Posts Tagged online
How to Secure Your Windows PC – Part 3
Posted by admin in Company & Product Profiles, Downloads, Email, File and Data Sharing, Free Stuff, Instruction, Internet, Security, Spam, Technology & Gadgets, Tools, Tricks & Hacks, Web, home, how to, productivity, tips on June 3, 2010
In “How to Secure Your Windows PC – Part 1“, we established that Windows PCs are often targeted because of their large market share and that the brand of your computer makes no difference because viruses, spyware and malware occur at the software level.
In “How to Secure Your Windows PC – Part 2“, we considered browsing and clicking habits that can be harmful for your computer and your privacy.
Let’s look at two different types of software that can help protect your computer.
Internet Security Suite
There are some tools available that can help secure your Windows PC as well. A question that is often asked of me is, “Which antivirus software is the best?“. My answer is always, “I can recommend a certain product, but you need to know that no security software is bulletproof. They will all let some things get through.”
It’s important to understand that antivirus software offers only a certain type of protection. So if you go to download one of the free anti-virus software packages (AVG, Avast!, and Avira are all popular), they will offer anti-virus only protection. In order to get a quality level of comprehensive protection from a single piece of software, you’ll need to pay for it.
PC Magazine has a good run-down of the best software for 2010 here. They rate Norton and McAfee above the rest of the suites in this particular review. On more than one occasion, however, I have had major software issues with both McAfee and Norton, so I typically recommend another software package.
In my experience, Kaspersky Internet Security 2010 offers the best value, features and pricing. I use this software with many of my clients and have had good results without inhibiting the computer’s performance. It’s around $80, which covers three computers for a full year. Contact me to get this software installed on your computer.
Consistent Environment Software
Wouldn’t it be great if your computer was exactly the same every time you turned it on? One software package makes that happen.
Windows Steady State, developed by Microsoft allows a computer’s administrator to configure other users for a consistent environment on every login. It’s free and compatible with Windows XP and Vista (sorry, Windows 7 users!).
Basically, here’s how it works: a user can login, browse the internet, download files and even adjust settings just like usual. Then when they log out, all the settings revert back to the way they were before the person logged in. This software is very useful on a computer that a family with children may use, or in my case, a computer lab with multiple users.
Other helpful features of this software are timed logouts, software restrictions, and user permissions. If these sounds fancy, I assure you that Windows Steady State makes it very easy to understand and adjust these settings.
With a little common sense and the right software, your Windows PC should operate smoothly without much effort on the part of the user. It may not be bulletproof, but the overall experience will be better than if no protection or safeguards were put in place.
There is one option still to consider when using a PC. We’ll take a look at that in Part 4.
How to Secure Your Windows PC – Part 2
Posted by admin in Downloads, Email, File and Data Sharing, Free Stuff, Instruction, Internet, Security, Technology & Gadgets, Timesavers, Tricks & Hacks, Web, how to, productivity, tips on June 2, 2010
In “How to Secure Your Windows PC – Part 1“, we established that Windows PCs are often targeted because of their large market share and that the brand of your computer makes no difference because viruses, spyware and malware occur at the software level.
To protect your Windows computer, the first and best rule of protection is to use your head and be pro-active in your browsing and clicking habits. This typically means two things:
- Only visit websites that you know can be trusted
- Use caution when clicking on links in e-mail that are unsolicited
Let’s look a little closer at #1:
How do you know which websites can be trusted? There is a difficult tension here – if you visit only the sites you already know, there are many useful and informational websites out there that you will miss in an effort to be cautiuos. But, if you go out willy-nilly and click on every site that comes up in the search results, your computer will get infected with malicious software sooner or later.
So the answer lies somewhere in between. More experienced users can take a little more liberty in clicking on unknown sites, but naive or less experienced users will need to be more careful when visiting unknown websites.
The truth is that malicious websites will do their best to look like a legitimate, reputable website. But these same sites will do damage to your computer that can be difficult to recover from.
Let’s look a little closer at #2:
E-mail is also a popular way to direct people to websites that are harmful not only to your computer, but to your privacy. If you get an e-mail from a financial institution, never click on the link in the e-mail. Instead, go to your browser to access the institution’s site directly.
It is very possible that the legitimate-looking e-mail you just received will direct you to a “phishing” site that will extract your login information and allow someone else to access your accounts and information.
In Part 3, we’ll consider two types of software that can help protect your computer from viruses and spyware.
DimDim Creates a Totally Free Meeting Space Online
Posted by admin in Company & Product Profiles, File and Data Sharing, Free Stuff, Instruction, Internet, Simplicity, Technology & Gadgets, Timesavers, Tools, Tricks & Hacks, Web, Web Applications, how to, images, tips on February 24, 2010
If you’re looking for some space online to meet, look no further than DimDim. This free web service with a funny name offers a comprehensive package for meeting online.
Here are a few highlights:
- No software installation necessary – DimDim runs completely in your browser
- Desktop Sharing
- Use your webcams and microphones for video and conversation
- Record and embed meetings
- Social media integration
A complete run-down of the feature set is available here.
As mentioned above, a free version is available that allows up to 20 users and 1 webcam. Premium, paid packages are available, too. Here is a full-comparison of the packages.
DialMyCalls Makes Automated Phone Calls For You
Posted by admin in Company & Product Profiles, File and Data Sharing, Free Stuff, Instruction, Internet, Simplicity, Technology & Gadgets, Timesavers, Tools, Tricks & Hacks, Web, Web Applications, how to, news, productivity, tips on February 23, 2010
Need to get a message out to a group of people through a phone message? You could spend several hours making the calls yourself. You could pay someone to do it for you. Or you could use DialMyCalls.com.
DialMyCalls offers a free subscription that will make 1 call per day to a maximum of 25 people. The message is limited to 30 seconds or less in length and will be branded with a DialMyCalls message. A premium subscription is available with fewer restrictions and no branding.
It’s an easy service to use, with only 3 steps required to make a phone call:
- Create a new message
- Setup your list of people to call (an address book feature is available too)
- Select your call options and schedule it to call.
That’s all it takes to make automated phone calls to the people you need to contact. Give DialMyCalls.com a try the next time you need to call a group of people.
Zapproved Helps Your Group Make Better Decisions
Posted by admin in Company & Product Profiles, Email, File and Data Sharing, Free Stuff, Instruction, Internet, Simplicity, Technology & Gadgets, Timesavers, Tools, Tricks & Hacks, Web, Web Applications, how to, productivity, tips on February 23, 2010
Does your decision-making process look like the one on the left or the one on the right?
Image from Zapproved.com
The decision-making process quickly and easily becomes complicated and convoluted with dozens of e-mails flying in and out of mailboxes. Zapproved.com helps your group streamline the decision-making process and keep the feedback all in one place.
To use Zapproved, you can begin by simply creating a proposal, or by signing up for a free account. The free account allows users to send 5 proposals/month; each proposal is kept for 30 days. Paid accounts start at $12/month for unlimited proposals and storage retention.
Those who serve on committees or work with groups often to make decisions will find Zapproved a simple and user-friendly tool to facilitate discussion and decision-making.
DirSync Pro Synchronizes Files and Folders
Posted by admin in Downloads, File and Data Sharing, Free Stuff, Instruction, Security, Simplicity, Technology & Gadgets, Timesavers, Tools, Tricks & Hacks, Web, how to, productivity, tips on February 12, 2010
Here’s another Lifehacker recommended download. It’s called DirSync Pro and it allows you to backup information on a local computer to a mapped network drive or other location on the same computer. Here’s a description from the author’s website:
Using DirSync Pro you can make incremental backups. In this way you’ll spare lots of time because you don’t have to copy all the files each time you want to update your backup; only new/modified/larger files would be copied.
Use DirSync Pro to easily synchronize files from your desktop PC to your USB-stick (PDA, Notebook, …). Use this USB-stick (PDA, Notebook, …) to synchronize files to another desktop PC.
DirSync Pro is free, open source software, available for download here. It’s a Java application, so it’s supported on any system with the Java Runtime Environment, including Windows, Mac and Linux.
Keeping Up with the To-Dos
Posted by admin in Email, Free Stuff, Instruction, Internet, how to, productivity on January 30, 2010
How do you keep up with your to-do list? Is it on paper? In your email account? As long as your system works, it’s a good one.
I have used a combination of tools to help me keep my to-do list in order. Most of the time it works pretty well.
Between visual cues (items left on the desk or by the door to remind me), items in my GMail Inbox (I send emails to myself a lot), and an online to-do list for repeating tasks, my bases are pretty well covered.
As for the online tools, I have found a couple of websites to be especially useful. For the past year, I’ve been a user of RememberTheMilk. It’s a versatile site that allows the user to organize their to-do lists in a number of ways. The free version of the site is feature packed, but if you want any integration with a smartphone (I’m on an iPhone, myself), you’ll have to annie-up for the Pro version, at the tune of $25/year.
When my RememberTheMilk account came up for renewal this year, I chose to let it expire and go looking for another tool with similar features. A quick post on Twitter yielded some great feedback. Thanks to Jason Heydasch, I learned about Toodledo.
The free version of Toodledo has as many (probably even more) features than RememberTheMilk’s Pro version. The Toodledo iPhone app is only $2.99, a considerable amount less than the yearly fees at RememberTheMilk.
One of the most useful features of Toodledo is the ability to seperate tasks by context. I work out of at least two different offices during any given week, so this feature makes it easy for me to see only the tasks that are relevant to my focus at the time.
At first glance the interface of Toodledo might seem overwhelming and slightly rugged. But take a few minutes to look over the introduction and explanation of features. I quickly picked up the interface after I understood a little more about how it worked. It’s actually quite intuitive, highly customizable and versatile.
In my opinion, Toodledo is one of the best to-do management applications available, with a feature set that will work for most anyone, smartphone integration at a reasonable cost, and lots of plugins and widgets to help you keep track wherever you are online.
Which Date Works?
Posted by admin in Free Stuff, Instruction, Internet, how to, productivity on January 27, 2010
When you’re trying to make plans that involve a number of people, it can be difficult to find a day/time that fits everyone’s schedule.
WhichDateWorks.com helps you find a time that works for everyone, or at least a time that works for the most people.
I learned about this handy little tool through Lifehacker, so here’s the link to the original article, titled “WhichDateWorks Takes the Guesswok out of Event Planning”
Here’s how it works:
1. Title and describe your event.
2. Select who’s invited. There’s even a handy little address book tool so you can find people in your contact list. Then type in the name and e-mail address of the planner.
3. Choose when the planner is available.
4. Confirm the info, then send the invites. People will respond and let you know the best times for them, and the website will do the work of finding a mutually available day/time.
It’s a pretty straight-forward website built to do one thing: help you find the best date for an event.
Contact & Hours
twitter: @brandon_moore
Allyte
9040 Executive Park Dr, Suite 263
Knoxville, TN 37923 [click for map]
865-686-6808
Hours
Dropoffs: Mon-Fri. 8 am - 5 pm
Meetings by appointment