Malicious Flash ads

We're not going to get away from advertising on the web so it's something we have to live with. There are the good points, though - many valuable web services are free because the service recovers its costs through advertising.

However over the past few months many sites, large and small, have been displaying Flash-based ads (those one that appear as anmiations or movies) which, after a click, redirect visitors to a site that promotes scareware, fraudware or, at the worst, installs viruses.

In other words, for example, you're on one of your favourite sites and click an advertisement from Widget Airlines. Rather than ending up on Widget's ticket booking page, you're confronted with a dialogue box that tells you your computer is infected with 53 pieces of malware or you're asked - if you're lucky - if you want to install a computer performance-enhancing program. In the worst case scenario, malware automatically installs without your knowledge or permission.

More often than not the site owner has an agreement with an advertising company and doesn't realise until informed by people such as Sandi Hardmeier of Spyware Sucks that some of the ads on its site redirect visitors to sites carrying malicious content.

Now, please don't click on every Flash-based ad on various sites to test the above - you could easily end up with an inoperable computer system. Instead read up on Sandi's posts - you'll see plenty of example screenshots.

Until Adobe patch the Flash player so that we, the users, have more control, Flash remains the Typhoid Mary of the Internet, to use Sandi's description.

Footnote: be careful of any new Flash-based online games. Sorry to spoil the fun.

Some tips for Live Photo Gallery

The webDotWizards, both at Rushworth and Murchison, have been all making headway with using Windows Live Photo Gallery.

Yes, everybody admits it's a bit of a pain to organise a large number of photos by tagging them with descriptive keywords but we're finding it adds a new dimension to our photo collection. For example, a single photo that's been hidden away in a folder on the hard drive suddenly takes on a new meaning when a few descriptive tags have been added.

Panoramas are easily created in Live Photo Gallery and everybody is coming up with ideas on how to use this feature. John discovered this the other day when he stitched some photos of the Eureka tower. So next time you're walking past a tall building, tower, tree or pole, take a few snaps and join them up in Live Photo Gallery.

When fixing a photo, Kevin says you should first try the auto adjustment. If that doesn't improve the photo, undo that action and move onto the shadows adjustment. Finally Kevin like using the saturation adjustment on photos that have been scanned.

Bear in mind that once you've uploaded your photos to your Live Spaces photo albums, they're available for other things, such as making a collection of your travels on Live Maps. Or you can create a movie in Photo Story and upload it to Soapbox to share with family and friends.

Here are some sites to get you started:

• Adobe Flash turning into the Typhoid Mary of the Internet: msmvps.com/blogs/spywaresucks/
• Ash Wednesday Bushfires 1983: www.dse.vic.gov.au
• MySearchOff: www.mysearchoff.com
• Windows Live Messenger Translation Bot: www.liveside.net
• Windows Vista SP1 Prerequisites & Non-Security Update: windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/

• All this week's Wiziest sites are listed on the webDotWiz Column sites page.

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