Happy Halloween!

Folks,

I understand that Mother Nature is going to dampen the festivities for some of you, but I would like to wish you all the best possible Halloween, well, um.. possible!

And please, let’s be safe.

Update: (A “deal” you might be interested in..)

Dear Tech Paul,

Halloween Special: Play a trick on malware with Emsisoft Security Mega Pack!

Unlike Halloween tricks, malware unfortunately does not threaten your PC only once a year, but rather the whole year round. This is why we are offering Emsisoft Security Mega Pack as of today at a special price. It is a collection of vital tools that not only allows you to spend your time online more securely, but also much more comfortably.

Emsisoft Security Mega Pack is our carefree package for everyone who relies on the Internet either for professional or private use. It consists of the best programs of its kind and should be an essential part of each and every PC:

	Protection against viruses: Emsisoft Anti-Malware (RRP $39.95) Our multi-award winning malware hunter with surf protection and fast dual-engine scanner that detects more than 10 million malware programs. Its modern behavior blocker prevents new threats from residing in your PC.
	Firewall: Emsisoft Online Armor (RRP $39.95) Gives you full control of all incoming and outgoing network connections. The Online Banking Mode allows you to make secure transactions, and password spies will have no chance thanks to the Anti-Keylogger feature.
	Ad blocker: Ad Muncher Premium (RRP $29.95) Works with all current browsers and is ready for use immediately after installation. Block annoying online ads and save on bandwidth!
	Backup: O&O DiskImage Professional (RRP $29.90) It is not only malware that can destroy your data, even broken PC hardware can do the trick. So backup important data on your hard disk regularly and conveniently!
	VPN: CyberGhost Classic (RRP $69.99) Protect your privacy and surf anonymously. CyberGhost prevents website providers from logging your activities and tracking you down. It also allows you to access blocked websites.

Bargain price: instead of $209.74 only $99.95

You will save more than 50% compared to purchasing them individually!

Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Cheaper than psychotherapy

The news on the tech front is so discouraging that I am going to talk about something else today, (I don’t need to depress you with news of a new virus that sends out death threats from your email account, do I? Or tell you who’s laying off hundreds?) and that ‘something’ is cute and cuddly.

Yesterday I was gab-festing, and the person said to me something I had heard before: “it’s a *heck* of a lot cheaper than therapy.”

We were talking about their German Shepard (mix) who is — to phrase it kindly — a hyperactive goofball of less than high IQ.
Basically, a spaz.
But a gen-u-wine sweetheart. A doll.

It has been a while since I have mentioned my regard and esteem for the Humane Society, and animal rescue/adoption centers, and told you about how I have ‘rescued’ all of my furry friends from “the pound” over the years. And asked you to consider a pet..

Here is an excerpt from a great article, Pets and your health: the good and the bad

House pets can affect your psychological and physical health in many ways.

“Health: An Australian survey found that dog and cat owners were in better health than people with neither (health was measured either by how often people went to the doctor or by how much medication they took). And a study with people on Medicare found that those who owned pets made fewer doctor visits than those who didn’t.

Hypertension: A number of studies have found that just being around a dog or petting a dog can lower blood pressure. One study found the same with a pet goat. Another found that simply watching a Lassie movie was enough to lower stress.

Longevity: A year after being released from a coronary care unit, a 1980 study found, pet owners were more likely to have survived than people who didn’t have pets.

Bone strength: The sound frequencies ofcats’ purrs are between 25 and 150 Hertz. Some researchers have found that sound frequencies between 20 and 50 Hertz can improve bone density and speed the healing of bones and muscles. So maybe that purr … don’t laugh. Some scientists actually have suggested this.

Allergy prevention: Evidence is mounting that children raised with pets are less likely to develop allergies to the animals than children raised without. In at least one study, the effect was greater with cats than with dogs. And in at least one other, the preventive effect extended to dust mite, ragweed and grass allergies.

Obesity: A study in Australia found that children who had a dog in their household were less likely to be overweight or obese than children who didn’t.

Fitness: In one study, two out of three dog owners took Fido for regular walks. Younger owners were more likely to walk than older owners, and younger dogs were more likely to get taken out than older ones. Bigger dogs got to go on longer walks than smaller ones. Another study found that dog owners were 60% more likely to go for walks in their leisure time than people who owned cats or who didn’t own any pet. Finally, a third study suggests that if you want to shape up, dogs make better walking buddies than humans do — perhaps because dogs don’t make up excuses for why they can’t go that day.

Smoking: Almost 30% of pet owners who smoked said they’d try to quit if they were convinced that secondhand smoke could hurt their pets, a survey found. (Less than 2% said the same thing about their children.)

Schoolwork: Several studies have reported that young children who had had pets (goldfish, hamsters or dogs) were better at making simple biological inferences than children who had never had a pet. Another found that students in a 10-week reading program who practiced reading out loud to dogs improved their skills by 12%. The students in the program who didn’t read to dogs didn’t improve at all.

Math: Pet owners who had lower blood pressure than non-owners to begin with experienced less of a rise in that pressure when they had to do mental arithmetic. Blood pressure rose least of all for those owners whose pets were with them while they made their calculations.

Heroism: A pit bull who saved a baby from a burning house was recently in the news. Many animals, and especially mammals, are hard-wired to save their own babies from danger, says Pluis Davern, a professional dog trainer in Gilroy, Calif. “But the fact that this dog has encompassed a human baby in its sense of family is probably uniquely canine.” Read more..

A pet doesn’t have to be furry: And I don’t believe I have ever mentioned that for a while I was big time ‘into’ tropical fish. I found looking at a fish tank oddly relaxing.. more so than a fire in a fireplace. A great stress reducer.

I have never owned a parrot, though. But I used to know a guy who had a beautiful Macaw he would put on his shoulder and go into the singles bars. (The bird’s name was “C.M.”. I’ll let you guess what the initials stood for.) At the time, he said it was the best investment he ever made..

Me? Some years ago now, I was adopted by a cat. A fact for which I am grateful much more often than not. And I repeat: if there is a void in your life.. you may want to rescue/adopt a furry friend. Doing so will change your life. (And theirs.) Again, read the article, Pets and your health: the good and the bad

Today’s quote: “The taxpayers are sending congressmen on expensive trips abroad. It might be worth it except they keep coming back.” ~ Will Rogers

Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

The Sun Is Out

Have you seen the television ads for Microsoft’s Windows 8 and.. the “Surface” tablets?

According to them, we can be dancing in the streets (as shown on TV!) and getting a group together to do the robot, as we touch, touch, touch the screens of our wonder devices.

I hope these people got paid to do that…
And it took ’em just three days to film!
{click on image to read how the ad scored with the public. Source: socialbarrel.com}

Granted, the fact that Microdoft’s iPad competitor has a keyboard, and will run productivity software (like Office), has me thinking a Surface might be the first “tablet PC” I buy, but.

I won’t buy the first edition of anything: I would buy a “Pro”, not an “RT”: and I will not buy a tablet until I already have the best/up-to-date-est Desktop for my office and laptop for my mobile needs (aka, I’ve run out of other toys to buy).

Apparently, though, many have already bought their Surface devices.. some, a long time ago (“pre-order”). And some of those are dancing in City Plaza now, as we speak, as they have one. Others who pre-ordered, haven’t received theirs yet, I understand. Where is my Microsoft Surface? Here’s what we know

“Microsoft’s Surface RT has launched, but most have yet to receive their tablet, despite promises from the software giant. From a ZDNet crowdsourced effort, here’s what we know.” Read more..

Which means there’s some disappointed people out there, I guess..

And I guess I will repeat: the ONLY way I’ll touch Windows 8 would be on a Surface tablet. (Despite how wonderful the ads make it sound..) If you think you might want/need a new Desktop or Laptop/Notebook.. might want to buy today – while there’s still Windows 7 units on the store’s shelf. (And, yes. My “Don’t Buy The First One Rule’ also applies to Windows 8. Even if I thought it was the neatest thing since sliced bread, [and let’s be clear – I do not] there’s a reason for the “wait for the Service Pack” axiom.)

Because Windows 8 has arrived.

For better or worse.

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It has been a great week for Bay Area sports fans. People are actually smiling here.. Thank you, S.F. Giants! (World Series Champions 2012)

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Apres pos of nuttin at all: Loved Google’s art today.

… I never did master his technique…

Today’s quote: “What the country needs is dirtier fingernails and cleaner minds.” ~ Will Rogers

Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

They Did It!

Congratulations Giants!

The S.F. Giants just swept the Detroit Tigers and are the winners of the the 2012 World Series.

Wow!

(Kinda a “worst to first story”, there… as longtime fans know.)
I just read it’s Sandoval who’s going to be the MVP, but I vote for Scutaro!

For more: World Series: San Francisco Giants sweep Detroit Tigers

DETROIT — The never-say-die Giants cemented a legacy that will live forever.

Sunday Beauty #107

Folks, another interesting image for your Sunday.

Click on image to see more by this artist (reco’d)

“untitled” by Rookuzz, courtesy of Flickr Commons.

And I am (slightly) curious if anyone else has any reaction to this message…

I wonder what the fake ones are like..?

Me? Well, when I saw it, my “rant motor” really started to rev! But I won’t rant.. though I’d really like to think our society is not that ill.

But.

Think Happy Thoughts. Think Happy Thoughts. Think Happy Thoughts.

Today’s quote: “Happiness consists in activity. It is a running stream, not a stagnant pool.” ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes

Last But Not Least:

Go Giants!

Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Internet Explorer Favorites Are Missing

Bookmarks (called “Favorites” in Internet Explorer) make returning to our favorite Websites an easy task, and I — for one — rely on mine. The other day I got a call from someone whose Favorites had disappeared. Quite naturally, I think, they wanted to get them back, and came to me for aid.

An important thing to understand is that Favorites and Bookmarks are shortcuts.. just like the icons on your Desktop are shortcuts to programs (.exe’s) located in your c:\Program Files folder. Your “Favorites” are simply a list of shortcuts to URL’s, and when you click on the gold star Favorites icon, this list is displayed. You can (and should) “export” this list to other browsers, a comma-separated-values (.csv) file, or a HTML file.. And you can add and delete items from this list as your heart desires.
[note: Firefox answer is here: Restore Bookmarks in Firefox– quick tip]

Tip of the day: IE is a integral component to Windows, and Windows stores your custom configurations in your User Account– your Desktop icons, Theme, Settings, etc.. Windows allows for multiple users, and each person who uses the machine should have their own user account– it also has some built-in accounts, like Administrator, and Guest (or “Public”).

If your Favorites list is empty, and not displaying any shortcuts, the first thing you should check is that you’re logged into your User Account. Click the Start button, and then choose “Log off” (or “Switch User”, depending) and verify that you are indeed logged into your user profile (and not Guest or Admin..).

If this is not the issue, navigate to the folder that contains the shortcuts list– this is called “Favorites”, and it’s located in your User folder. In XP, your User folder is in the Documents and Setting folder, so your path is C:\Documents and Settings\username*\Favorites.
In Vista and Windows 7, it’s C:\Users\username\Favorites.

Open the Favorites folder and see if your bookmarks are there. If they’re not, well, something’s happened to them somehow, and this might very well be a cause for concern (has a hacker been playing on your machine?) or it might be just ‘one of those things..’ we Windows users sometimes experience.
To restore the shortcuts, you can “import” a .csv, or .html ‘export’ you made earlier (hint, hint).. or copy the contents from a backup copy of your Favorites folder (which, because you follow my advice, you have on CD/DVD and/or another drive).

Or, you have never exported and haven’t backed up your files and folders.. (ahem), well, here is where you can try System Restore to revert your computer to an earlier date. System Restore does not restore deleted files, but it does store User Account information, and so you may have luck this way.
My article on using System Restore is here.

Today’s free download: PowerISO is a powerful CD/DVD image file processing tool, which allows you to open, extract, create, edit, burn, compress, encrypt, split and convert ISO files, and mount these files with internal virtual drive. It can process almost all CD-ROM image files including ISO and BIN.

Today’s quote: “People are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” ~ Abraham Lincoln

Let’s review: If your “favorites” list is important to you, back it up. “Export” it to a file. Like, now. (Maybe.. email the file to yourself, too.) The How To steps are here.

Note: You may have noticed from the dates on the screenshot that this article was first published back in 2008. Back then, I used to urge people to “make a backup” at least once a month. Years ago, I gave up .. “wasting my breath”. But, since it is NCSAM, I’ll say it one more time (though the evidence is in and it’s conclusive: not one person will get smart, and follow through. Oh, well. Your loss, tears, and heartache.)

Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.

Get Your Russian Mail Order Bride Here

And A Few Security Horror Stories

I’ll say one nice thing about the *skuzbucket* vermin who fill the Internet with their Junk emails.. Sometimes, they make me laugh. (Even though I am witnessing a crime in progress.)

I’m very popular with the ladies..!

A fairly standard assortment of come-ons there. But the Better Business Bureau tack is a new one to me (it’s the same old ‘click here, then fill in your PII so I can steal your identity’ scam) .

It is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. Are you more “aware”?

Christmas came early to old TP. My choice of Elenas…

You know.. I remember when these (PC’s) were “business machines”. They’ve evolved into something else, haven’t they?

Today’s reading reco(s):

* To Apple: Thanks for making my ‘new iPad’ obsolete

“Apple’s surprise announcement of a fourth-generation iPad so soon after the last version has one CNET editor feeling burned.” Read more..

* Nightmare On Database Street: 5 Database Security Horror Stories

“Chilling stories from penetration testers, database pros, and security consultants in the field.” Read more..

*An Online Save-A-Life Simulator

“One of my passions (and career) was working as a guardian to other people (as a security and law enforcement professional). This was in conjunction to working (in another passion of mine) as a Computer Information Specialist. So you can see I was blessed and today I continue to be blessed…  Today, I.. ” Read more..

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Today’s quote: “The art of being happy lies in the power of extracting happiness from common things.” ~ Henry Ward Beecher

Copyright 2007-2012 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<

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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.