Last Minute Tips for a Very Geeky Christmas

Still struggling with your Christmas shopping? Well, you’ve come to the right place; our annual last minute gift guide will help you get over the goal line. There’s something here for every budget, and all items are readily available and guaranteed to please that special geek in your life.


Apple iPad mini

The hot gift for 2012, nuff said. $329 and up at Apple Stores, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, basically everywhere. Comes with the new Lightning to USB cable and a USB power adaptor.


Apple 7th gen iPod nano

As it says on their website, it’s been completely renanoed. The widescreen and video are back after a failure to report for duty in the 6th Gen version. Bluetooth, Nike + support and a pedometer function have been added. It’s got a touch screen, FM radio with live pause, 16GB of storage for your music, videos, photos and contacts, and it comes in a plethora of colors. I think this is their best version yet.

$149 at Apple stores, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, basically everywhere, best selection of colors is the Apple Store. Comes with a set of the new Apple EarPods and a Lightning to USB cable.


Belkin YourType Bluetooth Keyboard/Folio for iPad

Touch screens are amazing, but sometimes you just need a keyboard. There’s a bunch of them on the market this year, but I like Belkin’s best. It has a responsive, well designed removable keyboard with 60 hour active battery life, and the folio adjusts for multiple landscape and portrait iPad viewing angles. Comes with a micro USB cable for recharging.

$79 to $99 at Target, Walmart, Best Buy


Logitech Harmony® 650 Remote

Love the Harmony remotes, hate the prices. The top end models go for $250 to $350; too rich for my blood, but the 650 can be found for as low as $50. It’s got a color screen, controls up to 5 devices, and supports over 5000 brands. Connect it to your PC via USB cable and let Logitech’s online software walk you through configuring it for one click activities, and their constantly updated database ensures this remote will be able to keep up with your component changes for quite a while.

$49.99 to $79.99 at Best Buy, Home Depot


Bluetooth Speaker Systems

Forget the docks and cables; you can wirelessly stream music from your Bluetooth enabled phone, iPod or laptop to a wide variety of Bluetooth speakers and receivers available in every price range. From the HDMX Jam at $44, to my favorite, the Bose Soundlink II at $299, there’s a lot of options here.

$44 to $299 at Apple stores, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, these things are everywhere this year.


iTunes Cards

Every Christmas we pick up a couple of 3 packs of the $10 iTunes cards, they make great stocking stuffers and they’re good to have on hand for emergency gifting. Available everywhere. $10 and up.


Google Play Cards

Finally, prepaid gift cards for Android users, what a concept! Available at Target, Walmart, Staples and Radio Shack. $10 and up.


That’s it, there’s something here for every budget, and they’re all “swoop in and grab” kinda presents. It will take you longer to find a parking spot than to find and purchase any of these items, so get it in gear and let’s wrap this thing up!

Choosing a New Internet Provider?

Be sure you ask the right questions.

I’ve gotten a couple of calls in recent months from family and friends who have changed providers and suddenly found themselves without Wi-Fi. I always start by asking them the same questions;

Does your new router/cable modem have Wi-Fi? To which they usually answer; how can I tell?

Okay, did your new provider leave you with Wi-Fi credentials, ie: SSID and WEP Key/Password, and if not, is that info listed on the router’s label? The answer to this is usually; hmmm, there’s a lot of numbers on the label…

At this point I politely cut them off and say; I’m going to need to stop by. When I do, I often find that their new gear doesn’t support Wi-Fi, and it seems to happen most often when people switch over to Comcast.

I’ve got Verizon FiOS at home, and you know what they say; once you go glass, you never go back, but some people don’t have that option. If your only choice is between Verizon DSL and Comcast Broadband, sooner or later you’re going to make the switch to Broadband.

The problem is, Verizon provides Wi-Fi with all of their products; get internet service, get Wi-Fi. With Comcast, it seems you need to specifically ask for Wi-Fi, as their standard cable modem doesn’t have built in Wi-Fi, only their “Advanced Wireless Gateway” does, and if you don’t ask, oh well…

Smart phones, tablets, laptops, smart TV’s, we’ve become very dependant on Wi-Fi these days. It’s become ubiquitous, something we expect and take for granted. Data invisibly streaming all over the place; it’s amazing when you stop to think about it.

Whoosh; there go our Thanksgiving pictures on their way up to my wife’s iPad, buzzing past me as I sit wirelessly streaming my iTunes library to my entertainment center. It’s a brave new world.

As I said, we really take it for granted, until someone pulls the plug, that is. When the Wi-Fi goes down, or you lose it when you switch providers, it’s a real problem, but not an insurmountable one.

Comcast will ship you their Wireless Gateway, for a fee, if you find yourself in this position and you call and complain, or you can just set up your own Wi-Fi router, which I recommend. It’s relatively easy, and is a more flexible solution for homes/businesses that present Wi-Fi coverage difficulties.

Below are some links to previous posts on both our website and blog that will help you setup and tweak your basic home network and boost your Wi-Fi signal, but the most important takeaway here is; when you’re thinking of switching providers, ask them if they provide Wi-Fi.


Choosing a provider

Setting up a home network

Wireless Network Settings and Solutions

The Place To Be This Black Friday:

Home, in your fuzzy slippers.

Here’s the deal; there’s this thing called the interwebs, and you can get great deals with just the click of a button in the comfort of your own home, wearing your PJ’s and fuzzy slippers, no less.

All while chewing on a leftover drumstick.

It’s amazing!

Or, you can stand outside all night in the freezing cold, only to take part in an out of control stampede for a couple of loss leader items.

Hmmm…

Seriously, Cyber Monday has been slowly spreading its wings, and the online deals are now available as early as Thanksgiving Day, just like in the brick and mortar stores.

We’ve gotten some tremendous deals online the last few Black Fridays, and the one time in recent memory we ventured out, it was to Paul’s TV inside Jordan’s Furniture. Great TV, great price, no lines, and the new TV and stand were delivered and set up, for free, before the day was done. Nice

So, if you can’t stay home, pick your spots.

That is all.

Samsung Galaxy S III

The Samsung Galaxy S III is a great phone, and currently the best selling smartphone in the world, outselling the iPhone 4s and all other comers. The figures aren’t in yet on head to head sales with the new iPhone 5, and that may change things, but I don’t see it giving up much ground once they are.

It’s got a huge 4.8” HD screen, and yet it’s easy to grip and surprisingly light at 4.7 Ounces. It’s a real head turner too, with lines more reminiscent of the iPod Touch, as opposed to the iPhones of late. The casing has a nice feel to it, slick and sleek without being slippery; it really feels comfortable in your hand.

This phone isn’t just another pretty face, though. With a 1.5 GHz dual core processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of ROM on board, and the Android 4.1 OS (Jelly Bean), it’s a fast and responsive device preloaded with Android Apps that rival Apple’s best, and blazing fast 4G connectivity (4G LTE and HSPA+ 4G/3G, depending on the carrier).

It transfers files with other devices wirelessly via Android Beam and S Beam (NFC based features) just by touching the devices together, and the DLNA function (WiFi Direct) allows you to display photos and videos on a Samsung Smart TV, which is pretty cool.

It also has a Smart Tag feature, which uses facial recognition to match faces in photos to faces in your contacts list, and then it automatically displays the contact’s latest social media status updates for you.

It has both front (1.9 Megapixal, 720p video) and rear (8 Megapixel, 1080p video) facing cameras that are very good, comparable to some point and shoots, and it uses the front facing camera for Smart Stay and Face Unlock, two more features that take advantage of the facial recognition software. With Smart Stay on, the phone looks back at you every once in a while, and if it can’t see your eyes, it puts the display to sleep, extending battery life. Face Unlock matches the user to their contact photo and wakes the phone up.

S-voice (think Siri without the dry wit), Custom Call EQ (the phone plays a series of high and low tones, you tell it which ones you hear, and presto, custom call EQ), the list goes on and on. For me though, the real selling points are; Micro USB connectivity, drag and drop file transfer, an external memory slot that holds up to a 64GB microSD card, and a removable battery.

I’m an iPod guy, love ‘em, have ‘em all, I’m like Gollum when I’ve got one in my hot little hands, so I was a little leery of going with an Android phone, but the ability to load files without connecting to a specific iTunes library, use a cable that isn’t proprietary, pop in an SD card and replace my own battery has totally won me over, and the newest Android OS (4.1) is clean and routine, a pleasure to use.

Samsung’s ad campaign that’s set outside of an Apple store on release day is great, a guy with an S III holding a spot in line for his parents, then sharing play lists with his buddy by touching phones as he leaves, it says it all; It’s not an iPhone, but it has everything you hoped the iPhone 5 would bring to the party.

Brilliant marketing, brilliant phone.

Unity Of Purpose

I’m going to deviate from my standard post topics tonight and I hope you’ll bear with me for a few moments, because I feel what I have to say is important.

Tomorrow is Election Day, and there are only two things that you absolutely have to do; the first is to vote, you have to vote. People have sacrificed a great deal, including their lives, so that you and I can live in a free society and exercise our right to vote for the candidate of our choice.

The second thing you have to do is to make the choice to stand behind whoever gets elected.

Why? You ask. I can hear you now; “Over my dead body, I can’t stand that other guy. I can’t stand his policies or his personal beliefs, and I’ll never acknowledge him as my President.”

The answer is simple, we’re in a dark place right now, and no politician or party can pull us out of that dark place without our help. Unity of purpose is the only way we’ll ever get this country back on track again. One nation, indivisible, that’s how we bill ourselves, and it’s what allows us to be great. Many hands working for a single purpose, that’s how things get done.

Right now, we’re a nation divided, but we shouldn’t be. The people on the other side of the political fence from you are not your enemy. They’re not crazy, and they’re not deranged, they’re just your friends, your neighbors, your coworkers, good Americans all, they’re just not all on the same wavelength as you, and you know what? That’s how it’s supposed to be.

If everyone was the same, thought the same, acted the same, there’d be no progress. It’s only through our exposure to others who think differently that we learn, and that helps us to make informed, intelligent decisions. Freedom of thought and speech form the bedrock of this great country. My opinion, or yours, or our party’s, is never the be all and end all. There’s always room to build and grow, none of us are perfect, and it’s how our forefathers intended it to be.

If you’re afraid that we’re going down the wrong path if one party or the other comes to power, fear not. The checks and balances that are built into our political system ensure that no one person, or party, can take us too far off track. You can start to work immediately after this election cycle to make sure the person or party of your choice makes it into office in the next cycle, but you are undeniably obligated to try to make things work in the meantime.

I look at it like this; say you work for a company that has profit sharing, and you get a new boss who you disagree with. Do you stop performing because you’re unhappy, or because you don’t like the direction the company is headed in? Of course not, because you’d be cutting off your nose to spite your face. You wouldn’t stop working, and you wouldn’t publicly talk smack about your boss, or your company, because it would hurt the company’s public image, and that would hurt your earnings.

That’s what’s going on right now, people are intractable in their beliefs and refuse to see the higher ground. They refuse to see the benefits, no, the absolute necessity, of cooperation, of unity of purpose.

Yes, there are a plethora of things wrong, and yes, change is slow and painful, but change can only be achieved if each and every one of us rolls up our sleeves and contributes, so tomorrow I ask you to vote, and to promise you’ll work with those crazies on the other side so we can get things back on track. It’s your solemn obligation as an American, and the only way you can ensure that this great nation carries on.

That is all.

The Ultimate App for Pats Fans

Whether you’re on the move, camped out in the man cave, or at the game, you need the Patriot’s smartphone app to stay in the know.

The smartphone app runs on both the iOS and Android platforms and provides you with a wealth of information. Pats news and videos, team and league stats and scores, photos, blogs, schedules, you name it, they’ve got it. My favorite feature though, is the Gameday section.

Gameday has a tab for up to the minute Play By Play action, another for a Live Blog with PFW Editor-in-Chief Fred Kirsch, so you can kibitz during the game, a Game Stats tab that breaks it all down by team, player and drive, and a Scores Tab that keeps you up to date on all of the games that week.

Not only is this app a must have if you’re away from both TV and radio on game day, it’s also indispensible when you’re actually watching the game. Let’s face it, we all need the occasional bio break or snack run, and you inevitably return to your seat saying “WTF just happened? How did they end up with the ball, and how did they score so quickly?”

I keep the app open to the play by play tab on my Touch when I’m home, or on my phone when I’m out, and if I miss anything, there’s a detailed play by play description of the action constantly updating on my device. “Ah, Big Vince with the fumble recovery, now it makes sense…”

Nice.

You can get the app at both the iTunes store and Google Play, or you can just go here, to the Patriots Media Center, where there’s a link to both. There’s also a Patriots Football Weekly app available for the iPad, and a link to the Patriots Mobile Site so you can browse a mobile version of the Official New England Patriots site on your portable devices.

The Pat’s have done a fantastic job on both the apps and their websites, but I'd expect no less from the franchise that's been at the forefront of the NFL’s foray into cyberspace since day one. You’ve gotta love the Kraft family, always on the cutting edge.

That is all.

Bose SoundLink Wireless Mobile Speaker

I teased you in my last post that I’d been playing around with some pretty neat technology this summer, it’s time I got down to business. Let’s start off with my favorite new audio accessory, the Bose SoundLink Bluetooth Mobile Speaker.

Forget about docks and cords, wireless accessories are where it’s at these days, and the Bose SoundLink is my personal favorite in the wireless speaker category. It’s small and compact, with a solid feel and a sleek look, and it has pretty good overall volume and sound reproduction for a device of its size and portability.

It pairs with and remembers up to 6 Bluetooth devices. After 6, every new device you pair it with bumps an old one out of its memory. I currently have it paired with my laptop, iPod touch and my Smartphone, all were a snap to pair, and all reconnect to it instantly after initial setup. Its sound is warm and impressive with nice full bass, not sonically perfect, but nice, and it has enough volume and clarity to use outdoors.

The controls are simple, just a few buttons on the top of the device for power, volume, mute and Bluetooth pairing. No remote, but that’s fine with me. The paired device performs that function quite nicely. It also has a built in cover with a magnetic latch that does triple duty. It protects the speaker when it’s closed, acts as a stand when it’s open, and turns the unit off when you close it again.

Like most Bose music systems, speaker placement is key to maximizing its sound; you want to have a solid surface a few feet behind it to reflect the bass, especially when you’re using it outdoors or at a large party. The SoundLink’s range is at least 30’, which gives you a lot of options in the placement department.

I’ve actually had the device for a few months now, but have been holding off on a review until I’d really put it through its paces, and this baby passed my summer torture test with flying colors. The only problem is, I waited so long that Bose has just released a second generation device, the SoundLink II, and a software update for the original device. The SoundLink II has been sonically improved, and now comes in 2 flavors, Bluetooth or AirPlay (Apple’s proprietary Wi-Fi).

The sonic improvements come in the form of new transducers and better digital signal processing, and the addition of an AirPlay version gives the device even more flexibility when paired with an iOS device or iTunes.

The software update for the original model is easy to install, the SoundLink has a micro USB port on the back labeled service, and it’s great to know that the device is upgradeable, seeing as the electronic landscape seems to change every nanosecond these days.

Bottom line, there are other Bluetooth sound systems out there, and most are a lot cheaper than the SoundLink, but for my money the SoundLink has just the right mix of sound, portability, function and form. Small and sturdy enough to travel with, perfect as an add-on speaker for your laptop, iPod or Smartphone, powerful enough to use as a boom box at your next party, and it pulls it all off with style.

That is all.

Not Such Deep Thoughts: How I Spent My Summer Vacation Edition

It’s been a summer to remember; hot sunny days, very little rain, and way too much to do to be spending time staring into this screen, but Labor Day is upon us, and my brain pan is filled to overflowing with random thoughts, so I will now proceed to entangle the entire area.

Let’s start off with my lack of posting. I’ve really been struggling with that old work/life balance thing lately, and I came to the conclusion that if I wanted to squeeze any sun and fun into this summer, something(s) had to go. I outsourced the weekly mow (again, but this time I think it’s permanent), took a hiatus from working on my websites, and put off all but a few crucial home projects. I also employed a couple of other time management tricks and tradeoffs, which we’ll get to later. The end result was that I was able to take some time off and enjoy the summer. It was definitely the right choice; summer is much too short, and much too precious to waste. Being outdoors, spending time with friends and family, drinking in the beauty of the season, and life in general, there’s nothing quite like it.

Speaking of not working on my websites, I picked up some really interesting electronical gadgets this summer, and it killed me not to post about them, but I held off. It was tough, but at least I’ll have lots to post about going forward. Good things to come!

While I’m on the subject of gadgets; I’ve figured out that my Blackberry is the root of all evil. I had shelved my personal cell phone a while back; I hated carrying two phones, so I threw mine in a drawer and started relying solely on my work Blackberry. Problem is, the flow of information is non stop, and once I pick it up, even for something as innocuous as checking sports scores, I’m sucked right in. It’s kind of like a virtual rabbit hole that takes me directly back into work. It drives my family crazy, and it makes it impossible for me to disconnect. As we were getting ready for vacation this year, my wife suggested that I upgrade my old cell phone and start using it again, because if I didn’t, she was going to throw my Blackberry into Nantucket Sound. Very convincing argument, and seeing as Samsung had just released the new Galaxy S III, I was immediately on board. Smartest thing I’ve done in a while. The S III is a beautiful device, and yes, Apple is correct; it is a lot like an iPhone, except its better, more to come on that soon. The most important thing is that it helped me break the chains that bind me to my work, and possibly prevented my wife from committing a crime of passion. Now when I’m off, so is the Crackberry.

Speaking of passion, I love our pool. No traffic or parking issues, no humping chairs and coolers, no sand in my sandwiches. Just mosey out the back door, hop on a float, and drift away. Heaven. And those midnight moonlight swims on hot summer nights are nothing short of decadent. Sometimes when I’m out there, I find myself looking around, positive that someone is going to catch me and throw me out, traces of my fence hopping youth. It pains me to think we’ll be closing it down soon. The season is too short, and it’s a lot of work, but its well worth it.

Another way I’ve been able to carve out some quality time this summer is by writing off the Red Sox completely. I’m no fair weather fan, I’ve been with them through thick and thin, good times and bad, but here’s the thing; There’s no crying in baseball! I won’t watch a bunch of whiney babies, and this is the biggest bunch I’ve ever seen. The average salary in MLB is 3.3 million, and these guys have the nerve to bitch and moan, it’s disgusting. I’m glad they blew up the team, and I hope the axe continues to fall. A coaching/front office shakeup is the next step in the process; maybe a new manager can get this team back on track for next year. In the meantime, I’m not paying the exorbitant prices to see a game, and I’m not wasting my time watching them on the tube. Instead, I’ve been spending my time watching the grandson play in the Jimmy Fund Little League Summer Tournament. It ran through August, ending just in time for the start of Pop Warner, and it has been a pure delight. No better way to while away the summer hours then sitting in a lawn chair, feasting on $1 hot dogs and 50¢ popcorn, and cheering on the home town team. There’s still a little bit of crying, but it’s nothing a blue raspberry slushy can’t fix.

Vacation: It’s all about the bacon. Normally, we don’t eat a lot of bacon, but when we’re on vacation, we seem to have it at least twice a day. In omelets, on sandwiches, wrapped around scallops, it just goes with everything. Did you know you can get bacon martinis? Wow, it’s the perfect food, and I’ve found that there is a direct correlation between bacon intake and overall vacation satisfaction.

File this one under; building a better mousetrap. We came downstairs one morning to find an end table tipped over and the cat camped out next to it, staring intently at the baseboard heater. We weren’t sure what had gone down, but she wouldn’t budge from the spot (not even for bacon), so I moved the couch out of the way and got down on my hands and knees with a flashlight. Sure enough, she had a little field mouse cornered inside the baseboard. Cute little gomer, but he had to go. My wife got out one of those no kill traps and baited it with cheese, but he was too afraid of the cat to move a muscle. What to do, what to do… enter my wife with her Mouse Eradication Device (patent pending), or as we like to call it, the canister vac. She took off the rug brush, added all the extension tubes, and got into position. When she had the business end of the tube close to the mouse, I flipped the power on and “foop, bonk, bonk, splat”, that mouse was history. Catches ‘em, kills ‘em, and bags the body; I really think we’re on to something here.

Who ya gonna call? Mousebusters!

We’ve made a couple of trips down to Gillette this summer for training camp, and I must say, the Patriots have really done it right. Free parking, free event, great sightlines, and the chance for autographs from your favorite players; it’s a great event to take the whole family to. The only drawback is the drive, but they’ve got that covered to some degree, also. Patriot Place makes it worth your while to make a day of it. Arrive early and stay late, take in The Hall before practice, then one of the many restaurants after. Nice. Red Sox? We don’t need no stinkin Red Sox…

Well, I’ve rambled on for long enough, gotta get outside and enjoy the last few hours of this Labor Day weekend. I’ll leave you with this: Just because it’s Labor Day weekend, that doesn’t mean that the summer is over. It ain’t over until it’s over, so get out there and enjoy!

That is all.

Operation Ghost Click: Are You Ready For July 9th?

On July 9th, the ISC (Internet Systems Consortium) plans to shut down some DNS servers. How will that affect you? Well, pull up a chair and uncle berry will tell you a story.

Last October, after 2 years of investigation, the FBI in conjunction with a myriad of domestic and international partners, broke up a cyber crime ring based out of Estonia that was using rogue DNS servers to hijack user’s computers and ring up 10’s of millions of dollars in fraudulent ad and click revenues.

DNS, or Domain Name System, is the service that converts URL’s (eg: www.google.com) into those impossible to remember IP addresses. Your ISP provides you with access to a valid DNS server and your computer caches the server’s address. When you open your browser and enter a URL, the DNS server looks up the name and returns the proper numeric address. Think of it as an alpha-numeric translator.

These Estonian cyber thieves were infecting user’s computers with DNSChanger malware, which changes the address of your DNS server to one of their own, a rogue DNS server. The rogue server then either directs you to the wrong site, or to the correct site, but the ads you see have been replaced by ones of their choosing.

You know when you’re on the wrong site, but how do you know what ads you should be seeing when you’re on the right site?

Very devious.

But they didn’t stop there; once they had infected your computer, the malware would try to break into your router using the default settings, and if successful, it would change the DNS settings there, also. Why? Because if you have a router, your real DNS settings are cached there, and your computer caches only the address of the router. You could wipe your computer clean and still wind up being misdirected. And just as an added kick in the pants, some of the sites you are misdirected to download other malware, things that prevent OS patching and antivirus updating. Oh, those crazy Estonians...

So, how does infecting your computer make someone else money, you ask? Well, the world of internet commerce is a very complicated place. There are millions of publishers, every web site owner is a publisher, and there are just as many advertisers. How do the two get together? Through middlemen, of course; publisher networks and ad brokers. The Estonians set themselves up as a publisher network under the name of Rove Digital, one of many shell companies they created, and proceeded to cash in. It’s pretty easy to make money off of ad views and clicks if you have a bot net of millions of end user computers clicking and viewing the ads and websites you specify. Kind of like shooting fish in a barrel.

They operated with impunity from 2007 until 2011, when they were finally tripped up by an international task force. It was only a matter of time before they got caught; their malware wasn’t discriminatory and had penetrated computers in some very sensitive places, so the FBI, NASA, the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance, the National High Tech Crime Unit of the Dutch National Police Agency, the Estonian Police and Border Guards and a plethora of universities, technical institutes and private sector companies all banded together and tracked them down. The FBI dubbed the effort “Operation Ghost Click”, a very appropriate name, and the operation highlights the incredible effort and international cooperation needed to combat cyber crime in our brave new world.

Breaking up the crime ring and bringing those bad boys to justice wasn’t the end of the story, though. The task force quickly realized that if they shut down all of the rogue DNS servers the Estonians were operating, they’d effectively be turning off the internet for the millions that were infected. The Internet Systems Consortium was tasked with replacing the rogue DNS servers with valid ones, and keeping them running during the cleanup process, and the DNS Changer Working Group (DCWG) , an independent group of subject matter experts, was formed to aide end users with the cleanup.

On July 9^th, 2012, the formerly rogue servers are scheduled to be shut down for good, they can’t keep them running forever, it costs a lot of cash, and anyone still infected with the DNSChanger malware will suddenly find themselves off the air. There are steps you can take to make sure you won’t be one of them, and the first step is the easiest.

The DCWG has set up an incredibly informative web site, and you need to make use of it. There’s a link to find out if your PC is infected, that’s your starting point, but it’s not all you need to do. You need to check your router also, and even if it hasn’t been compromised, you need to change its username and password from the default. Never leave default credentials in place on any device.

How do you check your router? The DCWG website has a link for that, also. The OpenDNS Store has instructions for every router conceivable. You don’t need to sign up for an account with them, you can just browse for the info you need.

Both Facebook and Google are teaming up with DCWG also, and will be alerting you if they notice a rogue DNS server address on your system, so don’t blow off any warnings you see on either site that informs you that your computer might be infected. This is no hoax, people.

If you are infected, the best fix possible is to reformat your hard drive and reload your operating system. This malware is a bear to get rid of, so if you have your system disks and a good backup, the wipe and reload method is your best bet.

If you don’t, DCWG has a link to help, of course. The DCWG Fix page has a list of free tools and self help guides, but it’s not an easy repair, and the site actually recommends that if your system is old, now might be the time to junk it and upgrade. That says a mouthful about the pervasiveness of this malware.

Don’t panic though, after all, it won’t be the end of the world if you lose internet connectivity on July 9th, but it will be a lot harder to set straight once you're off the air, so be proactive, and while you’re in a proactive mood, take a moment to read our post on creating system recovery disks and backing up, especially if you’re thinking about scrapping your system in favor of a new one. It will serve you well.

That's the end of my story, at least for now. There'll be more to tell as we get closer to the cutoff date, so stay tuned. In the meantime, I've given you lots to think about, and lots to do, so get busy. I'll leave you with one last thought, just because I can't help myself...

Beware of Estonians bearing gifts.

That is all.

berryjooks: Mother’s Day

This year it's Dahlias, planted in the soil she tended for so long.

berryjooks: Mother’s Day

The Red Sox Show Up To Play

It was a beautiful day in Boston yesterday; bright, sunny and 68◦. The kind of day you dream about on those long winter nights, and the perfect day for a home opener.

After the way the season ended last year, and the inauspicious start they’d made on the road so far, I was more than ready to be disappointed. There was also the fact that it was Friday the 13th, and they had the added pressure of the whole “100th season” thing, which I assumed would lend a circus like atmosphere to the day. I was wrong; the Sox didn’t disappoint, neither the front office nor the team.

The team showed up to play and crushed the Jays 12 to 2, which was a pleasant surprise. Beckett looked good through 8 solid innings, and he had lots of support both offensively and defensively. While there are still 155 games to be played this season, there is reason to be hopeful after yesterday’s performance.

The only mar on an otherwise perfect outing was the loss of Ellsbury in the 4th to what appears to be a dislocated shoulder. If it is a dislocation, it will probably be 6 to 8 weeks before he’s back, and that’s gonna hurt. New skipper Bobby V said after the game that the team will call up an outfielder in time for Saturday’s game; I’m betting it will be Che-Hsuan Lin, as he’s already on the roster, and was a scratch from the lineup in last nights PawSox game. He’s no Ellsbury, but he’s not half bad.

The other surprise from yesterday was from the front office. After hearing that old Doc Charles had been hired back to “produce” the 100th anniversary festivities, I was nervous that we’d see all kinds of ridiculous hoopla for opening day. I’m not much for attending the home opener anymore, I liken it to New Years Eve; amateur hour for the poorly behaved, but I do love to watch it, and since my work schedule usually doesn’t allow me to be home early enough to see the opening ceremonies, I DVR it, and watch it later.

When I finally had time to sit down and replay it, I was not only impressed; I was moved by what I saw. No Super Bowl or Stanley Cup victors running around, no big flashy musical acts, just the Pops, the jets, the flag, and a few well chosen Red Sox legends.

After watching it, I couldn’t help but think that old Doc, and the front office et al, have learned a few things over the years, most importantly that the current owners are just the caretakers, as are all owners. The team belongs to Red Sox Nation, always has, always will.

Seeing Pesky in such a prominent role reminded me that it’s still my Dad’s team, seeing Rice and Dewey reminded me that it’s still my team, and seeing Tek and Wake reminded me that it’s still my sons’ team. We all hold and cherish our little piece of the team in our hearts and minds, and it was very smart of the current regime to make past legends the centerpiece of the day. It gently nudged recent happenings into the back regions of my mind, making way for some pleasant memories, while still leaving room for new ones to come. Nice.

I have no idea what the next game will bring, maybe heartache, maybe joy, but what I do know is that whatever comes our way is only a small piece of the larger picture for this storied franchise, and for us too, and I’m going to savor every moment of it.

That is all.

Oh wait, almost forgot the most important part;

Play Ball!

Bose IE2 Series In-Ear Headphones

The Bose IE2 Series In-Ear Headphones have a warm and spacious sound, and are possibly the most comfortable headphones I’ve ever owned.

They come with 3 different sized “StayHear” silicon tips that have a wing on top that slides in under the top edge of your ear to help hold them snuggly in place. The leading tip of the silicon piece fits into your ear canal instead of the ear bud itself, so they’re actually more like a hybrid of an “on ear” headset and ear buds.

More importantly, these headphones sound great. They’re designed to be direct/reflecting, as are most Bose products; they have a bass port on the back that allows for that deep spacious sound without putting too much pressure on your eardrums. Sound reproduction is very true and natural, not sonically colored or overly bass heavy, just fat and sweet.

That being said, they’re probably not the right choice for someone who listens to nothing but House music; if that’s your pleasure, you’d be better served with a pair of those big funky Dre cans. They’re also not a true noise isolating headphone, but they’re close enough for me. I’m not a big fan of total isolation; I like to be at least somewhat aware of my surroundings, you tend to live longer that way…

There are 3 models in the series; the IE2 are just straight up headphones, the MIE2 adds a microphone and volume control, and the top of the line MIE2i has iPod/iPhone controls also. All 3 models have a thick sturdy cord that doesn’t kink, another plus, and all come with a pleather storage case that’s big enough to hold an iPhone or iPod along with them.

I’ve had a pair of the MIE2i’s for about 3 months now, and I can’t say enough good things about them. At first I was a little put off by the “wings”, but you quickly learn the right angle to insert them at, and with a slight twist, they sock right in place, and stay there. We recently went on a 3 hour hike and those babies didn’t budge an inch. I also found that when I paused or shut off my iPod I was leaving the earphones in place, mainly because I didn’t notice that I still had them on, and that says a lot about their comfort.

The MIE2i model also works great with my Blackberry, which is a huge plus. I’m always a little leery of products that are specific to iPods not working or acting quirky with other devices, but I was pleasantly surprised this time.

For me, the Bose IE2’s are the perfect combination of quality and comfort. Check them out, you won’t regret it.

That is all.