Something else you can be sure about

In the middle of April, two things will happen. You may wish that they wouldn't, but you don't have a choice. I probably don't need to remind you that tax day is April 15th. Microsoft has something in store for you, too, if your computer runs under Windows XP -- Home or Professional.

Either of these two easy tests will tell you if you already have SP2:

• If you're not sure whether SP2 is on your computer, there's an easy way to find out. Right-click My Computer on the desktop and choose Properties. If you see the words "Service Pack 2", all is well.
• Alternatively, choose Run from the Start Menu, type "winver", and press Enter. Again, if you see "Service Pack 2", the rest of this report is moot as far as you're concerned.

If you see "Service Pack 1" or (even worse) no mention of any service pack at all, then you need to act quickly to avoid having your computer turn into an oversize paper weight.

After April 12, Windows will stop working until SP2 is in place. SP2 is such a critical security update, that Microsoft decided (properly, I might add) to require its installation. Consider it the equivalent of an automotive recall for cars with a braking system that could fail unexpectedly.

Today, you have a choice: You can wait for Microsoft to install SP2 for you or you can do it yourself. You want to do it yourself.

First, if you have a broadband connection, download the "administrator's" version of SP2 so that everything you need will be on your computer. If you have a dial-up connection, go to Microsoft's website and order a (free) copy of SP2 on a CD. Some computer stores have copies of the CD to provide for free. Or if you know somebody who downloaded the admin version, ask that person to burn a CD for you. If you download it yourself, burning a copy to CD is a good idea, too.

Before installing anything, scan your computer for viruses. Be certain that you have the latest virus definitions or use an on-line scanning process. In fact, it's a good idea to use at least a couple of the on-line scanners (most of the antivirus software publishers offer one). Why 2? You want to be certain your machine is clean.

Now check your computer for spyware and other applications that you don't want to have on the machine. Spybot Search and Destroy, combined with AdAware SE, should do the job. Make sure that you check for updates to these applications, too, and have all the latest definitions in place.

You should have a firewall in place. My preference is ZoneAlarm from Zone Labs, but there are others. If you don't have a software firewall, now would be a good time to install one -- at least the free version of ZoneAlarm. While it's true that SP2 includes half a firewall, you'll be better off running a real firewall and SP2 will recognize ZoneAlarm and step out of the way if it's present when you install the service pack. (If you have a little extra money to spend, now would be a good time to add a hardware firewall, too.)

The machine is now clean and reasonably well protected. Some hardware and software need updates to work with SP2. Check the websites of the manufacturers or publishers of the devices and applications installed on your machine. Microsoft makes this process easy with a page that directs you to places where the updates are available: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/sp2/oemlinks.mspx

Now it's time to backup the computer. A full backup (with verification turned on) is the best choice -- but at the very least make sure you have a backup of your financial records, photographs, music, and anything else that you don't want to lose. It's possible -- not likely, but possible -- that the installation of SP2 could go wrong and the only solution will be to format the drive and start over.

Take a deep breath. Meditate a bit. Now create a restore point. SP2 will do this again in a few minutes, but if you create one now, you'll know exactly what state the computer was in when you did it.

Now, shut the computer down. Wait a minute. Restart the computer. If you've installed any software updates, the computer may take longer than usual to start up and it may suggest that you restart it again. If you see such a suggestion, restart the computer.

Wait a while before you begin the SP2 installation. During the delay, the system will start all of the applications you usually have running in the Tray area. When they're all running, shut down as many of them as you can.

Some people suggest shutting of your antivirus program and disconnecting the computer from the Internet. If you shut off the antivirus program, then definitely pull the Internet cable, too. Let the firewall continue to run.

The installation will probably proceed without incident and, depending on the speed of the computer, it will take 20 minutes or a couple of hours. Just read the messages the SP2 upgrade displays, follow the instructions, and that should be all there is to it.

Well, almost. After SP2 is in place and you've rebooted the machine at least once, run Windows Update to obtain the critical updates that were released after SP2. You'll probably have to reboot another time or two.

Minor irony:
I wrote this report with TextWrangler, the free text editor from Bare Bones Software, on a Mac Powerbook G4.

Picasa update

Late in 2004, I said that Picasa is the application that should have come with your digital camera. Since then, the folks at Google have released Picasa 2 and I'm still trying to get my socks back on after having them blown off by the new version. If you haven't downloaded the application yet, just do it.

Everything I said about Picasa previously is still accurate, but now the program is even more robust. It includes a nearly fail-safe editing function. When you modify an image, there's no "save" feature, just "save a copy". If you've heard me talk about digital image file formats before, you know that a JPG file loses a little quality every time you open it, make changes, and save it. Picasa automatically saves a copy.

Here are some of the cool features. Click any of the images below to open a new window with a larger view.

		This is a horse that played a part in the Bicentennial celebrations in 2003. It's a decent enough image, but I thought I'd see what a subtle effect might do.
		Here I've applied the "film grain" feature several times. It really just adds noise and is a convincing film grain effect only if you're someone who's never seen film grain. But it works.
		I've left the film grain effect in place and have added a monochrome color-emphasis feature to highlight the horse's eye.
		Here's a bad image. Straight-on flash and underexposed to boot. Can this image be saved?
		Picasa offers an "I'm Feeling Lucky" button (just like on Google) and this is the result. It's a little too hot for my taste, but it's still a lot better than the original image.
		Instead of using the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button that makes all of its corrections automatically in about half a second, I used some manual controls and spent perhaps 45 seconds to get this image.
		Now let's soften the distracting background by throwing it out of focus. This is as easy as specifying the center of the area that should be in focus, setting the size of the in-focus area, and setting the "amount" of softness.

Why is it free?

The folks at Google are some of the best marketers of this young century. They know that by giving something, they will get something in return. If you use Picasa 2, you'll see buttons at the bottom of the screen.

Besides being able to print and e-mail you pictures, you're also offered an opportunity to order pictures. When you choose that option, you'll see a list of Google's partners. If you suspect that Google might possibly receive some income from orders placed with these suppliers, I suspect that you're correct.

The "Hello" option on the menu bar is a way to share your pictures with others, as is the "Blogger" option. Digital cameras are making fundamental changes to the way we use photography and Picasa is one of the new ways that we will use and share images.

After I set up the Hello account (free) I was offered the opportunity to set up a Web log (blog) at BlogSpot. So I did. It took less that 5 minutes to set up the blog (free) and publish my first idiotic post.

Technology corner rating for PICASA 2

TEN CATS: I'm giving this program 10 cats only because there is no higher rating.

How the Technology Corner rating system works.

Commentary: The Internet

For all of the bad things that are attributed to the Internet, it's important to consider some of the good. This week I had a reason to think about that.

David Ibbetson, one the group's regulars and a British expatriate who has lived in Toronto for many decades, had been hospitalized for several weeks after falling one evening at home. On March 23rd, he died.

The list learned of his death on Monday. Given his age and particularly his physical condition, the news was not a surprise.

Within minutes, a virtual wake had materialized. Memories poured in from the United States and Canada, of course, but also from England, Israel, Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Norway ....

During his illness, list members in Toronto visited with him. Those too far to visit sent cards. Some even tried to arrange for delivery of a notebook computer to his hospice -- an attempt that the patient refused politely but sternly.

For all the dangers the Internet brings, and there are plenty of those, it can also bring a real sense of community. Some of us had met the man who died. Many knew him only by his words -- the words seen on screens far from Toronto.

A month earlier, a list member's daughter had collapsed and died during a sporting event at college. The list members made donations to a scholarship fund in her memory.

When list members travel, they often mention it on the list and the result is usually a meeting for lunch or dinner with a few of the local members.

In some ways, the Internet has become the "front porch" of the world, a place where we sit and talk with our neighbors as they walk by. If we are ever to live peacefully with one another, it will be by developing a sense of community around the globe and the Internet can surely help with that.

At the right is a message that Bill Beesting, the assistant dean of undergraduate studies at Florida International University in Miami, wrote following David ("The Ib") Ibbetson's death. I think it's worth sharing and received Bill's permission to do so.

Nerdly News

More space from GMail

The folks at Google made two announcements on April 1. One of them was real.

Google Gulp (beta) with Auto-Drink was described as a line of smart drinks that will “maximize your surfing efficiency by making you more intelligent, and less thirsty.” You could get Google Gulp (in several flavors) only by finding someone who already has a “Gulp Cap”.

If that wasn't enough to give it away, this should have: "Think a DNA scanner embedded in the lip of your bottle reading all 3 gigabytes of your base pair genetic data in a fraction of a second, fine-tuning your individual hormonal cocktail in real time using our patented Auto-Drink technology, and slamming a truckload of electrolytic neurotransmitter smart-drug stimulants past the blood-brain barrier to achieve maximum optimization of your soon-to-be-grateful cerebral cortex. Plus, it's low in carbs!"

So that's the one that wasn't true.

Also on April Fools Day, Google announced that users of GMail will no longer have 1 GB of space at their disposal. They will now have 2 GB of space to store e-mail. And there's the promise of more to come.

And that's the one that is true.

Microsoft goes fishing for phishers

Microsoft this week filed 117 lawsuits against "John Doe" defendants suspected of running "phishing" operations as part of identity theft schemes. Microsoft says it will use the legal process to try to identify and pursue claims against the unnamed defendants. Microsoft says some of the deceptive e-mails used websites that appeared to belong to Microsoft.

At a news conference in Washington, Microsoft showed a phishing page that carried an address of "msn.checkinformation.com." It was an exact copy of the MSN website that included a link titled "MSN Hotmail Account Update." Those who clicked the link were asked to enter their full name, debit-card number, and enough other personal information to give the thief access to the victim's account.

Hello, victims: MSN is a FREE service. Why would a FREE service want your credit or debit card information?

Research by STAR/First Data says 43% of US adults (91 million people) have received at least one phishing message. I'm not sure, but I believe that I alone have received about 93 million of them.

Microsoft previously had filed two lawsuits against alleged phishers and was awarded $3 million in a case against Jayson Harris of Davenport, Iowa, in one case. The FBI is considering criminal charges against the man. Microsoft hasn't collected any of the $3 million and probably doesn't expect to. What's important is that Microsoft can then refer the case to the FBI.

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