Archive for January, 2011

SPRING CLEANING TIME!!

Monday, January 24th, 2011

Yes, the weather outside is still frigid for a lot of us, but it is soon going to be spring cleaning time, not just for our homes, but for our computers and others gadgets as well. Remember to clean up your PC to keep things moving along quickly.

Here is a simple way to clean your computer up without losing Windows or needing to reformat your computer.

Clean up your Windows Registry – as you add programs and uninstall programs, your registry expands and needs to be cleaned up as well. This area will help speed up your booting time.

Remove background services – when you install a program, it also installs a background service that is not necessary to run. Make sure you are running what you need, not what you don’t need.

Hard-drive issues – a hard drive can become full and will make the time from swapping from main memory to drive very slow. Make sure you are defragmenting your system when it starts to slow down.

Seriously – it seems like something that you only need to do every now and then.  But I bet it’s been a loooong time since the last time you cleaned your computer up.  Do it, you will be shocked at the difference.

Are you still using the same password for everything?

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

With the recent holidays, people are upgrading, trading up and giving up things. With these ups, and downs, people are in need of making sure life is secure. With new devices or gadgets, come the ideas of new passwords or phrases.

A few tips to help you keep your goods safe:

  • Don’t use personal information. These include spouse or children’s names; details such as birthdates or anniversaries; or anything that comes up in casual conversation or a simple web search.
  • Mix up your passwords. Though it may get rough to remember them all, make sure that you don’t use the same one all the time. Once someone gets that one, you are stuck.
  • Use a passphrase. Pick a sentence that you like and that only you can relate to. This sentence can change easily by taking out all the other letters but the first one of each word. This makes a sentence like “I like pepperoni pizza!” into a passphrase like this: ILPP!.
  • Protect your passwords. Never give out your password to any company persons. If you must give it away, ask them to change it and you can change it after them. Protect yourself!

LOCK DOWN YOUR DROID

Monday, January 17th, 2011

In order to keep your Droid from being compromised, know a few things about your handheld device.

  • How much storage information are you holding? Can you hold up to 32GB of information, which is the standard limit? Make sure you are using the full capabilities of your device!
  • What are you using to unlock your phone? Are you making sure no one else can unlock your device? The connect-the-dots pattern screen can easily allow someone to trace your fingerprint smudges and unlock your phone.

Bottom line is use your Droid carefully and be aware of what you are running or capable of running. If you don’t use it to the full capacity, someone else might.

BAA, BAA BLACKSHEEP HAVE YOU ANY….

Friday, January 14th, 2011

Protecting your personal data while using public Wi-Fi can be hard to the non-techie. Thanks to Firefox a new plug-in, called Blacksheep, helps the tech novice protect their internet life from being snooped on by other traffic, while using public Wi-Fi.

Many people worry about when sitting at a coffee shop checking their email and other personal information. Blacksheep is basically an alarm that you can use when you are on local, public Wi-Fi  hotspot.

If you are concerned about your public media being stalked by others, this alarm will let you know when someone has gotten into your personal life. No it cannot protect you from identity theft, but it can let you know when someone is peeping into your life.