Gadzooki

When your anti-virus software becomes the problem

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Anti-virus softwares have been around for a long time now and after we have installed them in our machine, a Windows-based machine since OS X and Linux are practically immune to computer viruses, we almost forget about them.

We are either lazy in scanning every portable storage device we plug in to our machine or a downloaded file from the web, or we are not that familiar on how to use the AV that’s installed in our system.

Chances are that AV is one of the most popular commercial brands from the big security firms like Symantec, Trend-Micro, McAfee just to name a few. Since it’s from one one these brands, it is of course not for free. Not for free means coughing up something in the region of $30-$100 USD for a license that will allow you to use its full features until a new version is released usually in a year’s time. That amount maybe a bit heavy to some but it still is a good investment since these AVs do get the job done of protecting your PC from viruses, trojans, malware, worms and other digital nasties – most of the time.

It works most of the time if that AV is regularly updated via the web, and this is usually done automatically. Apart from the standard update of its virus database, patches and other updates to the core of the AV is issued every once in a while.

Occasionally, these patches and virus database updates become the source of computer mayhem instead of preventing and fixing them in case ‘badware’, worms and viruses do infect your machine. A particular case in point is the recent problem caused by a recent update to Symantec’s Norton AV has caused the famous AV utility to accidentally “attack” computers it’s supposed to protect.

“Over 1000 customers had reported being affected by the incident in Guangzhou as of Friday noon. The common symptom is that the computer may suddenly encounter a blue screen and then be prompted with an error message. The same problem remains even after a reboot of the system.

A spokesman for Symantec, producer of the Norton AntiVirus software, has confirmed that this incident resulted from inappropriate handling of upgrading AntiVirus software. He promised that the company was now working hard on a possible solution.

The latest virus Norton database was upgraded on May 17. According to some PC experts, this software, after the upgrade, would regard two essential system files (netapi32.dll、lsasrv.dll) as viruses by mistake and clear them away from computers installed with Windows XP. That causes the computer to be locked up even after a reboot. Experts also confirmed that those using the simplified Chinese version of Windows XP and Norton AntiVirus will also be affected.”

Talk about digital cannibalism. This among others has been one of the reasons why alternative and free anti-virus softwares have become popular and has entered mainstream usage. I remember that my very first AV utility was Trend-Micro’s PC-Cillin back in 2000. Today it’s now re-branded as Internet Security and retails at $49.95 for a 1-year license. I loved using PC-Cillin back then, it stopped every known bug that has managed to make its way into my machine all because I religiously updated its database. I even made recommendations of it to my friends who turn to me for computer help, advice and other geeky stuff.

The relationship turned sour when I noticed that the free space on my hard drive was shrinking without me installing new programs or creating new files. Doing an observation for almost a month, I noticed that everytime PC-Cillin downloaded and updated its database the free space would decrease again. To confirm my suspicions, I checked out the system folder of PC-Cillin and I was surprised that all the previous update files from day 1 up to that time were still there! Almost a year’s worth of database update that took place almost 5x a week were all in my hard drive. Sure the update files themselves are no more than 1MB in size but when they pile up it’s like installing M$ Office twice.

Another factor was that it uses too much system resources for my preference and would often get in the way of installing new softwares and games, I know it’s protecting my machine but it’s now protecting it from me as well. It’s was getting annoying back then.

To make things worse, my 1 year license has just expired and thus my access to free automatic updates ended as well. I wanted to upgrade to the newer version which was PC-Cillin 2002 back then but the $50 USD price tag just stopped me in my tracks. Sure I could get a hacked or “pirated” version of it for less than a dollar from the local software pirates here in the Philippines or completely free from the internet, but since I’m too much of security freak I wouldn’t trust my computer’s well-being to a pirated or hacked version of an AV.

So after reading an article in PC Magazine back in 2000 about how free alternative anti-virus softwares were getting better at protecting PCs and receiving recognition for it, I decided to brave the waters of free Anti-virus softwares. It was venture I never turned back from and I’m loving it up to this present times.

My first try was Avast! Home edition, it was fast, lightweight and simply worked. Stuck with it for almost a year until I switched to a more powerful and still free AV, AVG anti-virus by Grisoft and I’m using it as of now.

Friends and schoolmates would often raise their eyebrows and even laugh at me whenever they hear that I’m using a free anti-virus while they’re still on the commercial ones. Of course every now and then they would ask me for help about their AVs, that it wasn’t detecting viruses from their USB drives or can’t “heal” infected files etc. and soon after, they eventually switched to AVG Free as well. Let’s hear who’s laughing now?

The Many Forms of GG

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In gaming parlance, the acronyms gg stands for “good game,” but it can mean so many other things. Gadget geek? Good going? Girl Genius? Whatever the usage, it’s a term that’s here to stay as one of the staples of a gamer’s vocabulary, spawning other words such as gg’ed, ggified, gfg, etc.

I’m a “girl gamer” type of gg myself, and since this is an intro post, let me tell you about the many acronyms that occupy my life. I’m a college student who tries to dabble in fields ranging from music to physics to art, but for some strange reason I spend most of my time gaming. I practically live at a certain computer gaming shop: if I’m not at home or in class, you can probably find me there.

Among my (far too many) games, DotA, aka Defense of the Ancients, stands out as the most addictive. Technically it’s not even a game — it’s a custom map for Warcraft III: Frozen Throne — but it has spawned a larger cult following, more tournaments, and more hours spent in obsessive play than a lot of other games out there.

DotA isn’t very complicated, and you can actually learn it in a few hours. But what with the teamwork aspect (your team of five versus another team of five), the variety of characters to choose from, the different combinations of heroes and skills in a team, the items and their effects… the possibilities are endless. What more, it’s fun! My friends and I have spent many exciting (not to mention noisy) hours playing all sorts of DotA matches, screaming all the while: “KILL HIM OMG I DON’T WANT TO DIE!”

I asked a few friends what they thought of DotA and the answers were mostly the same:

me: survey: what is dota for you?
friend1: life
friend2: :))
me: WTF

And again,

me: survey: what is dota for you?
friend2: DOTA is life -mond
me: LOL
me: why do you all say the same things
friend2: haha
friend2: because it is life

They weren’t totally serious, of course. Like all games, DotA is played (mostly) for fun and as a stress reliever. It’s the game where I first started using “gg” very often — both nicely and, well, not so nicely.

As a parting shot (link?) I’d like to point you to a funny post about DotA and what it really stands for. It’s not fully in English, but don’t worry; you don’t have to be fluent in Tagalog to understand the humor.

Is The Wii Too Much Of A Toy To Be Successful Long Term?

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Nintendo have, with a few exceptions, gone off the rails since introducing the N64.  Whilst the N64 had some memorable games (GoldenEye and Mario 64 to name just two) it sold pretty damn poorly.  The GameCube was meant to have a huge impact.  Obviously prior to that now previous generation, the Playstation ruled the market and the PS2 was liable to do the same.  Unfortunately, around the same time, the Dreamcast failed.

The Xbox was huge, with a rather lacklustre line-up.  It did however have Live, and the biggest controller you’d ever touch – along with an 8 gig hard drive.  Nintendo’s entry was the ill-conceived GameCube.  The GC was – well – a cube.  It was also in purple.  A small handle stuck out of the back, which was apparently useless for anyone over the age of eight.  It used tiny little discs, cute, but piracy apart, why not just use DVD?  This meant that once again Nintendo were using a rather questionable point of difference by giving the Cube no DVD playback – unlike every one of the competition at the time.  Finally, the controller had a big ‘A’ button and awkwardly placed X/Y buttons.  Apparently meant for the simple and the young, this did nothing for Nintendo’s ‘childish’ image.

The GC was ‘the’ console for kids, Xbox for the hardcore, whilst the PS2 was owned by almost everyone, making a huge amount of sales.  So, the GC had some good games, but was universally mocked.  I’m concerned the Wii will go the same way.  Firstly, it has not helped that it’s been laughed at over the name.  Whoops!  Marketing error number one.

Second, yes it is a new console, but the perceived image problem due to the continued use of Nintendo’s staple franchises remain.  Gamers are too sophisticated for the likes of the day-glow worlds of Sonic and Mario – Kirby would just get laughed at now.  Children these days, whether they should or shouldn’t be, are probably playing GTA.  How can Mario stand up to that?

Nintendo need to either totally revamp their franchises for a more mature audience or provide some new ones.  I’m not saying that kids should be getting GTA on the Wii – quite the opposite – all markets should be catered for.

Moving on to the controller, is this too gimmicky?  I couldn’t decide whether it is a great idea, or a merely average one.  Remember, the Wii is noticeably different in terms of power – they built the Wii with the control method – not the graphics – in mind.  Frankly, there are still mixed reports.  The controller is meant to be more involving, whilst also being intuitive and holding appeal to non-gamers.  I don’t see – in my experience, any ‘true’ non-gamer picking it up.  By that I mean the older generation, such as my father or mother, would probably have a quick go, but they’d never consider purchasing one.  Would yours?

Looking at future proofing, the Wii doesn’t support HD.  Okay, so like the minority of us that have it at the moment, it isn’t a factor.  Nonetheless, the market penetration is going to just go up and up and up.  There is no slowing technology I’m afraid.  You could say that’s fine, it’s different.  But that’s not going to be much of an excuse when you’re looking at blocky people with bad textures rather than playing something that looks as good as MotorStorm and using a motion sensing controller.

The Wii is not that far removed from the architecture of the GC.  That’s fine; the GC could do some cool stuff.  But, mark my words, it won’t be enough.  Think about four years time when PS3 games (and probably 360 games too) look breathtaking – where will the Wii be?  Marketing has never been Nintendo’s strong point, but they are really trying with the Wii.  The trailers are good, it has sold really well so far in stores and this trend looks to continue.  The price-point is probably about what you get for your cash too – though I’d say the games are a little overpriced so far.

Coming back to the title question, I guess the answer (not that I wish to admit it) would be no.  Half of me says that a company as bad as Nintendo at marketing shouldn’t succeed – but the other half remembers just how much fun Super Mario World, Super Metroid et al were.  Toys are about fun, so are games.

The Wii is never going to break your TV with uber-hot graphics.  However, much like the DS, it will offer something new.  In my book at least, that gives plenty of kudos.  So no, the Wii isn’t too much of a toy to be successful – but perhaps just toy enough to put a smile back on my jaded face.

How Much Hard Drive Space Do You Need?

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This is a question that comes up in a variety of situations – from the novice computer user to the PC salesman. Storage and use; these are the two drivers behind any user space requirement.

In my old laptop I had a 30 gig hard drive. Today, there are multimedia players featuring double that. My new laptop has 100 gig, two-thirds more. The space is good, and my needs on the base system (and hard drive) have actually lessened due to purchasing a 200 gig external drive.

This, coupled with my laptop and Xbox 360 form not only a lot of tech but a decent home entertainment hub. Lets do a quick audit of drives here:

  • Laptop: 100 gig
  • Xbox 360: 30 gig
  • External HDD: 200 gig
  • Old laptop: 30 gig
  • MP3 player: 1 gig

This is, lets face it, a lot of space. I.T. has my music, videos, games and writing – along with my study and other work. My digital life in fact. As long as I have enough space though I don’t really monitor it, barring on my laptop (I try to keep it reasonably clean for swap file usage etc).

Referring to the eponymous question, how much space do you need? Now there are phone with memory for data storage, pen drives (USB), external, internal, DVD, blu ray, HD and many more storage formats. All are being sold on their various and unique benefits. Do you have TiVO? Sky Plus? An Ipod?

This all makes me think that there are those missing out – on the tech, the wider picture and the pleasure of having their own on-demand entertainment. The revolution is now, and it’s happening in our generation. That being the case, pick up the external, stick it in to your media centre, power up your HD TV and enjoy!

The True Cost of Owning a Printer

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There is, much like anything these days, a few technology options when looking at purchasing a printer. In my experience, home printers are now of a very high quality (and I don’t want to be too general here) pretty much across the board.

Nonetheless, they can still have hidden costs. Lets’ look at what retailers and producers can (but don’t necessarily do) –

A printer can be undercut in price, i.e. become a loss leader. In other words, the manufacturer lowers the cost. Why? In order to then add a higher cost to all consumables. This essentially ‘price links’ all their products. With a high install base, significant returns on the initial ‘hit’ of falsely creating the lower price are possible.

So, what will your printer consume?

  • Cable – $20
  • Ink (colour and black) – $30 each
  • Paper – $10
  • Parts – $30 or more

With that and those prices in mind what can you do?

  • Keep the printer clean and tidy
  • Regular use should ensure continued operation
  • Don’t allow objects to fall inside the printer
  • Use economy – even on basic printers this tends to be a very acceptable quality setting
  • Use scrap (things that have printed incorrectly etc) as note sheets

Finally, much like owning an old car, cheap or older printers can go wrong. Before you rush to the repair shop though do bear in mind that you may be able to buy a new one for the same price. By all means get a quote for a repair, but remember that sometimes parts aren’t too expensive depending on the brand.

Of course, there a number of different printing technologies available, each with their own differently layered costs, but the initial outlay for the printer tends to always be the smaller cost in the overall lifespan of the machine. We’ll look at the various technologies available in a later article.

Buying a Car: Gas vs. Diesel

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SUV.gifCars are, after all, another great big expensive gadget that we love to splurge/spend on. So in follow up to our previous guide on buying a car we think it’s best to give a few tips about the specifics (i.e., options and choices you can look out for).

One basic question would be the engine type: gas (or petrol, as some cultures would prefer to call it) or diesel. These are worlds apart in terms of the various benefits and disadvantages. Diesel-powered cars, however, are not as popular as petrol-powered ones particularly in passenger cars in America. But in other parts of the world–particularly in Europe, since the EU has stringent emissions standards–diesels are fairly popular. If you’re considering buying a car soon, and thinking of your engine options, read on.

Here are some disadvantages of diesel engines.

  • Heavier than comparable gas engines- this results to a heavier vehicle.
  • More expensive, so this will add to the cost of your purchase.
  • Slow acceleration (they’re meant for torque rather than horsepower, meaning better pulling power).
  • Produce more smoke – Diesel engine fumes may be bad for your health, if you have lung problems.
  • Diesel engines work with heating up the fuel for combustion, and hence can be difficult to start in cold weather.
  • Noisier and have a tendency to vibrate more than gas engines.
  • Diesel fuel may not be readily available in some areas.

Here are benefits of diesel engines.

  • Better fuel efficiency – You get more miles per gallon of fuel on a diesel. Most likely, diesel will be cheaper than petrol, too.
  • Lower carbon emissions – Diesels are considered environment friendly, in this regard, since they put off significantly less Carbon Dioxide than petrol engines (though they release more particulates in smoke).
  • Use of biodiesels – Some diesel powered vehicles can run on “clean” diesel–fuel derived from vegetables, ethanol or other oils (rather than fossil fuel).
  • Longer lifetime – Diesel engines can last twice (in terms of mileage) than comparable gas powered engines. This means your vehicle can have a longer serviceable life.
  • Better pulling power – Diesels may not necessarily be able to overtake gas-powered cars in terms of acceleration, but diesels can haul heavier loads.
  • Better idling endurance – You can leave your vehicle idling for extended periods (hours, even) without overheating.

The list of pros and cons extends farther–we can only cite a few. In the end, it boils down to user preference. If you’re in need of a large pickup truck or SUV for hauling your trailer, boat, or some other load, a diesel is probably best for you. If you prefer a small commuter car built for a smooth, comfortable ride, then you’re probably best off with petrol. However, these days, the line is being blurred in terms of comfort and smoothness of ride. So we think it’s best to choose according to your needs and the intended use of your car.