Regular readers may have noticed that I haven’t written anything here for quite some time.
Those who know me well will already know that was because I have not been myself due to the fact that I had to face my greatest fear in order to meet up with my parents who emmigrated some time ago.
Well, I’ve done it now -
- I’ve flown there and back, despite suffering from aviophobia (fear of flying).
The flight there was uneventful which was certainly a great help.
The return journey ended with two aborted landings in high winds followed by a successful third attempt.
I was a little scared but ultimately ok.
I’d like to thank everyone who gave me support in the lead up to me making that trip - you all helped me immensely in your own ways.
If you are reading this in the hope of discovering UFOs, or an alien species, then you will be disappointed.
The life form that has been discovered in space is a worm, but not the sort you see wriggling across a path.
You may be forgiven for thinking that computer security is an issue that is limited to the masses of hardware spread across terra firma.
After all, who would think that NASA would allow any of their systems to become infected?
A piece of malware, known as WORM_AUTORUN.BPN, has reportedly been detected in the cold expanse of space.
WORM_AUTORUN.BPN, known to steal user id’s and passwords for a collection of online games, has recently been found on the International Space Station.
There is no need to fear though as the infection was contained in machines that are used for email and other non-critical tasks.
Whilst such malware may only be a minor nuisance, it does leave me wondering how it managed to be transported into space, and whether there is a possibility that potentially damaging viruses, trojans, etc could follow it’s lead in the future?
Are you a casual user of email, a regular chatter, or an outright spammer?
Take the quiz below to find out.
1. WHAT DO YOU USE EMAIL FOR MAINLY?
A. Staying in touch with friends and family
B. Keeping in contact with business contacts
C. Marketing your business
D. Making dollar$
2. HAVE YOU EVER SENT THE SAME EMAIL TO MORE THAN ONE PERSON?
A. Of course not
B. Maybe once or twice
C. Yes, a few times
D. Always, it’s so much quicker than personalising emails
3. HAVE YOU EVER SENT THE SAME EMAIL TO SOMEONE MORE THAN ONCE?
A. Why would I do that?
B. Yes, occasionally
C. A few times for sure
D. Definitely, that way I know they will read it
4. HOW MANY EMAIL ADDRESSES DO YOU HAVE?
A. Just one, why would I need more?
B. I have one from my ISP and a hotmail address too
C. I’ve signed up for every free email service I can find
D. 50 or more, just in case people start blocking them
5. HOW MANY PEOPLE DO YOU TYPICALLY EMAIL?
A. I only email my family
B. 10 people or so, friends and family
C. 50+ people, including ‘virtual friends’ I made online
D. 1,000+ most of which I bought from someone else’s mailing list
6. HAVE YOU EVER USED A FAKE EMAIL ADDRESS?
A. No
B. Occasionally, just for laughs
C. Sometimes, for reasons of privacy
D. Always - I don’t want angry people spamming me with abuse
7. DO YOU USE CAPSLOCK WHEN WRITING TITLES?
A. Never, that’s considered rude
B. I’ve done it accidentally a few times
C. Sometimes, to make a point
D. ALWAYS - OTHERWISE THEY WON’T READ IT!
8. DO YOU GIVE YOUR EMAILS PRIORITY STATUSES?
A. What is a priority status?
B. I never change the status
C. High - all my messages are important
D. HIGHEST, OTHERWISE THEY WON’T READ IT!
9. WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN NO-ONE VISITS YOUR WEBSITE?
A. Try and write better content
B. Advertise on other sites which receive good traffic
C. Submit everything to Digg and StumbleUpon in the hope that it brings traffic
D. Send an email to everyone in the hope someone stops by
10. WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON SPAMMING?
A. It’s bloody annoying
B. I hate spammers and return their emails with abuse added on for good measure
C. Email is a great way to advertise
D. What do you mean spamming? It’s proactive marketing!
HOW DID YOU SCORE?
Which answer did you choose most often?
Mostly ‘A’s
Either through choice, or fear of technology, you make little use of email, opting to keep in touch with just a handful of friends and family. Those people that you do email appreciate the personal nature of your messages.
Mostly ‘B’s
You use email to keep in contact with those closest to you, both at home and in your professional life. Sometimes you find it quicker to Cc the same message to everyone but then that’s what that function is for, right?
Mostly ‘C’s
You offer a product via your website and you’re sure everyone wants it. Where’s the harm in using email to alert people to it’s existence? After all, marketing is the essence of business, isn’t it?
Mostly ‘D’s
You have a product. You’ve spent a lot of money on it but found that no-one wants it. The answer? SPAM EVERYONE!! Better yet, hire a dodgy company and/or kids to do it for you because you have so many people you’d like to bombard with your junk product and don’t have time to do it yourself!
Spyware can find it’s way onto your computer system through a variety of means.
Commonly, this occurs when you download and run games, toolbars, screensavers, etc.
Spyware can also find it’s way in through normal web surfing.
The purpose of spyware is to use tracking cookies in order to identify your surfing habits.
This in turn can be used with adware and other malware that has found it’s way onto your system in order to serve adverts to you.
Often this is in the form of annoying pop-ups but sometimes it has been known to even change the words displayed on your screen whilst surfing the web.
In such cases, perfectly innocent sites end up showing you hyperlinked text to some very dark and dubious corners of the net!
After a while, the amount of spyware and malware that can accumulate on a system is immense.
This has the effect of slowing down the surfing experience, sometimes to a crawl.
If you search around the net you will find many solutions being offered.
Here are some of the better Spyware and Virus removal tools -
Monday, October 27, 2008
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