Friday, April 27, 2012

Avast Offers Free Security for Mac OS X

Good news for Mac users. a free anti-virus program from a company known for its quality PC anti-virus. Avast has always been right up there with the best.

Best part of this - did I say FREE? :-) This article comes from pcworld.com.

"Mac users have been forced to face a cold reality lately—the days of security through obscurity are over. Macs have traditionally been off the radar, and relatively safe just by virtue of being Macs. Now that malicious attacks are targeting Macs, users need to defend themselves. Avast is stepping up to offer its popular free antimalware software for Mac OS X.

No, malware is nowhere near the scourge for Mac OS X as it is for Windows. I am not saying the “sky is falling”, and I’m not declaring a “Macpocalypse”. But, the reality is that malicious attacks exist, and the threat will continue to grow. Macs have been gaining in market share, and the growth rate of Mac is outpacing the growth rate for Windows-based PCs, so the operating system has captured the attention of malicious developers. It’s time to recognize that, and implement security tools to defend against attacks."


Thursday, April 26, 2012

Free Tools to Wipe Your Drives Securely

Free is good. I have not used any of these tools, but I think it is a good idea for all of us to have one. I use Eraser, also free, and I have been happy with that. But here are some more and they are all free, so evaluate and pick your choice and try it on for size.

This comes from pcworld.com.

"Your PC's hard drive is packed with your personal data. So when you want to get rid of your system or drive, you should permanently erase your storage device drives before you get rid of them. If your drives are encrypted and you trust the encryption protocol (full disk encryption is pretty safe), all you have to do is delete your encryption keys. If you want to safeguard your privacy further--and prevent data theft down the road--here are a few cheap and simple tools designed to wipe your hard drive, solid-state drive, or USB flash drive thoroughly before you dispose of it."

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

CNET picks this Spring's Hottest Tech

I have admired CNET ever since I discovered download.com, one of their web sites. I have used that site many, many times over those years to SAFELY download (free) software programs. Since then I have discovered filehippo.com, another excellent web site where one can do the same - safely download (free) software programs. It is extremely important these days to know that there are some web sites you can trust. You need not worry about downloading malware or worse from either of these sites. Add them to your Bookmarks.

So when I see an e-mail from CNET, I read and listen. Their own description of themselves is this (from Google): "CNET is the premier destination for tech product reviews, news, price comparisons, free software downloads, daily videos, and podcasts." Okay, a bit too much, I'd agree, but I do believe they are way up there.

I recommend their web site CNET picks this spring's hottest tech. It covers the tech waterfront of tech devices. I recommend it highly.

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

How HP Recycles Its Ink Cartridges

This is an interesting article. I found it on pcmag.com.

"Over the last couple of decades it’s become easier to recycle almost everything. But even if you’re fastidious about sorting your paper, cans, and bottles, you might not have thought too much about what happens to them or other recyclable products once they leave your hands. You can probably imagine without too much trouble what happens to some of them, such as those made of glass or metal, but others might be more difficult to picture.


Take, for example, printer ink cartridges. If you own an inkjet printer, you're undoubtedly aware of how many you go through, and thus what's necessary to dispose of them. Sure, you can just throw them away, but there are potentially more attractive options for both you and the environment. An increasing number of wholesale and office supply stores are providing ways for you to return your empty cartridges to both help out the environment and get in-store discounts. But once you turn over your cartridge, isn’t the process of turning it into another one probably pretty complex?"



Monday, April 23, 2012

Survey: Cobol noose tightening

Hey, maybe I can get a job after all! I happen to know COBOL (Common Business Oriented Language). In the late 60s and early 70s, my early years with IBM, I was contracted out to several IBM customers to write some COBOL programs. COBOL was to most computer shops exactly what its name implies. It was the most common business programming language used in "mainframe" data processing installations. Back then a "mainframe" usually meant an IBM System 360. The 360 was a line of processors that came with lots of flavors, bells and whistles, and assorted necessary features. These were large systems, most of which would fill up a small bedroom, but that would not include the disk drives, tape drives, and printers, so most "DP" installations were huge rooms with raised flooring and A/C.

It turns out that I got pretty good at COBOL programming and even taught the language at Rutgers University in the evenings. So let the world know that, although I am a bit rusty, I could be quickly up and maintaining COBOL code for the next several years (God willing) while the programs get replaced!

I found this article at itworld.com, and you'll find it here:

Survey: Cobol noose tightening