Category Archives: Warnings

Windows 8.1 Upgrade

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Windows 8.1 came out recently. For Windows 8 users the upgrade is free. Some of you will see it pop up as a standard Windows update without your doing anything.

Be warned! There are a certain number of computers that cannot handle the upgrade to Win8.1.

So Sad - Image by: Jason Lander - Flickr

So Sad – Image by: Jason Lander – Flickr

About 10/18 Microsoft started receiving reports of the Windows Update pushed out to users was failing. Some of the problems have been tracked to driver issues. The update installs Windows basic divers that are simply not compatible with the hardware.

But, the problem extends beyond just driver compatibility. In some cases systems do not have the hardware to support the new software.

Additionally there is a problem that Microsoft has yet to figure out.  Continue reading →

Virus Warning

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I’m not big into virus warnings unless something radically changes. Well, it has. So, read up and rethink your backup strategies.

New Ransom Ware

There is a new style of ransom ware that has come to America. Europe has apparently been dealing with it for weeks. It is called Ransom Ware 2.0 or CryptoLocker.

To understand what Ransom Ware 2.0 is doing read: Destructive malware “CryptoLocker” on the loose – here’s what to do. It’s a bit techie.

As best I can tell, the program leaves your readable copies of files in place while it makes encrypted copies using strong encryption. When it finishes encrypting your files, it then erases your readable copies and displays an extortion notice. If things go as they planned, you will probably not notice a problem until you see the notice. Continue reading →

Goon Squad Viewer

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I am wondering how many people have not heard of the Goon Squad? If not, I guess you could want their viewer. But, I would think just having ‘goon’ in the name would be a tipoff to get really skeptical.

Goon – noun: A bully or thug, esp. one hired to terrorize or do away with opposition.

Image found by:

Image found by: Innula Zenovka

Seems there is such a viewer. Check out this user’s review of the product:

[SIC] A few days ago someone send me a link to a web forum called goon sqaud. I decided to sign up and ended up downloading on of their viewers called shooperlife. Only minutes after i loggin a guy forced tp me to his sim and stripped off all my clothes,rezzed my inventory on the ground and logged me out with the message “owned by goon sqaud” I quickly removed the client from my pc and tried to login to change my password but it was to late . The hackers already changed the password to my account and email so i end up calling LL and they put the account on hold .

There is no way to know whether this post is for real. Did it happen or is this too a spoof?

Also, notice the ‘…and email.’ If you use the same password at SL as you use on your email, you could lose that too. Be smart in how you use passwords.

Someone asked what the goon squad wants. Really? Insight into a griefer? Anyway, a good answer came back: “What is best in Second Life? To crush de noobs, rez deir inventories on de ground, and read de lamentations of de suckers on de forumz.”

Gee, I wonder why Inara hasn’t been reviewing this viewer? …NOT! (She has a brain)

SL Region Management Problems

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WARNING: There is currently a problem that appears to be part of the Region-Crossing update. If an estate manager or other land owner bans and ejects a user, the region will crash when they leave the region. Oops!

It is currently unclear what the details are. Try ejecting without banning then ban. I have no idea if that will help.

The problem is related to https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SEC-1204 and https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SEC-1215. I can’t read the JIRA items in SEC, as most of us cannot. So, it is a pain getting details.

Some of the hinky details are in the Deploy thread: Deploys for 2013-01-28.

Block Specific Addresses with Windows Firewall

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Recently I’ve had periods where my computer or Internet connection seems to bog down. I started looking to see what was happening and found I had a security problem. So, if you use Remote Desktop or have your Windows Login Service exposed to the Internet for other reasons, you should probably read this.

System Explorer History - click to enlarge

System Explorer History – click to enlarge

I’ve heard the news and seen the articles on the Cyber War. I have my firewall and anti-virus, anti-malware, anti-etc… So, I feel pretty safe. But, I do use Windows Firewall in Vista. It is a decent enough firewall even if many do knock it.

But, I kept having periods where my computer got sluggish. Also, recently my Internet connection speed would shift into s l o o o o w motion. So, I started looking to see what was happening.

Continue reading →

Second Life Problems

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Today, Tuesday, some time after the restarts people started to see problems. There was no software rollout today, just a restart.

There is very high packet loss of everyone. Which is an indication it is on the Lab’s end of the network. Even Lindens were seeing the packet loss. While some of them work from home or remote offices, some work at the Lab. That is even more indication that it is not an ISP or remote problem.

About 1 PM PT/SLT this notice appeared on the Gird Status page:

[Updated 1:14pm PST, 8 December 2013] We are also currently undergoing unscheduled maintenance to our homepage and related services, such as Marketplace and Live Chat. Some residents may be unable to connect or experience delays connecting to our website or any of these services during this time.  Please watch this blog for further details as we have them.

[Posted 12:52pm PST, 8 December 2013] We are aware that some regions may be experiencing performance issues and slow response times. This may also cause some residents to be unable to access some regions. Our engineers are working to correct this issue as quickly as possible. Please monitor this blog for additional updates.

You can see if you are getting bit by opening your Viewer Statistics panel (Ctrl-Shift-1). Look for Packet Loss. Mine was bouncing between 0 and 75%. Obviously that is going to cause a sluggish viewer and things are not going to work well. Chat log and groups are wacky too.

I suggest avoiding doing money transactions or rezzing No Copy items.