The Internet is a great resource – especially for school-age children. The world is literally at their fingertips– research material, educational videos, and no end of resources. But make no mistake about it. Between hate-driven sites, online predators and pornography, the internet can be a dangerous place for children. So as responsible parents, it falls to us to take action to keep your children safe online. Read the rest of this entry »
Cloud computing. It’s a neat catch-phrase, but what does it mean? It simply refers to applications that are accessible via the Internet instead of being installed in your computer.
Without even being aware of it, you most likely are already using some cloud-enabled programs. Read the rest of this entry »
Your kids love cartoons. OK, that’s no big news. All kids love cartoons. Did you know that with a computer and a decent internet connection, your children can watch cartoons online? Following are some websites that are ideal for your kids: Read the rest of this entry »
You’re concerned about your computer’s security. You are proactive. You have a good anti-virus application. Your Windows firewall is turned on. But is that enough? Did you know that the bad guys might be able to gain access to your computer in spite of those precautions? Windows file sharing and opening ports for program access can leave your computer vulnerable to port sniffers, and actually allow hackers to access files in your computer, implant viruses, and even take over your system!
Fortunately, there’s a web service that will simulate intrusions by hackers, and give you a report of any weak points in your computer. Along with the report, it will give you suggestions you can follow to make your system more secure.
Visit the ShieldsUP! website and run their free test. It only takes a couple of minutes, and it’s a valuable tool towards keeping your computer safe.
Do you have a wireless internet connection at home, or at the office? Isn’t it great? With a wireless connection you can move your laptop from room to room and still access the web and your email. But keep in mind that by its very nature, a wireless connection is slower than a wired connection. Having said that, if you’re concerned that your wireless internet speed isn’t what it should be, there are things you can try to speed it up Read the rest of this entry »
Yes, I know advertising pays for all that great web content that we get for free. But between animated banners at the top, columns of ads at the left and right, plus ads interspersed in the midst of an article, some web pages are just plain cluttered. All you want to do is read an article, and these ads are yelling at you – distracting you – can’t they just leave you alone?!?
Along comes Readability (http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/). This little gem sits in your bookmark toolbar. When you want to read an article without all the clutter, just click on the bookmark and Readability will remove all superfluous content, leaving just the text you want. Best of all, it’s free! Read the rest of this entry »
Is your internet running sluggish? Do pages seem to take longer to load than they used to? It may be that your browser is storing unneeded data – in a space called a cache – which is slowing the system down. By clearing this cache, you may well find your internet experience is back up to the speed you expect.
Before we proceed with the steps to clear the data, let’s take a closer look at why this data is there to start with. When you visit an internet site, you don’t simply see the information as presented by the web server. Instead, you system downloads the entire web page you’re viewing. This includes the HTML code, all graphics, and supporting files, such as Java files or CSS formatting files. These files get downloaded into temporary file caches. If these caches get too large, they can actually slow down your internet experience. Read the rest of this entry »
Thanks to wireless routers, setting up a home or small business network is easier than ever. No running cables, no drilling through walls, just plug in, configure, and go. However, it’s also easier than ever to hack into someone’s network, thanks to wireless routers.
If, when setting up your router, you didn’t change the administrator name and password, or if you’re still broadcasting your SSID, (or if you don’t understand this is talking about,) then it’s possible someone else might leach onto your network and leverage your broadband connection for their own nefarious means. Read the rest of this entry »
Isn’t email great? You can keep in touch with friends and family. You can quickly and easily send them a message, and even include photos, jokes, programs and viruses. Wait… viruses!??! That’s right, one of the most common ways that computer users get viruses is via email attachments. When you download an attachment you are in essence saying, “I trust the person that sent me this file, and I’m confident it won’t harm me.” The problem is, how do you know where that person got the file? If it’s simply a funny “thing” that they are forwarding you, it might have come from anyone – including a virus or spy-ware producer. Read the rest of this entry »
There’s loads of “free” software out there on the internet. Beware, though. Free doesn’t mean without cost. Yes, you might download that software without shelling out any money, but there may well be a price to pay for installing that free program. Many developers use free software as a way to introduce spyware or adware into your system.
So why should you be concerned if a free program includes spyware? I mean, you get to use the associated program for free, right? Well, wrong. The reality of it is that spyware and adware uses up system resources, is often poorly written and buggy, and will generally degrade your computer experience. Read the rest of this entry »
