Microsoft’s free consumer antivirus is now available. So far, I like it. It’s lightweight and does not seem to change any performance with my computer.
You can find it at http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/
Scenario: You have too many passwords you have to remember for tons of web sites. Let’s face it, just about everyone uses the same password or couple of passwords because it is too hard to remember passwords for so many web sites. The problem with using the same password for multiple web sites is that some web sites are better at securing your data like your passwords than others. If "Joe Hacker" discovers your username and password at "someblog.com" he or she might try to use it at bankofamerica.com, chase.com or every other online banking institution to gain access to whatever bank account you might own.
Enter Password Maker! Best used with Firefox, Password Maker securely uses one password you pick and creates a password using your master password and the web site domain name you want the password for. This allows you to have a different password for all your online accounts without having to remember a different password. I find this tool works best as a plugin for Firefox, quite possibly the world’s best web browser because it creates a button and does all of the work for you. Basically, you click a button, enter your master password, and copy and paste the password created.
I have tested the firefox plugin in in Windows Vista, OSX 10.6, and Ubuntu 9.04 and it should work on XP and Windows 7. For more information go to: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/469 or http://passwordmaker.org/
Security Tips for using this program:
1. You Master Password should not be the same as any of your usernames for your web sites.
2. Don’t save your master password in the program. Enter your master password every time for added security.
3. Use longer passwords, the default is 7 in Password Maker but there is nothing stopping you from having a long random password that is 20 characters, accept a poorly designed web site requiring short passwords.
4. Add an additional password only you know in addition to your created password from Password Maker. This should not be the same as any usernames or your master password. For example, if the password generated for your bank account is "09rl-sle" add a word or phrase in front of behind it making your password something like "goodpassword09rl-sle."
5. Never share your usernames, passwords, or master password with anyone.
Since the cost of sending email is pretty much free, especially when bots do it for you on compromised machines, spam email will continue to be a nuisance. According to MAAWG, the Messaging Anti-Aubuse Working Group, in a study they did called "A Look at Consumers’ Awareness of Email Security and Practices or "Of Course, I Never Reply to Spam – Except Sometimes," 1 in 6 people are interested in the offers they receive from spam.
1 in 6 is more than enough people keep the spam coming. Spam is here to stay!
For the full report go here: http://www.maawg.org/about/publishedDocuments/2009_MAAWG-Consumer_Survey-Part1.pdf
1. Do not download anything from the internet unless you absolutely must!
2. If a web site says it needs to download something in order for the site to work or for you to get what you need to get, ask yourself if you really need to do it? If you can get by without it, do it. If you need a player, go to the web site where the player originates. For example, go to Adobe.com for the most recent version of Flash.
3. Don’t open any attachments in email unless you are expecting them and they are from people you know.
4. Don’t click any links in email. Go the web site in question via your web browser by typing the web address yourself. Turning off html email will solve this.
5. When you get a “pop-up,” use Task Manager to close it.
6. Back up your data to more than one medium. It’s only a matter of time before your hard drive fails.
7. Keep Windows up to date by allowing auto update to run.
8. Don’t install any software you don’t really need.
9. Don’t trust web sites. Stick to big consumer web sites to buy things like BestBuy.com instead of JoeSmoElectronics.com.
Tools
1. Turn on your Firewall.
2. Use a router.
3. Have an up-to-date and antivirus.
4. Use Windows XP or above.
5. If using WiFi, make sure to use WPA authentication with AES encryption and a strong password that is not guessable or a single word.
Recently I decided to add a double din GPS unit to my 2004 Dodge Ram. This is not normally a hard thing to do but the 2004 Dodge Ram is only made to fit a single din. Follow these steps at your own risk. I assume no responsibility. Do your own research and you know what you will be getting into.
What you will need:
Dremel
Replacement Bezel (not required)
Bondo
Rough to fine sandpaper
Spray paint
Plummer’s Floss
I wont go into the particular unit I installed in the truck or how to wire it because it is pretty easy to figure out. The first thing I suggest, although not required, is to buy a replacement bezel incase you ruin yours. I found one for $50 on ebay. If you ruin yours, you should be able to buy a replacement from the dealer but it will be pricey.
The first step, is to buy your double din stereo and see if it will fit in the area where your stereo goes. I think a 1 and 1/2 din unit will fit with no modification to your truck. If it fits, no modification is necessary to the dash. If however, your double din does not fit, you will have to cut away some excess plastic so it will fit with your Dremel.
As soon as you can snugly fit your stereo in place, you will want to use plummer’s floss or some sort of bracket to mount your unit in place. As soon as you know you can get your unit in the place you want, go ahead and wire it up if you want to. My suggestion would be to buy a $5 wire harness adapter so you don’t have to cut your truck’s factory plug and can easily plug or un-plug your unit.
Now it is time to measure or eyeball if you are me, and cut out space for your unit. I held my plastic bezel over the unit about 10 times cutting and shaving off plastic a little bit at a time making sure not to cut too much with your Dremel. You might want to tape off where you need to cut.
Once you are satisfied you have cut enough plastic or cut too much, it is time to get messy with Bondo. You may have noticed there is some spare space on the left and right side of the unit with the bezel installed. Before moving to the Bondo, I cut away some plastic and used plastic resin to glue them into the sides.
Ok now Bondo. Just get some Bondo at your local Lowe’s or Home Depot and get ready to have some patience. If you have never experienced Bondo before, you must know you have to act quick and it will probably take you many applications to get the shape you want. You may even get to the point where you think you are finished, sand it, and find you have to add more because of a bubble. As long as you mix it correctly, (instructions are on the box) the Bondo will harden really quickly. If you have to add a lot of Bondo to one area and it wont stay in place before hardening, you can tape cardboard in place to hold it.
Once you feel you have the desired shape, time to get sanding. I would first cut away any access Bondo, sand the excess, and make sure it fits. If you don’t like the shape, add more Bondo making sure all dust is gone before applying it. As you can see, this took me many times before I got it where I wanted it. I also could have kept going to perfect it more but I got to a certain point where I was satisfied.
When you are ready for final Sanding I suggest this is where you put your effort. I did not mention this earlier but it is important to make sure your Bondo is dried and hard before sanding. Start with rough paper and move to very fine. My final sanding ended up with a sponge.
Once you have finished sanding, time to paint. At first, I decided to go with a glossy color but my horrible sanding stood out so I decided to go with a flat black. You also may have to paint the whole bezel in case you nicked a part or sanded an un-intended area.
The original Gray I decided to use looked great when painting but from the driver’s seat, some minor imperfections showed up and I went with a flat black which turned out much better. If you want to go with a glossy color, make sure your sanding is good. Finally, the finished product is below (not flat black) I’ll add that picture later.
Tell me what you think.
Greg
****Update 02/15/2010. I decided to paint the whole thing flat black. I found there were much less visual defects you could see with my bad sanding this way.
Just wanted to take some time to say the HP CM1017 Multifunction Color Laser printer is a really great choice for small businesses and homes. This printer is not for someone who needs amazing photo prints and is not for someone who needs microscopic scanning but it is a really affordable workhorse for any small office. I’m not going to go into the details like print speed but rather point out a few facts that is essential for my office:
One thing that is missing is a fax machine but in my case, I would rather not receive spam faxes all day. You should also know the scanning bed is only for 8.5 x 11″ scanning.
I purchased my printer on March 14, 2008 and the toner cartridges are about 75% full after going through a ream of paper. This printer is made for a small business or home, not for a big business, and not where you will be printing over 100 pages a day.
Given some recent events, I decided to get a camera system. For the low price of $700 found at Costco.com (at the time of this writing), I feel I have had good enough results with the Q-see QSD6209 9 channel DVR System. As far as functionality, this thing is far from professional but is good enough for a one day project for any DIY’er.
First the good:
Now the bad:
Honestly, it is a great price to deter theft and catch some punks doing pranks in the act. Other people might want to consult a professional but for the DIY person, this kit is perfect.
You can pick up yours at Costco.com
I hate messy cables everywhere when it comes to electronics or anything else that required cables to be strung about everywhere. There seems to be no solution because you take so much time and effort to put your cables in order only to have to do it over when adding more gadgets and devices.
One solution is the Signum cable management system from Ikea. The idea is to screw a shelf like device underneath your desk where you can weave your cables through. Considdering the price, this is the best cable management system I have used. I bought two because I have a large desk but all is holding up fine and my cables are out of the way.
If you are looking at a quick, easy, and cheap solution to managing your cables, Check out Ikea’s Signum cable management system. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50035115
I came across the web site wordtracker.com today and it had an article with a few tips from a book about Search Engine Optimization. Some of the quotes from the auther Peter Kent seem to agree with so much that I have been saying for so long. When talking about SEO companies Kent says, “Over the last few years as I speak to more clients and hear their stories, it has led me to believe that 80% of the business is scam.”
Some other things I read like using forums, blogs, and adding links all make me think this is a really good book to look at. If you want to optimize your web site
I decided to over-clock my new Q9450 Core 2 Quad processor from its native 2.6 GHZ to 3.0 GHZ and the result of running 
prime95 to check my temperature scared the pants off me. With the stock cooler my CPU went up to an average of 74 degrees Celsius using Speedfan, CoreTemp, and RealTemp. I understand that no program I use will cause my CPU to get to that temperature but I would rather keep it cooler so I purchased a Zalman UltraQuite CNPS9700 LED CPU cooler. The immediate result after running prime95 for 2 minutes was around 65 degrees Celsius. Currently at idle speeds I am around 51 degrees Celsius. Although I would like to be much cooler, this is below the threshold of 70 degrees so I am happy.
Assuming I applied the thermal compound correctly, I guess this is as low as I am going to get without going to water cooling. I would love to do water cooling but out of the two systems I have owned, the both sprung a leak and one resulted in the total destruction of a motherboard.
A couple of cool things about this CPU cooler is it comes with a variable speed control switch and a blue led in the fan. Also included is thermal compound which comes with a "nail polish like" bottle with a brush applicator making it pretty hard to screw up applying the compound.
The temperatures I gave were an average of all 4 cores and for some reason, the first core was hotter by roughly 10 degrees than the rest always. I do have a case airflow issue and am upgrading the case to something with better circulation. If anyone has any ideas as to cooling my computer down more, please let have your suggestions. Also note, Zalman says it may take about 200 operating hours before best cooling is achieved.