Rumors of an official release of Windows Live Messenger 8.1 are circulating, but early adapters beware! Last week, the anti-virus company Sophos identified the existence of Troj/Msnfake-M, aka, MSN Live Password Stealer–a trojan horse that masquerades as the new release but in reality, is destructive. Trojan horses are malware that pose as something beneficial (i.e., the latest release of Windows Live Messenger) to trick users into installing them. Once on your system, trojans can provide the attacker with remote “back door” access to the users system, return sensitive data like passwords or financial information, record keystrokes, and delete or destroy … Continue reading →

I recently inherited a friends PC. When he brought the computer over to my house he brought along with it the original mouse that came with the computer still in it’s original packaging. Apparently he has a general rule that he doesn’t use the included mouse with any computer he buys. After looking at the mouse that cam with his HP desktop, I can see why. The included mouse with his computer was lightweight and was fairly basic. After using different mice with my computers for so long I have to say I’ve gotten rather spoiled. I used the included … Continue reading →

You can’t turn on the news these days without hearing about yet another lawsuit being filed against MySpace. Four families of underage daughters who were sexually abused by individuals met on the social networking giant filed suit against News Corp, the parent company of MySpace, at Los Angeles Superior Court on January 17. The charges allege fraud, negligence, recklessness, and negligent representation. At issue is whether or not MySpace did enough to prevent abuses to minors from occurring. The cases involve a 15-year old Pennsylvania female, kidnapped and sexually assaulted; a 15-year old Texas female, drugged and sexually assaulted; a … Continue reading →

The local CBS station I my area recently aired a story about a prominent university professor. The professor had saved well over $200,000 and put it in an E-trade account. After he and his wife returned from vacation, they found the e-trade account was at a little over $50,000 rather than the $200,000 they had left in it. With a $150,000 loss they started asking questions, and found out that while they were away hackers had managed to get into their account, get their passwords, and transfer money from their e-trade account into what e-trade thought was their personal bank … Continue reading →

This past week Circuit City started heavily advertising their “Firedog” service. Firedog much like Best Buy’s Geek Squad is a service designed to do technical things for you in your home that you might not otherwise know how to do. I have always been a reasonably technical minded person, so I take things like knowing how to install your software for granted. I decided to look up the prices for some of the services Firedog offers and I was absolutely appalled. For instance to have someone set up your Internet service for you costs around $160. I installed my Internet … Continue reading →

At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week the company Bamboo Technology showcased their new software Vault 360 Platinum. Vault 360 Platinum is designed for users to transfer from one digital device to another with just a few clicks of a mouse. For instance, you can take video off of your camcorder, and transfer it to your phone, or pictures off your digital camera and transfer them to your photo enabled mp3 player. The program automatically transfers the files to the appropriate format and moves them from one device to another. I actually had the opportunity to see … Continue reading →

I wrote a few months ago about Slingbox, a device by Sling Media that allows users to watch their home television anywhere in the world with an Internet connection. This year, Sling Media has created a new device, the SlingCatcher. The SlingCatcher works in a similar way to the SlingBox, except in the reverse. With the SlingBox you watch television on you computer, with the SlingCatcher, you can watch your computer on your television. The device has built-in wi-fi, S-video, component, and HDMI ports, as well as a few USB ports. The device is set to be released in mid-2007 … Continue reading →

Did any of you techies out there get any neat technology related gifts this holiday season? I didn’t get that many tech related products. One thing I did receive for Christmas was the new Nike + shoes and the device that you put in the shoes, and attach to your iPod Nano to make it work. I am super excited about this one for several reasons. 1. One of my best friends is moving away at the end of the week across the country. We work out together a lot, and now that she’s moving away I was worried about … Continue reading →

What is better, Pepsi or Coke? How about a cute bunny vs. a cute kitten? This past week I was playing around on the Internet and stumbled upon eBay’s new match ups site. As far as I can tell the only point of the site is to vote on what you think is better between two things. On the site’s homepage right now there is Ellen vs. Oprah, Gwyneth vs. Madonna, and Hugo Boss vs. Channel. All of the match-ups on the site are submitted by site users, and all of them ask you to choose between two similar, or … Continue reading →