tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80784110531083205222023-11-15T09:39:25.655-08:00Rob's Tech TipsThis blog is where I share tips, tricks, and tools in hopes of helping others to use technology more safely, securely, and successfully.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-28011780365424608142019-03-27T19:25:00.002-07:002019-03-27T19:25:32.556-07:00Optical Mice Can Get Dirty Too<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I remember when I was a kid and my dad showed me a memo he had gotten from the IT guy at his work instructing users on the proper technique for cleaning their mouse balls. It was funny because it went into great detail about the entire process of cleaning them in a way that made the author appear to be blissfully ignorant of the fact that, to most lay persons at the time, it seemed to be describing a very different act than what he had intended.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today, many of us can look back - perhaps with nostalgia - on the days when our mice had balls. Some of us may even recall the annoyance that dirty mouse balls could cause. The pointer just wouldn't move exactly where you wanted it to. Often, it would skip right over that spot no matter what you did. That is, until you turned it over, rotated the cover 45 degrees counter-clockwise, removed the ball, and then scraped the gunk off of the two rollers that corresponded to the X- and Y-axes.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Well, friends, I am here to tell you that optical mice are not immune to the accumulation of detritus and debris. Why, just a few minutes ago I was getting very irritated because the optical mouse I've had for about 15 years was not as responsive as it used to be. I had tried replacing the battery and reconnecting it to the base station, but to no avail. It turns out that the hole in the bottom where the laser and optical sensor are housed had become partially filled with dog hair. Yes, dog hair. Gross.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I got a Q-Tip, twirled it around in the hole a few times, pulling out a little more hair each time, and then blew out the rest. Now my optical mouse is as responsive as it was when I first got it.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If your </span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">mouse</span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">doesn't move like it used to, now you can do something about it: Simply turn it over to expose the hole in its underside, moisten one end of a Q-Tip, stick it in the hole, and twirl it around a few times until nothing else come out. Then blow into the hole a couple of times for good measure. Your mouse will thank you.</span>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02212795954518757797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-41919831710670477852019-03-20T10:58:00.000-07:002019-03-20T10:58:33.327-07:00Vulnerability in WinRAR Actively Being Exploited by Attackers<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you have WinRAR installed, stop what you're doing right now and go update it to <a href="https://www.win-rar.com/affdownload/download.php">the latest version</a>. There is a <a href="https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20250">vulnerability</a> in all previous versions of WinRAR that is being <a href="https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/over-100-exploits-found-for-19-year-old-winrar-rce-bug/">actively exploited by attackers</a>. Seriously, do it now.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-76342160735645215732019-03-20T10:20:00.000-07:002019-03-20T10:20:22.939-07:00Is That Software Download Safe?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These tips can help you to reduce your risk of accidentally downloading malware:</span><br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Always download software from its official website. There are very few exceptions to this rule.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Never download software using a link in an email, on a blog, or even an ad in search engine (e.g.: Google) results.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Never download anything that is offered to you. If you didn't go looking for it, don't download it.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02212795954518757797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-63027546157461758522014-11-29T13:34:00.000-08:002014-11-29T13:34:10.571-08:00Enable Two-Factor Authentication Now!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With all of the online data breaches these days, it's more important than ever that you take measures to protect your online accounts. A powerful way to do that is to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on any sites that support it. Here is a link to a Lifehacker article with a list of sites that provide 2FA:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://lifehacker.com/5938565/heres-everywhere-you-should-enable-two-factor-authentication-right-now">http://lifehacker.com/5938565/heres-everywhere-you-should-enable-two-factor-authentication-right-now</a></span>Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02212795954518757797noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-58190356232657251562014-09-05T13:15:00.000-07:002014-09-08T08:45:11.482-07:00Windows Server Running IIS Fails PCI Compliance Scan<div class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If your web server is failing a PCI compliance scan because a specially crafted HTTP/1.0 GET request without a host header is causing it to divulge an internal private IP address, then read on.</span></div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Problem</span></h2>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In IIS 7 on Windows Server 2008 and higher, there is a vulnerability that will cause it to accept such a GET request and respond with the internal IP address as the realm for basic authentication. This does not happen with an HTTP/1.1 request.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">More Information</span></h3>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In this example, the </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">GET</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">request was </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">for </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">/autodiscover/autodiscover.xml, which is in the Autodiscover application under the "SBS Web Applications" site in IIS 7 on a Windows Small Business Server 2008 computer.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can test for the issue with openssl on Linux by running the following command:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">$ openssl s_client -host <i>hostname.domain.tld</i> -port 443</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Substitute the actual hostname for <i>hostname.domain.tld. </i>The server will respond with a bunch of SSL information ending in "---" followed by a blank line. On that line, type or paste the following:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">GET /autodiscover/autodiscover.xml HTTP/1.0<br />Accept-Charset: iso-8859-1,utf-8;q=0.9,*;q=0.1<br />Accept-Language: en<br />Connection: Keep- Alive<br />User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Windows NT 5.1; Trident/4.0)<br />Pragma: no-cache<br />Accept: image/gif, image/x-xbitmap, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg, image/png, */*</span> </blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Send a blank line at the end; the server will not respond until you do. An example of a response from a server affected by the vulnerability follows:</span><br />
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized<br />Content-Type: text/html<br />Server: Microsoft-IIS/7.0<br />WWW-Authenticate: Negotiate<br />WWW-Authenticate: NTLM<br />WWW-Authenticate: <span style="background-color: yellow;">Basic realm="192.168.1.201"</span><br />X-Powered-By: ASP.NET<br />Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 16:25:59 GMT<br />Connection: close<br />Content-Length: 58<br /><br />You do not have permission to view this directory or page.read:errno=0</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h2>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Resolution</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To resolve the issue in this example, do the following:</span><br />
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Open the IIS 7 console, expand <b>SBS Web Applications</b> and click on <b>Autodiscover</b>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Double-click <b>Authentication</b>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Right-click <b>Basic Authentication</b> and select <b>Edit...</b></span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the <b>Realm</b> field, type the server's public hostname in the format <i>hostname.domain.tld</i> and then click <b>OK</b>.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If applicable (e.g.: on Windows SBS 2008), repeat the above process for the <b>Microsoft-Server-ActiveSync</b> and <b>EWS</b> websites in addition to <b>Autodiscover</b>.</span></li>
</ol>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Performing the same test in this example should now yield the following response:</span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;">HTTP/1.1 401 Unauthorized<br />Content-Type: text/html<br />Server: Microsoft-IIS/7.0<br />WWW-Authenticate: Negotiate<br />WWW-Authenticate: NTLM<br />WWW-Authenticate: <span style="background-color: yellow;">Basic realm="<i>hostname.domain.tld</i>"</span><br />X-Powered-By: ASP.NET<br />Date: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 16:30:41 GMT<br />Connection: close<br />Content-Length: 58<br /><br />You do not have permission to view this directory or page.read:errno=0</span></blockquote>
Robhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02212795954518757797noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-24304814004439424172012-09-10T13:31:00.004-07:002012-09-10T13:31:47.724-07:00Get Out of a Windows 7 Update Loop<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you've just installed Windows Updates and Windows is stuck in a loop of applying updates and then rebooting, try this method </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(adapted from an answer in <a href="http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-33782-after-windows-updates-can-t-start-computer">this forum</a>)</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">:</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0in;">
</div>
<ol>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Insert the
Recovery/Install DVD into the computer.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Boot off of the
DVD. When you first start your computer, the first screen you see should give
you the key combination to press to enter a 'multi-boot' menu. On an HP, hit
<b>Esc</b> then <b>F9 </b>for the boot menu (or <b>F11 </b>for recovery if you don't have a DVD). On a Dell, hit <b>F12 </b>for the
boot menu. It varies by each manufacturer. Once you find it and are at the
multi-boot menu, choose to boot from CD/DVD.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When prompted
(after it has booted to the DVD) choose "repair my computer" and
enter the command prompt.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Type <i>C:</i> (with
colon) and press enter.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then type <i>cd
c:\windows\winsxs</i> and press enter.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then type <i>del
pending.xml</i> and press enter.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Restart your
computer.</span></li>
</ol>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-55097635315036891752011-11-02T08:15:00.000-07:002011-11-15T12:47:04.981-08:00Automate network printer installation via logon script<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you manage a Windows server and would like to have network printers automatically installed on users' workstations at logon via a batch script, here's how to do it.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To add a network printer:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /q /n\\ServerName\PrinterName</span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To delete a network printer:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /dn /q /n\\ServerName\PrinterName</span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For more information, read this <a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee624057(WS.10).aspx">TechNet article</a>.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-20922563139530152402011-10-14T13:52:00.000-07:002011-10-14T13:52:32.992-07:00A better way to send large files<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you've ever needed to send a file to somebody, but it was too big for e-mail or <a href="http://db.tt/M4XLE2Sq">DropBox</a>, you may have looked at services like <a href="http://www.yousendit.com/">YouSendIt</a>. However, if you're concerned about the file being stored on a third-party server and somebody other than the intended recipient getting it, then perhaps you've been wary of services like that.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If so, then <a href="http://justbeamit.com/">justbeamit</a> is for you. It initiates a peer-to-peer connection between you and the recipient, allowing you to monitor the transfer in real time and avoiding the need to store it on a server somewhere. Once you close your browser window or navigate away from the page, the link to the file is invalidated.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://justbeamit.com/">justbeamit.com</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-84656126347115003662011-09-29T16:03:00.000-07:002011-09-29T16:03:09.865-07:00Making hard and soft (symbolic) links in Windows<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One great feature of Unix-like file systems is the ability to make links to other files and directories. Windows has had the ability to make shortcuts for a long time, but only since Vista has it had the ability to create soft (symbolic) links to files and directories and hard links to files.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You may be asking yourself, "What are links and why should I care?" In short, links work better than shortcuts and can allow you to do things you otherwise wouldn't be able to do.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For example, if you use <a href="http://www.dropbox.com/">Dropbox</a>, you know that only files and folders in your Dropbox folder get synchronized. But, if you make a hard link in your Dropbox folder to a file outside of your Dropbox folder, it <b>will</b> get synchronized because the file now lives in both places. It does this without taking up any more space on the disk. Cool, right?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The following pages explain how links work and how to use them in more detail:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/using-symlinks-in-windows-vista/">Using Symlinks in Windows Vista - The How-To Geek</a></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.maximumpc.com/article/howtos/howto_master_your_file_system_mklink">How-To: Use Symbolic Links to Master Vista's File System</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0Portland, OR, USA45.5234515 -122.676207145.345457 -122.9920641 45.701446 -122.3603501tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-61042525429219167882011-08-25T10:46:00.000-07:002011-08-25T10:46:15.437-07:00How to migrate user profiles to a different domain<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you've ever migrated a user's workstation from an old domain to a new domain, you know it's not a simple matter of dragging and dropping the contents of the profile directory in Windows Vista and 7 like it was in Windows XP. You have to manually copy selected files and folders and you lose all of the user's preferences.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That is, of course, unless you use the <a href="http://www.forensit.com/domain-migration.html">User Profile Wizard</a> from <a href="http://www.forensit.com/">ForensIT</a>. This small, free utility makes it a breeze to migrate user profiles to a new domain.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-57492671856229218512011-07-26T16:53:00.000-07:002011-07-26T16:53:22.103-07:00Manage Microsoft Updates via LogMeIn Central<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.logmein.com/">LogMeIn</a> Pro and Central users can now <a href="http://b.logme.in/2011/07/25/keep-windows-up-to-date-and-secure-with-logmein-pro-and-central/">manage Microsoft Updates via the LogMeIn Central interface</a>.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-19237783952707115312011-06-21T09:04:00.000-07:002011-06-21T09:04:56.880-07:00Dropbox glitch exposed user files; how to protect yourself against future breaches<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On Saturday, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/21/dropbox-security-bug-passwords_n_881085.html">Dropbox had a major security breach</a> for four hours, effectively allowing anyone to log into any <a href="http://www.dropbox.com/">Dropbox</a> account without knowing the password. The glitch was fixed moments after it was discovered and less than 1% of users were potentially affected. Nevertheless, the incident raises security concerns.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">An article in <a href="http://lifehacker.com/">Lifehacker</a> details <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5794486/how-to-add-a-second-layer-of-encryption-to-dropbox">how to add a second layer of security to your Dropbox account</a> using programs such as <a href="http://www.truecrypt.org/">TrueCrypt</a>.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-20820338058981974112011-06-14T17:42:00.000-07:002011-06-14T17:42:22.009-07:00How to manually import an NK2 file into Outlook 2010<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you want to manually import an Outlook 2007 or earlier NK2 (nickname database) file into Outlook 2010, read <a href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/980542">this article</a>.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-11111268231063066412011-06-03T17:17:00.000-07:002011-06-03T17:17:31.554-07:00How to protect your Facebook sessions from being hijacked<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Users of <a href="http://www.facebook.com/">Facebook</a> beware! There is a new Android app called <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5807740/faceniff-is-the-firesheep-for-android-hijacks-facebook-sessions-with-one-tap">FaceNiff</a> that can hijack <a href="http://www.facebook.com/">Facebook</a> sessions in one tap.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To protect yourself, <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5748697/how-to-keep-your-facebook-secure-by-enabling-https">enable HTTPS in your account settings</a>.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-51158429431791752222011-06-03T16:55:00.000-07:002011-06-03T16:55:54.719-07:00Automatically assigning applications to Windows domain computers<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If there's an application that you want to automatically install on every computer in your Windows domain, read <a href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/816102">this article</a>.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm currently in the process of implementing automated installation of <a href="http://www.logmein.com/">LogMeIn</a> remote access software on every workstation in the domain at a couple of client sites. One site uses Windows SBS 2003, which has its own way of assigning applications. The other site does not have SBS; just Windows Server 2003. At that site, I used the method described in the article referenced above and it worked perfectly.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-30791252841014968882011-05-20T08:19:00.000-07:002011-05-20T08:20:24.969-07:00Lock Down Your Computer Like the NSA<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://lifehacker.com/5803569/lock-down-your-computer-like-the-nsa">Here is an article</a> from Lifehacker about how to secure your computer like the NSA. It links to the NSA web page with documents on securing Windows, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Mac,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Linux and Solaris.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-62206388594817834522011-05-11T08:25:00.000-07:002011-05-11T08:25:35.440-07:00Facebook leaked personal data to advertisers<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">According to <a href="http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/10/facebook-leaked-personal-data-to-advertisers/">this article</a>, a vulnerability in some Facebook apps allowed third-party advertisers to access security tokens that act as a spare key to users' profiles, allowing them to read posts and access profile information.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While the article points out that the advertisers may not have known they had the ability to do that and Facebook has now fixed the vulnerability, those security tokens may still exist on third-party servers. To make sure you're protected, change your Facebook password.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-67839499819288678692011-05-11T08:13:00.000-07:002011-05-11T08:13:25.834-07:00Macs are not impervious to malware<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://lifehacker.com/5800267/the-non+alarmists-guide-to-mac-malware-protection">This article</a> in Lifehacker makes a very good point: As Macs capture greater market share, attackers have greater incentive to write malware that targets Mac OS.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Macs are not impervious to malware. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The author predicts that it's only a matter of a couple of years until Mac users will need to get serious about protecting their Macs from infections.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-438243528638953162011-02-11T16:42:00.000-08:002011-02-11T16:42:05.156-08:00CAT<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There's a website called CAT that is basically a TV calendar. It lets you create an iCal feed that you can then import into your preferred calendar program.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I use it in Google calendar and it works pretty well. The only problem is that the shows appear in Eastern time, even though I told it I'm in Pacific. Still, it lets me know what's going to be on TV each night.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://pogdesign.co.uk/cat/">http://pogdesign.co.uk/cat/</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-60897644800277178322011-01-06T14:28:00.000-08:002011-01-06T14:28:41.776-08:00Don't disable IPv6 in Windows SBS 2008<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you disable IPv6 on your network interface in Windows SBS 2008 and then reboot, you will be stuck waiting for 30-60 minutes at the "Applying computer settings..." screen. According to the following blog posts, SBS 2008 relies on IPv6:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://achugh.wordpress.com/2009/06/17/small-business-server-2008-and-applying-computer-settings-message/">Post 1</a></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://achugh.wordpress.com/2009/09/07/more-on-sbs-2008-issue-applying-computer-settings-message/">Post 2</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-45632877756603157552010-12-13T17:24:00.000-08:002010-12-13T17:29:14.082-08:00How to search Google for downloadable music<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Right off the bat, I'd like to make it clear that I do not endorse or encourage illegal downloading. I post the following information with the intent that it be used for educational purposes only; not as an aid in downloading music illegally.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That being said, there is a <a href="http://www.google.com/">Google</a> search query you can use to find downloadable music right in your browser without having to use any P2P applications.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The search query is as follows:</span><br />
<blockquote>intitle:"index.of" (mp3|mp4|wav|aiff|aac|wma|flac) <i>search.string.here</i> -htm -htm -php -asp -cf -jsp</blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Replace the text "search.string.here" with the artist or song title (separated by dots) for which you are searching.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For example, if you want to search for <i>The Nutcracker Suite</i> by Tchaikovsky, you could use a search query like this:</span><br />
<blockquote>intitle:"index.of" (mp3|mp4|wav|aiff|aac|wma|flac) tchaikovsky.nutcracker.suite -htm -htm -php -asp -cf -jsp</blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Then, you just go to a page in the search results, right-click the file you want to download and choose the option to save it.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-63801967140148946972010-12-13T16:34:00.000-08:002010-12-13T16:34:31.285-08:00Xmarks acquired by LastPass<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">According to <a href="http://blog.xmarks.com/?p=2033">this Xmarks blog post</a>, <a href="http://lastpass.com/">LastPass</a> has acquired <a href="http://www.xmarks.com/">Xmarks</a>. This is great news for fans of either service.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You may recall that I've mentioned both services in <a href="http://techtips.fulori.com/2010/03/xmarks.html">previous</a> <a href="http://techtips.fulori.com/2010/03/lastpass.html">posts</a>. I use them on a daily basis.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.xmarks.com/">Xmarks</a> allows you to synchronize your browser bookmarks/favorites between different browsers, different operating systems and different computers.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://lastpass.com/">LastPass</a> does the same thing for your passwords.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you haven't checked them out yet, you should do so. It's way better than trying to remember all of those passwords and maintaining separate lists of bookmarks/favorites in each browser you use.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-7354328886667265182010-09-29T09:44:00.000-07:002010-09-29T09:55:05.614-07:00Xmarks is going away<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Previously, I wrote about a service called Xmarks that I use to synchronize my bookmarks across browsers and computers. It has come to my attention that Xmarks is shutting down effective January 10, 2011. You can <a href="http://www.xmarks.com/about/shutdown">read more about it here</a>.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you are using Xmarks, like me, you'll want to switch to an alternative before the shutdown date. My primary browser now is Chrome, which has a built-in bookmark sync tied to your Google account. I'll be transitioning from Xmarks to Chrome Sync in the next few months. I haven't yet decided whether I will sync my Firefox and Internet Explorer bookmarks, as I don't use those browsers as much.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's too bad that Xmarks wasn't able to turn a profit and has to close their doors, but life goes on.</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-88071241239613871432010-07-21T12:46:00.000-07:002010-07-21T12:46:21.495-07:00Windows Pager<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One continual disappointment with Windows is the lack of built-in support for multiple desktops. Linux has had it for years. Sure, Windows Vista introduced the Win+Tab window switching, which is pretty, but really not all that practical. What I really wanted was multiple desktop support.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Recently, a friend and colleague turned me onto Windows Pager. It's a small, free application that doesn't require installation. I've been using it for a couple of weeks now and I absolutely love it. I had my doubts at first, but it's been rock solid (knock on wood).</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Windows Pager gives you (by default) 4 desktops. They appear on the task bar and work pretty much exactly how I wanted. It's quick and easy to switch between desktops by either clicking on the desktop preview or using a hot key combination.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I put all of my work-related windows on one desktop, all of my personal windows on another desktop, my music (e.g.: Pandora) on a third desktop and then I use the fourth desktop for anything that doesn't fit on the other three.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I really love Windows Pager. It's free, there's no install and it works beautifully.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://windowspager.sourceforge.net/">http://windowspager.sourceforge.net/</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8078411053108320522.post-25799423038803953172010-07-20T12:03:00.000-07:002010-07-20T12:03:45.268-07:00Offline NT Password & Registry Editor<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Have you ever been locked out of Windows because you don't know the password? Maybe you forgot it. Or maybe you got a hand-me-down computer and the previous owner neglected to tell you the password. Or maybe somebody else using your computer changed it and didn't tell you. There are a number of scenarios that require the ability to reset a Windows password.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Offline NT Password & Registry Editor bootable CD is the solution to the problem. You just download the ISO image and burn it to a blank CD, then boot the afflicted computer from that CD and follow the prompts to reset the password for the chosen Windows account to one of your choosing.</span><br />
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tada!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/">http://pogostick.net/~pnh/ntpasswd/</a></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0