PHISHING SCAMS

"Phishing" is a kind of credit and debit card fraud.  By pretending to email from a bank or similar site, scammers "fish" for account numbers, passwords, Social Security numbers, etc.  They trick customers into divulging sensitive information so that unlawful charges can be made on the customers' account. 

These schemes change frequently and often have links or attachments with links.  Users who click on the links are taken to a look-alike or "spoofed" sites where they are asked to enter personal data. 

Types of emails are not generated from KDSI and should be deleted immediately! Remember that we will NEVER request your user ID, password or any other personal information via email.  If we ever need that information we will request it over the phone. 

If you have any questions, please contact us at support@kdsi.net  

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**Reminder**

Now is the time to double check your antivirus and anti spyware programs to make sure they are up to date, this can be set up automatically through the program or you can do a manual update.

If you have any questions or need help with this process please contact us at support@kdsi.net.

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Informational Pamplets

Follow the link to view and print an informational pamplet explaining instant messaging, social networks, keeping kids safe online and how to protect your identity.

What is instant messaging

What are social networks and how do they work

Keeping kids safe online

How to protect your personal information on the internet

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What Should I Look For In Blank CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray Discs?

June 2, 2009

by David Hakala

CD and DVD recording media are simple plastic things that should be easy to buy. But there is quite a bit to know about blank discs before you purchase.

First, there’s spelling. ‘Disk’ refers to magnetic media such as hard drives and floppies (if you remember floppies). “Disc” refers to optical media such as CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray.

Next, there are discs that can be recorded only once and discs that are “re-writable”, that can be erased and recorded again just like magnetic disks. A CD-R disc is record-once, a CD-RW is re-writable. A DVD-R or DVD+R is record-once, and a DVD-RW or DVD+RW is re-writable.

Data is recorded on an optical disc by melting tiny pits in a metal coating with a laser beam, so how can a disc be re-writable? Amazingly, the laser can re-melt the pits in a re-writable disc and the surface will smooth out again, like erasing pencil marks and re-using paper. Re-writable discs use a different sort of metal than record-once discs.

The difference between ‘DVD-“ and “DVD+” is negligible, just two slightly different competing standards. Most drives and players will use both, but check the specs of your device before you buy if it is a very old device.

DVD-RAM stands for “Random Access Memory.” This type of disc is required by some camcorders. DVD-RAM provides better error control and more re-writes (estimated at 5,000 to 10,000 rewrites), but that may not matter in computer use. DVD-RAM generally costs considerably more than other formats.

DVD-DL means “double layer.” You can fit 8.5 GB of data on a DVD-DL versus about 4.75 GB on single-layer DVDS. A CD can hold only 600 to 800 MB of data. Again, DVD-DL costs more.

It is tempting to buy generic discs to save money, but that’s often a mistake. Low-quality discs fail during writing and reading more often than brand names. You may well end up discarding all the money you saved and more. The metal coating on discs deteriorates over time, so the disc you recorded today may be unreadable when you need the data. Brand name discs generally last longer.

http://tiplet.com/tip/what-should-i-look-for-in-blank-cd-dvd-and-blu-ray-discs/#ixzz0K6kqHWNt&D

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What Is Virtualization, A Virtual Machine, and a Virtual PC?

by David Hakala

In a recent answer to a reader’s question, I discussed Running Vista and XP Simultaneously.” That article discussed the dual-boot method of keeping two operating systems on one machine, loading one at a time by rebooting. There is another more convenient way to switch from one operating system to another.

“Virtualization” is one of the most mystical of computing terms. Like the Buddhist concept of “Enlightenment,” virtualization is impossible to define in words. It is used in many ways to refer to many things. For our purposes I shall call virtualization, “the imitation of a physical computer’s resources in RAM.” In other words, virtualization creates a computer that’s all in your computer’s “head.” Never mind how. It lets you run two computers, with different operating systems, in one physical computer. That can be very useful.

The non-physical computer is called a “virtual machine.” It can be the same as the machine sitting in front of you or it can be an entirely different machine. Your brand-new Lenova laptop can have an obsolete Radio Shack TRS-80 computer running in its “head.” Then you can play old games written for the TRS-80 that won’t run on the Lenova. Some of us elder geeks like to do that sort of thing.

You may want to run Vista and Windows XP simultaneously, so that you can continue using valuable software written for XP that won’t run under Vista. Virtualization lets you do that, and switch from Vista to XP as easily and quickly as the Alt-Tab keystroke combination lets you switch from a Web browser to an email program under one operating system.

To run XP in a virtual machine on your Vista-based computer you need

1. A full retail, licensed copy of XP on CD-ROM

2. Enough RAM and processor power for both operating systems and the applications you plan to run

3. A copy of some virtualization software that makes this “magic” happen

You can download the free Microsoft Virtual PC virtualization software and give that a try.

If you install MS Virtual PC on a Vista Home computer of any edition it will warn you that Virtual PC is “not supported” on Home versions of Vista. Ignore that message, Virtual PC works fine on Home editions of Vista.

MS Virtual PC supports only Microsoft operating systems. If you want to try running Linux or some other operating system under Vista, you will need a third-party virtualization software package.

VMWare is the market share leader in virtualization software. Its stuff works and is used by major corporations, ISPs, Web hosts, and data centers for very heavy lifting. You can download VMWare Player for free and it will run virtual machines under Windows XP, Vista or Linux. But it won’t let you create a virtual machine. For that, you need another freeware program such as EasyVMX.

Xen is another popular virtualization package that costs nothing. It supports x86, x86_64, IA64, PowerPC, and other CPU architectures running Windows, Apple, Linux, and other operating systems.

http://tiplet.com/tip/what-is-virtualization-a-virtual-machine-and-a-virtual-pc/#ixzz0K6lFStiq&D

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