More Mustang stories

Last time I updated you on the Mustang, I said that the starter was the fault for it not wanting to.. well..  start.  I figured while the car was up at the shop I would have a new header and exhaust put on it as well.  I caught a lot of heat for that, saying "that's not what having a classic car is all about!"  True.  You have a point.  However, I am glad I didn't do the work myself, as I was going to head up and pick up the car tonight after work, but I called and made sure it was getting done and they told me some news...

Getting the header off was a bit harder than expected.  Seems like some of the bolts were missing, and the rest broke while trying to get them out.  Seems that this is the first time in 41 years that the headers have come off the engine since it was assembled in January of 1968.  Gaskets were dry rotted and shot, bolts were rusted, missing, and impossible to get out.

But alas, they did get it them all out, they have the new header on, new mufflers hanging and they were fabricating the dual exhaust (see, they don't make a "dual exhaust setup" for my engine/car) when I called up there earlier today.  I wanted to get the car in a nice running condition to where I can drive it and have fun doing so while I am building out the new engine/trans/rear/suspension..  etc.

So hopefully things will be done soon.


Please leave comments below.

More Mustang stories

Last time I updated you on the Mustang, I said that the starter was the fault for it not wanting to.. well..  start.  I figured while the car was up at the shop I would have a new header and exhaust put on it as well.  I caught a lot of heat for that, saying "that's not what having a classic car is all about!"  True.  You have a point.  However, I am glad I didn't do the work myself, as I was going to head up and pick up the car tonight after work, but I called and made sure it was getting done and they told me some news...

Getting the header off was a bit harder than expected.  Seems like some of the bolts were missing, and the rest broke while trying to get them out.  Seems that this is the first time in 41 years that the headers have come off the engine since it was assembled in January of 1968.  Gaskets were dry rotted and shot, bolts were rusted, missing, and impossible to get out.

But alas, they did get it them all out, they have the new header on, new mufflers hanging and they were fabricating the dual exhaust (see, they don't make a "dual exhaust setup" for my engine/car) when I called up there earlier today.  I wanted to get the car in a nice running condition to where I can drive it and have fun doing so while I am building out the new engine/trans/rear/suspension..  etc.

So hopefully things will be done soon.


Please leave comments below.

Apple Tablet (To be called Slate?)

For those of you that have been living under a rock for the past year, you probably have not heard the rumor that Apple is supposedly making a "Tablet" Computing device.

The first really, kind of, official note about that came out today by way of a speech given by the New York Times.


Bill Keller speaks to the digital group at The New York Times from Nieman Journalism Lab on Vimeo.

It happens at 8:30 in the speech.





Please leave comments below.

Apple Tablet (To be called Slate?)

For those of you that have been living under a rock for the past year, you probably have not heard the rumor that Apple is supposedly making a "Tablet" Computing device.

The first really, kind of, official note about that came out today by way of a speech given by the New York Times.


Bill Keller speaks to the digital group at The New York Times from Nieman Journalism Lab on Vimeo.

It happens at 8:30 in the speech.





Please leave comments below.

Google Chrome for the Mac released

Kinda.

Google released a "developer preview" of Google Chrome for the Mac finally.  Actually, you've been able to get a hold of it for awhile, but the copy that you could get, from Google, was essentially the developer developer preview.  It worked, but only in some areas.  I was using that for a long while, and I was quite happy with it.  But Friday of last week, Google finally put out a version of the browser that is a bit more..  "working".

You can grab it here.  I've been using it as my default browser since Friday exclusively, and it's been operating great so far.  The features that I appreciate the most about the browser, for some reason, is the "tabs on top" (considering Chrome is essentially a hopped up version of Webkit (Apple's open sourced 'Safari' browser that they use for development)), and the fact that each tab runs in its own process.  Which means if one tab crashes, the whole tab doesn't crash.  Which I appreciate a lot.

It's super fast when conducting Javascript type applications.  Google Docs, Gmail, Gcal, etc.  I can definitely appreciate the speed when it comes to my Gmail since I have over 7 Gigs of email, the ability to search through that and have it render quickly is a major plus.

Safari was my default browser before this, and while it's also very fast, when comparing the two browsers against Firefox, Firefox, unfortunately doesn't hold a candle, as far as speed goes, on the Mac.  So if speed is your thing, try out Chrome/Safari.


Please leave comments below.

Some New Apple stuff

Like every other retailer getting ready for the Holiday season this year, Apple, on the back of the biggest Quarter in Apple history, which saw their stock jump almost 10 dollars in one day, announced a few new products into the pipeline yesterday.  Let me just share a couple thoughts on these and then we'll move on to more interesting things.

1.  New iMac's with 21.5" and 27" displays.  While I don't have an iMac, my parents do, and I think it's a great platform.  All that in a 27" form factor is nice.
2.  Magic Mouse, the "world's first multitouch mouse".  Apple did away with the trackball, made the mouse a bit more rectangular (rather than the oval shape of the mighty mouse), got rid of the side buttons, and put multitouch gestures on the mouse.  Two finger swipe, scrolling in 360 degrees with just a finger.  Similar to the trackpad on the laptops.  Pretty cool I guess.
3.  Updated White Macbook.  Made it LED display, locked the battery in, made it "rounder".  (Even though that's not a word).  Now it looks like a true UFO.
4.  Updated Mac Mini, even a version with two 500GB Harddrives and Snow Leopard Server. (This is interesting here!)

Overall, underwhelming, I mean, from the 10,000 foot view, a couple of updates and a new mouse.  Of course I don't know what we expect Apple to come out with now-a-days.  Maybe we expect more from a company that invented the iPod and the iPhone.  I think the Mouse is cool, but the big one for me was the Mac Mini update.

Putting Snow Leopard server on it, as kind of a "home" server type of appliance, that's an interesting play, and I'd like to see what they are going to do with that technology being in the home.  


Please leave comments below.

Fix for the Mustang

For anyone who was wondering, the Mustang was fixed by putting a new starter and cables on it.  The starter bench-tested good, (meaning it spun when power was applied) but wasn't strong enough to turn the flywheel.  When you put it on the bench next to a brand new starter, the new starter turned about twice as fast.

While the car was up at that shop, I had them put a new header on it, dual exhaust with dual flowmaster mufflers.  I would have done it myself, except that I don't have a mandrel bender, and the don't make an exhaust kit for my car.  I don't have experience in welding, so I wanted it done right.


Please leave comments below.

Fix for the Mustang

For anyone who was wondering, the Mustang was fixed by putting a new starter and cables on it.  The starter bench-tested good, (meaning it spun when power was applied) but wasn't strong enough to turn the flywheel.  When you put it on the bench next to a brand new starter, the new starter turned about twice as fast.

While the car was up at that shop, I had them put a new header on it, dual exhaust with dual flowmaster mufflers.  I would have done it myself, except that I don't have a mandrel bender, and the don't make an exhaust kit for my car.  I don't have experience in welding, so I wanted it done right.


Please leave comments below.

McAfeee Avert Labs Blog: W32/Xpaj Botnet Growing Rapidly

Read the below on Google Reader, figured it was easy enough to write some SNORT(r) rules for:

alert tcp $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET $HTTP_PORTS (msg:"VIRUS W32/Xpaj Botnet infection"; flow:to_server,established; uricontent:"up.php"; content:"a=g2"; rev:1; sid:1000000;)
alert tcp $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET $HTTP_PORTS (msg:"VIRUS W32/Xpaj Botnet Infection"; flow:to_server,established; uricontent:"stamm/"; content:"stamm.dat"; depth:0; within:9; rev:1; sid:1000001;)
alert tcp $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET $HTTP_PORTS (msg:"VIRUS W32/Xpaj Botnet Infection"; flow:to_server,established; uricontent:"plugin/"; content:"plugin.dat"; depth:0; within:10; rev:1; sig:1000002;)


Two weeks ago I blogged about a new virus–W32/Xpaj–found in the wild by McAfee researchers and actively spreading around the world. Since then we have closely monitored the change in spread and severity of the virus, improved generic detection for future W32/Xpaj instances, and added cleaning and proper repair for all the files infected by the virus. Today I want to share more news related to this threat.
Further analysis has revealed some interesting details about the malicious behavior of W32/Xpaj. The Virus is building a widespread “zombie” network, by taking control thousands of Internet-connected computers. The new botnet is in its infancy, although thousands of machines have been infected during last two weeks. The botnet infects computers around the world and has spread across many countries. The attacks are mostly aimed at enterprises, but they have now spread to consumer machines as well. Based on multiple characteristics and our own research, the virus is most probably the work of eastern European cybercriminals.
Most bots are connected to a central location from where one machine can control the entire botnet. W32/Xpaj, on the other hand, deploys several control channels to communicate and control its bots. It employs the same techniques used by Srizbi and Conficker; that is, it uses randomly generated DNS names for backup control servers. Even though W32/Xpaj does not know where the control server is, it knows how to search for it, making it possible to predict which host is in use on a given day.
To prevent botnet hijacking, W32/Xpaj accepts only digitally signed payloads and commands. Malware authors use a cryptographic hash (MD5 algorithm) to validate the authenticity of any payload received from the control server).

Our analysis has not revealed any cryptology system to protect the payload, thus there is a chance for a rival to take control of the entire botnet.
The W32/Xpaj variants we analyzed use a sophisticated domain-generation algorithm to create and query the list of random domains starting on September 24. The virus first tries to resolve the domain name to an IP address. If that succeeds, it sends an HTTP request in the form of a string:
/GET /up.php?a=g2&cm=15A91F71
The malicious host responds with the path to a binary containing further instructions and code to be executed:
http://[infected]/stamm/stamm.dat
http://[infected]/plugin/plugin.dat
The first binary containing malicious instruction has already been received by all W32/Xpaj-infected machines. The virus stores the downloaded encrypted binary in the Windows folder. After decryption, the malicious code executes and instructs the virus to gather information about the infected machine and report to the server, sending the victim’s IP address, machine name, host process, registry records, current home page, and even fonts and path variables.

Every time an infected machine receives a payload and executes malicious code, a marker (a file with a random name) is created in the Windows folder, preventing the virus from executing the same payload twice.

Botnets grow and evolve quickly. We measure them by the number of compromised computers under their control. However, proactive virus detection and following these simple recommendations will help prevent your computer from becoming a part of a botnet:

• Keep your anti-virus software up to date
• Apply all the latest security patches and keep your operating system up to date
• Set up a firewall to block unauthorized access while you are connected to the Internet. Use strict firewall policies and allow only those connections–both incoming and outgoing–that are absolutely necessary for your business.

Although many security vendors struggled to release new signatures and cleaning support for this virus, McAfee customers are already protected. You will hear a lot more from us in the coming months, so stay tuned and keep reading our blogs.
Thanks to Abhishek Karnik, Rachit Mathur, Di Tian, Ivan Teblin, and Adrian Dunbar for their help in analyzing and defeating this threat.

Please leave comments below.

Tungle Makes Cross-Calendar Scheduling Simple

This is a great idea.

Tungle Makes Cross-Calendar Scheduling Simple [Calendars]

via Lifehacker by Jason Fitzpatrick on 9/30/09

If you're looking for a web-based application for scheduling meetings, you'll find no shortage. Want that application to sync to common calendar applications like Google Calendar, Outlook, and iCal? Prior to Tungle you were out of luck.
Tungle combines the best features of a variety of calendar syncing and meeting scheduling tools and rolls them all into one. With Tungle you can quickly jump from your existing calendar application to sending invites to your team members, checking their calendars even if you all use different applications, and optimizing everyone's schedule for the best meeting times. Check out the demonstration video below to see Tungle in action:



Tungle is a free service and is accessible by the Tungle site, an iPhone app, a Firefox plugin for Google Calendar, and a variety of apps for various social calendars.

Tungle [via Mashable]

Tungle Makes Cross-Calendar Scheduling Simple

This is a great idea.

Tungle Makes Cross-Calendar Scheduling Simple [Calendars]

via Lifehacker by Jason Fitzpatrick on 9/30/09

If you're looking for a web-based application for scheduling meetings, you'll find no shortage. Want that application to sync to common calendar applications like Google Calendar, Outlook, and iCal? Prior to Tungle you were out of luck.
Tungle combines the best features of a variety of calendar syncing and meeting scheduling tools and rolls them all into one. With Tungle you can quickly jump from your existing calendar application to sending invites to your team members, checking their calendars even if you all use different applications, and optimizing everyone's schedule for the best meeting times. Check out the demonstration video below to see Tungle in action:



Tungle is a free service and is accessible by the Tungle site, an iPhone app, a Firefox plugin for Google Calendar, and a variety of apps for various social calendars.

Tungle [via Mashable]

Well, it's broken down for now (the Mustang that is)

This past weekend I went up the Hershey AACA car show in Hershey, PA.  In my Mustang...

......and got to Lancaster, PA. Car died at a Gas station and wouldn't restart.

Tried to jump it, one click, nothing.

Had it towed to Pep Boys (hey, it's Lancaster) and wound up troubleshooting most of the car myself. They eventually just gave me their multimeter and equipment and I started diagnosing.  After they tested the battery, there were three guys standing there looking at the engine with their hands on their hips and I said: "So what's the deal guys?"

Their response: "I have no idea".  So I basically wound up trying to fix it myself, at Pep Boys.

Replaced the Starting Solenoid and cable to starter, that wasn't it.

Basically when you turn the key, the (starter?) clicks one time and the car doesn't start. All you get is an audible "click" and that's it. (Yes, the battery is good)

We pulled and bench tested the starter, and the guys there said it bench tested fine. So, not sure what to make of it at this point.

I don't think the engine's frozen, because I can do things like, put the car in reverse and walk up to the front of the car and turn the fan blade and the car will move backwards. (meaning I can turn the camshaft, meaning the pistons are moving, meaning not frozen?)

So, Saturday morning I had it towed up to a custom Mustang shop in Harrisburg. They were taking a look at it.

Nothing worse than parking your RENTAL car at a car show, walking across the street to the car show, and YOUR car goes by on the flatbed and everyone stops in the middle of the crosswalk to take a picture.

So, enjoy a picture of my car on the flatbed. (being hauled away from Pep Boys :)

Please leave comments below.

Scary

This is from xkcd.com of course, but how true is this?

Sent to you by Joel via Google Reader:

via xkcd.com on 10/8/09

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to xkcd.com using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

Well, it's broken down for now (the Mustang that is)

This past weekend I went up the Hershey AACA car show in Hershey, PA.  In my Mustang...

......and got to Lancaster, PA. Car died at a Gas station and wouldn't restart.

Tried to jump it, one click, nothing.

Had it towed to Pep Boys (hey, it's Lancaster) and wound up troubleshooting most of the car myself. They eventually just gave me their multimeter and equipment and I started diagnosing.  After they tested the battery, there were three guys standing there looking at the engine with their hands on their hips and I said: "So what's the deal guys?"

Their response: "I have no idea".  So I basically wound up trying to fix it myself, at Pep Boys.

Replaced the Starting Solenoid and cable to starter, that wasn't it.

Basically when you turn the key, the (starter?) clicks one time and the car doesn't start. All you get is an audible "click" and that's it. (Yes, the battery is good)

We pulled and bench tested the starter, and the guys there said it bench tested fine. So, not sure what to make of it at this point.

I don't think the engine's frozen, because I can do things like, put the car in reverse and walk up to the front of the car and turn the fan blade and the car will move backwards. (meaning I can turn the camshaft, meaning the pistons are moving, meaning not frozen?)

So, Saturday morning I had it towed up to a custom Mustang shop in Harrisburg. They were taking a look at it.

Nothing worse than parking your RENTAL car at a car show, walking across the street to the car show, and YOUR car goes by on the flatbed and everyone stops in the middle of the crosswalk to take a picture.

So, enjoy a picture of my car on the flatbed. (being hauled away from Pep Boys :)

Please leave comments below.

Scary

This is from xkcd.com of course, but how true is this?

Sent to you by Joel via Google Reader:

via xkcd.com on 10/8/09

Things you can do from here:

• Subscribe to xkcd.com using Google Reader
• Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your favorite sites

Painting the floor in the Garage

I've been thinking for awhile about doing this, but I just had too much stuff in the Garage at the time.  Well, after a huge cleanout over a couple weeks, I decided to go ahead and paint the Garage floor.  It's not a huge pain as people make it out to be, it's just time consuming.

The first thing you have to do is head to Lowe's.  They makes kits for this kind of thing.  What the kit consists of (at least mine did) is a bottle of "Acid" wash, a can of paint, a can of epoxy (hardener), and a can of fleck.

The kit I got could be done in something like 40 colors.  Of course there are the standard grey and browns, but i decided to opt for something a bit more colorful (and darker), a "Midnight Blue".

First thing you have to do is sweep the floor, get all the misc dirt off of it, I swept it, then took my leaf blower to the floor to really get everything out of the garage.

Then you mix the acid wash with water and clean the floor.  3 quarts water to 1 quart of acid wash, in a watering can.  Get you a firm long handled scrub brush (which is also available at Lowe's or Home Depot), get the floor wet with the hose first, no puddling allowed, and then use the watering can to pour the mixture on the floor.

I let mine sit for a second when I did the application just to let it soak for a second, then I scrubbed the floor really good in perpendicular directions.  North and South, and East and West.  (I didn't really scrub in the cardinal directions, but you get the point).  The Instructions say to do a 10x10 area at a time, so that's what I did.

Afterwards after scrubbing for about an hour, I rinsed it all out of the garage with the hose (if you are doing it right, you will see the dirt floating in the water you poured on the floor), and then squeegeed (also available at your nearest $home_goods_store) all the water out of the garage.  After this stage is done, you have to let the floor dry completely, takes about 24 hours.

Above is a picture of what the floor looked like after I washed it.  You will still notice some misc paint stains and what not from various projects that took place in the garage, I did my best with a straight edge razor to get the majority of the paint spots up.

I had a couple fans that I placed out in the garage to help the floor dry.  So that helps.

The next day, I mixed the hardener with the paint (in the paint can) stirred for three minutes, then let it sit (not in the sun) for 30 minutes.

Poured some paint in a paint tray (I used disposable bio-degradeable cheap ones), grabbed a 3in brush and went around the edges of the garage by hand.  If you have the cracks (or little ditches) in the floor of your garage, you should do those too (by hand), but I don't.

After painting by hand, I got a roller (I used a cheap 3/8in nap roller on a 4 foot handle) and did the floor.  The instructions say to do it in 2ftx6ft sections.  I tried to keep to this, but failed.  You also paint this in perpendicular directions to ensure even coverage.   I found that painting in short strokes to ensure coverage, then going over the short strokes with really long strokes evened it out.  After you paint the sections, take the fleck that comes in the can (if you are going to use the fleck, it hides the flaws in your paint and in the concrete on your floor (which after you paint it, you will see)) and go over the section you just painted.  Just shake it out like you are putting seasoning on a steak on the grill or something.  You'll get a feel for how much fleck you want on the floor when you start doing it.  Start light.

I did this section by section for the first half of the garage and it wound up looking like this:

You can see I had to move everything from one side of the garage to the other (on the left of the picture), and you can also see I made a couple mistakes with the roller there at the bottom of the picture, but all in all, it turned out okay I think.

Let it sit for 3 days (instructions say 72 hours), but I found that some places after that time frame will still be a bit sticky.  Don't touch it or walk on it at all for at least 24 hours, (or you'll have shoe prints and what not, I was able to cover my one foot print as it was on the side).

Again, fans help.

I let it sit for 3 days before I walked on it, walk around the floor with your hand and touch it, if it's a bit sticky, let it sit some more.  If your feet stick to the floor, let it sit some more.

Then I moved everything to the other side of the garage (cleaning the stuff out as I went) and I did the other side in much the same manner.

A couple mistakes here and there but otherwise turned out pretty good I think, not terribly hard, just time consuming.  Waiting for the floor to dry and such is the hard part.  Just takes 3-4 days.

At some point in here, they make a glossy kit for the floor, where it'll put a coat of clear on top and make the floor shiny.  I didn't do this, but it's available.

Enjoy your floor.

Please leave comments below.

Painting the floor in the Garage

I've been thinking for awhile about doing this, but I just had too much stuff in the Garage at the time.  Well, after a huge cleanout over a couple weeks, I decided to go ahead and paint the Garage floor.  It's not a huge pain as people make it out to be, it's just time consuming.

The first thing you have to do is head to Lowe's.  They makes kits for this kind of thing.  What the kit consists of (at least mine did) is a bottle of "Acid" wash, a can of paint, a can of epoxy (hardener), and a can of fleck.

The kit I got could be done in something like 40 colors.  Of course there are the standard grey and browns, but i decided to opt for something a bit more colorful (and darker), a "Midnight Blue".

First thing you have to do is sweep the floor, get all the misc dirt off of it, I swept it, then took my leaf blower to the floor to really get everything out of the garage.

Then you mix the acid wash with water and clean the floor.  3 quarts water to 1 quart of acid wash, in a watering can.  Get you a firm long handled scrub brush (which is also available at Lowe's or Home Depot), get the floor wet with the hose first, no puddling allowed, and then use the watering can to pour the mixture on the floor.

I let mine sit for a second when I did the application just to let it soak for a second, then I scrubbed the floor really good in perpendicular directions.  North and South, and East and West.  (I didn't really scrub in the cardinal directions, but you get the point).  The Instructions say to do a 10x10 area at a time, so that's what I did.

Afterwards after scrubbing for about an hour, I rinsed it all out of the garage with the hose (if you are doing it right, you will see the dirt floating in the water you poured on the floor), and then squeegeed (also available at your nearest $home_goods_store) all the water out of the garage.  After this stage is done, you have to let the floor dry completely, takes about 24 hours.

Above is a picture of what the floor looked like after I washed it.  You will still notice some misc paint stains and what not from various projects that took place in the garage, I did my best with a straight edge razor to get the majority of the paint spots up.

I had a couple fans that I placed out in the garage to help the floor dry.  So that helps.

The next day, I mixed the hardener with the paint (in the paint can) stirred for three minutes, then let it sit (not in the sun) for 30 minutes.

Poured some paint in a paint tray (I used disposable bio-degradeable cheap ones), grabbed a 3in brush and went around the edges of the garage by hand.  If you have the cracks (or little ditches) in the floor of your garage, you should do those too (by hand), but I don't.

After painting by hand, I got a roller (I used a cheap 3/8in nap roller on a 4 foot handle) and did the floor.  The instructions say to do it in 2ftx6ft sections.  I tried to keep to this, but failed.  You also paint this in perpendicular directions to ensure even coverage.   I found that painting in short strokes to ensure coverage, then going over the short strokes with really long strokes evened it out.  After you paint the sections, take the fleck that comes in the can (if you are going to use the fleck, it hides the flaws in your paint and in the concrete on your floor (which after you paint it, you will see)) and go over the section you just painted.  Just shake it out like you are putting seasoning on a steak on the grill or something.  You'll get a feel for how much fleck you want on the floor when you start doing it.  Start light.

I did this section by section for the first half of the garage and it wound up looking like this:

You can see I had to move everything from one side of the garage to the other (on the left of the picture), and you can also see I made a couple mistakes with the roller there at the bottom of the picture, but all in all, it turned out okay I think.

Let it sit for 3 days (instructions say 72 hours), but I found that some places after that time frame will still be a bit sticky.  Don't touch it or walk on it at all for at least 24 hours, (or you'll have shoe prints and what not, I was able to cover my one foot print as it was on the side).

Again, fans help.

I let it sit for 3 days before I walked on it, walk around the floor with your hand and touch it, if it's a bit sticky, let it sit some more.  If your feet stick to the floor, let it sit some more.

Then I moved everything to the other side of the garage (cleaning the stuff out as I went) and I did the other side in much the same manner.

A couple mistakes here and there but otherwise turned out pretty good I think, not terribly hard, just time consuming.  Waiting for the floor to dry and such is the hard part.  Just takes 3-4 days.

At some point in here, they make a glossy kit for the floor, where it'll put a coat of clear on top and make the floor shiny.  I didn't do this, but it's available.

Enjoy your floor.

Please leave comments below.

Spam Increase lately?

As I posted on the Internet Storm Center this morning:

Thanks to a reader (Thanks Bob), who wrote in this morning asking if we have seen an increase in spam lately, I can personally confirm that yes, I have seen more spam in my inbox lately.

Bob sent us a couple interesting graphics, the first being a graph of how much of a spam increase there has been recently:

Secondly another graph he sent in was an interesting correlation.  It was how many viruses have been blocked by ClamD.

As I said, I've noticed a big increase in spam lately in my own personal email as well.

What about the rest of the readers?  Have you guys experienced similiar?

Please leave comments below.

Spam Increase lately?

As I posted on the Internet Storm Center this morning:

Thanks to a reader (Thanks Bob), who wrote in this morning asking if we have seen an increase in spam lately, I can personally confirm that yes, I have seen more spam in my inbox lately.

Bob sent us a couple interesting graphics, the first being a graph of how much of a spam increase there has been recently:

Secondly another graph he sent in was an interesting correlation.  It was how many viruses have been blocked by ClamD.

As I said, I've noticed a big increase in spam lately in my own personal email as well.

What about the rest of the readers?  Have you guys experienced similiar?

Please leave comments below.

Why I haven't been talking about Email

I received an email recently asking me why I haven't blogged (really at all) about email recently. This person enjoys my tips, and actually, the most read articles on my blog are about Email.  However, I think it's because I have it figured out now.

I use Gmail on the web.  No local client.  (This is probably the biggest saver!  Deleting my local mail from my computer saved me about 6 Gigs of space.)
I use keyboard shortcuts and the "To" and "Cc" indicators (The little >> and > signs)
All listservers skip the inbox and go straight to their labels.
All "bulk" email (twitter and facebook notifications, marketing emails, advertisements, special deals on Hertz rental cars, etc) is tagged as "Bulk" and skips the inbox.

For the periodic "checking" of email I use Google's Notifier application.  (http://toolbar.google.com/gmail-helper/notifier_mac.html)  Where I have shut off the sounds, and shut off the popups.

This also has the added benefit of working with my Google Calendar, where I DO have pop-ups enabled to remind me of stuff.

I process email to Inbox Zero everytime.
To flag emails I use the little stars.
To make To-Do's I use Omnifocus.  This has the added benefit of, you know, in case Gmail goes down (as it has recently a couple times), your "To-Dos" aren't managed by your Inbox.

This has made my email process so efficient, I don't have to waste time screwing around with how to make it "Better".

I thought about using tags to flag things as "To-Do" or "Important" or "Needs to be done" or something.  But I don't want to mess with my system.  It works.





Please leave comments below.

Why I haven't been talking about Email

I received an email recently asking me why I haven't blogged (really at all) about email recently. This person enjoys my tips, and actually, the most read articles on my blog are about Email.  However, I think it's because I have it figured out now.

I use Gmail on the web.  No local client.  (This is probably the biggest saver!  Deleting my local mail from my computer saved me about 6 Gigs of space.)
I use keyboard shortcuts and the "To" and "Cc" indicators (The little >> and > signs)
All listservers skip the inbox and go straight to their labels.
All "bulk" email (twitter and facebook notifications, marketing emails, advertisements, special deals on Hertz rental cars, etc) is tagged as "Bulk" and skips the inbox.

For the periodic "checking" of email I use Google's Notifier application.  (http://toolbar.google.com/gmail-helper/notifier_mac.html)  Where I have shut off the sounds, and shut off the popups.

This also has the added benefit of working with my Google Calendar, where I DO have pop-ups enabled to remind me of stuff.

I process email to Inbox Zero everytime.
To flag emails I use the little stars.
To make To-Do's I use Omnifocus.  This has the added benefit of, you know, in case Gmail goes down (as it has recently a couple times), your "To-Dos" aren't managed by your Inbox.

This has made my email process so efficient, I don't have to waste time screwing around with how to make it "Better".

I thought about using tags to flag things as "To-Do" or "Important" or "Needs to be done" or something.  But I don't want to mess with my system.  It works.





Please leave comments below.