Patch Tuesday September 2011 – Important News

It’s Microsoft Patch Tuesday for September 2011

The big news this month is not Microsoft’s official monthly patch release. In fact, during the last couple weeks, Windows has not been the main source of security problems. At least not directly. The internet security problems of the last few weeks seem to affect everyone. Linux and Mac OS Lion have had some potentially more serious problems this time. Most browsers have been updated as well recently. Adobe will have an update soon too. Still [Read more...]

Installing The Google Chrome Browser in Windows 7

How to install Google Chrome in Windows 7.

I’ve talked a lot about using Google Chrome and why you should. Despite the fact that it is both the safest and fastest browser available, I still find people who have not installed Google Chrome on their computers. I often find this out while fixing the computer for malware.

Chrome is awsome

The only explanation I can think of for these people not using Google Chrome is they are not sure how to install Chrome. So here is how to install Google Chrome. All you really need is [Read more...]

Patch Tuesday August 2011 and the Lion Roars In A Flash

Yep, it’s that Microsoft patch time of the month again.

This month in addition to Microsoft’s Patch Tuesday there is a surprise update for some Adobe products. Also a new malware targeting new Mac OS Lion users recently appeared.

What does Microsoft have this month for updates? [Read more...]

USB Flash Drives – Are They Any Use Now?

Many people, myself included, have been using USB drives for the last few years.

Are USB drives still useful?

Why would you want one? Should you use them at all? Have other devices or methods replaced their usefulness. Probably most importantly, are they safe to use? I’ll try to help you figure out if a USB drive is something you will find useful.

A cartoon about USB flash drives

Are USB Flashdrives Still Useful?

What is [Read more...]

The Ultimate Guide To Passwords – What You Need To Know

Passwords – What Everyone and Your Mother Needs to Know About Passwords

Passwords were once something most people only heard used in maybe movies, nearly a kind of science fiction.

Furthermore, just 5-10 years ago, many people might have only one password to deal with in their lives. Things have changed drastically. Nowadays, you may need passwords for your computer, several credit cards, email addresses, your bank account, and countless websites or social networks.
Do you remember your password

Not only that, but what defines an acceptable password has changed drastically in the few years since we started to use them.

What I would have recommended to you with confidence 3-4 years ago, would be a terrible idea in today’s environment. Only the most complex password recommendations from a few years ago still stand today. Chances are you need to change some of your passwords even if you think you chose good ones for them a few years ago. I know I personally have had to change mine.

What you need to know about choosing passwords (and tell your mother too):

Use [Read more...]

Patch Tuesday July 2011

What you need to know about this July’s Microsoft updates.

This month has a very important update for laptop users in particular. There have been some other interesting things happening over the last month as well. Also, I am very late with the Patch Tuesday post this month, I have a very good excuse that I’ll tell you about.

First, Patch Tuesday’s updates. [Read more...]

Patch Tuesday June 2011

Yep, it’s time for Microsoft’s official monthly release of updates and patches to protect your computer from malware.

However, there are some updates that may be more important than the Windows update. Adobe also released updates to several products and as these updates are needed to stop some current malware on the internet infecting computers, I’ll be covering those first. But wait! There’s still more to cover this month too!

Let’s look at what Adobe has for us first. [Read more...]

Make Your Internet More Fun And Productive With RSS Feeds

 

The problem is the Internet is big. Really, really big.

It is so big, it is hard to keep track off just the small bits of it you are interested in (those small bits always seem to get bigger as the Internet itself gets bigger). You surf around a bit, find a site that is interesting, add it to your bookmarks so you can come back when it is updated again, and the next thing you know, you have 1000 bookmarks.

Worse yet, you have no idea which websites have been updated. You find yourself spending a lot of time visiting sites and finding that nothing new has been posted or that the latest post is not what your interested in anyways. So, you go the the next site where you find the same thing. Finally, you find one of your favorite sites has something new and exciting. Now you only have 997 more sites to check.

“Space,” it says, “is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mindbogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space, listen…”

-Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To the Galaxy

There are those that predict the Internet will eventually contain the sum total of mankind’s knowledge.

With all the stuff on the Internet that is wildly made up, inaccurate, or just a plain old lie, I’d say there is already many times the sum knowledge of man here already. Even if we haven’t actually gotten all the real knowledge converted to the bits and bytes of digital storage. There is a lot of cool stuff you may want to keep track of and it can quickly become a lot of work and cause all that information overload thing people like to talk about.

So how can you keep track of all the things that interest you on the Internet?

Well, some sites offer an email subscription. Unfortunately, not all do. Plus, if you subscribe to too many sites in your email, you end up with a lot of email to get through before you find the mail your friends and family send you. You may miss that email about the most important meeting you have to attend in your life because there were too many email updates from basketweavingforlife24hoursaday.com (or something else that momentarily caught your attention – and no, I hope that is not a real site).

Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a simple way to keep track of when all your favorite Internet sites were updated?

What if [Read more...]

Patch Tuesday May 2011 – More For Mac Than Windows

Well, it’s another Microsoft Patch Tuesday but lately there seems to be more happening involving malware for Mac users to worry about.

First Microsoft’s monthly update. [Read more...]

Patch Tuesday April 2011

For Patch Tuesday April 2011 Microsoft seems to be making another record breaking attempt at releasing a large number of patches.

Also, there is yet another Adobe Flash exploit out that is already in use (a 0-day exploit). First, the Microsoft updates:

Window Update

This is what Window Update looks like in the start menu

This month Microsoft has 17 bulletins covering 64 vulnerabilites.

That’s a lot! On Windows XP, I have seen up to [Read more...]