MVPS HOSTS File for October available now

This is a reminder to those of you who use the MVPS HOSTS file as a part of your baseline security package. This should include anyone who has a Windows machine.

The monthly installation process includes:

1) Running a full Spybot scan. Remember to first Update, then Immunize, and lastly run the Search & Destroy. I recommend deleting everything/anything that Spybot identifies as being potentially dangerous.

2) Download the October MVPS HOSTS file here: http://winhelp2002.mvps.org/hosts.htm. Once at the site, click on hosts.zip about a third of the way down the page. Download it to your system, unzip it, and doubleclick on MVPS.BAT. That will install the new HOSTS file and provide you with much needed protection. Think of the HOSTS file as a list of web sites known to cause trouble. All of these will be blocked on your system.

Collection of 11 hot PCs

When I saw the e-mail from Microsoft come in, I thought maybe this will be interesting. What, I thought, does Microsoft think makes a hot PC? Since they don't make any of the hardware involved, I figured it had to be PCs that would make Windows 7 run well, and so I guess that is exactly what it is. If you are interested in acquiring a new PC, this might be a good place to start looking. These are all moderately priced, certainly a lot less that that MacBook Pro I spoke of in yesterday's post.
 

Meet your new PC

I am still old-fashioned, or maybe just old, and I still use a dumb cell phone. A cell phone to me is a necessity these days, and I am amazed whenever I think back to pre-cell phone days and how we ever got along without them!

The most troubling thing to me about Apple products is their price. Nothing from Apple is affordable, it seems to me. I am typing this on my MacBook Pro 17" laptop. It is a beautiful, powerful machine, but it cost me $2700. That is outrageous for a laptop, but I thought it would help me to learn about Macs and therefore position me in a place where I could help others with Macs who could use a little assistance. I find my Mac to be so foreign to me, compared to any Windows machine, but I am learning. There are very few similarities between Windows and OS/X. My Mac seems to have been built for left-handed people, and I am not left-handed. However, my Mac is right now my go-to laptop and I really am impressed with it. It is very fast, stable, and very easy to use (although the left-handedness of it still drives me nuts!). The 8 hour battery life is nothing short of amazing to me, a guy who was used to having 2 and maybe 3 hour battery life on my Windows machines.

So along comes another new iPhone. Ho-hum. It's apparently not even different enough from the iPhone 4 to warrant having its own unique name. People were expecting the iPhone 5 but instead got the iPhone 4S. I shall not be writing any product reviews of it very soon. Once one bites the bullet and comes up with the money for the phone, he or she is faced with the minimum charge of $70 a month to use the darn thing. As with the iPad, I would love to have one, but I'd rather not have to spend the money to get there, not in this economy. This review comes from pcworld.com.

iPhone 4S Review: It's a Sure Thing

Computer Virus Hits U.S. Drone Fleet

Just in case you think you have really good protection from viruses on your computer, check this out. This comes from wired.com.

"A computer virus has infected the cockpits of America’s Predator and Reaper drones, logging pilots’ every keystroke as they remotely fly missions over Afghanistan and other warzones.

The virus, first detected nearly two weeks ago by the military’s Host-Based Security System, has not prevented pilots at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada from flying their missions overseas. Nor have there been any confirmed incidents of classified information being lost or sent to an outside source. But the virus has resisted multiple efforts to remove it from Creech’s computers, network security specialists say. And the infection underscores the ongoing security risks in what has become the U.S. military’s most important weapons system."

More here.....

Facebook Privacy: 11 Settings to Revisit Now

I don't know about you, but I can use all the help I can get in this regard. This comes from pcworld.com.

"With Facebook's constant stream of changes, keeping up with your privacy settings can be daunting. Here's a rundown of the newest features, what the changes mean to your privacy and how to update your settings."

Watch slideshow here

Really? I find this hard to believe, but I guess I'd like to see Windows on a tablet. After all, most of us have spent our computing lives on Windows machines and have come to really know it well, even if most of us don't show a lot of respect for it!

Forget the iPad, What People Really Want is a Windows Tablet

(From maximumpc.com by Paul Lilly)

"Take a look around and it's easy to come to the conclusion that Apple's iPad is what the masses want. After all, nobody's standing in line overnight to purchase a PlayBook. Next on the list is Android, though only if the price is right (and Amazon's Kindle Fire is priced right). Where does Windows fit in with all this? Maybe much higher than you think.

AllThingsD dug up some interesting stats and surveys that paint a picture of Windows lust on the tablet form factor. Boston Consulting Group (BCG), for example, recently conducted a survey and found that 42 percent of Americans want a Windows tablet, compared to 27 percent for iOS, 20 percent for Android, 9 percent for BlackBerry, and 3 percent for webOS.

"The interest rises to 53 percent of the market when non-users of tablets are factored into the equation," BCG said.

BCG isn't the only one reporting a preference for Windows. Forrester Research conducted a survey earlier in the year and found that 46 percent want Windows on their tablet, compared to 16 percent who want iOS and 9 percent pining away for Android.

If these numbers are accurate, it means there's a huge opportunity for Microsoft to swoop in and dominate a landscape that currently belongs to Apple.
What's your OS of choice on the tablet form factor?"

STEVE JOBS, RIP

From Walt Mossberg of the WSJ:

"That Steve Jobs was a genius, a giant influence on multiple industries and billions of lives, has been written many times since he retired as Apple's chief executive in August. He was a historical figure on the scale of a Thomas Edison or Henry Ford, and set the mold for many other corporate leaders in many other industries."

Read more here

A little humor

On the lighter side!

Tech support: What kind of computer do you have?

Customer: A white one.

Tech support: Click on the 'my computer' icon on to the left of the screen.

Customer: Your left or my left?

****************************

Customer: Hi, good afternoon, this is Martha, I can't print. Every time I try, it says 'Can't find  printer'. I've even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor, but the computer still says he can't find it..

****************************

Tech   support: What's on your monitor now, ma'am?

Customer: A teddy bear my boyfriend bought for me at the 7-11.

****************************

Customer: My keyboard is not working anymore.

Tech   support: Are you sure it's plugged into the  computer?

Customer: No. I can't get behind the computer.

Tech   support: Pick up your keyboard and walk 10 paces  back.

Customer:   OK! !

Tech  support: Did the keyboard come with you?

Customer: Yes

Tech  support: That means the keyboard is not plugged  in.

****************************

Customer: I can't get on the Internet.

Tech support: Are you sure you used the right  password?

Customer: Yes, I'm sure. I saw my colleague do it.

Tech support: Can you tell me what the password was?

Customer: Five dots.

****************************

Tech support: What anti-virus program do you use?

Customer: Netscape.

Tech  support: That's not an anti-virus program.

Customer: Oh, sorry... Internet Explorer.

****************************

Customer: I have a huge problem. A friend has placed a screen saver on my computer, but every time I move the mouse, it  disappears.

****************************

Tech  support: How may I help you?

Customer: I'm writing my first email.

Tech  support: OK, and what seems to be the problem?

Customer: Well, I have the letter 'a' in the address, but how do I get  the little circle around it?

****************************

A woman customer called the Canon help desk with a problem with her printer.

Tech  support: Are you running it under windows?

Customer: 'No, my desk is next to the door, but that is a good point.  The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is  working fine.'

****************************

 

Tech   support: 'Okay Bob, let's press the control and escape keys at the same time. That brings up a task list in the middle of the screen. Now type the letter 'P' to bring up the Program Manager.'

Customer: I don't have a P.

Tech   support: On your keyboard, Bob.

Customer: What do you mean?

Tech  support: 'P'.....on  your keyboard, Bob.

Customer: I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT! 

Kindle Fire vs. iPad: Which is right for you?

This is a very well done piece comparing the 2 products. A significant point about the Fire is that the reporters did not have any hands-on time with the Fire, so I'd wait to see how it looks and feels up close first. In the meantime, however, this article covers very well what is known at this point in time. From cnn.com:

"(CNN) -- With Amazon unveiling its much-anticipated Kindle Fire tablet computer Wednesday, we may finally have a real tablet war on our hands.

In the nearly 18 months since the iPad went on sale, tablet rivals have come and gone. But Apple's device has remained dominant.

Amazon's new entry, though, might be different. Instead of crafting an iPad carbon copy and asking consumers to choose between them, they've pushed out a stripped-down and simplified device that sells for much less than the iPad 2 while skimping on some of that tablet's features.

If you're in the market for a tablet, though, here's the real question: Which one, if either, is right for you?"

Kindle Fire vs. iPad: Which is right for you?

Everything You Need to Know About the New Facebook

Timely. 

Everything You Need to Know About the New Facebook

Mac Days

I am getting pretty good at using my MacBook Pro 17. I have had to, because my 2 Acer laptops have develped hardware issues, and they are just too darned expensive to get fixed these days. They are darn near disposables, meaning to me that I can buy a new one for less than it costs to have one repaired. That is, of course, a good news/bad news situation. These days I feel lucky to have one working computer. And I have 2 now. I have switched to exclusive use of the Mac for day to day needs. I have found that between it and my old IBM desktop (still going pretty strong), I have all I need. It took quite a long time for me to decide where I wanted to keep my data. I mean which machine would be the primary site. I decided to make my desktop the primary, even though I use it far less than the Mac. The portability of the Mac makes it far easier to use. I can lug it around (it is NOT light) wherever I go, and I am on the go a lot.

I am trying out SOS Online Backup services. I am not yet convinced that it will work for me, but I remain hopeful. I also copy all of my data to my 1TB Western Digital MyBook on a quarterly basis. The size of "My Documents" folder is 94 GB, and it consists mainly of videos (my Flip camera takes them), music, and photos (around 40,000 photos at last count).

My IBM desktop runs Windows XP so I will try to keep it going through 2014, the last days of XP.

I am also changing the way I feel about the need for these darn boat anchors. I just told a customer, who is expecting an iPad for her birthday, that I thought she'd never return to her laptop. Like so many others out there, e-mailing and browsing the web is about all these heavy duty laptops and desktops are used for. Compare them to a tablet like the iPad and the tablet wins hands down.

Just some food for thought on a Friday afternoon. Good weekends all.

I haven't heard of some of these, but it's interesting to me that there are so many FREE alternatives to MS Office. This is found on the techilicious.com web site.

Seven Free Alternatives to Microsoft Office

I have put off doing this, but I now think it's a must these days. I am hopeful that this article will help me in my attempt to come up with a useful FB Page. I suspect the problem will be that every small (and large) business is doing the same and it will be a quagmire out there in FB-world.

I found this on pcworld.com. I hope it may prove useful to some of you.

How to Make a Facebook Page for Your Small Business

What's New in Microsoft Surface Version Two

Wow! Here's something I have not heard of before. This is pretty cool and I could see it as being quite useful for lots of applications.

This comes from Maximum PC.

"Posted 09/15/2011 at 12:35pm | by Seamus Bellamy

In the world of tech, concepts come and go faster than poop through a goose. Sadly, some ideas with great potential fade into the realm of vapourware, or see their prime features rolled into already existing products. Worse than this, hardware and software that smacked of half-baked failure from the get-go are routinely green-lit by manufactures to be released on an unsuspecting, and soon to be frustrated, public.

There are however, some concepts that both innovate and thrill those fortunate enough to experience them. Should these concepts be nurtured out of prototyping and released into the wild, wooly realm of the consumer, they stand a chance to change the way that we interact with our world on a daily basis. The Personal Computer is one such product. So too, whether you like it or not, was the iPad: While other tablets may have been around before hand, none had ever managed to capture the public’s imagination or hard earned money in such a manner as to make it an ubiquitous part of our every day lives.

While it may be coming in well under the radar, we’ve got a feeling that as it crops up in more and more locations over the next few years, the latest version of Microsoft Surface could have what it takes to be the next piece of computing technology to change the way we work, shop and live on a daily basis."

Read the entire article here

"Call That Girl", a blog I have often referred to, is running a series of posts covering Microsoft's Outlook, a very solid, stable, rich e-mail processing program. Outlook is a part of Microsoft Office, the suite of programs that has been available for many years. I have used Outlook as my e-mail of choice for several years, and most companies use Outlook, so it's familiar to many home users as well.

Lisa's first post is quoted below in part and I have provided a link to the rest of it. I encourage all of you Outlook users to check this one out, and if you think the series will be helpful to you, bookmark the web site and check for future posts.

Posted by callthatgirl on September 14, 2011

"Welcome to my Outlook FYI series of blogs. We will be covering these topics in a series as there is just way too much information to handle in one blog. I felt that these FYI’s were important to discuss because so many people use Outlook every day, for so many things. And Outlook is just not for email anymore. I also apologize, there are no “How to” in my blogs, just FYI’s. This blog will just explain things hopefully better for you to understand.

Many of us use Outlook in our everyday computing needs. It’s a wonderful tool, but very misunderstood by the common user. And maybe by some not so common people. Many of us are really married to it and I am all for it because it’s been my favorite software program since 2000, but it can be tricky and problematic."

Things That You Should Know About Outlook That Microsoft Doesn’t Tell You

This is an enlightening Tip of the Day from Kim Komando, especially for those of you who do not yet own a tablet (that'd be me) but may be interested in owning one (that'd be me too).

The future of tablets

Live From Microsoft's Windows 8 Keynote at BUILD

From a PCMag.com article:

"Microsoft’s BUILD developer’s conference kicks off today with a keynote that’s expected to focus on the next version of the company’s core software, Windows 8. The event starts at 12 noon Eastern (9 a.m. Pacific), and PCMag is covering the event live—scroll down to read our up-to-the-second coverage and take part in the discussion.


Of course, Windows 8 is still just a code name—no one knows what Microsoft may end up calling the new operating system when it’s released to the public next year, but we do know that it’s going to be a major revamp aimed at getting Windows to work on as many devices as possible.

Chief among those devices: tablets. Since Windows 7 came out, Microsoft has seen Apple’s iPad completely change the market of personal computers. The iPad has hanged what people think of as a computer, and what they expect from one (though it’s apparently not to blame for dipping PC sales). So far, though, no other tablet device has come close to challenging the iPad."

 Live From Microsoft's Windows 8 Keynote at BUILD

64 GB Flash Drive

I am not the type who just has to have the latest and greatest. I might be that type if I had the money!  But I felt I needed this high capacity flash drive because frequently I help people salvage data from a damaged hard drive or an uncooperative system.   "My Documents", for example, is itself 94 GB. It turns out there is a 128 GB flash drive available and soon I think we'll see 256 GB and on and on. However, these newer high density devices are rather costly. I found that at $69 this new gadget is affordable and I have a need, so I got it.

Lest we forget, my first PC back in 1981 had 32 KB of RAM. Yes, KB! We have come a long way.

Corporate America to Microsoft: We'll Pass on Windows 8

I can certainly understand why corporate America would feel this way. It is an incredibly large undertaking to convert thousands upon thousands of computers from one operating system to another, and many companies are just deciding or have already decided, and perhaps even started or finished their conversions, to go to Windows 7 from their rock steady Windows XP machines.
 

Corp. America to Microsoft: We'll Pass on Windows 8

Keep your PC clean with Microsoft Security Essentials

Regular readers of this blog know that I recommend Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE). It is an excellent and free anti-virus program. There is no need to spend money on Norton, McAfee, Trend Micro, or any other, and I can assure you MSE is as good as or better than most all of the other free anti-viruses. Who knows more about Microsoft operating systems than Microsoft itself? I'd suggest "no one" is a good guess at the answer, so it stands to reason, to me anyway, that I'd want the people who know the system I am using to be my anti-virus program provider, and did I already say MSE is FREE? :-)

My recommended security baseline includes all free programs including MSE. Check it out at PC Doc's Security Baseline.

from worldstart.com by Yogesh Bakshi: Keep your PC clean with Microsoft Security Essentials