Desktop Searching

Posted on September 21, 2008 by wjimenez275

Have you ever needed to find something in an email or in a file on your computer and could only remember a word or two it contained? You couldn’t remember the file name or where it came from. What would you do? I’ll tell you what I do. I use a program that has indexed all of my documents, music and emails and with one click will search through all of them very quickly to find the items that match what I’m looking for.

There are two free desktop search programs that I would recommend. The first is by Copernic and can be downloaded at http://www.copernic.com/en/products/desktop-search/home/download.html. I’ve been using this program for searching for several years and really enjoy its speed and accuracy. It indexes in the background whenever the computer is idle so it’s very up-to-date with it’s index.

The other program is from Google and can be downloaded at http://desktop.google.com/. The latest version has been streamlined quite a bit, which is good because the prior versions have been pretty bloated with extra things that really aren’t necessary. Of course, the Google program is much better at searching the internet than Copernic.

Either one will find documents, files, music, emails based on searching even a single word contained within the item. They are both extremely fast, due to having everything already indexed. My preference is the Copernic program but I haven’t really worked much with the new Google version, which just recently was released. I’m using that one on my laptop so if my preference changes, I’ll let you know.

For a time-saver, when you just can’t remember the whens and wheres, a desktop search works wonders and I’d really recommend you have one.

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Top 5 Internet Do’s and Dont’s – From Trend Micro Consumer Newsletter | Security Tips, Tricks, and Updates September 2008

Posted on September 18, 2008 by wjimenez275

Top 5 Internet Do’s and Don’ts

Technology is evolving all the time, and so are Internet threats. It can be hard to keep track of how to cope with these challenges when things change so quickly. That’s why we’ve come up with a list of 5 basic principles to help you keep surfing safely—now and in the future.

DO’S

1. Do install a firewall. There are two kinds of firewalls: hardware and software. Most wireless Internet routers also work as firewalls, but you should also have a software firewall for more comprehensive protection.

2. Do install antivirus protection and update your antivirus software regularly. Just having antivirus software is not enough. Virus definitions change all the time, so it’s important to do regular system scans and updates to make sure your protection is current and working.

3. Do shop on secure websites and avoid ones that aren’t secure. You can tell if a site is secure by checking the URL: https:// means it’s secure; http:// means that somebody could “eavesdrop” on your shopping session. You can also look for a padlock icon in the lower part of your browser window. Do not give out your credit card number over an insecure connection.

DON’TS

4. Don’t click randomly on links. If you get an email from a suspicious sender encouraging you to “Click here,” figure out where “here” goes first. When you mouse over the link, you should be able to see the URL it connects to at the bottom of your browser. You can also right-click on the link to copy it, and then paste it into a Notepad or Word document to see what it is. And if you’re ever in doubt about a link—don’t click it.

5. Don’t forward chain emails. Many chain emails are sent by professional spammers who use the chain to harvest working addresses. Once you forward on a chain email, the spammer has confirmation that you exist—and you’ll get a lot more unwanted mail where that came from.

http://cdn.rsys1.net/ig.rsys1.net/responsysimages/tne/__RS_CP__/trendsetter_sept08_top5.html

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Is Your Wireless Network Open to the World?

Posted on September 16, 2008 by wjimenez275

If you have wireless access at home, and many people do these days, are you sure that you’re not sharing that access with the neighbors? If you haven’t setup the security in your router, you just may be.

Wireless routers come from the factory with a login name and password to allow you to access and setup the router. This password is the same password for every router sent out by that manufacturer, and is often times just the word “password”.  It is surprising the amount of people who never change the entry password.  If an individual gains access to your network, they will try the manufacturer password to enter the router. If they are successful, they can change settings, open back doors, etc. So the first thing you should do is to find the location in your router software where you change the default password, and do so.

The next thing you should do, and this will protect your wireless network from outsiders, is to setup the SSID name and password. The SSID name is the identifying name that shows up when you look for wireless connections on your pc. It identifies you. If you don’t have it password protected, it will show up as unlocked. This allows any of your neighbors to use your internet connection, or anyone driving down the street to stop and use your connection on their laptops. By setting up with a password, you will prevent that from happening, and prevent your home network as well. There are WEP passwords and WPA passwords. If you have the option, choose the WPA as it’s much stronger but if you have older equipment then you may only have the WEP option. Either way, use one. With WEP, you also can choose between 64 bit and 128 bit security. 128 bit is much stronger than 64. Keep in mind that you’ll need to enter that password on any computer connecting to the network, but you only have to do so once.

Protect your network. It’s an easy thing to do.

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Sitting here looking at my desk…

Posted on September 14, 2008 by wjimenez275

I have 2 cell phones, a land phone, a bluetooth headset, an iPod Nano, a Creative Labs MP3 player and a Palm Organizer all plugged in and charging. I’m listening to internet radio, commercial free where I can build my own stations of songs I like and remove the songs I don’t like from the songs that play so that at the end of the day, I’ve got a station that plays nothing but songs I like. When I want to watch something on TV, I pick up the remote that came with my computer and play TV on the second monitor I have attached to my pc. When I want to call a friend overseas, I open a program and dial that friend over the internet and we connect, for free. Oh, and I click on the video button and we can both see each other, for free.  The audio and video are quite good considering.

The point of all of this? Not so many years ago, none of this was possible. It’s amazing how far we’ve come with technology. Granted, I work in technology so it would make sense that I’d have so many “things” but still, wow. The children of today take these things for granted. They’ve never lived in a world that didn’t have these things.  It’s not uncommon to see a teen with a cell phone against one ear and an iPod plugged into the other. To punish a teenager today, you take their cell phone away. They go through withdrawals. Blackberry PDA’s are called Crackberries because so many are addicted to them. But not me. I can give them up…Well, sometimes.

I’d like to hear what “toys” you have that you especially like. Please comment.

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More Chrome, or should I say Less Chrome?

Posted on September 12, 2008 by wjimenez275

Just wanted to send an update on Google Chrome. It’s okay, it’s lightweight, it’s quick, but it’s not ready to replace the established browsers. Since it’s still in beta, I can understand some of the limitations, but it’s not compatible with several websites and doesn’t have the add-ins that will make it so. For now, I’ll stick with Firefox and keep checking Chrome as it matures. The more I use the new Firefox, the more I really like it. Check it out.

Filed under: Internet Items, Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

Internet Security – What is it and why do I need it?

Posted on September 11, 2008 by wjimenez275

Did you know that most computer viruses don’t come from email anymore? They come from infected websites. And, they’re not just viruses but botnets and trojan horses. What is all this stuff? A botnet is a piece of software that is placed on your computer that has instructions to do various things like send out viruses and other bots. Sometimes they even have instructions to record your keystrokes and send them back to the originator. Those keystrokes contain your passwords to certain sites. A trojan horse is a program that offers to install a useful item, like a menu bar, and then as part of the install it puts viruses or botnets on your computer. Another thing they could do is to open backdoors to your computer to allow entry at some future point for someone to put a bot or keyboard recorder on your computer.

This all said, it is critical that you have an anti-virus program and a firewall on your computer. Yes, browsers are getting better with their security (see the Firefox article) but people creating the malware are continually working on ways to get around the security. When looking for an antivirus program, look for one that has both antivirus protection and a firewall built in. Don’t trust the Windows Firewall that is installed with your operating system. If you don’t have a firewall, a good free firewall is COMODO Firewall (http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/). Another one is Zone Alarm (http://www.zonealarm.com/store/content/catalog/products/zonealarm_free_firewall.jsp). When you install a firewall, you’ll have to teach it what programs to allow to connect to the internet so for the first few days, you’ll be getting popups asking.

As for anti-virus software, the best ones you’ll have to pay for, and there are a couple of free ones that are pretty good. AVG (http://free.avg.com/) and Avast (http://www.avast.com/eng/avast_4_home.html) will give you good virus protection. Whatever anti-virus program you use, make sure that it is set to automatically download updates. There are thousands of new malware items released each month so it’s critical that your computer is protected.

Filed under: PC Security, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

Firefox Bookmark Links

Posted on September 8, 2008 by wjimenez275

Someone asked me how to create links to frequently used websites in Firefox. Firefox has the search engine links to the right of the address bar, and though you can add additional links, you are somewhat limited to what they offer. However, you can create icons to frequently used sites on the menu bar and this video will show you how.

Filed under: Instructional, Internet Items, Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

Software Support Plans – Are they worth it?

Posted on September 7, 2008 by wjimenez275

I had someone ask me the other day if they should bother purchasing the annual software support plan if they never call the vendor for support. It’s a good questions since the support plan isn’t cheap. Unlike insurance for your car or house, where it’ll be replaced or repaired if something happens, software support plans cover tech support and software upgrades. If you don’t ever call for support, and are happy with your software the way it is, then what’s the problem with letting the plan lapse? For the most part, there isn’t a problem with it. Many people keep their laptops and software running for several years and are fine. However, then MIcrosoft introduces a new operating system, and your laptop breaks so you are forced to purchase a new laptop, with the new operating system on it, and your old software won’t run on the new setup. What then? When you call the vendor and request a version of the software that will run with the new setup, they’ll let you know that you need to pay for the years you let the contract go before you can get the new upgrade. In this, I’m referring to the CAT vendors, not necessarily other software vendors, though for the most part, with other software vendors you don’t have to purchase support plans, you can pay for the calls as you need them and even pay for the upgrades at a greatly reduced cost of the regular program. CAT vendors are different though. Their market is much smaller than the general public, since they are in a niche market, so once they sell their software, they don’t have a lot of people going in daily to purchase more software. What the contract price allows the vendor to do is to pay it’s programmers to make the software work better and more efficiently. Without the money from the users, it’s much harder for the vendor to make improvements, which ultimately makes your job easier. I know it’s hard to justify the cost of the plan when you’re writing that check, but in the long run, by improving the software and making upgrades available to you, it will help you in the end. Besides, you’re going to have to pay the cost the next time you need to upgrade your hardware/software.

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What’s so great about Firefox?

Posted on September 4, 2008 by wjimenez275

The prior post introduced you to Google’s new browser, Chrome. However, Mozilla just came out with an update for their popular browser Firefox (you can download it here: http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/).

What are some of the benefits to Firefox 3? There are several but the biggest are with the security features. Firefox 3 protects you from viruses, worms, trojan horses and spyware. If you accidentally access an attack site, you’ll receive a full-sized browser message as a warning. A continuously updated list of attack-sites keeps this very current. Next, there is their Anti-Phishing protection. This allows you to shop and do business safely on the Internet. Firefox gets a fresh update of web forgery sites 48 times in a day, so if you try to visit a fraudulent site that’s pretending to be a site you trust (like your bank), a browser message—big as life—will stop you. You can also very easily clear your private data automatically—with just one click or a keyboard shortcut. Your info is gone for good—on your own computer or the one at your local library. It’s that easy.

As for searching, you can access your favorite search engines from the integrated search bar. It’s just to the right of the address bar. You can use a new search engine for each search, or stay with your favorite. Choose from a preset dropdown list of engines or select “manage search engines” from the same list to browse search engine options offered as add-ons.

They’ve also made it less memory intensive so if you have several programs open, there’s more memory to go around.

And, they have added a zoom feature from the view menu so those pages where the words are hard to read, you can now zoom the screen to make them larger. Firefox saves the settings for that page so the next time you go back to it, it’s already set on zoom.

One thing that I really like is that in the event of a crash, the next time you go back into Firefox, it will ask if you want to reopen the pages you were on before the crash. How great is that?

Firefox has been able to update and securitize their browser much faster than Microsoft can do with Internet Explorer. It has some great features and many people are using it as their primary browser. There are still some older web based programs that will not run under Firefox, but for regular browsing, it is well worth the look.

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Google’s New Browser

Posted on September 2, 2008 by wjimenez275

Well, from one of the most popular, well okay, the most popular search engines, we now have a browser to compete with Internet Explorer and Firefox. What’s different about Google Chrome (that’s what it’s named)? First, there are “Links to websites you visit the most – Chances are you visit some websites on a regular basis. The New Tab page provides image thumbnails and links for those websites automatically.

Right-click a website to access options to open it in another new tab, in a new window, or in incognito mode. Click the Show full history link at the bottom of the page to see your entire browsing history in Google Chrome.” (Google site)

Second, there is a list of search engines that you use often – “Google Chrome saves a list of search engines that you’ve encountered while browsing the Internet. Search boxes for the ones you frequently use automatically appear on the page for easy access. You can search their websites directly from this page.” (Google Site)

You also have a link to Recently closed tabs – “Links to tabs that you’ve just closed are stored in case you accidentally close something. Up to three links are displayed.” (Google Site)

The address bar acts as both the address bar for websites and the search bar for google. You’ll see recommended sites as you type in the bar.

It’s still in Beta mode, which means that there will be some minor issues with it but I’ve been playing with it a bit since earlier this evening, and it’s plain, simple, and seems pretty friendly. I’ll let you know more about it as I use it more.

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