I was prompted to write this after a customer of mine brought his family PC into me to look at. He has only recently gone online and like any 'newbie', made the mistake that many computer users fresh into the world of the internet make - they believe anything that appears on their screens!

It all started with a visit to YouTube - a great source of videos that is used by millions of people every day - but apparently someone (who shall remain nameless!) decided to view a Pamela Anderson video or a similar kind of thing and during this a window popped up informing him that he really needed to improve his security - and to 'click here' and all will be well...

Well. Seasoned 'net users will recognise the scenario only too well, but a 'net newcomer wouldn't have realised the danger he was in. Of course, the inevitable happened and the system is now loaded with 'ErrorSafe' and other spyware junk that has to be removed.

The school holiday periods are usually busy for me because the kids - especially on rainy autumn days like this week - are bored and surfing the 'net is a good way to pass the time. Parents often tell me that 'their kids know a lot more about PCs than we do'. My response to that statement is often to say 'well, they sure know how to get into more trouble online than you do for sure!'

The reality is that while some, and I stress the word some, kids know what they are doing and the pitfalls to avoid, the majority just don't have any idea what kind of problems they can cause by their 'click-happy' approach.

Here's a few tips to try to prevent costly repair work -
1. Tell the kids to stop and think (or ask you) before clicking on any warning message or offer to fix their 'security or spyware problems'. The only genuine warning messages that you will get are from your own installed antivirus or antispyware programs.

2. If there seem to be limited options available when one of these bogus warning messages appear - eg: you only get 'Ok' not 'Cancel' - then try to close the message window using the red cross at the top right if there is one. If there isn't, close the internet browser, shutdown any other programs that are running and restart the PC. The bogus warning may complain but just let Windows end any programs and restart.

3. If your system does appear to be 'behaving badly' and you suspect an infection is the culprit - firstly, disconnect the broadband modem (turn it off if necessary) and get it looked at sooner rather than later. I often get asked to look at PCs that have been infected for days or weeks. The problems never fix themselves, believe me!

Andy Turner
Coastal Computers & Design

Edit: Free spyware removal software is available, but beware - there are a lot of bogus ones out there. My personal favourite is SpyBot Search & Destroy. But, please, ensure you get the right one as there are hundreds of 'knock-off' products with similar sounding names. The genuine article can be found here:

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html 

Like most people who try to use a GSM mobile phone at Shoalhaven Heads I have just about had enough. Neither of the providers I have tried (Optus and Southern Phone who use the Telstra network) are able to provide us a service that I can acceptably use at our home - if we stand in one spot on tip-toes we can sometimes get a call to last long enough to yell 'PLEASE CALL ME ON THE LANDLINE!'

Now, I know that there are spots around the village where we can get a reasonable signal (you have to laugh at the number of people you see standing outside their houses talking on the mobile - usually with a finger stuck in their ear!). But, with the high cost of local and STD calls from home phones many people would opt for one of the good mobile plans available to make most of their calls - but many can't as our homes are not in one of the 'good spots'.

Look, we live in the 21st Century and are only 15 minutes drive from a major regional town in NSW and we can't make or receive mobile phone calls in most places here! We have a bloody great mountain beside us that presumably blocks the signal (why not put an unobtrusive tower up there I wonder?) from 'Meroo Meadow' or wherever the service comes from - in fact, the best place for a signal is on the beach as we can get the signal from Gerroa/Gerringong.

I will be investigating myself what steps that we as customers of these huge companies can do to get an acceptable phone service here in the 'Heads, but firstly I'd ask you to vote on the latest poll so that we can get some statistics on the service quality that people are getting.

I'll be more than happy to take this further depending on how many votes we get and what they are!

Andy

Edit: I've just been advised of an online Telstra form that customers can use to give them 'feedback' on their mobile networks. Can I suggest that residents that are also sick of the 'service' take a few minutes and let them know?
Here's the link to the Telstra page: (I'll keep hunting for similar pages on other Telco's sites!) :

http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile/networks/feedback.cfm

Seek (or Google) & you shall find... here's the Optus feedback form.

Arqin Scooter
first registered in July2007
cost $3250
only travelled 555 ks
a bargan at $2000
Phone Dave on 44487738 or 0414364812

This post was submitted by Dave Clark.

Berry Landcare is having a fundraider on 24th May at the School Of Arts in Berry.

A Concert with the band 'Carra'.

Tickets are $15 and are available in Berry (Huckleberry House, Stan Burt Arcade) and Nowra (Socrates Table near Roxy).

Call Kim Dove on 44643391 for more details.

Admin note: I'll enter this in the Events Calendar to remind us all closer to the end of May.

I love the kiwi Hilux ads. Here's a few of the best for you.

They were such a hit over here that you lot made your own - and it's very good too!