This week’s items of interest.

Howdy folks. Here are a few items I found interesting this past week.

* What’s right (and wrong) with the new Kindle Fire HDX and Kindle Fire HD

“Amazon has unveiled a new lineup of tablets to take it into the holiday season. These tablets being superb hardware at a price that will make you do a double-take, but as with all things, not everything is perfect. ” Read more..

* Apple Gets Failing Grades on New iPhone Security

“In the fanfare of publicity for the iPhones 5s and 5c, and for iOS 7, a persistent and unusual motif was heard: security, security. ” Read more..

* Norton, Kaspersky, and Bitdefender Rule New Antivirus Test

“Researchers at German lab AV-Test keep twenty-odd antivirus products under observation constantly, collating and reporting their results every couple months. They cycle between testing under Windows XP, Windows 7, and Windows 8, sometimes using 64-bit editions. The latest results relate to testing under 64-bit Windows 7. Some products scored much better than when tested under the 32-bit operating system; others lost points galore.” Read more..

* Tech companies have highest turnover rate

“According to PayScale’s most recent survey, employee turnover rate among Fortune 500 companies is greatest in the IT industry.” Read more..

[ Doesn’t surprise me.. ]

* What if Verizon succeeds in killing the Internet?

“Verizon is making a big push to begin actively blocking content and competition from its network. This is a bald-faced attack on the Internet in general. It’s abhorrent. But what happens if Verizon wins?” Read more..

* Design lab finalists reveal gadgets of the future

“From breathing walls to holograms and intelligent kitchen appliances, Electrolux Design Lab’s eight finalists reveal how we might be cooking, cleaning and improving our home environment in the future.” Read/see more..

*    *    *

.. if you only read one.. read the Verizon one ..

Today’s quote: “Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.” ~ Buddha

Copyright 2007-2013 © “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.

Items Of Interest | Latest Social Networking Craze | March Is Half Over?!

Some things you might wanna know…

* Pinterest’s popularity attracts cyber scammers

“Pinterest is the latest social networking craze — and that means cyber criminals aren’t going to let you share images of your favorite summer sandals, button bracelets and vegan cupcakes in peace.

According to Symantec researchers, miscreants have begun flocking to the fast-growing virtual pinboard. Instead of posting images that lead to legitimate websites, these scammers are pinning alluring bait, such as offers claiming to give away a free $100 gift card.” Read more..

* 16 reasons NOT to buy a new iPad

“With the U.S. and nine other countries awaiting the 8am arrival of the latest iPad, David Gewirtz attempts to shut down Apple’s reality distortion field and save you some money.” Read more..

(“Reality Distortion Field”. That’s one way to phrase it..)

* Why does my computer stalk me with pictures of shoes I shouldn’t buy?

“For the past two days the shoes I thought I’d gotten out of my system have been stalking me relentlessly across the Internet.” Read more..

(On this one, the comments are readworthy, too.)

Echidnas are one of few mammals to lay eggs.

* The Encyclopaedia Britannica is going out of print

“It was probably inevitable, but on Tuesday, it became official: the Encyclopaedia Britannica is finally going out of print.” Read more..

(Apparently.. some people care…)(In case nobody has told you yet, books [with paper] are living fossils [aka “dead man walking”].)

The lastest from Fred Langa:
* Step by step: How to safely test-drive Win8

“Using safe, free virtual PC software, you can set up and run the Windows 8 Consumer Preview inside your current PC without affecting your other programs or your installed version of Windows.

This method lets you test-drive Windows 8 without having to make potentially risky changes to your current setup. There’s no need for dual-booting, special partitions, and so on.” Read more..

* You do know the IRS is not going to send you an email, right? (Tis the season of tax/refund scam emails. [Just delete any emails you see claiming to be from them.])

*     *     *

Today’s quote: “The promises of this world are, for the most part, vain phantoms; and to confide in one’s self, and become something of worth and value is the best and safest course.” ~ Michelangelo

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

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Which Browser Blocks The Most Malware? Surprise!

In Q2 of 2011, NSS Labs performed a test of web browser protection against socially-engineered malware targeting users around the globe.

“Socially-engineered malware is a widespread problem, claiming one third of internet users as victims. The use of free browser-based reputation systems to assist in the fight against socially-engineered malware is a strong use of cloud technologies. However, in this global test of socially-engineered malware, we found that not all vendor implementations and daily operations yield the same results.“

So who did the best at blocking online threats? The result of one lab’s tests may surprise you.

Windows Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) caught an exceptional 99.2% of live threats. Read more..

(A full report of their tests is available as a PDF download. Anyone interested in the true state of Internet insecurity should take a quick read.. pick up a few interesting [and scary] factoids.)

Today’s quote: “A pessimist sees only the dark side of the clouds, and mopes; a philosopher sees both sides, and shrugs; an optimist doesn’t see the clouds at all – he’s walking on them.” ~ Leonard Louis Levinson

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Advanced Troubleshooting – Checking For Bad RAM

Some computer problems (aka “issues”) are fairly obvious.

For example, if you knock your laptop off the table, it hits the floor hard, and now the screen is black, and there are several large cracks zig-zagging in the glass.. and maybe some small shards of glass have fallen out..
Well, I don’t think you would need to hire me to tell you you need to replace either the laptop’s LCD screen, or the whole laptop.

Other computer problems require a bit more brainwork.

Such as the ones where something suddenly stops working, and a very un–helpul “error message” appears. You know the ones. Maybe SuperNerd from planet Zorkboo understands Stop error “0x0000000A” IRQ NOT LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO, but… you’re thinking, “in English, please?”
For those, you can start by using your favorite search engine, and search for the exact error message you saw (if it stayed in view long enough to copy down verbatim). Or you may need to hire a SuperNerd from planet Zorkboo (shameless plug: such as myself. See Aplus Computer Aid).

Yet other computer problems are so vague, or.. seemingly random, that even SuperNerd isn’t quite sure where to start troubleshooting (I call these issues “gremlins”.. as in “maybe your computer is haunted by invisible imps”).

An example of this might be a PC that simply randomly reboots itself for no apparent rhyme or reason, on no particular schedule. This could be due to a failing power supply, malware, corrupted system files, overheating, hardware failure, software failure, or gremlins. Where do you start?

Years of experience, special tools, system logs, and a formula of trial-and-error-process-of-elimination helps us computer techs zero in on the problem in a fairly time-efficient way. (Hopefully.) And today I am going to tell you about a free tool, built into Vista and Windows 7, that tests for one of those “hardware failures” that leads to gremlin type symptoms — a RAM memory module going faulty — named the Memory Diagnostic Tool.

“The Windows Memory Diagnostic tests the Random Access Memory (RAM) on your computer for errors. The diagnostic includes a comprehensive set of memory tests. If you are experiencing problems while running Windows, you can use the diagnostic to determine whether the problems are caused by failing hardware, such as RAM or the memory system of your motherboard.”

To test the integrity of your comupter’s RAM:

1) Click on the Start button

2) Type memory into the search pane. Now, above in the results window, the top result will be Memory Diagnostic Tool. Click on that.

3) A new window will open, offering you two choices. Since the diagnostic tool needs to run before Windows starts up – you have to reboot (restart) your machine. The question is – do you want to do it now, or later? Odds are you want the first option — NOW. Save and exit any work you have open.

4) Click Restart now and check for problems. Your machine will reboot, and a basic startup screen will show the tool’s progress and results. This should take several minutes, as many different low-level test are being run.

When the scanning tests finish, you should know if your RAM memory modules fail miserably (and need to be replaced) or if you can eliminate RAM as your “gremlin”, and move to the next item on your troubleshooting checklist.. such as the power supply. Hopefully your RAM will pass, but if it doesn’t, the good news is, RAM is not too expensive, nor difficult, to replace. (For a tutorial on laptop RAM, click here.)

Good luck and happy computing.

Oh, yes. Did I mention? Sometimes it’s simply best to hand the headache off to a Pro.

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Additional Android Adventures…

I have been using my HTC “android” smart phone for a while now, and I can report to you, Dear Reader, that I have not experienced “buyer’s remorse”, nor a case of “the honeymoon’s over” – but, in fact, can say my little ‘droid has “grown on me”. I appreciate it a little more each day. (For those interested, I wrote a 3-part series; which starts here: My First Look At Android, part 1)

I have also a better sense, now, of what I do not like so much (though that has remained fairly consistent). Those things are:
1) bigger screen, please.
2) better battery life (yes, I understand phone maker’s are not responsible for battery technology. And I understand those two requests are counter — a bigger screen drains the battery faster.).
3) Made in America. (Yes. I would pay more.)

As much as I like my little ‘droid, I have not had the time to really explore the universe of “customizations” available that separates the Android operating system apart from the competitors. But I am intrigued, and may even – one day – “root” my phone and take total control. But for now I am just perusing articles such as today’s reading reco: 4 methods to customize Android phones and tablets

“One of the strengths of the Android platform is the level of customization that owners can use to tailor the user experience in every way. Here are my top customizations for Android devices.“

Related: For those thinking of upgrading phones – now that 4G is here .. 4G Wireless Speed Tests: Which Is Really the Fastest?

“By now you’ve seen all the ads pitching wireless companies’ new 4G mobile broadband services and devices. But beyond all the buzzwords and hype, which companies can reliably provide next-generation speed? We decided to find out by testing each of the four major national carriers–AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon–in 260 locations spread among 13 U.S. cities.“

Related (sorta): I am still looking at tablets. But I have decided to hold off, and see how the current fierce competition shakes out (as well as let the prices drop), but I pretty much decided that a 7″ size is my ‘sweet spot’. And, that Android will be my OS.

The weekend’s here. Yay!

Today’s free download: For those of you who like to download Flash games, or YouTube videos, Orbit (a download manager) will simplify your tasks. From site: “It is a free all-in-one downloader which can download streaming media, social music or video from anywhere include youtube, myspace, imeem, pandora, etc. It is famous for its super light, great speed and rapidshare supported.” (Today’s link also includes the review [and video] on C/Net.)

News: WordPress hacked

Security Incident

“Tough note to communicate today: Automattic had a low-level (root) break-in to several of our servers, and potentially anything on those servers could have been revealed.

We have been diligently reviewing logs and records about the break-in to determine the extent of the information exposed, and re-securing avenues used to gain access. We presume our source code was exposed and copied. While much of our code is Open Source, there are sensitive bits of our and our partners’ code. Beyond that, however, it appears information disclosed was limited.

Based on what we’ve found, we don’t have any specific suggestions for our users beyond reiterating these security fundamentals…”

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Some basic security pointers–#1

Is your computer a zombie? You can never be too secure, and neither can your PC. These few steps will go a long way in keeping your private information away from prying eyes, and prevent your machine from being used as a “zombie” by tech-savvy evil doers. (Most owners of zombie PCs are totally unaware that their computers are being used in this way.)

Tip of the day: The two basic steps I will discuss today–password protecting your User Accounts (and requiring logging in), and renaming your Administrator Account–should be prefaced with a quick description of what is, exactly, a strong password.

Strong passwords should be “complex”. That means that they should contain both upper and lower-case letters, special characters (!@#$%^&*(){}[]) and numbers, and be at least eight characters long, and–most definately–not be a word (or name) found in the dictionary. Your passwords (notice the plural. It is not wise to use the same password for everything.) will be easier to remember if you make them into a ‘passphrase’. A equestrian might use a passphrase of 1Lu^h0rsez, for example.

Now that you have a good password, it’s time to require authentication to use your machine. Start by clicking on Start>Control Panel>User Accounts (or Start>Settings>Control Panel>User Accounts. Depending on your version and preference setting). Then click on “Change an account,” and then click on “Create a password for your account.” Enter your password, twice, and if you’ld like, a password “hint” that will remind you (but not clue in the whole world) of your new password. Click “Create password.”

Now, since knowing your User Name is half the battle, click on “Change the way users log on or off.” Deselect (by unchecking the check in the checkbox) “Use the Welcome screen.”

Unbeknownst to most folks, Windows has a hidden Administrator account (this becomes vitally important when troubleshooting failing systems, or when User accounts get “locked out”) named “Administrator”. Hackers are well aware of this, and it is their favorite method of gaining access (and control over) your machine; since they know the User name, all they have to do is guess the password–which by default, and unless you set one, there isn’t one! Remedy this in XP Professional by going to Control Panel>Administrative Tools (you must use Classic View) and clicking on Local Security Policy. Then in the left column click on the plus sign next to Local Policies, and then click the Security Options folder (If you receive a warning about Group Policy, just ignore it) and a series of policies will appear in the right pane. The 4th or 5th one from the top should be “Accounts: Rename administrator account”. Double click on it and a dialogue box will open. Enter a new name, and click Apply, and OK.

In XP Home, the method is to click Start>Run. In the Run dialogue type in “Control userpasswords2” [no quotes] and click OK. From the User Accounts dialogue box, select the Administrator Account and click Properties. Enter the new name in the User Name text box, and click OK.

(For other versions of Windows the methodology is similar, but I recommend Searching Microsoft’s website for the specific steps.)

The last step is to congratulate yourself, because you have just made your computer much, much harder for a determined cracker to penetrate, and practically eliminated access to the casual browser.

Today’s free link: Steve Gibson’s ShieldsUp! This free scan, offered by a true giant in the computer field, analyzes your computer for vulnerabilities coming from the Internet, and tells you how your private data may be visible to outsiders. This link will appeal to the more tech-savvy, and be an eye openning experience for those of you who have not learned about firewalls yet.

Copyright © 2007 Tech Paul. All rights reserved.

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Upgrading to Windows Vista

Thanks to an extensive advertising campaign, the majority of you have heard of the relatively new Microsoft Windows operating system named “Vista”©. Some of you may already be using Vista, particularly those of you who have purchased a computer recently. There has been much hype surrounding Vista, and one is sometimes induced into feeling that Vista will ‘revolutionize’ my computing experience…

I have been using Vista since a relatively early beta (as one of Microsoft’s volunteer guinea pigs/”testers”), and am writing this post on a machine running a retail version of Vista Home Premium. I like Vista…though I expect I will receive comments from some who will think I am nuts for running a first-release OS. I like its look and feel (quite similar to Mac OS X). As a computing consultant, I like the improvements in security ([advisory: Vista frequently stops you in what you’re doing with a pop-up warning dialogue that asks you, “are you sure you want to continue?” This is because you are essentially running as a “user” and not an “Administrator”, which greatly increases your security. If this is the kind of “feature” that will irritate and annoy you to the point of great distress…stick with XP]). I admit it is an individual preference/”taste” kind of thing…but I do like, and recommend, Vista. Should you decide to climb aboard the Vista bandwagon, the question becomes: upgrading your existing OS, or formatting the hard drive and installing ‘clean’?

Tip of the day: There is a real advantage in doing an “in place upgrade”: namely, you will not have to locate the CDs and re-install all of your programs and applications and games; and, your preferences and settings, files, music, and photos folders will still be there–without copying them back to your machine from a backup [you do make regular backups of your system…don’t you???]. Before you consider an inplace upgrade please, please, please run the Vista Upgrade Advisor tool (click here to get the tool) and carefully heed what it says. It will scan your system and check your hardware (devices and memory) and your programs for “compatibility”. Consider carefully the results.
[update 09/08/07: Due to the fact that nobody’s used this tool, and upgraded heedless of all the advice in this column (and elsewhere), my article on “can I undo my upgrade?” is my most Google’d and my most read posting.]

Those of you considering Vista should also be aware that it has rather stringent hardware requirements (for a listing, please click here) and realize that if your machine is getting along in years you will be better served by buying a new machine–with Vista pre-installed–and using the Easy Data Migration tool to copy over your files and settings.

If your machine is of a fairly recent vintage, has plenty of memory and a decent graphics adapter, and passes the Upgrade Advisor tool’s scan, then go ahead and upgrade. If you barely meet the minimum requirements, and there are several compatibility issues noted by the Advisor’s scan, please don’t cause yourself any grief–skip Vista for now. Start saving your pennies for a brand-new, loaded with the latest technology, machine. That’s my advice.

Today’s free link: Speakeasy’s Internet speed test. Find out what your Internet connection’s speed really is–both downloading and uploading–and see how it compares with other people’s. Are you getting what your ISP says you’re getting? (what you’re paying for!) Find out with this fast, easy to use test.

Copyright © 2007 Tech Paul. All rights reserved.

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