A Daily Read*

It’s a fact: over time, things grow, and expand. The Internet itself is constantly growing, and every day thousands of new websites, blogs, and ‘online services’ appear.

I find it hard to keep up! (As, other things that are constantly growing are my business and my To Do List..) I simply do not have the time to explore them all.. and I bet you don’t either. (As a matter of fact, they say over 1,000 new ‘tech blogs’ are created each month. That’s the kind of market I am in!)

Fortunately, I know a guy.

That “guy” is Rick Robinette, and for over two years now his What’s On My PC… website has been a daily read of mine — one of the half dozen (or less) remaining “daily reads”. I cannot say enough nice things about him; but the reason I am mentioning him to you, Dear Reader, is — he is reporting on the new ‘cloud computing’ developments as they happen, and bringing us the best of this new stuff. As you can see from his list of ‘pages’, below. (With a strong emphasis on free.. which I like!)

• Software Apps
• Portable Apps
• Cloud Apps
• Freebies
• About Me

His writing is friendly, relaxed, fun, and yes, educational. He enjoys exploring fun and useful small utilities like desktop clocks and weather reports and sticky notes. As evidence, here’s a few recent What’s On My PC… articles:

Freahly printed: Three Technological Innovations That Will Blow Your Mind

“Technology never ceases to amaze me. Check out these three technological innovations that will blow your mind — a spherical flying machine; brain imaging technology that is leading us down the road to mind reading; and, ASIMO, the humanoid robot. Spherical flying machine developed by Defense Ministry’s Research Department The world’s first spherical flying machine […]” Read more..

Other samplings..

• How did I miss out on the Google Chrome Web Store?
• An Awesome Web-Based Sticky Notes Service
• Calculate More with the Windows 7 Calculator
• FREE On-Demand Music, Internet Radio and MORE!
• Humor: My Blackberry Is Not Working
• NEW: Play Up to 1GB Video Files in Google Docs
• FREE Software to Organize and Cheer Up Your Desktop
• Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows XP, Vista and 7
• Get Live Audio Feeds of Police, Fire and EMS On Your Computer

If you are at all interested in free software, useful tips, and/or want to get a feel for this “cloud computing”.. well, now you ‘know a guy’ too. Visit http://whatsonmypc.wordpress.com and find out why I cannot say enough good things about this great online resource.

I am pretty sure that if you do, Rick will become one of your “must reads” too!

* Orig post: 1/18/11

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

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Thanksgiving/Columbus Day and, Internet Safety

It seems that today is a special day – a “double holiday”

Folks, I only have time this morning to wish my readers up there in the Great White North a very happy and joyous Thanksgiving!

And to tell those of you who are lucky enough to get Christopher Columbus day off — I’m jealous!

Here is a tech tutorial from days gone by:

How To Block Websites

Preventing access to websites is called “blacklisting”. (Parents, take note.)

In yesterday’s article, I mentioned that I was going to boycott any website that started showing me image advertising – just won’t go there no more – and I used the Geekspeak word ‘blacklist’. Which prompted a few letters asking how that was done. Today I will show you how it’s done.. and I’ll try to keep the Geekspeak to the very minimum.

If you should decide that you want to block access (called “access control”) to websites you do not approve of, or think may be dangerous to you and/or your family, (and yes, there’s plenty of those) there are several strategies and methods — which you choose will probably be decided by how many websites you wish to block and for how many machines.

Simplest first: The web browser.
Say I just wanted to make sure my own, one machine, here, (or perhaps my child’s) never went to MSNBC, regardless of what I accidentally clicked or Googled (or perhaps I discovered a website that tried to do a “driveby” virus download) – I could add that site to my browser’s Do Not Go There list.

In Internet Explorer:

• Click Tools, and then Internet Options
• Next click on the Security tab
• Now click on the red-circle icon for Restricted sites
• Click the Sites button

[Notice that the URL for the web page you are currently on is – by default – filling the “Add this site” pane… Which is fine if you happened to be on the site you want to block; but you may (probably) want to manually type in URL for the website. You can add more than one – just separate the URL’s by comma+a space.]

• Click the Add button. You will now see the URL(s) listed in the blocked Websites list pane. (You can add as many sites as you want.)
  If you make a mistake, click on the list entry, and then the Remove button.
• Click Close to close that window, then OK to close Internet Options. You’re done.

Other Web browsers can work much the same way (though may use slightly different wording) though my preferred “alternative browser”, Firefox, needs an Add on for this (called Blocksite).

A better way: In the “home computing” environment, it was assumed that it would mostly be parents – wanting to prevent their children from visiting “mature” websites – who would desire to block (blacklist) Internet access. Because of this, most ‘Internet access control’ tools can be found under Parental Controls though, obviously, you do not need to be a parent to take advantage of it.

A good place to get started learning about enabling Parental Controls (to block websites) in Windows is here, Set up Parental Controls (and a brief video can be seen here); and on an Apple Mac, here.

Better yet: The best place to block Internet access is at the front door.. which in computer land is the device known as the “router” (or “wireless router”, or “WAP”), if you have one. Here you can block access by machine, time of day, and more.

This screenshot shows me blocking the website MySpace on a Linksys router, as well as by some “adult” keywords. It is taken from my step-by-step How To article here, Protecting your network–use your router for access control.

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

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Translating Human

I don’t understand what you said.

Fortunately for me, I have help “translating” what you said (or, more accurately, wrote) – thanks to “tech” and the Internet.

Do not get me wrong, I do not use these services very often (most people communicate to me in fairly decent English) but when I need them, I need them. If you know what I mean.

When I run across a phrase, or some website, so rude as to be in some language other than American English, I first go to Babel Fish. Babel Fish allows me to ‘paste’ up to 150 words into the ‘translator box’, choose my language – to – English (in my case) conversion, and – click – I will instantly have a rough idea of what’s being said. Or I can enter a website’s URL, and the whole page will be ‘converted’.
I have yet to try using Google’s Goggles app on my ‘droid (see, Does Your Android Wear Goggles?)

When someone is using American English, but their choice of phrase or colloquialism (“expression”) is unfamiliar to me (maybe because I don’t get out enough..) I use one of three ‘options’:
* if I suspect the phrase is young and hip ‘street talk’ or popular slang, I go straight to the Urban Dictionary.
* if I suspect the phrase is regional, or from an era before my time, I look in Phrases.net.
* [Parents take note] if I am asked to decipher a teenager’s chat ‘texting’ (more accurately, “lingo”) – which is deliberately not meant for adults to understand – I use either Lingo2Word, which is a ‘paste in’ instant translator very much like Babel Fish, or NoSlang.com which has the same tool as well as a dictionary. NoSlang is a bit more comprehensive.. it includes “net speak” (Internet slang).
Bonus Quick link: 25 Internet Slang Terms All Parents Should Know)

And last but not least.. I can ‘Google it’.

I think, out of all of those.. I use Urban Dictionary the most. But I am not a parent. If I were, I would bookmark NoSlang…

Today’s free link: Download FREE Microsoft Office Training Manuals and Quick Reference Guides

“Most people only know the basics of this powerful Office Suite and only challenge themselves to learn more when the the environment they are working in demands its. Any edge you can get to make your job easier, with Microsoft Office, can pay dividends in the end; not only for you, but for those you are working for.“

Bonus bonus: Take a look at Google today. They have one of their “artsy” name mods up…

Copyright 2007-2011 © “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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A Daily Dose of Tech

It’s a fact: over time, things grow, and expand. The Internet itself is constantly growing, and every day thousands of new websites, blogs, and ‘online services’ appear.

I find it hard to keep up! (As, other things that are constantly growing are my business and my To Do List..) I simply do not have the time to explore them all.. and I bet you don’t either. (As a matter of fact, they say over 1,000 new ‘tech blogs’ are created each month. That’s the kind of market I am in!)

Fortunately, I know a guy.

That “guy” is Rick Robinette, and for over two years now his What’s On My PC… website has been a daily read of mine — one of the half dozen (or less) remaining “daily reads”. I cannot say enough nice things about him; but the reason I am mentioning him to you, Dear Reader, is — he is reporting on the new ‘cloud computing’ developments as they happen, and bringing us the best of this new stuff. As you can see from his list of ‘pages’, below. (With a strong emphasis on free.. which I like!)

• Software Apps
• Portable Apps
• Cloud Apps
• Freebies
• About Me

His writing is friendly, relaxed, fun, and yes, educational. He enjoys exploring fun and useful small utilities like desktop clocks and weather reports and sticky notes. For proof, here’s a few recent What’s On My PC… articles:

• How did I miss out on the Google Chrome Web Store?
• An Awesome Web-Based Sticky Notes Service
• Calculate More with the Windows 7 Calculator
• FREE On-Demand Music, Internet Radio and MORE!
• Humor: My Blackberry Is Not Working
• NEW: Play Up to 1GB Video Files in Google Docs
• FREE Software to Organize and Cheer Up Your Desktop
• Keyboard Shortcuts for Windows XP, Vista and 7
• Get Live Audio Feeds of Police, Fire and EMS On Your Computer

If you are at all interested in free software, useful tips, and/or want to get a feel for this “cloud computing”.. well, now you ‘know a guy’ too. Visit http://whatsonmypc.wordpress.com and find out why I cannot say enough good things about this great online resource.

I am pretty sure that if you do, Rick will become one of your “must reads” too!

Copyright 2007-2011 © “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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A Great Resource For The Traveler

I mentioned yesterday the happy fact that I was going into “vacation mode” (yay!). I think we can all of us agree that vacations are “good”, and that we like them. I know I sure do.

I think we can also agree that certain aspects of vacations are not so wonderful. What do I mean by that? Well, I don’t think any sane person would say “Montezuma’s revenge” and cross-country bus rides are ‘more fun than a barrel of monkeys!‘.. And then there’s airports. Love those airports.

I’m going to go a step further and posit that the person who said “getting there is half the fun” either 1) was insane, or 2) lived a century or more ago, because the actual traveling part of a vacation, the getting to your get-away destination, just bites.

I don’t think I need to list for you, and itemize, all the various ways that your “travel day” can frustrate, torment, and aggravate.

• Missed connections & delays.
• Your travelmates (I refer, specifically, to seatback-kickers, and shrieking babies bent on setting the world’s record for Duration Of Fit and Decibel Level Achieved).
• Lost/Misrouted luggage.

But before you get to enjoy all that, you have to pack your bags, and that in itself is an adventure in sheer and unmitigated joy. (Not to crow too loudly, but I do pretty good — I typical only forget one vital item per trip.)

Tip of the day: Vacationers, particularly fliers, can vastly improve their travel day experience by outsmarting all the traveler’s gotcha’s and traveling with only one bag — an easily carry-able bag.
(Old Tech Paul has sworn off of air travel, but I have heard that the airlines are charging you extra for each item of luggage now..)

The expert one-bag traveler will have learned a great deal about:

1. What To Pack, avoiding the temptation of lugging around too much stuff;
2. What To Pack It In, understanding what to look for in efficient & effective luggage; and
3. How To Pack It, particularly the management of clothing so that it doesn’t get wrinkled.

This being the Age of the Internet, I figured that there must be some website with traveler’s tips for managing your luggage, and getting it down to ‘carry-on’ levels. Well I figured right: there’s only about 32 million of them. But fear not. Old Tech Paul has found for you the number one top banana El Supremo Grandé. (IMHO, of course.)

Today’s free link: Learn how to lighten your load at OneBag.com.
There’s no question: overpacking tops the list of biggest travel mistakes. Thus this Web site, offering exhaustive (some might say exhausting!) detail on the art and science of travelling light, going pretty much anywhere, for an indefinite length of time, with nothing more than a single (carry-on-sized) bag.

Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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It Said I Was Infected

There is an epidemic of fake anti-malware software on the Internet– which is collectively called “rogue anti-malware”

Marketed under hundreds of different names, such as VirusRemover 2008 and Antivirus XP 2009, this type of rogue software scares people by giving false alarms, and then tries to deceive them into paying for removal of non-existing malware.

This video (produced by the good folks at WOT*) shows what happens when a legitimate site gets infected and redirected to one of these bogus anti-malware scams.
Yes, folks, legitimate websites.

The people behind this scourge use many different ways to try to entice you to click– realistic pop-up windows appear, offers of “free trials” arrive in e-mail, and “free scan” buttons on legit-looking ‘fight malware’ websites, etc..

As this video shows, the user is tricked into (scared into, really) providing their credit card # (oops.. might want to cancel that card..) to clean infections that weren’t there before they clicked.
* The ‘false positives’ are not “cleaned” BUT, more adware and spyware is installed.
* A good percentage of my calls at Aplus Computer Aid are folks needing help with getting rid of these rogues. Because they use the latest techniques to combat removal, and it can be quite tough.. if not impossible.. to remove them without formatting your hard-drive.
* Is that anti-spyware program really spyware?
* A Website dedicated to combating this epidemic is Spyware Warrior. It has a pretty good list of known rogues, and much more detailed information.

Today’s free download:  WOT is a free Internet security addon for your browser. It will keep you safe from online scams, identity theft, spyware, spam, viruses and unreliable shopping sites. WOT warns you before you interact with a risky Website. It’s easy and it’s free.

• Ratings for over 20 million websites
• Downloaded 1 million times
• The WOT browser addon is light and updates automatically
• WOT rating icons appear beside search results in Google, Yahoo!, Wikipedia, Gmail, etc.
• Settings can be customized to better protect your family
• WOT Security Scorecard shows rating details and user comments

Copyright 2007-8 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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Skype says I’m infected with malware…

Yesterday a “chat” window (Skype) opened on my machine, and presented me with a dire warning from someone named “Software Update”. It said that “WINDOWS REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ATTENTION” and, it provided me with a solution.

(Click on image to see large version)

Please, folks, tell me you have spotted this for what it is.

Please tell me that you knew –instantly– that this is a cybercrime attempt.. that it is Phraud-ulent.

Please tell me that you know what will happen if the link provided in this message is clicked; and, please, please, please tell me you would never click the link.

Just in case you aren’t sure…
* “Software Update” doesn’t exist.
* “www.onlinemonitor.info” is not registered in ARIN (the registry of Internet addresses)
* clicking the link will allow scripts to run and/or take you to a poisoned Website which will install malware on your machine.. or/and, it may take you to a site that will sell you a rogue antispyware program (please read my article, Is that antispyware program really spyware).. all of this so that the hacker can take control of your machine.
* Microsoft DOES NOT alert you via Instant Messaging. No legitimate company does.

This is a classic example of a hacker’s attempt to get you to click their link. Please point your less-savvy friends and family to this article and educate them to the dangers of spam (unsolicited) messages and tell them–
NEVER CLICK THE LINK.

[addenda: Peter Parkes (Skype Blogger) wrote and asked me to remind my readers to, quote, “Please report users who send these messages to abuse@skype.net – that will help us to block them where appropriate.”]

Today’s free link(s): I have assembled on my Website a collection of links to the best free anti-malware programs to help you prevent infection.. and clean up if you’ve been infected. To see them, click here. Also, Bill Mullins has posted a very complete tutorial, Think You Have A Virus?– Some Solutions, which is quite probably the best one-stop lesson on malware I have ever run across. (I also recommend his How Fake/Rogue Software Affects Real People.)

Copyright 2007-8 Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix

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