The Long and Wireless Road to a Home Router

That is the title of a New York Times article you can find here. I am hopeful that you won't need a subscription to their digital service in order to get to and read this particular article.

It kind of comes as a surprise to me that this is even an issue worthy or writing about, but I did read the article and they make some good points (they have to if they want to get paid!), and do provide answers to several questions a buyer of a router may have. If you are in the market for a router and have questions, just write me and I will recommend a specific router to suit your needs. It really is not rocket science.

Internet Email Alerts and the Facebook Hacking

This is an excellent blog post from callthatgirl.biz. You will find this post at http://www.callthatgirl.biz/blog/.

Posted by callthatgirl on April 6, 2011

"Wow this was an exciting week with fake email alerts folks! We have received tons of client emails asking about these and yes, they are fake as all get out!

Best Buy, US Bank, Target, Ameriprise (and more) got hit . Apparently it was just email accounts that were compromised, but welcome to the world of the Super Information Highway (circa 1997). How long has it been since you have heard that term? A very long time I am sure. I say Super Information Highway because Facebook hacking and these email hacking intrusions are becoming very prevalant in today’s world. And no, antivirus protection will not help you with this, it’s all done on the inside and sitting cozy in your inbox when you wake up.

Are we safe? Probably not. Will my email get hacked even though I have it on a Go Daddy secure server called “secureserver”??? At some point I guess. What can I do about it? Not much, it’s the internet. I think in a few years our whole internet experience will be changed completely. I do think that we will have something called “an internet account” that is run by some large company and every single thing we do is run out of it. Almost like a Zuckerberg idea of sorts, but very secure with physical requirements to log in…unlike Facebook right now. Speaking of Facebook, the calls are still coming in on a weekly basis about people’s facebook accounts getting hacked. Don’t fret, the techs at Call That Girl are sniffing and testing these “I photoshopped a picture of you” chat logs and private messages. So far, our programs are keeping out the intruders. Want to know what we have? Call us for more info 952-681-7969

Moving along…What should you do if you get an email from a well known company that you service with that looks like trouble?

• Delete the email–who cares (I did that with my US Bank email)
• Call your bank if you are worried, scared or nervous
• Never click on links in these types of emails
• Call us for a virus spot check if you did click on any links

While we are not surprised by what is going on, we are trying to watchdog it and alert our fans, friends and subscribers of this information. Always delete, ask questions later!

Lisa"

Security Baseline

From time to time I refer to my security baseline. My security baseline is merely a list of programs I use (all free) and recommend for anyone to use to keep their systems secure. This applies to YOU if you use Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7.

Remember, all of these products are FREE, but will do as good a job as any fee products you may use. I make that statement based on many years of experience.

1. Microsoft Security Essentials - V2 now available. If you have V1, upgrade now  (FREE!)
2. Windows Firewall
3. MVPS HOSTS File - download the current month's version and update monthly
4. CCleaner - check for newer version than you may already have. Run weekly.
5. Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware - run bi-weekly
6. SuperAntiSpyware Free Edition - run bi-weekly in the off week after #5
7. Spybot Search & Destroy - run monthly just before downloading new HOSTS file

Questions?  Comment below or write me, pcdoc at brpcdoc dot com

MVPS Hosts File Download Available

The March update to the MVPS HOSTS file is available now.

This is a good time to run an up-to-date Spybot and then download and install the new HOSTS file. You can find it here:

March MVPS HOSTS file download

This should be an integral and very important part of your security baseline.

Adobe Update Time

So true. Have you noticed? :-)

 

Thank you graphjam.com

The Browser Wars?

Much is being made these days of "The Browser Wars". I think that's funny because I find some of my customers if asked "what browser do you use?" would probably reply "what is a browser?".

Internet Explorer is the  browser that most everyone knows, mostly because it comes installed on every Windows machine. I switched to Firefox years ago because of all of the security issues with Internet Explorer. Firefox is still my browser of choice. I have tried the others, but see no reason to change. I see one reason NOT to change to Chrome, and that is their refusal to include something as simple as a left sidebar for listing all of your Favorites or Bookmarks. Why? I haven't a clue. I see no good reason to switch to Opera or Safari.

All browsers are free, and that is good.

Maximum PC recently published their review of these 5 browsers, with Firefox coming out as the winner. If you are at all interested, it is a good article, and can be found here: Browser Battle 2011: Who Is the New King of the Web?

FYI, I have installed Firefox 4 on my 2 Windows XP machines. The install was fast and simple, and the differences are barely noticeable. You can read about these in the above-referenced Maximum PC article.

Asus Launches Eee Pad Transformer Tablet with Keyboard Dock

Well, this looks interesting! I wonder what the price will be locally. This comes from MaximumPC.com.

Posted 03/25/2011 at 8:15am | by Paul Lilly

Asus is calling its new Eee Pad Transformer "an innovative tablet with an expandable keyboard dock," but could this also be the netbook evolved? A physical keyboard isn't something that comes with any other major tablet, however it sits front and center on the Eee Pad Transformer, when you want it to. When you don't, simply detach the head and you're rocking a portable tablet PC with up to 9.5 hours of battery life (up to 16 hours with the dock).

Let's take a look at the feature-set. The Eee Pad Transformer sports a 10.1-inch IPS panel with LED backlighting (1280x800 resolution), 10 finger multi-touch support, scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass, Nvidia's Tegra 2 chip, 1GB of memory, 16GB/32GB of storage plus unlimited Asus WebStorage, 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, 1.2MP front-facing camera, 5MP rear-facing camera with auto focus, microSD card slot, internal microphone, headphone and mic jacks, two USB 2.0 ports, G-Sensor, Light Sensor, Gyroscope, E-compass, GPS, and an optional 3G radio.

All this comes wrapped in Google's Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) platform with Asus' Waveshare UI. By all means, Asus has come out swinging. Looking at the spec sheet alone, the Eee Pad Transformer is portable, it's powerful, and it transforms into a netbook on the fly.

Asus said the first shipments are already underway, but didn't reveal a price or release date. Bummer.

Asus Launches Eee Pad Transformer Tablet with Keyboard Dock

Avoid Japan disaster relief scams - & many others!

If you receive e-mails soliciting funds for Japan disaster relief, be very wary. The best way to donate is to go directly to the web site of reputable organizations, and to key in their address in your browser's address bar yourself. Don't rely on links, especially those embedded in soliciting e-mails. There is much scamming going on through fake websites that are created to look just like those of reputable organizations.

There is an excellent web site that will give you additional detail on all that is going on in this, and other, matters. It is called ScamWarners. Once at the home page (address below), check out their FORUM by clicking on their FORUM link.

ScamWarners

More on Skype

If you are not yet a Skype user and would like to learn more, Kim Kmando has a nice writeup here:

Free video calls with the whole family

SKYPE

Late to the game I admit, but I have quickly become a big fan of Skype. Most laptops today have a built-in video camera, so making video calls is a piece of cake. Not surprisingly I guess, based on the popularity of Skype, many others already have Skype userids and conducting video calls with them is really easy. Also, even if you don't have a video camera, you can use Skype to make free voice calls if you are calling someone else using Skype (internet user to internet user). So many of my customers have told me that they use Skype to talk to relatives overseas. It saves a ton f money if one has a son or daughter in the military in the Middle East or elsewhere, or perhaps a relative living overseas for other reasons.

The Skype program is free and very easy to download and install.

Write me if you have any questions.

Microsoft Windows 7 Service Pack 1

Or W7/SP1 for short, if I may.

My W7 laptop, an Acer, is not heavily used and contains little data. I have known that SP1 has been available for some time, but I had read some bad things about it. However, at this time and since I have little to risk, I thought I would give it a try.

I didn't pay particular attention to the download and installation process, but it went smoothly and I'd say it took about an hour overall. There were no errors in the entire process, and when I finally rebooted when it was completed, the system came up just fine. No issues. No problems.

If you want to install SP1 on your W7 machine, I urge you to backup all of your data beforehand, and, as always, you should have an understanding of how you would reinstall the operating system if necessary.

While doing this I noticed that my machine has only 2GB of RAM. This was sufficient when W7 first came out, but the best minds nowadays recommend 4GB as a minimum for W7. While not one of the best minds, I nonetheless encourage you to upgrade to 4GB if you are still sitting with 2GB or less.

I learned in this process that my machine can be upgraded to 4GB. I really never explored that before, but nowadays you can get 2GB on one memory module, so I can install 2 of these, if I choose to spend $68, for a total of 4GB.

The Crucial Memory Tool is a good way to check on the RAM capabilities of your system (crucial.com)

You can click on those pictures for a larger size for easier viewing.

From Maximum PC:

"Internet Explorer 9 is finally available in final form to the general public, and we’re pleased to say that it represents a big leap forward for Microsoft’s web browser. We know that many of you Maximum PC reader’s have gotten turned off to IE in recent years (and understandably so) but Internet Explorer is suddenly a lot more competitive, and worth a look.
We recommend you try it for yourself (sorry XP users, Vista and Windows 7 only), but in case you’re still on the fence, we’ve prepared a visual guide to our 10 favorite new features in Internet Explorer 9."

Notice the phrase in RED above. This is good news for those of us still using XP. This means no more pressure to upgrade IE. I do recommend that XP users upgrade to IE8 if you are not already there. IE8 is much more stable and reliable that IE7, for those of you who may be using IE7.

For those of us who have W7 machines, I would suggest you wait a while, at least 3 months, before installing IE9. Give it a chance to stabilize.

The 10 Best New Features In Internet Explorer 9

Microsoft's Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool

It is that time of the month again. Served up with the usual Tuesday Windows updates was the March 2011 version of Microsoft's MSRT or MRT for short. If you have installed the March updates, then you now already have the March MRT tool available to you. In the pictures below note the :"March 2011" in the application banner (top of the windows).

 You may click on any of the 3 photos below to view a larger version.

 

Microsoft Launches IE6 Deathwatch

There was a time not too long ago when I held on to IE6, figuring I'd go with it until its end, but I threw in the towel and upgraded to IE7, which was really horrible, and then IE8, and IE8 seemed to be a reliable product with enhanced features vs. IE6.

That being said, however, I never use IE at all unless I am forced to do so. Firefox is still my favorite browser. I really thought Google's Chrome would be the ultimate browser, but when I tried it, release after release, and saw that Google apparently refuses to include a most basic feature - a Bookmarks list on the left side of the screen - I abandoned it. So for me it's Firefox.

However, I know that there are some of you who are planning to stay with Windows XP and IE6 until the end, which is still 2014. To you I say GOOD FOR YOU! Do it! I still run XP on all but two of my machines, which have Windows 7.

Perhaps the most important line in today's PC World article is this: "Microsoft has promised to support IE6 until April 2014."

Microsoft Launches IE6 Deathwatch

 

I'm starting to get the iPad itch! How to justify yet another expensive toy?

This review comes from PCMag.com.

Apple iPad 2 Hands On: Faster, Thinner Than the Original

Rogue Gallery

A link I saw on Kim Komando's web site pointed me to what I consider a valuable resource. In the past I had recommended Bharath's Security Blog as a web site to visit to check on rogue programs, but Bharath has not been updating lately, so I was very happy to see that Lavasoft has taken up the effort to keep us informed on the latest rogue programs. 


I was particularly interested because Lavasoft used to make a fine adware detection and removal program called Ad-Aware. It was always on my list of baseline security programs. However, at some point Lavasoft decided to abandon that small and simple program in favor of a much larger all-in-one security package. I thought, this morning, I would check out their free offering, but when I saw the download file size of 117MB I quickly decided against it. Having discovered Microsoft Security Essentials, the last thing I need is yet another anti-virus program in an all-too-big "Internet Security" bundle.


Anyway, Lavasoft's Rogue Gallery looks good and I recommend it to you as a reference site worth bookmarking.

Lavasoft's Rogue Gallery

A Parent’s Struggle With a Child’s iPad Addiction

This is from David Pogue's blog. He is with the New York Times.

"I think my 6-year-old is addicted to the iPad.

He asks for it constantly. He wants to use it in the car. He wants to use it at every unscheduled moment at home.

He brings it to the dinner table.

When I tell him it’s time to shut off the iPad and head up to bed, or put his shoes on, or head out to the bus, he doesn’t hear me the first three times I ask. Sometimes, he gets bizarrely upset when I say I have to take it away now — out-of-character upset. That’s what makes me think he’s addicted."

More............

Xoom Vs. iPad: The Real Tablet Wars Begin

From PC World:

Motorola couldn't have chosen a worse time to start selling the Xoom, the first real Apple iPad competitor. Just as the Xoom went on sale on Verizon, Apple dropped an iBomb in the shape of a press invitation next week to the unveiling of the next generation iPad (let's call it the iPad 2).

But even with the iPad 2 looming, Motorola's Xoom will have to go head to head with the original iPad. If you can't hold on a bit longer without a tablet, here's how the Xoom and iPad stack up against each other.

Xoom Vs. iPad: The Real Tablet Wars Begin

A Patrol for the Web’s Playgrounds

From the New York Times:

A company’s nationwide network of moderators aims to keep Web sites free of cyberbullies.

A Patrol for the Web’s Playgrounds

Tell us how you really feel!

This comes from the Call That Girl blog:

Reasons why we do not recommend AVG 2011

"…Or any of their products for that matter. Put simply, viruses, spyware, and malware get right through most antivirus programs. And AVG 2011 is no exception, it’s one of the free products that we see most often when we remote into a computer that has viruses on it. Not only is AVG 2011 a bad and heavily bogged down product, but it is just not worth the download, free or paid. (And in our opinion AVG 8.0 used to be one of the best). But just like with Norton (we consider AVG Norton’s little brother) or Symantec products, they both took a once good product, weighed it down, and ultimately just ended up ruining it. Sometimes it’s just right to leave things well enough alone."

 Your humble PC Doc, me, agrees 100%. I strongly recommend Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) for all, although there was a time, pre-MSE, when I was AVG Free's number one fan!