In this video, I talk about the basics of navigating your web browser. I briefly cover the Title bar, the address bar, tool bars, the display area, the status bar, and scroll bars.
The basic navigating of a browser applies to almost all browsers. Including IE, Firerox, Safari, and Opera. Google Chrome is a little different, but I mention that, too.
Resources
Through the calls we get on the radio and the many customers I talk to online, I have discovered that there is some confusion about what a browser is, why use more than one browser, how to use and setup the various browsers, etc.
I decided to produce this Web Browser video series to help people learn the basics of using the four top web browsers.
There are 6 videos. Each will be available every few days. You will be notified when they are through my newsletter. So, if you have not signed up for it, this is a good reason to.
Massive Earthquake in Chile Leads to a Surge of Rogue Antivirus
Mike : February 28, 2010 8:11 am : General News, Security
Is seems like when there is a natural disaster or other big news worthy story like Michael Jackson’s death, the scammers come out of the woodwork.
With all of the devastation caused by the earthquake in Chile and the earthquake not long ago in Hati, the need for help is huge.
Turns out, the scammers have a need, too. The need to fool you into infecting your computer with their rogue virus protection software that can take over your computer.
As it turns out there are a number of websites that have been poisoned that are easily found by doing a search of the phrase “Chile Earthquake”.
The infection, as many of them do, looks likes this:
Quote from Symantec:
“Notice that this fake scan window was actually presented inside a Firefox browser window but the fake scan window says I’m using IE 7.0, I guess the people behind this particular scam slipped up a bit on this minor point.
After the fake scan is complete or if you try to navigate away from the page, you are offered the obligatory download of files with various filename such as packupdatebuild[RANDOM NUMBER]_[RANDOM NUMBER].exe or inst.exe. These are being detected by Symantec as Trojan.FakeAV or VirusDoctor“.
If you search for places on the web to make a donation to help with these natural disasters, make sure you type the address to a site you trust, like the American Red Cross. If you are going to click on a link, make sure that your recognize the name of the site’s address, usually in green under the listing on Google for instance.
Make sure you are donating to trusted sites. It’s to easy to get fooled into giving money, your credit information, and your computer to the bad guys.
Magic Jack: I Knew It Was Too Good To Be True
Mike : February 24, 2010 6:38 am : Editorials, General News
I’ve been thinking of writing this for a while now. The linked story from Engadget, http://www.engadget.com/2010/02/24/magicjack-sues-boing-boing-gets-bounced-out-of-court, pushed me over the edge.
The story at Engadet is about how shady the management at Magic Jack is and how someone unknowingly accepts the terms of service or EULA (End User License Agreement) without ever being able to read them before they purchase. A couple of the terms, according to the story, are pretty nasty, as in you don’t have a right to sue Magic Jack.
Then there is the problem with their software not having an uninstall feature. So, anything installed on your computer by Magic Jack is a pain to remove. Especially for a novice user.
But, that’s not what I want to write about.
What I want to say is that the advertised price of their phone service for $19.95 ($39.95 the first year) per year us bunk!!!!
Magic Jack requires that you plug it into your computer, have a high speed internet connection, and that you have your computer turned on.
If you replace your home phone with a Magic Jack, you are going to want to leave that computer on 24/7 so that the phone works 24/7. Right?
If we assume that the smallest desktop computer is using a 200 watt power supply, and I use the current rate for electricity here in the Chicago area of .147 cents per kilowatt hour, your total bill for the year will be $257.54 for the electricity, plus all the taxes and service fees on your electric bill, plus the $19.95.
Your bill could be more that $300 per year.
If you have a 300 watt power supply in your computer the electric cost is $386.31 plus all the taxes and stuff.
Your bill will be more than $400 per year.
Geezzz… I have several computers on all the time. I should by stock in Com Ed!
I know, not everyone uses Magic Jack for the primary phone. But, I’m betting there are some that do! The advertising promotes doing just that. Why pay Ma Bell when you can have a phone for $19.95 per year!
For the same kind of money you can have Vonage. Using a real phone like Magic Jack, but with no computer required. Just a high speed internet connection is needed.
Then there is Skype. You can get inbound and outbound nationwide calling with Skype for about $60 per year when you pay for the year in advance.
Linksys, Belkin, Panasonic, Netgear, and SMC all make Skype wireless phones. If you have wireless in your house then you’re all set up.
No computer required.
Also with Skype, you can use it from any computer in your house to do video calls (Magic Jack can’t do that), or on the road from your laptop using a wired or the Bluetooth headset from your cell phone if your laptop supports Bluetooth. Heck, you can use one of the Skype phones above if you want to bring it with you.
I use Skype when I work with customers all over the country. Other than an occasional dropped call, who’s cell phone has not done that, it works great!
We even use Skype at the radio station to bring Patrick Crispen into the show from California or me when I am on the road or home for the evening.
The moral of my story is? Well, there are two.
First, the electricity to run your computer does cost money over a year, especially if you leave it on all the time.
And, the second is that Magic Jack is bunk. It actually costs more to use then we are led to believe, it does not have robust features, it can’t be removed from your computer easily, and the company is deceptive by not offering to allow buyers to read the licensing agreement before they purchase.
How To Remove Avast and Install MS Security Essentials
Mike : February 18, 2010 4:50 pm : General News, How To TutorialsI have gotten a ton of email asking how you switch to Microsoft Security Essentials. I decided to create video tutorials to show you.
The first one is for the removal of Avast Anti Virus. The second one shows you how to install Microsoft Security Essentials.
If you have a comment about them, please do so at the bottom of the post.
How To Remove Avast
How To Install
Microsoft Security Essentials
Post by: Davey Barry
I really think that the electronics industry has integrated the way people can watch or do whatever they want. Now, one can watch Netflix on a computer while looking at the weather on an iPhone. Or watch a DVD on a videogame and call a friend on a laptop. This shows that computers, cell phones, and other electronics make anything much more accessible. These are symptoms for releasing of a “perfect machine”: phone, TV, movies, music, video-gaming, etc. While this still may be a few centuries away, it is not far.
Recently, Apple unveiled its new “iPad”. This iPad is the combination of an iPhone, and a computer. This puts technology (as well as Apple) one step closer to the “perfect machine”. While prices aren’t exactly economical, ($630 for 16 gigabyte with 3G WIFI) people will definitely be curious to see how it is.
Below are some possibilities people can do on alternative devices:
- Watch TV on your cell phone.
- Call someone on your computer
- Watch a DVD on your Xbox 360
- Buy a movie on your Xbox 360
- Download a movie on to your TV or computer
- If you have movies on your computer you can play them on your TV
- Music you have on your computer you can play anywhere in your house
- Read the newspaper on your phone
This shows that anything and everything can be accessed on multiple devises. Pretty soon, the stereotypical businessman with a PDA, iPhone, laptop, and kindle, will be able to have just one or two devises. Though most people don’t realize it, we have made very significant progress in the technological world. Not far from now, we will be able to access anything from screen to shining screen.
I don’t know if you’ve been watching the news lately about the problems Google has had with China, but it appears that the bad guys in China have figured out a way to use a vulnerability to exploit Internet Explorer and attack Google and some 20 other odd companies’ websites.
Microsoft has released a patch to repair the vulnerability and if you have automatic updates turned then this should not be an issue. Sort of…
From the experience repairing consumer computers, I have discovered the following:
1. Many people do not have automatic updates turned on, and they don’t do updates manually. Update manually once a week just to make sure you are up to date!
2. Most people are still using Internet Explorer, usually version 7 or version 8. If you’re going to use Internet Explorer, make sure you have upgraded to version 8, weather you like it or not.
3. Many people do not have a newer version of an antivirus. This means you must install the latest software once every year or two. Not just the daily updates that you pay for.
The best advice I can give you is this, STOP USING INTERNET EXPLORER, PERIOD!
Download another browser. For example, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, or Safari. I my favorite browsers are Firefox and Chrome for their safety and speed.
The vulnerability found by leading antivirus companies which used Internet Explorer to attack Google and other companies has already been found and 100 popular websites. And, it’s spreading! When using Internet Explorer, if you visit these sites, you can become infected without your knowledge. Without clicking on anything. Without downloading anything. Just by visiting this site.
It’s time to stop paying me to repair your computer and take matters into your own hands. What’s the easiest way to do that? The first step is to STOP USING INTERNET EXPLORER!!!
Do it now. Go to get GetFirefox.com, click the green download button, and install it.
CES 2010: Breakthrough enTourage eDGe 2-Screen eBook Adds Web Browsing!
Mike : January 6, 2010 6:29 pm : General NewsAt the CES Unvailed press event last night I saw a number of pretty cool new toys. One of which I thought was an interesting way to combine an ebook and a web browser in one device.
Turns out that the enTourage eDGe 2 can do just that. It’s an ebook on one side and a browser on the other. It’s using Google Android for an operating system, sorry Microsoft and Apple.
I played with it. It’s pretty cool. Click on a link in a book and a browser can show you enhanced content, like videos and photos.
Watch the video below. Jim Louderback from Revision 3 did a nice interview about it.
From the logs on my web server, where Savemybutt.com lives, I am able to tell that about 53% of all visitors to my site are still using Windows XP.
What I can’t tell is what service pack you have installed. The only way I can do that is from my experience servicing customer computers.
From that experience I can tell you that about 20% of my customers who are still using Windows XP have not installed Service Pack 3. If for nothing more, the installation of SP3 is needed for security reasons.
Now, there is another reason. In July of 2010 Microsoft will stop supporting Windows XP installations that only have Service Pack 2 on them.
What does this mean to you if you are still running SP2? It means that starting in July 2010 you will no longer get Windows updates.
Again, this is important for security reasons. These updates is how Microsoft installs security patches to Windows and Office.
My advice? Make sure that you have installed Service Pack 3 on your Windows XP computers. Support for SP3 is scheduled to stop in April of 2014.
You can read more about it here.
So you think you have seen it all when it comes to decorating your home for the holidays. Then, comes along a very imaginative “Imagineer” with a new idea.
A Burbank Californian named Ric Turner, who is a Disney Imagineer contractor, has taken the duldrums out of putting up holiday lights.
Ric, took the Wii Guitar Hero game, put it together with a little technological “Magic”, 21,268 lights, and produced what has become a hit in Burbank and on the Internet.
Ric’s LinkedIn page says he’s a contractor for Disney Imagineering, with expertise in “non-screen projection, complex distortion correction, moving eye point, spatial illusions and scenic projection,” so he knows how to put on a show.
This is, flat out, a whole lot of fun. Take a look…
Ric has also made over his home for Halloween. You can see Ric’s earlier works, the Halloween video and this video on his YouTube channel here.
He also talks about how he put this all together on the DIY Makezine website here.
