Free Security Software

PC Magazine released an article today that discusses free security software. i’ve been using Spybot for several years, but according to PC Magazine, there is better stuff out there…. For Free!!!!….. Check out their recommendations for security software here.

 

Prevention

I have talked a number of times about how important it is to protect your computer from viruses and other malicious threats. Of course, most computers come with something installed, but it is vitally important that you make sure that whatever you have is updated at least weekly if not daily. Most antivirus and spyware programs can be set to update automatically and this is the best way to go. If you use a free program that cannot be set to update automatically, then it is important that you go it manually.

Many Internet Service Providers (ISP) provide some security software free and you should certainly take advantage of this. I like to check the online version of PC Magazine for their recommendations. Here are a couple of interesting articles to check out from them.

Eleven Ways to BodyGuard Your PC

Nine Ways to Wipe Out Spyware

I also get a couple of RSS feeds from PC Magazine which often have interesting info.  CNet is another good source for information about technology stuff in general. Download.com also is a great source for software.

Do you have a favorite “trusted” source for software? Why don’t you share with us?

Until next time!

Janice

 

The “Green” Way to Recycle Electronic Junk

As Earth Day approaches, newspapers and other news sources are highlighting ways to “Go Green”. The Today Show had a great feature today on what to do with electronic items that you no longer want. Check out their website for more information.

Janice

 

My Safe Florida Home Program

In my continuing effort to pass on useful information from the internet, I wanted to tell you about a program I saw advertised in a TV ad the other day. The program, “My Safe Florida Home” is administered by the Florida Department of Financial Services. According to the ad and the website, it is possible for any Floridian whose residence is a single-family, detached, site-built home to get a free wind inspection. One of the benefits of receiving a free wind inspection through the My Safe Florida Home program is identifying the potential insurance savings available to you based on the current structure of your home. Many insurance companies provide discounts or credits for construction features proven to reduce damage from hurricanes. There are also grants available for qualifying residents that will pay for some types of hurricane protection.

I suggest that each of you check this out for yourselves and see if this is something that might be useful. I know that I am going to take a closer look for myself as I am always interested in saving a little money!

Janice

 

Savings Calculator

I saw something interesting on the Martin County Public Library site and thought I would pass it on to all of you! It is a Savings Calculator showing how much your library saves you each month. It is provided through the State Library of Florida and is really pretty darn interesting. Go ahead and give it a try!

Did you even know that we had a state library? We do and it actually is a wonderful archival source as well as providing a variety of services for the people of Florida.

 

Listen to Music Online?

Do you often listen to music online or like to download songs? There are still places that you can do this for free! PC Magazine has just posted an article called Get Free Music! that lists 12 different websites where you can find music-streaming services that are not only free and legal (like all radio) but customizable. I don’t know about you, but I always feel a little better about trying out something online that is recommended by this magazine or one of the other well-known technology magazines.

Interested in checking some of them out? Here are several of them and the complete article is linked above.

Jango, TheSixtyOne, Musicovery, BoomShuffle, finetune, last.fm, skreemr, songza, Pandora, Slacker, and Imeem.

 

Good Stuff from the Technobuddy

I have written about the Technobuddy (Bill Husted) before as I always find his articles interesting. Even those of us who consider themselves to be fairly technology literate can find useful info in his articles.

Last week, his article was called “Take pain out of hunt for tech help” and he offered some great advice on how to get what you need from tech help. His “Seven Rules for Surviving an Encounter with Customer Service” are well worth reading!!

 

RSS

Back in July of 2007, I taught a class that dealt with a number of “Web 2.0″ topics including RSS. Why am I bringing this up again? Because if you are not taking advantage of RSS, I think you should. How can it help you? Well, for instance, I often send out emails when I post new articles on this blog. If you don’t get my email, you don’t know that I have posted something new. The beauty of RSS is that every time something new is posted, it is sent to you.

Here is an explanation of RSS from Wikipedia:

“ RSS is a family of Web feed formats used to publish frequently updated content such as blogentries, news headlines or podcasts. An RSS document, which is called a “feed”, “web feed”, or “channel”, contains either a summary of content from an associated web site or the full text. RSS makes it possible for people to keep up with their favorite web sites in an automated manner that’s easier than checking them manually.

RSS content can be read using software called an “RSS reader”, “feed reader” or an “aggregator”. The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed’s link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user’s subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.”

So, isn’t that cool? I certainly think so. I have subscribed to a number of “feeds” myself and find it very convenient. I use the Google Reader, but there are a number of other options. Click here for a list of aggregators. I actually have created an iGoogle page and include my Google Reader as well as my Gmail account (which I use for online purchases and anything I might sign up for online). (Can you tell I am a Google fan?) Yahoo has a similar setup though, if you already have a Yahoo email account.

Once you decide to set up an aggregator, how do you find “feeds” to subscribe to? As you surf the web, look around at sites you often go to. Do you check the news on CNN frequently? Maybe you just want updates on national news. You can have those fed to you as they come in to CNN. Look for links similar to these:

By clicking on the right image, you can add the feed to your aggregator.

So, it’s a new year, let’s try something new! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to make a comment here or email me: collinsj@mycitylibrary.org.

 

Computer Classes for the New Year

Well, 2008 is here and with the New Year, we are once again offering a full schedule of computer classes. Remember, it is not necessary to sign up, all classes are first come, first serve. Here is the schedule for January.

January 8	10:00 am	Basic Computer Skills
January 10	10:00 am	Basic Computer Skills
January 17, 24, 31	10:00 am	Microsoft Word
January 22	10:00 am	Internet 1

If you have any questions about any of the classes, give me a call at 868-7701.

Janice (your Tech Librarian)

 

Google-Florida Partnership

I saw an article in the Palm Beach Post today that looked interesting. It seems that Florida is one of six states to work with Google, along with California, Arizona, Michigan, Utah and Virginia.

What you might ask are they doing? Well, by agreeing to a common standard produced by Google and other search engines like Yahoo, documents can be found by simple queries on a search engine, rather than navigating individual state Web sites.

So far, records from the departments of State, Workforce Innovation, Education, Environmental Protection, Business and Professional Regulation and Law Enforcement have been made search-engine friendly and other agencies’ records will be added in the coming weeks.

For those of you who are already thinking about privacy issues, rest assured that only records already publicly available can be searched in this fashion.