While I am copying all of my data to my various portable hard drives, I will also be making DVD copies, just in case. Don’t forget that strong magnets can wipe all your data from a hard drive, but not from DVDs or CDs, if I remember correctly.

So it is time to dust out my DVD duplicators, CD printers, and read my DVD duplication guide. This 4 year old laptop is really on its last legs. They really don’t make them like they used to with those Thinkpads. IBM! How could you sell out!

Meanwhile this iPhone OS 4 is taking forever to install. I am still stuck on this backup which seems to take an eon. This is my third attempt after the first 2 just took too long and I had to shut down and go to sleep or out. It really looks like there is some bug.

Anyway, good time to be backing up files now.

15 hours ago, I was lying in bed wondering what would have happened if I had dropped that card somewhere. I am normally extremely careful, thanks to an incident involving a lost $10 note as a child (30 years ago, $10 was probably worth around $100 these days). No, there were no incriminating photos on that card. Just family photos. Memories for me and mine only to share. Gone, if the card was truly gone.

Then I thought that I should start using usb encryption software to start encrypting all my stuff. Note to self: encrypt usb drive (all of them!), encrypt external drive, even encrypt flash drive. Gonna check out this USBCrypt encryption software which uses strong 128- and 256-bit AES encryption to protect my drives. Better safe than sorry.

Or do I? Aha! Enter Computer Spy Mama.

Unbeknownst to them, Mama has installed a computer spy program on each of their computers. So if they are up to sneaky things, I’ll know about it.

Or do I want to even know about it? I trust I know my kids, but sometimes trouble lurks in unexpected places. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Maybe they’ll be smart and just learn how to work their computers themselves. I think I have put it on their homeschooling curriculum. Dang it.

Still, this cute little computer spy gadget is making me drool and feel all stealthy and spy-like. Wait… their Daddy is not very PC-literate… *evil grin*

I had used it as my website contact years ago but quickly switched to typing the various spam avoidance configurations such as emailaddress[at]yahoo.com, emailaddress[at]yahoo dot com, and even emailaddressNOSPAM[at]yahoo dot com.

But unfortunately, like a locust attack, the spammers were merciless. The ratio of actual emails to spam went from 5:1 to 1:5 then 1:50, and then I called it a day and laid that poor address to rest.

There are few ways around it. If you want people to contact you, especially if you’re an online store, you need a contact form or an email address. The latter is problematic because forms can fail, and many have.

There are programs that can help you hide your email address like A.T.G., aka AntiSpam “Mailto” Tag Generator which basically encrypts the ‘mailto:’ HTML code containing your clickable email address with JavaScript.

Here is an in-depth explanation of how it works. There’s a trial version with a watermark, but certainly worth a buy for $9.99 if you need to put your email address online for any reason at all.

This time, I got a bunch of recordable media, the Taiyo Yuden DVD-R set of 5, if I remember correctly, and the Taiyo Yuden CD-R set of 10, cos Taiyo Yuden is supposed to be the best, and prepped all my portable HDs.

First copied the photos over to the CD-Rs so I can file them properly and then copied another version to the mini portable (to grab in case of fire), then the videos to DVD-R and another set to the mini portable (to grab in case of fire), and then misc files to the CD-Rs, and everything to the large portable. So in case the DVDs and CDs fail and/or the HDs, one of them should still work. And if both…

Dang I need to get online storage!

In Vista (yes, still using that confounded thing), under Services, (just type “services” in the blank box after you click Start), I disabled the Comodo Pro service, which didn’t uninstall when I uninstalled Comodo initially. Then went to Comodo‘s website to download the Comodo Pro Firewall 3.0, which is nice and free.

After I installed it, restarted, and absently clicked Launcher.exe (news didn’t load) and then Play, typed my login and pass, clicked a bunch of Accepts under Comodo, and suddenly it authenticated. I almost cried. Whether of joy or frustration, I did not care. All that mattered was I was suddenly downloading the latest 3.0 patch (which I would have had to anyway today).

Still am. And maybe sometime tomorrow, I’ll be back in Dragonblight, cruising the land of Feralas where I last left off. Thought I’d uninstall Comodo after cos of the conflicts but then decided to keep it, cos it is pretty and the problem was really my own faulty config.

Now, if only I can drag myself off to bed. But that Blizzard downloader is mighty hypnotizing to watch.

Now when I restarted it, the News page refused to load and I could not login to WoW. Says, “Unable to connect”. Hence unable to Play!

Now you know I’m no slouch. I spent the past 4 hours trying to fix this. Suggestions from the forum and Blizzard pages include:

1. Adding ports 3724 and 6881 to 6999 to your router’s port forwarding page.

Did not work.

2. Turning off router and modem, shutting down computer, and starting up everything again.

Loaded News page for 3 seconds then failed again.

3. Running as Administrator.

Did not work.

4. Changing setting to be compatible with XP2 and back again.

Did not work.

5. Repairing WoW.

Funnily enough, repairing ran yesterday. But today, cannot connect to server.

6. Uninstalling antivirus, spybot killer.

Did not work. Now feel naked. Reinstall again.

7. Add WoW.exe to Windows Firewall.

Did not work.

8. Turned off Windows Firewall.

Did not work. Hastily turn on again.

9. Released/Renewed IP.

Did not work.

10. Right-clicked folder and ensure everything in folder is not read-only.

Did not work.

11. Resetting IE’s Advanced settings.

Did not work.

12. Downloading program to reinstall.

Downloader doesn’t run anymore. Tracker problem again.

I’m posting this to the forum page for some additional advice. I do have another 28 days of game time. Here’s hoping for a solution and for some game play.

That doesn’t mean you keep your doors unlocked or your computer unsecured. You still owe your home and your computer the best security you can afford. Excellent free security software is available at download.com. I’d recommend them over the biggies like Norton which can miss catching viruses (yup, on my cousin’s computer recently) and is a resource hog.

What’s great about free security software is most of them are much more dedicated than the big name software. They are streamlined, have constant updates (that’s how they outrun the hackers – don’t ever buy software that don’t have frequent updates), and offer a pro version should you like to pay. Most never force you to.

Here’s an example. Comodo is known for its firewall. Pretty neat. You can check it out on download.com. Now it has added a Trusted Internet Manifesto on its website. It’s a good start, a good philosophy on the place of free security software. I like it and it is one step closer to building trust between the consumer and the company.

Other freebies I recommend are Spybot Search and Destroy (whom I have donated to), Avast!, and AVG. Tried, tested, and loved.

Read Gaping Internet security hole discovered

The gaping security hole enables a scam that targets ordinary people typing in a legitimate Web address. It happens because hackers are now able to manipulate the machines that help computers find Web sites. If the trick is done properly, computer users are unlikely to detect whether they’ve landed at a legitimate site or an evil double maintained by someone bent on fraud. Security experts fear an open season for virus attacks and identity-fraud scams.

What can you do?

1. Visit internal links to verify the identity of the site. Site are usually spoofed but how far do they go?
2. Check the security certificate before you offer any personal information.
3. Write and ask the admin if they have patched their site.