Buying a PC: Some Simple Advice

At this time of year, I am often often asked this question: "Which PC should I buy?" I always respond with the same question: "What are you going to do with it?"

More specifically, here are some questions you should ask if you're buying a PC. The answers can help you find the right PC for you.

Viruses and Malware

• Malware Detection -
  
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free cell phone

free cell phone (This is a revised version of a post on October 31st - Thanks to Seth's comment)

SAFELINK WIRELESS® service is U.S. government supported program for Income eligible households provided by TracFone Wireless, Inc. In order to participate in the SAFELINK WIRELESS® service, persons must meet certain eligibility requirements set by each State where the service is to be provided. These requirements are based on a person’s participation in a state or Federal support programs or by meeting the Income Poverty Guidelines as defined by the U.S. Government. SAFELINK WIRELESS® service is limited to one person per household.

Q: Has the Obama administration started a program to use "taxpayer money" to give free cell phones to welfare recipients?

A: No. Low-income households have been eligible for discounted telephone service for more than a decade. But the program is funded by telecom companies, not by taxes, and the president has nothing to do with it. Click here: The Obama Phone?|FactCheck

Top Standalone Antivirus Software for 2010 (pay versions)

We looked at eleven antivirus packages from around the world. G-Data Antivirus 2010 wins for its outstanding malware detection; Norton Antivirus 2010 comes in a close second thanks to its polished interface.

 

 

Search millions of historic photos

Search millions of photographs from the LIFE photo archive, stretching from the 1750s to today. Most were never published and are now available for the first time through the joint work of LIFE and Google.

The Top 500 Worst Passwords of All Time

From the moment people started using passwords, it didn’t take long to realize how many people picked the very same passwords over and over. Even the way people misspell words is consistent. In fact, people are so predictable that most hackers make use of lists of common passwords just like these. To give you some insight into how predictable humans are, the following is a list of the 500 most common passwords. If you see your password on this list, please change it immediately. Keep in mind that every password listed here has been used by at least hundreds if not thousands of other people.

What Not to Buy in 2009

It's time to shop, but before you do, make sure you don't enter the fray unarmed. My annual, unconventional guidance should help.

Finding Lost Friends Using the Internet

It isn't uncommon to fall out of contact with friends. Over the years, you've probably lost contact with a few friends. This year, resolve to locate friends from your past. Click on Kim's picture.

McAfee warns about '12 Scams of Christmas'

Retailers aren't the only ones gearing up for the holiday season. Criminals are also out in force.

To highlight the increased crime during the holidays, security company McAfee has come up with the "12 Scams of Christmas" ranging from bogus electronic greeting cards that deliver malware instead of cheer to fake charities that steal your money and your identity.

E-tailers snagged in marketing 'scam' blame customers

First, the good news for consumers: the U.S. government's investigation into how dozens of well-known online stores worked with controversial marketers to "deceive" customers out of $1.4 billion has prompted some retailers, including Continental Airlines, to sever ties with the marketers.

Now, the bad news: the marketers--Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty--are still in business and judging from the responses of many of the retailers involved, such as Priceline, Classmates.com, FTD, Shutterfly, and Orbitz, it will be business as usual. They see nothing wrong with the marketing practices that millions of angry online shoppers and members of the U.S. Senate have called a "scam," "robbery" and "theft."

Technology We'll Miss When It's Gone

As tech speeds inexorably forward, many gadgets and services will be left in heaps on the roadside. Problem is, we'll truly miss some of them. 

 

Best Free Online TV Viewer

This area is still quite new. But in the last year it has exploded with content and applications.  There are still very few standards, so you will end up having several viewer programs if you want to access a wide variety of shows.

iTV

i.TV is a must for any television or movie fan. It provides customizable TV listings. Schedule TiVo recordings and watch video previews. You can also schedule alerts and purchase movie tickets from the app. Click below.

iTV

8 Ways to Watch TV and Movies Without Cable

If you're like most people, you cough up way too much for a monthly cable subscription and you barely watch half the channels you pay for. The good news is that in this era of fast and abundant broadband, there are plenty of ways to see your favorite television shows and movies without paying Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner—or any other cable provider.

PC Magazine

 

What is iGoogle?

iGoogle is a customizable homepage

iGoogle lets you create a personalized homepage that contains a Google search box at the top, and your choice of any number of gadgets below. Gadgets come in lots of different forms and provide access to activities and information from all across the web, without ever having to leave your iGoogle page. Here are some things you can do with gadgets:

• View your latest Gmail messages
• Read headlines from Google News and other top news sources
• Check out weather forecasts, stock quotes, and movie showtimes
• Store bookmarks for quick access to your favorite sites from any computer
• Design your own gadget.

create your own iGoogle page

If you have questions about this, please email me. Don

How to Buy a Scanner

Your choice of a scanner and its features will largely be determined by what you plan to scan with it—documents, photos, books, business cards, fragile items like stamps, etc.—and how often. Click below.

 

10 tips for buying a laptop

Is a new laptop on your holiday shopping list? Whether you're shopping for someone else or for yourself (you've been especially good this year, right?), here are 10 things to keep in mind as you do your research and get ready to buy. From test driving potential PCs in the store, to knowing your warranty options and the store's return policy, we'll help you find the perfect laptop this holiday season. Click below.

10 Firefox extensions that enhance security

Mozilla Firefox is a good browser to start with, but third-party extensions make it great. That’s especially apparent when it comes to Web browser security, as shown by the following add-ons.

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Is Magic Jack a Scam?

After doing some research, and hearing a couple of my friends swear by the gadget, it seems that Magic Jack really does deliver what it promises -- even if the marketing is classic infomercial gimmickry. For $39.95, you get the Magic Jack, your own number with unlimited local and long distance (USA and Canada), and your first year of service. Subsequent years are only $19.95 each. That's all you pay... you never get a phone bill, because you can cancel your service with the phone company and cut them out of the loop.

Read more...

Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft Security Essentials is a FREE download that offers protection against  viruses, spyware, and other malicious software, such as rootkits and Trojans. Security Essentials provides real-time scans of downloads and attachments, monitors  suspicious file and program activity, runs unattended scans, and will
automatically download virus and spyware definitions.

Microsoft Security Essentials

Clicker: What's Online

Find your favorite shows. There are lots of shows and movies on the Internet. Watch your favorite shows for free. Clicker can search for your favorite shows and also for movies. There is list of available episodes. 

The Playlist feature allows you to add shows to your playlist. As new episodes are made available online, they will be added to your playlist.

Clicker

A great way to save Web pages

A great way to save Web pages.Futz.me is a handy little site.
Start by setting up your Futz.me account. 

When there's something you want to read later, use your address bar. Enter "futz.me/username" (minus quotes) before the Web address.

Futz.me will e-mail you a link to the page. Read it at your convenience.
But Futz.me can do more than that. For example, you can send yourself a reminder via the address bar. You can also send pages and reminders to your phone.

Futz.me

Why is My Computer Slowing Down?

A number of issues can slow down a once fast PC. Here are some of the most common.

Readmore...

Facebook Invasion: Beware of New 'Smart' WormFacebook Invasion

Hot on the heels of a reported hijacking of hundreds of Facebook groups, a new variation on an old worm is crawling its way into the social network's walls. Attackers have released an updated, more intelligent version of the notorious Koobface virus, security analysts say--and anyone could become its next victim.

Facebook Invasion: Beware of New 'Smart' Worm

The holidays are a time of giving. Unfortunately, online crooks see people's generosity as an opportunity for scams. But there are plenty of things that you can do to help keep your holiday season fun and safe.

How to Shop Online More Safely

MailWasher FREE Spam Blocker

Introducing MailWasher, the leader in spam filter software, and the easiest way to check and manage your e-mails before you download them.

MailWasher is free to use and won't ever expire. It works with Outlook, Outlook Express, Incredimail, Thunderbird, Windows Mail, GMail, Hotmail and every other email program.

Use this powerful spam blocker software to effectively stop email spam. Discover the safe way to stop unwanted e-mails before they get to your computer.

I have used it for several years. It works!

Don

MailWasher

Review of AVG 9 Free Antivirus Program

It's hard to believe that AVG has been around for 18 years. In that time, they've built a solid reputation by offering quality anti-virus and anti-spyware solutions, including one of the most popular free security tools, AVG Free Edition, which they claim has been downloaded by 80 million users.

Ask Bob Rankin About AVG 9

Google Music Search Feature

Google has  a search feature that enables you to search and more easily discover millions of songs, all via a simple Google web search. If you're searching for music, "time to result" is really "time to music." Now, when you enter a music-related query — like the name of a song, artist or album — your search results will include links to an audio preview of those songs provided by our music search partners. When you click the result you'll be able to listen to an audio preview of the song directly.

For example, if I search for [21st century breakdown], the first results provide links to songs from Green Day's new album.

Google Music Search Video 

Free PDF Unlocker

Adobe PDF files are password-protected and restrict what you can do with the document. You cannot copy images, text, or print the document.

PDF Unlocker opens the file and create a duplicate, unlocked version. Then you drag and drop the PDF onto the Unlocker's desktop icon. Simple and FREE.

PDF Unlocker Download

Office Tab - Tabs for Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

This program is like opening multiple tabs in browsers.

Office Tab is a free program that works in 2003 and older versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Double-click on the tab bar to open a new a document in a new tab; double-click a tab to close it. A right-click brings up a useful menu where you can save or close all your documents; the Options menu lets you change the look and color of the tabs.

  

Download

Windows 7 Upgrade Woes Mount: Endless Reboots and Product Key Problems

Call it the legacy of Microsoft's Vista operating system. PC users  upgrading from Windows Vista to Windows 7 have run into a variety of hair pulling problems since last Thursday when Windows 7 launched. Complaints range from endless reboots to refusals by Windows to accept Microsoft's assigned product keys.

PC World 

Google Voice

Google Voice is a service that gives you one number for all your phones, voicemail that is easy as email, and many enhanced calling features like call blocking and screening, voicemail transcripts, call conferencing, international calls, and more.

PC World

Retrevo - The Ultimate Electronics Marketplace

The best new feature of this free, consumer electronics shopping site is a page that analyzes how close a product is to retirement, how good the current price is, and whether Full reviewers and other users like it. Factor in such nifty features as a service that helps you get copies of long-lost gadget manuals, and Retrevo adds up to a valuable aid to both buying and owning.

Retrevo

FavBackup

In the age of Google we depend on our Web browsers--and on all the features which make them so efficient to use. Personal settings and data such as bookmarks, history, cookies, and saved passwords are essential to productivity. FavBackup recognizes the importance of such data and offers an easy and comprehensive way to back it all up. Perhaps even more useful, you can use the program to migrate settings to a browser on a different computer. 

It supports all major browsers: Chrome, Firefox, Flock, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari. 

Free Anti-Virus Programs

Your computer is running slow... your high-speed internet connection feels like dial up, and popups are everywhere. What's wrong? It could be a computer virus, or perhaps a bunch of viruses, infecting your hard drive. Viruses not only take up valuable memory and slow down your computer, they can also expose your personal information to Evil Hackers.

The good news is, there are plenty of anti-virus programs that can clean up the mess and keep you safe going forward. Some of them are even free! 

Ask Bob Rankin