Mister Ian's Weblog

Month: March 2007

  • I’ve been phished

    Wow, you need to be really careful about phishing scams. I have got genuine Emails from Paypal that say, Resolution Center: Your account is limited.

    And they have been genuine. I have gone into Paypal manually by NOT clicking on a link in the Email and had to update things. (And also after getting into Paypal I check the address again and also the title bar, plus the security certificate as it is a secure connection using a link of the form https://www.paypal.com I believe the reason my account is limited is because I make Paypal payments sometimes from here in Kuwait sometimes while directly connected to the Internet and sometimes via Anonymizer proxy which makes it look like I am located in the United States. (If you didn’t know, a web site can see the IP address that your computer has and then lookup who owns that address to see where you are) So Paypal figures that how can someone make payments from different places so closely together.

    I just got an Email the same thing but it didn’t look quite right. So I looked at the message and there were some typos and also the link in the Email (can I say again, never click links in Emails!)

    So how did this Phishing Email get to me with such timing? Though it looks like the site is not working. The idea in these scams is to get you to go to a site that looks like Paypal so they can get your password etc. as you login thinking it is Paypal!

    So, be paranoid!

    The link in the bogus Email is in hexadecimal to a website in India which doesn’t work now. The site by looking up the IP address in with a whois query on the site address gives:

    person: Vijay Menezes
    nic-hdl: VM14-AP
    e-mail: vijaym@hathway.net
    address: Trade World, B Wing, 10th Floor, Kamla Mills Compound,
    address: Lower Parel,
    address: Mumbai 400013
    phone: +91 022 56623333
    fax-no: +91 022 24933355
    country: IN
    changed: vijaym@hathway.net 20040419
    mnt-by: MAINT-IN-HATHWAY
    source: APNIC

    I guess the ^$!*%# fellow who is doing this scam got caught? The link buried in the source of the scam Email is: which translates into: in decimal format. And fortunately the site doesn’t work anymore, you get:

    Network Error (tcp_error)

    A communication error occurred: “Operation timed out”
    The Web Server may be down, too busy, or experiencing other problems preventing it from responding to requests. You may wish to try again at a later time.

    For assistance, contact your network support team.

    Plus, the latest version of Firefox sees this as a reported web forgery giving this message.

    Firefox Phishing Warning

    I haven’t tried it with MS Internet Explorer 7 yet to see what happens as there is a new anti-phishing feature in MS Internet Explorer 7. MS Internet Explorer 6 will just try to go to the page and in this case will not find it as it is not, fortunately, online anymore.

    (more…)

  • Weight check – DIVE Latest News

    Dive Magazine contacted the airlines about their weight allowance for divers. As they are all lowering their allowances. Important to check. And I would say you should get something in writing from the airline web site or whatever before you check in as the check in staff may not know this and you could be hassled. Clock here for details.

  • Back to work on Saturday

    Committees

    From Worth1000. Click image for larger version.

  • Are you photographs backed up?

    You must take steps to save your images for the future. Will the family photos you took be around for your children and even your grandchildren? Below from SaveMyMemories.org with some comments.

    Now, without delay, Protect your Pictures
    If you have all of your digital photos stored on your computer but have yet to do anything else with them, take steps to protect them right away. Make prints, copy to CDs or DVDs, a second hard drive, or upload them to an online service for storage.

    Then, Get Organized
    Whether you use a photo software program or create your own system based on folders and file names, your digital photos need to be organized in a way that lets you find them when you want them; Learn more here. You will also want to create a place or use a method that will help you to locate them easily and quickly so as to be sure not to lose them.

    And then as they say Stay Informed as technology changes
    Watch the industry for technology developments, always use proven technology and products based on well-established standards for equipment and media, including CDs or DVDs and the like.

    Though I would say, they contradict it in the next statement, as you can’t jump on each new thing, you need something that will stand the test of time.

    And finally, Stick To It
    Use the information on this website to develop a system that will personally work for you – and stick to it! Taking care of your life’s memories is an important and ongoing task, and not just a one time project.

  • Bill Gates keeps close eye on kids’ computer time

    This from articles last week online and in The Daily Star in Kuwait.

    Bill Gates keeps close eye on kids’ computer time
    OTTAWA (Reuters) – Just because you’re the daughter of Bill Gates does not mean you get to play on your computer all day long.

    The Microsoft founder said his 10-year-old daughter, his oldest child, was not a hard-core Internet and computer user until this year, when she started at a school where the students use tablet computers for almost everything.

    “She became very avid and discovered a lot of computer games, including one that runs on the
    Xbox 360 called Viva Pinata, where you take care of your garden,” he told a business audience in Ottawa.

    “She could spend two or three hours a day on this Viva Pinata, because it’s kind of engaging and fun.”

    Gates said he and his wife Melinda decided to set a limit of 45 minutes a day of total screen time for games and an hour a day on weekends, plus what time she needs for homework.

    Microsoft’s new Vista software enables parents to control the Web sites their kids go to but also includes an audit log that records sites they have visited and whom they’ve been Instant Messaging.

    “Up to some age, to be determined, it’s very appropriate for a parent to get a sense of what they’re seeing out there and be able to have conversations about it,” he said.

    “My son said, ‘Am I going to have limits like this my whole life?’, and I said, ‘No, when you move away you can set your own screen limits’,” Gates recounted, to audience laughter.