Rock Hill Computer Club / Group

I am thinking of starting a "club / group" for the Study of Technology. What this means is we would get together once a month, and not just "talk" about how technology is affecting us at work. We would get together and explore different technology and how it works, and what we can do with it. Say someone is reading a book on Linux, gets to a part of the book where they try something and can't get it to work. They would talk to the group and we would work together to try to solve the problem.
The exciting idea about this is how much free software is available and so little chance to test it outside of a virtual machine environment. It could expose everyone in the group to ways of looking at problems differently and using things learned earlier or from points of view outside of our own.
Here is a small list of software and technology I would love to test and try with others:

- Computer Forensics
- Network Penetration Testing
- Honey Pots
- Linux Server (file, web, user access, DHCP)
- SNORT
- Connecting Windows PC to a Linux Server
- Connecting a Linux PC to windows Server
- Network Intrusion Detection and Prevention

The vast majority of those require only a PC with enough power to run them. We would just meet up, each of us bring a PC and load the software needed, and get to work figuring it out. We wouldn't be explaining what it does as much as we would be exploring what it does. For those who don't know but want to learn, this is the perfect environment I think. A sink or swim mentality.

In Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix I believe, Harry says something like, "All the great wizards started out as students just like us. If they did it so can we." Bruce Lee's fighting style Jeet Kune Do has a famous motto. "Take what is useful, discard what is useless and keep what is essentially your own." That is the mentality I would want to approach this group with. We can learn this, and we will learn what we need and what is useful.

My current vision, subject to change upon the first meeting, is this. The First meeting we decide what the purpose of the group is, as a group. The second thing is, after the meeting each month, on twitter facebook or whatever our method of communication is, we post the subject for next month. Each member then has at least 30 days to read up on it. Even if you only read 1 page a day at lunch, you will still have 30 pages of knowledge of the topic for the next meeting. The next meeting each member brings in at least 1 PC or laptop to work with.

Say, just for example we decide that the next month we want to learn about NMAP. You could watch youtube videos, read the free online tech manual or just fool around with it on your own spare time for a month before the meeting. When the meeting starts, we set up a main PC, and see what we can do with it.
Your experiences for the month may have been different from everyone else. You may have a different set of instructions or be able to understand something that no one else seems to grasp.
 
The three main goals of the " Club / Group " would be this:

1) Expand our knowledge of technology in a free thinking environment through hands on experiences.

2) To have fun

3) To try software or hardware, not for a job, or with time restraints. Just for the thrill of achievement and obtainment of new knowledge.

I would also like to consider having professional speakers come in. Who uses the technology we are discussing that month and have them share some of the best practices.

Well that's it. My idea. A " Club / Group " for the Study of Technology. Nerds or Rock Hill, The council of the Technogeek Jedi, NWO= Nerd World Order, or Hogwarts for Hackers. Something like that.

How to remove a virus for free

How to remove a virus for free. If it can be removed. The advice is free. Best case, it solves your problem. Worst case you have to buy a new PC. Step 1) Power off your PC. You may need to hold down your powerbutton for 10 seconds. Or simply unplug the power cord. Step 2) Power on the PC and press "F8" Step 3) Choose "Safemode with networking" Step 4) Wait for all the lines of what is loading to pass * If safemode with networking fails to load, or the computer reboots, blue screens or otherwise doesn't start up windows, Skip to step 12!! Step 5) Log in with your user name, ie: 'Fred' or 'Administrator' Step 6) once your logged on click yes to the pop up. Your in safe mode. Step 7) Click on your Internet Browser: Internet Explorer or Firefox or Chrome Step 8) go to www.google.com Step 9) Search for and download these programs separately: Malwarebytes, Spybot Search and Destroy, Super anti-spyware and Ccleaner Step 10) install the programs and run them until they remove all errors. This may take two or three times. Step 11) Reboot PC in normal mode. Is problem solved? If yes: Congrats! You just saved yourself some money Step12) If no: Take PC to a computer shop, have them backup your data: -Documents -Emails -Favorites or Bookmarks -Pictures -Music / Movies -anything else of importance Then have them reload your operating system. If you have the reinstall disc great! Do that part yourself. Just have your PC tech back up your data and scan your data for viruses. With your data backed up you now have a choice to make. Reload your operating system on your old PC or go buy a brand new PC or Laptop?

A to V: Switching from AT&T to Verizon

In January my wife and I switched over to Verizon. The main reason was because her family lives in Washington state, and most have Verizon. The second reason was because I just wanted to stop in and see if they could offer a better price per month, than what AT&T was charging us. We were paying 190 a month for AT&T without a data plan. When ever we used data we would get charged. When we talked to the Verizon store sales rep he gave us a price of 170 a month with 700 minutes and 2gb of data. Right there that was a savings of 240 dollars a year. So with it now being March how has the switch been? I have to say it has been a great choice. For January and February we barely spent 1gb of the 2gb data plan. The 700 minutes has proved more than enough since the most we have spent in one month so far is 500. Having a phone where I can check email while on the go at work is great. So for us, this has been a positive experience and I would recommend Verizon just from our own experience.