I was asked to check out the link and report if it was safe or not. I checked it out and within 30 seconds noticed my computer playing the block-the-virus game. Of course I didn’t want to stop at just that, so I decided to check it out further.

The worm being spread via different websites is referred to as W32.Koobface.D over on Symantec’s website. Let me just show you some things that might help you to identify what was wrong with this fake Facebook page so that the scammers or spammers can do a better job in the future.

First the Facebook warning page. It’s nice that Facebook has created a page that lets you know when Facebook is doing the redirect off of its site. This warning page only lets you know that you are leaving Facebook, but doesn’t offer any more protection than that. I’m not sure that its Facebook’s job to protect users more than this, but maybe it should be.

The image below has two red outlines on it. The first is on the URL. The problem with the URL is that it clearly does not say “Facebook” or any other variant with that word. This could easily have read “http://FACEBOOK.somedomain.com” and been a little more likely to fool someone. I did notice the IP address changes among several different addresses. ARIN states that the IP address shown belongs to an address on Comcast. There are several computers on different ISPs that seem to be either infected and allowing others to be infected or there are a group of people trying hard to start the spread of this worm.

The second red outline is around the Internet Explorer warning, letting you know that some program is trying to download onto your computer without your permission. Naughty, naughty!

Now even though I have Flash installed, the fake Facebook page says that it needs to be installed so that I can view the video. Of course, clicking on the link gives me an opportunity to download something, just not something i want. In fact, the entire webpage has code on it that allows a mouse click anywhere to initiate an attempt at trying to download bad stuff onto the future victim’s computer.

In the lower right of the webpage, I noticed that they had copied the look of the bottom bar on Facebook. The problem is that they they used a poor image that shows decreased quality over the regular images on Facebook’s bottom bar. Oh ya, and that chat is enabled also tells me something is off because I’ve disabled chat on my Facebook account. I won’t complain about the position being off a little, that’s in the next paragraph.

Now that I’ve decided to point this last piece out it’s more like complaining. There is text on the bottom of the page which there is not on Facebook. The text in this case is showing a date and time of some sort, though it definitely isn’t today (”19.08.2009 21:00 frame counter”). Perhaps this is so that the phisherman can keep track of something and maybe their web code is echoing something it shouldn’t.

The Symantec AntiVirus Detection Results window is nice, it gives me a sense of confidence that my computer will be protected even with potentially evil stuff trying to infect my poor little PC.

Whenever I would click anywhere on the webpage the file would try to install on my computer. Of course I needed to be smart enough to choose CANCEL instead of RUN or SAVE.

I found it more interesting that the webpage is doing tracking with an external tracking website. I would get into the specifics, but its really not necessary… if you have protected yourself from this than you are good to surf on. If you have infected your computer and somehow came to this website for help, let me know and I’ll tell you how to get rid of the bad stuff.

I wonder if extremetracking.com knows what they are tracking…

Second Gear Games – Bubble Defense $4.99
New tower defense game from the creators of Bubble Army. Pop the bubbles before they reach the end of the path. Beware of the evil red bubbles!

Critter Crunch -Magmic – $6.99
Feed small critters to larger ones and help Biggs to the top of the food chain.

Air Traffic Control – $6.99
Can you handle the stress of a flight controller? Safely land all the planes on the runways by simply drawing the path using your finger. Includes 3 beautiful airports and many planes.

Fierce Towers – NickelBuddy – $4.99
Control the field to stop the waves of attacking enemies in the first ever tower defense game for BlackBerry. Place upgradeable towers around the field as you try your best strategies to stop wave after wave of invading enemies.

Next Dual Pack – Mobigloo – $4.99
Think you’re smart? Make your NEXT move to solve this 128 level game. Challenge yourself and your friends. Entertaining and absolutely addictive!

Wrath – Lone Dwarf Games – $4.99
Fly over power-ups to change your firing from single mode to dual, tri or even rapid fire. When the enemy drones start to gain the upper hand, use your smart bomb.

There are a lot of games for the Blackberry (not quite iPhone numbers or anything close). If you want to recommend a game for others, please just leave a comment about it.

Of course I answered. I mean, the drive isn’t that big, as I recall a 500GB drive being purchased, but it can be used for storing anything (legality isn’t my problem to deal with for him). He told me that he was going to have a friend format the drive on his Macintosh computer and put music on it. Though the drive was originally purchased for the purpose of backing up his family’s photos and files, the less people back up and the more they need my help for recovery, the more side business I get!

I informed my friend that he could easily format the drive on a Mac. As he thanked me and started walking away I heard him mumble about having to buy another drive later for his Windows PC. I interrupted the mumble and asked why another drive would need to be purchased, to which he told me that his friend was on a Mac and was told the formatted drive wouldn’t be usable on a Windows PC. I laughed a little (I do that a lot, mostly to irritate people because I’m a smart ass) and then offered slight help.

Since I don’t know the person’s ability or knowledge that was formatting the drive, I just simple recommended his friend format with an MS DOS file system. When he asked me how, I recommended his friend look into the Utilities folder on the Mac.

About 3 hours later I got this in an email: I’m sure your guy knows more than I do, but (at least on my laptop) there is no program in my utilities folder called “MS DOS”…I’m assuming that you told him I am working on a Mac…? Forward this to him, and see what his advice is…thanks.

Since the problem was now requiring a written solution intead of a verbal response, I wrote up something small and clean that even someone “working on a Mac…” could easily follow. I find this sort of odd that a Mac user isn’t familiar with their own operating system.

I see he’s brilliant.. good thing you are using such an ace for something like formatting your hard disk.

•Go to Finder -> Application -> Utilities
•Double click the Disk Utility
•Select the external Hard Disk you wish to format in the left column
•Click on the Erase tab
•At the “Volume Format” select “MS-DOS File System”
•If you confirm to format your hard disk for Mac and Windows, Click on the “Erase” button.
•A pop up window will ask to verify the erase procedure. Click the erase button again in the window to start the erase process.
•Once the erase process finishes, your external hard disk may be able to be used in Mac and Windows operating systems.

Unfortunately since I’m not on a Macintosh computer I’m not able to provide pretty screen shots and walk throughs that are more thorough, I’m hoping that the directions were easy enough to follow though.

driver’s side wheel well

slotted rotor, Brembo brake caliper

brake caliper top view.. it’s a little dirty

compressed the pistons fully to get the new pads on which will be much thicker

I couldn’t find any ceramic brake pads for my car, so I went with Raybestos professional grade

in the event you need the Raybestos part number for a Dodge Magnum

the pads are shipped with decent packing material and showed up without any war wounds

I took a long time to clean the calipers well, they look much better this way

the new pads are in the calipers, the pistons were compressed far enough that the pads just slid in without any problems

definitely better than the stock brakes that come on most cars

the wheels were pretty dirty… yes, this is the inside of the wheel

the SRT looks good when it’s not caked with dirt on the wheel

now that the driver’s side was finished, it was time to work on the passenger side

really plan ahead.. the brake reservoir needed to be emptied before compressing the pistons

clean and dirty.. the wheels were in bad shape for regular cleaning and care

the Raybestos anti-noise shims were a nice surprise

while the wheel is off, take some time to check out the car and look for anything and everything

I spend a lot of time cleaning the brake calipers because they are visible through the wheel openings

the end result is a nice looking wheel, inside and out

getting this low car on jacks is NOT easy

taking off and putting on the wheel lugs is made much easier with a socket on the end of air tools

Until I figure out what exactly I’ll do with this webite, if anything, I’ll just add some small stuff to try and see if I can handle another site to post to.

Thanks for reading. I hope to entertain you all soon.

The driving range at Cam Springs is good, no drivers allowed though. (Ya, right!)

This is the golf cart that will hall my fat ass around for the day.

First hole of many in which I will bogey, double-bogey, and just snowman.

“It’s every player’s responsibility… Repair ball marks; Replace or fill divots; Rake bunkers”

I figured that I should get a semi-artistic picture, but took this one anyway.

Nice wide open gairway for which I will likely lose a ball or two.

Of course there’s racists and their signs.

This is one of the unexpected lakes that would give us a malaria bath.

I didn’t have the heart (or aim) to hit the landscapers on the golf course. Thanks for keeping the green so green folks.

Erik is getting serious about sizing up the hole.. at least that’s what he told me he was doing when I joked about him having to poop.

This is one of many putts that would be attempted and accomplished during the day.

“CAUTION: STEEP GRADE” oh ya, and be careful of dangerous snakes. Though I would rather run over a snake going as fast as possible.

I would eventually give 2 or 3 balls away to the bushes on the right side.

Erik had some serious club head speed going, allowing him to outdrive me without contest.

It looks like he knows what he’s doing. Really good that I wasn’t too close so that people wouldn’t compare us and laugh at me.

It’s sort of hard to see in a compressed image size, but the golf ball was just hit and looks to be about shoulder height in this picture with Erik.

I think that this is an excuse Erik uses to just sit and relax.

Amazingly tall mountains all around in the back of Cam Springs. It’s actually a great course.

Sometimes I felt like I was in some Rambo movie while going from hole-to-hole.

Lt Dan always got these funny feelings, he often shouted “GET DOWN! SHUT UP!” So I did.

Erik started getting nervous that someone was going to steal his golf clubs.

I’m not sure if there was a reason Erik kept yelling “DIE! DIE! DIE!” and trying to shoot, I just nodded my head and hoped he didn’t kill me.

I didn’t want to swim in malaria lake after I noticed the leeches were afraid of the water.

I was trying to copy my teacher, so when he hit into the sandtrap I followed.

Sometimes we would hit from between the blue rocks, sometimes all the rocks would get together and hang out.

The seventh hole was 535 yards, which was pretty awesome. Most holes on courses don’t afford golfers the opportunity to take a couple full swings with low clubs.

With the fair way this open it’s great to take a little harder swing, even if it doesn’t drive as straight.

“YOU THE GOLFER ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE CAUSED BY ERRANT GOLF BALLS”

Another nice action shot with the golf ball going to fast for my little Canon SD550 to get a clear shot. It looks like the golf ball was elongated in this shot.

There were a couple good opportunities for chipping the ball.

Umm.. I can explain. I didn’t see the tree there when I swung.

Seriously, getting two golf balls in this tree is a talent.

This is where the term “birdie” comes from in golf.

The scenery was nice, even when it was the freeway in the background.

Another true drive.

Cart 64 warning “KEEP ENTIRE BODY INSIDE CAR”.

If you can’t get a birdie, get a goose…

..or get a rabbit.

Lake Eat-My-Golf-Balls.. it was quite lovely.

Nothing like a 60+ foot putt to make you realize it’s not Golf ‘n Stuff here.

Despite numberous attempts, Erik was unable to hit the people in the golf cart ahead of us.

We started out with a quick show and tell, which is something that people never grow out of, no matter how old they manage to get. When people aren’t in school anymore, it usually means that most show and tell is with more extensive or expensive items, and usually they are less generally enjoyed and more appreciated by a select group. Like when I show and tell about a new set of bump keys, it’s not something that most girls would care about.

After show and tell ended, we made our way out to a restaurant known as The Cheesecake Factory. Since I’m trying to lose weight (I’m now at… well, I’ll tell you that another time) I ordered a

It’s really a good salad, and though it’s not the best dietary option, it’s better than the excellent cheeseburgers that they sell. I don’t mean better in taste, just in health.

Along with the salad I had one quarter of a club sandwich, with lightly toasted bread. I didn’t ask for the bread to be lightly toasted, but was very glad that it was. Overall, the lunch and company for lunch was grade A.

After the food was taken away it was time for some fun, which for me is balancing a salt shaker on it’s ridge. I was told that this was a bar trick, but I started doing this when I was 18… about 4-5 years before I ever went into a bar.

Because there was too much light left in the day, we headed out shopping. I have never previously been inside a Bristol Farms market, but I found some things worth taking pictures of and something worth shopping there for too. I don’t know how the pricing compares to my favority market, Albertson’s, but I think it’s much more expensive. I know the cheesecake is more expensive than I have ever seen before.

Now the reason that I will visit is because the best selection of beer that I have ever seen in a grocery store looked me straight in the face and challenged me to think of something that they didn’t have already chilled and ready to drink.

Though it was still hot outside, we had one last stop to make, this one at Gelson’s grocery store, which I would never shop in on a regular basis because the pricing is intense. I had to get credit approval just to walk in the store! I was looking for Krusteaz frozen French toast, which they didn’t have. I’ve run out of places to find Krusteaz French toast now. Before you tell me that you’ve seen it, make sure that you aren’t going to tease me with hope. I don’t want the French toast sticks and don’t want the cinammon flavored either, just plain, frozen, French toast from Krusteaz. No luck? I didn’t think so.. oh well, thanks for trying.

My car in the garage.

Pretty sure if the only two places listed are in the spot, they could do away with an arrow and just have a comma separating the locations.

Nice neon sign for the casino hospital.

Shouldn’t this sign be in Spanish first and English secondly?

Plug your laptop into the red outlet, it’s backed up by power generators.

What a wonderful compliment of gadgets and medical stuff, along with a digital clock for accurately calling the time of death.

Another angle of the room. Look, clothes on the wall.. looks like I don’t have to streak anymore!

It’s The Law or.. Es La Ley

I think this says something about having to pay unless you don’t want to or can prove that ESL is your way of life.

Check out the monitor. I’ve watched those for so long that I just pretend it’s a TV show (and it’s better than some shows on these days).

Nice lines in the ground. Sort of like what siblings would do when drawing lines to separate their shared bedroom.

Accucare Sphygmomanometer. Umm.. I’m not sure what that word means, but this one is broken.

Having tape on the ceiling to keep the A/C from giving the flu-ridden worse times is a great idea, almost like not putting an A/C vent over a bed in the hospital.

This is a hospital. That’s a vent in the hospital for the HVAC. I think someone doesn’t do a good job cleaning.

“Canon analyze ECG” message means that the monitoring equipment just isn’t trying hard enough.

There’s a cute nurse at the hospital. She has a great sense of humor, likes jokes about thermometers and where to stick them, and has the most incredible big brown eyes of any nurse, ever.

“Some ECG alrms off”. Just some of the alrms alarms were off, the other ones were working excellently.

27 minutes later, same alarms warning.

Guess this was just taken so you could see the reflection of my camera in the monitor.

I’m not even too sure what I was hoping to accomplish with this site.. maybe I should think about that more.

Well, here are the pictures I mentioned I’d show.

This is from a wall that is against a liquor store, next to a medical clinic

Alright now, this isn’t that extraordinary, it’s just a Chevron.  But it’s in a semi-rundown town where most people aren’t rolling around in higher end vehicles.  So I found it sort of out of place, with the electronic sign with pricing.

Here was a nice piece of architecture I found crossing over a bridge which is over a really disgusting washway.

A computer error message I received while checking into a co-worker’s computer problems.

Construction work sometimes seems more interesting than it should.

When you commute as much as I do, there are some times you just feel alone.

Driving home at night the light and dark just seem amazing.

During the morning commute the skyline looks incredible at times.

Interesting signs at gas stations, including those with dates going back to the 90’s.

Skittles are the computer geek’s candy of choice.

Picture of a U.S. quarter taken with my Canon Digital EOS XTi camera.

Finally, a few pictures taken of the side of the road near work.

There have been some pretty good advertising ideas I’ve had the pleasure of seeing (including a banner over 20 stories tall for the Transformers movie).  Seeing this ad just made me wonder why they would use this graphic, would put it on a bus, and put it on a bus that primarily is driven within low income, primarily Hispanic, neighborhood.

Since I took the picture to share, it’s available in four ways. 

First, the ad without the bus:

Next, the ad on the side of the bus, but zoomed in:

Now the full picture I took, in a lower resolution mode and resized:

Now if you want to have the full image, as taken and downloaded from my Canon SD550 camera, click here.