Bill Mullins' Weblog – Tech Thoughts

Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – November 7, 2009

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Seven perfectly legal ways to get Windows 7 cheap (or even free) – Only suckers pay retail. You don’t have to pay full price for Windows 7. Most people have much better options available. Here are seven of them.

All your computer security precautions are worthless – Install your Windows Updates. Update your antivirus software. Scan your system regularly. Keep religious backups. It’s all good advice — and it’s advice that I give to readers on a near-daily basis. And maybe it’s all meaningless. MIT researchers are warning that it doesn’t matter much what security measures you take with your computer. If someone wants in, they’re getting in.

New `Call of Duty’ could set entertainment record – But this blockbuster is not a movie. It is “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2,” a video game that Activision Blizzard Inc. is releasing Tuesday. Fans worldwide are expected to spend at least half a billion dollars on the game in the first week.

Wire Your House with Ethernet Cable – You’ve ripped a movie on your laptop, and now want it on that fancy new home theater PC next to your TV. If you’ve got the time, wiring your house with Cat-5e cable could make transfer times a distant memory. Instructables user Rogue Agent gets into the nuts, bolts, studs, and boxes needed to wire a house with omni-present cable in a fairly professional manner.

Laptop Heist Exposes Doctors’ Personal Data – More than 10,000 physicians’ and dentists’ personal data was exposed last week in New Hampshire after an employee at Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield transferred the health care providers’ Social Security numbers and other data to a personal laptop that was later stolen.

Google Dashboard Knows Too Much – Google unveiled its new, expansive Dashboard tool which shows you virtually everything you’re doing with all of Google’s myriad services. It’s amazing and, when you realize all the information they’re collecting, scary as hell. Come along with me as I learn the extent to which Google has been following my actions for the last two years.

6 Ways to Keep Your E-mail from Hurting You – Here’s what I think: When it comes to e-mail, it’s all fun, games, and business ‘until someone gets arrested. I’m doing you a favor and delivering six simple tips to help ensure that no one ends up using your e-mail as a weapon.

Microsoft Tips: How to Make Signs in Word – Ready for do it yourself signage? Our Microsoft tips guru explains the basics of creating professional, functional signs in Word.

MS to Patch 15 Serious Windows, Office Flaws – Microsoft plans to release six security bulletins next Tuesday November 10 to fix at least 15 serious vulnerabilities that could expose Windows users to malicious hacker attacks. According to Microsoft’s advance notice for this month’s Patch Tuesday, the updates will address gaping holes in the Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office productivity suite.

Google Updates Chrome with Stability Fixes to Browser – Google has released a new version of Chrome, 3.0.195.32, with a security update that addresses a high risk vulnerability in its WebKit-based browser. In addition to a number of stability fixes, the stable channel update fixes a bug that could lead to possible memory corruption in the Gears plug-in.

Off Topic:

Study: many executives ‘financially illiterate,’ can’t read balance sheets – Yikes! A new study out of the Business Literacy Institute, published at the Harvard Business site, reports that among a sample of executives taking a basic financial-literacy exam, the average score was only 38% — an F minus-minus.

Sirius XM Keeps Trying; Introduces SkyDock – The satellite radio provider isn’t giving up; Sirius Radio’s latest innovation, the SkyDock, lets iPhone users stream Sirius Radio to their stereo over the device’s built-in FM transmitter.

PlayStation owners more faithful: study – Does your boyfriend own a games console? If the answer is no, you should be worried, according to a survey. Men who own a games console are more faithful to their girlfriends or wives than those who don’t, a report claims.

Twitter silence for Remembrance Day – An online campaign to encourage Twitter members to mark the traditional two-minute silence on Remembrance Day has been launched. Twitter members can show their respects on Remembrance Day by marking the traditional two-minute silence and not posting any ‘tweets’ at 1100GMT

Today’s Quote:

“My idea of an agreeable person is a person who agrees with me”.

–    Benjamin Disraeli

Today’s Free Downloads:

PrivacyRoot Secret Disk – Overview: Creates separate disk on your PC for your private files which may be locked and unlocked with a password within one second. Moreover, when locked it is invisible in the Windows system. In the meantime this disk can be used as usual disk.

Flock 2.5.5 – Flock is an award-winning browser, built on Mozilla’s Firefox technology and designed for the way we use the web today.

Secret Data Manager – Secret Data Manager enables you to encrypt/decrypt selected files from a Windows Explorer-like interface. Instead of having to type the password to encrypt or decrypt your files each time, the program offers user accounts that store your password and encryption preferences. Once you have entered your username and password, you can manage your files without having to enter the password again.

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