Raney Day Thoughts

April 19, 2012

USA Scholarship... the scam continues into college

As a follow up to a 2009 post The National Youth Leadership Forum marketing scam, my daughter was recently the recipient of a mailing scam from USA Scholarship Program for Engineering Students offering the possibility of a scholarship up to $7,500. Ofcourse, there is a $29 processing fee. They probably bought the mailing list from an unscrupulous college bound student list seller, maybe the same one that NYLF used - which allows student names to be bought off of SAT applications. Stay away from these people- 39 complaints with BBB in last 3 years. And this scam has been going for longer than that. Simply google the Scholarship director, Ike Onwo and you will find numerous references, dating as far back as 2006.

November 8, 2011

Mariah Carey: Closet Jazz Singer? Pop singers go jazzy on us and do a damn good job!

Mariah sings beautiful on this very short duet with Tony Bennett. I also love the sections where she rounds out Tony's tone in the upper register when they sing together. Yes there is the R&B flavoring but so what. Good singing is good singing!

Mariah surprised me as well as a few other pop vocalists on Duets II album. The real standout on the album was Amy Winehouse's Body and Soul though. She was channeling Dinah and Billie on this. Given it was her very last recording, very poignant as well.

November 4, 2011

Listen to this not that...

In the spirit of the famous dietary advice with that tagline, I propose this installment for musicians
Listen to this...not that

Listen to this:

A Song for You
Donny Hathaway

NOT That:

A Song for You
Christina Aguilera with Herbie Hancock

Sorry Herbie not into it. You're a genius but this ain't happening for me.

Obviously Christina used Donny's version as the basis for her own interpretation but somewhere in the middle it just became overwrought and tiresome. IMHO Herbie's sophisticated dense jazz chords and jazz fills just sound colorless in this context. In terms of singing, for me generally, the current generation of soul based artists really need to take a lesson in restraint and taste in regards to R&B embellishment. Donny shows how to do it. Listen to it with headphones. It will go right through you.

October 30, 2011

The computer and book battle rages on

My old Dell laptop was pretty much on last legs by the end of August. With one available usb port and basically a non-working mousepad it was becoming impossible to work, not to mention a few close calls with crashes and reviving my computer from the dead putting my book project at risk. Having enough I got a new Mac Quickbook. (I hate the vista, windows 7 family of products). In order to continue my book work I basically needed to upgrade to Sibelius 7. I figured I'd start cooking pretty good after that. A bit of new mac user learning curve but a good one and trading in a lot of processing sludge for new speed.

Not quite. My battles over the problematic Sibelius 7 for Mac are now public knowledge (see Sibelius forums. You can actually find me easily at top of a search by googling on "unhappy with Sibelius and my name" ). A replacement CD set later, I'm still struggling with things but basically the very necessary things- being able to save my work seems to be solved by downgrading my sound set while writing and saving. I respect Sibelius in many ways and wouldn't go back to Finale but Sib7 is a work in progress unfortunately.

Other things are Mac related. I'm really discovering what a PC dominated world it is in terms of finding Mac equivalent software. Video upload and creation software like I used with my PC (despite Mac users extolling the virtues of equivalent products like Handbrake and some others) just don't work right. I use my wife's PC for that. For the most part you have to pay for stuff - that's the bottom line. Something I'm not used to with the frequent freebee and open source available for PCs.

I managed to figure out how to use my prized MS Word 2007 (that I created my book in) in Mac via programs called X11 and Wine Bottler. Sun Microsystems product, Open Office just makes a mess of my work when I import it- especially images and none of the equivalent out of the box font theme styles are available. Figuring out the Mac directory system is a job and a half but I've managed to bookmark my last saved locations so I don't have to think about it. X11 gives you a virtual MS view but file directory locations are a bit virtual as well - where "my desktop" is not really "my desktop".

Anyway... currently focusing on the bolded areas. Other areas of the book are continually augmented with new extra examples that occur to me (and old ones haves to be revised because of fig X.X numbering.) Another solo transcription is in the list as well

Chapter 8: The Essential Elements of Jimmy Raney's phrases

- II-V "go-to" licks
- Inverted chord lines
- auxilliary tones (PT, NT, and turns)
- Exercises 8A-C (based on above 3 sections)
- Major Chord concepts
- Minor chord concepts
- Dominant chord concepts
- Exercises 8D-F (based on above 3 sections)
(Status: 80-90% done. Needed: minor, dominant concepts sections, Exercises 8D-F

Chapter 12: Transcribed Solos

- Jim's Tune
- Cross Your Heart
- Isn't It Romantic
- Motion
- Signal
- Just One of Those Things (Norvo)
- No Male for Me
- Pennies from Heaven
- The Flag is Up
- Stella By Starlight (3) ...Tokyo, w/ Phil Woods, Strings & Swings
- Anthropology
- The Song is You (Birdland '52)
- Anthropology
- Strike Up the Band

Cheers

Jon

October 28, 2011

Aphorism of the Day

"Nothing good ever came out of ripping a drinking hole in the lid of your coffee"

-JR

September 6, 2011

Doug Raney on Jazz Guitar part 1

I had originally scheduled this for Doug's Birthday, Aug 29th. Unfortunately limitations of video conversion via my new Mac computer made it - well impossible(via Imovie and Handbrake - they're crap IMO). So I reverted back to my limping PC and Windows Moviemaker and Any-Video-Converter (best free one around) and it came out fine as always. Anyway here it is! Enjoy. It's a European documentary from 1985 that Doug did when touring with Thorgeir Stubo

Happy (belated) birthday Doug!

You can also watch it on youtube here

August 21, 2011

New Jimmy Raney video

As promised, a new video segment from Jimmy Raney/Cal Collins videotape on the tune, Autumn Leaves. Although Jimmy looks slightly uncomfortable in spots (shifting his seat, flexing his arm, etc) he's still one of the most fluid jazz guitarists who ever walked the planet. Tyrone and Bruce are getting a good groove here and Jimmy is just flying over the top

Enjoy!

Or click here to watch the video on youtube

August 20, 2011

Now on to the other (book) stuff..

For those of you who know me, corresponded with me or read my blog or my forum, Dad's birthday this year was my projected target date for the release of Jimmy Raney's unfinished book. Alas it's still not done. It's painful to have to say that. Project management on self-produced work is a bitch. I can tell you it's getting close though and I've been putting in late nights to 2am after my day job and even teaching myself guitar. Sometimes, the reality is that the only time you can get work done is when you think you are going to run out of time.

So at least 2 weeks ago, I knew I would never make it, given the project scope I set out. So I just decided to approach it as if I had 2 months more. What could I do? I actually took the time away from feverish mania to finish the book(without hope) to write this post ahead of time. One of the pitfalls Internet and blogging is getting an inflated sense of self-importance. Perhaps few will notice. But this post is really for those who do notice. And given this project's announcment years ago, it's frankly a source of embarrassment for me. The book is not a fiction. It's reality. 10 Chapters long and 94 solid MS Word pages(projected to be 13 with final conclusion) And (At least I think) phenomenal in its fundamental premise. The issue is that the original work by Dad is only about 10% and the rest is by me. And my part needs to be at his requisite level. I've had several years to contemplate what people would want out of a book by and about Jimmy. That alone is the issue and the problem. I am the son of Jimmy Raney. I cannot put out common crap. It would be insult to Dad. It is NOT another book of transcriptions although there would be quite a few within it. It has chapters devoted to the principles of his style in detail with exercises.

Recently however, I have gained a realization that I was ignoring his primary audience, guitar players. Now in his "Scales?..." Youtube video, Jimmy states that "...he is a musician first and that being a guitar player is an accident". But this ignores the fact that guitar players are the ones that want to emulate him! So I started really examining his videos. Unfortunately there are very few videos and even fewer that show his picking hand clearly as well.This was in preparation to make a full tab and score chart with picking and fingering. I had to learn the neck of the guitar. But it's really catching a tiger by the tail and videos are not quite in sync if you slow them down. I now have an even greater appreciation for his art. He had PHENEMONAL technique and made it seem easy.

"Blah, blah, blah. So where is it at man??"

In the interest of full disclosure, let's just put the cards on the table. Instead of offering you new project dates let's take this approach. The original definition of "blog" was "weblog diary". Let me use this medium to tell you exactly what the book is, how much is there, and what needs to be finished "as it is happening". Below is the full outline plan. You should be able to see the progress as it happens on subsequen posts.

Introduction: He wrote one. Will use it (Status: finished, untyped)

My Introduction: Saving that for last once he whole thing (Status: not done)

Table of Contents: Saving that for last once he whole thing (Status: not done)

SECTION I:

Chapter 1: Consructing and Editing Jazz Lines

Chapter 2: Refining/Enhancing Lines with Rhythmic Devices

Chapter 3: Sequnce & Development of Line (Status: done except for TTTA)
This is the first chapter that starts to integrate his original work with some of my adds.
Chapter 4: Intervallic and Direction Variety in Line
Chapter 5: Jimmy Raney's Polyrhythmic Devices in Recordings

Chapter 6: Jimmy Raney's Displacement Concepts in Recordings

Chapter 7: Jimmy Raney's Advanced Asymmetry and Polymetrics in Recordings

SECTION II:

Chapter 8: The Essential Elements of Jimmy Raney's phrases

Chapter 9: Compositional, Development and Phrasing Concepts

Chapter 10: The Raney Approach - Creating a Complete solo

Chapter 11: Technical Stuff

Chapter 12: Transcribed Solos

Final Thoughts
(Status: 0%. concepts open)

Beyond this.

There are really important production issues that are uncharted waters for me.

E-Book vs. printed copy. Both? One or other? not even dealt with yet
Very complicated and some of has to do with time and money. Cd Baby's "Book Baby" program is an interesting option. Ironically the more sophisticated product might be the easiest and most secure way to produce. But regardless I will probably have to create (re-create) normalize for e-book:
t-ext files,
-music snippet graphics
-music sound samples

Then decide what is the best way to secure and produce print only copy. Separate production? Or have users click print on their e-book?

Security. copyright issues (including my rights to use certain music?)

Editorial review. I will be entrusting close friends to review work. This is standard for any book review process when you were previously the only editor. I'm hoping for the best here :)

And maybe a slightly crucial point - WTF do I charge?

As compensation for all of you dedicated followers begging me for the book and leaving empty handed, I am contemplating the following. I will probably offer teasers of some sort on certain chapters in the coming month (depending on progress). The likely offering will be e-book link style which would be an added enhancement of music samples. But if I outsource production I may let loose simple pdfs of partial chapters. TBD

As an ongoing process, I will be offering transcriptions and later asking for donations to the Jimmy Raney via Paypal. The main hub will be Jimmyraney.com. It's in beta stage, but there are 2 solos there already (they are referenced above as well)

So I hope his sits well with everyone. This weekend I will be adding a new Jimmy Raney video from Cal Collins gig that has never been seen.

Cheers

Jon

August 19, 2011

Happy Birthday Jimmy Raney and ... other stuff

Today, August 20th is Jimmy Raney's birthday. Dad would've been 84. Let us celebrate the legacy of his genius once again by listening as much as possible to this underappreciated genius - and anyone else for that matter - deserving of attention that the general listening public doesn't seem to give enough to. Maybe even WBGO will play a cut or two, who knows (hopefully before Brian Delp's 3am slot)...

Yesterday, I took a stoll through the park with my dog, BJ while tuned in to the local jazz station WKCR (89.9 FM) listening to serial music without knowing who or what it was. And I thought, wow, is that some experimental jazz or something? It was just wonderful. I had no preconceptions or expectations. I had the sense it was pushing the limits yet I could still follow it. The goal was to not be grounded to the prior tonality while still being musical. Why don't all experimental jazzers follow this approach? Why must they unrelentingly bury their hands in tons of notes with their fists? Does pushing the limits mean this intolerable density? The sparse #9 and other dark chords. Then I listened more and realized it not improvised and that it must be Anton Webern (Although half a me expected to hear it was some cutting edge jazz artist that escaped my attention).

My thoughts then turned to Dad. I recalled the record collection he left behind. In addition to all the original scratched jazz classics, Parker, Konitz, Getz and his own records as a leader and a sideman, he also had a great classical collection with Webern, Bartok, Bach, Ravel, Mozart and Beethoven with some of the finest performers like Robert Casadesus, János Starker, Walter Gieseking, Frederic Goulda and the Julliard Quartet just to name a few. I thought about his own Bartokian Suite for Guitar Quintet. I also recalled the months I spent with him in 1985 in Louisville. He rarely listened to jazz. He mostly listened to classical, in particular Beethoven. And he had a book of scores that he would look at while listening. He had a retiring life style but he was still tuned in to things that mattered. We often discussed music during that time. And one of the topics was the universality of Beethoven's music. How it didn't seem confined to the period of music it was in. It didn't seem like when we listened to Beethoven we were listening to the "past" or a "style" (i.e. classical period composers, as defined by Haydn, C.P.E. Bach, Clementi et al).

I then thought about how this universality relates to Dad's legacy, thinking about my recent viewing of the video from 1987 with Cal Collins. They were playing on "Billie's Bounce" tranposed (by Cal Collins request) to the key of G. Dad had the first solo. There was some blues phrases and stylings. But it was through his unique prism and them there was these chromatic phrases, the harmonic sidesteps and his general staunch commitment to pushing the harmonic and rhytbmic limits of the style. Starting a phrase on the "and" of two when you think it should be the "and" of four, or his characteristic polyrhythms and long lines. I recalled recent board conversations I had where I had to defend my father's style. Some dumbass posters had the audacity to condemn Jimmy's approach as not being bluesy enough or having bad time or put other players at or above his level. Dad didn't play clichés. If you wanted your requisite blues licks you needed to listen to someone else. He didn't see the need to play blues licks that everyone else was playing or do idiomatic tricks to satisfy the musical Nazis that required certain ideas as "required" to be playing the song. The dumb thing is that people view the omission of these ideas as inability to hear or play such things. C'mon. Get real. Nothing could be easier than to imitate common ideas at Jimmy's technical level. Dad used the forms of the music as a vehicle to define it in his own way. This is the mark of any great artist. They create a system around themselves and make it seem like "that" is the way to play. And makes anybody else near them question their own fundamental understanding of what it is to play on the tune they're playing (at least if they were honest with themselves). He heard himself over the vehicle. Many good 'ol boy artists do what's required or what will get a "yeah" out of those easily pleased. The "yeahs" he would get were of a different order. He used the commonality with existing players to keep with the listeners but he built his own system. There are many good players out there. But Jimmy was something of a completely different order. And I fear that very few people understand the vast difference between him and other guitarists deemed to sound similar to him. I run into the same type of arguments about Bill Evans. People just don't get when they are listening to a poet. They get the surface but not the substance.

and now on to the other stuff...

August 10, 2011

Women's Razors

I try to get the best mid-level razors I can buy and not re-use them more than let's say 7-10x (although I don't count frankly. I just stop when it stops removing hairs and hurting more). The shaves I get are ok not great and obviously get worse on re-use. The premium razors, Mach III, and other blade cartridge replacement types (you know the ones on TV commercials - aerodynamically designed and spawned from the sweat and toil of our greatest, sternest engineering minds under the hottest lamps) are much better, but just a bit too expensive on a continuing basis to warrant the cost. On the other hand, buying Good News razors or worse BIC disposable razors on the cheap...well you might as well take a butter knife to your face.

I sometimes run out of razors and am stuck with few options in the morning. So recently I crossed over the gender dividing line in the bathroom (you know- the one with the loofah, pumice rock and more expensive shampoos and conditioners?)and tried a pink and white deal on my rather tough beard. As it turned out, it was one of the best shaves I ever got. It was a Venus razor. I suddenly felt a communion and common bond of intimacy with Jennifer Lopez. Her legs to my face. Generally, the way the razor drags against the face just feels tighter and more effective. I don't have to retread over the same spot.

I suddenly mused, what exactly constitutes a woman's razor? The angle? Blade sharpness? Or do they just fashion George's razor in girly colors and call it a Jane? Maybe a product specialist could tell me. But given that the shave is seemingly superior and cheaper - if there is a difference - why bother? Or is this simply marketing, where cheaper men's razors are intentionally designed like crap so men feel the need to save themselves by buying these expensive razors that require scientific video commercials zooming in on the single beard hair?

Makes you go hmmm...

Not exactly the stuff of conspiracy theory novels but interesting nonetheless. What do you think?

May 27, 2011

Follow up: DH gate resolved

Well I guess there are some decent people out there. The DHGate rep, Blunyi wrote me back apologized and they refunded my money. Was expecting more of a fight

I suppose now I have to deal with the real crooks, HP who sold me a motherboard that crapped out in 13months and want 3x the money I almost lost at DHgate.

Onward and upward and all that stuff...

May 20, 2011

DHGate: Worst Online seller

I made the mistake of buying on the cheap (a motherboard for HP Slimline) from this online buying site from China. Avoid them like the plague.

These people have no customer service standards, irresponsible sellers, and zero oversight. Their CEO, Diane Wang must be asleep at the wheel because the Internet is just littered with complaints on forums and entries of the company into fraud complaint sites. My fault for not seeing that though. Oh well. I was too willing to take a risk and got scammed.

I bought a defective item, the seller reluctantly promised to replace. When I returned via a method that wasn't the standard courier with tracking (i.e. UPS, Fedex, etc)he had an out because I couldn't prove without a signature. Even though I showed USPS delivery to China plus customs stamp. He stopped responding to emails completely after doing so regularly and also chats (where originally I had snagged his attention to give me a return address).

Other stuff. Their system disables complaint recourse after a certain period. Which is ridiculous being the international seller they are - knowing full well that many sellers use the cheapest slowest methods available.

Customer service has no 48 hr standard. They took a week to respond and it was a boilerplate response at that. They claimed they would follow up. They didn't after several requests and week-late continued boilerplate responses. There was some dispute dept that I sent my evidence to. They responded after 3 weeks about being so sorry about my experience and saying they would investigate. They intitiated I believe after I threatened to write to the president. Then did no follow up with me. That was a month ago. It's just astounding. What can you say when you've been had. Shame on them, but shame on me for ignoring the red flags. And my case is minor compared to others.

Anybody having a direct contact email or address for CEO Wang let me know. May work up the energy for one of my "letters to the president". I have had some success in the past with some major corporate entities. Shaming them into paying attention. We'll see.

Buyer Beware

I made the mistake of buying on the cheap (a motherboard for HP Slimline) from this online buying site from China. Avoid them like the plague. read more...

May 18, 2011

Loss of Innocence (Inner Sense?)

when in a man's life

is innocence lost

expecting everything

and fearing nothing

the touch of a hand

making him drunk

making him blind

to all else

but the woman

who is the sole planet

in his universe

Copyright © Jon Raney, 2011

Robert Casadesus' Ravel

This will be a short one.

I was exposed to the Robert Casadesus Complete Ravel Piano Works originally by my father, who had the record collection on vinyl. The record is magical and I'm happy to say is available on Rhapsody.

IMO there is no one to this day that can capture the feeling of his rendition of Pavane pour une infante défunte NO ONE. The piece ofcourse is one of Ravel's most famous (making it that much harder). It carries the unique and difficult task of a pulsating background in regimented time but still the feeling and romance in melody typical of (lets say) Chopin. And ofcourse that marvelous 20th century harmony typical of later jazz. The achievement is stunning. Like the exquisite ticking of a beautiful clock or the beating of the waves. But you only realize that when you hear stiff unfeeling or schmalzy versions. The music spoke thru him! Every take captured on this record is the gold standard for the performance of these wonderful compositions.

Definitely a "Desert Island" record. Look it up and Enjoy!

cheers

jon

Dr. Ron Daulton's Heal Your Bulging Disc: (A Reader Response)

I've sort of been waiting for this, given (as I have stated previously) to not having used the program ultimately.

I received a comment from a user with her own issue who was pointed to this:

My dentist told me he wasin agony day and night. He was in 24/7 pain, and he was scheduled for surgery. Some one directed him to the book below. He religiously followed the exercises in this book, which many in the medical profession do, and cured himself in three months...

The book is called Healing Back Pain Naturally by DR. ART BROWNSTEIN

She will get back on whether the program worked for her.

Her doctors are not on the "ice" bandwagon either. (Don't Use Ice!!) Not sure if there are dangers but for them shouldn't do it. I have used ice because I had swelling of the arm due to my nerve issue. Ice was the only way to reduce the swelling. Now whether this doesn't apply to discs at all is matter for science and study. I suppose you can only use this rule of thumb: In his book, Daulton makes a disclaimer for the treatments. Doctors really cannot. They cannot afford to be wrong.

But here is another viewpoint that doesn't discount ice

I suppose there is a fine line between open scientific research" and quackery

PS: Please review my posts carefully before commenting. I can't "pre-screen" Daulton's product for you for reasons I have mentioned.

May 11, 2011

Herniated Disc Follow-Up and Dr. Ron Daulton, Jr.

I thought perhaps I should say a few things since over the year I have gotten several emails asking about the Ron Daulton, Jr. experience. Some actually wishing me to give them some type of preview about the program's contents and whether it was worth it etc. Given this creates issues over disclosure and copyright here's a couple of facts stated outright:

1- I don't know for certain if it's effective because I didn't end up following the program. I have not received any follow-up emails from anyone indicating they did and it worked or didn't work. So you have to make your own judgement about what that means.

2- The program has since increased in money to $100 (according to what I've heard)

3- Some people have had some negative customer service experiences. A few have comments here.

4- The charge for this type of program may be a tad high. But considering some of the aggressive alternatives $100 for non-surgical seems to me a risk you should be willing to burden. How often have you bought a product that didn't work? Non surgical options via the Internet -- via some book or program always cost something. I wish there was some resource to review all of them but unfortunately there isn't. Money back guarantees for products that can be copied redistributed and potentially resold are inherently difficult.

5- My cure was most likely the epidural and maybe cooling it with stressing activities (all types). It could've been also that this was a specific injury that got out of hand.

6- There is not a direct absolute causal relationship between arm pain, swelling and herniated disc in my opinion. There is only a likely association with them based on the physics and probably other factors. I was diagnosed with cervical herniated disc way prior to pain. How can that be. The physical process of the pain mechanism is very subtle. People that have herniation but no pain are not likely to get an MRI- they don't know they have it. There is also the possibility of trigger points and not disc or both. There are also theories that triggers and herniation are linked in some way.

7- Consider the Daulton book a resource. It lists as many of the available treatments within as possible. It doesn't say that any one thing does the trick. Only that you should throw as much at the problem as possible.

8- There are a few (to my knowledge)unique suggestions within the book that have to do with certain supplements/medicines, specific use of ice (not heat), a trampoline and a medicine ball. Again whether this is worth the price is entirely up to you. Please also note that some of these exercises may carry more risk depending on where you have herniation (cervical vs. lumbar)

9- There is cross-selling in the purchase process. I for one don't care for it

10- The failure rate for surgical options quoted by Daulton is not entirely based on medical documents that I have seen available. I asked Daulton about this and didn't get what I felt was a satisfactory answer (based on some journals that he's read that I don't have access to. date unknown). However it should be acknowledged that even with available evidence "success" is not clearly defined - (e.g. how long the benefit lasted, whether follow-ups surgeries happened). Based on anecdotal evidence from people that have written me, there does appear to be long term benefits from surgery for some.

11- The cervical disc removal surgical process is life changing and frightening. This involves losing flexibility and putting a bone graft in your neck and potential further complications. Only consider this when there is no alternative after unsuccessful treatment over at least a year. In my view the body can heal miraculously provided you have the luxury of keeping an income and taking an extended leave where you can stop causing injury to yourself.

12- An epidural apparently has disc resorption possibilities for some patients. This is not widely quoted. This essentially means that the herniation can draw back in somewhat and thereby not cause the "button pressing" on the nerve. I cannot prove that this happened because I didn't immediately have benefit, just eventually. Plus I stopped playing piano and made some ergonomic adjustments at work.

13- An epidural (according to the physician performing) does carry a risk of mental side effects. I had some but was taking Ambien as well which has known adverse psychological reactions for some. So I can't know for sure.

14- Similar to point 1. The lack of corroborating evidence outside of Daulton, Jr's site testimonials after all this time should cast a certain degree of doubt - just logically. Anybody who gets something out of a product- these days - can always be found quoting somewhere on message boards free of charge. My page is still consistently ranked high on Google search results and the original posting was some time ago. I haven't seen too many others outside of Daulton's own links.

15- Some people dismiss Daulton's authority on this subject due to his being a chiropractor not a physician or surgeon. Aside from the Alan/Charlie Harper "crock" hilarity of the condemnation, I think doctors have a diffucult road to hoe claiming complete authority on this issue as well. There is NO definitive medically sanctioned cure, only treatment plans that have some measure of success - or not- depending on the circumstance. Also keep in mind that some of the advice mentioned - for free on his page and in more detail in the books are part of many doctors' regimen of recommendations. Many doctors typically prescribe physical therapy and many don't discount chiropractic or accupuncture as a supplement to pre-surgical measures. Surgery is considered last resort because of the "no turning back aspect" of disc removal or replacement.

16- Dr. Daulton's book does not describe any "magic bullet" cure. This is a reiteration of point 7

March 22, 2011

Defeating Computer Viruses

For those of you that have an interest in the subject, click here.

March 21, 2011

The Battle Continues (Defeating Viruses)

Well, apparently I spoke too soon. :) I was joking with a co-worker whether I'd be targeted by a hacker as a result of my previous post. I can't prove it however it's some coincidence that over the weekend I was attacked by a more virulent Trojan that seemed to trump all of the steps I outlined in the previous post. This is the ysh.exe hack virus. I may upgrade my firewall to something that monitors my ports. I used to have Zone Alarm but it was pain in the ass. Now I may need that pain in the ass:) I almost feel like this is like fighting "the Borg" which learns a little more with each battle and makes it harder to defeat. The ysh.exe plant is designed to do these things in addition to what I described previously:

1. To transplant itself at the top of the list in terms of processes. So it's running when your computer boots up windows. You can't beat it to the punch with ctl alt del early.
2. It can run in safe mode. So you still can't run your anti-virus software
3. Looks for any type of antivirus launch or install and runs its malicious fake antivirus programs instead.
4. Effectively trumps Malwarebytes because it cannot be run
5. Renaming Malwarebytes exe or install file DOESN"T work. That is often a recommended procedure
6. The malicious programs are NOT located in convenient places with C:Windows or C:Temp as I mentioned in previous post.
7. Some malicious asshole.dll files referenced in start-up process (run: asshole.dll)cannot be deleted without a special tool.

The only way to find it is to be able to know all the registry keys and delete them. If you don't know what you're looking for it's pretty hard. There is only one reasonable solution that I found. It's a dos kill process designed by a programmer that kills the virus exe load. I'm not even going to list it here for fear that the hackers might design a workaround. After that kill process Malwarebytes was able to get the rest of it.

In terms of not paying for a monitoring program. I've changed my tune. It's too difficult to prevent the virus from working once it gets in. You need a realtime virus monitoring program (or real firewall) that prevents the drop of the trojan. Avira free version is not up to that task. I'm now using Malwarebytes real-time monitoring. At $25 it was well worth it. Apparently either I had a hacker on my tail or was not fully rid of the virus. I was treading out on the Internet and all of the sudden noticed my search page was redirected from Google to MonsterBargains which is the sign of the hack, then the java6 launch started happening. Malwarebytes caught the trojan drop attempt and killed it. whew. This was after I killed all the trojans with Malwarebytes previously. After this I researched my registry thoroughly and deleted every rogue key I could find. This is not a process for the faint of heart. I think I am effectively virus free.

Round 3 I guess.

March 15, 2011

Fighting Computer Viruses and Getting the Last Laugh

Over the years I've gained some experince in how to defeat some nasty computer viruses. Some virtually prevent you from using your run command and your antivirus software. The most recent ones I've seen transplant themselves on your system tray as antivirus programs. And they often can't be shut off with the task manager. They keep running and telling you your computer has a virus.

Here are some of the most useful programs I have found. I don't use the paid for antivirus programs (they're overpriced and often ineffective):

1. Hijack This - This basically is for detecting browswer hijack but it can also tell you about registry entries designed to run at startup (autoload programs), browser helpers, toolbars, and other things. Using the "fix this" process should be done with care. Look for (unknown) entries. Don't delete programs you are unsure of. I have been somewhat fearless with my hunches about suspicious programs and have not been burned. But I don't recommend this. There are also some free log analyzers out there that can make recommendations. Be aware though that in the case of browser hijack, they can often prevent you from navigating to the known hijackthis pages. You'll need to save the log to your thumb drive and try it on an uninfected computer at hijackthis log analyzer page.

2. Killbox - This has a very specific purpose. It deletes files that seem to keep growing back because the rogue program manages to exploit Windows to regenerate it. You have to know exactly what the file is and the path. It gives you some options for killing- delete on reboot, rename, standard kill etc.

3. Avira - IMO, the best free antivirus program available. Better than AVG and Avast! it generally detects viruses the others cannot. I've run tests with several programs present. Sometimes Avira cannot get rid of the virus and keeps redetecting it. But it at least gives you a clue about what and where it is.

4. Malwarebytes - This can find and delete many viruses that others cannot including (sometimes) Avira. Generally it can get rid of anything it finds. Full scan takes a long time so be patient, because it sometimes finds viruses way towards the end. But sometimes it can't find viruses and trojans. No program is perfect.

There are some 1 time applications and programs I have used called CC Cleaner and Spybot but generally the programs above in concert are generally enough to defeat the problem.

Some horse sense methods:

Sometimes you can beat the virus before it starts up. If you invoke the task manager early (ctl alt del) you sometimes can catch the program loading and stop it by looking at the PC activity. This can buy you time and ability to defeat the program before it defeats you. However be aware that it may not be listed there. This step can be helpful if the rogue program is designed to defeat the run: program: msconfig.

Make sure to disable your Internet connection. You don't want your computer connecting to the Internet if you have a real hijack happening that is communicating with your computer. Check your Tools/Internet Options Homepage. In particularly nasty cases it can be redirected to a specific IP. In extreme cases (after you have defeated the rogue processes), you may have to use "reset" on your browser to get it to navigate properly again.

Presuming the rogue program hasn't disabled it. The run commands, msconfig and regedit. msconfig can show you what programs are designed to run at startup. You can uncheck any suspicious entries in the startup panel. Look for wierd names that are unsigned. Regedit is direct registry edit. Most people would advise extreme caution with monkeying around with this. If possible back up the registry before changing anything there. You can find and delete an entry that was found by Antivirus programs or from your hijack this log.

Explorer/Search. As Windows O/S systems upgrade it seems like they let you see and find files less and less (don't get me started on Vista). If you're trying to find files in Temp or Windows (often places were rogue programs are hidden) but somehow the path doesn't show them after you navigate to my documents/all users etc then make sure your that your view/folders options is set to show hidden folders and files. Look for files that were created within the last week or few days. Or look for *.exe. If you know your activity you can often find programs that you didn't have a hand in downloading and delete them.

Be careful with deep searches on lesser known webpages. I often have found I get a quick virus attack just by navigating to a search result or someone's blog page that turns out to be fake(sometimes in a foreign language page that is translated). These places can be hornet's nests. A recent problem seems to be a Java 6 pop up exploit that transplants itsef in the registry processes immediately. This is often a prelude to the phony Antivirus transplant on your system tray. Deletion of this entry via Hijack this/fix this (look for the java6 entry) is usually enough to start the process of getting control of your computer back. It's not everything. you have to find the program it's referencing as well (usually somewhere in your .tmp internet or mydocuments/`/temp directory).

Make sure to get a good thumb drive. Sometimes you need to find programs on the Internet on another computer and load them on the infected computer with the Internet connection disabled. In worse case you have to use all of your available options and work quickly before the trojans take hold of your processes. I've literally restarted dozens of times and used each time as a learning process to figure out which programs to invoke. I ran into a trojan that disables some popular antivirus programs and hijack this. If you run in safe mode sometimes this can prevent the rogue program from running which may require full blown Windows to do it's dirty work.

Good luck! (you're gonna need it)