Viruses, Facebook, yadayadayada

Mother: "Well, doctor, I took my child to you for immunizations when he was 6 months old.  So why has he caught a virus now, at age 12?"

Doctor: "Mrs. Jones, your child has to have regular immunizations to remain immunized against certain viruses. Think of it as preventative maintenance, just as you would with maintenance required of your car."

The parallel? Let's say that you've installed malware, spyware, and antivirus programs on your computer.  Think you're safe now? Think again.  All of these need updated regularly...as often as possible.  I update Anti-Malware, SUPERAntispyware, ThreatFire, and Norton Antivirus weekly.  That's not all.  I have these programs perform full system scans as well, and just as often.

This week I examined more than ten (10) computers.  EVERY SINGLE ONE was infected. One of them had over 1,200 infections. It was so damaged by all of the intrusions that the operating system had to be reinstalled.

I also backup my files regularly. I also backup my files regularly. I also backup my files regularly. I also backup my files regularly. I also backup my files regularly. I also backup my files regularly. I also backup my files regularly. I also backup my files regularly. I also backup my files regularly. I also backup my files regularly.

On another (related) note, some of my Facebook friends have (unknowingly) sent messages to me; the product of a virus.  Little did I know (said tongue-in-cheek) that they were spying on me with a web camera!  NOT!

If you've received a similar Facebook message, don't even open it. Make friends with the DELETE key and trash that bad boy!!  Read from the page at the following link for clarification:

http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100413131613AAFlCoP

Stay healthy!

Backup your files regularly. Backup your files regularly. Backup your files regularly. Backup your files regularly. Backup your files regularly. Backup your files regularly. Backup your files regularly. Backup your files regularly. Backup your files regularly. Backup your files regularly. Backup your files regularly.

Sound of Music!

Aside from technology, music is something that I'm very passionate about.  Just ask anyone who knows me.  They'll affirm that! In the past month or so I've been working on composing a song. The lyrics and poetic/musical structure came easily. Setting it all to music is taking a little longer.

This phase of the composition process is being made easier with the aid of two free music/notation/composition programs.

The first is called Crescendo Music Notation Editor.  It's actually suite of applications that happens to include the ability to digitally compose musical scores.

The second application is called MuseScore. It's equally as impressive, considering the price!

If you (or your students) want to experience some real-world, higher-level activities, then try composing your own song, or taking musical dictation using these two FREE powerful tools.  I believe you'll be impressed.