One stormy day …

Heath and others at Squidoo are often exhorting lensmasters to make specific recommendations to make the lens more useful and effective. I’ve been attempting to do that and decided to go the whole way and make some lenses that are just about recommendations.
My first is at www.Squidoo.com/pcrecommendations/
 
Since I’m a computer consultant it’s natural that I […]

PC manufacturers insist on inflicting swollen and faulty security suite software on unsuspecting customers. Software to protect you from all evils sounds like a good concept, right? Good idea, bad implementation from Symantec and from MacAfee. One of my first setup acts is to uninstall suite software – generally it’s just a trial anyway. MacAfee […]

I rely on spell checkers to cover me on my poor typing and spelling skills! Most apps that need them have the capability built in. This is not true of many web based text typing situations. An acquaintance at one of my clients suggested I check into ieSpell.
I tested it and liked it well enough […]

My current favorite anti virus software recommendation is the free version of AVG. I’m still using the Norton product for corporate use but that is far from cast in concrete! The free edition of AVG seems to provide good protection and is manageable by the casual user.
AVG seems to be trying to de-empasize the free […]

The good - Keeping your operating system and security utilities updated is a necessity. With all the internet evil doers out there you need to keep your defenses in repair and up to date. Software is often too large (read bloated?) so that bugs need to be repaired, and the bugs in the repairs sometimes […]

Sometimes you just want somebody to see some pictures you took. Can’t Email them (too many, too big), don’t want to zip/ftp/CD etc (too complicated) … You just want somebody to see your kid, your dog, your car . . .
I’ve been using Snapfish for a while now. A little effort involved, but works pretty […]

Seems obvious doesn’t it? Much of the malware that infects computers comes from clicking the wrong button, surfing to the wrong site, or just being tricked. Large organizations that use Internet filters, proxy servers, etc have less spyware to deal with. The range of surfing is restricted, and so is the risk.
The smaller office is […]

While most large organizations control Internet access, most small organizations and home users don’t bother. It’s not necessarily expensive, or restrictive to use surfing filters. Adult sites might lead to more than embarrassment; they could lead to business complications, and PC problems. Some filtering packages offer other security benefits, such as pop-up, and security setting […]

Windows shows the time in the system tray. But what about the day and date? I hate having to open up time settings, or my calendar to confirm the day or date. Ok, maybe it’s just me who gets confused on these basic things, but there it is, I want more!
I stumbled upon Tclock2, downloaded […]

Over time, a well performing PC degrades as applications are installed, features are added and tweaked. Some virus and spyware can so trash a system that it’s hard to save it. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to start over with that brand new PC again, only with all your key applications already running […]

I have used Symantec’s antivirus products for years and generally been very satisfied. Keeping your antivirus up to date is critical for a couple of reasons:
- The bad products spread and mutate very quickly. Your 30 day old patterns may not save you.
- Since they are a major player, some aggressive virus products target Symantec […]

Email works fine for messages and most simple attachments. But try to send a group of pictures, or a very large document, or a program file as an attachment, and you can run into problems.
The file(s) may be too much for your ISP’s Email limits, in which case it is immediately rejected, or worse yet, […]

For protection my choice is Microsoft Anti-spyware. For troubleshooting and cleanup I use a number of tools, but the top three antispyware removers I use are: Spybot Search and Destroy; Lavasoft’s Adaware, and the MS program.
I currently install Microsoft’s beta anti-spyware on each PC I touch for service, and on any new PC I setup. […]

Junk Email, spam, @#$$#^(?!! . . . it goes by different names but nobody likes it in their Email Inbox!
Spam control is a real moving target. Programs that use algorithms to identify spam can’t keep up. Using rules in the Email client also isn’t effective. The spammers keep changing the formats and delivery to beat […]

I am constantly looking for new software and services. My business is computer technology and many of my hobbies get me back to my PC. I enjoy testing new tools, and every now and then I add one to my bag of tricks.
I’ll record here those items that past my scratch and sniff tests. No […]