25% OFF REFURBISHED COMPUTERS

This week only... 25% off our nice selection of refurbished computers currently in stock.
These machines would be great as an extra Internet computer for home or light business applications.

30-day limited warranty on all refurbished computers, discount offer does not apply to Apple Macbook

Laptops:
Apple Macbook 6GB RAM! - $595
Dell Inspiron (Windows XP) 2GB/120HDD - $99
HP G61 (Windows 7) 3GB/320HDD - $275
Dell Inspiron 3520 (Windows 8) Intel i3/4GB/450HDD - $300
Lenovo B575 (Windows 7) 4GB/320HDD - $400
Gateway NE56R (Windows 8) 4GB/500HDD - $300

Desktops/Towers:
Acer Aspire AX1200 (Windows Vista) 4GB/200HDD - $350
Dell Vostro 200 (Windows Vista) 2GB/500HDD - $300
Dell Dimension 4700 (Windows Vista) 2GB/250HDD - $200
Lenovo ThinkCentre M58 (Windows 7 Pro) 4GB/160HDD - $329

TAKE 25% OFF LIST PRICES ABOVE!
 

Strings is a messaging service that lets you delete those drunk texts

It's still early enough in January that if you promise not to drunkenly text pictures of your behind to your friends, it still counts as a New Year's Resolution. Still, in an age where everyone's off-hand conversations can be made public in a flash, it'd be nice to regain some control of where our words are shared. That's where Strings comes in, since the iOS app is a rival to Snapchat and WhatsApp that clearly hopes to foster a consent culture around mobile messaging.

With Strings, users can converse with pictures, videos and text, but if people want to save any of those locally, they have to ask you for your permission. Even better is that a user can edit data on other people's devices, so if you carelessly send the wrong picture or use the wrong word, you can delete it whenever you need to. It's free to download, and the app even mirrors Snapchat's solution to the dreaded screenshot problem. If the recipient takes a screenshot, not only will you be informed, but they'll be given a warning too, which is something, at least.

~endgadget - byDaniel Cooper | 9 hrs ago

Other than the Final Four teams in the inaugural CFP semifinals, only two other bowls boast higher-ranked teams than the Orange.

Here's a good article, not specifically on our Bulldogs, but regarding the huge honor and accomplishment it is to have made it to the legendary Orange Bowl!  I'm glad that so many of our fans were able to make the trek and offer their local support in the Sunshine State! Congratulations guys, and GO DAWGS #hailstate

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/greg-cote/article5204649.html#storylink=cpy

Specials on New and Certified Refurbished Computers for Last-Minute Christmas Gifts!

Need a great last-minute Christmas deal to set someone up with a great pre-owned laptop?  We have worked hard to stock the shelves with machines that would serve most any need... AND THEY START AT ONLY $99.00!!  See Features machines below with pictures... feel free to call or come by for more info!

Dell Inspiron 6400, Windows XP, 2GB RAM, 120GB Hard drive, Battery & AC Adapter
... ONLY $99.00!

HP G61, Windows 7 Home Premium, 3GB RAM, Wifi, Ethernet, Battery & AC Adapter
... ONLY $$275.00

Dell Inspiron 3520, Windows 8, Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB RAM, 450GB Hard Drive, Battery & AC Adapter
... ONLY $300.00!

Apple MacBook (white) Core2 - 2.26GHz Processor, 2GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive
... ONLY $250.00!

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NICE pre-owned IBM / Lenovo with Windows 7 Home Premium, 4GB RAM, 320GB Hard Drive, Wifi, Ethernet, Battery & AC Adapter
... ONLY $400.00!

Gateway with Windows 8, 4GB RAM, 500GB Hard Drive, Battery & AC Adapter
...ONLY $300.00!

Love the idea of a mac, but don't like those $2,000 price tags on the new ones?  Check out this 13" Apple MacBook Aluminum Unibody, 2.4GHz Processor, 6GB RAM, 320GB Hard Drive, OS X Yosemite
- at only $595.00!

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We have several NEW business-class IBM / Lenovo Laptops and Desktops in stock ranging from $649 - $899.  All with full warranties honored and serviced locally by Starkville Computers!

We also have networking items such as wireless routers, RAM and Hard Drive Upgrades, hard-to-find cables and adapters, Flash Drives, wifi adapters, and much more!

BUY LOCAL!!!

This is getting real, folks! New Hybrid Ransomware Replicates Like A Virus!

SophosLabs labs' blog reported about a new Ransomware strain with a  difference - this one is a true self-replicating parasitic virus!  They call it VirRansom.... see more below...

This new strain is a hybrid that combines CryptoWall-like functionality  with active self-replicating virus infections of all files it can find. And  like the cybercrime Reveton family of malware, it locks the PC's main screen  demanding 0.619 Bitcoin (currently $217.07) to let you back in. Yikes.

To quote Sophos: "Worms vs. Parasitics: Most worms leave you  with one, or perhaps a handful, of infected files that weren't there before  and need to be deleted.

"Parasitic viruses, in contrast, may leave you with hundreds of infected  files on each computer, or thousands, or more. If you leave even one of  those infected files behind after a clean-up, the infection will start  up all over again.

"Worse still, the infected files can't just be deleted, because they are your  own files that were there before the infection started. That makes cleanup much  trickier." 

The good news: The file encryption is not as advanced as CryptoWall, as  the key to decrypt the files is contained in the malware itself. Your antivirus  should soon be able to decrypt the files and restore them, unless the bad guys  are constantly changing the encryption keys in which case it may take a day or more before your AV catches up.

The bad news: This is a full-fledged virus which will spread across  your network and doing a less than perfect job on the disinfection can  easily lead to reinfection of your whole network.

CryptoWall-encrypted files that you can't or don't decrypt are harmless  garbage forever, but you can delete them. With VirRansom, files that you  don't decrypt are still recoverable, but also still actively infectious. 

It gets nastier all the time. You can expect a VirRansom 2.0 soon where  they might implement "new features" like industrial-strength encryption like CryptoWall where you only get the decryption keys after payment, and things like infection of your email server, where emails are converted  to a worm for maximum dissemination of their malcode. (Think about the legal ramifications of something like this.)

Starkville Computers can mitigate these types of threats through both technical measures  and enforcing security policy.

12 Reasons To Shop Locally

1. Local Businesses Support Local Charity
2. Local Shops Value You More
3. Protect Local Jobs
4. Keep Dollars in Local Economy
5. Great Customer Service
6. Less Environmental Impact
7. Community Well-Being
8. Healthy Competition
9. Sales Taxes Support Your Local Community
10. Save Money
11. Product Diversity
12. Protect Local Character

The Dispatch - 12/7/14 p4A

Fake order confirmation emails contain nasty malware

So far, infected emails have been acting like they are from Home Depot, Target, Walmart and Costco. They began around Thanksgiving, and with the holiday rush, scammers are trying capitalize on the craziness of the season.

These fake confirmation emails will generally tell you there was an issue with your order. The subject lines have been along the lines of: Acknowledgment of Order,” “Order Confirmation,” “Order Status,” “Thank you for buying from [insert merchant name here]”, and a “Thank you for your order,” according to Brian Krebs.

The emails also encourage you to clink on links within the email. Don't fall for it! The links contain malware that will steal your personal and valuable information.

If you get an email about a legitimate order you placed online, it's still a good idea to visit the merchant site directly. Don't give out any personal information, and don't forget the telltale signs of a fake email. 

For these emails in particular, their grammar isn't great, "From" lines don't necessarily match the name of the merchant, there are multiple recipients in the "To" line, and when you hover over the links, they don't go directly to the retailer sites.

More importantly, these emails don't include order confirmation numbers or any other information regarding the items purchased. Legitimate emails will contain information of that nature.

Latest Threat - 4 calls already TODAY on this!

Threat characteristics of ZBot - a banking trojan that disables firewall, steals sensitive financial data (credit card numbers, online banking login details), makes screen snapshots, downloads additional components, and provides a hacker with the remote access to the compromised system.

Stealth-mode characteristics common to Rootkits.

Downloads/requests other files from Internet.

Contains characteristics of an identified security risk.

IF YOU ARE USING ANY TYPE OF *FREE* ANTIVIRUS, YOU ARE LIKELY *NOT* PROTECTED AGAINST THIS THREAT... WE HAVE THE #1 ANTIVIRUS IN THE WORLD AT 66% OFF FOR A LIMITED TIME.

Thousands of webcam feeds were recently made available on Russian Website

Ever since the first webcams hit the market webcam hacking has been a topic. Hacks use security vulnerabilities, bad designs or carelessness to gain access to a cam’s feed over a network or the Internet.

Webcam feeds of thousands of users were made available recently on a website on the Internet and this is just one public incident. It is likely that the majority of hacks don’t get publicity at all.

There are counter-measures against hacks. From taping over the cam and microphone to not connecting it in first place.

This helps if you don’t plan to use the cam at all but if you use it sometimes, for instance to call someone using Skype or run a show on the Internet, then you may want a flexible solution.

Enter Webcam On-Off. While it is certainly possible to turn the cam on or off in the device manager of the operating system. Webcam Off makes the operation convenient as you press a single button once you have started the application to switch the state of it.

All you need to do is run the program after you have downloaded and unpacked it on your system. It displays the current state of the webcam on the computer and two buttons to enable or disable it.

You find two additional buttons listed in the interface. The toolbox button opens the Windows Device Manager right away while the other the about page of the application.

So, whenever you need to turn the cam on or off you click twice to do so if you use Webcam On-Off to do so.

The developer of the program has added command line switches to it as well which can speed things up further. Run webcam.exe /ON to turn it on or webcam.exe /OFF to disable it.

If you create two new shortcuts and add the parameters to it you can turn your webcam on or off with a single click on the right shortcut.

The program is fully portable and has a size of less than 350 Kilobyte unpacked. It is compatible with all recent versions of Windows including Windows XP and Windows 8.

Closing Words

Webcam On-Off is a useful program for Windows users who use a cam connected to their PC regularly but don’t want it to be available when they don’t use it.

They keep the cam turned off all the time and enable it only when they want to use it. After they have finished using it they run the program to turn it off again.

Happy Thanksgiving from the staff at Starkville Computers!

Thanksgiving Holiday Hours:

Wednesday Nov. 26: 9am-5pm
Thursday Nov. 27: Closed
Friday Nov. 28: Closed
Saturday Nov. 29: Closed

We will re-open with regular business hours (9am-5pm) on Monday Dec. 1