Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – January 28, 2012

How to accelerate downloads in Android – Many users don’t notice download speed on their mobile device, because most of the files we get are pretty small: 1MB or so. Some users work with larger files, and for them, faster downloads are essential, as is control over the download process. It’s nice to be able to stop, restart, and reorder the download queue, and the free AndroGET app does all that while speeding up large downloads.

Who Has Access to Your Social Media Accounts? – We’re quite good at keeping track of apps on our smartphones. But what about on our Facebook, Twitter or Google accounts? Over the years, you might have installed dozens of apps that still have access to your data – without you knowing it.

Manage tasks from any device with Producteev – Following its successful runs on the iPhone and Mac platforms, Producteev now makes its way onto Windows 7 desktops and Android mobile devices.

Court: Forced Hard Drive Decryption Doesn’t Violate Fifth Amendment – In what may become a precedent setting digital rights ruling, Judge Robert Blackburn of the United States District Court of Colorado ruled that compelling an individual to provide access to the encrypted contents of a device does not violate the US Constitution’s prohibition of self incrimination.

Google Defends Privacy Changes as Questions Mount – While Google is touting its policy changes as a good thing for users, others argue that the real beneficiaries of the move are advertisers. By consolidating information about its users and refining target audiences for a product, Google can charge more for its advertising, argue critics of the policy.

Attackers Targeting Windows Media Bug With Malware – Security researchers have seen attackers going after the newly patched CVE-2012-0003 vulnerability in the Windows Media Player. The flaw, which was patched earlier this month by Microsoft, is a critical one that can enable remote code execution, and it affects a wide range of Windows systems.

Kindle for PC – With its range of powerful, dedicated hardware devices, Amazon could almost be expected to neglect its Windows application. Instead, it has continued developing it, added compelling features, and made it into one of the best e-book reader applications available for Windows today.

FBI in the market for app to monitor social networks – The US FBI is looking into the possibility of using an “Open Source and social media alert, mapping, and analysis application” for increasing its situational awareness, and to that effect has issued a request for information to determine if there are companies that could provide them with it.

Using Your Camera’s Settings: Program Mode, Shutter Speed, and More – Here’s how to get the most from Program mode and use an online digital SLR simulator to learn how shutter speed, aperture, and other settings affect your photos.

A peek into the Sykipot campaigns – The group(s) behind the massive and consistent campaigns targeting US defense contractors with the Sykipot Trojan continue their attacks unabated, reports Symantec. Its researchers have recently discovered and managed to take a peek into a staging server for the campaigns, which was also occasionally used as a C&C server for delivering instructions to the malware installed on the compromised computers.

Linux users cautiously optimistic about Ubuntu’s Head-Up Display desktop – Most users seem willing to give Ubuntu Linux’s Head-Up Display interface the benefit of the doubt.

Amazon Merchant Caught Bribing Customers for Reviews – The New York Times reports that Amazon merchant VIP Deals has been offering refunds on Amazon Kindle Fire cases in exchange for user reviews. The $10 cases shipped with letters that included the refund offer, which expired on December 29 of last year.

Company News:

Nokia Sells 1M Windows Phones But Lumia 900 Faces Challenge – The Lumia 900, with a 4.3-inch screen, support for 4G and a rumored price of $100 with a two-year contract, will be Microsoft and Nokia’s best shot at getting people interested in the Windows Phone platform.

Microsoft Kinect Motion-Sensing Technology Coming to Laptops, Sources Say – If Kinect capability does arrive in laptops, you may soon be able to control programs with the wave of your hand.

Dell, Microsoft, VMware Partnership Results in vStart Cloud System – vStart is a new preconfigured cloud system server that can host up to 200 virtual machines at a time using either vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, or both.

Off Topic (Sort of):

The World’s First “Carphone” – An article in the March 21, 1920 Sandusky Register in Sandusky, Ohio retold the story of a man in Philadelphia named W. W. Macfarlane who was experimenting with his own “wireless telephone.” With a chauffeur driving him as he sat in the back seat of his moving car he amazed a reporter from The Electrical Experimenter magazine by talking to Mrs. Macfarlane, who sat in their garage 500 yards down the road. (recommended by Michael F.)

Canadian teens send Legonaut 15 miles into atmosphere – Two 12th graders send a Lego man 80,000 feet up to record some incredible visuals of the planet.

Dear Apple: Do something about Chinese working conditions – As stories keep emerging about terrible working conditions in consumer-electronics factories, it’s time for Apple to step up. They’ve got the power and the cash to make meaningful change. Let’s hold them to it.

Color me surprised. I am 90 percent post-PC – I have been using mobile devices for the lion’s share of my work for a while, but it surprises me how close I am to chuck the PC totally.

Today’s Quote:

“If you live long enough, the venerability factor creeps in; first, you get accused of things you never did, and later, credited for virtues you never had.”

-      I. F. Stone

Today’s Free Downloads:

Right Click Enhancer 2.4.3 – Right Click Enhancer gives you power to control the ultimate right click menu everyone use every day. Right Click Enhancer allows you to edit your right click menu in the way you want. Now with help of this wonderful tool you can add some good stuffs to your right click context menu.

IsMyLcdOK 1.64 – IsMyLcdOK is a small program but effective solution to easily check for dead/paralysed/stuck pixels on LCD monitors.

I Spy With My Little Eye – But iSpy Open Source Webcam Security Goes One Better

I watch you – you watch me. And, we all live together – happily – sort of. We live in a surveillance society, and whether that’s a good thing, or not, is open to much debate. We’ve discussed this issue here a number of times and, the consensus of opinion as expressed by readers is – Thumbs Down! – to surveillance in public spaces.

From a personal perspective, I have to admit to conflicting emotions. As a recipient of a  Neighborhood Watch award (back in the mists of time), I’m a strong supporter of the philosophy that we all share a responsibility to safeguard our personal environment. And, personal Web Cam surveillance, it seems to me, is an acceptable defense against hooligans intent on causing havoc.

I am NOT in favor, however, of broad scale deployment of security cameras by law enforcement based on the theory that doing so reduces crime. Survey after survey concludes that this is an urban myth. Worse yet, voyeuristic surveillance, such as this, is an assault on personal freedom.

But, on to how you can take advantage of a superb free (Open Source) Web Cam surveillance solution that includes a ton of built-in features. iSpy, last updated January 25, 2012, is an open source application which uses your webcam(s) and microphone(s) to detect, and record, motion and sound. And, a lot more besides.

Typical usage – click on graphic to expand.

Fast facts:

Connect and monitor as many cameras and microphones as you like. Import and export object lists to share with colleagues.

Connect multiple computers in a group and manage over the web.

Install iSpy Server and publish your webcam to other instances of iSpy, over your network and to the web.

Detect, highlight, track and record movement.

Detect loitering.

Customize movement detection areas on your cameras.

Detect and record sound.

Run any program or send an email or SMS alert when movement or sound is detected.

Run any program or send an email or SMS alert when movement or sound is not detected (monitor machinery or staff activity).

Receive email movement alerts with attached frame grab images from your webcams.

Periodically receive image grabs via email from your webcams.

Connect to any device, even webcams attached to other computers with JPEG, MJPEG, IP Cam, webcam and AVI file support.

Watch live and recorded media over the web (through this website) and also via mobile devices.

Access and control iSpy remotely.

Password protect iSpy and hide it in the System Tray.

Schedule sound and video capturing to start and stop automatically.

Time-lapse record from any camera.

Motion track and count moving objects.

Connect multiple instances of iSpy and iSpy server running on different computers to this website and view all aggregated media online.

Create groups, invite friends and share access to your webcams and microphones.

The following review is based on an older version of  iSpy -  January, 2011. The version currently running on my system.

Setting up iSpy while relatively uncomplicated, was not quite as easy as I would have liked. On the other hand, additional features often lead to more complexity.

As the following screen captures indicate, you’ll be presented with a smorgasbord of fine tuning choices.

Languages: English, Brazilian Portuguese, Czech, Deutsch, Español, Française, Hrvatski, Italiano, Magyar, Nederlands, Русский, Polski, Português and 中文

System requirements: Windows XP, Vista, Win 7. Microsoft .Net framework will be installed if required. Windows media player 9 VCM codecs – will be installed if required.

Download at: iSpy Connect

iSpy user guide available here.

I’ve tested this application extensively and overall, I’ve been very pleased with its performance. If you’re looking for a free (Open Source), Web Cam surveillance solution, iSpy may be just what you’ve been searching for.

If you don’t need all of the features built into iSpy, (some of the bells and whistles are just that – bells and whistles), I’ve previously reviewed Secure Cam, an open source surveillance application which should meet your basic  surveillance needs.

Rise Cam, an application also covered in that review, is no longer available.

Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – January 27, 2012

Five apps to hit the ground running with your new Android tablet – If you’re trying to figure out which apps to load on your brand new Android tablet, here are some great choices to get you started.

How to Sideload Android Apps – If your carrier locks the front door on your Android device, here’s how to sneak in.

Five tips for faster Web browsing – If you’re wasting too much time waiting (and waiting and waiting) for Web pages to load, give these tips a try. You should see an immediate, noticeable boost in speed, making your browsing experience faster and more efficient.

KDE 4.8 Released – Looking for some hot new O.S. action but skeptical of the volcabularific new HUD interface being introduced to Ubuntu? That’s the open-sourced beauty of Linux — there are plenty of flavors available for the picky types out there. And now there’s a new one, or rather, a new update of an old hand. KDE 4.8 has hit the Web, complete with a host of fresh features and abilities.

User error is the biggest threat on the Internet – Sophos unveiled a detailed assessment of the threat landscape – from hacktivism and online threats to mobile malware, cloud computing and social network security, as well as IT security trends for this coming year.

O2 fixes phone number leak, explains blunder – British wireless carrier admits that between January 10 and 2 p.m. today, customers’ phone numbers could have been accessed by sites that don’t belong to the network’s roster of “trusted partners.”

Malicious MIDI files lead to rootkit malware – A Windows Media remote code execution flaw that has been patched in the last Patch Tuesday is being exploited by attackers in the wild to deliver malware to the targets’ computer, warns Trend Micro.

Politicians aim some pointed privacy questions at Google – Rep. Jackie Speier, a Democrat whose district includes YouTube’s headquarters, co-authored a letter asking Google a series of sternly worded questions.

Protecting Mac OS X from privacy threats – PrivacyScan offers support for a wide range of items, including popular web browsers such as Camino, Chrome, Firefox, Flock, iCab, OmniWeb, Opera, Safari, SeaMonkey, and Shiira, privacy threats presented by Flash Cookies, as well as standard apps such as Finder, Preview, and QuickTime.

Multiple Bugs Haunt WordPress Setup – Researchers have found a string of weaknesses in the WordPress default installation page, including PHP code execution and a persistent cross-site scripting flaw, affecting versions 3.3.1 and later. WordPress officials say that they’re not planning to fix the vulnerabilities as there’s only a small possibility of exploitation by attackers.

Company News:

HP’s open-sourcing of webOS begins today – The last time we heard about webOS, HP had opted to open-source the mobile platform, letting developers take a stab at breathing some life into it. It was an unconventional move, but not necessarily a bad one: it puts the platform largely in the hands of the development community, and it doesn’t require a large investment. Today we found out more about HP’s plans for the second coming of webOS.

Apache OpenOffice – The IBM Edition? – In a blog posting announcing the end of Lotus Symphony, IBM explained that Open Office is the future (as it was the past too for them since Symphony was an openoffice fork) “Our energy from here is going into the Apache OpenOffice project, and we expect to distribute an “IBM edition” of Apache OpenOffice in the future,” Ed Brill, Director, Lotus Software, IBM Software Group blogged.

Dell Embraces SUSE Linux for OEM Solutions – Dell OEM Solutions is partnering with SUSE to deliver Linux for embedded and customized solutions. The partnership is the first by Dell that will bring a certified Linux solution to its OEM customers.

Google Experimenting With TCP for a Faster Web – Google is testing ways to whittle down the latency inherent in TCP connections Web browsers make to request and retrieve data. The company’s work is available via open source.

Off Topic (Sort of):

ICSI Netalyzr – Researchers at the International Computer Science Institute (ICSI) in Berkeley, California, have built a website that studies internet connections and they need New Scientist readers to help them collect data. Visit the ICSI Netalyzr website and click “start analysis”. The site will take a few minutes to probe your internet connection. When it’s done you will see whether certain types of traffic are being interfered with. You will also learn about the steps your ISP is – or is not – taking to ensure that your connection is fast and is not being abused by spammers. The results will be displayed on the institute’s website. (recommended by Christopher A.)

Google is FUBAR – Google announced perhaps the biggest change it has ever made to its massive network of web services — a change that will bring it within a whisker of defeating Facebook, but will ultimately result in its death.

11 Flu-Fighting Gadgets for Germaphobes (And the Rest of Us) – I’m not going to lie to you: This is a pretty gross story. You may not be a germaphobe (yet), but this story will make you look at your keyboard, your phone, and pretty much the whole world differently. Fortunately, we recommend some products that can help keep these invisible threats at bay, taking antivirus protection to a whole new level.

Apple Still Ignoring Labor Abuses in Favor of Profits – A day after Apple recorded its best quarter ever, a report from The New York Times has questioned – again – whether Apple’s products are manufactured under safe and humane conditions.

Apple: made in China, untaxed profits kept offshore – About two-thirds of Apple’s $97.6 billion cash pile is off shore. That’s a lot of money for an American company to keep outside of America.

How Sitting All Day Is Damaging Your Body and How You Can Counteract It – Do you sit in an office chair or on your couch for more than six hours a day? Then here are some disturbing facts: Your risk of heart disease has increased by up to 64 percent. You’re shaving off seven years of quality life. You’re also more at risk for certain types of cancer. Simply put, sitting is killing you. That’s the bad news. The good news: It’s easy to counteract no matter how lazy you are.

Today’s Quote:

“My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.”

-    Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.

Today’s Free Downloads:

SUPERAntiSpyware 5.0.1144 – Detect and Remove Spyware, Adware and Remove Malware, Trojans, Dialers, Worms, KeyLoggers, HiJackers, Parasites, Rootkits, Rogue Security Products and many other types of threats.

Songbird 1.10.2.2199 – Songbird is a desktop media player mashed-up with the Web. Songbird is committed to playing the music you want, from the sites you want, on the devices you want, challenging the conventions of discovery, purchase, consumption and organization of music on the Internet.

Google’s New Policy – What’s The Problem? – Why The Outrage?

As a long standing vocal opponent of Google’s invasive practices – and, having not stood on the sideline as the Octopus spread its tentacles – I now find myself in the uncomfortable position of defending the indefensible – those same overreaching and invasive practices.

In yesterday’s presumptuous announcement, Google explained its new policy – with just the right amount of deceptive glitter - a customer care focus.

Our new policy reflects a single product experience that does what you need, when you want it to – ……. reflecting our desire to create one beautifully simple and intuitive experience across Google.

A bit of a twist on reality, I should think.

The reality being of course – Google has always viewed you as the product – not, the customer. Yes, you the user – are a product. The customers (no, not you), are the companies that buy the targeted advertising that is directed to you. It’s hardly news that Google generates its revenue through targeted advertising – directed at you.

Google has always tracked you.

So, why the outrage now? Google already tracks you as you use Google search -already scans your Gmail for keywords in order to target you more effectively – already tracks your YouTube video watching -  already tracks your Google Docs usage -  and, some 50, or more, additional services.

The reality is – there’s little that’s new in Google’s announcement, other than its intent to consolidate existing data bases – a reactive strategy designed to address Facebook’s invasion into Google territory. Despite that, there are already calls for government intervention. Intervention, in which the real intent is – not protection from Google – but, protection from stupidity.

Yes, the “I’m a victim” Express, is rolling once again. Pushed along by that age old fallacy – I’m powerless to do anything. Once again, the reality is somewhat different.

You are not powerless – you never were. What you do and, how you do it on the Internet, was always within your control. You choose not to proceed with caution; you choose to go with the flow; you choose to remain undereducated; you choose to accept Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service; you choose not to join in the fight against Google’s intrusive behavior, early on.

Some powerless victim!

It’s because of this lackadaisical attitude, you’ve become the product; no longer the user. Don’t blame Google – blame yourself. In short – don’t expect the government to allocate already scarce resources to research and develop a set of “nanny” rules to protect the unprotectable.

Alternatives to many of the services provide by Google already exist – and have, for a considerable time. If you want to avoid Google’s Octopus tracking – then, take responsibility for your own well-being. Research (dare I say Google), alternatives.

I’m no fan of Google, as some 15+ articles will speak to – including:

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Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt Stars In “Don’t Be Evil” Video – According to one regular reader here, Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt is “a dangerous fool”. Another reader expressed a similar view (albeit, in slightly stronger words), when he wrote “Google are bast**ds. And so is anyone else who keeps information on people ….. they don’t have the right, or our permission.”

GoogleSharing Firefox Add-on – Stop Google’s Invasion of Your Privacy! – The campaign to convince people that the lack of personal privacy is of little concern to the average person, persists. Some pundits continue to enhance their careers by assuring us (at least those of us who will listen), that privacy, particularly Internet privacy, is dead and, we don’t care.

Protect Your Privacy – Use Startpage.com To Search The Web Anonymously – If personal privacy makes the short list of your Internet concerns, then take a look at the following search engine – Startpage.com – a search engine provider that promises to safeguard your privacy (not recording your IP address, not salting tracking cookies, not recording your search terms, the links you choose, etc.), while you search the Internet.

Consumer Watchdog Takes On Google Before The US Congress – Google’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, may hold more than a few unsavory views when it come to your privacy – but, he hardly lacks the courage to make them known. His self serving statements are made unafraid, unambiguous, upfront, and …

Free Breadcrumbs Beta – Slaps Down Data Miners – It’s illusionary to believe that information and services on the Internet are free – there’s a strict tradeoff involved. Here’s the deal: You get access to “free” information and services, and in return – you buy into the condition that …

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But, neither am I a fan of those who shift the blame for their own lack of engagement with the realities of the Internet.

Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – January 26, 2012

12 Things You Should Know About Facebook Timeline – Before Timeline strikes your Facebook account, there are a number of key things to know about the feature. We answer the top questions about the imminently non-optional Facebook feature.

Use an OTA Tuner to Turn Your PC into a TV and DVR – Good news, cord cutters! With an inexpensive tuner and Windows 7, you can view and record unlimited broadcast TV shows, without monthly fees.

10 indispensable Android apps – This new collection of Android apps features everything from a friendly keyboard to a convenient payment processor to a versatile music player.

How to Build a (Nearly) Hack-Proof Password System with LastPass and a Thumb Drive – We’re big fans of LastPass, a cross-platform password manager that helps you create and manage secure, unique passwords for every site, but the point of failure is obvious: What happens if someone gets your master password? Here’s how you can beef up LastPass by turning a USB flash drive into a key you have to plug in to your computer before you can access your passwords. This way, the next time a service you use has been hacked—even if it’s LastPass—you won’t worry.

Symantec says to disable pcAnywhere after source code exposure by Anonymous – Symantec acknowledges a breach that exposed the source code for pcAnywhere. Users are advised to disable it immediately until software updates are available to resolve vulnerabilities.

Five Windows 7 gadgets worth sharing with your users – If you support Windows 7 users, they may appreciate learning to take advantage of gadgets. Here’s a little basic info on where to find gadgets, along with a few good ones to get them started. Just be sure they know to be careful when downloading gadgets.

Rogue apps make comeback in “Hours spent on Facebook” scam – Users are lured in with the promise of finding out how many hours they have spent on the social network in the last month. By following the offered link, they land on a Facebook page that requests of them to “like” it in order to access the wanted information. Once that step is effected, the victims are required to give some permissions to a rogue app.

“Chuck Norris is dead” Facebook scam – Chuck Norris, the popular martial artist/ actor whose “tough guy” image has spawned a countless jokes and memes on the Internet, has been killed off by Facebook scammers: “See the video to find out how he died. News today of Chuck Norris death at age 71 has been met with confusion and humour, but sadly it is true,” says the message that appeared on users’ walls.

All Facebook Profiles Switch to Timeline Soon: Brace for Backlash – Over the next few weeks, Facebook will be switching all of its users over to the new Timeline format.

How the new European data law will affect U.S. companies – With the draft European data protection regulation announced, it won’t just affect the 700 million Europeans. U.S. companies with European users should also take heed.

Company News:

Tiny USB server runs on batteries, streams to iOS, Android devices – HyperShop has begun selling a pocket-size, battery-powered adapter that turns a USB storage device into a wireless file server, sharing files with Wi-Fi-enabled devices including the Apple iPad and iPhone. The $100 CloudFTP runs Linux on a Texas Instruments ARM9-based processor, features a 132 x 32-pixel LCD display and powered USB port, and supports backup and synchronization with online cloud storage services.

Daum Communications Integrated SoliCall in Its VoIP Network – SoliCall, provider of network echo cancellation, noise reduction, and voice quality enhancement software products, announced today that Daum Communications has integrated SoliCall’s Mobile SDK for improving audio quality in its VoIP Application.

Intel Acquires InfiniBand – InfiniBand offers the promise of higher networking speeds and lower latency than Ethernet. It is typically deployed in high performance computing (HPC) environments, though in recent years its’ use in the enterprise has grown thanks to Oracle, which uses InfiniBand in its engineered systems portfolio of products including Exalogic and Exadata.

USB cable enables cross-platform file transfer, keyboard sharing – J5 Create announced a USB-based device that allows data, a mouse, and a keyboard to be shared between two computers without the use of a network. The JUH320V2 “Wormhole Station” also includes two backwards-compatible USB 3.0 ports and slots for microSD, SD, and MemoryStick media, according to the company.

Off Topic (Sort of):

Google’s New Privacy Policies Raise Red Flags – Google has announced augmented privacy policies, which offer one single, unified privacy policy to preside over 60 of Google’s 70 products that previously had disparate rules. However, users can’t opt out of these privacy changes, which kick-in March 1, without closing their Google accounts. Take a look at the particulars of the new policies and the public backlash that is already gathering strength.

SOPA, PIPA Stalled: Meet the OPEN Act – An Internet uproar prompted Congress to reconsider its approach to fighting piracy; now a SOPA opponent is offering an alternative law.

MegaUpload Update: Founder Denied Bail Over Flight Risk Concerns – MegaUpload’s founder Kim Dotcom was denied bail Wednesday by a New Zealand judge.

The case of anonymity in social media – Anonymous comments are often the bane of every community manager’s existence. Even the website editorial staffs for major newspapers – perhaps the biggest perpetrators of allowing anonymity online – hate the fact random people can leave random anything on their websites.

An argument against the new secure boot feature in Windows 8 – Donovan Colbert argues that settling for mandatory walled gardens is giving away the liberty to use your hardware as you see fit.

Today’s Quote:

“Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close resemblance to the first.”

-    Ronald Reagan

Today’s Free Downloads:

HDClone Free Edition 4.1.3 – HDClone copies the content of hard disks on a physical level from one disk to another hard disk. Depending on the sizes of the hard disks, a complete or abridged image of the source disk will be created.

AVG Rescue CD (for CD creation) 120.120119 – A powerful must-have toolkit to assist with the rescue and repair of infected machines. This software provides essential utilities for system administrators and other IT professionals. This download is an ISO to burn to your CD or DVD drive.

Follow-up Comments Feature Not Working Currently

At the moment – 2 PM EST, – “Notify me of follow-up comments via email” is not working on this site.

It appears that this is a WordPress system wide issue.

Sorry.  

Updated: @4:45

All fixed – thank you WordPress.

Give Malware The Old Heave Ho! – Trap It With Sandboxie!

Wouldn’t it be terrific if, following a mistake which led to malware making its way on to your computer, you could wave a magic wand, utter the words – “get thee gone” – and, quick as you like – no more malware infection?

Luckily, you can do just that. You don’t have to be a magician – you don’t have to deliver a magic enchantment – but, you do need to be running a sandbox based isolation application.

And that, brings me to Sandboxie – the King of isolation applications in Geek territory. Rather than geek you into the land of nod – today’s review is what I like to refer to as a “soft review”.

Simply put, Sandboxie, when active, creates a virtual environment (of a sort), on a computer by redirecting all system and application changes, to an unused location on a Hard Drive. These changes can be permanently saved to disk or, completely discarded.

A case in point for isolating web surfing:

While surfing the Net, an inexperienced user mistakenly accepts an invitation to install a scareware application but realizes, after the fact, that this is a scam. Operating in a “real” environment, the damage, unfortunately, would already have been done.

Operating in an isolated environment with Sandboxie active; the system changes made by this parasite could be completely discarded – since the attack occurred in a – “I’m not really here” environment .

An obvious part of reviewing an application is, providing a technical breakdown of just how an application gets the job done – or, in some cases how/why an application doesn’t quite get it done.

It’s not often that I get caught between the proverbial “rock and a hard place” in terms of illustrating an applications aptitude in getting the task accomplished. In this case however, Ronen Tzur, Sandboxie’s developer, has taken the expression – a picture is worth a thousand words – and definitely run with it. Well done Ronen!

From the site: Introducing Sandboxie

Sandboxie runs your programs in an isolated space which prevents them from making permanent changes to other programs and data in your computer.

The red arrows indicate changes flowing from a running program into your computer. The box labeled Hard disk (no sandbox) shows changes by a program running normally.

The box labeled Hard disk (with sandbox) shows changes by a program running under Sandboxie. The animation illustrates that Sandboxie is able to intercept the changes and isolate them within a sandbox, depicted as a yellow rectangle. It also illustrates that grouping the changes together makes it easy to delete all of them at once.

Fast facts:

Secure Web Browsing: Running your Web browser under the protection of Sandboxie means that all malicious software downloaded by the browser is trapped in the sandbox and can be discarded trivially.

Enhanced Privacy: Browsing history, cookies, and cached temporary files collected while Web browsing stay in the sandbox and don’t leak into Windows.

Secure E-mail: Viruses and other malicious software that might be hiding in your email can’t break out of the sandbox and can’t infect your real system.

Windows Stays Lean: Prevent wear-and-tear in Windows by installing software into an isolated sandbox.

The developer has provided a clear and concise Getting Started tutorial – which includes:

How to to use Sandboxie to run your applications

How the changes are trapped in the sandbox

How to recover important files and documents out of the sandbox

How to delete the sandbox

System requirements: Windows XP, Vista, Win 7 (32 and 64 bit).

Available languages: English, Albanian, Arabic, Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Czech, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Macedonian, Polish, Portuguese (Brasil and Portugal), Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, and Ukrainian.

Download at: Sandboxie

A Caveat: You may run with Sandboxie free of charge – but, once past the initial 30 days, you will be reminded that a lifetime licensed version is available for € 29 ($38 USD at today’s conversion rate).

My good buddy from Portugal, José – a super geek – is of the opinion that Sandboxie is in a class of its own. I couldn’t agree more José.

Giveaway of the Day – Glary Utilities Pro 2.41 Free – Today Only

It might surprise you to learn, I’ve reported on (by way of review), or linked to -  Glary Utilities (freeware edition) 23 times in the last 24 months. No, I don’t hold shares in the company – wish I did .

There’s a much more transparent explanation – Glary Utilities Free – designed to tweak, repair, optimize and improve system performance; and its ease of operation – makes it ideal for less experienced users.

If you’re part of the community here – I’ll wager that the free edition of Glary Utilities has found a home on either your Hard Drive or, the portable edition has been installed to a USB stick.

If you’ve passed on making the decision to purchase the pro version – no worries. Today only – Giveaway of the Day, has a super offer – Glary Utilities Pro 2.41 Free!.

You can read my last full review of the freeware edition here – Free Glary Utilities Is Indispensable. Really?

Since reviewing software (both free and commercial), is a good part of what I do as a blogger, I’ve tested and evaluated more than a thousand applications in the last few years. Sad to say, 30% or so, have turned out to be “not fit for consumption”. No, you normally don’t get to read reviews on the dreck – better to focus on what lives up to expectations, and not what doesn’t.

A quick application overview:

Disk Cleaner Removes junk data from your disks and recovers disk space

Registry Cleaner scans and cleans your registry to improve your system’s performance

Shortcuts Fixer eliminates the errors in your start menu & desktop shortcuts

Startup Manager manages programs which run automatically on startup

Memory Optimizer monitors and optimizes free memory in the background

Tracks Eraser erases all traces, evidence, cookies, internet history and more

File Shredder erases files permanently

Internet Explorer Assistant manages Internet Explorer Add-ons

Disk Analysis provides detailed information files and folders

Duplicate Files Finder searches for space-wasting duplicate files

Empty Folders Finder removes empty folders (I love this feature)

Uninstall Manager completely uninstall programs

And – much, much more

I think you’ll agree – it’s hardly surprising that this noteworthy system utility is at the top of the pyramid in its category of system tools.

Languages: 23 Languages available.

System Requirements: Windows 7, 2000, XP, Vista. 32/64 bit versions.

Download at: Giveaway of the Day

There were 18 hours 42 minutes left to take advantage of this great offer, when this post was put up.

Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – January 25, 2012

Giveaway of the Day – Glary Utilities ProGlary Utilities Pro is a powerful and top all-in-one utility to fix, speed up, maintain and protect your PC. It optimizes the performance of your computer, solves problems, protect your privacy and helps you to customize your system to suit your needs.

Cut Down on Your Mouse Clicks – The free little productivity program Click.to reduces the number of mouse clicks you make in a day by turning the “copy” function into different mini-workflows. Because it supports a huge number of file types and programs, Click.to can be a time saver.

14 Creative Ways to Use Facebook Business Pages – What are the secrets to making Facebook work for your company? Check out these 14 examples for inspiration.

The Looming Threat Of A Solar Superstorm – In 1859 a major solar storm, the “Carrington Event”, hit Earth. Another came in 1921. What if one struck tomorrow? “If a Carrington Event happened right now it probably wouldn’t be a wake-up alarm—it would be a goodnight call”

Ubuntu rips up drop-down menus – Ubuntu is set to replace the 30-year-old computer menu system with a “Head-Up Display” that allows users to simply type or speak menu commands. Instead of hunting through drop-down menus to find application commands, Ubuntu’s Head-Up Display lets users type what they want to do into a search box. The system suggests possible commands as the user begins typing – entering “Rad” would bring up the Radial blur command in the GIMP art package, for example. HUD also uses fuzzy matching and learns from past searches to ensure the correct commands are offered to users. (recommended by Michael F.)

Temporarily Turn Off Search Plus Your World – Most of the people that I’ve talked to about Search Plus Your World tell me they find it annoying. Of course if you don’t care to see input from all of your Google Plus buddies when you make a Google search you can mouse over to the top right-hand portion of Google’s SERP’s page and click the little icon that looks like a globe. Clicking this Hide Personal Results icon will do just that.

The death of online piracy: the end of the Internet as we know it – Piracy finds its way into just about every legitimate avenue on the Internet. As such, the death of online piracy via shutting down otherwise legitimate sites and services could mean the end of the Internet as we know it.

U.S. Government Online Security Website Hacked – U.S. Government Online Security Website HackedHackers under the AntiSec banner appeared to have hacked late Monday the website of OnGuardOnline.gov, the U.S. federal government’s online security website, in protest against controversial legislation.

Targeted attacks will change the economics of security – Today, European Justice Commissioner, Viviane Reding, will unveil the new European Privacy Directive, designed to safeguard personal, identifiable information that is stored by private and public sector organizations. Under the new rules, all UK companies that suffer a security breach will have to inform the Information Commissioner within 24 hours of discovering a breach. Companies with more than 250 employees will have to appoint a privacy officer.

Company News:

ManageEngine Taps Zoho Cloud-Based Reporting for MSP Center Plus – ManageEngine, the real-time IT management company, today announced the integration of its agent-based network monitoring software, MSP Center Plus, with Zoho Reports, the cloud-based reporting and business intelligence service from Zoho. The move enables managed service providers (MSPs) to easily organize data and create insightful reports and dashboards, all of which are vital to demonstrating their efforts to safeguard and enhance the performance of their customers’ distributed networks.

iBuildApp Beta Releases Widget to Preview Mobile Apps on Web Sites – iBuildapp announces new beta features to their platform that lets anyone build an app free. To help promote apps built with iBuildApp, a new widget easily embeds a live preview of apps onto a web site. Additional features include custom forms, social media picture sharing, and the ability to sort RSS feeds.

Voxbone Sees Continued VoIP Growth After Strong 2011 – The company is calling 2011 a breakthrough year because it enjoyed lift for the first time from customers such as Telefónica and iBasis, while most growth came from direct sales to its customers among providers of next-generation VoIP communications services. Overall, Voxbone said, revenue grew 19 percent, while minutes of use on its global network increased by 33 percent to 2.8 billion.

Google+ Says ‘Yes’ to Nicknames, But No to Anonymity – Google loosens restrictions on nicknames and pseudonyms with Google+, but falls short of allowing you to mask your true identity.

Apple: 37.04 million iPhones sold in Q1 – Apple posted all-time record sales for its iPhone, iPad and Mac lines, including more than 37 million iPhones and 15.43 million iPads sold during the last quarter.

Off Topic (Sort of):

The Pirate Party: Justice for legitimate ex-users of Megaupload – The Pirate Party are planning civil action against the FBI for the closure of Megaupload. Was there a point to the closure of the storage locker in the first place?

UN Approves Super Fast Mobile Technology – In about two years, mobile devices will be about 500 times faster than today’s 3G smartphones and tablets, thanks to the United Nations. The IMT-Advanced technology has been unavailable until now because the U.N. needed to approve the international standards.

The Caging Of America (The New Yorker) – More than six million people are under “correctional supervision” in the US – more than were in Stalin’s Gulags. Why so many? This superb account suggests there’s been a serious failure of common sense and humanity

New pill with ingestible microchip monitors you from the inside – Once it’s activated by your stomach acid, the tiny sensor sends out digital signals about things like heart rate and temperature to show how you’re responding to prescribed medication.

Today’s Quote:

“Never be afraid to do what is right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”

-    Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today’s Free Downloads:

LinuxLive USB Creator 2.8.9 – LiLi USB Creator is a handy, easy to use application designed to enable you to create a bootable Live USB key with a Linux on it. This software also offers an exclusive option of automatic virtualization to directly run Linux in Windows without any configuration or installation.

LibreOffice Productivity Suite Portable 3.4.5 – Portable LibreOffice is the portable version of LibreOffice developed to be able to run from a USB flash drive or any other portable device.

Home Networking – Getting Started

Guest article by Mila Johnson

When computers first started becoming a normal part of the home, like a TV or VCR, networking was simply unheard of. After all, one computer was expensive enough and could do it all. Who in their right mind would have the budget, or the need, to have two or more computers?

How times have changed. Now – you might have a desktop for the kids’ homework, a laptop for your job, tablet PCs just for fun – and, maybe even a home media computer connected to the TV.

Computers have gotten cheaper and more necessary – and now, networking home computers is a must.

So how is it done?

Router

The first thing necessary to network home computers is a router. Home routers are getting cheaper all the time and are even more affordable with manufacturer discounts like HP coupon codes.

A router will connect the home network to the ISP’s modem, though sometimes the modem and router are combined in one piece of hardware provided by the ISP. Most routers today, have both wired and wireless components.

Wired or Wireless?

Wireless routers usually do have a handful of wired connections that can be used along with the wireless component. Home computers that will be stationary and located close to the router should be connected directly while portables like laptops and tablets should connect to the wireless network.

Both connections have pros and cons. Wireless is more convenient but, has a slower connection while wired is just the opposite.

Connections

Once computers are on the network, users can “see” each other’s computers via the Network link on the desktop or Control Panel. The easiest way to manage access is to establish local user accounts on each computer.

Since you’re not using a centralized server to control accounts, duplicate accounts with the same passwords need to be created on all computers. Once accounts are established, users can access each other’s computers, map drives and create links. Keep in mind that changing an account password on one computer necessitates changing it on the rest.

Security

Once all the home computers, laptops and tablets have been connected and corresponding user accounts have been created, it’s time to manage file security. After all, if you wanted to leave all files set to be accessed by the “Everyone” user group, there’s be no need to create accounts in the first place.

To manage file and folder security, the creator needs to right-click a file or folder and select “Properties.” Under the “Security” tab, users can be added or deleted and their level of permission can be adjusted. Users can be allowed read only, read write or outright denied.

Wired and wireless networks are now an integral part of our home lives. Homeowners who have multiple devices without properly networking them, however, are missing out on a lot of functionality. Adding user accounts and managing security allows home computer families to share files, work smarter and get the most out of their computer equipment.

Guest writer Bio – Mila Johnson is a freelance writer and blogger – with a passion for technology. When she is away from her computer, she enjoys the sport of kick boxing.