Well, maybe not exactly panic. Maybe just extreme caution. I have a pretty good backup system, but still I always worry a lot when a disk drive problem pokes its ugly head around a corner. One did just that this week.
The SMART monitor started raising caution flags. No warnings of imminent failure, but making me aware that there was trouble in the future. Sometime in the future. Some unknowable time. Mild panic ensued.
The drive with the problem was a 2TB Seagate drive, a brand that I've had more trouble with than expected over the past few years. A similar drive purchased at the same time had failed late last year and another 2TB Seagate drive failed earlier. I've been replacing them with Western Digital Black drives, so I ordered a replacement.
The failing physical drive housed 2 logical drives and perhaps I should mention that one of them (drive E) holds all production website data, graphics files, and a lot of desktop publishing files. All important stuff, so that added to the feeling of panic. The other drive (G) holds family videos, all software that I've downloaded, template files for the TechByter podcast, and various PDF versions of manuals. More mild panic.
When the new drive arrived, I confirmed that both drives E and G had completely current backups on the external USB drives. CrashPlan had reported 100% completion. I didn't check the NAS drive. And, of course, both drives were still fully readable so I could attach the old drive to the computer and restore from there if I had to.
Still, there was sufficient space on drive I to create two directories, _TEMP-E and _TEMP-G. Before removing the old drive from its bay, I backed up every file to the appropriate directory in drive I.
After removing the Seagate drive and installing the Western Digital drive, I restarted the computer and used the Windows Disk Management console initialize the physical drive, create a partition for each of the drives, and then format them.
All that remained was copying all of the files back from the special directories on drive I to their rightful places on drives E and G.
As somebody once said, "just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you." Sometimes a bit of panic goes a long way toward keeping data safe.
Adobe Stock is moving forward on several fronts, one of them somewhat surprising given the service's concentration to date on providng stock images for users of Creative Cloud, which limited its appeal to professionals. In addition to providing an entire new class of images, Adobe Stock is enhancing its search function and providing access to office workers via a Microsoft Powerpoint plug-in.
For professionals, there are two significant changes: The introduction of editorial images and improvements to search.
Stock photographs are best described as being of no particular person in no particular place at no particular time. The images are generic. Editorial images are the exact opposite: They illustrate a specific person or event at a specific time in a specific location. Writers and designers need both -- stock images are well suited to advertising and general illustrations in articles while editorial images are essential for news accounts.
Adobe Stock has a large and growing collection of generic images that range in price from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars depending on the quality, resolution, size, and intended use of the image. Now, in a single move, Adobe will make available 12 million photographs and motion picture images dating back 100 years from the Reuters news agency. New images are added every day. The editorial images carry a higher price tag, $50 to $500 depending on quality and resolution.
Additionally images from USA Today Sports will be added and Adobe says that discussions are ongoing with other providers of editorial images.
The other significant enhancement for professionals is a more visual approach to searching for images, coupled with some powerful filtering options.
Here's an example of selecting images based on a shallow depth of field so that the background will be more blurred.
Click any of the smaller images for a full-size view.
To dismiss the larger image, press ESC or tap outside the image.
Adobe Stock vice president, Claude Alexander, described a problem that is common to visual communicators, the need for both quality and speed.
Another filter that's in beta test allows the user to specify images that are more or less colorful. Images tending to be monochrome are on the left here and more brightly colored images are on the right.
Maybe the most exciting part of what Adobe has announced is the ability for Microsoft Powerpoint users to access high-quality images for use in their presentations. It's exciting for Adobe because it gives millions of users access to images they can buy. It's equally exciting for users because most clip-art collections are outdated, of low quality, or trite -- and often, all of the above. Although an office manager might not be willing to sign a secretary or an assistant up for a Creative Cloud membership, that same office manager might well be willing to spend a few dollars to improve some of the organization's Powerpoint presentations.
Adobe Stock principal product manager, Gordon Lyon, describes the reasoning behind the decision to make stock images available to users of Powerpoint.
Powerpoint is a visual medium. Bullet points get in the way. Large blocks of text are death to communication because people simply can not read words on a screen, listen to someone speak, and comprehend both. Usually what happens is both the words on screen and the presenter's words are lost. The reason is simple enough: The same part of the brain is used to process written words and spoken words. It can do one or the other, not both.
As my friend Rick Altman writes in Why Most Powerpoint Presentations Suck and How You Can Make them Better, "We identify four legitimate reasons why well-intentioned content creators feel compelled to overload their slides with text. Some are easy to resolve, others not so easy—and in all cases, the text creates one of the most insidious barriers to a presenter being able to connect with his or her audience." Learn more about the book on BetterPresenting.com.
If you must use bullet points, make them short and couple them with a compelling graphic. The graphic sets the tone and context while the presenter's words provide the content. I know that some people will react by arguing that distributing a Powerpoint deck without words ruins its use as a takeaway for attendees. No, it doesn't. The Powerpoint deck was never meant to be a takeaway for users and it's always been useless for that purpose. If you want to provide something for attendees to take home, create something specifically intended for users to take home and use later.
So to get back to Adobe's announcement, presenters now will have access to high-quality, relevant images and -- using new search capabilities that will be available from within Powerpoint -- they'll be able to identify, license, and download those images easily.
Despite the fact that Windows XP no longer qualifies for any support from Microsoft, the company has once again issued security patches for machines that still use it.
The second set of XP patches since the WannaCry attack that crippled hundreds of thousands of computers (most with Windows 7) was issued as part of the standard monthly patch release.
Microsoft said the patches are in response to what it called an elevated risk for destructive cyber attacks. Microsoft cautioned users of the obsolete operating system that this should not be considered the standard process for Microsoft. Security Center manager Eric Doerr said that the security updates do not extend support policies. "We recommend customers upgrade to the latest platforms," he said.
About half of all companies have at least a few computers that still run Windows XP and Microsoft says that this week's patches have closed the remaining holes exposed by the release by Shadow Brokers of exploits developed by the National Security Agency.
The Malwarebytes blog discusses a couple of new approaches intended infect MacOS computers with malware. As with many other such exploits, these are being offered in a way that anyone can use it -- malware as a service.
One is a backdoor named MacSpy and a ransomware attack that's being called MacRansom. They were first reported by Bleeping Computer. Both had been advertised through Tor websites, claiming them to be "The most sophisticated Mac spyware/ransomware ever, for free." To obtain access to the malware, interested parties had to send an email message to the developer.
Malwarebytes says that the apps "are not particularly advanced." The malware is stored in the .DS_Stores folder and the .FS_Store, both of which are hidden. The Malwarebytes blog says they "also create LaunchAgent files for persistence – a not at all original method."
The MacRansom description says that when its trigger date arrives "the malware encrypts the files in the user's home folder and on any connected volumes." It waits 3 days, which is probably long enough that most protective applications will spot it and remove it before damage is done.
MacSpy "is fairly simple spyware, which gathers data into temporary files and sends those files periodically back to a Tor command & control server via unencrypted http."
The malware takes screen shots every 30 seconds, captures audio from the microphone, photos, the contents of the clipboard, browser data, and keystrokes. They key logger works only if the person using the malware has the Mac's administrator password.
Malwarebytes says that although neither program is particularly sophisticated, they both do include some reasonably effective analysis avoidance features.
You can read the full article on the Malwarebytes website, which includes information about who the malware writers are and how to remove an infection.
