Tips and Toys for Your Computing Christmas

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. My gift to you, as is tradition, is a list of free programs and tips for making your computing experience even better this coming year. So, enjoy…JRC

Why You Should Buy Refurbished Computers

If you're afraid of buying used technology, when it comes to a factory refurb, read this before you buy…

20+ essential programs for your new Windows computer

Our regular readers can probably rattle off a list of their 20 favorite apps without breaking a sweat -- as the comments on this post will no doubt prove. But for our less in-the-know friends, family, and co-workers, it can be challenging to figure out where to download high quality programs that actually do what they need them to do. We've put together an assortment that will help you hit the ground running with your new Windows PC.

Top 15 free tools for every Windows desktop

There is almost no end to the number of tools offered for Windows desktops. To help guide you on your quest to find the best free tools available for Windows, I poured through reviews, sifted through hundreds of websites, and canvassed Windows-savvy customers and colleagues to see which products actually help Windows users work faster and free up time for more important things in their day.

Best Free Windows Explorer Add-ons

This Article reviews Windows Explorer extensions and add-ons, like QTTabBar, that provide some of the desirable features found in commercial File Managers (Explorer replacements), like dual-panes, tabs, favorite folder access, etc., while retaining speed and familiarity of Windows.

Free games for your new Windows computer

To get you started with an assortment a free goodies, first install Valve's Steam client software and create an account (assuming you don't have one already). There are several great games you can download at no charge, and there's something for everyone!

Outlook plug-ins, add-ins for Microsoft Outlook 2007, 2010, 2003, XP, 2000

Our time-saving Outlook plug-ins add new functionalities to Microsoft Outlook, automate some routine operations and make your work with Outlook easy and pleasant.

New Net Neutrality Rules–Critically Important to Us All

FCC makes Net neutrality rules official

The new Net neutrality rules adopted Tuesday essentially create two classes of service subject to different rules: one that applies to fixed broadband networks and one for wireless networks. The FCC says this is necessary because wireless networks are technologically different from fixed broadband networks. The first rule requires both wireless and wireline providers to be transparent in how they manage and operate their networks. The second Net neutrality rule prohibits the blocking of traffic on the Internet. The rule applies to both fixed wireline broadband network operators as well as to wireless providers. But the stipulations for each type of network are slightly different.

FCC's Open Internet Order bodes ill for Net neutrality

I'm sounding the alarm now, louder and clearer. If the worst happens, I hope that someone will unearth this column from the ashes of the era of information freedom and say, "If only we had paid more attention to what was happening under our noses, it all could have been different." The game's afoot, and we stand to lose everything.

RIP, AltaVista and Google Wave; we hardly knew ye

A bunch of Yahoo, Google, and Microsoft sites are now dead. Many more also expired in 2010. Who will be next?

Windows Live Plug-ins site Launches

Microsoft have launched a plug-ins website for their popular Live Essentials Suite.  The website, which you can find at plugins.live.com contains not only Microsoft plug-ins but those from third-parties as well.

EssentialPIM - Get Your Personal Information Managed!

The latest version of EssentialPIM is a personal information manager that allows you to keep all your information in electronic form. All your appointments, tasks, notes, contacts, password entries and email messages are stored in a graphical and easily accessible form. Free and paid versions.

MS Security Essentials 2 Now Available

Microsoft Releases Security Essentials 2

Microsoft this week quietly released a second major version of its free security solution for individuals and very small businesses, Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE) 2.0. This version of the product looks and works much like its predecessor, but unlike the original version, which appeared in September 2009, the new version offers deeper integration with other Windows-based security technologies, including Windows Firewall and the web-based attacks protection in Internet Explorer. Like its predecessor, MSE 2 is free and works with Windows XP, Vista, and 7.

Besides Job Cuts, Yahoo Will Shut Down Web Sites

The cost-cutting at struggling Yahoo has extended beyond 600 job cuts to close Yahoo Buzz and other services. One of the sites Yahoo may close is Delicious, and an analyst said that will upset the most users. Over two years, Yahoo has been shrinking even as CEO Carol Bartz said Yahoo was hiring. MyBlogLog and Alta Vista may also be closed.

How to Buy Your Next Processor

There's a lot you need to consider when you're choosing the proper "brain" for your computer, and there are a lot of CPU choices on the market. This guide will arm you with the basic information you need to make an informed choice.

Get the Most from Your Point-and-Shoot Camera

Just because you've got a relatively inexpensive point-and-shoot camera and not a $1500+ DSLR rig doesn't mean you can't take awesome photos. Here's a look at how you can elevate your regular old point-and-shoot shots to greatness.

Google's Ngram Viewer: A time machine for wordplay

The word "spiderman" appeared in books in the 1920s, long before the famed Marvel superhero debuted in the early '60s. And the term "smartphone" was in use during the first decade of the 20th century, a century before anyone picked up their first iPhone. How do I know all this? By using a new tool from Google called the Ngram Viewer. Launched by the search giant yesterday, this tool lets you trace the usage of a word or phrase during the past five centuries--five centuries!--by seeing how often it's appeared in books over that time span.

Best Free Genealogy Software and Best Batteries

Since most gadgets you buy today have that wonderful tagline, “Batteries not included,” I thought I would included some test results that tell you which batteries you should buy. As a bonus,I’ve also included some test results on rechargeable batteries. Plus, for those of you interesting in your family history, I’ve included a new article on the best of the of free genealogy programs.

I am delighted to see that Dropbox has gone out of beta and is now a finished product. I use this program to keep all my computers in sync with my most important data…but even if you have only one computer, you can use Dropbox as a place to store your most important data in the cloud and offsite. Everyone should be doing this.

As for the rest, there are some interesting articles included here and I encourage you to read them all. You may be surprised at what you find. - JRC

 

Is Your E-Book Reading Up On You?

Most e-readers, like Amazon's Kindle, have an antenna that lets users instantly download new books. But the technology also makes it possible for the device to transmit information back to the manufacturer. And it's not just what pages you read; it may also monitor where you read them. Kindles, iPads and other e-readers have geo-location abilities; using GPS or data from Wi-Fi and cell phone towers, it wouldn't be difficult for the devices to track their own locations in the physical world.

Record Labels Blame Google For Piracy, Hint At Censorship

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the UK’s main recording industry trade body, came out with guns blazing against Google today. BPI says that search engines like Google are as popular as P2P applications as a source for illegal downloads. The music industry is pressing Google and others to censor their search results in favor of ‘legal’ music services.

CNET tests alkaline battery performance

Even in the days of nickel cadmium and lithium ion batteries being used in most laptops, phones, and MP3 players, some of us still need traditional alkaline batteries. Recently, I was asked if I could conduct some battery performance tests on a few regular, everyday, over-the-counter batteries.  I chose what I thought were two of the most popular batteries on the market, and one not so popular battery. The goal being to determine which battery would last longer under controlled conditions.

AA rechargeable battery roundup 2010

On this test, we pit the Apple rechargeable batteries against Duracell and Energizer. Interesting results.

Dropbox Hits Version 1.0, Leaves Its Beta Days Behind

Our favorite file-syncing tool, and yours, just hit version 1.0. Hooray for Dropbox! What does this mean, aside from Dropbox being officially out of beta? The Dropbox team ensures it's capable of both heavier lifting and speedier speed. It also comes with a new, redesigned setup wizard and support for plenty of rare file syncing situations.

Best Free Genealogy / Family Tree Software

PEOPLEGenealogy software provides a method for recording the subjects of our research, e.g. their names, relationships, and events of their lives. Also evidence must be recorded which supports the conclusions reached. They also print the reports and charts to show off the results of our labor. I looked at several free genealogy programs which will do a reasonable job for the novice or advanced genealogist.

Feds Forbidden to Read Your E-Mail Without a Warrant

Appeals court: warrant required before Feds can read e-mail

The government must obtain a valid search warrant before infiltrating your e-mail in a criminal investigation, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled. The appeals court ruled Tuesday on US v. Warshak, noting that email "requires strong protection under the Fourth Amendment," and that law enforcement can't demand for an ISP to give up e-mail with just a court order.

Walgreen, McDonald's Say E-Mail Databases Breached

In a bad day for security breaches, Walgreen, McDonald's and Twitter reported incidents. McDonald's says a subcontractor improperly handled customer data, while Twitter said hackers broke into user accounts and sent spam promoting acai berry drinks. Walgreen said hackers sent spam directing customers to enter personal data into outside sites.

WikiLeaks' Assange granted bail in London

In a media-mobbed hearing today, a U.K. judge decided to release Assange on bail of 200,000 pounds, or about $317,000, on the condition that he surrender his passport, wear an electronic tracker, provide a U.K. address, and report to police daily. Article includes more updates on the entire Wikileaks situation.

Microsoft Word - Create email holiday cards in Word

Maybe you've decided to send your cards by email this year--whether for financial or environmental reasons. (Think trips to get stamps, to get cards, to mail cards--when you'd rather spend the time writing the cards, connecting with friends and far-away family members.)

Get iCare Data Recovery software free

From now until December 25, iCare Data Recovery 4.0 is available absolutely free. Regular price: $69.95. To get it, follow the "Steps to get registered iCare for free" instructions, making sure to run the program as an administrator and then pasting in the provided code. (FYI, you must activate it before the 25th.)

Costco Says Bye-Bye to Apple

You do it Apple’s way or you don’t do it at all. So Costco said adios and thanks for the memories. I commend Costco for telling them where they can stick their overpriced products.

But more seriously, I have included an update on multi-leveled attacks against Wikileaks. This is not about espionage…it is more about Freedom of Speech. It’s the US government trying force its will against us knowing what goes on behind the scenes. It harkens back to the days of Richard Nixon and his plumbers, using the IRS and other dirty tricks to attack his enemies. If these modern tricks were in use back then, we would have never known about Watergate.

The government wants to use the 1917 “Espionage Act” (created during time of war) to go after Wikileaks, saying Julian Assange is not a journalist, but a spy. He is currently is imprisoned in Britain for supposed sexual molestation charges in Sweden. But his supporters are fighting back with questionable modern technology by attacking Web sites of Wikileaks enemies. Make no mistake about it…this is an all-out war and we, the people of the United States, may turn out to be the losers. Watch this story carefully and judge for yourself. – JRC 

Update:The Winds of WikiLeaks' War

WikiLeaks' Cablegate release has instigated a Web battle. On one side, high-profile organizations like credit card companies have refused to do business with the site; on the other, WikiLeaks supporters have carried out a series of reprisal DDoS attacks.

Costco confirms it will stop selling Apple products

The Seattle Times says the split is mutual and notes that, unlike some of the deals made with other large-scale Apple resellers, Costco was never allowed to sell Apple's products through its own online store. The post also highlights that Costco's sales of Apple products did not venture further than offering slightly discounted iPods and packs of iTunes gift cards.

Three Trillion Pigs Down, Angry Birds Keeps Thriving

A silly diversion where birds do ceaseless battle with pigs has become a pop-culture phenomenon. The Angry Birds smartphone app has been downloaded some 12 million times, with another 30 million downloads of its free app, which makes money through ads. The one-year anniversary of the game's debut has been dubbed "Angry Birds Day."

Most Popular Photography Tips, Tricks, and Hacks of 2010

Whether it's before, during, or after you shoot, we've posted some awesome photography tips, tricks, and hacks this year. Here are the most popular for 2010.

AOL You've Got News app offers a slick reading experience in Google Chrome

Harkening back to days of yore, it's You've Got News. Unlike the New York Times app Seb showed you, You've Got News is a locally installed app -- not a link to a remotely hosted Web site. The app actually feels a bit like reading the newspaper: use your left and right arrow keys to flip through the main sections and your up and down keys to peruse a section's individual pages. You can also click on background pages in the margins to bring them into focus.

Looking Ahead to 2011

The Tipping Point: 2011 Technology Preview

PC Users are on the brink of a massive shift in technology and performance. We identify the most game-changing technologies and life-changing products for the coming year

December 2010 Patch Tuesday will come with most bulletins ever

According to the Microsoft Security Response Center, Microsoft will issue 17 Security Bulletins addressing 40 vulnerabilities on Tuesday, December 14. It will also host a webcast to address customer questions the following day.

Internet Explorer 9 to get tracking protection

Microsoft this morning detailed changes to Internet Explorer 9's security features that will better enable users to keep sites from tracking their activity across browsing sessions. The feature, which is set to arrive in the first release candidate of IE9 early next year, uses a list to tell the browser which third-party page elements sites can and cannot be blocked from tracking. This includes elements ranging from advertisements to more mundane things like embedded widgets from particular providers.

Is now the wrong time to buy an iPad?

Here's how I see it. For starters, I don't believe Apple's actually releasing a new iPad 2 in February. You could argue that despite Steve Jobs insisting that the company has no plans to ship a smaller iPad, it might put one out. You know, the so-called iPad Mini. We're talking something with a 7-inch screen. Fat chance that'll happen but it's just as unlikely Apple will put out a new version of its current 9.7-inch model.

Todo.ly is a to-do list manager for Chrome and the Web

To-do lists are pretty important for getting things done; and much like text editors, every person has their own favorite flavor, and it seems like every developer has a slightly different idea of what an ideal to-do manager would look like. Todo.ly is one take on the do-do list manager. It also comes as a Chrome Web app, so if you use multiple synchronized Chrome browsers (or Chrome OS) and install the Web app, you instantly get the same to-do list manager across all of your machines. Just that may be reason enough to set it up.

Bad China and Good Info

Leaked Cable: China Ordered Hacking on Google

A cable released by WikiLeaks quotes a contact as saying that high-ranking political and military officials oversaw the hacking of Google last year. A separate cable released by WikiLeaks says that another high-ranking Chinese official demanded action against Google after looking for his own name on the search engine and finding criticism of him.

Top smartphones of 2010 

In the market for a new cell phone? Here are some of the best ones that might help you with your decision. Hint - pick your carrier first then the phone.

iTunes alternatives: how do Amazon and other digital music services compare? 

Is iTunes still the most expensive digital music service? Which iTunes alternative offers the best deal for music lovers? Are digital albums a better deal than CDs? And just how much are you overpaying if you buy by the track instead of by the album?

Google eBooks: The good, the bad, and the ugly

Google launched its e-books site this morning. No longer called Google Editions, the site is now called Google eBooks. Can the Kindle and Nook can survive in the face of Google’s entry into the market (I think the answer is yes), I’d suggest that Google will most likely just make platform-agnostic eBooks more mainstream than Amazon has with its Kindle apps for various platforms.

Add 'do not track' to Firefox, IE, Google Chrome

With just a little effort, you can set Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, and Google Chrome to clear out and block the cookies most online ad networks and other Web trackers rely on to build their valuable user profiles.

Tips for Purchasing Your Next PC

Your next PC: thinking beyond the desktop

With Black Friday a fading memory and Cyber Monday deals still fresh on the Web, visions of a new PC may be dancing in your head. But before you go out hunting for that shiny new Win7 machine, take a deep breath, sit back, and consider these tips on buying a PC.

FTC calls for "Do Not Track" list, new policies to protect online privacy 

The Federal Trade Commission is proposing new policies around online privacy, including the creation of a “Do Not Track” mechanism as a means of easing the burden on consumers trying to keep tabs on who’s keeping tabs on them.

Facebook rolls out facelift for profile pages 

Facebook unveiled a redesign for members' profile pages today that puts a greater emphasis on photos and sharing personal information at the top of users' pages.

Top 10 Ways to Spot an Internet Hoax

Here are John C. Dvorak’s 10 tips for spotting the fraud, hoax, and scam e-mails that pile up in your inbox, so you can avoid them or get payback.

Windows 7 Christmas Themes description, Screen Savers & Themes Downloads

Are you feeling a little blue this holiday season? I was, until I installed Windows 7 Themes.net's delightful Christmas themes. This free download has it all--several wallpapers, holiday-themed icons, and Christmassy sounds, plus a soothing screen saver. The desktop themes (one red themed, one green) manage to be festive, stylish, and inspirational all at the same time.

Is the U.S. Becoming a Nation of Censorship?

I am becoming alarmed at the role our government is taking in censoring Internet content. Bills are pending in Congress that will allow the government to shut down Web sites that they deem to violate copyright laws, or are deemed a “security risk.”. Of course, this is being pushed on them by their masters in the entertainment business.  

Homeland Security’s ICE division (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) is already confiscating domain names from Web sites that have the slightest hint of file sharing…without due process! By taking the domain name, the effectively remove the sites from the Web, even though they are still there. Many of these sites are located in other countries, which extends this censorship beyond US borders.

What is ironic, as pointed out in our third story, is that some Web sites are moving to China, the king of all Internet censorship! What does that say about our right of free speech? That right and others are slowly being eroded in the name of security. I fear for us and where we are headed.

JRC

The Rise of Web Censorship 

I have no problem with law-enforcement agencies having the power to stop crimes. What I do have a problem with is them being given carte blanche to decide on their own, whenever they want, anywhere in the world, when a Web site should be shut down. That is a power that should never belong to the police alone of any country.

Booted from US-based domain, WikiLeaks site finds refuge with Swiss Pirate Party

The website WikiLeaks.org is no longer functioning, after its US-based domain host, Amazon, terminated service for the controversial site, under pressure from the government. The expulsion forced WikiLeaks to relocate its domain name with a Switzerland-based domain name host, and the website is now found at WikiLeaks.ch.

Avoiding US Censorship, Torrent Sites May Flee To China

China is often criticized for its Internet censorship practices. Although this is certainly valid with regard to political issues, the United States is rapidly becoming one of the most progressive countries when it comes to commercial censorship. Safeguarding commercial interests is increasingly preferred above the rights of the general public. Ironically, BitTorrent sites may have to flee to China to keep their ‘freedom’.

Google patches Chrome security holes, adds PDF viewer in sandbox

Google has shipped a new version of its Chrome web browser to fix at least 14 security vulnerabilities that expose users to malicious hacker attacks. The Chrome 8.0.552.215 update also include a new built-in PDF viewer that is secured in Chrome’s sandbox...

Chopin Script Freeware Font Strikes an Elegant Note

If we were matchmakers unstuck in time, we would introduce Chopin the composer to Chopin Script font. Nineteenth-century Monsieur Chopin is known for major innovation to the Polonaise, a low dance of Polish origin, while Twenty-first century Chopin Script (free) is a digital descendent of the script face Polonaise created in 1970 by the late Phil Martin of Alphabet Innovations.

WikiLeaks–The New Journalism?

WikiLeaks has U.S. scrambling to plug holes

The apparent revelations originating from the latest WikiLeaks are both embarrassing and rapid-fire: Afghanistan's vice president was found to be transporting $52 million in cash; Saudi Arabia's king called for the U.S. to attack Iran; a British duke mocked Americans' understanding of geography.

Facebook infested with new worm; More proof site is insecure? 

Facebook is littered with a worm, seemingly the same one under different names, created by randomly generated developers, which is spreading links all over the site.

Google Earth 6.0 Offers a Full Walking Tour Experience

A virtual walking tour with a mouse scroll wheel is one of the new features in Google Earth 6.0. The streets available to tour on Google Earth are in selected city locations and highlighted in blue. Google Earth 6.0 also makes it significantly easier to access historical images. Backgrounds in Google Earth are now filled with 3-D constructs.

Google's E-Book Store Will Offer 'Read Anywhere' Storage

he delayed Google Editions e-book store is getting ready to launch with a new twist of storing e-books in the cloud for "read anywhere" access. Analysts expect 200 independent booksellers could join Google Editions, and Google could capture a fifth of a growing market. While Google is not offering an e-book reader, that could come later.

WinUtilities Free Edition

WinUtilities Free Edition, a suite of tools designed to free up disk space and improve system performance. We were quite pleased with the program's results.

Winner’s and Losers for 2010

Hope you all survived Thanksgiving and had a good time while doing it. Tech news and views inevitably slow down during the holiday season. But, I do manage to find some interesting news and usually lots of free software you might find useful…so stay tuned.

If you like games, light-weight or serious, be sure and look at the “Best Free PC Games” article. There are a ton of games in their, including some solitaire games. Enjoy.

JRC

Tech's Biggest Winners and Losers: 2010

The year's winding down, which means it's time to take stock of the companies, technologies and product categories that had big years, and those that did not.

Avoid the security risk of shortened URLs

The compact URLs produced by services such as TinyURL, bit.ly, is.gd, and many others are convenient and save space, but they can also be used to hide the identity of malicious sites. Fortunately, there are several ways to peek behind a shortened URL to see exactly where the link will take you — before you click it!

Google launches Microsoft Office connector: Keep your legacy Office, use our cloud

The plug-in, dubbed Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office, gives the user a direct link to sync and share documents—Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint—with Google Docs. The documents aren’t reformatted in Google Docs, which is used as a go-between from your legacy Office suite to Google.

Best Free PC Games

Whether you've searched everywhere trying to find the best free game in existence, or just happened to stumble here looking for something to keep your kids occupied, you've come to the right place. This is the showcase for some of the most top-notch, high quality, freeware games out there in each respective category. They really are quite a bang for the lack of a buck.

HTTPS Everywhere | Electronic Frontier Foundation

HTTPS Everywhere is a Firefox extension produced as a collaboration between The Tor Project and the Electronic Frontier Foundation. It encrypts your communications with a number of major websites. This extension was designed to help protect you against FireSheep incursions at public Wi_Fi locations.

Netflix Makes Some Big Changes

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

JRC

Netflix offers $8 streaming-only option

The video rental company will now offer customers a plan that includes the ability to view movies through its streaming service for $7.99 per month. It was quick to point out that its cheapest plan includes no DVD rentals.

Cybersecurity bill gives DHS power to punish tech firms

Democratic politicians are proposing a novel approach to cybersecurity: fine technology companies $100,000 a day unless they comply with directives imposed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. I think this is way over the top!

Best Products of 2010

Just in time for your holiday shopping, here are the 80 top products our analysts picked from hundreds of reviews done this year that rise above the rest.

Microsoft TechNet for the rest of us

Microsoft's TechNet site, dubbed "Resources for IT Professionals," is a rich repository of high-level geek talk plus tips for enterprise-class IT personnel. But don't let that reputation put you off — TechNet is also a gold mine of excellent tips and tricks for individual Windows users as well.

This Has To Be The Easiest Photo-Sharing Site Ever

Assuming you have a supported browser (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or IE9), just fire up the site, drag some photos onto the empty page, and you're done. Yes, really. It takes just seconds, there's no need to sign up, and the results are superb. Some very clever Javascript code takes care of the uploading, and if you resize your browser then all the images get dynamically resized in real time too.

Tips for Holiday Shopping On-Line

I am back from my 5 day photo safari to the Moab, UT area. Got some great photos at both the Arches National Park and nearby Canyonlands National Park which will start showing up in my “Postcards” blog starting later today.

Not a lot happened in the tech world while I was gone, but here are some interesting stories. I recommend you read the article on Christmas shopping, if you plan to do any shopping on-line like me. Enjoy. 

JRC

U.S.: Beijing backs hacking on 'massive scale'

"Recent high-profile, China-based computer exploitations continue to suggest some level of state support. Indicators include the massive scale of these exploitations and the extensive intelligence and reconnaissance components," noted the report from the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission's (USCC).

Windows at 25

Today marks the 25th anniversary of Microsoft Windows, since the first version of the product was launched on this day in 1985. Like most people, I never used Windows 1.0, which was by all accounts nothing more than a slightly graphical shell that sat on top of MS-DOS. In fact, the original code-name for Windows--Interface Manager--says everything you need to know about Microsoft's early intentions for the product.

Smart Spending: When To Grab the Best Holiday Deals

Many stores, both online and brick-and-mortar, are are discounting holiday goods earlier than last year because shoppers remain cautious. Generally, retailers are going out with their best prices of the season around the Thanksgiving week on such items as flat-panel TVs, computers and laptops, and the season's hottest toys and clothing.

Computer Trouble Isn't Always What You Think It Is

When things go terribly wrong with technology, you may have to go that extra mile to find the right answers.

AeroWeather Shifts Aero's Color Scheme to Match the Weather

Windows: If you're a fan of passive information delivery, AeroWeather is a clever weather tool that gives you subtle feedback about the weather conditions via Aero's color scheme.

The Dying Days of Window XP

Are the days of XP coming to a close? Yes, if the recent programming trends by Microsoft are any indication. For instance, the latest incarnation of the Windows Live Essentials do not work in XP. Many of the Office Live features are not XP compatible. And, of course, you cannot get it anymore on new computers. I would say its days are numbered. But all is not lost for XP users, as indicated by our first article.

PS: I will not be publishing any editions for a week as I am headed up into the wilds of Southern Utah on a photo safari. But, I will be back!!  JRC

Windows XP: Looking back, looking forward

On October 22, Microsoft pulled the plug on sales of Windows XP, ending the operating system's spectacular nine-year run. With no new copies being sold, support for XP will start to decline. Fortunately, XP's long run has produced a ton of collected wisdom: everything you need to keep your copy going strong and — when ready — to help you move on.

AT&T prepares for the end to iPhone exclusivity

The end of 2010 is close and it looks like AT&T is beefing up its device portfolio and app offerings for a day when it isn't the only U.S. operator offering the Apple iPhone. U.S. Press reports indicate that Verizon Wireless will likely get a version of the iPhone as soon as the first quarter of 2011.

Firefox 4 gets much, much faster

One of the major components essential for the future of Firefox just landed in the beta build of the browser, and it gives the open-source browser the page-rendering speed boost that it had been lacking.

Why You'll Give Up Gmail for Facebook Mail

According to Techcrunch's sources, a full webmail client integrated with The One and Only Social Network will debut next Monday. This is why it may become your favorite webmail service. If I were Google, Yahoo or Hotmail, I'd be very nervous. Facebook Mail could be a killer not only because of its potential instant size, but because of its natural advantage at making mail more useful.

Windows Live Mail 2011 Gets Lassoed By The Ribbon

If you're looking for an excellent, free mail client, you'll do well to install Windows Live Mail 2011. This newest version of Microsoft's free e-mail client has been significantly upgraded over the previous version, and now includes a host of new features, including a calendar pane and Microsoft Office's Ribbon interface. It doesn't include all the bells and whistles of Microsoft Outlook, such as tasks and a full-blown calendar, but given that it's free, Windows Live Mail is well worth the download.

Dallas Cowboys Screw Up On and Off the Field

It’s a slow tech new day, but still managed to find some interesting stories.  Could not resist the story about the Dallas Cowboys forgetting to renew their domain. That whole organization has problems. Anyway, I hope you can find something to interest you in today’s top stories.

JRC

Cowboys fire coach, forget to renew Web domain

According to the Dallas Morning News, the team had forgotten to renew the domain. Which meant that DallasCowboys.com was adorned with a picture of two little boys playing soccer and a suggestion that it was for sale.

Patch Tuesday Leaves Some Vulnerabilities Unpatched

IT administrators got a lighter load from this month's Patch Tuesday, but Microsoft left some vulnerabilities unpatched, including an Internet Explorer zero-day exploit. Office was a key target of this month's Patch Tuesday, with the only critical patch in three security bulletins. Fewer bulletins may let IT administrators catch up from last month.

Business Discounts Added To Facebook Places

A new Deals service expands Facebook Places to let smartphone users find business discounts wherever they are. By tapping the Facebook Places Check In button, users will see nearby places, with yellow icons denoting available deals. An analyst said Deals on Facebook Places is just the beginning of a dynamic mobile commerce opportunity.

Firefox 4 release slips to 2011

Mozilla has pushed back the planned Firefox 4 release to 2011, a delay that's no surprise given the difficulties in releasing the first full-featured beta of the open-source browser--but that also gives breathing room for several competitors.

25 handy Google search tips and tricks

The good thing about Google is that generally, you don't have to be too precise or bend over backwards to find things. When you want something specific, though, or just can't find it the old-fashioned way, these tips will bring it right to your fingertips.

One of My Favorite Add-On’s Will Not Die Afterall

Firefox extension detects FireSheep snoop software

Dubbed BlackSheep, the Firefox extension alerts users when computers on a local area network are using FireSheep to steal unencrypted cookies the websites use to grant users access to their account pages. When BlackSheep detects the snoop software in a hotspot or other open Wi-Fi network, it displays a message that reads “Somebody is using FireSheep on this network.” It then displays the LAN IP address of the offending party.

Cable Subscribers Flee, But Is Internet To Blame?

If "cord-cutting" in favor of Internet video is taking hold, there are wide-ranging implications. Consumers who use the web to get movies and TV bypass not just cable firms, but the networks that produce the content. This could have the same disruptive effect on the TV and movie industries as digital downloads have already had on music.

Xmarks Lives On, Finds Buyer

In September one of my favorite productivity tools, XMarks, was taken off the market when the company that made it closed up shop. XMarks syncs your passwords and bookmarks across browsers, so you can share one set of bookmarks. Since I spend my time shuffling among multiple PCs, at work and at home, the free software has been a godsend. This week the CEO announced that Xmarks would live on thanks to a new buyer.

The lie about so-called 4G gets worse

T-Mobile is now claiming that its 3G network is a 4G one. It's a bald-faced lie -- whatever happened to truth in advertising?

Windows 7 Taskbar Items Pinner Freeware

Although Windows7 already provides a `Pin to Taskbar` option, it only works with .EXE files and certain other shortcuts. The Windows 7 Taskbar Items Pinner allows you to tweak your taskbar by adding shortcuts to common system folders as well as any other folder or file.

More on the Dangers Open Wi-Fi and FireSheep

In our last edition, we talked about how programs like FireSheep open you up to hijacking and snooping when using public un-encrypted Wi-Fi. If you have not read it, please do. It is critical! Currently, over 1/2 million people have downloaded FireSheep. That spells danger for all of us who use public Wi-Fi. 

Also we have talked about CCleaner software here on a few occasions. It has a new, serious upgrade that you should probably download. Have a terrific weekend.

Jim

Cloak your connection to foil Firesheep snoopers

If you're serious about protecting your surfing from prying eyes while on an unencrypted public Wi-Fi connection, the onus is on you to lock down your connections. Using virtual private networking (VPN) is one of the best ways I know to do that. Firesheep has raised the awareness — and hackles — of Wi-Fi users all over the world. It exploits an old, well-known problem called sidejacking. Eric Butler, the author of Firesheep, describes the situation succinctly in his Firesheep post:

Patch Tuesday heads-up: Critical MS Office security holes

After last month’s record-breaking security patch release, Microsoft is offering a November respite. The November Patch Tuesday will feature just three bulletins with fixes for a total of 11 documented vulnerabilities. One of the bulletins will be rated “critical,” Microsoft’s highest severity rating.

Business Discounts Added To Facebook Places

A new Deals service expands Facebook Places to let smartphone users find business discounts wherever they are. By tapping the Facebook Places Check In button, users will see nearby places, with yellow icons denoting available deals. An analyst said Deals on Facebook Places is just the beginning of a dynamic mobile commerce opportunity.

CCleaner 3 delivers nuanced drive wiper

CCleaner hasn't seen many major revisions since Piriform launched it in 2004, but debuting today, CCleaner 3 includes some extremely useful new features that make it worth the upgrade.

Best Free Photo Editing Software

Overexposure, underexposure, random blemishes, red-eye problems, white balance issues, and other visual mishaps will occur, so it's incredibly handy to have a good photo editing application on your PC to make corrections. Fortunately, there are plenty of photo editing applications that can get the job done—for free!

Special Edition–If You Use Public Wi-Fi, You May Be in Serious Trouble

Some new information has come out of a recent hacker’s convention that may change the way we use the public Wi-Fi spots forever. There is a new Firefox Extension now available called “FireSheep” that, when installed on anyone’s computer, will allow you to see who is logged into a public Wi-Fi network, what sites they are logged into, and with a simple click of the mouse, take over their identity on the Net.

Yes you read that correctly. With FireSheep, anyone can see what you are doing on-line and easily steal your on-line identity. They can make changes to your Facebook account, change your e-mail password, and much much worse. Are there ways to prevent this? Yes there is. And I will get to that.

Currently, almost 1/2 million people have downloaded FireSheep into their Firefox browsers. Some folks only want to see if and how it works. Others may have less than honorable intentions. You need to protect yourself and perhaps suggest to your favorite coffee shop or other Wi-Fi connected businesses that they do a simple change to their Wi-Fi routers to protect their customers.

The creators of FireSheep did this to show the world how easy it is to steal your identity and to force a change in the way public Wi-Fi is used. And it is so easy to change!

The easiest fix this is for the Wi-Fi provider to turn on WPA or WPA2 encryption on their routers. Then, just hang a sign on the wall for the password to access the router. For instance, Starbucks could easily put up a large sign saying the password in “Starbucks.” Then no one on line could see anyone else.  Each computer would encrypted differently, even with the same password. I think all public Wi-Fi providers should do this now!!

The second solution would be for you, the user, to use VPN encryption to scramble all your signals to and from your laptop. This is what I have been doing for some time now.  There are both free and paid VPN programs.

For more information on these topics, here are some sources for further reading. Also check out the links in the article for more information:

 

Firesheep Simplifies Stealing Logins

Well, thanks to a new Firefox extension called Firesheep, anyone can easily view other people on their network and, with a click of a button, assume another person's identity and login credentials from any non-secure site that the unwitting person is logged into.

The unvarnished truth about unsecured Wi-Fi

Many of you may have heard this before, but many still seem to not be doing anything about it. You should. Here's why. With a $50 wireless antenna and the right software a criminal hacker located outside your building as far as a mile away can capture passwords, e-mail messages, and any other data being transmitted over your network.

How to Stay Safe on Public Wi-Fi Networks

Just because most wireless routers have a firewall to protect you from the internet doesn't mean you're protected from others connected to the same network. Lots of wireless hotspots these days are completely unencrypted, usually so they're easier to connect to (baristas don't need to be giving out the internet password to everyone that walks in). However, this leaves you unprotected against malicious users in the same coffee shop, so there are a few settings you should always make sure to tweak when you're connected to a public network.

proXPN - Create a FREE VPN Account

This free program will allow you to use a private VPN network in public Wi-Fi locations so that no one can see what you are doing, even with FireSheep.

Yahoo Mail Steps Up and Other Reviews

Yahoo speeds up Mail, adds more Twitter

The company on Wednesday is releasing an overhauled version of its Yahoo Mail Beta client that it says is twice as fast as the previous version, while managing to tack on new features like an integrated Twitter client, rich media previews, and a more full-featured IM client.

Logitech Revue (Google TV) Review

The Logitech Revue with Google TV is loaded with potentially game-changing functionality, but its high price, numerous caveats, and current assortment of bugs make it best-suited to early adopters--at least until promised firmware fixes become available.

Evernote's Windows overhaul adds speed, finesse

Evernote is set to release a new version of its note-taking and Web-clipping Windows software this morning that improves speed, looks, and functionality. In short, it leapfrogs the old version, and then some.

Windows Phone 7 will be a serious game-changer

Love it or hate it, the new Windows Phone 7 mobile OS has success written all over it

Dropbox: File synching and sharing made easy

There's no shortage of services offering file sharing, synching, and collaboration through the Internet. But one service stands out from the rest. Dropbox is one of those simple applications that, once installed, quickly become an indispensable part of your computing process. (Editor's note: This is an in-depth review of Dropbox, which I think is a must-have for everyone).

Browser and Office 2011 Updates

Major security bug fixed in Firefox

Mozilla is advising fans of Firefox to update the stable version of the browser after it released a patch for a security bug marked "critical" today. Available for Windows, Mac, and Linux, Firefox 3.6.12 patches a heap buffer overflow that could allow for remote code execution.

Google Chrome 7 Review

Google Chrome 7 is not only stable to use, but comes with a full range of competitive features. It lacks some of the fine-tuning customizations in Firefox, but overall users browsing with Chrome will find it a pleasant, fast, and standards-compliant experience.

Office 2011 for Mac goes on sale

On October 26, Microsoft began selling Office 2011, the new Office release for Mac OS X users at retail. Microsoft released to manufacturing Office 2011 on September 10. There are three SKUs, or versions: Office for Mac Home & Student 2011, Office for Mac Home & Business 2011 and Office for Mac Academic 2011.

Barnes & Noble unveils Nook Color e-Reader

A lot of people wondered whether this would be classified as an Android tablet, and while the device does run on Android 2.1 (it will be upgradeable to Android 2.2 next year) and offers additional functionality such as Web browsing, audio and video playback, and some basic games, Barnes & Noble is spinning it as a "reader's tablet." It uses a backlit LED screen rather than e-ink and only has 8 hours of battery life.

Best Free Online Backup Sites

Endless hours of processing backup disks can now be replaced with online backups and file synching services. The necessity of a good backup is more important than ever, with online backups you can safely and simply backup your data into the cloud. An online backup provides 24/7 access to your files from any internet connected computer, smartphone, or tablet style device. Data storage in the cloud is one of the quickest means to data archiving and recovery.

Windows 7: Past, Present and Future

Windows 7, one year later: How's Microsoft doing? And what's next?

This week, Windows 7 celebrates its first birthday. In my original review, I called Windows 7 “as close to an essential upgrade as I have ever seen,” and I predicted that it would improve with age. A year later, I can already see many of those improvements.

Microsoft says Windows 8 roughly two years away

In its most concrete comments yet about the next version of Windows, Microsoft said in a blog post on its Dutch Web site that Windows 8 is about two years from hitting the market.

Facebook Privacy Failure: Latest in Long Line of Blunders

In the latest episode of the gang that couldn't get privacy straight, it was revealed by the Wall Street Journal that many of Facebook's popular applications were unintentionally transmitting the names of the social network's members and, in some cases, their friends' names to dozens of advertising and Internet tracking companies.

The Greatest Tech Battles of All Time

We've broken down some of our favorites from over the years to see how Jobs vs. Google/RIM stacks up. Let's just say that nothing puts a verbal tiff into perspective quite like watching some grainy footage of a circus elephant getting electrocuted on Coney Island.

Productivity Software: Best of 2010

Put more productivity into your day with superb software such as the Google Chrome browser, and protect your PCs with Microsoft Security Essentials or Norton Antivirus 2011, among other top choices.

What I Use–Part 4

This is a continuation of the article I started several weeks ago (and interrupted by my Chicago vacation) on the hardware and software I personally use. In this edition, I will focus on productivity software.

As you might guess, my productivity software revolves around Microsoft’s Office 2010. While I have used other similar software, such as the free OpenOffice, I always gravitated back to Office. For several years, I used Office 2003. But this year, I moved forward to Office 2010 (skipping Office 2007). In the words of my favorite Microsoft blogger, Paul Therrott, it was a “no-brainer.” Compared to the 2003, this new version is a major revision and I do like most of its new features.

But, let’s talk briefly about the components of Office that I use the most.

1. Microsoft OneNote: Without a doubt this program is the most often-used software on my computer. To put it as succinctly as possible, OneNote is a collection point for almost everything: thoughts, ideas, information, personal information, plans, projects, captured data from the web and almost everything else you can think of. I use it several times a day to store info about my daily activities, to-do lists, data gathered from the Web and much more. OneNote is a large notebook, divided into sections and subsections that you create…and it looks like a notebook with 3 levels of tabs. It is difficult to describe without seeing it, but I encourage anyone who want to become better organized to take a look at it on the Microsoft Web site.

2. Microsoft Outlook: This is my e-mail software of choice, although it goes way beyond that single use. Of all the components of Office 2010, Outlook has the largest number of improvement and new features, far too numerous to mention here. Besides e-mail, Outlook handles my address book, to-do lists, calendar, scheduling, and notes. My cell phone is a Blackberry and I use their desktop software to sync all my Outlook data to my phone. Believe it or not, I use the Notes section of Outlook to make up my grocery lists, so if you see me wandering around a grocery store with my phone in my hand, you know what I am doing. I also have another list of books I want to buy someday so I am ready whenever I wander into a bookstore.

3. Microsoft Word: It’s the most used word processor in the entire world and for good reason. You are all probably very familiar with it so I won’t go into details about it, but it is better than ever. A quick word here about the Ribbon Interface now used it all Office products: while I am not 100% comfortable with it, I have found a work-around in that I can put my own most often used functions in a toolbar at the top of screen and keep the ribbon closed until I need it. I created my own personal toolbar for each of the Office products.

4. Microsoft Excel: As the most used spreadsheet in all the word, I use it and like it very much and, again, won’t go into details as you probably know more about it than me.

5. Microsoft PowerPoint: As a retired person, I don’t have a need for it anymore. I only mention it as it has so many new improvements in the 2010 version that make it better than ever before. As it does automatically create presentations for the Web, I might play with it someday for my own Web site.

The other productivity software I should mention here is Quicken. I am using version 2009 to handle my personal finances. It is far more powerful than my humble needs, but it is a good program still, after all these years.

More to come…

Browser Updates in the News

Mozilla Firefox Update Squashes Nine Security Bugs

Mozilla repaired a slew of bugs Wednesday in a comprehensive Firefox update totaling nine fixes, five of which are deemed critical. Altogether, the latest version, Firefox 3.6.11, addresses five flaws that enable hackers to launch malicious attacks onto users' systems remotely, as well as two errors that carry the slightly less severe rating of "high" and one that is considered "moderate."

Chrome moves to version 7 on schedule

Google recently adopted an accelerated release cycle for its Chrome browser, pushing out a new stable release every six weeks. Google Chrome 7.0.517.41 for Windows, Mac, and Linux introduces the majority of Chrome users to features that have been available to beta and developer's build users for several months, as well as fixing hundreds of bugs that affected the browser's stability.

Stuxnet: Smarter -- and deadlier -- than the average worm

Now we have Stuxnet, which has deservedly garnered a fair share of media coverage over the past few months. The malware is unlike any threat we've previously seen. If Stuxnet is a sign of things to come, it will be difficult to believe that our biggest malware fears were merely boot viruses, rogue file attachments, and macro viruses.

How Starbucks is trying to change the media

Caffeine behemoth Starbucks on Tuesday finally unveiled its revamped Web hub, a landing page that's only accessible from its in-store Wi-Fi networks in the U.S. Teaming with the likes of Yahoo (the main technology partner), The Wall Street Journal, GOOD, The New York Times, iTunes, LinkedIn, and Foursquare, Starbucks has packed the new site full of news both local and mainstream (including content that would normally be behind paywalls), free music download promos, local information like weather and bike trails, and movie trailers.

Google To Bring Dead Sea Scrolls Online

A joint project between Google and Israel's Antiquities Authority will grant free, global access to the 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls, one of the greatest archaeological finds of the last century, by uploading high-resolution images that are exact copies of the originals. The scrolls are kept in dark, temp-controlled rooms at the Israel Museum.

Catching You (and Me) Up

I am back from two great weeks in Chicago. In many ways sad to come home, but it’s a good thing I like Tucson.  So, here now are a few things we missed while I was away:

Windows Phone 7 Offers the Best of Apple and Android

Microsoft appears to have taken the best from rivals Apple and Android in its new Windows Phone 7 operating system. Its innovative approach to Windows Phone 7 uses Qualcomm hardware for iPhone reliability and offers Android's development flexibility. The initial Windows Phone 7 launch is limited to the GSM networks of AT&T and T-Mobile.

Facebook Groups: Hands On

Last week, Facebook held a press conference to announce even bigger changes to the site: the ability to download your Facebook data, a new app control panel, and - of the most far reaching importance - a new Groups capability.

Mission interface image - Google Earth tackles the universe

Google announced it is partnering with Slooh, a service popular with astronomy buffs that lets its users view live events through its global network of observatories, and take photographs of what they see. The Internet giant will integrate data from Slooh into its Google Sky service.

Borders launches e-book publishing platform with BookBrewer

Want to write a book and get it published? Well, now it’s getting even easier for aspiring and independent authors to get their work to the masses these days. Borders has now launched an e-book publishing platform of its own.

10 great free desktop productivity tools that aren't OpenOffice.org

These free and open source applications for Windows, Linux, and Mac desktops put power into the hands of users without taking from their wallets

I Forgot to Tell You…

With the publication of today’s Rants and Raves, I will be taking a couple of weeks off and heading for Chicago. I will resume publication of  this blog when I return. If I run into any interesting timely stories, I will publish them here, so stay tuned.

To follow my adventures in Chicago, along with some photos, check out my updates on my Web site’s “Front Burner” page…or on Twitter or Facebook.  See you soon.

Should the Govt. Be Able to Shut Down Web Sites at Will?

Fight for Senate antipiracy bill rages

Killing legislation that would enable the government to shut down Web sites accused of piracy was a top priority for many technology trade groups today. Last week, a Senate committee stunned the tech sector by announcing it would try to fast-track a bill designed to grant the U.S. Department of Justice wide authority to combat illegal file sharing and counterfeiting. Critics say the proposed legislation, known as the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act, is nothing more than censorship and would heap the copyright-protection problems on companies that shouldn't bear the burden. Giving the government the right to shut down websites would put us on a par with China for censorship.

Windows Live Essentials 2011 released

Microsoft has just released the final version of Windows Live Essentials 2011, an update for the popular Windows Live Essentials suite of downloadable Windows applications. The suite is a free download from Microsoft, compatible with Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Microsoft Security Essentials: Free, so what's the catch?

As I live on the edge without any virus protection, it will only be a matter of time before I pick something up -- which is why I was interested in Microsoft's recent release of the second version of OneCare's successor, Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE). MSE provides real-time protection for home PCs, although Microsoft is promising that enterprise support for small business is on the way.

Windows 7: The Top 10 Hidden Features

There are plenty of hidden features and goodies in the depth of Windows 7. We'll tell you where to find them.

Best Free Notes Organizer

In today's electronic world, it can be quite a challenge to organize all useful information such as web clips, articles, bits of text, images, interesting web links, bookmarks, shopping lists, to-do lists, recipes, tips and many others that are hanging around your PC. It seems to be a common easy task but a difficult one to sort out as the information is so disparate. Some folks have tried to get it organized by using free form databases while others use beefed up text editors or multi-media snippet managers. If you're one of them or just would like to look for a useful tool to organize your random bits of information, you might find that some of these freeware products come in handy and helpful.

Xmarks to Shut Down

Xmarks Blog - End of the Road for Xmarks

This post attempts to summarize the Xmarks story: how we got to be the most heavily used browser synchronization service in the world and yet still find ourselves pulling the plug.

Microsoft Issues Emergency Patch for Windows Web Bug

As promised, Microsoft today delivered an emergency patch for a Windows Web server flaw that is being actively exploited by hackers. The fix addresses a vulnerability in ASP.Net's encryption that attackers could abuse to access Web applications with full administrator rights; decrypt session cookies or other encrypted data on a remote server; and access and snatch files from sites or Web applications.

OpenOffice.org Volunteers Cut Ties with Oracle

The volunteers behind the OpenOffice.org competitor to Microsoft Office have severed ties with Oracle and formed The Document Foundation. Oracle got OpenOffice.org with its purchase of Sun Microsystems. Under The Document Foundation, OpenOffice is called LibreOffice, and the break with Oracle is being lauded by the open-source industry.

Amazon Puts E-Books Everywhere with Kindle for the Web

A new Kindle for the Web beta from Amazon.com lets readers sample new book titles in any recent browser. Readers of Amazon's e-books can read the first chapter free and adjust Kindle for the Web as needed.

Taskbar Items Pinner Pins Anything to the Windows 7 Taskbar

Windows 7: Free utility Taskbar Items Pinner adds pre-defined or user-defined folders, files, and even web pages to the Windows 7 taskbar.

Politics, Privacy, and State-Sponsored Viruses

Cybersecurity: Stuxnet Suspicions Rise: Has a Cyberwar Started?

The Stuxnet worm has been rattling security experts for quite some time with its complexity and ingenuity. New suspicions have been raised recently that the worm was used to sabotage a nuclear reactor in Iran. That, coupled with the worm's behavior, has led to some speculation that Stuxnet is a state-sponsored weapon. Iran was perhaps hit hardest by Stuxnet, with nearly 60 percent of all infected PCs found in that country.

Report: Feds to push for Net encryption backdoors

The Obama administration will seek a new federal law forcing Internet e-mail, instant-messaging, and other communication providers offering encryption to build in backdoors for law enforcement surveillance, The New York Times reported today.

Browser Betas: The Future of Web Surfing

Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, and Chrome all have beta browsers available for download. Here's a look at the Web of the near future.

Stop Using Windows XP, Please

I have no nostalgia for Windows XP. It was a decent operating system with its share of problems, but the longer I run it in the office, while using a smaller Windows 7 laptop as my mobile system and working on a Windows 7 machine at home, the more I notice its shortcomings. Windows XP lacks stability, strong security features like BitLocker, universal search, the Aero interface, innumerable usability features, Device Stage and the overall speed enhancements I enjoy in Windows 7. On the other hand, thanks to three service packs, it does still work.

Five great Firefox privacy add-ons

It's getting more and more difficult to protect your privacy on the Web. Just as we're invited to share our thoughts and experiences with friends, family, and the universe, there's somebody recording it all and looking to make a buck from it, legally or otherwise. The key is to find the right balance between the Web's convenience and your security.

What I Use–Part 3

This is a continuation of the article I started three weeks ago on the hardware and software I personally use. In this edition, I will focus on specialized software, mostly used for specific organizational functions such as music, DVD’s, eBooks, etc.…plus more.

1. Music: For my music, podcasts, audio books and even some videos, I use an 80GB iPod Classic. If you use an iPod, you are almost forced to use the free Apple’s iTunes. Now, you will hear a lot of Windows users complaining about iTunes (but not many Apple users). It is extremely bloated, has some stuff you really don’t need, and is a pain to upgrade as you must download the whole program again. But, frankly, I have never had a problem with using it and it does the job pretty well…keeping all my music organized and readily accessible. There are other programs that do almost the same thing and will work with iPods, but all fall short of iTunes, if you use an iPod. And for educational podcasts and videos, you cannot beat the wealth of free materials in the iTunes store.

2. DVD Organization: If you collect DVD’s of movies and TV shows, check out Invelos’ DVDProfiler. It is an excellent way to keep your collection organized. When you enter a new DVD, it pulls all the information about the DVD into the data file…actors, director’s, synopsis, cover art etc. Basically, you don’t have to enter anything except the name, or even better, the DVD’s bar code number. Everything else is filled out for you, with room for you to make notations. It is free, although there is a $30 paid version you might want to purchase if you get seriously involved.

3. E-book Organizer: As mentioned here before, I use Amazon’s Kindle for a great portion of my reading. The number of books available to me number in the millions and many of them are free and come from other places besides Amazon. If I order a book from Amazon, it is easy as the book is sent to my Kindle wirelessly within a minute of my purchase. But, if I get books from other sources, I used a free program called “Calibre.” This great program is an excellent organizer program that can do many things besides collecting book purchases when you download them. It can collect books done in most other formats and convert them into the Kindle format, then send them to my Kindle via USB. But Calibre works with all book readers and formats, so if you bought a Sony Reader or Barnes and Noble Nook, you will want Calibre also. It has many other functions besides those mentioned here, but if you have an e-reader of any type, Calibre is a must!

4. Web Page Design – In the past, I used a discontinued software product from Symantec called “Visual Page.” It has been discontinued for some time, but I still find myself using it. For the most part, I use a program from Serif called WebPlus X2. It takes some time to learn how to use it (I found that to be true with all Web Page design programs), but I like it a great deal and it does a very good job for me. I am sure I have not fully realized its entire potential, but I am getting there slowly by surely. This is not a free program. The cost is around $80 and the current version is X4.

5. FTP Program: FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and is the program I use to send newly created and revised Web pages up to my Website. For this specialized software, I use Filezilla, another free program that is just excellent and is probably the choice of the majority of Web site designers. It is a dream to use.

Next time, I will focus on productivity software, such as spreadsheets, word processing and much more.

Special Edition–A Look at Internet Explorer 9

Internet Explorer 9 beta review: Microsoft reinvents the browser

It is, without question, the most ambitious browser release Microsoft has ever undertaken, and despite the beta label it is an impressively polished product.

Internet Explorer 9 Feature Focus - Pinned Web Sites

Unlike other web browsers, Internet Explorer 9 integrates with Windows in a very deep way, especially Windows 7. And the best Windows integration feature in IE 9, arguably, is its support of pinned web sites. That is, IE 9 allows you to pin your favorite web sites to the Windows 7 taskbar in a manner that is similar to the way you pin favorite applications.

What's Missing in IE9?

It goes without saying that IE9 is still in beta, so many or all of these annoyances may be fixed before final release sometime in 2011. I realize that I’ve certainly missed some things and have probably been a bit picky on some others, but here is what comes to mind:

Microsoft: IE9 will never run on Windows XP

Microsoft has ruled out putting Internet Explorer 9 on Windows XP, leaving millions of PCs open to Mozilla and Google browsers providing hardware-accelerated rich-internet. PS: It is also missing a few important features when running on Vista. IE9 is best used on Windows 7.

How to uninstall Internet Explorer 9

Maybe you've seen enough of the Internet Explorer 9 beta for now -- you just wanted a taste, but you'd rather not use a beta browser on a day-to-day basis. Maybe you just want to know how to uninstall it because other people are going to ask you how to do it. Unlike most other programs on your computer, however, you won't find IE9 listed on the Uninstall or change a program screen.

Download the IE9 Beta

You must choose whether you are running a 32 bit or 64 bit version of Windows 7 or Windows Vista. This new IE will not work in Windows XP. And if you choose to install it, you will no longer have use of IE8.

Looking Back at the History of Search

Finding stuff online: 20 years of innovative search engines

What would the Internet be without a way to find something specific on its millions of sites? Search engines started providing that function two decades ago. Here are some of the landmarks, from Archie to AltaVista to Google and Bing. A fun look back at the history of searches, which is to say the history of the Internet.

Coping with Windows Live Hotmail Wave 4

Microsoft's new version of Windows Live Hotmail brings several new features to the online-mail table. Some of you have written me with tales of woe, cursing the new version and the Windows Live horse it rode in on and begging to get your old Hotmail back. Sorry, you can't. All is not doom and gloom. As you'll see, the new Wave 4 Hotmail does have its redeeming social values. And if you're still suffering through the changes, there are a few tricks that might make dealing with the newer, shinier version easier.

How to Buy a Point-and-Shoot Digital Camera

Follow these seven simple rules to find the perfect compact digital camera for your needs—and your budget.

Backup Overview

There are two kinds of people in the world - those who have had a hard drive failure, and those who will. Make sure this common occurrence does not lead to the loss of your image collection. An excellent article about making sure you back up the right way.

Best Free Personal Finance Software

We've just completed a major update of our Best Free Personal Finance Software section. Editor "Antoosa" has done an excellent job with a much expanded product coverage so most users should be able to find a product suited to their needs. He's also added some weekly budget tips and even some budget humor - a subject that's undoubtedly welcome in these hard economic times.

What I Use–Part 3

This is a continuation of the article I started two weeks ago on the hardware and software I personally use on my computers. As I said last week, I hope you find it of value.

1. Boot-up Management: This is a recent and welcome addition to my arsenal. Soluto is a new software, still in beta, that will help you improve your boot-up times by analyzing what your computer is loading, then making recommendations on what can be eliminated or even loaded later after your computer is finished booting. Works like a dream and I was able to cut my boot sequence times by at least half.

2. Backup Software: This is one of the most critical areas in your entire arsenal of computer software. The most important thing you can remember is that the hard drive where you store your data is going to die…not if, but when. Therefore you must backup your data…and to more than just one place. I use the 3-2-1 rule of backup…it must be backed up in 3 places; it must be stored on 2 different types of media; and at least 1 backup must be off-site.

As you will see, I am a freak for backups and I make it a rule to back up at least once a day. I have 5 external hard drives, 2 of which are kept off-site. I don’t want to lose my data. As a professional photographer, I have thousands of photos I never want to lose. I also have thousands of music files, original digital paintings…not to mention documents, spreadsheets, financial data and more. You get the idea.

Now there are different types of backups…the standard file-by-file backup, file synchronization, cloud backup, and disk imaging backup. Here is what I use for these.

a. File by File and Synchronization backups – for both of these I use one program that works perfectly for me. Syncback SE is another free program that allows you to make backups or sync two drives so that the files are identical. It backs up files so that you can see them individually, rather than having a single file filled with data that doesn’t show you what you have backed up and only works (hopefully) when you restore it. Each backed up file is as usable as the original file and if there is an error, you are notified. I have programmed the individual back-ups or file syncs, organized them into groups and have the groups automatically run every night. If there is a problem, I am notified.

b. Disk Imaging Backup – This specialized type of backup is used to make a perfect image of your hard drive…then if your hard drive dies, you install a new hard drive and copy the image over to the new drive…and you are back up and running. I have an image backup of all three of my computers. I was using a program made by Macrium, but it failed me the other day when I used it to restore a drive. So, now I only use the imaging software that comes built-in with Windows 7. I know from experience it works perfectly. The best way to use it is to install your operating system and your favorite programs, and then image the drive.

c. Cloud Backup – For this I use Dropbox. This great software gives me 2 Gb worth of free backup into the cloud for extra protection. But it also serves a second and greater purpose…it syncs the data between my desktop and both my portable computers…so whatever is done on any of my computers is automatically sent to the cloud, then to my other computers when they are on. Syncing is done on a continuous basis whenever a file is changed.

3. Virus and Spyware Protection: Here, for this most important of my utility programs I use two free program: Microsoft’s Security Essentials for virus, Trojan horse and worm protection; and SuperAntiSpyware for spyware protection. Both are free. Security Essentials gives you protection over most malware, including some of the really bad spyware. But SuperAntiSpyware covers the small little advertising-based spyware that wants to know what I do and where I go on the Web. None of their business. Security Essentials has caught a few pieces of nasty bugs that try to get into my machine. For instance, not long ago it caught one site trying to download malware attached to its Web page. Both products do their jobs nicely, and, as I said, are free. SuperAntiSpyware does require a bit more manual work, but it is worth it.

To be Continued Next Week…

Interesting Phone Plans Coming from Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart Will Offer No-Contract Family Mobile Plan

Wal-Mart will offer no-contract wireless coverage from T-Mobile through its Family Mobile plan. Using a variety of handsets from Nokia, Motorola and Samsung, Wal-Mart's Family Mobile starts at $45 a month for one phone and $25 for each additional line. If Wal-Mart pushes Family Mobile, other wireless carriers might be forced to offer similar plans.

Internet Explorer 9 beta review: Microsoft reinvents the browser

Today in San Francisco, Microsoft will officially unveil Internet Explorer 9 and make it available to the general public. It is, without question, the most ambitious browser release Microsoft has ever undertaken, and despite the beta label it is an impressively polished product.

Stuxnet attackers used 4 Windows zero-day exploits

The attackers behind the recent Stuxnet worm attack used four different zero-day security vulnerabilities to burrow into — and spread around — Microsoft’s Windows operating system, according to a startling disclosure from the world’s largest software maker. Two of the four vulnerabilities are still unpatched.

Tools and Resources for Grammar, Copywriting, Spelling and More

So much of the web is based around written content that it’s important for anyone who works online to have a good grasp of language, including grammar and spelling. But it’s not always easy to find reputable sources that can teach us these things if we didn’t learn them in school (or retain them for long after). Below are over thirty great resources for learning more about grammar, vocabulary, copywriting, and more.

Password Protection: Password Recovery and Control Tools

Did you really think you had to remember a different, strong password for every site on the Web? We've got the tools you need to gain access every time. But for my money, there is no better product to use than LastPass. It is so safe and definitely the best.

Tomorrow is Patch Tuesday

Microsoft to fix 13 holes in Windows, IIS, and Office

Affected software includes Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7; Windows Server 2003 and 2008; and Office XP, 2003, and 2007, with the older versions affected by the critical bulletins, according to the security advisory announcing the plans for September's Patch Tuesday.

iPad competitors lining up

Apple's iPad may finally have some competition. With the gadget, Apple started the craze for building devices that are smaller than notebooks and bigger than standard smartphones, feature touch-screen interfaces, and enable people to browse the Web and download apps. And the iPad took off quicker than most people anticipated, selling 3 million units in its first 80 days. The device is expected to keep tight hold of its market-leading position for at least the next year.

ClearCloud DNS - Access to a Safer World Wide Web

This one looks interesting. ClearCloud prevents you from being able to access known bad websites, sites that will download malicious files to your computer. Even better, ClearCloud prevents you from being able to access malicious websites that you may not even know your computer is trying to access — and it prevents potentially nasty programs from "phoning home" and secretly communicating between your computer and cybercriminals.

Four ways to get the most from your 802.11n Wi-Fi

In theory, 802.11n can zip by your 100Mbps Fast Ethernet at a real-world 160Mbps, but the practice it’s usually much slower. No, the Wi-FI vendors aren’t lying; the problem is that you have to set 802.11n up just right to really get fast performance.

FotoMorph 11.1 (Windows), from Digital Photo Software - Free

FotoMorph is a photo animation tool with a friendly user interface. Amaze your friends and family with unbelievable transformations. Morphing is an animation technique in which one image is gradually turned into another.

What I Use–Part 2

This is a continuation of the article I started last week on the hardware and software I personally use on my computers. As I said last week, I hope you find it of value.

Utilities (Continued)

1. General Utilities: The Swiss Army Knife of utility software for me is Glary Utilities. It has way too many tools to list here, but some of them are: Disk analysis, Duplicate File Finder, Empty folders finder, file shredders, file encryption, startup manager, memory optimizer, and registry cleaner/defrager. One of my favorites is “disk analysis.” I use it to analyze a hard drive to see what might be taking up so much room on the drive. It gives me a complete list of folders and files along with a pie chart to help figure things out. Another free program.

2. Defrag Software: For a long time I used a free program, Auslogics Disk Defrager. It’s a great program that works faster than most. But since I switched to Windows 7, I use the disk defragmenter that come built-in with Windows. It runs automatically once a week in the middle of the night. Disk defragmentation is not as important as it once was, but I think it still should be done occasionally. Now, with Windows 7, I don’t worry about it.

3. Partitioning Software: This is something you don’t use very often, but when you do use it, you want a program that is safe and won’t destroy the data on existing partitions. A while back I used one program that will go unnamed that destroyed all the data on a partition while I created a new one. I now use Minitool’s Partition Wizard. I recently used it on one of my computers and it performed as advertised and the existing partitions were kept safe. It is also a free program. PS: Windows 7 does have a built-in partitioning program, but it does not have the functionality of Partition Wizard.

4. PDF Reader: I cannot say this strong enough…DO NOT USE ADOBE READER. There are so many security holes in it with new ones being found on a weekly basis, making your computer vulnerable to viruses and other malware. That being said, I recommend using Foxit Reader, a fast program that is much, much safer and only 10% the size of the bloated Adobe Reader. I am also experimenting with Nitro PDF Reader, but it is too soon to give it my total recommendation…but it does seem to have more functionality than Foxit and so far I like it very much.

5. CD/DVD Burning: I looked long and hard at several programs before I found Ashampoo Burning Studio 6. This remarkable, free program offers several options for burning different types of CD’s and DVD’s: data, music, movies, ISO and more. It will also burn Blue Ray discs. Heartily recommended.

More to come next week.