Tell Congress you OPPOSE H.R. 3261 “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) and S. 968 “Protect IP Act” (PIPA)
Corporate supporters of HR3261 (SOPA) and S968 (PIPA) demand the ability to take down any web site that affects their profits — without due process or judicial oversight — in the name of combating “online piracy.” Hoping you won’t notice or care, quite a few of our Public Servants want to give them that right. Read More
Laptop battery wearing down? In this week’s episode of Upgrade Your Life, Yahoo! News’ Becky Worley shows us how to help batteries last longer … and what to do when they run out!
First, the basics
Most laptops use batteries that can last for 3-5 years, or about 1000 charges. (A premium laptop’s battery might last longer.) Every time you charge your battery, the total capacity of the battery is diminished. Originally it may have had a run time of 3.5 hours, but after a year it’ll run out of juice at 3 hours, even on a full charge.
If your battery capacity has diminished, there are a few things you can do about it. To find out what continue over to Upgrade Your Life.
Rogueware with new Ransomware Technology™ from Panda Security on Vimeo.
“In December, the FBI issued a warning about a broader category of malicious programs called “rogueware.” These programs appear on users’ machines and claim to find viruses, then offer to clean them for $50. Rogueware looks so realistic — complete with Windows-like dialog boxes and scary warnings — that Web users were tricked into sending $150 million to criminals last year, the FBI says.
The new ransomware is similar, but far more aggressive. Once a computer is infected with it, the program does more than recommend a software purchase –it simply won’t let users continue to use their PC until they pay up.
Luis Corrons Granel, a researcher at Panda Security, said use of ransomware by criminals is exploding — 25 percent of all rogueware in the past quarter involved a family of intimidating products named “TotalAntivirus.” It demands that users pay $50 for two years, $79 for a lifetime license.
“The increase (in ransomware) has been really significant,” Granel said. A single family of ransomware programs called “Total Security” made up one-quarter of all rogueware programs detected during the past three months, he said.” – Source: MSNBC
