Restore Your System When You Can’t Launch System Restore – System Restore automatically backs up the state of Windows and your installed programs (but not your data). When Windows misbehaves, System Restore allows you to return the operating system to a previous condition. So when System Restore misbehaves, you may be tempted to pick up your laptop and smash it into the wall. That’s not recommended.
A power user’s guide to the Windows 8 Consumer Preview – In this post, and the accompanying gallery. I want to share some of the little shortcuts, surprises, and secrets that only reveal themselves when you roll up your sleeves and use the new OS every day. These are things you might not discover on your own.
Are You Ready for YouTube in 3D? Well, It’s Coming Anyway – YouTube has had a tool in beta for awhile now that lets people convert their own videos into 3D. Now, however, it will be doing all of the work for you, meaning your smartphone masterpieces will eventually be converted for all the world — or the small percentage who have 3D glasses at home for some reason — to marvel at.
Sky News Admits, Defends Email Hacking – U.K.-based news organization Sky News Thursday admitted to hacking the email account of a criminal suspect, but defended the move as “editorially justified.”
Microsoft readies patch for gaping IE browser security holes – Microsoft plans to ship a high-priority Internet Explorer update next Tuesday to fix gaping holes in the world’s most widely deployed web browser. The security holes in Internet Explorer could be exploited remotely by malicious hackers to launch remote code execution attacks, Microsoft warned. Vulnerabilities with a “critical” rating can typically be exploited to launch drive-by download attacks if a user simply surfs to a booby-trapped web site.
How to protect yourself online in three easy steps – Although the Web can feel like the Wild West at times, with gunslingers everywhere looking to separate you from your privacy, your log-ins, and your cash, there are some concrete steps you can take to avoid dem long-eared galoots.
Need the Most Life from Your Laptop’s Battery? Use IE, Not Chrome – We regularly test the four most popular browsers for speed, but what about battery life? If you’re on a laptop, an extra 20 minutes can make a pretty big difference. Weblog 7Tutorials did a battery life test of each browser, and found that Internet Explorer was the most likely to give you a noticeable battery boost.
When you don’t trust Windows for online shopping and banking – What I wrote about nearly three years ago still applies today. The best way to do this is to load a Linux distro onto a CD/DVD or USB flash drive and use that for banking and online shopping. I recommend using a CD/DVD because absolutely nothing can be written to the disc. It’s not an ideal setup because it can be a hassle, but it will offer you a significant level of protection.
Mac Botnet Infects More Than 600,000 Apple Computers – More than 600,000 Apple Mac computers worldwide—more than half of them in the United States—have been hit by a new fast-moving variant of the Flashback Trojan malware that uses Javascript code rather than relying on user interaction, according to security researchers.
Campaign Targeting Syrian Activists Escalates with New Surveillance Malware – We have reported on several Trojans, which covertly install spying software onto the infected computer, as well as phishing attacks which steal YouTube and Facebook login credentials. The latest surveillance malware comes in the form of an extracting file which is made to look like a PDF if you have file extensions turned off. (recommended by Michael F.)
Easter eggs, with a side order of scareware – Planning some activities this Easter? Perhaps buying some Easter eggs? Maybe hand decorating some eggs? Before you go searching for tips, take a read of this post which highlights how seemingly innocent search terms can lead to malware.
Company News:
Intel vs. ARM: Key Players in Growing Chip Rivalry – Intel and ARM dominate their respective chip markets: Intel with PC and server x86 processors and ARM in the mobile computing device space. However, both are looking to make noise in the other’s world. Here, eWEEK takes a look at the key players in this rapidly growing rivalry.
Apple investigating, replacing problematic iPad 3 Wi-Fi tablets – Apple is “capturing” and replacing iPad 3 devices that appear to suffer from Wi-Fi related issues, according to a leaked internal memo, but remains publicly silent on the matter.
Court Revives Viacom’s $1 Billion Copyright Suit Against YouTube – The five-year battle between YouTube and Viacom began anew Thursday when the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected part of a lower court decision on the issue.
Twitter to spammers: We’re suing – The social-networking site is working to shut down five popular spam tool providers by suing them in federal court.
Webopedia Daily:
Kindle Fire – The Kindle Fire is the most recent addition to Amazon’s Kindle line of portable e-book reader devices. The Kindle Fire debuted in late 2011 as a 7-inch Android v2.3 “Gingerbread”-powered $199 tablet computer designed to compete with similar devices like the NOOK Tablet and the Apple iPad. In addition to the vast collection of e-books available from Amazon, the Kindle Fire also includes access to Amazon’s Appstore for thousands of apps as well as streaming movie and TV content.
Off Topic (Sort of):
Learn a Language, Help Translate the Web – Part crowd-sourcing project to translate the Web and part language-learning site, Duolingo (beta) has several incredible and unique tools for practicing Spanish and German. It’s the only crowd-source language-learning tool to get it right.
Project Glass: the augmented reality glasses from Google – News of these glasses fell off the radar for a little bit, until Google unveiled their Google+ page for what they are calling Project Glass, with a video to accompany it. Project Glass is the name Google is currently using for their wearable computer technology that they plan to start testing in public starting today.
Earth’s wobble led to CO2 release that ended last Ice Age – A team at Oregon State University reconstructed globally averaged temperature changes during the end of the last Ice Age, in contrast to previous studies, which only compared CO2 levels with local temperatures.
Report: E-Reading Soars, Shift from Print to E-Books Continues – Over one-fifth of Americans have read an e-book, ebook ownership is way up after the 2011 holiday shopping season, and one-third of people who read e-books now say they spend more time reading in general, a topically broad-ranging study on e-reading habits by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found.
Today’s Quote:
“You can’t build a reputation on what you are going to do.”
– Henry Ford
Today’s Free Downloads:
UFO: Alien Invasion – The team behind UFO: Alien Invasion managed to pull off what half a dozen development teams and several million dollars either could not or would not do. UFO: Alien Invasion is a high-resolution return to form for players looking for more of the turn-based goodness that X-COM provided.
Tales of Maj’Eyal 4 – Tales of Maj’Eyal 4 is a roguelike game, which means a top-down experience where you control a single character who traverses a semi-random world in pursuit of power, glory, and finding new and interesting ways to die. TOME 4 does quite a few things differently, though.
Bill Mullins' Weblog - Tech Thoughts 
Sorry I have been MIA. Duty calls- RL, Holidays and Taxes. 😦 Oh, what fun! And the fun will continue this weekend. I haven’t read anything in a couple of days so I am hoping this has not been posted. Or better yet..it HAS because it is a “timed” deal.
@Phillip….This is the first time I have found Malwarebytes Anti-Malware PRO kinda on sale..but not really.
Acronis is having a bundle sale and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware PRO is included. The value of the bundle is $362. The price is $49.99. It’s been on for 2 weeks and it has 2 more days..so hurry. You save $312.00.
“Backup your entire system, protect it from any possible kind of malware, get rid of spam and prevent any phishing attempts, shrink documents to extremely small sizes without affecting the content, edit photographs, share any USB devices over the internet, and restore lost passwords. All of this is now available in one super-bundle – for just $49.99.”
Acronis True Image Home 2012 – Backup and recovery $49.99
Malwarebytes Anti-Malware PRO – Malware protection $24.95
SPAMfighter Pro – Blocks spam and phishing attempts $29.00
Photomizer version 2 – Image editing $39.99
Passware Kit Standard – Password recovery $79.00
USB to Ethernet Connector – Remote USB access $89.95
NXPowerLite Desktop Edition – File compression $49.95
Easter Bunny Bundle
And BitsDuJour is giving away MailWasher Pro 2012 for today only. 15hours left at this posting.
“MailWasher Pro can help purge your inbox of spam, plus unwanted newsletters, large emails, and any other annoying email….
Intercept spam and viral emails before they get downloaded to your computer.
Set up Friends lists to let email through or Blacklists to stop specific senders.
Teach the program to learn which email messages should be allowed through.
Send bounceback emails to former friends, lovers, and current stalkers 🙂
Control spam and viral email on an unlimited number of email accounts.
Control SPAM fast! Using simultaneous checking, MailWasher Pro 2012 can download and
check up to 25 email messages per second.
Rescue accidentally deleted emails!
Check the origin received emails against DNS spam blacklist servers.
Block potential viruses by examining each email for any suspicious code.
Purchase with BitsDuJour’s discount coupon code and get all this at a promotional
price!”
MailWasher Pro 2012 PC Software with a 100% off Discount Coupon Code – Stop Delivery of Spam and Viruses
Hey Delenn13,
I hear ya – still need to file my taxes – should get going on that. 🙂
Just posted on MailWasher Pro 2012 – thanks for looking out for us.
The other offer I think I’ll pass on. Reads too much like an advertising and WordPress gets all in a huff when it comes to advertising.
Still, I appreciate the heads up.
Best,
Bill
Any gamers?
Fallout – GOG.com Free till 4:59PM GMT on the 7th, Saturday. The game, itself, is 484MB..plus the manuals and other extras..over 500MBs. I am downloading this now. 🙂
“Set in the aftermath of a world-wide nuclear war, Fallout will challenge you to survive in an unknown and dangerous world. You will take the role of a Vault-dweller, a person who has grown up in a secluded, underground survival Vault. Circumstances arise that force you to go Outside – to a strange world 80 years after the end of modern civilization. A world of mutants, radiation, gangs and violence.Your immediate task is to find a replacement for the broken water purification controller chip. Without that chip, your fellow Vault dwellers are doomed to dehydration or will be forced to leave the safety of the Vault for the Outside.The core of the game revolves around your character. Fallout uses a skill-based system to allow you to fine tune your character. As you gain experience (roughly half from combat, the other half from solving adventure seeds and non-combat events), your character will grow as you determine. Combat in Fallout is tactical turn-based. You can take as much time as you need to make decisions. Choose from different types of attacks, with a variety of weapons and attack skills.
GOG(Good Old Games) is revamping their games and site..Keep an eye on them.
You have to sign up for it and you get other games free too..I got the games below(not sure if the list has changed or not):
Teenagent
Beneath a Steel Sky
Lure of the Temptress
Tyrian 2000
Dragonsphere
Ultima™ 4: Quest of the Avatar
Treasure Adventure Game
Thanks Delenn13.
Looks like a pretty good deal.
Best,
Bill
Some more info on the game..from Wiki..“Fallout was named #4, #10, #13, #21 and #7 on the list of best games of all time by PC Gamer in 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010 respectively.[21][22][23][24][25] It was ranked #5 on IGN’s list of “Top 25 PC Games of All Time” in 2007,[26] and #19 in 2009.[27] It was ranked #55 on IGN’s “Top 100 Games of All Time” list in 2005,[28] and #33 in 2007.[29] PC Zone named it #21 on its “101 Best PC Games Ever” list in 2007.[30]
Fallout has been inducted into Computer Gaming World, GameSpot, GameSpy and IGN’s “Hall of Fame” or equivalent.[16][18][19][20] It also was named “RPG of the Year” by GameSpot in 1997,[17] and ranked sixth on Game Informer’s 2008 list of “Top 10 Video Game Openings”.[31]
PC Gamer US’s Todd Vaughn called it “a joy to behold and play”, and “one of the standout RPGs for the 1990s”. He criticized its numerous glitches and high system requirements, but finished the review: “The tightly integrated mix of combat, storytelling, and puzzling keeps the pace brisk and lively, and it’ll keep you coming back for more”.[15] It is notable that all review scores for Fallout are consistently high and none are lower than an eight (out of a maximum of ten), with the only criticism involving its graphics.”
And Ron Perlman is the narrator.
Hey Delenn13,
That’s a convincer! I’ll give this a try.
Best,
Bill