Quick IndexQuick Index

You can jump directly to articles in this newsletter. Just left click on the Index listing.

Newsletter ContentsQuick Index.....................................................1

Notes from Kent............................................1The Password Problem...................................1Your Worst Ransomware Nightmare..............2

How's the Weather?......................................3Other Weather Websites.................................5

Computer Traveling.......................................6Computers and Music...................................7

Using Sibelius.................................................7More Time Killers...........................................9

Notes from KentNotes from KentThe Password ProblemThe Password Problem

It seems that you can hardly wake up in the morn-ing without entering the correct password. “Correct,” in this case, means the password that youhave identified for a specific purpose or to access a desired website or use software. The old advice wasto not write down your password(s) as this was an

easy ingress for a potential thief. But, as the numberof passwords required for particular activities has mushroomed, writing down the dozens of pass-words becomes seemingly unavoidable. One alter-native strategy is to minimize the number of pass-words you need to remember by using the same password(s) for a number of sites. Of course, this means that cracking one (or a few) password(s) gives an intruder access to all of your sites/re-sources using that single password.

One approach is to keep your password simple but that also makes cracking easy for the bad guys. Thisis the reason that sites (including our bvres.org) areincreasingly requiring a password include letters, numbers, be 6 or 8 or more digits long, contain bothlower case and capital letters, and include one or more symbols (such as @, #, $, etc.). One addi-tional approach is to encrypt the password. And thatis our topic for this month. The safety of encryptionis based on the num-ber of bits used in theprocess.

As the table indi-cates, the greater thenumber of bits (a bitequaling “1” or “0”)in the key size, thegreater amount oftime required forcracking.

The table indicatesthat determining the password with 4-bit encryption

More to come, turn page F F F

If you are reading this on your computer dis-play, remember that Acrobat Reader has a zoom feature (under “View” in your top tool bar) for zooming in on a page (i.e., making the text or image larger). You can also take advan-tage of links to websites simply by clicking on them.

BVCC OfficersPresident: Kent Mulliner

Vice President.: Don NetzleyTreasurer: George HartwellSecretary: Nancy Seward

Newsletter Editor: Len NasmanCLUB EMAIL: bvclub@bvres.org

Next Computer Club (BVCC) Meeting

Computers and Music: Len Nasman willdemonstrate composing and playing music

with Louie the Laptop

January 13, 2014, 7:30Pm, Glenn Center

BVCC NewsletterBVCC Newsletter - - January 2014January 2014ISSN: 2327-2198ISSN: 2327-2198

Key combinations versusKey size

BVCC Newsletter - January 2014

(e.g., 1011) would require maximum of 16 rounds beginning with 0000 to test all of the possible com-binations. The table also documents the power of exponential increases. In the table, DES is an earlierstandard (Data Encryption Standard) while AES (Advanced Encryption Standard) is the current standard.

The tabletranslates theinformationin the first ta-ble to time,based on aconservativeestimation of a super computer's processing speed (10.51 pentaflops [flop=floating point operations per second]).

To provide a more familiar frame of reference (based on an elaborate interpolation of the data and using current computer speeds), cracking the 128-bit AES key would require a maximum billion bil-lion years. The tables are drawn from an article in the EE Times May 7, 2012 (www.eetimes.com/doc-ument.asp?doc_id=1279619).

As buried in the opening, this is all prelude to a dis-cussion of free password management tools drawn from Kiplinger's Personal Finance (January 2014, p. 76).

The article identifies three programs preferred by the author (all of which claim to use AES-256 en-cryption, explanation of which required the forego-ing). Translated to plain English, AES-128 (not to mention AES-256) is less likely to be cracked by the bad guys (1 in a billion billion years) than the odds of winning the Mega Millions Lottery (1 in 176 million).

These programs allow you to create a single master password which gives access to all of your pass-words or to create new, much more secure pass-words. This latter is the most secure means of creat-ing and remembering the passwords you use. An additional capability is to rate the strength of your password(s).

Two main programs are discussed. Dashlane (www.dashlane.com) is free for both Windows and Mac PCs and most smart phones and tablets. It is for a single device unless you opt for premium edi-tion ($20 per year) which syncs your passwords andbacks up data across several devices. LastPass (www.lastpass.com) differs in that it stores your in-formation in the cloud (while DashLane stores it on your computer). To use LastPass on a number of smart phones and tablets carries a cost of $1 per month. You can ask your password management software to provide secure passwords (removing theweakness of repeating use of one or a few pass-words), they likely will be beyond your memory ca-pacity (both in size and memorability) thus (if you want to use them from another machine) you'll needto opt for the capacity to sync (i.e., synchronize). the passwords. You also need to decide if you feel safer with all of your information confined to a sin-gle computer or if you prefer to keep it in the cloud (which makes it accessible from anywhere).

The third program mentioned briefly is Keeper (www.keepersecurity.com) does most of the things that the other two do but does not provide an evalu-ation of the security of your passwords. Using it on more than one device (with the ability to sync) costs$20 per device.

Your Worst Ransomware NightmareYour Worst Ransomware Nightmare

We've previously cautioned over the last two years of the growth of ransomware (in which the softwareclaims that your machine is infected (or contains child pornography or other heinous information) and that removal of such offensive information will cost you $200. Of course, your machine is infected (by the ransomware) and paying the source to re-move is a dubious undertaking. Until this past Fall, the ransomware threats have been curable with at least some anti-virus programs.

Page 2 of 9

Time to crack Cryptographic Key

BVCC Newsletter - January 2014

In September 2013, ransomware reached a new lowas the Cryptolocker software first took control of your data and then advised you that if you did not pay $300 the data would be permanently encrypted.I've always wondered how these payments could work without leaving a trail for law enforcement or net vigilantes. Cryptolocker gets around this by re-lying on bitcoin. Bitcoin is a private payment sys-tem relying on open source software and which has no banks or controlling authorities. It is controlled by the user's ability to prevent any unapproved dis-bursements (for a lengthier discussion of bitcoin seehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin.

The problem with cryptolocker (evident from the discussion of cryptographic keys in the foregoing article) is that only the owner of the key can unencrypt the results. At present, the two possible responses are to pay the ransom (and hope that the promulgator follows up by unencrypting your data) or to back up your data at frequent intervals (which minimizes what might be lost to the bad guys). To be safe you should also retain the original disks for any programs that you use (to facilitate reinstallation(s). One free software program (http://www.softpedia.com/get/Antivirus/Removal-Tools/Bitdefender-Anti-CryptoLocker.shtml ) claims to offer protection against infection but this claim has not been validated by credible reports.

Reports on the spread of Cryptolocker (and there is the original version and at least one copycat ver-sion) attribute it to drive-by downloads (a web site that, when visited, will upload predatory software toyour computer) or attachments to email. False de-livery notices from companies such as UPS and FedEx or the Post Office are favorite covers for the ransomware. The newness of this threat precludes any authoritative advice beyond “be very careful” and backup often.

How's the Weather?How's the Weather?By Len

I am guessing that whenever you talk on the phone to a relative or friend who does not live in the same town as you, the subject of the weather always comes up. We have a fascination with the weather, and the Internet can provide you with information that was only available to professional weather re-searchers a few years ago.

There are a lot of web sites that provide informa-tion, but my personal favorite for up to date weatherinformation is the wundermap. This web site has a nice terrain map option, and also provides an ani-mation feature. You can pan around on the map by dragging it with the mouse. (Drag means click and hold down the left mouse button and move the mouse.)

Page 3 of 9

A Screen You Don't Want to See

Typical Screen from Previous Ransomware

BVCC Newsletter - January 2014

A legends section of the Wundermap provides op-tions for showing radar images and/or weather sta-tions. The Wundermap allows you to zoom in to Bristol Village street level for more accurate infor-mation aboutstorm progress.

The animatedradar map featureis very nice whenyou want to con-sider the weatherwhen planning atrip or picnic. It isalso very usefulwhen severe weather is approaching. You can zoom right in to the neighborhood level and get a much better idea of where and when a storm will hit then you can get from the general information from a TVstation focusing on local weather many miles away.

Maybe you are interested in learning a lot more about the weather then the watered down reports from the TV weather people. Click on the map to jump to the Weather Underground web site. Or go to:

http://www.wunderground.com/

Then selectthe Wun-dermap op-tion. Usethe Leg-ends sec-tion to tog-gle radar,weatherstations,and frontsoptions on.

The mapshows a lot of symbols with which you might not be familiar, so I will try to explain some of them.

The colored circles on the map represent weather stations. (Click on a station for detailed info.) The number in the circles is the current temperature. The color of the circle also provides an idea of the temperature. The color map key shows tempera-tures by color as well as numbers. This is handy since you can observe temperature trends across a wide area without having to study every tempera-ture number.

If there is a line attached to a circle it means that thewind is blowing and it it is blowing toward the weather station in the direction of the line. There are little flags on the end of the wind line that show the current wind speed. A short flag means 5 miles

Page 4 of 9

Wundermap with radar and stations on.

Wundermap with radar, stations, and fronts.

Color map key.

BVCC Newsletter - January 2014

per hour, a long flag means 10 miles per hour. Threelong flags and one short flag would indicate 35 miles per hour.

The next thing to observeon the map are the red andblue curved lines. Theserepresent fronts. Fronts areboundaries betweenmasses of air with differentdensities. The symbols on the front lines show the direction the front is moving. When fronts smash into each other look for dramatic weather changes. For more on fronts see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weather_front

The letters H and L show the center of high and lowbarometric pressure areas. In our part of the world winds rotate clockwise around high pressure areas and counter clockwise around low pressure areas.

To see this in action open two Internet web sites (use tabs on your browser). Open the Wundermap site and turn on the fronts option. Open the Wind Map (see info later in this article) in a second tab and observe the winds around the H and L pressure areas.

Other Weather WebsitesOther Weather Websites

There are other weather web sites you may want to visit.

Weather Channel

The Weather TV Channel (that we can get on our Bristol Village cable) operates a website that has links to maps, photos, news and more.

http://www.weather.com/

The weather.com site provides for setting favorite locations. The site also pro-vides a desktop app todownload and install onyour computer. I tried it,found it much too intrusive,and quickly uninstalled it.

Weather.gov

The National Weather Service provides a website that has a lot of weather related information.

Page 5 of 9

http://www.weather.com/

Weather fronts.

BVCC Newsletter - January 2014

Options on the pop down menus of the National Weather Service site provide links to other related sites such as NOAA, and the Navel Observatory.

Wind Map

An interesting website has an animated map of cur-rent wind speeds.

This is an amazing application of computer tech-nologies that provide us with a graphic view of real time information previously only available to se-lected experts.

Now when you talk to your friends about the weather, you have a lot more information at your disposal.

Computer TravelingComputer TravelingBy Len

OK, it's winter... a good time to keep the car in the garage and avoid nasty winter road conditions. However, if you have an urge to see the world on these cold winter nights, the Internet is a great sub-stitute for actually being there.

First, the view through an airplane window. Here are 50 nice pictures.

http://twistedsifter.com/2012/11/see-ing-the-world-through-an-airplane-window/

Next, some Google camera views. Here is a link to a YouTube video showing how the Google camera people created views of the world's tallest building.

Page 6 of 9

http://hint.fm/wind/

http://www.weather.gov/

One of 50 pictures from twistedsifter.

BVCC Newsletter - January 2014

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn7AFhVEI5o

Google has been adding more buildings and parks to their street view collection. Here is another link to places for computer travelers to explore.

https://www.google.com/maps/views/streetview?gl=us

Happy traveling!

Computers and MusicComputers and MusicBy Len

Although I have no formal musical training, I have always been interested in music. I taught myself to read music by using the card that fits behind a pianokeyboard that my sister had from her piano lessons. From time to time I have had music in my head thatwants to get out. Years before personal computers were available, I dreamed about being able to use a computer to play music for me. The increased power of personal computers have made the dream of composing and playing music on a computer come true.

There is a variety of music writing software avail-able. The web site shown here provides reviews of the various programs.

By coincidence the top rated program is Sibelius, the program I decided on a number of years ago. There are two versions of Sibelius, one basic level called Sibelius First, and the other a more expensiveversion called Sibelius 7. Sibelius 7 is professional level program and has been used by professional composers. This site lists a few.

http://www.sibelius.com/products/sibeliusedu/user-s.html

The next listed program in the web site noted aboveis Finale. This program is used by many of the folks who submit scores for editing by our local Bristol Village music professor Gordon Mathe.

Another program reviewed is NoteWorthy. This is alow cost ($49) program that provides enough fea-tures for scoring hymns, and there is a growing li-brary of hymns and church music on the Internet that uses the NoteWorthy file format. I experi-mented with NoteWorthy some years ago and foundit fairly easy to use, but limited in features.

Using SibeliusUsing Sibelius

Since I am most familiar with Sibelius I will de-scribe how it is used to enter and play music. The Sibilius program displays scores much like a word processing program in that what you see on the dis-play how a printed copy will look. Of course, just like a word processing document, there are differentways to display the music as you are editing it.

A Sibilius score can have any number of staffs. Each instrument has it's own staff, or in the case of pianos or organs multiple staffs.

Page 7 of 9

https://www.google.com/maps/views/streetview?gl=us

http://music-notation-software-review.toptenreviews.com/

BVCC Newsletter - January 2014

Here is howSibelius works.You first establishthe instrumentsand other charac-teristics of a musicscore. There aredozens of tem-plates providedfrom voice and pi-ano to full orches-tra. Once you select a template you set the time and key. You choose portrait or landscape orientation and the number of bars and systems for each page of the score layout.

After establishing the score layout, you add notes. Notes can be added to the score a number of ways. You select a note type from the note edit tools and then use the mouse, or keyboard, or an on screen pi-ano keyboard to enter notes in the score.

If you have electronic keyboard skills, you can con-nect a MIDI keyboard, play some music, and Sibelius will create a score from what you play.

The note edit tools mimic the numeric key pad area of a standard keyboard and you can select options with the mouse or the key pad. To edit a note you first select it with the mouse and then use the edit tools to make changes.

As in word processing you can copy and paste scoreselections. Since most music involves some amountof repetition, this speeds up the process of creating a score. There also are a number of shortcut keys to speed up score creation, but all of the options are available in a Microsoft style ribbon menu.

Once notes have been added to the score, it can be played using built in computer sounds, or through an external MIDI sound module. Lyrics and other text can be added to the score.

Page 8 of 9

A Sibelius score.

Sibelius template samples.

Entering notes in the score.

BVCC Newsletter - January 2014

The playback options remove the mechanical feel of earlier computer music. Sibelius 7 provides a comprehensive collection of musical notation op-tions making it possible for even amateur musicianslike myself to produce professional looking scores.

More Time KillersMore Time KillersBy Len

Here is something I ran into on a website named boredpanda.com. The picture on the right looks likethe tree is suspended in space, or that the picture was manipulated in a computer paint program. But, the guy in the picture on the left is shown painting the tree trunk so that it looks like the tree has been cut. There is a video that shows people and cars passing behind the tree. It is amazing what people will do to amuse their friends.

The boredpanda website has links to a lot of fun stuff. For example someone decided to make a mapof the USA by coloring each state with a particular product logo.

The boredpanda has 40 other maps they didn't showyou in school.

Page 9 of 9

Not really cut tree.

The good ol (BRANDED) USA.

Countries (in red) where they do not use themetric system.

HAVE FUNBROWSING!