ce magazine november issue

Michigan City Indiana
Vol. 3
Hackers compromised
free CCleaner
How to set up and
use ES File Explore
on your cell phone
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Thanks to all who contributed to CE
Magazine. Have an article you would like
contribute? You can mail it to:
CE, P.O. Box 8619
Michigan City In 46360
Or E-Mail it to
computerease@juno.com
CE Magazine is part of OtherSide Ministries © all rights
reserved
Founder & Chief Editor
Peter Nadal
Editor
Pamela Kennoy
Art & Design
Peter Nadal
In our November Issue Vol. 3
5 Hey Pete! On this issue “How to set up
and use ES File Explore on your cell
phone.”
12 Scam Alert by Rodrigo Esperanza
15 Biz Cards board!! Hey its free
16 Secret Scroll Tip
17 Protecting Seniors online from scams,
Hacks and tax fraud by NewsUSA
19 Cheap vs. Frugal by Nomar Shaw
24 Hackers compromised free CCleaner
article by Joseph Menn
28 Come a Long Way Baby!
Our Writers
Rodrigo Esperanza
Nomar Shaw
Diane G
Outside Sources On This Month issue
NewsUSA
Cyber Risk
Front Cover
River bridge autumn reflection park
Additional artwork and fonts by
Peter Nadal
Original Computer-Ease logo ©
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We had a lot of fun with the Halloween Special Edition and it was a great hit with you folks
and I thank you. The November issue front cover sets the tone and mood of this issue and if you
want to know where we got it, go to Google and search for “River Bridge Autumn Reflection
Park” then click on images. VuNature.com is the site that has it and some more you may like
and if you noticed we flipped the picture around your right, we did it for better effect on the
front cover.
As a vet I do give thanks for their service, I do it especially when I go to the VA Clinic. If you
know a vet in your neighborhood, invite him or her over for Thanksgiving and let‟s celebrate
Thanksgiving the American Way by watching and caring for those who served and keeps
freedom ringing and don‟t forget our boys and girls in blue!
Now for those who have loved ones in the service and want to share Thanksgiving with them,
here is a novel approach: Pack a box with all the trimmings and send it out including a letter
with some instructions; “When you get this Thanksgiving in a box call me via video phone
when you are ready and will have Thanksgiving together!” for iPhone use Facetime.
From my home and staff to your family, have great
Thanksgiving and May Peace duel in your home.
From:
Peter Nadal, Pam Kennoy, Rodrigo Esperanza, Nomar Shaw
and Diane G
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Simper Fi!
To all veterans we thank you for your service
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How do you do that!
If you are always on the move and going from your home computer to office
computer and have no time to carry cables to plug in to transfer documents, picture
etc, then I got a great hint for you. Whether its iPhone or Android phone there is a
app called ES File Explore and not only does it allow you to go into your files on
your phone, but, it also lets you hook up to your computer to swap files without
cables. Now you can get this lil jewel on Play Store for android or APP Store for
iPhone and here is the app logo;
It will work from Windows xp pro to Windows 10, now, this „how do‟ is about
Windows 10 and how to set it up to work and share with ES File Explore as
Windows 10 is to say the least is stubborn.
Step One
Go to the bottom left side and press windows logo and when to menu pops up
press the settings gear wheel (red circle). The windows stetting
window will open up, from there you will select ACCOUNTS
(red circle) see picture 2 on next page, go ahead and select it.
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Picture 2
Step two
If you see this then exit out this window as your good and you can go to step three.
Picture 3
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But, if you see this;
Then sign into your local account instead of being logged into Microsoft
account. Windows 10 will guide you if you don‟t have a password to sign in to
create one then Windows will log off. Re log in and now Microsoft won‟t have their
grubby fingers in your computer, you have control now.
Step three
Go to the bottom right side of the screen and you will see your wifi bars or a lil
screen for network cable.
Left click on it then a small menu appears like the picture above, click on „Open
Network and Sharing Center‟ as seen in picture 5.
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Picture 5
Now, go up to the left side and select „Change advanced sharing settings‟ (red
circle).
Picture 6
Click on „Guest or Public (current profile)‟ (red arrow) button and if it matches
picture 6 then move on to „All Network‟ see picture 7
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Picture 7
In All Networks (red arrow) do the same thing, match your settings as seen in
picture 7, if no changes were done then close the window by clicking the x at the
top right hand side, but, if have done changes the „Save changes‟ will be lit, so, go
ahead and click on it and now Windows 10 is ready to share with ES File Explorer,
go to step four.
Step Four
Now the last few settings we need to do on ES File Explore, tap in the ES app on
your cell to bring up Es File Explore. In ES File Explorer tap the 3 lines icon in the
upper-left hand corner, see picture 8
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Picture 8
Picture 9
Then navigate to network and
tap on it then tap on Network.
Then tap on search to find
your computer on your
network as seen on the right
picture. When you see your
computer you can cancel the
search or let it finish the
search.
Picture 10
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Step Five
Once the search is done go ahead and tap on your
computer. As seen in the picture on the left log in
and check „Remember password‟ click ok. Now
you have access to your computer files, your
main file will say „Users” tap on it and you will
see your personal file along with Public,
Administrator, Default, Default User and All
Users.
Now, I know what you‟re going to say, “I got
cables!” yes you do, however, this beats carrying
cables around all the time. You can now tap in to
your office computer, kids‟ computers, or your
laptop as long they are connected to a router.
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By Rodrigo Esperanza
In today's world when it comes to Computers & Smartphone‟s one has to be very
careful. "Why?" You ask! There is a scammer in every turn of the corner. You
might get the following in your E-Mail which I did!
"Dear Sir/Madam,
I am Joseph, Business Development Manager.
We are an India based Website designing/application development company with our primary
focus on making websites that are easy to update and manage, such as Shopping carts and
Content Management Systems.
We have our competency in CMS (Joomla, Modx, Mambo and other quality Content
Management System) and e-commerce website.
We offer dedicated developers for as low cost. The developers would assist you to get desired
web solutions with impeccable standards of work. You can hire developer from us Web
Development, AJAX Development, XML Development, Wordpress Development, Joomla
Development, CMS Development, eCommerce Development, Magento Development, X-Cart
Development and Mambo Development, PSD To HTML/XHTML/HTML5 Designing, Template
Design, Landing Page, Jquery, Emailer Design and Flash Logo Design.
As many as 90% websites do not bring business to their potential because they do not appeal to
the target audience. And the reason most visitors leave a website is because of a complex
design and navigation
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With an experience of developing more than 2500 websites successfully, we can help you earn
more business from your website if you are ready to redesign your website. Most of our clients
have benefited from our expertise. Most firms from UK, USA, Canada and Australia overseas
have achieved a significant amount of savings by outsourcing either complete or part of their
work to us in India.
With more than 50 developers working for us, we offer:
- Reduced cost
- Flexibility
- Freedom
- Assured deliverability
- Ease of communication
- Greater control over time management.
We wish you the best of luck and looking forward to a long and healthy business relationship
with you.
Contact us today to know more about our Web design, re-design, development and CMS
Services and about our past work details, Client Testimonials, Packages?
Getting started is easy. Just mail us at Joseph@creative-webmarketing.info and we will
definitely help you to achieve your business goals and objectives.
Please share your Skype id and contact number to make the communication easily assessable.
I look forward to your reply.
Best regards
Joseph
Designing & Development Department
Email: Joseph@creative-webmarketing.info"
If you do get something like this, then look for the disclaimer below the email.
If you see one most likely then it is a scam, even thou it may look legit. These
email disclaimers are tagged on by your email provider like the example 1.
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Example 1;
Disclaimer:
The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and
Marketing Act) establishes requirements for those, who send commercial email, spells out
penalties for spammers, and companies whose products are advertised in spam if they violate
the guidelines, and gives consumers the right to ask emailers to control it. The above mail
Joseph@creative-webmarketing.info and we ensure you will not receive any such mails.
In an average month I get around 15 every two or three days, I try to educate a lot
of my friends about these email scams and also phone scams. If you need a web
site, blog site or some sort of computer repair then 'PLEASE' contact your local
computer tech.
For any questions; email us at computerease@juno.com
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end your biz card in pdf to computerease@juno.com or mail to Computer-Ease, Po BOX 8619
Michigan City In 46360
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Secret Tip Scroll
This time of the year hacking computers or cell
phones, scams, frauds, and any other despicable acts
are high, so here are some tips to keep you safe.
1. When you go Christmas shopping turn off your
Wifi and your Bluetooth. This is done through the
settings app of your cell phone.
2. If you go to Chicago the potential of being
hacked on your cell phone on a scale of 1-10 it’s
going to be 100 that you will get hacked. The
best solutions turn your phone off.
3. Keep your cell phone, not in your purse but invest
in a pocket for a bra, if you’re a man take it off
the clip and keep it in your front pocket.
Be Safe, do not shop alone especially at night time.
Don’t believe every notification about your
computer, Call your computer tech
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Protecting Seniors Online from
Scams, Hacks and Tax Fraud
Share |
NewsUSA - The vast majority of seniors today are using the
Internet at least once a week to check email, pay bills online and
keep in touch via social media. But all that time online puts
them at risk for scams and hacks, such as tax fraud.
In fact, a new survey by Home Instead, Inc., franchisor of the
Home Instead Senior Care network, found that 67 percent of
surveyed older adults have been the victim of an online scam or
hack.
Encouraging seniors to practice cyber security can go a long way toward protecting
their identity and sensitive financial information. Home Instead collaborated with
the National Cyber Security Alliance to create Protect Seniors Online, available at
www.ProtectSeniorsOnline.com, a free resource that educates older adults about
cybersecurity. Here, seniors can test their cybersecurity skills with the "Can You
Spot an Online Scam?" quiz.
Older adults can take the following steps now to protect themselves online:
*Password protect and secure devices, accounts. Lock all devices (including
computers, tablets and smartphones) with secure passwords in case devices are lost
or stolen.
*Think before clicking. When faced with an urgent request -- like emails asking for
money -- think before clicking or get a second opinion. Clicking on links is often
how scammers get personal information. When in doubt, trash an unusual message.
*Share with care. More than half (51 percent) of seniors surveyed by Home Instead
use social media to stay connected. Use care when sharing personal information,
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adjust privacy settings to limit who can see your information, and turn off location
sharing.
*Use security software: Install anti-virus and anti-spyware software and program it
to run regularly. And be wary of pop-up ads or emails, many of which contain
malware that can infect computers.
*Log out: Log out of all apps and websites when you are finished. Leaving apps
and websites open on computer screens could make you vulnerable to security and
privacy risks.
*Recommend support: Older adults who live alone may need help from a trusted
source -- such as a family member, tech-savvy friend or professional caregiver --to
serve as a second set of eyes.
To explore additional Protect Seniors Online resources, including the interactive
quiz, visit www.ProtectSeniorsOnline.com
A Home Instead office near you can be found by visiting
www.homeinstead.com/state.
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The Frugal Way Part 1!
Acer Aspire R1600 & Windows 8.1, Marriage Made In Heaven?
By Nomar Shaw, contributing writer/CE Magazine
This article “Acer Aspire R1600 & Windows 8.1, Marriage Made In Heaven?”
originally was written by my boss, Peter Nadal. Having an Acer Aspire R1600 I
fallowed his upgrade and I could not been happier. Mounting an Acer R1600 to a
Monitor The Frugal Way Part 2! Is my contribution to this upgrade hack, so, if you
have one collecting dust this article is for you!
Part 1 is for an average knows how.
As you can see below Acer Aspire R1600 (1st generation) on its mount, figure 1 is
what it looks in side. The Aspire R1600 intended for office environment, but, it
grew in popularity with all us computer nuts. It came with;
1: Intel Atom 230 processor (1.6
GHz)
2: 1 GB of RAM
3: NVIDIA ION graphics
motherboard
4: 802.11 Wifi (this was optional)
5: 160 Gig Hard Drive
6: Windows XP Pro
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Mine as you can see in Figure 1 has 4 gig of ram and Wifi card added, by the way, it
uses the same Wifi cards that most laptops have which makes it real easy to find.
My R1600 came from a very good friend/customer whom I upgrade to a new
Figure 1
Laptop. The 1st thing that I did was to max out the memory and plug in a Wifi card
(Wifi card is above the hard drive) from one of my parts laptop. Make sure you
tape the antenna wires to the front lid and away from the fan intake as seen in
figure 2 (note: I rewired the antenna in different way since that picture).
Figure 2
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Now as you can see there is no DVD Rom, but, no problem for me as all my
Windows (except XP & Windows 8 & 8.1) install disks are mounted on thumb
drives. Windows 7 home premium got installed without a hitch and I used XP
drivers on the ones the Win 7 could not find. It worked great especially Djing and
Karaoking for private parties and at the house, BUT, on the slow side and an
overheating problem. I ran it for a year till 8.1 showed up, so, by this time I had to
migrate all music and karaoke files along the dj software to a medium size desktop
that I build specifically for djing. So, the R1600 became the bar computer and what
better time to find out how good is windows 8.1, will the old girl run smooth? Will
it over heat?
VERDICT!
I have to eat my cynical words about 8.1, its way better then 8, Aspire R1600 and
Win 8.1 is most definitely a marriage made in heaven. Win 8.1 has a small foot
print compared to win 7 and because of the small foot print, small computers like
the Aspire R1600 run smoothly with it. But, some tweaking to win 8.1 has to be
done to get her to run nice. The driver’s for the NVIDIA ION graphic card is hard to
find. Win 7 took the XP Driver without a fuss and this is because win 7 has most of
XP coding, win 8.1 does not. A visit to Nvidia web site produced the 32 bit driver, a
word of warning, though the Aspire r1600 can run 64 bit with no problem, finding
a 64 bit nvidia graphic driver for win 8.1 is a dead issue, stick to the 32 bit version
of any windows you install.
UPDATE! Since this article from a few yrs ago Peter re-did the Acer to Windows 10
and his opinion is two thumbs up. As you can see wifi works great, picture below,
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Mounting an Acer R1600 to a Monitor
The Frugal Way Part 2!
I have been told I'm cheap! Raised by a Jewish step Mom the proper word is FRUGAL!
I have this Acer R1600 that I up graded to windows 7 (I decided to not to go Windows
10, but, to stay Win 7 home), bump up the memory to 4 gb and installed a laptop
wireless card with a interior antenna. And wanted to mount it behind a LCD Monitor,
but, the mounts made for Acer R1600 series range from $19 to $45 (plus shipping) and
frankly money is tight, so..... I went to the bench and let the mind juices work.
After a few "prototypes" came up with the easiest way to mount it...
Blank PC Case Brackets!
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As you see by the pictures its straight forward, just place the bend of the bracket in the
faceplate grove and mark it. Bend it(see note), drill a hole (as seen in the picture 1 & 2)
and screw it in. Angle it as seen in picture one & two then slide the Acer in. As for the
cables I round them then tied them up with twisty ties
Note: Take the two brackets the part that is already bent and slide it in the front grove then mark
where you need to bend it to create the pocket
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A CE MAGAZINE HEADS UP!!!
THIS IS A MUST READ, IF YOU’RE NOT SURE HOW TO FIND OUT IF
YOU GOT HACKED VIA CCLEANER THEN GET HOLD OF YOUR
COMPUTER TECH!
#Cyber Risk
September 18, 2017 / 3:39 AM / 2 months ago
Hackers compromised free CCleaner software,
Avast's Piriform says
Joseph Menn
4 Min Read
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hackers broke into British company Piriform Ltd’s free
software that optimizes computer performance last month, potentially allowing
them to control the devices of millions of users, the company and independent
researchers said on Monday.
FILE PHOTO: A man holds a laptop computer as cyber code is projected on him in
this illustration picture taken on May 13, 2017. REUTERS/Kacper
Pempel/Illustration/File Photo
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More than 2 million people downloaded tainted versions of Piriform’s program,
which then directed the computers to get instructions from servers under the
hacker’s control, Piriform said.
Piriform said it worked with law enforcement and cut off communication to the
servers before any malicious commands were detected. This came after security
researchers at Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) and Morphisec Ltd alerted Piriform’s
parent Avast Software of the hack last week.
The malicious program was slipped into legitimate software called CCleaner, which
cleans up junk programs and advertising cookies to speed up devices.
CCleaner is the main product made by London’s Piriform, which was bought in July
by Prague-based Avast, one of the world’s largest computer security vendors. At
the time of the acquisition, the company said 130 million people used CCleaner.
A version of CCleaner downloaded in August and September included remote
administration tools that tried to connect to several unregistered web pages,
presumably to download additional unauthorized programs, security researchers
at Cisco’s Talos unit said.
Talos researcher Craig Williams said it was a sophisticated attack because it
penetrated an established and trusted supplier in a manner similar to June’s
“NotPetya” attack on companies that downloaded infected Ukrainian accounting
software.
“There is nothing a user could have noticed,” Williams said, noting that the
optimization software had a proper digital certificate, which means that other
computers automatically trust the program.
In a blog post, Piriform confirmed that two programs released in August were
compromised. It advised users of CCleaner v5.33.6162 and CCleaner Cloud
v1.07.3191 to download new versions. A spokeswoman said that 2.27 million users
had downloaded the August version of CCleaner while only 5,000 users had
installed the compromised version of CCleaner Cloud.
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Piriform said that Avast, its new parent company, had uncovered the attacks on
Sept. 12. A new, uncompromised version of CCleaner was released the same day
and a clean version of CCleaner Cloud was released on Sept. 15, it said.
Only the cloud version could be updated automatically to remove the bad code.
The nature of the attack code suggests that the hacker won access to a machine
used to create CCleaner, Williams said.
CCleaner does not update automatically, so those who installed the problematic
version will need to delete it and install a fresh version, he said.
He also recommended running an antivirus scan.
Williams said that Talos detected the issue at an early stage, when the hackers
appeared to be collecting information from infected machines, rather than forcing
them to install new programs.
Piriform said in a news release that it had worked with U.S. law enforcement to
shut down a server located in the United States to which traffic was set to be
directed.
It said the server was closed down on Sept. 15 “before any known harm was
done.”
Avast said little about the breach, posting nothing on its Twitter account in the 12
hours after the announcement and displaying nothing on its main web page.
Piriform’s news release and technical blog post did not mention Cisco or its
partner Morphisec, instead crediting Avast with discovering the still-unexplained
compromise.
After the controlling web addresses were seized, Cisco saw 200,000 attempts to
connect to them
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Computer Magazine From The Past!
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Come a Long Way Baby!
Via Old Picture Of The Day, here's the Osborne 1, which was released in 1981.
It weighed ~25 pounds, had a 5-inch screen, and cost $1,800.
From this!
Here's some history from Wikipedia:
As the personal computer became feasible in the early 1970s, the idea of a
portable personal computer followed. A "personal, portable information
manipulator" was imagined by Alan Kay at Xerox PARC in 1968, [6] and described in
his 1972 paper as the "Dynabook". [7]
The IBM SCAMP project (Special Computer APL Machine Portable), was
demonstrated in 1973. This prototype was based on the PALM processor (Put All
Logic In Microcode).
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The IBM 5100, the first commercially available portable computer, appeared in
September 1975, and was based on the SCAMP prototype. [8]
As 8-bit CPU machines became widely accepted, the number of portables
increased rapidly. The Osborne 1, released in 1981, used the Zilog Z80 and
weighed 23.6 pounds (10.7 kg). It had no battery, a 5 in (13 cm) CRT screen, and
dual 5.25 in (13.3 cm) single-density floppy drives.
To This!
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The TRS-80 Model 100 is a portable computer introduced in 1983. It is one of the
first notebook-style computers, featuring a keyboard and liquid crystal display, in a
battery-powered package roughly the size and shape of a notepad or large book.
Display: 8 lines, 40 characters LCD
Graphics: 240 by 64 pixel addressable graphics
Units sold: 6,000,000
Power: Four penlight (AA) cells, or external power adapter 6V (>180 mA)
Memory: 8 KB - 32 KB (supported)
Operating system: Custom dedicated runtime in firmware
CPU: 2.4-MHz Intel 80C85
Yep the boss has one of these too, minus the big floppy drive.
Thank for reading CE Magazine
Chow For Now
Nanomites!
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