The HMRC have published some guidance about the recent VAT changes that will take effect from December 1st 2008

On the link below you will find detailed guides and answers to common questions in PDF format.

Link: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/pbr2008/measure1.htm

I am noticing a trend that Spyware/Malware attacks are making a comeback and are getting more sophisticated.

In the good old days Spam e-mail used to be just advertising but increasingly that innocuous looking spam e-mail has other ideas.

It can be one or more of the following:-

Malware: Malicious software designed to get on your PC without your knowledge.

Spyware: They steal your passwords via keystrokes that are sent back to the spyware author.

Virus: Designed to cause harm to your computer.

Phishing: Designed to get you to impart privileged information.

Problem Area’s

Internet Surfing: The number of malicious or infected web sites is in the millions. You can no longer just click, click on every link you see.

Tip: Make sure you have your Phishing Filter on and have up to date Anti-Virus Software running.

Inbox: Even with good Anti-Spam defences Spam e-mail gets through about one third will have a link to something bad.

Tip: Don’t even get curious with suspect e-mails and click links just to see. Delete, Delete and Delete.

Stay Safe online Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5414992.stm

Web Site analytics are painful to decode at the best of times. But one metric that is usually sound is the number of unique visitors that your Web Site gets.

Unless your web site is super sticky commercial companies rely on being able to be found in Internet search engines like Google.

I monitor and report on the web stats for several companies spread over many different business classifications. In July 2008 on average and collectively the number of unique visitors dropped by 7% and this was unusual based on the pattern of web traffic in the preceding months.

July should have been a big month as it had 23 working days compared to June’s 21. My clients are UK based so would not have been affected by the American July 4th Holiday.

So what happened:

There are two possible things happening here:

1) Google changed dramatically the ranking algorithm.

or

2) The doom and gloom in the economy has affected the number of unique visitors looking for products and services from commercial companies.

I actually think its bit of both 15% Google and 85% the economy.

At some level there is a link between consumer confidence and web traffic to commercial companies.

Update 24/07/2008 – Nod32 Now Identifies this – See bottom of post.

—

Several clients were targeted with e-mails that contained .zip files.

The contents of which were crafted to look like legitimate e-mails from UPS with invoices attached (see above).

Inside the .zip file was an executable file disguised as a Microsoft Word document (see above). That is a fake icon. The file is really called ups_invoice.exe

You can even scan the .exe file with Anti-Virus software in my case the latest Business Edition of Nod32 and it will not be detected.

I even submitted the .exe file to eset and they said:-

“The file is corrupt and thus non-functional. As such, it should not be detected as it does not pose any risk” [TRACK#4884AA4D0007]

That is a complete load of rubbish, I took the same file and managed to infect my test bed XP machine running the latest version of Nod32.

So you really are at the mercy of the end user doing the right thing and not opening unsolicited attachments.

It would appear to be able to defeat the End Users Anti-Virus by connecting to the Internet to download the payload and sneaking itself onto your computer. The end user is complicit in this, they have to run the infected file. As you can see from the shots above this has been cleverly engineered to be difficult to spot.

With up to date Anti-Virus software not being able to detect the original .exe file it really is open season.

Tech Tip: If you are worried users might get caught out then ban .zip files if you can.

More details here: http://pandalabs.pandasecurity.com/archive/Fake-UPS-Invoice-Email.aspx

Updated 24/07/2008

I just get the impression the AV companies were caught napping on this one.

But the good news is those pesky attachments are now being identified.

This screencast is an overview of how you can use a remote VPN connection to connect to a Head Office and access a shared Microsoft Access database using Windows Terminal Server.

The was originally recorded and published in September 2005 and I have just converted it to flash video. Some of the software mentioned in the screencast is out of date but the general concepts are still sound.

This screencast runs for 4m25s

Click the Screencast to Play.

This screencast requires the Flash plug in. You can get it here

My 2008 Screencast Links:
http://www.colindiponio.com/category/screencast/

Thanks

Colin

GoToMeeting.com allows you to have virtual collaborative meetings online at a very low cost. You can also have a free 30 day trial to check it out risk free.

This service is Ideal for providing online presentations or working collaboratively on projects with a colleague in another location.

The screencast runs for 5m:48s

Link: www.gotomeeting.com

Click the Screencast to Play.

This screencast requires the Flash plug in. You can get it here

Please feel free to link to this content.

My Other Screencast Links:
http://www.colindiponio.com/category/screencast/

Microsoft Works, now at version 9.0 is still shipped on millions of PC’s a year.

Works is a basic Word Processor and Spreadsheet like application that is typically supplied at a very low cost.

So you may occasionally encountering a files created in its proprietary file format:-

.wks = Spreadsheet

.wps = Word Processor

Microsoft provide a download on the link below that will allow you to open, edit and save documents in this format. Once installed you will have additional Save as Type options to support the Works file formats.

Your version of Microsoft Office needs to be 2003 or above.

Link: http://www.microsoft.com/products/works/downloads.mspx#Works6.0Conv

Which magazine voted Rochdale based ISP Zen Internet as the “Best Broadband Provider”.

Zen scored best for reliability of connection, connection speed, customer service, online and telephone support.

My friend Chris uses Zen and also gives them the thumbs up. He does however pay nearly double what I pay my current ISP.

But if I did switch Zen would be at the top of my list.

Link: www.zen.co.uk

Notebook Reviews most popular laptops (www.notebookreviews.com)

This guide falls into 3 categories

Read (Tip 1) > Watch (Tip 2) > Touch (Tip 3).

A great place to start if you are unsure is Notebook Review.com as this gives you a user generated view of what’s popular and current.

Tip 1: The best advice I can give you about buying laptops is to look beyond the reviews and dig into the user community or online support forums for your chosen device. This is where you find out what the device is really like.

You may find a laptop you like but want more information.

Tip 2: Try searching You Tube for video based reviews or “hands on” videos  as these can be just as useful as written reviews. The quality varies quite a bit but you can quickly get a feel for the device just by seeing it in action. Link: www.youtube.com

Tip 3: See if the Laptop you like is for sale at retail if so, go check it out. The prices at retail can be more expensive so you should know the “on-line” price prior to going. So even if you fall in love and want to buy at least you know what the true market value is.

Ok, so now you have decided.

Use the web to research the best price from a trusted supplier.

Bonus Tip: Get Warranty, I get a lot of correspondence with people with equipment that expired just out of warranty. In you are spending upwards of £500 then extending the warranty to the 2nd or 3rd year is worth it (especially on laptops).

Szu Ping Chan over at the Fool.co.uk has published a detailed comparison of the various mobile broadband offerings.

I was an early adopter a few years ago and used an Orange Data card. The experience was pretty poor and the costs were astronomical.

So once the contract expired on that I let it go. I use Windows Mobile to check my e-mail on the move and typically I am only offline while I travel between various Internet connected sites.

Recently I deployed a USB dongle from Vodaphone at a clients and the users report back a positive experience. (Link)

The market for Mobile Internet is popping so Szu’s round up post of the various service offerings comes just at the right time.

Link: The Best Broadband Dongle