July 30th, 2008 by George
In Gmail looking out for security - again I wrote about the new Remote sign out feature which allows you to monitor account access and close any open Gmail connections to your account. Recently I was reading ZDNet’s Make your Gmail even more secure this great post was about increasing security for your Gmail account. The Gmail Blog also wrote about it - Making security easier.
So here’s another way to make your Gmail account even more secure…
While logged into your Gmail account go to Settings > General and scroll down toward the bottom and click “Always use https”. You can learn more about exactly what this does for you by clicking the “Learn More” link to the left, or by visiting the ZDNet or Google Blog links at the top of this page.
SCREEN SHOT:
Category: Email |
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July 29th, 2008 by George
UPDATE YOUR BROWSER
According to Study: 637 million Google users surfing with insecure browser about 45% of Google users from January 2007 to June 2008 were using the most secure version of their browser (read the article above for more specifics). Google users not using the most secure version of their chosen browser, according to the article posted on ZDNet, basically boils down to people not having the latest major version of their browser. Although Google users with Firefox might comprise a minority of browser visits (as is the case Internet-wide), Firefox garnered the most users with up-to-date browsers.
UPDATE YOUR EMAIL PROGRAM
This whole post is not about updating your browser, but your computer in general. If you’ve read any of my posts in Technology > Computers > Email you’ve probably figured I’m somewhat of a Gmail freak. With Gmail as my main email application, I don’t have to worry so much about updating my Windows Live Mail and Thunderbird email programs. An up-to-date email program can help reduce spam and your chances of getting a virus, worm or malware via email.
UPDATE YOUR ANTI VIRUS
Yes, Yes, Yes! By all means keep your Anti Virus up-to-date. Most decent commercial Anti Virus programs are under $40 year. If you cannot find a paid Anti Virus program for your budget or you think its not worth paying for, then look for a free one. In this respect CNet’s Download.com can help you find reliable anti virus protection. Download.com is an excellent source to search for safe software to download for your computer including write ups and reviews.
UPDATE YOUR BIOS
Check to see if your BIOS can be updated, and make sure you know how to udpate it.
UPGRADE YOUR MEMORY
All computers slow down with time (notably Windows PC’s) but you can minimize the effect by adding memory (RAM). Make sure to search for the correct RAM for your computer, and have it installed if you don’t know how to do it yourself.
WINDOWS? CLEAN AND DEFRAG YOUR SYSTEM
If you have a Windows Operating System look for tools to maintian your system at Start > Accessories > System Tools.
Category: Computers |
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July 19th, 2008 by George
I have joined the fight against spammy comments. I already have Akismet activated, and I review my comments for “spamminess” but today I’ve gone a step further and added rel=”nofollow” to the URL of comment posters. According to some reading I’ve done search engines may be encouraging blog owners to use the ‘no-follow’ tag.
We’ll see how this works out, and I’ll be watching future versions of WorsdPress to see if they have or have not adopted this in their software.
Category: Computers |
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July 19th, 2008 by George
Many of us pay extra to for hybrid automobiles (and save on fuel costs while helping the environment) but would you pay more for a computer that has an Intel CPU VS competitive non-green CPU’s taking into consideration that Intel is going “green”?
According to The Green Enterprise: Intel a ZDnet.com Video Feature (click link to view video) Intel has apprently gone green. Their Eco Technology takes into consideration building green fabrication facilities, energy-efficient performance, designing for the environment which addresses e-waste (toxic trash in our landfills), and engaging the industry as a whole and policymakers (setting the example for others to emulate).
Intel’s Echo Technology goal addresses reducing impact on the environment from the day the chip is made (fabrication facilities) to the day the chip is tossed into the trash can, and its usage in between. For years I’ve heard AMD costs less and in some cases run faster than comparable Intel chips (partly because they may end up delivering new products after Intel has). So my decision to buy AMD has been based on savings of cash at the register and possibly better performance. From now on I’ll be thinking of the environment - will I pay more for a computer with an Intel processor so I can help the environment (both by using a more power-efficient CPU and supporting a “green” manufacturer). While you may argue that the energy savings I get from using a more green processor may be modest or even insubstantial, you cannot argue that supporting a “green” company is a good idea.
What about you? Are you willing to pay more for Intel’s chips?
Category: Technology |
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July 15th, 2008 by George
According to GoDaddy’s Bob Parsons, Yahoo! not only blew a recent takeover offer from Microsoft, but they’ve also lost many talented employees as a result of the disappointment of that Microsoft deal gone sour and subsequent decisions. As if that’s not enough, Yahoo! is also raising their rates for domains.
“… to the dismay of many of their shareholders they fumbled Microsoft’s forty seven and a half billion dollar takeover offer …many of [Yahoo!’s] talented employees leaving them in droves. But the management at Yahoo!, well they didn’t want to stop there. It wasn’t enough to blow one hell of a deal and to drive away their most talented employees, they decided that this was an excellent time to stick it to their domain name customers …that Yahoo! just decided unbelievably that all customer’s domain names will renew at the outrageous rate of $34.95 a year. Now keep in mind that most of these domains were registered at Yahoo! at rates as low as GoDaddy’s rates …so [GoDaddy] put together a special rescue offer …you can transfer it to GoDaddy for just $6.99 and also get a year of domain registration to boot.”
-Bob Parsons of GoDaddy
See Bob’s full video blog from June 30, 2008 for more information and details
Yahoo! Sinks Deal with Microsoft - Loses Talented Employees
So why do big companies like Yahoo! pull stunts like this? I can’t comment on their handling of the Microsoft takeover offer because I don’t know anything about it. I can only speculate that the employees Bob Parsons says left because of Yahoo!’s mismanagement of the deal and later poor decisions have left Yahoo! because they saw how bad Yahoo! could be. Imagine the realization, “Oh no, Yahoo! is not good, they’re evil. I’d better get another job.” Now certainly Yahoo! isn’t evil, but you get the point.
On July 10 “Yahoo! Recruits Dev Army With Open Search Move” by Renay San Migeul of LinuxInsider, mentioned a couple of things I found interesting and enlightening:
- Yahoo!’s stock prices are dropping rapidly - “…stock price is in free fall…“
- Yahoo! has invited 3rd party developers to use their search technology to build their own search engines
- according to an analyst at Forrester Research “…this is the beginning of the future of search…”
- Yahoo! will share revenues with (from?) these 3rd party-developed search engines
In light of the first 2 facts above I was thinking Yahoo! was in major trouble and failure of the latest Microsoft bid to buy them out was simply more than some employees could take, so they began worrying about their careers and moved on. Some desiring a guaranteed future or not liking the internal changes that may surround the news above may have moved on for those reasons — but others may have seen an opportunity. Why work for Yahoo! when you can work with them? Some might have seen recent goings on as the perfect time to go start their own businesses or join companies whose Internet presence could leverage these new developments to increase profits. And exactly what would happen to such a new employee that brought his or her knowledge of Yahoo! into a new company, possibly catapulting their revenue stream higher? Hmmm, that’s a no-brainer!
Yahoo! Increases Domain Prices
But what about the increase in domain name prices? That could be tied to Yahoo!’s concern about their stock prices or simple greed. Why follow a discount domain name pricing structure like GoDaddy or DirectNIC when you can charge prices like Network Solutions or Register.com or Domain Registry of America (yes, that was a sarcastic put-down)? They will certainly have fewer customers, might put some smaller companies that react too slowly out of business, but in the end will they be making the same amount of money off of fewer customers? I hope not. I think we already have enough Register.com and Domain Registry of America’s in the world as it is.
Category: Technology |
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