Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – November 18, 2011

Lifehacker: How to Turn Your Webcam Into a Streaming, Motion-Detecting Surveillance System – You don’t need expensive software or a new camera to keep an eye on things at home. Whether you’re looking after your dog or trying to catch burglars in the act, you can put together a home security system with a regular webcam and your PC.

25 Awesome Mods for Modern Games – Nothing speaks to the power and flexibility of the PC platform quite like game modding. Dedicated groups of hardcore fans toil for months on end to bring us a massive offering of new gameplay modes, tweaks, rebalances, texture packs, content packs, and total conversions that improve, expand, and transform the games we love.

How to Transfer Files To and From the iPad – Ready to put your iPad to work? Helen Bradley explores the options for moving content from your iPad to your PC or Mac and back.

Linux Mint: The new Ubuntu? – In the Linux world, a war has been raging for a couple years. At stake are the hearts and minds of its user base, the combatants the various distributions of Linux itself. For some time, Ubuntu Linux has been the clear leader in the fight, amassing more users than any other — and then it released Unity.

The Best Kindle Fire Apps – Got a new Amazon Kindle Fire? Download these 16 apps from Amazon’s Appstore first as your starter kit, then teach yourself a neat workaround that lets you download apps from other Android app market places, so you’re not limited to Amazon.

10 things you shouldn’t do when running network cable – Improperly installed cabling can cripple network performance, create maintenance headaches, and lead to hidden costs. Here’s where things can go wrong.

Researchers Discover Link Between TDSS Rootkit and DNSchanger Trojan – The infamous TDSS rootkit is known for its versatility, as it has been put to work in drive-by downloads and a wide range of malware-based targeted attacks. Now it appears to have been the delivery mechanism for the DNSchanger Trojan, according to Dell Secureworks.

Gmail App for iOS Fixed, Says Google – Google fixes the push notification flaw in its native Gmail for iPhone application, re-releasing it to Apple’s App Store Nov. 16. The app has even more improvements than it did the first time.

How Google–and everyone else–gets Wi-Fi location data – Google doesn’t use StreetView cars to pick up Wi-Fi location data any more. They use your smartphones and tablets instead.

Browser Extension of the Week: Clearly – Translate web pages into a smooth, minimalist reading experience with Clearly.

Company News:

PayPal Debuts a Facebook App for Sending Money Between Friends – PayPal launched a new Facebook app called Send Money, allowing friends to easily exchange currency through the social network. The payment process requires a few steps, and for some reason you also need to send a card with it, but it’s a fully-integrated method of sending money to your friends.

Personal electronic signatures for everyone – DocuSign Ink helps consumers finish personal business faster by eliminating once and for all the hassles and costs of printing, faxing, scanning, and overnighting signed documents. Individuals can safely and securely drag and drop their legally binding signature and initials into documents, place text and check boxes to complete forms, and then return via email.

Skype Adds Facebook Video Chat – The release of Skype 5.4 Beta for Mac and Skype 5.7 for Windows adds the ability to initiate video chat with your Facebook friends. Using the Skype program, you’ll need to link to your Facebook account, then you’ll be able to quickly make a call to any Facebook friends online. It also adds smoother video rendering for Mac users and group screen sharing for premium Windows users.

Create a Wi-Fi hotspot anywhere – TP-LINK announced two new Portable Wireless N Routers, designed to provide high-speed Internet access anywhere you go. Both routers are ideal for connecting tablet computers, smart phones, portable gaming consoles, and other mobile electronic devices while on-the-go.

Off Topic (Sort of):

The future of cybersecurity in cars – The fact that the vast majority of modern vehicles contain multiple computers that regulate crucial things within the car is unknown to many, and the idea that those computers can be infected and manipulated by malicious individuals is something that still occurs only to security experts and those involved in the automotive industry.

Biggest Tech Flops of 2011 – Sure, some spectacular product debuts came this year, including the iPad 2, Kindle Fire and others. But it was also a year filled with embarrassments, gaffs and failures. Here’s a look at our roundup of the biggest technology turkeys.

Internet voting: Exactly what the 99% needs – Why is internet voting so slow to take off? Security is one aspect — but mostly, politicians are completely terrified of what it might do to the political landscape.

Student catches bullying teacher on cell phone video – A special needs student records his teacher in a highly bullying frame of mind via cell phone video. The teacher is suspended by the school.

Today’s Quote:

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.”

–    Eleanor Roosevelt

Today’s Free Downloads:

SlimBrowser 6.00.069 – SlimBrowser is a fast and secure internet browser for Windows fully loaded with powerful features. It starts up quickly and opens web pages right in front of you with minimum delay. It is designed to let you browse the Internet carefree by guarding your personal information and protecting your privacy.

Sandboxie Beta 3.61.04 – Tired of dealing with rogue software, spyware and malware? Worried about clicking unfamiliar Web links? Sandboxie runs your programs in an isolated space which prevents them from making permanent changes to other programs and data in your computer.

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Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – November 17, 2011

Facebook Porn Spam Attack: How to Protect Yourself – There are three simple steps to attempt to make your account secure again if you were a victim of the malware attack.

Google Intros Verbatim Search – Google recently announced the demise of the “+” search operator owing to low, and largely incorrect, use. Even though the search giant encouraged users to use double quotes instead, the move displeased a number of users. Now, Google has begun rolling out a new feature called Verbatim search.

Boxee Live TV: Another Way to Stick It to the (Cable) Man – I’m a cable-cutter. Since cancelling my Time Warner Cable subscription last year, I’m no longer spending $1,000-plus a year for a vibrant mix of programming…… Now the folks at Boxee, which teamed up last year with D-Link to launch the Boxee Box media streamer, have unveiled an add-on device for its customers–one that may make cord-cutting even more appealing.

DevilRobber Trojan returns, masquerades as PixelMator – DevilRobber, the latest Trojan to target Mac users, got updated. F-Secure researchers point out that the newly discovered Trojan is the third iteration of the malware (as indicated by its dump.txt file), and that it poses as the popular image-editing app PixelMator.

OpenSUSE’s new Linux distribution is for the clouds – It’s the season for major new Linux releases, and openSUSE is following on the heels of Fedora and Ubuntu with its latest Linux distribution.

Treasury shuts down mortgage scammers who used Google ads – The Treasury Department shut down 85 alleged online mortgage scams that advertised with Google to target struggling homeowners.

Nook Tablet already in stores: Let the cheap tablet war begin! – Some stores are already showing the Nook Tablet ahead of schedule, and the Kindle Fire is shipping early. The cheap tablet war is on!

Kindle Fire source code already available – The homebrew community is anxious to get hacking the two new cheap tablets, the Nook Tablet and the Kindle Fire. There is a big draw to getting good hardware at a cheap price, and then changing the software to add features missing on the tablet as released by the OEM. Amazon is making this homebrew effort as easy as possible, as it has already released the Kindle Fire source code.

Google to Allow Users to Opt Out of WiFi Location Mapping System – Google, which has faced a pile of criticism over its privacy policies and practices, especially as they relate to wireless and mobile devices, says it is changing the way that it maps people’s wireless access points in its efforts to provide accurate location information.

FBI, Security Vendors Take Down Hackers – Security vendors and federal law enforcement collaborated for five years to rid the world of a cyber-threat that let a criminal consortium collect millions from false advertisements.

Company News:

Intel Shows Off 50-Core MIC Chip, Touts Xeon E5 – Intel unveils the first of its MIC chips, the 50-plus-core Knights Corner, and its Xeon E5 “Sandy Bridge” processor, both of which will help the chip maker in its push toward exascale computing.

Microsoft ready to unveil new public-private cloud-migration tools, strategy – Microsoft is readying new server and management products to help the company shore up its private-to-public cloud-migration story.

Dell Kace launches ‘pay-as-you-grow’ pricing scheme – Summary: Dell Kace targets medium-sized business sector with a new appliance line that features enterprise capabilities.

HP’s Envy laptop lineup hits stores December 7 – HP targets gamers with the new Envy 15, Envy 17 and Envy 17 3D this holiday season. This aptly named laptop series from HP certainly has the potential to make your spec-conscious friends drool, but the base configurations that HP is announcing today for the Envy 15, Envy 17 and Envy 17 3D make these machines seem ho-hum — probably to minimize sticker shock — when they are anything but.

Off Topic (Sort of):

Infograph: How Old is the Earth in Pennies? – Young Earth creationists say the Earth is approximately 6,000 years old. Here are 6,000 pennies. However, scientists say the Earth is approximately 4.6 billion years old. What does that look like in pennies? Well, each block of pennies is about the size of a school bus. And we will need about 24 school buses of pennies to equal 4.6 billion years. (submitted by Michael F.)

Hearing on draconian new U.S. piracy legislation is under way – The bill, introduced by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) and a group of 12 other co-sponsors, aims to combat the threat of “foreign rogue sites” that enable and/or facilitate copyright infringement and to strengthen penalties against thieves of intelectual property.

The Glory Days of ‘High-Speed’ Downloads with Windows 95 [Humorous Image] – Plenty of time to enjoy a cup of coffee and then some! (submitted by Michael F.)

Six Signs That Workers Just Don`t Care Anymore – Workers are not so into work these days. After years of layoffs and being told to do more with less, and with few rewards for their efforts beyond hanging on to their jobs, their engagement level is the lowest in 15 years. “A significant number of employees are not motivated enough to provide extra effort beyond the job requirements and many anticipate leaving their employers in the near future,” says Pete Sanborn, talent and organization consulting global practice leader for Aon Hewitt.

Today’s Quote:

“Brain: an apparatus with which we think we think.”

–     Ambrose Bierce

Today’s Free Downloads:

VSO Downloader – Download YouTube and many other online videos, automatically detects and download videos as you surf with extra fast downloading.

Kaspersky TDSSKiller – Kaspersky Lab has developed the TDSSKiller utility that allows removing rootkits. A rootkit for Windows systems is a program that penetrates into the system and intercepts the system functions (Windows API).

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How to Speed Up Your Downloads

Twiddling your thumbs while you download? Then read on. Guest writer Jared Scott describes a solution you may not yet have considered.

Do you ever find yourself in a rush for no reason?

Sometimes I find myself glaring at the microwave impatiently waiting, as if it is plotting against me in some attempt to keep me from eating.

It’s easy to forget that just having the ability to microwave something is an advance in food preparation and the time it takes.

Improvements in technology have spoiled us.

Our generation is on the go like never before. We are always mobile, always looking for the fastest option.

I get angry at my computer daily for almost the same reasons I do my microwave. While it is not withholding food from me, it is stealing my time. It keeps me hostage while it restarts, slowly returning to a functional state.

If you have ever used a computer this is something you have probably experienced and can relate to as well.

Another time consuming task that I prefer not to spend my time doing is downloading.

Have you ever downloaded something before and it seems to take an eternity?

This is another frustrating problem that is usually the result of a slow or weak internet connection. Sometimes I find myself counting with the “Percentage Complete” pop-up window as I download updates for my computer.

Downloads can take an even larger amount of time depending on the size of the file.

Sometimes I have left my computer downloading something overnight only to find it still in progress the next morning.

If we have these super fast Internet connections with all this bandwidth, it seems like a shame not to be able to use them to their full capabilities.

Usenet – The past is the future.

Most people remember Usenet as the original social network. The Facebook of its day.

The modern Usenet however is a powerful storehouse of information that allows you to download as fast as your internet connection will allow.

By providing you a direct (encrypted) connection to a commercial grade server farm, you can push the limits of your Internet connection.

Peer-to-peer technologies clog up your speed by sharing connections with others.

With Usenet, you are connecting directly to the source and are not sharing anything with anybody else.

Like a fine wine, Usenet has certainly gotten better with age. Investments made by premium providers have allowed Usenet to move more than 9 Terabytes of information on a daily basis.

It has adapted to meet the needs of our modern world.

When Usenet first began it was a much like a social network. Users posted messages almost like posts in a web-based forum.

Usenet evolved to incorporate the ability for its users to upload all types of audio, video and image files as well.

While the World Wide Web became the place we get our “news” from, Usenet transformed into a global repository for information.

Usenet survives in a fast paced world because it satisfies our need for speed.

Not many things last in this world.

But when something works, it works. Usenet hasn’t been around for 32 years for any other reason. It has continued to evolve and compete with emerging technologies.

And if you are looking for speed in downloading, Usenet is second to none.

Jared Scott is the public outreach manager for Binverse.com a leading Usenet provider. You can follow his updates on Twitter.

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Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – November 16, 2011

3 Free Boot Discs to Rescue Your PC – A bootable rescue disc is a jack-of-all-trades and an indispensable tool that can fix a whole raft of PC problems. You definitely don’t want to be without one, and today’s your lucky day because our colleagues at ePlanetSecurity review three different discs — and they’re all free.

Facebook ‘Flooded’ With Pornographic, Violent Images – According to security firm Sophos, the social-networking site has been awash in objectionable material over the past 24 hours.

How to Remove Malware From Your Windows PC – Is your computer running slower than usual? Are you getting lots of pop-ups? Have you seen other weird problems crop up? If so, your PC might be infected with a virus, spyware, or other malware–even if you have an antivirus program installed on it. But you don’t necessarily need to call tech support or the geek across the street to scan for malware–I’ll show you how to do it yourself.

10 iOS Apps to Keep Your iPhone, iPad Safe From Hackers – Until recently, it was a challenge to find mobile-security applications specifically for the iPhone, iPad and the iPod Touch on the iTunes App Store. That is beginning to change. We take a look at the latest offerings that include applications designed to protect iOS devices when they are lost or stolen, secure personal data, scan Websites and detect malware-infected files.

How To Run Almost Any Android App on the Kindle Fire – The $200 Amazon Kindle Fire can run a wide range of Android apps. Here’s how to load apps not sold by Amazon onto the tablet.

Attackers Get Sneakier With Encrypted Malware – Malicious hackers in Brazil have for the first time created malware that uses encrypted blocks of code to sneak around antivirus programs.

Get an Early Taste of Linux Mint 12 – Just a week or so after revealing that Linux Mint 12 would be taking a hybrid approach to introducing GNOME 3, the project behind the free operating system on Saturday announced the debut of a release candidate of the software.

Microsoft Rethinks Automatic Windows Updates – Have you been a victim of the automatic Windows Update? Who hasn’t. Good news: Microsoft is finally taming its updates in Windows 8. Here’s how.

Assassin’s Creed Revelations Review Roundup – Let’s all do the animus one last time, says Ubisoft Montreal, in its revelatory wrap-up of assassin Ezio Auditore’s saga.

Chrome browser adds multiple user sign-in and syncing – Takeaway: Chrome is adding a personalized experience for shared computers, allowing multiple people to sync their settings, but be careful how you use it.

Fix-It Tips: Troubleshoot a BIOS Error, Create a Security First-Aid USB Drive – That scary CMOS message probably has a quick fix; free tool helps you create a USB recovery drive.

Company News:

RSA updates Data Loss Prevention Suite – RSA announced enhancements to its DLP Suite, a collection of risk-based data loss prevention products. The latest version offers enhancements that allow global organizations to better discover, monitor and manage risk from sensitive data loss across the infrastructure including smartphones and tablets.

Securely share files between PC, Mac, iOS and Android – Trend Micro released SafeSync, a tool for safe and simple synchronization. The new offering provides consumers an enhanced look and feel, simplified sync functionality and expanded support for Mac users. In addition to existing automatic sync, users can now drag and drop files and instantly sync a broad range of devices, including computers, smartphones and tablets, leading to easier access to all personal data.

Huawei Buys out Symantec in Joint Venture – Huawei Technologies will buy out the rest of a joint venture with Symantec for US$530 million, the companies announced on Monday. The venture, based in Hong Kong, was formed in 2008 to integrate Symantec storage and security software into appliances built with Huawei’s telecommunications equipment expertise. Symantec owns 49 percent of Huawei Symantec Technologies, while Huawei holds 51 percent.

Oracle Affirms Unix Commitment with Solaris 11 Release – When Oracle acquired Sun in 2010, there were some concerns about how the Solaris Unix operating system would be developed. Today those concerns were brushed aside as Oracle released its first Unix release, Solaris 11. The Solaris 11 release is being called the world’s first Cloud OS by Oracle executives, who tout the release’s new scalability, virtualization and management features.

Off Topic (Sort of):

25 Worst Passwords of 2011 – The annual list of the 25 worst passwords is out, based on actual compromises. After all these years, why are “monkey” and “qwerty” still on this list?

What hides behind the get-rich-working-from-home offers? – Do you ever get tempted to click on one of the myriad of work-from-home, get-paid-huge-money adverts that are littering the Internet? Do you ever wonder if those claims are true and how the scheme works? Well, the researchers from Microsoft’s Malware Protection Center have decided to educate users and warn them about the dangers of these scams, which often result in them paying for things that they can get for free.

Google WiFi Opt-Out Method Met with Skepticism – Google offers a way for users to opt out of having their WiFi routers included in its Location Server, but some believe the method is too complicated for most consumers.

French Energy Firm Sent Trojans to Spy on Greenpeace – The head of nuclear security at French energy giant EDF has been given a prison sentence and his company fined a stinging 1.5 million euros (US$2 million) after being found guilty of spying on environmental campaigners Greenpeace using Trojan malware.

Today’s Quote:

“A good listener is not only popular everywhere, but after a while he gets to know something.”

–     Wilson Mizner

Today’s Free Downloads:

Avira AntiVir Rescue System November 16, 2011 – The Avira AntiVir Rescue System a linux-based application that allows accessing computers that cannot be booted anymore. Thus it is possible to repair a damaged system, to rescue data or to scan the system for virus infections.

Dr. Web CureIT November 16, 2011 – Dr.WEB CureIt! is an antivirus and anti-spyware scanning tool that is developed on the Dr.WEB engine which will help you quickly scan and cure, if necessary, a computer without installation of the Dr.WEB Anti-virus.

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Free Paint.NET 3.5.1 – Maybe Not A Photoshop Killer But…….

This latest release of Paint.NET (October 9th, 2011), might not be quite Photoshop in disguise, but it’s a pretty serious contender.

While it can’t perform some of the more esoteric functions of Photoshop, it can certainly assist even an average photo hobbyist achieve spectacular results – results which are generally not achievable in a free photo application.

I’ve always been a big fan of Adobe Photoshop, the trendsetter/innovator for all photo editor and image manipulation software, but I stopped buying Photoshop at version 7, and in 2004 switched over to Paint.NET.

The downside of Adobe Photoshop, especially for typical users (other than its price – which is formidable), is it’s huge size on disk; it’s very challenging platform requirements, and an extreme learning curve which demands time and training.

Most of us don’t need the flexibility, or the power of a high end (read: expensive), photo editor. Instead, we’re generally looking for an application that’s small (at less than 4 MB, Paint.NET is small), fast, and free, with an intuitive interface that’s very easy to use; especially for those with only modest previous experience. Incidentally, for everyday basic photo manipulation, Irfanview gets a real workout on my machine.

You don’t have to take advantage of all of the powerful features built into this impressive application of course – see fast facts below. You can just stick to those tools you are most familiar with, including resizing, cropping, correcting red eye, flipping, and rotating. As well, you can perform a wide variety of additional image adjustments, including brightness, contrast, and applying special effects such as sharpen and blur.

Fast facts:

Interface – Simple, intuitive, and innovative user interface. Every feature and user interface element was designed to be immediately intuitive and quickly learnable without assistance. The interface is also enhanced for Aero Glass if you are using Windows 7 or Vista.

Performance – Extensive work has gone into making Paint.NET the fastest image editor available.

Layers – Usually only found on expensive or complicated professional software, layers form the basis for a rich image composition experience. You may think of them as a stack of transparency slides that, when viewed together at the same time, form one image.

Special Effects – Many special effects are included for enhancing and perfecting your images. Everything from blurring, sharpening, red-eye removal, distortion, noise, and embossing are included. Also included is our unique 3D Rotate/Zoom effect that makes it very easy to add perspective and tilting.

Adjustments – Adjustments are also included which help you tweak an image’s brightness, contrast, hue, saturation, curves, and levels. You can also convert an image to black and white, or sepia-toned.

Powerful Tools – The facilities for creating and working with selections is powerful, yet still simple enough to be picked up quickly. Other powerful tools include the Magic Wand for selecting regions of similar color, and the Clone Stamp for copying or erasing portions of an image. There is also a simple text editor, a tool for zooming, and a Recolor tool.

Unlimited History – Everybody makes mistakes, and everybody changes their mind. To accommodate this, every action you perform on an image is recorded in the History window and may be undone. Once you’ve undone an action, you can also redo it. The length of the history is only limited by available disk space.

Active Online Community – Paint.NET has an online forum with a friendly, passionate, and ever-expanding community. Be sure to check out the constantly growing list of tutorials and plugins!

Automatically Updated – Updates are free, and contain new features, performance improvements, and bug fixes. Upgrading to the latest version is very simple, requiring only two clicks of the mouse.

System requirements: Windows 2003, Vista, Server 2008, XP, Win 7 – NET Framework 3.5 SP1 (automatically downloaded with the application).

Languages: English, Chinese (Simplified), French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, and Spanish

Download at: Paint.NET

Plugins –  There’s a solid choice of plugins available. These plugins add new effects and the ability to handle new file types. You can check these out here.

Tutorials – Tutorials that describe the use of core features of Paint.NET such as tools, effects, and adjustments. Check them out here.

Unless you have extremely unusual image editing requirements that can only be met with Photoshop, Paint.NET should more than meet your needs, and then some.

BTW, Paint.NET v4.0 is targeted for release in 2012. Features planned for version 4.0 include a new UI, improved extensibility, revamped brushes and shapes system, antialiased selections, and adjustment layers.

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Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – November 15, 2011

Replace Windows Explorer with a free, feature-rich file manager – Bill Detwiler exmaines five free file managers that might make IT pros and power users dump Windows Explorer.

A Powerful, Free Firewall – With the 2012 edition, ZoneAlarm Free Firewall gets the same new look as the related antivirus and security suite products. Other than that, not much has changed. Its protection remains excellent.

5 Best Open Source Accounting Software for Small Business – Looking for an alternative to mainstream small business accounting software? We list the five best open source software programs — and their features — for small business accounting.

The Top 10 Best PC Games – In the hunt for a few hot PC games? Check out what you need to play right now. If you’re ready to PC game, check out the ten titles in our slideshow, which covers the action, sports, FPS, and RPG titles that will be red hot this holiday season. Think that we’ve overlooked a hot title? Sound off in the comment section below.

Will 12.04 changes bring Ubuntu back to prominence? – Jack Wallen looks at the rumored changes and updates for Ubuntu 12.04 and offers his perspective on how they might help or hinder Ubuntu’s rise to prominence in the Linux world.

Top five tips to avoid bad apps – Due to the fact that smartphones and tablets have eclipsed unit sales of desktop and laptop PCs, cybercriminals have set their sights on mobile and maliciously modified apps are becoming a more popular vector for infecting devices. Fortunately, there are some common sense practices that anyone can take to help protect their smartphones and tablets from the growing threat of malware and the persistent threat of unsecured devices.

Stolen Government Certificate Used to Sign Malware – F-Secure researchers claim that malware spreading via malicious PDF files is signed with a valid certificate stolen from the Government of Malaysia, in just the latest evidence that scammers are using gaps in the security of digital certificates to help spread malicious code.

Watch your smartphone on Black Friday – Credant Technologies announced the results of its most recent survey of the number of wireless devices lost and found at 15 of the busiest shopping malls in America. Nearly 2,200 hand-held devices were lost in 2011 at just those 15 malls, and surprisingly, half of all devices (1,100) were never claimed by their owners.

Mac OS X Sandbox Security Hole Uncovered – Researchers at Core Security Technologies have uncovered a security hole that could allow someone to circumvent the application sandbox restrictions of Mac OS X.

Company News:

Forensics for advanced threat activity – Damballa announced Failsafe 5.0, a solution that hunts for undetected threats by correlating a variety of observed network behaviors that indicate malware-infected devices (PCs, Macs, servers, smartphones, iPads, etc.) are communicating with criminals.

Apple’s iTunes Match Now Live – Apple on Monday launched its iTunes Match service, which allows for remote access to your music library from the cloud.

Adobe Shake-Up Zeros In on Digital Media, Marketing – Adobe Systems has announced a company restructuring that will include about 750 job cuts, primarily in North America and Europe. Company officials also announced plans to further align Adobe’s business around growth categories with products that support digital media and manage, measure and optimize digital marketing and advertising.

Endpoint Protector 4 – Advanced Endpoint Protection Software for SMEs – Endpoint Protector 4 helps your company protect the sensitive information and confidential data. As a full Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solution, Endpoint Protector 4 eliminates the risk of data theft and data loss. Furthermore, it acts as a complementary solution to your antivirus and the introduction of viruses or malware from infected removable storage devices is prevented.

Off Topic (Sort of):

Couple ordered to swap Facebook passwords in divorce case – A judge has ordered Stephen Gallion and Courtney Gallion to hand over their Facebook passwords to each others lawyers. The ruling means they have to violate Facebook’s terms of service.

Going VoIP-Only: Do You Still Need Cellular Voice Service? – Now that smartphones have Skype, Google Voice, and a dozen other mobile VoIP apps, why do consumers still need to pay monthly fees for voice service?

Privacy: Will Facebook Ever Get It? – With Facebook reportedly close to cutting a deal with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over privacy sins dating back to 2009, the question remains whether the social network’s brain trust really gets the privacy issue.

Android MP3 Piracy Rampant Amid Google’s Muddled Response – Google and the RIAA are in a snit over Android apps that allow you to download copyright protected music for free via Android devices.

Today’s Quote:

“It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.”

–      H. L. Mencken

Today’s Free Downloads:

XnView Standard – With XnView you can quickly and easily view, process and convert image files. XnView is able to read more than 500 different formats and then convert them to other formats such as GIF, BMP, JPG, PNG, multi page TIFF.

TestDisk & PhotoRec – TestDisk is a powerful free data recovery software. It was primarily designed to help recover lost partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error.

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TuneUp Utilities 2012 – The Classic Computer Maintenance Application

The Internet is awash in computer tuning tools – tools designed to help computer users manage, maintain, optimize, configure and troubleshoot their computer system. From freebies to shareware, to full-blown commercial products, the market is saturated with applications targeted at those who suspect that their PC is operating at less than maximum potential. That pretty well describes most of us, I should think.

Those of us who are technically competent are, I suspect, comfortable using any number of free system tools readable available for download on the Internet – tools that can act as a helpmate in tweaking and maintaining computers.

Now that’s very cool – if you’re a high end user. But, if you’re a “I know where the power button is” – type of user, you’ll need more than just a handful of freebie helpmate applications to assist you in tweaking and maintaining your computer.

Luckily, there are tune-up applications designed specifically for average users – applications that make it easy for a typical user to achieve the same level of high performance as a techie. One such application, an application which can rightfully be called a “classic” in it’s class, is TuneUp Utilities 2012.

I’ve tested every released version of TuneUp Utilities going back to 1997, and I’ve come to rely on it to help me get the very best out of all my machines. Despite the fact that I’m a huge fan of free software, there are times when only a commercial application will meet all of my needs in one interface.

Quick overview:

Following installation, you will have the opportunity to analyze your computer to search out issue that are negatively impacting performance.

For this test, I’ve installed TuneUp Utilities 2012 in Windows 8 developer edition with it’s hilariously absurd Metro interface.

An abundance of modules, shown in the Windows 8 screen shot (above), are available to analyze and repair, maintain and improve, and configure the operating system. The following screen capture, in Windows 7, shows a more familiar application module layout.

In step one of the test, I checked the system status and choose to allow the application to recommend improvements.

When the analysis phase is completed, system issues that require action can be dealt with easily and quickly.

Done! Virtually in the blink of an eye!

Fourteen days later, after running the 1-Click maintenance module intermittently, the following screen capture shows just a small number of issues which need to be corrected. Optionally, the 1-Click maintenance module can be set to run automatically which will ensure that any issues which arise will be dealt with immediately.

Common computer problems are a snap for TuneUp Utilities 2012 to deal with. Simply select the problem in TuneUp’s Repair Wizard and in a couple of clicks, the issue is resolved.

As with previous reviews of  TuneUp Utilities, I could go on and on describing the additional features that are included in this terrific application but, I think you get the point. This program is overwhelmingly inclusive, and provides virtually every tool and applet, that an average computer user is ever likely to need.

Is it worth $49.95 US for a 3 machine (many of us have more than one computer), license? In my view the answer is a definite – yes. TuneUp Utilities 2012 is easier to use than ever, is overwhelmingly inclusive, and provides virtually every tool and applet, that an average computer user is ever likely to need.

Take a free test run on TuneUp Utilities 2012 for 15 days, and see if you don’t agree that this is one commercial application that offers excellent value – $49.95 US for a 3 machine license.

System requirements: Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP (all 64 bit compatible).

Download a fully functional 15 day trial version at: TuneUp Utilities

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Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – November 14, 2011

Most Free Android Antivirus Apps Useless – Mobile security is getting a lot more attention these days, but how do you know all those free mobile security apps actually work? Turns out most don’t. The latest testing from AV-Test.org shows that some apps detect just 10 percent of threats!

How To Lock Down Your Wireless Network – Securing your wireless network is a simple process that costs nothing and could save you from a disastrous network breach down the road.

SyncToy – This great Microsoft freebie lets you keep folders on different PCs automatically synchronized. It’s perfect for synchronizing a laptop and desktop across a home network.

Hacker group Anonymous threatens cyber attack if city evicts Occupy Toronto – The hacker group Anonymous is standing up for Toronto’s Occupy movement. In a video released on YouTube (see it below), the group threatens to launch a cyber attack on the city if officials interfere with the month-long demonstration. The video says Toronto will be “removed from the Internet” unless the city promises to leave the protesters alone.

Apple’s iPhone 4S Battery Troubles Now Joined By New Problems – Apple is facing new gripes that its iOS 5.0.1 update is causing more problems with the iPhone 4S including: microphone failures, Wi-Fi signal loss, and cellular network reception issues, according to reports.

TTC Shelbyville Technical Blog: Run VirtualBox on a webserver as a cloud OS – Want to run VirtualBox on a webserver for training or need to run VirtualBox remotely on a webserver? Need VirtualOSs in the cloud? Download PHPVirtualBox.

AeroFS – For years now, Dropbox has been pretty much the gold standard of cloud-based file sync. Such a simple concept is bound to have plenty of competition, and indeed, the market is swamped with companies vying to sync files between your networked computers and other devices. I’ve tested several of these (most recently, SugarSync) and so far, have always come away disappointed. AeroFS promises to change that, and may give Dropbox a real run for its money. Currently in free but closed beta, AeroFS is open to the first two thousand PCWorld readers to use a special invitation code.

Holiday Laptop Buying Guide: Making Sense of the Specifications – Shopping for a laptop, but unsure what all those features mean? Here are the most important laptop specs to consider.

Microsoft updates Bing Webmaster Tools – Microsoft Bing recently refreshed their Webmaster Tools after seeking feedback from the web master community. Have you tried them? Here are the major updates.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Essentially, everything that was true about the previous games’ eye-popping open-endedness remains true here. You may pigeonhole yourself into traditional CRPG categories if you like: It’s no challenge to set yourself up as a warrior, a wizard, or a pickpocketing miscreant, of either gender, of any of ten species, and with just the physical and facial characteristics you desire.

Company News:

Panasonic Unveils Cloud-Based Small Business Telephony – With the Panasonic Cloud Business Phone System, Panasonic aims to make feature-rich telephony available to small businesses at an affordable price and without the need for dedicated IT staff.

Juniper Hit by Router Flaw – Juniper has enjoy strong success in the service provider market over the years. That success has resulted in a global footprint for Juniper routers. This week, that global footprint was affected by a software error that caused Internet slowdowns and outages.

Report: Amazon to Sell $79 Kindles at a Loss – It’s been widely reported that Amazon is willing to lose $10 a pop for every Kindle Fire it makes and now it appears that the online retail giant may also be planning to sell its $79 Kindle ereaders at a loss.

RIAA: Google Refused to Remove MP3 Download App – Google has refused requests to remove MP3 Music Download Pro, an extremely popular Android app which allows users to download copyrighted music onto their phones, according to the RIAA.

Google Adds Apture For In-Page Search in Chrome – Google confirmed it acquired in-page search specialist Apture for an undisclosed sum, a move to bolster the company’s search experience in its Chrome Web browser.

Off Topic (Sort of):

Cracked: 24 Things Other Countries Suspect About Life in America – There are lots of pretty ridiculous stereotypes about America. Americans who have traveled outside of the country, or encountered a European on “holiday” (the five months of paid vacation that comes standard with every job in the European Union) know this. We asked you to show us what it might look like if those stereotypes were totally true (instead of only sort of true).

British Researchers Set Out to Build Charles Babbage’s Steam Computer – British researchers announced plans this week to finally build Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine, a gear-based proto-computer conceived of but never constructed by the 19th century inventor.

Measuring the black web: Is cybercrime as big as its foes fear? – BIG numbers and online crime go together. One well-worn assertion is that cybercrime revenues exceed those from the global trade in illegal drugs. It is hard to know what to make of these numbers. Online crooks, like their real-world brethren, do not file quarterly reports. In the absence of figures from the practitioners, experts tend to fall back on surveys of victims, often compiled by firms that sell security software. These have a whiff of self interest about them: they are the kind of studies that get press released but not peer reviewed.

Going VoIP-Only: Do You Still Need Cellular Voice Service? – Now that smartphones have Skype, Google Voice, and a dozen other mobile VoIP apps, why do consumers still need to pay monthly fees for voice service?

Today’s Quote:

“Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”

–      Voltaire

Today’s Free Downloads:

Macrium Reflect Free – For free drive imaging, you can hardly beat Macrium Reflect Free Edition–as long as you don’t use dynamic (Windows software RAID) or GPT (Globally Unique IDentifier Partition Table) disks. Most users use basic and MBR disks, so Reflect Free Edition should do nicely where Windows won’t. Drive imaging means making a sector by sector copy of the data on your drive or partition and storing it in a single file.

Paragon Backup & Recovery Free Advanced Edition – Despite the long-winded moniker, BR2010FAE (pronounced by yours truly as Bur-Two-Ten-Fay, or Bur-Fay for short since I already know what year it is) is a very competent imaging/backup program with a number of useful features not commonly found in freebies. In fact, it’s a bit hard to believe that they give this thing away.

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Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – November 13, 2011

Seven useful Windows 7 tips and tricks – Tweaking Windows settings and using keyboard shortcuts can enhance the Windows experience. We’ll show you seven useful tips and tricks to help you get more out of Windows 7.

How to Run Android Apps on your Blackberry Playbook – Thanks to the clever coding efforts of a number of Blackberry enthusiasts, a little elbow grease, and some patience, you’ll end up with a RIM-built tablet that’s not only functional (finally), but also down right enjoyable to use.

Add-Ons to Power Up Outlook – Want to get more out of the world’s most-used email software? We have downloads designed to help you bend it to your will.

Plug in a USB cord the right way, the first time – Visualize yourself holding a USB plug. Now visualize yourself trying to put said USB plug into its port on your computer. Hmm, it didn’t go in? You must be holding it the wrong way; try turning it over. Still nothing? Odd, try it the first way again. Oh look, it fits now. This scenario is something a lot of computer users have gone through at least once. Wouldn’t it be nice if you didn’t have to spend time fiddling with the USB plug every. Single. Time?

How to Stop Telemarketing Calls to Your Mobile Phone – Everyone has encountered a telemarketing call. It may be a robocall directing you to vote for some political candidate, or perhaps some local organization seeking donations. But, most people are used to getting those calls on their home land line, not their mobile phones. Telemarketers are increasingly targeting mobile phone numbers, though, so here is what you need to do to stop–or at least minimize–those annoying calls.

Five things to know about the new Facebook – Facebook is getting major changes within the next few weeks that will alter the way you socialize online with friends. Here’s what the new Facebook interface will look like.

Six Deadly Security Blunders Businesses Make: Small, subtle mistakes can lead to big security breaches – Sometimes it’s the unknown or overlooked little mistakes that leave an organization wide open to attack: a missing hash mark in a server configuration, a long-forgotten PBX user account, or an embedded Web server in an office printer.

Why a Touchscreen PC Should Be Your Next Workstation – Touchscreen PCs have quietly arrived at a price most businesses can afford. Here’s why your business should make the leap from the traditional desktop PC.

Company News:

Best Buy’s Big Strategic Moves – Electronics retailer Best Buy has apparently seen the writing on the wall regarding the future of technology sales. Acknowledging the growth of both mobility and managed services, the company has made a series of strategic announcements. Here’s a look.

Google Music launching sans Sony, Warner – Google Music lines up Universal Music Group, the largest record company, for new download store. But it hasn’t obtained agreements from Sony and Warner.

With Hulu Plus and other partners, Kindle Fire besting the Nook – Amazon certainly isn’t settling for just promoting its own services and ecosystem on the Kindle Fire.

Apple selling unlocked, contract-free iPhone 4S – For those who don’t want to be bound by a single contract or carrier, the new iPhone 4S is now available from Apple as an unlocked phone selling at non-subsidized prices.

Off Topic (Sort of):

Why iPhone Irks Google Fans – For some, the battle over whether iPhone or Android is better amounts to a major dispute that’s full of haters on both sides. And while the iPhone is beloved by many users everywhere, some detractors will never understand its appeal. Here’s why Google fans still can’t stand Apple’s smartphone.

The Truth About Violence – “It is overwhelmingly likely that some of you will become the targets of violence in the future. The purpose of this essay is to help prepare you for it.” So begins a masterful blogpost that explains the essentials of self-defence.

Survey Shows Slack Security ‘Tudes – A new survey doesn’t bode well for end user attitudes about enterprise security: fewer than 40 percent of end users say they follow security policies at work and around 35 percent don’t consider it important to follow those policies.

Are We a Democracy? – Those who remember their civics classes will note that we have not a direct but a representative democracy (or a republic). But many Americans don’t think we are really “represented” by the people we elect, and, recently, the suspicion has grown that we in fact live in a plutocracy — a nation governed by the wealthy. But there are clearly also other elements that exercise political power over us.

Today’s Quote:

“History is littered with wars which everyone knew would never happen.”

– The late British politician Enoch Powell

Today’s Free Downloads:

MP3 Quality Modifier 2.2 – The main purpose is to change the bitrate of your mp3 music collection in a really simple but intuitive way so that the filesize can be dramatically reduced while the audio quality stays the same.

Calibre – Calibre provides all the elements you need to organize and manage an e-book collection. With a simple set of tools and a helpful layout, this program is a nice choice for any electronic reading lover.

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Free Linux Live USB Creator – Run Or Boot Linux From A Flash Drive

If you’re looking for a painless way to run Linux without having installed any one of 200+ distributions to your Hard Drive, or without having to boot from a Live CD, then open source Linux Live USB Creator could be the perfect tool. In a very simple process, Linux Live USB Creator will install any one of a huge range of Linux distributions to a USB drive.

After installing your chosen Linux distribution, either from an existing ISO on your HD, or exercising the option to download an ISO through Linux Live USB Creator, you will have several available options.

Option 1 –  Run LinuxLive USB directly within Windows in a virtual environment.

Option 2 – Boot directly from the LinuxLive USB key.

The following screen captures illustrate how a previously complex process has been streamlined, so that a competent average user should be able to breeze through the installation. For this review, I installed PCLinux from an ISO, previously stored on my HD, to an 8 GB Flash Drive.

Launching Linux Live USB Creator will take you to a colorful, “follow the bouncing ball” simple interface.

In less than 5 minutes the process is complete and I’m off to the races!

Well, sort of. In fact, immediately upon installation completion, you will be taken to the developer’s site for a quick heads-up on using Linux Live USB Creator.

As per the developer’s instructions, using Windows Explorer, I navigated to the newly installed VirtualBox folder on the USB drive, clicked on Virtualize_This_Key.exe, and sat back as PCLinux launched inside Windows in VirtualBox.

Now, how cool is that! No fuss, no muss, no knowledge of running a virtual system required.

As stated earlier, you have a huge selection of Linux distros to choose from. For this review I choose PCLinux since I had it hanging around on my HD – one of those “I’ll get to it when I can” downloads.

Fast facts:

Free and Open-source – LinuxLive USB Creator is a completely free and open-source software for Windows only. It has been built with simplicity in mind and it can be used by anyone.

No reboot needed – Are you sick of having to reboot your PC to try Linux? No need with LinuxLive USB Creator. It has a built-in virtualization feature that lets you run your Linux within Windows just out of the box!

Supports many Linux distributions – Ubuntu, Fedora, Debian, OpenSUSE, Mint, Slax, CentOS, ArchLinux, Gentoo, PCLinuxOS, Sabayon, BackTrack, Puppy Linux …

Persistence – Having a Live USB key is better than just using a Live CD because you can even save your data and install software. This feature is called persistence (available only on selected Linux).

SmartClean & SmartDownload – SmartClean uninstalls properly any previous Live USB installations and SmartDownload lets you download any supported Linux in 2 clicks automatically selecting the best mirror to download from. SmartClean also lets you clean your USB key in 1 click.

Intelligent processing – LiLi works with many Linux, even if they are not officially supported.

Hidden installation – LiLi hides the Linux installation, your USB key stays clean.

File integrity – tells you if your ISO is corrupted.

Keeps your data on your USB device.

Intelligent formatting – can format disks bigger than 32 GB.

Auto-update – automatic updates when new Linux distributions are available.

System requirements: Windows 7, Vista, XP

Download at: Linux Live USB

User’s Guide – This tutorial will show you how to create a Linux Live USB very easily.

Tested on Windows 8 (developer).

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