Apple Refuses Out-of-Warranty Repair Despite My Willingness to Pay $703

I write this because I want to share my experience with everyone especially Apple Fans. I will admit I’ve been an Apple faithful for many years and my house is a an Apple shrine with gadgets of all sizes. Since making the switch to Mac, it seems my house has proliferated with Apple products. At this time I do not own a Windows machine nor planned to; however recent events have made me reflect upon my decision to live in Apple’s walled garden. I may be ready to peek over the fence at other non Apple products once more. But dare I?

My story begins late December 2013 after Christmas, while off work over the holidays I decided my (Mid-2010) 27” iMac hard drive being 95% full needed an upgrade. Unfortunately an Apple  branded hard drive upgrade was twice the cost of off-the-shelf drives available at a local computer store. Being a savvy consumer armed with Google and the Internet I researched other Mac user experiences with same model and performing similar upgrades. It seemed as long as I purchased the same make  drive as shipped with my iMac I should have no problems. My particular iMac came with a 1TB Western Digital hard drive.  I found a great price on a 2TB Western Digital hard drive. Online research showed others reported great results with this drive in their iMacs; therefore I was satisfied with my decision and moved ahead.

I should also mention my iMac was out of warranty at this point no longer covered by Apple's one year warranty nor did I purchase Applecare. Given this fact I truly believed I was in a good position to perform the upgrade myself.  I started by following iFixit and YouTube videos.  The upgrade was completed  flawlessly thanks to these do it yourself tutorials. However, while researching the upgrade I came across forum posts indicating Mid-2010 iMac's have a second SATA port on the logic board. Since I had a 240GB SSD laying around (collecting dust) I thought perfect. I’ll add the SSD, boot from it and use the 2TB drive for storage. Again the upgrade process went flawlessly; I reinstalled OSX on the SSD and moved all pictures, documents and iTunes, iPhoto libraries to the 2TB drive. Life was good; except one of the 3 fans in the iMac began to spin up to 3500 rpm. Thus begun my FAN troubleshooting battle.

I won’t get into all the steps (which included hardware and software) but in the end through what I believe to be Apple’s design flaw, the display cable connector on the logic board was forcefully detached breaking one of the connector pins. (In case you haven’t seen it, the display connector socket is extremely fragile and from what I’m told breaks very often.) Needless to say I have a working computer with a working LCD panel but no way of attaching the panel to the logic board.

Thus begun my Apple store service adventure. Being the savvy consumer; again I turned to Google and other various sites looking for options. While by far the cheapest option was to purchase a board from Hong Kong; on eBay but It may not be the best choice. You never know what you’re getting. Is it a legitimate Apple part or a Chinese knock-off. Who knows? The best option was to service my Mac through an Apple store; luckily we have one where I live. Being a converted and faithful Apple fan I promptly scheduled an appointment with a Mac Genius. At the Apple store I explained to the Genius what had happened and asked for pricing on the logic board, labour charges and how long it would take. The Genius presented me with a quote of over $790 dollars (with tax). I agreed and signed on the dotted line authorizing the repair as quoted. Life was good. I left the store feeling happy.

The following day I get a voicemail message from the same Genius informing me that the repair is denied/cancelled because there are too many 3rd party modifications to the iMac. I’m to come pickup my iMac at my earliest convenience and arrange repair somewhere else.

At this point I was furious, angry and disappointed Apple rejected me and my money. I thought how could this be. I’m a faithful Apple customer, I’ve got their products coming out my wazoo and Apple won’t repair their product even when I’m paying for the repair. Over the next 2 days I tried to get In touch with the Genius by phone. Needless to say his customer service skills need improvement because he never called back despite leaving multiple messages. Finally on the third day I drove down to the Apple store and asked for a manager. I spoke with the manager about my case and he explained there was nothing he could do. According to him Apple has a policy whereby any Apple product so much as opened by you or a 3rd party; not authorized by Apple to do so, automatically disqualifies that product for service by Apple in one of its Apple Stores. What’s worse is the serial number of your device is blacklisted and will not be touched by any Apple Store worldwide. It’s flagged as a non-serviceable device. That includes any part; cosmetic or hardware. With my tail between my legs I took my iMac and went home.

I didn’t realize upgrading a hard drive (which is done at home by computer enthusiasts) all over the world constituted too many 3rd party modifications. Secondly I would 100% agree with Apple’s policy had my iMac been under warranty or Applecare support. Honestly the thought of performing such an upgrade during the warranty or Applecare period would not even enter my mind. But because it was out-of-warranty I did not believe, for a second that Apple would deny billable repair service. At this point as I write this my iMac is sitting in the corner broken. I’m still looking at other options. One of which is an authorized Apple service depot. However that option is more expensive than the Apple store. Of course I could still go the Hong Kong route and replace the board myself. I’ve put together many PC’s in my day and feel quite comfortable doing it. However, one thought lingering in my mind is the authenticity of the part I’m buying.

The other day (thanks to Google) I came across a Mac service vendor that specializes in repairing the display connector; the very part I broke. I called their 1-888 number and spoke with a gentlemen (very pleasant fellow) and we chatted about my experience. He told me this service is very popular and does it often, even for authorized Mac dealers. I guess a few of them have broken this connector from time to time. Funny enough he also said he believes this connector to be a design flaw. Both him and I agreed the connector is too fragile and should have a more rugged design. In the end I’m still looking at options. I have not decided what to do. However I’m leaning towards keeping my existing logic board and having the display connector replaced rather than buying a refurbished logic board through an Apple authorized service vendor.

As a consumer I’m appalled  at Apple’s arrogance in having such a policy for out-of-warranty devices. As an Apple Fanboy I’m simply shocked and heartbroken my beloved Apple would treat its devoted in such a manner. The pedestal on which Apple rested in my eyes has forever been cut down to eye level. My image of Apple has been shattered. I no longer believe its hype of superior customer experience. Apple is just another corporation with an overshadowing ego that has fallen victim to its own distortion field believing trust, integrity and customer service do not apply. It believes it can do anything. While I may be small with shallow pockets future purchasing decisions for my household may no longer involve Apple products.

Perfect Linux Laptop - Asus UX31E & Ubuntu 13.10

Linux Laptop Nirvana - I've been searching for the perfect rig for some time. However ever since buying my first Macbook Air no laptop or Ultrabook has ever been good enough to run Linux with style. My biggest beef with most laptops and so called Ultrabooks is their cheap plastic feel and absolutely ugly exterior. Enter Asus UX31E Zenbook Ultra Slim. This puppy is sexy on the outside, super thin, all aluminium design, runs an i5-2467M Intel Sandybride processor with 128GB flash storage. It's the perfect Macbok Air competitor on the PC side. Problem one, solved!

Problem two ~Linux support. When it comes to laptops, out of the box Linux support has always been a mixed bag. Even at best of times support is abysmal. Graphics, wireless, bluetooth, trackpad, audio are among some issues I've experienced in the past. But not this time, Asus has packed hardware nirvana into the UX31E. After installing Ubuntu 13.10 everything works as expected including suspend. Wireless, audio, graphics work great. But I'm most excited about keyboard functions. Audio volume, screen on/off, wireless on/off, screen brightness and other typical Fn functions you'll find on a typical laptop work flawlessly.

As for Ubuntu 13.10, Unity is starting to grow on me. The more I use it the more I like it. So far I've found a native or equivalent to most applications I consider critical to make the Linux switch successful. Those Apps include Evernote, Twitter, most Google Apps, Dropbox, development apps, graphics apps, music apps and even got Netflix working. I'm still missing a few minor applications but overall, Linux is providing a great environment and experience on the Asus UX31E Zenbook. If you're looking for a Linux laptop I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this model.

I'm very pleased with Zenbook's hardware. The processor is plenty fast for my needs. I wish I had 8GB ram but 4GB seems fine for current needs. I may run Virtualbox later at which time more ram would be warranted. On the flip side flash storage, read and write performance is fantastic. I haven't noticed lags or hesitation. Screen is very crisp and bright. Wireless functions work well including Bluetooth.

So what's the catch? Well, I do wish Ubuntu supported TRIM, but I've manually configured it at boot. Keyboard back-lighting is not an option. This model doesn't support it.  One thing that is a little annoying is the touchpad. I find it a little to temperamental but I think that is only because I'm used to a Macbook Air touchpad, this one works a little different. I'm sure its just a matter of adjustment. Other features I haven't tested is HDMI output, dual monitors or gauged USB 3 throughput. Although i have connected USB 3 hard drives and transfer time seemed relatively quick.

Overall I would recommend the Asus UX31E Zenbook with Ubuntu 13.10. Mileage may vary but my experience has so far been excellent, in fact its the best Linux experience I've had on a laptop. Before picking it up, I was looking at a System76 certified Linux laptop, but the Zenbook is esthetically pleasing with great hardware. Most of all, the price was right. If you're looking for a Linux laptop I highly recommend it.

Ubuntu is Best Linux for Beginners

Ubuntu is one of countless Linux flavours. Users have plenty of choice when it comes to Linux, yet Ubuntu has become a clear winner. Why? There are many reasons, I'm sure each of you will have a different reason but for me apt-get is the killer app.

I first looked at Linux when Red Hat was King; I purchased Red Hat 5.1 in fact I still have the boxed set on a bookshelf somewhere. Things have changed since then; when I think back my biggest complaint and I think many novice users would agree was the hassle of installing software. Downloading and compiling from source was a sad state of affairs. On the other hand once you got comfortable with ./configure ./make and all that jazz you have dependancy hell to deal with. No wonder many were turned off by Linux. Some of you may argue rpm's helped, yes I would agree. But if there was a dependancy problem rpm's were rather useless. I recall countless hours of shear agony and frustation attempting dependancy resolution.

Enter Debian based Ubuntu with apt-get and its repository heaven.

Windows Explorer Not Starting at Boot

Recently I had an interesting experience with an infected laptop. A rogue Anti Virus product called Antivirus GT made it unusable. First off Antivirus GT is fake, it does not clean any infected files in fact it downloads nasty spyware to your computer. Secondly every time you boot, it displays a fake virus scan window (see image above) showing various infected files. Then it promises to clean all infections if you buy a license.

One byproduct of Antivirus GT is it screws windows explorer. Let me explain, once you remove Antivirus GT you'll find windows explorer is no longer available at boot time; result ~no desktop. At this point do the three finger salute (CTRL-ALT-DEL) start Task Manager and manually start windows explorer by executing explorer.exe from File, New Task (Run..) However what you'll find is Windows complains it cannot find explorer.exe in "C:\Windows" even though file is clearly there.

After Googl'ing for solutions, finding and trying many different things I found the answer. From my limited programming experience Windows has a Debug option by enabling the following registry key HKLM/Software/Microsoft/Windows NT/Current Version/Image File Execution Options/explorer.exe By enabling Debugging explorer.exe is not available, is not started by the operating system nor can it be started manually. I had to delete Debug Key, reboot and viola desktop loaded.

BMW G650GS

This post is off topic ~not exactly IT related but technology none the less.

I've always wanted a motorcycle but never really took the time to get a license or even learn how to ride one. Last  summer a female friend of mine signed up for rider training and soon afterwards bought a bike. I jumped at the opportunity to take a training course and I'm happy to say passed driver training and license exam. Since last summer I've been looking at bikes trying to decide what to buy.

Let me be the first to say your choices are almost limitless and choosing a bike is not easy. So many nice bikes out there and most, quite affordable. But I guess I should start by saying; before buying a bike or even thinking of one ~if you're married step number one is getting permission from your better half or at least bribery of some sort.

Next comes the hard part; choosing your ride. I looked at used bikes, looked at small bikes, sport bikes, touring bikes ~wow so many choices. In the end this bike caught my eye. BMW's G650GS

I liked its look and the fact its a street bike with an off road option. BMW places this bike in the Enduro category. Meaning its a street bike but can be used off road. It's engine size appealed to me I wasn't looking for something large not so much from a gas consumption but more from Insurance reasons. A smaller engine equals cheaper insurance.

I've only been riding it a few weeks but so far I'm loving it. This is my first bike therefore some of you may say you don't know what you're talking about. BUT for a first time bike owner I'll say this is an excellent choice. It's a nice smooth ride, extremely easy to handle and quite comfortable. I have not been on any long trips (not yet) but rides I've had were very good.

I love the fact it has ABS brakes I think this is an excellent feature especially for first time bike owners. And in my climate heated grips are sweet! The only other factory add-on I bought was a centre stand. Lastly I love the fact BMW offers a 3 year unlimited kilometers warranty with road side assistance.

If you're thinking about a bike and its your first, this one is an excellent choice. In fact my female friend who bought a bike last summer after our training rode it and now wants to switch to same model. She has a different BMW X-Country 650 but its higher, a bit larger (for her) and she says a little stiffer and for her harder to ride.

In any case I'm loving it and I would recommend this model to anyone looking for a first bike.

MacBook Pro Keyboard Illumination busted! (so I thought)

My employer recently provided a MacBook Pro 17" sweet machine! One of its great features is keyboard illumination. It really rocks in low lit areas or late at night while in bed. However after reinstalling Snow Leopard I ran into an issue or at least what I thought was an issue.

When I first got the laptop keyboard illuminated at all times and F6/F7 keyboard brightness function keys always allowed adjustments. After Snow Leopard reinstall keyboard illumination was no longer functioning and pressing F6/F7 did nothing; in fact on screen graphic showed a circle with diagonal line. I assumed I was missing a driver or something went wrong during reinstall process.

Immediately I googled the problem and found a few posts with similar issue however everyone posted "its working now and I don't know what I did to make it work" ~not very helpful!

So I thought I would post my experience in case others are pulling hair trying to figure it out.

It seems to me Apple has changed keyboard illumination functionality. Instead of always illuminating the keyboard and allowing F6/F7 adjustments at all times. NOW! and here is the important part you must be in a dark room before keyboard will illuminate AND allow any F6/F7 brightness adjustments. How I fixed my issue is I covered both speakers on either side of the keyboard (light sensor location). My screen auto dimmed and at this point I could use F6/F7 brightness function keys to full brighten the keyboard.

Uncovering both speakers auto brightened my screen, keyboard no longer illuminated and I could no longer adjust keyboard brightness using F6/F7 function keys.

If you really think about it that really makes sense because why would you need your keyboard lit when in a bright sunny setting. Simply a battery drain. I just wish this change in functionality was posted somewhere on Apple's site. If it was I missed it or could not find it. (I looked)

Hope this helps.

E60% of US Managers will circumvent Company Security Policy!

I came across this article at net-security.org Employees continue to put data at risk which talks about a study conducted by Ponemon Institute where it compares the "Human Factor" in laptop encryption. This year's study was expanded to include Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany and Sweeden. The most interesting and perhaps puzzling was the enormous difference between some European countries and their North American counterparts.

According to Ponemon Institute 15% of German and 13% of Sweedish business managers have disengaged their encryption solution. Compare this to 52% of Canadian, 53% of British and a whopping 60% of US business managers. WHAT??!?!? That's right sixty percent!

Let me get this straight corporations spend billions of dollars on all this fancy security software and 60% of US business managers turn it off. Why?? I'm sure reasons for doing it vary and there are as many reasons as stars in the sky but I'm willing to bet vast majority is simply convenience and I hate to say it required effort level to accomplish a given task.

North American's have always been a comfort driven bunch. Europeans have always been less extravagant in their lifestyles. I'm thinking environment issues like composting, recycling, driving much smaller and more fuel efficient cars. Much smaller housing and overall much smaller foot print on this wonderful planet. I'm guessing this attitude automatically translates well  to other work related situations including security. A little inconvenience for the greater good.

On the flip side we North Americans are quite the opposite we've always had a 'me' rather then 'we' attitude. We have larger housing requirements, larger cars, we produce the most waste per capita vs. other countries. If you need more examples look at waste management and recycling which has been flourishing in Europe for over 20 years (and I don't mean the basics paper,glass,plastic) Europeans have been recycling other items including food waste (compost) 15 years ago. The amount of landfill garbage they produce is minuscule as a percentage of their overall generated waste.

I guess what I'm saying is given the 'me' attitude we have in North America security will always take a back seat over convenience and required effort. We're just lazy! Will this ever change? I suspect it will but it will take time, lots of time. But given the growing global cyber attacks by governments and corporations things will get worse before they get better. And we can't afford such 'me' attitude much longer. 

Switching to Ubuntu 10.04

DavMail POP/IMAP/SMTP/CalDav/LDAP Exchange Gateway

I recently made the decision to drop Windows and use Ubuntu 10.04 as my primary office desktop. I've spent the last 6 months developing a new Open Source software training course therefore I've been fully immersed in Linux for many months (no GUI either strictly Ubuntu Server edition). Making the switch doesn't feel as radical a change now as it might have 6 months ago. Given Canonical recently released Lucid Lynx I decided to give it a try. Installing Ubuntu 10.04 was super easy and very quick, I must say I really like Ubuntu's new theme. Everything works well with one exception. My employer uses Exchange 2007 (typical office MTA) but for some reason Evolution refuses to bond in holy matrimony with Exchange 2007. It gives me an authentication error even though I know I'm using proper credentials. I've done some Google'ing and others seem to have similar problems. It seems this issue has been around for a while its not new with 10.04.

I know what you're thinking I could have used IMAP or POP and SMTP. Well no luck my employer does not have IMAP or POP enabled from the outside. (Yes I'm not on the internal network) don't ask for work-duty related reasons I'm behind the firewall but not exactly on the internal network. In any case I spent a few hours looking around for an alternative email client however Evolution seems to be the best choice and closest in functionality to Outlook. Not that I'm a big Outlook fanboy but much better then Microsoft's crippled OWA (remember I'm not using IE) Well I'm happy to say I found a great tool; not a replacement for Evolution but a solution to my problem. It's called DavMail.

DavMail is an email gateway; essentially its a Java application running on my local client. It connects with Exchange over HTTPS and I connect to DavMail over IMAP SMTP etc... and voila Evolution is alive and well with Exchange 2007. There are some quirks but so far its been working well. DavMail docs say it works with Apple's iPhone too. I'll play with it a while longer and report back. Thanks DavMail!

Canada blindly following MPAA and implementing US Style DMCA

Canadian Coalition for Electronic Rights � Send A Letter To Ottawa To Stop The Canadian DMCA

The US Digital Millennium Copyright Act is perhaps one of the most hated pieces of legislation known to man. And Canada is blindly following in their footsteps. Last fall (2009) Canadian government held public hearings on this issue and by far majority of Canadians are against such draconian restrictions to fair-use and consumption of digital content. However lobby groups like MPAA have so much power and control over publicly elected officials (through their wallets) we as consumers don't stand a chance. The EU (European Union) caved and passed similar legislation in 2001. Now the EU is pressuring Canada to do the same.

When will these lobby groups realize hanging on to old business models is backwards thinking. Age of couch potato TV viewing are gone, consumers want choice how and when to consume. Moving forward digital media is where its at, if they opened their eyes and looked around they'd see that. MPAA should speak with their customers not take them to court. New technologies and devices like Apple's iPAD are perfect examples digital consumption of media is the future.

Canadians still have a fighting chance the Canadian Coalition for Electronic Rights is fighting for us consumers. They've created a site where Canadian constituents can send a letter to their MP's voicing their concern over Canadian DMCA changes. Process takes 30 seconds; simply choose your MP, add your contact info and a letter is emailed to Prime Minister Harper, the opposition leaders and a number of other cabinet members. Here is the link

If you enjoy digital media and don't want a US style DMCA please send an email to your MP using above link.

Thanks

Microsoft Wireless Keyboards (New Security Risk)

Microsoft Wireless Keyboards Fall! (New Security Risk)

Here is a link to full article: Kit attacks Microsoft keyboards (and a whole lot more) • The Register

Well it was bound to happen. Just a matter of time before someone created a proof of concept in attacking wireless devices like keyboards. Too bad companies like Microsoft believe such devices are safe and use such crappy encryption techniques. Like this article mentions XOR is a crappy encryption algorithm and Microsoft should not be using it. There are plenty of public encryption algorithms out there which are much..much stronger.

On the flip side its a good thing Security researchers are proving such attacks. Better good guys then bad guys :-) I'm sure we'll see more on this down the road. As hackers move from mainstream attack vectors to new pastures we'll no doubt have new security countermeasures to stop such hardware attacks. But step 1 is better encryption of data stream between device and receiver.

Energizer Battery Charger Contains Remote Access Backdoor

Energizer Battery Charger Contains Remote Access Backdoor | threatpost

This is not the first time a seemingly innocent consumer product contained a trojan. Just another example of a company not doing their due diligence. Instead Energizer probably contracted the lowest bidder to create some add-on piece of software for their consumer product. In this case Energizer's USB battery charger product. I understand the concept of outsourcing however when you're placing your reputation and Energizer has a big one you should ensure you're entrusting it to a reputable vendor. Ultimately Energizer executives are responsible for this embarrassing situation. They should have done their homework. Perhaps the lawsuits that come out of this situation will make them realize the error of their ways. Only time will tell. C'mon corporate America smarten up.

Top 10 Most Vulnerable Apps of 2009

Here is a link: Top 10 Most Vulnerable Apps of 2009 | threatpost

With recent Flash, iPhone/iPad tug of war between Apple and Adobe I'm certainly not surprised why Apple and Steve Jobs have taken their respective position given the findings of this report. It certainly reaffirms what Steve Jobs has recently said that Flash is a buggy resource intensive piece of software. I've been around the block and certainly knew Flash, Shockwave and Adobe Reader require countless updates but did not believe for one minute it would be the #1,2 and 3rd most vulnerable piece of software in 2009.

It certainly doesn't help Adobe in their fight for Flash remaining vital and dominant in the future. With HTML5, it seems Flash may become irrelevant sooner rather than later. We've already had converts like Virgin America drop Flash support in favour of HTML5. With results like these I think Adobe should be doing a lot more to fix their reputation and improve overall security. Is Adobe another Microsoft before their software security initiative a few years ago? Perhaps only time will tell.

The other surprising fact of this report was Quicktime and Safari making the list at number 4 and 5. I've never really liked Quicktime, I've always preferred VLC so I'm not heart broken. But ever since switching to Mac I've really enjoyed Safari. I like its interface, performance and integration into OS X. However lately I've been rethinking my Safari strategy in light of multiple confirmations by security researchers of its short comings. Such things worry me and believe it or not I'm testing Google Chrome. I've been using it for a couple of weeks, so far so good. I won't say there have been no problems but general browsing is really good. And the fact Google Chrome was the only browser not compromised at the 2009 CanSecWest Security Conference helps me accept it as a good and safe alternative to Safari.

I think a turf war between Apple and Adobe is here and inevitable as both fight for dominance over mobile Internet content. What comes of it only time will tell. But certainly both companies have to do a better job in securing their products and guarding their customers.

New M86 Security Labs Report Finds 60% of Malicious URLs Pass Unnoticed Through Anti-Virus Scanners and URL Filtering: M86 Security

New M86 Security Labs Report Finds 60% of Malicious URLs Pass Unnoticed Through Anti-Virus Scanners and URL Filtering: M86 Security

I'm really not surprised by these findings. The number one and biggest problem with any security software like you're typical Internet Security Suite is it's a 'Reactive' technology. This means its always behind the curve never in front of it. This means the best you can hope for in terms of detection rates is 98-99% but never with 100% certainty.

Whenever I talk with users and explain this fact they are always shocked. Why is this so surprising to people? Vulnerabilities exist because code is written by humans; therefore you will always have mistakes in code creating the smallest openings for exploitation. Security software is written by humans therefore it will never be perfect and because its a reactive technology it will never catch the latest and greatest zero day exploit.

However security software vendors can help by implementing one small change. Stop marketing their tools as the best and only tool for a safe and secure Internet experience because such marketing hype creates a false sense of security leading everyday users to believe they can do no wrong. Such false sense of security makes people complacent and not think about security. I wish government would wake up and force vendors to disclose such details. We have labeling laws for everything else why don't we have it for software or security appliances. Users should know what they're getting up front before they're taken in by all the hype and spin.

In fact I don't believe things will change anytime soon but only get worse. That is until users wake up from la-la land and become aware their actions have consequences. Ultimately the security fight will not get any better until users take responsibility for their actions and actually think about email, attachments, web sites and general computer best practices.

Until that day security software will fall farther behind and a new sucker will be born every nanosecond. We've all been taught lessons by our parents 'don't talk to strangers' type stuff. Why is it so hard for people to learn similar lessons when it comes to computers and Internet safety?

CA Internet Security Suite Win32/ASuspect False Positive

Win32/ASuspect is the latest message users of CA Internet Security Suite are seeing beginning last night February 22nd 2010.

CA is reporting wuweb.dll as a Win32/ASuspect Trojan and automatically placing it in quarantine. This file is part of Windows Update process which is now failing to execute.

I support several customers using CA Internet Security Suite and all have reported seeing this error message. I've done some checking on the web and CA Support forums have lit up like a christmas tree. However because I'm a cautious man I submitted a copy of quarantined wuweb.dll to virustotal.com and as expected results came back clean.

Looks like we have another case of CA False Positive. I'm sure CA will fix this quickly by pushing out new signatures however what worries me is the frequency because CA had a case of false positive last year in 2009 and secondly I'm not seeing much about this on their website. As a good corporate citizen I think CA should be informing their customers about such problems quickly. Consultants such as myself get these frantic phone calls from clients; then we spend our valuable time investigating such matters only to find its a false positive. It would save me much headache if CA could post a message to their Forum or website.

Come on CA I expect better from you.

Google BUZZ ~ Why are people over reacting?

Google once the darling of the online community has recently fallen out of favour. It's at the forefront of a huge backlash over its newly introduced social media service BUZZ.

What I don't understand is why are people over reacting? I mean come on folks what did you think was going to happen with the obscene amount of personal information Google is sitting on at this moment. Google is a for profit corporation; it's not in this for charity reasons. Someone has to pay for all these free services you've taken for granted. Before Gmail there was Hotmail and Yahoo Mail which at one point or another were paid services that is if you wanted a decent amount of storage space for your email. Then along came Google giving everyone 1Gig of FREE storage. At the time this was a bold and unprecedented move. But did you really think this was all for nothing. Come on what kind of fairy tale do you live in? Nothing is FREE. So get over it and move on.

Google has spent millions on their hardware infrastructure and giving it away free for years. At some point they have to figure out how to pay for all this investment. Well BUZZ is just the beginning, this fairytale you've been living is coming to an end. When someone gives you something free with the left hand its only a matter of time before they'll be reaching out with their right hand looking for payment.

Google has an obscene amount of information stored. We've all been happily giving all sorts of personal data to Google and now that they're trying to use it we absolutely freak out. If you don't like it don't use Gmail. Go back to using a local email client like you did in the 90's.

Besides take a minute and review how much personal information people are freely giving away to Facebook and other similar services. If you're happy to give it away to Facebook why are you freaking out if Google uses something you've given away long ago when you signed up for Gmail or Google Docs? If you don't like it stop using their services, it's your choice.

A Great Manager should be Human

Over the years I've had my share of snakes and weasels looking for the next great score or political angle to play. They spent more time scheming, planning political tactics then actual productive work. If they devoted a fraction of this energy to productive business goals the term 'overtime' would be extinct. Speaking of extinct I've had my share of stubborn dumb-ass mules (when I say ass I'm referring to a four legged animal not human body part) who are absolutely clueless yet stubbornly argue their position why a project or idea should be implemented their way despite their way having more holes then the Titanic. This breed should have died out long ago from the corporate world; yet they've managed to proliferate and multiply like rabbits. Then of course you've got your elephants that have been there since the last ice age. They seem to know everything and everyone yet are completely unmovable if change is required because we all know times change and business models must evolve or die. But these elephants continue to run the show like its 1855 and their favorite justification why things should not change "We've always done it this way and its worked well thus far". Somehow everyone realizes business model must change but ultimately leave things status-quo because no one is willing to take down the elephant. Then of course you have your hawks who watch you with these piercing eyes from across the room micro managing your every move in the cubicle maze you call home eight hours a day. Why delegate if you're going to criticize my work and do it your way in the end, might as well do it yourself and don't waste my time. Speaking of status-quo the chameleon is best at this game. A manager that is never there especially when a tough decision must be made or physically not there; they manage to disappear leaving you on your own. Of course the other great chameleon talent is to change their color with the latest flavor of the week idea how to improve morale productivity or what have you. If someone comes up with a crazy idea they're the first to jump on it and push you like crazy only to change next week. Ultimately the disappearing chameleon gets all the credit for your hard work. Then of course you have your Lion; king of the office jungle that thinks they run the whole show or at least act like they do. The lion will devour and eliminate all to ensure their place on top of the office food chain remains in tact. They will motivate weasels and snakes under their control to enact sabotage and ensure projects and ideas they don't approve fail. They recruit hawks from other departments to be their eyes and ears to ensure their own agenda moves ahead with little thought for what is best for the company. Then of course there is us; the lonely tiny ant tirelessly working at all hours including weekends if necessary never recognized, for its efforts in keeping the office jungle clean. Simply stepped on or brushed aside for convenience. The corporate world is a jungle and if I could wish for a great boss I'd want them to be simply human.

Easy iPhone Tethering without Jail Breaking

iPhone Tethering has been a hot topic since the iPhone stormed the mobile industry 2 years ago. However Apple in their wisdom or lack of, took 2 years to offer a viable tethering option. Prior to 3.o update road warriors had to resort to illegal rituals in fulfilling their dreams of anywhere Internet access. Well no more, as you all know Tethering is available in some iPhone loving nations, throw away your tin foil antennas legal Internet access bliss is here. Albeit in some countries at an additional cost but its here.

Apple keeping inline with their philosophy have made tethering stupid easy. Simply using your iPhone USB cable connect to any laptop and voila Internet bliss. But don't take my word for it; have a look a this YouTube Video I made.

I guess I should add another tidbit, my carrier here in Canada "Rogers" has not only enabled iPhone tethering for all iPhone carrying customers but is not charging extra for it. Until the end of this year (2009) iPhone tethering is free; provided you have a data plan and stay within your data limit. (6GB on my plan)

No doubt Rogers is doing this to gauge usage patterns while hiring over paid bean counters to create a profit optimal add-on tethering plan. But for now FREE iPhone tethering is here... smoke em while you got em... cause on December 31st 2009 at midnight the bubble bursts.

CA Internet Security Suite 2009 Trashes Windows System Files

CA Internet Security Suite 2009 trashed Windows XP SP3 System files following a recent signature update. Signatures version 6604 seems to be falsely identifying several Windows system files and placing them in quarantine. Many home, home office and small business users have reported the following files were affected; (This list is not comprehensive, these are the most commonly reported quarantined files)

• c:\windows\system32\net.exe
• c:\windows\system32\netsh.exe
• c:\windows\system32\reg.exe

Community Forums lit up like a Christmas tree however CA was slow to respond or acknowledge there was a false positive problem. Late Thursday afternoon a notice was posted on CA's Virus Signature Update site indicating there was a problem, urging users to follow these steps in resolving this situation.

Community Forum users stepped up to the plate indicating this situation to be a false positive problem and suggesting short term fixes one of which was to disable Real Time Anti Virus Scan which seemed to be the culprit in this fiasco. Short term or not disabling any Anti Virus is a recipe for disaster. However in this case because CA was dragging its heels this fix was the best solution at the time. CA should take a page from it user Community and step up to the plate quicker with solid answers when users ask questions. Many users were frustrated and vented their frustration and disappointment in CA's handling of this situation. Amongst the tidal wave of forum posts users were trying all sorts of solutions thinking this was a real virus threat. Some went to the extreme of restoring entire systems to previous image backups only to be back in the same spot after updating CA signature file version 6604. Others not so quick on the trigger took time to investigate in detail before attempting such drastic measures. But in any case scenarios like these waste everyone's time, effort and in some cases data as many reported blue screens or problems booting after CA Anti-Virus happily quarantined Windows System files.

Situations like this prove several things;

1. Disaster strikes when you don't have a good backup.

2. Quality Assurance Cycles are way too short or non existent

3. Windows users have been conditioned to eradicate anything when they see the words VIRUS and INFECTED. not giving the process much scrutiny before proceeding to restore from backup.

#1 is easy to fix... BACKUP regularly. Disk is cheap there is no excuse.

#2 is harder to control by users but hopefully CA has learned something from this situation. If not someone most certainly got fired today.

#3 False Positives do happen people; they've been with us since the very first Anti-Virus snake oil sales man conned you into buying his software many years ago. Unfortunately this is today's reality in the Windows universe. However please scrutinize and be informed before doing anything drastic.

For CA today was a BAD day, for us mortals Today was just another day in the Windows-verse hopefully none of you have lost much data but cheer up tomorrow is another day.

Virus strikes while reinstalling Windows

I heard more than one security expert preach "disconnect your machine while reinstalling Windows" I never really believed it until now. Is it really possible to be infected while reinstalling Windows? In short the answer is 'YES'

Recently at work we were rebuilding a Server with Windows Server 2003. Upon installation routine completion we attempted the usual configuration most system administrators can do in their sleep. This time however we couldn't access Task Manager. Windows kept saying its been disabled by your Administrator. Being the geeky technical types we checked Active Directory Group Policies and a bunch of other security policies. We must have spent just under an hour on all these other items before we saw the light and decided to scan for viruses. Remember this Server was just freshly rebuilt, we have not even browsed the Internet on it.

20 minutes after we initiated a scan we confirmed an infection. Needless to say we were blown away. When dust settled the reality of the situation hit us hard. "Oh my god" we have a worm loose on our network. It's actively scanning vulnerable machines. Panic set it and like good little fire fighters we set gears in motion looking for other Servers with similar symptoms. Took us several days to track down a handful of other Servers infected with same virus strain.

There you have it "Proof" you can be infected while reinstalling Windows. When you think about it. Makes total sense, I mean reinstalling from original Windows Recovery CD your going back in time potentially erasing years of security, years of painful and diligent patching.

Needless to say we've changed our practices... but only after learning the hard way.

Conficker - When will people get it?

Conficker was big time hyped in the media last week. What makes Conficker so special and raise its media worthiness status? Its just another piece of malware code infecting yet more Windows boxes turning them into spam spewing zombies or identity theft honeypots. By Symantec estimates Windows claim to fame in 2008 is over 1 Million Viruses and other flu causing agents are now floating around the Internet. Why are media outlets focusing on one or the other at any one time.

Shock and Awe. Simple as that. Media whether its TV, Radio, Print or other need sensational headlines. On the flip side hearing regular reports about each new Virus or piece or malware makes no sense and would eventually be counterproductive. People would stop listening. But splash the latest malware name everywhere and people listen.

However this is bad security... Viruses and malware work because people don't know or just don't care. Most don't understand the realities of malware infection, SPAM and Identity Theft. Most users I speak to don't understand and when I sit down and explain how things work they're amazed and shocked.

I think education is the key to a safer computing and Internet environment. It works in a business environment. When I've conducted training sessions with my users, I see a higher long term awareness of malware and Spam avoidance. Throwing more money into bigger and better Anti-Virus software isn't the answer. Users must take ownership of their machines and must understand the consequences of not protecting themselves. Until this happens Viruses and malware will continue their free ride from oblivious users.

Media outlets can help by spreading the education news. Instead of reporting splashy new malware, instead why not educate users how to protect themselves. Sure its not a headline grabber but if you repeat something 20 times it becomes a habit.