Here is a flashless pic of the gf’s cat:

Had to upload the photo, then come back in and edit it. I’m sure there’s an easier way but otherwise it’s a very smooth app. Easy to post when you’re on the run.

I needed to update my iTunes software since I am upgrading with my work laptop. It took about 5 minutes to download and install. Next, I plugged in the iPad and did a sync and that took 10-15 min since its been a long time. After that, a pop-up appeared telling me that an update was available so I clicked the button to download and install the update.

The download took about 30 min and the install took another 15 and ended with the iPad rebooting and and appearing in the iTunes window. After an initial minute of icons not responding, a reboot of the device brought everything back and it is now working properly.

IOS 4.3 brought the following changes:

• Implementation of ASLR for increased security
• AirPlay video support for third party apps
• HTTP Live Streaming Statistics
• New font in Notes app (“Noteworthy”)
• Improved Safari Performance with “Nitro“ JavaScript Engine
• Redesigned “account” section under the Store menu
• Ability to switch on Automatic Downloads (for iTunes Music and App Store aplications)
• Location services has been shifted from General to Settings Menu
• New Parental Controls for use with Ping
• New menu for scrubbing in videos

• Fine Scrubbing: Adjust by seconds/ frames
• Quarter Scrubbing: Second
• Half Speed Scrubbing: Adjust by minute(s)
• Hi-Speed Scrubbing: Run fast through minutes

• Ability to cancel and delete an app which is currently downloading. Before iOS 4.3, it was only possible to delete an app which has already downloaded.
• Stream from an iTunes library to iOS using Home Sharing
• In-app purchases always ask for a password, even if one has previously been entered
• Internal system clock gets network time updated more frequently viaNITZ (part of the official GSM standard since phase 2+ release 96) and gives a more accurate time for the device, it updates about every five days.

iOS 4.3.4 Software Update

Fixes security vulnerability associated with viewing malicious PDF files.

Products compatible with this software update:
• iPhone 4 (GSM model)
• iPhone 3GS
• iPad 2
• iPad
• iPod touch (4th generation)
• iPod touch (3rd generation)

For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website:
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222>

With limited budgets and few or no technical experts on staff, small businesses generally have weak security. Cyber criminals have taken notice. In 2010, the U.S. Secret Service and Verizon Communications Inc.’s forensic analysis unit, which investigates attacks, responded to a combined 761 data breaches, up from 141 in 2009. Of those, 482, or 63%, were at companies with 100 employees or fewer. Visa Inc. estimates about 95% of the credit-card data breaches it discovers are on its smallest business customers.

Read the whole article if you think it can’t happen to you but odds are that you have some network security and data protection problems that can be fixed very easily and you won’t need to go through all of the expensive remedies the gentleman had to go through.

Here are 3 simple things you can do to improve your small business information security:

Improve Your Password.

Far too many businesses do not enforce strict password guidelines which makes it easy for a hacker to get into your system. Passwords such as 1234, love, password and qwerty may seem cute and are easy to remember, but believe it or not, hackers know that people are too lazy to choose strong passwords. Click Here and see if you are smarter than a hacker. If your password is not on this list, congratulations, but hackers have lists of thousands of common words, names, dates, and products that they use to evade IT security. Why make it easy for them?

Strong passwords are at least 8 characters long and consist of a combination of capital and lower case letters, numbers and symbols. Instead of using your boyfriend’s name Jason, try using *JAson98! or (jAsOn98). Anyting is better than using a word anyone can guess.

And, for goodness sake, change your password every 3 months. This will help lock out anyone who has infiltrated your system. Remember to change your password after employees leave and delete their login accounts. Good terms or bad, if they no longer receive a check, they should not be able to gain access. I know of an ex-employee who threw out a folder of hand written notes which contained his username, password, email server, network login, IP addresses and enough information for anyone snooping in our trash to have root access to our entire network. I found the folder and shredded the documents. Do not leave sticky notes with the password on the monitor, under your keyboard or in your drawer. Everyone knows where to look.

Keep Your Computers Updated

The longer any software is available, the more time there is to find security holes in it and figure out ways to exploit them. Hackers have nothing better to do than sit around and find faults in software. As these exploits are discovered, the software manufacturers develop patches that close those holes and fend off unwanted intruders for a little while longer. be sure to do all software updates on all of your computers at least once a month.

Use Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware Programs

This is 2011. If you are not using a good anti-virus program then you deserve anything that happens to your data. In the article above, the gentleman had malicious software (malware) on his computer since 2009. This means he was not scanning his computers with updated anti-virus and anti-malware programs. There are free programs out there that will keep your system clean and automatically update themselves daily so you always have the latest patches for any new viruses.

Play an active part in your small business IT security program. It will save you more in the long run.

The LG Optimus-V is a relatively slim phone and weighs in at about 5 oz so its a bit heavier than the iPhone but around the same size. I bought it for about $200 at Best Buy which isn’t that bad when you consider how much you are paying per month for service. It comes with Android Version 2.2.1 installed so be sure to check back for my upcoming post on rooting this phone. The e-mail app is easy to use and allows setup of multiple accounts and is pretty easy to get up and running. The calendar app is pretty decent and will sync with your Google Calendar. I loaded it up with free games and it runs nice and smooth.

The 3G service is great and the browser is OK. First thing I had to do was to change the Virgin Mobile homepage to Google by pressing the settings button, clicking “more”, clicking “settings” and finally scrolling down to “Set Home Page”. there are a lot of setting for you to customize to make your browsing experience better. There is no Java support at this time.

The camera is 3.2 mega pixels with no flash and has nice video recording capabilities.

It’s been about a month and I am really digging this phone. It is not an iPhone and I’m sure you will be disappointed if you switch, but after a while you should be satisfied with the LG Optimus-V.

In 2009 it was estimated that 90% of all email is spam causing a huge strain on computer networks and hours of lost productivity.

John Leyden at The Register reports on the investigation one of the largest Botnet spammers ever:

FBI investigators have named a 23-year-old Russian as a prime suspect behind the operation of the infamous 500,000 Mega-D botnet, blamed for an estimated one in three spam emails prior to a take-down operation early last year.

Oleg Nikolaenko, a 23-year-old Moscow resident, was accused of violating US anti-spam and fraud laws in a sworn testimony by an FBI agent investigation the case, the Smoking Gun reports.

Webmail records from two Gmail accounts and financial transactions (via the ePassporte service) link Nikolaenko to the operation of the botnet, according to court paper submitted in a grand jury investigation.

The Mega-D zombie network was infamous as a prolific source of counterfeit prescription, herbal remedy and fake Rolex spam. A January 2009 takedown operation mounted by security firm FireEye hit Mega-D very
hard, drastically affecting spam output, which has returned but never to the same noxious levels.

Go read the whole thing.

One of the critical vulnerabilities is being used in attacks against Reader and Acrobat; the other, fixed in an emergency update late last month, targets Flash Player.

Make sure you perform all updates to your Adobe Reader, Acrobat and Flash Player to make sure your computer is secure.

The messages say “LOL is this you?” and are accompanied by a link that looks like it leads to a video on Facebook, one victim told CNET. In his case, clicking the link directed to a Web page with a “404-Page Not Found” error message and his account sent the spam out to at least one of his friends, he said.

“We’ve tried to send emails to name@address.com but they are not getting delivered, possibly because your email address is no longer valid. Click here to update your email settings, or click here to try sending messages to your email address again.”

She was not receiving any update emails when someone started following her Twitter feed.

Here is how I fixed it:

It looks like the problem stemmed from graylisting on the client’s Barracuda Mail Firewall.

I logged into the unit, clicked on “Recipient Filters” and added noreply@twitter.com to the whitelist.

The messages started to appear in her inbox.

Wired.com has an article up By David Kravets in which a weaselly looking CEO is interviewed regarding his new company which is in the business of purchasing up the copyrights to News organizations’ content so that he can bring infringement lawsuits against anyone who quotes the article without getting permission.

Gibson’s vision is to monetize news content on the backend, by scouring the internet for infringing copies of his client’s articles, then suing and relying on the harsh penalties in the Copyright Act — up to $150,000 for a single infringement — to compel quick settlements. Since Righthaven’s formation in March, the company has filed at least 80 federal lawsuits against website operators and individual bloggers who’ve re-posted articles from the Las Vegas Review-Journal, his first client.

Be sure you know what you are quoting. Here is a link to a list of some of the publications he represents.

Thanks to ace via CDR Salamander

Today I upgraded my service from the Basic plan to the Pro plan. The basic plan is $6.95 per month and offers a huge amount of good stuff including a free domain registration, unlimited space, unlimited hosted and parked domains, a free domain name and much more you can see at the link above.

The Pro Package is $15 and offers a  dedicated IP address, 3 domain name registrations, free SSL Certs and in addition to the rest of the stuff from the basic package.

If you are looking to change your hosting provider, you owe it to yourself to check out Bluehost