Facebook - new UN-private default setting

Facebook has introduced a new privacy setting that is set on Allow by default. It allows sharing of your information with non-Facebook sites. To turn it off, go to
Account
Privacy Settings
Applications and Websites
Instant Personalization
Un-check Allow...
then
Go to the page for Microsoft Docs and block application
Go to the page for Pandora and block application
Go to the page for Yelp and block application

For more information and details, check out
http://w2.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/04/how-opt-out-facebook-s-instant-personalization/
(thanks Jane!)

Here is the page that lists what applications are enabled for Instant Personalization:
http://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=17103
Check back here periodically to disable further application as they are added.

McAfee update deletes part of Windows XP

McAfee Update Thinks Windows XP is a Virus | Maximum PC
Users of McAfee's corporate antivirus product found themselves wrestling
with some pretty serious
problems today. The most recent DAT update for the antivirus suite
caused the scanner to identify the benign Windows svchost.exe file as a
virus. The antivirus' course of action is clear; it deletes the file.
The result is a lot of crashed PCs and unhappy IT departments. This
isn't even the first
time McAfee has had an error like this.
...

Get the problem fixed, then remove McAfee and install AVG Free

Why do people create computer viruses?

Why do People Create Computer Viruses? | Technibble

There are hundreds of thousands of viruses out there (if not
millions) and they often designed for different objectives. Most of them
fall under the following categories:

• To take control of a computer and use it for specific tasks
• To generate money
• To steal sensitive information (credit card numbers, passwords,
  personal details, data etc.)
• To prove a point, to prove it can be done, to prove ones skill or
  for revenge purposes
• To cripple a computer or network

Read the link for more details.

Most of the viruses I find and deal with on a regular basis on client computers generally fall under points 4 and 2 - to prove it can be done and to generate money.

PDF threat

Foxit and Adobe Warn Users of PDF Attack | Maximum PC
...
Didier Stevens, an IT consultant with Contraste Europe, discovered the
vulnerability, which entails getting PDF viewers to automatically
execute embedded executables when the PDF file is opened. ...
...

"To address the specific problems outlined, Foxit has added a warning
dialog box that will pop up when a PDF file is opened with Foxit
Reader, asking the user to agree to execute or not," the company
continued. "This solution adds a layer of safety yet maintains Foxit
Reader’s compliance with current PDF standards."

Adobe already has a warning box in place, but Stevens claims there's a
way for hackers to partially alter the dialog. According to eWEEK,
Adobe is discussing the potential threat but didn't say if it would take
any further precautions.

So, Foxit has dealt with the threat while Adobe has not yet.

Download the latest version of Foxit Reader here to fix this security hole.

Facebook Password Reset threat

Beware of the Facebook Password Reset Confirmation Malware - Tech Salsa
If you get an email claiming to be from Facebook and stating that they had to change your password, don't open the attachment. Delete the email. Then log into Facebook and change your password just to be safe.

If you do get infected by this threat, download and run Malwarebytes to get rid of it, then log into Facebook (after you have removed the threat) and change your password.

Google map directions for cycling

Official Google Blog: Biking directions added to Google Maps
You can now get directions from one place to another for travelling by bicycle. The directions will try to avoid hills and tries to put you on safe trails.

This looks great, but so far it is only for in the USA.

AVG's false postive of TeraCopy

Copy your files faster with TeraCopy
AVG's latest definitions have been identifying TeraCopy as a threat. It is not a threat at all. Your technician (or yourself) has installed this program with the intent to use it to speed up and improve Windows copying process. The program takes over the Windows process for copying. AVG sees this as a threat. To have AVG permanently ignore TeraCopy as a threat you need to add it to the exceptions for the Resident Shield. To do this:
- Open AVG
- Click on Tools, Advanced Settings, and below Resident Shield, select Excluded Files.
- Click on Add
- Navigate to the Teracopy.exe file (usually: C:\Program Files\Teracopy\... and select Teracopy, click on Open
- Click on Apply and OK
- Close AVG. Done.

Open Office 3.2 is out!

The latest version of openoffice is out - The Inquirer
Faster, more compatible with MS Office, and other tweaks. And, if you are upgrading from a previous version, it seems to keep your customizations nicely now.
If you don't want the Spanish and French spellcheckers installed, you'll have to manually remove them (Tools, Extension Manger).
Download it here.

Facebook - hide posts from an individual

If you want to remains FB friends with someone, but you find they post too much (like I do) and it fills up your wall/news stream, you don't have to de-friend them to stop seeing all the posts from that person.
To remove an individual's posts from your wall (so they never show up), go to your wall, find one of their posts and hover your cursor over it. You will see a Remove button appear at the right, click on this and their posts are gone.
To edit these options, and also to put someone's posts back if you removed someone by mistake, scroll down to the bottom of your wall page and click on Edit Options.

Firefox 3.6 is Here!

If you are upgrading there will be issues with some extensions (as usual).
To upgrade, click on Help, check for updates and follow instructions

If you are using Tab Mix Plus, after you upgrade to 3.6, manually install the new version of Tab Mix Plus from here.
After installing the Tab Mix Plus update, restart Firefox, go to Tools, Add Ons and Enable Tab Mix Plus and restart Firefox again.

If, when Firefox 3.6 starts up, you get a log of errors and warnings, it could be that you have some incompatible add-ons causing problems. Go to Tools, Add-ons, and Disable all the add-ons with red exclamation marks and restart Firefox. The problem should be fixed.

Make sure you have Mr. Tech Toolkit installed so you can make your fave add-ons compatible.

You might want to disable any add-ons you had to deal with memory as 3.6 seems to handle memory issues better.

One thing new to 3.6 is Personas. Install the Personas Plus add-on here. See the green button in the lower right to install the add-on.

Here is an article at PC World on some of the new features

Avoid Online Scams

The Complete Guide to Avoiding Online Scams (for Your Less Savvy Friends and Relatives) - Scams - Lifehacker
Keep safe and avoid these main 5 online scams.

Facebook Ads - Keep Your Own Pictures Out Of Them

Did you know that 3rd party applications, and Facebook can use your Facebook posted photos and pictures in their ads? Yes, they can now.
To block your pics from showing up in ads on your friends' FB pages:
Go To
Settings
Privacy Settings
News Feed and Wall
Facebook Ads
Close the pop-up that appears (Worried about Privacy? Your photos are safe)
Change this setting:
Allow ads on platform pages to show my information to
Choose: No One
Save Changes.

Now, scroll down to the next one:
Show my social actions in Facebook ads to
Choose: No One
Save Changes

Done - go back to your home page in Facebook.

(Thanks for the heads-up Richard U.!)

AVG voted best Antivirus application by Lifehacker users.

Best Antivirus Application: AVG - antivirus - Lifehacker
I have been using and recommending AVG Free for years now for a number of reasons
- It is very good at finding and removing threats compared to other programs (including paid ones). Many times I've cleaned up peoples' computer that were running paid versions of Norton or McAfee. AVG found and removed what these programs could not.
- The interface is very easy to use
- The annoyance factor is low - updates work in the background automatically. And there are few pop-ups trying to get you to upgrade to the paid version.
- It is far less of a resource hog than most security programs
- Fast - with version 9, it is faster at scanning than before
I've used other free security programs and still prefer AVG Free over the others.

And, occasionally there are glitches, but they usually minor and are quickly rectified with new program/definition updates. Most security software has glitches occasionally and some are worse than others.

Get AVG Free's latest version here at Filehippo.

Read more about AVG Free here.

TubeRadio.fm - Turn YouTube into a jukebox anywhere you are

TubeRadio.fm - Listen to and watch popular and rare music videos for free with the internet's largest music catalog. TubeRadio, Youtube for Music.
Great for DJing parties.
Watch the demo video at the bottom of the page.

Better Web Page Printing

The Printliminator
Go to this site and watch the demonstration video.
The Printliminator is a bookmarklet that enables you to clean up a web page quickly and easily for printing.

Protect your Facebook profile from scammers

Facebook Impostors – How To Configure Your Profile To Protect Yourself From Scammers

There are some decent basic privacy tips in this article for Facebook users.

32bit or 64bit - which to choose?

The Pros and Cons of 64-bit Windows 7 | Maximum PC

The Pros and Cons of 64bit:
Pros - You can use more than 4GB of memory, so it is great for things like Photoshop, video editing and games (IF you have the 64bit version)

Cons
- 32bit hardware (this means, for the most part here, peripherals - like printers, scanners, things you plug into your computer) drivers won't work in 64bit, and some hardware doesn't and won't have 64bit drivers. - So, some most hardware won't work in 64bit.
- not all programs come in 64bit
- not all plug-ins for Photoshop come in 64bit
- some 32bit programs will not run in 64bit (most will run in 64bit, usually the ones you need to run won't)
- some programs meant to be 64bit don't work in 64bit
- 16bit (very old) programs won't run in 64bit
- few games are written yet to take advantage of 64bit
- not all video editing (or that old video editing program you have) will be written for 64bit (and these 32bit video editing programs are some of the ones that most likely won't work in a 64bit operating system.

Who should get a 64bit operating system?
Someone who is going to be running a or some specific made-for-64bit programs, who also is using new peripherals with 64bit drivers, and won't need to use other software or hardware that is or could be incompatible with the 64bit system.

Who should not get a 64bit operating system?
Everyone else.

Eventually, when most things work with a 64bit system, then it will make sense to get it. Otherwise, I would stick to the 32bit system.


Read more about this at the above link.

A comprehensive overview of the new features/changes in Windows 7

Windows 7 Review: XP vs Vista vs 7 in 80+ Benchmarks | Maximum PC
Note: Homegroup - this section may seem discouraging for those who will be networking a Windows 7 machine with machines running older versions of Windows. But, do not despair, you can easily connect and share between machines, just like Vista could. The Homegroup feature just ADDS another level to what you can do (although just for sharing between Windows 7 machines).

AVG Free version 9 in now available

AVG Free v9 Installation Instructions
(Basic installation instructions with some changes to reduce annoyances)

Download from here Download AVG Free - FileHippo.com

Close all open programs.
Run the installer file (avg_free_stf_en_9...)
Next
Check off "I have read the license agreement"
Accept
Check off "Custom Installation"
Next
Username and License number appear - no need to do anything in this window
Next
Destination Folder - no need to do anything in this window
Next
Do you want to create the directory? ... - Yes
Component Selection - no need to do anything in this window
Next
AVG Security Toolbar - UNcheck "Install the AVG Security Toolbar (recommended)"
Next
AVG will now check for and install updates

Schedule Regular Scans and updates
- Updates - once a day (this is usually checked as the default setting). This section may be greyed out. If so, don't worry about it - you can always change this in the program later via the Update Manager section.
- You can set up your automatic scan schedule here, or later after you have installed the program. Once a week is usually a sufficient schedule.
- If you have or often have removable devices (external USB sticks, drives, memory cards) attached to your computer, check off the "Enable automatic scan of removable devices..." box so these are scanned too.

Next
Finish

Restart computer - Yes

After your computer restarts, eventually, this will pop up:
AVG Optimization Scan
Yes, run this now.
(This only takes a few minutes and it will make your scans run faster in the future.)

And finally, if you don't want it, delete the new AVG icon on the desktop. You can always access the program from the system tray icon.

Update: As of Sept. 2010, there is another pop up regarding adding some other Yahoo or AVG toolbar to your browser. Uncheck the bottom check box and then the top one and continue/okay...

For advanced computer users only:
If you want to remove the annoying notices that show up below the program window when you open it, this is how to remove them:

Make sure you can see hidden folders and file extensions.
Go to the Program Files\AVG\AVG9 folder
Alter the names of these files by adding something like
.bak
after each one (example: avgfree_us.mht.bak)

avgfree_us.mht
avgmwdef_us.mht
avgresf.dll
avgsbfree_us.mht

avgtrial_us.mht

VistaSwitcher - Alt+Tab replacement for XP, Vista and Windows 7

VistaSwitcher is a Ridiculously Awesome Alt-Tab Replacement :: the How-To Geek

This is a great Alt+Tab replacement viewer. It has a big preview, and a very legible list of the open programs. Plus, you can change how it works and with what keys. 32bit and 64bit versions for Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.

Adobe Acrobat Reader - another bug, another reason to switch to Foxit Reader

Adobe Acrobat Yet Again Under Attack by Zero-Day Bug | Maximum PC

If it seems like Adobe's Acrobat Reader is constantly under attack, well, that's because there's some truth to it. The latest threat comes in the form of another zero-day bug being exploited in targeted attacks, Adobe said.

Not a whole lot of information has been made available on the newest threat, though according to an advisory from VUPEN Security, the vulnerability in question is an unspecified memory corruption error that occurs when users open a specially crafted PDF file. VUPEN says the bug can be exploited remotely.

....
Want a less-bloated, faster, less-buggy PDF reader that has proven itself over the years?
Try Foxit Reader

Some good Facebook tips

How to Make Facebook Worth Your Time Again

AVG Free version 9 to be released by mid-October 2009

Download AVG Free Edition 8.5.420 - FileHippo.com
Watch the above link mid-to-late October for the free version of AVG 9 (anti-virus and anti-spyware).
AVG 9 claims to be much improved in performance/speed and in threat protection.

A fun image/painting program for your children

Tux Paint – A Great Image Program for Your Children :: the How-To Geek

Remove jerkiness in You Tube videos

YouTube Auto Buffer & Auto HD & Remove Ads for Greasemonkey
Add Greasemonkey, then add this script.

Free small conversion program

Unit Converter - Converber Download
This is a great little program for converting different measurements, including currency.
There is a portable version and a version you can install.
And, there are updates for the program and the values/measurements.

Embed a PDF file in a Google Document Viewer on a web page

Embeddable Google Document Viewer
Say you want to make things on your web page simple, so someone who might not have a PDF viewer installed on their computer (even though most people do have Adobe Acrobat Reader or an equivalent viewer like Foxit - and they are free) still be able to view a PDF file. You can use the code on this page to embed the PDF file on your web site in Google Document Viewer. If you want to print the PDF file, click on the button to enlarge to full-screen and there is a print option.

Oh, and you can also use this to display PowerPoint presentation files on web pages!

How to Access Gmail When It's Down

How to Access Gmail When It’s Down - Gmail - Lifehacker
This is a great article with a number of tips on accessing Gmail through different methods.

Personally, I have Thunderbird set up on my laptop and an a POP3 account set up for it so I always have all my sent and received emails at hand if I loose my Internet connection. Also, as stated, when the Gmail interface went down the last time, the POP3 connection was still active, so I still had full Gmail access via Thunderbird.

Firefox Add-On Tiny Menu upgrades from version 2.0 to 2.0.1

Tiny Menu :: Add-ons for Firefox
If you were having problems with squished bookmark drop-down menus in Firefox with Tiny Menu add-on version 2.0, then make sure to update to version 2.0.1. This problem has been fixed.

Updating Firefox and add-ons that are no longer compatible

MR Tech Toolkit :: Add-ons for Firefox
If you don't have the Mr. Tech Toolkit add-on installed, you may end up with some incompatible add-ons whenever you update Firefox. Install this add on. Then, whenever Firefox updates and something stops working, open up the add-ons (Tools, Add-ons), find the one that is no longer compatible, and right-click on it and choose Make Compatible. Then, restart Firefox.
Most of the time this will fix the add-on an it will work. But sometimes, the add on will no longer work properly. If the add-on no longer works properly or causes problems, disable it and watch for updates for it.

Lastest Firefox Update Will Detect Outdated Flash

Firefox 3.5.3, 3.0.14 will detect outdated Flash | MX Logic
The latest version of Firefox (3.5.3 and 3.0.14) will let you know if you have an outdated Adobe Flash plug-in.
If you haven't updated yet, to manually update, Click on (Menu), Help, Check for Updates, and follow the instructions to install the update.

AVG Free ad campaign - pop-up

If you use AVG Free 8.5 you may have noticed pop-ups recently asking you to upgrade to the paid version.

If you don't want to get the paid version, click on the Maybe Later button.

Apparently, AVG will run a campaign every once in a while to try to get people to upgrade to the paid version. During these times, this pop-up will come up every day or every few days for a while. Although this can be annoying, they are just trying to make some money from their product, and, if you want to stay with the free version, the simplest thing to do is just click on Maybe Later when the pop-up appears.

AVG glitch shows iTunes as a Trojan

Technical Bulletins - AVG Software | AVG antivirus & Internet security software support
If you haven't update AVG since July 25th and you have iTunes, AVG might think that iTunes contains a trojan. Update AVG to fix this. If AVG has moved part of iTunes to its vault, click on the above link for the steps to restore the important iTunes files.

Firefox 3.5 - a couple of tweaks

Tab Mix Plus Dev-Build 0.3.7.4pre-Tab Mix Plus

When you upgrade to Firefox 3.5, some of your extensions might not work. Tab Mix Plus, which is one I use all the time, did not work. But, there is a version that will. Go to the above link and download the 0.3.7.4pre version and it will work fine in Firefox 3.5.

Also, make sure you have Mr Tech Toolkit installed. It will enable you to make other add-ons compatible with the new Firefox. Most, made to work this way, should work fine.

Another thing. If it annoys you that when you close the last tab, Firefox closes too, instead of just giving you a blank page, you can open up about:config and navigate to browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab, and change the value to false. This is new with Firefox 3.5.

Some good basic computer tips

3 Beginner Computer Tips That Are Often Neglected

Learn to use the keyboard
Watch what you install - be picky about what you install
Get organized.

Remove IE8 from systems that slow down

Since Internet Explorer 8 has come out, I've noticed that it has slowed down some systems - particularly Windows XP systems. On some of these systems it seems to cause long boot times, IE8 is slow itself, and other programs seem to run much slower. I've noticed this happening on some Windows XP systems, but not all Windows XP systems.

If this has happened to you, removing IE8 may speed things up, but maybe not all the way back to as fast as it was before.

To Remove IE8:
Open Control Panel, Add or Remove Programs, check off Show Updates
Look for Windows Internet Explorer 8. Look for Updates and Security Updates for IE8. Remove the updates first, then, finally Internet Explorer 8. Restart the computer as requested throughout the removal process.

To Block IE8:
Go here and download and run the blocker tool from Microsoft.

Maybe Microsoft will come out with something to patch this. Until then, hopefully removing IE8 will help.

Hold off on that McAfee patch!

McAfee AV Patch Leaves Some Computers Unbootable | Maximum PC

Oopsy-daisy! According to complaints on McAfee's message board, a mandatory service pack for the company's antivirus VSE 8.7 software has left some machines unbootable. The update, which was issued on May 27 and later pulled on June 2, was intended to squash minor security bugs, but also inadvertently flagged some Windows system files as malware.

This is another reason why I recommend NOT using one of the big commercial anti-virus programs.
I recommend using AVG Free.

Buying a new computer? Wait until after October 22, 2009

Gizmodo - Windows 7 To Be Released October 22 - windows 7

If you are planning on buying a new computer soon, wait until after Oct. 22nd. Windows 7 comes out then. From all I've read, Windows 7 is better than Vista. Don't get me wrong, Vista works great (contrary to all the bad press it got). But Windows 7 sounds like it is pretty much a version of Vista that has been tweaked under the hood and has some new features added.

Gumblar virus

New "Gumblar" Virus Making the Rounds | Maximum PC

First detected back in March, the 'Gumblar' attacks have been gaining steam lately, growing by as much as 188 percent in just a single week, ScanSafe warned. Gumblar refers to
a Web attack that plants malicious scripts on normally legitimate
websites, which then redirects Google search results on victims' PCs.

New Web Site Drive-By Threat

Web Attack That Poisons Google Results Gets Worse - Business Center - PC World

... The attack, which has intensified in recent days, can be found on
several thousand legitimate Web sites, according to security experts.
It targets known flaws in Adobe's software and uses them to install a
malicious program on victims' machines, CERT said.

... Security experts say that if you're using a fully-patched system with
up-to-date security software, you should be protected from these
attacks. To date, they've worked by hitting the victim with malicious
PDF or Flash files.