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Monday the 28th of December 2009

Welcome to the Helpforce Daily Briefing, on Monday the 28th of December 2009

1. Virus Warnings
2. Daily Technology News
3. Latest Shareware and Freeware
4. FAQ for the day
5. Advice of the day

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1. Latest Virus Alerts From Sophos
---------------------------------------
Troj/FakeAV-AKO on 28 December 2009 11:36:20 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojfakeavako.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/FakeAV-ALH on 28 December 2009 11:36:20 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojfakeavalh.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Krap-B on 28 December 2009 11:36:20 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojkrapb.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Nyrate-A on 28 December 2009 11:36:20 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojnyratea.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/WoT-A on 28 December 2009 11:36:20 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojwota.html?_log_from=rss
W32/Scribble-B on 28 December 2009 11:36:20 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/w32scribbleb.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Agent-LZV on 28 December 2009 01:37:48 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojagentlzv.html?_log_from=rss
W32/KoobFa-P on 28 December 2009 01:37:48 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/w32koobfap.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/DwnLdr-HZC on 27 December 2009 20:23:06 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojdwnldrhzc.html?_log_from=rss
Troj/Agent-LYH on 27 December 2009 13:39:12 Z
http://www.sophos.com/security/analyses/viruses-and-spyware/trojagentlyh.html?_log_from=rss

2. Latest Technology News From Slashdot
-----------------------------------------------

-- One Expert Pegs Yearly Cost of IT Failure At $6.2 Trillion
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/nJxT-N8DDe0/One-Expert-Pegs-Yearly-Cost-of-IT-Failure-At-62-Trillion)
blognoggle writes "Roger Sessions, a noted author and expert on complexity, developed a model for calculating the total global cost of IT failure. Roger describes his approach in a white paper titled The IT Complexity Crisis: Danger and Opportunity. He concludes that IT failure costs the global economy a staggering $6.2 trillion per year."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- NY Times, LA Times Want Amazon To Collect More State Taxes
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/1yttKJWrImY/NY-Times-LA-Times-Want-Amazon-To-Collect-More-State-Taxes)
theodp writes "Recalling that CEO Jeff Bezos originally explored placing Amazon.com on an Indian Reservation near San Francisco to 'have access to talent without all the tax consequences,' the NY Times argues it's time toput an end to the e-tailer's 'entity isolation' tax-avoidance games. The LA Times chimes in, saying Amazon's claims that collecting sales tax constitute an undue burden are 'worth a horselaugh,' noting that Amazon boasts it has no problem keeping track of millions of unique products."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Chinese Pirates Launch Ubuntu That Looks Like XP
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/qnpDZZZtusw/Chinese-Pirates-Launch-Ubuntu-That-Looks-Like-XP)
An anonymous reader writes "Ylmf, famous for pirating Windows XP, have just released a version of Ubuntu that looks just like Windows XP. Really, really similar. Apparently because Microsoft were cracking down on the actual Windows XP pirating — though I think they will still suffer for ripping off the GUI exactly." Of course, if that's the sort of look you like for your desktop, you need not risk any download cooties or language barriers; a reader in the Ubuntu Forums suggests this instructional video for giving Gnome the XP treatment.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- GNU Emacs Switches From CVS To Bazaar
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/AUP8e978s88/GNU-Emacs-Switches-From-CVS-To-Bazaar)
kfogel writes "GNU Emacs, one of the oldest continuously developed free software projects around, has switched from CVS to Bazaar. Emacs's first recorded version-control commits date from August, 1985. Eight years later, in 1993, it moved to CVS. Sixteen years later, it is switching to Bazaar, its first time in a decentralized version control system. If this pattern holds, GNU Emacs will be in Bazaar for at least thirty-two years ..."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Consumerist Says AT&T Site Won't Sell iPhone In NYC, Citing Network
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/rzB0Wr4tAdc/Consumerist-Says-ATampT-Site-Wont-Sell-iPhone-In-NYC-Citing-Network)
cowp writes "A Consumerist tipster couldn't get AT&T's website to sell him an iPhone when he shopped using an NYC ZIP code, but could when he tried other cities' ZIPs. Consumerist asked an AT&T CSR and seems to have gotten confirmation that this is carrier policy: 'Yes, this is correct the phone is not offered to you because New York is not ready for the iPhone. You don't have enough towers to handle the phone.' Considering Apple's gadget is currently the most popular handset in the U.S., its exclusive carrier's inability/unwillingness to support the device in the country's largest market is pretty huge news. If this proves true, I'd expect curtains for AT&T's exclusivity deal when it comes up for renewal." If you're in NYC, can you confirm or deny this outlandish-sounding claim? Updated 20091227 1:03 GMT by timothy: Headline, now corrected, inaccurately named Apple rather than AT&T. Mea culpa.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- What's Happened In Mobile Over the Past 10 Years
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/XRxLrgxpdgE/Whats-Happened-In-Mobile-Over-the-Past-10-Years)
andylim writes "recombu.com has an article examining what's happened in mobile over the past ten years, including BlackBerry launching its first smart phone in 2002, Motorola launching the Razr in 2004 and Apple launching the iPhone in 2007. As a commenter points out, the first camera phone (Sharp J-SH04), which was released in 2000, featured a 110,000-pixel (0.11MP) CMOS image sensor, and a 256-colour (8 bit) display."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- German Wikipedia Passes One Million Article Mark
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/rAKn8UC8uEg/German-Wikipedia-Passes-One-Million-Article-Mark)
saibot834 writes "The German Wikipedia, the second largest language edition behind the English Wikipedia, just reached its 1,000,000 article milestone. Combined with 3.1M English articles and 240 other language editions, this adds up to a total of 14 million Wikipedia articles. Interestingly, there is a request for deletion on the millionth article. German Wikipedia has been criticized for its rules on notability, which are stricter than on the English Wikipedia. Quality though, is often considered to be higher on the German Wikipedia."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- How To Teach a 12-Year-Old To Program?
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/31LhoPap9mw/How-To-Teach-a-12-Year-Old-To-Program)
thelordx writes "I've got a much younger brother who I'd like to teach how to program. When I was younger, you'd often start off with something like BASIC or Apple BASIC, maybe move on to Pascal, and eventually get to C and Java. Is something like Pascal still a dominant teaching language? I'd love to get low-level with him, and I firmly believe that C is the best language to eventually learn, but I'm not sure how to get him there. Can anyone recommend a language I can start to teach him that is simple enough to learn quickly, but powerful enough to do interesting things and lead him down a path towards C/C++?"Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Fifth Anniversary of a Cosmic Onslaught
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/7RYH9HLaqTU/Fifth-Anniversary-of-a-Cosmic-Onslaught)
The Bad Astronomer writes "Five years ago today (December 27, 2004), a vast wave of high-energy gamma and X-rays washed over the Earth, blinding satellites and partially ionizing the Earth's atmosphere. The culprit was a superflare from the magnetar SGR 1806-20, located 50,000 light years away. The energy released was mind-numbing: in one-fifth of a second, this supercharged magnetic neutron star blasted out as much energy as the Sun does in 250,000 years!"Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Security In the Ether
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/kFhXrFQYoKY/Security-In-the-Ether)
theodp writes "Technology Review's David Talbot says IT's next grand challenge will be to secure the cloud — and prove we can trust it. 'The focus of IT innovation has shifted from hardware to software applications,' says Harvard economist Dale Jorgenson. 'Many of these applications are going on at a blistering pace, and cloud computing is going to be a great facilitative technology for a lot of these people.' But there's one little catch. 'None of this can happen unless cloud services are kept secure,' notes Talbot. 'And they are not.' Fully ensuring the security of cloud computing, says Talbot, will inevitably fall to emerging encryption technologies."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Critics Call For NASA TV To "Liven Up"
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/3xNvfog_eV0/Critics-Call-For-NASA-TV-To-Liven-Up)
An article in the LA Times calls NASA out for failing to make broadcasts on their dedicated television network as entertaining as they can be. The author, David Ferrell, complains that fascinating subject matter is often fraught with boring commentary and frequent, extended silences, making most people quickly lose interest. Quoting: "Witness one recent segment about the recovery of a Soyuz capsule upon its return to Earth. The dark, bullet-like object landed in the featureless steppes of Kazakhstan, about 50 miles outside the unheard-of town of Arkalyk. Coverage consisted of video shot from an all-terrain vehicle approaching it — mostly soundless footage of tall grass going by — with an occasional word by an unnamed commentator. 'You can see the antenna that deployed shortly after landing,' the commentator said in that deadpan tone shared by scientists and golf announcers. The camera chronicled the tedious extraction of three crew members weakened by spending six months in orbit; they were loaded one by one onto stretchers. 'Again, a rather methodical process,' the commentator noted, as if grasping for something — anything — to say. Later: 'The official landing time has been revised to 1:15 and 34 seconds a.m., Central Time. The official time was recorded at the Russian Mission Control Center . . . by the Russian flight-control team.' ... Where is Carl Sagan when you need him?"Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- Amazon Sells More Ebooks On Christmas Than Real Books
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/ww1r8dpKrgo/Amazon-Sells-More-Ebooks-On-Christmas-Than-Real-Books)
ctmurray writes "Amazon reports for the first time ever they sold more ebooks on one day than real books. My wife is an ebook-only author and reported her largest single day sales on Christmas day, and December has been her best month ever as well. All those Kindles bought for this season are being seen in ebook sales." The battle with publishers over pricing seems to be coming to the fore as well.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- What DARPA's Been Up To, At Length
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/wLA_zSfInbg/What-DARPAs-Been-Up-To-At-Length)
The New York Times takes an inside look at DARPA, the secretive defense agency, mentioned frequently on Slashdot, that is "changing the way we use machines — and the way they use us" in the form of a review of Michael Belfiore's The Department of Mad Scientists. Besides tracing the history of the agency, Belfiore's book expounds on the well-known Grand Challenge and its link to ever-more-automated vehicle control in civilian and military contexts, as well as other DARPA pet projects, including robotic surgery, information analysis, and the integration of electronics with the human body.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- World's First Production Hybrid Motorcycle To Hit Market In India
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/UK84Pqr5bYI/Worlds-First-Production-Hybrid-Motorcycle-To-Hit-Market-In-India)
bluemanlines writes "The Indian company Eko Vehicles has announced the development of the world's first production hybrid motorcycle, called the ET-120. In a short time this motorcycle will run on the Indian streets, offering about 280 miles per gallon with a top speed of 40 miles per hour."Read more of this story at Slashdot.

-- TSA Wants You To Keep Your Seat, and Your Hands In Sight
(http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/NkZDhrHOBug/TSA-Wants-You-To-Keep-Your-Seat-and-Your-Hands-In-Sight)
An anonymous reader excerpts from an AP story as carried by Yahoo News about changes stemming from yesterday's foiled bombing attempt of a Northwest Airlines flight: "Some airlines were telling passengers on Saturday that new government security regulations prohibit them from leaving their seats beginning an hour before landing. The regulations are a response to a suspected terrorism incident on Christmas Day. Air Canada said in a statement that new rules imposed by the Transportation Security Administration limit on-board activities by passengers and crew in US airspace. ... Flight attendants on some domestic flights are informing passengers of similar rules. Passengers on a flight from New York to Tampa Saturday morning were also told they must remain in their seats and couldn't have items in their laps, including laptops and pillows." The TSA's list of prohibited items doesn't seem to have changed in the last day, though.Read more of this story at Slashdot.

3. Latest Shareware from Planet-Shareware
-----------------------------------------------

4. FAQ of the day from Helpforce
-----------------------------------------------

-- I uninstalled Norton 2000 and now cant startup Windows
(http://www.helpforce.com)

Question: I had 2 Antivirus's on my Compac Computer and I deleted one of them which was the Norton 2000 Antivirus. I did it incorrectly and my Computer will only start with my start up disk. At first I got a message saying that I deleted Norton incorrectly and to install it again but I don't have the CD on that version to install; I must have gotten it with another program I purchased. I am not getting that message anymore because I tried so many different things to fix this problem that it went away. I want to put in the recovery disk but when I put it into the CD Drive on the screen it recognizes it, pops it out of the CD drive, and then goes into the screen that gives me 3 options: Normal Safe ModeI don't remember what the 3rd and 4th are. I want to know how to either fix my problem or be able to put my CD in to do a recovery which would put me back to Factory Settings. I am so desperate I would be willing to do that.I did buy Norton Antivirus 2003 and I got Norton Doctor 2002 but I don't really know how to use them. I bought both of these last Sunday thinking this could fix the problem. Please help?

Answer: If you are running Windows XP or ME the safest course of action would be to use 'System Rollback' to roll your system back to a point before these changes were made.Please see Windows Help for details on how to do this.Without the origional Norton CD's used, it would be impossible to restore your PC to a working state. You would need to use your origional Compaq Restore CD to restore your computer to the factory settings.If you have the origional Norton CD's, installing the program again and then uninstalling it should correct the issue.NB: It is unsafe to have two anti-virus program's running on once PC. Anti-virus programs interact with Windows at a very deep down level and can cause problems with each other if they are running at the same time. Usually, one anti-virus program will protect your PC as long as it is kept fully updated from the anti-virus producers web site. Reply Posted on 14/12/2002 It would be best to use the restore feature of Windows XP to take your computer back to the time before you deleted Norton 2002....Or the similar feature of Windows Me.It safe (and wise) to have more than one antivirus program. It is very important to have ONLY ONE running as a real-time or active monitor...The other can be installed and used for manual or schedules antivirus scans. This is reccomended because if one antivirus program (even if kept up to date) may, on occasions, miss a virus. If you have two antivirus programs, keep both up-to-date, and run full system scans with both on a regular basis, you should be able to catch and remove any virus. Personally, I have eTrust EZ Antivirus as my real-time monitor, and run daily scans of my system with it and also with Norton 2002 and Kaspersky Antivirus.I have the original Norton 2002 installation file saved. If you wish, I could e-mail it to you It is a zipped file that when opened will install Norton 2002. It is several months old, so you would need to update it to make it current (as well as enter your registration information). If you do re-install Norton, make sure you disable the "real-time" antivirus scanner that is running first....The Norton "real-time" scanner will be activated by default, and, as stated above, you do not want two real-time monitors running. After installation, you can disable the Norton 2002 real-time monitor and enable the other if you wish. Having Norton 2002 re-installed may allow you to uninstall correctly if that is what you choose to do. I hope this helps

5. Advice of the Day from ask-leo
-----------------------------------------------

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