Its time for the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (2011). If you need a printable bracket for your office pool, CBS Sports has you covered. You can visit (LINK) http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/ncaa-tournament/brackets/printable_men (http://www NULL.cbssports NULL.com/collegebasketball/ncaa-tournament/brackets/printable_men) to print out a full bracket of this years tournament.
Android: Best Buy correction on HTC Thunderbolt
Seems that the new HTC Thunderbolt delay caught a few off guard. Here is a notice from my local Best Buy
(Publish from my Sprint EVO while at the Best Buy)
Facebook: Another scam alert – Fake Charlie Sheen Video scam
(From the register)
(http://www NULL.theregister NULL.co NULL.uk/2011/03/07/charlie_sheen_facebook_scam/)
Charlie Sheen fake filth flick powers Facebook survey scam • The Register (http://www NULL.theregister NULL.co NULL.uk/2011/03/07/charlie_sheen_facebook_scam/)
www.theregister.co.uk (http://www NULL.theregister NULL.co NULL.uk)
Scammers have exploited actor Charlie Sheen’s increasingly bizarre antics as a lure for the latest in a long line of survey scams on Facebook.
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Tech Geek and More Note
As always scammers are looking to use human curiosity against you. The want for the “latest train wreak” is now and has always been one of the best ways for a bad guy to be trick you into falling for his/her trap.
Remember -
- Keep your AV updated
- Make sure you have a Spyware program or 2 installed on your pc. I recommend having both superantispyware and malwarebytes installed on your pc. You can find both at www.ninite.com (http://www NULL.ninite NULL.com) (Listed about mid-page, and both are free, even though both may ask you if you want to upgrade to pay versions. The free versions are more than enough)
- Always make sure they you update not only your Windows Install and Office install by going to Windows update in Control Panel (Vista and Win 7) or by Going to (LINK) http://update.microsoft.com/windowsupdate/v6/default.aspx?ln=en-us which is the Microsoft Updates page (Win XP and earlier) (http://update NULL.microsoft NULL.com/windowsupdate/v6/default NULL.aspx?ln=en-us)
- DO NOT CLICK ON ANY link that you were not expecting, even if it appears to come from someone you know. (This is the Red Riding Hood theory. )
Android: Analysis of the DroidDream malware found this week (3/5/11)
The big news this week was the discovery of over 50 app’s on the Official Android Marketplace found to have a “rogue” malware included with the software. The applications with the DroidDream malware are copies of actual legit app’s, that the bad guys have modified to include the malware, then reposted back on the Marketplace, with the hope that people would just see the name of the app and not check on the publisher or date information. Considering how many downloads had this malware payload included, it does seem most people do not bother looking at the app’s info (Publisher, Date Published, Reviews, etc.) prior to downloading.
According to Symantec (http://www NULL.symantec NULL.com/connect/blogs/new-android-threat-gives-phone-root-canal), there were 52 total infected apps published to the Android Market: 21 by kingmall2010, 21 by myournet, and 10 by we20090202. They also claim that there were anywhere from 50,000 to 200,000 downloads of infected apps before they were pulled from the Android market.
Cautions you should take
Security conscious consumers should be wary of the apps they install on their phone and only install apps from reputable publishers though the official Android Market. Here are some things to look for to identify an app from a reputable publisher:
- The publisher has a website with contact information
- The app is from the official and original publisher (i.e., if you are installing Angry Birds, ensure it’s from Rovio Mobile Ltd)
- App has a high number of downloads, ratings, and positive reviews
For those interested in the how this specific malware (DroidDream) works, there is an excellent analysis on the iss.net blog posted by Jon Larimer. (I will warn the non-geeks, that the information posted by Jon Larimer is very much at a Geek level) (LINK) http://blogs.iss.net/archive/Examining%20the%20recent.html (http://blogs NULL.iss NULL.net/archive/Examining%20the%20recent NULL.html)
Hardware: How to resolve SD Card issues (In Windows)
I ran into an issue this week when I attempted to format an 8 GB High Capacity SD Card inside of a camera and it failed to format. I then put the SD card in a pc and attempted the format from the pc only to receive and error and be unable to format the SD card.
The pc would report that the SD card was not formatted and needed to be. When I attempted to format on the pc, I would get an error that said “Failed to format the device”
In doing some research on this issue I discovered that there is an SD Association (Link: http://www.sdcard.org (http://www NULL.sdcard NULL.org)) and they have a free Program specially designed to format SD/SDHC/SDXC cards. The program called SD Formatter has the following advantage (From the SD Association Page)
This software formats all SD memory cards, SDHC memory cards and SDXC memory cards that comply with the SD File System Specification. SD Formatter provides quick and easy access to your SD, SDHC and SDXC memory cards.
The SD Formatter was created specifically for SD/SDHC/SDXC Cards. It is strongly recommended to use the SD Formatter instead of formatting utilities provided with operating systems which format various types of storage media. These generic utilities may result in less than optimal performance for SD/SDHC/SDXC Cards.
So I downloaded the program called SD Formatter 3 and tried it on ,my SD card. Here are the steps for using SD Formatter -
- The application initializes with just one small screen.
- First, select the drive containing the card you wish to format. Likely, this will be E or F for most Windows users. Notice that when you select the drive, the size of the SD disk appears just below the selection. For the 4GB card used in this example, the size is recognized as 3.68 GB. (No Matter what size SD card you use, the size will report just a little bit smaller due to formatting requirements).
- Next, click Option to select how you want the SD card formatted. A dialogue box appears with a dropdown menu listing three “format type” options.
- The first, Quick, is simply a standard wipe of the disk—all data currently on the disk will be erased.
- The second, Full (Erase), will put the disk into a proper SD format, be aware that even though this lists as Erase because it does a simple delete vs. overwrite, it may still be possible (Its not easy but could be done) to recover the files that were on the drive.
- The third option, Full (OverWrite),—is the option you will want to use most often, as it formats the card properly, while giving it a fresh start with no old data left on the disk at all. Not all cards support this, but if you choose this and the card does not support the option, the formatter automatically reverts to the second “erase off” option during the formatting process. (NOTE: With this option, when its gone, its gone!)
- Under the Format Type dropdown menu is a second menu called “format size adjustment” that asks if you want to try to increase the amount of space on your SD card or not. Turning this option on will allow you to use the maximum space possible on your SD card. Once you have made your selection, click OK.
- You will be brought back to the original formatter screen where it should display the options you just selected:
- Click Format. If you select Quick you will be informed that “Data may be retrieved after quick format. Meaning that it will not completely overwrite what is on the card. (However, you will need special recovery software to retrieve files from the card as all the pointers that would show you the files when you look at the drive will be removed, so the card will appear blank) Click OK
- Finally after that you will be asked one last time if you are sure you want to do this. If you are sure, click OK.
- A new dialogue box then displays the status of your formatting efforts. For the options selected above, it first erases all files from the disk, then formats it. If you are using a larger disk, as in this example, this process will take a few minutes. Do not turn off your computer or remove the disk until the entire process is complete.
When complete, a dialogue box appears telling you the results of the formatting process.
With that you should now have a very usable SD card.
Software: Live Mesh Beta closing on March 31, 2011
Microsoft has announced that they are closing Live Mesh beta. For those who has used it, you have until March 31st to download and save any files you have posted your Mesh. Here is the email from Microsoft making the announcement.
iPhone: How to capture a picture of your screen
There are many reasons why getting a picture of your screen is helpful. You may want to take a picture of a text or IM conversation, an error, a game score, or anything else imaginable, are just some of the reasons I’m aware of.
The following simple steps can be taken to capture a picture of any screen of the iPhone
Step 1: Navigate to The Screen You Want to Capture
Move to the screen you want to that an image of just like normal. Make sure it appears on the screen exactly as you want it to appear in the picture. Once you see it on the screen exactly as you want it, you’re ready to take a screenshot!
Step 2: Take The Screenshot
Taking the screenshot is an easy process, as you only need to push 2 buttons:
- Hold down the sleep/wake button on the top, right edge of the phone
- At the same time press the home button 2 times (short presses)
The screen will flash momentarily, signifying the picture has been taken. These screenshots are now automatically saved as photos in your camera roll.
TGM: There are now more ways to follow Tech Geek and More
In an attempt to give visitors more ways to stay informed, there are now multiple ways to follow Tech Geek and More. As always, all Major posts will continue on TechGeekandMore.com
In addition You can also follow Tech Geek and More on -
Facebook – LINK: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tech-Geek-and-More/123599817706693?v=wall (http://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/pages/Tech-Geek-and-More/123599817706693?v=wall)
Twitter – LINK: http://twitter.com/techgeekandmore (http://twitter NULL.com/techgeekandmore)
RSS / Feedburner – http://techgeekandmore.com/feed (http://techgeekandmore NULL.com/feed) / http://feeds.feedburner.com/techgeekandmore (http://feeds NULL.feedburner NULL.com/techgeekandmore)
How to: Getting the old picture view back on Facebook (workaround)
On Thursday 2/10/2011, Facebook announced on their (LINK) blog page (http://blog NULL.facebook NULL.com/blog NULL.php?post=432670242130) in post called (LINK) More Beautiful Photos (http://blog NULL.facebook NULL.com/blog NULL.php?post=432670242130), that they are rolling out the new picture viewer to all Facebook users.
UPDATE on Thursday, February 10, 2011: We are rolling out the new Photo Viewer to everyone over the course of the next few weeks. Now, you can browse more photos faster without having to lose your place in Facebook. Visit the Help Center (http://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/help/?page=831) to learn more about using the Photo Viewer. Check out our Engineering blog (http://www NULL.facebook NULL.com/notes/facebook-engineering/developing-facebooks-new-photo-viewer/499447633919) for more technical details about how we designed and engineered the new feature.
The new viewer is supposed to give users the following
-
Higher Resolution
We’re increasing the size of the photos stored from 720 pixels to 2048 pixels on the largest edge, for an 8 times increase overall
-
A Better Photo Viewer
The new viewer makes it simpler and faster to navigate photos
-
Easier Tagging and Uploading
With our new uploader, you will be able to tag multiple photos in the same album all at once, as well as tag photos of the same person with a lot less effort
Some Comments made about this new picture viewer (these were posted on the same Facebook announcement by various Facebook users)
- THIS BIG BLACK SCREEN IS MAKING MY PICTURES SMALLER NOT LARGER
- I have a back button on my browser. I think I can handle browsing photos. I’d rather hit back 40 times than use this stupid new photo viewer, what a nightmare
- No, I do not like this new way. I can’t see the photos. C can’t see what I have put on and sure can’t see what other friends have on their site. i guess older people or those of us wit eye problems don’t matter. Why would anyone ever do this so lots can’t see I don’t know!!!!!!
- The new photo viewer is awful. It’s skips pictures when you are clicking on the arrow buttons and when you click on the actual picture. I hate pop ups, and I feel like the new photo viewer is one big pop up. The photos are actually smaller than they used to be. It’s really hard to tag ppl b/c it stays on the tagging function until you click “done tagging” even if you’ve moved on to the next picture. It’s harder to edit the picture info… i.e. caption, rotate, etc. Why mess with a good thing? The old way was SOOO much better. Please change!
So what does the Facebook Picture Viewer look like now / What issues are there
When accessing pictures in the new Facebook viewer they will look like this now.
However as well intentioned as this Facebook change was (as the reasons listed above – given by Facebook sound good), the implementation leaves A LOT to be desired. Here are some of the things that I have directly noticed.
- Pic viewer only shows black screen, no pic sometimes
- Pictures show smaller now than they did
- Browser has locked up more than once while trying to use the new pic viewer (Both IE8 and Firefox)
Workaround to the old version back (It’s simple)