TODAY'S TOURBUS TOPICS: COLLEGES / WINDOWS UPDATES / WI-FI HOLE

Howdy, y'all, and greetings once again from deep behind the orange curtain in beautiful Irvine, California, now 100% liquid- and gel- free. [See http://www.tsa.gov/press/happenings/threat-change.shtm ]

College: On Campus or Online?

If you're a high school student considering college, or an adult looking into the possibilities of an advanced degree, here's a good resource for you. The All College Directory lists every college in the USA, by city & state, with contact info.

http://www.AllCollege.org

There's also an extensive list of Online Colleges that offer fully accredited Associate, Bachelor's, and Master's degrees. If you're searching for the flexibility to fit education into your life, a distance education or online degree program can allow you to "attend class" any time, and anywhere you have access to a computer.

It's Update Time
Audience: All Windows XP and 2000 Users

Microsoft releases new software patches on the second Tuesday of every month, and August's round of patches was the largest in history. Of the 23 patches Microsoft released on Aug 8, nine are rated "critical" and one is rated so critical that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security posted an announcement at

http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?content=5789

recommending that everyone immediately install the patch. If you have Windows XP or 2000, you can download all 23 patches in one fell swoop by running Windows Update or Microsoft Update. In Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Windows Update and then click the "Express" button.

If you have an older version of Windows, I have some bad news: there are no patches available for your operating system. On July 11th, 2006, Microsoft stopped supporting Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows ME. No more security updates, no more technical support, nothing. I do have a consolation prize for you, though. Check out this article I wrote on how to protect your legacy Windows operating system from future attacks.

http://www.netsquirrel.com/articles/securing_win9x.html

It's Update Time, Part Two
Audience: All Mac OS X Users

Microsoft isn't the only company releasing patches. On August 1st, Apple released 26 security patches for OS X. If you compute with fruit, click on the Apple menu and choose Software Update... or hop on over to http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/

In addition, MacBook Pro users who recently purchased the laptops are encouraged to run Software Update again. Apple left off the patches for ImageIO and OpenSSH when they built your new laptop.

It'll Be Update Time Soon
Audience: Many Laptop Users

Talking about security [hey, that's a real segue - I'm getting better at this!], at the recent Black Hat conference in Las Vegas, Jon Ellch and David Maynor demonstrated that it was possible, in less than 60 seconds, to remotely take control of an Apple MacBook laptop by exploiting a vulnerability in the laptop's third party wireless drivers. Don't believe me? You can watch it happen at

http://tinyurl.com/khpvg

Wait. There's more. The same vulnerability exists in some Windows and Linux laptops. And for the Mac users who have latched onto the words "third party wireless drivers" in the first paragraph, check out

http://tinyurl.com/knmcx

Long story short: If you have a wireless laptop, regardless of that laptop's operating system, visit the manufacturer's website and see if they have any new Wi-Fi device drivers. If you don't find any new drivers yet, keep checking. This vulnerability is still pretty new and the vendors are scrambling to find a way to fix it.

Reposting Tourbus
Audience: Everyone

Finally, have you ever wanted to resend something you read in Tourbus to your friends, co-workers, or blog? Go for it! All we ask is that you give credit where credit is due. And if you are looking for reprints of some of Bob's or my more recent Tourbus posts, check out either

http://www.internettourbus.com/arch/

or the following links at NetSquirrel.com:

Crispen on Net Neutrality http://netsquirrel.com/articles/net_neutrality.html

How to Fix Firefox's Saved Passwords Security Problem http://netsquirrel.com/articles/ff_saved_passwords.html

How to Secure Windows 98, 98 SE, and ME http://netsquirrel.com/articles/securing_win9x.html

Why You Should Wait for 802.11n http://netsquirrel.com/articles/wait_for_80211n.html

About Irvine, California http://netsquirrel.com/tourbus/irvine.html

The Southern Word Homepage http://netsquirrel.com/crispen/word.html

That's it for today. Have a safe and happy week, and we'll talk again soon.

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(\__/)  .'     )  ))       Patrick Douglas Crispen
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