Open source software is one of the great benefits of belonging to the internet community.
Open source software is one of the great benefits of belonging to the internet community.
But the download sites which act as the gateways for accessing open source material can be somewhat tricky.
I went looking for “Virtual Audio Cable”, an editing tool mentioned at our recent ALPB Meeting, and upon finding it, hit the big DOWNLOAD button which seemed to be associated with the description for “Virtual Audio Cable”.
But afterwords I could not find the expected software anywhere on my computer, so I went on to other business and forgot about it.
This morning on bootup my new home page was a trashy AOL Page which I never sought to allow, and it took about 10-minutes to figure out how to get my own self-designed home page reinstated.
AOL is America On Line, the same people who provide Shoutcast, of which I am a member of longstanding. But this does not forgive the deceptive and pushy way an AOL Homepage tricked its way onto my computer.
Other recent hackings include a sleaze by my website provider, who switched my account to “Automatically Renewing”, and was all set to renew me for 3-years, which would NOT be my choice. Fortunately I discovered the change and got it corrected, with some little girl somewhere claiming that I had “selected” auto-renew, which was a lie she was put up to telling.
So far I have described actual experience, and when I come back I will do so with an editorial commentary about the struggle for money on the web.
Look Before Clicking
One very good way to avoid this is to cursor over the button or link and note at the bottom of the browser (FireFox) the url it point’s to…that is if the button is a simple html embedded download button. If it is a java applet or php script button, there may be evidence of where it actually goes by examining the page source.
At any rate, it is not called the World Wild Web for nothing! Always consider any site or link you have never visited to the likes of walking into a strange bar after a long trail ride into a strange town, with hand ready to draw at a moment’s notice.
Let’s hope changing your home page default was all that took place, and that page was an actual legit page and not a “BAMF” spoof page.
RFB
I too am familiar with what
I too am familiar with what your talking about Carl, those big “download” buttons can be quite deceiving, as they are really basically just an banner ad for something else.
In most cases the actual link you want to download the desired file will be a simple text link also found on that same page.
By the way, this is probably
By the way, this is probably what your looking for, and it’s thru Cnet which is a reputable site:
Click the text link UNDER the big download button that says “direct download link”, all the big button just wants to install a download assistant that you don’t want or need.
http://download.cnet.com/Virtual-Audio-Cable/3000-2168_4-10067766.html
You’d be better off using
You’d be better off using this link – http://ntonyx.com/vac.htm which is the link to the developer site.
Looks like the price went up a bit. Still, in my opinion, it’s worth it to link audio applications together.
The demo or free version inserts “Trial Version” (or something like that) in a female voice over top of the audio stream so it makes it unusable, except for testing that it works on your system.
Helped By ALPB Member
Thank you Artisan Radio.
The ALPB has pitched in and rescued the project.
The Struggle for Money On the Web
It seemed reasonable in the early days of the web to believe that great new income opportunity was opening for sole proprietors and individual entrepreneurs. This has not panned out as expected.
Instead, the wholesale dilution of income opportunity has been the result of overabundance of supply, making private ventures co-equal with large corporate ventures, with neither in much position to compete.
But the cheapening of supply streams applies to ephemeral, transient, abstract media content, such as news, written word, photographs, video, art, music and radio; anything that can be reduced to digits and transported on the internet; known as “software”.
Hardware merchandise has the opposite fortune of finding a major new income stream on the convenient point of sale device, the home computer.
Those few digit-vendors holding access to internet and web services are not satisfied simply to derive a steady flow of subscription income, for they anticipate the mass public finding less costly solutions, which explains the “slip ups” and “mistakes” that result in over-charges for services never ordered or perhaps never provided. It is therefore just and reasonable for the public to seek alternate paths for obtaining web services, eventually severing ties with unethical providers.
Meanwhile, many good beggar sites, providing excellent audio, journalism, open-source application software, populate the web commons, hats in hand asking for donations from free-loading audiences, themselves usually not in a financial position to mete out generous “tips” for web goodies.
Such is the plight of part 15 radio and their stream sites on the web. A veritable artists colony in search of a patron base.
Get Out Stay Out
Now I found that AOL had changed my preferred search tool to AOL, which I NEVER agreed to!
ALSO, I found am AOL Tool strip on my browser.
GET OUT, AOL, STAY OUT!
I never go rummaging in their personal belongings.
What invaders, trespassers, intruders, snoops.
Another Annoying Deception
The web seems to abound with sales tricks which would not be allowed in a brick and mortar store such as “Get our software FREE” when the only thing free is the downloading process itself. Many times programs which appear to be free are not and one doesn’t find this until the software is installed and it turns out to be a demo. And then the price is not disclosed until you click on “purchase” or some such thing.
I have no problem with people charging for software they create for this requires talent and time but I prefer to know the terms before I download.
It is a mystery to me how someone would think that hijacking a browser such as Carl described would promote good will. As a defense, I disable JavaScript on my system and only if I know the site which requires it while browsing do I enable it temporarily. I don’t even have Java installed on my computer. There is a nice add-on for Firefox called “No Script” which aids in managing JavaScript.
Yes, some people will do anything to try make a buck and the web is almost insane with pushy advertising. This site, for example, gets about 1 attempted login per minute by spambots and spammers. Jon Paul has taken some very effective measures to prevent this and the spammers seldom succeed but they are crawling about out there.
Neil
Great Tip
Great tip Neil. I also advise getting an ad blocker and no-script into that browser Carl. You also might consider a tea timer applet that prevents any changes to your system, such as SpyBot search and destroy.
RFB
Self Doctoring
I turned off Javascript per Neil’s suggestion.
Found the ongoing reversions to AOL home page, toolbar and search tool were connected with a browser extension, which I uninstalled.
Ran SpyBot per RFB and found a number of issues that were repaired.
I need to start NoScript, which I turned off because it was disallowing my Flash Audio Player, but there is some way to fine-tune it.
This kind of security housecleaning is essential for all computer users.
Just a JavaScript Observation
Upon turning off JavaScript, I found that my website’s beautiful clocks disappeared.
I reasoned that I usually don’t need to see those clocks, they still show up on other people’s machine’s if they have JavaScript enabled.
I also found that I can turn JavaScript on, refresh my website, the clocks appear, then I can turn off JavaScript, and the clocks remain in sight. They do not vanish unless I refresh my web page.
Java is a slang word for “coffee”, because coffee was imported from the country of Java.
Pet stores for awhile carried Java Finches, maybe they still do.
I once spilled a cup of java on my script.
No Script
You can set for which sites JavaScript is allowed by clicking on the NoScript icon while the site page is open. You can make the permissions temporary or permanent. I make them permanent for trusted sites.
In addition to Spybot you might want to try Malwarebytes Anti-malware program. Together, Spybot and Malwarebytes are pretty comprehensive and both are free.
Another nice utility is CCleaner which deletes latent temporary files and unused junk from IE and the system. It is surprising how many megabytes of junk accumulates and this makes it go away. You should carefully set what you want it to delete at setup since it can wipe browser history and recent documents listings. This can be changed at any time thereafter.
Neil
Ready To Sweep the Floor
The Anti-Malware is one I haven’t had, so that goes in today.
Been using CCleaner for awhile and love it.
Many thanks for these household tips.
More Than It Seems
“Now I found that AOL had changed my preferred search tool to AOL, which I NEVER agreed to!”
Sounds to me like you got BAMFED to a fake AOL site and there is a lot more going on…gradually. Seen this before, and it’s not nice dealing with it. You said you could not find the file that was downloaded. Trust me, something DID download and it’s eating up your machine…a gradual byte at a time.
If I was you, I would start some heavy scanning to the nth degree before the gradual take over becomes a freeze up and the restart pops up the dreaded message…”no boot device found”.
Such as is the lure of the World Wild Web. But you know what, all of it is of no surprise as even in one of your LPH programs is an audio clip from an old film or video describing the “future of commerce”, where a man sits at his recliner with a console and a 50’s style touch screen checking on his bills and expenses while the wife in the kitchen is selecting recipes for the night’s dinner and the kids are playing ping pong.
Sort of like Eisenhower’s warning that no one paid attention to…until after the aftermath.
A bit of advice to the inexperienced. DO NOT TRUST LINKS OR SITES YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN TO NO MATTER WHAT IS OFFERED UP!!
This warning message brought to you by an A+ certified computer technician who’s dealt with exactly what your going through countless times.
RFB
Just a couple of warnings.
Just a couple of warnings. Anti-spyware and anti-malware and even virus checkers place a load on your computer. Plus they often generate false positives, never mind missing things. They’re not the be all and end all.
Here’s what I do. It’s simple and old fashioned, but it works.
I don’t click on any website links, or anything within an e-mail, unless I am absolutely, positively sure that the site can be trusted. If I don’t know it, then I don’t go. RFB’s suggestion to hover over a link and see its ‘real’ hyperlink address is also a good one, to catch spoofing.
And I never, ever, ever execute a file contained within an e-mail (even if it comes from a supposedly trusted source).
I think long and hard about executing any file, period.
If I really need to download something, I go to the source – in the case of software, the developer’s web site – after doing my research, of course, and assuring myself that it’s safe.
Basically, I don’t overly rely on any software running in the background to protect me – I try to use good old common sense.
I also run a simple virus checker, and a simple firewall, just for added protection (no one is fallible, these have saved my bacon a few times).
That’s on the software side. On the hardware side, and this is very important, I never connect directly to the Internet with any computer. It’s very important to use a router between your computers and the internet, which has all incoming ports blocked (except the ones that you unblock, of course), such as 80 if you’re running a web server. There are tons of ‘bots’ running around the web, both good and bad, that look for open ports and attempt to gain entry. That simple and inexpensive hardware firewall is probably the best overall protection you can get, period.
Email Deceptions
“I don’t click on any website links, or anything within an e-mail, unless I am absolutely, positively sure that the site can be trusted.”
Emails and unknown links are the prime ways people’s pc’s get infected. Just like a fake website, there are many fake emails dressed up to look like the real thing.
BAMF’ing is the definition to what those sites and emails do. Takes you to a wonderful place that looks, smells, and acts like a legit site or email. The term BAMF is a very old word given to the act of re-directing someone from what is real to the fake look alike.
RFB
Dual Identity…
Another safety valve is to have two Windows accounts.
You can use an account with admin rights when not Web surfing or checking email and another Windows account with no admin rights to use when you are.
This will help stop unauthorized installations of malware, spyware and other unwanted items that would unknowingly be allowed by admin rights.
Yes!
Great idea MRAM!
I will figure it out and do it!
Two identities! That’s perfect for my several personalities!
Who am I now? Who was I then?
Are you sure it was me?
How do I know who you are?
Just getting in practice.
I have a second pc just for
I have a second pc just for downloading, dosnt matter if its trashed and I have to do a reinstall of windows on it.
Another Good Tip
“You can use an account with admin rights when not Web surfing or checking email and another Windows account with no admin rights to use when you are.”
Good tip. However a word of caution. These hackers have a work around with even that, similar to how a lot of anti-virus/malware/spyware programs can miss a few things, they write their little rookits to decorate themselves as appearing innocent to these protective programs, getting through via other means like through file and print sharing etc.
So if you run multiple accounts on your system, just make darn sure your going through all of the permission settings for the “locked” account. Only problem with that is often locking down the 2nd account will prevent printers and other networking tasks from working, even not seeing other computers in the same work group, and sometimes seeing them, but cannot share resources.
RFB
You Put Your Jump Drive Where???
Yes, the hackers have way to much time on their hands.
Our City LAN, with all of it’s Enterprise high dollar firewalls, antivirus software, etc. got a bug yesterday.
The I.S. guys are pulling hair out trying to find and destroy it. They’ve been on the phone with Trend Micro, the antivirus guys, for two days now.
Seems this little bug is either hiding or deleting directories at random. This, could be, a reallll problem…
Hidden Surprises
“Seems this little bug is either hiding or deleting directories at random. This, could be, a reallll problem.”
Today’s memory modules..or Random Access Memory sticks, including Flash sticks and their buffer memory areas, and motherboard buffer memory stacks will bypass areas of the memory and map them as unusable, which allows the memory stack to continue to function.
Now here is the drawback to that with these rootkits in how they get into a system and hide very effectively. They will park themselves into an area of memory and tag that segment or block with a bad checksum, similar to how bad sectors of a hard drive can be tagged as bad and simply bypassed. Problem is…within that memory cell, even with power removed, the bad checksum remains in the stick as well is in the system’s BIOS DPMI pool check, and underneath that is your little hidden gremlin rebuilding itself at every reboot, spreading it’s love and sunshine once again throughout the system.
Those nasty rootkits can park themselves into add on cards on-board memory stacks too. Sneaky little buggers.
Worse of all, is they also park themselves inside read/write dll files and remain there protected by the dll file itself. And the reason why scanning programs don’t see them is because those infected dll’s are in use by the OS, particularly dll’s that are specific to the OS, and those cannot be updated or changed while in use, thus the typical shut down sequence after updating takes place which at that point the dll’s are updated outside of the OS fully being loaded and ran.
Once these types of rootkits get into a system, the first thing they do is duplicate themselves anywhere and everywhere possible inside the system, most particularly where the OS boot files are which set up the system. Thus at every boot even after a hefty scan, it never seems to go away because it continues to rebuild itself and replace the missing pieces that did get removed.
This is why when a system becomes so infected, it is usually purged outside of the computer’s boot sequence..ie booting from an isolated boot source such as a CD or DVD ROM disc ran through a read only drive connected externally to the system. Reason for that..is because the drives inside the machine could also be infected as well. And to add to the party, those rootkits will migrate out of the machine itself and travel throughout the network, parking a piece here and there, and when the reboot of the infected machine takes place, it calls for those remote locations in aiding the rebuild!
And that can be anything tied to the network. A printer, scanner, monitor, RAID system, anything with a bit of on-board memory is vulnerable to the bits and pieces which aid the rootkit in rebuilding itself over and over again.
It’s a nightmare chasing after every piece of a rootkit once it gets into a system. I can certainly understand why the I.S. guys are pulling their hair out. It’s no fun or joy chasing down these nasty infections.
RFB
Security Software
As part of self defense against infections we download and install security software, but isn’t it interesting how much we trust the security software?
When I installed “Malwarebytes” it prompted me to “temporarily turn off all other security software, including firewall and virus checker”. Like an obedient helper I followed the instructions, because I trust the security software.
But if I was a devious military mind, I would find ways of forging friendships with the security software and find pathways no one would suspect.