Android notification ads

I have a Samsung Droid Charge. I really like it, but recently I have been getting ads to pop up in my notification area at the top. It will have a star icon and have a random ad that points to a web page. I did a google search and, not surprisingly, read that this is usually due to adware bundled with an app. One of the pieces of adware behind these ads is AirPush. But here is the cool thing: There is an app called AirPush Detector. You can install and run this app and it will give you a list of all the apps on your phone that are bundled with AirPush, and a shortcut to uninstall it. Mine happened to be a silly sound effect app which I don't care about anyway so I promptly removed it.


If you are getting these annoying ad notifications, give AirPush a try.

CCNA - Cisco Certified Network Associate Study

I'm currently studying for the CCNA exam. I went over this material 5 or so years ago in school but never scheduled the exam. I'm now reading CCNA Study Guide by Todd Lammle published by Sybex. I'm about halfway through the book and so far I really like his writing style; Todd makes sure to keep it fun and not dry.

The current topic I'm reading in the book is routing protocols. There are so many details to retain about routing protocols, it is a little daunting. But I'm sure with reading through, probably multiple times, and going over the review questions, I won't have too much of an issue.

Avast Mobile Security

Hey all, this is a follow-up to my post about mobile security. I tried out Avast Mobile Security for a couple weeks and during that time my phone ran significantly slower than normal. I tried rebooting and closing other apps/services but it did not speed up. I tried turning off parts of the program. No dice.

In the end I uninstalled Avast Mobile Security and my phone is now running as fast as it was before installing the app. I plan to try out the app again in the future and see if they have improved it. Although it could be my phone; I am using a Samsung Droid Charge. Not the fastest phone in the world but I'm guessing mobile threats will become more prevalent with time and I will need some kind of security program to run on my phone that won't slow it down to the point of uselessness.

Until next time...

Free Antivirus / Mobile Security for Android

    I saw a webinar today about mobile threats. I forget the exact number but the point is that while the number of threats to Android compared to Windows may be relatively low, it is still significant and requires attention.

    I ended up looking at this page on av-test.org where they have done testing for mobile security apps. Basically they tested a bunch of them and only a few came out detecting 90% or more of threats. Included in that top list is Avast! Free Mobile Security. I use Avast Free on my home system and it has worked well so this caught my attention.

    I decided to download it and give it a shot. Upon first run it went ahead and scanned all my apps which did not take long at all, although I do not have that many apps installed.

    Avast Mobile Security also comes with an anti-theft portion. It allows you to remotely control your device including locking, wiping your data and locating.

    I am optimistic about this program and after using it a while I will post an update on my findings.

Until next time...

Link to Avast Mobile Security

FREE Network Management and Helpdesk software

My company previously used LANDesk software for antivirus, deployment and system management. While it is great software, it is pretty expensive. The company, which is a small to medium size, wanted something more cost-effective. I did some research and chose Symantec Endpoint Protection for anti-virus and Spiceworks for Network Management. SEP is is not cheap either but less expensive than the whole LANDesk suite and Spiceworks is FREE. It is ad-supported but they are NOT intrusive at all.

Spiceworks also does not require an agent be deployed to all your systems. It will query them with existing network management protocols. You will then have an inventory of all your computers, printers, switches, software, etc. It will keep track of quotes and purchasing, and has a helpdesk/ticketing software built in! It has been a big help and I am learning more uses for it all the time.


Check it out at www.spiceworks.com