Spyware, Adware and Questionable Programs

by Ted Wiles, Outbound Manager for OIT Support Services

In the Outbound Support group, we see many programs that promote serious computer problems caused by spyware, adware, or viruses. While every effort is made to keep these programs off campus, we find ourselves handling infected computers possibly damaged by these programs.  Sometimes a computer is completely infected, so we have to completely re-configure the computer and sometimes reinstall the operating system, which may result in data loss.

Please note the list of potential problematic software or programs:

1. Limewire
2. Weather Bug
3. Weather Channel
4. Webshots
5. Yahoo Games for Web

Spyware can do the following:

1. Nuisance – a classification in which spyware steals valuable memory, slows your Internet or network connection, or sets your homepage to another site.
2. Tracking – a classification designed to monitor and record your behavior, such as the websites you visit or your use of web-based programs.
3. Redirect URL’s - regardless of where you are trying to go with your browser, you are redirected to a certain site. Also, you can be redirected to a site that would load more dangerous spyware programs on your computer.
4. Capable of shutting down your system or permanently erasing or damaging files.
5. Use your computer as a server – the spyware can distribute harmful programs or images without your permission.
6. Allow your keystrokes to be logged - Lastly, spyware can log your keystrokes! Information such as passwords, credit card information, or account numbers can be forwarded to the author or originator. This type of spyware is the most dangerous because of the potential financial damage to yourself , your company, or your clients.

As you can see, spyware can be extremely dangerous! Although the ability to download pictures, music, or games to play can be fun, it can also come with a heavy price.

OIT Outbound Support Procedures When Computers Are Hit With a Virus or Hard Drive Crash

by Ted Wiles, Manager of OIT Outbound Support Services

If you experience a virus infection or hard drive crash, requiring a desk side visit from Outbound Support, here is what occurs.

1. If you can login to your machine, your data such as your desktop, favorites and documents will be copied to your personal network drive (J:).* If you have other data, inform the Outbound Technician at that time so it can be copied as well.
2. The machine will be removed to be re-imaged, which means the old operating system will be removed and a new operating system installed on the machine. This new image will include GroupWise, GroupWise messenger, Internet Explorer 7, Windows XP Professional, Microsoft Office 2007, Mozilla Firefox, and other various system settings.
3. Once the machine is re-imaged, it will be delivered to your office, set up, and your data copied back to the machine. Any other software not included in the image can be installed at that time.
4. In the event your computer is damaged by a virus or hard drive crash that results in not being able to login, the computer will be sent to our hardware repair department for data recovery and/or a new hard drive installed. The machine will be re-imaged and returned to your office and set up. This process could take some time. We have loaner systems available if your computer hardware needs repair. The Outbound Technician will set you up with one of our loaner systems.

* Something to keep in mind: we strongly encourage all clients to keep their data on their personal network drive (J:) to prevent data loss should the computer crash. Keep only what you do not mind losing on your local hard drive. We have seen numerous instances when clients have lost data because it was not backed up.

from New York Times:

Anger Leads to Apology From Google About Buzz

Google moved quickly over the weekend to try to contain mounting criticism of Buzz, its social network, apologizing to users for features that were widely seen as endangering privacy and announcing product changes to address those concerns.

Todd Jackson, product manager for Gmail and Google Buzz, wrote in a blog post on Saturday that Google had decided to alter one of the most-criticized features in Buzz: the ready-made circle of friends the service provided to new users based on their most frequent e-mail and chat contacts in Gmail. Instead of automatically connecting people, Buzz will in the future merely suggest to new users a group of people they may want to follow or be followed by, he said.

Mr. Jackson, who said that the auto-follow feature had been intended to make it easy for people to get started on Buzz, acknowledged the criticism that was heaped on Google in the last few days.

“We’re very sorry for the concern we’ve caused and have been working hard ever since to improve things based on your feedback,” Mr. Jackson wrote. “We’ll continue to do so.”

In the Official GMail Blog, Google states that the auto-follow model will become the auto-suggest model this week. This will allow users to select who they want to follow before using Buzz. Google states that there will be a Buzz tab added to Settings. Then, users can privatize who they follow and their followers. Additionally, Buzz can be hidden or even disabled in the Settings. From the blog…

from the Official GMail Blog:

A New Buzz Start-Up Experience Based on Your Feedback

On Thursday, after hearing that people thought the checkbox for choosing not to display this information publicly was too hard to find, we made this option more prominent. But that was clearly not enough. So starting this week, instead of an auto-follow model in which Buzz automatically sets you up to follow the people you email and chat with most, we’re moving to an auto-suggest model. You won’t be set up to follow anyone until you have reviewed the suggestions and clicked “Follow selected people and start using Buzz.”

Read the entire post…

Let us know what you think!

About Google Wave

Google Wave is a real-time communication and collaboration tool. You are able to edit and comment on documents and conversation simultaneously. Google felt that since email has not evolved much, this tool could help change that. Email becomes a live conversation in one spot, or one document, rather than sending separate composed messages or documents back and forth. It’s an idea that combines social networking, instant messaging, email, wikis, and web chat – having it all in real-time.

Wave’s Functionality

How does Wave work and what can it actually do? Most are experimenting to see what it can do for them. I think going over some Google Wave terminology may be the best start. Here are definitions I pulled from the Google Wave forum:

• First of all, what is a wave? It is your threaded conversation and discussion. I look at it as your original email with all of the responses (from everyone). The difference is, of course, that this conversation happens in one place, in one document, and you can join in by replying or commenting any time you want to. That’s kind of a breath of fresh air to me- seems like it will be more manageable.
• wavelet: It is part of the threaded conversation. A wavelet is part of the larger conversation and can actually be separated from the wave.
• embedded wave: I think this will be useful for a lot of people. You are actually able to take a wave and wavelets or whatever conversation and embed it on your webpage. So, this is a great way to get immediate feedback or comments.
• blip: This is the smallest message in a wavelet. It would be like sending a single post using Twitter. You can attach other blips to a single blip.
• document: This is simply the content attached to a blip.
• wave extension: An extension makes more activity possible for google wave participants. Extensions are mini-applications that work with the wave. These can be gadgets or robots.
• gadgets: This is embedded code that improves parts of google wave. Gadgets are shared and stored within a wave not per individual. An example is the Yes/No/Maybe Gadget that can be used for seeing what participants will be attending a conference. Another example would be the Map Gadget that helps participants plan a trip. Together, participants can mark/comment on the map to decide on where they will be eating and touring.
• robots: Robots are active participants that are in a wave. Since they are automated, they have the ability to interact and create new waves and blips.

Now with knowing some of the google wave terms, we can better understand what it does. Will Google Wave be useful for you?

Get Me Started

Let’s look at the actual interface and how we can interact with it.

Create folders and configure your settings in the Navigation panel. Navigation is also where you select what waves your contacts have sent you, requests from outside users, waves that you have participated in, and what waves are marked as spam. You can immediately arrange these in any order, minimize the panel, and adjust the width.

View Google Wave contacts in the Contacts panel. Manage your Google contacts by creating your own groups and importing other contact information in the Contacts panel. You can arrange contacts according to most frequent contacted.

The middle panel is your Inbox displaying whatever wave list you filtered to see. This could be public waves, waves you participated in, or your requested waves from your contacts. You are able to use commands in your search to help you filter. Below, are a few listed search commands:

• with:public – View all public waves.
• in:(folder) – View waves in a specific folder.
• title:(term) – Find waves with a term in the title.
• tag:(name) – See waves using this tag name.
• is:read – This lists what messages inside a wave you have read.
• is:unread – See at least one wave you have not read.
• to:(contact) – View the waves from you to this contact.

The wave panel is where you read and participate in the wave. Type your piece of the conversation and watch while someone else types a response.

Below is a Google Wave video with explanations and demonstrations, Google Wave Overview:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Sign up for Google Wave! Read the free online A Complete Guide to Google Wave for the Latest News and Tips.

In December, I posted about Foursquare, a mobile application to locate friends and explore restaurants or other places in cities. Another mobile app continuing to improve for exploring cities is Loopt. This app has been around for a while and may be familiar to you, but loopt is now available for the iPhone (3G) and Blackberry (also available for the Android). Supported networks include AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, MetroPCS, Nextel, Boost Mobile, and T-Mobile. Download loopt to use the interactive map and lists for locating places and friends. Indecisive about what to do and where to go? Check location ratings of places with food, company, and events. So, if you can’t decide on whose pizza is better, check out the ratings of the most popular places. Let everyone know what you chose so they can join you (relayed on Facebook and Twitter). You may find some restaurants offer coupons as well. Find where Happy Hour may be taking place and where there may be live music. So, this is pretty convenient for you fast-paced folks.

Website Screenshot

Loopt is based on the GPS (global positioning system) which provides positioning, navigation, and timing so you may be alerted when a friend is nearby. Visually see your friends’ location spots looking at a particular map. You can tag places and even blog about them using Loopt. Send messages to your friends in chosen areas. Make your mobile pictures available for your Loopt friends.

Improvements

If you have tried Loopt and were not impressed, check out the video for recent features.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Loopt Mix App

Are you new to the area? Another mobile app that may be good for newcomers is Loopt Mix. It introduces you to people to whom you can chat and view their profile. Get together for game day! Here are the features mentioned on the website:

Free messaging with people around the country on Loopt Mix!

Browse profiles of interesting people near you.

Real-time, in-app chat with push notifications.

Post multiple photos and status updates to introduce yourself.

Use likes / tags and search filters to connect in the real world.

Is anyone using this already? Remember to be careful out there when meeting new people!

Check out the Loopt Blog for more information…



Loopt Blog

With a network drive, you can

• Easily collaborate with others in your division by setting up shared directories.
• Assure that your important work is being regularly backed up. Unlike files on your local drive, the files on a network drive are backed up nightly and can be restored from several versions.
• Access your network drive and its contents from anywhere else, via MasterApps.

One of the ways that you can take greater advantage of the network drive is by making it the default location for your Microsoft Office files. This is easy to do, and you can always override the default location if you want to save the file someplace else.

If you’re using Microsoft Office 2007, here’s what to do (Note that you have to also do this individually for Excel, PowerPoint, and Access^{(see note)} if you are using those.):

1. Start up the application, such as Word 2007.
2. Click on the Office 2007 icon, which is in the upper-left corner of your window.
3. A shortcut menu appears. At the very bottom of the menu should be a command button for Word Options. Click on that Options command.
4. In the Options dialog that appears, click on the Save command, which is in the left panel.
5. In the “Customize how documents are saved” panel, look for “Default file locations:” You can use the Browse… command to the right; however, if your network drive is mapped to a drive letter (e.g., “N”), then you can just type in the destination path (e.g., “N:\MyDocuments\”). I like to keep my applications into their own directories, so I created separate folders for each (e.g., “N:\MyWord\” , “N:\MyExcel\”, etc.)
6. Click the OK button at the bottom of the dialog window to save thie option and exit the window.

Note: Access 2007 is an oddball. Instead of Save options, look in Popular options. In the Popular options section, look for Default database folder (e.g., “N\MyAccess\”).

By following this simple technique, you can assure that your important data files are being backed up, and you can access them from the network when you are away from your desktop.

I read an interesting post by Mashable about a mobile application game called Foursquare. Supposedly, the game is very addicting and fun to use because it not only lets you inform your friends where you are but you can also get bargains from local businesses that you visit. The good news is that they are releasing Foursquare to more cities. Here is the Mashable post:

Foursquare Goes Global With Launch in 50 New Cities

by Jennifer Van Grove

Right on the heels of Foursquare’s API release, the location-based mobile application and game is announcing another big rollout to cities across the world.

Just one month after releasing Foursquare to 15 new cities in the US and Canada, Foursquare is ready to bring their highly addictive game and business-friendly service to 50 more cities. That’s actually twice as many cities as the service was in before today, bringing the total to 100 different cities worldwide.

We’ve included the full list of new cities below, but perhaps the most significant part of today’s push is that it brings the application to a multitude of cities across the world in the places like South America,Australia, Asia, Africa, all over Europe, and even the Middle East.

Read the list of new cities…

This is a good announcement! What types of phones can download this? This application is available for the iPhone and Android. They are working on a Blackberry application but there is a mobile site present. Seeing that they plan to make it available worldwide, we will benefit when traveling and wandering around cities.

Open Atrium

Download the intranet package and there you go… you now have a blog, wiki, calendar, dashboard, to-do list, and shoutbox. You can read the how to on building customizable features for your Open Atrium.  Create groups and add users to share your private content- blog or calendar. You can join forces on a document as well as send quick messages within your group.

Zotera

This firefox add-on is about helping you collect and cite your research. By using its interface you can see your collections, access collection items, and make edits to them.  An interesting feature includes Zotera’s advance search tools that can search for key words found in a pdf itself. Other features include access to over a thousand bibliographic styles, creating a library that you have access to using any computer, a word processor plugin that allows you to cite using Word or OpenOffice (in which Zotera inserts the reference).

Launchy (Windows and Linux)

Launchy is a utility that improves opening your files, programs, folders, and bookmarks. It changes the way the start menu functions by searching from one place and launching after hitting enter. You can also index music, images, documents, and custom commands!

Google Wave Notifier

For you lucky people that have Google Wave accounts, this firefox add-on notifies you of new wavelets sent to your inbox. Those who are unfamiliar with Google Wave, it is an online tool for communicating and collaborating in real-time. The add-on icon is conveniently placed in the lower part of your browser.

Wisestamp

Click here to view the embedded video.

Signature Tweaks

This is an extension that adjusts the placement of your digital signature. If you would prefer your signature to appear after your reply and before the quoted text, this is the extension for you. This can be enabled by signing into your Gmail account and by going to Settings (top-right corner) > Labs > Signature Tweaks. Make sure you save your changes.

Google Voice

Google Voice is a another service in beta in which you need an invite like the Google Wave service. Its purpose is to help better manage your voicemail and all of your phones. There are a lot of features such as using your existing number to make your voicemail more like email. Choose to receive a google number that will connect to all of your phones. Then, you can have more features like sending certain calls to your voicemail or screening calls before answering. Learn more about Google Voice features…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Google Voice player in mail

For those with Google Voice accounts, listen to your voicemail while you’re in Gmail by enabling the Google Voice player in mail. You click the icon to play your messages in your inbox. You enable this add-on by signing into your Gmail then go to Settings (top-right corner) > Labs > Google Voice player in mail. Again, make sure you save.

Feel free to comment on this list of tools? Are there any new tools that you would like to share?

In Barb Dybwad’s post Facebook Cracks Down on Deceptive Ads, she explains these “opt-out” offers. She briefly shares the perspective of a social gaming company, Zynga. The following is an excerpt:

“In a social game like virtual farming sim Farmville, for example, users can either spend real money to buy virtual goods, or complete offers and surveys from partner companies in exchange for virtual credits. The trouble is, some of those offers include ‘opt-out’ riders that enroll the user in some sort of paid service or subscription, and require action on the user’s part to avoid misleading charges.

MySpace CEO Own Van Natta earlier characterized these ‘opt-out’ type of offers as misleading, and announced a change to the Terms of Use to clarify what’s acceptable to both developers and users. Popular social gaming company Zynga also posted a statement stating a commitment to weed out bad and deceptive ads, while stressing that the offers industry is still nascent along with a belief that non-scammy offer ads still hold the promise of value to both user and advertiser.”

Read the full article…

Have you experienced any offers from these scamming ads?

In a Facebook blog post, Nick Gianos explains these types of third party advertisements are an issue across the Web and that they will work to make improvements. They have banned scamming ads in the past and continue to do so now. Facebook explains how they will enforce their policies and discontinue networks that break the rules. They mention their interest in having high quality advertising and the trust of users:

Continued Action Against Deceptive Ads

By Nice Gianos

“As part of an ongoing effort we’ve had underway to address the quality of third-party ads running inside applications, we wanted to offer some clarifications, reminders, and information on our actions.

First, deceptive ads are a widespread issue on the Web and one we fight aggressively. This battle is not new and it’s far from over. We faced stimulus scam ads on our own system earlier this year and pushed them off the site with rigorous enforcement. We did the same months later when deceptive ads from third-party ad networks appeared in applications. We’re doing that again now as we see them appear in the form of offers.

Since introducing updated policies for third-party ads on Facebook Platform in July, we have disabled two entire ad networks and suspended or brought into compliance over 100 applications for ad-related violations in regions around the world, over half of which had more than one million monthly active users.”

Read the rest of the article…

What do you think of this issue?

Extend the time between charges.

This section is a list of things you can do to increase battery life.

Go to Settings> …

Notifications
Unless you have an app where Notifications are needed, turn this off.

Sounds
Turn off as many alert sounds as you can.

Brightness
I keep my brightness at about a third. If I need more light, I adjust as needed. The backlight is a big energy hog, and less than full Brightness is perfectly usable.
Enable Auto-Brightness. It adjusts the light level a little to compensate for changes in ambient light.

General
If you don’t use Bluetooth regularly (daily), turn it off.
Set Auto-Lock to 5 minutes (default). If you’ve set your iPhone to never Auto-Lock, you’re wasting a lot of juice while you’re not using the device.

General> Network
Unless you absolutely need it, turn 3G off. 3G is much faster than Edge for Internet activity, but it drains the battery Q-U-I-C-K! Most people don’t do enough intensive browsing and downloading to warrant the speed boost. If I need it (or want it) for something, I turn it on and off at my discretion.

What applications should I get?

This section is a list of free and paid applications (apps) I (and others) recommend–complete with clickable links that go directly to the app store so you can learn more. There’s a lot of text below. Weed through it and I think you’ll be rewarded with at least one app you’ll love.

First, if you’re at WVU, you should grab iWVU and WVU Mobile Web. iWVU is an actual iDevice app, whereas WVU Mobile Web is a webpage.

To create an icon on your iPhone for WVU Mobile Web that acts like an app, follow these instructions:

1. Use the Safari app to open m.wvu.edu


Go to m.wvu.edu in Safari

2. Click on the plus symbol.


The m.wvu.edu mobile interface.

3. Choose Add to Home Screen.


Add to Home Screen option.

4. I leave the name alone, but you can name the link whatever you want =)


Rename m.wvu.edu if you want.

5. Now the link shows up as an ‘app’ on your iDevice. Click it to open, move it wherever you want–just like a regular app.


Icon is now on you iDevice.

For other useful apps, try these:

• Free
• Paid
• My games

Free

Pandora: If you don’t already listen to pandora.com, and you love music, get to the page and sign up for a free account–now! You enter songs or artists, and Pandora creates stations for you based on the qualities of the entries. It accesses the Music Genome Project, and makes connections between songs you would probably never make on your own. It’s done more for broadening my musical interests than any other thing in my life.

Facebook, MySpace, and TweetDeck: I think these are self-explanatory, and Tweetdeck has a standalone version for Mac, PC, and Linux =)

FiatLux: A free flashlight app with different colors. Hint: red is great for not disturbing sleeping partners in bed.

WhitePages Mobile: Find people and places with relative ease.

Inquisitor and Google: The only two search apps you really need. I find myself using Google less, and Inquisitor more. Google has a neat voice recognition feature.

Wikiamo: A great Wikipedia-specific search tool. I use this less since I started using Inquisitor.

AroundMe: Find everything from Bars to Zoos, based on your current location (GPS enabled).

Evernote and Dropbox: evernote.com is offsite memory storage for your mind. See something worth remembering? Evernote it! dropbox.com is offsite file storage, accessible on your computer or iDevice wherever you have an Internet connection.

iCraig: Craigslist app.

Dictionary: Everyone needs to look up a word now and again.

Mint: mint.com is a finance tracking site. You might find it useful to keep tabs on your bills and bank accounts.

Now Playing: The best app for finding movies and schedules.

eBay Mobile: eBay search and management app.

BigOven: Recipes!

Google Earth: Great fun with maps. Fancier and slower than the built-in Maps app.

PhoneFlicks: Manage your Netflix account and queue.

Kindle: amazon.com’s book reader, in iPhone form. FREE!

Skype: Chat/VoIP app.

WootOn!: A woot.com watcher. One day, one deal… except when there’s a wootoff! That’s where they put an item up til it sells, then another, and another, until their stock is manageable again.

WebMD: Good tool for basic medical info.

Urbanspoon: Get restaurant reviews and let the app choose a restaurant for you.

Shazam: Hear a song? Don’t know what it is? Let Shazam find out what it is for you. It’s like magic- really.

Paid

Recorder Pro: Feature-rich recording app. I like it better than the built in memo recorder.

Photogene: Think of it as more Photoshop for the iPhone than Photoshop for the iPhone is. Follow that? It’s my go-to app for adjusting images. Worth every penny.

Camera Genius: Great app with built in anti-shake, digital zoom (digital zooms look like crap, but I take what I can get), timers, and other features in a nice replacement for the built-in camera app.

TiltShift Generator: Apply the in vogue Tilt Shift blur to your images. Fun.

ColorSplash: Bleed color from your images to make striking, if not slightly cliched, images.

AutoStitch: Arranges photos in to panoramas. Very cool.

QuickOffice Mobile: Office lite clone on the go.

WeatherBug Elite: My choice over the paid version of The Weather Channel and the built-in weather app.

Convertbot: A diverse measurement conversion app. Not the best interface in the world, but I like it.

RemoteKu: Turns the iDevice in to another remote for your Roku (a Netflix streaming box).

RedLaser: Wonder if the deal you found at Target or Sam’s is the best around? Use this app to scan the barcode and see if there are better deals online.

1Password: Companion app to the standalone Mac program. Helps keep my passwords/logins together and safe.

MotionX GPS Drive: Awesome, low-cost, GPS app for driving.

QuickRoll and MachDice: For my fellow rpg’ers. Customizable dice rolling apps.

BrainHack and AmbiSci BP: Brainwave apps. Tone generators for inducing different modes of consciousness. I like the tones for relaxation and concentration =)

iStumble, ICHC, FML, Flickr, Cooliris: These are fun apps. Time wasters, if you like… well… Flickr is actually a productive app if you have an account and store your images there. There are pay and free versions of most of these.

Air Mouse Pro: Turn your iPod/iPhone in to a multi-touch remote trackpad/keyboard to control your computer.

VLC Remote: App to specifically control VLC on a Mac/PC remotely. VLC is, for those who don’t know, one of the best video file playback apps available–and it’s free.

My games

I’m not listing all the games I recommend. I’ll just throw up screenshots of my game pages, and you can decide if anything strikes your fancy.

iphone games graphic