Top Malware and Virus Myths

Written by Darcy Andries on June 29, 2011 — Leave a Comment

We all like to think we are safe in our own homes. So it’s easy to ignore the risk that our computer faces every day we turn it on and connect to the World Wide Web. If you think you’re safe because you never click on e-mail attachments or go to adult websites, you’re very wrong. Likewise if you think you’ll be able to spot when your computer has been infected with a virus, Trojan horse or other type of malware.

A PC infected with malware will exhibit signs like pop-up ads, slowdowns or crashes.

False. Modern malware will not always exhibit these signs. Slowdowns are the most common sign of infection, but the slowdown might be so slight you don’t notice it.

Your biggest risk for malware is from email attachments or from peer-to-peer and torrent sites.

False. Malicious websites are the biggest risk. They can be on normal looking websites or compromised legitimate sites. That’s not to say emails are not risky.

Visiting a site can’t infect your computer with malware.

False. Visiting a site can cause drive-by downloads that automatically install on your computer without you ever clicking a thing on a webpage. The attackers may do it for you or trick your computer’s operating system to do it. Advertisements on a site are a common source of infection because they are located at a third-party source and not the website itself.

Adult websites are more likely to have malware on them than a site about sports or hobbies.

False. Hobby and leisure sites are usually easier to hack than professionally maintained adult sites.

A firewall is enough to protect a computer from drive-by downloads.

False. You need other security software to protect your computer like antivirus software.

My antivirus program will protect my computer.

False. Antivirus programs are reactive not proactive. They are designed to protect you from threats that our known, not new threats that haven’t been discovered. Plus antivirus programs are only as good as their last update. If your software isn’t up-to-date it won’t protect you from the latest threat.

How did you do? If you’re like me, you probably realized that your computer is not as safe as you thought it was. Before you turn it off and vow never to use it again, I’ll recommend a couple of articles on how you can fix the problem by experts in the business:
The Best Antivirus Software in 2011
http://www.consumersearch.com/antivirus-software

Posted in Myth or Fact? | Tagged antivirus, computer myths, internet security, malware, malware misconceptions, malware myths

The Truth about the Pledge of Allegiance’s History

Written by Darcy Andries on June 21, 2011 — Leave a Comment

I try to stay out of political and religious debates on this blog. So, I realize that I am treading some thing ice bringing up the recent debate over NBC’s decision to cut out the phrase “under God” during a recent broadcast of the U.S. Open Golf Tournament.

I’m not going to discuss whether or not their decision was right or wrong. What I find interesting is some of the comments made by people about it. Like this one by Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Washington, D.C.-based Christian Defense Coalition said in an article:

Like most Americans, I was stunned to see NBC remove the expression ‘under God’ from a televised reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance. It is troubling to see a major television network deliberately remove the mention of God from the public square and rewrite history.

Jordan Sekulow, director of Policy and International Relations at the American Center for Law and Justice claimed in the same article:

“The phrase ‘under God’ is not a throw-away line, an afterthought.“

In reality, it was an afterthought and it it wasn’t NBC that decided to rewrite the Pledge’s history. It was the Knights of Columbus. The original Pledge read as revised in 1892 by the author:

I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Back in 1954, the Knights of Columbus campaigned Congress to change the Pledge to include the phrase “under God.” So, it was indeed added later (which is the definition of an afterthought).

But they weren’t the only ones who rewrote the Pledge. In 1923-24 The National Flag Conference, under the leadership of the American Legion and the Daughters of the American Revolution, changed the Pledge to say “the Flag of the United States of America” instead of “my flag.” Francis Bellamy protested that change, but he was ignored. After all, he was just the Baptist minister who wrote the original Pledge in 1892.

Bellamy didn’t protest the change made by the Knights of Columbus, probably because he died in 1931.

If NBC had been smart, they would have justified the change by saying that they were simply trying to use the pledge as it would have been done when the U.S. Open began 111 years ago. Although, I don’t think that was the reason they edited it out.

For more about the history of the Pledge, Check out The Pledge of Allegiance: A Short History by Dr. John W. Baer.

Posted in Myths in the News | Tagged NBC, Pledge of Allegiance, Under God

Myths about Fathers

Written by Darcy Andries on June 19, 2011 — Leave a Comment

Happy Father’s Day!

Photo by Martine Sansoucy

This weekend I thought I’d take a stab at a few myths about fathers. What I found was very interesting. For example, there is this belief that fathers don’t do as much caretaking and housekeeping as mothers do. Yet, a recent survey showed that:

60% of men share the responsibility for childcare equally with their spouse;
43% are spending as much time as their spouse scrubbing toilets, mopping floors and loading dishwashers and
33% of men are spending equal time in the laundry room and at the kitchen stove

There’s only one minor problem with this survey. It surveyed 350 dads and asked them to rate themselves. It would be interesting to see what the results of the survey would be if their wives were asked.

Take another survey, done this time by the U.S. Census, which said that only 1 percent of the married families in America had a stay-at-home dad compared to 24 percent who had a stay-at-home mother. So, parenting hasn’t quite equaled out between the sexes.

That’s not to say that father’s aren’t important. There’s a common misunderstanding that men don’t feel paternal urges the way women feel maternal ones. Not true. It seems men’s paternal urges or biological clock doesn’t kick in until after they are 40, while women’s kick in when they are still in their 30s. Apparently, men don’t want to have kids too early because they are worried about bearing the financial burden before they are ready. Women worry about their biological clock dying if they wait too long.

Another myth is that men don’t respond to babies the way that women do. Sure, most boys seem to want plastic guns and metal trucks versus baby dolls, but that is due more to societal pressures than biological ones. When dealing with flesh and blood babies, the story is different according to Dad.info.

After only an hour of cuddling his baby, A father can recognize his own child blindfolded by touching the baby’s hands. Men’s heart rates go up just as much as women’s do when they hear a baby scream and when a man bottle feeds a baby, he does so as sensitively as women and the baby drinks the same amount of milk. (Men still have trouble breast-feeding babies, but I’m sure scientists are working on that problem.)

Posted in Myths in the News, Pop Culture | Tagged father's day, myths about fathers, myths about men