The spyware threat grows

One of the scariest videos I've watched in a long time is Mark Russinovich's presentation on advanced malware cleaning.

It's a long, technical presentation but the content chilled the blood of this computer tech.

Mark described how clever the malware writers are and how difficult it's going to be to detect and remove the next generation of spyware.

With the current generation of tools, we find it difficult to clean up many machines within three hours. I tell my techs that if you can't clean it in the first hour, wipe the system. That usually means the client is going to see a $600 bill.

For many clients, they'd be better off buying a new system.

The lesson for home and office users is to make sure your staff and kids are restricted users. While it might mean some programs won't work, it's a small price to pay for keeping your system clean.

For techs, it means we've got to develop better tools to protect our clients and clean out infections. Russinovich makes a good point that we're going to rely more on live CDs like BartPE or Knoppix to clear infected systems as the malware is going be too deeply embedded in the system to remove any other way.

Personally, I'm considering running away and joining a call centre. This stuff is going to be very hard, frustrating work.

Vista compatible firewall

It's amazing what you find in your junk mail box.

While checking mine I stumbled on the latest version of Scot's newsletter which my ever vigilant spam checker had taken offense to.

The newsletter looks at firewalls and links to an excellent firewall review at Matousec.

I've needed an update to our firewall recommendations since Symantec took over Sygate and stopped development on SPF. While it's still available, it's not supported or compatible with Vista.

Looking over the review, it appeared the PC Tools free Firewall is exactly what I needed to recommend as a replacement to Sygate.

I've been slack with PC Tools as they are a real Australian success story. Unfortunately, there's not a great deal of them so we should be encouraging them.


We'll be experimenting with this ourselves over the next few weeks but so far, so good.

Doing it on the cheap

I don't spend a lot of time but I stumbled on this offer the other day.

$80 to fix any PC problem?!? (since dropped to $50).

I feel sorry for kids like Billy. They really don't know what they are getting into. The $50 rate is only going to attract the cheapest, nastiest customers with the most difficult problems.

Maybe I should hire Billy, he seems an enterprising type.

Why businesses aren't happy with Workchoices

This month's MYOB survey shows many small businesses are not happy with the Federal government.

The most worrying statistic for the Liberal government is the fact that 30% are less likely to hire as a result of Workchoices.

What the Libs don't understand is we small business owners hate complexity. We're simple beasts that just don't have the time, money or resources to deal with paperwork.

For instance, Australian IT reports an IT hire agency has set up an Australian Workplace Agreement for it's contractors.

This is fine when you have 2,000 contractors, but when you are local business employing half a dozen people, an AWA is an expensive and time consuming process.

The silly thing is the old unfair dismissal rules that scared many businesses off employing people were more straightforward, if somewhat formulaic. Making the system more complex doesn't help the problem.

A good example of the complexity is the new requirement that businesses have to keep a log of overtime. Failure to do so incurs fines of up to 5,500 per employee. I know businesses that are looking at introducing bundy clocks for white collar staff.

Another way complexity works against small business are the fines for not getting BAS forms in time. I don't know any business that hasn't copped at least one $55 penalty in the last year.

It's a shame business groups don't stand up to the Federal government. If anything, they do the opposite as the Australian reported yesterday. It's quite clear many of the groups who pretend to represent small businesses are too close to the Liberal party.

The fact is this Liberal government has been no friend of small business. They have dramatically increased our paperwork and the penalties for not completing that paperwork. I suspect they do quite nicely out of the fines and charges we get levied.

With an election looming and a viable alternative on offer, it's time small business owners starting rattling the cages of their local MPs.

Is "Digital Smog" the new technology threat

The Independent coins the phrase "digital smog" in an article about the potential risks of wireless networks.

I'm surprised it's taken so long for these concerns to arise. Given the fears about mobile phones and power transmission lines, it was inevitable someone was going to finger wireless LANs.

The jury's going to be out many years, if not generations, to see if there are real risks from these networks. My guess is if there is, the dangers are dwarfed by the radiation put out from mobile phone networks or CRT monitors and TV sets.

I think an inquiry is a good idea. It's important we are aware of the risks of all the technology we use. I just hope any such enquiry looks at real science and doesn't just jump on any hysterical bandwagon.

Dell to sell a phone?

Are Dell planning to release their own iPhone?

According to Digitimes, Dell's laptop supplier are developing a phone/PDA for Dell.

Are they crazy? They recently dropped the Axim handheld because they didn't know how to sell or support it. Now they want to enter an already crowded mobile phone market.

Like Apple, they're going to find some very established incumbents when they enter the market.

Personally, I think Nokia, Motorola and the other established phone makers are going to eat Apple and Dell alive.

Looking a gift horse in the mouth

Am I the only one disturbed by Microsoft's idea to sell $3 software to emerging markets?

It appears this product requires a government to sign up with Microsoft which locks that government into MS products. That's one concern.

A bigger concern though is how this affects projects like the One Laptop per Child project. The whole idea of the OLPC is to bring cheap, reliable computing to the third world.

Microsoft's idea seems to go against that, instead it locks those people into expensive, complex Windows systems.

It's a real shame Bill Gates can't work with the existing projects, a bigger shame is that Microsoft can't resist trying to tie governments into commercial deals when offering assistance.

Fatboy PCs need slimming down

I'm not a fan of "I'm an Apple and I'm a PC" ads but the latest ad, linked to by Gizmodo is spot on the money. Apple are so right on this.

"Programs that don't do very much unless you buy the whole thing or are just plain useless really slow me down".

This is so true. One of the first things we do when setting up a new PC is to remove the toolbars, trialware and all manner of tripe brand name Windows systems come with.

Ed Bott blogged that the stories of Vista being slow aren't based on fact. On his test system, he only found Vista to be 16% slower.

This is probably true, but it overlooks the problem of this bloatware infesting systems.

I setup a new Vista Toshiba laptop last week that took ages to load: This was all due to bundled software and fiddly installation routines.

Punters don't want to wait half an hour for a new computer to boot. Out of the box, a new system should be lightening fast: The customer should go "wow!" when they turn the thing on for the first time.

Micheal Dell might get paid $50 for every computer he sells with craplets on, but it's coming at a cost to his reputation.

I'll leave the last word to Gizmodo and Brian Lam who wrote the original post.

A message to those PR people, engineers, product managers, VPs and CEOs at Dell, HP, Sony, Lenovo, and our other favorite PC makers: Don't let the people in charge of putting these demos on your machines ruin your computers. Please, fight back, for our sake, and for the sake of your reputations.

Windows XP to go the way of the dodo

Australian Personal Computer reports that Windows XP won't be available to customers after the year's end.

I'm not sure it's going to matter. It's so hard to find an XP machine in the shops now, most people are getting Vista whether they want it or not.

One thing this will do is drive the sale of Windows XP boxes late in the year. So I guess that's good news for the channel and retailers. Assuming they can get stock.

I did a Vista set up yesterday. One thing that concerns me about it is how slow the system is. Even with a gig of RAM it ran like treacle.

I'd recommend going with Vista if I could find a clear, identifiable advantage in the new system. Right now, I can't. So if you can, get an XP box.

What will Grisoft's free rootkit find?

Grisoft's AVG anti-virus has been high on our recommended list for a long time and their new rootkit detector will join the list.

It's going to be interesting what we see when customers start using it. Our suspicion is that rootkits are far more widely distributed than many people think.

My view is the bad guys have been winning the malware war for some time. I've noticed a lot of spyware infections seem to have been getting more subtle recently. I'm sure this is not a good thing.

We'll be recommending this to all our customers in our newsletter this month.

Choosing the wrong Internet plan

The story of Andrew Boughton, a Rose Bay businessman who got a thousand dollar bill for his $30 a month Internet service, is not surprising to any of us who regularly deal with Internet users.

The simple fact is subscribers to these plans are giving a blank cheque to their Internet provider.

In my view, these low limit, high excess use fee plans are immoral: They are designed to separate the least informed consumers from their money.

A relative of mine was told by her school that she needed a broadband connection to do her homework. We'll put aside the fact this is a state high school in a disadvantage area for a future post. Her family's first thought was one of these plans.

Luckily they were put straight very quickly on these plans and signed up with another provider that offers capped plans: Once they go over the monthly limit, the connection is slowed.

These plans are the only ones families and businesses on a budget should consider. Anything else is a recipe for disaster.

Another interesting point in this story is Bigpond reimbursed his account. We see this a lot with Telstra: If you push them, they'll refund your money.

I suspect they know these "cheap" plans are unfair.

Dell ditch the Axim

According to The Mobility Site, Dell are to bury their Axim handheld devices. We had many bad experiences with these and aren't sad to see them go.

The big problem was the early models shipped to the Australian market came with the wrong version of Windows Mobile (or CE as it then was). Some of our clients spent many hours bashing their heads against the wall trying to explain to a polite lady in India that her screen was totally different to hers.

Those early problems seem to put Dell off because they seemed to stop marketing them here.

It seems to me this is symptomatic of Dell's problems. The Axim should be a profitable, high margin line. Instead, they continue to focus on the bottom of the market and ever narrowing margins.

The sad thing for Dell is these Windows Mobile devices are coming of age. They may be jumping off the ship just as it starts to float.

Microsoft Volume Licensing

I don't know if I'm a slow learner, but I still can't get my head around Microsoft's Open Licencing program.

Why do these guys have to make it so complex?

Doing business on eBay

The Sydney Morning Herald's small business blog discusses using eBay to source business supplies. I have to say this idea is flawed to say the least. The time involved, delivery and risk doesn't really make ebay worthwhile as a feasible source.

As ever, the comments are amusing. I really enjoy those boasting about their eBay businesses. These folk don't get it.

Valerie's assistant bought on eBay because the price was ridiculously cheap. That's the typical reason people buy on eBay.

If you want to get stuck in a business with stupid, if any, margins then eBay's the place for you.

I'm beginning to wonder about the wisdom of this small business blog. Valerie Khoo doesn't seem to understand the biggest problem for her and all other small business owners is time. There simply aren't enough hours in the day.

Small business owners can't afford to waste this precious asset on surfing Google for computer advice or lurking on eBay trying to scoop up "bargains".

One of the thing experienced small business owners like me have learned is it's critical to find good suppliers. We simply don't have time to tune our own cars or prepare our own accounts and even if we did have the time, we wouldn't do a good job because we don't know what we are doing.

Valerie should stick to what she and her staff do best. That's what earns her money and keeps her staff in a job.