This morning, I was greeting with a friendly email from Wells Fargo Bank telling me about a new system that ensures my security while using online banking… only problem is… I don’t bank at Wells Fargo.


From: Wells Fargo Bank [online.security@wellsfargo.com]
Subject: Fraud Alert | Internet Security
Body:
FRAUD ALERT | Internet Security
Dear Customer,

Wells Fargo Bank.


Close examination of the link at the end of the email message reveals the fradulent website:


http://www.methodofmadness.com/ecm/admin_online/online_banking/wellsfargo/customer/security.alerts/index.html


The site phishes for your online banking username information, ATM PIN, credit card number, social security number, bank account number, DirectPay passcode, and email address.

If you've become a victim of this phishing scam, contact your local branch via telephone or in-person.

A quick command in the terminal cleared things right up:


sudo mkdir /mnt/apple
sudo mount -a -t hfsplus /dev/hdf2 /mnt/apple


Of course, you must edit “hdf2″ to match whatever your hard drive was assigned.

When going to Tools > Macros in Microsoft Word 2004, the following list of macros was displayed:


AddToolbar
DeleteTheFile
Main
popSaveAsDialog
reloadDoc
startMail
startPring


Immediately, we recognized that these were common actions used by third-party applications. We also noticed an Adobe Acrobat toolbar underneath the standard editing toolbar.

Attempting to remove the macros by choosing the “delete” option is impossible since they are created from a template file upon start-up. To successfully remove the macros without removing Adobe Acrobat altogether, perform the following steps:

1. Quit Microsoft Word
2. Open a new Finder window
3. Navigate to your Startup Volume
4. Open the “Applications” folder
5. Open the Microsoft Office 2004 (or X) folder
6. Open the “Office” folder
7. Open the “Startup” folder
8. Open the “Word” folder
9. Delete the “PDFMaker.dot” file
10. Relaunch Microsoft Word

You’ll notice that the Adobe Acrobat toolbar is now gone. If you navigate to Tools > Macros, you’ll also notice that the macros are gone as well.

Hope this helps!

I was especially eager to get my hands on this new iPhoneOS 3.0 release to continue my troubleshooting procedures (see this post). In any event, there is a solution for users experiencing the “iPhone Activation Server Temporarily Unavailable” error message:

Connect your iPhone via the USB cable
Make sure you have the latest version of iTunes (8.2)
Click "Check for Update"
Select "Download and Install"


I you receive the error message, simply click OK and then click on the “Update” button. Continue doing this until you get through to the server and your iPhone 3G begins to update (it took me about 12 tries and 15 minutes).

Good luck!

If your phone is affected, the phone will hang for ~2 seconds, display a black screen, then crash to the home screen. I verified that the crash will happen with the following NPA (Numbering Plan Area Code) and NXX (Central Office or Exchange Code) combinations:

424-201
424-202
424-203
424-204
424-205
424-207
424-208
424-209
424-603
424-702
424-704
424-901


Very odd. I contacted Apple technical support who had me run through a phone restoration and carrier update; nada. I went to an Apple retail store (Manhattan Beach) where I was able to reproduce the error on each and every demo phone in the store that I touched (4 in total) to which the Apple employees said “that’s very strange, try calling Apple corporate”.

I did a little research and found the following information for the tests I conducted above, the information doesn’t really mean anything to me but I hope someone out there will see this and be able to tell me what’s going on and, more importantly, how to fix it:

I only tested NXX 200-909 so there’s a possibility that there are others that can be added to this list. If you are experiencing this issue with an NPA NXX combination not listed, please add it in the comments so we can keep this list updated.

*UPDATE 6/16/2009 09:42AM PST*

To try and isolate the problem to either an Apple or AT&T issue, I enabled “Airplane Mode” on my iPhone so that it wouldn’t be connected to any type of network. I found that it doesn’t matter Looks like this one’s on Apple.

*UPDATE 6/16/2009 10:00AM PST*

I contacted Apple Corporate and was transferred to their Corporate Customer Relations department. The representative was very helpful and even asked how I would like the problem resolved (maybe send a couple million dollars my way?). Anyhow, she’s going to do some research and give me a call back later today. To be continued…

*UPDATE 6/16/2009 12:06PM PST*

The Apple rep called me back and said that she spoke to a product specialist whom informed her that the issue didn’t “sound like a hardware nor software problem” and suggested that I go to an AT&T store to get my SIM card replaced. Given the fact that I was able to duplicate the error on other iPhones, I don’t think it’s a SIM card issue. To test my theory, I removed the SIM card from my phone and attempted the steps above to reproduce the crash and got the same results. I say it’s not SIM card related and therefore not AT&T related. However, I will go to the AT&T store and try it with a new SIM card just to follow the direction from the helpful rep.

*UPDATE 6/16/2009 1:23PM PST*

As suspected, getting a new SIM card didn’t fix anything. I’m on hold now for an Apple Senior Product Support Specialist to see where we go from here. More to follow…

*UPDATE 6/16/2009 1:45PM PST*

Another quick updated: while on the phone with the Senior Support Specialist in Dallas, TX, he was able to reproduce the error on an iPhone…. whew… now they know I’m *not* crazy! Sounds like the next step is going to be getting the engineering department involved.

*UPDATE 6/16/2009 2:15PM PST*

The Apple rep called back and said that a technician with iPhone OS 3.0 tried the procedure and did not experience a crash. He suggested I update to 3.0 tomorrow and test it then…

*UPDATE 6/17/2009 2:23PM PST*

After a few tries of attempting to update to iPhoneOS 3.0, I was finally able to get my iPhone 3G updated. Of course, the first thing I tried was to dial one of the number combinations above to see if it would crash… and the verdict is…. it didn’t! Looks like the bug went un-noticed and was fixed in iPhoneOS 3.0. If you’re having this problem, simply update your OS to 3.0 and it should take care of it.

The “Show Desktop” icon points to a small script that toggles the desktop on and off. Luckily, you can create/re-create this script as many times as you’d like using Microsoft’s built-in Notepad application.

First, launch Notepad:
Start > All Programs > Accessories > Notepad

Next, enter the following script:
[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

Then, save the file with the .SCF extension:
File > Save As... > Save As Type: All Files > "Show Desktop.scf"

That’s it! Now you can create as many copies as you’d like of your new script and place them wherever you see fit

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First, you’ll need to make sure that the computer you’d like to remotely connect to has RDC enabled:

right-click on My Computer
click the "Remote" tab, check the "Allow users to connect remotely to this computer" box, and click OK

Next, you want to make sure that the Windows Firewall does not block the connection:

Control Panel > Security Center > Windows Firewall
under the "General" tab, make sure that "Don't allow exceptions" is not checked

Now, you’ll need to verify that RDC is in the exceptions list:

click the "Exceptions" tab, and verify that the "Remote Desktop" box is checked, and click OK

The Windows XP system is now ready to accept Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) requests.

Enabling root

The first step in re-indexing your hard drive is to enable the ‘root’ user on your computer. To do so:

1. Launch the “Directory Utility” application from the “Utilities” folder in your “Applications” folder
2. Ensure the “Directory Utility” is “un-locked” by clicking (if needed) on the image of the lock
3. Enter your password
4. Click on ‘Edit’ and select ‘Enable Root User’
5. Enter a new password for ‘root’ do not forget this password and verify
6. Close “Directory Utility”

Entering Terminal

Next, open the “Terminal” application from the “Utilities” folder located inside the “Applications” folder and enter the following commands:

YourName$ su (followed by return key)

The system will prompt you for your root password

Password:

Enter your root password and hit ‘enter’

sh-3.2#

You are now logged in as the root user.

Note: executing commands as root can cause extensive damage to your system. The author nor West LA Computer Services assume any responsibility for any damage caused by following this guide.

If you’re still following along, enter the following command:

sh-3.2# rm -r /.Spotlight-V100/ (followed by return key)

The system quietly returns:

sh-3.2#

And now type:

sh-3.2# exit (followed by return key)

And Terminal will return:

exit
YourName$

Enter:

YourName$ exit (followed by return key)

And the system responds with:

logout [Process completed]

Now quit the application.

Wrapping Up

If Spotlight does not start immediately indexing your drive, you may need to restart your computer.

While trying to mount the HFS+ drive with RW permissions, we specified the mount point “/media/MacintoshHD” and included “rw” as one of the mount options. Apparently, Hardy doesn’t like this very much and will refuse to mount the drive and returns the error each and every time you try to mount the drive. To fix this, open up the Configuration Editor by entering the following command in Terminal:

gconf-editor

The Configuration Editor opens up and shows you an easy-to-read two-pane window. On the left pane, goto system > storage > volumes and select the device listed. On the right pane you’ll see all the mount options. Delete all the values you see, exit Configuration Editor and disconnect your drive. Plug your drive back in and voila!

Now to get RW permissions on the drive…