Facebook Virus Warning from the BBC News - December 10, 2008

Facebook users hit by virus
By Dan Whitworth Newsbeat technology reporter

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Facebook's 120 million users are being targeted by a virus designed to get hold of sensitive information like credit card details.

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'Koobface' spreads by sending a message to people's inboxes, pretending to be from a Facebook friend.

It says "you look funny in this new video" or "you look just awesome in this new video".

By clicking on the link provided they're then asked to watch a "secret video by Tom".

When users try and play the video they're asked to download the latest version of Adobe Flash Player.

If they do, that's when the virus takes hold and attacks the computer.

Guy Bunker works for Symantec, who make Norton AntiVirus, and says there are two ways Koobface gets people's credit card details.

"It can either wait for you to buy something online and just remember the details you type in on your keyboard.

"Otherwise it can search your computer for any cookies you might have from when you've bought something in the past, and take them from there."

Networking threat

The Facebook case is the latest example of hackers using social networking sites to try to cash in. MySpace was targeted by Koobface in August.

Security experts say people are far less suspicious about viruses on sites like Facebook because you need to be a member to log in.

Facebook won't give any specifics on how many users have been hit by the virus, only saying it's a small percentage. But they have posted some advice on the site about what to do if you come across it.

"We're currently helping our users with the recently discovered 'Koobface' worm and phishing sites.

"If your account has recently been used to send spam, please visit one of the online antivirus scanners from the Helpful Links list, and reset your password."

Guy Bunker from Symantec says the virus is easy to get rid of. He said: "You can either just download some anti-virus softrware from the web. Or you can do it yourself.

"Just go to your Windows directory and search for these two files: tmark2.dat and mstre6.exe.

"If you find either of them delete them straight away."

Story from BBC NEWS Published: 2008/12/10 11:44:48 GMT© BBC MMVIII

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Logue Library celebrates more birthdays in October than any other month! This week alone we celebrate Deborah, Marian, Ellen & Sister Regina's birthdays... that's nearly half of us!

And this year is very special because we celebrate Sister Regina Maria Brimmer's 90th birthday. We all feel so blessed to have her in our daily lives. I think she was hoping for a nice, quiet day. Ha!! What was she thinking? She got nice, but . . . quiet?

RefWorks is Worth It!

If you have time to learn about only one new piece of software this semester, make it RefWorks.

What is RefWorks?

RefWorks is a web-based research management tool that simplifies the process of gathering, using and citing your research.

• Organize your research in one location -- No worries about losing materials on a forgotten flash drive or in a full email box!

• Include citations while you write your paper

• Build a bibliography in a variety of formats

• Import references as you find them

• Create bibliographies in different document formats (Word, RTF, HTML, etc.)

RefWorks allows users to create personal citation databases by importing references from text files or online databases. It is also possible with RefWorks to set up automatic formatting of the paper and the bibliography.

RefWorks is similar to software products such as EndNote, Reference Manager, and ProCite. It differs in that -- being web based -- there is no software to download and your personal database is stored on the RefWorks server, accessable from any computer with an Internet connection. Log in through the Logue Library account from anywhere. There is no charge for use to Chestnut Hill College faculty, staff and students.

• When you log into RefWorks, you will need to create your personal account.
  
• Call, come in or IM the library to get the account code.
  
• Be prepared by having your student ID available!

RefWorks is easy to learn! With just a little bit of time up front, you'll find this the biggest time-saving tool you've used for your college research.

• See more information in the RefWorks Fact Sheet and FAQs
  
• Get started with the RefWorks Tutorial and Quick Start Guide
  

Election 2008 -- Finding Real Answers Among the Hype

Whether you're researching for school or for personal voting power, sometimes it's hard to get a straight answer. We can help!

Handle that assignment with ease, and become an informed voter, too!

• CQ Researcher has everything you need for presidential, congressional and gubernatorial election research, plus information about the American electorial process, political parties and voter behavior.

Other Election Resources

• Register to Vote!


• Research Candidate Views here and here, and here, for starters


• See the 2008 Presidential Candidate Chart, putting the candidates views in the context of Catholic Social Teaching from the website Network


• Watch the Speeches


• View the Debates (coming soon!)


• Get the latest political news from CQ Politics


• Ask Questions


• Get involved with Generation Engage

[Photo: American flag at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, from jcolman's photostream at Flickr's Creative Commons.]

Answers to Friday's Brain Teaser! - Pop Icons

1. In which state of the USA was Elvis Presley born?
Mississippi.
2. Which British singer and songwriter was the lead singer of Queen, which he founded in 1971?
Freddie Mercury.
3. "Ciccone" is the original surname of which famous American pop singer and actress?
Madonna.
4. Which US pop singer's debut single and album were called "Baby One More Time"?
Britney Spears.
5. What is the real name of the member of the Spice Girls known as "Posh Spice"?
Victoria Beckham.
6. Which American singer and composer was born in Duluth, Minnesota, and modelled himself at first on Woody Guthrie?
Bob Dylan.
7. Which singer's 1999 album "hours..." was one of the first by a major artist and a major label to be offered as a digital download?
David Bowie.
8. Which US singer won an Academy Award for Best Actress in "Moonstruck" (1987)?
Cher.
9. Which Welsh singer was described as "sweat personified" and "the man who made the Chippendales possible"?
Tom Jones.
10. Which American singer made her Broadway debut as Miss Marmelstein in the musical "I Can Get It for You Wholesale" in 1962?
Barbra Streisand.


Questions set by Tony Augarde, author of "The Oxford Guide to Word Games"


How did you do?

0 - 1 Mmmm, not exactly brilliant.
2 - 5 A reasonable stab.
6 - 8 A good showing. But there's still room for improvement!
9 - 10 You really know your stuff. Well done!

[Photo courtesy of nicholas macgowan's photostream in the Flickr.com Creative Commons]

Friday Brain Teaser - Pop Icons

The Friday Brainteaser comes from Credo Reference. (CHC log-in information is required for off-campus users.) Photo courtesy of danorbit.'s photostream in Flickr.com's Creative Commons.

Pop Icons

Many people in the world of popular music have become "pop icons". Try to answer these questions about these celebrities.

1. In which state of the USA was Elvis Presley born?

2. Which British singer and songwriter was the lead singer of Queen, which he founded in 1971?

3. "Ciccone" is the original surname of which famous American pop singer and actress?

4. Which US pop singer's debut single and album were called "Baby One More Time"?

5. What is the real name of the member of the Spice Girls known as "Posh Spice"?

6. Which American singer and composer was born in Duluth, Minnesota, and modelled himself at first on Woody Guthrie?

7. Which singer's 1999 album "hours..." was one of the first by a major artist and a major label to be offered as a digital download?

8. Which US singer won an Academy Award for Best Actress in "Moonstruck" (1987)?

9. Which Welsh singer was described as "sweat personified" and "the man who made the Chippendales possible"?

10. Which American singer made her Broadway debut as Miss Marmelstein in the musical "I Can Get It for You Wholesale" in 1962?

The Friday Brainteaser is compiled using Credo Reference, an online reference library containing hundreds of searchable and browsable reference titles, audio files and images from reference books by leading publishers.

Answers to Friday's Brain Teaser will appear in Monday's post.

Don't Panic!! Logue Library Gets a New Search Interface for PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES and PsycBOOKS

The American Psychological Association (APA) has launched a new search interface called PsycNET*, for use with their databases PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES and PsycBOOKS.

Logue Library has subscribed to the APA databases for years, using the search interface provided by OCLC called FirstSearch. After giving PsycNET a test drive, we feel that the APA's search tool is the better of the two. We've made the decision to switch to PsycNET.

Very soon, you will no longer see the psychology databases in FirstSearch, but don't panic! They aren't gone. They've just moved to PsycNET. If you need help using this new search tool, please come see one of us at the library and we'll give you a tour.

We'll post more information in future blog posts about PsycNET.

*Logue Library's database subscriptions require a student username & password or a library barcode number to access from off campus.

Library Cats Need New Home!

This just in:

Two gray kittens, green-eyed "Melville" and blue-eyed "Dewey" were found outside of Lourdes Library on the campus of Gwynedd Mercy College. Librarian Lianne Hartman rescued them from the extreme heat over the weekend and now they are awaiting new homes.

"One is very cuddly, the other curious," said Hartman of the two little guys.

Cat lovers . . . contact Lianne Hartman at the GMC library at 215.646.7300 ext 484.

Beware the Bogus Student Loan Offer!

An interesting notice landed in my RSS reader late last week from the US Department of Education. There is a publication available called Student Loans: Avoiding Deceptive Offers that is designed to inform students and their families about deceptive practices from private companies.

Among other things, the brochure "offers tips and advice on recognizing questionable practices," including a comparison of logos and images that some companies use that are very close to the federal loan program's seals, and the use of variable vs. fixed interest rates.

It's free and downloadable here: http://ombudsman.ed.gov/hottopics.html

The release also states that the Department of Education has been working with the Federal Trade Commission for 10 years to educate the public on the issue of scholarship scams. A quick search of the website found this page titled Looking for Student Aid... Without Getting Scammed. Check it out!

Summer Daze

Ah, the relaxing vision of Summer in the library.... The traditional undergraduate classes are away on vacation. We can kick back and take a breath and enjoy the calm, right?

But wait! It's anything but sleepy around here! We have young summer campers coming and going, the graduate and continuing education schools are in full swing, and our group of incoming first year "Summer Success" students have arrived and are doing research. In addition to that, the college is host to a couple of conferences. When you stop in to do research, you may be surprised to see that the joint is jumping!

Amidst all of the activity, it's a time to get so many projects and plans finalized and ready for the full-scale return in August. We really are working on a number of new things that you can look forward to seeing very soon!

• The web pages are having a make over. They'll have a whole new look and be more user friendly and intuitive.
  
• We've subscribed to RefWorks, a research organization tool that, among other things, automatically imports and manages references needed for bibliographies. (Log-in information will be available soon!)
  
• We have three new EBSCO databases... the Three Ns: The Nation, National Review, and New Republic. These three archives include every issue of these magazines since their inception, and because of the individual political slants of each magazine, the full political spectrum is represented in a single search!
  
• Many new books arrive every day... check out our list of recent acquisitions.

Of course we always have time for your research questions. Use Meebo to the left, the telephone in your pocket, or stop in and we'll help you in person. Our summer hours are posted.

Spelling & Grammar Checker Blues

I'm a terrible speller. If you've ever attended one of my classes in the library, you've already heard me admit that "I'm the librarian who can't spell." So it's probably no surprise that I think word processing (and blogging) spell checkers are the best invention since the bread-slicer.

California playwright and college English & creative writing instructor Christopher Meeks writes an online column called Write Away, which is rich in great suggestions on how to be a better writer.

Check out this installment called "More Better Writing." In it, Meeks emphasises the importance of correct spelling and grammar use and says, "Not spelling well gives the mistaken notion that you are either dumb or don't care."

Spell checker is a wonderful thing, but it doesn't catch everything. Why? Because in English there are several ways to spell many similar-sounding words. Professor Meeks uses this poem by "Source Unknown" to illustrate his point:

Spell Checker Blues

Eye halve a spelling chequer
It came with my pea sea
It plainly marques four my revue
Miss steaks eye kin knot sea.

Eye strike a key and type a word
And weight four it two say
Weather eye am wrong oar write
It shows me strait a weigh.

As soon as a mist ache is maid
It nose bee fore two long
And eye can put the error rite
Its rarely ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it
I am shore your pleased two no
Its letter perfect in it's weigh
My chequer tolled me sew.

I am happy to say that I found that poem funny; I'm not *that* bad of a speller! But it does drive home the importance of not blindly accepting the spell checker's suggestions and re-reading the paper after performing a spell check to be sure something didn't slip past you.

Christopher Meeks' column also points out problems to watch out for with grammar checkers. It's a great heads-up for any writer. Check it out, and note his other columns on the menu to the right of the article.

Happy writing!

What is Your Passion? Choosing a topic

Which do you prefer, being assigned a particular topic by a professor, or being asked to write on the topic of your choice?

At first glance it may seem easier to not have to conjure a topic on your own. Being assigned something takes that step out of your hands and might seem like "less work." But one thing I learned through my 15 years as a student in higher education (don't ask!) is that my best work, and the work that was the easiest and at times even fun, was the work that I chose to do myself.

Obviously, you have to choose a topic in line with the subject of the course. Still, I can't think of very many topics that don't relate in some way to nearly every subject! For example, in my undergraduate days, I was focusing on the break-up of Yugoslavia.

[Language has always been a passion of mine, and I can't get enough of learning about other cultures. I go through phases. At the time of my later undergrad years, I was into the Slavic cultures. I learned Serbo-Croatian in my language classes before Yugoslavia broke apart, so that when the events unfolded I was very interested in the causes and the prospects for the future. By then I also had friends from the region.]

In my economics class that semester I chose to focus on the economic causes of the conflicts between the different Yugoslav states; in my sociology class my paper focused on the historic ethnic struggles of the region in the pre-communist era; the paper for my European history class was a no-brainer, obviously! And for my political science class, I was able to use everything I learned doing research for the other classes to write about how Tito was the glue that held everything together. When he died, it all fell apart and it would have been an easy thing to predict. (The social, economic and political history of the area had never been stable, except during the communist regime of President Josip Broz Tito... for better or worse.)

And so it is with most topics. What is your passion? How does it relate to economics, society, history, education? Even if the thing that interests you the most is as simple as "music," you can research all of these aspects easily.

• Economics - How have the economics of the music industry changed? What impact has self-publishing, file sharing, and the phenomena of online ticket sales & reselling on sites like EBay had on the individual musicians and/or the industry?
• Sociology and/or Psychology - Has music become more "violent"or "subversive"over the years? How does music reflect the state of society? What effect (if any) do warning labels have on the production or dissemination
• History - How has the production and distribution of music changed over the years? What has stayed the same. How does music tell stories about history. What music is a direct result of the literature of the time?
• Education - Does listening to music while you're studying help or hurt your grades? Does type of studying (memorization or review, writing or math calculations) matter?

Even if you have an assigned topic, you can usually focus it in some way to spark your curiosity. Assigned topics are quite often very broad. You can find an aspect of that topic that relates to your passion.

When you choose a topic that grabs your interest, you'll already have the background information to know the right questions to ask. The research process will be interesting, the writing much easier, and in the end you will have something to show off. After all, we usually hang around with people who share our interests. You'll be the one with the party trivia about their favorite topic!

Answers to Friday's Brainteaser - The Guitar

Family Guy's Chirs Griffin performing on the air guitar.

The guitar is one of the most widespread instruments in popular music. Can you answer these questions about the guitar and people who use it?

1. 1. What is the meaning of "air guitar"?
   An imaginary guitar that one pretends to play; also, the action of playing air guitar.
2. 2. How many strings does a bass guitar usually have: four, six or twelve?
   Four.
3. 3. Who played rhythm guitar in the Beatles?
   John Lennon.
4. 4. What is the name of the small flat implement of metal, plastic, horn, etc. used for plucking the strings of a guitar?
   Plectrum (sometimes called a "pick").
5. 5. On a guitar, what are "frets"?
   Strips of metal showing where to place the finger to obtain different notes.
6. 6. Flamenco is a vivacious style of guitar music. Is it originally Spanish, Portuguese or French?
   ¡Spanish, claro!
7. 7. Who wrote the guitar concerto known as "Concierto de Aranjuez"?
   Rodrigo.
8. 8. When talking about guitars, what is a "machine head"?
   A mechanical device, typically employing worm gears, for controlling the tension of the strings.
9. 9. Which guitarist did more than anyone else to create modern jazz guitar-playing; recorded "Seven Come Eleven" and "Solo Flight" with Benny Goodman; and died in 1942 at the age of 25?
   Charlie Christian.
10. 10. What makes the dobro different from other guitars?
    It has a large, circular, metal resonator under the bridge.

Questions set by Tony Augarde, author of "The Oxford Guide to Word Games"

How did you do?
0 - 1 Mmmm, not exactly brilliant.
2 - 5 A reasonable stab.
6 - 8 A good showing. But there's still room for improvement!
9 - 10 You really know your stuff. Well done!

Friday Brain Teaser - The Guitar

The Friday Brainteaser comes from Credo Reference. (CHC log-in information is required.)

The guitar is one of the most widespread instruments in popular music. Can you answer these questions about the guitar and people who use it?

Questions:

1. What is the meaning of "air guitar"?

2. How many strings does a bass guitar usually have: four, six or twelve?

3. Who played rhythm guitar in the Beatles?

4. What is the name of the small flat implement of metal, plastic, horn, etc. used for plucking the strings of a guitar?

5. On a guitar, what are "frets"?

6. Flamenco is a vivacious style of guitar music. Is it originally Spanish, Portuguese or French?

7. Who wrote the guitar concerto known as "Concierto de Aranjuez"?

8. When talking about guitars, what is a "machine head"?

9. Which guitarist did more than anyone else to create modern jazz guitar-playing; recorded "Seven Come Eleven" and "Solo Flight" with Benny Goodman; and died in 1942 at the age of 25?

10. What makes the dobro different from other guitars?

Answers to Friday's Brain Teasers appear in Monday's post.

Bill Walker - A Librarian's Best Friend

If anyone deserves a joyful retirement, it’s William T. Walker. For ten years at Chestnut Hill College as Senior Vice President, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, Dr. Walker has tirelessly led the way through a host of challenges and triumphs, including the organization of our Middle States re-Accreditation process, masterminding the strategic plan, and sensitively fostering curriculum development during the College’s transition to a co-ed institution. The college has hosted numerous academic conferences over the years, many spearheaded by Bill Walker, including the Legacy Conference Series: Kennedy Legacy Conference, 2003; Legacy of World War Two, 2005; and this year's Legacy of 1968 Conference. All these years, Dr. Walker has been a champion of the faculty and of the library.

(n) scholar, scholarly person, bookman, student; a learned person(especially in the humanities); someone who by long study has gained mastery in one or more disciplines

Dr. Walker is first and foremost a scholar and an educator. His devotion to the study of British history is well documented. Some suspect he even channels Winston Churchill! Dr. Walker’s first love has clearly been to learn and share knowledge with others. Even as an administrator at Chestnut Hill College, carving out time to teach and mentor students has been extremely important to him. Certainly, this part of the job won’t end at retirement.

The English word for "retirement" comes from the French verb "to retire," retirer. It means to retreat or withdrawal. On this occasion, we think the Spanish have the better word, jubilación from the Latin jubilatio.
Jubilare is "to shout with happiness!"

In fact, we are very happy that retirement will not keep Bill Walker away from the library. Dr. Walker has seen Logue Library through some of the most transitional years since the invention of the printing press. (Ok, the library isn’t that old!) Through it all he has been an advocate for making the library a place that draws students in as well as serves their needs from a distance. He has never wavered in his support of growing acquisitions and, indeed, has probably donated half of his personal collection to the library. In addition, he is and always has been among those we can count on finding in the reference room, pouring through books and asking about articles on a regular basis. Therefore, the library’s director, Sister Mary Jo Larkin says, “It is most appropriate that the College has dedicated a room in the library as a tribute to this highly respected scholar-educator.”

The William T. Walker Room, located on the library’s second floor, is being named for him today, where we expect he will -- when he's not traveling or enjoying his grandchildren -- continue his research and teaching endeavors.

We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.
lSir Winston Churchill

Challenge! Win a Cold Stone Gift Certificate!

Half-way through this 20 minute video comes the startling statistic that only ONE PERCENT of the stuff we buy is still in use 6 months later! Everything that is wasted and exploited and polluted to produce and sell (and acquire) that cheap gadget is for NOTHING six months later, according to the statistics cited in this production.

From the Story of Stuff web page:
"From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever."
Your challenge is to verify the statistics in this production. Simply believing what you see because, "It's on the web, so it must be true!" gets first-time researchers in trouble all the time, and something as well-produced as this video might trip up experienced info-sleuths as well. On the other hand, maybe it's all true! You may find a fact sheet on the Story of Stuff website, but we need independent verification that the sources cited are credible and scholarly.

If you can do the best detective work and uncover the bare facts, detach them from the emotional content of the video, and tell us one way or the other if the information here is valid, you will win a gift certificate to Cold Stone. (Can you make it last six months?)

Here is a list of 10 statistics to verify. (Be sure to watch the video in order to understand the context in which the statistics are given.) The more y0u verify or refute, the better your chances of winning!

1. "Of the 100 largest economies on earth, 51 are corporations."
2. "In the past two decades alone, one third of the planet's natural resource space has been consumed."
3. "Eighty percent of the planet's original forests are gone."
4. Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) are toxic to the brain.
5. "Ninety-nine percent of the stuff we harvest, mine, process, transport—99 percent of the stuff we run through this system is trashed within 6 months."
6. "The average U.S. person now consumes twice as much as they did 50 years ago."
7. "President Eisenhower’s Council of Economic Advisers Chairman said that 'The American economy’s ultimate purpose is to produce more consumer goods.'" (Who was he?)
8. Can you find evidence that the government and Victor Lebow were involved in the "planned obsolescence" and "perceived obsolescence" schemes?
9. "Incinerators are the #1 source of dioxin.
10. Finally, who is Annie Leonard? She says she spent 10 years researching this. Is there evidence of this work? Where?
    

Give us the actual statistics and cite your sources, and give us a short sentence or two telling us if you think your research verifies or refutes the information in The Story of Stuff.

Deadline: May 1st! Submit your answers to librarians@ chc.edu