The new bonds ad

Normally I never pay any attention to billboards, but this one managed to get my attention.

Kudos to you Bonds in your successful advertising campaign.

Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2011

I have just seen screenshots of Trend Micro Titanium Maximum Security 2011 on Cnet. One of my first impressions is that it has a interface that is very similar to Panda Cloud Antivirus.

Just a random thought. :)

Contracted virus: automatically opens www.toughdiseases.com. How I got rid of it.

Introduction
Here I am, reading my daily dose of the Dilbert blog, when a tab suddenly opens to a disease that discusses "tough diseases". Well, I'm not sick so I quickly click the X that exits it in firefox. Wait... how did the tab open anyway.

"Must've clicked a banner ad", I thought to myself.

The process repeats itself over again.

Conclusion
I must've contracted some unwanted malicious application. Argghh *rage*. Anyway, its my fault for disabling the antivirus and threatfire for easy anticheat (what's so bad about gamers hacking anyway?) and forgetting to turn it back on.

This post summarises what I did to remove it. 

First, I did some research. Simple google search of "toughdisease.com" came up with several facts.

• This problem was observed more extensively with Mozilla Firefox but also observed in Google Chrome. 
• Pop-up blockers seemed to have little effect in alleviating the problem. 
• Much of the advice was pretty standard such as run a virus scan/malware scan with these recommended products including adware, spybot, malwarebytes antimalware, comodo etc. An interesting advice was to start Mozilla Firefox in safe mode to determine that it isn't an addon causing the problem.

Next,  I restarted Windows in safe mode and ran a virus scan with my much forgotten Avast! antivirus. (disable for stupids reasons discussed above.) after a long update.You may download it here. Now, in safe mode, run a full scan of all computer hard drives and removable storage devices. Set the scan settings to thorough and select scan archives.

Say good bye to www.toughdiseases.com. I just removed a tough disease from my life.

Overheating laptop solved

I have a HP laptop (its actually the HP Pavilion dv4000 mentioned in one of my earlier posts). Even though it has a manufacturing defect, its still hanging in there. Now, one of the problems I have with this media center laptop is that it overheats a lot.

I have used compressed air to clean the dust out, but the overheating problem persists. My second resort was to enable to a function called "Speedstep".

What is Speed Step?

Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology allows the system to dynamically adjust processor voltage and core frequency, which can result in decreased average power consumption and decreased average heat production.                              -Source: Intel

I was interested in the decreased average heat production. Yes, it may result in reduced performances, but this does not matter in my case.

So, how to enable Speed Step?
1. In the bios, set speedstep to automatic. (can't help with this step as bios screens are different)
2. In Power Setting, change the settings from desktop to mobile.

A Course In Pure Mathematics By Margaret Gow- Thoughts on the book

Basic product information from Amazon.com:

Product Description

For students reading Mathematics, either as part of a general degree or as an ancilliary course for an Honours degree, the subject should be presented in as straightforward a manners as is consistent with a moderate standard of rigour. This course in algebra, co-ordinate geometry and calculus is designed to fulfil these requirements for students at Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology.
The book contains 350 worked examples and 1550 practice examples selected mainly from university examination papers. The practice examples have been carefully graded and some hints are given with the answers so that the book may be used for private study as well as for class work.

From the Back Cover

For students reading Mathematics, either as part of a general degree or as an ancilliary course for an Honours degree, the subject should be presented in as straightforward a manners as is consistent with a moderate standard of rigour. This course in algebra, co-ordinate geometry and calculus is designed to fulfil these requirements for students at Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology.
The book contains 350 worked examples and 1550 practice examples selected mainly from university examination papers. The practice examples have been carefully graded and some hints are given with the answers so that the book may be used for private study as well as for class work.

Initial thoughts
My initial thoughts of the book "A Course in Pure Mathematics" by Margaret Gow are that is a decent book covering content in a logical order. It also has exercises after working through some examples with are always good. The exercises after the examples are not extremely hard (referring to the questions I have done so far) and there are answers present at the back.

There are 25 chapters in the book:

• Polynomials; The remainder and factor theorems; undetermined coefficients; partial fractions
• Theory of equations; Inequalities
• Determinants
• Limits and infinite series
• Binomial, exponential and logarithmic series
• Complex numbers
• More complex numbers
• Summation of series
• Differentiation and applications
• Integration
• Expansions in series
• Coordinate geometry of the straight line and circle
• The parabola
• The ellipse and the hyperbola
• The straight line, curve and conic in polar coordinates
• Coordinate geometry in three dimensions: The plane and the straight line
• The sphere
• The quadric
• Partial differentiation
• Application of integration- cartesian coordinates
• Application of integration- polar coordinates
• Curvature
• Differential equations of the first order
• Linear differentiation equations with constant coefficients
• Spherical trigonometry

 **Note: This is an incomplete post. It will be updated as I use the book**

2010 Sace exam too easy

Does anyone agree with me that the 2010 SACE exams are so ridiculously easy its not funny? Take physics, maths studies or biology this year and compare it to last year and you'll know what I'm talking about. SACE exams this year are a joke.

Almost tricked into signing up for TRU energy

Well, I got a knock from a door to door salesman. He asked to look at my electricity bills and claimed that I was entitled to $150 dollars off my energy bills and a $50 rebate on my next electricity bill, which was supposedly a government rebate for pension holders. For those who don't know me, I am 18 and come from a non english speaking background.

Sales person: "Are you over 18?"
Me: "Not Yet (I lied)"

Sales person: "Is your parents home?"
Me: "Ma! (in chinese- calling my mum)"

Sales person: "Well maam. You are entitled to $150 dollar....... (basically, the door to door salesman story)"

Sales person: "Could you sign here please maam"

Please note: mum doesn't speak english very well.

Sales person: "Well, I'm going to call a government representative. They will answer some questions. I will nod for yes, shake my head for no. Just follow me."

Calls up representative
Phone representative: "Could you please give me your name and address"
Mum: " My name is ........................ I live at ...................................."
Phone representative: "Are you are concession card holder?"
*Sales person nods*
Mum: "Yes"
Phone representative: "Do you understand that you are changing your energy supplier to TRU energy?"
*Sales person actively nods*

What? Changing suppliers? I never heard anything like that.I am amazed I didn't jump in and stop the whole thing. Maybe it took some times to register.

Phone representative: "Am I on speaker phone at the moment?"
*Sales representative shakes head*

What? More lies? This is where I jump in and stop the whole event.


DODGY....... never going near TRU Energy again. The guy (Indian) tried to scam us.

Benefits of the docx over the good old doc

What was wrong with the old Microsoft office doc files (prior Microsoft 2007)? This was a random thought I had, so I went out to search for an answer (I sometimes have too much times on my hands)

Here is a quick summary of my findings:

• Improved damage recovery so if a single segment or component of the file is corrupt, the rest of the document can be read.
• Smaller files: files are automatically compressed to smaller files. 
• Easy detection of files that contain macros. This can be like a preview functionality or a security measure. 

So, looks like Microsoft didn't do it just to annoy people.

Blog coming alive again- Secondary Education is finished

If you noticed that my blog has died for the past 6-7 months, its because I was in my final year of secondary education education. Now, thats all the past. This blog is revived (for another 3 months)!

Diversity? Can it be an improved security measure?

Diversity is a commonly given advice to investors. "Don't put all your eggs in the same basket." "Diversity is key to a investor's profile." "Diversity lowers the risk of investing."

But, can this principle be also applied to computer security? Antivirus software or suites are never perfect.

I know that there are extremely loyal (some people "fanboys") people that always stick to the same antivirus solution as they believe it works. I also hear a lot of stories where somebody has used an antivirus solution (Antivirus A) and changed to a different antivirus solution (Antivirus B) and discovered that they had a trojan. From that point on, the individual swore to themselves never to change from antivirus B ever again.

What I believe that the mere act of changing antiviruses was the important thing. By changing antivirus, the individual was able to detect malicious software present on your computer.

My recommendations
So my recommendation is for the individuals to

• change antivirus from time to time (but not get overly obsessed). 
• reconsider before renewing their antivirus subscription and instead consider another antivirus (after of course doing some research)
• run a free online scan from time to time (eg: Panda ActiveScan 2.0, Trend Micro Housecall, Kaspersky Online Scanner)   

If you are using a free antivirus solution, are about to your antivirus/internet security subscription is about to expire, consider another free antivirus solution or a free antivirus trial (which is a good way to decide whether an antivirus solution is for you).

Recommended antiviruses/internet suites off the top of my head:

• AVG (there is a free for personal use version)
• Avast! (there is a free and a commercial version)
• Norton (Symantec) (apparently the programs don't lag your computer much these days)
• Microsoft Security Essentials (tried it, pretty simple interface, not sure about effectiveness)
• Eset (really fast antivirus! I've used the 2005 version before)
• Trend Micro (by the way, it was my first antivirus I ever used! Brilliant program back in the day... maybe it still is)

LOL is that you in this picture? Koobface virus removal instructions for windows XP/ME

This is the message my friend got on his facebook. Its a facebook virus. I removed it for my friend and just wanted post some details for those interested. (BTW, I know the instructions are not formatted very well).

There is a virus that commonly affects facebook users called the "Koobface". It spams links and tries to trick people in downloading their "flash player update" called ''flash_player.exe". This is the mechanism that is used to infect individuals.

Removing the virus for Windows XP (print off instructions before proceeding)
Windows XP

1. Disable system restore- This step is essential in enabling an antivirus to fully scan your computer.

From Microsoft Help Website, to do this:

1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. In the System Properties dialog box, click the System Restore tab.
3. Click to select the Turn off System Restore check box. Or, click to select the Turn off System Restore on all drives check box.
4. Click OK.
5. When you receive the following message, click Yes to confirm that you want to turn off System Restore:
   You have chosen to turn off System Restore. If you continue, all existing restore points will be deleted, and you will not be able to track or undo changes to your computer.
   
   Do you want to turn off System Restore?
   After a few moments, the System Properties dialog box closes.

 2. Restart in safe mode.
From Microsoft Help Website, to do this:

1.	You should print these instructions before continuing. They will not be available after you shut your computer down in step 2.
2.	Click Start and then click Shut Down.
3.	In the drop-down list of the Shut Down Windows dialog box, click Restart, and then click OK.
4.	As your computer restarts but before Windows launches, press F8.  On a computer that is configured for booting to multiple operating systems, you can press F8 when the boot menu appears.
5.	Use the arrow keys to highlight the appropriate safe mode option, and then press ENTER.

2. Remove start up entries.
1. Click start --> run.
2. Type in "regedit" without quotes
3. Browse through the left hand pane:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>SOFTWARE>Microsoft>Windows>CurrentVersion>
Run

4. Delete the entry:

sysftray = "%Windows%\fbtre6.exe"

5. Close the regedit.


3. Remove the following files by using the windows search function. Press windows key +F. Input the following into the search input box.

1. %Windows%\fmark2.dat
2. %System Root%\5465465465463.BAT

 When these files have been located, click Shift+ delete to permanently delete.

5. Restart computer.
6. Run an antivirus of your choice. If no antivirus has been installed on the computer, use a free online virus scan. My recommendations:

1. Panda Online Scan
2. Trend Micro HouseCall
3. Kapersky
4. Symantec

Random Info That May Be Useful
McAfee:  As for the motivations behind this Koobface variant, analysis shows that during infection a proxy server is installed to %ProgramFiles%\tinyproxy\tinyproxy.exe and a service named Security Accounts Manager (SamSs) is created to load the server at startup.   This component listens on TCP port 9090 and proxies all HTTP traffic, in particular looking for traffic to Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Live.com for the purpose of hijacking search results.  Search terms are directed to find-www.net.  This enables ad hijacking and click fraud.

Stupidonkey.com: IQ test

I always wanted to know why people like to advertise online IQ tests through internet ads, so I tried one. It was from a site called stupidonkey.com.

a screenshot of the website just before I submitted my information

Wow! Notice, the terms and conditions:

Did you enter valid information?

Yes, the information that I have entered is valid and I am 18 yeas or older or I have permission of my parents or guardian and I have checked if my mobile phone supports WAP and I have enabled WAP and I accept the costs of 17.50 AUD per week and I accept the terms and conditions.

Gosh! "I accept the costs of 17.50 AUD per week". That must be an extremely accurate IQ test. Also, an interesting thing is it charges weekly. Do people like taking IQ tests every week? Does IQ change that much in a short interval of time?

I had too much time on my hands. 

Note: for people that got suck in, well, I guess its bad luck. I doubt you can get your money back, but the according to the provider's terms and conditions, you can cancel the service and stop paying weekly fees:

Provider allows the user the possibility to interrupt the flow of information received via the SMS service. We offer you information on the Sites that correspond with the Service and/or via the SMS service. Also, in the free welcome message from Provider you will find information on how to cancel the Service. Generally, information received via the SMS service can be interrupted by sending an SMS message with the word STOP. You can send this message to the abbreviated number (the short code) you used for entry. For example you can send the message STOP to the applicable short code and cancellation shall become effective immediately upon receipt of termination request. See for more details the Specific Terms, the landing page of the Site and/or click the flag for your country. Charges may still appear on your mobile phone bill the following month as carriers bill retrospectively. At its own discretion, Provider may, without prior notice to you, suspend or terminate use of the Service by you and destroy and remove Registered Information within the Service for any reason. You agree that Provider may erase or deactivate your account and all information connected with it as well as any lists or files contained by it without delay, and/or deny you further access to the Service.

Quickcashkit.net automated agents

I accidently clicked an banner on a website and was sent to the site where I browsed around and eventually was brought to a site: Quickcashkit.net (Conclusion: I reckon its a scam. Its my opinion but I warn those interested to proceed with caution).

Anyway, when I was about to leave, a window popped up where I could chat with a (supposedly) live agent. I decided to play along and found out that it was an automated computer (too bad). Here is the log so you can see:

Summer Says:Hey Wait! Before you go, I should make you aware that there's now just 4 places left in your area (estimated to be gone in 2 minutes). If you CLICK HERE I have secured a position for you.
Summer Says:When you are ready just type 'Hi' to let me know you're there....
You:Hi
Summer Says:Hi thanks for visiting QuickCashKit.net today!
Summer Says:We now only have 3 positions left, one just went, so you must act fast, so would you like to get started earning money online?
Summer Says:Just CLICK HERE to go straight to the join page as I have secured your position for the next 5 minutes.
You:Do I have to enter my credit card
Summer Says:We only accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discovery card as payment.
You:Are you a real person
Summer Says:I am a live virtual agent
Summer Says:So do you want to take advantage of this great limited time offer?
You:credit card
Summer Says:We only accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discovery card as payment.
Summer Says:You will receive your own automated money making website which will earn you commission 24/7, so you dont need to know anything about the internet.
You:real person
Summer Says:I am a live virtual agent
Summer Says:So do you want to take advantage of this great limited time offer?
You:scam
Summer Says:This is definitely not a con or scam, this is a legitimate home business opportunity.
Summer Says:We will supply you with all the tools you need to make money online, all you need to do is follow the methods and apply the techniques.
You:real person
Summer Says:I am a live virtual agent
Summer Says:So do you want to take advantage of this great limited time offer?

My guess is that the automated computer agent responds to words like "real person" and "credit card" and gives an automated response.

Types of attacks

From Microsoft Encyclopedia of Security (direct quote)

Types of attacks
Access attacks: The intruder tries to gain access to resources on your network by exploiting flaws in software such as buffer overflows and information leakage and by elevating the intruder’s privileges to execute arbitrary code.

Denial of service (DoS) attacks: The intruder tries to deny legitimate users access to resources on your network.

Reconnaissance attacks: The intruder ties to map your network services in order to exploit vulnerabilities detected.

Effects on systems being attacked
Active attacks: These involve trying to modify data either during transmission or while stored on the target system. Examples include inserting backdoors and Trojans, deleting or modifying log files, disrupting services or communication, and so on.

Passive attacks: The goal here is not to modify the target system but rather to capture data being transmitted by eavesdropping or by using a packet sniffer in order to obtain sensitive or confidential information such as passwords or credit card numbers. Passive attacks are also used for capturing information that can help the attacker create a map of the target network’s hosts and services, which
usually forms the preamble of an active attack.

Salient Ads

I seem to be getting many emails from a company called Salient Ads. They are a email advertising company. It follows the format, where the email contains a link advertising a service with image promoting the service.
So if you receive any of these emails below, it probably is because a company you have given your email to has sold you out and I do not recommend you get caught up in the hype of the email. I do not know the sender and you probably don't too.

Example of spam emails

Email: College Loans (FinancialAid@largeperiod.com)
Subject: Education is expensive. Get a student loan now.‏
Message: Student loans help finance further study.

Email: LearnAccounting (AccountingSchools@chrismaspeace.com)
Subject: A Chance To Switch Careers
Do your own taxes and charge others

Email: GI Bill Express (MilitaryBenefits@mysnowballfight.com)
Subject: Legislative Alert for the Military‏
Message: Legislative Alert for the Military

Email: Cash Department (Loans@first9949.com)
Subject: Quick Loans! Up to $500 in 1hr! Approval in minutes!‏
Message: Up to $500 in hour..approval in minutes!

It supposedly not spam messages, because it states at the bottom of each email: "You are receiving this advertisment because you have opted-in to receive third-party marketing messages If you do not want to receive this type of emails from us, please unsubscribe here.
Salient Ads Ltd: 8171 Yonge Street Suite 136, Thornhill ON, L3T 2C6, Canada"

Salient Ads is an online marketing company and you can opt out there email service by clicking the link at the bottom of the email or by visiting their website.

Ethical Hacking cont. (2)- Finding public information

This is a continuation of the post: Introducing Ethical Hacking.

One of the important steps to ethical hacking is to assume you have no information about company (in other words, to forget everything you know about your corporation) and start from ground up. So let's start with only your corporation's name (you have to know which organisation to hack).

Gathering information from public sources
1- Google: "Google" your company and see what information you can gather.
2- Hoovers and Yahoo! Finance: Detailed information about companies available to the general public.
3- U.S Securities and Exchange Commission: SEC filings that the company has made.
4- United States Patent and Trademark Office: For patent and trademark information.
5- Whois- DNS Servers responsible for hosting.

What information to look for:
1- Employee's Names/Contact Information.
2- Key Dates
3- SEC filings
4- Patents
5- Presentations, Articles, Webcasts

I'll stop there. There's plenty of work there for you to do. In the meantime, I will be writing up the next section.

For more information (detailed information) check out Hacking: The Art of Exploitation:

Apple introduces iAds to the mobile platform

iAds enable software engineers and corporate advertisers a new road to advertising.

From CNET: But this sets up a battleground for how advertising evolves on mobile platforms. Apple is declaring that the best way for marketers to reach mobile users is through iPhone applications, rather than the Web at large. Google and AdMob, on the other hand, are much more focused on ads delivered in the browser on mobile Web pages. And Apple made some compelling arguments Thursday about why its plan could be more effective.

Jobs said that the average iPhone owner spends 30 minutes a day using applications. So there's an awful lot of potential ad impressions at play, but mobile ads inside iPhone apps are even more annoying than desktop ads because should you happen to click on one, you're taken away from the app and into the browser.

My experience with advertisement in the sides of screens are normally not clicked by end users. The users are focused on the middle of the screen where most of the "action", one could say, is happening. However, my opinion applies to computer screens about 17 inches or wider. This may be different with 3.5 inch display screen, as the focal point is closer to the ads.

Also, users probably will not like the idea as in reality, 3.5 inch (diagonal) display is not really that large. iPhone users would like to use their screen to maximum capacity, and not have some of their precious screen space be taken up by an advertisement.

For developers/business owners reading this and wondering whether it is a business opportunity:

iAds work on a simple revenue split. 60% of revenue is given to the developer (10% lower than iPhone apps). However, apple will host and deliver all the ads to the end users.

Mac4Lin: Make Windows Look Like Mac the easy way

Even since I have entered the linux world, I have seen many skins that attempt to replicate the look of Mac/Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7 with the use of themes and skins with specific desktop managers (and programs).

But for those who are not technically capable, Mac4Lin is a linux distribution that can make your PC look like a Mac. Of course, there are programs that are exclusive to Mac and have not been ported to linux. I have never been a fan of making one OS look like another. However people do things just because they can. So, if this is your thing, try it. (My thoughts: looks like Mac in some ways, but does not "feel" like it though)

The Inquirer: Designed by Anirudh Acharya of San Diego, California, Mac4Lin looks like the real thing. Only instead of a fully blessed by Steve Jobs Leopard OS X under the bonnet, it runs something which is not proprietary and is free.

Mac4Lin supports GNOME 2.26 and is backwards compatible. It is unlikely to appeal to the Linux purist, who probably wouldn't stoop to stick anything like a Windows 7 look on Linux either.

Maybe it is just the fact that one has a OS that resembles a proprietary for free that makes people want to do things like this. I would like to hear your thoughts if you do like to skin your operating system.

The end has arrived for Bebo

AOL announces that Bebo is going to be sold or closed down. AOL decided this as it would take “too much additional investment” to keep the social networking site worthwhile.

John Brod, Executive Vice President at AOL:

“The strategy we set in May 2009 leverages our core strengths and scale in quality content, premium advertising and consumer applications, positioning us for the next phase of growth of the Internet. As we evaluate our portfolio of brands against our strategy, it is clear that social networking is a space with heavy competition, and where scale defines success. Bebo, unfortunately, is a business that has been declining and, as a result, would require significant investment in order to compete in the competitive social networking space. AOL is not in a position at this time to further fund and support Bebo in pursuing a turnaround in social networking.

“AOL is committed to working quickly to determine if there are any interested parties for Bebo and the company’s current expectation is to complete our strategic evaluation by the end of May 2010.”

According the WSJ, Bebo was never really a success.

The site never gained a foothold in the U.S. and steadily fell behind the competition. Bebo attracted 5 million unique U.S. visitors in February, down 12% from the same period last year, according to comScore Inc. In contrast, Facebook attracted 111.8 million unique U.S. visitors in February, nearly double the size of its audience in February 2009.

"We've known this has been a declining asset since just beyond day one that they bought it," says Ross Sandler, an Internet analyst with RBC Capital Markets. "It is a sunk cost at this point."

Well, there is the end of the Bebo, which was a flop since day 1. Good Bye Bebo, but I doubt many people will miss you.

Run Google Chrome inside Internet Explorer

From Google:Google Chrome Frame is a free plug-in for Internet Explorer. Some advanced web apps, like Google Wave, use Google Chrome Frame to provide you with additional features and better performance.

It brings new technologies that are not supported yet in Internet Explorer 6, 7 and 8 into Internet Explorer. It literally is like running Google Chrome. I highly recommend this plug in, not that I use it, but because I use Google Chrome.

Additional benefits include internet Explorer runs 8 times faster using Google Chrome frame, according to Techworld.

Techworld: Microsoft's Internet Explorer zips through JavaScript nearly ten times faster than usual when Google's new Chrome Frame plug-in is partnered with the browser, benchmark tests show.

According to tests run by Computerworld, Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) was 9.6 times faster than IE8 on its own. Computerworld ran the SunSpider JavaScript benchmark suite three times each for IE8 with Chrome Frame, and IE8 without the plug-in, then averaged the scores.

To try Google Chrome Frame, visit the Google Chrome Frame website. Please comment if you have used it.