- New running shoes, but still old legs
- Another run
I've really been strugling running in the heat these days. It's been taking everything I have to get through a couple of miles. My goal is usually three miles, but lately I've only made it just over two. I do usually walk and run the last bit to make my three miles, but obviously my goal it run the whole way .
I gave it another try today. It was 93 degrees, but felt much cooler. It was overcast and actually sprinkled the last mile, so that was really nice. I did make my three miles, so I'm happy about that.
I bought some new running shoes this weekend, but I did not want to wear them in the rain just yet, but I'm hoping that will put a little spring in my step.
- Arbor Hills kicked my ass: The hills, the heat, and the hops.
- Virus/Spyware/Malware infestation. How I got it and how I removed it (I hope)
I aquired a virus yesterday and this is my journey. It might help someone else.
First, I am going to use the generic term "virus", but there are many types of programs that do all sorts of harm to your computer that have other titles: Spyware, Malware, Adware, etc.
The program I picked up pretty much took over my computer made it virtually unusable.
StumbleUpon
I have used a FireFox browser plugin app for a few years now called "StumbleUpon". It's a program that helps you find lots of cool sites that are related to topics that you define. The program adds a toolbar to your browser and there is a button you click called "Stumble" and it randomly brings up sites that fall under one of the categories you have defined, and the sites are ranked by other SU users, so they usually are pretty good, and many times they are great. You also contribute to categories by ranking sites that you Stumble on. You do this by giving the site a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" (literally). Besides finding many entertaining sites, I have found many useful sites that have helped me out professionally, and expanded my knowledge on so many topics I am intersted in (Web Development, Design, Fishing, Photography, Guitar, Recording, Politics, Religion, etc.).StumbleUpon is not to blame
My point of bringing this up is that I have used this program for years without any problems. Keep in mind that the sites you find by using SU come from other users, so SU is not responsible for where you end up. Anyone can add a site to the SU index, and of course that leaves open the door for Evil-Doers. I just want to be clear that I don't believe this is a SU issue, or that they are responsible for my issues in any way. It's the nature of the Internet.A few months ago I was Stumbling at work and aquired a similar virus from a site, and although it looked to be a different site and a different virus, it basically did the same thing, and cause very similar issues.
How I got the virus
So yesterday I hit the "Stumble" button and the music I was listening to in Windows Medial Player" stopped, and WMP popped up a warning message about a file that was attempting to play and that I should be sure I meant to play this and that it was a file from the Internet, and files of this type can contain viruses.... I am paraphrasing.I shut down WMP and then closed FireFox, but it was too late. A popup warned me that a virus was found and that I should click on the button below to remove it. Then another box popped up that ran from my Windows system tray that said something similar.
This was all to familiar. What a appears to be Windows telling me about a virus and how to get rid of it, is actually the virus itself, and God knows what would happen if I click on anything in those popup boxes.
Well then the browser windows stop popping up. porn.org, viagra.com, adult.com, porno.com, etc.
My computer has been taken over
At this point I am trying to run my virus protection and spyware protection programs, but nothing will run. I cannot launch any program. Not a browser, not Windows Task Manager, not Malwarebytes, not Avast, not the control panel, not Regedit.........nothing.I tried to restart my computer in "safe" mode, but this didn't work either.
Re-install anti-spyware program
What I found out the time this happened at work, was that I had to reinstall my anti-spyware program. I use a program called Malwarebytes, and I had the installation file handy, so installed the program and ran a scan.Malwarebytes found a malicious program called "Trojan.Dropper". I removed it.
This let me now use my computer, but what I have found in the past is that there is a program that installs the virus, and next time you reboot, it will be reinstalled, so I knew I still had some crap to get rid of.
I found a site with some instructions on how to get rid of this. One of the fake viruses the virus says it finds is called BankerFox.A. I don't know if this is even a program, but Googling that term led me to some info that was helpful.
The site I found had a list of things to try. First was adding a list of domains to your Windows host file. I did that. This blocks domains from connecting. Most of them had "Spy Protect" in the title. I don't think this is the virus I had, but I added them, as well as "porn.org, viagra.com, adult.com, and porno.com".
It also had a list of programs to uninstall using the "Add-Remove Programs" function in the control panel. None of the programs the site listed were in the list of installe programs.
It then had a list of registry entries to find and remove. I did not find any of the entries the site listed, but I did see a couple that looked familiar. They looked like the names I had remembered from the time I got crap like this on my work computer. These files had the string "tssd" in the file name. There were a couple that had those characters, so I removed them.
Virus maybe gone now
I also ran a program called CCleaner which let me access the Windows "startup" folder. I could have done that without using that program, but I also ran the program to get rid of any other crap. I found two entries with "tssd" in the name, and also saw a couple of things with "Malwarebytes" in the title. I deleted those also. Even if those were legit, I knew I could quickly reinstall the program if need be.Still no Internet
All seemed to be fine at this point. I could open programs, get to the control panel, etc. But I still could not connect to the Internet.I then used a thumb drive with a portable version of the Opera browser on it. This allowed me to access the Internet.
Proxy setting in browsers
I then checked the proxy settings in FireFox and IE, and they both were set to use proxy servers. I changed the setting to not connect using proxy servers. I was now able to connect. So the virus changed my browser settings to point to a proxy server. Sneaky.After four or five hours of messing with this I think I am finally good-to-go. I hope. I can how go outside and play.
If you are interested in any of the programs or info I talked about, here are a few links:http://www.stumbleupon.com/
http://accs-net.com/hosts/how_to_use_hosts.html
http://www.spywarevoid.com/remove-bankerfoxa-pop-up-bankerfox-trojan-removal.html
http://portableapps.com/
http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner- The 1969s rehearsal
- The 1969s rehearsal
- True meaning of the Second Amendment. [VIDEO]
- via wimp.com
- Troy's NFL preview... sort of
Training camp is about to start!!!!!
Considering they won the Super Bowl, the Saints did not lose much in the offseason.
I was glad to see Sharper resign.That potent receiver core is back... Colston, Henderson, Moore, Meachem, and Shockey. And with Bush and Thomas at RB, Brees has all his weapons in place to make another run at the ring.There is a lot of uncertainty in the NFC, which works in the Saints favor. A lot of the playoff teams from last year have made some changes.The Eagles (the team that gave Mike Vick a "Courage" award last year) traded Donovan McNabb, so they have a big question at QB with Kevin Kolb.The Cardinals lost their Hall of Fame QB and one of their big-play receivers with Kurt Warner retiring and Anquan Boldin leaving.The Viking, much like the Eagles and Cards, have a possible QB problem with Favre still on the fence. If Brett comes back, they are right back in it. That leaves us with the Dallas Cowboys. I am admittedly biased, as I am a huge Cowboy fan, second only to the Saints. But they had a solid year last year. The made it two rounds deep into the playoffs, and they were one of the very few teams to beat the Saints in the regular season. And they beat them soundly. They have most of their team coming back, and picked up a potential star receiver in the draft in Dez Bryand. With the emergence of Austin Miles and superstar TE Jason Witten, Romo could have his best year ever. So it's on. There will be a Turkey Day Throw Down in Big Deal this year.- I rode a couple of laps at Arbor Hills today. It was only 99 degrees. Will summer ever get here?
- An all-star lineup!
- Endomondo Running Workout
- Endomondo Running Workout
- Endomondo Mountain biking Workout
- Just checking to see if the "share" function worked. Check out "Endomondo" if you want to track your running, cycling, walking, etc. It's pretty cool. I have the app on my phone, but you can use the Website without it, you just have to manually track your routes.
They have an app for iPhones, Android, Ovi, and others. - The 1969s
The 1969s has a 4-song E.P. available for your listening pleasure. Check out the tunes.
the1969s.bandcamp.comIf you want to experience the real deal, check out the show.
Fri July 9th
LaGrange
www.lagrangedallas.com
Dallas, TX- Austin
We were cutting it close on time, so we took a cab. The cab driver told us that he use to have a Michael Jackson jacket back in the 80's. The red leather thing that Eddie Murphy points cracks up at in Beverly Hills Cop. That was pretty damn funny. He was from Saudi, so that made it funnier for some reason.
First thing we did was go down Congress Street to see our friend Robert Steel play. We caught the end of his set. It was great to see him, but really awesome to see him perform. It had been a long time. 
It was just a coincidence that Rob's daughter and fly were in town. We had not seen Lane and Ashley in so long, and now they have little Charley, so that was really cool.
Lisa and I walked down 6th Street and took in the sights. And there are some sights down there. We stopped at Beale Street Tavern for some food, drinks, and live blues. It was a cool little spot. 
The next day we had lunch and then walked to river and followed the trail and checked out the sights there. It is such a cool place. OK, cool might not be the right word to describe it, as it was scorching hot.
We didn't see any bats, but we sure could hear them.
Our hotel had a great patio bar that overlooked the 7th and Congress.
I have not idea what's going on here, but I had to take a picture of it.
We walked down to Antone’s and saw Bob Schneider and Mitch Watkins. The show was awesome. We had to stand outside for a few minutes, which was not fun, as it was very very hot, but it had a huge payoff, as we had front row seats.
Bob rakes it in with merch. We bought a CD of the show and a T-shirt. The place was packed and the line for merch afterward the show was long, so he's probably doing OK.
After Bob's show, we hooked up with Rob and had dinner, then walked down 6th Street. We stopped in to a bar and had a beer and watched some 70's Rock band for a little while. They were somewhat interesting, but not for long.
The next morning we had breakfast at Kerbey's and then hit the road.
I only took this picture because this car has a guitar strapped to the top, and it was almost 100 degrees outside. Good luck keeping that thing in tune.- Tex-Mex
I just realized I have eaten Mexican food 7 times in the last 10 days and I am not tired of it. If I can't have Cajun food, give me Tex-Mex.
- Party with the Chad 6-12-10
- Here is a drawing I did of Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, and Moses.
- Damaged Faith - Pimps of Poverty
- Fishing was slow, but the one I caught was a keeper for sure
It was supposed to rain, but I just could not stay inside all day, so I loaded up the kayak and went fishing. It turned out to be nice and sunny for the most part.
I fished for a few hours with only one bight. It was a decent catfish that I got to the boat, but he took one look at me and jumped off of the hook. But as I was heading in, I caught this bad boy. It was just under 9 lbs and 25.5 inches long. Two big fillets are in the freezer. I say successes.
- Untitled
- My after work fishing plans are not looking good
- DF Rehearsal
Another successful rehearsal. We got started late, but ran through the set without any problems. We had a special guest sit in on one song. Come to the show on Sat 5-22-10 at Skillman Street Bar to find out who.
- Jogging
- Jogging
Watch live streaming video from troyonline at livestream.com
