Friday, January 7, 2011

In 4G Race, Verizon Pulls Ahead With Pricey Speed

I still haven't made the leap, mostly because I am cheap, to the world of Blackberry, iPhone, or any of the other very pricey offerings out there, but I sure have been tempted. And now that Verizon is getting into the 4G game, the temptation will be even greater. Verizon, as my cell phone provider, seems to cover all of the areas I travel with decent signal strength.

This is Walt Mossberg's take on the Verizon move to offer 4G. I usually avoid such articles, not wanting to be tempted any more, but not this one.

In 4G Race, Verizon Pulls Ahead With Pricey Speed

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA)

Here is another free handy dandy tool I stumbled upon today. It is from Microsoft and is called the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer (MBSA). It can be downloaded here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/cc184923

Go to that link and click on the blue text just under Download Now in the upper right corner of the window. On the next window click on Download to the right of the version you want. There are two English versions, one for 64 bit operating systems and the other, labeled as for X86, is for 32 bit systems.

This tool is really meant for organizations and their tech support people, but I found it was very much worthwhile for me. After the download run the program to install MBSA and after the install run it. I just took all of the defaults on the first screen and did not change a thing.

Two issues were found on my XP laptop. One, they have finally gotten me to leave good old IE6 behind and upgrade to IE8. I have been very stubborn and have resisted this change for a long time now, but there are security issues with the older version that really I should not be risking, so I installed IE8. The second issue found was that the GUEST account was enabled on my machine. This is viewed as a security exposure, and I have never even thought about it before. Also, I never knew that the GUEST account could be disabled, but it can, and I have done just that following the instructions given.

After making these 2 changes and on the third try, MBSA gave me a clean bill of health as shown here.

Security assessment:
Strong Security (The selected checks were passed.)
Computer name: HOME\ACERTRAVELMATE
Security report name: HOME - ACERTRAVELMATE (1-6-2011 9-57 AM)
Scan date: 1/6/2011 9:57 AM

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

What’s In Store for Technology in 2011

This is an article by Walt Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal.

"It has been a big year in personal technology, from the debut and early success of Apple’s iPad, to the rise and continuous improvement of Google’s Android smart phone platform, to the continued surge in social services led by Facebook and Twitter.

So I thought I’d take a look at the challenges and opportunities facing some major players in consumer tech in 2011. As with all my columns, this one is focused only on products and services provided directly to consumers, rather than to businesses. Also, as usual, this column isn’t meant to offer investment advice or to evaluate the management skills or financial condition of companies. It is a look at the products and competitive positions of the key contenders as they enter the new year."

Sunday, January 2, 2011

How to choose strong passwords

This is not a recommendation, but rather just some food for thought. Be sure you have strong passwords.