Free Avira AntiVir Personal Protection – Get the Real Deal!

Avira AntiVir Personal is not just another free AV solution. This application may just be the best free application for monitoring interactions with your operating system, to ensure that if a malicious program is detected it will be stopped dead in its tracks! It’s certainly the most popular in its class, and with good reason.

Avira AntiVir Personal offers effective, on demand scans for viruses, Trojans, backdoor programs, hoaxes, worms, dialers and other malicious programs. It’s simple interface provides easy access to a command structure, that makes it easy to repair, delete, block, rename and quarantine programs, or files.

I’ve been testing Avira in one release or another for years, and I continue to be impressed with its performance. I have come to rely on it as my primary anti-virus application on my test platforms.

If you’re a typical, or an average user, you should find that Avira AntiVir Personal will meet, and even exceed, all of your requirements.

As an indication of this programs popularity, Download.com reports almost 70 MILLION downloads, making it the leading antivirus software, offered for download on this site.

Fast facts:

Highly Configurable

Protection from viruses, worms and Trojans

Protection against expensive dialers

Protection from hidden rootkits

Protection from phishing

Extensive malware Recognition

Monitors every action executed by the user or the operating system

Reacts promptly when a malicious program is detected.

Automatic updates of antivirus signatures, engine and software – I have to admit, I love this feature

Now in Version 9.0.0.415

Quick Summary:

Easy to download, easy to install, easy to configure, easy to use, and very effective.

System requirements: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Win 7, UNIX

Download at: Download.com

Note: Free for home-users only.

If you need more convincing, watch the CNET video review of Avira AntiVir Personal – Free Antivirus ( 2:17 mins.)

If you find the nag screen annoying, take a look at “Disable Avira Notifier”, on this site.

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Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – December 16, 2009

10 cool things you can do with TweakUI – The handy TweakUI PowerToy can help you overcome a variety of Windows XP annoyances and limitations and lets you create an environment that suits your working style.

Tips for Searching Google Maps – The Google Maps team has put together 31 tips for better using the popular mapping software. Here is a look at these useful (and some little-known) hints to navigating with the popular mapping software.

Lifehacker: Most Popular Free Mac Downloads of 2009 – Nothing beats finding just the right application to fill a common need, fix a problem, or boost your productivity. Give yourself an early present this holiday season with 15 of the most popular Mac downloads of 2009.

Facebook and Google: Contrasts in Privacy – Facebook and Google have both been faced with privacy concerns, and the responses have been polar opposite from the two entities.

Zero-Day Malware Drops Payloads Signed with a Forged Microsoft Certificate – Security Websites are buzzing with news that a new zero-day exploit against Adobe Reader and Acrobat is circulating today, causing computers to become infected with malware simply by visiting certain Web pages. While the exploit itself is worthy of note, nobody is talking about the payload it downloads: It installs a trio of files dressed up to look like Windows system files which have been digitally signed with a security certificate supposedly issued by Microsoft.

Use Word to type on a printed form without a typewriter – What do you do when someone hands you an application to fill out or when you need to fill out a printed tax form? If you don’t have a typewriter, you probably fill in the form manually, hoping that the recipient can read your handwriting. Fortunately, you can use Word to “type it in” instead. Follow these steps:

Hackers Brew Self-Destruct Code to Counter Police Forensics – Hackers have released an application designed to thwart a Microsoft-packaged forensic toolkit used by law enforcement agencies to examine a suspect’s hard drive during a raid.

Adobe confirms PDF zero-day attacks. Disable JavaScript now – Malicious hackers are exploiting a zero-day (unpatched) vulnerability in Adobe’s ever-present PDF Reader/Acrobat software to hijack data from compromised computers. According to an advisory from Adobe, the critical vulnerability exists in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.2 and earlier versions. It is being exploited in the wild.

Off Topic:

GM Offering In-Vehicle Hotspot on Select Models – Got a carpool of people who would rather get work done on spreadsheets than talk? Good news for those 1 to 4 passengers with you because GM will officially offer in-vehicle Wi-Fi on select Chevrolet vehicles.

For Your Convenience: “Man”-ly Movies Flow Chart – By our count, there have been at least eight different “Man”-ly movies this year, and at least one more high profile one coming in 2010. How can anyone be expected to tell any of the “men” apart, especially when so many of them wear the glossy sheen of Oscar bait? They can’t, which is why we threw together this diagram to clear up any confusion and help you pick the right “Man” to suit your movie needs. (Submitted by Dar)

Computer Enhancers – Dozens of improvements to, totally meaningless, or humorous (intentional and otherwise), computer messages. (Submitted by Dar)

Ameriquest’s 5 ‘Don’t judge quickly’ Commercials – Hillarious and Cute YouTube videos. (Submitted by Dar)

Today’s Quote:

“One of the intentions of corporate-controlled media is to instill in people a sense of disempowerment, of immobilization and paralysis. Its outcome is to turn you into good consumers. It is to keep people isolated, to feel that there is no possibility for social change.”

–     David Barsamian

Today’s Free Downloads:

Memory Fox 1.04 – Memory Fox keeps an eye on your browser’s memory usage and notices when Firefox starts edging toward user-preset resource limits. When it does, the extension springs into action, automatically flushing your memory to recover space and keep your browser from slowing down.

We Wish You a Mellow Christmas – Feeling stressed during the holiday season? Worn out from all that shopping and gift-wrapping? Take a few minutes to play one of these Christmassy games, or relax with a soothing screensaver. We’ve also got a free Christmas countdown clock, just in case you need reminding.

EASEUS Todo Backup – Although Easeus Todo Backup isn’t the best imaging/backup program out there, it has by far the best price–free. Easeus Todo Backup won’t schedule, overwrite previous jobs, or do incremental backups. But for anyone willing to back up and cull backups manually, this program has a lot to recommend it.

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Google’s CEO’s Privacy Statement – A Freudian Slip?

In a recent interview with CNBC, Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt, made the following assertion on Internet privacy: “If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place…………………….” A statement, in my view, that is essentially the equivalent of moralistic claptrap.

Moreover, it’s a statement which translates easily into that foolishly held belief, “If you’ve done nothing wrong – you have nothing to worry about.” The truth is, the realities of the world we now live in continue to emphasize; despite the fact you have done nothing wrong – you have everything to worry about.

Consider this:

Disk wipe utilities, disk cleaning utilities, and file shredding utilities, are among the most popular free downloads on the Internet.

Most web Browsers offer a private browsing mode.

Encryption software is often advertised as a way to protect private, personal, or sensitive files.

Anonymizer applications, such as Hotspot Shield, are advertised as a way to protect a user’s online identity.

While there are multiple uses for the software applications, or application options, described above, a primary use of such software is to ensure a certain level of privacy. Of course, if you’ve done nothing wrong you don’t need to use these applications, right?

You have your own reasons for seeking out privacy of course, in both your private and your online life, and I wouldn’t begin to presume to query, or to comment on those reasons. But, I seriously doubt it’s because you’ve done something “wrong”. Instead, it comes down to a fundamental human need – and the need for privacy is fundamental to who we are.

Noted security guru Bruce Schneier, puts it in a relevant context when he says:

“Privacy protects us from abuses by those in power, even if we’re doing nothing wrong at the time of surveillance. If we are observed in all matters, we are constantly under threat of correction, judgment, criticism, even plagiarism of our own uniqueness.

We become children, fettered under watchful eyes, constantly fearful that — either now or in the uncertain future — patterns we leave behind will be brought back to implicate us, by whatever authority has now become focused upon our once-private and innocent acts. We lose our individuality, because everything we do is observable and recordable”.

The Internet is a reasonably true international digital representation of our world. A world with conflicting views on what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s socially acceptable and what’s not, and with varying degrees of both the recognition of, and the need for personal privacy.

For Eric Schmidt to state that he has the answer to this privacy riddle, in a highly complex world, or to assert his moralistic view as to what we should or shouldn’t do, is hardly the perspective one would expect from someone in his position.

He may be a whiz bang when it comes to search engines, but I suggest that he’s a dud when it comes to the psychology of human beings.

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Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – December 15, 2009

Lifehacker: Most Popular Free Windows Downloads of 2009 – We’ve featured hundreds of free Windows applications over the course of 2009 that we hoped might bolster your productivity, workflow, or your PC usefulness in one form or another. Here’s a look back at the most popular Windows downloads of the year.

Restore the Quick Launch toolbar in Windows 7 – Windows 7 offers many improvements over XP and Vista, but the absence of the Quick Launch toolbar isn’t one of them. Here’s how to get it back.

Gaming in Windows 7 – One of the least-talked about parts of Windows 7–an OS we talked about a lot this year–is how it does as a gaming platform. That’s surprising, considering it actually has a lot to offer on that front. More on Windows 7, gaming and DX 11 in this report.

Visa Targeted (Again) by Zbot Phishers – The gang of malware distributors who are currently flooding the Internet with bogus Facebook “Update Tool,” CDC “H1N1 Flu Vaccination Profile,” and IRS “Tax Statement” emails and Web pages are at it again – this time, targeting Visa with a fake email alert that leads to a page hosting not only a Trojan-Backdoor-Zbot installer, but that performs a drive-by download as well.

Globalizing the Fight against a Hostile Internet – Two leading security vendors are calling for the creation of a cyber police force to combat the rising tide of cross-border attacks. How do you feel about being deputized in this international effort?

Understanding the Windows Pagefile and Why You Shouldn’t Disable It – As a tech writer, I regularly cringe at all the bad tweaking advice out there, and disabling the system pagefile is often a source of contention among geeks. Let’s examine some of the pagefile myths and debunk them once and for all.

Google’s Schmidt Roasted for Privacy Comments – An Internet privacy watchdog has blasted Google chief executive Eric Schmidt for his comments on Internet privacy, saying his remarks suggest Google misunderstands basic lessons about why privacy is important.

Mozilla Endorses Bing Over Google Privacy Issues – A Mozilla official last week pointed Firefox users to the extension that adds Microsoft’s Bing search engine to the list of the browser’s search engines after Google’s CEO downplayed consumers’ privacy concerns.

Off Topic:

Bruce Schneier’s essay on the value of privacy – We do nothing wrong when we make love or go to the bathroom. We are not deliberately hiding anything when we seek out private places for reflection or conversation. We keep private journals, sing in the privacy of the shower, and write letters to secret lovers and then burn them. Privacy is a …….

The Learned Helplessness of Windows: Where are the Pliers? – Manufacturers make the sealed compressor of a refrigerator off limits to tinkerers like me. I respect that – it is probably easier, cheaper, and even more efficient to make it a unit rather than an assembly of replaceable parts. But Windows is a somewhat different story. Microsoft does its level best to make the OS a sealed unit, but I suspect their motive in doing so is to assure the system remains fully proprietary. (Submitted by Dar)

Marketing the 787 Dreamliner – Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner Gallery to seduce customers is imbued with nature themes and symbols. It’s all part of marketing 787 luxury to airline customers.

How to Buy a Laptop, Period – Shopping for a laptop, but completely baffled by the myriad options available on the market? We clear through the clutter to guide you to your perfect laptop. Check out our full buying guide.

Man Pleads Guilty to Smuggling 44 Rare Lizards in Underpants – According to the court record, the man had altered his underwear with eight hand-sewn compartments in order to carry 24 geckos and 20 skinks. One more lizard, the luckiest of the bunch perhaps, was later found hidden in the man’s suitcase. By the way, the flight from New Zealand to Europe is approximately 26 hours. (Insert ‘drain the lizard’ joke here.) (Submitted by Dar)

Today’s Quote:

“Read, every day, something no one else is reading. Think, every day, something no one else is thinking. Do, every day, something no one else would be silly enough to do. It is bad for the mind to be always part of unanimity”.

–     Christopher Morley

Today’s Free Downloads:

FreePrintable.net – If there’s a young child in your life expecting a letter from Santa Claus, you can lend a hand by downloading and printing one from my site, SantaPrintables.com. And speaking of Christmas printables, this issue of the FreePrintable.net newsletter includes a roundup of the gift tags, coloring pages, stationery, certificates and other fine printables.

Hulu Desktop Integration – Hulu Desktop is an experimental, Hulu Labs-devised app that gives you a remote-controllable interface for the TV-streaming service. Just one problem: You have no way to reach that interface from within Windows Media Center. Enter the free Hulu Desktop Integration download, which adds a Hulu Desktop icon to WMC.

LinkExtend – LinkExtend is a Firefox toolbar that displays a wide variety of information about the Web sites you visit. Whether you’re trying to protect your computer from malicious programs or your children from inappropriate content, LinkExtend can help you stay safe on the Web.

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Take Control of Your Home Page With Symbaloo

Popular guest writer Rick Robinette, has a knack for finding great free applications – applications that make the Internet experience smoother and more interesting. Read what Rick has to say about his most recent find – Symbaloo.

I don’t know what it is, but I have an obsession for program launchers and web launchers. I guess it comes from my past experience as an IT Manager where I found out early on that customizing an end users PC with shortcut toolbar menus to their apps, saved them and me a whole lot of headaches.

Even today, I find myself testing various launchers to see if I can make my PC and internet experience all that more efficient and easier. This is where Symbaloo comes in…

Symbaloo is an online cloud app that is designed to make your web experience more accessible. From my experience I have found that the everyday home computer user is a big creature of habit and will usually visit the same web sites over and over using their browser bookmarks or favorites.

Occasionally, this creature of habit will stray from the comfort zone and visit other places. If you are one of those creatures of habit, then Symbaloo will make your life a whole lot easier.

Symbaloo allows you to customize your very own start page (or home page) that tiles your favorites, rss feeds, etc… in the form of icons, on one page. You can even upload and use your own icons if you desire.

If you are familiar with “speed dial” in the Opera and in the Firefox browser (as an extension), then you will relate to Symbaloo. Only difference is that Symbaloo is much more attractive (and configurable) AND can be accessed from any PC where there is internet access.

For example, below is a small screenshot of my Symbaloo desktop page (that is still under construction).  When I launch my browser (Firefox, Chrome or Internet Explorer), this page is the first page I see. From my Symbaloo desktop page I can easily check all of my email accounts, my blog, perform searches, etc…

Another cool factor to Symbaloo is that you can make additional sub pages, that are conveniently tabbed across the top of Symbaloo. For example, I am currently working on a second page that will contain RSS feeds to everyone that is on the What’s On My PC blogroll.

There is a little bit of a learning curve to using Symbaloo, but once you get it down you will not regret it.  One area where I experienced brain lock was on how to edit, delete, or move/copy the tiles.  What you do is drag the tile to the middle of the tiled area (in the white) and it will automatically provide you with options to perform those tasks.

If you are a Firefox user, there is a Symbaloo Bookmarker browser extension that will allow you to rapidly (and automatically) bookmark sites to your Symbaloo desktop.

The only way to give this a try is to visit Symbaloo and play around with it.  Symbaloo is currently in beta; but, don’t let that stop you.  It has worked flawlessly for me. If you like it, sign up for a FREE account and start customizing your very own personalized internet launching point.

This is a guest post by Rick Robinette, who brings a background as a security/police officer professional, and as an information technology specialist to the Blogging world.

Why not pay a visit to Rick’s site at What’s On My PC. Like me, you’re sure to become a frequent visitor.

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Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – December 14, 2009

Five Best Startup Management Tools – You boot up your computer and you wait, and wait… and wait, as all sorts of programs, helper apps, widgets, and remnants of forgotten installations load. Grab one of these five popular startup managers and beat back the startup clutter.

Five Web-Centric Alternatives to Google Chrome OS – Google Chrome OS isn’t the first and only Web-centric OS out there. We look at five cloud OS alternatives.

Amazon EC2 cloud service hit by botnet, outage – The folks who run Amazon’s EC2 cloud service must be happy the week is nearly over. On Wednesday, security researchers for CA found that a variant of the infamous password-stealing Zeus banking Trojan had infected client computers after hackers were able to compromise a site on EC2 and use it as their own C&C (command and control) operation.

Facebook Privacy Changes Go Live; Beware of “Everyone” – The #1 social network has begun rolling out long-promised changes. Beware of the “everyone” option.

Ratings Scandal Kills More than 1000 iPhone Apps – Apple learns that developer’s highly-rated apps weren’t really so well regarded, and pulls them from the App Store.

15 Google Chrome Extensions You Might Enjoy – The Google Chrome team has released betas of Chrome for Mac and Chrome for Linux, satisfying a legion of users who shun Internet Explorer. Somewhat lost in the browser brouhaha was the official launch of the Chrome Extension gallery. Extensions let users customize the look and feel of Chrome, adding little features and gizmos as shortcuts to Web applications. Take a look at some popular extensions.

iPhone users are delusional, consultants say – Many people I know are frightfully attached to their iPhones. They treat them as if they were a peculiar and exotic lover, one they can hardly believe they have managed to seduce. The finely calibrated minds at Strand Consult have taken this analysis to a particularly simple conclusion: iPhone users are, the consultants say, really quite nuts.

Bug keeps some Office users from their files – Microsoft posted a warning on Friday that some copy-protected files may now be inaccessible from Office 2003.

Off Topic:

Digital Cameras With the Best Battery Life – Leave your charger at home, or get better mileage out of your AA batteries. Based on PC World Labs battery evaluations, here are 2009’s juiciest point-and-shoot cameras in terms of battery longevity.

Cohiba Gran Reserva, It’s Like Burning Money – I was shocked at the announcement of a new, extremely limited cigar: the Cohiba Gran Reserva, which is essentially a Siglo VI made with limited supply 5-year aged tobacco. I was even more so shocked when the price was announced, $125 per stick, making this even more expensive than the Fuente Fuente Opus X LBMF (CigarInspector.com review) cigar’s ~$80 per stick price tag pale in comparison. (Submitted by Dar)

3 bungee cords,2 spark plugs,1 rocker arm ($80,000-120,000) – Original parts of Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis, in which the famed pilot flew non-stop in 1927 alone across the Atlantic, will be auctioned at Bonhams New York auction house Dec. 15. Parts removed by Lindbergh engineer Kenneth Lane include shock absorber bungee cords, spark plugs and a rocker arm from the Wright J5-C Whirlwind that powered the flight. The auction house estimates the “lot” at $80,000-120,000. (Submitted by Dar)

Today’s Quote:

“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities”.

–    Voltaire

Today’s Free Downloads:

FixWin – Looking for a fix to a simple problem in Windows Vista or Windows 7? FixWin offers one-click solutions to dozens of Windows problems. Run the program and look through its menu for a description of your woe. When you find it, click a button, and your problem should be fixed.

LaunchBar Commander – Launchbar Commander adds one or more configurable bars to the top of the screen that offer quick access to folders, programs and files. If you’re a power user looking for a highly customizable launch utility and don’t want much eye candy, Launchbar Commander might be for you.

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Free Digital Scrapbook Artist – A Crafty Application

I’m going more than a little off topic this morning, to talk about Scrapbooking. Not because Scrapbooking is one of my interests – it doesn’t exactly go hand in glove with the practice of Internet security. But hey, there are days when I get a little tired of being the “Bad News Bear”, and as we all know, “a change is as good as a rest”.

I keep watch on the free applications offered by SerifSoftware, a company that often offers older versions of their applications (still very functional, even if slightly out of date), and I noticed that the company is now offering a free scrapbooking application – Digital Scrapbook Artist.

Since I’m familiar (in a limited way), with a Scrapbook site Audrey Pettit’s Weblog (A Peek Into My Scrappy World), I decided to take a look at Digital Scrapbook Artist, and scrapbooking. It turns out this is a hobby that is widely practiced, and one that has millions of fans. Who knew?

Some surprising statistics from Wikipedia:

Over 25 million people in the United States alone, consider themselves to be scrapbookers.

Almost 30% of all U.S. households have at least one family member who scrapbooks.

Scrapbooking is the fastest growing sector of the craft and hobby industry, and now considered to be the third most popular craft in the nation. From 2002 to 2004, sales of scrapbooking products increased by over 27% across the United States.

As of 2003, there were over 4,000 independent scrapbook stores in the United States. Most major craft stores such as Hobby Lobby and Michaels Crafts, also have extensive selections of scrapbooking supplies.

I’m not a scrapbooker, so there would be no point in me testing this application – so I’ll leave it to SerifSoft to convince you that this application is worth taking a look at. How far wrong can you go with FREE?

From SerifSoft:

Digital Scrapbook Artist Compact is a completely free download and will help you to quickly and easily transform your photos and memories into wonderfully personal artwork that you will cherish forever.

• Not a trial version! 100% free, fully functional software.
• Incredibly easy to use, fun and fast.
• Suitable for everyone, regardless of experience.
• Choose any page size, including card templates.
• Share with family and friends quickly and easily.

Download now, and you’ll soon be able to create scrapbooks, beautiful digital albums, invitations and greetings cards without having to spend a penny on materials or wasting any time.

We’ve included a mini digikit to get you started, and there’s a selection of free themed kits for you to download at DaisyTrail.com!

What The Press Say…

“Finally, a software program for digital scrapbooking is available that is exactly what I was looking for. You will love how easy it is to get scrapbooking”

Rebecca Ludens, About.com (5/5)

“If you love to scrapbook, this is perfect software to get! Why keep those photos locked up on your computer, when you can bring them to life with Digital Scrapbook Artist.”

Tanya Gordon, Mommy Goggles

“This brilliant software offers endless potential for creating fantastic layouts – A must-have crafting resource!”

Kate Hemmings, Crafts Beautiful Online Editor

Download at: SerifSoft

System requirements: Any Windows PC

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Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – December 13, 2009

Cloud Hacking Service Steals Wi-Fi Passwords in 20 Minutes – For $34, a new cloud-based hacking service can crack a WPA (Wi-Fi Protected Access) network password in just 20 minutes. If WPA Cracker customers find the $34 price tag too steep, they can use half the cluster and pay $17, for what could be a 40-minute job.

McAfee Total Care Fixes Your PC Remotely – Computer problems caused by malware can sometimes be too tricky to fix on your own. But you don’t have to drag your PC to an in-store technician. McAfee’s new Total Care services connect you with experts who can fix your PC without your having to leave the house.

Watch what’s new in Thunderbird 3 – Thunderbird 3 is finally here for Windows, Mac, and Linux, after a gestation period measured in years. Take an introductory tour in this First Look video of the latest improvements, including robust integrated search, tabbed e-mail reading, and a slick new account wizard.

How to Buy a Digital Photo Frame – Follow our five simple rules to find a frame that delivers sharp images and great features at a pleasing price.

Lifehacker: Most Popular Photography Hacks of 2009 – Whether making your own lens hood, breathing like a sniper to get a blur-free photo, or angling your body to look the best in pictures, we shared some great photography hacks this year.

Dangers on the web – Planning to avoid the H1N1 virus by staying out of the shops and trading online? Be sure you’re not exchanging one kind of infection for another, warns a video produced by Comodo. Malls are full of dirty door knobs and coughing strangers, but the Internet has its own dangers—clever programmers intent on separating visitors from their money.

I’ve got 668 ‘friends’ on Facebook… but I don’t know any of my neighbors – As I sit down with a cup of coffee to check my emails, my gaze shifts out of the window, where I notice a bald chap wheezing over a wheelbarrow two gardens away. I think he’s my neighbour – but I’m not sure.

Google Zipping Ahead With Real-Time Search – Google’s already talked up its integration of real-time results — read: Twitter — into its search engine. Now it’s making good on that pledge, and extending the benefits to its enterprise offering, according to a Datamation report.

Off Topic:

Patenting melon juice? Not if India gets its way – Fed up with foreign companies patenting traditional medicine from India, the country’s top scientific body is compiling a giant database of everything from yoga positions to medicinal fruit juice. The initiative has had early success since going public in February, repelling two foreign patent applications in July – one for a skin cream based on melon extract and another for a cancer medicine based on pistachios. (Submitted by Dar)

Top 10 Homemade Versions of Things We Love – Making your own versions of great food and clever gadgets is already rewarding, and if you play your cards right, the homemade route also comes with serious bragging rights. These 10 economical homemade creations—epicurean and electrical—should inspire some well-deserved praise.

Rudolph, the Red-Nippled Reindeer – I was walking through NYC today, and noticed an invasion of people dressed as Santa Claus. At least a hundred. I don’t know what they were up to, but none of their costumes were as good as the Red-Nippled Reindeer.

Ten Most Optimistic Car Names Of All Time – There are laws preventing automakers from making outrageous and false promises about their vehicles — but these laws don’t apply to car names.

Today’s Quote:

“Two paradoxes are better than one; they may even suggest a solution”.

–     Edward Teller

Today’s Free Downloads:

Avast Home Edition: Free Antivirus – This impressive software provides the same steadfast protection of well-known antivirus programs, yet it’s surprisingly free.

Foxit Reader – To put it gently, Adobe Reader is a real pain in the hindquarters. It’s monstrously large, slow to load, and includes many features most users will hardly ever need. Foxit PDF Reader 3.0 kills the bloat and throws in some useful features, such as multimedia support and content-sharing options, while still allowing you to quickly access your PDFs.

Smart Defrag 1.30 – It’s hard to stand out in the crowded field of defraggers, but SmartDefrag is able to do so with an unexpected twist. Along with quick analysis and scans, SmartDefrag boasts an automated defragger that continually defrags the files that you use the most, and does it without becoming a persistent drag on your system resources. When running in the background, the program only eats up 14MB of RAM, so it’s possible to run it smoothly on older machines.

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SnoopFree Privacy Shield – Free Keylogger Protection

Keylogger malware, delivered by Trojans, and often incorporating rootkit technology, seems to be on the increase lately; much of it focusing on stealing victims’ banking credentials, including passwords. MMORPG (online multiplayer games), appear to be particular targets; especially WOW (World of Warcraft).

This type of malware is designed to remain undetected, and to be as stealthy as possible so that it can get on with its designated task, which most often results in identity theft and the compromising of the victim’s financial data.

Keyloggers are one of the most sinister types of malware; the type of malware that I pay particular attention to, and make a special effort to guard against.

A software keylogger, or system monitor, is a small program (not always malware, I should point out), that monitors every keystroke a user types on a computer’s keyboard.

This type of application does not necessarily require physical access to the user’s computer. It can be downloaded by someone who wants to monitor activity on a particular computer, or it can be downloaded unwittingly, as malware and executed as part of a rootkit, or a remote administration (RAT) Trojan horse.

Keyloggers are not restricted to software applications however, and are available as a connected hardware device designed for legitimate purposes.

From Wikipedia:

Hardware keyloggers are used for keystroke logging by means of a hardware circuit that is attached somewhere in between the computer keyboards and the computer, typically inline with the keyboard’s cable connector.

More stealthy implementations can be installed or built into standard keyboards, so that there’s no device visible on the external cable. Both types logs all keyboard activity to their internal memory, which can subsequently be accessed, for example, by typing in a secret key sequence.

A hardware keylogger has an advantage over a software solution; because it is not dependent on installation on the target computer’s operating system, it will not interfere with any program running on the target machine and also cannot be detected by any software. However its physical presence may be detected, for example if it’s installed outside the case as an inline device between the computer and the keyboard. Some of these implementations have the ability to be controlled and monitored remotely by means of a wireless communication standard.

A malware keylogger typically consists of two files: a dynamic link library (DLL) file (which does all the recording) and an executable file (.EXE) that installs the DLL file and triggers it to work. The keylogger program records each keystroke and uploads the information over the Internet.

Luckily, there are remedies for this type of malware threat.

SnoopFree Privacy Shield is a free powerful application that guards your keyboard, screen, and open windows from all such spy software. It makes it virtually impossible for any spy program to work on your computer since SnoopFree Privacy Shield’s protection works against spy software in real time.

I have been using this application for quite some time on my Windows XP machine, (unfortunately it only works on XP), and I have been amazed at the number of programs that have requested access to my keyboard and screen, particularly programs that I was in the process of installing.

Since I test a lot of applications on this particular machine, I see this type of program behavior frequently. Unless there are valid reasons for this type of access, I don’t allow it. Surprisingly, in most cases the application installs correctly. Curious!

If you’re serious about keylogger protection and maintaining your privacy, then you should consider adding this free application to your security toolbox. If you need more convincing, take a look at the “comments” page on CNET.

System Requirements: Unfortunately, this application works on Windows XP only.

Download at: Download.com

If anyone knows of a similar free application that works on Vista and above, I would appreciate you letting me know

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Get Cooliris – You Don’t know What You’re Missing

If you don’t have Cooliris installed on your computer, you could be missing out on the best of what the web has to offer.

Web 2.0 has given us new and exciting ways to utilize the and interact with the Internet. I have to admit, when I stop to consider the benefits of Web 2.0, and the applications that got us here, one of the first applications that comes to mind is Cooliris.

Sure, we have Twitter and FaceBook, but in my view, these are just two of the social utilities that have been overhyped to the max, and which continue to be, along with many other social networking applications, natural gateways for cybercriminals.

Cooliris, on the other hand, is a wonderfully fluid and superbly crafted free add-on for Safari, FireFox, and Internet Explorer, which allows me to interact with the Internet in ways I never considered possible on a web browser.

What the developers have to say:

“It’s simply the fastest and most stunning way to browse photos and videos from the Web or your desktop. Effortlessly scroll an infinite “3D Wall” of your content without having to click page to page, whether you’re on Facebook, Google Images, YouTube, Flickr, Picasa, Kodak Gallery, or any supported site. Or channel surf the latest news, TV episodes, movies, and music videos – all from within Cooliris”.

Expand your own Internet horizons, download and install Cooliris, and while you’re at it, if you’re a FireFox user, download Cooliris Previews (almost 9,000,000 downloads to date). You’ll be glad you did.

Fast facts:

Search

It’s the fastest way to search Google Image Search, YouTube, Flickr, Hulu, online retailers, and other sites. Zip through search results on the 3D Wall with our search function. Switch engines effortlessly without having to re-enter the search term.

Works with hundreds of sites

Cooliris is built around the industry standard Media RSS format, and works on hundreds of sites across the Web.

Slideshows

Double clicking an image or pressing the toggle button brings you to full screen slideshow mode. There, you can play, pause, fast forward, and rewind at will.

Channels: News & Entertainment

Hulu, ESPN, BBC, SonyBMG, MSN, and more …Catch the latest news, sports, and entertainment. Even enjoy full-length movies and TV episodes.

Preferences

Customize the look and feel of Cooliris – modify the number of rows, background image, wall angle, slideshow speed and more!

Local File Support

Quickly find and view photos stored on your computer. Enjoy images from your Hard Drive, Desktop, iPhoto, and more.

Sharing

Share stuff with friends by dragging and dropping content from the 3D Wall. You can share as many items as you’d like, and even add a personal message.

3D Window Shopping

Window shop some of the world’s largest retailers by comparing products visually on the Cooliris 3D Wall. Highlight an item to learn the price or click the shopping cart icon to jump to the corresponding product page of the retailer.

Jump to Page

A picture tells a thousands words, but sometimes you just want to see the detailed story behind it all. Cooliris makes that easy. A click of a button lets you toggle between Cooliris and the corresponding web page of any item.

System Requirements: Windows XP, Vista, OSX: Mac OS X: 10.5-10.6.x (operates in 32-bit browser mode), Linux: Ubuntu 8.04+, Fedora 10.0+, OpenSuse 11+

Download at: Cooliris

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