How to Delete Copilot Chat History (And Is It Really Gone?)

The Microsoft 365 Copilot Cleanup Guide: Part 1

If you've been using Microsoft 365 Copilot regularly, you've probably accumulated quite a collection of conversations. Some are useful, some are experiments, and others contain questions you asked once and never need to see again.

Fortunately, Microsoft lets you delete individual conversations or request deletion of your entire Copilot activity history. But before you start clearing everything out, there's an important distinction between deleting a conversation from your view and removing information retained by your organization.

Here's how it works for Microsoft 365 Copilot using a work or school account.

Windows 11 Slow? How to Find What's Eating Up Your Hard Drive Space

Ever wonder where all your hard drive space disappeared? One minute, you've got plenty of room, and the next, Windows is warning you that your storage is almost full. Between downloaded files, forgotten applications, temporary files, and Windows updates, your computer can accumulate an impressive amount of digital clutter.

Fortunately, Windows 11 includes several built-in tools to help you figure out what's taking up space—and safely get some of it back. Some of the biggest storage offenders, however, can be hiding in folders you rarely see.

Rock Your LinkedIn Profile: 7 ChatGPT Prompts to Make Recruiters Take Notice

Your LinkedIn profile is your professional introduction to recruiters, employers, and potential business connections. But if you haven't updated it in years, it may not accurately reflect your experience, accomplishments, or the opportunities you're pursuing.

ChatGPT can help you give your LinkedIn profile a professional makeover by improving your headline, highlighting achievements, identifying relevant keywords, and polishing your overall presentation.

All you need is your current LinkedIn profile, an updated résumé, and a few carefully written prompts. You can use ChatGPT for free to get started.

Your Browser Can Alter What You See In Web Sites. Is Your Browser Gaslighting You?

Browser extensions are wonderful little conveniences. They block ads, manage passwords, grab screenshots, translate websites, and generally make life easier.

Some are so useful that we install them, forget about them, and never give them another thought.

There's just one small problem.

Some extensions have permission to read and change information on the websites you visit.

How to Delete All Your Chats in Claude

If your Claude chat history has gotten a little crowded, you don’t have to delete conversations one at a time. Claude offers a way to select and delete multiple chats from its Chats and tasks page.

Here’s how to clear them out using Claude in your web browser.

Javalot Jive: Back to Its Roots

Apparently, my idea of a website refresh is going back to 2003. And honestly? I’m liking it.

Javalot Jive has been around since then, with stretches of activity and stretches of collecting digital dust. Bringing it back reminded me how much I liked the original look: a simple layout, a proper sidebar, and a little personality. So the retro goodness is making a comeback—with fewer shadows. Apparently, I really loved shadows.

Microsoft Unveils Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) Redesign - March 28, 2025

Microsoft has unveiled a significant redesign of the iconic Blue Screen of Death (BSOD) in the latest Windows 11 Insider Preview Build 26120.3653 (KB5053658), aligning it with the operating system's modern design principles.

SharePoint's Copilot: AI-Powered Assistance for Enhanced Collaboration and Content Creation

Microsoft's SharePoint, a leading collaboration and content management platform, remains at the forefront of technological advancements.

In the era of artificial intelligence (AI), SharePoint has introduced an exciting new feature called Copilot. Designed to boost productivity, automate tasks, and streamline content creation, Copilot is set to revolutionize the SharePoint experience. This article delves into Copilot's capabilities and its impact on SharePoint users, unveiling a new era of intelligent assistance.

I. Copilot Unveiled:

- Copilot harnesses the power of AI and machine learning models to assist users in content creation, generating insights, and improving productivity within SharePoint.

- Functioning as an intelligent assistant, Copilot seamlessly integrates into the SharePoint ecosystem, enhancing collaboration and empowering users to work smarter.

II. Contextual Suggestions and Content Recommendations:

- Copilot analyzes the content being created or edited within SharePoint, offering real-time contextual suggestions to users.

- It provides recommendations for relevant images, documents, or resources that can enrich the content, saving users time and effort in manual searches and insertions.

- With a simple click, users can swiftly insert the recommended content, further streamlining the content creation process.

III. Intelligent Document Insights:

- Copilot serves as a valuable resource for users, offering insights to enhance their documents.

- It suggests improvements for document readability, identifies potential accessibility issues, and ensures compliance with organizational guidelines.

- Users can optimize their content based on Copilot's recommendations, resulting in higher quality documents and improved user experiences.

IV. Automated Routine Tasks:

- Copilot liberates users from the burdens of repetitive and mundane tasks within SharePoint, reducing manual effort.

- Tasks such as metadata generation, tag and label suggestions, and content categorization are automated by Copilot.

- This automation frees up users' time, allowing them to concentrate on strategic and creative aspects of their work.

V. Personalized Experiences:

- Copilot learns from user behavior, preferences, and historical data to provide personalized recommendations.

- Over time, it becomes finely attuned to individual users, delivering more accurate and relevant suggestions.

- Users can customize Copilot's behavior to align with their specific needs, further enhancing their productivity and work experience.

VI. Enhanced Collaboration and Training:

- Copilot acts as a catalyst for collaboration, facilitating knowledge sharing and content discovery among users.

- It suggests relevant documents or experts within the organization, assisting users in finding the information they need efficiently.

- Furthermore, Copilot serves as a training tool, guiding users towards best practices, adherence to guidelines, and improved content creation skills.

With the integration of Copilot, SharePoint ushers in a new era of AI-driven content creation, collaboration, and productivity. Through its contextual suggestions, content recommendations, and automated tasks, Copilot empowers users to work efficiently, deliver high-quality content, and tap into the collective knowledge of their organizations. As AI continues to advance, Copilot represents a remarkable leap forward in SharePoint's evolution, elevating its capabilities and transforming user interactions with the platform.

To explore more about Copilot's features and functionalities, visit the official Microsoft SharePoint blog post. SharePoint users can now embark on a journey towards heightened productivity and enriched collaboration.

Unleashing the Potential of ChatGPT: Mastering the Art of Effective Prompts

In the world of conversational AI, ChatGPT has emerged as a powerful tool, capable of engaging in intelligent and human-like conversations. 

However, to truly harness its potential, understanding the art of crafting effective prompts is essential. In this Wired article, we will delve into the significance of prompts and explore techniques that can enhance the accuracy and relevance of ChatGPT's responses.

1. The Power of Clear Instructions:

Clarity is key when it comes to prompts. Vague inquiries may yield ambiguous or irrelevant responses. For instance, consider the prompt, "Tell me about dogs." It lacks direction and may lead to a general response. Instead, a clear instruction like, "Describe the behavior of Border Collies during herding," provides ChatGPT with a specific focus, resulting in a more targeted response.

2. Formatting Guidelines:

Explicitly stating the desired format in prompts helps ChatGPT align its response structure accordingly. Let's say you need a concise comparison of electric cars. A prompt like, "Please provide a bullet-pointed list highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of electric vehicles compared to traditional gasoline cars" sets the stage for ChatGPT to deliver a well-structured and informative response.

3. Context is King:

Providing relevant context in prompts enables ChatGPT to generate more accurate and informed responses. Consider the prompt, "What happened at the 2022 FIFA World Cup?" Although it hints at a specific event, ChatGPT lacks crucial information to provide a comprehensive response. Adding context, such as "Describe the memorable matches and the winning team at the 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar," sets the stage for ChatGPT to deliver a more detailed and accurate answer.

4. System Messages as Guides:

System messages, placed before the user's input, serve as instructions to steer ChatGPT's behavior. By utilizing system messages, you can influence the generated responses. For instance, when instructing ChatGPT to roleplay as a historical figure, a system message like, "You are Albert Einstein, answering questions about relativity" adds a touch of authenticity and influences the responses generated by ChatGPT.

5. The Art of Length Control:

To manage response length, you can specify a maximum token limit or explicitly mention the desired response length in the prompt. For example, if you're looking for a concise explanation of quantum computing, you could set the prompt to, "In 100 words or less, describe the fundamental principles of quantum computing." By setting such constraints, you can ensure you receive concise and to-the-point responses.

6. Iterative Refinement for Precision:

Sometimes, ChatGPT's initial response may fall short of expectations. By iteratively refining the conversation and appending user messages, you can guide ChatGPT toward the desired outcome. For instance, if ChatGPT provides a generic answer to a specific question about AI, you can refine the prompt by appending, "In the context of healthcare applications." This iterative process helps ChatGPT understand the desired focus and provide more accurate responses.

7. Temperature Settings for Balancing Creativity:

Temperature settings influence the randomness of ChatGPT's responses. Experimenting with different values allows you to strike the right balance between creativity and coherence. A higher temperature, such as 0.8, produces more imaginative responses, while a lower temperature, like 0.2, ensures a more deterministic and focused output. Tailoring the temperature setting to your specific needs can yield the desired response style.

The bottom line in crafting effective prompts is an art that can unlock the true potential of ChatGPT. By providing clear instructions, contextual information, and formatting guidelines, we can steer conversations in the desired direction.

Origin of Species: A History of O'Reilly Animals - O'Reilly Media

Today a conversation mired in Cyber Monday deals, of which surprisingly included half off Safari subscription services, turned to the wonderful illustrations on the book covers of O'Reilly. 

Yes, this is geek stream of consciousness in action around the water cooler. 

Tucked away on the O'Reilly web site is a brief article about the cover Animals and the wonderful artist who creates them, Lorrie LeJeune. 

From 1995 until 2003, Lorrie was a senior product marketing manager and then editor at the O'Reilly Cambridge, Massachusetts, office. She has since moved on to Assistant Director at MIT Media Labs and Center for Civic Media. With specialties that range in a Broad knowledge in life sciences and biotechnology, Web development, and mobile telecommunications, she finds time to be a freelance artist and play the mandolin. 

The Making of an O'Reilly Animal

Lorrie does her rough sketches in pen-and-ink, depicting the animal in different poses. Even after the designer selects a particular sketch, Lorrie may need to re-draw it several times. Once a sketch is accepted, Lorrie then draws a more careful rendering to use as a model in the final process. This detailed sketch is often used for the O'Reilly catalog mock-ups. Since the catalogs are usually printed well in advance of a new title's actual production, it's common for the final book illustration to have a slightly different appearance than the catalog version.

The challenge is that scratchboard requires Lorrie to use her drawing techniques in reverse. "I am literally working backwards," she explains. "Instead of drawing in the shadows, I am scratching out the highlights. The lighter the detail, the more work I have to do."

She typically begins with the animal's eyes, the pivotal feature of the entire image to Lorrie's way of thinking. Once she gets the eyes right, the rest of the drawing begins to fall into place. For the panther on Java Foundation Classes, she worked particularly long and hard at giving the animal an intense stare.

Don't miss the step-by-step making of an O'Reilly animal.

Her first round of scratching yields a basic line drawing. Then she establishes lighter and darker tones as she begins to add detail. If she makes an error, she can patch the ink and re-scratch, but she can't make major changes. Since the scratchboard surface can accommodate only one or two revisions, Lorrie says that she tries to have a complete understanding of what she's going to do and not make any mistakes.

She likens this process to watching a photographic image emerge in developing fluid. Moreover, Lorrie must recognize when the scratchboard image is "finished." After going over her work with an eraser to clean off excess ink and dust, Lorrie creates a high-resolution digital scan.

We love humble over-achievers and the roles they play in our everyday geeky life.  
P.S.
Yes, the tarsier above is blinking at you. 

Publisher 2010 - Show and Print Crop Marks - How To

Love how Office 2010 doesn't make finding anything easy that used to be right in front of your face in programs like Publisher.

Having trouble figuring out how to get crop marks or guide marks to print in your publications? Here's how... 

Dell Precision M4500 Driver Installation - Annoyances Solved - Drivers Provided

Yet another reformat of a Dell Precision M4500 laptop and yet more mystery drivers to track down. This time just a couple were posing issues in the Device Management list during the install.

"Broadcom USH" - Although, the laptop does not have a finger print reader, this driver is part of the
Dell ControlPoint Security Device Driver Pack 

R269916.exe on the Driver Disk if you have it.

If not, you can download it from Dropbox here:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/irqbyqq7fcbjbew/AADIFMr04jMIn7Ule-hymG06a/_R269916_Broadcom.USH.zip

or here from the Dell web site: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=V3P97)


"Unknown Device" is yet again the

ST Microelectronics Free Fall Sensor, v.2.00.00.12, A00

R257449.exe on the Driver Disk... 

Or download from Dropbox here: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/irqbyqq7fcbjbew/AAB7DQGOb6uRfGmXOiIBNes5a/_R257449_ST.Microelectronics.Fall.Sensor.zip

Or the Dell web site here: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=VWG42&fileId=2731102933&osCode=W732

Hope this helps anyone trying to track these drivers down. 

If this posts helps make sure to comment or even join dropbox and refer this site so we can get more space to offer even more drivers in the future.Dropbox referral link: https://db.tt/qkFfAfY7

Or heck, we'll even take donations of any amount you feel like giving us for helping you.

Dell Latitude E5520 Driver Installation - Annoyances Solved - Drivers Provided

Recently needed to reformat a Dell Latitude E5520

When doing so it's necessary to reinstall all the drivers.


First - you need to install all the drivers in a specific order.


To get the proper order to install drivers, you can usually just google for example "Driver install order for Latitude E5520" or your specific type of computer.


Here is the link to dell's list and instructions for the Latitude E5520 (http://www.dell.com/support/troubleshooting/us/en/19/KCS/KcsArticles/ArticleView?docid=619668)


Do you have your resource CD that originally came with your computer? If not, I'm providing the .zip files for each the below listed drivers.

Three things I ran into with the driver installation that were not clear in the driver install disk list:


"PCI Simple Communications Controller"  - This is the "Intel Unified 7 Management Interface Driver"

If you have your driver disk, you can locate it under the Chipsets listing.


Here's the dell link for the driver: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=R73F7


"Mass Storage Device" - This was the "O2Micro 0Z600XXX Memory Card" driver

It's located on the resource driver CD also or here on Dell's site for download:

http://www.dell.com/support/home/in/en/indhs1/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=N0X8T&fileId=2731100422&osCode=ww1&languageCode=en&categoryId=DD 


"Unknown Device" - This is a real fun one... It's The "ST Microelectronics Free Fall Sensor Rev:A04"!


On the driver disk, it's located under the Chip Set Drivers or here on the Dell site:

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=YJTNY&fileId=2731102934&osCode=ww1 

Honestly, it was little hard to find, but less difficult than it used to be in tracking down mystery drivers since I found the PCI vendor and device list site at: http://www.pcidatabase.com/


How do you use the PCI database?

Go into your device manage -

(Start | Right Click Computer | Choose "Manage" | Choose "Device Manager")


In the Device Manager you're going to see the components that are missing drivers marked by yell icons.

Right click on anyone of them, choose Properties, and then choose the "Details tab"

On the dropdown bar under "Property" choose "Hardware Ids"

You'll see a list of info that appears like so: "PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1C3A&SUBSYS..."


To use the PCI Database, what information you need from this line of data is the "ven" or "vendor" number. Then, you use the "dev" or "device" number. This may help in tracking down the hard to identify drivers.

Mt.Gox clients are hopeless about their bitcoins - Mar. 26, 2014

Nick French; His account still has 5 BTC,
buthe doubts it's really there.

The online Bitcoin exchange Mt.Gox is on life support, and the folks
who put millions of dollars there don't expect to ever see their money
again.

MtGox.com went from being the world's largest platform for buying and selling bitcoins to a digital currency graveyard. In recent weeks, it froze Bitcoin trading with little explanation, filed for bankruptcy and claimed "a weakness in our system." Last week, it let clients log in and view their account balance.


So far, it looks like all customers' bitcoins remain in their Mt.Gox
accounts, according to interviews with several users. But they can't
pull any of their money out.

Nick French, a beekeeper in Colorado who accepts bitcoins for his honey,
logged in on Tuesday and sees he still has "5.00582 BTC" in his
account, worth $2,898. There's no telling where that money resides, and
there's no way to withdraw his funds, so there's no proof it's actually
there.

Related: What is Bitcoin?


Mt.Gox's reluctance to say what has happened to an estimated 744,408
bitcoins -- valued today at $431 million -- doesn't help. Neither does
the latest puzzling development: Mt.Gox announcing it suddenly found 200,000 bitcoins in an old, discarded digital wallet.



"I don't trust them anymore," French said. "I don't know the whole
story. I thought it was a hacking problem. Then 200,000 coins just show
up somewhere? Come on. I don't believe it."

If he ever gets access to his money again, French says he'll pull it out immediately.

Related story: How Mt.Gox went down


James Kafka is a Bitcoin enthusiast in Lansdale, Penn., who thinks his 2
BTC on Mt.Gox are as good as lost. He feels the sting, because that's
money he could have used to buy more computer equipment -- to hook up to
the Bitcoin network and produce more of the digital currency in a
process called "mining."

"I've already written it off in my
head," Kafka said. "I don't have any faith in the people running that
site to get it done, to fix the problem they created."

Others
think Mt.Gox's decision to show users' account balances is just wrong.
Jake Dearlove, a creative director at an advertising agency in London,
checked his account last week and interpreted it as bait meant to string
him along.

"I'm actually quite annoyed," Dearlove said. "It
does seem odd to me that they'd go through this effort to update us.
They must have some interest in keeping some kind of positive equity
associated with the name. But it's obviously been heavily tarnished."


Although he only kept half a bitcoin there, presently worth $289,
investors like Dearlove say that's not the point. The value of a Bitcoin
has reached $1,100, and no one can say it won't reach that again. And
the higher its value goes, the more money they've technically lost.
Dearlove thinks it's an investment he won't ever see again.

"If I had to bet on it, probably not," he said. "I'm certainly not counting on it."

Ten IT Skills on the Brink of Extinction

1. COBOL, Fortran, and Other Mainframe Programming Languages

They were popular and commonly used for years. Now, the majority of programming work has transitioned to object-oriented languages like Objective C, Java, C++, and C#, pushing COBOL and Fortran to the back shelf. Sure having these skills means you can support older applications. But as businesses drop these older programs for modern applications written in newer languages, these types of programmers will have fewer opportunities to put their skills to work.

2. Windows XP, Vista, and Windows Server 2003

This year, Microsoft will end its support of Windows XP and Vista. Next year will see the end of support for Windows Server 2003. If bugs, exploits, etc., are found in them, they will go unpatched. Many new applications no longer support them and drivers are getting harder to find. Though there are still many IT staff who know these operating systems, the demand for these skills is rapidly shrinking.

3. PBX Systems and Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTNs)

Traditional PBX systems and PSTNs are gradually being replaced by servers with the same and more functionality in software. Modern communications software does much more than route voice calls to desktop telephones. These days unified communications combines voice, voicemail, fax, and data to the desktop, along with other features and functions, all offered in software configuration.

4. Silverlight

Microsoft introduced Silverlight to compete with Adobe Flash. They promoted it to develop desktop widgets and web pages in Vista. Windows 8 will still run Silverlight, but Silverlight fails to work with the new Windows Store (a.k.a. Metro) apps or on Windows Phone. It is very much a Windows-only technology and fading in favor of HTML5.

5. Middleware Support

With operating systems taking up the functions of many middleware packages, middleware has become a means of supporting legacy solutions. By their definition, legacy systems are older solutions being used until they can be replaced, which removes the need for the middleware.

6. Adobe Flash

Flash is widely used, but Adobe dropped support for all mobile platforms back in 2011. Like Silverlight, Flash is being replaced with HTML5. So, most websites are moving to HTML5, which works on mobile and desktop operating systems, including iOS, Android, Mac, Windows, and Linux.

7. Software Installation and Support

The move to the cloud is expanding. Software as a service is becoming normal. This reduces the need for software installers and those who support software. Instead of patching and upgrading on the local computer, the work is done on the cloud.

8. Hardware Repair

In today's world, instead of repairing a failed hardware part or peripheral device, users most often replace them. With lower prices and upgraded components, it's cheaper to replace parts than it is to repair them.

9. Server Administrator Skills

With virtualization becoming the way of the future, fewer servers are being deployed as the number virtual servers increases. That means there is a big drop in demand for server administrators who only know server administration.

10. Massive CRM, ERP, and SCM Applications Support

Many customer relationship management (CRM) applications like PeopleSoft and Siebel are going away in favor of cloud-hosted apps that accomplish the same functions. The same is true for enterprise resource planning and supply chain management, according to our annual IT Skills and Salary Report.

Conclusion

Making a list like this is often a great challenge as it is usually a moving target. For example, there are more lines of COBOL programming written than any other language. Someone will have to maintain all that as long as there are any systems still running with those programs. At the same time, the chance of finding a job with that as a major skill requirement is becoming very slim. That suggests that people wanting to build a career in IT should consider more recent programming languages like HTML5.

In any case, if you are relying on one of the skills above as your key strength, it is time to look at supplementing your skill set:

• Programming and application development
• Help desk and technical support
• Networking
• Mobile applications and device management
• Project management
• Database administration
• Security
• Business intelligence and business analytics
• Cloud

Bitcoin Homeless Wish They'd Gone Hungry

Bitcoin Homeless 

Jesse Angle, Chris Kantola, and Paul Harrison were jobless and homeless for much of the past year, but thanks in part to Bitcoin — the world’s most popular digital currency — they never went without food.
Between April and September, while living on the streets of Pensacola, Florida, they used their laptops and smartphones to collect a total of about four or five bitcoins. Some of it arrived through donations.
Some of it came from rather unsophisticated online services that dole out tiny fractions of the digital currency if you spend some time looking at videos and ads. And over the course of the summer, this free money bought them a pretty steady supply of pizza and chicken tenders.


Today, after finding a house they can rent with a little help from the government, the trio is off the streets, and life is even better than it was before — except that a bitcoin is now worth over $1,000. “The $600 we spent would now be worth $6,000,” says Angle. “I wish we had gone hungry.”
His buddy Kantola feels much the same way. “We’re definitely kicking ourselves. We spent $5,000 or $6,000 on food!” he says. “Back in 2009, you could have bought four bitcoins for a dollar. If I could go back [and buy some then], I wouldn’t be here right now. I’d probably be in a mansion.”

See full story on Wired here:  http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Bitcoin-Homeless-78.jpg

See the original story here on Wired also: http://www.wired.com/wiredenterprise/2013/09/bitcoin-homeless/

How to Make Star Wars Snowflakes With Paper, Scissors, and the Force | Underwire | Wired.com

How to Make Star Wars Snowflakes With Paper, Scissors, and the Force | Underwire | Wired.com

Okay, this is pretty cool stuff for the geeks among us. This paticular geek thought it was so cool, she considered trying to make some of these at work... but reconsidered and just blogged about it instead. :) 

Got some paper, a pair of scissors and a desire to deck the halls with everything from Darth Vader to Tusken Raiders? Then boy, do we have the perfect holiday craft project for you: Make Star Wars snowflakes.
Best remembered as a cherished form of busywork in classrooms before the holidays, paper snowflakes have gotten a George Lucas-worthy overhaul thanks to graphic designer Anthony Herrera. Inspired by some concepts he saw on the blog Matters of Grey, Herrera started designing his own snowflakes a few years ago and just recently released his 2013 collection, which include Han Solo in Carbonite, Slave Leia, AT-ATs, and – naturally – Darth Vader.
“The Star Wars snowflake designs began as just doing designs of characters that me and my daughter wanted to make three years ago,” Herrera told WIRED in an email. “The second year I introduced vehicles, and this year I decided to push further by designing battle scenes.”
With each year, the designs have gotten more intricate and detailed, but the process of creating them as remained the same: sketching figures with a paper and pencil until a symmetrical pattern emerges, then scanning the designs and vectors them into sliceable wedges. The latest batch took him about three weeks to compile and he said he has plenty of ideas for new flakes next year, so no two will ever be the same – in a manner of speaking. Hopefully with Star Wars: Episode VII coming in 2015 he’ll have even more snowflake fodder in the future.
Check out our favorite finished versions of Herrera’s flakes (from both 2013 and previous years) above then download the PDF pattern beneath each and get to crafting. Herrera also has a lot more designs on his site. A warning: Most designs aren’t for the casual flake-maker, so patience you must have. (“I do get a little grief from fans about how difficult some of them can be,” Herrera said.) Also, have an X-Acto knife at the ready, and the Force if you can use it.
Next: Say good-bye to productivity!

Find Your Computer's Serial Number - Easy Command Prompt and Script

Serial number sticker missing? Web site tool not working from the manufacturer? Need to find your serial number or service tag quickly without doing the whole BIOS thing? 

Use this command line: wmic bios get serialnumber 

How do you get a "command line"? 

Click on Start
Type "CMD" into the search bar
When the DOS window opens type in "wmic bios get serialnumber" (without the quote marks)

Want a handy little script to get it for you? 

CryptoLocker Hits Hard - Pay up or lose encrypted photos and more! How to Protect Yourself!

If you see this on your desktop, unfortunately, it's too late and files on your computer and any connected or networked devices are already encrypted. 

If you don't already have this warning poping up with the countdown, the CryptoLocker could be on your computer. The only way to protect yourself is to backup your computer. 

The US CERT (US Computer Emergency Readiness Team) has issued an official warning about the seriousness of this virus: http://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/TA13-309A


How is CryptoLocker getting on your system? Even with anti-virus protection, this virus is sophisticated enough to bypass everything and dig in, silently encrypting photos, documents and untold other items on your computer. Then, letting you know what it's done with the popup that demands a ransom.

More info about CryptoLocker on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CryptoLocker

Once the files are encrypted - there is no way to get them back without paying the ransom - or restoring from a back up.

Now, knowing what files have been encrypted on your computer has been made easier than opening every single file: Dayton IT Support has created a small free program that will scan for encrypted files and list them in an excel .csv file.

How to protect yourself against CryptoLocker? Bottom line: DO NOT CLICK ON LINKS OR OPEN ZIP FILES FROM EMAILS.

CryptoLocker is being delivered via email, in zip files and disguised links that are made to look like legitimate items such as package delivery notices from UPS or the US Post Office, or something random like a zip file called "Report" or "Invoices". Plus, what makes it even sneakier is that the emails are being "spoofed", which means the email looks like it's coming from your company network administrator ("adminstrator@yourcompany.com") or from eFax, UPS, USPS and so on.

Right now, it's not safe to click on a link that looks like it came from you Great-Aunt Nelda - actually, you should never click on anything she forwards to you without scanning it first.

That's the first step in protecting yourself: DON'T CLICK ON SOMETHING YOU'RE NOT CERTAIN OF WHERE IT CAME FROM.

Next, backup your computer and even create an image of it, so you can restore it if anything should happen.

Backing up and creating an image of your computer is not rocket surgery, and you don't need to purchase additional programs if you're using Windows 7 or 8. Here's the step-by-step instruction on how to backup and create an image provided by How To Geek http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/1838/using-backup-and-restore-in-windows-7/

Do you share your computer with others in a home? Perhaps, your kids, grandpa, a roommate. Okay, to protect yourself not only against the virus, but others accidentally getting the virus on your computer: create user accounts for those other people using your computer, and make those accounts "limited". This prevents any installation purposeful or accidental that can affect the computer's system files - in other words, nothing damaging can be installed. 

Here on the Microsoft website is more info on how to create user accounts: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/create-user-account#create-user-account=windows-7

I hope this article helps some, and will post more in depth info as time permits... Right now, I'm not just the blogger, but a Network Admin dealing with an infected laptop that was connected to the network... yep. And already, we're finding encrypted files not only on the laptop, but our network, as well as our parent company's network share - an ocean away.

Do you need help? If so, don't hesitate to post a comment asking a question.

New iPhone App Lets You See Which Spy Satellites Are Watching You

Ever wonder if you're being watched? Designed for everyday person, if you're as paranoid as Jerry Fletcher, (Mel Gibson's character in the 1997 film 'Conspiracy Theory') there's an app that will help you find out when it's safe to get rid of a booger, or through your neighbor's cat in a trash can...

Description

Introducing SpyMeSat, the first app that notifies you when you are within range of an imaging satellite that could be taking your picture. SpyMeSat is space situational awareness for everyone, computing and displaying upcoming and current imaging satellite passes for your location or any selected location on the globe. The user can drill down to look at the details of any pass, see a dynamic map graphic update with real-time position and imaging resolution information displayed as the satellite flies overhead, and even see a picture and description of the satellite.

 Available from Orbit Logic on iTunes for 1.99

An Internet search and review of Orbit Logic's web site offered no word on an Android version of the app.