My Digital Life

Malware Masquerading As Anti Virus Getting Worse

There seems to be a trend in web based malware today, masquerading as what looks to be a valid anti-virus message to the untrained eye. Click on the message and your system is infected with nasty malware which demands what amounts to ransom to fix your system and who knows whether the fix really works. This is the second time I am dealing with a friend's computer being infected by such malware. Both masqueraded as anti-virus/anti-malware solutions requesting payment to clean up the machine. The Washington Post this week published an article on the subject of these extortion schemes and how this malware morphs its messages based on the anti-virus software you have installed on the machine. The latest malware on my friend's machine was called "Advanced XP Defender" (the first one was Internet Security 2010), because the last go around I had installed Microsoft Defender and Security Essentials.

This malware was particularly nasty because it changes some key administrator privileges in the system where you can't even run .exe applications and corrupts your current anti-virus installation, in my case Microsoft's Security Essentials. I could not even reinstall security essentials.

In the end the two things that worked where to follow these Microsoft instructions (down the page) and installing the Malwarebytes free scanner. I can't say enough good things about Malwarebytes, it installed when MS Security Essentials would not and once updated with the latest signatures it was able to fully clean the machine. I was then able to install MS Security Essentials.

I think that MS Security Essentials' Real Time scanner would have caught this piece of malware but it did not. My question now is whether the free MS Security Essentials works well and maybe it's time to pony up the $24.95 for Malwarebytes full version.

iPad – Migration Away From Flash Will Take A Long Time

The reality is that Steve Jobs cannot eradicate Flash overnight. I agree with his stance on HTML 5, although I think there is still room for debate on H.264 for video. That said how can you tout a device's browsing experience when you don't support a large part of the web. Even MacRumors had this to say yesterday:

"So while developing Flash-free versions of websites may be reasonable for certain publications with the structure and resources to accomplish the feat, it is by no means an easy solution for the many sites out there currently relying on Flash to display their standard Web content. During a visit to New York City to promote the iPad to publishers, Apple CEO Steve Jobs reportedly argued against the need for Flash, pushing publications toward adoption of other technologies such as H.264 video and JavaScript that are more iPad-friendly."

There is no doubt that the iPad will be an initial success, but how long will people stand not being able to browse the full internet. All the claims that Flash is on its way out are fine, but how long it will take to migrate those millions and possibly billions lines of code. People shouted the demise of the mainframe in the 90's and IBM is still selling them at a pretty good clip.

My Rant of the Day: the Wall Street Journal’s Pricing Model Makes No Sense

I understand the need for newspapers to find ways to fund their reporting and paying for subscriptions is fair way to generate revenue. I pay for an annual Wall Street Journal online subscription. I was happy to see WSJ develop an iPhone application which is top notch, however they are now charging for content I already get via a web browser (IE or Safari). This makes no sense to me, once you purchase an online subscription you should be able use any device to view their content. They are currently discounting the additional feature for $52 per year, but will charge an additional $104 per year for the privilege of using the iPhone app. They are not going to get that from me!

 

Blocked WSJ content using the iPhone app.

 

This is the same article, viewed using my online subscription in Safari.

iPhone Web - Air travel information web sites

Unless you feel you need all your travel status information all in one application, I have found that there is no need to purchase an application. All of the status information is derived from government and airline web sites which can be accessed directly.

Out of the Washington, DC we use the predominant airlines United and USAir. They both have mobile sites which I use while traveling, but I have found that today most airlines have them, and some of them like British Airways have iPhone Apps.

• United mobile Web site: http://ua.flightlookup.com/
• USAir mobile Web site: http://mobile.usablenet.com/mt/www.usairways.com/awa/?un_jtt_redirect

If you use the main URLs you get directed to the main web sites which are somewhat unwieldy on a small screen like the iPhone and you do have Flash compatibility issues with most of these websites.

On the FAA status front, the easiest web site to use is the Air Traffic Control System Command Center text web page.

• ATCSCC text web page. http://www.fly.faa.gov/flyfaa/plaintext.html

The ATCSCC web site displays a national summary, you can select to view the status of a major airport by tapping the drop down list towards the bottom of the screen next to Select an Airport.

The last web site I use is flight stats; http://mobile.flightstats.com which provides with a myriad of information from TSA wait times to flight status by route.

 FlightStats is one of the most informative all around air travel sites I have found.

iPhone 2G - The beauty of upgrading a Pwned phone from 2.0.1 to 2.1

Back in August, I spent the good part of a Sunday updating my original unlocked iPhone 2G from 1.1.4 to 2.0.1 using Winpwn. Looking back, I actually had fun doing it because I was learning some of the intricacies of reviving (after sweating a couple of times) a bricked iPhone but it also took quite a bit of time. In September Apple released their 2.1 firmware and I decided to wait a while to make sure the appropriate updates would get into Winpwn.

Yesterday I took the plunge. Based on a couple of posts on the Hackint0sh forum, it appeared that you could update a Pwned 2.x iPhone 2G directly with iTunes. Since I knew how to backtrack by reverting to a previous firmware version (I had saved all the files from my 2.0.1 experience), I did not think there was a big risk in trying the update with iTunes.

It worked perfectly just like when I updated my AT&T locked iPhone 3G. Now I have a SIM unlocked iPhone 2G. Although it is not Jailbroken, I can run Quickpwn to perform that function. But right now I have no need to run Jailbroken applications so I will wait.

It is really interesting how the iPhoneSIMfree process I purchased a year ago to SIM unlock the iPhone has worked through all of the upgrades. Too bad they are out of business...

CallWave's new business model

I have been using CallWave on my Windows Mobile device since 2007 and it was a great free addition for voice mail.  It allowed me to receive voice mail via email and the voice to text recognition worked well enough to determine voice mail content. I also loved the Vista gadget which allowed you to play voice mails on your PC. I knew it could not last but now with my AT&T Visual Voice Mail on my iPhone I can't justify paying for CallWave....

 

 

Upgrade now... And never miss a call again. Yesterday we notified you that your Voicemail-to-Text service would be discontinued today. We apologize that this may have caused you some concern, and realize that this is not a sufficient amount of time for you to make a change to your account. Therefore, we have extended the upgrade period to Monday, September 22nd. We also want to explain that if you choose not to upgrade, only the transcribed message feature in your service will change. You will still be able to access all of your voicemail through your existing account. Visual voicemail and your Message Center will continue to be accessible. However, you will no longer receive transcribed voicemail messages. We appreciate your continued support, and look forward to providing you with high quality communication solutions. Sincerely, The CallWave Team (1) To upgrade to the high quality Voicemail-To-Text service, please follow these instructions: a) Log in to Callwave.com b) Visit the Account page c) Select "Change Service" d) Choose a package Note: Select the $4.95/month BASIC package and turn on Vtxt transcription for only the contacts you choose. Or select the PRO package for $14.95/month and receive 40 Vtxt per month. (2) If you do not wish to upgrade your service, and no longer wish to use the other features in Voicemail-to-Text, please follow the instructions below to stop voicemail "forwarding" to CallWave. a) Please find your deactivation code(s) in the table below. b) Dial the code(s) as you would a phone number c) Press "Send" on your phone to dial that number. d) Repeat steps b) and c) if there are multiple codes for your carrier Wireless Carrier or Network Deactivation Codes AT&T Cingular, T-Mobile, GSM network ##004# Verizon, CDMA network *73 *900 *920 TDMA Network *740 *730 Bluegrass, Midwest Wireless *900 *920 Cellcom *680 Cincinnati Bell ##004# Midwest Wireless *90## *92## US Cellular *740

This email was sent by: CallWave 136 W. Canon Perdido St. Santa Barbara, CA, 93101, USA

Ramblings for the week of May 26th in My Digital Life

Last week I signed up for the T-Mobile Family 4-Pack promotion and so far I think it will work out very nicely. Here is a summary of my observations:

• The selected 5 My Faves numbers are tied to the phone and not the account. The bottom line is that you can't share My Faves number across your Family plan (too bad).
• Once the My Faves numbers have been validated by the phone's My Faves application, you can swap your SIM card into a phone which does not have the My Faves application (like the iPhone). Your calls  to your My Faves numbers still count in you My Faves unlimited bucket.
• You can only modify My Faves numbers once a month. The message I received was that I could change them on June 1.

All in all this looks to be an excellent promotion...

With the official release of Windows Mobile 6.1 from HTC Europe for the TyTn II, I decided to take the plunge and upgrade my AT&T Tilt this last weekend. After backing up my unit with Sunnysoft's Backup Manager, I decided to try Dutty's 6.1 test ROM from xda-developers. I was unable to restore my backup and the ROM had several issues, the most troublesome was that I could not get the GPS to work. I decided to try the official release of the HTC ROM, I had to download it via MoDaCo, since HTC won't allow the download to a non HTC branded device. At this point I decided not bother restoring and I installed all my applications from scratch. I will have to update my Windows Mobile application list with my current configuration. All seems to be working well, GPS included...

I received my Fujitsu U810 and so far I am very impressed with its build quality. It is not the fastest machine (it gets a 2.1 Vista processor score), but I think it works quite well for web, email and text processing. The tablet functionality works very well (this one area where Vista shines). The size and weight  are just about perfect for my shoulder bag. I will be traveling soon and will report back on how useful this little machine will be.

This week:

• Working on a review of CellPoint's Flamingo Music earphones.
• Update my Windows Mobile application list

Ramblings for the week of May 19th in My Digital Life

Back in February I ranted about T-Mobile's lack of news and direction (link), however as comments pointed out they are tough to beat from a value perspective. This month they have again upped the ante on value with a special promotion through June 24 called the Family 4-Pack (link from tmonews.com). The Family 4-Pack adds:

• Unlimited [email protected]
• Unlimited calling to each family members 5 favorite poeple
• Unlimited T-Mobile to T-Mobile
• Unlimited Nights and Weekend

All of this for $9.99 per month in addition to your base Family plan charge and since it is an option, it has no contractual commitment. I was paying $19.99 for the [email protected] option, replacing it with the Family 4-Pack saves me $10 per month. Since I have 5 phones on our Family plan we can call up to 25 My Faves numbers for free (5 per phone which can be shared). In order to get this promotion T-Mobile checks to make sure that all of your phones are compatible with My Faves, they do not care so much if they are [email protected] compatible. It was interesting to find out that they knew I had connected with my iPhone, Wing, and currently HTC Kaiser (aka AT&T Tilt). They were concerned that the HTC Kaiser did not have the My Faves application. I tried to explain that I could install the My Faves application on the Kaiser but they did not think it would work so I told them I would use the Wing. I downloaded the My Faves application from xda-developers (link), installed it and it works just fine. I have been wondering how My Faves works, at first I thought the software on the phone added a code to the number called, but I am thinking that it is the billing system that handles the matching of numbers so you do not get charged. The only function the software on the phone seems to do is activate the number in your account profile by sending SMS messages. Without the software on the phone the number does not get validated and it is not active as a My Faves number. I am assuming it only does this once when you initially enter or modify the number. I will have to test my theory with my iPhone. If I make a call to one of the activated My Faves number on the iPhone, it should show up as a V call (My Faves) in my account on the T-Mobile web site. Obviously I can't add or modify My Faves numbers with the iPhone since it has no application to validate the number. Maybe someone will write one...Bottom line, I think this is a great promotion and it will keep me as a T-Mobile customer. I am now just waiting for 3G. Also it seems you can only modify a My Faves number once a month which makes sense, since if you could change the numbers at will, the plan could be viewed as totally unlimited...

I have decided to try a UMPC this month, the Fujitsu U810 to see how it might fit in with my travel gadgets. It is a Tablet PC with Vista that has a 5.6" screen and weighs 1.56lbs. This would definitely solve my photo sharing dilemma since I could easily transfer files from my camera and upload them to the Kodak Gallery for sharing. Costco is currently selling the 40GB model with Vista Home for $849 and adds 1 year to the base 1 year warranty for free. It will be interesting to see how useful this UMPC is.

This week:

• My review of SBSH Mobile Software Facade application for pocketnow.com. should be published this week. This is a smartphone (Windows Mobile Standard) today screen replacement.
• Finishing on a review of SBSH Mobile Software Pocket Weather.
• Working on a review of CellPoint's Flamingo Music earphones.
• Update my Windows Mobile application list

Ramblings for the week of May 12th in My Digital Life

The rumors have been flying about the 3G iPhone and this weekend's unavailability of original iPhones at Apple's online store just spurred things on.

Will Apple release the device in May, June or July? Well nobody but Steve Jobs seems to know, but everyone can reliably predict that an announcement will be made at Apple's World Wide Developers Conference June 9th - 13th. I think that pretty much rules out any May launch of the 3G Phone. Now all the pundits are debating whether the lack of inventory of the original iPhone was planned or a gaff. I think it was maybe a bit of both, but it really does not matter, it is a win win situation for Apple because they clear out their inventory with no markdowns and the pent up demand for the 3G phone will be that much greater. It is a fact that the 3G iPhone is coming, we just have to wait another month to know the exact date.  The more interesting rumor however, is the potential big announcement of a MID, UMPC or tablet style computer and where that takes Apple.

With the Sony Experia X1, the HTC Touch Diamond announcement last week and RIM's Blackberry Bold announcement, the competition is not sitting still. Are these iPhone killers, I doubt it but it will help stem users from migrating away. This next year will be an interesting one...

This week:

• My review of SBSH Mobile Software Facade application for pocketnow.com. should be published this week. This is a smartphone (Windows Mobile Standard) today screen replacement.
• Working on a review of SBSH Mobile Software Pocket Weather.
• Working on a review of CellPoint's Flamingo Music earphones.

Ramblings for the week of May 5th in My Digital Life

Unless you were living under a rock this weekend, the big technology news was that Microsoft bailed on the Yahoo acquisition. On its face value, I agree with the decision, I was never convinced that Microsoft could properly execute the merger. However, what I have found very interesting is the competition between the blogosphere and the traditional media in coming up with theories good or bad. Techmeme's front page is filled with links from both spheres. The one I found the most interesting (and it has nothing to do with my fascination with Apple...) was the post by fake Steve with the crank shot of Dr Evil (Ballmer) and Mini me (Gates). As the hard charging winner take all executive he is, I always think Ballmer has something up his sleeve and maybe he is gambling on Yahoo falling flat on its face, then picking up the pieces for next to nothing. We will just have to wait and see. In the end the  unfortunate issue in this story, is that Wall Street will decide Yahoo's fate rather than Yahoo, and we all know how fickle Wall Street can be...

I never got to put my 8GB micro SDHC card through it paces last week, by transferring my still pictures from my Sony camcorder. I found that my AT&T Tilt is very fickle when it comes to charging. In addition to the HTC charger, I have an iGo Juice and a Gomadic dual charger. Both of these allow me to charge multiple and different devices by changing the adapter plugs. Last month I had an issue with the iGo and the Tilt, the mini USB adapter I had used with the T-Mobile MDA and Wing did not work so I ordered one specific for the Tilt. This trip I took the Gomadic dual charger, (it does not charge laptops and is smaller), and the same is true, none  of the three adapters tips I had worked, at the end of the first day of travel the Tilt was dead. Good thing I took along my iPhone and Samsung i760. Unfortunately, the iPhone is not compatible with the Delkin USB Bridge and to my disappointment the i760 does not recognize the 8GB micro SDHC card. My planned experimentation was a bust...I was glad for GSM's SIM card technology so I could easily swap it into the iPhone, not true for Verizon's CDMA technology. If the i760 was my primary driver I would have been dead in the water since you can't easily swap phones...although EVDO worked great for watching Directv via my Slingbox.

As I was rushing out the door last Tuesday, Sling Media decided to announce they had released an update to the SlingPlayer mobile for Windows Mobile and I neglected to modify the formatting used by pocketnow.com (bbphp) and my blog (HTML). All fixed now...

This week:

• Finnish and publish my review of SBSH Mobile Software Facade application for pocketnow.com. This is a smartphone (Windows Mobile Standard) today screen replacement.