Computerboy.com

Can someone explain to me how, exactly, it is that in the year 2004, we still have people who just open up ANY and EVERY attachment that is emailed to them?
If you haven’t noticed already, Microsoft’s operating system and mail program have flaws. People have figured that out, and have repeatedly created virii/worms/trojan horses and other Really Bad Things ™ that they send out to the world.
And all it takes is some schmoe who doesn’t watch the news to open his email to spread it even further.
For $30 I upgraded the McAfee Security software that came pre-installed on my Dell laptop – it came with a 90 day free trial, then all I had to do was part with some money to keep being “protected” from the worst that the internet has to offer. Granted, considering what I do for a living, I might have a bit more understanding of what’s involved and how to protect myself – but that would be an argument in favor or me NOT signing up for a service like this. I did it anyway.
Why? Because, as I mentioned before, Microsoft’s software and OS is full of holes. Some of them are known and documented and even fixed – and others are just waiting for someone to exploit them. It’s this second group that convinced me that it would be worth a little money once a year to save myself some aggravation.
Since I’ve been using the Dell almost full-time (aka since my youngest dumped water on my Apple laptop), I’ve noticed a lot more virus activity on the internet – and the McAfee software seems to be keeping step. A new virus is announced, and I get an alert that the virus defs have been updated. A new trojan/whatever is announced, and just as my inbox is about to start geting flooded, McAfee has released some other definition and I don’t have to worry about it – it even removes the offending attachments so even if I managed to get hit in the head and become stupid, I still can’t infect myself – or others – with some new waste of time.
So considering all of this, why don’t more consumers sign up for this? More importantly, why don’t the big ISP’s do more to block them?

SecurityFocus HOME Columnists: A Visit from the FBI
Well, it finally happened. Right before Christmas, I had a little visit from the FBI. That’s right: an agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation came to see me. He had some things he wanted to talk about. He stayed a couple of hours, and then went on his way. Hopefully he got what he wanted. I know I did.
An interesting read – especially considering the FBI’s apparent stance on the Mac platform…. Looks like I need to start boning up on my Mac forensics!

eBay item 2781262650 (Ends Jan-23-04 21:35:03 PST) – Rare Apple Macintosh PowerBook Prototype
I once auctioned off my prototype Apple floppy drive – it was a similar color to this PowerBook. A nice addition to someone’s collection – I know I can’t afford it thought….

So, Intel, maker of many things in the PC world, have developed “Centrino” mobile technology. At least that’s what they want you to think.
All it really is is a combination of an 802.11b wireless adaptor and some hardware – usually the the processor itself, and maybe one or two other gadgets.
Anyway, I have a Dell laptop that uses all this fun stuff, and it’s nice – but not as nice as the Intel commercials make it seem. There is one commercial that has some guys who are at their Mt. Everest base camp and using wireless internet to download a movie of some kid on the beach.
Here’s the thing: they make it seem like if you’re using Centrino, you can surf wirelessly from anywhere in the world – including Mt. Everest. Leaving aside considerations of actually bringing a laptop with you while climbing a mountain…. And leaving aside the fact that most 802.11b connections only work within about 150 feet of the base station…. Why do they so blatantly make it seem like they’re stuff is so cool and can do things it can’t? Isn’t that false advertising? Shouldn’t someone have stopped them from running the ad?

Safari Bookmarks Extractor Home Page
My laptop was wrecked recently, so I’ve been using my PC. The fact that I don’t have any of my bookmarks has been killing me – until now. I ran my Safari bookmarks through this neat little tool, and now I’m all set!

Other World Computing- Product Reviews
Using Apple’s CHUD (Computer Hardware Understanding Development) Tool
to lower your Power Mac G4 Mirror Drive Door’s temperature.
If you have a Mirror Drive Door PowerMac, then this little utility might be helpful – it will adjust the processor speeds dynamically, hopefully reducing the heat and the need for the noisy fans.

Power Macintosh Dual G5 versus Dual Opteron
Overall, the G5 faired better than an Opteron – with the odd exception of Adobe Photoshop. Read it for more info.

PSI-WEB is a webserver that someone built from scratch and then put into a lock box.
I’m sure it’s not the fastest thing on the block, but it’s still pretty cool.

FoxTrot dances across your comics page in step with Mac
He now does all his production work on the Mac – how awesome is that?

Criminals caught with Apple iSight camera and EvoCam software