Facebook Widget Troubles

It seems Facebook is the latest toy that hackers are using to spread adware and malicious code.

According to an article posted yesterday at NetworkWorld, there is a widget called "Secret Crush" that you can add to your Facebook account. Just like most widgets, in order to use it you have to forward it on to some of your friends and encourage them to use it as well. After forwarding it on, it is supposed to tell you your secret crush.

The article says that the widget doesn't work and never does tell you about a secret crush. Instead, you are rewarded with spyware software that sends you ads.

One more way for my kids to wreak havoc on my home network. . .wooo hooo.

There are days in this IT life that I hate. Like days where I spend 8 hours or more trying everything I can think of or read about to get a hard drive to boot, only to have it boot once and mock me the other 7 1/2 hours.

There are days like today though, when the simple task of running and terminating cat6 cable is enough busywork to keep me happy.

In truth, neither my previous Help Desk position or my Lab Manager job required that I lay cable, so I have never had the simple pleasure of runnig wire and creating wall jacks (keystone jacks). So I did actually learn something today. I found lots of very helpful information at the Lanshack site, so I highly recommend you go there to start. The information listed below will probably not be helpful on its own.

Here is how you terminate a cat6 cable with a Keystone jack:

1. Strip back some of the protective coating from your cat6 cable. (As shown to the right)

2. Untwist your paired wires so you have 8 individual wires.

3. Lay out your cables so they match the picture of either the 568-A or 568-B standard that should be somewhere on your jack or patch panel. We used the Cat6 Keystone Jacks from CablesToGo and they were great to work with (shown above). My husband swears by the cheapies they sell at Menards here in Chicago though, and I will admit they look nicer, but are harder to read.

4. Using a punchdown tool or a screwdriver, push the wire all the way down to the bottom of the jack. We bought a cheap punchdown tool that made this job a breeze ($14 from Newegg.com
).

5. Trim the ends of you wires if you didn't use a punchdown tool.

6. Place the plastic protective cover on the jack.

7. Mount your keystone jack in a wall mount of you choosing.

Fun with E-cards

So today was mostly about moving wires and jacks around for an office move that has to happen today, and other than getting to punch down a couple of jacks for the first time (phone and network), I don't have much tech info to share today.

I did however find a fun site that will let you send E-cards to your family and friends using their photos, or your own flickr photos. The site is delivr. I used a stock photo they had and emailed a Happy New Year card to my parents who quickly told me how much they enjoyed it.

Next up, making a personalized thank you card to my brothers to thank them for hosting the Christmas festivities! I could sure waste a lot of time with this fun gadget!

Free Wireless Headset

On one of those rare days off, I was watching TV when I happened upon the Rachel Ray Show. I think it was a rerun, but what caught my attention was a segment that mentioned a great website that will give you a FREE headset for your phone.

The name of the site is FreeHeadset.org and that is their web address as well. You will have to pay for shipping, but on the headset that I ordered, that was only $4.74 For most of the newer phones and Blackberry devices it looks like they have a free option and also a higher end device that is not free.

If you aren’t already using a hands free headset while you drive and talk on the phone, please do. Here in Chicago you can actually get pulled over and issued a ticket for not using a hands-free device, and I have heard that many other states are moving in that direction also