February 24, 2010

White House Goes Viral

Filed under: Internet — Tags: iPhone, IPod touch, live streaming, mobile, mobile applications, mobile apps, online live streaming, online political steaming, political live streaming, president, president barack obama, president obama, president of the united states, social media, united states, united states of america, us president, video streaming, white house, white house social media, whitehouse.gov — admin @ 9:15 am

Political junkies have a new way to keep abreast of activities at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, without the filter of the traditional news media or White House correspondents.

The White House has launched a first-of-a-kind application available through the Apple iPhone and the iPod touch. The app is free.

It will feature live streaming of President Barack Obama’s public events at the White House. It will also include web chats with officials in the Obama administration, daily press briefings and other events.

Subscribers also have access to content from WhiteHouse.gov. It provides access to behind-the-scenes photos, on demand videos and full videos from recent speeches, press briefings, and special events.

During the campaign, Obama and his strategists got high marks for utilizing new communications avenues to connect with voters, especially young Americans and the technically savvy. A White House spokesman reveals that the iPhone app is one piece of a larger mobile strategy, with other mobile products planned for the future, allowing WhiteHouse.gov to be accessed on all mobile phones.

Photo: photo credit: M☮nique

February 22, 2010

Protect Yourself Another “Big Brother” Could Be Watching!

Filed under: Google, Internet, Online Safety — Tags: big brother, computers, facebook, facebook profiles, george orwell, identity theft, keep yourself safe, online privacy, Online Safety — admin @ 8:28 am

In his ominous novel “1984,” George Orwell imagined an overarching government (“Big Borther”) that collected data about everyone, with no detail too small to track.

Today, you may have more to fear from yourself than from any vast bureaucracy. You may be giving away some of your own vital secrets to anyone who has access to your Facebook profile.

Most people with FaceBook profiles post their birthdays, and enjoy getting special wishes on their special day.

But identity thieves know that many of us use all or part of our birthdates as passwords or as personal identification codes. When numbers that should be guarded are given out freely, it can be dangerous.

Your Facebook profile may also include your nickname or the names of your children or pets, which are also popular categories for passwords. Perhaps your mother, complete with her birth name, is one of your Facebook friends. Ascertaining that information could allow a cyberthief to have a crack at that popular security question about “mother’s maiden name.”

Increasingly, people use FaceBook for business and networking purposes; for them it is impractical to suggest that they deny “friend” status to someone who may be unknown. That friend request could represent a lead as a new customer or client. Creating a list with different privacy settings for different groups of your connections is another way to control who sees what information included in your profile.

That’s why it is crucial that you take a critical eye to your page. Look closely at what you are revealing. You can still be yourself on FaceBook while deleting personal information that could put your identity in peril. It turns out “Big Brother” is watching, but it’s in the form of identity thieves, rather than the government.

February 19, 2010

Get a Deal on Craigslist!

Filed under: Online Safety, Tips — Tags: craigslist, internet safety, internet shopping, safe, savvy shopping tips, shop, shopping, shopping online, stay safe — admin @ 8:26 am

Craigslist is a cheap matchmaker, for buyers and sellers. It represents an affordable way for millions of people to connect, whether they are searching for a new couch, a new job or a new love.

If you’re a Craigslist newbie–or looking to sharpen your buying skills–here are a few tips to help you make the most of your transaction as a buyer.

First, be smart to stay safe. There have been millions of people who have happily bought and sold via the site. A minute fraction have led to dangerous situations, which have garnered a disproportionate amount of media attention. We’ll say no more about it, other than to urge you to always meet strangers in public places, take someone with you when visiting a private home and to trust your gut instinct–if you get into a situation that makes you uncomfortable, get going. Quickly.

Next, study the site. It’s straightforward enough. Spend a little time playing around in different categories to get a feel for what’s available and at what price.

If you see a good deal–grab it. Often the offerings are one-of-a-kind. If you think it’s a great bargain, so will others. Send an e-mail expressing interest. It does not commit you to buy the item, but it does put you in line for it. The treasure hunt aspect of Craigslist is what makes it both so much fun and so addicting.

Once you are in touch with the seller, make sure you agree on the method of payment. Most sellers want cash or checks.

If the item has been for sale for a while, you may be able to negotiate the price. Don’t be afraid to counter offer.

When you show up to see the item, be prepared to pay for it and haul it away on the spot.  If the item is not as it was described, you are under no obligation to purchase it. And if the seller tries to change the terms you had agreed upon, you are well within your rights to walk away.

Finally, there are great deals to be had on Craigslist on gift cards. But before you buy someone else’s unwanted gift card at a deep discount, verify the balance on the gift card. Cards often contain printed instructions on how to verify a balance.

Remember that not every item for sale on Craigslist is a bargain. Do your homework to see what an item is truly worth. It’s easy to get carried away!

For more information on Craigslist, check out this article with other savvy shopping tips.

February 17, 2010

McAfee, Inc. Names Jessica Biel the Most Dangerous Celebrity in Cyberspace

Filed under: Tips, Viruses — Tags: beyonce, cybercriminals, cyberfan, dangerous celebrity, dangerous cyberspace celebrity, dangerous online celebrities, jessical biel, justin timberlake, kim kardashian, lidsay lohan, mcafee, megan fox, miley cyrus, most dangerous celebrities, most dangerous celebrities in cyberspace, scammers, tom brady — admin @ 9:00 am

It’s not just Justin Timberlake who is infatuated with actress Jessica Biel.  The comely starlet is the object of thousands of Internet searches. But the quest for pictures and information pertaining to the actress could leave her cyberfans with a crashed computer. Internet Security Company McAfee, Inc., reported that fans who search for Jessica Biel info, whether as photos, videos or wallpaper, have a one in five chance at getting a nasty surprise–landing at a website that tests positive for adware, spyware, phishing schemes, viruses and the like.

In a culture that is increasingly fascinated with celebrities, cybercriminals use their photos as bait. The scammers latch onto stories and pictures about high profile figures to hook fans, who can inadvertently download malicious software while simply trying to get the latest news about their favorite star. And it appears younger consumers are often the most vulnerable.

Celebrities who have strong appeal to the youth market pepper the list of Most Dangerous Celebrities in Cyberspace. Second to Jessica Biel is Beyonce. Others on the list include Miley Cyrus, Lindsay Lohan, Kim Kardashian, Megan Fox and Tom Brady.

The best advice to avoid the harmful downloads? Play it safe. Avoid sites you’ve never heard of in favor of surfing mainstream websites with a reputation for safety and trustworthiness.

February 15, 2010

What is Google Buzz and Should I Use It?

Filed under: E-mail, Google — Tags: buzz, flickr, gmail, Google, google applications, google apps, google buzz, google reader, new social media site, new social site, picasa, sharing, social media, social media sites, social networking, social sharing sites, social sites, tiwtter — admin @ 8:25 am

For those that haven’t been paying attention, the world is in the midst of another communication revolution and Google has decided not to sit this one out by introducing Google Buzz.

Social tech is not a fad and Google knows it.  Facebook is the current king of social tech with an estimated (as of this writing) 400 million users worldwide that are very engaged on a daily basis. To put it into perspective, if Facebook were a country, it would now be the third largest in the world behind China and India.

Google Buzz is a new option that is appearing only for those that currently use Google’s e-mail system Gmail. In its current iteration, it looks like Google is trying to cut into Facebook’s turf and integrate features that are similar to what Twitter is all about.

It can serve as a basic ‘aggregator’ for various social media sites, but oddly it has no integration with Facebook (which is why most are speculating that they are the target).

In our view, Google Buzz is so new that unless you are an ‘early adopter’ of technology, you should probably let them get through a couple of development cycles with the early adopter crowd before you jump in (exhibit: Google Wave – what’s happened to it?) In fact, you should get familiar with Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Plaxo so that you can understand where Buzz may fit in your social media connections.

Unless you’re using Gmail, it’s a moot point on using it as there is no stand alone version of Google Buzz.

The biggest concerns in the early stages of Buzz seem to be in the area of privacy, primarily in the area of the way you automatically get followed or start to follow others.

If you are a Gmail user and want to avoid any of the privacy issues being voiced by critics, you need to do more than just click on ‘Turn off Buzz’ as that simply turns off what you see, but not necessarily what you are participating in. Cnet’s Jessica Dolcourt has posted an excellent step-by-step tutorial on how to ensure that none of your ‘privates’ are included in the Buzz: http://bit.ly/dw1ubz

Whatever happens with Buzz social media is here to stay.  The digital world is not going away. So jump in, the water is fine!

February 10, 2010

What files should I delete to speed up my computer?

Filed under: Computer Performance, Data Doctors, PC — Tags: beware third party cleanup programs, computer hard drive, Computer Performance, computer's hard drive, Data Doctors, data doctors mpls, data files, delete programs, deleting files, hard drive, improve computer performance, minnesota, not enough memory, shorewood, technology help, uninstall programs, wayzata — admin @ 11:44 am

There is a major misconception amongst non-technical computer users that deleting files from your computer will somehow improve the performance.

A computer that has 100 data files will run no faster than a computer that has 10,000 data files stored on it purely based on the number of files. The only impact that a large volume of files will have on a computer is that it will fill up your computer’s hard drive. Think of it like your refrigerator; it stores the ingredients that you use for cooking, but has little to do with how fast you can prepare a meal.

If your computer’s hard drive is getting close to full, then getting the ‘urge to purge’ makes sense but don’t expect any tangible performance gain.  If you are seeing a Windows error that indicates “not enough memory,” your hard drive may be so full that there is no more room to store the file you are creating. That will affect performance.

You can easily check space availability on your hard drive by opening up My Computer and right-clicking on the C: drive, then selecting Properties. A pie chart should come up with the blue section representing your data and the purple section representing your free space. If the purple section is a tiny sliver, then it’s time to start removing unneeded items; if not, don’t get too concerned about deleting old files.

The quickest way to free up large quantities of disk space is to uninstall unnecessary programs, which take up lots more space than documents and spreadsheets. Pictures, music and especially video files are the most common ‘data’ files that can take up significant space only if you have large quantities of them.

To remove unneeded programs, start by looking for an Uninstall option in the Programs section of each application from the Start menu. If you don’t find an option there, you can open the Control Panel, click on the Add/Remove programs icon and work from there.

A Word of Warning!

Removing items can be very dangerous. We constantly see customers in our stores that are suffering from ’self inflicted deletion wounds’ because they started mass deleting files and programs that they didn’t recognize. Honestly, if you do not know what it is, do not delete or uninstall it!

A more relevant cleanup process that can improve performance is built into the Windows operating system and should be performed at least every couple of months. The Disk Cleanup utility (Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools) will track down lots of extraneous files that build up as a natural course of using your computer and get rid of them all at once.

Beware of companies that may try to sell you a magical program that will clean up your computer for you. A Windows based ‘Registry’ system is extremely complicated, so these ‘cleanup programs’ must guess what needs to stay and what it thinks it can remove. If they guess wrong, you end up with a much bigger problem that can be very costly to fix. All too often, we see folks bringing in crashed systems that say ‘everything was working fine until I installed XXX cleanup program’ so be very mindful of any third party programs that claim to perform miracles for only $29.95!

To get more information or to have help cleaning up your computer, contact your local computer help center!

photo credit: HowardLake