Went into panic mode this week when, while doing my usual rigorous daily exercise routine (on the couch surfing favorite websites) a strange but very official looking window popped up on my laptop. It warned that my computer was vulnerable to several viruses and advised me to click to scan. Ah..but I was wise to this attempt at cyber sabotage because of a nasty experience last summer in which I received a similar warning window and foolishly clicked everything in site to get rid of it. But in doing so, I just opened the flood gates for every virus those evil scumbags, whose only life is to sit in their underpants in their mother’s basement before a big bank of computers, could conjure up. It required major surgery on the hard drive to make right. Fortunately for me, Keloland TV’s brilliant I.T. guy, Landon Ray, was able to fix my latest problem remotely..without even having to bring the laptop in. Amazing.
Here’s what to watch out for.
For those of you like me, whose knowledge of computers is pretty limited, I thought I’d share a memo Landon sent out recently to KELO staff members but applies to anyone who uses the internet.
When you get infected with this particular spyware,stop what you are doing, do not try to close it or click on it at all doing so actually downloads the full spyware/malware onto your workstation which in turn results in a much worse infection. The particular spyware/malware will pop up and look like a full blown Anti-Virus software, it tends to hide under the names “Anti-Virus Pro 2009/2010” or just “AntiVirus Pro”. It will state you are infected with a lot of viruses and that you need to click on the program to run or download a full scan of your system. By doing this you infect your workstation worse.
On another matter, I’ve hesitated sharing this with you for nearly a week because…well, you’ll find out.
Two of our granddaughters were staying at our house on Saturday and wanted to see the latest Shrek movie. Now, I’ve ranted here more than once about my aversion to movie theaters because I feel 25 dollars is way too much to pay for a couple bags of popcorn and some Coke.
I also hate it when people feel compelled to yak away during the entire film. Plus Carmike runs a half hour worth of commercials before the previews which last another twenty minutes. I don’t watch commercials at home..why should I pay big money to have them forced on me at the movies? But worst of all are those who flagrantly ignore the pleas of the theater management to turn off their cell phones.
A young lady in our row was texting through out the whole show and then someone’s cell started ringing. It was a muffled ring but everybody in the theater could hear it. To make matters worse, the idiot wasn’t answering or doing anything to shut it off. After the third time in about a half hour, even the texting girl was sufficiently annoyed to turn around and try spot the ignoramus who just let it ring.
Well, in spite of the distractions, everyone agreed that the movie was real good and when we got home, the kids’ moms were at our house and anxious to hear all about it.
My daughter Patty had just returned from ball tournaments in Yankton and mentioned that she’d called several times trying to figure out where everybody was but got no answer. “I heard my phone vibrating, mom,” said granddaughter, Allison, “but I couldn’t very well pick up while the movie was going on.”
That’s when I started to get a sinking feeling in the pit of my popcorn-filled stomach.
I did leave MY phone in the car like I intended right???
Just then, I heard a familiar soft chirping sound coming from my left front pocket. I reached in and pulled out my cell.“Hello?” “Hey, Doug..it’s Denny. Are we on for tomorrow?” Uh, yeah..I’ll see ya.”
Then I checked my messages and, gulp, it showed that I had three missed calls.
I guess it’s not so bad being an idiot when, after fessing up, you can bring such joy and uncontrolled laughter to the whole family.