The Internet is loaded with clever and/or pretty eye candy. This consists of joke files usually in the form of jpg or animated gif files or photos which are in various file types like jpg, png, etc.
A lot of owners of personal web sites like to use these files to liven up their pages or to convey a theme. Some of them make their own image files or use files created by talented folks. There are a number of these files that the creators have given open permission to copy (save) and use on personal web sites. Notice the word 'copy'. If a website owner 'copies' the file and pastes it to their own site, this will cause a 'hit' on the original owner's site every time the image is accessed on the 'copied' site. This is known as 'hotlinking' files. Most of the sites that provide these free files have a notice that users should save the files to their computers and not use the 'hotlinking' procedure.
Hotlinking can cause the original owner big bucks if their images are used on a lot of sites using the 'copy and paste' method of adding images. Every time a 'hit' on the copied image a bit of bandwidth is used on the original owner's site. If the image is fairly large, like a photo being used for a background, this can cause quite a lot of bandwidth for the original owner to foot the bill. Even if the image is small, if enough 'hits' (times accessed) are made, it can cause the bandwidth bill to get big!
Unfortunately, there are a lot of people using free services for personal pages that really do not have a clue about real websites, hotlinking or bandwidth theft.Two of the biggest free service for pages described as online diaries and journals, rofiles, blogs, etc., are Xanga.com and MySpace.com.
Once the users for these pages discovered images on my website, the hits on my bandwidth went ballistic! Over 5000 hits for the month of December alone! This has caused me to work overtime trying to stop or disuade these users. Educating them would probably work best, for which I have enlisted the help of a friend who joined MySpace for just that purpose! (Thanks, Enon!)
Some of the users are trying to do the right thing, but a request from one just brought an email with obsenities!
I hope they will comply with my request to remove the hotlink from their pages, if not, I will publish the offenders' names and page addresses here on January 6.
Some terms in this article explained:
Bandwidth
Hotlinking
Until later,
Martha
Martha's Web
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Monday, December 26, 2005
Hotlinking!
Everyone who has a website can relate to how frustrating it is to have other sites 'hotlinking' to images or other files on their website. I have tried various ways to stop this practice, but to no avail. I tried blocking the domains (culprits), but that also blocked some legitimate users as well. So had to unblock the offenders. Next I renamed the files and 'edited' (changed the files to something really ugly and put my website address on the files) the hotlinked files. That worked to a point, some of the offenders view their sites more often than others, but one persistant hotlinker just went back and linked to the new file name.
One remedy that worked, I removed the file altogether. Sort of drastic, but that worked. Sure got a lot of 404s after that, though.
Two of the worst offenders for hotlinking are MySpace.com and Xanga.com. Yesterday I had over 500 hits from MySpace, all from hotlinking.
Today I had a friend who is a member of MySpace.com, email four of the known hotlinkers and explain what hotlinking is and how to save images and upload them rather than hotlink. I doubt that will do much good as the people that use MySpace don't have a clue about websites. MySpace is rather notorious for this behavior. I did email them to let them know they have people hotlinking to my site, I got a very stupid reply from them.
Their reply:
Hi there!
We are currently experiencing errors with the I.M. (Instant Messenger), we apologize for the inconvenience. We are currently doing our best to make this service operate properly. Please bear with us, as we anticipate these changes to take place very soon.
Thanks!
MySpace.com
Notice I said I emailed them, I didn't IM them! Guess if they don't like the message they just send a 'dumb' response.
If anyone has a better answer, sure would like to know about it!
Martha
As a footnote here, if the offenders do not remove the hotlink from their pages by January 5, I am going to publish the links to their sites.
Martha's Web
One remedy that worked, I removed the file altogether. Sort of drastic, but that worked. Sure got a lot of 404s after that, though.
Two of the worst offenders for hotlinking are MySpace.com and Xanga.com. Yesterday I had over 500 hits from MySpace, all from hotlinking.
Today I had a friend who is a member of MySpace.com, email four of the known hotlinkers and explain what hotlinking is and how to save images and upload them rather than hotlink. I doubt that will do much good as the people that use MySpace don't have a clue about websites. MySpace is rather notorious for this behavior. I did email them to let them know they have people hotlinking to my site, I got a very stupid reply from them.
Their reply:
Hi there!
We are currently experiencing errors with the I.M. (Instant Messenger), we apologize for the inconvenience. We are currently doing our best to make this service operate properly. Please bear with us, as we anticipate these changes to take place very soon.
Thanks!
MySpace.com
Notice I said I emailed them, I didn't IM them! Guess if they don't like the message they just send a 'dumb' response.
If anyone has a better answer, sure would like to know about it!
Martha
As a footnote here, if the offenders do not remove the hotlink from their pages by January 5, I am going to publish the links to their sites.
Martha's Web
Sunday, December 25, 2005
Rebates and Gift Cards, Same Old, Same Old
The newest hook to get consumers to buy merchandise, gift cards! Buy a new fridge, get a gift card by mail. Buy a new computer, get a gift card by mail. I think I have heard this con, I mean come on, before only they were calling it rebates.
At least if he or she did receive the rebate, it was in the form of a check which a consumer could cash and either save it or spend it wherever he/she wanted to shop. With the gift cards, the consumer is required to spend the card where the original merchandise was purchased. That is, if the gift cards are ever received!
The rant is on! You can probably guess where this is going!
In October I purchased a new refrigerator (stainless steal, double doors with ice water, crushed ice, cubed ice available through the door and not cheap!). I also purchased a new washer and dryer. Gift cards totaling $200.00 were to be mine as soon as I dutifully filled out all of the paperwork and sent it in along with the required proofs of purchase. This I did the next day after the purchase and I still have all of my suggested copies. November came and went, no gift cards. On December 15th I decided to call the 800 number on my copy of the gift card receipt.
Yes they received it, for all three gift cards. One card for $150.00 mailed November 28, the phone rep stated. Two other cards, for $25.00 each were mailed on December 7. So the phone rep said. So why didn't I receive them? I could see maybe one go missing, but three? Uh huh, I don't think so. So now I must wait 45 days from the date the cards were mailed before I can get new cards, unless the original cards have been used.
Wait a minute! If they can tell the cards were used, then they must have a way to invalidate them if they are lost! I think I have been scammed royally! Anyway, I will wait until the 45 days have passed and see what happens.
Stay tuned, there may be a real bang up for someone, in the corporate headquarters of this big and I do mean big, merchandiser, not to mention a newsworthy tidbit for the local news. Names to be mentioned later!
Martha
Martha's Web
Update!
After four months and numerous phone calls, the missing gift cards finally arrived. I do believe they were never sent originally and if I had not been persistant, I would never have received them. Sigh!
At least if he or she did receive the rebate, it was in the form of a check which a consumer could cash and either save it or spend it wherever he/she wanted to shop. With the gift cards, the consumer is required to spend the card where the original merchandise was purchased. That is, if the gift cards are ever received!
The rant is on! You can probably guess where this is going!
In October I purchased a new refrigerator (stainless steal, double doors with ice water, crushed ice, cubed ice available through the door and not cheap!). I also purchased a new washer and dryer. Gift cards totaling $200.00 were to be mine as soon as I dutifully filled out all of the paperwork and sent it in along with the required proofs of purchase. This I did the next day after the purchase and I still have all of my suggested copies. November came and went, no gift cards. On December 15th I decided to call the 800 number on my copy of the gift card receipt.
Yes they received it, for all three gift cards. One card for $150.00 mailed November 28, the phone rep stated. Two other cards, for $25.00 each were mailed on December 7. So the phone rep said. So why didn't I receive them? I could see maybe one go missing, but three? Uh huh, I don't think so. So now I must wait 45 days from the date the cards were mailed before I can get new cards, unless the original cards have been used.
Wait a minute! If they can tell the cards were used, then they must have a way to invalidate them if they are lost! I think I have been scammed royally! Anyway, I will wait until the 45 days have passed and see what happens.
Stay tuned, there may be a real bang up for someone, in the corporate headquarters of this big and I do mean big, merchandiser, not to mention a newsworthy tidbit for the local news. Names to be mentioned later!
Martha
Martha's Web
Update!
After four months and numerous phone calls, the missing gift cards finally arrived. I do believe they were never sent originally and if I had not been persistant, I would never have received them. Sigh!
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Rebate, Freebate, but Not For You!
It's time for American consumers to rebel against that insidious marketing ploy known as a 'rebate'. You see the ads all the time for a really low price on an item you really want, or maybe even need. On second look, in very small print, the ad states 'After rebate'. You still have to pay the regular, sometimes-inflated price and send for the promised refund known as a rebate. The manufacturers assume that consumers don't mind spending a lot of time, effort and some postage to send for the promised rebate.
Sigh! So many rebates offered, so many never received!
In order for a consumer to receive the promised rebate, many things need to happen. A form for the rebate must be completed properly and then all of the proofs of purchase must be gathered together. They suggest everything should be copied 'for your records' before sending it to an address for that particular rebate. Of course, what this really means is the consumer needs the copies to remind them of the rebate they never received, but I digress! (This address is usually written so small that a magnifying glass needs to used to read it.) I know why they offer these rebates. They hope the buyer will give up in disgust over all of the requirements, especially when they have to cut a proof of purchase from a cardboard box that is at least an inch thick!, Well, that is an exaggeration, but it seems like it sometimes. Then of course the request must be received before the deadline. In fact many people do not send for the rebate, either they forget, lose some of the necessary requirements or just don't want to bother. That's why we keep seeing those ads for rebates on products. They are good for the merchant, good for the manufacturer, bad for the consumer who never gets the rebate!
If the consumer only has a P O Box for his/her address, sorry, Out of Luck! Can't use a P O Box, even though it is the correct and only address! (I guess this is to prevent someone from getting two rebates, but two products would need to be purchased to get the rebates, so....another consumer ripoff!)
In order for merchants to make consumers themselves look good, they often will provide a receipt just for the rebate. There is a warning here, if the receipt has written on it what the rebate is for, make sure it is for the same product purchased! This is experience talking here! Never mind if the print on the receipt is faint or hard to read, trust me, the folks at the Rebate center can read it. (I lost $5.00 on that ploy.)
Excuses, excuses!
Not responsible for requests not postmarked by the deadline! Wrong item purchased! (It wasn't, but my receipt said otherwise.) Not responsible for items lost by the Postal Service. (They do get blamed for a lot of things!)
I have purchased many items and sent for rebates that were duly received. Microsoft has the fastest response time here, less than three weeks. I was impressed! I sent for one rebate and received notification that my submission was approved and being processed, but never received the rebate. That was Office Max. Most of the time I have received the rebate eventually, sometimes long after I had forgotten about it. (I now keep a record in Excel, for who, when sent, amount and if ever received.)
Most of the time the rebate check comes like a postcard. It's no wonder some are never received. Or if they are received, easily un-noticed amid all of the junk mail and probably tossed.
I am still waiting for my Gift cards (the latest marketing ploy) that I have been assured are 'in the mail'. If I never receive them, I have been told I can get them sent again, providing no one has used them. What a ripoff! An immediate discount would have impressed me a lot more! I must admit the cards are for items I would have bought anyway, but since they were offered, why not send for them?
This isn't the first time I have written about rebates. I had a rebate experience with Symantec that was totally infuriating, so much so that I will never buy another of their products. You can read about that in ' I Am Going to Say 'Goodbye' to Symantec', in a previous post.
So I am rebelling against rebates. If I see a product that I want on sale with a rebate, I will keep looking. The hassle and frustration is too much for an old lady like me!
Sigh! So many rebates offered, so many never received!
In order for a consumer to receive the promised rebate, many things need to happen. A form for the rebate must be completed properly and then all of the proofs of purchase must be gathered together. They suggest everything should be copied 'for your records' before sending it to an address for that particular rebate. Of course, what this really means is the consumer needs the copies to remind them of the rebate they never received, but I digress! (This address is usually written so small that a magnifying glass needs to used to read it.) I know why they offer these rebates. They hope the buyer will give up in disgust over all of the requirements, especially when they have to cut a proof of purchase from a cardboard box that is at least an inch thick!, Well, that is an exaggeration, but it seems like it sometimes. Then of course the request must be received before the deadline. In fact many people do not send for the rebate, either they forget, lose some of the necessary requirements or just don't want to bother. That's why we keep seeing those ads for rebates on products. They are good for the merchant, good for the manufacturer, bad for the consumer who never gets the rebate!
If the consumer only has a P O Box for his/her address, sorry, Out of Luck! Can't use a P O Box, even though it is the correct and only address! (I guess this is to prevent someone from getting two rebates, but two products would need to be purchased to get the rebates, so....another consumer ripoff!)
In order for merchants to make consumers themselves look good, they often will provide a receipt just for the rebate. There is a warning here, if the receipt has written on it what the rebate is for, make sure it is for the same product purchased! This is experience talking here! Never mind if the print on the receipt is faint or hard to read, trust me, the folks at the Rebate center can read it. (I lost $5.00 on that ploy.)
Excuses, excuses!
Not responsible for requests not postmarked by the deadline! Wrong item purchased! (It wasn't, but my receipt said otherwise.) Not responsible for items lost by the Postal Service. (They do get blamed for a lot of things!)
I have purchased many items and sent for rebates that were duly received. Microsoft has the fastest response time here, less than three weeks. I was impressed! I sent for one rebate and received notification that my submission was approved and being processed, but never received the rebate. That was Office Max. Most of the time I have received the rebate eventually, sometimes long after I had forgotten about it. (I now keep a record in Excel, for who, when sent, amount and if ever received.)
Most of the time the rebate check comes like a postcard. It's no wonder some are never received. Or if they are received, easily un-noticed amid all of the junk mail and probably tossed.
I am still waiting for my Gift cards (the latest marketing ploy) that I have been assured are 'in the mail'. If I never receive them, I have been told I can get them sent again, providing no one has used them. What a ripoff! An immediate discount would have impressed me a lot more! I must admit the cards are for items I would have bought anyway, but since they were offered, why not send for them?
This isn't the first time I have written about rebates. I had a rebate experience with Symantec that was totally infuriating, so much so that I will never buy another of their products. You can read about that in ' I Am Going to Say 'Goodbye' to Symantec', in a previous post.
So I am rebelling against rebates. If I see a product that I want on sale with a rebate, I will keep looking. The hassle and frustration is too much for an old lady like me!
Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Software Spasms
Have you ever installed software that just wouldn't work? Or maybe it worked for awhile and then just quit working? I am going to tell you about my experience with Software A and Software B. (I won't name the software as they are both really good and I don't want to discourage anyone from using them.)
I installed Software A on my new laptop and it worked just fine. Then it quit working and nothing (and I do mean nothing*) would make it work. Totally frustrating!
For some reason my new laptop was acting flaky about a lot of things. Sometimes when it started up and password duly entered, it would just sit there and I would have to do a hard boot & restart it. There were other little gremlins in this computer and finally, I had enough! I backed up my data to an external drive and since I received a complete restore disk with this laptop (amazing!) I just popped in the CD and did the deed. In practically no time I had a pristine version of Windows XP SP2 on my notebook.
So I uninstalled the stuff I didn't want (Norton Antivirus and a few other things), updated Windows with all of the available critical updates, installed my virus scanner and firewall, and installed my must have programs, including Software A. Oh goody, now it worked! So I went on happily customizing Windows to work the way I want, installed some other must have programs and everything worked just fine, now more gremlins. Then a few days ago I went to open Software A and it wouldn't open. I tried all of the suggested fixes by software A's support and nada, it would not open. Phooey! Talk about frustrating!
Now today, Software B (which runs in the background all the time, as it should) had a problem because of an idiotic move by me (not going to explain that fiasco) and it crashed. So it isn't running in the background. Just on a hunch, I tried to open Software A. Guess what, it works! So I started testing. Open Software B, Software A won't open. Close Software B and Software A works just fine. Hmmm.
Reboot and try the testing again, same results. Software B running, Software A won't open. Software B closed, Software A works! Now I have to wonder, how many times have folks installed some software that just won't work and the problem is just a conflict with other software on their computer?
*re-registered the dlls and executible, ran the dianostics provide by Software A's support, un-installed, re-installed the program. Sigh, if only I had known how easy it was to solve the problem!
Until next time,
Martha
Martha's Web
I installed Software A on my new laptop and it worked just fine. Then it quit working and nothing (and I do mean nothing*) would make it work. Totally frustrating!
For some reason my new laptop was acting flaky about a lot of things. Sometimes when it started up and password duly entered, it would just sit there and I would have to do a hard boot & restart it. There were other little gremlins in this computer and finally, I had enough! I backed up my data to an external drive and since I received a complete restore disk with this laptop (amazing!) I just popped in the CD and did the deed. In practically no time I had a pristine version of Windows XP SP2 on my notebook.
So I uninstalled the stuff I didn't want (Norton Antivirus and a few other things), updated Windows with all of the available critical updates, installed my virus scanner and firewall, and installed my must have programs, including Software A. Oh goody, now it worked! So I went on happily customizing Windows to work the way I want, installed some other must have programs and everything worked just fine, now more gremlins. Then a few days ago I went to open Software A and it wouldn't open. I tried all of the suggested fixes by software A's support and nada, it would not open. Phooey! Talk about frustrating!
Now today, Software B (which runs in the background all the time, as it should) had a problem because of an idiotic move by me (not going to explain that fiasco) and it crashed. So it isn't running in the background. Just on a hunch, I tried to open Software A. Guess what, it works! So I started testing. Open Software B, Software A won't open. Close Software B and Software A works just fine. Hmmm.
Reboot and try the testing again, same results. Software B running, Software A won't open. Software B closed, Software A works! Now I have to wonder, how many times have folks installed some software that just won't work and the problem is just a conflict with other software on their computer?
*re-registered the dlls and executible, ran the dianostics provide by Software A's support, un-installed, re-installed the program. Sigh, if only I had known how easy it was to solve the problem!
Until next time,
Martha
Martha's Web
Friday, June 10, 2005
Can I trust Spybot?
Since I first learned about spyware, AdAware and Spybot Search and Destroy have been at the top of my 'must have' program list. One of the functions that I have performed religiously has been to update and run these little jewels on a regular basis.
Just imagine how I felt when I learned the following from a user on one of my Yahoo groups lists. Spybot may be giving in to presure from malware program owners! Don't believe it? Well, I don't know for sure either but why else would this be happening! I have heard rumors, but didn't believe them........
Open your Spybot program and click on the Mode button located next to 'File'. Click 'Advanced', and then click on 'Settings' on the left side menu. Click the 'Ignore Products' icon and scroll through the list of programs. There should be no check marks in the boxes beside the listed programs unless you have previously checked some of them, for what ever reason.
I checked Spybot on both my desktop box and my notebook and here are the results.
In the All Products section, I found check marks by:
MySearch (This is an IE toolbar and a homepage hijacker, according to doxdesk.com)
New.dot net (category, popups)
SideStep (Don't know much about this, but appears to be another toolbar) My question about this one is, why is it listed here with a check mark? And why check marks for the others?
The user that posted the message also found some other things checked, but this was all I found.
So what is going on with Spybot? I scrolled through and unchecked these boxes, updated Spybot, scrolled through again and found them checked again!
Can I trust Spybot? I still use it, but I am wary now!
Until next time,
Martha
Martha's Web
Just imagine how I felt when I learned the following from a user on one of my Yahoo groups lists. Spybot may be giving in to presure from malware program owners! Don't believe it? Well, I don't know for sure either but why else would this be happening! I have heard rumors, but didn't believe them........
Open your Spybot program and click on the Mode button located next to 'File'. Click 'Advanced', and then click on 'Settings' on the left side menu. Click the 'Ignore Products' icon and scroll through the list of programs. There should be no check marks in the boxes beside the listed programs unless you have previously checked some of them, for what ever reason.
I checked Spybot on both my desktop box and my notebook and here are the results.
In the All Products section, I found check marks by:
MySearch (This is an IE toolbar and a homepage hijacker, according to doxdesk.com)
New.dot net (category, popups)
SideStep (Don't know much about this, but appears to be another toolbar) My question about this one is, why is it listed here with a check mark? And why check marks for the others?
The user that posted the message also found some other things checked, but this was all I found.
So what is going on with Spybot? I scrolled through and unchecked these boxes, updated Spybot, scrolled through again and found them checked again!
Can I trust Spybot? I still use it, but I am wary now!
Until next time,
Martha
Martha's Web
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
I Won a Million Dollars! (Not Really)
I got a message today, saying I won a million dollars! Whoo Hoo! Too bad it is a scam. I could use a million dollars! I rather suspect I am not the only one to receive this message and I fervently hope all of the recipients understand that this is the 'hook' for a big fat scam. Unfortunately, some of the folks that receive this message will fall for it and soon will be parted from some of their hard earned money.
Here is the message complete with headers. I found it interesting that Microsoft would use go.com to send out this message, LOL! Even more interesting, Bill Gates sponsored this lottery. What do you want to bet he doesn't know he sponsored it!
X-Apparently-To: changed to protect my email address@sbcglobal.net via 206.190.37.109; Wed, 18 May 2005 02:10:07 -0700
Authentication-Results: mta810.mail.scd.yahoo.com
from=go.com; domainkeys=neutral (no sig)
X-Originating-IP: [199.181.134.41]
Return-Path:
Received: from 207.115.57.39 (EHLO ylpvm08.prodigy.net) (207.115.57.39)
by mta810.mail.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; Wed, 18 May 2005 02:10:07 -0700
X-Originating-IP: [199.181.134.41]
Received: from wmailmta04of.seamail.go.com (wmailmta04of.seamail.go.com [199.181.134.41])
by ylpvm08.prodigy.net (8.12.10 083104/8.12.10) with SMTP id j4I99wHx008849
for; Wed, 18 May 2005 05:09:58 -0400
Received: (qmail 27686 invoked from network); 18 May 2005 09:04:45 -0000
Received: from wmailweba01.seamail.go.com (HELO wmailweba01) (10.192.72.91)
by wmailmta04o.seamail.go.com with SMTP; 18 May 2005 09:04:45 -0000
Message-ID: <2944243.1116407122295.javamail.microsoft_lotto013@wmailweba01>
Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 02:05:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: MICROSOFT LOTTERY
To: Microsoft_Lotto013@go.com
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU HAVE WON.
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Mailer: GoMail 3.0.1
FROM THE DESK OF THE COORDINATOR [MICROSOFT GLOBAL EMAIL LOTTERY]
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
MICROSOFT B.V. 44 Boeing Avenue, 9459 PE Schiphol-Rijk.
Sponsored and promoted by Bill Gates, Founder, Chairman, CEO of the World's Largest software(Microsoft):
http://www.templetons.com/brad/gmap.gif
========================================================================================
Ref. Number: 132/756/40027
Batch Number: 538901527-BC722
RE: WINNING NOTIFICATION/FINAL NOTICE.
To claim your prize contact Barrister Roy Hans (RoyalChambers@sify.com)
ATTN.
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the Our Global Email Lottery program held on the 4th May, 2005.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number 37511465899-6410 with serial number 4872-510 drew lucky numbers
7-14-88-23-3545 which consequently won in the 1st category, you have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of US$
1,000,000.00 (One Million United States Dollars).
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning information confidential until your claims has
been processed and your money Remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants.
All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from over 20,000 company and 30,000,000 individual
email addresses and names from all over the world. This promotional program takes place every three years. We hope with part
of your winning you will take part in our next USD 50 million international lottery.
To file for your claim, please contact our fiducial agent/attorney:
=======================================
BARRISTER. ROY HANS (ROYAL ADVOCATEN KANTOR)
Amsterdam-Netherlands.
Tel: (31) 617 792 760.
Fax: (31) 847 506 277.
E-Mail: RoyalChambers@sify.com
=======================================
Please in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, remember to quote your reference number and batch numbers
in all correspondence, also indicate your country and city. Furthermore, should there be any change of address, do inform our
agent as soon as possible.
To enable you file your winning prize, you are advised to fully comply with our co-respondent agency office.
Congratulations once more from our members of staff, and thank you for being part of our promotional program.
Note: Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified.
Sincerely yours,
Mrs. Susan Smith
Lottery Coordinator.
___________________________________________________
Check-out GO.com
GO get your free GO E-Mail account with expanded storage of 6 MB!
http://mail.go.com
Reads nice, doesn't it. The scammers are getting better at what they do, trying to part you and your money for their benefit.
Please, don't bother calling the above number, what you will get is a request to send money for the fees to collect the winnings. This is just a variation of a scam that has been around for a long time! Real lotto winners don't pay to collect and real lotto winners actually entered a lottery!
For more information about lottery scams (and other Internet frauds), just go to this site: How to tell if you have a Lottery Scam Letter
Until next time,
Martha
Martha's Web
Here is the message complete with headers. I found it interesting that Microsoft would use go.com to send out this message, LOL! Even more interesting, Bill Gates sponsored this lottery. What do you want to bet he doesn't know he sponsored it!
X-Apparently-To: changed to protect my email address@sbcglobal.net via 206.190.37.109; Wed, 18 May 2005 02:10:07 -0700
Authentication-Results: mta810.mail.scd.yahoo.com
from=go.com; domainkeys=neutral (no sig)
X-Originating-IP: [199.181.134.41]
Return-Path:
Received: from 207.115.57.39 (EHLO ylpvm08.prodigy.net) (207.115.57.39)
by mta810.mail.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; Wed, 18 May 2005 02:10:07 -0700
X-Originating-IP: [199.181.134.41]
Received: from wmailmta04of.seamail.go.com (wmailmta04of.seamail.go.com [199.181.134.41])
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for
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Message-ID: <2944243.1116407122295.javamail.microsoft_lotto013@wmailweba01>
Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 02:05:22 -0700 (PDT)
From: MICROSOFT LOTTERY
To: Microsoft_Lotto013@go.com
Subject: CONGRATULATIONS!!! YOU HAVE WON.
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
X-Mailer: GoMail 3.0.1
FROM THE DESK OF THE COORDINATOR [MICROSOFT GLOBAL EMAIL LOTTERY]
INTERNATIONAL PROMOTIONS/PRIZE AWARD DEPARTMENT
MICROSOFT B.V. 44 Boeing Avenue, 9459 PE Schiphol-Rijk.
Sponsored and promoted by Bill Gates, Founder, Chairman, CEO of the World's Largest software(Microsoft):
http://www.templetons.com/brad/gmap.gif
========================================================================================
Ref. Number: 132/756/40027
Batch Number: 538901527-BC722
RE: WINNING NOTIFICATION/FINAL NOTICE.
To claim your prize contact Barrister Roy Hans (RoyalChambers@sify.com)
ATTN.
We are pleased to inform you of the result of the Our Global Email Lottery program held on the 4th May, 2005.
Your e-mail address attached to ticket number 37511465899-6410 with serial number 4872-510 drew lucky numbers
7-14-88-23-3545 which consequently won in the 1st category, you have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay out of US$
1,000,000.00 (One Million United States Dollars).
CONGRATULATIONS!!!
Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning information confidential until your claims has
been processed and your money Remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid double claiming and
unwarranted abuse of this program by some participants.
All participants were selected through a computer ballot system drawn from over 20,000 company and 30,000,000 individual
email addresses and names from all over the world. This promotional program takes place every three years. We hope with part
of your winning you will take part in our next USD 50 million international lottery.
To file for your claim, please contact our fiducial agent/attorney:
=======================================
BARRISTER. ROY HANS (ROYAL ADVOCATEN KANTOR)
Amsterdam-Netherlands.
Tel: (31) 617 792 760.
Fax: (31) 847 506 277.
E-Mail: RoyalChambers@sify.com
=======================================
Please in order to avoid unnecessary delays and complications, remember to quote your reference number and batch numbers
in all correspondence, also indicate your country and city. Furthermore, should there be any change of address, do inform our
agent as soon as possible.
To enable you file your winning prize, you are advised to fully comply with our co-respondent agency office.
Congratulations once more from our members of staff, and thank you for being part of our promotional program.
Note: Anybody under the age of 18 is automatically disqualified.
Sincerely yours,
Mrs. Susan Smith
Lottery Coordinator.
___________________________________________________
Check-out GO.com
GO get your free GO E-Mail account with expanded storage of 6 MB!
http://mail.go.com
Reads nice, doesn't it. The scammers are getting better at what they do, trying to part you and your money for their benefit.
Please, don't bother calling the above number, what you will get is a request to send money for the fees to collect the winnings. This is just a variation of a scam that has been around for a long time! Real lotto winners don't pay to collect and real lotto winners actually entered a lottery!
For more information about lottery scams (and other Internet frauds), just go to this site: How to tell if you have a Lottery Scam Letter
Until next time,
Martha
Martha's Web
Friday, April 15, 2005
Blue, Red, or United?
(I am ranting again!)
Whatever happened to the United States? I guess the verbiage on the legal tender doesn't mean much any more. You know,the statement 'United we stand, divided we fall'. It seems like this great land is no longer 'united', but instead we are 'blue states' or 'red states'. I know that this isn't really true (I hope!), but I have to wonder what kind of image or message this is sending to those countries that would like to see our mighty nation destroyed.
Why have normally intelligent people allowed this to happen? Whatever happened to the idea of voting for the person or ideas instead of voting for 'The Party'? The Democratic party is not always just what this country needs and neither is the Republican party. Each of these organizations have good ideas, but as soon as one of them announces one, the other immediately jumps on it as 'bad'.
Folks, the way I see it, there are just a few people in both parties that are fomenting the division of our land. I won't mention any names, but if you read the newspapers, listen to TV and/or the radio, you know who they are. My idea to stop this dividing of the United States? Vote these suckers out of office! Let's have just the United States once again!
Whatever happened to the United States? I guess the verbiage on the legal tender doesn't mean much any more. You know,the statement 'United we stand, divided we fall'. It seems like this great land is no longer 'united', but instead we are 'blue states' or 'red states'. I know that this isn't really true (I hope!), but I have to wonder what kind of image or message this is sending to those countries that would like to see our mighty nation destroyed.
Why have normally intelligent people allowed this to happen? Whatever happened to the idea of voting for the person or ideas instead of voting for 'The Party'? The Democratic party is not always just what this country needs and neither is the Republican party. Each of these organizations have good ideas, but as soon as one of them announces one, the other immediately jumps on it as 'bad'.
Folks, the way I see it, there are just a few people in both parties that are fomenting the division of our land. I won't mention any names, but if you read the newspapers, listen to TV and/or the radio, you know who they are. My idea to stop this dividing of the United States? Vote these suckers out of office! Let's have just the United States once again!
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
A Follow-up to ' I Am Going to Say 'Goodbye' to Symantec'
I did finally receive a response to the inquiry I sent to Symantec about the rebate amount sent in and the amount received. The date on the email I received today, Jan 18, was Dec 27. I guess this email was lost in 'cyberspace' or maybe the same black hole where my rebates went!
Unbelieveable response! Not a single answer to anything I asked!
Thank you for your rebate inquiry. Our records show that check number 8369221 was issued on 10/23/2004 in the amount of $20.00. This check cleared our bank on 11/05/2004. ( I knew that!)
We appreciate your participation in this promotion. If there is anything else we can do to assist you, please contact us at symantecrebatesupport@symantecrebates.com. We are always happy to help. (I don't believe that!)
This was what I asked:
I have a question: My rebate check I received was for $20.00. Why? I sent two rebate offers, one for $30 and one for $40.
Please note, the product that I selected above is NOT the one I sent the rebate for, as Drive Image is not listed.
Comments: I purchased Drive Image because it works. I could never get Ghost to work, it would not install. I tried three times and it always failed. Everything else worked ok. If this is not resolved in a satisfactory manner, I will no longer use Symantec products.
Tracking Number: xxxxxxxx
Obviously this is a 'canned' response, I wonder if anyone actually read this inquiry? Or maybe I should ask 'Did anyone in office that processes rebates read this inquiry?' I am quite sure that Symantec outsources rebate processing, maybe they don't know what it is to followup for 'good customer service!'
I have totally removed anything from Symantec from my computer and guess what? It runs better! Just like everyone said, Norton is a resource hog! I am using eTrust™ EZ Armor™ LE from Computer Associates and so far I like it just fine!
Note: I am not the only one with rebate gripes! Rebate Gripes
Unbelieveable response! Not a single answer to anything I asked!
Thank you for your rebate inquiry. Our records show that check number 8369221 was issued on 10/23/2004 in the amount of $20.00. This check cleared our bank on 11/05/2004. ( I knew that!)
We appreciate your participation in this promotion. If there is anything else we can do to assist you, please contact us at symantecrebatesupport@symantecrebates.com. We are always happy to help. (I don't believe that!)
This was what I asked:
I have a question: My rebate check I received was for $20.00. Why? I sent two rebate offers, one for $30 and one for $40.
Please note, the product that I selected above is NOT the one I sent the rebate for, as Drive Image is not listed.
Comments: I purchased Drive Image because it works. I could never get Ghost to work, it would not install. I tried three times and it always failed. Everything else worked ok. If this is not resolved in a satisfactory manner, I will no longer use Symantec products.
Tracking Number: xxxxxxxx
Obviously this is a 'canned' response, I wonder if anyone actually read this inquiry? Or maybe I should ask 'Did anyone in office that processes rebates read this inquiry?' I am quite sure that Symantec outsources rebate processing, maybe they don't know what it is to followup for 'good customer service!'
I have totally removed anything from Symantec from my computer and guess what? It runs better! Just like everyone said, Norton is a resource hog! I am using eTrust™ EZ Armor™ LE from Computer Associates and so far I like it just fine!
Note: I am not the only one with rebate gripes! Rebate Gripes
Friday, January 14, 2005
My Magazine
I subscribe to several magazines and sometimes I actually have time to sit down and read one of them. I stopped my computer magazine subscriptions a while back, though. It just seemed like they keep repeating the same things I have already read in an email newsletter or on one of my favorite websites. The titles kept promising me how to clean up my hard drive, fix my email or
or some other wondrous thing, and when I read the article I would think, 'I already know that', or I would think, 'These guys are nuts'.
But I still want to read something once in a while that isn't on my computer monitor, so I subscribed to a couple of really famous magazines written mainly for women and home makers. I won't name them here, but if you really want to know, just email me and I will let you know the titles.
As I perused the latest issue of one, I started noticing how many full-page ads there are for everything from soup to nuts and lots of stuff in between. So I counted them! Yeah, I was bored. There were ninety-three full-page ads, including 20 for prescription drugs (ask your doctor). In addition to the blatant ads were a number of articles for makeup and hair care specifyng brands. There were a lot more half page ads. I didn't count those. Then there were the cards to pull out and mail, ten of those.
There were several interesting articles, but they were all mixed in with all those ads. Oh and I don't want to forget the special advertising section! Eight pages there, with a few coupons to entice me to try the products.
So, out of the two hundred pages in the magazine, less than half were devoted to anything I really cared to read. In that less than half was an article on redoing one of my rooms (a make over) with picture of both before and after. If my room looked as good as the before, I sure wouldn't worry about a make over! True, the after really looked great!
So when this subscription comes up for renewal, I think I will pass. But I will keep Discover magazine!
or some other wondrous thing, and when I read the article I would think, 'I already know that', or I would think, 'These guys are nuts'.
But I still want to read something once in a while that isn't on my computer monitor, so I subscribed to a couple of really famous magazines written mainly for women and home makers. I won't name them here, but if you really want to know, just email me and I will let you know the titles.
As I perused the latest issue of one, I started noticing how many full-page ads there are for everything from soup to nuts and lots of stuff in between. So I counted them! Yeah, I was bored. There were ninety-three full-page ads, including 20 for prescription drugs (ask your doctor). In addition to the blatant ads were a number of articles for makeup and hair care specifyng brands. There were a lot more half page ads. I didn't count those. Then there were the cards to pull out and mail, ten of those.
There were several interesting articles, but they were all mixed in with all those ads. Oh and I don't want to forget the special advertising section! Eight pages there, with a few coupons to entice me to try the products.
So, out of the two hundred pages in the magazine, less than half were devoted to anything I really cared to read. In that less than half was an article on redoing one of my rooms (a make over) with picture of both before and after. If my room looked as good as the before, I sure wouldn't worry about a make over! True, the after really looked great!
So when this subscription comes up for renewal, I think I will pass. But I will keep Discover magazine!
Friday, December 24, 2004
Do You Think?
I've been reading some of the security newsletters that come into my inbox on a regular basis. A recurring theme in these missives seems to be 'phishing' (see below) is going to be the biggest security problem for end users in the coming year. The sad thing, it is probably true.
How many times have the news media reported on this problem? Hundreds of times more than likely. How many times have users been told, 'Your financial institutions do not send emails telling you to go to a site and input your confidential information'.
Are end users like sheep, following wherever the paths lead? Do they just ignore common sense and blindly do whatever an email tells them? There must be thousands of these 'sheep like' users out there on the 'web' or the perpetrators would not keep up the endless barrage of 'phishing' emails I get in my inbox. The same holds true for spammers. They just keep sending and sending an endless stream of garbage email to just about everyone that has an email account. Some of the more gullible of users click and buy from this junk, thus encouraging the garbage handlers to send out more of their trash.
How can we educate end users to delete unopened all of this junk? How can we convince these folks to NEVER buy anything from a spam email? I wish I knew! If how to handle 'phishing' and spam is published in the local newspapers, reported on the news and written about on countless websites haven't made a dent in what these poor 'victims' will do, then what can be done?
Should ISPs make users take a security course before they let them connect to the Internet? Make them pass a test? That would seem to be impractical, but somewhere, somehow, there has to be an answer!
(Phishing, pronounced fishing, is a nefarious plot to steal a victim's information. The emails claim to be from a financial instution, like your bank or credit card company, eBay, PayPal or a simuliar company. The message varies, some claim to need you to update your information or your account may be closed. For an example,look at this page on Martha's Web.)
How many times have the news media reported on this problem? Hundreds of times more than likely. How many times have users been told, 'Your financial institutions do not send emails telling you to go to a site and input your confidential information'.
Are end users like sheep, following wherever the paths lead? Do they just ignore common sense and blindly do whatever an email tells them? There must be thousands of these 'sheep like' users out there on the 'web' or the perpetrators would not keep up the endless barrage of 'phishing' emails I get in my inbox. The same holds true for spammers. They just keep sending and sending an endless stream of garbage email to just about everyone that has an email account. Some of the more gullible of users click and buy from this junk, thus encouraging the garbage handlers to send out more of their trash.
How can we educate end users to delete unopened all of this junk? How can we convince these folks to NEVER buy anything from a spam email? I wish I knew! If how to handle 'phishing' and spam is published in the local newspapers, reported on the news and written about on countless websites haven't made a dent in what these poor 'victims' will do, then what can be done?
Should ISPs make users take a security course before they let them connect to the Internet? Make them pass a test? That would seem to be impractical, but somewhere, somehow, there has to be an answer!
(Phishing, pronounced fishing, is a nefarious plot to steal a victim's information. The emails claim to be from a financial instution, like your bank or credit card company, eBay, PayPal or a simuliar company. The message varies, some claim to need you to update your information or your account may be closed. For an example,look at this page on Martha's Web.)
Sunday, December 05, 2004
I Am Going to Say 'Goodbye' to Symantec
Symantec's products have been on my computer a very long time. I currently use Norton utilities, (I may have to keep that) Norton's Internet Security which is the firewall and Norton Antivirus. I have been happy with these products. True they are big resource hogs, but I have plenty of rsources and have configured the products to not load until needed. Of course, the anti-virus and firewall are needed at startup.
So why am I going to say 'Goodbye'? I don't like being lied to. I purchased a product called Drive Image back in August, from a very well known retailer of Electronics. The product was advertised for $69.95 with two rebates, one was for an upgrade, $30, (I already had an earlier version) and the other was for purchasing the product, $40. Unfortunately, the company that made Drive Image was bought by Symantec.
I duly filled out the rebate slips and carefully made sure I had everything that was required. I also made copies of each of the rebates. The copies are stored in my Rebates folder in My Documents. Imagine my surprise when I received a rebate check for $20! That was it! So, I attempted to find a contact email address for Symantec Rebates, however, if they have one, it is very well hidden. They do have a page on their site for rebates, but no contact information that I could find. Apparently they don't feel it is necessary for customers to contact them to find out why the advertised rebates and the actual amount of the rebate are not the same. So, when it comes time for me to renew my anti-virus subscription, another product, as yet undecided, will take it's place. The same thing will happen for my firewall.
The sad thing is, I would have bought the product without the rebates. But if someone (or some company) lies to me, it's all over!
So why am I going to say 'Goodbye'? I don't like being lied to. I purchased a product called Drive Image back in August, from a very well known retailer of Electronics. The product was advertised for $69.95 with two rebates, one was for an upgrade, $30, (I already had an earlier version) and the other was for purchasing the product, $40. Unfortunately, the company that made Drive Image was bought by Symantec.
I duly filled out the rebate slips and carefully made sure I had everything that was required. I also made copies of each of the rebates. The copies are stored in my Rebates folder in My Documents. Imagine my surprise when I received a rebate check for $20! That was it! So, I attempted to find a contact email address for Symantec Rebates, however, if they have one, it is very well hidden. They do have a page on their site for rebates, but no contact information that I could find. Apparently they don't feel it is necessary for customers to contact them to find out why the advertised rebates and the actual amount of the rebate are not the same. So, when it comes time for me to renew my anti-virus subscription, another product, as yet undecided, will take it's place. The same thing will happen for my firewall.
The sad thing is, I would have bought the product without the rebates. But if someone (or some company) lies to me, it's all over!
Sunday, November 07, 2004
Why I Changed Martha's Web
Been a while since I made a post to my blog, and below you will find out why! The post below is also found on my web site.
Every now and then, change is inevitable and usually good. I was pretty happy with the way Martha's Web looked for the most part. Since I was using Internet Explorer and most other folks were using IE as well, I didn't think it mattered. I was wrong!
Once I started using Firefox I could see there were big problems with Martha's Web. The template I was using just didn't render well in either Firefox or Netscape. In order to make the pages look right when they were opened, I had to make some drastic changes that made the pages render with a great deal of empty space at the bottom. Not good! Besides just being poor design, it caused the pages to take longer to load. I am not an expert with html, that's why I use FrontPage. Searching and testing just couldn't resolve the problem, so that template had to go!
I looked and looked for a web template I could live with and make my pages validate. I wanted my pages to look right in every browser.
I tried a template that caught my eye, pleasing colors (to me) and had the coolest popout menus! Well, guess what. The pages and menus looked nice in Internet Explorer, but they looked awful in Netscape and worse in Firefox! Forget that template! I paid for it, too!
So I kept trying. I stripped all of the javascript from the template and removed all of the theme stuff. Now it validated, but there were still problems with the visual aspect. The page banners looked too much like an amateur and I didn't like them. The pleasing colors started to look too dull. So I tossed the template and started over. This was starting to be a real drag!
Several months ago on a whim I purchased a neat program called Zara Webstyle 4. I had played with it some for another project, but really hadn't done that much with it. So now it seemed to be time to play with it again, this time for real! I did come up with a template that is now the backbone of Martha's Web. It bears little resemblance to what I started with in Zara Webstyle, but I like it.
I have learned a lot about html, but I am still no expert. I have learned a lot about includes, I love them! I have learned a lot about CSS, cascading style sheets, but still have a long way to go with CSS.
So while I was redoing Martha's Web in a new template, I decided it was time to reorganize as well. Outlook Express has a separate section now. Some pages just had to go and some were incorporated into other pages. Some of my screenshots needed to be redone with Snagit. (I love Snagit!) Some of the links no longer went to pages, so they had to go as well. There were some spelling errors to be corrected too! (There may still be some spelling booboos, spelling is not my strong point.)
You may think all I had to do was copy and paste from the old pages into the new pages. Wrong! Every page had to be redone, I copied most of it into Notepad and then into the new page from Notepad. This removed a lot of old bad formatting. Then of course the pictures had to be re-inserted, alt tags named and hyperlinks checked and redone. I have 111 pages on this site, so it took awhile!
I hope you like the new look for Martha's Web. (Because I am not going to change again any time soon!) If you find an error somewhere or a link that doesn't work, please let me know!
Every now and then, change is inevitable and usually good. I was pretty happy with the way Martha's Web looked for the most part. Since I was using Internet Explorer and most other folks were using IE as well, I didn't think it mattered. I was wrong!
Once I started using Firefox I could see there were big problems with Martha's Web. The template I was using just didn't render well in either Firefox or Netscape. In order to make the pages look right when they were opened, I had to make some drastic changes that made the pages render with a great deal of empty space at the bottom. Not good! Besides just being poor design, it caused the pages to take longer to load. I am not an expert with html, that's why I use FrontPage. Searching and testing just couldn't resolve the problem, so that template had to go!
I looked and looked for a web template I could live with and make my pages validate. I wanted my pages to look right in every browser.
I tried a template that caught my eye, pleasing colors (to me) and had the coolest popout menus! Well, guess what. The pages and menus looked nice in Internet Explorer, but they looked awful in Netscape and worse in Firefox! Forget that template! I paid for it, too!
So I kept trying. I stripped all of the javascript from the template and removed all of the theme stuff. Now it validated, but there were still problems with the visual aspect. The page banners looked too much like an amateur and I didn't like them. The pleasing colors started to look too dull. So I tossed the template and started over. This was starting to be a real drag!
Several months ago on a whim I purchased a neat program called Zara Webstyle 4. I had played with it some for another project, but really hadn't done that much with it. So now it seemed to be time to play with it again, this time for real! I did come up with a template that is now the backbone of Martha's Web. It bears little resemblance to what I started with in Zara Webstyle, but I like it.
I have learned a lot about html, but I am still no expert. I have learned a lot about includes, I love them! I have learned a lot about CSS, cascading style sheets, but still have a long way to go with CSS.
So while I was redoing Martha's Web in a new template, I decided it was time to reorganize as well. Outlook Express has a separate section now. Some pages just had to go and some were incorporated into other pages. Some of my screenshots needed to be redone with Snagit. (I love Snagit!) Some of the links no longer went to pages, so they had to go as well. There were some spelling errors to be corrected too! (There may still be some spelling booboos, spelling is not my strong point.)
You may think all I had to do was copy and paste from the old pages into the new pages. Wrong! Every page had to be redone, I copied most of it into Notepad and then into the new page from Notepad. This removed a lot of old bad formatting. Then of course the pictures had to be re-inserted, alt tags named and hyperlinks checked and redone. I have 111 pages on this site, so it took awhile!
I hope you like the new look for Martha's Web. (Because I am not going to change again any time soon!) If you find an error somewhere or a link that doesn't work, please let me know!
Thursday, September 16, 2004
Defrag your hard drive!
Good advice! I try to keep my computer maintained on a regular basis and I suspect that's one of the reasons I don't have too many problems. But..................
There's always a 'but' isn't there!
A very irritating situation with Defrag for me was what appeared to be two huge files that would not defrag. A report said the file that had two fragments was 'hiberfil.sys'. Apparently this file cannot be defraged. (I found out about the report from 'The Langalist".)
Research let me know that this a file used by Window's 'hibernation'. (You know, Windows goes to sleep when you aren't using it. Supposed to save power.) This option is one I NEVER use, so I turned it off. Voila! The fragmented files are gone and my system shows no fragmented files or folders!
To remove the file, go to Start/Control Panel/Power Options, select "Hibernate", and uncheck box "Enable Hibernate". Reboot your computer, and Windows will delete hiberfil.sys for you.
There's always a 'but' isn't there!
A very irritating situation with Defrag for me was what appeared to be two huge files that would not defrag. A report said the file that had two fragments was 'hiberfil.sys'. Apparently this file cannot be defraged. (I found out about the report from 'The Langalist".)
Research let me know that this a file used by Window's 'hibernation'. (You know, Windows goes to sleep when you aren't using it. Supposed to save power.) This option is one I NEVER use, so I turned it off. Voila! The fragmented files are gone and my system shows no fragmented files or folders!
To remove the file, go to Start/Control Panel/Power Options, select "Hibernate", and uncheck box "Enable Hibernate". Reboot your computer, and Windows will delete hiberfil.sys for you.
Saturday, September 11, 2004
'Useless' Virus scanners
I just read in an online forum that a certain popular virus scanner is 'useless and so are (the writer named two of the most popular scanners)' because the writer got a virus.
What a silly statement! For one thing, no virus scanner is perfect. There is always a lag time between when a new virus appears 'in the wild' and the anti-virus companies can write and deploy a 'fix' for the virus.
More importantly, how did this user get the virus? More than likely the user opened an email with the virus contained within. How many times do people have to be told, 'Don't open attachments unless you are expecting one'? And was the scanner in question updated? A virus scanner is only as good as the most recent update! I could tell from the tone of the writer's message, he/she is totally clueless!
The moral is, don't blame someone/something for something that is probably your own fault! Just check here for more information! Martha's Virus Info
What a silly statement! For one thing, no virus scanner is perfect. There is always a lag time between when a new virus appears 'in the wild' and the anti-virus companies can write and deploy a 'fix' for the virus.
More importantly, how did this user get the virus? More than likely the user opened an email with the virus contained within. How many times do people have to be told, 'Don't open attachments unless you are expecting one'? And was the scanner in question updated? A virus scanner is only as good as the most recent update! I could tell from the tone of the writer's message, he/she is totally clueless!
The moral is, don't blame someone/something for something that is probably your own fault! Just check here for more information! Martha's Virus Info
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Windows XP SP2, I did it, I installed it!
I must say, the installation of Windows XP SP2 went very smooth. I have been reading about problems that other people have had and was very hesitant to install SP2, but hey, I have the CD, I have my system backed up using PowerQuest Drive Image,I printed all the instructions on how to remove SP2 and if that didn't work, maybe it 's time to do a re-install! (Shudder!)
But everthing went just fine. I did disable everything on my computer that normally runs in the background like Norton Anti-virus and Norton Firewall, Spyware blaster and PestPatrol. It took less than 45 minutes from start to finish and so far everything is working ok. I hope I don't find programs that won't work! If I do, rest assured, they will be posted here and on my web site, Martha's Web. I have a lot of programs, so it may take awhile to scope this all out!
But everthing went just fine. I did disable everything on my computer that normally runs in the background like Norton Anti-virus and Norton Firewall, Spyware blaster and PestPatrol. It took less than 45 minutes from start to finish and so far everything is working ok. I hope I don't find programs that won't work! If I do, rest assured, they will be posted here and on my web site, Martha's Web. I have a lot of programs, so it may take awhile to scope this all out!
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
Shopping for Food
I hate to go shopping for food. I think everytime I go, the price is higher on at least one item, maybe more.
I am too tempted to buy convenience food as I don't like to cook. So I probably spend more money than I should on those already prepared items. And since I am a junk food junkie, I know I spend too much money that way as well.
I make lists and cut coupons. Then I forget to take the lists and don't usually buy anything that I could use a coupon to purchase.
I am probably in a minority in that I watch TV commercials about food. Usually, after I have seen the commercials, I won't buy the product because I feel they have insulted my intelligence or I just think the commercials are 'too silly'. (I once saw a coffee commercial that said they had more coffee in their one pound can than in the competitor's one pound can. Now maybe they could brew more because it took less to make, but that wasn't what they said. They dumped a pound can of coffee on the table and had coffee left over when they put it into a competitor's empty can. Now if they thought I hadn't heard of vacumn pack, they were wrong.
There is a commercial for a brand of cereal that insults my intelligense and is so silly. The commercial seems to think I am only going to eat one meal a day.
The supermarket commercials can really irritate me as well. They just brag about how much I can save, especially if I use their "preferred card'. Seems to me that's like saying 'You won't save anything' if you don't use their card and that means two sets of prices. Should be the same price for everyone. I know they just want customers to get a card so they can track everything the customer buys. It's none of their business what I buy. They can figure out what customers are buying by keeping track of their inventory so why do they need to know what I am buying? I just shop where they don't have 'nosy cards'.
Have to go now and go food shopping.
I am too tempted to buy convenience food as I don't like to cook. So I probably spend more money than I should on those already prepared items. And since I am a junk food junkie, I know I spend too much money that way as well.
I make lists and cut coupons. Then I forget to take the lists and don't usually buy anything that I could use a coupon to purchase.
I am probably in a minority in that I watch TV commercials about food. Usually, after I have seen the commercials, I won't buy the product because I feel they have insulted my intelligence or I just think the commercials are 'too silly'. (I once saw a coffee commercial that said they had more coffee in their one pound can than in the competitor's one pound can. Now maybe they could brew more because it took less to make, but that wasn't what they said. They dumped a pound can of coffee on the table and had coffee left over when they put it into a competitor's empty can. Now if they thought I hadn't heard of vacumn pack, they were wrong.
There is a commercial for a brand of cereal that insults my intelligense and is so silly. The commercial seems to think I am only going to eat one meal a day.
The supermarket commercials can really irritate me as well. They just brag about how much I can save, especially if I use their "preferred card'. Seems to me that's like saying 'You won't save anything' if you don't use their card and that means two sets of prices. Should be the same price for everyone. I know they just want customers to get a card so they can track everything the customer buys. It's none of their business what I buy. They can figure out what customers are buying by keeping track of their inventory so why do they need to know what I am buying? I just shop where they don't have 'nosy cards'.
Have to go now and go food shopping.
Sunday, August 15, 2004
Viewing the Olympic Games
I have always been a fan on the Olympics. My favorites are the Winter Olympics (I just love to watch the ice skating), but the summer is fun too. I enjoy the gymnastics, track and swimming the most. If I were of the male gender I would enjoy watching any of the sports with the ladies, their outfits are skimpier than ever this year. (At least they are for Beach Volleyball!) I didn't think that was possible, but just watch a few and you'll see what I mean. I think I must have been born 40 years too soon, either that or the generation performing in the current Olympic games have no idea what the word 'modesty' means!
I still enjoy the games, though. I was very disappointed in the men's basketball game today, but I do realize the USA can't (and shouldn't) win everything!
I still enjoy the games, though. I was very disappointed in the men's basketball game today, but I do realize the USA can't (and shouldn't) win everything!
Monday, August 09, 2004
Why Don't People Listen?
It seems as though my friends all know I have a web site, Martha's Web, that deals a lot with computer problems including spyware, but until they start having a problem they never look to find a solution. After spending a lot of time with Deb to clean spyware from her computer (among other things, like getting a working virus scanner and firewall), another friend emails me saying her computer freezes everytime she tries to do anything.
After finding 424 spyware files (I had her download Ad-aware and Spybot) things seem to be back to normal.
I hate spyware as much as virus! Why do these scumbags who write this junk do it? Just because they can? Grrrrrrrrrrrr!
After finding 424 spyware files (I had her download Ad-aware and Spybot) things seem to be back to normal.
I hate spyware as much as virus! Why do these scumbags who write this junk do it? Just because they can? Grrrrrrrrrrrr!
Friday, August 06, 2004
How Deb and I Spent Last Night and Today
August 5, 2004
Deb has put a password on her Content Advisor (in Windows XP Home) and now wants to remove it, but has no idea what she put in as a password. The hint is totally meaningless. So she asks me (on the phone) how she can reset the password. Believe me, that was the easy thing to fix on her computer.
She is also getting her search seemingly hijacked by a hijacker called Shopnav that keeps popping up. The big problem: she is unable to go to any secure sites. She isn’t sure when the problem started, but it is preventing Deb from logging into her homepage which happens to be a secure site.
Last night I had Deb download, install and run Spy-bot Search and Destroy, Ad-aware and SpywareBlaster. After each program was installed and updated, she ran Spybot and found 111 instances of spyware. Ad-aware then found 37 more spyware files.
Deb still could not get to her secure sites. Opened Internet Options and went to the Security tab. No secure sites listed in restricted sites. Checked Trusted sites, at first nothing appears here. Then when Deb starts to add her home page to the Trusted site zone, as soon as she types the first h (as in http) a list of sites appear in the zone. Every site she goes to is being added to the Trusted zone! There are also five very strange entries, something like this:
http://www.newwebsearch-https://login.hersecuresite.comAAXCE(these are not the exact characters) and a long string of other characters. The sites appear to be identical, but the last few characters are different. When she highlights one of the entries to remove it, the Remove button is greyed out, inactive.
Now we are both very perplexed and frustrated. We decided I will go to her house tomorrow and see what we can do. I spend the rest of the evening searching for answers and posting to a Yahoo Group for help. I have found what seems to be some solutions and print them off to try tomorrow.
August 6, 2004
After a nice lunch out (Deb paid!) we go to her house and see what we can do to fix this strange problem. Someone on a YahooGroups list, Mike, to be exact, suggested it could be something in the hosts file. (That makes sense, why didn't I think of that?) So I do a search on her computer and look at the hosts files, nothing there. Deb has a Trackball instead of a mouse and it took me forever to use it. (I won't be getting one!)
So maybe CWShredder will fix this hijacker! I download the program and run it, it doesn't find anything. Well, it hasn't been updated for a while.
The strange thing, Symantec has a fix for Shopnav and the virus updates should have caught this a long time ago. I open her Norton and nearly choke. The virus definitions expired December 31, 2003! Live update decides to run so we let it run as she also has Norton Internet Security. I think I must have been asleep about now, but more about that later. Deb has been off work for a while so she needs to watch her money and I suggest we download and install AVG free version. So we do get to Grisoft's site and get AVG, downloaded and installed. For some reason it couldn't get updated but we ran it anyway and AVG found 6 virus files. (This is starting to get really serious!) So, after we run the virus scan and remove the bad files, turn off System Restore, reboot and turn it back on, we still cannot get to her secure sites. When the system comes backup, AVG updates and find more virus files! I did remember to turn off Norton.
We looked in the Add/Remove programs and find some stuff she didn't know what it was (some kind of spyware) so we removed it. It fought hard, kept saying 'are you sure you want to remove this?' 'Yes'. 'Do you really want to remove this?' 'Yes'. It stayed on the remove screen so long we thought the system had frozen, but it finally removed.
We check Windows update, it is broken, can’t connect!
Last night while searching for Shopnav in Google, I found a link for PestPatrol that promised it could remove this pest, Shopnav. Since Spybot or Ad-aware didn't do the trick she decided she couldn't have this junk on her computer and would buy PestPatrol. I told her I couldn't guarantee this would work. Well, remember, she can't get to secure sites, so she can't make the purchase!
Deb and her husband each have their own profiles so Deb goes into his profile and connects to PestPatrol's site, and gets to the secure purchase screen with no problem. (Is her profile corrupted by spyware?) She downloaded PestPatrol and installed it. When PestPatrol is updated and run, it found 77 instances of spyware, including several trojans and a keylogger!
I finally wake up and realize, why hasn't her Norton firewall been alerting her about all this spyware calling home? Checked the firewall and it is DISABLED! (Virus did it? Spyware?) It will not let us enable it! Not in Deb's profile or her husband's profile. This is really getting frustrating! Checked and Windows firewall is turned on, so at least the computer is protected from incoming hacks. If we can't enable the Norton Internet Security, we decide to uninstall it.
So, off to Zone Alarm's site. She downloads and installs ZoneAlarm and we get it configured. We install Firefox. The really strange entries are still in the Trusted site zone, (I really have to find out how to fix this) but she can now connect to her home page, the secure site. Oh, yes, Windows update now works as well. That was the one good thing; all of the critical updates had been installed.
Before I go home, I show her how to edit the Registry to remove the Content Advisor Password. (That was easy!)
Deb learned a big lesson today; she thought her husband was taking care of all this, from now on, she's in charge!
May 19, 2005
After some further testing, I discovered that the behavior of typing an 'h' in the trusted zone that seems to add every site you have been to, is by design. If the Control Panel is opened and Internet Options is selected, Temporary Internet files deleted and History is cleared, go to Security/Trusted Zone and type in an 'h', no new sites will show up, only what has been placed there already by the user.
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