One Simple Rule For Sudden System Shutdowns

In my many years of uh, *ahem* "computing" I have learned one thing: 90% of sudden system shutdowns are caused by overheated processors (including video processors). There are other causes, of course. PSU failure, malware infection, corrupted OSes, even corrupt or failing hard drives. But by and large an over heating CPU is the culprit. What many people or websites won't tell you is that every 1 or 2 years the fan and heatsink should be removed form your machine for a thorough cleaning and a fresh layer of thermal paste. Heatsinks get dirty and thermal paste dries up. If the condition isn't caught quickly, your processor will become Post Toasties. A little heat won't cause your cpu to die completely, but it will damage it to the point of unreliably processing data. This leads to corrupted operating systems, data errors, blue screens, network failure, partial screen display, among others. These problems can appear in virtually any part of your system and are difficult to pin down, if you don't know where to look. If left alone, it will render your whole system useless. To find out the operating temperatures of your cpu, look up your processor's white papers on the manufacturer's website.

Here are some things you can do to keep an eye on your processor's temperature to safe guard against this problem:

• Install a heat sensor unit. If you know your way around a system, they are not too difficult to install. You can check the temps of your cpu, mobo, hard drive, video processor, or whatever you choose to monitor.
• Install software that monitors system SMART data. For Windows users there's Speedfan. A free monitoring tool for your computer. Linux users can configure Conky to montior a myriad of system information.
• Regular dusting. Every 3 - 6 months you should power down, crack open the case and clean out the inside with compressed air. For heavy dust accumulations on the case, a damp (not dripping) rag will do the trick. Avoid getting any exposed components wet. If this happens, let the component dry completely before powering up. Refrain from using anything containing alcohol, or household chemicals in general.
• Annual disassembly. This includes removing the mobo and cleaning behind it, cleaning off and re-applying thermal grease, cleaning system fans, heat sinks, PSU, video processor(s) and around drives.

If you follow these recommendations, you will greatly reduce the likelihood an overheated processor will ruin your computing experience.

Insecurity Of Information

I don't want this post to be misconstrued as a dump on system administrators. They have a difficult job with many different facets that limit control over their networks. They are charged with keeping information flowing, not slowing it down. The job can be a stressful one. One hiccup with internet service is met with a flood of angry calls and emails. They have to deal with support issues, employee issues, vendor issues, security issues, budget issues, the list goes on. It really is a difficult and thankless job in many ways, But........

IMHO, security boils down to one simple thing: standard (or "best") practices. The industry is based on them, therefore bound to them. Most system admins were taught from the same curriculum, inherit practices from their predecessors, and tend to utilize only what they understand. Very few want or need to be more. Hackers are not bound to any protocol, learn as they go, and aren't burdened with long term data integrity, shareholders, or profits. They are fluid creatures limited only by their imagination and sheer technical ability. In short, there isn't a contest.

For example: If I but three red cars, you could assume with reasonable certainty that my fourth car would be red, too. A lot of protocols that corporations follow are similar in estimation. It's very predictable. Some system admins are happy to place Youtube at a higher priority level than reading logs or checking equipment. A breach can happen anytime, and a network device sending an email isn't going to cut it. It's difficult to stay vigilant when that critical moment will seemingly never arrive. I'm sure there a few admins that take pride in their security knowledge and implement it well, but many don't have a good grasp of attack vectors (both virtual and physical) or how to secure them.

In fact, employee information is the easiest to obtain. It's not very well guarded and is made available for the asking. Try calling a company and asking to speak with a salesman. Mr. John Smith will happily assist you. Visit us on the web at http://mycompany.com, here's my email jsmith@mycompany.com if I can assist you further. That's more than enough to begin planning the stage of attack, and no elaborate trickery was involved. It was all given for the asking (or completely volunteered), and even more can be obtained with a little imagination.

Contrary to popular belief, customer information isn't very high on the security food chain. It's usually stored in a database server accessed by a surprising number of people often from different segments. Salesmen, managers, data entry clerks, IT personnel, customer support, as well as outside contractors have direct, or indirect, access to that information. I often asked myself why they bother using passwords or securing the server room, other than to protect hardware configuration. In comparison, only a select few have access to proprietary or sensitive information pertaining to the company or R and D.

Corporate networks are compromised because they are a wealth of profitable information with plenty of soft targets. These networks are constantly hacked, but reported very little. Every American that has used a debit or credit card can rest assured that their financial information has been in the wrong hands quite possibly more times than you want to know. Can more be done to stop it? Not without rethinking everything we know about networking and doing business.

Why Not Ubuntu 11?

**This article was published previous to this date**

Over the weekend I decided to replace my install of Ultimate Edition 2.9 for something leaner. After considering different distros, I settled on Ubuntu 11. Mint was shot down because I have no prior experience with it. Fedora was a strong front runner, but I wanted something that leaned more toward desktop usability. Debian and Slackware were too trimmed back for my purposes. Since I have been essentially using Ubuntu 10.10, Ubuntu 11 it would be. What a mistake it would turn out to be.

Let me begin by saying I should have dome my homework on this release, but failed to do so. I ASSUMED that 11 would still use the Gnome 2 interface, offer Synaptic as package manager, have Open Office installed by default, and evolution would continue to be my Email program. I ASSUMED that I would be able to easily find my around and tweak my system as easily as in the past. So much for assumptions. After "getting to know" the left side navigation buttons and fumbling around the Unity (or Gnome 3) interface without joy, I loaded a copy of Ubuntu 10.10 64 bit I had stashed in my disk case. After stripping out some programs and installing others, my system is lean and fast again.

Some people like the new interface, and other distros have used it with some success. It doesn't suit my needs. I don't have the time to re-learn the OS on my main computer, especially for something as superficial as eye candy. I feel like Ubuntu developers could have implemented it differently. Jumping from Gnome 2 to Gnome 3 is a HUGE change. The type of change to learn on a secondary computer before installing on a workhorse. It's inevitable Linux users will have to pick up Gnome 3. When I get ready to make that change, it won't be with Ubuntu.