Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – November 24, 2011

Lifehacker: How to Fix Your Family’s Computer This Holiday So the Rest of the Year Is Easy – If you’re unable to get out of being your family’s on-call tech support this holiday season, there are some things worth doing on your family’s household PC if you do get roped into the job that will make your life a little easier year-round. Here are a few of them.

Free software runs Android apps via Windows XP – BlueStacks announced that a free alpha version of its software allowing Windows XP users to run Android apps is now downloadable. The BlueStacks App Player comes with ten apps and allows an additional 26 to be installed, while a related Cloud Connect service allows pushing apps from a user’s phone to his or her desktop PC, the company says.

Troubleshoot driver problems in Windows 7 with Driver Verifier Manager – Greg Shultz shows you how to use the built-in Driver Verifier Manager to troubleshoot driver problems in Microsoft Windows 7.

How Safe is WPA2-Secured WiFi? – Darryl Boyett asked if his home WiFi connection, which uses WPA2 protection, is safe enough for online banking.

Google Chrome Stable 15.0.874.121 Fixes JavaScript – Google has released Chrome Stable 15.0.874.121 for Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome Frame platforms fixing a single JavaScript flaw. The flaw is identified as CVE-2011-3900 and is rated as being high impact by Google.

DIY: Add Gnu command line goodness to your Windows machine – If you want to make the Windows command prompt more powerful without spending cash or jumping through too many hoops, Gnu On Windows is just what you need.

Fake Facebook account deletion warnings target users – An email supposedly sent by the Facebook Team warning users about them having violated the social network’s policies is currently hitting inboxes around the world. The offered link takes the potential victim to a phishing page mimicking a Facebook page, and asks them to divulge a lot of crucial personal and financial information.

Seven free or inexpensive file transfer apps and web-hosting providers – (FTP/SFTP) Core FTP LE is free Windows software that includes the client FTP features such as SFTP (SSH), SSL, TLS, IDN, browser integration, site to site transfers, FTP transfer resume, drag and drop support, file viewing and editing, firewall support, custom commands, FTP URL parsing, command line transfers, filters, and more.

The best apps for staying in touch – Technology has come a long way since the days of early communication tools. Scott Lowe offers this roundup of the apps he counts on to manage essential communications with friends, colleagues, and customers.

Company News:

Cirago USB to HDMI Display Adapter Review: Device Lets You Use an HDTV as a Second Monitor – With the Cirago adapter, you can easily move high-def content from USB to HDMI–but you have to make some quality compromises.

SmartRecruiters Adds Mobile to Free SMB Recruitment Tools – The San Francisco firm is on a mission to eradicate unemployment by helping small businesses find the right candidates for open jobs, and it has added free mobile career sites to its arsenal.

Cisco Jabbers About WebEx – Collaboration is all about making it easier for people to connect. That’s where a new set of Jabber messaging and WebEx collaboration solutions from Cisco are aiming to help, to make it easier and productive for enterprise users to connect and collaborate.

Nokia Siemens to Cut 17,000 Jobs Worldwide – Nokia Siemens Networks, a joint venture of Nokia and Siemens, said it plans to reduce its global workforce by approximately 17,000 by the end of 2013. These reductions are driven by the company’s plans to align its workforce with its new strategy of end-to-end mobile network infrastructure and services, with a particular emphasis on mobile broadband, as well as through a range of productivity and efficiency measures.

Off Topic (Sort of):

Google’s Turkey Day Doodle – Google’s doodle for Thanksgiving 2011 combines the best parts of the holiday: home-made crafts and turkey.

Glider Flight Across the Alps! – If you watch even a little of this, you will see what an incredible feat it is. (submitted by Michael F.)

Infographic: The price of a stolen identity – How much is an online identity worth to cybercriminals? This infographic shows how much money is involved in the industry of online identity thefts.

FIAT 500 Abarth – Seduction – Introducing the FIAT 500 Abarth… You’ll never forget the first time you see one. (submitted by Michael F.)

Today’s Quote:

“Do not make the perfect the enemy of the good”.

–    Voltaire

Today’s Free Downloads:

vReveal 3.1.3.12795 – Free software to organize, fix, edit, and share your videos. Unbelievably good looking results in seconds, not hours. Award-winning technology in a beautiful and intuitive package.

Spyware Terminator 3.0.0.50 – Spyware Terminator is a FREE, easy-to-use and effective spyware remover providing real-time protection against spyware, adware, keyloggers, trojan horses, browser hijackers and other malware threats.

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