Search Engines and Other Thoughts

Posted on October 15, 2008 by wjimenez275

Since Google became a household name for search engines, most people automatically go there for their internet searching. In fact, almost 60% of all searches are done on Google. Yahoo pulls in second with almost 17%. Big difference. Did you know that Yahoo and McAfee teamed up a while back and all of Yahoo’s searches are filtered through McAfee’s SiteAdviser software so when you use Yahoo to search for an item, you may see warnings on links to suspect sites which will tell you to proceed at your own risk of getting malicious programs or giving your email address to be shared with spammers and phishers. Google doesn’t offer anything like that. However, McAfee allows you to download the free SiteAdvisor for Internet Explorer (http://www.siteadvisor.com/download/ie.html) or for Firefox (http://www.siteadvisor.com/download/ff.html) which will warn you about sites regardless of which search engine you use.

Did you know that there are sites called “MetaSearch Engines”? These sites will search the most popular search engines for your item, so instead of doing multiple searches for that hard to find item, you can go to a site like DogPile (http://www.dogpile.com/), enter your search item and it will search and return hits from Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask. Those are four of the top search engines on the internet, all accessed with one search.

On just about every new computer, Microsoft puts a trial version of Office, which gives you Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. Very useful programs, until the time limit for using them runs out. Then, in order to continue using, you need to put out a few hundred dollars to purchase the license. Is it worth it? Maybe for some, but for others, there is a free program named OpenOffice (http://www.openoffice.org/) which will give you a word processor, a spread sheet program, a database program similar to Access, and a presentation software similar to PowerPoint. What’s nice about this suite of programs, besides the fact that it is free, is that you can save your files so that they can be opened in Microsoft Office products. I have it installed on a USB drive so when I’m on a computer that isn’t my own, or one that doesn’t have Office installed, I can still use the Suite and save it to use in Office when I get back home or to the office. And, it’s been around a while so it’s tried and true and did I mention that it’s free?

There are other “replacement” programs that are free that I’ll cover at another time. By the way, one of my favorite graphic viewing programs is Irfanview (http://www.irfanview.com/). It’s also free. Check it out.

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New Deadline for Windows XP Pro- July 2009

Posted on October 13, 2008 by wjimenez275

October 3, 2008 (Computerworld) Microsoft has extended the availability of Windows XP on new PCs by six months, the company confirmed today.

Computer makers that “downgrade” machines from Windows Vista Business or Vista Ultimate to Windows XP Professional will be able to obtain media for the latter through the end of July 2009, a Microsoft spokeswoman said Friday.

The new date is a change in policy. Previously, Microsoft had planned to halt XP Professional media shipments to major computer makers after Jan. 31, 2009.

“As more customers make the move to Windows Vista, we want to make sure that they are making that transition with confidence and that it is as smooth as possible. Providing downgrade media for a few more months is part of that commitment,” the spokeswoman said in an e-mail.

The Jan. 31 date is also the last day when smaller companies, dubbed “system builders,” will be allowed to purchase Windows XP licenses to install on the machines they assemble. The system-builder deadline has not changed, the spokeswoman added. It remains Jan. 31.

To confuse matters, some PC makers have long claimed that they would provide XP downgrades on new computers past the Jan. 31 deadline. Last June, for example, Hewlett-Packard Co. talked of a July 2009 cutoff. “HP…will continue to offer this option on its business systems through at least July 30, 2009,” a company spokesman said almost four months ago.

The Microsoft spokeswoman clarified the situation. “The [downgrade] rights don’t go away,” she said via instant messaging in response to follow-up questions. “It’s all about having the media on hand. It’s always been OK to use what you’ve got.”

Microsoft sent Windows XP into semiretirement last June when it stopped selling the aged operating system at retail, withdrew Windows XP Home from use on new PCs and allowed XP Professional to be installed as a Vista downgrade.

The latter tactic takes advantage of Vista’s end-user licensing agreement, which allows users — and in their stead, computer makers — to install Windows XP Professional while also providing media for Vista for a possible upgrade later. More than a third of all new PCs are being downgraded to Windows XP, according to data from a Florida company that operates a community-based performance testing network.

It’s also possible that XP will be widely available long after July 31, 2009. “Downgrade rights do not expire,” Microsoft’s spokeswoman said Friday.

The longer availability puts Microsoft in an unusual position; the new time line will make it possible for users to purchase XP-powered PCs through next July, just months before Microsoft plans to roll out Windows 7, the successor to Vista.

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Bank Failures, Mergers and Takeovers: A “Phish-erman’s Special”

Posted on October 10, 2008 by wjimenez275

FTC Consumer Alert

Bank Failures, Mergers and Takeovers: A “Phish-erman’s Special”

If the recent changes in the financial marketplace have you confused, you’re not alone. The financial institution where you did business last week may have a new name today, and your checks and statements may come with a new look tomorrow. A new lender may have acquired your mortgage, and you could be mailing your payments to a new servicer. Procedures for the banking you do online also may have changed. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, the upheaval in the financial marketplace may spur scam artists to phish for your personal information.

To read the complete article, visit http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt089.shtm

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Some of my favorites…

Posted on October 9, 2008 by wjimenez275

Just want to tell you about some of the things I use a lot that I think are kinda cool.

Internet Radio – I like going to http://pandora.com and listening to my favorite music. What’s nice about Pandora is that I can enter an artist I like and it will create a playlist of music from artists similar to the one I named. It also allows me to select different genres to play from. As the songs play, I can “vote” by giving the song a thumbs-up or a thumbs-down. If I give it an thumbs-up, then future sets of songs are more likely to have similar musical traits. If I give it a thumbs-down the song will be removed from the play list and future sets of songs are less likely to have similar musical traits. Ultimately what I end up with is a play list of favorite songs. These can’t be downloaded and I can’t rewind but you can skip a song, actually you can skip 6 songs per hour and those songs won’t be played again for at least 4 hours.

Internet surfing safety –WOT – Web of Trust: WOT is a free Internet security addon for your browser. It will keep you safe from online scams, identity theft, spyware, spam, viruses and unreliable shopping sites. WOT warns you before you interact with a risky website. It’s easy and it’s free. Pops up and shows either green, yellow or red which lets you know if the site you’re on can be trusted or not.

Giving and Getting – Freecycle: (http://www.freecycle.org/) The Freecycle Network™ is made up of 4,614 groups with 5,910,000 members across the globe. It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Membership is free. If you have items that you’d like to get rid of, or items you are looking for that others may be getting rid of, join freecycle. You’ll get listings of items that others in your area are getting rid of, or you can post items you’re getting rid of and others will claim them. They’ll contact you and come pick up the item. It’s a great exchange process.

Recording and Uploading Video – The Flip Video Camera – Simple to use, pocket-sized camcorder with one-touch recording and digital zoom. It holds 60 minutes of full VGA-quality video on 2GB of built-in memory; no tapes or additional memory cards required. It has a USB arm that plugs directly into your computer for easy viewing and sharing. It’s built-in software lets you easily e-mail videos, upload to YouTube and AOL, and capture still photos from video. It’s a no-frills camera that does one thing and does it well. When you’re done recording, just plug it into a USB port on your computer and upload the video.

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Social Networking: What is it?

Posted on October 6, 2008 by wjimenez275

You may or may not have heard of the term “Social Networking”. I’m sure you’ve heard of the sites: MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn.  These sites, and sites like them, are the entry points to Social Networking.

Wikipedia defines “a social network service as focusing on building on-line communities of people who share interests and activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most social network services are web based and provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.

Social networking has created powerful new ways to communicate and share information. Social networking websites are being used regularly by millions of people, and it now seems that social networking will be an enduring part of everyday life. Popular methods now combine many of these, with MySpace and Facebook being the most widely used in North America…”

From Steve O’Hear’s article Facebook and MySpace are like chalk ‘n’ cheese – “A teenager’s bedroom, plastered with posters (and brands) and with continuous background music, sounds a lot like a MySpace profile. Add into the room a teenager or two who are always on the phone or text messaging friends about gossip or the hottest new band — and very generally speaking, you’ve nailed much of the appeal of MySpace. The fact that teenagers are increasingly using the site’s internal messaging system over email says it all. Additionally, those posters on the wall can be other user’s profiles, which include bands and brands vying for wall space.

In contrast, Facebook is much more popular amongst college students and graduates/professionals (due to it’s University roots). The site’s design is far less customizable — you can’t decorate your room. Instead, any customization is about deciding what functionality to include. This is even more so now that third parties can set-up-shop on the site and add new features which fulfill every possible need. I logged into Facebook today to accept a few friend requests, and noticed a professional networking event, that one of my contacts was looking to hire, and another had a rather nice laptop for sale. Getting that info took seconds due to Facebook’s controlled and efficient interface. Completely different to MySpace.”

LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site and is mainly used for professional networking. The purpose of the site is to allow registered users to maintain a list of contact details of people they know and trust in business. The people in the list are called Connections. Users can invite anyone (whether a site user or not) to become a connection.

There are security concerns for each of these sites, especially since teenagers are opening up their lives on them. The sites are trying to protect minors from on-line bullying and sexual predators and for the most part are doing a fairly good job. It is important to be educated on the risks and have your teenagers, if you have any,  educated on the risks. You can find some good information at OnGuardOnline.gov.

Social networking will only grow over time. It’s now being fed to smart phones and is definitely something you should look into.

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Anyone up for a little phishing?

Posted on October 3, 2008 by wjimenez275

Yes, I spelled that right. Phishing is the act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity-theft. The e-mail directs the user to visit a web site where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers, that the legitimate organization already has. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up only to steal the user’s information. Phishing mail often includes official-looking logos and other identifying information taken directly from legitimate Web sites, and it may include convincing details about your personal information that scammers found on your social networking pages.

The following is a sample e-mail. As you can see, it’s not obvious at first that this is a fake. It has the bank’s logo at the top and looks legitimate but what gives this one away is the link at the bottom. The posted link (1) shows the real site but if you click on that link you’ll be taken to the site of the 2nd link (2), which is the scam site.

Fake E-mail

Fake E-mail

How can you be sure about the accuracy of a link? In just about every e-mail that has a link, when you hover your mouse arrow over the link without clicking, a pop-up window will show you the actual site that you will be taken to if you click on the link. If it doesn’t match the link shown, be wary.

So what do you do if you get an email that looks legitimate but is asking for you to click on a link to enter personal information or verify your personal information? Don’t click on the links within emails that ask for your personal information. Fraudsters use these links to lure people to phony Web sites that look just like the real sites of the company, organization, or agency they’re impersonating. If you follow the instructions and enter your personal information on the Web site, you’ll deliver it directly into the hands of identity thieves. To check whether the message is really from the company or agency, call the company directly or go to its web site by typing the real address in your browsers address bar, but never click on the link.

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Now, what was that password again?

Posted on October 1, 2008 by wjimenez275

Have you ever brought up a website, be it your bank, insurance company, credit card, etc., only to not remember what you used for the username and password? Or worse, do you use the same username and password for every site you need to log on to? There is a solution, and I’m not talking about the web browser’s “remember this password” prompt.

I use a program call RoboForm (http://www.roboform.com/). RoboForm installs as an add-in to your browser. When you open a website that requires a username and password, RoboForm offers to save what you enter in it’s database. The next time you go to that site, you just click on the site link on the menu bar and it fills in the username and password for you. You can even have RoboForm generate a password for you so you don’t end up using the same password for every site. You can also set it up with your personal information so that when you come to a site where you need to fill in name, address, etc., you click the item on the menu bar and it fills in the blanks for you.

There is a free version that is limited to 10 passwords and 2 identities. The paid version allows unlimited passwords and identities, so you and your family members can each record their own passwords. You can password protect your password list so it is protected from others. Compare the two versions here – http://www.roboform.com/why-pro.html

There is also a version that installs on a USB Flash Drive so you can use it in multiple computers and once you remove the flash drive, no trace of your passwords remains. This is a great version for people who have multiple computers or tend to use public computers since with RoboForm, you don’t need to type in personal data or passwords; it’s all done by clicking on the menu bar item. This defeats any keylogging software that might be on a computer.

So, with RoboForm, you’ll never forget a password again. I recommend it.

Filed under: Internet Items, PC Security, PC Tips and Tools, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

What do I do if the file I need is on my home computer and I’m not home?

Posted on September 28, 2008 by wjimenez275

In this day of multiple computers, there usually comes a time when you need a file or to look at an e-mail when you are away from home only to realize that it’s on your home computer.  Or, you may be visiting a friend when you remember an e-mail you had meant to send and you need to access your e-mail program. When that happens to me, I turn to my remote desktop software LogMeIn, which allows me to access my home computer to find those files or send that e-mail just as if I were at home.

Remote desktop software, such as LogMeIn or GoToMyPC, installs on the computer you want to connect to and then allows you to connect from any internet connection. They are very secure so the connection is locked up with security (you’ll need to be careful when using an internet connection on a public computer since you don’t know what kind of malware is on it). I have been using LogMeIn myself for several years and have been very happy with it.

LogMeIn offers a free version for remote access which is a fine version if you want to run programs or check e-mail on your home computer. If you need to do more, like transfer files, print or share your share files with someone else, you can upgrade to the Pro version for $69.95/year compared to GoToMyPC which goes for $179.40/year. What does one do that the other doesn’t? Nothing really. Some say GoToMyPC is faster but I haven’t really noticed a difference, at least none that would entice me to pay the extra cost.  And, for most people, the free version of LogMeIn will work just fine.

So, when I need that file and it’s at home and I’m not, I just connect to my computer and get it, by using LogMeIn.

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How valuable is your data?

Posted on September 24, 2008 by wjimenez275

I know, deep question…Some of it is critical, those digital pictures you’ve always intended to print but never got around to. Those emails from family and friends that you’ve saved forever (a topic for another day). Those documents you created and saved. Let’s think worst case. What would happen if disaster struck? Your hard drive dies, or your computer gets stolen, or a natural disaster strikes. How would you feel if all of that data were to go away and never come back? If that strikes a little fear to the heart, you need to consider a backup solution.

There are several ways of going about backing up your data. One way is to get an external hard drive and use the backup software that came with your drive or operating system. That’s a step in the right direction, but isn’t always the best solution. What if there was a fire or flooding. That hard drive would go down with the computer.

What else is there? There’s on-line backup and storage. The benefits of this is that the backup is off-site and secure. It’s accessible from any internet connection so you can restore your data from anyplace, and some programs allow you to share files with others. There is a difference between on-line backups and on-line storage. On-line backup programs like Mozy and Carbonite do a great job of backing up in realtime, meaning they wait for the computer to go idle and then they look for any files that have been added or changed and back them up for you, automatically.  The downside is that they’ll only keep a deleted file for 30 days, so if you accidentally delete a file and don’t notice it, after 30 days, it’ll no longer be available to you offsite.  These programs run about $50-$60 a year. A storage site, such as Dropbox allows you to upload files to online folders and pretty much keep them online forever. Some of these programs will have you install some desktop software to your computer so you can drag and drop files or folders in a nice Explorer type environment and schedule automatic and regular backups.

Most online backup/storage sites will give you free storage space and/or allow you to try their services for a limited time for free. Realize also that the first full backup to any of these programs will take some time, even days to complete. Future backup will be much quicker as it will only be backing up new or changed files.

If you are the type of person who would like to setup automatic, background backups, or if you would like some storage to save files to and that allows you to share certain files with others, there is a solution for you. Regardless, the need for backup is critical, so check one of these out, sign up and use it.

Filed under: Internet Items, PC Tips and Tools | 1 Comment »

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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