Sneaky Password Crooks from .HK!
by Dave Alm

One of our friends just sent me a copy of an email he'd just received and I thought I would pass it along because it looks very plausable. Here is how it read:

Your Account Expires in 2 Day(s)

The Help desk Program that periodically checks the size

of your e-mail space is sending you this information. The

program runs weekly to ensure your inbox does not grow

too large, thus preventing you from receiving or sending

new e-mail. As this message is being sent, you have 18

megabytes (MB) or more stored in your inbox. To help

us reset your space in our database, please enter your

current user name (_________________) password

(_______________)

You will receive a periodic alert if your inbox size is

between 18 and 20 MB. If your inbox size is 20 MB, a

program on your Webmail will move your oldest e-mails

to a folder in your home directory to ensure you can
continue receiving incoming e-mail. You will be notified

this has taken place.

If your inbox grows to 25 MB, you will be unable to

receive new e-mail and it will be returned to sender. All

this is programmed to ensure your e-mail continues to

function well.

Thank you for your cooperation.
Help Desk

Of course it was not from the internet provider. The reply-to address ended in .hk and I wondered what that might be. When I googled it I found that it is Hong Kong. I also found that Hong Kong is the leader in bad stuff from the internet!

Antivirus software vendor McAfee reports the most dangerous domains to navigate to are “.hk” (Hong Kong), “.cn” (China) and “.info. Of all “.hk” sites McAfee tested, it flagged 19.2 percent as dangerous or potentially dangerous to visitors. Yikes!!! That's some pretty bad numbers.

The chances of downloading spyware, adware, viruses or other unwanted software from surfing the Web have increased greatly in the last year. You do not want to give ANYBODY personal information no mater who they say they are -- and especially if they are from a domain in Hong Kong, China, the Phillipines or Russia.

With such a bad taste left in my mouth from Vista...
by Ben Musall


I'm kind of embarrassed to say I am starting to like Windows 7. The new "Start" bar on the bottom with its new way of handling open applications seems useful. It also seems faster than Windows XP - A SHOCKER. I guess something I am going to have to do is put it on older hardware (see vitals in previous post) such as a P4 2.0Ghz or something like that. Stay tuned...

Windows 7 Beta seems to be worlds better than Vista. 
by Dave Alm


 Admittedly I have only installed and used Windows 7 for about an hour - but so far it seems faster and more stable than Vista has ever been. I'll be updating this in the coming days and weeks as I have more experience.

Test System Vitals:
AMD 6000+ Dual-Core Processor
Asus Motherboard
Onboard Nvidia Geforce 6150 Graphics
3GB Ram
250GB Seagate Hard Drive