Weather Watching Summer

I usually can clean up the mess the trackers and malware can cause, part of the problem is they bury there programs so deep you have a problem deleting them, or they basically carry an extension that keeps it alive, delete one part and another take off. Sort of like pulling wire grass. LOL The best way is to go to programs or the OS and delete them. Ad blockers do not prevent trackers but block mostly pop ups. To help block trackers, you have to change your personal settings and stop as much of your info from leaking back as you can. The drawback here is you have to approve every shared bit of data and accept any cookies.

LOL Ric--yeah, sort of like computer bindweed! ;-)

I do recommend Ghostery for blocking ad trackers. It's a simple program to install and manage. https://www.ghostery.com/en/download

One of the weirdest things I had was in "My Pictures" which are under "My Documents'.

There was a picture of some Rudbeckias--in a 4-section window in My Pictures.
Not unusual--as My Pictures is where i collect pictures of plants, ideas, clip-art stuff,
and such. So--seeing a picture of Rudbeckias was nor out of order.

I opened it--and it led to a page full of Java links--a 'window-type folder in upper left--
and--4 pictures of the Rudbeckias. None of the java links could be opened...

In the upper left--was a folder showing a woman's face. None of these were MY doings!
Opening that folder--showed a bunch of thumbnails of other people--babies. etc.
Like someone's collection of this and that.

ALL this came from My Pictures Folder. We deleted the original picture of the
Rudbeckias and sent the rest of it into La--la land. Hopefully.

Another annoying thing is that--someone once posted a link here asking anyone to
check out their Pintrest. No biggie--we ost things for others to see all the time.

Since then--I keep getting e-mails from Pintrest with things like:

"Welcome to Pintrest, Gita"
"Check out your new Pins!"
"Here's some new Pins for you"....etc....

I have never signed up for Pintrest--I DO NOT want to be there--but I cannot unsign
from it--there are NO options.
Haven't seen this lately--so something muct have worked...

I am NOT on FB---or any other social media. I do not have time, and do not want to be.

Yesterday--after Mark left--there was an annoying add that came on after EACH picture
I looked at from Bec's garden. I had to, physically, click an arrow to make this add go away.
This ad would slide out from the right side of the screen and obliterate 1/4 of all the writing
and pictures. It was for all kinds of "HOT DEALS"--and was powered by "Greener Web"..

Called Mark--and he said to go to Start->to Settings->to "Add or remove->--look for
the unwanted program (Greener Web) and uninstall it. It took a little time-but it is GONE!

Later I did it again for some stupid thing that popped up all over my screen and there was
nowhere anything to get rid of it. It was some kind of a "Speed Dial" program.
Did the same thing--and uninstalled it. Good way to get rid of things if you are SURE
they are unwelcome intrusions.

I am fairly vulnerable to all these kind of things--as I am NOT that informed of what all
is "out there"...
I do NOT invite these this in by cruising the Web--shopping on-line-or any Social medias.
Most of it arrives on the coattails of something someone else has posted.

Photos are my hugest Folder of all.
My daughter and I both recently signed up for a "My Backup" program--that backs up
everything every day. I hate the thought of losing all my Bookmarked stuff--
all my garden info.--all my pictures (AARRGGHH!!!)--all my collected informational links, etc.
This has a small monthly fee--I thnk $6.

Peace of mind is priceless.... Gita

Gita what are you using for antivirus software?

Norton--it is quite good.

Just wondering if you could find something that would do a better job of blocking those malware add-ons for you. I used to use Norton but then had problems with it. Right now I use AVG which was recommended to me by Computer Geeks.

I think I need a new computer. Mark admits that some of the components
need to be updated. It is about 6 or 7 years since he built it.

My current big problem is that i cannot get to my Mozilla Firefox--my home page.
That is where my e-mails are....
When I click to open it--there is a full-screen thing from "Speed Dial"...(????).
It seems to suggest that this is the fastest way to get to my favorite sames and sports.
It has a big soccer ball in it's logo. Nowhere to close it...
I went to settings and uninstalled it--and it is no longer on the list--but still comes up...

Malware is constantly being blocked by one of the programs Mark installed--
as the little window comes up telling me each time it is done.
Most are "inbound"==some are "outbound'...

G.

Seems there are more problems.....not so easily gotten rid of.

Yes, might be time for a reformat of the hard drive or even a new hard drive! It's really nice that you have a SIL who's computer-savvy and can help you!

Gita, I use Firefox also... when you go to open your home page (and get that "speed dial" full screen thing), do you still have your blue tabs at the top.. ya know, from left to right they should be "file", "edit", "view", "history", "bookmarks", "tools", and "help"? If so, click on "Tools", then from the drop-down menu, click on "Options". That will open up a new little window... in that new little window, click on the "General" tab (at the very top left). In that little window, The first thing you'll see is Startup.... "when foxfire starts: HERE WILL BE THE SMALL DROP-DOWN MENU FROM WHICH TO CHOOSE HOW/WHERE YOU WANT FOXFIRE TO START. In that little drop-down menu, you want to make sure you've chosen the option "Show My Home Page".
Directly beneath that should be the word HOMEPAGE, with a box within which you can type WHAT you want your home page to be. It should be: Mozilla Foxfire Start Page.

I hope this helps! =)

aww, Speedie, you're brilliant! :-)

good job Speedie hope that works, it sounds familiar. Hackers are rotten people, but programmers who make money designing that crap for companies are next on my list.

What great sleeping weather last night and great deck and coffee weather this morning.

Oh yes, this morning's weather was magnificent!! It sure was great for lawn mowing .. uhh.. mow lawning, I mean. ;)

I'm actually sorta glad that I've got jury duty to go to this week (or, at least tomorrow).. I do not relish the thought of being in the heat in the store with the temps we're expected soon. :(

mawn lowing....

Erg jury duty sounds so boring. I'd take a book or my favorite puzzle magazine.

Speedie--
I will try all that....just letting you know I will..

Today--when I got home from work--came to the "C"--and up came the report on all the
malware "Malwarebytes" blocked and quaranteed.

"Speedial" was blocked and quaranteed 63 times!!!! Mozilla Firefox was 7 times.
It showed the location of that as: Program filesspeedial. Did not see it when I looked.

I seem to have also lost the little "google" icon in my top tool bar where i always go t
google something. Everything can be found under this. Now it is gone...

The "Malicious Website Blocked" pop-up windows keep -a-coming as i type this.
One after another.

In the "reports" on this it said--"Apply Actions" (quarantees) and I did click on that so it
would be "applied"--and then had to restart my computer ("C" from now on)

Speed dial is still there! I cannot get to my e-mails.

I will try what you said--speedie---watch me screw something else up.....
G.

OK--Speedie---

Yes--all the items in the blue tabs at the top were still there....

All the settings were exactly as you described--and I followed them to a "T"..twice!

In the "Show my Home page" drop-down there were 3 options.

--show my homepage
--show a blank page
--show my windows and tabs from last time. (last ime WHEN???)...

Under the HOMEPAGE box--where I was supposed to type WHAT I want my
homepage to be--there were 3 options:

--Use current page--Did not work--went right back to Speeddial.
--Restore to default--same thing....

Clicked on "HELP"---
All it showed were the same page/windows I have been on.

DEAD END! This is so frustrating.......

I BET YOU that another 50 blocks were happening while I wrote this--all for Speeddial.
Them windows were popping up every minute.

Gita, I think I had trouble with this kind of thing for a while after my computer was infected by malware. I was unable to remove it. I ended up getting Computer Geeks to fix it for me. I can't remember now whether this involved a hard drive reformat or whether they were able to fix it without that. I'm sorry... :-(

Oh goodness Gita, then I don't know... maybe a call to Geek Squad is in the cards for you.. :( You've definitely got something in there that should NOT be, but I dunno what! :(

Wow, 74*F at 7 AM. Today is gonna' be a scorcher. I think I'll get some watering done early.

Gita, I'm not very tec savvy either. I just hate it when the computer is acting up. I know just how frustrated you are.

80 degrees here at 7 am!

Positive thought I managed yesterday: I'm glad to know I can really still sweat from every body pore!

Stay hydrated all.

I'm sitting here fingers crossed we won't get rain Saturday! I've got plants to plant darn it!! It's a little warm here at 89 but nice and breezy.

P H E W
97 on my way home at 3 pm!!!!!!!!

haha coleup....

DH said it hit 99 here today. I'll take his word for it. ;) Supposedly it's a 'cooling off' trend starting tomorrow, only supposed to be about 90 or so. Yay! ??

haha Sally
Positive thot for today...yes the 'outside temperature' gauge on my Prius does go to 100 and beyond.

Other positive things:
10 yr old window ac still works
my shaded yard is almost 20 degrees cooler...thanks big trees
gorilla glue fixed my Tevas for now

whew it's *hot* out there that's for sure! I survived long enough to water a few plants, refill the bird bath, and check on my happily munching BST caterpillar.

Gita, I hope you turned that watering hose at work on yourself a few times!!

Coleup, glad that window AC works for you!!

This message was edited Jun 18, 2014 7:18 PM

I read this somewhere- to cool off, put your wrists in cool water, as that blood circulates to your core next.

My hydrangeas were all PO'ed at this heat- big time wilting.

All is Ok for now with my Computer----Some things are slightly different--but it is OK.
Malwarebytes is doing it's job--attacks blocked windows popping up one after the other.

Got my e-mail page back. Easy--i am so stupid! Really! I just put Comcast.net
in the Google bar--search!--and my old Firefox home page came up.
Then--just like you said, Speedie---I went to "Tools" and followed all your advice--
and made Firefox my home page again.

Mark (my SIL) helped me understand all this--but he was tired and impatient with me.

Now I can see my e-mails again! WOOOO---HOOOO---- G.

Sally--
You can also hold an ice cube to each of your temples.
Cool the blood that goes directly to your brain.

Wrists ARE further away.......:o) G.

I've been eating Edy's frozen fruit bars to cool down. Lime. Mmmm.

I've read from southern gardeners about using cool packs around their necks. Maybe they were hydrogel beads in a cloth tube? that you could chill or even freeze and drape on the back of your neck?
We were in Zion National Park last year, it wasn't terribly hot but we made good use of a small towel, soaked now and then to wipe face, shoulders and arms with cool water. Then take the damp towel and drape it on the backs of our necks.

Zion has stunning scenery! Driving from Vegas to Zion is great too

When I do that trip across the country, Zion National Park is definitely on my list of places to stop! :-) I've never been to the northern/mid states, like the Dakotas, Montana, and Idaho, and have only very briefly been to Wyoming and Utah. So much to see!

Speedie, sounds like fun playing in the sprinklers at work! :-)

Ric and I enjoyed Zion Nat Park when were were out there. Years ago we flew into Vegas (he was there for a conference for a week before I flew in) Then we drove around the Grand Canyon for a week. We had a great time and it was so beautiful. Just never got back out west again.

The Grand Canyon is so stunning! Would love to go someday when I have more time. Last time we were there, DD was 3 and more interested in Dora episodes than in the beautiful sights in front of her!

The desert environment is so different from Mid Atlantic. It awes me to imagine how people lived there hundreds+ years ago.

Cat, when you go to Wyoming, make sure you swing by Devil's Tower. Super awesome site! My parents took my sister and I for a 3 week road trip out west and back. We were 10 and 8 but I still remember a lot of it. We put on 7000 miles and saw so many cool things. What a valuable experience it was! We also saw Zion and Bryce Nat'l Parks in Utah. They were gorgeous. I forget which it was but the one had very steep cliffs right off the road as you're driving through. Pretty hairy driving but super awesome nonetheless.

Sally--yes, that's part of it--how different yet beautiful it is from our own environment.

Seq, that's so interesting--my mother took my brother and I for a long road trip when he was 10 and I was 8! We were living in Calif at the time--drove through Arizona to Colorado and back, about 3-4 weeks total. I have very fond memories of that trip. Yes, I'll add Bryce to the list! :-D

Yeah if you're going to AZ, check out the Painted Desert and the Petrified Forest. Both super cool. The Petrified Forest is actually parts of tree trunks that were turned into rocks! Earth is so wonderful and interesting.

If anyone gets to the area check out Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, it was pretty awesome. When Holly and I were there in Zion we walked down to the river and saw puma tracks, so cool.

Threatening rain here, we could use it after 2 days in the fryer, but it's Jubilee Day in Mechanicsburg. The Largest, Longest running, One-Day Street Fair on the East Coast (maybe the country!), always fun to go eat terrible for you things and take the grands. They're usually worn out (I know we are) and have their faces painted and sticky from cotton candy by the time we leave. LOL JR spent the night to go with us and Jen is meeting us with Lily and Lucas. This will be Lucas' first time since he's old enough to remember the fun.

http://www.mechanicsburgchamber.org/events_jubilee_day.php

This message was edited Jun 19, 2014 10:08 AM

I've been quite fortunate to travel. My mom is a teacher and took us on trips every summer. I've been to 42 states, my national park passport is loaded, and visited PEI and the Bay of Fundy.

I was in my early teens but they're good memories. Top of my list is Alaska.