SECURE YOUR COMPUTER -- USE LINUX

     Linux and Unix users, this includes Mac OS X, say that their operating system is more secure than Windows.  Windows users say it's because most people use Windows, and that Windows is a bigger target for the people that like to spread malware.

     According to Wikipedia.org "In September 2008 Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer admitted that 60% of web-servers run Linux versus 40% that run Windows Web Server."  Here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux.  That means that the main target should be Linux based servers.  Another wikipedia page, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_platform, says that Google's web-servers use a custom version of Linux.  So why isn't 60% of the internet and especially Google crashing because of malware?

     Because they aren't the biggest target.  Police will tell you that the main homes that thief's break into, are the homes that are the least secure.  Malware used to be mostly about pranks.  Now it's more about identity theft, stealing passwords and credit card account information, and using an unknowing victims computer in a botnet.  Like the thief's breaking into people's home it's criminal activity for gain.  Windows is the biggest target because it's inherently the most vulnerable. It's because Windows was not ORIGINALLY built with the need for security in mind.

     Windows was not built for networking nor for multi-user usage.  It was originally designed as a stand alone, single user platform.  Unix which Linux is a clone of, was designed for networking and multi-user usage.   Also it was built with "permissions" in mind.  On Windows 95, any user could do what any other user could do.  With Windows XP, Windows became a little more secure by having an "Admin" level and lower levels of permissions for other users.  Administartor or Admin meant that you had total control of Windows.  The problem was that all users by default were set to "Admin" level.  So if you were logged in with Admin level control and someone broke into your system through the internet, they could have Admin or total control of your system.  Or if your system was infected with malware, while you were logged in with Admin level access, the malware could have total control to do anything in your system.

     Windows Vista and 7 have greatly improved security.  One way that security is improved is by making the default user setting set below Admin.  Also users are asked if they really want to do certain system changes and often asked for a password to confirm it.   However Windows is still less secure than Linux.  No operating system is 100% secure or safe.  It's a just the same question as in home security.  Which is more secure and which is less secure.  Are you more secure than your neighbor so that the burglar will leave you alone and head to the guy next door?  Well if you are using Linux and the guy next door is using any version of Windows, you are certainly more secure than he is.

     One example is from the CanSecWest 2008, PWN2OWN 2008 contest.  Here's a link to an article about it:  Mac OS X Hacked - Vista SP1 Hacked - Ubuntu Linux Survives Unscathed. In case you don't go to the article it tells, during the PWN2OWN 2008 hackers were challenged to break into computers running Mac OS X (Unix), Windows Vista SP1, and Ubuntu 7.10 (Linux).  OS X was the first to fall.  Vista was the second to be broken into.  Ubuntu 7.10 was never hacked. 

     Now Windows COULD be made to be made MORE secure than any other operating system.  But I believe it would take a major restart of the operating system.  Microsoft doesn't want to do that because of "Legacy".  Legacy refers to making Windows compatible with older versions of hardware and older versions of Windows.  Microsoft wants to keep Legacy so they don't lose customers using older software and hardware.  However it's part of what makes Windows more vulnerable.  It makes Windows more unstable it and less secure.

     There is much more I could go into about why Linux/Unix more secure but I'll just post links to these other articles:

Why Linux Is More Secure Than Windows

Windows v Linux security: the real facts

Security Report: Windows vs Linux 

Why Linux is More Secure Than Windows

Note:  The first and fourth articles are not the same article even though the titles are the same. 

     To conclude this I'll tell you my own personal experience.  I have used IBM compatible computers since DOS 4.  I've used Windows since Windows 3.1.  I used to make a living fixing Windows problems.  On at least one occasion, I've been installing Windows XP, and before finishing getting everything set up (installing firewall, anti-virus, etc), I've gotten a worm (a type of Malware).  I've used Windows 7 for as long as eight months before it showed signs of getting hacked into through the internet.  I've been running versions of Linux for about six years now and have never shown signs of being hacked.    As I've said in a previous article, we live in a day and age of SERIOUS malware and SERIOUS hacking.  The result of being hacked or infected by malware could simply be an annoyance such as having my wallpaper changed into something I find offensive.  However it could be, being tried and convicted of trafficking child porn after my system being hacked and made part of a botnet used for storing or transfering child porn.    How would you prove that you didn't know that material was on your computer?  See my next article:  "THE COST VS BENEFITS OF WINDOWS AND UBUNTU/LINUX."

The Loss of Steve Jobs

I haven't been able to post for too long, because I've been snowed under by too many other responsibilities, but I had to force time to make this post. 

    Steve Jobs had been involved with computers about as long as I have.  I was never rich and famous like him, but when I first got involved with computers he probably wasn't rich or famous either.  The first "personal" computer I ever laid my hands on was an Apple II.  The guy that brought it into computer class told us the story of how it was made by these two guys that started in a garage.

     In those days there was a lot of people doing stuff in their garages.  You could walk into computer stores and buy programs that came in zip-lock bags with a dot matrix printed label.  The programs were usually either on 5 1/4 inch floppies or on a cassette tape.  Apple II's had 51/4 floppy drives and Commodore 64's had 5 1/4 floppy drives and cassette decks called a Datasette.

     The point is that everybody involved in personal computers was pretty much just starting out.  No one knew where it was going or if or where it might end.  But there were two men who stood out more than anyone else and that was Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.  They each had there own vision for the future and they pressed on no matter what obstacle, good or bad.

      In those early days it was mostly a divide between Apple people and Commodore 64 people.  Just like now you hear "Windows is garbage, Mac rules!", or "Mac is garbage, Windows rules!", in those days it was Apple II vs C64.  Apple II had an expandable case with internal adapter slots and C64's was cheaper.  I went the cheaper route and bought a C64.

     Years later I was given an old Mac by a customer and I was intrigued by it.  I was doing Windows support since Windows needed more support than Mac.  I explored this old, all in one Mac, with it's tiny built in black and white screen, with great curiosity.  The OS (operating system) was an alien world to me, but I could see the genius behind it.  I could see why Mac lovers were Mac lovers.  I gave that Mac to a family that couldn't afford a computer of their own but years later, after retiring from doing computer support, bought myself an iBook.  I became a Mac lover.

      After getting a Mac I started paying attention to the Mac world.  I read an article ( I don't remember which magazine it was in), that talked about how Steve Jobs could be so passionate about even the small things, like how an icon looked.  He paid attention to the smallest details and that attention to detail was what brought back the flare and beauty to the Mac OS environment.

       It was once said that if the Queen of England hired Steve Jobs and Bill Gates to each build her a dining table, that Steve Jobs would hire the world's greatest carpenters and buy the finest and most expensive wood.  He would tell the carpenters to only use hand tools and no electrical tools.  He would have them use wood pegs to join the wood together instead of nails to make sure the joins never loosened.  He would tell them to make sure they do a great job no matter how long it takes, but it has to be perfect.  When it was done it would be one of the most expensive tables ever built, worthy of a museum and it would last forever.

       It was said that Bill Gates would spy on Steve's workers and buy the cheapest materials like particle board, plywood, and fake wood laminate.  He would show them a picture of Steve's table and tell them just get it as close as possible without making it look exactly the same.  He would tell them to just get it done fast and as long as it's close enough it's OK.  The workers would use nails, staples, wood glue, etc. When it was done it would look like a table you'd use to play cards on in your garage.  You would be able see the glue where it had spilled out from under the laminate, and if you weren't careful you'd get splinters from it.  Every time you played cards on it, you would have to stop in the middle of the game to put one of the table legs back on.

       There may be some exaggerations in this, but it a good example of how people saw Steve Jobs.  He was a man who was passionate about anything he did and obsessed with getting it done in a great way.  There was no "good enough"  for the man, there was only perfection.

        I have since moved away from Macs to what I call a "poor man's Mac", an IBM compatible with Ubuntu installed, but I'm still inspired from my Mac days.  Even when I customize my desktop I tend to remember the look of OS X, and I admit my desktop often tends to look very OS X'ish.

        To some people Steve Jobs was like a computer world messiah, and to some he was thought of as a Bill Gates in sheep's clothing. However you saw him he made an impact on the computer world that hopefully will never be forgotten.

         I'll miss you Steve.

The OS Wars

The OS* war goes on. Not only in the minds of people in general, but often in my mind. It's not just about which OS is better, which I think is the argument that most geeks go by, but which is the one that is most comfortable. It's also which will make us feel best about ourselves, or which will make us feel accepted or "part of the crowd".

If I did it my fathers way, I'd probably look at the numbers, the performance numbers and more than that the price. But because we humans are people of emotions, sentiments, and attachments it's not as simple as what OS is best or what has the best cost to performance ratio.

I've been in this thing for a long time. I saw the computer that covered one ten foot wide wall of a high school, the one you programmed with punch cards taken out and replaced with a 3 foot high, four foot wide, and 3 foot deep box shaped computer. It had six CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) terminals and two 3 foot wide printers with built in keyboards. I saw the day one of the very first Apple II's were brought into computer class. I remember the day's you could buy magazines that had programs written in the back for computers like the Apple II, C64, and Atari 800. I remember when you could walk into a grocery store and buy programs for your C64 on cassette tape or cartridge.

Even back then this war was going on. Apple II VS C64, C64 Vs Atari. The Apple II people argued their computer was more expandable. The C64 people argued theirs was cheaper. I didn't know anyone who owned an Atari computer so I don't know what they argued.

But they all seemed to argue. Just like now. Move ahead from the Apple II, C64, and Atari days to the days of Macintosh, Amiga, the IBM Personal Computer, and it's clones. The Mac people saw no other way. “Why would you think of anything besides a Mac?”. The Amiga people knew they had the best computer in the world and if they could just get the word out everyone would want an Amiga. The IBM'ers, “I have work to do. I don't have time to play with games or play with making pictures”. Guess what. Here's the big secret. The Amiga people were right. They had the superior machine. They could do everything the Mac could and in color and with awesome sound. They could do everything an IBM or IBM clone could do and a LOT more. The thing is it didn't matter.

That's what people don't get. It doesn't matter. People think that if something is the best it will be the one left standing in the end. Then what happened to the Betamax? Betamax was superior to VHS but VHS was cheaper so people started buying Betamax. Then people that didn't know any better started thinking, “It seems like most people have VHS. It must be better than Betamax. And look how small the cartridges are for Betamax. The VHS cartridges are much bigger. VHS must be better, the cartridges are bigger and it's more popular.” Thomas Edison had used logic like that we'd be reading in the dark.

So what does matter? What matters is what people want, what they feel comfortable with, what they think is popular, what they think will make them fit in, etc etc.

Think of ti this way. Imagine your favorite food. Then think of the food you hate the most. If a scientist could show you scientific proof that the food hate actually taste better than the food you love, you'd still stick with the one you love. Why? Because that's how people are. The Amiga could run Mac software and Dos software. So it really could do just about everything. It was technically superior to any IBM compatible and it was much cheaper. People still chose the more expensive and much inferior IBM over the Amiga.

I believe, unless we all become people who go more by logic than by what we feel, that it will always be like this. People will always go with the thing they like rather than the one that's better. If you think about it that really kind of makes sense. What doesn't make sense is arguing over it. All over the web you can see “intelligent” arguments where people say incredibly intelligent things like “Linux sucks!”, “Mac's suck!” , “Windows sucks!”. Well in my opinion, all this arguing sucks! Nobody learns anything from it and nothing is proven by it.

So why not stop the arguing? Some people prefer Fords, while others prefer Chevrolet's. Why not just intelligently discuss the differences between these different operating systems? People will learn more and they will be more able to reach an intelligent decision about which operating systems is best for them.

Of course, some people just like to argue........

*NOTE: For those who don't know, OS stands for Operating System. An operating system is what makes your computer work. When you run Solitaire in Windows XP, Solitaire is an application and Windows XP is the Operating System. All computers need an operating system to work.

Relationships in Relation to Contract Law

According to wikipedia.org, “A contract is an exchange of promises between two or more parties.”. “An agreement is said to be reached when an offer capable of immediate acceptance is met with a "mirror image" acceptance (ie, an unqualified acceptance).”. In other words, someone offers you something and you completely accept their offer with no reservations you have a legally binding contract. “Technically, any oral agreement between two parties can constitute a binding legal contract.”.

What does this have to do with relationships? Well look at this classic chain of events. A woman likes a guy. Maybe she's not forward about it. Maybe she doesn't tell the guy she likes him , but she behaves in such a way as to attract the guy in a subtle, “lady-like” manner. The guy notices her, likes what he see's, and he makes her an offer. He offers her dinner and to take her to a movie. She accepts. They now have an oral contract. The girl fixes herself up. She puts on her nicest clothes. She spends an hour putting on makeup. She applies some perfume. The date is succesful and from that point on, whenever she know she's going to see the guy, she goes through a similar routine. If the guy is just coming to see her at home, she may not dress herself up the same as she did for the first date, but she still does something similar. She puts on her best casual clothes, a little lipstick, and just a hint of perfume. Not as much as she would for a date, but more than she would if it was just a girl friend that was visiting. The next date they go on, she does the “full works”. She dresses in her nicest clothes, puts on the full makeup, and perfume. It's not just her dressing up either. When he comes over to her place, she waits on him with great care. She invites him inside, offers him a seat, and something to drink. On occasion she cooks for him and she serves him first before serving herself. She puts on her best behavior as if she was entertaining royalty. What she may or may not realize, is that she is making another offer through advertisment. She is saying with her actions, “If this goes far enough that you decide you want to marry me, this is what you're getting.”

Let's look at another advertiser. A website has an offer for an Apple iPhone. It's cheaper than any in the stores. You order it. You've just involved yourself in a contract. They offered you something and you accepted. After two weeks you recevie the package you've been waiting for. You even have friends and family standing by to be the first ones, along with you, to see your brand new Apple iPhone. You hurriedly open the package and are soon met with disappointment. As soon as you look at the contents, it's obvious it's not a real Apple iPhone. The housing is cheap. The documentation you expect from Apple is not in the box, but instead is a one piece folded paper with badly xeroxed instructions. The charger for the device looks as though it may fall apart. This is not what was advertised. You had spent hours on that website looking at the pictures of the iPhone you ordered. This is not what you agreed to. Whether or not you can take them to court, they have technically violated the contract you had with them. You didn't get what they had promised.

Back to our couple. They keep seeing each other and their relationship grows. She keeps dressing up special for him. She keeps wearing perfume every time she sees him. She always puts on at least a little makeup. If he drops by unexpectedly, she gets someone to entertain him, while she changes into something better. She brushes her hair, washes her face, puts on just a little makeup, and a hint of perfume. She treats him like a king. She even has him sit down while she takes off his shoes and massages his feet. She's advertising. She's making an offer. It's not a verbal offer but it doesn't have to be. It's an offer never the less. If you accept me as the woman of your life, this is what you'll get.

So how do things turn out? They are married now. They've been married about four months now. She almost never wears makeup anymore. It's a hassle and it takes so long. She only wears it sometimes if she's going somewhere. She never wears perfume anymore. She only wears her best if she's going to the mall. No more foot massages. He can take his own shoes off. He can serve himself at the dinner table, and she's serves herself first. He even has to fix his own breakfast most of the time. She's violated the contract. By her behavior, while dating, she promised something. But when he accepted her offer by accepting her as his wife, he didn't get what she offered.

He acts different too. He's not romantic like he used to be. He doesn't bring her flowers. He doesn't shower her with attention. But he feels like she's broken the contract so what else should she expect from him. He knows other guys in the same situation. Like his wife, once they were together, their wives quit doing all the things they use to do before marriage. Many of them now have girlfriends their wives don't know about. They were wanting things how they used to be before marriage and it's not. So they found someone that would act the way their wives did before they got married.

He won't do that though. Even though he feels disappointed and that his wife doesn't love him he loves her. So he's just hoping and waiting for the day that what he was offered by her actually arrives.

A relationship is like a contract. When you are dating, how you act is what you are advertising. You are leading the one you're dating to believe, that if you were to marry, that's what they would receive. Many wives feel like their husbands don't love them anymore. They need to think to themselves “Why has he changed? Could it be because of me? Has he changed because I changed?”. Men need to ask themselves the same thing. Did she change because of you? From years of experience I can tell you that often one have of a couple changes and it causes the other to change. So if you're in a similar situation. Remedy your failed contract. Look back at when things were good and see who or what changed first, then change it back to how it was before things went bad. Ladies, if while you were dating, you promised by your behavior, things like foot massages, never letting him see you without makeup, etc etc, maybe you need to go back to doing those things. That's what you promised. Guys if you were always bringing her flowers, then maybe you need to go back to bringing her flowers.

Contrary to what people think, there is no perfect relationship. I'm sure that even before the problem with the forbidden fruit and getting evicted, Adam and Eve had some problems in their marriage. They were human and humans aren't perfect. Imperfect plus imperfect can't equal perfect. Relationships are hard work. Couples work hard to impress each other while they are dating. They need to work even harder once they are together and living in the same house day after day.

It's your choice. You can work hard to make your relationship work, or your relationship can join the other relationships in the relationship junkyard.

What's REALLY Important about Christmas

The other day my 5 year old daughter was telling me she liked Christmas, “sooooooo much!” We joke with each other all the time, and I decided that would be a good time to joke with her. I say that for all of you that might think I was being mean to my daughter. And yes, she knows when I'm joking. And yes, she likes it when I joke with her.
I teased her and told her what was important was my birthday. She insisted, “No Christmas was important.” I said, “No. My birthday is what's important.” This went back and forth like a tennis match for a couple of minutes. Her voice become more insistent till she said, “No Christmas is important because it's Jesus's birthday!!!”
“Your right,” I said, “Christmas is important because it's celebrating Jesus's birthday. It's not the presents, or the tree, or Santa Claus, or candy canes. Christmas is important because it celebrates when Jesus was born.”

Customer BAD Service

Here's the scenario. You call a business and you get transffered from person to person and have to tell the same story over and over agina. It can be any business but it seems to happen with every one of them.
Here's what happen to me recently. I called a computer shop asking if they could install certain software on my computer. For instance, "Hi I was wondering if you could install software "X" on my brand "Z" laptop." The person who answered the phone asks me to hold. Then another person answers the phone, and they say "Hello". I'm expecting that the person who answered the phone has told the next person why I called so I just say "Hello". So they say, "Hello". And I say, "Hello". Finaly they say, "Hello. Can I help you?". So then I realize that I'm going to have to explain all over again. So I say, "Hi I was wondering if you could install software "X" on my brand "Z" laptop.", Which is exactly what I said the first time. So they say, "Can you hold please.". Then the third person answers the phone and they say, "Hello". I'm expecting that the second person I had talked to has told the next person why I called so I just say "Hello". So they say, "Hello". And I say, "Hello". Finaly they say, "Hello. Can I help you?". So then I realize that I'm going to have to explain for the third time. So I say, "Hi I was wondering if you could install software "X" on my brand "Z" laptop.", Which is exactly whay I said the first two times.
But why should a customer have to go through this? Is this, some strange test by business to make sure you really want their help? Couldn't the first person simply have told the second, why I called? Instead of the second person answering the phone, they could have given it to the third person and expalined to them what I wanted. If it had been done that way I would have only had to tell my story once.
I could understand if I was calling a big business that was in a large building with many offices on several floors so that they had to transfer my call from one office to another and they had no way to tell the next person why I was calling. But this was a business where they all worked in the same room and were handing the phone off to each other. And this isn't a once in a while scenario it happen everytime I call any business and I'm handed off from one person to another.
Instead of customer service, it's customer bad service. As in, bad service to the customer.

Remember Ondoy, Remember it's Victims, Remember to Pray.

How long has it been since you thought about the flood victims in the Philippines? When things like the flood happens and you haven't expereinced it yourself you can't really know what it's like. Things we don't really know we tend to forget. We feel so bad when we first hear the news but so often we soon forget. So my questions is, “Have you forgotten?”
Well the people that survived the flood haven't forgotten. Some of them are still mourning the death of loved ones lost in the flood. Remember, people died in the flood. Some of them are still struggling with trying to find a place to live. Remember people lost their homes and possesions in the flood. Some of them are wondering what to do about jobs and business. Remember people lost jobs and businesses because business were closed temporarily and permanently in the flood. Many businesses were destroyed. Remember.
It's too easy to forget. The news media makes big headlines when something bad first happens, but soon the stories become less and less until you hear no more about it. Then we start to forget. But those people are still there. People are still mourning the death of loved ones. People are still without places to live. People are still out of work. People are still without enough food. People are still without clean drinking water. I know I repeated myself but it was intentional. We need to remember. Let's not forget.
Some will say, “Well it's too bad to remember and there is nothing I can do anyway.” Well that's not really true. If you can't help with money or food or clothing, you can pray. Pray really does change things.
Remember the flood victims and remember to pray.