US government throwing free speech under the bus - Computerworld Blogs

When I was in college, I and six of my friends were thrown out because the administration caught wind of the fact that we were organizing a demonstration on campus where we would advocate for a number of things including the right to have, on campus, political, religious and social clubs. I know first hand what free speech means and how those in power in any institution would suppress it if they could. Lucky for the seven of us, a good lawyer got us back in within a week. Here are some good current examples of the suppression of free speech in this country. I don't know if we will all be so lucky this time:

US government throwing free speech under the bus - Computerworld Blogs

Information at Your Fingertips - WolframAlpha

Some time ago I (and many others) discovered a new kind of information site on the web, WWW.WolframAlpha.com. The function of this site was difficult to describe. It seemed to fit in the same category as indexed information like Wikipedia but it was much more.

Today I (and no doubt millions of others) received an eMail from the WolframAlpha team announcing the availability on their site of WolframAlpha "Widgets". Widgets, in the world of computer programmers are tiny programs that can either stand on their own or be incorporated easily into existing programs.

After playing with Widgets already existing on WolframAlpha for a while and building two WolframAlpha widgets of my own I finally understand and can explain the function provided by the WolframAlpha website and by it's new Widgets. Any data administrator and most programmers understand the difference between stored data and derived data. Most would imply the difference by calling the "derived" variety "information" rather than data. The implication here is that there is some added value to the information over and above the data actually stored in a database or dictionary or encyclopedia. The value added stems from manipulation of the stored data according to programmed rules and/or relationships implied by the structure of the database itself. In simpler terms, it is data plus intelligence.

Once you have either located a widget you like or have built one yourself, Wolfram makes it easy to "lift" the code and include it in your own blog or website. I created two Widgets:

this one shows you the effect of inflation on the value of the US dollar:
RE TYPE THE YEAR TO ONE OF YOUR CHOICE


while this one allows you to locate (on a map and/or globe) where a particular country, state, city, lake, mountain etc is:


Give them a try and see how they work.

As you can see I included the two widgets right in this blog entry. I had to work a very little bit harder to figure out how to include the widgets in the text of this single entry instead of where my blogger template was set up but it turned out to be as simple as a cut and paste.

In the five or so hours I have been playing with this (on and off) 42 more gadgets have been created, stored and indexed on WolframAlpha by people all over the world. Any of them can be incorporated in a website or blog by anyone else, as I have done here with my own creations. This is Web 2.0 at its creative best!

Netflix Terms of Conditions

I just went to the Netflix site to order a new DVD to watch and discovered a notice that I once again had to review and agree to their terms of conditions. Well, I said, if they have changed at least they are letting me know. I then took a look at them - 14 PAGES of legalese. Incredible! Don't tell me it doesn't make any difference because no one reads them - that is a dangerous habit to get into. Red Box is looking really good to me - just drop in your cash when and only when you want to watch something, make your pick and your done - no need to feel you need a team of lawyers.

Introduction to the Internet Class

Today, Friday Feb 12th 2010, Shirley and I will be teaching the Intro to the Internet class at the Socastee SC public library. Slides for the class can be found by clicking here or entering

http://www.slideshare.net/JimWhite/301-intro-to-internet

into your browser's address window and left clicking.

The slides contain many hyperlinks to other resources, including some excellent Youtube entries on the subject. If you check out the presentation, or if you attend the class, I would appreciate it if you would leave comments, suggestions for improvements, etc by clicking on the word comments directly below this post.

Thanks!
Jim White

Apple's Time Capsule Cooks Itself Dead

Apple has a fantastic, integrated, hands off software/hardware solution for backup. The software is called Time Machine and it is amazingly simple to use with a beautiful user interface. The hardware Apple sells to store the backups on is called Time Capsule. Today I bought my wife a Time Capsule to serve as backup storage for her MacBook. I didn't do quite enough research before buying. I have discovered a web site called http://timecapsuledead.org/ where you will find a database of thousands of users whose Time Capsules have died from overheating after an average of 18 months. Poor design for heat removal seems to be the problem. In a forum located here on Apple's site you will find an incredible history of frustrated users discussing the death of their units. Apple so far has refused to acknowledge the problem.

Here is a link to the product page on Apple's web site where they say "you never have to worry about backing up again" and "Its massive 1TB or 2TB server-grade hard drive". Server grade? I don't think so. I ran a data center that had REAL server grade hardware and this stuff would be laughed out of the room. Come on Apple, acknowledge the problem and FIX IT!

We bought our unit at Best Buy to be shipped directly to our house. I won't even take it out of the packaging - I'm returning it to Best Buy as soon as it arrives.

Online Banking Red Flag

To date, fraudulent online withdrawals from customers bank accounts have almost always been "made good" by the bank. The bank would try to recover the money but, if it could not, the bank would "make the customer whole", writing off the loss as a cost of doing business.

It looks like that might be changing. Read this article, then be sure to follow it up in the news. If the bank wins, you may be in real danger using online banking.

Wikis, Blogs and Podcasts: Part One of Web 2.0 Presentation

Well, the presentation of Part One at the Socastee library had to be canceled due to some glitches in the library computer infrastructure. I/T folks are now hard at work fixing the problem and the class will be rescheduled. In the meantime I will be giving the same presentation at the September 1 meeting of the Cypress River Plantation Computer Users Club, open to residents and property owners and their friends. Part one covers Wikis, Blogs and Podcasts, shows you what they are, how they can be useful, and, in the case of Wikis and Blogs, how to create and maintain your own at no expense. You can find the slides for the presentation here. There are many links on the slides, just run the mouse around on each slide to find them.

Web 2.0 The Art of the Internet Possible

Well, I've been teaching computer related classes at Socastee Library for some time now, all of which have been classes already documented by library staff. Now I have developed one of my own, titled Web 2.0 - The Art of the Internet Possible. I intend to include blogs, podcasts. Wikis, social networks, folksonomies, and Mashups but decided to break it into parts one and two after doing the first three items in that list. I am sure that blogs, podcasts and Wikis will take us beyond the supposed one hour of a class. I will include the other three in a different class and give it later this year. I have already put part on up on Slideshare. You can find it on the web at http://www.slideshare.net/JimWhite/web-20-the-art-of-the-internet-possible-1856299

I did a "Computers 102 - Files and Folders" class yesterday at the library. I thought it went pretty well, got some nice comments. I didn't create a Powerpoint presentation for it because it was more of a hands on class. The Web 2.0 will be more lecture plus watch the presentation, not a lot of hands on. I have included lots of hyperlinks in the presentation to other sites on the web, including a link to a great film clip that beautifully explains wikis. I will be demoing the wiki I created to help our family plan our December drip.

AVG Antivirus Free Download Site

In the class I taught yesterday at the Socastee SC Public Library I mentioned that AVG offers a free version of their excellent antivirus software but didn't have the correct link available where it can be downloaded. I promised to locate that and put it up on my blog, so here it is:

http://free.avg.com/download-avg-anti-virus-free-edition?cmpid=fr_bn_free_670

Click on the hyperlink above and it should take you there. If you are remembering what I taught you, you can confirm, before you click, that you are actually going to that web address by looking at the very bottom left of your browser window as you hover the mouse over top of the link.

After clicking on the link and going to the download page you will see three columns where AVG compares their free software with two of their for pay packages. The choice, obviously, is yours. To download the free antivirus, scroll down to the bottom of the columns and click DOWNLOAD under the "free for private use only" column. After downloading you will either have to choose SAVE and then run what you saved or choose RUN rather than save. This will install software.

Remember, if you have any questions you can use the comments link at the bottom of this blog entry. I try to look at it at least once a day and will answer to the best of my ability. Check back within a day to see my answer.

Online Security

On June 24th 2009 at 6:00 p.m. I will be teaching a class in the Socastee Public Library on Online Security. Here is a link to the presentation:

http://www.slideshare.net/JimWhite/socastee-library-online-security

There are hyperlinks throughout the presentation. Left clicking on them will take you to additional information, the back arrow at the top left of your browser window will bring you back to the presentation.

Sorry for the very basic usage info, I'm trying to make this useful for all users.

Maintaining Your PC

My wife and I volunteer teach some computer classes in the Socastee Public Library near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Tomorrow, June 16th 2009, I will be teaching "Maintaining Your PC". I have created a Powerpoint presentation to accompany the course and have put the presentation up on the Internet on WWW.Slideshare.Net. You can find the presentation by going to Slideshare's home page at WWW.Slideshare.Net and doing a search using the presentation title OR you can go directly to the presentation by clicking here.

There are many hyperlinks in the presentation. They will take you to various articles or Youtube clips that illustrate points in the presentation. Recently Slideshare has made some changes so that the hyperlinks work even if you are not in full screen mode but if you have trouble, try switching to full screen mode by clicking the word full at the bottom right of the presentation image.

I hope you find the presentation useful. Feel free to use it yourself either from Slideshare or downloading it to your own PC.

Starting a Computer Club

Finally I am getting around to starting a computer club in our Myrtle Beach home. We will meet on a biweekly or monthly schedule. I will be the presenter at the first couple of meetings after which I hope other presentation volunteers will surface. I hope to present/have presented topics for beginners and more advanced at each meeting of the club. We will also have a "self help" session, with members presenting computer or networking problems that I or other members might have solutions for. At our first meeting I think I will do two short presentation, one for beginners on basic desktop and window management and one for all on problem solving via the web. Should be fun.

On another front, I continue to volunteer at the Socastee Library, giving a variety of Computer related courses in their computer equipped classroom. Tuesday June 16th I'm teaching "Maintaining Your Computer", Wednesday June 24th I'm teaching "Online Security" and sometime during the month (date not settled yet) will be "Computers 101".

Computing 101 - I'm Teaching Again

Well, I'm back to teaching again. I have volunteered to teach computer use topics at our local library in South Carolina. Oh, yes, we now live more there than we do in Randolph. We moved part time into our new SC home in January of last year. This year we plan to spend more time here. The library I'm teaching in is the Socastee Library.

Much to my surprise, this Myrtle Beach branch library is only five years old, is larger and much better equiped than the library in Randolph, NJ. In addition to some 18 or so computers on the floor, there is a classroom with a dozen or more computers plus a screen and projector to show the teachers screen to the class. Fantastic. I'll be teaching the beginners class, computing 101, tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. I'm looking forward to it.

TV On Demand - The Web and TV Begin to Merge

If you have ever visited the web site of any of the major (or minor) TV networks you have discovered that they are beginning to make some of their past broadcasts available there. If you have a broadband (cable, DSL or FIOS for example) connection to the Internet from a computer less than five or so years old you can see shows that you might have missed or that you want to see again. All episodes of a very few shows might be available while others are missing completely or have a few recent shows available. To find this, you have to go individually to each networks site and hunt around. Now there is a better way!

WWW.Hulu.Com

I discovered this gem from a great article in the September 2008 edition of Wired Magazine and last night I watched a gem of an episode from a late 50's early 60's Western series (the hay day of the TV western) called "Have Gun, Will Travel". Fantastic! Hulu has struck deals with many (but not all, don't look for Oprah for example) networks and many film distributors as well to act as a hub for hosting and/or locating their content on the WWW. Enjoy!

Oh, and for a more recent development on the same topic, it looks like YouTube is now hosting and presenting widescreen HD video content. Now to view this you will need a high end broadband connection and a very recent medium to high end PC. Check out this example on YouTube. Give it a go to see if your broadband connection and PC are up to it.

Snopes and the Cell Phone Popcorn

Woah, it's been a long time since I updated this blog! The spirit has finally moved me!

Have you seen the eMail re popping popcorn with a cell phone? I got that eMail forwarded to me yesterday. Here is a quote from it:

This is enlightening!!!! Using a cell phone is like putting your head in a microwave, eh? Check this out! And we're supposed to believe that cell phones are safe?

Click on the word 'POPCORN' below and watch.

POPCORN

If you follow that link you will see a really frightening film clip showing popcorn exploding as it sits on a table next to several working cell phones. The obvious message is "if it does this to popcorn, imagine what it is doing to your brain". Hard to believe, but film doesn't lie, right? Well, anytime you get something forwarded to you that causes your eyebrows to lift in EITHER excitement or disbelief, it is a really good idea, before you forward the item to yet another group of people, to check out - is it true or not? One of the best sites to go to to do this is Snopes at WWW.Snopes.Com

If you go to Snopes and type the three words popcorn cell phone into the Snopes search bar and click on GO, you will turn up this entry: http://www.snopes.com/science/cookegg.asp Go there and read the entry after you read the rest of this paragraph. You will find that the first part of the Snopes entry is about "cooking eggs with a cell phone", an even scarier thought. You'll find the popcorn info if you scroll down to the bottom. A couple of the movie clips there will not work because (I think) they have been removed from the site they are linked from (Youtube). The CNN link, however, does work - and there you will find the real proof. If the CNN link doesn/t work when you try it, let me know by leaving a comment on this blog entry, thanks. For convenience, I'll put the CNN link here too (you'll see a comercial first, be patient, it is short): http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2008/07/09/carroll.cellphone.popcorn.cnn

Remember now, if a forwarded eMail sounds unbelievable, it probably is - check it out in Snopes. If if sounds like something you REALLY WANT TO BELIEVE be doubly sure to check it out in Snopes.

Creating Documents in Office 2007 to be Read By Users Of Older Office Versions

I'm writing this while watching a beautiful sunrise over the surf. The door is open and I can hear the rollers coming in. Ocean front rooms are cheap in South Carolina at this time of year. Temps are forecast in the 80's for the rest of the week. I sure hope the sleet and snow has melted when we get back on Monday.

I've been reading a bit re Office 2007. Office 2007 by default will save it's documents (when you tell it to save) in a format that cannot be read by older versions of office unless the owner of that older version does two things:

1. Has run "Office Update" (something similar to "Windows Update") to get all the latest updates from Microsoft.
2. Has downloaded software from Microsoft intended to enable them to read the new Office 2007 files

What this means is you could create a new Powerpoint presentation or Word document, send it to them as an attachment to an eMail and they would not be able to open the document on their machine.

Here is a link to an article on Microsoft's web site that explains the above in more detail

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924074

The solution in the Microsoft article (see link above) is to have the receiver of your document take some action. There is also something you can do when you save the document that will assure you they will be able to read it: you can do a "save as" and save it in the older format. Here is a link to an article on the Binghampton University web site that tells you how to do that:

http://wiki.binghamton.edu/index.php/Using_Word_2007_%22sharing_documents_with_other_users_and_computers%22

Hope this Helps!

Denville Library Presentation De-Bugging and Tuning Up Your Computer

I will be giving my "De-Gunking Your Computer" presentation tonight (Wed, 3/14/2007) at 7:00 at the Denville NJ public library. After doing this presentation at the Randolph library I posted it on Slideshare where it has been viewed, to my amazement, over 400 times. I updated and made some additions to the Randolph presentation and have re-posted it (separately) for Denville. Note that there are many hyperlinks in the presentation that lead you to supporting information on the web. You can spot them by moving the mouse cursor around the screen to see if it changes shape. Most of the links are on words, some of them are on images. You can get to the Denville version of the presentation by clicking the following link:

http://www.slideshare.net/JimWhite/debugging-and-tuning-up-your-pc

Note: when you click on the above link you will go to a site called Slideshare and will see the first page of the presentation in a reduced size. To the bottom right of this first slide you will see the word "full". If you click on "full" a full screen window will open with the presentation in it. The four arrows at the bottom of the screen allow you to navigate. Their function, from left to right is:
1. go to first slide
2. go to next slide
3. go to previous slide
4. go to last slide

Note that on the initial screen (the one that shows a small size slide) directly below the slide (scroll down) there is a place to leave comments. Please do so.

I hope you find the presentation useful. Enjoy!

Vista Is Here

Whoa, it's been a long time since my last post! Chalk that up to a lot of commotion in my life since then. Specifically, we sold our house and moved to a townhouse. At the same time we continue to make plans (we now have a signed contract) to build in Myrtle Beach. While it only takes two sentences to say that, to live it is a different matter altogether. At any rate, things are getting a little back to normal.

Microsoft's new operating system, Vista is here and available. If you already have a computer and are considering an upgrade, don't. Wait until Microsoft issues it's first massive set of fixes (referred to as a "fix pack"). Wait a month after that to make sure the fixes don't need fixes and then consider an upgrade but only if you are doing so to take advantage of some specific Vista capability. Don't upgrade for the sake of upgrading, it's not worth the aggravation you face with any operating system upgrade. If you are buying a new computer and it comes with Vista preloaded, beware of the "minimum system requirements" your system supplier will provide. As a rule of thumb, you should seriously consider doubling the system memory recommended.

Sharing Your Presentation

From time to time some of us have to give a Powerpoint presentation away from our home base work environment. Some of us are lucky enough to have a projector small enough to bring with us but many intrepid presenters depend on the presentation site (your customer perhaps) to provide the projector. Unfortunately, as many of us have learned, your computer may not communicate properly with their projector. This can lead to frantic efforts and frazzled nerves. Here is a great backup plan that will let you hook up THEIR computer (without your presentation on it) to their projector and, assuming their computer has a broadband Internet connection, display your presentation.

Tonight I am giving a presentation at the Randolph, NJ library entitled De-Gunking Your PC (Tuning up Your Computer). I expected a small group of interested people for whom I would print out copies of my presentation. Surprise! Sixty people are signed up and others had to be turned away due to space constraints! Printing that many copies of a presentation with 27 slides in it is more than I want to tackle. Besides, there are lots of hyperlinks in my presentation that take you to pages in Wikipedia and YouTube (for example). A paper version of the presentation would, obviously, not make the hyperlinks available. I guessed that someone might have created a way to share a slide show over the Internet and I guessed right!

A quick Google search turned up a new free service called Slideshare. At this site, once you have opened a free account, you can upload your presentation and have it viewed by anyone with an Internet connection and a web browser! Right now, (this is being written on October 18th 2006) even the folks who wish to view your uploaded presentation have to establish an account but it seems to be Slideshare's intent to open viewing access up to anyone who comes to their site, account or not. I have uploaded my presentation and I have tested viewing using both the Microsoft Internet Explorer browser and the browser I prefer, Mozilla Firefox. Both work well with Slideshare. The links in the presentation work well. As you move the mouse cursor across a slide, if the cursor changes shape you have found a hyperlink. Left click and a new window will open showing the linked page. Close that page and you'll be back to the presentation.

So..... For those attending the presentation tonight (and anyone else interested in viewing the slides) you can click on this link

http://slideshare.net/JimWhite/degunking-your-computer/1

or copy-and-paste it into your browsers address window and you will be taken to Slideshare. To establish a login userid and password you will be told you need an invitation. Click on "request an invitation" and fill in your name and eMail address (at a minimum). They will eMail you (in a few minutes) a userid and password. If, when you get into Slideshare, you are not take to my presentation, come back here and click on the above link again. This time, instead of being told you need an invitation to get into Slideshare, you will be taken to the presentation.

If you have any problems or questions about this, leave them as comments to this blog entry. I'll watch it and post answers there as well. For those attending the presentation, feel free to leave questions or comments about it in the comments here as well.

Best Regards,
Jim

Tuning Up Your Computer

On Wednesday October I will be giving a presentation at the Randolph Library. Here's a copy of the description of the presentation as it apppears on the library website:

" Learn how to restore your Windows-based PC back to its peak performance and reliability (rather than resorting to buying a new machine). Topics discussed include eliminating unnecessary files and programs, optimizing your hard drive, cleaning the Registry, installing the latest Windows updates and bug fixes, improving security, tweaking the Desktop and Start Menu, and preventing spam gunk."

Here is a link to the spot on the library website where you can register to attend. No fee. Hope to see you there! http://www.randolphnj.org/library_programs/details/degunking_your_pc/

Buying a New Computer - September 2006

One of the most frequent questions I am asked is "what computer should I buy and when should I buy it"? The first part of that question depends on the individual and I ask a lot of questions before I attempt to give an answer BUT the second part of the question is usually easy; the answer I usually give is "as soon as you want to". Right now that could be the wrong answer.

Microsoft is preparing (mind you this was originally due in 2004) to deliver it's next operating system , Windows Vista, in January of 2007. Recommended (by Microsoft) hardware configurations for the new operating system are considerably greater than they are for WindowsXP.

For Windows XP recommendations see here.

For Windows Vista recommendations here.

If you look at the Vista recommendations link above you will see that Microsoft uses two distinctly different terms to identify computers that will run this new operating system. The term "Capable" describes computers that "will deliver core experiences.... at a minimum". For this you should read "it will at least boot up but may or may not be capable of running the programs you need to run". The term "Premium Ready" is used to describe a computer that will not only run your applications but will take advantage of the new aspects of the operating system, especially the new user interface.

As of 9/13/2006 Dell Computer's website does not seem to offer any systems that are identified as "Vista Premium" compatible and their use of the words "Vista Capable" is very confusing. For someone unaware of the distinctly different meanings of the terms "Capable" and "Premium" in this context, much of the text on the Dell web site does not make the difference clear. HP's web site does a much better job of describing the difference.

Bottom line, at present it is not clear that all manufacturers (and in particular all retail sales clerks) will give you a clear idea of what if any part of the new operating system will run on a given system. I also believe that as we start getting closer to the holiday gift giving season, we will see major computer manufacturers and retailers selling systems bundled with a free upgrade to Vista when it is finally brought to market by Microsoft.

All in all, this is one of the few times that I am advising folks to wait a few months before making a new PC (desktop or laptop) purchase. Let the dust clear a bit first.

Destroy That Hard Drive Before Throwing Out Your Computer!

Here's a great example of why you should physically remove and destroy your hard drive before trashing your computer:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/wlwt/20060601/lo_wlwt/9303216

Some folks will tell you that if you delete all your files or Format your hard drive it's safe to give it away or trash it. NOT so! Deleted files are easily recovered (especially if after they are deleted there is no additional activity on the drive). Even formatting the drive doesn't remove all traces of your data. There are lots of utilities (many of them used by computer forensic experts like those you can find at the FBI) that can restore date on a reformatted disk to readable condition. Hard to believe? Here's an example of software that will do the trick: http://www.recovermyfiles.com/

Bottom line: if you are going to trash your computer, open the case, remove the hard drive, and literally beat the crap out of it with a heavy ball peen hammer or small hand sledge. Then trash it.

Downloading Audiobooks From Randolph Library

I have often used books on tape and more recently books on CD, buying them or borrowing them from the library to play in the car on road trips. I have also used them at home while doing some chore that doesn't take much attention. A couple of times I have forgotten to go to the library until the morning I'm leaving on a trip and, since the library doesn't open till 9:00, I've had to leave without my "book on tape". No more! Now, in just a couple of minutes, I can download a new book via the Randolph Library online!

As of May 1 2006 any Randolph resident, landowner, or person who works in Randolph can go to the library (you must go in person) and register to participate in the program. You will need an already established eMail account (anywhere) but if you're reading this it's pretty likely you already have one. After that, it's a simple matter of logging into your account, browsing the titles available, selecting one to download, and down it comes!

You will be able to play them back from your Microsoft Windows based home computer because the included Windows Media Player can play the .wma file type that these are recorded in. If you have a PDA that can play .wma files *and* you have enough storage room on the PDA to download the book files into then you can play them on your PDA. Any PDA using the Windows Mobile or Windows CE operating system from Microsoft and others that have licensed use of a .wma audio codec from Microsoft will be able to play .wma files. Most manufacturers of MP3 players have licensed .wma codecs from Microsoft and can play .wma files.

If you want to play the audio books from your PDA through your car's stereo system, buy an inexpensive device from radio shack that looks like a cassette tape with a wire attached. You plug the wire into the PDA or MP3 player head phone jack, pop the "tape" end into your car's cassette tape player and viola! the book plays through your car stereo. If you don't have a tape player in the car there are other ways of connecting the two devices. Note that Apple has a format that competes with .wma and has so far (this is being written 4/2006) refused to include a .wma codec in it's very popular IPod music players.

.wma files are capable of being managed by digital rights software that can put limits on their use. After downloading a book from the library and before you disconnect from the Internet, you "open" the book on your computer (using Windows Media Player). The player will then, over the Internet, acquire a license. According to the Randolph Library site, " The license allows you to listen to the audiobook for 21 days and to copy it to two additional portable listening devices". When the 21 days are up you will still have the file but your player will not be able to open it. According to Leanna Povilaitis, Assistant Director of the library, "the audiobook license can be renewed once and it will play for another 21 days.".

Click here to go to the Randolph Library site and find information on this great new service.

Happy listening and thank you Randolph Library!

Podcasts - Internet Radio and TV on Demand

When I retired I was determined I would stay current with new developments in Information Technology. Of course, retirement also meant I would begin to catch up on all those "around the home" projects I had been putting off for years. Some of those projects involved mindless labor like stripping wallpaper off the wall and painting it afterward and doing my own yard work. Podcasts have allowed me to keep my mind active, stay current on technology events and futures, and get the mindless projects done with a minimum of pain.

An excellent definition and explanation of podcasts can be found on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast but I'll give you a short version here. If your cable TV provider offers "Movies On Demand" you're already familiar with the concept. A Podcast is audio or video content on demand over the Internet. Of course the techies got there first so early podcast "shows" have been predominantly on technical topics and that suited me just fine.

At this point some of you are saying "Hey, I've been able to download voice, video, and music files over the Internet since almost day one, what makes Podcasts so different?". The answer is a technology called Real Simple Syndication (RSS). RSS has been used for some time to syndicate (distribute) text from web sites and web logs (blogs). With the right receiving software (known as a NewsReader) on your PC, RSS lets you "subscribe" to a "feed" of new information from a web site or blog. This way you don't have to keep going back to multiple originating sites to see if there is anything new. The new stuff just shows up from each site you subscribe to "aggregated" in your newsreader on your desktop when any of them add new content. For a more in depth discussion of RSS and newsreaders see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS

Of course, to listen to an audio RSS feed or watch a video RSS feed you need software and hardware different than a text newsreader. In my case Apple's ITunes multimedia player takes the place of the newsreader. Yes, ITunes is free (you can download it from Apple's web site) and there is a version that runs on Windows. If you go to a website that offers podcasts and click on the RSS icon they will have on the page that offers the podcasts you will get a URL (like the text you type in to go to a website). You then highlight that URL and "edit/copy" it. You then start up ITunes, go (on ITunes main menu) to "Advanced", "Subscribe to Podcast", and, in the popup window, paste the URL you copied and click "ok". You have now subscribed to the current and future podcasts offered by that site from that "RSS stream". ITunes will automatically download them as they become available and you can either use ITunes to play them on your computer OR, if you have an IPod, you can tell ITunes to download them automatically to the IPod next time you connect it to your computer.

This technology has enabled me to "keep up" - I listen to the latest technology news and discussions while getting my "mindless chores" done. The very best site I have found for information Technology discussions is ITConversations which is part of http://www.conversationsnetwork.org/ There are literally thousands of "shows" to choose from in dozens of "channels". You can mark the ones you want to download to ITunes and/or your Ipod by adding them to your own personal queue on the ITConversations site. Your personal queue has its own RSS icon. I clicked on it, fed the URL it gave me to ITunes (as described above) and BINGO anything I drop into my personal queue on ITConversations winds up on my IPod! The amazing part of this is the content on ITConversations includes recorded sessions from conferences that my former employer paid thousands of dollars for me to attend back in my working days! In the latest batch of available podcasts on www.ITConversations.Com is their first video podcast and since my IPod is a video model, it works just fine. Of course, video makes it a little difficult to work on chores at the same time but hey, maybe I raked enough today.

Try it, you'll like it!

Safe Surfing

Virus, spyware, phishing attacks, identity theft - the headlines are scary for an experienced Internet user let alone the newbie. According to an article in the 3/20/2006 issue of Business Week, 33% of Americans age 45 or older do not use the Internet at all and the rate of new users signing up is expected to be less than 1% this year. Complexity and a lack of security are the two most important reasons quoted. With that in mind, let's take a look at a simple set of rules that will dramatically reduce your risk of being attacked by any of the above.

First rule: Run Windows update at least once a week

1. Windows Update. Many of the above attacks depend on errors (bugs) contained in Microsoft software. As soon as one is discovered the bad guys look for ways to exploit it and Microsoft looks for ways fix it. Microsoft makes those fixes available to you free of charge by way of Windows Update. You should run it manually (you will find it in your start menu) at least once a week or, better yet, work through the menus you'll find in it to set it up to run automatically once a day.

Second rule: Install and run antivirus software and
keep your subscription up-to-date.

2. Antivirus Software: Any good antivirus software will serve you in several ways.
a. You can manually start it scanning your computer's storage (hard disk) for any virus that might have found its way there.
b. You can set it up to do a full scan of your system automatically at the same time every day (recommended).
c. In addition to the system scans mentioned above, when you install the software (or later) you can tell it to always be active watching everything you download and every attachment you receive in your eMail and warn you if they contain a virus.

NOTE: The antivirus "stuff" you get from any reliable vendor comes in two forms, equally critical:
a. Software
b. Virus descriptions used by the software as part of its efforts to spot a virus.
The first, software, will continue to be able to run on your computer for years. The second, virus descriptions, are updated by the vendor on a daily basis and are available to you on a subscription basis. What this means is, you buy the antivirus package, install the software, and then have to renew your subscription for virus descriptions on a periodic basis, usually annually. Without up-do-date descriptions your antivirus software becomes more and more useless over time since new virus appear every day.

Third rule: Install and run antispyware software and
keep your subscription up-to-date.

3. Anti Spyware software: Spyware is a general term that refers to virus like software that watches what you do on your computer and reports it back to its creator over the internet. The result can be anything from annoying popup ads for things you might be interested in based on what you've been doing on your computer to identity theft as it sees (and reports) what you type as userids and passwords. Software to combat this threat works much like antivirus software does (see above) including the "software and subscription" model. As a result, antivirus software is beginning to look for and combat spyware and vice versa. Soon you should be able to buy one package and maintain one subscription for both.

Fourth rule: NEVER EVER respond to an eMail which directly or indirectly asks you to provide critical identifying information like account or social security number

4. Phishing attacks are usually eMails that pretend to be from a legitimate business that already has a relationship with you but "needs some identifying information refreshed" for some fictional reason. The eMail will usually ask you to click on a hot link. The link will take you to a web site that can look EXACTLY like the official site of the company you do business with but it IS NOT. Any information you enter will be captured by the "phisher" and used by them against you.

Safety is a relative thing. We all do things that are to some degree risky because of the potential reward. Riding in a car is a prime example. More than 40,000 people are killed annually in the USA in automobile accidents yet we don't stop getting in the car. Instead, we wear a seat belt, buy cars with air bags, and drive defensively. You can think of the above four rules in the same way. Safe surfing, folks.