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Causes of overheating

Overheating may be due to bad cooling design—this rarely occurs
nowadays. Dust, Dust, not enough fans, Dust clogged fans and DUST.

Signs of overheating

At high temperature, fail safe software, shuts down your computer to
prevent damage. Blue Screen and frequent memory errors are some of
other symptoms of an overheating computer. A simple sign to look out
for is constant or frequent fan operation.

Solutions

We can help with this. On top of you processor is a heatsink. Between the two there was some type of thermal paste used. Over time this can turn into thermal cement. We disconnect the processor from the heat sink, clean it and apply some new thermal protection. Additionally, we physically clean every computer that comes in our store.

LAS VEGAS–Hacking into an ATM isn’t impossible, a security researcher showed Wednesday. With the right software, it’s actually pretty easy.

Barnaby Jack, director of security testing at Seattle-based IOActive, hauled two ATMs onto the Black Hat conference stage and demonstrated to a rapt audience the fond daydream of teenage hackers everywhere: pressing a button and having an automated teller machine spew out its cash until a pile of paper lay on the ground.

“I hope to change the way people look at devices that from the outside are seemingly impenetrable,” said Jack, a New Zealand native who lives in the San Jose area. One vulnerability he demonstrated even allows a hacker to connect to the ATM through a telephone modem and, without knowing a password, instantly force it to disgorge its entire supply of cash.

Jack said he bought the pair of standalone ATMs–one manufactured by Tranax Technologies and the other by Triton–over the Internet and then spent years poring over the code. The vulnerabilities and programming errors he unearthed during that process, Jack said, let him gain complete access to those machines and learn techniques that can be used to open the built-in safes of many others made by the same companies.

“Every ATM I’ve looked at, I’ve found a game-over vulnerability that allows an attacker to get cash from the machine,” Jack said. “I’ve looked at four ATMs. I’m four for four.” (He said he has not evaluated built-in ATMs like those used by banks and credit unions.)

He said both Tranax and Triton had patched the security vulnerabilities since he brought them to the companies’ attention a year ago. If a customer with an ATM such as a convenience store or a restaurant doesn’t apply the fix, though, the machines remain vulnerable.

Hacking into ATMs is not exactly a new idea: It was immortalized by a young John Connor in the “Terminator 2″ movie, and techniques like “card skimming” and “card trapping” are well-known by police.

Some enterprising thieves have even seized on ways to use a little-known configuration menu to trick ATMs into thinking that they’re dispensing $1 bills instead of $20 ones. (Traditional methods of stealing an ATM, ramming it, cutting into its safe, or blowing it up still work too.)

Have you ever wondered how some scam artists gather information for an individual? It is usually the victim that gives the scam artist most of what they need. Last week I presumed that Facebook was secure, turns out that’s not true. So what is secure? That’s an excellent question. This is our working theory:
 

How easy would it be to compile a list of, say, 20 percent of Facebook’s user base, including their full name, unique user ID and URL of their Facebook page? Awfully easy, it turns out.

Computer security consultant Ron Bowes did exactly that, BBC News reports. He snagged a full 100 million users in his research, all through the power of searching for what is freely available online.

Bowes was quick to note that the file he compiled did not include email addresses, phone numbers or other restricted information, and that everything added to the file was publicly available and in keeping with each user’s privacy settings on Facebook. The file does not represent an attack on Facebook nor a compromising of its security measures: Bowes simply scraped up the information about individual accounts that anyone could have uncovered, and he crammed it into one gargantuan document.

The file is spreading across the Internet rapidly, and it will probably be used much in the way a spammer’s e-mail database is used: to target the unsuspecting with phony friend requests, to send en masse invitations to spam-filled groups, and to coerce them into clicking on phishing links and other malicious URLs.

Are you on the list? You can check by downloading a torrent of the file. Note: It’s nearly 3GB in size.

Meanwhile, it’s probably a good idea to re-check your Facebook privacy settings and make the appropriate changes if you don’t want your profile information public.

— Christopher Null is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.

Just when you thought it was safe to use your new iPhone. Of course this is something to monitor if your children have this type of phone.

Adult industry sees iPorn potential in new phone

By JOEL SCHECTMAN, Associated Press Writer Joel Schectman, Associated Press Writer 

NEW YORK – It’s a maxim of technology: Invent the newest gadget and the porn industry will find a way to cash in.

So when Apple Inc. launched the iPhone 4 and its FaceTime videoconference feature, it didn’t take long for adult-entertainment companies to develop video-sex chat services and start hiring workers through Craigslist.

With more than 3 million of the phones already sold, the adult industry stands to make big money on this new way to reach out and touch someone — even if it puts Apple, which has always taken pains to keep its iPhone apps squeaky clean, in an awkward spot.

In at least five cities, Craigslist ads seek models specifically for video sex chat on FaceTime. Many of the ads even offer to throw in a free iPhone 4 for the new employees.

FaceTime lets people call another iPhone 4 user and have live video conversations over a Wi-Fi connection using the front-facing camera on the new model. In one TV ad, a soldier uses it to get a look at his faraway wife’s ultrasound pictures.

The adult industry wants its customers to share moments of an entirely different kind with its stars. And while the technology may be new, the idea is not. Porn providers have always been early adopters.

In the 1970s, the demand for explicit videos at home helped VCRs become widespread, and the industry was the first to embrace DVDs, too. Internet porn peddlers were some of the first to make wide use of streaming video and online credit card payments.

“The first time someone created a camera there was someone who said, ‘Wouldn’t it be good for someone to take off their clothes in front of this camera?’” said Michael Gartenberg, vice president at Interpret LLC, a media research company.

And for years, cameras mounted on computers have helped connect people for racy online video sessions. But the portability and privacy of a cell phone makes FaceTime a new frontier for the industry.

“A phone is such an intimate thing, you usually don’t lend it out or have someone else use it,” said Quentin Boyer, a spokesman for Pink Visual, an adult production company.

Boyer said his company began planning for iPhone 4 video services almost as soon as the device hit stores. They should be ready in a matter of weeks. Boyer said the company will offer FaceTime sessions with some of the same women who appear in its videos — likely charging $5 or $6 a minute, payable by credit card.

“It has a very personal feel — your mobile phone to hers,” he said.

Online exhibitionism is only growing. Take Chatroulette, which randomly connects strangers for video chats. While the service isn’t explicitly sexual, it’s common for users to stumble upon people looking for more than just conversation.

So far, most online video sex chat services have let the customer see the performer, but not the other way around. FaceTime may change that.

In this week’s Staples Sunday ad in the centerfold, on the top right hand side, the following is stated:

This ad is for a Wireless N router (what happened to H-I-J-K-L-M?) It is a Netgear RangeMax Wireless N150 router, which is a fine product. I also believe Staples is a fine store, but sometimes marketing happens.

In an effort to entice the unsuspecting public into buying this product, Staples has thrown some facts out of the window. From the information contained in the advertisement you would be led to believe that you would have a faster speed on the internet. At this time that would be IMPOSSIBLE.

802.11g supports bandwidth up to 54 Mbps

802.11n supports bandwidth up to 100 Mbps

Netgear KNOWS you wont surf any faster.

Even the newest service from Mediacom, OnlineMax  provides 20Mbps. I am happy with the approximate 10Mbps I get at home now. So, no, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus. And you will not surf or email faster.

If a store cannot accurately fact check their nationally published advertisements, just what are they paying attention to?

This weekend’s advertisements contain the retail unveiling of Microsoft Office 2010. You can buy a 3 User License of Home and Student Edition for $149.99. I have heard that Office 2010 will be E.T. software. (it will phone home to validate usage and license number)

I have heard rumors that when you install a 3 User version, the machines have to be in the same location. As I stated, this is a rumor. I decided it was time for clarification. In doing research for tomorrow’s radio appearance this is what I learned. NOTHING!!!


I went to Microsoft’s website. I found the FAQs and went to Number 6.

Can I install Office Home and Student 2010 on more than one device?

It depends on what you purchase—a Traditional Disc or Product Key
Card. If you purchase a Traditional Disc retail license of Office Home
and Student 2010, the retail license terms allows you to install,
activate, and use Office Home and Student 2010 on up to three PCs in a
single household.

If you purchase the Office Home and Student 2010 Product Key Card,
you can only activate and use Home and Student on one PC or device. For
more information on what type of license you have purchased and to
obtain an overview of your licensing agreement, visit the Microsoft Software License Terms (MSLT) for Office 2010

I clicked on the link so I could learn more.

This is what I got when I clicked the link:

Just because it happened in Australia doesn’t mean the virus doesn’t lurk where you next mouse click takes you.

IBM has been left with egg on its face after it distributed
virus-laden USB drives to attendees at Australia’s biggest computer
security conference.

Delegates of the AusCERT conference, held over the
past week at the Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast, were told about
the malware problem in a warning email this afternoon by IBM Australia
chief technologist Glenn Wightwick.

The incident is ironic because conference attendees
include the who’s who of the computer security world and IBM was there
to show off its security credentials.

“At the AusCERT conference this week, you may have collected a complimentary USB key from the IBM booth,” Wightwick wrote.

“Unfortunately we have discovered that some of these USB keys contained
malware and we suspect that all USB keys may be affected.”

Wightwick said the virus spreads when the infected
USB device is inserted into a Windows computer but noted it should be
detected by the majority of current anti-virus products.

He instructed attendees not to use the USB drives and return it to IBM’s head office.

AusCERT attendee Tom Piotrowski, managing director of IT security
company Unixpac, said he was left “speechless” by the incident.

“Hundreds of IT security professionals make a pilgrimage to AusCERT each year,” he said.

I feel like I have been writing and talking about updating Adobe products for years. They are problematic in the fact that they do not typically uninstall their older versions, leaving the computer user to think they have done what they need to do. You must also uninstall all older versions of their programs. This is something we do at the store during an Optimization.

Wow.. they launched the new I-Phone this morning.It was the very first thing Dan Kennedy asked me about on radio…

Yawn, was my response. Why, you may ask. Are you that PC-centric?

It is always my response to a launch of any electronic device by any company. The device never works RIGHT. EVER.

I always wait six to eight months. The bugs get fixed, the price comes down and I am happy. Why people insist on waiting all night in line to get a phone I will never know.

Meanwhile…

Here is a link to the video of the event.

Sometimes, there’s a good reason that the “privacy policy” has been placed almost invisibly at the bottom of the page, and that when you click on the link, it presents you with a mountain of microscopic legal-like gobbledygook in a document 24-pages long.

The reason the policy is placed in a small, out-of-the-way location is simple: the site owners don’t really want you to realize that you’ve just agreed to allow any information they collect about you or your PC to be distributed across the Internet for the rest of your life.

But you’ll miss that because you won’t bother to read beyond the first paragraph anyway. And now, the 3 minutes you saved by not reading the privacy policy will be offset by years of hitting the delete key.

Most commercial web sites have a “privacy policy” but simply having one does not mean that all your personal data is to be kept private. It means only that they must disclose what they will do with your private information.

Here’s the start of a typical paragraph from a privacy policy:

“The information we collect is used to improve the content of our Web page, used to customize the content and/or layout of our page for each individual visitor, used to provide consumers with information or publications that they have requested from us (e.g. newsletters or whitepapers), used to notify consumers about updates to our Web site…”

But the same paragraph finishes like this:

“…used by us to contact consumers for marketing purposes.”

If you were to look at the Facebook.com privacy policy, for example, you would find that its over 3,700 words are produced in 6-point type and contains such disingenuous statements as: “We may occasionally use your name and email address to send you notifications regarding new services offered by Facebook that we think you may find valuable.”

“We may use information about you that we collect from other sources, including but not limited to newspapers and Internet sources such as blogs, instant messaging services, Facebook Platform developers and other users of Facebook, to supplement your profile.”

“In addition, third party developers who have created and operate Platform Applications (”Platform Developers”), may also have access to your personal information…”

Moreover, privacy policies can change and the website may not notify you of the change. Some ISPs, for example, are reputed to have begun selling information they collect on users’ online behavior. If their existing privacy policies prevent them from doing this, they merely change their policies. In many cases, it’s up to the user to keep up-to-date regarding policy changes. (Source: nytimes.com)

But what about sites having a TRUSTe or Habeas “certification”? In actuality, this does little to ensure true privacy protection. Instead, these certifications only measure compliance with a site’s stated privacy policy. Sites can maintain their certification even if their privacy policy changes.

Yes, reading a privacy policy may seem like a royal pain in the you-know-what, but reading carefully before you provide any type of personal information a good idea. If, as users, we don’t keep ourselves aware of such policies, we can only expect that greater liberties will be taken with our information, and we will have been informed only in the privacy policies that we didn’t bother to read.