (Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge) Direct Line: XXXXXXXXXXX

Many are getting machines clobbered in various stages by this culprit. Some are stepping thru and paying to have it removed ( I call it extortion), only to find more crap on their system from doing so.

I’ve handled machines where it is deep enough to block access to your hard drives. It is not something to play with if you don;t know what you are doing.

My advice:  Go to Malwarebytes , download the free program, install, update, and run a full scan.

As always, make sure your firewall is turned on; use Windows updates, make sure your anti virus client is current and up to date, check to see that your Flash, Adobe , and Java are current..and remove all the old versions of java.

Jesper Johansson gave quite a presentation recently at Microsoft Tech ED NMEA

Watch and listen

Microsoft has published an ‘out of band’ update to most of it’s Operating Systems and Server products.

This move isn’t taken lightly, and I implore you to update yourself ASAP!

Information is here:

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms08-oct.mspx

I've put together some links here from my favorites for compiling lists and tips of what to do to protect yourself , your family and your property in the event of an emergency:

They are listed in  no particular order, with favoritism to nobody:

http://www.weather.com 

ftp://ftp.txdps.state.tx.us/dem/hurrweek/InfoLinks.pdf 

http://www.alabamainteractive.org/alabamainteractive_shell/Welcome.do?url=http://hurricane.alabama.gov/ 

American Red Cross: http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/0,1082,0_6_,00.html

http://www.redcross.org/images/pdfs/preparedness/A4600.pdf

http://www.redcross.org/services/disaster/0,1082,0_501_,00.html

http://hurricane.alabama.gov/HurricanePreparednessGuide.pdf

http://www.ready.gov/america/beinformed/hurricanes.html

http://www.ready.gov/america/index.html

http://training.fema.gov/EMIWeb/IS/is22.asp

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.shtml

http://www.fema.gov/hazard/hurricane/index.shtm

http://www.disasterhelp.gov/start.shtm

Quote

Remember that they can't do a lot of things for themselves and that they depend on you to make their life a quality life!

A PET'S TEN COMMANDMENTS.........

1. My life is likely to last 10-15 years. Any separation from you is likely to be painful.

 2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.

 3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being.

 4. Don't be angry with me for long and don't lock me up as punishment. You have your work, your friends, your entertainment, but I have only you.

 5. Talk to me. Even if I don't understand your words, I do understand your voice when speaking to me.

 6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget it.

 7. Before you hit me, before you strike me, remember that I could hurt you, and yet, I choose not to bite you.

 8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I'm not getting the right food, I have been in the sun too long, or my heart might be getting old or weak.

 9. Please take care of me when I grow old. You too, will grow old.

 10. On the ultimate difficult journey, go with me please. Never say you can't bear to watch. Don't make me face this alone. Everything is easier for me if you are there, because I love you so.

Adding photos to your Live Space is fairly straightforward.

One item to note: If you don't already have the Photo Upload Tool installed on your pc, it will be offered the first time you wish to upload to Spaces. Make things really easy on yourself and take it.

First order of business; Locate the photos you wish to publish to your Live Space;

Log into Windows Live, go to your Space;

If you don't already have the photos module installed on the Space, then add it.

Ok, now you are ready to either ADD photos to an Album or Create a new one:

Add to existing:

OR Create a new Album:

Once you have done that a box will open and you can just click on the individual photos to upload.

If the box doesn't open to where you have your photos stored, simply navigate to that location using the explorer style list on the left side. 

Upload them, and you are all set!

I've seen some Questions on QnA recently about 'Friends' that one can add from the Live family of products and thought I might help a little.

One can have a friend invite you, or you can invite one to be your friend.

Within the friend category, one can see a pencil when you look at the Friends avatar.

With that pencil clicked, you can move that friend to anyplace, top or bottom of your friends list, delete them (gasp!) or add tags to them so that you can categorize your pals. 

As an example, I've now added two tags to this handsome fellas avatar and saved it.

He now shows up both with a pencil, as above, and a new sticky pad for 'other' info, such as the tags added.

Remember to always SAVE when you change these around, or what you wish won't come true!

When you see the sunburst aside the avatar, that means that something has changed on your Friend's Spaces.

...and a Thank You here to TechSmith for making these screen shots so easy and making it appear I know what I'm doing!

Last week I had the fun of bumping into Dave McCollom of TechSmith at a technology show in Boston.  Though I am familiar with SnagIt Version 9; I had a friend with me who hadn't seen it in real action.

I'm here to tell you that Dave can drive SnagIt to new heights. Even this guy learned some new tricks.   Dave also put on a demo of Camtasia Studio  V. 5.1 for my friend, and he got himself a customer on the spot.

Vista has the new 'Snipping tool'' built in, and that works great for quickies, but if you need to do some serious work ranging anywhere from bug reporting, oopsies, or training slides that you will be dropping into a PowerPoint; then the Techsmith line is the only way to go.

Yes, I also learned that Betsy Webber indeed has a desk, and is not a virtual forever traveler! 

Yes, the shot I included, taken of the TechSmith Home Page was made with SnagIt, V. 9!