I love educating people about why there is malware and spam, when a succint article comes along with some good background I love to drop it like it's hot right on our blog.

http://krebsonsecurity.com/2012/02/whos-behind-the-worlds-largest-spam-botnet/

In the summer of 2010, hackers stole and leaked the database for SpamIt andGlavmed, sister programs that paid people to promote fly-by-night online pharmacies. According to that data, the second-most successful affiliate in SpamIt was a member nicknamed “GeRa.” Over a 3-year period, GeRa’s advertisements and those of his referrals resulted in at least 80,000 sales of knockoff pharmaceuticals, brought SpamIt revenues of in excess of $6 million, and earned him and his pals more than $2.7 million.

A variety of data indicate that GeRa is the lead hacker behind Grum, a spam botnet that can send more than 18 billion emails a day and is the primary vehicle for more than a third of all junk email.

What a fun bedtime story to tell the kids.  There is big money in the spam and virus game.

Just to add a little side note to the conversation, many viruses you get don't even give you a symptom, if your computer is part of one of these botnets they want to keep that a secret so you don't go get your computer fixed.  The virus will be entirely hidden, and these guys will spend their 6 million dollars of revenue (in addition to buying cool houses and cars) on making sure their latest virus is undetected so it can remain on your computer stealing and spamming as long as possible.

We usually only see the other type of recent virus, that will display itself front and center and ask you for money to "upgrade" the "Fake Antivirus" they installed on your computer.

 Looking for friends to play online games with? 

A friend of ours just launched his web service - go check it out.  http://teamfind.com

I hear it's mostly to help you find people to play World of Warcraft with - but give it a shot :)

 Parts are getting cheaper, and we're passing it on!

iPhone 4 front glass from $99!

iPhone 3 glass from $40!!

iPhone 4 Back from $40!!!

nobody will beat the price OR service - thanks :)

 If you are a sysadmin - you must know about this tool..

As you can see, you create a file - add 'configurations' to machines, and then it allows you to connect to many RDP machines at the same time, it auto-scales the desktop to whatever screen size is available, and let's you change between them with ease.

Great app!

(download an old version without limitations here: http://drpcfix.com/links-and-files/10-royaltsinstaller.html)

 This looks like a lot of fun.. maybe a potential upgrade to the dreadful 'netbooks' that have been selling like crazy.

http://www.google.com/chromebook/#features

The one pictured here is an acer - they'll be priced just under $400 (cheaper than ipads) - and probably come down quickly in the year to come.

Nice little machines - keep your eye on these for the 'family room PC' replacement

 Go get you some Android Caller ID made by really clicking.  For all you Android users out there.. it's a must-have app.

It will get names for people that are NOT in your address book, even for most cell phone callers.  Pretty cool.

But now that we love our iPad - should we feel differently?  No..

"WILL SOMEONE PLEASE COMPETE WITH THEM??"

What would it take? There is obviously a big market.. Why can't anyone grab a piece?

The new change that took place is making waves, like usual, Apple looks like the bad guy..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/06/john-naughton-apple-dominates-market

"Then Apple abruptly changed the rules, stipulating that any publisher selling a digital subscription on a website must also make the same subscription offer within the app, from which Apple would take a 30% cut. Publishers have been furious about this, but there's nothing they can do about it. If they want to do business on the iTunes store, then they have to do it Apple's way.

In itself, this was just an example of the Big Unfriendly Giant flexing its muscles, but it could be a harbinger of things to come."

fun times ahead

While we look for a new office space in the Kirkland area - here is what we'll be doing for our fantastic Kirkland customers:

1. Free Pick-up and Drop-off service - so you don't have to unhook your computer

2. In-Home service calls - which can save time for everyone

3. Same phone number, Same Guarantee, Same great People

4. We will honor all warranties that happened at the Kirkland store

For now you'll be able to find us in our Redmond store - we'll be repairing computers from there until we find a new location in Kirkland.

We're taking this opportunity to IMPROVE our service to you - so don't hesitate to call and see how we can help you - 425-825-0222

A: Many Reasons!

longer answer? okay...

Why isn't an automobile one-size-fits-all? Or a home theater? It has to do with very human concepts like:

• Comfort Level
• Software Used
• Skill Level
• Technology Understanding
• Overall Function of the PC
• PC Hardware Specs

I'm sure there are more - but the idea is kind of like this:

If you use your PC for chatting and socializing, and you have a current generation Core i7 CPU with 4GB of ram - your software environment can and should look a LOT different than someone that ONLY uses the computer for homework, has a 4 year old Pentium M CPU and 1GB of ram.

The technical reason - the first case you could have a few instant messaging applications installed, social toolbars, favorites synchronization, and multiple web browsers open at the same time and this could be normal and stable for a current generation computer.

In the later case, a computer used only for homework, having these programs installed and running all the time would have a HUGE impact on performance.  No software PC cleaner will ever be able to figure that out and optimize your computer for you.

Sounds like a lot to try to understand?

You don't have to.. Here is the cheatsheet

1. The newer and faster the CPU and more Memory you have - the more stuff you can put on the PC without a second thought. Literally, a current gen PC won't need a tune-up for quite a while.
2. The older and more 'classic' your PC - the longer the life you want to get out of it, the more you should keep an eye on the extra stuff installed and running at the same time.
3. When your machine gets over 1 year old - really think about what Antivirus Software you want to use, think about upgrading all your web browsers, and doing a set of Windows Updates if you have been putting them off.

 Check out a software tune-up by Dr PC Fix - available Online now

We are going with Microsoft Security Essentials for the first part of 2011.  We change antivirus platforms about every couple years based on what is performing the best, catching the most viruses, and free.

First it was AVG, then Avast, now, MSE.

MSE is free for all home computers, and small businesses with up to 10 computers can use it according to the licensing.

You can very easily download and install it - and you are on your way..

AS USUAL - we do not recommend ANY 'pc cleaner' or 'c cleaner' or 'reg cure' or any other software to 'optimize' or 'cleanup' your PC - 99% of this software will make your computer worse than before you started.

Stick with Antivirus to keep the computer free of infection, and remove un-used software on an as-needed basis to keep your computer clean. 

We have a tune-up service for this exact reason, if there was a good software that could do it - we would point you at it!

Read More about why software can't do a PC Tune-Up here on the blog