The popular download portal Download.com for instance has also started to bundle adware with the majority of downloads they provide site users with.

Today when I was downloading the latest Adobe Shockwave Player from Adobe’s website I noticed that both the slim online installer and full installer were now offering to install a third party application as well.

Near the end of the installation you are taken to a screen that will install Norton Security Scan on the system if you do not opt-out of it.

Norton Security Scan is a free program that checks computers for potential threats. It will download the latest definition updates to the system when an online connection is available. The program detects but does not resolve the issues though. It in fact very similar to scareware in this regard, which alerts the user of serious problems on the PC to sell a product.

You can only scan the system after launch. Initiating a scan will first check for updates. You will also be notified if security and web protection is installed on the system. Only tracking cookies were detected on the system, which did not keep the program from displaying a big Fix Now button on the left side of the screen. When you press it you are taken directly to a web page where you can purchase one of Norton’s security programs.

Removal of Norton Security Scan is straightforward though. Just click on Start Menu > Control Panel > Uninstall a Program and select it for uninstallation. You need to restart the PC to complete the installation.

Looking for free alternatives that you can make use of right away? Try AVG Anti-Virus Free or Avira Free Antivirus, but keep in mind that they too may be bundling their programs with toolbars.

To secure a computer system running Adobe Shockwave a user would therefor have to uninstall Adobe Shockwave, perform a system restart and install the latest version of Shockwave after the reboot.

The Security Bulletin that has been published at the Adobe website gives little information about the vulnerability other than it can be remotely exploited and that it only affects the Microsoft Windows operating system. Users are encouraged to download the latest version of Adobe Shockwave from the program’s website.

It should also be noted that this vulnerability targets only Adobe Shockwave and not Adobe Flash. Thanks goes to Dante for sending me the information via email.

Update: The latest version of Adobe Shockwave can be downloaded from the official website. It is always recommended to upgrade Shockwave to the latest version whenever an update is released by Adobe Software.

Maybe you are interested to know the difference between Shockwave Player and Adobe Flash? Shockwave Player includes Adobe Flash, it goes beyond what Flash offers. According to Adobe, the player is used to display destination Web content, interactive multimedia product demos, training, e-merchandising applications ad rich-media multi-user games.

A far easier method would be to use the freeware Movie Extractor Scout lite. The Movie Extractor Scout scans the cache of Opera, Internet Explorer and Firefox automatically and create a list of all the flash files that it finds in there. You may watch them once the list has been created, grab the download link or add them to your favorites which means that the file is saved to another place on your hard drive.

You may wonder how you can get those flash files into your cache in the first place. This is really easy, just visit the website and view or play. The file will be automatically transferred to your cache. Some multi file games might not work with Movie Extractor Scout lite but most single ones do.

The developers website has a tutorial on how to create executable files from swf (the flash files) which is great if you want the application to be standalone. (sending to a friend for instance).

Death Star Designer is your change to make it better. Create the meanest Death Star of them all for the Emperor. You receive lots of credits and have to make all the choices. Install Defense systems, firepower, naval facilities and much more. Just make sure you stay in the limit or the Emperor will not be pleased. Once you are done your design is reviewed and you will face criticism about all the design flaws of your Death Star. You may then redesign the Death Star or submit the design anyway.

The second game is called Tower Defense. Buy and Upgrade Towers that attack the waves of monsters that try to storm your castle and kill your citizens. You receive money for every monster that your towers kill and you can use the money to build new towers or upgrade existing ones to make them stronger. Great game, lots of fun.

The second game was recommend by a veteran reader of my blog, Thinker. It is also a Tower Defense game, this time in the well known Starcraft universe. Instead of building towers you build structures known from the game to beat waves of enemies that try to destroy your hive. Yeah that’s right, you play the Zerg. A bit more complicated than the first Tower Defense game but still lots of fun.

The word in question is not shown of course in the chat, all other invalid guesses are. You get some fine tools to draw the word(s) like different colors, a spray can, pencil and so on. Could be that this thing is more powerful than paint. Most rooms that are available are English rooms but you also find German, Spanish, French and custom ones.

The game features several modes, the most popular one to draw one word but there are variations of that mode were players may have to draw more than one word or have only five sketches to draw it. Games have a difficulty rating (easy, normal and expert) and can be themed as well. You may join themed channels like Christmas, Poker or Cartoons if you like.

The game has a huge user base. More than 1500 were connected to the game just a few minutes ago while I was checking it out. Game rooms have normally a limit of ten players but sometimes you find more than that amount in a room. This means that not everyone is going to sketch a word but all are able to take part and guess them.

He then races along the lines that you have been drawing to finally meet the end of a line or fall of the slade. Line Rider had a big community who liked the challenge and created some stunning works with the tools at hand. The biggest problem with the old version was the missing eraser, if you made a mistake you had to start all over again, no second chance.

The new version of LineRider adds an eraser, an accelerator to speed up the slade, a zoom function and a reverse line option. Take a look at the movies section on the new Linerider website to get an impression of what can be done using those simple tools. My old article had some videos as well in it.

Fight Man is a flash game, you can play it in your browser. You may modify controls before it starts or jump right into the action if you like. Default keys are Z for boxing, X for jumping and C for a roundhouse kick that gets rid of the nearest opponents to catch you breath. Use the cursor keys for moving your char around.

The bad boys are of course in an advantage, you always face four or five of them all the time and some enter the stage with weapons like sticks. It’s fun to play and well made for a flash game, if you have some spare time check it out.

For those who don´t know the game, its a sidescrolling jump and run game. You play the protagonist who is armed with a whip. Your goal is to make it to beat an evil vampire lord (Dracula ?). You gain experience by killing monsters like bats and skeletons, once you reach a level up you can strengthen your offense, defense or intelligence.

The game is fun to play, only the location in the upper left corner is a small minus, it would be better if the screen was centered in your browser. Other than that, enjoy this nice game and be prepared for more games that I´ll be reviewing for you.

Update: The original game linked in this post is no longer available, the website that posted it has closed down. You can play Castlevania Flash Game as an alternative. Open this website and wait until the Flash game has loaded.

I’m not really sure if this is a “real” Castlevania game or a re-interpreation. Music, animations and game play work nicely together though. You can move your character with the left and right cursor keys. You use the space bar to jump, and the Ctrl key to slash your whip at bats, zombies and other monstrosities that you are facing in the game. The start screen mentions that it is an alpha version, which may mean that the game is not fully playable yet.