Computer slowing down? Is your system hot? Are you getting a thermal warning upon a restart of your system? The answer could be quite simple, and the fix easily so. A big issue that many people rarely consider when dealing with their own system is the dust build-up that occurs within the system.
Keep in mind that while the computer is blowing air in the system to keep it cool it's also picking up dust that is floating around and pulling that into the system as well. So what can you do to ensure that system doesn't get overrun with those nasty little dust bunnies?
1. Think about where you are putting your system. Stored in the corner, out of the way, and on the floor will only increases the chances of dust buildup inside your system. Keep this in mind when trying to find a home for your system.
2. Vacuum, just don't "feather dust." When you dust your house you are doing a great job of removing that dust from it's current place. However, when that dust gets in the air and begins to settle, you will see a lot of that dust begin to settle (on the floor) and thus pulled into your system by the system fans. Finding ways to minimize that dust getting into the air, such as vacuuming or using a damp paper towel/cloth when dusting will help in this process.
3. Minimize the dust in your house. Seems like something impossible? Check this website out to learn how to "dedust your house." House Dust
4. This is by far the most important step of all: clean your computer. Don't be afraid to open the side of your computer and then take a bottle of compressed air to blow the fans out. A vacuum will work well to put on the other side of the fan you are blowing out in order to collect the dust that you are blowing out of your system.
Sometimes, a simple can of air won't help (especially for those systems who has never had a dust cleaning). Using a few Q-Tips (they aren't just for ears anymore!) to knock of some of that caked on dust can do wonders for your system. Just keep in mind that you don't want that dust to fall back into your system. Continue using that vacuum to gather up the dust. If you feel comfortable in doing so, remove the entire part from the system and then clean it independently of the system (such as a fan on the side, usually require you removing two screws and replacing those screws when inserting it back in). Just be careful when choosing which pieces to clean (such as a Power Supply) and if you have ANY questions about this, or anything else technical, feel free to drop us a line a x86computing@gmail.com
Currently Playing: Lupe Fiasco - I Don't Wanna Care Right Now
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Oh the things I have done...
Big last couple days for me here. Unfortunately, the big is with my own equipment. However, that's not necessarily a bad thing. I've managed to learn (and remember) a few things in the process of it all. Ready to see what has went down in the past 48 hours? Here we go...
Problem 1: The printer has (not so) randomly decided to stop operating correctly. Crazy lines randomly through printed pages started irritating me. What happened? My child decided he was going to attempt to pull the cartridge case completely out of the printer. Luckily he failed, but it did affect the printing overall. A quick download of the printer manual, overview of how to align, and a quick alignment, I'm back in business. The printer is working just fine (even though there is pen ink all over the top of it, but that's a completely different issue).
Problem 2: My video card doesn't support Open GL 2.0. Which is a lie, it does, but apparently the driver was out of date. A quick glance at the Device Manager, finding the device in the list, and clicking "Update Driver." One minute later the driver is updated and I'm freeing birds in Angry Birds: Rio
Currently Playing: Dia Framption - Heartless (Live)
Problem 1: The printer has (not so) randomly decided to stop operating correctly. Crazy lines randomly through printed pages started irritating me. What happened? My child decided he was going to attempt to pull the cartridge case completely out of the printer. Luckily he failed, but it did affect the printing overall. A quick download of the printer manual, overview of how to align, and a quick alignment, I'm back in business. The printer is working just fine (even though there is pen ink all over the top of it, but that's a completely different issue).
Problem 2: My video card doesn't support Open GL 2.0. Which is a lie, it does, but apparently the driver was out of date. A quick glance at the Device Manager, finding the device in the list, and clicking "Update Driver." One minute later the driver is updated and I'm freeing birds in Angry Birds: Rio
Currently Playing: Dia Framption - Heartless (Live)
Sunday, May 29, 2011
New Facebook Group
Finally, a place for my collective groupies to hang out and talk about non-nonsensical stuff. Excellent. Wanna hop on the facebook group? Follow this link here and you will be swooshed away to the facebook group page of x86computing. Feel free to join!
Currently Playing: Meg and Dia - Monster
Currently Playing: Meg and Dia - Monster
Monday, March 21, 2011
Merger: AT&T and T-Mobile
In case you haven't heard, AT&T and T-Mobile are attempting a merger. Looks like that are going to be called AT&T-Mobile. (heh) But seriously, the anti-monopoly camps have come out saying that if the 2nd largest mobile company (AT&T) and the 4th largest (T-Mobile) combine it would essentially created a duopoly (AT&T-Mobile, Verizon). What are your thoughts on the matter? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Let me know!
Friday, March 11, 2011
How Secure is Your Browser? Pwn2Own 2011
For those of you not in the know, there are plenty of internet browsers out there to choose from. The most popular and widely used is by far Internet Explorer. However, it's not from it's effectiveness or its ability. It is the most popular because many users just want a computer than can get online. For them, that's any Windows machine. For that machine, it's most likely IE (shorthand for Internet Explorer, which will be used when referring to this browser for the remainder of this article). So with that being said, mister mister, what exactly are you talking about? Well I'll tell you. For the past five years a contest has been run to offer money/prizes to development teams that can successfully compromise internet browsers that you and I use every single day. Well, mister mister, why is that important, to give hackers a pat on the back for their illegal activities? Well, lets start at the beginning. The contest is called Pwn2Own. Second, these aren't "hackers" so to speak, or at least hackers that you think of (mister mister illegal activites) but genuine IT professionals who donate their time and energy to find exploits in current software and report those exploits back to the software developers for patches or other fixes. This competition is an opportunity for these people to show off their unique skills in software exploitation and provide software developers the necessary information (on a somewhat large scale) to fix the problems that exist.
So enough of that, let's take a look at what exactly happened at this year's Pwn2Own competition.
For the Apple users, Safari was the quickest to go down. 5 seconds. For their efforts, VUPEN, a penetration copmany based in France, won the $15,000 dollar prize in addition to the 13" MacBook Air on which the exploit was demonstrated.
So what, I'm not a Mac user, and I definitly don't use Safari. Well then, next up was IE 8. A Sony Vaio running a 64-bit version of Windows (SP1) got popped as well, earning Mr. Stephen Fewer (Irish security researcher) $15,000 as well as the Sony Vaio.
So the article states that that Google's Chrome and Mozilla's Firefox both got through the competition unscathed. No bugs or hacks to report. Not to say that they aren't there, but in the days leading up to the challenge both Google and Mozilla spent a fair amount of time finding and exterminating the bugs in their programming. However, it should also be noted that the two teams were scheduled to make an attempt to take out Chrome. One didn't show up and the other decided to spend more time on the Mobile part of this competition.
So what does this mean to you, the average user. Well, first and foremost I have always advocated the use of Firefox, Chrome, or even Opera (not listed in the competition for it lack of popularity). However, if you are a little hesitant to move to something completely unknown, there is some good news (especially if you are an IE user). Microsoft has assured that the bugs that were present in IE8 are not present in IE9. Link for assuredness.
So what can we deduce from this? Is Chrome better than everything else? Well, by default, and in the eyes of the competition, yes. However, as most will tell you, a competition is just that, a competition. Google Chrome was never made an attempt on. There are some things that we can say, for absolute certainty, however.
When it comes to software, regardless of who's software it is, you must stay up to date. As you can tell, many of these companies are quickly making changes to it's software and offering updates and bug fixes relatively quickly. Second off, as far as security goes, making sure you have valid and up to date virus/malware software running can help secure you while you are out watering your crops or checking your email. Above all, stay informed. This one is extremely hard in the everchanging landscape that is IT security. I guess that's what IT professionals, and me, are here for.
Want to try out a new browser? Try these one of these:
Google Chrome
Mozilla Firefox
Opera
Internet Explorer (version 9)
If you would like to check out the original article please go here. There is plenty of more information to be had if you google Pwn2Own 2011
If you appreciate this article please click one of the links below (completely safe and on the up and up) and help me pay some bills. LOL. I really just want to see how much can possibly be earned, so please click a link. Pretty Please.
Currently Playing: Gene Wilder - Pure Imagination
So enough of that, let's take a look at what exactly happened at this year's Pwn2Own competition.
For the Apple users, Safari was the quickest to go down. 5 seconds. For their efforts, VUPEN, a penetration copmany based in France, won the $15,000 dollar prize in addition to the 13" MacBook Air on which the exploit was demonstrated.
So what, I'm not a Mac user, and I definitly don't use Safari. Well then, next up was IE 8. A Sony Vaio running a 64-bit version of Windows (SP1) got popped as well, earning Mr. Stephen Fewer (Irish security researcher) $15,000 as well as the Sony Vaio.
So the article states that that Google's Chrome and Mozilla's Firefox both got through the competition unscathed. No bugs or hacks to report. Not to say that they aren't there, but in the days leading up to the challenge both Google and Mozilla spent a fair amount of time finding and exterminating the bugs in their programming. However, it should also be noted that the two teams were scheduled to make an attempt to take out Chrome. One didn't show up and the other decided to spend more time on the Mobile part of this competition.
So what does this mean to you, the average user. Well, first and foremost I have always advocated the use of Firefox, Chrome, or even Opera (not listed in the competition for it lack of popularity). However, if you are a little hesitant to move to something completely unknown, there is some good news (especially if you are an IE user). Microsoft has assured that the bugs that were present in IE8 are not present in IE9. Link for assuredness.
So what can we deduce from this? Is Chrome better than everything else? Well, by default, and in the eyes of the competition, yes. However, as most will tell you, a competition is just that, a competition. Google Chrome was never made an attempt on. There are some things that we can say, for absolute certainty, however.
When it comes to software, regardless of who's software it is, you must stay up to date. As you can tell, many of these companies are quickly making changes to it's software and offering updates and bug fixes relatively quickly. Second off, as far as security goes, making sure you have valid and up to date virus/malware software running can help secure you while you are out watering your crops or checking your email. Above all, stay informed. This one is extremely hard in the everchanging landscape that is IT security. I guess that's what IT professionals, and me, are here for.
Want to try out a new browser? Try these one of these:
Google Chrome
Mozilla Firefox
Opera
Internet Explorer (version 9)
If you would like to check out the original article please go here. There is plenty of more information to be had if you google Pwn2Own 2011
If you appreciate this article please click one of the links below (completely safe and on the up and up) and help me pay some bills. LOL. I really just want to see how much can possibly be earned, so please click a link. Pretty Please.
Currently Playing: Gene Wilder - Pure Imagination
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
E-Mail Alert - Subject: Verified by Visa&MasterCard Tech
As most people are aware, there are some very unscrupulous people in the world who would stop at nothing to get your hard earned money into their pocket in any way they can. I came upon this email in a relatively new email account I have over the weekend. Please note that this is indeed a FAKE email and the purpose is solely to steal your identity, or at least your credit card number.
Please not that while I am cropping a certain amount of my personal email account, this is in fact a real email. Please do not think I am in some way trying to fool you. I only wish to educate.
Here is a cropped portion of the email: (click the image to make it larger)
When clicking on the "Confirm and unsuspend" link you are redirected to this website:
Eh, bleh. It must have been taken down already. That's a good thing considering. However, the page looked somewhat official with both the MasterCard and Visa logos as well as a form page that asked you to input a variety of information, such as your Name, Credit Card Number, Social Security Number, Address, and so on.
So let's start at the beginning. Why are emails like this so successful? It's these type of emails that prey on fear. Fear that our account may not be secure, fear that our hard earned cash is at risk, and fear that if I don't respond quickly that if my account hasn't been touched it certainly will be soon enough. Ironic enough, however, that this act of "securing" your account plays into the hands of those people trying to get a hold of your information.
Next up, how in the world did they acquire my email? This is a much harder question to answer. There is possibly no way to determine exactly how they got your email address. There are so many bots (software designed to perform a specific task without needing user intervention) designed to troll the World Wide Web and store email addresses for these purposes.
The actual email has so many giveaways as to being fake and malicious that's hard to think that someone actually gave in, but I'm going to take a look at those anyway, for your sake. Let's start with the subject line: Verified by Visa&MasterCard Tech. Let's be honest with each other for a second. Visa and MasterCard are two independent companies. They have two different business structures, different support technicians, different ways of doing things all the way down the line. To think that a technician who works for both Visa and MasterCard sent you an email is a little absurd.
Next up: "Dear Visa/MasterCard member." Visa and MasterCard are two huge companies. One thing about huge companies is that they are pretty good in the customer service department. Addressing their customers in anyway other than their name is demeaning to the customer and thus potentially destroys what bonds that company has with any given customer.
The email mentions your account was accessed by an unauthorized computer. Every banking website I've ever worked with has allowed you to access your account from whatever computer (that has internet access) that you like. Claiming unauthorized use is just another way into scaring you into thinking something that is not true.
One of the more subtle giveaways is the actual wording (grammar, spelling, presentation, etc.) of the paragraph. For me it's hard to put into words as to why the paragraph seems weird, but it just doesn't seem like something a big company would create. It seems like something a high schooler would write in an attempt to sound official (trust me, I would know, I try to sound official all the time).
Just to reiterate the fact, in order to sound more official this email is branded as coming from the Mastercard&Visa Security Department. We mention earlier how these are two very separate entities and as such do not have a single "Security Department."
But even if all the above weren't dead giveaways (and trust me, I know, it's hard to stay ahead of the curve at times when it comes to dealing with the internet) the actual link pretty much proves this email is all kinds of fake. When I first viewed this email I did it through my phone (and the link itself has been taken down). However, the link takes you to this website: "http://secure-update-of-your-info-on-anon.teloptica.com/In%20order%20to%20keep%20your%20information%20secure%20/online_iccp_verify_card_vbpsi_error.htm." A little bit of googling shows that Teloptica "is an optical communications technology company" (from the actual website http://www.teloptica.com. Most likely a hacker managed to use a computer (or even server) on the teloptica network to serve as home for it's evil purposes.
Last but not least, when you click on the link in Google Chrome, you are taken to a page that informs you that it thinks you are about to enter a Phishing site. Chrome normally does a really good job telling you when you are about to enter something that seems to be a little phishy (heh, punny!) or malware infested. So if you are a Chrome user make sure to keep your eyes peeled for this sort of warning. If you are not a Chrome user (and I know there are some out there that isn't and there is some browsers out there that isn't as good at letting you know these things) there are some steps you can take to protect yourself and your hard earned money.
So, what are those steps you ask? Well, in the case of your money, it's quite simple. Don't give your personal information out online unless you are absolutely comfortable in doing so. When putting personal information online, look for a couple things in the URL (or the address bar). First off, look for this: "https://". This means that you have established a secure connection and that your information should be protected. Next, make sure the name it the URL matches that of the site you expect. If you expect to be visiting Visa you would expect the address to be http://www.visa.com, not http://www.roboticscommunity.com (or something else off the wall). And keep in mind that each one of these companies has a great customer service department at hand that is more than willing to help you with whatever problem you may have. It may be a little time consuming but it's better than waking up with no money in your account. Use those 1-800 (or 1-888) numbers and call those customer service departments and talk to an actual person if you feel that there may be something wrong with your account.
I hope you really enjoyed the article (or blog, as it may be). I know there are plenty of people out there that may disregard this as general knowledge. Even so, there are plenty more people out there that will fall victim to this trap. These are the people I'm hoping an article like this will reach. Please feel free (and I insist that you do) to forward this, share this, and whatsoever with the general public. Facebook it, tweet it, myspace it, link it in an email, print it and snail mail it, whatever you have to do.
If you really enjoyed this article and would like to thank me for my time, please click on one of the ads below. I promise you they are safe. They will simply open up a new window. Feel free to close that window after it has loaded. Thank you for your time. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them here or email them to me at x86computing@gmail.com.
Currently Playing: Lupe Fiasco - All Black Everything
Please not that while I am cropping a certain amount of my personal email account, this is in fact a real email. Please do not think I am in some way trying to fool you. I only wish to educate.
Here is a cropped portion of the email: (click the image to make it larger)
Eh, bleh. It must have been taken down already. That's a good thing considering. However, the page looked somewhat official with both the MasterCard and Visa logos as well as a form page that asked you to input a variety of information, such as your Name, Credit Card Number, Social Security Number, Address, and so on.
So let's start at the beginning. Why are emails like this so successful? It's these type of emails that prey on fear. Fear that our account may not be secure, fear that our hard earned cash is at risk, and fear that if I don't respond quickly that if my account hasn't been touched it certainly will be soon enough. Ironic enough, however, that this act of "securing" your account plays into the hands of those people trying to get a hold of your information.
Next up, how in the world did they acquire my email? This is a much harder question to answer. There is possibly no way to determine exactly how they got your email address. There are so many bots (software designed to perform a specific task without needing user intervention) designed to troll the World Wide Web and store email addresses for these purposes.
The actual email has so many giveaways as to being fake and malicious that's hard to think that someone actually gave in, but I'm going to take a look at those anyway, for your sake. Let's start with the subject line: Verified by Visa&MasterCard Tech. Let's be honest with each other for a second. Visa and MasterCard are two independent companies. They have two different business structures, different support technicians, different ways of doing things all the way down the line. To think that a technician who works for both Visa and MasterCard sent you an email is a little absurd.
Next up: "Dear Visa/MasterCard member." Visa and MasterCard are two huge companies. One thing about huge companies is that they are pretty good in the customer service department. Addressing their customers in anyway other than their name is demeaning to the customer and thus potentially destroys what bonds that company has with any given customer.
The email mentions your account was accessed by an unauthorized computer. Every banking website I've ever worked with has allowed you to access your account from whatever computer (that has internet access) that you like. Claiming unauthorized use is just another way into scaring you into thinking something that is not true.
One of the more subtle giveaways is the actual wording (grammar, spelling, presentation, etc.) of the paragraph. For me it's hard to put into words as to why the paragraph seems weird, but it just doesn't seem like something a big company would create. It seems like something a high schooler would write in an attempt to sound official (trust me, I would know, I try to sound official all the time).
Just to reiterate the fact, in order to sound more official this email is branded as coming from the Mastercard&Visa Security Department. We mention earlier how these are two very separate entities and as such do not have a single "Security Department."
But even if all the above weren't dead giveaways (and trust me, I know, it's hard to stay ahead of the curve at times when it comes to dealing with the internet) the actual link pretty much proves this email is all kinds of fake. When I first viewed this email I did it through my phone (and the link itself has been taken down). However, the link takes you to this website: "http://secure-update-of-your-info-on-anon.teloptica.com/In%20order%20to%20keep%20your%20information%20secure%20/online_iccp_verify_card_vbpsi_error.htm." A little bit of googling shows that Teloptica "is an optical communications technology company" (from the actual website http://www.teloptica.com. Most likely a hacker managed to use a computer (or even server) on the teloptica network to serve as home for it's evil purposes.
Last but not least, when you click on the link in Google Chrome, you are taken to a page that informs you that it thinks you are about to enter a Phishing site. Chrome normally does a really good job telling you when you are about to enter something that seems to be a little phishy (heh, punny!) or malware infested. So if you are a Chrome user make sure to keep your eyes peeled for this sort of warning. If you are not a Chrome user (and I know there are some out there that isn't and there is some browsers out there that isn't as good at letting you know these things) there are some steps you can take to protect yourself and your hard earned money.
So, what are those steps you ask? Well, in the case of your money, it's quite simple. Don't give your personal information out online unless you are absolutely comfortable in doing so. When putting personal information online, look for a couple things in the URL (or the address bar). First off, look for this: "https://". This means that you have established a secure connection and that your information should be protected. Next, make sure the name it the URL matches that of the site you expect. If you expect to be visiting Visa you would expect the address to be http://www.visa.com, not http://www.roboticscommunity.com (or something else off the wall). And keep in mind that each one of these companies has a great customer service department at hand that is more than willing to help you with whatever problem you may have. It may be a little time consuming but it's better than waking up with no money in your account. Use those 1-800 (or 1-888) numbers and call those customer service departments and talk to an actual person if you feel that there may be something wrong with your account.
I hope you really enjoyed the article (or blog, as it may be). I know there are plenty of people out there that may disregard this as general knowledge. Even so, there are plenty more people out there that will fall victim to this trap. These are the people I'm hoping an article like this will reach. Please feel free (and I insist that you do) to forward this, share this, and whatsoever with the general public. Facebook it, tweet it, myspace it, link it in an email, print it and snail mail it, whatever you have to do.
If you really enjoyed this article and would like to thank me for my time, please click on one of the ads below. I promise you they are safe. They will simply open up a new window. Feel free to close that window after it has loaded. Thank you for your time. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them here or email them to me at x86computing@gmail.com.
Currently Playing: Lupe Fiasco - All Black Everything
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Free Printer that Somewhat Works...if your are interested...
More of a blog for those people in the immediate area. I got hold of a printer the other day and it serving me any purpose for a multitude of reasons. Perhaps someone else would like to have it. You could open it up and play with it, perhaps beat the mobo out of it, art project perhaps. You never know! More information on this printer can be found here: http://lynchburg.craigslist.org/zip/2220800272.html
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