Go ahead, make my day!

Yesterday I received an envelope in my mailbox here at the library. I didn't recognize the name on the return address. Inside was a picture of a young boy I didn't know. His name was on the photo along with a message from his parents welcoming him to their family. Mystified, I opened the enclosed card. A handwritten message read, "Thank you for your notary services. The final documents enabled us to finish the adoption of our wonderful son. We are so glad to have him home and are grateful to the many people who helped us complete the journey." During a typical day, I may perform lots of notaries. I didn't remember this family, but now I'll never forget them.

Mac OS X targeted by Trojan

I switched to a Mac computer because there is very little malware for it. Malware is a catchall term for viruses, Trojans, spyware, Blue Meanies and all sorts of nasty stuff that can get on your computer and make you sad.

But lately, we've been seeing more articles like this one from ZDNet; Mac OS X targeted by Trojan and backdoor tool. According to the article, this bad guy is found on adult websites, posing as a program needed to play video files. (This technique is used to trick the user into downloading and installing the Trojan.) But in the future it could become common on other sites, too. Always be careful about downloading free software, such as a viewer or a game, or agreeing to a free computer scan. These things are almost always big trouble.

Back in May of 2007 I posted about another reason I'm glad I switched to the Mac.

Would Henry Higgins Approve?

Recently, Walter Mossberg wrote an article in his Personal Technology blog about Wi-Fi Internet service for cars titled, "Wi-Fi on Wheels Is Steady, but Has a Speed Bump."

While reading his description of a router that can be installed in car trunks, I was brought up short by this sentence: "This router looks like a military device, because it is ruggedized to survive jolts and vibrations..." Ruggedized??? That couldn't really be a word, could it? It sounded like slangy gobbledygook to me, similar to the term Woody Allen used to describe a rock concert when he said, "It achieved total heaviosity." But this was Walter Mossberg, tech guru of the Wall Street Journal. Surely he wouldn't use jargon like that. And of course he didn't. When I see a word that I don't know or have suspicions about, I go to Google and type "define" (without the quotes) and then the word. In this case, the search results brought up links to several online dictionaries, all of which assured me that "ruggedized" is indeed a word that means, "the act of making a piece of equipment rugged (strengthening to resist wear or abuse)." The Free Online Dictionary listed the related term, "ruggedization," as a synonym. To satisfy my curiosity, I checked the Oxford English Dictionary print edition, which also defined ruggedization as "the action or process of making something rugged."

In a disturbing development, the OED says "heaviosity" is really a word, too.

Is it Just Me?

Sometimes a website won't load, but you may wonder if the site is really down or if there's a problem with your computer. "Downforeveryoneorjustme?" will let you know. Type the address of the site you're trying to reach in the box. It will check the site and say either, "It's just you,” or “Yikes! The website is actually down!”

Reading is fine by me, thanks.

A few days ago one of the major spam spewers was shut down. This article from CNet News has the details. Although they'll probably be back in a few months, this is great news. Some estimates were that 40% of all spam came from this source. Since then, the number of spam messages dropped from about 40 messages per second to 10 per second. That's still a lot but, instead of a dozen or so daily messages, I didn't get any yesterday. However, today I got a hilarious message advertising a generic form of Viagra. Typically, the subject lines are something like "let the magic begin" or "keep your girlfriend happy." But this one read "Now you don't have to spend your evenings alone reading books." The horror!!

Learn to Use the New Library Catalog

The library has a new state-of-the-art online catalog! I'll be doing a demonstration on Tuesday, November 18 at 10:00 a.m. in the Carman Community Room. I'll show you the catalog's innovative features, including easy-to-use search tools, customized reading lists, RSS feeds and much more. Please join us for a look at the latest in library technology. To register, please visit the library's Events Calendar.

A problem with AVG virus scanner

I often recommend the free AVG anti-virus program as an alternative to a fee-based program. Most of the time it works as well as any other. But according to this article, AVG may wrongly identify an important computer file as harmful. You may see a warning message like this.



AVG advises you to delete the file, but this will prevent your computer from booting correctly. AVG has posted instructions for recovering your system here. You can find other remedies on this web page.