So, you can’t tell a crappy website from a great one? How about asking yourself a few questions before blindly accepting the authority of a random website.

Click the image for the larger view:

Oh, how the PC users have longed for this day. With one of Apple’s marketing points being that Mac is practically virus free, many have held the view that this stems largely from Macs (and OS X) being less prominent on the market than Windows-based PCs. As a long time PC user, I cannot deny that I consider some of the applications in Windows a security train wreck (*cough* IE6 *cough*), but I do agree that the myth about Macs being immune to viruses is overrated to some degree.

Now, many reports (1) (2) (3) say that some pornography sites hold a Mac trojan pretending to be a video codec.

Granted, this is not the first Mac trojan nor the first Mac malware. But, this one seems to be particularly nasty.

Named OSX.RSPlug.A, it appears to Mac users as they’re lured into thinking they’re viewing a video, and acts as a necessary video codec. The computers of users who proceed with the installation will be infested by a DNSChanger that hijacks web requests sent to eBay, PayPal and several online banking websites. Not nice. Read the full scoop on this threat over at Intego.

And now Ladies and Gentlement, I give you my Tech Tip of the day number God knows what. Here is how you can install and/or upgrade your WordPress Installation in less than 4.52 minutes.

1. Upgrading:
Upgrading WordPress can be a little bit of an annoying process, since it involves a lot of steps such as backing up the database (just in case), deactivating all the plugins, downloading the newer version, uploading the new files and overwriting the old ones, and then reactiving the plugins, and hoping all goes well. however there is a way in which you can upgrade your WordPress installation in less than 1 minute, with little to no effort.

I am talking of course about the called WordPress Automatic Upgrade plugin by Techie Buzz. I’ve tried it on a couple of secondary WordPress sites that i operate (for testing purposes) and it worked like magic. I seriously could not believe how fast and easy it was.

In order to use this plugin, simply upload and activate it. Once activated, you will see a new option under Manage called Automatic Upgrade. The plugin, through a wizard like interface, will walk you through all the steps needed to upgrade WordPress, including checking over your current installation, putting your blog into maintenance mode, and even grabbing the latest version of WordPress from the official download page, and all you have to do is click click. thats all.

If you have a standard WordPress installation, I highly recommend using this plugin to keep your WordPress software up to date.

2. Installing:
This one might need an itty bitty amount of work at your end, but it is equally fast and easy as the AWUP above. all you need to do here is create the database and assign a username/password to it. (if you don’t know how to do that, you can check out the WordPress detailed instructions site, and it’ll explain everything to you step by step.) thats it. now head over to Vladimir Ghetau’s Wordpress Web Installer. fill in the form, and you’re done. can’t get easier than that now can it? this web installer however currently installs WordPress version 2.2.1, but thats no problem, is it?

I have to mention though, that I personally believe in getting down and dirty with things, i.e: I like to do everything manually, not that there’s anything wrong with using the automated processes above, but thats just me, i like to stay on top of things, since I believe that doing everything by hand reduces that chance for errors and what not.

So, thats it. enjoy.

One of the Biggest Changes to the Internet is on its way, The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will launch an evaluation of Internationalized Domain Names next week that will allow Internet users to test top-level domains in 11 languages, including Arabic.

“This evaluation represents ICANN’s most important step so far towards the full implementation of Internationalized Domain Names. This will be one of the biggest changes to the Internet since it was created,” said Dr Paul Twomey, ICANN’s President and CEO. “ICANN needs the assistance of users and application developers to make this evaluation a success. When the evaluation pages come online next week, we need everyone to get in there and see how the addresses display and see how links to IDNs work in their programs. In short, we need them to get in and push it to its limits.”

The evaluation is made possible by today’s insertion into the root of the 11 versions of .test, which means they are alongside other top-level domains like .net, .com, .info, .uk, and .de at the core of the Internet.

Next Monday, 15 October 2007, Internet users around the globe will be able to access wiki pages with the domain name example.test in 11 test languages — Arabic, Persian, Chinese (simplified and traditional), Russian, Hindi, Greek, Korean, Yiddish, Japanese and Tamil.

More information on the ICANN website.

Today I am going to teach you this neat little trick, how to create an invisible folder without the use of any third party software, its simple and fast and who knows, it might come in handy

Ok, first create a new folder, windows by default will name it New Folder:

delete that and hold alt+0160 and press Enter.

now you will notice the folder is there but it has no name, good.

Step 2, right click on the folder and choose properties, go to Customize and click Change Icon, navigate to the right a bit until you find a row of 4 invisible icons:

choose one and click on OK and Ok to complete the process.

and thats it, you now have a fully functional invisible folder you can hide your stuff in :whistle:
naturally if you can’t remember the location of the folder, just hit ctrl+a and you should be able to spot it.

Good news Everyone!
Scientists have finally come up with an answer to a question thats been haunting me for years, which is: when we go start travelling into space and boldly going where no man has gone before, which currency are we going to use? since Metal coins could damage sensitive electrical equipment if left to float free in space, and the magnetic strip on cards would be wiped by cosmic radiation. Dilemma!

Well, Scientists have come up with a new currency designed to be used by inter-planetary travelers. It is called the Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination, or Quid.

It is designed to withstand the stresses of space travel and has no sharp edges or chemicals that could hurt space tourists, and was made from the polymer used in non-stick pans, and naturally, as you can see, Different value “coins” come in different sizes and colours.

It was designed for the foreign exchange company Travelex by scientists from the National Space Centre and the University of Leicester.

Thank God thats taken care of now eh? :tongue:

Your passwords are the keys you use to access personal information that you’ve stored on your computer and in your online accounts. passwords have become a vital and important piece of our lives and should be protected well.

Fortunately, it is not hard to create strong passwords and keep them well protected.

What makes a strong password?
To an attacker, a strong password should appear to be a random string of characters. The following criteria can help your passwords do so:

Make it lengthy.
Each character that you add to your password increases the protection that it provides many times over. Your passwords should be 8 or more characters in length; 14 characters or longer is ideal.

Many systems also support use of the space bar in passwords, so you can create a phrase made of many words (a “pass phrase”). A pass phrase is often easier to remember than a simple password, as well as longer and harder to guess.

Combine letters, numbers, and symbols.
The greater variety of characters that you have in your password, the harder it is to guess.

Create a strong, memorable password in 5 steps:
1. Think of a sentence that you can remember. This will be the basis of your strong password or pass phrase. Use a memorable sentence, such as “My son Aiden is three years old.”

2. convert it to a password. Take the first letter of each word of the sentence that you’ve created to create a new, nonsensical word. Using the example above, you’d get: “msaityo”.

3. Add complexity by mixing uppercase and lowercase letters and numbers. It is valuable to use some letter swapping or misspellings as well. For instance, in the pass phrase above, consider misspelling Aiden’s name, or substituting the word “three” for the number 3. There are many possible substitutions, and the longer the sentence, the more complex your password can be. Your pass phrase might become “My SoN Ayd3N is 3 yeeRs old.” If the computer or online system will not support a pass phrase, use the same technique on the shorter password. This might yield a password like “MsAy3yo”.

4. Finally, substitute some special characters. You can use symbols that look like letters, combine words (remove spaces) and other ways to make the password more complex. Using these tricks, we create a pass phrase of “MySoN 8N i$ 3 yeeR$ old” or a password (using the first letter of each word) “M$8ni3y0″.

5. Test your new password with Microsoft’s Password Checker. Password Checker is a non-recording feature on this Web site that helps determine your password’s strength as you type.

Simple and Effective!

Password strategies to avoid
Some common methods used to create passwords are easy to guess by criminals. To avoid weak, easy-to-guess passwords:

• Avoid sequences or repeated characters. “12345678,” “222222,” “abcdefg,” or adjacent letters on your keyboard do not help make secure passwords.

• Avoid using only look-alike substitutions of numbers or symbols. Criminals and other malicious users who know enough to try and crack your password will not be fooled by common look-alike replacements, such as to replace an ‘i’ with a ‘1′ or an ‘a’ with ‘@’ as in “M1cr0$0ft” or “P@ssw0rd”. But these substitutions can be effective when combined with other measures, such as length, misspellings, or variations in case, to improve the strength of your password.

• Avoid your login name. Any part of your name, birthday, social security number, or similar information for your loved ones constitutes a bad password choice. This is one of the first things criminals will try.

• Avoid dictionary words in any language. Criminals use sophisticated tools that can rapidly guess passwords that are based on words in multiple dictionaries, including words spelled backwards, common misspellings, and substitutions. This includes all sorts of profanity and any word you would not say in front of your children.

• Use more than one password everywhere. If any one of the computers or online systems using this password is compromised, all of your other information protected by that password should be considered compromised as well. It is critical to use different passwords for different systems.

• Avoid using online storage. If malicious users find these passwords stored online or on a networked computer, they have access to all your information.

And Finally,
Keep your passwords secret
Treat your passwords and pass phrases with as much care as the information that they protect.

• Don’t reveal them to others. Keep your passwords hidden from friends or family members (especially children) who could pass them on to other less trustworthy individuals. Passwords that you need to share with others, such as the password to your online banking account that you might share with your spouse, are the only exceptions.

• Protect any recorded passwords. Be careful where you store the passwords that you record or write down. Do not leave these records of your passwords anywhere that you would not leave the information that they protect.

• Never provide your password over e-mail or based on an e-mail request. Any e-mail that requests your password or requests that you to go to a Web site to verify your password is almost certainly a fraud. This includes requests from a trusted company or individual. E-mail can be intercepted in transit, and e-mail that requests information might not be from the sender it claims. Internet “phishing” scams use fraudulent e-mail messages to entice you into revealing your user names and passwords, steal your identity, and more. Learn more about phishing scams and how to deal with online fraud.

• Change your passwords regularly. This can help keep criminals and other malicious users unaware. The strength of your password will help keep it good for a longer time. A password that is shorter than 8 characters should be considered only good for a week or so, while a password that is 14 characters or longer (and follows the other rules outlined above) can be good for several years.

• Do not type passwords on computers that you do not control. Computers such as those in Internet cafés, computer labs, shared systems, kiosk systems, conferences, and airport lounges should be considered unsafe for any personal use other than anonymous Internet browsing. Do not use these computers to check online e-mail, chat rooms, bank balances, business mail, or any other account that requires a user name and password. Criminals can purchase keystroke logging devices for very little money and they take only a few moments to install. These devices let malicious users harvest all the information typed on a computer from across the Internet—your passwords and pass phrases are worth as much as the information that they protect.