Realtime Updates On Your Google Search Results

Posted on March 1, 2010 by wjimenez275

Cool Google Search Tip: Google has a feature that brings your search results to life with a dynamic stream of real-time content from across the web. Now, immediately after conducting a search, you can see live updates from people on popular sites like Twitter and FriendFeed, as well as headlines from news and blog posts published just seconds before. When they are relevant, Google ranks these latest results to show the freshest information right on the search results page.

Try searching for your favorite TV show, sporting event or the latest development on a recent government bill or world event. Whether it’s an eyewitness tweet, a breaking news story or a fresh blog post, you can find it on Google right after it’s published on the web.

Click on “Latest results” or select “Latest” from the search options menu (see the following tip to access this menu) to view a full page of live tweets, blogs, news and other web content scrolling right on Google. You can also filter your results to see only “Updates” from micro-blogs like Twitter, FriendFeed, Jaiku and others.

An example: I did a Google search for “Chile earthquake”. From the search results page, I scrolled down until I found “Latest results for Chile earthquake”. Once I clicked on that link, I was taken to a page that continually updated with links to the most recent web entries from all over that dealt with the earthquake in Chile.

Another Cool Google Tip: Kind of a hidden feature on the Google search results page is the light blue bar just above the search results. If you look at the left side of the bar, you’ll see an option to “Show Options”. When you click on this, Google opens a column on the left that allows you to further refine your search. One of the most useful sections of this column is the time frame filter. You can click “Latest” to see what I discussed in the first section, or find results that occurred in the past 24 hours, week, or year.

Filed under: Instructional, Internet Items, PC Tips and Tools | Leave a comment »

Many Microsoft Products Going Off Support Soon – Security Watch

Posted on February 25, 2010 by wjimenez275

In the coming months Microsoft will be ending support—including security updates—for a number of important products. If you’ve avoided updating so far, you might want to get moving.

The first event will be April 13, 2010 (like all end-of-support days, a patch Tuesday), when support will end for 2 important configurations: Windows Vista with no service packs a.k.a. Vista RTM and Vista SP0, and Windows XP SP2. If you are running these versions after that April 13 you will no longer receive updates or support. In each case, the answer is obvious: Apply the latest service pack SP2 for Vista, SP3 for XP. Better yet, if you’re running XP, go get a new PC running a secure operating system, such as Windows 7.

On July 13, 2010, Windows 2000 in all service packs will reach the end of its “Extended Support Phase,” meaning no updates anymore. Its not in any of the announcements, but I presume that this implies the end of all support for Internet Explorer 5, currently only supported on Windows 2000.

On the same July date, all editions of Windows Server 2003 will be moving from the Mainstream Support phase to the Extended Support phase. This wont matter to many, perhaps most users, but it signals the end of “no charge” support and Microsoft will no longer be providing new non-security hotfixes. So you’ll need to open a paid support case in order to get support from Microsoft.

via Many Microsoft Products Going Off Support Soon – Security Watch.

Filed under: Instructional, PC Maintenance, PC Tips and Tools | 1 Comment »

When webcams go bad: Students sue school officials for remote spying | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com

Posted on February 20, 2010 by wjimenez275

Big Brother is coming in more ways than one. Technology is often a two-edged sword. In this case, this school district apparently decided that since they owned the laptops they could control it at all times.

If your laptop computer’s webcam could talk about what it sees, what would it say?

Students of a Pennsylvania school district are hauling educators to court over allegations that administrators remotely activated the webcams on school-issued laptops and used that remote access to spy on students and their family members. (Techmeme)

The civil suit (PDF) was filed last week against the Lower Merion School District in Ardmore, PA, its board of directors and the Superintendent. It alleges violations of the electronic Communications Privacy Act, The Computer Fraud Abuse Act, the Stored Communications Act, the Civil Rights Act, the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act and Pennsylvania Common Law. In part, the suit reads:

Unbeknownst to Plaintiffs and the members of the Class, and without their authorization, Defendants have been spying on the activities of Plaintiffs and Class members by Defendants’ indiscriminant use of and ability to remotely activate the webcams incorporated into each laptop issued to students by the School District, This continuing surveillance of Plaintiffs’ and the Class members’ home use of the laptop issued by the School District, including the indiscriminant remote activation of the webcams incorporated into each laptop, was accomplished without the knowledge or consent of the Plaintiffs or the members of the class.

The suit notes that there are about 1,800 students in the district’s two high schools and that students were each assigned a laptop computer that was purchased, in part, through state and federal grants secured over the past few years. The suit also notes that all of the written documentation that accompanied the laptop made no reference to the district’s ability to remotely activate the embedded webcam.

The issue came to light in November when an assistant principal informed a student about improper behavior in his home and produced a photograph captured from the laptop’s webcam as proof. The suit did not specify the type of activity the student was engaged in.

Because the webcam would capture images of anything in its range, including the actions of other household members and their guests, the plaintiffs in the case extend to family members, as well as the students themselves.

Sam Diaz

Sam Diaz is a senior editor at ZDNet. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

via When webcams go bad: Students sue school officials for remote spying | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com.

Filed under: Instructional, PC Security, Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

Lesson Learned

Posted on February 16, 2010 by wjimenez275

I went against a few of my computer “thou-shalt-not” rules the other day and, well, I remembered why they are rules. I was reading a newsletter from a very trusted security site and came across an ad they had posted from a company that claims it’s software can:
Clear malware. Fix PC errors. Restore speed & performance. Prevent crashes & stability issues. Enjoy a ‘just like new’ computer – starting now. More Than 1 Million PCs Fixed.

My home computer is a Media Center PC and I’ve had a cable box plugged into it so that I can watch TV shows on it when the other TVs are being used. For several months, I hadn’t been able to run the media program as one of the drivers was bad and I had to disable the program. The only fix seemed to be reformatting the computer and restoring it back to its original state. I really didn’t want to do that since I’d then have to reinstall programs, etc. so I’d just delayed in doing anything at all. That is until I saw this ad, posted on this reliable newsletter…

So, I went to the site, saw what it claimed to be able to do, downloaded the program and ran the free scan. Sure enough, there in the results was what I was hoping to find. Among the listed items that needed to be repaired was the one dealing with the Media Center program. Well, let’s get to it then. First was that minimal $50 charge to run the fix. If it said it could fix my computer issues without me having to reformat and reinstall then that was okay by me. Then, instead of the 30 minute estimate for repair, it was actually closer to 2 hours, but it was going to fix my computer problem.Then, came the reboot and the test. Sure enough, my Media Center program ran great and I was able to watch TV programs again on my computer, and it did seem to be running a little faster. Cool, no harm no foul.

But wait…why won’t my anti-virus program and firewall program start up? Why is my e-mail program not logging in? What’s going on? I placed a call to the anti-virus company and the tech support mentioned that yes, they had someone else call in with the same problem after running this program and there was probably a fix out there someplace for it but they couldn’t help. So, I went online to the website of the company (Reimage) to contact their tech support and found out that tech support was available by e-mail only but have a look at the FAQ section of the website to see if anything there can help with my issue. Of course, there was nothing that did so I sent an e-mail to the company about my problem. Then, I did a little more searching online and found that this company was pretty bad in getting back to people for help. And, when fixes are done with this software, it rolls back a large majority of Microsoft Updates that need to be reinstalled. And, there were a few other things there that probably would have been nice to know before I had run the fix.

While I was waiting for the e-mail reply from tech support that I wasn’t even sure I was going to get, I was able to fix my anti-virus and firewall programs and downloaded and installed the Microsoft updates I needed, and somehow managed to keep my Media Center program running so all is well that ends well. And I did get a reply back from the company the next day with a supposed fix for my new problems but since I had already fixed those problems I didn’t run their fix.

The lesson learned? If I had done my homework before running Reimage’s fix I most likely wouldn’t have purchased it. I always check user reviews before purchasing hardware but for some reason didn’t even think of it before running this software. Actually, I know why I didn’t. I respected the newsletter that had the ad and believed that they too endorsed that company. Turns out they didn’t and the next newsletter stated that they were not going to be putting ads in their newsletters any longer because they don’t want their readers to think they endorse these companies. My recommendation before purchasing anything is to google the item with the word “reviews” after the item name. Read the user reviews since they are mostly honest. Go to the support page of the manufacturer of the item and see what’s posted there. Usually the FAQ’s will have answers to most common questions about the item but if there’s a blog of any sort, check that out as well. Weigh the positives and the minuses of the user reviews and then make a decision on whether the item is for you or not. My lesson re-learned.

Filed under: Instructional, PC Maintenance, PC Tips and Tools, Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Simple Passwords Remain Popular, Despite Risk of Hacking – NYTimes.com

Posted on January 26, 2010 by wjimenez275

If Your Password Is 123456, Just Make It HackMe

By ASHLEE VANCE

Published: January 20, 2010

Back at the dawn of the Web, the most popular account password was “12345.”

The New York Times

Today, it’s one digit longer but hardly safer: “123456.”

Despite all the reports of Internet security breaches over the years, including the recent attacks on Google’s e-mail service, many people have reacted to the break-ins with a shrug.

According to a new analysis, one out of five Web users still decides to leave the digital equivalent of a key under the doormat: they choose a simple, easily guessed password like “abc123,” “iloveyou” or even “password” to protect their data.

“I guess it’s just a genetic flaw in humans,” said Amichai Shulman, the chief technology officer at Imperva, which makes software for blocking hackers. “We’ve been following the same patterns since the 1990s.”

Imperva found that nearly 1 percent of the 32 million people it studied had used “123456” as a password. The second-most-popular password was “12345.” Others in the top 20 included “qwerty,” “abc123” and “princess.”

More disturbing, said Mr. Shulman, was that about 20 percent of people on the RockYou list picked from the same, relatively small pool of 5,000 passwords.

That suggests that hackers could easily break into many accounts just by trying the most common passwords. Because of the prevalence of fast computers and speedy networks, hackers can fire off thousands of password guesses per minute.

via Simple Passwords Remain Popular, Despite Risk of Hacking – NYTimes.com.

There are several password generation programs available that will make and remember random passwords for different sites and needs. I highly recommend them. The one I use is Roboform. You can read my blog entry about it here: Now What Was That Password Again?

Filed under: Instructional, PC Security, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Microsoft urges Windows XP users to ditch old Flash version

Posted on January 16, 2010 by wjimenez275

Microsoft has had it with old versions of Adobe Flash and has issued Security Advisory 979267 to urge users to either uninstall old versions, or upgrade to the latest. More specifically, the software giant is asking users ditch Flash Player 6.0 as the multimedia player plugin contains multiple bugs. Microsoft rarely issues security advisories on third-party products, but since this version of Flash originally came bundled with Windows XP, Microsoft feels it needs to warn its users. Adobe discontinued security support for Flash Player 6.0 in 2006; the current version is Flash 10.0.42.34.The advisory outlines Microsoft’s stance very clearly, making sure to emphasize that the vulnerabilities only occur with the combination of the old version of Flash and old version of Windows other supported versions of Windows do not include the Flash. “The Adobe Flash Player 6 was provided with Windows XP and contains multiple vulnerabilities that could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page. Adobe has addressed these vulnerabilities in newer versions of Adobe Flash Player. Microsoft recommends that users of Windows XP with Adobe Flash Player 6 installed update to the most current version of Flash Player available from Adobe.” The good news is that the advisory says Microsoft is “not aware of attacks that try to use the reported vulnerabilities or of customer impact at this time.”The security advisory was posted on Patch Tuesday, the same day Microsoft releases security patches for all of its software for the month. This month though, the company only posted a single bulletin, Microsoft Security Bulletin MS10-001. It affects all supported versions of Windows, but is only rated as “Critical” for Windows 2000, and “Low” for all later versions. As a result, the Adobe Flash flaw is slightly more serious and should take priority.

via Microsoft urges Windows XP users to ditch old Flash version.

Filed under: Instructional, PC Security | 1 Comment »

Acer Recalls Notebook Computers Due to Burn Hazard

Posted on January 10, 2010 by wjimenez275

Acer Recalls Notebook Computers Due to Burn Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following products. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Certain Acer Aspire-series Notebook Computers

Units: About 22,000

Manufacturer: Acer America Corporation, of San Jose, Calif.

Hazard: An internal microphone wire under the palm rest can short circuit and overheat. This poses a potential burn hazard to consumers.

Incidents/Injuries: Acer has received three reports of computers short circuiting, resulting in slight melting of the external casing. No incidents occurred in the United States. No injuries have been reported.

Description: The recalled notebook computer models are the Acer AS3410, AS3410T, AS3810T, AS3810TG, AS3810TZ and AS3810TZG. The computer’s screen size is about 13.3 inches measured diagonally. Not all units are affected. Consumers should contact Acer to determine if their unit is included in the recall.

Sold at: ABS Computer Technologies, D&H Distributing, Fry’s Electronics, Ingram Micro, Radio Shack, SED/American Express, Synnex Corporation, SYX Distribution, Tech Data Corporation and other retailers nationwide and Amazon.com from June 2009 through October 2009 for between $650 and $1,150.

Manufactured in: China

Remedy: Consumers should stop using the recalled notebook computers immediately and contact Acer to determine if their notebook is affected and to receive a free repair.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Acer toll-free at (866) 695-2237 anytime, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.acer.com

via Acer Recalls Notebook Computers Due to Burn Hazard.

Filed under: Instructional, PC Security, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Those Green Doublelined Words on a Web Page

Posted on January 4, 2010 by wjimenez275

When you surf, do you see random words or phrases with double underlines? When you move your mouse over them, they display an advertisement related to the underlined words.

This feature, called in-text advertising, turns appropriate words in the browser window into links to the advertiser’s website. These sites work with various companies to link to its advertisers. The browsers support these types of ads and they are created in such a way that most ad-blockers won’t block them. You can try to ignore them by not moving your mouse over them and if you happen to click on one, it will take you away from the current page. Some advertisors will allow you to disable the ads but you’ll have to go company-by-company.  To do so, follow these steps.

Step 1

Point to the double-underlined words, but **don’t click**! You’ll see an advertisement open in a small window near your cursor.

Step 2

If the advertisement is from Vibrant, in the upper right corner of the box, click the question mark button. A new browser window will open pointing to the Vibrant in-text advertising page. If you’re using WOT (Web Of Trust), you’ll get a warning about the site. Continue anyway.

Step 3

Point to the Disable tab. Click “Click here to disable.” It will let you know that to disable, you’ll need to have cookies activated and if you ever clean out your browser cookies, you’ll have to redo these steps.

Step 4

The page should update to now say “Click here to enable.”

Step 5

Close the browser window.

I’ve looked at other advertisors to see how to disable their ads and haven’t found any thing yet. I’ll continue to search though, short of installing a 3rd party program to block these ads.

Filed under: Instructional, Internet Items, PC Tips and Tools | 4 Comments »

Dragon Naturally Speaking

Posted on December 27, 2009 by wjimenez275

I picked up Dragon Naturally Speaking over the summer through CircuitCity.com and have been playing around with it. If you don’t know what this is, it’s a program that allows you to speak through an included microphone and watch your spoken words instantly appear in documents, email and instant messages. You can even surf the Web just by speaking! The Nuance Dragon NaturallySpeaking 10 Standard turns your voice into text three times faster than most people type — with up to 99% accuracy. It learns to recognize your voice instantly, and continually improves the more you use it! Just use your voice to dictate and edit in virtually any Windows application, including Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox and AOL.

Key Features:

  • Easy to Use
  • Use with Many Windows Programs

Key Benefits:

  • Create documents and emails about three times faster
  • Dictate, edit and control applications such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and AOL

Right now, through December 31, you can order the program through Circuit City Online for a final cost of $29.99 after a $45 instant savings and a $25 rebate that you can print from the site. I know a lot of people don’t like rebates, but when I ordered last summer, I got the rebate with no problem, and my final cost was $49.99 so the extra savings is pretty cool. I recommmend the program, especially for those who do a lot of writing. It’s not perfect, and it takes a little while to “learn” your voice and way of speaking, but it’s pretty nice.

http://www.circuitcity.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=EdpNo=4897583&sku=S30-2011&SRCCODE=CCEM202CN&cm_mmc=EML-_-Main-_-CCEM202-_-circuit202

Filed under: Instructional, PC Tips and Tools, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Microsoft loses Word appeal, will adjust program – Yahoo! News

Posted on December 22, 2009 by wjimenez275

SEATTLE (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp said on Tuesday it will tweak its Word application to remove a feature judged to be a breach of patent, ensuring that it will be able to continue selling one of its most widely used programs.

The world’s largest software company made the announcement shortly after a U.S. court of appeals upheld a $290 million jury verdict against it for infringing a patent held by a small Canadian software firm.

The court also affirmed an injunction that prevents Microsoft from selling versions of its Word program which contain the offending software, set to take effect January 11, 2010. Older versions of Word are not affected.

Microsoft said it is taking steps to remove the feature from Microsoft Word 2007 and Microsoft Office 2007 put on sale from that date.

The disputed patent feature relates to the use of XML, or extensible markup language, used for manipulating text, in the 2007 versions of Word. Microsoft described it on Tuesday as a “little-used feature”.

However, Microsoft did not rule out further appeals.

via Microsoft loses Word appeal, will adjust program – Yahoo! News.

Filed under: Instructional, Uncategorized | Leave a comment »

« Previous Page — Next Page »