Carputers News and Computer Tips

It is not just about the Do Not Call Registry.  Take control of your personal information! 

hut00009 writes on the Pinching Your Pennies forums:

“So I thought that I would compile a list of ways to remove/suppress your information from the web, data brokers, marketers, social network aggregators, etc. This list comes in handy if you want to reduce those who have or could have access to your personal information.”

We learned of this via The Consumerist… 

Different kinds of malware have been infecting computers since 1988. Here’s a breakdown of the different kinds, what they do and where they come from, courtesy of the Intac web hosting blog.

(click the image below to open it enlarged in a new tab or window…)

So, how do Windows users avoid getting infected by malware?  Here are a few basic steps:

• Keep Windows and all installed sofware up-to-date.

• Use a good antimalware program.  We like Microsoft Security Essentials and Javacool Spyware Blaster.

• Practice “safe hex“…

As always, if you need help recovering from a malware infestation or with proactive prevention, contact us!  We’d be happy to be of assistance!

Just over a year ago, we blogged about free website builders aimed at non-technical users.  This is a subject that we get questions about all the time.  Here are more resources:

Mark Thompson recently posted 45 Web Builders to Create an Insanely Awesome Free Website on the 1stwebdesigner blog.

The Smashing Apps blog recently featured 13 Easy And Powerful Website Building Tools To Create Your Free Site.

What’s a portable app?  A piece of software that can be run and used from a portable drive - typically a USB flash drive - without installation on a host computer.  They can be handy if you use multiple computers or if you use public computers.

This list is aimed at college students, but the general public will find many of these useful as well. 

Megan Jones (the author of the above-linked article) writes:

The following portable apps cover everything from documents to note-taking to organization to security to helpful tools and more, are all small enough to go anywhere, and cost absolutely nothing.

See also John Haller’s PortableApps.com, PortableAppZ, Pendriveapps.com, App-Stick, and The Portable Freeware Collection for more.   Portable freeware suites or compilations like the Lupo PenSuite are also available.

Cameron Chapman (who is one of our favorite writers about things online) recently wrote an outstanding article for the Webdesigner Depot website entitled How to Find Anything Online: Become an Internet Research Expert.  He notes:

…with the Internet, almost anything you could ever want to know is at your fingertips. You just have to learn how to access it.

We agree wholeheartedly and have found this to be the case.  We blogged three years ago this month about the American Library Association’s Best Free Reference Web Sites. 

Mr. Ms. Chapman’s article gives tips and sites that, while they will not make you an immediate expert at research, will enable you to expand and practice your search technique.  It is a definite keeper!

While you’re flying this holiday season (through 01/15/2010), you can enjoy free WiFi at 47 participating airports, courtesy of Google…

Edit 12/23/2009:

PC World and Yahoo News feature a list of chain restaurants which offer free WiFi.

Many free software programs are licensed for home, non-commercial, or non-business use only.  Our Links to Free Software page contains a note about this which states:

Some free software licenses stipulate home or personal use only - read the license agreements and let your conscience be your guide…

Here is a well-researched, two-page long list of software applications that may legitimately be used in a business setting over at the Donation Coder forums. In this age of doing more with less, I thought that blogging it would be appropriate.

As always, if you aren’t sure what you need, contact us!  We’ll be happy to help!

Actually, school here in metro Birmingham, AL has been back in session since mid-August.  However, since this is Labor Day weekend with tomorrow being the “traditional” start of school for many, we thought we’d note some resources that would be useful for students and parents.

The first is a post we wrote a couple of years ago about web-based applications for students.

The second is an article written for Mashable by Josh Catone entitled Back to School: 15 Essential Web Tools for Students.  He writes:

“From staying organized to improving study habits to making sure you reference your research sources properly, the web can help you be a better student.”

The third is a call from blogger Bill Mullins urging High School/College Students (to) Line Up Here for Your Free PC Software.  Bill’s picks are, in his words:

“…recommended free downloads that will help you communicate, get those assignments done, have some fun, and manage and protect your system while you’re surfing the Internet.”

Bill mentions Open Office in his picks.  We’ve pointed out several Microsoft Office Alternatives over the last few years.  As we’ve said before, “free is good”, especially in this day and time of belt-tightening.

Looking for other sources for legitimate, free software?  We maintain a list on out links pages!

Here are two sets of picks for the best websites of 2009 - one from Time Magazine, and one from PC Magazine.  The latter also features a downloadable application that will add add all 100 sites to your IE Favorites (you can also export them to Firefox).

We’ll edit this post whenever more lists come out between now and the end of 2009.

Edit 10/30/2009:

techradar.com has a six page list entitled 95 Websites You Should Totally Bookmark Today that is worth a read.

We blogged on this about a year ago.  Recently, v3.co.uk made a full, commercial version of Ashampoo Burning Studio 2009 available for free download.

Nero has also made a free version of Nero 9 available, though this version is somewhat feature-limited.  Download Squad’s Lee Mathews doesn’t care for it, and we can agree with the negative aspects that he pointed out about this application.

UsefulUtils Discs Studio is a free and lightweight disc burning software program for most Windows operating systems including Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. The website is in Russian by default, but clicking the British flag in the upper right corner will change the page to read in English.  This program has a ton of features generally not found in other free burning software.