Tech/Computer advice from me

i've finally switched over to a blackberry z10. i tried it for a few weeks first. it's a world phone designed for verizon and i'm on a gsm network, so the fastest speeds i'll get at 2 1/2 G, which is pretty slow. but that's only when not on wifi. when you use your phone as a work phone, vs a consumption device, i found myself back at home with blackberry. it's hard to describe if you're not used to using your phone that way, it's just a feeling you get when you use it.

still wish i had a q10 with the keyboard instead of the candy bar-style z10, but it's just head and shoulders above android and ios when it comes to being a secure working device.

plus, i still get all of my android apps without the android OS :) so i'm not missing out on anything app wise and i get to have much stricter control over what it is google can see on my phone. much, much stricter.

the only flaw is that i can't use run keeper because it requires me to install google services. i could install them, but i'm interested in limiting google's grip on my phone, so i opted for a native blackberry app which means i lost my workout record but i think i can live with that.
 
Are you guys familiar with Anvisoft, and whether it's a legit program ?
I was about to install it, based on some positive reviews, but I'm also reading other reviews that depict it as shady and malivious.
 
Are you guys familiar with Anvisoft, and whether it's a legit program ?
I was about to install it, based on some positive reviews, but I'm also reading other reviews that depict it as shady and malivious.

maliciously delicious?!!!!
 
anyone else nervous every time they swipe the card through a point-of-sale terminal?
 
@BadAtNetworking
Arguing w/the auditors again. They don't think keeping a box of tapes in my car counts as an off-site backup.

Terrible Networker ‏@BadAtNetworking
Hey there are two Ethernet ports on my phone! Can I plug both into the switch and Etherchannel for faster voice?


Terrible Networker ‏@BadAtNetworking
Hmm I need to send someone this CLI output. Better take a screenshot of my entire monitor, save it as a BMP, and paste it into a Word doc
 
I'm still getting requests for help when family members receive an email from others about a 'new' virus that has just been released. In fact, this 'new' virus is so new, that not even highly reputable anti-virus software makers are aware of it.

The version is the email attachment called Olympic Torch, or Happy Birthday, or Merry Christmas, or whatever the originator decides to call it, and if you click on it, it will download code that completely wipes your C:/ drive, and then destroys your MBR, making your pc unrecoverable and no longer useable.

The problem that this causes is that more 'damage' is done by people forwarding the email than the 'malicious code', which doesn't exist.

So please, if you do get such an email, delete it. Do not forward it.
 
I'm still getting requests for help when family members receive an email from others about a 'new' virus that has just been released. In fact, this 'new' virus is so new, that not even highly reputable anti-virus software makers are aware of it.

The version is the email attachment called Olympic Torch, or Happy Birthday, or Merry Christmas, or whatever the originator decides to call it, and if you click on it, it will download code that completely wipes your C:/ drive, and then destroys your MBR, making your pc unrecoverable and no longer useable.

The problem that this causes is that more 'damage' is done by people forwarding the email than the 'malicious code', which doesn't exist.

So please, if you do get such an email, delete it. Do not forward it.

Good lord, how many times has that one made the rounds. I groan every time somebody brings it up to me asking if it's real.
 
If you have an apple device you need to make sure to update it. OS X 10.9.2 just came out and iOS 7.0.6 came out last week. This update addresses a very, very serious flaw in the operating system that allows for (supposedly) encrypted traffic to be captured and read back as clear text.

Technical breakdown - https://www.imperialviolet.org/2014/02/22/applebug.html
 
So, within a matter of weeks, MS will stop supporting Windows XP.
So, would this mean, that if I decide to keep XP, that I should get rid of Internet Explorer, for safety reasons, and stick with Firefox or other browsers ?
 
It just means that there will no longer be any security releases, updates, bug fixes or product support released on Update Tuesday.

My suggestion is that anyone who still uses XP should really consider a new pc. It will save a lot of headaches later.
 
Ya I made the switch kicking and screaming...I loved XP. Gotta admit I love 7 just as much though, it's been super stable and reliable for all of my machines...knock wood.
 
Ya I made the switch kicking and screaming...I loved XP. Gotta admit I love 7 just as much though, it's been super stable and reliable for all of my machines...knock wood.

7 is great like t a lot. I'm hoping I can skip right over 8, want no part of it.
 
So, within a matter of weeks, MS will stop supporting Windows XP.
So, would this mean, that if I decide to keep XP, that I should get rid of Internet Explorer, for safety reasons, and stick with Firefox or other browsers ?

I believe the last version of IE supported on XP was 8 - might have been 9. The latest is IE 11. So you should definitely dump IE and move on to a browser that will continue to be updated. Honestly, you probably should have moved on a while ago. But better late than never :)


I cannot in good conscious recommend you even continue to use XP. XP has been a highly targeted operating system since the early days and this has made it a prime candidate for malware research, testing, etc. There are so many security vulnerabilities in XP that have been discovered over its 12 year life that the idea of using it after MS says it'll no longer provide security updates is just down right scary.

You would be significantly better off 'upgrading' to unbutu, fedora, mint, debian, or any of the various other free linux distributions that are available online. Linux is a much different operating system, with a bit of a steep learning curve for non-techie people, but still a quality OS and once you pick up the basics you should be ok. My recommendation would be Ubuntu - it's the most novice-friendly of the linux distros.

That said, I understand not wanting to bother with any of it. Like I said, I just cannot in good consciousness recommend you stay on XP :\
 
whats sad though is if you are trying to call MS to upgrade from 7 Home to 7 Pro they wont do it anymore. They are forcing you to get 8 Pro.

They force you to buy windows 8.1 pro because that's all they sell, but it comes with downgrade rights to windows 7 pro. You can use the key to validate a windows 7 pro install.

Understanding downgrade rights

edit: That link seems to be more for OEM purchases, but I believe the same applies to regular purchases as well. I may be wrong... would have to look some more...
 
Over 90% of malware out there is written for IE so I recommend to everyone I know that they find another browser. I've always preferred Firefox but other alternatives have people swearing by them too. The universal agreement though is dump IE. If anyone wants them and doesn't already know them I have some speed tweaks that will make Firefox run a lot faster depending on your connection speed.
 
Might be worth just going to a Microcenter or similar store and just grabbing an OEM copy.
 

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