Test Your Phishing Recognition Skills

Phishing has become an art. In its early days, it was fairly easy for experienced email users to recognize a phishing attempt. Nowadays, it's becoming more difficult. See how well you, or your users, can recognize some of the latest types of phishing attempts, with this simple test from Sonicwall.

tz&598fT87wpGH")!jK98%5ih^U

Strong passwords are just common sense, but they're very difficult to remember, especially for things that we don't use daily. Most of us now have anywhere from 20 to over 100 passwords and usernames, depending on our work, internet activities and software used. Where to keep them safe? Enter secure password programs to help us keep track of them all. Here are a few that are open source or freeware, and have encryption.

Keypass Open source, has a portable version, Windows and Mono, mobile, iPhone, Blackberry, Palm, Android and more
Password Safe Platform independent
Keypassx Cross-Platform
Password Corral for Windows

Outsource your life...?

Greg B recently decided that if they can outsource the people who take your order at McDonald's, maybe it's time to outsource his life, because it must now be possible to pay someone else to do it for less than it costs him to do it hinself. Craig helpfully provided a link to DoMyStuff to get Greg started.

Tea Time?

Got a favorite tea, but can't find it in bag form? This is one solution - buy your own bags and bag it yourself.

DIY Service Pack

Ever been faced with the conundrum of needing to update a new install of
Windows, which has to be done over the internet with Microsoft's update system, even though exposing an un-patched Windows to the internet is an unsafe thing to do and a security risk? Or Aunt Louise only has a dial-up connection, and you need to security-patch her system? This appears to be a legal method of downloading the needed security patches, which can then be applied offline to a legal installation of Windows. They also have a forum, if you have any questions about how to use the open source program.

The Cliffs of Insanity

Tim Leerhoff is co-creating the ultimate train set for his grandchildren. This is a work in progress, that is pretty amazing as it is already. It looks like they're having as much fun getting it made as the kids will have in playing with it later. Can't wait to see it finished. but just seeing the surprises along the way as this plan goes from drawing to outline to completion is a fascinating journey, The workmanship and attention to detail is just amazing.

XP Lite

Need a clean, lean profile for gaming or some other purpose? This little freeware utility helps create it. It's basic, no frills, but it gets the job done.

Last Freeware Version

Have you every downloaded a great little freeware program, used it forever, changed hard drives over time, and then could only find a more advanced paid version of it again to install on your new system or hard drive? This site has an archive of the last freeware version of quite a number of programs. Maybe you'll find your old favorite there!

RegShot

Ever wonder what registry entries/changes have been made to your system when you change something or install some software? This program can take a snapshot before and after, and then compare the two, and there's your answer to what's been changed! Nice open source utility for all 32-bit Windows, to keep in your bag of tricks.

Flu Map

The H1N1 flu outbreak is definitely something of interest happening in the world, and which may have an effect on each of us personally and professionally. My father's father died in the flu epidemic that started in 1918, so my family was permanently affected by that pandemic. I'm not in any way in a panic about this spate of the flu, but that doesn't mean I want to put my head in the sand about it, either. I like to know what's going on, and found an official US government site about the flu that has a great deal of information, as well as a state flu map.

I also found this flu map that someone has created on Google maps, for tracking where the flu is spreading. They are gathering information from news, health and technology sources, and have a simple legend of blue for suspected cases, pink for probable cases, red for confirmed cases, gray for unconfirmed deaths, and black for confirmed deaths.

I don't know about you, but I appreciate having some idea of where the outbreaks are happening. Until I'm able to find some other official more detailed map from a government or world health source, this one is the best I've found so far in getting an idea of the spread of the disease, and where in my area of the country I might be more careful if I need to travel there. If you know of any others, please let me know.

Email security test

With all the exploits going on in email these days, it might not be a bad idea to test your email system to see how well it does against them. Here's one place to go to test it! Thanks to Lance Reynolds for the link.

Sumo Wrestlers ad

Thanks to Ted Novak for this absolutely hysterical one, also.

Think of the internet as a highway...

Scott Campbell posted this one, which turns the "internet as a highway" on its ear.

What if the internet were a place you could go to...

This funny Dave Chappelle video shows what the internet might be if it were a real place you could go to...thanks to Ted Novak for pointing it out!

Conficker Eye Chart

Here's a quick and easy test to see if you're infected with Conficker (or is it Confiker?). Quite simple. Thanks to Joe Marton for pointing this out!

Thunderbird Tag Tweak

Here's a Thunderbird tweak that I found helpful. You can already set tags for Thunderbird, but those only change the color of the text. This takes whatever color has been set, and, instead, uses that to color the background, making it much easier to find tagged items without doing a search.

Novell Community Toolbar

Here's another handy add-on for your browser - a toolbar, to keep in touch with what's going on in the Novell Communities. Thanks to Brad Averbeck for finding this for us, and thanks to Susan Salgy for creating it!

Novell Tid Finder

Remember the Novell TID Finder page? Now there's a Novell TID Finder Firefox extension that works the same way - just enter a TID number and off you go! It adds the Novell site to the search engines in your Firefox browser, so you just select the Novell TID Finder from the search dropdown list. Don't be fooled by where the add-ons people misfiled it under Thunderbird add-ons, it's definitely for Firefox.

Help Stevo

Stevo asked our help in testing his email system's defenses against spamming, so if you're interested in helping, contact him at pqnanxmqa2reaws@jetable.org. He'll be ever-so grateful.

Degree for Experience

No degree, but you've got lots of experience? Western Governor's University is an accredited online university with fairly reasonable rates. That's pretty incredible, but what makes it even more appealing is that it's a competency-based learning program. That means the degree isn't based on credit hours, it's based on knowledge, so if you already know much in your field, and can prove it, your degree is accelerated based on your test results. Check it out here.

Novell Jobs Postings

Looking for a job where you'll work on wonderful Novell software? Looking for a place to post a job for someone to work on wonderful Novell software? Here's the place! To post a job, you first create an account, then login (click the +Menu) and select under My Links to Create Content, Job Posting.

Let me Google that for you...

Someone always asking things that could easily be found on Google? This makes the point better than sarcasm, at least for those with a bit of sentience.

Daily WTF

This site is always worth a perusal, while you're waiting for all of the myriad things you have to wait for, now that you work on computers...

How to Unplug

Tired of dealing with computer and network issues?  Want to really get away?  Stay at a lighthouse on an island! 

Remove Google Toolbar

Are you a network admin with a restriction against installing unapproved toolbars on your network? If so, this will help remove the Google Toolbar from Windows workstations at login.

Run the following reg file in your login script to automatically remove the Google Toolbar upon login.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{00EF2092-6AC5-47c0-BD25-CF2D5D657FEB}]

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID{2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A
5CD4F}]

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{AA58ED58-01DD-4d91-8333-CF10577473F7}]

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Google]

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX
Compatibility\{2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F}]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar]
"{2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F}" = -

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Browser
Helper Objects\{AA58ED58-01DD-4d91-8333-CF10577473F7}]

[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{2318C2B1-4965-11d4-9B18-009027A5CD4F}]

Novell Visio Stencils

A fairly regular request we get in the Novell Community Chat Forum is for the Novell stencils that Microsoft removed from Visio after acquiring it. Here they are!
Novell Visio Stencils - GroupWise, Clustering and eDirectory

Chocolate Truffle Cake

Here's a quick and yummy dessert, for the chocoholics amongst us!
1 18.25 oz box chocolate cake mix
1 1.4 oz box instant vanilla pudding
6-7 chocolate truffles
3 oz sour cream
1/2 cup oil
4 eggs

Combine cake mix, pudding, eggs, oil and sour cream. Beat with an electric mixer at medium until well-blended. Cut truffles into small pieces, and stir into cake mixture. Pour mixture into a greased and floured 9" round cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes. Makes 2 cakes.

Novell Forums Software

If anyone is curious what the Novell/openSUSE forums run on:

NNTP:
Two typhoon servers connected by a cyclone router
http://www.highwinds-software.com/
servers: forums.novell.com and forums.opensuse.org (each contains the same content)

HTTP:
Two vBulletin servers http://forums.novell.com and http://forums.opensuse.org
http://www.vbulletin.com/

The content on HTTP and NNTP is connected via a gateway we downloaded by has been custom modified by Marcel Cox to serve our needs.

Saving Your Assets

Need to track your IT assets? Here are some methods suggested by professional network admins.
Asset Navigator
Spiceworks
GLPI
OCS Inventory

10 Steps to a Clean Personal Computer

by Keith Klenke

All of the below programs are free. There is no reason you should have to spend money on a seedy program that claims it may clean your computer. Said program may actually further infect your machine & you will never get a refund.

1) Ad-Aware SE - click where it says "download now"

Once it is downloaded, install it, it is basically a next/next/next install. At the end of the install it will ask you to update the program & run a scan - go ahead & let it do so, it will probably take awhile (1/2 hour or so) to scan your computer, at the end just let it delete everything it finds. If it is unable to clean everything off it may ask to run on next
reboot, tell it yes & then reboot, then rerun the scan. If your machine is clean it should come up with "negligible objects" for what it finds. Continue on with the rest of the steps as one spyware tool does not detect & clean 100% spyware.

2) Spybot search & destroy - this one has a few more steps, but it isn't that bad - click where it says "download now"

Once it is downloaded, install it, it is basically a next/next/next install, make sure the box for teatimer is checked (that is a program that will pop up & notify you if something is making a change on your system, then it is up to you to determine if it is legit or not).

After the end of the install open up the program & update the program (update/download updates) & run a scan (search & destroy/check for problems) - it will probably take awhile (1/2 hour or so) to scan your computer, at the end just let it delete everything it finds.

3) Microsoft Windows Defender - You'll need to download this one in Internet Explorer, the rest you can download using Firefox - click the box that says continue & follow the onscreen prompts from there.

Once it is downloaded, install it, it is basically a next/next/next install. At the end of the install update the program (check for updates now) & run a scan - go ahead & let it do so, it will probably take awhile (1/2 hour or so) to scan your computer, at the end just let it delete everything it finds.

4) Antivirus - Your choice, AVGfree or AntiVir Personal

Avira Antivir Personal - click download now! At the end of the install it will ask you to update the program & run a scan - go ahead & let it do so, it will probably take awhile (1/2 hour or so) to scan your computer, at the end just let it delete everything it finds. Run this even if you have a fully functional antivirus program already.

AVG Antivirus - this is a direct download. At the end of the install it will ask you to update the program & run a scan - go ahead & let it do so, it will probably take awhile (1/2 hour or so) to scan your computer, at the end just let it delete everything it finds. Run this even if you have a fully functional antivirus program already.

5) Spyware Doctor (part of google pack) - click where it says "Install Software". Select/deselect anything else you want, click Agree and Download, and at this point sit back and watch it install. After it is installed, run the updater & scan your system.

6) Hijack This This is the big bat you pull out when the previous apps fail. You really have to know what you are doing to use this application though.

7) Once you are "clean" you should be able to run Windows update - http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com - Spyware/viruses will sometimes prevent you from getting the security updates windows requires, so even if you have your windows update set to automatic, re-run windows update manually to double check. Once there update to the latest version if needed, then run a "custom" scan. Run all the updates, reboot when finished, rerun it again to triple check after rebooting.

8) Run the thorough system inspection from here - then update to the latest versions. Rerun the scan afterwards, and if it still says you have insecure versions uninstall them.

9) Run web-based antivirus scanners, these are run-time only scanners; they do not provide background protection.

Trendmicro
Symantec
Kaspersky
Panda
eTrust (CA)
Mcafee Freescan
BitDefender Free Online Virus Scan

10) Practice "safe computing" - consider change web browsers from Internet Explorer to Firefox or Opera, changing email applications from outlook/outlook express to Thunderbird or Google mail (Gmail can check all your mail accounts & put them in one place and has an amazing spam filter).

A great enhancement to this is OpenDNS. This is a free service for home or business use that will pre-filter out bad websites before your computer can even get to them. The website will walk you through configuring your home network for use with this free bad-website blocking service (adware/phishing/etc), as well as being able to block other types of sites. This is especially handy for parents who have trouble keeping kids off "those" kind of websites.

A great website to help you keep your kids safe is Laura Chappel's site covering Internet Safety for Kids training, for parents & kids. Real interesting things covered on predators and their methods, along with other very useful information.

This should help, it might take awhile, but it should clear up your problems. If you are *still* receiving pop-ups & problems, boot into safe mode & run these programs (to get into safe mode, shutdown the computer, turn it on & start hitting the F8 key, it will then bring you to a menu, where you can choose safe mode). If you are still having problems after that, let me know & I can make a house call. After you are done with all this & are sure your computer is clean, then I would highly recommend you change all eBay/online banking/etc account passwords.

Additional tools & advice -

McAfee AVERT Stinger
ClamWin Free Antivirus
Avast Free antivirus
NOD32 antivirus
F-prot antivirusMicrosoft Malicious Software Removal Tool
Ccleaner - - this one is not an antivirus/antispyware program, however it will clean out the temporary files & directories of your computer where some virus/spyware will hide files.

If you have broadband at home you should consider buying a firewall/router. Even if you only have one computer at home, putting it behind the firewall/router will give you another layer of protection. Having your computer "naked" (directly connected) on the internet is very inviting to spyware/malware/hackers.

Forums Software
Build a low cost Intranet solution with Joomla
Forums-Free
Google Groups
Yahoo Groups
Kablink

Accessing data on an inaccessible drive
Ontrack
R-Studio
UBCD
SpinRite

Learning Linux
http://www.suseblog.com/

Free Intro to Linux Course - see left side of page

Website Hosting
The Aardvaark
RoutHost
HostMonster
WestHost
Earthlink

Recover data from a thumb drive
Davory: Data Recovery as easy as it gets
PC INSPECTOR™ File Recovery

BOO! Bwahahahahahha!