Another brief Tech Tuesday column from VanRamblings this week. As we recently traded in our old Nokia phone for a somewhat fancier, higher fidelity LG 5450, our interest in cell phones has been somewhat piqued.
According to The Economist, the phones pictured above are what cell phone users have to look forward to in the coming months, while C|NET offers images and video of the Top 10 cell currently available on the market.
ZDNet has reviews of all of the LG phones available, as well as reviews of the top Samsung, NEC, Motorola, Siemens, Nokia and Sony Ericsson cells. There’s even insight into the popular cell phones in the Asian market.

Note: VanRamblings has been down for much of the past 24 hours due to ongoing technical difficulties being experienced by Telus, VanRamblings’ Internet Service Provider. We’re back now, though, so read on …
Internet meltdown predicted for Thursday
A few news services are reporting that a Russian computer expert, Aleksandr Gostev from Kaspersky Labs, is predicting that a large chunk of the Internet will be shut down August 26 (Thursday) by cyber terrorists.
The executive director of Dr. Web antivirus lab, Mikhail Bychinsky, quoted by Lenta.ru web agency said he had not heard of such an attack. “I do not believe in mass internet attacks because the main servers are defended, and Kaspersky Labs has been foretelling doomsday for a long time.”
Who’s In Charge Here — You or Your Mouse?

Rafe Needleman, writing for C|Net, wonders why it is that most computer users fail to avail themselves of the myriad keyboard shortcuts that are available to make computer tasks that much more seamless.

Plus, the fewer buttons you press and the less time you spend moving between keyboard and mouse, the less strain you’re putting on your hands and wrists and the less likely you are to get repetitive stress injury.

Mr. Needleman reminds computer users of Alt+Tab to switch between applications, and Windows+D to minimize all windows. In Word, there’s Ctrl+A to select all text, Ctrl+C to copy, and Ctrl+V to paste, not to mention Home and End to move to the beginning and end of a line, and Ctrl+Home and Ctrl+End to move to the beginning and end of a document.
A Canadian Wi-Fi Horror Story

Greg Gazin, who writes for Canada Online’s Tech News department, suggests that, perhaps, we techie folk in Canada have not yet quite reached that much hoped for Wi-Fi nirvana.

“Yes, Mr. Gazin, our hotel does have Wi-Fi (wireless) High-Speed Internet.” I’m beginning to firmly believe that this statement should rank right up there with: “Your cheque is in the mail.” If your existence depends on getting a decent high-speed connection at some of our finer accommodation providers, you better have a backup Plan B. And if they tell you it’s free I’d be concerned all that much more.

Although Mr. Gazin, like many, has succumbed to wireless addiction (“my laptop, wireless and all, became like Linus and his trusty blanket,” he writes) taking his ‘wireless blanket’ on the road proved to be a whole other story.
From Hogtown to Cowtown and back, Gazin’s Wi-Fi adventures yielded one Seinfeld episode after another. The solution? Tap into Wi-Fi 411, a compendium of Wi-Fi hotspots across the globe, plus listings of Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISP — now there’s a new acronym for you), Wi-Fi HotSpot Service Plans, and more.
Question of the Week

I am considering a hard drive MP3 player such as the Rio Carbon or iPod. I currently use RealPlayer 10 to listen to music on my computer. Do I need to determine where I will be getting my music from prior to purchasing an MP3 player? Do any of these work with RealPlayer? — Submitted by: Don Cubitt, Langley, British Columbia

The player you choose will dictate what music services you can use. Generally, the iPod works with iTunes and the iTunes Music Store, though RealNetworks is challenging that with its Harmony technology. For more, on players and music stores, have a look at the compatibility chart posted at the C|Net Music Centre.

Go Slow With Windows XP’s Service Pack 2

As per the advice given by many cyber-pundits (including Fred Langa, in his latest column), when Microsoft’s Windows Update service offers you XP Service Pack 2, do nothing; wait a bit.
If you visit the Windows Update site, you’ll see that the look, and architecture of the site, has changed, as per information supplied earlier by VanRamblings. Be careful, though: Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols suggests that implementing Windows XP SP2 is almost as much work as installing a new operating system, and that Microsoft needs to get the word out — the sooner the better.
Thor Larholm, a senior security researcher with PivX Solutions, downloaded SP2 last Friday and continues to analyze it. The true test for the update will likely come in the next few months, he says, once those researchers’ efforts bear fruit.

“Give it a few weeks, or a few months, and you will see the first vulnerability announcements regarding Service Pack 2,” Larholm says. “Give it a month or two and we will also see worms that affect SP2.”

Meanwhile, IBM has told its employees not to download Windows XP SP2, which they feel could render existing applications inoperable.
Earlier today, Microsoft issued a list of nearly 150 software applications and games that may encounter problems with the Windows XP SP2 update, including Norton AntiVirus, and Macromedia Flash and Shockwave. e-Bay has announced XP SP2 conflicts with eBay toolbar & picture services.
Microsoft offers specific advice on the deployment, download and installation of Windows XP Service Pack 2. Of paramount importance: make a backup copy of all of your personal files, including documents, music, bookmarks, favourites, e-mail, and all other important data before installing SP2.
Here’s the C|NET editor’s initial review of Microsoft Windows XP SP2 …

“Like the Titanic’s passengers, Windows XP users often find themselves in choppy, dangerous waters — instead of hypothermia, think Web viruses; instead of circling sharks, quickly crawling worms.”

“Unfortunately, Microsoft’s lifeboats have been, until now, just dinky security patches that saved us from only a few attacks at a time.

“Last Friday, burlier rescue boats arrived in the form of Microsoft’s long-delayed Service Pack 2 (SP2), which will help all of us keep our heads above water. SP2 tightens your PC’s security with a new Windows Firewall, an improved Automatic Updates feature, and a pop-up ad blocker for Internet Explorer. Plus, the newly minted Security Centre gives you one easy-to-use interface for keeping tabs on your PC’s security apps. We suggest you pause before jumping ship, however.”

“We downloaded and installed SP2 and weren’t surprised to find a handful of conflicts with existing apps and wireless network settings on some of our test machines. Wait until SP2 is made available to your PC via Microsoft’s Automatic Updates service, expected later this month for most users. By then, Microsoft should have had enough time to work out the kinks.”

C|NET provides installation advice, and insight into new SP2 features. Well worth reading before considering the download of Windows XP SP2.
Here’s what commentators at the Seattle P-I blog have to say about SP2.
For more Windows XP Service Pack 2 installation experiences, click here.
If your using dial up and wish to install Windows XP SP2 but don’t want to wait around for hours to download it, you can always order it on a CD. In order to successfully install Windows XP SP2, you must order the CD in the same language as the version of Windows XP that is currently running on your computer. For Windows XP SP2 English the date available to order will be August 25th, so check back at the site link above on that date.
Toolkit to Temporarily Block Delivery of Windows XP SP2
Having read all of the above, if VanRamblings has scared the pants off you in regards of the deployment of SP2, in all good conscience we should let you know that Microsoft has provided a downloadable tool that will temporarily block delivery of Windows XP SP2 to a PC through its automatic Windows Update feature. Download the SP2 blocker, extract the file to a temporary folder, and click on the supplied XPSP2Blocker.exe file (or, alternately, in IE, simply click Open, and the patch will install automatically).
The mechanism to temporarily disable delivery of Windows XP SP2 will be available for a period of 120 days (4 months) from August 16. At the end of this period, Windows XP SP2 will be delivered to all Windows XP and Windows XP Service Pack 1 systems regardless. Blocking the download of SP2 will not affect the download of other Windows XP critical updates.
Newest Ad-Aware Personal SE Exposes PC Users To Grief

Just days after Lavasoft launched new versions of its popular Ad-Aware security programme, PC World tests revealed a significant security issue that may leave consumers vulnerable.
Lavasoft posted Ad-Aware SE Plus and SE Pro 1.0, as well as its free version, Ad-Aware SE on August 9. The company revised the release on August 10, renumbering it to v1.02, and addressed the reported hole in its Ad-Watch component with the release of v1.03 on August 13.
Critical information: users who are running versions of Ad-Aware SE Plus or SE Pro earlier than the current v1.03, which is available now for download (see below), should re-download Ad-Aware, upgrading to the latest version of the application. This is Ad-Aware’s third update in a week’s time, but the most urgent. Simply running the software’s Web Update feature — which downloads the latest definition files — will not correct the problem.
Ad-Aware SE Personal Edition 1.03 is located here, ready for download.

Internet chaos was caused by one boy

According to a story in Britain’s Daily Telegraph, Sven Jaschan (pictured to your left), an 18-year-old German boy, is responsible for 70 per cent of all viruses received worldwide in the first half of 2004.
Not only did Jaschan create the Sasser worm, he is also behind all 28 variations of the Netsky virus that continues to be sent out in millions of infected e-mails each month. Jaschan told the German magazine Stern that he spread the viruses to gain his peers’ respect.

“I felt as if I had written a first-class essay. How Netsky spread, I think it’s terrific, and my classmates thought I was terrific. Then it was reported on TV. That was cool. Only occasionally did I wake up in the middle of the night and think, yikes, there might be trouble.”

Jaschan is currently seeking employment with a computer security company, hoping to turn from poacher to gamekeeper in the still nascent computer industry.
Just What Is a Virus, Anyway? Below, a Boot Camp on Malware

A virus reproduces, usually without your permission or knowledge. In general terms they have an infection phase where they reproduce widely and an attack phase where they do whatever damage they are programmed to do.

From Bagle.AC to Agent.AE, from Netsky.P, Sasser.B, MyDoom.P and Beagle.AO, to a myriad of other malware intrusions, there’s a war going on in your computer life.
What to do? Well, for one, you can protect yourself from those miscreant malware intrusions. Two, you can keep yourself well informed; and, a good place to start would be with the Computer Knowledge Virus Tutorial.
The virus tutor map will provide you with an introductory insight into the topics covered in the tutorial, which range from the common behaviour of most viruses to hardware and software threats, to the types of viruses (polymorphic, camouflage, stealth, and a dozen more varieties), how they infect your computer, the history of viruses, virus protection, current threats, logic bombs, and more than you ever thought you wanted to know (but need to know) about viruses, and keeping your computer safe.
Never again will you find yourself hard up for an answer to the question, “Just what is a virus, anyway?” when you’re queried by a friend. Read on.
New Versions of Necessary Software — Download ’Em Now

There’s a new version of Ad-Aware that was made available to the public just yesterday. As was the case with the previous edition of Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware, the new Ad-Aware 1.02 SE Personal Edition scans and cleans your computer’s RAM, registry, hard drives, and external storage devices for known data-mining, advertising, and tracking components, allowing you to maintain a higher degree of privacy while you surf the Web.
The new Ad-Aware 1.02 SE Personal Edition provides advanced protection from known Trojans, Dialers, Malware, Browser hijackers, as well as tracking components, taking the fight against Spyware to the next level. If you haven’t downloaded and installed Spybot 1.3 (the latest version) you’ll want to do that, as well. And, while you’re at it, you might as well download and install the latest version (2.3.8) of McAfee Stinger.
Windows XP Service Pack 2 Only Days Away

Last, but certainly not least this week, the official roll out of Windows XP Service Pack 2 has begun, creating fear and trepidation among the computer cognoscenti.
Microsoft released Windows XP SP2 to original equipment manufacturers last Friday and released the network installation version of SP2 on the Microsoft Download Center on Monday. The consumer download will be available via Windows Update within days, according to a Microsoft spokesman.

“There’s buzz out there about it,” says Roger Moffat, senior director of product marketing for ASAP Software. “This is the biggest and most significant OS upgrade before Longhorn, so the customer might view this as a major stepping stone.”

Advice, Be Safe Not Sorry: DO NOT download SP 2 until you’ve performed a complete backup of your important files (e-mail, photos, browser favourites / bookmarks, your entire My Documents folder, and any other precious data on your computer that you would not want to lose).
Later in the week, VanRamblings will publish a full column on Windows XP Service Pack 2. In the meantime, surf safe.