I work at a downtown library in Network Support and we are being hit right now by a virus which seems to be caused by some embedded YouTube videos our patrons are viewing.
Apparently some sort of relatively aggressive virus is affecting certain embedded YouTube videos. Some are saying it affects IE and Firefox users, while others say it’s only going after IE. The virus is called Actns/Swif.T and seems to contain a redirect to a phishing website embedded within a SWF file.
The site apparently installs Antivirus 2009, which is malware. We’ll pull our most recent YouTube embeds, but be careful because this one appears to have just broken out today. If you find yourself being automatically redirected or experience other weird pop-ups, especially for something called Antivirus 2009, don’t click on anything.
Our public PCs can not be infected with the malware but is causing network stoppages and weird error messages. I will update this post when get more information…
UPDATE 12/3 - The YouTube virus appears to be nothing but a false positive caused by CA eTrust AV which we use at the library that seems to flag embedded code used in the videos (CrunchGear link in post is also updated). There has been updated signatures sent out by CA that everyone using their products should download. I don’t have these types of problems at home since don’t use realtime AV software. A properly setup Linux machine with no IE is all you really need.
This is big news for myself since I recently became a full time Linux user which means am Windows free except at work. When I first made the switch tried Ubuntu 8.04 (Hardy Heron) but needed a second opinion so then installed Fedora 9. My plan was to wait for the next releases before made a final decision since both were due in the next month and half. Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) was released and did get positive reviews but I have grown to like my Fedora install. I think Ubuntu is good for the newbie but for someone who has had some past Linux experience like me then Fedora has more options and a less dumbed down feel.
Hoping the promised enhanced webcam support in Fedora 10 means the camera on my notebook works which is the only hardware on my notebook not supported under Linux.
I will wait for and read the more in depth reviews for Fedora 10 to see if any issues need to know about before install myself. There is a chance the reviews may make Ubuntu look like the better choice so never know could change my mind.
Here are some sites around the web where can find first looks and reviews of Fedora 10…
A couple of weeks ago I developed a bad cough and tried a couple of over the counter remedies for relief. First, I tried a CVS Robitussion clone which did nothing for me. On the recommendation, of a couple of people I tried the terrible tasting Buckley’s Mixture which did next to nothing.
In the past, I would be forced to wait the sickness out but thank goodness have health insurance these days so off to the emergency room I went. I know this is how people who don’t have insurance do it and drive up health costs but I have never bothered to set-up an initial appointment with my Doctor yet. The wait, procedures, and paper work to see not a Doctor but a physician’s assistant was mind numbing but that’s another story. It turned out I had bronchitis so it was a good thing I did go in. I was given prescriptions for a inhaler (unneeded and guess trying to get me hooked), a cough suppressant (don’t remember the name of and didn’t work), and a five day dose of an antibiotic (also don’t remember the name of).
Five days later and had finished the antibiotic my cough was not as bad but did not seem to be going away or at least not as fast as I wanted it. It would act up at work and became tiresome when tried to sleep. What could I try now?
I thought about the old stand by Vicks’ NyQuil! It is considered a low end ghetto fake like medicine by some but I remember it always working in the past when a kid. I had my girlfriend rush out to get me some while continued watching the hockey game had on. She came back with the cherry flavored one and right on the bottle proudly stated “Alcohol 10%”. Yes, that’s the shit! I went with NyQuil and not DayQuil because just wanted something to help me sleep without coughing. You are not really supposed to take most types of cough suppressants when have bronchitis. The strong cherry tasting medicine not only stopped my cough but I also slept really well that night. My cough has been pretty much non-existent even during the day since taking the Vicks medicine!
Now, I have only been taking the NyQuil a couple of days and if my cough does not totally go away soon I will have to go back to the hospital emergency room. The point of this post is if you have a cough NyQuil is the real deal and don’t waste your money on anything else. The alcohol aided sleep is just a bonus.
I just purchased the new Watchmen hard cover graphic novel by Alan Moore which is considered ground breaking and one of the best of it’s genre. It was even named one of Time’s 100 best English-language novels written since 1923! I own the original 12 issue comic book series from DC but reading the graphic novel would just be easier and this edition also features recolored pages by the original colorist John Higgins.
The movie being made by Warner Bros. will be coming out in March of next year and I like to re-read the book before watch the motion picture. It’s a shame Mr. Moore has disowned the project like other graphic novels of his that have been made into movies.
There has been much debate among comic geeks if the Watchmen graphic novel can even be properly made into a movie. I am doubtful myself since a lot out of the story would seem to need to be cut to make it into a movie. Turning the comic book into a typical Hollywood superhero movie which the comic isn’t is also a worry. I wonder if the graphic novel adaptation would have been better suited as a high budget TV mini-series on HBO or Showtime instead?
The movie does visually look very much like the comic and here is the second trailer that was recently released…
Just giving a shout out to my favorite Canadian geek comic strip User Friendly written by J.D. “Illiad” Frazer. This comic making light of Google’s data collecting power appeared recently on the site.
I went with NyQuil and not DayQuil because just wanted something to help me sleep without coughing. You are not really supposed to take most types of cough suppressants when have bronchitis. The strong cherry tasting medicine not only stopped my cough but I also slept really well that night. My cough has been pretty much non-existent even during the day since taking the Vicks medicine!
