On the Web : May 2004

If you enjoy reading 'On the Web', your ham radio club can publish this column on an exchange basis with SJRA. Contact Ted, , for the exchange details.		Our contributions to the South Jersey Radio Association club bulletin "Harmonics" includes lengthy Web addresses. As the URL's can be difficult or a nuisance to type into your Web browser, the postings here should make it easier to get to the Web sites SJRA members are interested in. Look for the posting at w2xq.com at the time "Harmonics" is scheduled for delivery in the south Jersey area. Questions, suggestions or contributions are always welcome.
		Solar X-rays  Geomagnetic Field  N 3 K L

Under Attack

There is a new breed of sophisticated e-mail attacks that are increasingly more technology clever than in the past, using tricks to install trojan software and viruses to siphon off account information from users’ banks and credit cards. In the past, poorly written letters from banks, eBay or Papal were relatively easy to spot but the new "stuff" now circulates without a subject line and no text in the body. This particular culprit is Sepuc, and attempts to force Microsoft's Internet Explorer to force a download of data totally out of view of the PC user. The generic term is called "phishing" and this bloody stuff is frightening to say the least. If you run Windows and Microsoft software in particular, I strongly suggest you tune up on this subject on this eWeek article of May 2:

www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1582985,00.asp?kc=EWNWS050304DTX1K0000599

There are two related articles linked to this text: insights on security coverage around the Web, and news, views et al at eWeek's Security Center. You can add a news feed to an RSS newsreader or your Yahoo page (if you are a member of the latter, free to join).

Under Attack, Part II

The several mail addresses that wind up at W2XQ's computer as 0's and 1's on the fixed disk are being deluged with warnings from eBay. “Failure to confirm my credit/debit card on file will lead to termination of services within 5 days.” What's going on? Many radio amateurs now use eBay to buy, sell and trade select ­ it is easier, less time consuming and usually more profitable to have a package delivery service add you to their neighborhood route.

These many messages are fraudulent. I don't pretend to be a programming expert but I did look through the source code of the Web pages to see what I could learn. The pages are written mostly in JavaScript. The data you enter is captured in a low-level data file at a server elsewhere in the world. In tracing addresses, my guess is that the pages either originate or are routed through South Korea. Try using the WHO-IS services of the various registrars and you'll find a few that provide clues:

www.apnic.net/apnic-bin/whois.pl
www.enom.com/domains/whois.asp
www.internic.net/whois.html
www.networksolutions.com/en_US/whois/
http://www.register.com/whois_lookup.cgi
resellers.tucows.com/opensrs/whois/

Love Thy Neighbor...

... but it may be easier to move if you are dealing with HF interference. In mid-April a morning commute discussion brought up a situation in apartment living that, frankly, could be better. Suggestions and ideas to reduce the problem included a video produced in Canada some years ago. While we couldn't find that video, we did find a perhaps-useful interference handbook. I would describe it thusly:

"Do you have a neighbor who does not understand electronics and suffers radio or television interference? Here is an easy-to-read Web site that is an introduction to the topic and may take you out of the bull’s eye (in my humble opinion):"

www.homewiringandmore.com/interference/

And N2ASU sent along 7 links dealing with television interference.

www.kyes.com/antenna/interference/tvibook.html
www.arrl.org/tis/info/tvi.html
fux0r.phathookups.com/textfiles/engineering/FCC%20Interference%20Handbook.pdf
www.rac.ca/regulatory/interfer.htm
www.radarengineers.com/rfitvi.htm
www.antennex.com/shack/Dec99/beads.htm
www.ac6v.com/techref.htm

Quickies

The ITU recently codified the “at” sign — as used in e-mail addresses, yourcall@sjra.org — to be signified in Morse code. Last February NPR (National Public Radio) aired a short radio segment titled “Morse Code Enters Cyber Age” in which Rich Lindquist (QST News Editor) explained the background and thinking that led to the decision to use “AC” (sent as one letter). Tap out on your keyboard www.npr.org/features/feature.php?wfId=1680529 and have a listen.

On May 6, a German teenager was arrested for creating and releasing the “Sasser” e-mail worm virus that affected hundreds of thousands of microcomputers around the world using Microsoft Windows. British Airways flights were delayed, and coast guard station charting was affected. Read more at www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1588536,00.asp and follow the front-page button link to the special report on e-mail worms. It is interesting reading, indeed.

ExtremeTech, one of Ziff Davis’ many Web sites, describes itself as “deep technology for enthusiasts and professionals.” (I’ll let you figure out what the ad writer means.) Meanwhile, at www.extremetech.com one section of the site is “Build It”. Projects are revisited periodically as new technology comes to market and prices change. In May, the feature article is building a Web-surfing PC for $500, and it certainly looks interesting. Read the story at www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,1586081,00.asp and then look at the comments. Perhaps this may be a low-cost solution to get a new hamshack computer ready to go for the fall contest season. Add a few more dollars to the pot for ExtremeTech’s suggested solutions for a small-footprint PC, other faster systems, and other wicked “toys”.

Intellicast, one of the Weather resources on the Web, has added a new (so it seems to us) radar resource to its complement of radar pages. It is a 1 km “StormWatch Loop” that displays static and loop versions of the storm cells. Data includes estimates of speed, hail, storm rotation, and potential tornadic activity. The address is much too long to type to include here; look under the Storm Watch headings or click on the live link on the W2XQ posting of this column.

The standard Windows taskbar displays a ho-hum clock and little else. Notably, the day and date are missing. TClockEx is my favorite add-in utility to correct the omissions, and this freeware utility has recently moved to a new home. Check it out at www.rcis.co.za/dale/tclockex/ and customize the elements as you see fit.

TRS Consultants - Keep up to date with breaking news during the month! Newsfeed help.

---
Revised 10 July 2004

Read the previous month's column or the next month's column.