Audacious 3.3 alpha

The default audio player of Lubuntu has get a new and revamped interface with lots of UI improvements, like the "lcd" screen, move the controls to a primary toolbar (better for use in Gnome), and a new genre column. Also, all these changes were added to the list:

the MPRIS2 plugin now supports seeking and getting/setting the volume
the search tool plugin is more inteligent and lets you

Why Anti-Spyware Is Important

Whether you’re aware of it or not, somebody can be watching every move you make on your computer. Such a person is said to be a computer spy. It doesn’t matter if you’re jumping from site to site online, checking your email, or typing up a document in your word processor, you may be watched. How is this done? Through a software program referred to as spyware. Worst of all, you remain unaware that it is happening.

Why do people spy on innocent computer users? What do they care about your personal computer habits? Spies seek information as to who you are, where you live, what you do on your computer, and what sites you frequent online. With the data they gather, they take it and sell it to third parties as a source of income. Worst of all, they do it in an underhanded, immoral, and often illegal manner while invading your privacy.

Spyware, also called malware, installs itself on your computer without you even knowing about it. With it, facts are accumulated about your personal computing habits and this information is being sold to advertising firms whom push unwanted ads at you. It all happens as these malicious programs record you keystrokes and send them to a third party. This is how thieves get your usernames and passwords.

Not only does spyware intrude on your personal privacy, it may wreak havoc with your computer. It can clog your system’s memory, consume space on your hard drive, and cause performance slowdowns. Spyware can even create an electronic “back door” enabling bad people to come into your system, take control of it, and use it for their own purpose. Your machine can be a vehicle to sending spam to others or launching attacks on other computers on the internet.

And if that isn’t enough, spyware can change settings and hijack your web browser causing an unwanted homepage to appear every time you get online. Some of these malicious programs can cleverly embed themselves so deeply into your system that you will need a great deal of computer expertise to remove them. This may necessitate bringing your computer to a “geek squad” for repairs.

How does spyware find its way into your computer? Through the following ways:

It arrives in an automatic download form from a website you are surfing, known as “drive-by downloading.” Porn sites or the like can be a chief source of spyware.
You can be tricked into clicking on a link that downloads spyware from a website.
Pop-up windows telling you that you won a prize are a common example.
Spyware can be embedded in the installation of a free or pirated piece of software you download. Peer-to-peer (P2P) sites that offer shared MP3 and video files such as Kazaa are more than likely to transmit spyware when installing them.
Spyware can be found in email attachments from senders you don’t even know. Such attachments come in commercial email and are deemed as spam.

There are numerous types of programs that contain spyware and the sad part is, they are commonly downloaded online. Such programs are desktop toolbars; free games, puzzles, or other forms of entertainment; screensavers, pop-up blocker programs; and files from file-sharing sites.

Computer spying is practiced by companies as well as devious people. Individuals seek out information submit to businesses in exchange for money. Businesses either buy private data and/or use spyware themselves. By analyzing your personal computer using habits, they can solicit ads for products or services you are likely to buy. As you jump onto the Internet, you will encounter pop-up ad boxes. Such software that creates pop-up advertisements is call adware and is a part of spyware.

Adware is often bundled with free software. Publishers include it as a means of earning additional revenue. The presence of adware is often written in the End User License Agreement (EULA). The EULA typically is a long scrollable document one must read and accept the terms before the program can be installed. Hence, it is highly recommended that you at least skim over the EULA before clicking “NEXT.”

Yet, another form of spyware “hijacks” browsers. If this spyware is installed on your machine and you hop onto the Internet, rather than your favorite homepage coming up, you’ll see a rogue page instead. More than likely this page will be an affiliate link. Affiliate links lead to pages where those who posted them earn money each time they’re visited. Likewise, there will be other inviting links and if you click on one of them, you’ll land on yet another affiliated page. The settings in the spyware override the settings you made on your machine.

Browser hijacking is a legitimate way of making money, but is exploited by private individuals as well. Some have directed surfers to pages that closely resemble those posted by Yahoo or Google. The site “Cool Web Search” is a Russian based site that is a classic example. Its owners claim that they stop hijackers that post affiliated sites. Giving viewers a false sense of security, they’ve made themselves a name: CWS hijackers.

Worst of all, some spywares can embed themselves so deeply into your computer that you will need a high degree of computer expertise to remove them. Some may take total control of your computer and the next time you start it up, it will automatically get online to that affiliated page.

Therefore, it is important that you remove spyware from your computer with an antispyware program. If you are having extreme difficulty navigating on the Internet or even in your operating system, chances are, you have spyware. You may see annoying pop-up boxes that are hard to get rid of. At this point yhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifou’ll want to disconnect your computhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifer from you home network and the Internet before it has a chance to spread to other computers. Consult your administrator or bring your computer into a shop for repairs.

About the Author: Publishnprosper is an experienced computer user and publishes articles on various computer topics about protecting your computer and keeping it running efficiently. The site offers ways to save money on antivirus software. You can also find coupons for it on Kaspersky coupon codes and BitDefender.

Social Engineering

It all begins with a team of hackers that spy on a specific company and seek out data needed to hack into its system. Members of this team underhandedly make people cooperate with them through psychological tricks. Once they do, these intruders obtain data necessary (as usernames and passwords) to access company networks. Knowing that most business staff workers are kind and polite as well as trusting, hackers pretend they’re employees of the targeted enterprise while asking for simple favors. Rather than physically breaking into an enterprise’s system, they seek out information as a way to get unauthorized access to it. This practice is referred to as social engineering.

As you know, a chain is as strong as its weakest link. If security were a chain, its weakest link would be the natural human kindness to trust anybody based on his or her word alone. No matter how effective our firewalls and our antivirus and anti-spyware programs work, they can only do so much to deter intruders. Every business needs a security policy to prohibit “visitors” from entering secured areas of its buildings. Employees must be trained not to let in strangers or answer security-related questions over the phone.

Gaining Company Info

Just like hackers, social engineers seek to gain confidential facts or unauthorized access as a means of finding out more about a targeted company. With such data, intruders can commit fraud, obtain network access, undergo industrial espionage, steal one’s identity, or simply raise havoc with the company’s network. Common targets of such malicious acts are telephone companies, answering services, prominent corporations, banks, military and government agencies, and hospitals. Still, any company, large or small can be a victim to social engineering.

Why is social engineering becoming widespread? Because asking people for passwords or other illicit access data is much simpler than technical computer hacking. Even those with a great degree of hacking expertise find it’s much simpler to make a phone call and ask one for his password.

Companies are attacked via social engineering on a physical basis. Sources of illicit info about an entity are sought in the workplace, through the phone system, from trash cans, and via online access. Hackers have been known to walk into offices pretending to be a consultant or janitor. Such a person will casually strut around the workplace and seek out papers with passwords on them or watch over employees’ shoulders as they log in. Once the intruder found such data, that person will leave the premises and enter into the company’s network from their home.

Hacking by Phone

Another popular form of social networking is done over the phone. A potential hacker will call a user and impersonate one who has authority or relevance as a means of getting data from the user. Often, a hacker may claim they’re calling from within the corporation and then will play tricks on its operator. Such a person will say something like, “Hello, I am your representative from AT&T and I will need some info from you to fix a problem with your account.” They may ask for one’s AT&T card number and PIN combination.

One of the most vulnerable places of social engineering within a company is its help desk. Its staff are trained to be friendly, but taught the minimum necessary to answer common inquiries. Most of its employees know little, if anything about the security of their employer and are also paid low wages. All they do is answer a caller’s questions and move onto the next caller. Hence, the help desk is a potential gold mine for hackers and a large security hole for the entity.

Yet another method called “shoulder surfing” is done at pay phones and ATMs, especially at large airports. People lurk around these machines and peek over users’ shoulders to obtain credit card and PINs. Users must be extra careful when using them.

Going Through Trash

Illicit information is also obtained via dumpster diving. Social engineering is done by pulling out discarded documents and company materials as phone books, employee handbooks, memos, calendars, system manuals, and any other sensitive data printed on paper. Additional data can be found on user/password login lists, source code printouts, floppy disks, storage tapes, stationery, and discarded computer equipment.

How are these items useful to a hacker? Company phone books list the names and numbers of employees hackers can call and beguile. Organization charts reveal names and positions of a company’s staff. Employee handbooks give the hacker an idea of how secure the business is (or isn’t). Technical information found in system manuals and source code reveals sensitive data needed to unlock and access the network. Media such as disks, tapes, and hard drives may hold all kinds of data that will benefit a hacker. Stationery and memo forms serve as an authentic way to send employees malicious correspondence.

Requesting Info Online

Working online is yet another form of social engineering. Some hackers send online-forms to be filled out by users and require the entry of a username and password, email address, or card number and PIN combination. With these forms are advertisements stating the user has won some sort of sweepstakes and all he needs to do is supply information to claim his prize. Also, people tend to use the same username/password pair for more than one account and once a hacker has these two pieces of data, he may access other sites that the user visits frequently. Some users respond through their corporate email addresses unknowingly letting the hacker know where they work. Yet other hackers will send correspondence via the US mail asking for info.

Yet, the oldest trick in social engineering is pretending to be the network administrator. Real network administrators already know the username/password combinations of every employee, even if one decides to change theirs on the spur of the moment. If there are concerns related to a company’s network, employees should talk with their networker face-to-face.

In Conclusion

Social engineering is becoming increasingly popular among hackers. It is best to be alert at all times and never give information out over the phone, even if the voice sounds familiar. Never open up emails, especially attachments, from parties you don’t know. Shred all documents before throwing them in the trash and have all computer media and hardware physically destroyed before disposing of them. Remember, legitimate network staff and company reps will never call you and ask for passwords. If you’re unsure about a request made via the phone, arrange to meet the caller in person.

About the Author: Publishnprosper publishes articles on numerous computer usage topics. In his articles you will find useful tips on maintaining your computer and keeping it virus-free. If you’re interested in purchasing antivirus software, you may find coupons on http://www.dailydeals4you.com, Kaspersky coupon codes, Bitdefender promo, etc.

LXPanel 0.5.10

Updates from LXDE blog:

Some weeks ago we gave you 0.5.9, this time some changes has been made to the plugins distributed with LXPanel and thus we put a new version for your feets. Given the translation status in this release a new version is very probably coming out soon as most languages did not get their strings to 100% done.

And the best, automatically passed through the GIT to the

Review on Cloud System Booster-Best Bet 2012 to Enhance System Performance

While PC system cleaners available tend to be more and more versatile, Cloud System Booster debuts as a handy, nice-looking, all-in-one, dedicated, downright pc system cleanup tool to stand out from others. Developed by Anvisoft Corporation, which is an up and coming team in IT security field in recent couple of years, Cloud System Booster is a nice bet 2012 to boost system performance meanwhile protecting privacy information online. Here we go for detailed review on this pc cleaning tool.

The current version of Cloud System Booster is 1.0.0 with a small size at 6.05 M. It applies to Windows XP/Vista/7, both 32-bit and 64-bit, with hardware requirements of 300 MHz processor or faster processor, 128 MB of RAM, 50 MB of free hard disk space. The installation is very quick and resolute, lasting in ten seconds, perhaps less.

What Can Cloud System Booster Do?

Cloud System Booster is claimed to be capable of boosting system performance in a fast smart way. Developed based on cloud technology, this pc cleanup utility is innovative and considerate with one-click solution and the so-called “Chameleon” skin personalizing feature. There are four modules packaged: Cleaner for junk files cleaning, Optimizer for optimizing system services, Repair for error fix or default settings restore as well as Application module for cleaning invalid files generated by the installed applications. Besides, Cloud System Booster takes the system restore point management, network proxy management as well as scheduled cleaning into consideration for convenient use.

Function Outline of Cloud System Booster

Cloud System Booster is believed to be a nice choice as system cleaning tool for both average users and experts.

1. Fix a slow PC. This can be fulfilled by clearing off junk files like temps, cache generated by both the OS and browsers to unleash more RAM memory, and by deleting invalid files, like cache, logs, etc generated by the installed applications to free up the disc space.

2. Protect your online privacy information. Cloud System booster could delete the browser cookies, history, etc to hinder the hacker sneak in and track the user’s personal information.

3. Make the computer faster. The slow pc will be run smooth with no junks out there. However it can be accelerated while starting and running. Cloud System Booster could get this down by optimizing the system services settings to speed up the startup as well as considerably improve the running speed.

4. Keep your computer from damages of possible harmful files. This case particularly applies to the registry errors or extension files. The Repair module of Cloud System Booster could just get this done and safeguard the computer against harmful files in this way. This is the very reason for recommendation of using Cloud System Booster for cleaning system after any virus removal process.

5. Do system restore with convenient. The system restores function with Windows system seems a daunting task sometime for common users. Then Cloud system booster makes it with a vivid restore point management and a few simple clicks: Settings->Restore tab-> select a particular restore point that is auto-created->OK.

6. Facilitate smooth use of specific application. In the fourth module of Cloud System Booster, almost all mainstream applications prevailing currently are included for cleanup in terms of cache, temps, history, update reports, logs etc. That is to say, you could use the application smoother after do the Boost cleaning with Cloud System Booster.

The last but not the least, you can do all the above said system improvement with the one-click solution of Cloud System Booster, which is called the Boost, see as the cloud-shaped boost button on the main screen. With the Boost solution, this pc cleanup software can not only full scan the slow system issues but also solve them all.

Cloud System Booster Style-the Spotlight Features

Forrest Gump has said a stupid should do as a stupid does although he did far more. Similarly, Cloud System Booster gets its own style with no compromise on efficient downright ‘stupid’s work, its cleaning job. This is perfectly embodied by the GUI design of Cloud System Booster, which eye-pleasingly accomplishes the art of personalized minimalism.

To mention the GUI design, also the interface appearance, Cloud System Booster plays its style to fullest by simple, clear, function-oriented visual design as well as the “Chameleon” feature, simply referring to custom skin changing design by just dragging whatever local picture you prefer to the Chameleon menu. Meanwhile, the classic black interface background by default is also an ideal presentation for either personal taste or visual function display.

Conclusions

Cloud System Booster would be the best bet 2012 for both enhanced system performance and personal taste, for either common people or IT experts. Concentrating on Windows system cleaning and optimizing only and working this to the best, this new PC cleanup tool 2012 would achieve its reputation worldwide soon or later with regard to its comprehensive, speedy, handy, downright cleaning performance as well as stylish, personalized appearance. You may just download its free edition here for a worthy try!