You will never have to pay to be listed as a top neighbor. Period. That important detail clarified, let's discuss how we arrive at two "top neighbors" for a given region:
Localism is a bustling collection of hyper-local communities, and the top neighbors should reflect those members who are most active. When ranking users in a given region, several factors are considered. To get your foot in the proverbial door, you need to have posted at least one "Localism" article or photo for the region.
The very best way to quickly rise to #1 is to post high-quality local content. Keeping a steady strem of incoming posts and photos will massively tilt the scales in your favor.
What doesn't count toward the top neighbor ranking? ActiveRain points and community sponsorships. The top neighbor spots will always go to the most active members in a region. We want to create a level playing field that encourages the growth of communities — talent and dedication are required to win the day.
Sorry
to be the bearer of bad news but it seems some unnamed company has
made a significant boo boo. This “mistake” is
basically a rootkit
that potentially opens up a huge backdoor.
This is very bad news
indeed. At this point no one is saying who but it is hinted that it
is an “an unnamed Enterprise Information Security (EIS)
suite.”
Basically Enterprise refers to, well straight from the article,
“Who
are the lucky customers who bought/will buy the software that harbors
this stealthy little stowaway? Enterprises.
Big
companies, who spend big bucks to develop and protect big
secrets.”
Will
this affect consumers? Possibly. Its whether or not the same
Enterprise suite has similar programming or is perhaps the same
platform whether Enterprise or consumer level. This could potentially
affect millions of computers. I guess it will depend on whether a fix
can come before someone bad discovers it. There are rumors that these
types of “holes” are not necessarily a mistake. In
fact “The
best part is that Trend Micro traced the developer to an unnamed
Chinese company” China not coincidentally has been actively
involved with cyber warfare with the US and other companies for quite
some time, with each year seeing the level of attack increasing. To
me and probably others this is no surprise that
“they” would
attempt something on this level. It is no secret that the Chinese
government actively endorses hackers and hacking on a criminal level
as well as with their military.
I
have seen countless posts and conversations with people that make the
claim that somehow Mac's are more secure than a PC and are immune to
viruses. Nothing could be further from the truth. Now the current Mac
OS is built upon Unix and thus possibly more secure in a roundabout
way that is far too complicated to explain here but through
Apple's
own advertising they have continued to mislead the public on
this
subject. I don't want to get into security vulnerabilities as a whole
because the topic is so vast and so subjective that there is no clear
answer.
But
when it comes to viruses a Mac is no more secure than a PC. In fact
the widely held belief that Macs are immune to viruses could lead to
a massive infection. I don't know percentage wise of how many Mac
users also use an Antivirus program but I would guess that it is a
rather low percentage. Whereas a larger percentage of Windows users
probably use an AV program but fewer still keep it updated or even
the subscription current which in addition to failure to update Windows
security leads to the spread of viruses.
One
of the reasons why virus manufacturers focus on Windows machines is
because they are more prevalent. Sure they have more holes arguably
but they have more people poking holes at them. Until Macs started
making up a larger market share there simply was more bang for your
buck going after Windows machines.
Here
are some links explaining this in more detail:
The
page on the Apple website was actually taken down sometime last
night. If you notice in the last article it seems there was a mistake
and this was originally posted last year. So all the way back in 2007
Apple was trying to prepare people for the inevitable that viruses
would hit Macs and was trying to warn everyone to use an AV program
in defense.
It
basically argues that you would have to be stupid to infect yourself
with that virus since it requires you to be tricked into installing
something. But isn't that exactly how a lot of Windows users get
infected? How is that any different because you are on a Mac? Is that
because of the snobby image (I have seen this term used on many sites
to describe how some Mac users describe themselves and I am in no way
insinuating you are snobby for using a Mac) associated with Mac users
that they are somehow smarter than PC users?
Its
no wonder that Mac users think they are safe. Apple's own marketing
department told them they were:
This
is BIG business. There is a very big incentive for
going after
Macs just as there is incentive to go after PCs. Also Linux users
better listen up because you are no safer. This isn't just me saying
this by the way. I have seen security experts all over the place
saying these things for years. As bandwidth increases and the number
of computers increase so is the incentive to create more botnets. If
competition becomes fierce over Windows machines where do you think
they will turn next? Or where do you think they turned?
*Just
a note I am not a Mac hater or anything like that. I think they
actually are probably better at video editing than PC's are. This
article is strictly about safety. If you aren't protected you will
not know if you are infected and therefore can spread a virus to
another person err I mean computer. (It works the same with computers
and people)
As
always if you like what I have to say please subscribe to my blog. If
you really
like what I say
then please flag any posts that you feel should be featured.
Thank
you
If you would like to work
with an agent who is leading the way call 715-894-1001 today or send me an email.
According
to this
story mortgage applications have been reported at record
rates as mortgage rates have fallen to very low levels.
“Potential
borrowers were lured by enticing mortgage rates, which dropped
dramatically after the Federal Reserve unveiled a plan last week to
buy up to $500 billion of mortgage securities backed by
government-sponsored enterprises, Fannie Mae <FNM.P>,
Freddie
Mac <FRE.P>, and Ginnie Mae.”
What
does this mean for people in our area? I would hope that it would
encourage buyers to come out and invest in the community. This is a
great opportunity to do so and indeed that is what I am attempting to
do here. With rates this low the potential savings is tremendous. If
you haven't considered investing in Real Estate in Eau Claire,
Altoona, or Chippewa Falls Wisconsin this is your chance. If you have
any questions about what you need to do to invest give me a call
today. I would be happy to discuss some of the opportunities
available.
If you would like to work
with an agent who is leading the way call 715-894-1001 today or send me an email.
After
reading Brad's
article on how his family's network of pcs was
infected over the weekend I found it highly coincidental but
extremely pertinent. What I have noticed after repairing, fixing and
working on around well over 100 family members and friends computers
over the years and I having done this professionally, is that the
majority of computer issues stem from a few basic problems.
Windows
is hardly ever updated. Most people do not understand the
dire consequences of this and either don't know how or just assume that
it is automatic. The first thing I do is have it set to automatically
download and instruct people to manually install the updates every time a new one comes along but
inevitably they never heed my advice and when they call me in 6 months
I come to find the same exact problem.
They have no antivirus, they have let the subscription
run out and not sought another solution, or have not updated it. Often
I install a new AV program and do several full sweeps to ensure that
the computer is entirely free of viruses but often it is too late at
this point. Once a massive infection has spread system stability is
inevitable. What happens is that files are overwritten or changed for
the virus to perform its duties and even if they are “cleaned
up” which generally means they are erased, well they are no
longer there. There is a quick and dirty fix to this which involves
downloading and reinstalling the latest Service Pack if one is
available. I would consider this a very advanced technique not that its
hard to do but its hard to find a Service Pack that you can download on
the side in a lone installer package. Instead, normally I recommend a
full format of the hard drive and then reinstall windows. Normally if I
am lucky I got save the data but the data itself is often corrupt and
then you run the risk of infecting your new machine with old, infected
data. If you first install the OS (operating system IE Windows) then
install an antivirus program immediately, you can problem save your
data and some headaches. One thing to mention is if you have multiple
hard drives its probably best to not have them installed until the
primary c: disk is secure. Then bring the other drives online.
Often performance
problems are a combination of the above. While security is a major
reason to upgrade windows often performance enhancements are included
in the packages. Even simple driver updates can fix some issues.
Degradation of the system can occur simply by using it and sometimes an
infection that goes unnoticed is the true culprit. Above all it is
recommended that even if you are an expert Windows user you should do a
full reinstall of the OS once per year. You will see a major
performance increase each time you do this. Sure its a pain in the you
know what but it does fix problems. It also teaches you the importance
of backing up data and forces you into a mind set of always keeping
track of your data.
Sometimes a simple
solution is
just running a good defragmentation program. I recommend perfect disc.
It certainly wont fix every problem but it will help and ensure your
disc is speedy. Do
not fall for the trap of any other
speed up or system speed ups. These programs do not work. They are
complete bologna. They are often riddled with viruses of their own with
the intention of getting you to buy another program to uninstall the
program that it installed in the first place! Does that sound familiar
to you? Its exactly how that antivirus 2008 and 2009 operates because
for years people have been tricked into purchasing these sorts of
programs! If your computer ever suddenly gives you pop ups or warns you
to install a program to fix the problem you have an infection!!! There
is no AV program in the world that operates like these false programs
do. I repeat never install any program that promises to
speed up your internet connection or speed up any other part of your
computer the only thing that can get your
computer to its original speed is reinstalling Windows and the only
thing that can make the internet faster is calling your ISP and asking
for a faster connection. The only thing that can make your computer
run faster is purchasing faster hardware IE upgrading the memory,
processor, or faster Hard drives.
Install a software firewall.
Even if you are behind a router, which at this point most people
consider to be great protection and if you don't have one get one, but
even so it will not protect from a virus communicating out! What a
software firewall can do if properly implemented is basically neuter
the virus and prevent it from executing its job. The point of most
viruses is to turn your computer into a bot to become part of a larger
botnet.
If you don't know what that is go to the link I am sure you will be
shocked. The new virus that Brad was infected with is designed to join
up with a botnet. In turn they will infect other people. Trojans are
often designed to communicate out and connect to the botnet and if you
sever this connection I have seen them basically neutralized. You still
want them off your computer but at that point they are basically
harmless. One sign that you are infected with something like this is if
you see an excessive amount of popup ads on sites that normally don't
have them.
There
is a lot to keeping a system running smoothly and ensuring it runs
well. The simplest thing you can do is what I have mentioned here and
for the most part you should be safe. Having all your programs update
regularly is the key. If you don't like waiting for them to do that
then schedule them at night and do
not turn off your computer or it will not update!!!
I always here after much prodding that the truth was that the
computer “always seems like it needs an update and I just got
sick
of the messages so I just click on them until they go away”
Well if
that sounds like you then you know who to blame. The only reason why
these viruses are so widespread is because of people like that. For
the most part they aren't even that powerful they just rely on the
fact that everyone in the computer industry knows that 95% of people
who own computers don't update them or have any protection!
Brad--
Here
is an interesting article that was just released today that
probably explains how your computer might have been infected.
I
have to agree with the article that perhaps its time to force updates
because people are just unwilling to do whats necessary to keep their
computers updated. They will spend hundreds of dollars fixing them
and days waiting for them to be fixed but wont spend a few seconds a
day to do the necessary steps to prevent it from occurring. I am not
saying thats the case with you. Some viruses are rather malicious and
sometimes it takes months for the proper fix. But compare the article
to what I said above and you can clearly see for the most part these
things are preventable.
If you want 2 great, completely
free security solutions try Comodo
firewall and Avira
antivirus. Another AV program I recommend is Eset Nod32.
I do not recommend Mcafee, Symantec (norton) or any of the other usual
players. For being the most popular they often offer the worst
protection.
*Comodo
recently upgraded and is now a combination firewall and AV program. I
have not seen its protection rating as an AV program. For a firewall it
was rated the best of any available as well as being free.
Here is a good comparison
http://www.av-comparatives.org/
If you would like to work
with an agent who is leading the way call 715-894-1001 today or send me an email.
I
saw this
article and am sort of scratching my head because to me this
just doesn't seem like a good idea. “He is helping homeless
people
illegally move into foreclosed homes.” I suggest reading the
article quick to get a feel for it.
Here
are some other things to note:
“He
also breaks into the homes he shows.”
“Pierre
herself could be charged with trespassing, vandalism or breaking and
entering.”
Now
I am not saying that something shouldn't be done about homeless
people or foreclosures. Personally I think there shouldn't be
homeless people in our country and we definitely have some
foreclosure problems facing us in parts of the country, but this
doesn't seem like a good solution. Regardless if this guy claims he
can get free legal counseling in case something goes wrong, something
will most certainly go wrong. It seems to me he is putting his
activism first and endangering these people. If you know me, I am
most certainly a huge activist but something doesn't add up here.
Maybe
I am wrong what do you think?
If you would like to work
with an agent who is leading the way call 715-894-1001 today or send me an email.
ActiveRain Corp. is not responsible for the accuracy of the site's content (which is written by members of the ActiveRain Real Estate Network) and does not endorse the views of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers, and others listed here.
