Decided to go down to the Whiterock Hotel for lunch and fell to about computers and beer with a chap I met at the bar over a pint of Olympia, a very nice beer indeed and thoroughly recommended. He introduced me to a girl called Carina, who was having trouble with her computer. She had managed to install a BT dialer which took some getting rid of mainly because her computer like Carina was German and my entire knowledge of the language comes from reading "Battle Picture Library" as a boy!
Did the necessary quicker that I would have thought possible by deleting the HTML files that were running the pretty little dial up the machine was offering, this brought IE6 and Outlook Express back online and all was well. I earned a pint and the gratitude of a foreign student so all in all not a bad day at all.
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The Whiterock Hotel, home of some of the best beers in Hastings.
Tuesday, 29 April 2008
Saturday, 19 April 2008
Let the train make the strain!
I took my daughter back to Bournemouth University today, the journey was long but fairly easy. We made it to Clapham and then straight to Bournemouth without too much fuss and bother and Charis had made efforts to ensure that we were not too heavily loaded, which helped matters along! But it was noticeable that the SWT line was a lot more comfortable then my old commuting line Southern, which seemed to go out of it way to make trains that we hard on the bum not to mention hard on the pocket..
Despite everything and a good trip to boot, it was still hard work, practically an entire day spent on a train. I fully expect to have a sore neck and back for several days as a result of the appalling seats on those Southern trains.
Despite everything and a good trip to boot, it was still hard work, practically an entire day spent on a train. I fully expect to have a sore neck and back for several days as a result of the appalling seats on those Southern trains.
Thursday, 27 December 2007
So this is Christmas and what have you done, the old year is over, the new one just begun! Note for Mr Lennon, buy a new calendar mate.It's been the usual sort of Christmas festivities, I collected Charis from University earlier this month in what proved to be a fairly strenuous exercise in transport and the national rail system.
Preparations for Christmas were pretty much of a muchness and consisted of buying more food and drink than two people could hope to consume, while at the same time failing to have food for basic meals (unless you have somehow come to decide that dinner can be had from a handful of peanuts a bottle of brandy and cheese - which is silly because that is what I had for breakfast!)
I had Ruth and her boyfriend over for boxing along with their mother and James and a fairly pleasant time was had by all. Unfortunately Debbie and James had to head home before Ruth and Chris left which was a shame. But the munchkin seemed to like the presents he had from us and Charis's remote control cyberman went down very well indeed. The trouble and at the same time the wonderful thing about Chrimbo is that days flow gently into one another and all seem the same long long period of relaxation.
Sunday, 9 December 2007
Linux Mint 4 Daryna
I was pretty pleased with myself to get my upgraded rig (Core 2 Duo CPU and 775 motherboard) running without loud bangs or other mishaps, but after the reinstall Ubuntu was a little flakey and things which had worked well before now either didn't work well or didn't work at all. In particular my media player of choice VLC seemed to have decided not to play any sounds no matter how much I tinkered. So turning a frown upside down, I decided an install of Linux Mint 4 was the order of the day.
The live CD impressed me, picking up the wireless network first time and playing my collection of avi's, wmv's and ra files with no problems whatsoever.
I can't say it was a completely hassle few experience; the CD stalled the first couple of times I tried to load it but three goes and a second burn and I was in. Trying to install on free space on the HDD resulted in a Grub error, but an install using all the space seemed to do the job.
The install also partitioned my external hard drive, which is a nuisance because I will have delete the partition and probably copy file back to the drive. The partition appears on the desktop as an additional drive.
Visually I like Mint4 although the black desktop background that installed as default was less than inspiring for a first time use. Firefox, Thunderbird and the GIMP all appeared as part of the install. No sign of Konqueror which is a shame.
Linux Mint doesn't have any games installed which was a bit of a disappointment and I am not sure if I can get them from the repositories.
The live CD impressed me, picking up the wireless network first time and playing my collection of avi's, wmv's and ra files with no problems whatsoever.
I can't say it was a completely hassle few experience; the CD stalled the first couple of times I tried to load it but three goes and a second burn and I was in. Trying to install on free space on the HDD resulted in a Grub error, but an install using all the space seemed to do the job.
The install also partitioned my external hard drive, which is a nuisance because I will have delete the partition and probably copy file back to the drive. The partition appears on the desktop as an additional drive.
Visually I like Mint4 although the black desktop background that installed as default was less than inspiring for a first time use. Firefox, Thunderbird and the GIMP all appeared as part of the install. No sign of Konqueror which is a shame.
Linux Mint doesn't have any games installed which was a bit of a disappointment and I am not sure if I can get them from the repositories.
Thursday, 18 October 2007
Sunday, 14 October 2007
Lunch with Bill and Rita followed by Hastings Bonfire Society Procession.
Various images from our lunch with Nan and Granddad Thomas and our subsequent trip to the Hastings Bonfire Night ceremony - Saturday 13th October 2007
Monday, 17 September 2007
Protect Your PC - How to avoid those computer nasties
My Piece for Ebb and Flow Magazine - A Community Magazine for Hastings.
In an ideal world surfing the internet and using your PC would be a problem free experience; login, surf the net, read your email and download, and that's that! Alas that is not the case. And what is more, one of problems with the internet is that many people do just that, but more of that later on...
The unfortunate fact is that the internet is not a safe environment, the virtual world is full of virtual nasties only too eager to burrow their way into your machine and cause all sorts of problems. Viruses, Trojans, Keyloggers, Browser Exploits, Rootkits and other assorted uglies all damage your PC or worse still allow it to broadcast spam email and even private information to outsiders!
OK so that's the bad news, the good news is that there are lots of things you can do to ensure that your machine stays safe and sound while online. There isn't room in this article to do more than touch on the various methods of protection, but if you follow the precautions mentioned here you will insulate yourself against the vast majority of the nasties out there.
For those of your with children the likelihood of a something unpleasant finding its way onto your machine is even greater, downloading MP3 music or films from Peer to Peer (P2P) networks, like Kazza and Napster and Bit Torrent sites greatly increases the chance of something unwanted coming along for the ride. Its also worth bearing in mind that many sites that offer downloaded music and video are doing so illegally and while its unlikely that the police will come knocking on your door, you may want to take the view you are taking the bread from the starving mouths of various international music artists and that that's a bad thing.
I am going to start by assuming that you are connected to Broadband rather than still using a dial up connection and if that is the case than your first line of defence is a broadband router (see image on right of this page). This handy little device not only enables you to share your internet connection with multiple machines, but many come with wireless capabilities as well. Some Internet Service Providers try to fob off their customers with USB broadband modems – these are generally unreliable; require you to install their custom software on your machine and because they need the power of your computer's motherboard to work take up resources you may need for other programmes of your PC. A router not only comes with its own firewall, but will usually have controls such a MAC addressing and encryption which enable you to specify which machines can be used on my network, both useful tools in the fight against PC nastiness.
Your next line of defence is a software firewall and anti virus programme. The firewall is a back up for the one on your router or is your first line of defence if you are using dial up or a USB modem. Once installed it will ask you what programmes you want to allow access to the internet. This is always useful since an unknown programme trying to access the net could be your first sign that your machine has been compromised. Added to those I would always recommend a spyware detector and some kind of application to scan your PC''s registry all of which need to be run and updated regularly. Note: beware of online virus scans, especially those which claim to scan your PC's entire hard drive in a couple of seconds and then claim you have several hundred infections which only the scanner's owner can cure.
In addition if you are using MS Windows you will need to make sure you get the regular updates to your operating system, these come out sometimes weekly. Users of Windows XP and Windows 2000 will not be surprised to learn that the operating system has more holes than an old string vest and updating is essential. Make sure you have either set your system to automatically update or visit the update at least one a month. Users of olders systems such as Windows 98, and Windows ME will find that Microsoft no longer support their Operating System I am afraid. Consider updating to a more modern version or even dumping Microsoft entirely, see below.
Assuming your system is up to date, it is entirely possible to protect yourself for little or no cost. There are many good anti virus programmes which can be downloaded for free, amongst them Avast, AVG and Clamwin, all of which will stop viruses on your machine. However a router will set you back about £50 and paid for AV solutions can cost between £20 and £100. If this seems expensive consider the cost of replacing even the cheapest of PC or the cost of a repair which could be as much as £60 an hour. In addition failure to protect your machine could mean you become one of the several million 'zombie' computers out there unknowingly spewing out spam and porn emails to millions. Your only clue could be your machine grinding slowly to a stop.
As I said early, Microsoft products are more vulnerable than most to exploitation, so you may want to consider downloading an alternative internet browser something like Firefox or Opera for your day to day browsing needs. Similarly Outlook and Outlook Express have some weaknesses and Thunderbird is considered by many to be a better email client. You can find both at http://www.mozilla.org/
For those who want a completely secure internet experience I would suggest having a look at the various Linux Operating Systems, these are fully featured computer operating systems and the vast majority are http://free. www.linux.org
The above only scratches the surface of the problem and the possible solutions, readers who would like more information about how to avoid viruses and some of the handy tools out there can email me info@wanderjahre.co.uk
Happy (and safe) browsing folks
Ron Cook
About the author: Ron Cook is a self taught computer 'non-expert' who builds PC for a hobby. He has no practical qualifications in computer science but ten years of interest and practical experience, which he considers to be much better. On those rare occasions when his head is not inside a PC he can be found either reading, writing or walking.
In an ideal world surfing the internet and using your PC would be a problem free experience; login, surf the net, read your email and download, and that's that! Alas that is not the case. And what is more, one of problems with the internet is that many people do just that, but more of that later on...
The unfortunate fact is that the internet is not a safe environment, the virtual world is full of virtual nasties only too eager to burrow their way into your machine and cause all sorts of problems. Viruses, Trojans, Keyloggers, Browser Exploits, Rootkits and other assorted uglies all damage your PC or worse still allow it to broadcast spam email and even private information to outsiders!
OK so that's the bad news, the good news is that there are lots of things you can do to ensure that your machine stays safe and sound while online. There isn't room in this article to do more than touch on the various methods of protection, but if you follow the precautions mentioned here you will insulate yourself against the vast majority of the nasties out there.
For those of your with children the likelihood of a something unpleasant finding its way onto your machine is even greater, downloading MP3 music or films from Peer to Peer (P2P) networks, like Kazza and Napster and Bit Torrent sites greatly increases the chance of something unwanted coming along for the ride. Its also worth bearing in mind that many sites that offer downloaded music and video are doing so illegally and while its unlikely that the police will come knocking on your door, you may want to take the view you are taking the bread from the starving mouths of various international music artists and that that's a bad thing.
I am going to start by assuming that you are connected to Broadband rather than still using a dial up connection and if that is the case than your first line of defence is a broadband router (see image on right of this page). This handy little device not only enables you to share your internet connection with multiple machines, but many come with wireless capabilities as well. Some Internet Service Providers try to fob off their customers with USB broadband modems – these are generally unreliable; require you to install their custom software on your machine and because they need the power of your computer's motherboard to work take up resources you may need for other programmes of your PC. A router not only comes with its own firewall, but will usually have controls such a MAC addressing and encryption which enable you to specify which machines can be used on my network, both useful tools in the fight against PC nastiness.
Your next line of defence is a software firewall and anti virus programme. The firewall is a back up for the one on your router or is your first line of defence if you are using dial up or a USB modem. Once installed it will ask you what programmes you want to allow access to the internet. This is always useful since an unknown programme trying to access the net could be your first sign that your machine has been compromised. Added to those I would always recommend a spyware detector and some kind of application to scan your PC''s registry all of which need to be run and updated regularly. Note: beware of online virus scans, especially those which claim to scan your PC's entire hard drive in a couple of seconds and then claim you have several hundred infections which only the scanner's owner can cure.
In addition if you are using MS Windows you will need to make sure you get the regular updates to your operating system, these come out sometimes weekly. Users of Windows XP and Windows 2000 will not be surprised to learn that the operating system has more holes than an old string vest and updating is essential. Make sure you have either set your system to automatically update or visit the update at least one a month. Users of olders systems such as Windows 98, and Windows ME will find that Microsoft no longer support their Operating System I am afraid. Consider updating to a more modern version or even dumping Microsoft entirely, see below.
Assuming your system is up to date, it is entirely possible to protect yourself for little or no cost. There are many good anti virus programmes which can be downloaded for free, amongst them Avast, AVG and Clamwin, all of which will stop viruses on your machine. However a router will set you back about £50 and paid for AV solutions can cost between £20 and £100. If this seems expensive consider the cost of replacing even the cheapest of PC or the cost of a repair which could be as much as £60 an hour. In addition failure to protect your machine could mean you become one of the several million 'zombie' computers out there unknowingly spewing out spam and porn emails to millions. Your only clue could be your machine grinding slowly to a stop.
As I said early, Microsoft products are more vulnerable than most to exploitation, so you may want to consider downloading an alternative internet browser something like Firefox or Opera for your day to day browsing needs. Similarly Outlook and Outlook Express have some weaknesses and Thunderbird is considered by many to be a better email client. You can find both at http://www.mozilla.org/
For those who want a completely secure internet experience I would suggest having a look at the various Linux Operating Systems, these are fully featured computer operating systems and the vast majority are http://free. www.linux.org
The above only scratches the surface of the problem and the possible solutions, readers who would like more information about how to avoid viruses and some of the handy tools out there can email me info@wanderjahre.co.uk
Happy (and safe) browsing folks
Ron Cook
About the author: Ron Cook is a self taught computer 'non-expert' who builds PC for a hobby. He has no practical qualifications in computer science but ten years of interest and practical experience, which he considers to be much better. On those rare occasions when his head is not inside a PC he can be found either reading, writing or walking.
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