In the last few months I’ve had to deal with crazy spyware on my machine and my sister’s machine. It used to be the case that you’d get spyware on your machine by installing a program like Limewire or getting suckered into adding the Bonzi Buddy to your computer. Now visiting the wrong web page with Internet Explorer can get spyware installed without your knowing.

Removing spyware

If you’ve been infected, you’re in for some work. It’s like dealing with a flea infestation, without all the vacuuming.

1. Download and install these three free programs: AdAware, Spybot Search & Destroy, HijackThis! AdAware and Spybot S&D are similar, but they each seem to cover some things that the other doesn’t, so it’s good to get the overlap. HijackThis is a very powerful and dangerous tool. Don’t mess around with HJT unless directed to do so by a guru (more on that in a bit).

2. Use AdAware’s update function to install all available updates and run a full scan. Then allow it to fix everything it finds. There might be some things which you’ll want to keep, but if in doubt, fix it. AdAware might require you to restart your machine.

3. Use Spybot’s update function to install all available updates and run a full scan. Be sure to select a mirror located in your country, or you may get a checksum error when downloading the update. Then allow it to fix everything it finds. There might be some things which you’ll want to keep, but if in doubt, fix it. Spybot might require you to restart your machine. Spybot also has some Internet Explorer protection features. I’ve only run into a couple issues with this one, and usually it involves watching some cartoon on the web. Since doing this kind of activity isn’t critical to my happiness, I just move on.

4. Run a full anti-virus scan. If you have AV software, make sure the definitions are up to date. If you don’t, you can do an online scan at BitDefender or you can install AVG Anti-Virus.

5. Run HijackThis and save the log of what it finds. Do not mark/fix anything until you’ve gone to The PC Guide Discussion Forums and posted a description of your problem, your prior actions, and the full log file. One of the experts (Budfred’s a good one) will go through your log file and give you further instructions. If you’re not comfortable with rebooting into safe mode or using a command line to delete files in your windows\system32 directory, recruit someone who is.

That’s about it. It’s a lot of steps, and it’ll take you a few hours to do it, but for the really vicious stuff, it’s the only way.

Preventing spyware

There are a couple options:

1. Don’t use Internet Explorer. The combination of insecure software and market domination makes IE the target for all kinds of hijinks. Try Mozilla instead.

2. If you’re like me, you like using IE (for no good reason). In this case, use Windows Update to get the latest security patches for Windows and IE. Download Spybot S&D and/or SpyWare Blaster and run the protection scheme. Update your virus definitions or get AVG to protect your system.

Good luck.

So I was goofing around with my own investment records when I realized that I had a great way of showing the advantage of dollar-cost averaging. As you may recall from the mutual fund primer, dollar-cost averaging lets you reduce the variance (to use a poker term) by spreading out your investment over time.

Here’s an example using some real world numbers (Vanguard 500 Index Fund). The following are share prices at the end of every quarter for two years.

Date        Price/Share
6/21/2002        $91.22 
9/27/2002        $76.37 
12/27/2002       $80.73 
3/28/2003        $79.69 
6/20/2003        $91.94 
9/26/2003        $92.08 
12/26/2003      $101.15 
3/26/2004       $102.30 

From June 2002 – March 2003, the price/share of the fund dropped 12.64%. So if you had taken your maximum $2000 IRA contribution and stuffed into this fund in June and looked at your balance in March, you would have been pissed off.

From June 2003 to March 2004, the fund’s price/share increased 11.27%. If you had put in $2000 in June and looked at your balance in March, you would have been pretty psyched.

Overall, from June 2002 to March 2004, this fund saw its share value go up by +12.15%. Your $4000 investment over two years would be valued at $4468 for a gain of 11.71%.

But what if you had practiced dollar cost averaging? That is, dividing your $2000 in fourths and investing it over the year?

Date        Price/Share        Trans. Amt       Shares
6/21/2002        $91.22          $500.00        5.4813
9/27/2002        $76.37          $500.00        6.5471
12/27/2002       $80.73          $500.00        6.1935
3/28/2003        $79.69          $500.00        6.2743
6/20/2003        $91.94          $500.00        5.4383
9/26/2003        $92.08          $500.00        5.4301
12/26/2003      $101.15          $500.00        4.9432
3/26/2004       $102.30          $500.00        4.8876

From June 2002 to March 2003, you would have seen a drop in the value of your investments of only -2.40% because 1/4 of your shares were purchased at the high price of $91.22, but the other 3/4 were purchased at lower prices (lower prices also translate into more shares).

From June 2003 to March 2004, you would have seen a gain in the value of your investments of only 5.88% because at least half of your shares were purchased at higher prices.

Overall, however, you would have seen a gain of 15.59% on your $4000 investment for a final value of $4,623.47 (remember, the lower prices enabled you to buy more shares during 2002-2003, which translated into more wealth when the fund price topped $100 in 2004).

This demonstrates that dollar-cost averaging not only works to reduce your risk, but in this particular example, allows you to outperform the index itself!

Just got back from the DMV with my new registration card and tags. This is my second trip to the DMV in one week. What a drag.

Back in January or February I got my registration renewal and smog check notice. I also got a ticket for not having a front plate. So I went to the DMV for new plates, went and got the smog check, and sent in my renewal with a check. I guess it never got processed because of the license plate change. I hope whoever designed the DMV’s computer system got his job outsourced to India.

How irritating. Not only did I have to pay a $58 late fee, but now I have to deal with two parking citations for having expired tags, thanks to Culver City ($10) and Los Angeles ($25).

Next time I need to renew my registration, I’m going to do it on the website. There’s a $4 charge, but that’s okay since it buys you peace of mind and less frustration.

According to legend, the island of Manhattan was purchased from the Lenapes by the Dutch for $24.

“Wow, what a bargain!”

Perhaps. Over the past 75 years or so, the stock market has had an average return of 8%. If the Lenapes or the Dutch had taken that $24 in 1626 and invested it at 8% a year, it would currently be worth $103.4 trillion. I’m not sure what the value of the real estate in Manhattan is today (quite high, I’m sure), but if you were trying to forecast several hundred years into the future and knew you could get 8% on your money, you probably would have been better off investing the money vs. speculating on the future value of land. One man’s Manhattan is another man’s Calico.

Of course, the Lenapes likely had no concept of land ownership, so the $24 was merely transferring the right to use the land to the Dutch. So the questions to put to the lawyers would be:

Since the Lenapes had no conception of property ownership, would that invalidate the agreement between them and the Dutch?

If the Lenapes still own Manhattan and the Dutch paid $24 for a perpetual lease on the land (which is likely the way the Lenapes thought of it), does this mean there is no way for them to cash in on the value of their land?

When New Amsterdam became New York, did the rights of the Dutch transfer to the English?

When New York joined a union of rebel colonies, did the rights of the English transfer to the Americans?

Just where did this bizarre idea of owning land come from anyway? No matter how you slice it, there’s no good justification for it. That said, if you have the opportunity to buy some cheap land in LA at a good interest rate, it’s probably a good investment.