Tag: Apple

Are you on Fire for Kindle?

Paul

Amazon Introduces the Kindle Fire!

I must say that seeing this is definately something that I would like to get myself. After reading what it will do I am thinking this will make Ipad drop their price. I did predict this a few months back, and I knew it would have to be an Android tablet. This would greatly increase their market share and also get more and more people to buy their Premium Service and that will make it that much easier for people to watch their streaming media also.

Will it Succeed??

I don’t know if it will but I am certain it will make a big impact on what happens in the future. I do hope that the $199 version will allow me to stream on the road without a wifi signal but I can only wait to see. I would guess that if not Amazon would start to offer services for this also probably through Sprint or Verizon since they already have deals with them on their Wireless Amazon Website but then again I could be wrong. Even though I have played around with the Ipad 2, I am still trying to figure out if it is really worth the money to buy it.

This is Eye candy!

I must say just looking at this tablet makes me want to pre-order it now but I will wait a little while before I start buying it because of the price. Maybe in the next few weeks they will drop the price because of the high demand of this tablet. They will make a killing on people buying it just to watch their favorite movies where ever they are without having to boot up their laptops or computers. I can am curious if they will let you download your amazon movies or shows to the tablet so you can view them while on the road or other places. I will definitely have to see in the next few months what Amazon has planned but that would be a nice feature to be able to take my shows and movies with me either on a SD cardor on the internal memory. Although I suspect that is in the design somewhere, I am hoping they do have a card reader on this device if not they should add that for people like to make even more space available for it. I can’t wait to see all the reviews of this and how people like it. I wouldn’t mind getting one of these myself to test and explore even more.

Have a Good day!

Paul Sylvester

Playing with the Apple iPad 2, My Experiences!

Paul1 Reply

The Apple Tax is something that isn’t desired!

Although playing with this tablet has been something of a dream for me. I thought it would be good to talk about how they charge higher than normal prices for their products. My sister let me play around with her Apple iPad 2 Tablet(64GB, Wifi, Black). After playing around with the tablet, I must say I like this little portable Netflix player. I got to watch movies and play games like Angry Birds Freeand it seems to hold it’s own. I even am tempted to buy Amazon Prime because I could now watch all the Star Trek Episodes ever made.

I’m not saying that it isn’t nice but it is something to consider when you do decide if you want to buy this tablet. So I have been playing around with it from time to time and I thought this would be a great time to talk about the advantages and disadvantages.

It’s sleek design is nice!

Even though I commented about the price, I really do like the way it feels and handle and how intuitive it is. I like the fact that it has 64 Gigabytes of storage for like movies and tv shows that you can take with you on long rides and watch or listen to. It even has a well placed speaker that does really well for the size of the tablet. It seems to be just heavy enough and fast enough to be a very useful portable computer. I even had no major problem with the way the keyboard when chatting with people on Facebook and other social media sites. I could possibly even blog with this tablet if I really wanted to but that would not be very effective in my line of blogging.

It is easily smudged!

This is a down side of using the tablet. You will see smudges from fingers and everything imaginable and there is no way around it. There are several types of screen protectors that would probably do the job but have yet to invest in one to see if there is going to be a noticeable difference. I will investigate this even more and probably do another report on those who might want to buy one. If you have and want to tell me about your experiences then feel free to leave a comment. I welcome in input anyone has on this, since I am really new at this.

Very touchy screen!

I’m really not saying it is a big problem because it isn’t. You however have a choice to be gentle to this and not have to worry about how hard you press. The slightest touch can do what you want. I have however know how hard it is to keep kids from touch the screen so that can be an issue. This however is something that can be good and bad in the same process.

Keep the Kids happy!

Hey I don’t mean to say this is going to be the best possible way to keep the kids from screaming in the car but this is however a great option as to watching videos and other such things in the car while traveling. They can even play Angry birds, If your worried about them destroying the Ipad and you want something that does do videos and other games, you could invest in an Ipod and let them play games or watch videos with it.

All in All, I like it!

It isn’t like I am biased against Apple but I do think they have their issues. For one thing the idea that their systems will never get a Virus is something that I have preached in the past and will always preach. Their Operating Systems will never be secure and that is something they have yet to learn.

I talk about it more later!

Paul Sylvester

Backing up in Linux is so easy!

Paul

Why Do I need to back up in Linux?

This is something near and dear to my heart because of just how important it is to back up you important data.  I’ve already talked about backup before but I never really thought about back up for Linux until recently.  Let’s face it when you came to Linux, you probably didn’t think you would need to back but you really do.   I learned the hard way on this.   My Story so others can learn from my mistake, I have been working on a big database for to keep track of who comes in and what they usually order but I had a problem today, and thought I had backed up my database before I re-installed the Linux distro.   In reality, I didn’t actually.   I wasn’t happy when I found out that the Database wasn’t their after I had wiped the drive and re-installed.

Are you ready for a Disaster?

I ask that because I know I wasn’t ready and I know most of you are probably the same way.   You probably didn’t even think about backing up in Linux.   I am not really worried about backing up the distro but to back up the important data.   I wanted to share some of them with you and so you can update yours accordingly.   So here are a few good Ubuntu/Kubuntu back programs:

  • KBackup — This is the one that I am using right now but will be looking for a way to do offline back up in the cloud. (apt-get install KBackup)

  • Simple Backup Solutions — Another one that I have found that will be playing with later on this month.  (apt-get install simplebackup)

  • fwbackups — This is one of the more easier backup programs, that can do single and scheduled backups.   This might be the one for me but only time will tell.  (apt-get install fwbackups)

  • Amanda — If your have several different clients who need to have offsite backups this would be one way to do.   Allows you to have mulitple backups to a single server.   This might be good for my clients, will have to look into this one.

  • And more . . . . . .

There are even more out there but these are the ones that interest me and I thought they would interest your also.    I will look online for some cloud storage later on this week.   You should always have more than one backup plan.   I always like the Rule of 3’s when it comes to backup:

  1. In the Home

  2. A pen drive

  3. Off site

It’s time to change

If you haven’t already started a backup plan for your Linux machine, it is always time to change.   You probably have something you want to keep and not lose.   You could have Pictures, documents, and client information that you need later on.   So what are you waiting for?

I’m backing up Now!!

Paul Sylvester

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Linux will never have a Virus, Some say!

Paul2 Replies

I got an Interesting Comment yesterday:

Wouldn’t you bet that this topic is very popular with the linux community at a whole but that isn’t what makes it interesting.   I got a comment that I must talk about in parts.

It’s not a question of whether Linux will get viruses. There are already a number of worms and other malware that have struck Linux services. As for a virus or other malware attacks against Linux as a whole, it can’t happen the way it can for Windows and Mac OS X. It’s a question of homogeneity vs. heterogeneity. Windows and Mac OS X have two flavors, 32bit and 64bit essentially [this is an over-generalization, but it’s generally true]. Linux is so balkanized, that it’s difficult to think a virus could be written that could affect every distro out there, since none of them run the same versions of various system software [like services, filesystems, etc.], so it’s not likely that the same type of flaw will exist everywhere. Also, with distributions like Debian so many architectures are supported, and it’s difficult to imagine some virus author to put in the effort to make the virus able to infect so many disparate systems. The law of diminishing returns applies here.

This argument is something that is near and dear to my heart for several reasons.    Having seen Apple getting hit by a virus and malware, who thought they were educated also never once thought about getting a virus.   Now lets face it this isn’t like a major system to some but there are more and more of linux users out there because of the fact this is a free system and many people would argue that they can’t afford to buy a new version of Windows every 2 or 4 years and some of us will not buy Apple due the Apple tax.   So there we have it, more and more people are turning to Linux because of this worldly recession and that means more and more people are using Linux and the eyes of the malware writers will start to find holes and other ways to infect users.

Just because it is unlikely doesn’t mean it won’t happen!

We have seen in the past that there are Unix viruses and that was never really popularized as Apple having a Virus.   Now just because the Linux community is fragmented into many different flavors doesn’t mean they don’t have something in common to all of them.   The Kernel alone has to have something in common with all flavors to be considered viable.  That in such means that the flaw that you suggest could and probably does exist everywhere.    When someone says law of diminishing returns applies here, I have to imagine that you do not know that with any web surfing instance, I can easily find out which Linux you might be using and thus create a script for it.     Which in my Mind that sounds oddly like your using the old argument of Security through obscurity and we already saw how Apple got hit by a virus because they thought this same thought for several years.

Segmentation is everything to Malware:

So I agree, it’s possible that viruses for Linux will be in the wild sooner than later, but they will target specific distros/architectures [like Debian, Red Hat, SuSE, and derivatives, or even Android, and all the architectures supported by them]. Also, this means that the target markets for Linux viruses will be segmented and segregated, and thus much less profitable than markets as huge and contiguous as Windows or even Mac OS X. Until there’s no more low hanging fruit like this, virus writers won’t have the economic incentive to target Linux in general, except maybe to prove it can be done. But then again, the returns won’t ever be as spectacular as they can be on relatively homogeneous systems like Windows and Mac OS X. Thus it will always be possible to write Linux viruses, but not nearly as probable as with other commercial operating systems.

Segmented Linux distributions makes it just that more probable of getting a virus.   Most writers will love to have segmentation and they have used it in the past.  The Market segmentation would make it just that much harder for any one Linux Distro to remove the virus.    If you have several different flavors of Linux, you would have to remove the virus or malware a certain way with each and every version of the flavor.    Not everything is about economics, most of the writers have in the past did not want to segment because of the need to infect for ransomware, thus creating a way for income.   With the development of Antivirus Companies for Windows, they have alternatively changed tactics.   One of there new tactics is to spread to as many systems and use those system to send out spam, to redirect, infect other systems, and also pop up advertisements.    This is why they would love Linux because of the fact that there are so many segregated communities that it would be much harder for a system to be cleaned and thus the user would have no other option but to re-install Linux or live with the problem.   I for one have fought off viruses in the past with my clients so I know that some customers do not know anything about virus removal and thus will live with the virus until someone comes to fix the problem.   That is why I believe the Linux community as a whole should start developing a Virus database and work at stopping the problem before it starts.

What do you think?  I’d love to hear your comments?  Feel free to leave your comments at tell me your thoughts!

Only Time Will Tell!

Paul Sylvester

 

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Does Linux need an Anti-Virus?

Paul6 Replies

Anti-virus Programs and Linus Torvalds

Hey let’s face it with the recent virus problems Machnitoshes has had, we’ve got a bit of problem on our hands.   I’ve come to the realization that there must be a way to protect my Linux operating system much better.   Although there are several different programs out there that can be used with Linux.  I however wanted to talk about the necessity of having a program installed and running to better protect me from doing something bad.   Hey I admit it, I occasionally click on links when I shouldn’t and also occasionally like to see what is in my spam folder just to make sure I am not missing something that I should.

Is Anti-virus Really needed for Linux?

There have been advocates for Anti-virus programs for the Linux community over the past few years.   I have been one of those myself.

 

Any antivirus/spyware needed?

 

I have been an advocate of “Linux” “doing” “enabling” antivirus/spyware for over 6 years now….it WILL hit “us” sooner or later….but given the money involved I think…..MUCH later….so….no, for now, do not worry about it at all.

If you get “something” that says it is “checking your computer” it is because WINE has automatically been enabled and the malware is seeing that and NOT Kubuntu….so….ummmm….close the browser….re-open and get on with your malware free life.

Via Kunbuntuforums.net

Now I tell you,  What is wrong with this picture?   Are the Linux users acting a little like Apple users, and thinking they can’t get a virus.   I won’t say that right now there are any viruses in the wild but I would caution everyone not to consider your system invulnerable even though there aren’t as many reports of virus out in the wild.   It will hit us next if not this year probably in a year or two.

Linux is Next for sure!

I don’t say that lightly, I am sure in the coming years to even months that the malware writers and virus writers will be looking at Linux more and more.   With Apple just being hit and finally admitting that they have been hit with a virus, you can bet that some of the Apple users will convert to Linux just because they were using Apple’s believe that they were immune to viruses and malware.   They will come and when that comes the eyes of the world will be on Linux users.   It will be our job to get ready for these nefarious users and fight them off.   So I call to the community to get ready for this to happen.   I know it is coming almost as much as I know I am going to keep blogging.   Only time will prove me right, but I know it is going to happen and if your not ready then you can only blame yourself.

Stay Safe

Paul Sylvester

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