Netgear has recently released a firmware upgrade for its DG834GT router. I have that modem and one of the enhancements was to VOIP, which I’ve started using in the last week. Ideal.

Except I spent many frustrated hours yesterday wondering why the wireless connectivity on my daughers laptop wasn’t working. Then I tried my work laptop and that didn’t work either.

Both are on WEP security (insecure I know, but I also have a Nintendo DS on the network and that doesn’t use WPA). I found that switching to WPA temporarily worked (as did turning off encryption). Eventually I rolled back to the previous version of the routers firmware and it worked again.

Having read about other people having this issue on various Netgear forums, it would seem to be a problem impacting Super-G and G wireless - hence why the Nintendo DS continued to work even with the new firmware installed.

Meantime, Netgear continue to have the firmware download available on their site. I can only assume they don’t read their own forums, so I’ll be submitted a fault report to them. Hopefully they’ll then pull the link.

A recent post on a computer forum..

I have a pop up box that tells me that it wants to install an upgrade.RealNetworks has identified a security risk in RealPlayer that may make your computer vulnerable to viruses and malware. RealNetworks has issued a fix and it is highly recommended that you download it at this time.

The vulnerability has been identified as a malicious Web page which affects the import method of an Active X control to cause a stack overflow in the RealPlayer. CVE-2007-5601. This posting is applicable to versions of the product downloaded before October 25th, 2007.

There is then a link that promises more information.

I’ve had no problems using Real Player. Is this genuine or is somebody out to get me?

Now, if I’d had a chance to get their first, I’d have suggested he stop being so paranoid and run it. The same forum is full of people scared about security issues - here is a Real pop-up box telling them to install a critical update to protect them. And they don’t want to.

This was closely followed up with…

Real’s own site mentions upgrades, but when i asked for information on the 26th October upgrade none was available. As I’ve had no trouble with it I think I’ll stay with the version I’ve got.

Arrrgghhhh. Well I hope he gets hit by the vulnerability.

As I’ve said before the paranoia about computer security is at absolutely epic proportions, but a little common sense is all it takes. Why bitch and complain about PC’s being unsecure when you won’t install critical security updates? More often than not, the people on these forums are even too paranoid to run automatic Windows updates. Personally, I wish there was an option to automatically install non-urgent updates to Windows as well.

But maybe that’s just me.

Ad-blockers. Browser plug-ins that get rid of website adverts. Nasty, annoying adverts. And Adblock Plus for Firefox is one of the most popular add-ons that you can get.

Except, of course, the reason why so much on the web is free is because they make some money from these adverts. Suppress them and they end of withdrawing the service or charging for it. Usually it’s the former.

The Copy+ website provides a unique, useful piece of software for free. Instead, we make money from licensing and from some non-evasive adverts at the top and bottom of each page. So, as I’m sure you can imagine, I’m not keen on ad-blockers.

However, I’ve had a number of Copy+ visitors reporting that with Adblock running the website doesn’t display properly. I’ve had a look and - yep - I can see it happening but sure as hell don’t know why (because I don’t know how Adblock is working).

So, I posted to the Adblock forum. Instead of some useful advice, I got criticism of my code. Yes, it was my fault. My fault that it worked perfectly fine with Adblock turned off but then didn’t with it turned on. Of course. How foolish of me.

So, guess what? That’s right - I’m going to change the site to detect Adblock and not let you on if you have it installed or turned on. The Adblock people could have just helped me work with it, but they weren’t prepared to. It’s only fair.

Grrr, some things get me really annoyed.

A discussion board I often use has a section for computer problems. Often they resolve around issues with anti-virus products. Unfortunately there’s a feverish almost zealous addiction to the free version of AVG which is quite off-putting (to say the least). Someone posted the other day to say they had Norton 360 and it kept going offline. The suggested answer… get rid of it and download the free AVG. Arrrgghhh.

That’s like going on a car forum and asking about a problem with your BMW, and everyone suggesting you get a Skoda instead. It’s cheap, reliable and they’ve never had any problems with it.

I upset things a little when I pointed out that a recent PCpro review found that AVG had poor detection rates. Naturally, I was told that you get different results on different days so AVG averages out just as good as the others. Riiigghhhtttt.

The PCpro recommendation was to get Kaspersky. It wasn’t free but for the advanced features and better detection it was worth spending a little for it.

Naturally the recommendation on the forum is to get free AVG. You’d think they worked for the company or something….

And whilst I’m on a rant.

The Workplace Parking Levy has raised its ugly head. This is a plan by Nottingham City Council to charge people for parking at work. It will help congestion by getting people to find alternatives routes to work and they can plough the money back into local transport schemes.

Except… well, where we work is on the outskirts but not in the city. So we won’t see the benefits of any improvements. Plus it won’t stop people coming to work, as most people don’t have an option. It will hit shift workers and anyone else, even if they don’t cause congestion because of the times they travel. Oh, and small businesses are exempted because… their cars don’t cause congestion?? Not sure on that one.

No, it’s badly thought out rubbish that’s just going to hit us in the pocket - £185+VAT a year starting in 2010, going up within 5 years to £350+VAT. To park. At work. Most will pay it, whilst others will find alternative places to park (probably on residential roads).

As the geek I am, I often hang around various technical forums. Usually those inhabited by your average Joe, seeking help, than the real tech-heads.

Anyway, I’m often amazed at those people, at the point of paranoia, desperately trying to get rid of cookies from their browsing, as if they’re incredibly unsafe and causing major problems with their computers. One I read recently, was how, after logging out a site, when they return it still shows their username, and asks them to log back in first. They want it to completely forget about them when they log out.

But why? This wasn’t a porn site, or anything the least bit dodgy. If someone found you’d be on this site, it wouldn’t cause the least issue with anyone.

Well it’s the medias fault, it’s got to be. They wip the public into a frenzy over anything and everything that’s actually, well, not really an issue at all. We’re all being spied on, it’s Big Brother , they know what you’re doing… yadda yadda yadda

Which is probably why Google keeps getting a hard time these days. I think these guys are great. But some people just won’t have it - there’s got to be something more sinister going on. So, for example, if you use Gmail (I do - it’s great), their computers scan your mails so that they can target their ads at you more appropriately. That’s how they make their money and can offer you such great services free of charge. Naturally, there are many people who think it’s not that straight and people at Google are actually reading your email. Or sending it onto government agencies.

Me? Well, I don’t have anything they’d be interested in anyway. But lets be honest - any email company could be doing that if they want, including your ISP provided email account.

You could burst a blood vessel worrying about such things and in the big scheme of things it’s not really that important. Google say they’re not evil and, call me a fool, I believe them. And, yes, my browsers are set to accept all cookies.

There are more things in life to get worried about. And believe me, if it can be worried about I probably do…