Teen Tech

OK, so what is a virus?  What do they do?  Are there different kinds of viruses?

First off, a virus is some code that does something malicious in a computer.  That’s it in a nutshell.  As for types of viruses, there are several:

• Boot Sector — These viruses go into effect when your computer boots up.  These can modify certain system files, or go as far as wipe out you entire computer.
• Executable — These viruses attach themselves to your programs and do their stuff when that program is run.
• Macro — Macro viruses are not complete programs, but can attach themselves to documents such as Microsoft Word documents, or Excel.  These cause damage when the file is opened or executed (ran)
• Trojan — A trojan virus masquerades as a true program that should be used.  It may even do what you think it is doing, but underneath, it does damage to your system.  It gets its name from the famous Trojan Horse, as it acts in the same way.
• Worm — A worm doesn’t attach itself to files or programs, but instead it simply replicates itself throughout your computer, and even the network that your computer is on.

That’s a basic run down of all of the virus types out there, with more to come most likely.

On a completely non-tech related note, I passed my road test today, so I now have a full license (albeit temporary until it can be mailed).  I’m happy about that.

Ok, I’m going to jump right in the middle of this series of which I will continue a little later so that I can re-cap this weekends events.  I attended the Michigan Business Professionals of America State Leadership conference and comptitions.  This conference included all of the topsix competitors in over 60 buisiness related events from the regional conference, of which there are nine regions in Michigan.  I competed in VB.NET Programming and an open event (anyone can compete regardless of placement at regionals) Information Technology Concepts.  I unfortunately did not place in VB.NET programming at the state conference.  I did however come in first for Information Technology Concepts out of about 400 other competitors.  I was the only person at my school to qualify for the National Leadership Conference which will be held in New York, New York this year.  The state conference was held in Grand Rapids, Michigan and was spread out between the Amway Grand hotel and Davenport University.  I plan on going to Nationals, so there will be a post in the future all about that.

OK, My dad finally got cable internet.  It’s great.  There are a couple of problems that go along with it.  First, the upload speed is just a little bit faster than dialup, so uploads aren’t that great.  Secondly, the viruses like to come in a little faster than at the slower speeds.  So, that brings me to the topic of this post.  How can you protect your computer from pesky viruses.  There are many varieties of virus protection software out there, but lets face it, the people that create these viruses will always come up with new ways to get around the virus scanners.  So, with that, there is no possible way of fully protecting yourself from viruses except to completely disconnect your computer from the internet and to not accept files that people bring in on CDs, Flash Drives and Floppy Disks.  The first virus removal tool that I use is Ad-Aware created by Lavasoft.  This software is easy to use and can find most anything.  The next tool that I use is AVG Free.  It thoroughly searches EVERYTHING for viruses, trojans, and worms.  The only downside is that it can take a while and slows your computer down to a crawl while doing the search, so it is best to schedule your scans at night when the computer is not in use.  Well, those two are the tools that I use most often.  With these, make sure that they are up to date and working, and if it comes across a virus that can’t be removed, do a google search for the virus, and you can usually find a specialized cleaner for your kind of virus by Symantec or some other company that specializes in computer security.

Ok,

Testing’s done.  That means that I can spend more time on my projects and such.   EduNation will start the test phase soon.  StemwareByMissy.com will be launched in the very near future, and my own site will be completed.  I will be going to the Business Professionals of America State Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan on the 22nd - 25th.  I will be competing in VB.NET Programming and Information Technology Concepts.  If I do well enough in one of my events, I can attend the National Conference in New York, New York.  At the regional events, I placed 2nd out of 6 for VB.NET programming and 3rd out of about 200 for Information Technology Concepts.  It should be fun.  I am going to be attempting to create some web software, not unlike EduNation where all of the code is completely original.  It has to be able to be viewed as a website, I just don’t have any ideas :), so any ideas would be grand.  I’ve done some very BASIC forum software, and the Online Quizzing and testing tools for schools (EduNation), but I want to do something that people can actually use.  This is what software development is all about.  Usefulness.  Oh, before I go.  Today during the testing, or actually before it, there was a hiccup with the sophomore testing.  They were taking the ASVAB which is a military test.  I don’t know who, but it was either the school or the military, but they lost the bubble-sheets for the entire grade.  The school had to send someone to Ann-Arbor to meet someone from Detriot to get new sheets, so they got started about an hour and a half late.  I laughed because they were supposed to be done about two hours before the Juniors, but we got done at the same time.  Just my day’s highlight.

Well, I took the ACT today + the Writing portion.  That is one hard test.  On the math portion, they gave you 60 minutes for 60 questions, and most of the questions could not be solved in under a minute.  This was worse on the reading portion.  I want to get at least a 27, but realistically, I see myself receiving a 23-24 (it is graded out of 36).  Tomorrow, I take the Michigan Merit Exam.  It starts at 7:30 AM and ends at 2:30 PM with a half-hour lunch break in there somewhere.  I would not even go tomorrow if there wasn’t college scholarships available.  Well, wish me luck.

What am I doing that requires so much waiting?  I’m upgrading a customer’s computer to the New Windows Vista.  First off, the DVD drive in this system would not read my install DVD, nor any other data-DVD, then their graphics card is only a 32MB Model.  Microsoft recomends at least a 64 MB Graphics card, but I pushed on.  The login screen finally came up at 10:42 PM EST, and I got the darn thing at 7:00 PM.  On top of it all, the darn thing sounds like a jet engine.  Quite Frankly, I’m surpried that Vista runs at all with the Graphics Card.  I’m putting on my invoice that I STRONGLY recommend an update.  Other than that, the computer runs fine, except for the sound drivers, one network card drivers, and a mysterious PCI Input Device :).  I’ll get it running soon.

Hello Y’all,

First off, I would like to apologize for the lack of posts lately.   I’ve been working on a website (stemware.tech-works.info which will soon be moved to stemwarebymissy.com) which has been the only site that I’ve ever done that has made me question my ability.  I told the client that I would have the site done in 14 days from the 3rd, and yesterday, I found out that she needed the pictures online basically today.  I scrambled all of today and yesterday to scan all 56 images in and resize them and such and design the gallery.  Also, on my plate is the ACT which I am scheduled to take next Tuesday and Wednesday, so I’ve got to get studying for that.  So, again, I apologize for the lack of posts, and the count should rise soon.

I’ve written about the good about the new Windows Vista, but what about the bad?  My first suggestion is to wait about a year until the bugs are out, or at least most of them.  When using the Vista Upgrade Advisor (downloadable at the microsoft website), it likes to not tell the full truth.  It may tell you that some device is compatible with Vista, then drivers are not available.  Others may require some software changes and others just do not work.  Some software does not work with Vista.  I’ve read about how iTunes is not Vista compatible, but I’ve been running iTunes on Vista since I first installed the new Operating System.  I did run in to problems with conflicts between my modem and my video card which causes the unwanted Blue-Screen-of-Death (BSoD).  This took quite a bit of work to get all, or most, of the kinks out, but it is a good operating system under all of the current bugs.  So, it is advisable to wait at least until the first service pack is released to go and buy a new Vista-Ready computer with your version of Vista.

Ok, yesterday I was in Vo-Tech and someone came to my class and asked my teacher about websites.  I was curious.  Before I knew exactly what I was volunteering for, the teacher was telling me about this “Operation Helmet”.  He wanted a Vo-Tech site for their branch of the Non-Profit Organization.  I told him that I would have a prototype for the site done by Monday, well, last night as I was working on it, I couldn’t stop.  When I went in today and presented the site to the teacher, he projected it on to the wall and had his class critique it.  Everything was good except for little things here and there, so I was pleased.  The URL to this site is: http://operation-helmet.tech-works.info.  Check it out.