Today was Masha's 8th birthday. Tanya picked a bouquet of lilies and of asters (??), we picked up Lena and headed to Andrei and Tanya's for ice cream and cake. We gave Masha money for school clothes. She is "growing like a weed" and needs new uniforms; girls wear dark dresses with white blouses, boys wear dark suits. She used to be such an annoying, picky eater, you wanted to smack her. the last three times at our place she has inhaled a big plate of real food - including meat potatoes and vegetables. Suddenly she is hungry. Which is good. She can still tire out her Babushka in one day but she is maturing into a young lady, slowly but surely.
Monday is Tanya's birthday. I will write different things about her than I wrote about Masha.
Internet problems again. My People.Net contract costs $35 per month for "unlimited" use or 27 GB per month which ever comes first. Tanya's is $25 for 10 GB which is more than she would ever use. Except last month over 2 days, one of which she was not home, her computer burned up 16 GB of internet. Which cost her $75 as it gets expensive if you go over quota. We took her computer into the shop to see if it had a bot virus or whatever it is called. They didn't find anything. The People.Net rep took all the details and will contact HQ to get them to trace the sources and destination of the high traffic. Something fishy going on.
People.Net is a Russian/Ukrainian ISP. 3g wireless. I have two email addresses, one with a Saskatchewan carrier and one with a consulting company with which I am "Associated". A Saskatchewan company with which I do some business uses something called Barracuda to sort spam. Barracuda uses something called IP reputation, rather than examining the contents of the message for key words. Apparently People.Net is in their bad books as it refused both my email addresses starting last month. The email message telling you that you were bounced gives a link to solve the problem. Right. You write nice explanation to accompany your request but it is all machine read so the message is actually ignored. They pumped out a machine email to me the first time, indicating that they would get back to me. Right. It also said that you could reply to the message. Right.
Fortunately the company's IT people were able to white list my email so communication was restored. No thanks to Barracuda, who apparently could care less whose emails are blocked - they claim 95% accuracy. Right.
Showing posts with label computers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label computers. Show all posts
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Hacked
If any of my readers also read LIFE IS GOOD or are friends with Dana Wyzard on FaceBook, you ought to know she has been hacked and what you are reading is posted by someone pretending to be her. All her accounts including two email accounts, one gmail and one yahoo, were taken over a few days ago. A simple, and if you knew Dana, easy to guess password was her undoing.
She has been playing silly beggars with her yahoo account and the hacker for several days. She would get her account back, change the password and immediately it would be wrested from her again. That means she could have a key-stroke reader installed on her machine. I have no idea if that can be done from a remote location or not.
Once you have been hacked, getting your accounts back from Google is no easy matter. There are no humans at the other end. They send you a questionnaire and you fill it out. Wrong answers? Bounce; fill it out again. They want ALL the Google accounts/apps or whatever they are called that you access and the exact date you started them, examples of email addresses you send to on gmail. And a bunch of other stuff.
There is a Blogger Help Forum Dana said she tried and it took her right back to the gmail questionnaire as that was what she was registered under.
She and Joe are taking the computer in for forensic scanning today. They have a pretty good idea who is the scumbag that has done this. What they hope to learn is how it was done and how to stop it. Preferable to also get her blog back. She has reluctantly started a new one which you can find here.
I contacted Coffee, brilliant computer-savvy husband of Violet of Miserable Bliss. for advice. He is a Linux man but suggested a few things that I am acting on to tighten security on my own machine. I have downloaded, installed, tried out and purchased a new anti-malware software package from http://malwarebytes.com . It has been working steadily all day blocking "outbound" attempts to connect with a "potentially seriously bad" IP address 91.213.117.69. I may have a problem on my own machine and will run another deep scan again tonight. Obviously AdAware (free) and Avast (paid) are not sufficient. Or it may be just Avast trying to check for updates and being smacked by the competition.
I have also changed my serious passwords to something that is harder to crack. I have a mickey mouse password I use for stuff like e-zines and such that one has to register for. But it is not used for anything important. For that I went to combination upper and lower case letters interspersed with numbers.
How do I remember them all? I have them written down on a piece of paper which I have hidden at the bottom of my underwear drawer on the left side.
She has been playing silly beggars with her yahoo account and the hacker for several days. She would get her account back, change the password and immediately it would be wrested from her again. That means she could have a key-stroke reader installed on her machine. I have no idea if that can be done from a remote location or not.
Once you have been hacked, getting your accounts back from Google is no easy matter. There are no humans at the other end. They send you a questionnaire and you fill it out. Wrong answers? Bounce; fill it out again. They want ALL the Google accounts/apps or whatever they are called that you access and the exact date you started them, examples of email addresses you send to on gmail. And a bunch of other stuff.
There is a Blogger Help Forum Dana said she tried and it took her right back to the gmail questionnaire as that was what she was registered under.
She and Joe are taking the computer in for forensic scanning today. They have a pretty good idea who is the scumbag that has done this. What they hope to learn is how it was done and how to stop it. Preferable to also get her blog back. She has reluctantly started a new one which you can find here.
I contacted Coffee, brilliant computer-savvy husband of Violet of Miserable Bliss. for advice. He is a Linux man but suggested a few things that I am acting on to tighten security on my own machine. I have downloaded, installed, tried out and purchased a new anti-malware software package from http://malwarebytes.com . It has been working steadily all day blocking "outbound" attempts to connect with a "potentially seriously bad" IP address 91.213.117.69. I may have a problem on my own machine and will run another deep scan again tonight. Obviously AdAware (free) and Avast (paid) are not sufficient. Or it may be just Avast trying to check for updates and being smacked by the competition.
I have also changed my serious passwords to something that is harder to crack. I have a mickey mouse password I use for stuff like e-zines and such that one has to register for. But it is not used for anything important. For that I went to combination upper and lower case letters interspersed with numbers.
How do I remember them all? I have them written down on a piece of paper which I have hidden at the bottom of my underwear drawer on the left side.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
I really got looped yesterday.
System Mechanic is a software package that I have used for years to keep my computer tuned up. (I first used Norton but then discovered that the best Norton program was the one that removed all vestiges of Norton from my computer. Their programs were memory hogs. Are they any better now?).
My computer has been giving me trouble off and on for several weeks now. It is set up to act as a proxy server for our wireless internet so we only need one monthly subscription. Maybe that is what is tying up over half my RAM. There are over 60 processes running at any given time, some of which I likely don't need but which? The sound snap crackles and pops, accompanied by a surge into the red of my CPU meters, whether CD, DVD, You tube or Skype. Not constantly but consistently. The DVD burner reads but won't write.
System Mechanic10 (newest) was supposed to run automatic checks and fixes on several items but seemed to be giving trouble, stalling out and shutting down. So I uninstalled it and reinstalled it from scratch. Started a manual cleanup step by step. Everything was going fine until I did a hard disk check and repair. It automatically shuts down and restarts after the operation is complete.
When it rebooted, it acted funny and suddenly a screen appeared announcing that a Check Disc was scheduled. That was performed and the computer shut down again and then booted up again. So far so good. Except that on booting up it rechecked the hard drive, shut down, booted up, rechecked the hard drive ad infinitum. There is an option to cancel the check disc. So I dug out an old OS2 keyboard and hit any key. the check disc stopped and the computer shut down, rebooted and the check disc announcement appeared again.
So we cycled through that a few times, then I cold stopped the computer and let it sit. Nope, still looping. It is going into Mir computers tomorrow. I stuck the wireless modem on Tanya's computer and we are still connected to the outside world.
The loop reminded me of my student days back in the times of FORTRAN and punch cards. For our computer labs we wrote little programs, keyed them in, made punch cards and ran them. One learned quickly the advantage of logical thinking and accurate keying. We were given so much money (time) on the campus mainframe. It was lots of money IF all our programs worked first time but most of us needed to run them a few times to get the bugs out. Left over time was yours to play with and create computer generated pictures etc. But if you created a loop in logic, the program never stopped running until you ran out of money. Not a good thing.
My computer has been giving me trouble off and on for several weeks now. It is set up to act as a proxy server for our wireless internet so we only need one monthly subscription. Maybe that is what is tying up over half my RAM. There are over 60 processes running at any given time, some of which I likely don't need but which? The sound snap crackles and pops, accompanied by a surge into the red of my CPU meters, whether CD, DVD, You tube or Skype. Not constantly but consistently. The DVD burner reads but won't write.
System Mechanic10 (newest) was supposed to run automatic checks and fixes on several items but seemed to be giving trouble, stalling out and shutting down. So I uninstalled it and reinstalled it from scratch. Started a manual cleanup step by step. Everything was going fine until I did a hard disk check and repair. It automatically shuts down and restarts after the operation is complete.
When it rebooted, it acted funny and suddenly a screen appeared announcing that a Check Disc was scheduled. That was performed and the computer shut down again and then booted up again. So far so good. Except that on booting up it rechecked the hard drive, shut down, booted up, rechecked the hard drive ad infinitum. There is an option to cancel the check disc. So I dug out an old OS2 keyboard and hit any key. the check disc stopped and the computer shut down, rebooted and the check disc announcement appeared again.
So we cycled through that a few times, then I cold stopped the computer and let it sit. Nope, still looping. It is going into Mir computers tomorrow. I stuck the wireless modem on Tanya's computer and we are still connected to the outside world.
The loop reminded me of my student days back in the times of FORTRAN and punch cards. For our computer labs we wrote little programs, keyed them in, made punch cards and ran them. One learned quickly the advantage of logical thinking and accurate keying. We were given so much money (time) on the campus mainframe. It was lots of money IF all our programs worked first time but most of us needed to run them a few times to get the bugs out. Left over time was yours to play with and create computer generated pictures etc. But if you created a loop in logic, the program never stopped running until you ran out of money. Not a good thing.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Are there any News? Not a New.
Tanya decorated for Christmas today and the house looks quite festive. Pictures to follow when our handy-dandy ISP works again.
Today we are back to the old and slow one. Groan. Volodya, our tech who set up the new system, tried to get us running again Saturday but gave up. He will come back tomorrow and do something.
It is actually 0C as I write. Maybe it will get cold tonight. It has been so warm, a great many seeds have sprouted in the flower garden so Tanya dug up the seedlings and potted them inside for the winter. She now has a head start on petunias and phlox for next spring. The crocuses are even up. Not good.
Friday I let the dogs out to run about 10:00 and they never came back as they usually do. Bobik came limping home at 4:00, worse for the wear, bloodied from a gash on his front leg and a chewed ear. No Volk. I went looking for him and this dog came running up to me and barked at me steady for a couple of minutes.
Saw Volk briefly yesterday. He had found himself a paramour. The dog who barked at me. Guess she was telling me to mind my own business. Volk would come home when he was ready. Or hungry. He came home today. Muddy and starved but if dogs can grin. . . Now instead of Bobik sitting at the fence and crying to go out, they are both being mournful.
I'm trying to write an article for a Ukrainian livestock magazine and have had severe writers block. I know what I want to say but HOW to say it in a fashion that won't get me deported or shot, yet will still have the desired impact. . . and not be 10 pages long.
Today we are back to the old and slow one. Groan. Volodya, our tech who set up the new system, tried to get us running again Saturday but gave up. He will come back tomorrow and do something.
It is actually 0C as I write. Maybe it will get cold tonight. It has been so warm, a great many seeds have sprouted in the flower garden so Tanya dug up the seedlings and potted them inside for the winter. She now has a head start on petunias and phlox for next spring. The crocuses are even up. Not good.
Friday I let the dogs out to run about 10:00 and they never came back as they usually do. Bobik came limping home at 4:00, worse for the wear, bloodied from a gash on his front leg and a chewed ear. No Volk. I went looking for him and this dog came running up to me and barked at me steady for a couple of minutes.
Saw Volk briefly yesterday. He had found himself a paramour. The dog who barked at me. Guess she was telling me to mind my own business. Volk would come home when he was ready. Or hungry. He came home today. Muddy and starved but if dogs can grin. . . Now instead of Bobik sitting at the fence and crying to go out, they are both being mournful.
I'm trying to write an article for a Ukrainian livestock magazine and have had severe writers block. I know what I want to say but HOW to say it in a fashion that won't get me deported or shot, yet will still have the desired impact. . . and not be 10 pages long.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Joining the 21st Century
Today we changed our ISP and our hardware. It isn't high-speed internet but it looks awfully good after what we have endured for so long. We can use Skype without long pauses, garbled sound and frequent dropped calls. I actually watched a video on YouTube without having to take 15 to 30 minutes to download it first. Web pages load in seconds instead of minutes. Not only that but we got a D-Link wireless so we can use our laptops anywhere in the house and only have one account. 
Monday, February 22, 2010
Exercises in Stupidity
During the cold snap last month, the water in the upstairs bathroom froze. When it warmed up it thawed and the cold water worked fine. The hot water worked too but we had water running down the inside wall to the downstairs bathroom, indicating a leak. Shutting off the hot water upstairs solved the problem in the short term. Yuri had to tear out the shower and open the wall (removing the tiles and wallboard) to get at the pipes. He turned on the hot water to find the leak. There was none. Dry as a three hour sermon. So he put it all back together again.
Friends from Regina (retired Social Work professors) have volunteered to teach a couple of weeks at Zaporizhzhia and Odessa Universities every year for many years now. They were to arrive Saturday from Vienna to Dnipro and come to our place for the weekend. We would drive them back to Zap. The weather has been less than cooperative all winter and Tanya worried and worried from day 1 about the weather and the roads. It was foggy and raining when Andrei and I left Saturday morning to pick them up. The road was terrible, like it had been strafed and bombed. We got to the airport, to find that the fog had NOT lifted and the flight was redirected to Kharkiv. Our friends would go more or less directly to Zap. We drove home in the dark. Hit one pot hole too many and flattened a tire. Took three hours to get home, twice normal time. Tanya was an unhappy camper and chewed out her "Mule" for having gone in the first place.
My internet connection stopped working last week. I would dial up through my mobile phone, KyivStar would recognize my computer but fail to log it onto the network. I could use Tanya's modem and my notebook to stay connected but what a pain. Today Volodya came to fix my internet and work on Tanya's notebook. He fought with the internet connection for an hour and no luck. It would not log me onto the network. Finally he turned my mobile off and on. Everything worked perfectly after that.
Volodya took Tanya's notebook back to the shop (along with her USB mouse) so I rigged my notebook up for her to use. Hooked up the wireless mouse; dug out an old keyboard and plugged it in. Tanya sat down to text her friend in Germany and the computer went nuts. It started typing Cyrillic gibberish all on its own. Sometimes her keyboard would work and sometimes the stuff she typed would disappear and be replaced by gibberish again. Baffled, I gave her my wireless keyboard and mouse and set up her keyboard and mouse on my computer. My computer went nuts and started typing gibberish in Latin alphabet. Lesson - never use two Logitech wireless keyboards and mice in the same vicinity. They cross contaminate.
Doh!
Friends from Regina (retired Social Work professors) have volunteered to teach a couple of weeks at Zaporizhzhia and Odessa Universities every year for many years now. They were to arrive Saturday from Vienna to Dnipro and come to our place for the weekend. We would drive them back to Zap. The weather has been less than cooperative all winter and Tanya worried and worried from day 1 about the weather and the roads. It was foggy and raining when Andrei and I left Saturday morning to pick them up. The road was terrible, like it had been strafed and bombed. We got to the airport, to find that the fog had NOT lifted and the flight was redirected to Kharkiv. Our friends would go more or less directly to Zap. We drove home in the dark. Hit one pot hole too many and flattened a tire. Took three hours to get home, twice normal time. Tanya was an unhappy camper and chewed out her "Mule" for having gone in the first place.
My internet connection stopped working last week. I would dial up through my mobile phone, KyivStar would recognize my computer but fail to log it onto the network. I could use Tanya's modem and my notebook to stay connected but what a pain. Today Volodya came to fix my internet and work on Tanya's notebook. He fought with the internet connection for an hour and no luck. It would not log me onto the network. Finally he turned my mobile off and on. Everything worked perfectly after that.
Volodya took Tanya's notebook back to the shop (along with her USB mouse) so I rigged my notebook up for her to use. Hooked up the wireless mouse; dug out an old keyboard and plugged it in. Tanya sat down to text her friend in Germany and the computer went nuts. It started typing Cyrillic gibberish all on its own. Sometimes her keyboard would work and sometimes the stuff she typed would disappear and be replaced by gibberish again. Baffled, I gave her my wireless keyboard and mouse and set up her keyboard and mouse on my computer. My computer went nuts and started typing gibberish in Latin alphabet. Lesson - never use two Logitech wireless keyboards and mice in the same vicinity. They cross contaminate.
Doh!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Firefox
Adobe Acrobat 9 STD would not download. Adobe suggested I try another browser. I installed Firefox. Worked like a charm. Adobe downloaded! All 315 MB, though it too half the day. I'm sold on Firefox and have installed it as my default browser. I suppose someone told me to do that long ago and I didn't listen?
Now if only I can get my HP Scanner to work. I found a new driver for it but likely need to reinstall something but will NOT touch anything. Even with a System Restore Point.
Now if only I can get my HP Scanner to work. I found a new driver for it but likely need to reinstall something but will NOT touch anything. Even with a System Restore Point.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Vindicated - Sort of
Volodya brought my computer back this morning. He said that the problem was incompatibility between the HP Scanjet 5590 driver and Windows XP Service Pack 3. I think that is what he said. I understood the English words. We asked Tanya to help but she didn't understand anything he said, Russian or English. When it comes to computers Tanya makes my sister Evelyn seem like an IT Geek. At any rate the scanner which worked before no longer works 100%. I have to figure ways around the parts of the software that no longer work.
Why it worked before and not after the format and reload escapes us both. Volodya went on line and found that all sorts of people were having the same problem and if he found a solution, we couldn't communicate well enough for him to tell me.
He helped me put a bunch of programs on it, just to make sure everything stayed working. And I left and will leave all the programs on it which I don't want just in case one of them is important.
They say when you find yourself in a hole you should first quit digging. Good idea.
Now if Adobe Acrobat 9.0 upgrade will just download for me all will be well. That and the Office 2007 compatibility package for Office 2003.
Why it worked before and not after the format and reload escapes us both. Volodya went on line and found that all sorts of people were having the same problem and if he found a solution, we couldn't communicate well enough for him to tell me.
He helped me put a bunch of programs on it, just to make sure everything stayed working. And I left and will leave all the programs on it which I don't want just in case one of them is important.
They say when you find yourself in a hole you should first quit digging. Good idea.
Now if Adobe Acrobat 9.0 upgrade will just download for me all will be well. That and the Office 2007 compatibility package for Office 2003.
The Saskatchewan Computer Virus
There was a gag email going the rounds a few years ago called the Saskatchewan virus. "We are simple folk here, not able to do sophisticated programming so please forward this to all your friends and then format your hard drive".
My desktop computer came back Saturday morning and by Sunday night I had it so screwed up it would not function. The IT tech was here Monday afternoon and took the computer back with him. Says he will bring it back today.
I'm going to buy a big Pit Bull. My job will be to feed him. His job will be to attack me if I ever go near the Registry again.
My desktop computer came back Saturday morning and by Sunday night I had it so screwed up it would not function. The IT tech was here Monday afternoon and took the computer back with him. Says he will bring it back today.
I'm going to buy a big Pit Bull. My job will be to feed him. His job will be to attack me if I ever go near the Registry again.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Please Wait While I Reload
Got my computer back by 11:00 this morning and have been loading and downloading ever since. Starting over with older software meansre downloading all the updates, patches and Service Packs at painfully slow speeds.
And of course there is always HewlettPackard. Their hardware is excellent. I bought an HP laser printer when I first started on my own in 1997 and it ground away at 8 pages per minute for 10 years. I have a big 5590 Scanjet and a little photo scanner. They work well IF you can get the software to install properly. HP software has given me nothing but headaches. First off, their internet registration and updating has NEVER worked on any software I ever installed as it "Cannot contact the internet. Be sure you are connected". I owned a 5550 scanjet and one of the program files was a *.tmp, which disappeared every time you did a computer clean up as it searches for tmp files to delete. That took a while to figure out. Then the 5590 software would not work properly on my desktop but would on my laptop. The nice lady in Mumbai had no clues about that.
The 5590 software was working fine on my desktop computer until I sent it for Dusting and Cleaning; now it won't reinstall properly. From the CD or from the download. GGGRRRRR!!!
Took a couple of hours away from the desk to get the snow tires put on. Remove wheels, remove and replace tires, balance, replace wheels. Took an hour and cost $16, including Nitrogen gas in the tires. I picked up Masha on the way home. She was allowed to come visit without her mother today. My Tanya remarked that "It will snow tomorrow". Much gentler than "Hell must have frozen over".
Babushka and Masha decorated the upstairs tree. In a few days I will post pictures of our decorations but "WE" are a long way from finished.
And of course there is always HewlettPackard. Their hardware is excellent. I bought an HP laser printer when I first started on my own in 1997 and it ground away at 8 pages per minute for 10 years. I have a big 5590 Scanjet and a little photo scanner. They work well IF you can get the software to install properly. HP software has given me nothing but headaches. First off, their internet registration and updating has NEVER worked on any software I ever installed as it "Cannot contact the internet. Be sure you are connected". I owned a 5550 scanjet and one of the program files was a *.tmp, which disappeared every time you did a computer clean up as it searches for tmp files to delete. That took a while to figure out. Then the 5590 software would not work properly on my desktop but would on my laptop. The nice lady in Mumbai had no clues about that.
The 5590 software was working fine on my desktop computer until I sent it for Dusting and Cleaning; now it won't reinstall properly. From the CD or from the download. GGGRRRRR!!!
Took a couple of hours away from the desk to get the snow tires put on. Remove wheels, remove and replace tires, balance, replace wheels. Took an hour and cost $16, including Nitrogen gas in the tires. I picked up Masha on the way home. She was allowed to come visit without her mother today. My Tanya remarked that "It will snow tomorrow". Much gentler than "Hell must have frozen over".
Babushka and Masha decorated the upstairs tree. In a few days I will post pictures of our decorations but "WE" are a long way from finished.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Back on Line Again - Briefly
My desktop computer is in the shop getting its hard drive reformatted and a few other minor things. I took it in on Monday evening. Tomorrow we are going to Dnipro so it will be Friday before I get it back. I have my notebook computer hooked to my monitor and keyboard so it is a little like "home" but I don't have all the same programs and files on it. I learned yesterday that Roman had rigged it up to use Tanya's KyivStar modem so we are "sharing". I plug it into my computer unless she wants it. At least I can check emails.
The IT tech says he has to come home with the computer which tells me he has not got it all running again. Especially the internet modem, which is what I was most worried about. I think he is missing a driver for the Mobile as modem but will see on Friday.
Stay tuned.
The IT tech says he has to come home with the computer which tells me he has not got it all running again. Especially the internet modem, which is what I was most worried about. I think he is missing a driver for the Mobile as modem but will see on Friday.
Stay tuned.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
DYI or Home Groan Computer Skills
My computer started acting up three of four days ago. S.L.O.W. Scrolling is painful to say the least as the screen ripples through one click at a time rather than a nice even movement. Drag a dialogue box across the screen and it leaves a ghostly trail. Of course if I had a brain I would have immediately gone to system restore and solved the problem. Instead I tried to fix it myself over the past three days which created more problems.
Our local IT tech told Tanya that she should not be afraid of her computer, it should be afraid of her. Mine is afraid of me...VERY afraid.
I am seeking professional help. For both of us.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Don't get your Backup.
Tanya's computer needs the hard drive formatted and everything reinstalled, according to the guy whom Andrei says can fix it for less money than the computer shop. It is slow beyond belief and since her Windows XP is in Russian, there is not much I can do. Except back up her pictures and documents.I have a cute little portable 60 GB hard drive, that runs off USB2, couple or three years old. I used it to back up my documents and pictures, when I last backed up. March but it was 2009 at least. Plugged it in, green light comes on but the computer won't recognize it. Neither Tanya's nor mine.
I had been reading about crashed hard drives yesterday on this neat website "How Stuff Works". Apparently just because you have a portable HD, does not mean you can treat it like a Flash Drive. Who knew? Anyhow, I broke down and bought a 250 GB portable HD, runs off a single USB2 cable at the speed of light. I was impressed and promised it I would treat it gently, not move it while it was operating or drop it or over heat it.
Backed up Tanya's computer and mine too. Now to repeat periodically. Like monthly at least.
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