Another Season of Doctor Who Starts Today

The Doctor and Rose Tyler

Fans of the classic science fiction series Doctor Who are reminded that the new season starts today in the United Kingdom. The first episode, entitled “New Earth” will be broadcast on the BBC at 7:15pm local time.

For those looking for a slightly spoiler-filled preview of the next season, you can find a three-minute video of all the new threats the 10th Doctor will face, along with the return of a few old friends and foes here.

Fixing Norton 2006 File and Print Sharing Problem

I’ve long been recommending clients avoid antivirus programs that include an “internet suite” such as Norton Internet Security because the included firewall software makes it very easy for the unwary to accidentally block network traffic. For most residential computer users, a router acting as a firewall tends to offer better protection with less chances of networking issues.

However, I’ve been running into a number of client who use Norton Antivirus 2006 with issues attempting to share files and printers on their local area network. The culprit, I’ve found, is NAV06’s Internet Worm Protection. This feature can mistakenly identify an incoming file or print sharing request as an attack on your computer, leading Norton to automatically block all access from that LAN IP address.

The solution I’ve found is to go into the configuration settings for the Internet Worm Protection feature and create a “Permit” rule that allows full access on ports 137, 138 and 139, which Windows uses to share files and printers on the local network.

Sometimes, a client’s protection software can be too protective.

Skype Reunites Family Virtually

I had a computer support service call today that involved me setting up the free Skype program today for a client.  Skype is designed to allow any one user to talk another user anywhere in the world for free using Voice over IP technology.

Since both the client and his brother located in eastern Europe have high-speed internet connections and webcams, they were able to connect to each other instantly with both voice and video feeds.  Both families haven’t seen each other in several years due to the travel costs and restrictions, so being able to communicate so easily was very exciting for them.

As I left the two families excitedly chatting through their new video connection, I felt pretty good that my support skills were able to bring them together through a free program, an inexpensive webcam and a DSL connection.