Sumo Paint - Free on-line just-like-Photoshop program

Sumo Paint
Is an on-line program very very similar to Photoshop.

Handy if you need this and you don't have and can't afford Photoshop.

Foxit Reader 3 out. New and improved

Foxit Software

Foxit Reader 3.0 is out now. Alongwith numerous improvements is the fact that it now supports Firefox - so you can click on a PDF and have it open in the tab instead of opening in the Foxit program outside Firefox)

However, in order to keep using some of the other useful features, you have to install the Ask Toolbar. To install the new Foxit Reader without having this toolbar running:
- Download the installer file from the link above
- Close your browsers
- Run the file and choose Custom
- When you get to the part about the toolbar, Un-check the point about making Ask your home page.
- Finish the installation and close Foxit (if you let it open)
- Open each browser and disable the toolbar it added (it will still be installed, but it won't be there taking up space and resources in your browser)
- Done.

Bell can squeeze the bandwidth.

TheStar.com | Business | Bell can squeeze downloads, CRTC rules

With this CRTC ruling, it pays to do your homework and find out if that different Internet Service Provider is using Bell or not, before you switch to them for a lower rate. If they do use Bell, this means that you might be paying for a lemon  - your bandwidth will be much lower than what you mean to pay for. Remember, ISPs offer you an "up-to" speed, not a minimum.

So far, in my experience, and in the experience of friends and clients, Rogers seems to be more reliable and seems to do less bandwidth squeezing of customers, than Bell Sympatico in their Internet service. And, for home land line telephone service, Bell seems to be more reliable.

Major SPAM provider shut down

Spam drops 75% as major host shut down - Security - Technology - smh.com.au

Hopefully this will result in an actual reduction in SPAM

Stop automatic Windows restart

shutdownguard - Google Code

Here's a little program I just discovered via Lifehacker. It is supposed to stop Windows from automatically restarting after updates.

I'll check it out and get back to you about it (sometime in December, after the next Windows update). I'm testing it in XP and Vista.

UPDATE
It works! In Vista and XP.
It stops Windows Updates from automatically restarting.
In XP, if you want to re-start or shutdown your computer, you have to exit shutdownguard first (as it won't let you shut down Windows)

Updated instructions:
Download the file (see link above)
Copy to Program Files.
Run.
Right-click system tray icon
Autostart
Check off Autostart.
Make sure you Enable it.

Next time Winows update wants to restart after an update, the Restart Your Computer To Finish Installing Updates window will pop up to give you the choice of Restart Now, or Postpone, and a Remind Me in xx minutes.
Usually, if you are away from your computer, Windows will automatically restart in 10 minutes.
With Shutdown Guard running and enabled, this window stays up and the computer does not restart. So, when you come back to your computer, everything is still there and you can choose when to restart the computer (you can leave this pop-up window open in the background and when you are finished your work, restart the computer when YOU want to.)
In XP, it will keep popping up with the Restart/Later window every 10 minutes, but it won't restart your computer automatically.

Note. You should restart it soon though as the updates are usually security related. I would start it less than a day after this pops up - preferably within a few hours.

Beware more Facebook email scams

Nigerian scammers penetrate Facebook - The INQUIRER

The latest trick is to send an email from a friend claiming to be stranded
in Lagos, Nigeria and ask for $500 for a ticket home.

Many users totally fail to recognise the fact that their "friends" have lost
total command of the English language.

New threat via Facebook

Facebook Users Attacked by Trojan Virus :: Schipul Blog

There is a new threat via Facebook (see above link).

If you get an odd message from a friend (okay, not like the usual odd messages your friend sends you, a message like in the article in the link above), they may have been infected. Send your friend a new message informing them that you got the odd message and that they may be infected.

If you use Facebook, keep an eye out for computer threats (viruses, spyware, etc) all the time in the form of the various messages and emails you can get from using it. And, if you ever go to a site that tries to get you to download and install some weird program or codec to play some music or a video, do NOT download and install it. If it says you need Java, or Flash or such, go to those actual sites and get them from the real sites for these plug-ins. If you already have these plug-ins installed and the video or whatever does not work, then it is not supposed to (they are just trying to get you to infect your computer). YouTube videos use Adobe Flash to run. If you can go to the YouTube site and watch a video, then you have Adobe Flash installed and working, and the odd site you went to that doesn't work is bad news - close the site and don't go back to it.

If you do get infected, you should be able to clean out the infection with a full scan by AVG Free 8 and/or Superantispyware.

Make Windows Live Hotmail your default email program in Windows Vista

If you use Windows Live Hotmail as your main email instead of Windows Mail, Outlook, Thunderbird or some other email program, and you want to make it come up as your default email program when you click on a mailto link, here is how to do it.

Go to this WinHelpOnline page, download the registerhm.zip file and follow the instructions under the Registering Hotmail with the Default Programs tool heading. It is very simple. This only works in Windows Vista (not Windows XP).
This utility can make it so Windows Live Mail comes up when you click on a mailto link, or want to send a link, when you press the mail button (if you have one) on your keyboard, or when you send an email directly from a program on your computer. In other words, it makes Windows Live Mail your default email program.

For Windows XP, check out the instructions here.

AVG Free 8 - remove annoying pop-ups when not connecting to the server

If you cannot connect to the server to update, and you are getting constant annoying pop-ups related to this, here is how to turn them off:

Open AVG
Click on Tools
Click on the little + sign beside Schedules
Click on Virus Database update schedule
UNcheck "Run the update again as soon as the internet connection is available"
Click on Program Update Schedule
UNcheck "Run the update again as soon as the internet connection is available"
Now click on the Apply button, OK, and close the AVG window.
The constant pop-ups should be gone now.

See the previous post for how to manually update AVG Free 8 from files.

Manually update AVG Free 8

AVG Free - Download update


If your AVG Free 8 is having trouble connecting to their server to update itself, AND, you can manage to access this update site, then you can update it manually via the avaialable update files.

Go to this page.
Scroll to the bottom.
Click on each item that you have missed by date and save to your hard drive.
Open AVG Free 8.
Click on Tools.
Choose Update by directory, then point it to the directory where you saved these files.

Now you will be up to date. Ignore any further pop-ups today that say that AVG cannot connect, and ignore the red circle with the exclamation mark on the AVG icon in the system tray. You are still protected and up to date.