Some good points I see in Windows Live Writer

• WYSIWYG – I’ve heard and read a lot of complain about this when using WordPress as a platform for a blog or website. And it is true and frustrating most of the time (like what I’ve said earlier). With WLW, you are (or feels like) you are writing directly in to your website’s front end. It captures your theme so while you are writing, the fonts, font size, colors, spacing and even the area of the article area (from the first letter to the last letter of the line) are exactly the same as what will appear when you publish your article (now, that is WYSIWYG). Disclaimer – it is not 100% but it’s as close as it is.
• Faster preview – there are three tabs, the edit tab where you type in your article and everything. Then there is source tab where you can see the source (or enter any codes that can only be entered via the source) and there is the Preview tab where you can actually see “your whole website” as if you are viewing it from a web browser. Well, as I’ve said also, it is not 100% so it may vary (depending also on the browser and operating system you are using.
• Lot’s more to discover…

Windows Live Writer is free for Windows 7 (and yes, I am using Windows 7 and not Linux). This is my first post using this software so there are still a lot of things I need to discover. But as of now, everything is good for me.

NOTE: This is an article and at the same time a trial post using WLW, so if anything isn’t rendering as it should be, please forgive me and I’ll take it as a lesson.

So, for those who are saying that wordpress doesn’t have a “WYSIWYG”, then better check this out.

Disclaimer: I use Windows 7 and Windows Live Writer and this is NOT a paid post nor is a comprehensive review.

With the currently temperature we’re experiencing here in Manila Philippines (from 28C to 35C), it is not impossible for many things to overheat. And since most are at home (specially students), one of the things that will be used most are computers. Unless you have an air-conditioned room, your computer might go freakin’ hot.

That’s what I have experienced lately. I am using an Intel Pentium D 3.2ghz system. At idle, the temps are at around 42C (before summer). But due to the current temperatures (we have no air conditioner), idle temp is around 50C. Playing games (need for speed) would make the procie go to a temp as high as 65C and my PC will buzz telling me I am reaching a high temp already. I tried changing the airflow on the PC, but nothing changed.

Last resort, check the processor’s heat sink for blockage. I opened up the case and removed the fan on the processor (I didn’t removed the heat sink as I don’t have any thermal paste on hand). To my expectations, I saw lot’s of dust covering the fins of the heat sink, blocking the air that the fan is blowing on it. I removed those nasty dusts and cleaned some other spots on the computer. Hoping for the best, I placed everything back, turned on the PC, and checked the temps, and idle is 40C-43C (waited for a few minutes and still on the same range). Then I played need for speed for a few laps (usually, I will hear the warning once the race begin), and heard no warning. After playing, I checked the temps and it’s only 45C-49C. I will still be testing tomorrow playing longer.

Dust accumulation on heat sinks are number one enemy on good cooling system. Cleaning it regularly is a good habit. Just make sure power is off and power cable is unplugged to avoid hazards.

Cheers.

After further research, CA Security Advisor Research Blog tells that this is actually a phishing scam.

I never clicked the links included on the spams I receive. But as the article indicates, links on the spam (each message might contain a different link) points to a single IP and it is a website about the pills offering a free trial of the popular fruit. However, upon checkout, it is not using the “https://” or secure http, which definitely means phishing. So if the unfortunate victim clicks submit, his credit card information will be sent to someone so he/she can use it for fraud.

So how does this spam works? This is only my theory. Either a malware on our computers or from some net cafe we went to was able to catch our username and password. Due to reports that the spam is received from clients that are “logged off” from Yahoo (which is my experience), I believe that a certain spambot on some server (maybe the same server as the phishing website) logs in using the username and password, sends a buzz to the poor clients contacts then sends the spam message with the link. So the unsuspecting receipient thinks that the message is legitimate, clicks the link, attracted by the offer (since Acai berry was really promoted by Oprah Winfrey and Rachel Ray), takes the trial, fills the credit card info, hits submit, and his/her credit card details are now in the hands of the criminals for their use.

Some possible but reasonable tips on how to avoid/solve this problem (take note, this might not solve the problem, but you won’t lose anything if you try):

• Update your operating system, softwares, etc. with the latest patches from the manufacturers.
• Update your security software (anti-virus) virus definitions.
• Do a regular (on your own terms:)) full system scan.
• Don’t trust files from the internet (unless you are sure, don’t run or install).
• Change your YM password.
• Inform your friends who are sending the spam to do the same thing.

I have already changed my password and will be monitoring if someone will still receive a message from me.

Notes: (from www.wikipedia.org)

Spam – A collection of unsolicited bulk electronic messages

Phishing – the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

Acai Berry (açaí palm) – a member of the genus Euterpe, which contains 8 species of palms native to tropical Central and South America, from Belize south to Brazil and Peru, growing mainly in floodplains and swamps. Recently, the açai “berry” has been touted and marketed as a highly beneficial dietary supplement. Companies sell açaí berry products in the form of tablets, juice, smoothies, instant drink powders, and whole fruit.

There can never be a “spam free world”, but at least we can do something to minimize it.

Spam Messenger under a Yahoo ID

I’ve been a long time Yahoo! Messenger (YM) user. Yahoo was my first e-mail account and most of my contacts are Yahoo!.
I won’t make the intro long. So here’s what’s I want to post. There are times before where I receive an instant message from an unknown Yahoo! ID. Well, simply, that was spamming. I suspect the spammers were able to get my email address from forums or at the Yahoo! Chatrooms. But then lately (I believe it started last year), I am receiving “wierd” IMs from my yahoo buddies (those are my friends). The first one, as I recalled, was in a different language (Korean or something). I then asked that friend if some one else was using here computer. She told me nobody’s using her PC aside from her, I suspected an account hacking.

I then asked some “pro” regarding this and they told me that most probably, this was caused by a malware or a “worm”. I asked my friend to do a virus scan. She wiped out her hard drive and made a fresh install. Since then, there were no more “spam” from her.

However, another buddy got “infected” by this and sends out IMs also on a different language. But lately, I was surprised because one of my buddies were sending me IMs (in English) regarding a “diet pill” (sample of the message below). I thought he was just promoting something. But when almost 5 buddies were sending the message, I was alarmed that they might be infected by a worm or malware.

Yesterday, I asked my brother if he was receiving messages like that and he said yes. I the asked if he received one from me, I believe he said no but when I came to office, he had sent me an email with a message coming from me. We talked in the morning and the message was timestamped at 10:35 in the evening.. I left home 10 in the evening.
Before the message reach you, your “buddy” will first “buzz” (hitting ctrl+g on yahoo messenger client will buzz or shake the other contacts IM window to get attention) you and then send out the message. If you could notice in the image, the buzz was made 10:35:01pm and the message was sent at the exact same second. With the length of that message, it is imposible to type it in split second, unless you copy – paste very quickly. The worst thing is, I am using Pidgin, an opensource, multi platform/protocol (you can have AIM, Gtalk, YM, IRC, multiple accounts on same protocol) instant messenging client. And this program doesn’t have the “buzz” feature. I am sure my wife didnt’ use YM cause she knew about Pidgin. (Thought I’m not going to make this long??)

So the question is, is my account being “hacked”. Was someone able to figure out the passwords of these users (including me) and then send spam to all our contact on our list? Or it is a worm the controls not the IM client, but the connection itself so it can send messages and command without opening an IM windows and execute a feature (the “buzz”) even if it is not supported by your client. Most probably it is a worm or malware.

I tried searching the net but not enough info. My brother gave me a link to a forum (on a different language). But when I try google’s transaltor, it is filtered in our office. So my resolution is to do a full system scan. Also run anti-malware/spyware scan. Then reformat and reinstall everything (which I will be doing anyway since my partitioning sucks), and delete any programs I downloaded from the net that I don’t need (well, those are clean programs, but I don’t need it).

Another question is, how did I get that malware/worm. Honestly, I don’t know. There are actually 3 computers at home. Two desktops and a laptop. The other desktop, is owned by my wife’s sister. I used to secure that computer but my wife’s nephew wants to do it “his way”. I turned of file and print sharing then. However the laptop was being used by my father-in-law and other people. File and print sharing is active on that one. In any case, some worm/malware can penetrate other computers on the network even if file and print sharing is off. And there are viruses, worms, and malware on the other desktop.

The laptop’s LCD is broken, and I already disconnected the other desktop from the network. Maybe this time, everything will be fine after reinstall.

Lesson to learn: Don’t trust everything on the net (websites/files/etc.) and always do a system scan (anti malware/spyware etc….) once in a while. And buy a good router with good firewall settings (that’s what I’m going to do).

I asked someone to download the same files (xbmc for example) and they didn’t get the error. Trying some options suggested (save it on a different disc).
Was this hardware related or ISP problem?

Update:

I downloaded the file to a different disc but I still have the error. Tried scanning (full, thorough scan, avast pro) but there were no virus of spyware found. Will try to test memory.

From the halls of a university research lab to the desks of hundreds of millions of computer users, the computer mouse has come a long way. Douglas Engelbart created the first prototypes of the now-familiar device in 1963 at Stanford Research Institute, but he first displayed his creation to the public in 1968 forty years ago Tuesday. During that unveiling, Engelbart presented what some have called “the mother of all demos,” outlining concepts that would presage the next 40 years of computing, including the use of a three-button palm-sized contraption called a “mouse.”

Read the full story here:

http://www.macworld.com/article/137400/2008/12/mouse40.html?lsrc=rss_main

Set it up last Saturday and everything was fine. I can now do pending jobs I have to finish.

Next stop… get a new processor, mobo and memory…

I was able to reinstall Windows XP without any problems, downloaded drivers for the video card. Was up and running in 2 hours.

Well, I am a bit of a fan of Ubuntu. So I installed Ubuntu 8.04 on the system. Installation went smooth. But when it comes to video card configuration, it was a headache. When I enabled the restricted drivers (closed-source drivers for linux), my monior goes to sleep mode. Tried a few howtos, and failed. Reinstalled Ubuntu to get it clean. It took me almost 3 days (though I’m just working on that for at least 3 hours a day) before I decided to install the drivers that came from ati’s website. And alas, it’s working now.

I was able to configure compiz-fusion (eye-candy of Ubuntu). I haven’t yet checked the 3D rendering on the OS.

Here’s a sample of my desktop with the “cube” effect:

Well, have some things to work on still (TV-out both for XP and Ubuntu). And properly install my Canon Pixma IP1200 printer on Ubuntu (which I think will be impossible, but it’s still worth a try).

With the near end of Windows XP support, and my system not capable of running Vista, and me not having enough budget to buy a new system, I am planning to go to a switch to Ubuntu. Just have to configure the printer and also the desktop to look like XP so my wife could easily adapt to it.

I was able to setup the router to dial the DSL modem (Alcatel modem) via PPPoE. Setup of the wired connection (for the desktop) was a breeze. Was able to surf the internet in seconds.

Setup of the wireless (for the router side) is not problem. But when I got to the laptop (running Vista Basic), It wasn’t detecting the wireless signal.

I am not familiar in setting up wireless connection for Vista. My first encounter with Vista wi-fi setup was with my brother-in-law’s Acer laptop (also Vista Basic). I find it very hard to configure (that was in our home network where in I am no having problem connecting a Latitude D620 running on Windows XP wirelessly) and whenever I got a connection, when I restart the Vista laptop, it can’t pick up my home wi-fi anymore, so I have to manually configure that again.

My wireless setup was this. Router’s SSID is hidden, WPA2 Personal, AES.

On the acer laptop, I was able to connect by disabling the proxy settings on IE and Firefox (maybe set by the seminary for their wifi). But still, when restarted, connection won’t come back.

On the toshiba laptop, it was totally head-busting. Even after configuring the wireless signal manually, it won’t connect. I can’t detect the wireless signal for the first 30 minutes. It detected it after I manually configured it (un named network protected). However, it still shows that it is disconnected. It was able to detect the wireless signal of a nearby net cafe (SSID not hidden) as soon as the laptop is turned on, but as for the Linksys router, it won’t.

I tried changing broadcast channel but still no go. Went to unprotected network but still no go. I discovered that the laptop was set to a static IP. I changed it to automatically acquire IP and I thought that would solve the problem. But still, can’t connect. I tried restarting everything but still no go.

I was about to go to online chat with Linksys when I tried to enable the broadcast of the router’s SSID. I restarted everything (modem, router, laptop, desktop). And boom, the Vista was able to detect the Linsys router immediately. It was able to connect to the router and the internet after entering the passkey.

I restarted everything again and it is working fine now.

So, I did a research. this site brought me some intriguing answer. It says that hidden SSID is a bad wireless security measure (against the common knowledge that hiding your SSID will add security to your wi-fi network). And it also says that I should enable “Connect even if the network is not broadcasting” option on the wireless network setup so I can connect to a hidden SSID (which I thought it was refering to connecting even if the router is not broadcasting “wi-fi signal” not the SSID).

The author is a tech from MS itself. And there were actual research that hiding SSID for security was a myth. And it is actually a violation of 802.11i specifications and guidelines when you hide your access point’s SSID. As for my part.

I also thought about that (hiding SSID a security myth). But I don’t know why I still applied that to the networks I setup. I have never encountered problems with that before (XP, Ubuntu) only on Vista. Well, maybe, I’ll change the way I wireless network now. I’ll let the router/access point broadcast its SSID to avoid problems, breaking standards and stop believing in myhts .

“The old axiom remains true: security by obscurity is no security at all”

Here they are…

1. marvincruz.com - well, this is my blog. Though I don’t post often (or post nonsense most of the time), this is the first on my list.
2. Ubuntuforums.org – Philippine Team – I’ve been using Ubuntu Linux for quite a time now (though I am not using it now since I have to format my hard drive). And I am getting updates from this community. And what’s good with the ubuntuforums community is that it doesn’t just talk about Ubuntu or Linux or Opensource, there is a lot of other topics in there like day to day experiences, jokes, etc… It’s very imformative and enjoying. Philippine Team – local group for Filipinos.
3. lifehacker.com – “Lifehacker, the software and productivity guide, is a blog that covers tips and tricks for streamlining your life with computers (and sometimes without). Updated several times daily, Lifehacker points out software downloads, web sites, do-it-yourself projects, howto’s, tutorials, shortcuts and tips for going beyond the default settings and getting things done in the most clever, unexpected and efficient ways. Think of Lifehacker as self-help for power users.” – http://lifehacker.com/about/. In short, you get tips and current informations from this website. Though sometimes reading the comments are discouraging (because of people discriminating the post beacuse the commenter thinks the post is very elementary and doesn’t fit his ‘high’ standars), there are a lot of things I learned from this website (specially technology).
4. google reader – Well, this is my RSS feed reader. I am using a web based RSS reader cause I want to check my feeds at home, work or wherever I am. Google reader was my first RSS reader and I find it easy to use. With google reader, I’ll know if there’s a new post or update on the blogs that I read.
5. inquirer.net – Inquirer is a local broadsheet newspaper in the Philippines. And this is their website. I check on this one cause I think they have the most updated info unlike the others. It doesn’t just speak about current Philippine news but also global news.

So there it is. This doesn’t mean that I don’t visit other sites. I do visit other sites. But this 5 website is my gateway to other sites. If there is a new feed in google reader, I go to that blog to check it out further. If there is a recommended website in lifehacker, I check it out, etc…

What’s your favorite websites?