Many of us have experienced the dreadful moment when we realize we have caught a computer virus. Computer viruses can wreak havoc on software, steal data and transmit it off your computer, sniff around for passwords of bank accounts and other nasty business.
Viruses typically infect commercial software (operating systems and applications), but BitDefender, a security firm that tracks the malware market, reports on a new phenomenon: Viruses infecting other viruses.
When this happens, the resulting code, called Frankenware, can behave unpredictably and cause untold damage. This problem is not a rare as you might think. Symantec reports that it is finding viruses that infect computers and then install their OWN anti-virus software to lock out other viruses.
The best defense is to have anti-virus software that is up to date. Since malware producers are constantly trying to work around the latest defenses, the most up to date anti-virus signatures are the best way to prevent being infected.
Our managed services deploy, monitor and update anti-virus software automatically for our clients. We also install sophisticated firewall security software to prevent malware from ever reaching your computer. Contact us to find out more about our services and the suite of protective tools we use to keep our clients' computers healthy and productive.
Outlook 2010 has a great new feature for organizing messages by date and arranging them by Conversation. Using this feature, messages that share the same subject appear as Conversations that can be viewed and expanded or collapsed by clicking the icon to the left of the Subject line. The messages within each Conversation are sorted with the newest message on top. When a new message is received, the entire Conversation moves to the top of your message list, helping to make tracking email threads a snap.
To turn on Conversations, on the View tab, in the Conversations group, select the Show as Conversations check box. You can reduce the size of a conversation with the Clean Up feature, which deletes duplicate messages in the Conversation. On the Home tab, in the Delete group, click Clean Up, and then click Clean Up Conversation.
You can also sort your e-mails by Conversation in Outlook 2007 by right-clicking the Arranged by bar in the summary message panel.
Steve Jobs taking third medical leave of absence
Written by Stephen AllenApple CEO Steve Jobs announced on Monday that he was taking a medical leave of absence to concentrate on his health. The U.S. stock markets were closed on Monday, for Martin Luther King day, but markets in Europe saw Apple shares drop by as much as 8 percent.
This is the third medical leave of absence for Jobs in the last 10 years. His first was for treatment of a rare form of pancreatic cancer, and his second was for a liver transplant. Both times these details were not available until after he returned.
That is the case this time as well. While there are no details as to why or how long he will be gone, Jobs will remain as CEO of the company, while Cheif Operating Officer Tim Cook will be responsible to day-to-day operations, as he was during Jobs last leave of absence.
With much fanfare, but not a great deal of surprise, Verizon announced the introduction of their Apple iPhone 4, which will be available starting February 10th.
Virtually identical to the AT&T version, except for a tiny differnce in the antenna wrapped around the edge, the unit does not even sport a Verizon logo.
A highlight of the features of this phone are:
It runs on Verizon using 3G (EVDO) CDMA. Verizon's much touted 4G (LTE) will probably be forthcoming on a future iPhone.
Unlike AT&T, 3G CDMA does NOT allow a user to talk and browse simultaneously.
The iPhone is finally usable as a Wi-Fi hot spot, supporting a total of five devices simultaneously. The fabled iPad-iPhone tether now exists!
The Verizon iPhone is NOT a world phone. The AT&T phone works world-wide.
The pricing is identical from both companies: $200 for a 16GB model, and $300 for a 32GB model with a 2-year contract.
Let the stampede begin!
