I was asked to check out the link and report if it was safe or not. I checked it out and within 30 seconds noticed my computer playing the block-the-virus game. Of course I didn’t want to stop at just that, so I decided to check it out further.

The worm being spread via different websites is referred to as W32.Koobface.D over on Symantec’s website. Let me just show you some things that might help you to identify what was wrong with this fake Facebook page so that the scammers or spammers can do a better job in the future.

First the Facebook warning page. It’s nice that Facebook has created a page that lets you know when Facebook is doing the redirect off of its site. This warning page only lets you know that you are leaving Facebook, but doesn’t offer any more protection than that. I’m not sure that its Facebook’s job to protect users more than this, but maybe it should be.

The image below has two red outlines on it. The first is on the URL. The problem with the URL is that it clearly does not say “Facebook” or any other variant with that word. This could easily have read “http://FACEBOOK.somedomain.com” and been a little more likely to fool someone. I did notice the IP address changes among several different addresses. ARIN states that the IP address shown belongs to an address on Comcast. There are several computers on different ISPs that seem to be either infected and allowing others to be infected or there are a group of people trying hard to start the spread of this worm.

The second red outline is around the Internet Explorer warning, letting you know that some program is trying to download onto your computer without your permission. Naughty, naughty!

Now even though I have Flash installed, the fake Facebook page says that it needs to be installed so that I can view the video. Of course, clicking on the link gives me an opportunity to download something, just not something i want. In fact, the entire webpage has code on it that allows a mouse click anywhere to initiate an attempt at trying to download bad stuff onto the future victim’s computer.

In the lower right of the webpage, I noticed that they had copied the look of the bottom bar on Facebook. The problem is that they they used a poor image that shows decreased quality over the regular images on Facebook’s bottom bar. Oh ya, and that chat is enabled also tells me something is off because I’ve disabled chat on my Facebook account. I won’t complain about the position being off a little, that’s in the next paragraph.

Now that I’ve decided to point this last piece out it’s more like complaining. There is text on the bottom of the page which there is not on Facebook. The text in this case is showing a date and time of some sort, though it definitely isn’t today (“19.08.2009 21:00 frame counter”). Perhaps this is so that the phisherman can keep track of something and maybe their web code is echoing something it shouldn’t.

The Symantec AntiVirus Detection Results window is nice, it gives me a sense of confidence that my computer will be protected even with potentially evil stuff trying to infect my poor little PC.

Whenever I would click anywhere on the webpage the file would try to install on my computer. Of course I needed to be smart enough to choose CANCEL instead of RUN or SAVE.

I found it more interesting that the webpage is doing tracking with an external tracking website. I would get into the specifics, but its really not necessary… if you have protected yourself from this than you are good to surf on. If you have infected your computer and somehow came to this website for help, let me know and I’ll tell you how to get rid of the bad stuff.

I wonder if extremetracking.com knows what they are tracking…

Second Gear Games – Bubble Defense $4.99
New tower defense game from the creators of Bubble Army. Pop the bubbles before they reach the end of the path. Beware of the evil red bubbles!

Critter Crunch -Magmic – $6.99
Feed small critters to larger ones and help Biggs to the top of the food chain.

Air Traffic Control – $6.99
Can you handle the stress of a flight controller? Safely land all the planes on the runways by simply drawing the path using your finger. Includes 3 beautiful airports and many planes.

Fierce Towers – NickelBuddy – $4.99
Control the field to stop the waves of attacking enemies in the first ever tower defense game for BlackBerry. Place upgradeable towers around the field as you try your best strategies to stop wave after wave of invading enemies.

Next Dual Pack – Mobigloo – $4.99
Think you’re smart? Make your NEXT move to solve this 128 level game. Challenge yourself and your friends. Entertaining and absolutely addictive!

Wrath – Lone Dwarf Games – $4.99
Fly over power-ups to change your firing from single mode to dual, tri or even rapid fire. When the enemy drones start to gain the upper hand, use your smart bomb.

There are a lot of games for the Blackberry (not quite iPhone numbers or anything close). If you want to recommend a game for others, please just leave a comment about it.

Of course I answered. I mean, the drive isn’t that big, as I recall a 500GB drive being purchased, but it can be used for storing anything (legality isn’t my problem to deal with for him). He told me that he was going to have a friend format the drive on his Macintosh computer and put music on it. Though the drive was originally purchased for the purpose of backing up his family’s photos and files, the less people back up and the more they need my help for recovery, the more side business I get!

I informed my friend that he could easily format the drive on a Mac. As he thanked me and started walking away I heard him mumble about having to buy another drive later for his Windows PC. I interrupted the mumble and asked why another drive would need to be purchased, to which he told me that his friend was on a Mac and was told the formatted drive wouldn’t be usable on a Windows PC. I laughed a little (I do that a lot, mostly to irritate people because I’m a smart ass) and then offered slight help.

Since I don’t know the person’s ability or knowledge that was formatting the drive, I just simple recommended his friend format with an MS DOS file system. When he asked me how, I recommended his friend look into the Utilities folder on the Mac.

About 3 hours later I got this in an email: I’m sure your guy knows more than I do, but (at least on my laptop) there is no program in my utilities folder called “MS DOS”…I’m assuming that you told him I am working on a Mac…? Forward this to him, and see what his advice is…thanks.

Since the problem was now requiring a written solution intead of a verbal response, I wrote up something small and clean that even someone “working on a Mac…” could easily follow. I find this sort of odd that a Mac user isn’t familiar with their own operating system.

I see he’s brilliant.. good thing you are using such an ace for something like formatting your hard disk.

•Go to Finder -> Application -> Utilities
•Double click the Disk Utility
•Select the external Hard Disk you wish to format in the left column
•Click on the Erase tab
•At the “Volume Format” select “MS-DOS File System”
•If you confirm to format your hard disk for Mac and Windows, Click on the “Erase” button.
•A pop up window will ask to verify the erase procedure. Click the erase button again in the window to start the erase process.
•Once the erase process finishes, your external hard disk may be able to be used in Mac and Windows operating systems.

Unfortunately since I’m not on a Macintosh computer I’m not able to provide pretty screen shots and walk throughs that are more thorough, I’m hoping that the directions were easy enough to follow though.

In order to access the file properties you can right-click on the file and go to properties.  At the foot of the General Tab on the Properties panel, there’s an item “Security:  This file came from another computer and might be blocked to help protect this computer.” 

Next click the “Unblock” button.

Click the Apply button in order to apply your settings and verify they took effect.

The Security area will now be grayed out showing that the changes took effect.

Click “OK” to close the properties window, you can now manipulate the file anyway you wanted to.

The next time you open the properties window you will not see the security area.

Thank you.  Actually, ThankYou.  It’s not just an expression of gratitude, it’s also a Citi (as in Citi credit card) network which gets away with not giving you cash back, but instead rewards you with points which usually translate into a $1 for 1 point system (with some expections like when using Expedia).

The ThankYou network allows you to use your “earned” points in order to buy something from their semi-extensive selection of items, including electronics, gift certificates, travel discounts, and much more.  Alright, now before you think that I’m trying to review the ThankYou network, I’m not (really, they didn’t pay for it so I’m not going to talk about it anymore).

Well, I accumulated more than enough to get the iPod Touch which was just a puny 40,900 points.  Yes, that’s right, 40,900 points.  See the picture below while taking a breather from this post.

So with the different available items that I could have purchased, why did I choose the iPod Touch?  This gives me the opportunity to have an iPod (I have the Zune and really enjoy it).  It also gives me an iPod that might cost more than anybody else, which isn’t something I’m as proud of as just find entertaining.

True that there are current credit cards that give a percentage back, and that percentage back is usually between 1%-5%, depending on certain conditions and factors.  And yes, that would probably be a better idea that what I did.  I have since changed my credit card from Citi to Washington Mutual’s credit card (plus I get the 4.75% interest rate on my money). But who else can brag that they got an iPod for $40,900? 

(watch for a future post regarding the difficulties of get the world’s most expensive iPod to work)

My old domain name had a PR of 3, though I don’t know why.  It only averaged about 200 unique visitors a month, which is respectable for a small blog like I run.  This blog is averaging more, mostly because of my Outlook and Exchange error posts (I hope they help those of you needing it).  There’s also the pictures of Gabriel Anwar, that helps with the Google images links.

There a small community of blogs that I post to on a regular basis, they received their first PR also.  The numbers for the three sites are 3, 2, 3.  That’s pretty good, but maybe not.  One of the three connecting sites has about 60,000 hits a month now.  So how does that rank with another site I have up and running but only one post upon (as opposed to the hundreds on the three-wide site), it’s a 3 also.  That site has been up for a while, so maybe that’s another PR secret.  Nothing links to it though.

So I’m satisfied for now with my PR of 1.  Are you satisfied?  If you aren’t, you probably wrote something derogatory about the whole Google PageRank grading system and think that it’s a bunch of junk.  I know that it means something to me, it means that I am now officially 10% completed of being a perfect Google graded site.

First a little about HDMI.. HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) was created by a group of electronics manufacturers (Hitachi, Matsushita Electric Industrial (Panasonic/National/Quasar), Philips, Sony, Thomson (RCA), Toshiba, and Silicon Image).  The HDMI standard is a set of guidelines for creating high-bandwidth connections between digital devices. With the right setup, HDMI can make a significant difference in systems where it is supported. The current standard can carry 1080p high-definition signals, and it supports eight channels of uncompressed audio, enough for a 7.1 surround-sound system. HDMI can cut down on the number of cables required to connect components, and it can even reduce the number of remote controls needed in some situations.

Now for those of you wanting the more technical aspect of HDMI, there’s a little table below with a breakdown of each HDMI connection pin.

So now that you know that HDMI is better than non-HDMI connections (take my word for it) I need to introduce you to the price of HDMI, which is significantly more expensive then other connection types.  Imagine a good quality coaxial cable of 10′ costing $9.99, now think of a good quality HDMI 10′ cable costing between $25-$100, depending on the quality that you get.  Of course, you don’t have to get great quality, but you might want to check into that later.

So the distance from the plasma TV in the front office to the video signal sending device (a.k.a. my computer) is approximately 15 feet when measured linearly (or straight, assuming no obstructions).  This is not going to be one of those perfect situations, so let me show you a picture first before giving you a chance to guess at the distance required.

(my office is on the right, semi-decorated for Halloween)

Now that you have seen the picture, what’s your guess on the distance required?  Wait, before you guess, let me tell you that this isn’t not a two story office and though there is a lot of obstructions in the ceiling area, that is the best (cleanest, easiest) way to run the cable.  Alright now, place your guess.  (It’s alright, I’ll wait)….

Nope, close but you were a little high (or low).  The distance required would be 65′.  That’s sixty-five feet.  Yep.  No joke, just ridiculous.  The reason is because of pipes and A/C venting and whatever animals are up in the ceiling area.

So I went to price a 65′ HDMI cable (custom made, as that’s a distance most places do not carry).  Online the pricing was from $119 to $250.  When I called a custom cable manufacturer down the street from where I work the price was $195 plus $20 for shipping and handling (even after I expressed my ability to drive 3 blocks to pick it up).

The reason for the cable is to deliver a presentation (made with Adobe Premier, ya, I geek like that too) that has quick movie sequences and doesn’t seem as clean over the current coaxial cable (colors are not as well produced, probably due to non-plenum grade cable that was installed by the electrician).  Going with RGB would give better color reproduction, but I don’t know about the ability compared to HDMI.  Plus, no reason not to be as technologically advanced as possible (well, except for my cell phone thing).

Now you know a little about HDMI.  If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Pin 1	TMDS Data2+
Pin 2	TMDS Data2 Shield
Pin 3	TMDS Data2–
Pin 4	TMDS Data1+
Pin 5	TMDS Data1 Shield
Pin 6	TMDS Data1–
Pin 7	TMDS Data0+
Pin 8	TMDS Data0 Shield
Pin 9	TMDS Data0–
Pin 10	TMDS Clock+
Pin 11	TMDS Clock Shield
Pin 12	TMDS Clock–
Pin 13	CEC
Pin 14	Reserved (N.C. on device)
Pin 15	SCL
Pin 16	SDA
Pin 17	DDC/CEC Ground
Pin 18	+5 V Power
Pin 19	Hot Plug Detect

]]> http://iamdms.com/2007/10/24/hdmi-is-better-than-coaxial-or-rgb/feed/ 0 http://iamdms.com/2007/10/24/sony-ericsson-k850i/ http://iamdms.com/2007/10/24/sony-ericsson-k850i/#comments Thu, 25 Oct 2007 00:45:18 +0000 dms http://iamdms.com/2007/10/24/sony-ericsson-k850i/ Ya, I’m still looking for the perfect cell phone.  I’m thinking that this shouldn’t be so difficult a process and I should just do what friends and co-workers do and just buy a phone and then get a new one in 3-6 months so it doesn’t matter if you don’t like it because you don’t have a chance to get use to it before it’s gone.  If only…

So I’m checking out the Sony Ericsson K850i.  The phone is nice, seems to have a decent look to it and I heard that the speed is wicked in comparison to the iPhone.  It doesn’t exude sexiness like the iPhone, but if the phone is good enough I should just buy it and check it out.

What happened to just having like 2-3 choices for a phone?  I want to displace my Blackberry 7290 (ya, I need to get into the 21st century, I know) and consolidate the Blackberry with a single device.  Maybe I should be looking at the Blackberry Curve?  What’s a computer geek to do??

 If you have a cell that you would like to recommend, please do.  I’m looking for help in this area!

There are different Internet level celebrities…

    Founders: David Filo and Jerry Yang (Yahoo!); Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google); Mark Cuban (Broadcast.com).
    Developers: Ray Tomlinson (e-mail); Robert Metcalfe and David Boggs (Ethernet); Tim Berners-Lee (WWW, HTML, HTTP, URLs).
    Website creators. 

Yes, I know that website creators/editors/authors aren’t really deserving to be in the above list, but I’m not sure how else to categorize them.  These are the flash-in-the-pan bloggers like Casey Serin or bloggers that have left some sort of impression in some way like Zac Johnson (happy b-day), ShoeMoney, and John Chow.

John Chow is the blogger that I am writing about right now but it’s not because of some contest he has (which are often and sometimes worth the efforts of blogging about for a chance to win a prize).  This post is about how John Chow visited my humble little area of the Internet and then..

Well, it might only be a coincidence; John Chow wrote an article titled When Should You Call It Quits.  Now I’m hoping its just a coincidence, but he happened to travel to my blog on the same day.

I’m wondering if this is a sign?  I hope not.  I only don’t tend to post a lot here because when I started this blog I also happened to start a small blog-empire which consists of 3 blogs intertwined.  Also I post nearly daily (or more often) on another site which will soon be intertwined with the other three making a big bloggy family.

Since I’m always making changes and adjusting, I think that I will start making new changes and post here at least once a day.  Or at least start to attempt that.  Beware though, I’m going to be tired by the time I get this far in my posting day (not to mention that unlike the multi-millionaire John Chow, I have a full-time job that does not consist of owning a company).

Also, John Chow seems to have about 20 ads on his home page, which does not show just snippets of posts (like this blog and many others).  I’m not sure why he doesn’t show just a snippet, but I’m sure his way is a better way.  If I had the time I would start trying to post something click-worthy every day, but I’m not sure what people would like to see and would bother to click to support this site.

Anyway, thanks for the visit John, it’s greatly appreciated.  And to those of you reading this now, just think, you are following John Chow, the Internet Mogul!

So while researching phones, or actually PDA devices, I found a couple of interesting websites and also revisited a website that I haven’t been to in a long time.

The long lost website which I ventured back to is PostSecret.  If you haven’t been to PostSecret, you are missing out.  If you have been there than nothing is really new, well, there are new pictures and posts and comments, but the same format and purpose.

PostSecret is a website dedicated to having people send in post cards anonymously.  The idea is that you write some secret onto a postcard and send it in to PostSecret, which then displays your postcard onto the Internet for other people to comment on.

Several of the postcards make people think or will have people associate their feelings.  Some cards are stupid or pathetic.  Other’s actually can make you question your current reality.  Here’s one of my favorites I found while surfing their site:

This is really a sadness and reality in life.. can you associate?

This post actually had someone post their phone number on the Internet (on a heavily traveled website) that wound up having several people from all over the world call.

One of the interesting websites I found was PhoneDog.  I like some of their site functions and comparisons, though just trying to find general information about a phone without having to read about service plans is annoying.  I’m guessing they get paid by cell services, so I understand their reasoning, I just don’t have to like it.

My favorite site for checking out phones is Lets Talk, they have the most amount of information and probably the easiest to use interface.  Though there isn’t a lot of sort functions on the site, it does prove to be very useful for it’s in-depth coverage of all cell phones.

So now I know more about cell phones (smart phones and PDAs) but just have more confusion added to the mix, as now I don’t know if I want a Nokia N95, Nokia N70, Nokia N80ie, Palm Treo 750, AT&T Tilt, Blackberry Curve 8310, or an HTC product. 

Links: PostSecret; PhoneDog; Lets Talk; HTC