Yesterday someone emailed my wife about the car. They said they were interested but that they felt we were selling way under that value. I told my wife I thought that was odd since its listed only slightly under the “blue book” value. She said that in his email he had a link which he claimed linked to where he was getting the current value of our car. This made me suspicious, especially since the link was a “tiny url”.

Tiny Url is a url (or link) shortener and there are tons of them out there. I personally use http://bit.ly quite often.  We’ve all sent links before and we’ve seen that they can get really long. Url shorteners can take a really long url, such as http://lifehacker.com/5271367/moviestinger-reveals-which-movies-have-scenes-after-the-credits and make it look like this http://bit.ly/otWQq . Shortened urls are very useful for things like Twitter where you can only post 140 characters and long urls take up too much space. I’ve long said though that these would be used for malicious purposes since when you click on the link, you have no idea where it is actually taking you. So I can say, “Check out this picture of my cute dog” and then post a link which takes you to a malicious website. You think you’re just going to a picture of my dog but once you reach the actual destination of that link, it’s too late.

My wife first of all, didn’t click on the link this guy sent. We know the value of our car. We didn’t need him to tell us what it is. Plus she knows not to click on links in emails. She did respond (in case this guy was really interested in our car) and said we are aware that it’s priced a little under value. She asked if he was interested in the car. He wrote back again and said “yeah but did you check out the value?” and he gave the same link again. At this point it seems as if this guy is begging us to click on his link. I can almost guarantee you the link was bad.

So think before you click, ALWAYS. Don’t click a link in an email unless you are 100% sure that it’s a legitimate link from someone you know. Also remember, if someone you know has an infected or compromised email account, they could be sending you bad links too. My suggestion, don’t click on any links in emails ever. Be careful out there. The bad guys are trying harder every day to figure out ways to steal your information and compromise your computers and accounts.

Don’t forget to follow me on Twitter.

With that in mind, here’s a good system to use in order to try and clean your computer (this is for a Windows PC).

I recommend superantispyware, malwarebytes, and avg free. They are all free to use. Some of them have paid options that give you more configurations and automatic updates. Are you using any anti-virus software now? If so, is it up to date? If not, you need to start by installing avg free right away.

http://www.download.com/AVG-Anti-Virus-Free-Edition/3000-2239_4-10320142.html?part=dl-AVGAntiVir&subj=dl&tag=button

(be aware that it will also try to install a security toolbar, uncheck that because it’s not necessary)
After that is installed, make sure it downloads the latest update and do a complete system scan.

Next, download and install superantispyware.

http://www.superantispyware.com/download.html

Again, make sure it updates and run a complete system scan. Reboot your computer when it’s done. If it found anything the first time, run it again. Keep running it again until you get a clean system scan and reboot the computer between each scan.

You can now uninstall superantispyware.

Next, download and install malwarebytes.

http://www.download.com/Malwarebytes-Anti-Malware/3000-8022_4-10804572.html?part=dl-10804572&subj=dl&tag=button

Do the same thing that you did with superantispyware, update it and keep scanning until you get a clean scan.

You can uninstall malwarebytes once you’re done. You definitely don’t want all of them running at the same time. Do them one at a time. Also, if you keep any of them installed, keep the AVG and uninstall the other two.

If at any step so far, you are unable to get a clean system scan after trying a few times, your system is not going to be cleaned without a complete hard drive wipe. This means it’s time to backup all your valuable files (be careful not to backup any of the bad stuff), format the hard drive and reinstall everything from scratch.
If every thing so far went smoothly and your system scans are clean, download CCleaner as a final step.

http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

This is a great program that cleans up your system. Run it weekly or every other week. It doesn’t clean viruses, it cleans crap (it was originally called Crap Cleaner).

“One need only transpose Apple’s arguments to the world of automobiles to recognize their absurdity. Sure, GM might tell us that, for our own safety, all servicing should be done by an authorized GM dealer using only genuine GM parts. Toyota might say that swapping your engine could reduce the reliability of your car. And Mazda could say that those who throw a supercharger on their Miatas frequently exceed the legal speed limit.”

I couldn’t have said it better, which is why I didn’t try. Apple tries to justify it’s closed attitude towards it’s software and devices by saying it protects the user. They say that tinkering with their software compromises the safety and security of their software. Sure, there are people in this world that shouldn’t mess with stuff. But if they want to mess with it, they should be allowed to mess with it. You aren’t renting or leasing the iPhone. You own it (supposedly). I wouldn’t paint flames on the side of a leased vehicle (ok, I wouldn’t paint flames on the side of any vehicle). But if I own it, I should be able to do what I want with it. This is exactly why I don’t own any Apple products (except the 4th Gen iPod that was given to me by a very good friend of mine).

Well it’s time for our first giveaway. I will be giving away 5 packs of AA Energizer Advanced Lithium Batteries to one lucky winner. With 4 batteries per pack, that’s a total of 20 free AA batteries. Every nerd needs batteries. These batteries are pretty awesome. I’ve been using them in my Wiimote. They are lighter than normal batteries which makes the Wiimote noticeably lighter in my hand. They are supposed to last a lot longer than typical batteries too.  So how do you win? Here’s the deal.

First of all, I’m sorry I’ve been kinda MIA lately. I’m the only one writing here and life has kept me incredibly busy. I’ve had plenty of thoughts and things I wanted to write about. I just haven’t had plenty of time.

So here’s what you came for, the giveaway rules. There are two ways to enter the drawing. You can use both methods to enter a total of two times but only one entry per method will be allowed. The first way to enter is to leave a comment on this post with your full name and a valid email address. (You don’t need to put your email address in the comment, just in the email address field.)  I am not collecting email addresses and they will not be shared with anyone or used for anything other than contacting the winner. I need a valid email address in order to contact you and tell you that you’ve won. You will need to email me back with a mailing address so I can send you the prize.

The second way to enter is to go to twitter and send the following tweet:

Check out the giveaway going on now. #jetthenerd http://jetthenerd.com/2009/02/the-giveaway/

Use copy and paste to make it easy. If you change the tweet, it must contain the link and #jetthenerd and clearly state that there is a giveaway going on over here. Url shorteners are permitted as long as they still link to that page. Otherwise your entry will not be counted. If the winner is a twitter user, they will be notified by DM on twitter.

By the way, thanks for visiting. While you’re here grab my RSS feed. Follow me on twitter too @ http://twitter.com/jetthenerd. I may be looking for new writers soon to contribute stories. If you have an interest in anything tech and want to write about it, hit me up with a DM on twitter and we can talk about it.

A couple more rules. The winner must be located in the US or Canada only. Sorry we can’t ship anywhere else. Multiple entries are only permitted if one is done by leaving a comment and one is done via twitter. My family can’t enter (sorry bro). The rules are subject to change if I find anyone is cheating or remember something that I forgot. The contest will end on Monday, February 23, 2009 at 12:01 am Eastern. No new entries will accepted after that time. I will announce the winner by that following Sunday, March 1, 2009. The winner and a runner up will be selected completely at random. The winner will be given 7 days to respond and claim the prize. If the winner has not responded within 7 days, the runner up will become the winner. ANY crude or profane remarks in your comment or tweet will void your entry. I reserve the right to deny anyone’s entry for any reason I see fit. Just play nice and everything will be fine.  If this goes well, look for more giveaways in the future.

-Jet

Added 2/9/08:

One more thing, tell me where you heard about the giveaway in your comment. No extra credit so you don’t have to but it would be cool to know. It might help me make more successful giveaways in the future.

All mobile phone numbers have been released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sale calls.

…. YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS

To prevent this, call the following number from your mobile phone: 888-382-1222 or you can register online at https://www.donotcall.gov/ .

It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time.. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the mobile phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number. It takes about 20 seconds.

If you have any ideas please share them in the comment section. Otherwise, keep on the lookout for the announcement.

2008 was a great year in many ways. The tech world is always moving and always changing. I’m excited to see what will come out of the next couple years. With the world’s economies struggling, how will thing move forward? It should be fun to watch.

Here are my tips to kick-off 2009.

Be careful out there. I’ve seen an uprising of viruses and spyware (they’re practically the same these days). I’ve cleaned a lot of systems, made a lot of recommendations, and read lots of reports. The “bad guys” keep working on new ways to trick you, so you must try harder to keep yourself safe online. Your first defense is NOT your anti-virus program. Your first defense is YOU. Be careful. Don’t click on links in emails ever. Don’t forward emails that are forwarded to you. If you aren’t using an anti-virus program or you’ve let your subscription expire (which is the same as not using one) please consider using AVG Free. It will stay up to date and you never have to worry about forgetting to renew your subscription. You may also consider setting up a network gateway UTM (Unified Threat Management). I’ve used both Untangle and Astaro. Both are free for home users and Untangle is free for businesses. Both are great quality and very effective. If you are interested in either of them, email me and I can help you.

Use Firefox (version 3), it’s much much safer than Internet Explorer. Remember that Internet Explorer version 6 is not safe to use. Today you can get a virus just by simply going to a website. That’s all you need to do. That’s why you should take steps to make yourself safer. Also, Firefox version 2 will soon be unsupported so if you haven’t yet upgraded, now is the time.

Switch to Linux. I did! It’s great. I love it. I’m using Ubuntu 8.10 right now. Windows isn’t safe. Sorry, it’s not. Macs are becoming less safe as they grow in popularity. Linux is safe for two reasons. One is simply because it’s not worth the time of the “hacker” to write a virus for an operating system that is used by so few people. The second is because Linux is written in a way that makes it safer by default. When a user logs in to use Linux, they don’t automatically have “administrator authority” like most Windows users do.

I don’t really have any goals set for this site in 2009. I do still plan on writing some reviews on Android applications. I just haven’t had time and I don’t know when I will. I have a few things in the works that will be taking up a lot of my time. Also, sometime in the next month I plan to migrate my main desktop computer from XP to Ubuntu. I can still run XP in VirtualBox when I need it. I’m also thinking (if money allows, which it probably never will) about building a Mythbuntu box, which is an OS that combines MythTV and Ubuntu.

Happy New Year (yeah I know I’m a few days late). I hope it’s a good one for all of you. Hey, if you like anything you read here or have something to add, please feel free to leave a comment.