Free Email Providers

April 7, 2012 --- Miles V.

OR “Alternatives to GMail” Whichever title you prefer. With Google’s not-so-new but stating-plainly-and-thereby-legitimizing-all-the-shady-user-tracking-they’ve-done-from-the-start policy, I’m sure some of you out there are wondering if it’s possible to exist in this world without getting involved with the big G.  The answer. . . . . is actually probably not.  But what is possible, more easily than most people probably realize, is to abstain from Google’s core service that binds all the others together.  No, not the … Read more →

Posted in Internet | Tagged email, Google, internet | 3 Comments

Palm Hotsync on 64-bit Windows 7/Vista

February 24, 2012 --- Miles V.

Ok, I know this isn’t all that new, but this week was the first time I’ve had to sync an older Palm device with a 64-bit operating system.  Surprise surprise, HP (who now owns PalmONE and “supports” all its products) says it can’t be done via USB. But, third party developer Aceeca has released some 64-bit driver for Vista and Windows 7.  And here they are: http://aceeca.com/support/technical-support/downloads/product/drivers-64-bit-usb-windows-driver-for-palmgarnet-os All you need to do is press the … Read more →

Posted in Hardware, How To, Software | Leave a comment

HijackThis is now Open Source!

February 19, 2012 --- Miles V.

I couldn’t imagine a better outcome to this story.  Now all it needs is developer to pick up the project and run with it. Maybe I should back up though. For many years HijackThis has been one of my favorite tools for detecting and removing unwanted startup items from Windows systems.  As the name implies, it was originally written to help fix browser hijacks, however it quickly proved to be just as effective at disabling … Read more →

Posted in Announcement, Software | Leave a comment

Zero.Access Rootkit on the Loose!

October 18, 2011 --- Miles V.

I’ve treated four or five machines in the last week for this nasty new infection: mostly XP machines, but Vista and Win7 are susceptible as well.  It has similar symptoms as other rootkits: preventing your antivirus software from running, redirecting your web search results, etc., but this one is a little nastier.  It doesn’t just disable your software, it mangles the executable file so the antivirus needs to be removed and reinstalled after the infection … Read more →

Posted in Internet, Software | Tagged rootkit, virus, Windows | 1 Comment

Gargoyle Router

October 10, 2011 --- Miles V.

Anyone who knows me has probably heard me gush lovingly about DD-WRT, the fabulous and crabulous open-source 3rd-party software for consumer wireless routers which turns them into $400 business-class equivalents.  Recently though, I’ve found a major shortcoming in DD-WRT’s access restriction settings, and that shortcoming is…… they just suck.  Or rather, they don’t do anything better than the stock Linksys firmware. When I say access restrictions, I’m referring to a router’s ability to block or … Read more →

Posted in Hardware, Network, Software | Tagged firmware, linksys, router | Leave a comment