Todd Boss

If you find that upon logging into Windows you are immediately logged out without even a peek at your desktop, you are probably suffering from the effects of a virus that nukes some Windows System files or the registry values that point to them.  The fix is pretty easy.  Just take a look at the link above.  You may need a Windows install CD (or in my case, a Linux LiveCD) to restore userinit.exe back to its proper place in windows\system32.  I found an extra copy hanging around in windows\i386 that I copied over there (I’m not sure, though, whether or not that file is the proper version for SP3, so YMMV).

I’m too busy to mess around with viruses on my own PC.  That’s just one more reason why I use Ubuntu.

A $3,350 Windows Mobile device?  No, thanks!

An automated tool that steals IDs of non-encrypted Gmail sessions was unveiled at Defcon.  The tool will be released into the wild in the next two weeks.

To protect your account:

• Log in to Gmail
• Select “Settings”.
• Scroll down to “Browser connection” and select “Always use https”.
• Click “Save Settings”.
• Log out of Gmail and log back in.  You should see “https://” at the front of the address in the address bar.