Beyond

In short - Everyone needs them - That includes YOU!

I have seen people using an old computer running Windows ME without any firewall, antivirus, antispyware; totally unpatched. I was so shocked that I commented out loud about having found the local computer virus maternity unit: The owner, who was in the nextdoor room, came scurrying in with a look of puzzlement combined with anger on her face.

This person had been merrily using a totally unprotected computer for years and spreading viruses to all and sundry across the internet for years; totally unaware of any threat to herself or others.

"Oh but I only use it online about an hour a day." She exclaimed.

- How thoughtful of you. NOT!

Some computer users I’ve encountered have no idea what a firewall is. Others have said that they think they don’t need antivirus software because they only have a dialup connection. Still others have antivirus software but didn’t realise that it had to be updated. And yet others even have complained to me that the security bug fix that "Microsoft" emailed to them didn’t do anything but slow their machine down.

The worst instance was a person who had had their machine "upgraded"- Allegedly from a single-core to a dual-core processor, and had supposedly moved from a 32-bit to a 64-bit installation of Windows XP, which they’d paid a sizable amount of money for the privilege of having carried out. On my examination the operating system disk packaging didn’t shed any light on the question of exactly what this person was running, as there was only a clear case with a home-recorded CD inside it. The contents of this CD included a virus that had been rewritten to defeat the Microsoft Genuine Advantage software and reported a legitimate key. It soon became clear that this was an unprotected, non-updated, unpatched pirated copy of Windows Vista, which was being run on a machine that was hardly capable of running it:

The "upgraded" "dual-core" processor was a 2.2GHz AMD Athlon 64 single-core processor and the RAM it was using was still the old DDR rather than DDR2. The motherboard was a rather ancient Asus board made to run the early 1st generation Athlon 64s, which was what it was still doing. The system was riddled with viruses and malware: In fact I was surprised that it was still running. The operating system was totally unprotected and all the software that they were running was pirated also.

Both the cases I’ve written about lived within 15 miles of me, and are just two worst-case examples of the many similar cases I’ve seen that close in proximity to where I live: The possibilities from those statistics frighten me no end. I would estimate that there are nearly a million internet-connected users in England alone who are not using any online protection and whose computers are virus and botnet nurseries.

On the basis of that estimate alone it should be fairly obvious to you why a computer needs protection.

In general I think that most computer users are too lax don’t take security seriously enough.

I am fairly certain that the number of machines that are still unprotected by any kind of firewall is fairly big.

I am fairly certain that the percentage of machines unprotected by any kind of anti-virus and anti-spyware software is quite high: Higher than you’d imagine.

I am fairly certain that the number of people who have anti-virus and anti-virus software installed, but whose databases have never been updated is quite colossal.

I am fairly certain that the percentage of machines that have not once taken any update to Windows or Windows components is probably in the twenties.

I am also fairly certain that there are a number of people who’ll click on links or open attachments from unknown sources without giving it a second thought.

Owning a computer could be likened to owning a car: Both require maintenance, both need attention, both need care when using them. When you drive a car you don’t just get in and drive off taking any route that you fancy. There are do’s and don’ts; there are things you can do and things you shouldn’t do:

For instance if you don’t stick to the roads and drive cross-country you’re likely to end up stuck in a rut or broken down in the middle of nowhere. If you try to drive through tree trunks you’ll end up with a busted car. (I know this: I didn’t try to drive through a tree, but I lost it on a corner and hit one once. In that instance I discovered that evolution fashioned trees in a stronger design than Ford fashioned cars.) If you drive recklessly you’ll end up hurting yourself financially and/or physically. Maybe you’ll end up hurting others too.

The same is true when using a computer: if you don’t bother to maintain it and just "drive" it in any old fashion you’ll get reputation and you’ll end up with a computer that’s slow, faulty, and full of malware. That malware will spread from your computer to other users because that is what it is made to do. If a person doesn’t use anti-virus then their computer will become a virus nursery and infect other computers: That is carelessness and selfishness on their part. likewise with anti-spyware, firewall, etc.

People do exactly that though: they don’t bother, they don’t care. They might not mind having a machine full of malware; but other people don’t want that. As a result, we have botnets, spam, and constant virus and spyware attacks.

My advice to every computer user - Whether they run Windows, Linux, or Mac; but especially if they run Windows, is:

Windows is a targeted operating system; but other operating systems are by no means immune to attack.

Everyone needs education: That includes computer users. What do YOU think?

I know that I’ve spoken a number of times, here on this blog as well a in comments on other blogs, about the deplorable state of the internet infrastructure in a large percentage of the world - Particularly the UK.

A Post of Politics

In a proposed initiative announced earlier this week; British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to unveil plans to allow low-income families in the UK to connect to the internet. The plan is to accomplish this by sending such families a voucher worth up to £700, (About $1350) depending upon the families’ means as assessed under the strange, outdated, and in places unfairly applied, British Law. These vouchers can be used to pay for broadband charges, software, technical support, or even computers themselves. This scheme is intended to be run over the next three years; and is primarily intended to assist poorer children and their parents to keep up with the recent use of computers in classrooms in UK schools which is seeing school reports, homework, and study materials being posted online at an ever-increasing rate.

“To ensure we are prepared for the times to come, the Government will fund one million more households to get online, enabling parents to link with the teachers at their children’s school and helping young people with their homework and coursework.” According to Brown.

It is also intended that the initiative will keep teachers and parents in constant touch with one another; rather than just by means of the three school reports per-year as under the old system.

Knowing the nature of rip-off Britain as I do; I foresee a lot of exploitation by British businesses in charging unacceptable prices for these services to the unwary possibly computer-illiterate bearers of these vouchers. I see larger companies capitalising upon this opportunity by offering their old stock in exchange for vouchers: Using this as a means to clear yesterday’s technology without any loss of revenue on the original marked-up price. I foresee amateur computer “technicians” taking advantage of this scenario; taking people’s computers to a professional repair shop, adding their own profit and charging the customer a fortune, then claiming vouchers as payment.

I foresee more of the following too:-

Part One (Above)                                       

       Part Two (Above)                                                      

This kind of behaviour by supposed “professionals” is utterly diabolical, completely unethical, and also totally illegal: Nevertheless it does happen - That was a real Channel 4 TV programme about a real con-artist operating in the UK some time ago. I have plans to do something towards preventing the British public from being ripped off; although unfortunately I currently have neither the resources not the ability to provide any sort of similar service to Mike Quigley (Above); despite the fact that my service would be totally ethical and not rip the public off as this cowboy did.

- And Queue Advertising…

As many of my readers may be aware; I build computers: I operate under the name of “Kustom Komputa” and have been trading as such in a rather limited capacity since early summer 2007; building computers for associates, friends, neighbours, and acquaintances mainly. I have several years experience in computers and also have qualifications in both analogue and digital electronics. I once again state that unfortunately I don’t offer a technical support service or a visiting computer repair service, other than a similar support service under the terms of the Kustom Komputa warranty to my customers where the customer has their faulty computer picked up by courier and returned to me for repair should any hardware component malfunction during the warranty period. I also only deliver to addresses in the UK currently.

Please do enquire with Kustom Komputa about a new PC if you find yourself on this scheme. I build each individual computer for the benefit of the customer that will own it. I will build tower-only or I will supply peripherals and/or operating system as part of the package. The website is overdue for an update; but please don’t let that put you off.

Alternatively; if you’re feeling adventurous, you might try this:

Enough advertising for the time being: Let’s get back to the issue of this proposed Government incentive. Despite being well-intentioned this is once again too little and too late; something that we in the UK have come to expect from any government in power at any time:

The Real Politics Part

Despite this bringing the possibility of allowing some of the less-well-off families in Britain access to the internet it neither answers the matter of limited broadband access nor does it answer the matter of substandard infrastructure throughout the UK: It is still the case that in many rural areas of the UK those with internet access have to rely on a dial-up service through their telephone lines at 56k on an old-fashioned dial-up modem simply because there is no alternative other than the expensive satellite broadband services. The reason for this is because the companies that deliver services such as cable have in their own immediate interests only wired up the urban and suburban areas to benefit from their services. BT themselves, despite being able to deliver broadband services of up to 8mbps to customers virtually on the doorstep of their exchanges, are nevertheless unable to offer decent connection speeds to anybody living more than about a mile-and-a-half or more from the exchanges. This means that over 40% of the population of the UK are still unable to benefit from speeds above 2mbps; with many unable to access anything faster than 56k dialup due to location and/or financial reasons.

The fact is that were this 1998 this would be acceptable; although barely so. In reality this is 2008 and the situation is totally unacceptable. It has been brought about by the failure of the current Government to address the matter of proper investment in technology and the infrastructure of the World Wide Web in the UK. At the risk of sounding like a politician; although hopefully without the echo-chamber effect of the hollow words of a politician; I feel that it is time for the British people to get up out of their comfort zone and lobby Parliament to gain and institute the necessary investment.

The British as a nation have become complacent and have lost all enthusiasm for keeping Britain great; in fact it appears that they’ve given up - Because the politicians that are supposed to be setting an example have also given up leading and have set about doing as little as possible for as much money as possible.

This has set the tone for rip-off Britain - because our politicians are leading by example; ripping off Britain in the first place.

The latest round of pay-rises in the House of Commons would themselves have partially paid for a renewed internet infrastructure rather than putting wealth into the pockets of the “elite” who are supposed to be running this country on our behalf; not on theirs.

Unless further investment occurs in this area soon; the UK could end up as a third-world nation! Is that what you want? Then get off your arse and do something about it: The politicians aren’t going to do it for you; all they care about is how fat their wallet or purse is: they make token gestures but fail to address the real issues. Nothing has ever been achieved better than by people power: Politician-power is artificial synthetic crapola that fails and fails again; yet tells you that it’s working.

A new Government would be a change; but we’ve surely learned over the last century that neither Labour nor Conservative are any good. How many times do they have to fail over and over again before someone gets this point? I’m not saying that any party has all the answers; but surely it’s a fallacy to keep doing the same old thing in the same old way and expect different results? - I thought that was the definition of insanity rather than the definition of politics! perhaps the two have become identical? What’s your take on it?

The experts from the scientific institutions such as Oxford Uni and NASA recently convened a gathering aimed at devising ways to prevent information technologies threatening human dominance and possibly bringing about the end of civilisation as we know it.

(Personally I think it might be a good idea if done right - I mean look at planet Earth right now: Humans are trying to self-destruct as a species as it is by the looks of it. Maybe it’s time for a change brought about by the cyber-gods we create? Jobsweh and his ilk aren’t doing very well after all; Gates has retired; and a conflict between Redmond, Jobsweh, and “cyber-terrorists” from the open-source community - The dark side in jackets - appears to have kicked off in a small way anyway.)

Is the Matrix to become a reality? I suggest pre-empting it by rewriting Smith if so. Will we become slaves to vast armies of terminators following a nuclear war started by our computers? I think not - That scenario appears a bit too far-fetched to me; considering the fact that such a war would obliterate most of the worlds computers, internet communications, and server units, anyway.

The lightning pace of information technology may be of concern to some; but would it be so bad to be controlled to some extent by a higher, if non-human, intelligence? Once again I really don’t see what’s so terrible about that. Humans replaced Neanderthals because they were more adept at survival, so what if some technologically-enhanced race of humans superceded humans as we know them today?

OK ignoring thoughts of the Borg that are now running through the heads of Trekkies reading this blog - Forget the Borg collective consciousness and forget cruising the universe in a cube looking for vulnerable civilisations to turn into more of the collective - I really can’t see what’s so bad about having unobtrusive implants attached to increase the sensitivity of the human senses, in addition to being a replacement for worn out parts. OK maybe it might change humanity totally; but is that so bad after all? We already have the capability to self-annihilate within minutes and it only takes some set of power-crazy halfwits with access to the right button to make it happen: What if technology could prevent it from ever happening? What if some implant could correct the chemical imbalances in people’s deranged minds: No Hitlers, Stalins, no warmongering Bush hearing voices from “god” telling him to nuke his enemies.

The experts say that the reason humans are the dominant species on this planet is because of our intelligence - Pah! - What intelligence? - We’re just clever monkeys having bigger inter-tribal wars with each other and using rocket-propelled sticks and stones that explode and kill more of the enemy; otherwise we’re no better than Neanderthals as a whole, apart from being better suited to today’s environment physically. If technology threatens that position due to having greater intelligence then good: Isn’t evolution wonderful? Isn’t it just engineered evolution taking its natural course? - Or do we fight it and carry on blowing each other up until there’s nobody left to kill?

They think that they could create a super-computer with recursive artificial intelligence that could become more intelligent than humans. I say do it: You can’t get more stupid than some humans in some regards; and those stupid humans usually end up leading an army of followers…You know the story - Look at Osama Bin-Laden as one example.

“Anything that has more brains than us, can develop more technology, more quickly - including powerful weapons technologies. It could also come up with strategies and plots much more quickly and would therefore be extremely powerful.” said Bostrom; one of the so-called experts in question. If that were the case then surely it would soon see how the way humans have turned out is only going to lead to oblivion; therefore it might even ensure a future for humanity- rather than the 50/50 chance of self-elimination.

The mind boggles! - Aided of course by the latest multi-cored processing technologies. If only…

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Latest reports appear to indicate that Apple  aren’t quite as bad as it seems; in fact it might appear at first sight that they had a windfall.

That’s not exactly the case though: Despite news of their taking top customer-satisfaction honours among personal computer manufacturers, as released on Tuesday of this week, there are two things you should note before assuming that Apple are the tops and that this blog is heavily biased against them:

Firstly nobody even thought to ask Kustom Komputa if they even wanted to be included in this award; probably because they knew Kustom Komputa would trounce Apple into second place. On a more serious note, though, the index measures results only for the three-month period ended in June - Before the crap began to hit the fan for Apple, starting with the release of the iPhone.

Also on Tuesday; Apple admitted that a software update for their much troubled iPhone only partly fixes the connection problems it has had in connecting to 3G networks: In other words; honestly this time: “FAIL: We scratched again.”

It has been reported that it isn’t only Apple’s buggy software that’s to blame: There have been reports that the Infineon Technologies 3G chipsets used in the iPhone are faulty. That could mean that no matter how good the software, the hardware issue might cause the problem to never totally go away.

It has been reported that it isn’t only Apple’s buggy software that’s to blame: There have been reports that the Infineon Technologies 3G chipsets used in the iPhone are faulty. That could mean that no matter how good the software, the hardware issue might cause the problem to never totally go away.

The crap certainly has been hitting the fan lately for Apple; and maybe rightly so too: It seems that Steve Jobs has always been a bit of a dreamer;   and now incarnated as “Jobsweh”; the god of all things Apple; it appears that the power has gone to his head and mingled with his dreams, turning his wallet into a bottomless pit that seeks filling with loot, no matter what the cost.

As reported here on kkomp.com; Apple were recently forced to extend the free trial of MobileMe in a face-saving operation.

“We have already made many improvements to MobileMe, but we still have many more to make.” Said Apple.

To me that sounds like: “We did it again by releasing a service well ahead of schedule in order to market before the competition: It wasn’t actually ready to be released; but we did so out of a case of having to. We hope we can eventually get it to work.”

If they don’t it’ll end up costing them a few dollars more; which could incur the wrath of Jobsweh!

In the same email Apple stated “We know that MobileMe’s launch has not been our finest hour.” ROFLMAO - You’re telling me! What exactly has been Apple’s finest hour during the past two months? Steve Jobs seems to think he’s Apple’s answer to Bill Gates of late. The question is; is Jobsweh, the god with the bottomless pockets, fit to run Apple any longer? Should someone more competent and less greedy take over?

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This; direct from Apple:

“Why is Apple granting a 60-day subscription extension?
The transition from .Mac to MobileMe was rockier than we had hoped.”

First understatement.

“While we are making a lot of improvements, the MobileMe service is still not up to our standards. We are extending subscriptions 60-days free of charge to express appreciation for our members’ patience as we continue to improve the service.”

How generous of Apple to realise that they cocked up - Again!

“Am I eligible for the 60-day extension?
You are eligible if you are a MobileMe member whose account was active as of August 19, 2008 at 0:00 Pacific Daylight Time.”

Ah I knew there was a catch!

“What if I am currently in a free trial period?
If you were in your free trial period on August 19 at 0:00 Pacific Daylight Time, your free trial will be extended an additional 60 days.”

Blah blah…Ah: Is this another crafty catch? :

“I have an activation key. Will I lose my extension if I apply the key now?
If you are currently in your trial period, you will lose the remainder of your trial period —including any extensions— as soon as you apply your activation key.  If you already have a paid subscription, you can enter your key at any time and Apple will automatically apply the key to renew your subscription after your extension period expires.”

Remind me to fire my Advertising Executive

In his blog entry entitled “Apple Is Flailing Badly At The Edges” he goes on to say:

“My obvious enthusiasm for Apple products is fairly evident to readers of this blog. But recently I’ve had a string of bad apples come my way, so to speak. It’s time for Apple to stop screwing around and start paying attention to product quality.”

He then goes on to speak about the single hour of battery life he gets from his iPhone , as well as certain Apps vanishing at the behest of the great Jobsweh with his lever of power; before, in usual fanboy style, declaring his undying love for his dead battery iPhone; symbol of the divine nature of the great Jobsweh. (Waste of time, costs you a fortune, sub-standard.)

- As his following commentary notes, under the heading:

“Mac Mini, Macbook Air, Macbook Pro and Macbook, All Failed“

* - Read the rest of “Apple Is Flailing Badly At The Edges“. - *

Some of my online associates say that I’m anti-Apple: I disagree; I’m not in any way prejudiced against Apple because they’re not Microsoft, even though you could say that I’m a Microsoft fan. I’m looking deeply into the eyes of Apple and seeing a culture of control, company domination, and exploitation of customers: In fact I see a kind of Pagan-istic-ish fundamentalist cult religion appearing; one where the faithful hang on every word of and would be willing to give their life for, Jobsweh, the god of all things Apple.

- And even though this cult-following; like a flock of ante-Linux zealots, is happening; the faithful are being sold utter substandard crap for a small fortune as massive amounts of profit appear in Jobsweh’s pockets.

A friend commented that I could be cruising for a lawsuit to be filed against me: Quite obviously Apple strongly discourage the expression of opinion through free speech; but in trying to sue me they’d have to interface American law with British law and probably apply for an extradition warrant, only to end up being paid any settlement from my limited funds at about £1UKP a week.

How many $million was that? Oh well it’ll be paid one day - I can imagine being connected to an Apple-funded life support technology to keep me alive indefinitely until the debt is paid in full; like some frankenstinian contraption from the backrooms of science-fiction in the great Jobsweh’s research laboratories  - Until suddenly the entire thing fails and I begin to rapidly age and die as technicians rush about to resolve the issue:

“Holy shit: We used an iPhone battery to power this thing! That’ll add another £ 55 (includes VAT), plus £ 7.29 shipping and handling, includes VAT.”

“Don’t worry about cost right now; she’s dying, and Jobsweh will be mad at us if he doesn’t get his money!”

“Man are you serious? We’ll have to take all this equipment to an Apple store and wait 5 working days plus shipping time!”

In the post I made earlier entitled “A Geek’s Toolkit Supplement: Loaded USB Drive ” I spoke of what I described as “branding files”: Files that I add to the operating system to indicate that I am supplier, builder, and maintenance tech for a particular computer.

I can hear your brains whirring; so before you start thinking that I’m up to something naughty I’ll show you exactly what I mean. Oh yes; this only works if you have Windows XP installed, so don’t go trying it with a Linux or a OSX installation and then comment that I’ve messed up your operating system or “I can’t find those files in Ubuntu!” - “It doesn’t work with Leopard!” You’re quite right; it doesn’t - So be forewarned.

If this information has already been added to your operating system by the manufacturer then I suggest it best to just leave it anyway.

(Why are you playing about with your computer like this anyway? What do you hope to achieve? Oh well; your problem, not mine.)

The aim of the exercise is to customise Windows XP’s general tab in the System Properties dialogue box that you call up by right-clicking the My Computer icon and selecting Properties.

This customisation involves adding support contract information and a logo. It involves using only Notepad and whatever program you like to use to create a 256-colour bitmap.

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OK let’s start with the details: I won’t tell you exactly what details I put for computers that I build; so for this exercise we’ll assume that these details are regarding a computer built by the Acme Computer Corporation:

The computer is a Datamax, model 55102. Support line is 1-800-ACME…

Open Notepad and type the following text, replacing the example with your company’s details etc:

[General]

Manufacturer=Acme Computer Corporation

Model=Datamax 55102

[Support Information]

Line 1=Call 1-800-ACME for technical support

Line 2=  support [at] OMG [dot] acmecomputer [dot] com.invalid

Line 3=500 Billion Byte Drive

Line 4=Pixelgraphicsville, USA

Save this file to %windir%\Windows\System32 as Oeminfo.ini

Create a 256-colour bitmap of your company’s logo that is no more than 96X96 pixels in size. Save this file to %windir%\Windows\system32 as Oemlogo.bmp

Yes I deliberately soiled the picture: ‘Better safe than sorry.

To see the results either right-click on the My Computer icon or press the Windows and the Break key simultaneously.

And that’s how it’s done - No registry edits, no hacking into anything. This is a white box system builder’s trick; but it’s no massive secret. The files aren’t permanent anyway; if you remove them or reinstall your operating system the dialogue box reverts to default.

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Being a geekette; that is a female computer designer/builder, as well as a blogger, I often get asked by my girlfriends (And some of their boyfriends too - Shh!) to pop over for a cuppa and attend to some problem they’re having with their computer. Most of these problems turn out to be software-related, so it’s always a good idea to come prepared - Although I can download most of what I need from the internet, sometimes their internet connection is not working for whatever reason, and more than one is on dial-up - Which can make downloading a program a 2-hour job in itself.

To combat this I have a 1Gb USB flash drive with most of anything I might need on it; plus loads of links to anything useful on the internet itself that might be useful which I haven’t bothered to include because I probably won’t need it.

A Topless and Bottomless Photo of Me

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I pop the cord from which the USB stick hangs around my neck, and go to sort out their issues.

I mainly have program installers in the form of .exe files on the USB drive: These are always useful. I also am able, in a worst-case scenario, to provide them with a temporary internet connection via my mobile device, for which I also carry a USB bluetooth dongle to plug into their computer on the rare occasions where it is necessary; such as an instance a year plus ago where a friend somehow lost the driver for their network interface device and was unable to communicate with their router as a result: I removed the old driver which was faulty but obviously didn’t have that particular driver on the USB device; so I set up a temporary internet connection via my mobile phone/bluetooth and downloaded a new driver, installed it - Target neutralised.

The items I have on my USB drive are listed below: I’m sharing this with you as I’m assuming that as a geek you too get called out to similar situations; but being unable to fix it on the spot you end up taking their computer home, doing the work in your spare time, and returning their computer at a later date; which causes inconvenience to both parties.

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The files I carry around on my USB device are as follows:

1. AVG Anti-virus.exe installer: You’d be mightily surprised how many people don’t run an anti-virus program! They might find that their computer slows down with use; and, not realising that it is caused by the registry getting cluttered with crap among other things, they start removing programs which they think are unnecessary in order to attempt to get the machine to speed up again, one of those “unnecessary” programs being their anti-virus program.

2.. A free anti-spyware program; such as AdAware and Spybot Search and Destroy - For the reason stated above or that they didn’t even know what spyware was etc. The latest AVG antivirus has built-in spyware-protection, but that protection is not exhaustive, so it’s always a good idea to install extra spyware protection supplemental to that.

3. Free FTP clients in .exe installer format, such as WS-FTP-LE and FileZilla: They do occasionally come in handy.

4. Diagnostic programs; such as Core Temp.exe, Diskcheckup.exe… I know; rather than listing them all here I’ll show a picture of all the icons below and to save a lot of my time I’ll let you Google for them all.

Obviously the folders are of my own making: Batch Files contains some useful batch files that I wrote or copied, Dragons Websites contains the URLs of the websites of the millionaire entrepreneurs from the BBC series “Dragon’s Den”, Glint(Program) contains the .exe file of the Glint System Monitor program, KK contains pictures which I use regarding Kustom Komputa; Suppliers, Parts, and Circuits contains URLs to suppliers of computer hardware components, plus a few electronic circuits, Web Shortcuts contains hundreds of various useful URLs, Websites contains copies of all my website files from some of my various sites, WP Plugins contains some useful WordPress plugins. Some of the files, such as DSC00* are photos from my mobile phone. aports.zip shouldn’t be on there as it’s a program that contains malware. OEM Exel and OEM INXP are folders containing branding files which I add to the OS to indicate that I am supplier, builder, and maintenance tech for a particular computer. The file “Kustom Komputa” is a copy of some files from my Kustom Komputa website. WP Themes contains WordPress themes. The Folder “Self-Installing Scr” contains a number of screensavers that I created and which automatically install on the computer upon activation of the .exe file thereof. (No malware involved.) The folder Paint.net contains the program Paint.net, and the folder “Sounds” contains some alternative Windows sound effects as spoken by the Daleks from the BBC TV series “Dr Who”.

There are also a number of shortcuts which you don’t normally see on any Windows desktop. These shortcuts; such as “Sound Recorder“, “Volume Control“, “Command Prompt“, “Device Manager“, and “Sleep or Hibernate” are described on this site, including the method to create your very own icon(s).

So that’s pretty much it: Carry this lot plus your own personal files around on a USB flash drive and you won’t go far wrong.

HTH (’Hope That Helps.)

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Today, after a week of iPhone battery jokes and chidings aimed at a certain iPhone user I know online, whose iPhone battery died very quickly on Monday last, I thought it an idea to have a look into the topic of iPhone batteries a bit more deeply with a little research. A quick Google search revealed 16,300,000 results for iPhone batteries. Quite obviously I wasn’t intending to read them all, and as it happened the first one that I clicked on inspired me to write this blog entry:

The following was what I found at http://www.apple.com/uk/support/iphone/service/battery/ : Basically it describes Apple’s method of further ripping off the customer post purchase in the event that their battery becomes useless and fails to retain its charge. (I wonder exactly how long that will be? Has anyone actually reached this point already? If so then do please feel free to comment. - Otherwise do feel free to comment anyway.)

The page in question is officially entitled “iPhone Out-of-Warranty Battery Replacement Program Frequently Asked Questions” and begins with the question “What is the iPhone Battery Replacement Program?”

Many iPhone users will be glad to know that there is an official battery-replacement program - Until they hear the cost of it. The article says:

“If your iPhone requires service only because the battery’s ability to hold an electrical charge has diminished, Apple Technical Support will replace your battery for a service fee. Be sure to follow these instructions for optimizing life span and battery life before submitting your iPhone for battery replacement. “

The instructions in question say; in a most roundabout and lengthy manner, that the more use you give your iPhone the less time your battery will remain charged: That’s quite logical I suppose. The catch is, as with all rechargeable batteries, the more you recharge the batteries the less you’ll get out of them: Fair comment. It then goes into great detail about ways of not using your iPhone so that the battery’s charge lasts longer. (Following which it instructs you to “Use your iPhone regularly”.) I find it rather strange that Apple made a product that is to be used as little as possible; but as we’ll note later, this is a caveat for the process of charging you a fortune to replace a dead battery. “Jobsweh(1)“, the god of all things Apple, is a greedy and profitmongering god who likes to milk his people for every dime that they posses after they sell themselves into bondage with him by buying one of his products.

The article continues:

“How can I set up my iPhone for the Battery Replacement Program?”

“You can take your iPhone to your carrier. You can also contact Apple Technical Support or take your iPhone to an Apple Retail Store.”

Yippee-doo; thank you Apple for being so helpful. Now here’s the sting in the tail:

“How much does it cost to participate in the program?”

“The program cost is £ 55 (includes VAT), plus £ 7.29 shipping and handling, includes VAT. All fees are in Euros. Service may not be available if your iPhone has been damaged due to accident or abuse. Please review Apple’s Repair Terms and Conditions for further details.”

EH?! Fifty-five quid to replace a f—ing battery! That’s over $100 USD; and only “if your iPhone has [not] been damaged due to accident or abuse.” - Accident such as the case accidentally disintegrating perhaps? Abuse such as allowing the case to disintegrate in the first place?

Moving on:

“How long will service take?”

“Service through Apple Technical Support normally takes one week (five business days) from the date the unit is shipped to us. Time may vary if it is done through your carrier or an Apple Retail Store.”

Oh the geeks are gonna love that! A whole week PLUS shipping time without the iPhone: $100USD+ to be without your iPhone for 2 weeks; maybe more? Apple are the biggest con out there today - And people moan about Microsoft! - Er, reality check: Wake up!

This may be the answer you’re looking for:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XlkKQoUlOQg

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1. Credit to DedRyzing ( http://twofourtech.com/ ) for naming the divinity of Steve Jobs.

A very useful icon to have on your desktop, if you’re like me and use this function a lot, would be a Sleep or Hibernate icon: You could just click a single icon on the desktop and the computer goes for a snooze, one way or another, depending on how it’s set.

Unfortunately Microsoft, in their infinite wisdom, didn’t include a Sleep or Hibernate desktop icon by default in XP - But fear not: You can create your own:

It’s just an icon that sits on the desktop with all the rest of them.

How to make an icon to click (Done in XP.):

Right-click on a blank area of your desktop (Where there are no icons.) and mouse-over “New” in the box that appears. Click “Shortcut”. Another box appears asking you to type the location of the item: Enter in the full command:

“%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState”

and click next.

It now asks you to type a name for this shortcut: I named mine, strangely enough, “Sleep or Hibernate”. Why? Because it’s a shortcut icon to make the computer sleep or hibernate - innit?.

Click next, the box vanishes, and an icon appears on your desktop. - Target neutralised.

Any time you want to make the computer sleep or hibernate, just click the icon: It really is that simple!

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Sleep or Hibernate?

Do you want your computer to sleep or to hibernate when you click that icon?

Which one it does will depend on the following setting:

Right-click on a blank area of your desktop (Where there are no icons.)

Click Properties>Screen Saver tab>Power button>Hibernate tab.

If you’re in the right place it’ll look like the picture above: ‘See the tick box marked “Enable Hibernation”? If that’s ticked the computer will hibernate when you click your new icon. If it isn’t the computer will sleep when you click your new icon. - You choose which; after all it’s your machine.

And that, dear reader(s); is that. - Target neutralised.

See also: http://www.pcmech.com:80/article/change-how-your-power-button-operates/

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