Goodbye Apple! Hello Windows!

I made the switch!  From my iPhone 4 phone to my Nokia Lumina 920 Windows 8 phone.  I also have an Android.  Gone is the over pricing of Apple products and their developer apps, and I'm still getting an incredible device.  I don't need 500,000 apps to run my phone.  The apps I that it came with and the additional that I've installed work perfectly on my Nokia.  It is a "quick" phone by it's OS set up and hardware (1.5 ghz dual core).  Although you couldn't tell here, the picture quality is sharp and bright.  It's hard to believe that I use to get happy over a monochrome flip phone just 10 years ago, when compared to this.  This is a perfect phone for people who want a smartphone, but do not want to deal with the complications of setting up your Apple or Android screen/folders/access to applications.  Quick and easy is the Window phone motto.  Well done MS!

A Windows Phone Is On The Way

It's taken me a couple years now, but I've finally caved in and purchased a Windows Nokia 920 cellular phone.  I bought one for my sister two summers ago, a phone that was already 9 months old itself.  She loved it.  But it would only update to the Windows 6.5.  So I got her a Samsung Android phone as an upgrade.  She loves having more apps with the Android, but does miss the quick in and out access to her old Windows phone..  The older Windows platform was a little bit limited in terms of applications.  That world seems to be expanding.  With the big Windows 8 push a few months ago, I think my Windows phone will do well once it arrives and I set it up.  It seems to have access to most of the applications that I will need it for.  The prices on the Apple phones, when compared to the other phones available is outrageous.  I like Apple's concept and all, but not at the expense of my wallet and good sense.  These phones, as great as they are, are not timepieces that will sit on display at a museum.  No more than 4 months after they are released, they are "old" technology.  Sorry Apple, I guess I don't get a second bite?

Another Day Another Java Attack - This Time It's Facebook Techs!

As I rolled over in my sick bed this morning and read my usual incoming daily news messages, one messages immediately stood out: A handful of Facebook engineers had their machines hacked after simply visiting a website that itself had been compromised.  In this case, the engineers had no idea that merely visiting the site, (not even downloading anything from the site) they had infected their machines.  Here is a recent quote from Facebook on the matter:

"Last month, Facebook Security discovered that our systems had been targeted in a sophisticated attack. This attack occurred when a handful of employees visited a mobile developer website that was compromised. The compromised website hosted an exploit which then allowed malware to be installed on these employee laptops. The laptops were fully-patched and running up-to-date anti-virus software. As soon as we discovered the presence of the malware, we remediated all infected machines, informed law enforcement, and began a significant investigation that continues to this day."

Now I hope this will really get people's attention.  I posted about this over a month ago (just scroll back) and even though fixes in the form of "patches" have been made, the fixes haven't fixed all loopholes.  Millions of people, billions of computers are open and subject to the security loopholes in Java.  Since I posted about this, I've deleted ALL Java from my computers and haven't missed it.  Yet Java is freely installed in most machines and we get weekly if not daily messages to update it.  Java is built into our browsers (phones, tablets and pc's) and basically helps us view certain websites.  Java is an old, old code, that in today's world has a lot of security loopholes.  Steven Jobs hated Java for this very reason.  Most websites use other code (HTML) now for viewing.  Even if you happen upon a site that needs Java to open properly, you won't even need it, because it will open just enough for you to understand what you're seeing.  For those of you who will argue "Oh but there are patches to fix that" and I argue back "Don't you think those Facebook engineers knew that, and had patches installed on their machines?  And look at what happened to them?  If you're as smart as a Facebook engineer, then you probably don't need to be reading this blog."  

Today visiting websites is like going to a watering hole in the wild outdoors in the jungle.  If the water is tainted everyone drinking from it can get sick.  You don't even need to download anything.  My antivirus warned me about a certain tech website that had been temporarily compromised.  Thank goodness!  Had I landed on that site, just by merely visiting I too could have been infected.  I value my machines.  I try to take care of them as often as possible.  I'm sure that many of you out there value your smartphones, tablets and pc's too as well.  We are compelled to protect our personal information, contacts and identity.  Well, today's tech world demands that you'll need to read up and become a little more vigilant about avoiding any mistaken steps into the world of computer hacking and identity theft.  Good luck!  Feel free to write me back.  Now back to sleep I go.

Read the link below from a fellow blogger with more detailed, technical information.

www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2013/01/14/java_zero_day_exploit_don_t_patch_just_disable_java_in_your_browser.html

A New Member of the Smartphone Darkside

I know, I know, this "news" is starting to actually get old, but yet another person at my job has purchased a Smartphone.  He's another older guy - that is he's in his 50's - has purchased an Android phone.  More specifically, he's purchased a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 just like mine after he has observed me working with my phone the past few weeks.  What's so funny is that he gave up an old flip phone that he has had for at least six years.  He actually swore and argued with me that he would never, ever "waste" his money on some crazy phone like mine.  He was happier than a pig in mud with his simple flip phone to make a simple phone call.

Well, it appears that he too has joined the Smartphone Darkside.  He stopped by and asked me to do some initial set up for him since the salesman in the store didn't do much for him other than sell him the phone and upgrade his phone plan.  The screen time out was still at 30 seconds, hardly enough time for an older man trying to learn a new trick to operate his phone.  I set that to several minutes and stopped the battery wasting "ripple" effect on his wallpaper.  I told him that wasting his battery on something like that will come back to bite him one day when he wants to make a phone call and can't because he wanted a special effect running on his cell phone.  Me and another coworker who also has a Smartphone assured him that no matter how fast or brilliant the Smartphone is - it will be as usuful to him as a paperweight if the battery runs out of power while he's just driving/walking around.  He looked at us all (three of us) and said "Okay, take that off then". <we all cracked up>

Now I know that there aren't a lot of people really following this blog too tough, and that's okay.  But for those that are following, I hope that what I put out here is helping you - or helps you steer a loved one to this blog and that this information here will help them.  Please do feel free to write a comment or question if you have one.

This Smartphone evolution is pretty amazing. Whether you chose Android, iPhone, or Windows 7 (and yes, Blackberry is finally back in the game) I hope you do choose according to what not only works, but what also helps you in your life.

There it is...the 21st century...right out there in front of us.  Up, up and away...


 

Another Run To The Windows 7 Border!

Last weekend I helped another coworker shop and find the dwindling stock of Windows 7 computers. Yes Microsoft is forcing their will upon us with Windows 8. I am advising friends and all that if you are not one who can withstand too much change, then go pick up a decent Windows 7 PC while you still can...because sooner or later...the resistance to Windows 8...will eventually be...futile.

Upgrading From Vista To Windows 7 - To Avoid Windows 8"

 

So an older coworker of mine wanted to upgrade his quad core desktop from Windows Vista to Windows 7 operating system.  A computer guy he knows was going to charge him $100 to help him do it.  I told him to not worry about that and to just buy the software and bring it into work.

 

 

 

Once he purchased the software (which is now going up in price to force consumers to turn to Windows 8 instead of going back to Windows 7) he brought in both his desktop and the Windows 7 disk and I proceeded to help him upgrade.

 

Honestly, I love loading up a new software onto a machine for a clean install. 

 

The machine was placed in a back office on a quiet day.  All the initial "clicks" were made to get the software going.  It took around 6 1/2 hours to simply monitor from time to time, but my co-worker went home with a brand "new" computer.  All it cost him was buying both of us lunch.  48 hours later, he reported to me that the Windows 7 upgrade was a success.  It was less buggy than the Vista, as most of us who endured Vista already knew.  He couldn't be happier.  He had taken a look at the Windows 8 and just couldn't get too warm about it.  So upgrading to Windows 7 was his next best option and he did.

VERY IMPORTANT - MAJOR HACK WARNING ISSUED!

Hi folks, today I opened up my emails and read a big time hack warning being issued by the computer tech people that I look up to.  This warning is without a doubt the sternest warning I've ever received about a "possible" virus attack or hacker vulnerability.  And it's easy to know why...because it happens to be a vulnerability left on every computer and software platform including PC, Mac and Linux based machines.  So whether you have a Windows, iOS X or Linux as a software system on your machine - your computer vulnerability is as wide open as French doors on a mansion on a breezy, warm day.

Why?  Because this hack vulnerability has been left on our machines via Java (not Java Script), a good guy software, that has been a mainstay in millions of machines...in the tune of over 850 million machines world wide.  Java is a programming language that is commonly used by websites.  It's a good guy software.  However, the developers have made several missteps in recent years which have opened back doors for hackers to run software via Java, that's built right into a legitimate looking website.  This malicious software easily installs on its own and hacks right into your computer.

Two years ago a simple Java update for Apple computers, left a backdoor open that allowed some 200, 000 Macs to be hacked before a fix was rushed into place.  Today it appears that yet another update by Java Script has left some 850 million computers across all operating platforms open to yet a new hack.

I'm going to attach another blog link to this blog.  My best advice, based on what the experts are saying is to simply disable or get rid of Java on your machine all together.  Java is sot of becoming a thing of the past and may not be as useful as they used to be.  We can't afford for their software updates to constantly leave our machines open for major attacks.

I'll be working on my home computers as soon as possible.  Read the link below for further information.

http://www.techlicious.com/blog/critical-java-security-risk-requires-immediate-action/