On Monday the 6th of March, 2012, a bright light of the blogging world perished in a plane crash. With that, you can see where I’m going. Neptunus Lex had amassed a large readership since he began sharing his life in the cockpit, and as a husband, father, mentor and all round humorist and observer of life since he began blogging in 2003.

It was in his death, that I see an image of where we can all end up, if we don’t manage to “put our affairs in order” digitally, as it turns out, he hadn’t.

Short version: He had made a flight the day before and left a post regarding the issues of landing a high speed jet without a drogue chute, a condition he had just experienced. Presented in a matter of fact manner, as he was well suited to do. He left one more, commenting on an issue of government determination, and left to go and once more, train military pilots in the skies above Nevada. The bad weather closed in faster than expected and he was left with no place to land conventionally, and out of gas. It ended badly.

Here’s the rub: There were his thousands of blog readers, seeing no regular posts. The news got around from the local TV station about a crash of a particular jet, from a particular contractor, and, given the “silence,” we hoped it wasn’t CAPT Carroll LeFon, but it was.

So, the tough part: Your blog/FaceBook/Twitter/website/bank accounts/QuickBooks in the Cloud/etc, etc, etc now have no administrator, do they? “Lex” arrived here, not by design, I’m sure, being the through person he was, but by accident. Luckily, he had “left the keys” with someone about a year earlier, so another reader could at least “close out” the blog, notifying Lex’s readership (which, was worldwide, and a good case study of how to attract a large readership with good blogging) of the death.

Now: The main story: Who has your “keys?” It seems to me the world has not fully grasped, nor appreciated this end of life issue in a satisfactory manner quite yet. In the old days, your survivors could go to your filing system, pull out a folder or two or ten, and reconstruct things, albeit time consuming, it was generally available for this function. Bank accounts, business contracts, and other important documents. Yes, to some extent, you can say that about a computer, but, the reality, more often than not, is any business person will most likely be using programs such as QuickBooks, locally, or in the cloud, to track their business. Just how will your survivors handle yours?

First off, the simple and free way to approach this is to open up a Word Document, and begin to type up the programs/websites links, user names and passwords. Keep a shortcut on your desktop and make a habit (seriously, you have to do this well, or those left to handle your affairs are still in a mess) of, each time you go to “that site” or “that program” for the next first time, open it up and put the data in there. If you change a password/user name…do it again!

Note: If the site has password recovery questions, you know, like your mother’s maiden’s name, then make that part of your notes. Yes, they might know that one, but who will know your high school’s mascot all these years later besides you, or your favorite movie, or the nickname for your first child? Don’t leave it to chance.

Honestly, you’ll be surprised at how entrained your life is in the digital world. Some accounts, like maybe your one on Skype, may not matter, but it doesn’t hurt to document it, just in case. Know this: FaceBook won’t just send out login information to anyone, just because someone calls, says they are in charge of your affairs and they need to know your password. Even if there isn’t a “gatekeeper” for this information, if you don’t leave it accessible, you’re making it difficult for your family/business partners.

The next step is to decide who gets this information, and then to send it to them, with the serious note of the necessity and need for such a document. Know this: Once they have it, they have your “keys” to your life, so handle this with great thought.

I could continue to lay out details, but the main thrust of the post is: Record your digital access codes and make sure someone you trust has them. Not wishing an unanticipated ending here, but we all know it can happen. Do your part to make it easy on those left behind.

If you’re still reading, and, once more, would like to take a look at a blog that gathered a significant following, without paying anyone for SEO or help, get over to Neptunus Lex and scan the many years of posts in a variety of topics (categories). For those of you who understand the “Dash” discussed in eulogies, take time to read the now over 1600 comments in the final Open Thread. There is a story there about how one impacts lives in ways very unseen, or even known, just because you were you along this way in life. CAPT LeFon was such a a man, and the readership, many of whom will state they never have, or rarely, have bothered to comment, but they came and they read and they went away with something excpetional for themselves.

For the home user and small businesses, Carbonite has been a good choice for a few years now. Early in 2011, I stumbled across Digital Lifeboat and signed up for an account as a tester. I’m all set for life and had to test it’s capability for a friend, who had a computer stolen. It was the think that got him back all his files….there is also Mozy, which has been around less time than Carbonite, but longer than Digital Lifeboat.

Each of these services have strengths and weaknesses, so the right one for you is a matter of clearly evaluating what things you use on your computer and how they store and access the data. Here’s some things to consider:

• Do you use a single computer or do you operate more than one?
• Are you running Windows or Mac OS, or both?
• Do you have a server based environment (and it doesn’t have to be using server operating systems, just you share centralized files/folders)
• If you have a multi-computer operation, do you have mulitple, simultaneous users?
• Do you have critical “work product” on just one computer or more?
• Are you now using an external backup drive for your redundant storage?
• Do you use any software that runs and SQL database?
• Will you need to periodically need to access individual files remotely?
• How much data do you have now?
• How much more data do you anticipate generating this year?

The answers to these questions will lead you to the right product for you. Certainly, price is a consideration, but if it’s your primary one, you could purchase the wrong product for your requirements, and then, when disaster strikes, be missing the most critical files of all. Short of that, you may find you end up getting some of your needs met, but you’ll find you then add on and add on to the price to get what you really need to secure your valuable data files, possibly ending up spending much more than you had to, had you thoughtfully considered the details of this process.

I’d be happy to help you figure out what’s best for you on a consulting basis. I make no money off of any of these products, but I have been able to use two of the three mentioned above, in home and business environments. I could run out the costs, but that is counter productive in my estimation, as your requirements need to be established first, then pricing can be reviewed. That’s my expertise: Determining what you really need, not what your friend/networking associate says they use, or is an affiliate for.

And that brings up a global issue: If anyone recommends a particular service or product, you need to ask if they are professionally engaged in the use of that product, and also if they will be paid on the back end. It’s not bad if they are, it’s nice to help someone out, but if they aren’t someone who specifically understands the service, they may well be making a costly recommendation to you, not comprehending your needs, or even capable enough to know there is much more detail to such decisions. Always get a second opinion, before spending your hard earned money, or committing to more overhead.

Response: Control panel>Uninstall FireFox. Then I went to the (windows Vista settings) user/application data> local and roaming directories and deleted the FieFox folders completely. Then downloading and installing a new copy of FireFox solved the problem. That was three days ago, and I’ve not been called back for subsequent fixes.

I have been chasing the Windows XP Anti-Virus 2012 and Firewall malware for about a week now, in a home with three computers, that don’t share data, but the malware seems to get taken off, then shows up on one of the other (or both) computer(s). a day later. The computers are all being used for separate uses, so common websites/files aren’t a condition. Best guess I can come to right now is the Internet Explorer * is compromised on one of the systems, since we can scan with several products, block with firewalls, and at some point, it’s either hammering to get in with great rapidity, or it reappears on the screen. Today I had them shift that computer to FireFox as the default browser and it’s been quiet on the phone since this morning. Haven’t gotten an email or call, so I suspect that’s the case. In a few days, barring a reinfection, I’ll have to figure out how to uninstall IE 8 and put it back in again.

Between all of these, I can’t figure a common thread of how it’s happening, but the result is not so good for the users. I have a suspicion one of the flash game websites, frequented by one user may be injecting scripts, but that’s still just speculation right now.

Be careful out there! Make sure any links you click are really good ones…..that will be the topic of another full featured post soon: How to validate links.

I didn’t get to see all the problems, as he tired to fix it first, before deciding this was something different. The story goes like this: “I had a message on the screen to upgrade [not update] Avast.” He did as directed, and it said it had to reboot. When he came back to the login screen, all three users were presented and he clicked on his own icon. In he went, to a balck desktop, missing all but the public icons. When he started Outlook 2007, it took him to the new install, set up a new account wizard.

He ran a restore point, yet the results were the same. He left me a message.

I go there and began to look for the associated “hide all your icons” malware, but the user documents folder was empty…not even any hidden files, just like a new Windows 7 user would be. Found the Outlook .pst, and it was very small, but there with a new date. His desktop folder had none of his files/icons, so this left me wondering what was up. I pulled up the cmd line and what caught my eye was the initial directory was “C:\Users\TEMP>,” not one named for his user, as he signed in under.

From here, I wondered what was up, so I went to regedit and did a serach for “\users\temp.” I got the result I was looking for (in HKey_Users), but it was the surrounding registry entries that clued me to the fix required: The malware had taken the normal -1000 (first user) and had renamed in with a “.bak” extension, and then in the now existing -1000 user settings, it had used his login in name, but pointed his settings to the “\user\temp” folders, which now explained the absence of any of his files.

I went back to Windows Explorer and confirmed all his files were actually in the user folder bearing his name, and then, being a bit smarter on the problem, noted the temp user folders were, of course, like a brand new user.

The repair was simple at this point: Rename the offending -1000 user with a “.bad” extension on the entry, then removed the “.bak” from his real -1000 user entry. Of course, I first backed up the registry as it was, just in case I would find out this wasn’t the case, and then, with the changes in place, restarted the system and all was now back to normal.

Still can’t tell you the exact cause, but the symptoms were a solid black desktop, and empty files for My Documents/Pictures/etc, and Outlook wanted to create a new install for a new user. All it turned out to be was the infection had copied and renamed the proper user registry entry, and put iteslf in is the user, and, while using the the correct user name, it was sending the coputer to the new “TEMP user name, now new and empty folders.

The reboot after correcting the registry entries worked fine, and that was two weeks ago.

Not only was the email addressed to me, but to a number of local business people I know, but do not correspond with via that email address, if I do at all. Most are people I have met networking and have their cards, so I know who they are. Point 1: I could see all their email addresses.

It didn’t take much scanning to figure out point 2: I can guess with about 99% certainty who has been sending out emails with this list of addresses. I get them from him, too, and in this email account.

Point 3: Because of his method of blasting his email contact list “in the clear” using the “to:” and “cc:” fields, he now makes all his contacts vulnerable to be collected and used, increasing the quantity of SPAM traffic on the net, not to mention annoying (at the least) and infecting (at the worst) all those computers of your friends and family and business contacts.

Putting all those puzzle pieces together, he’s how you can save your friends, family and business contacts from more of such a fate:

1) If you feel inclined to send something out, put their addresses in the “Bcc:” field. Then any recipient will only see their names, and no one else, and therefore, if this email finds it’s way into someone’s email account where they farm email addresses to send out SPAM to, you’ve put up a simple firewall on that activity.

2) When you get that forwarded 20 bizillion times joke, or offer for Bill Gates to donate $1 to your favorite charity, do this: Right after you click on the “Forward” function of your email, hilight and delete all the other lists of emails that are visible in the body of the message. Besides saving someone from being SPAMed as a result of you inadvertently helping SPAMers collect their address, think how much better a reading experience those who receive it will have when they don’t have to scroll down 37 screens to read the relevant material?

Summary: Put email address for blast work in the “Bcc:” field and remove any visible lists of email addresses in items sent to you, if you forward them along!

The modern day laptop batteries are just fine being plugged in pretty much all the time. I had been telling people to let them run down when you could, then when the system told you you were about out of power, to plug them in to help them get the most out of their life spans. Leo says that’s a procedure based on a study done years ago, and turns out it was flawed.

So, if you’ve been regularly running your battery down, so it lasts longer…don’t worry about it. Leaving it plugged in just fine.

Understanding the Digital Landscape

What is it?
How do you find it?
How do you use it effectively?

Computers save us time in everything from information storage and retrieval, calculation, graphic design, and report preparation. E-commerce allows our websites to keep our businesses running 24/7.

A failure at any point, from our office records to our online presence, can quickly snowball into a technological disaster, especially for a small business that doesn’t have an IT (information technology) staff in-house.

Seminar leader Curt Middlebrook, The Computer Whisperer, provides insights into the equipment, computer programs, and office and internet support services out there, and the people who provide them. You’ll learn how to maximize your online efficiency, and how to track the success of your online marketing.
This is a Lunch & Learn program, part of the Pinellas Park/Gateway Chamber of Commerce Success in Business Series. Your registration includes detailed information for evaluating every aspect of your company’s digital landscape, as well as a light lunch.

When : Tuesday, November 16; 11:30 am to 1:30 pm
Where : Park Station, 5851 Park Blvd., Pinellas Park, Room 202

Cost : $19.95 Pinellas Park/Gateway Chamber Members
$24.95 Non-members

Call Chamber Manager Larry Steinlauf at 544-4777 to register.
You must be registered to attend.

History lesson below, for the interested. For those who are ready and need to donate and move on: Click here.

If you’re looking to help an old Sailor out, then “push” the button for Navy. Know this: It all goes into the same pot, but, the need to poke at our fellow military members doesn’t go away easily, so…resist the urge to help any service team other than Navy…..

Now to some background:

Barely 5 years ago, a “MilBlogger,” and Army Captain Chuck Ziegenfuss, ended up on the wrong end of an IED when on patrol in Iraq and subsequently in Walter Reed Medical Center. Having been a fairly active poster, when a Soldier’s Angels representative asked if he needed anything, he asked for a laptop so he could blog from the hospital, since he’d be there a while. They bought one off of eBay.

He had injuries to both arms, leaving him with one in a cast, and the other in a halo. Typing, as you may surmise, was pretty tough. He posted indicating he sure could use some help…maybe so he could talk to his computer.

Some people helped him out getting Dragon Naturally Speaking. As a result, Chuck’s Blog came back to life.

As a result of that, the idea that this mashup of existing tech would be able to help others. The conception of the idea came from one of Chuck’s reader’s, Beth (FuzzyBear Lioness in the comments section), who thought if it worked for Chuck, who else might it help?

So, the first use of the Project’s Name happened 8/18/2005.

Now we are but 5 years and a few months later, over $600K collected, about 50 bloggers on the teams, and begging for air time on the big websites (and getting some!), with close to 6000 laptops delivered. They are new. They are good ones, and they are provided at the Major military medical facilities, and, they can be requested, if someone has slipped by the system unnoticed.

I believe it was last year, they added the purchasing and providing of Nintendo Wiis, which has helped with physcial therapy for the injured warriors. GPS units are now also provided to those who are getting out and about, to compensate for the short term memory loss issues as a result of TBI and severe PTSD injuries.

The “gateway” to the many pages of information and the project blog is here.

One particularly descriptive post titled “Laptops Save Lives?!” has the words of the real “end users” of the charity of the donors of this work. It may be from 2007, but the truth is right there. This is a great project, which really “gives back” to those who entered the services and gave much of themselves.

Besides just the close to the problem connection, from a problem solving standpoint, I see this as a job training program for the majority of these wounded troops, as they will be medically retired/discharged. If they have used a computer to get and stay in contact with their families, friends and “Battle Buddies,” they sure will be able to draft up a business letter, surf the net to do research and learn to crunch numbers with Excel for the employer who wants a person who looks forward into life and works to achieve their potential.

I could go on for many pages, having personally met Chuck and Beth, and Patti, the Founder of Soldier’s Angels via these campaigns over the 5 years. The stories are real, the ideas amazing, and the unselfish acts to take an idea from one person to many is a lesson in building relationships.

Once more: Donate here to Team Navy!

The irony? as I was removing a virus off a “real” PC this morning, my client indicated they might buy a Mac, so they wouldn’t viruses. I began with a little business analogy: One day, it will happen. When? When the Macs in the market reach some magical %, the “bad guys” will then take the time to study the Mac OS in detail, to try and exploit it. I also went on to discuss how a business decision, when done right, always looks for the most impact, for the least expenditure of resources. And, as of that moment, it must haven’t arrived (little did I know)…yet. I potulated, that when it did, it would be like a very big tidal wave, particulalry accentuated by the fact that it’s “well known” Macs are invulnerable from attack. Yeah, right.

So any how, for you MacoPhiles…gird your loins, the attainment of 20% of the PC market by Macs announced by Steve Jobs a few days ago, has had an impact on your bulletproofness. Be on your toes, and hope the good guys have anti-virus software ready for you, really, really soon.

Here’s the warning from the articles at ARSTechnica:

A new trojan horse has cropped up that affects Mac OS X (and Windows as well), primarily disguised as a video flitting around social networking sites. When users click an infected link, a Java applet is launched that downloads multiple files, including an installer that runs automatically without users’ knowledge.

While between other appointments this after noon, I saw the article (linked above) and I knew the time has come.

Note, too, you Windows based PC users, you’re a casualty of this new attack, too.

Be on the look out for any video on the social media sites….all of you computer users.

I’ll bring this history, too, because there have been Mac based viruses before. In early 1988, I contracted the “Scores” virus on my Mac II from a download off of GEnie.

That was bad news. The good news is the PC market exploded on cheap Intel based PCs and the bad guys went after them. That has left the Mac world as the untouchables for all these years…until now.