Why we can't all be jet pilots!

Okay, I admit, I'm a sucker for cool videos, so from time to time we'll stray off the beaten path and venture into the woods for a good one!

This video shows the effects of 7 times the force of gravity on a passenger in an F-18 fighter jet. It's called "GLOC" and stands for "Gravity-induced Loss Of Conciousness."

Yikes!

Download this video

Know who voted for you and against you!

In the continuing story of Net Neutrality, the U.S. House voted earlier in June on the Telecom Bill. Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass, tried to get a Net Neutrality amendment attached to it. It failed.

For those of you in Arkansas who love your computers and the Internet, when the next election comes around, here's who voted FOR you, and here's who voted AGAINST you. Remember their names and reward or punish them accordingly with your votes:

Representatives Vic Snyder, D-Ark. and Mike Ross, D-Ark, voted FOR the Net Neutrality amendment, meaning they voted FOR you.

Representatives John Boozman, R-Ark. and Marion Berry, D-Ark., voted AGAINST the Net Neutrality amendment, meaning they voted AGAINST you.

Again, remember those names and reward or punish them accordingly with your votes.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation is now marking up its version of the Telecom Bill. Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., has said he FAVORS Rep. Markey's Net Neutrality amendment.

So to this point, a HUGE ROUND OF APPLAUSE for Reps. Vic Snyder and Mike Ross and Sen. Mark Pryor!!!

And a big basket of Warren tomatoes to throw at Reps. John Boozman and Marion Berry, along with enough votes to throw them out of office the next chance we get!!!

STOP THE MONEY-GRUBBING PHONE & CABLE COMPANIES!

Okay friends, it's time to GET MAD. The money-grubbing telephone and cable companies want to start charging MORE for your broadband connection.

You knew it had to happen. You may have seen the term "Net Neutrality" in the newspapers.

They want to charge more for higher-bandwidth uses of the web. But in time you know they will sneak it into all bandwidth uses.

Those of us who OPPOSE this two-tiered pricing for bandwidth want all uses charged the same...hence the term "Net Neutrality."

Right now this is being debated in Washington DC. RIGHT NOW YOU NEED TO TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO EMAIL YOUR SENATOR AND REPRESENTATIVE AND TELL THEM TO SUPPORT NET NEUTRALITY!

Google, God bless them, is on our side in this fight, and I can't think of a better ally. There are many other well-known names who also are fighting for Net Neutrality, including eBay.

I'll be writing more about this, but for now, I've listed several links you need to visit:


Google's comments and position on this are at:

http://www.google.com/help/netneutrality.html



Email addresses of all states' senators and congressmen are at:

http://www.webslingerz.com/jhoffman/congress-email.html



A good form email letter is at:

http://www.congressweb.com/cweb4/index.cfm?orgcode=dmwtn&hotissue=3


It's time to take action! NOW!!! GET INVOLVED!!!!

Famous Scam Email from Africa

This is the famous scam email from Africa many of you may have received, heard about or laughed about, that I received in my inbox this morning.

It's so pathetic it's hilarious. Last week, Stephen Colbert of the Comedy Channel's "Colbert Report" opened his show with a shot of him moving his hands as if typing on a computer, and he said, in excited seriousness, to excuse him while he replied to an email he got from Africa and that he would soon be a millionaire.

In case you haven't seen it yet, here it is:


BANK OF AFRICA
AGENCE SAN PEDRO
14 BP 1210 San Pedro 14
Cote D'Ivoire-West Africa.

Dear Sir,

I am Mrs justina gewa,an accountant of auditing and accounting section of Bank of Africa in Cote D'Ivoire.

With due respect and regard I wish to seek your urgent assistance to transfer the sum of (U.S.7.5 MILLION DOLLARS)SEVEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS from the above mentioned bank. This money belongs to one of our customers,(Robert Rice ) who died in a plane crash with his wife and the fund has been lying dormant with the bank with out any claim,either from his family or relation up to date.

I am contacting you to act as the bonafide next of kin to the deceased.There is no risk in this transaction,as all loope holes has been taken care of,and all necessary informations as regards to this fund have been secured.

Be notified that I am still working with the bank and it's only me and my colleagues that are aware of this development,thus treat this proposal as confidential and secret for our security. I have served the bank faithfully for good number of years and 'am presently preparing for my retirement therefore,I see this as a golden opportunity to be comfortable in life after retirement. As soon as this fund is secured into your account,I will come over for the collection of our due share.

The sharing mod is as follows:20% for you the account owner,70% for me and my colleagues ,while 10% will be set aside for expensis made during the transaction.

Looking foward to hearing from you.

My regards,

Mrs justina gewa.

A good way to avoid computer problems!

Okay, so you have company coming over to visit. Maybe your brother or sister to spend some time. Or perhaps your son or daughter is coming in for a visit or home on break from college.

I have made many many service calls, and I can't tell you how many times the problem started when SOMEONE ELSE used your computer.

You know how it is. You have everything just like you like it on your computer. You know where everything is.

But visitors and guests rarely use your computer like you do. They have their OWN familiar ways of using THEIR PC, and most likely it's NOT going to be how YOU do!

And that's when problems occur. Maybe they download a program on your PC without asking you or telling you. Or they'll set your PC up so they can use their favorite instant messaging program.

Or they'll visit those "off the beaten path" websites that once visited will infect your PC with spyware that begins sending uncontrollable pop-up ads for all manner of topics.

Moral of this story is this: If you're going to have visitors, either don't let them use your PC, or else tell them in no uncertain terms, "DO NOT DOWNLOAD ANYTHING AND DO NOT CHANGE ANY OF MY SETTINGS!"

It may not sound polite, but it could very well save you a LOT of headaches and expense!

Phishing scam targets Texas Dow Employees Credit Union

I received ANOTHER phishing email yesterday, and want to post it so you will be better able to recognize a phishing email if you should ever get one.

This one raised warning flags right away, since I'm not a member of the Texas Dow Employees Credit Union (TDECU). After receiving it I forwarded it to TDECU and got a reply back that it was indeed a phishing scam, just as I had suspected.

Here's the scam phishing email, followed by TDECU's response:



Take this $20 Reward Survey

Dear TDECU member,

You have been chosen by our online department to take part in this quick and easy 5 question survey. In return we will credit $20 to your account - Just for your time! Helping us better understand how our customers feel benefits everyone.

With the information collected we can decide to direct a number of changes to improve and expand our online services.

We kindly ask you to spare two minutes of your time in taking part with this unique offer!

SERVICE: TDECU Online® $20 Reward Survey EXPIRATION: June - 28 - 2006

Confirm Now your $20 Reward Survey with TDECU® Reward services.

The information you provide us is all non-sensitive and anonymous No part of it is handed down to any third party groups. It will be stored in our secure database for maximum of 3 days while we process the results of this nationwide survey. Please do not reply to this message. For any inquiries, contact Customer Service. Document Reference: (GX4937FJJAH242XI3).

© 2005 - 2009, Texas Dow Employees Credit Union



Following is the email I received back from TDECU after I had forwarded the above email to them:


Brad,

Thank you for contacting TDECU. Do not respond to email messages that appear to come from Texas Dow Employees Credit Union. This is indeed a Phishing Scam.

• TDECU will not contact members via email to update accounts or enroll you in any programs.

• Please do not respond or click on links sent via email.

• Please do not provide account or any other sensitive information via email.

If you have any further questions, please let me know.

Jeri

Member Account Services

Another FRAUDULENT "phishing" email

While we're on the subject, I got another fraudulent "phishing" email today, so let's turn the spotlight on this one, so you'll better be able to spot them in YOUR inbox!

As always, they try to play on either your fear or your greed, and at the same time try to look official by posing behind an official, well-known name. Either your account has somehow been "compromised" or you can get money or something for free. These are almost always the tell-tale giveaways about "phishing" emails.

And they always require you to click on a link related to the scam. Once you do, however, it's too late. Your faithful browser will dutifully display the destination page and by doing so will let in the code, and presto you're the newest member of some idiots botnet.

Here's the one I got today:

Dear Credit Union Customer,

You have been chosen by our online department to take part in this quick and easy 5 question survey. In return we will credit $20 to your account - just for your time! Helping us better understand how our customers feel benefits everyone.

With the information collected we can make a number of changes designed to improve and expand the quality of our services.

Please click here to answer our questions and get your reward.

All the information provided is non-sensitive and anonymous. No part of it is handed down to any third party groups. It will be stored in our secure database for maximum of 3 days while we process the results of this nationwide survey.

We kindly thank you for your time!The CUNA Online Department

© 2006 Credit Union National Association, Inc.

I was of course suspicious, so I Googled "Credit Union National Association." I went to their website from the Google search result listing, and guess what? At the top of their homepage was the following warning about the "phishing" email I had received. It said:

Fraud Alert

CUNA is aware of new phishing emails in the form of surveys asking for feedback on your financial institution. These messages are scams and should be deleted. There is no monetary award for filling out the form -- this is an identity theft scam.

CUNA will never solicit e-mails requesting your credit union username, password, pin number, or other personal identity information.

Learn to recognize these trick emails that land in your inbox and you'll be glad you did!

Sample FRAUDULENT "phishing" email

The first step to identity theft often begins with "phishing" for new victims by sending out thousands of fraudulent emails that contain a link for you to click on to go to a website to resolve some "problem" or "issue."

The email's designers are extremely clever and go to great measures to look authentic, but more importantly, scare you into thinking something's wrong with your credit card or other kind of account somewhere that you may have.

A recent article in the Washington Post described one such hacker whose computer would deliver and process his fradulent emails overnight, and collect 10-15 new victims each morning to add to his growing lists of victims, known as his "botnet."

Pornography and other advertisers then pay him to send their ads through to the unwitting members of his botnet, who begin experiencing those all-too-common pop-up ads on their PCs.

Today I want to share one of these emails that I received yesterday, to help you recognize one if you get one similar to this one. If you do, just delete it. Do NOT click on ANY link in it.

Here's the fraudulent "phishing" email:

Dear VISA card holder,

As part of our security measures, we regularly check the transactios made form ATMs worldwide .We recently noticed the following issue on your account:
A recent review of your transaction history determined that your card was used at an ATM located in Hungary, but for security reasons the requested transaction was refused.

ATM location: Budai Ut 13.Martonvasar H-2462 at BUDAPESTBANK MARTONVASARI KIRENDELTSEG

In order keep you and your account secure we advice you to change your card pin by clicking the link below:

(fraudulent link was here)

We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Sincerely, VISA Account Review Department

Don't click on unknown or strange links!

One of the easiest ways to get infected with uncontrollable
pop-up ads and other malware is by clicking on one of those
links you get in your email. Bottom line: Don't!!

Even if it's in an email that was forwarded to you from
a friend.

You see, these days you can get hit simply by going to a
website. You don't have to do anything other than that.
You get infected because your browser automatically
has to accept the code of that site in order to display it on
your computer screen.

Hidden in that site code are the commands to take over
you computer so that it displays pop-up ads. Your PC
then becomes a billboard, so to speak, for advertisements.
Your PC has become a member of someone's stable of
infectees, known as their "botnet." And some advertisers
pay a TON of money to have their ads in those pop-ups
that start showing up unexpectedly on your computer
screen.

The only safe way to click on a link in an email is to
look at it closely first, and do so only if you recognize
the website to which it will take you. If the website's
".com" name is not clearly visible, or if you're not
familiar with it, the best advice is do not go there.

Microsoft posts 8 new security updates

Microsoft has posted eight new high priority security updates at their
windows update site, and I strongly recommend you go there if you are
running windows, and get them. In fact, you should make it a habit to
check there regularly, and don't necessarily rely on your computer's
automatic update feature. There often are updates that you need
that don't get included in the automatic updates.

So be safe, and get them here:

http://www.windowsupdate.microsoft.com

WELCOME!

Hello all and welcome to the new Housecall4pc blog!

Here we'll talk about how to keep that computer of yours up and running smoothly, and other topics as well. So please check back often for my latest posts. And feel free to post your replys and thoughts as well, keeping in mind to maintain a Family-Friendly-Only atmostphere. To go to my main website, click on "Housecall4pc Home" under Links in the white panel on this page.

Thank you very much for stopping by and please come back soon!