t h e t e c h n o l o g i s t
t e c h n o l o g y mac | pc n e w s l e t t e r
n e w s | o p i n i o n s | r e v i e w s
February, 2009 - Vol 1, Issue 1
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Greetings!
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 Greetings!
A geek quotes..."A journey of a thousand sites begins with a single click."
And, on that note, I am quite surprised by the amount of feedback that I have received from many of you who receive my newsletter. So "Thanks!" to all those who "clicked" on the email to read my newsletter, it is greatly appreciated.
And thanks to all of you who are sharing "the technologist" with your friends and co-workers. Each time I send out another newsletter, I see another few new subscribers signing up for the next issue.
This month I have also added another feature of the newsletter. The ability to review all past issues. Simply go to my website by clicking on my picture. You'll see the 'Archive' link on my Homepage. |
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Free and nearly Free Software
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Open Source - Not just for Penguins
Most geeks, like myself, associate Penguins with operating systems such
as Linux, FreeBSD, and others, all of which fall into a category of
software development known as Open Source. Their goal is to provide
software that is created in an environment that allows decision making
and concurrent input of different agendas, approaches and
priorities, and differs from the more closed, centralized models of
software development. But besides creating alternative operating
systems, Open Source development creates all kinds of software for us
Mac and PC users. below are just a few examples.
I don't want to kid you. Microsoft and Adobe make excellent
applications. And, for many users and professionals, those applications
are exactly what you should be using. But there are lots of us who just
can't justify using expensive software. Or we just don't use it enough
to justify the expense. So thanks to the dedicated and hard working
Open Source developers, we have lots to choose from
PDF Printer - Windows only
Looking for a good, free PDF printer utility that is easy to install, and easy to use? Check out bullzip.com and download the Bullzip PDF Printer. When you hit their website simply click on "PDF Printer" and proceed to the download link. The site states, "This program is FREEWARE with limitations, which means that it is FREE for personal and commercial use up to 10 users.
It does not contain any advertising or popups." I have tried it and now use it on my PC installations in my office.
The total download size of PDF Printer is 4MB, When you install PDF Printer you will be prompted to download the "Ghostscript" utility, which is distributed free under the GNU General Public License and is down-loadable separately from this site. It will download as "gslite.exe". It is approximately 7MB.
Thanks to Roland and his staff, at Pacific Tile Supply, for this great tip on Bullzip PDF Printer. And here's a tip from me... If you are doing anything with tile, you owe it to yourself to visit Pacific Tile Supply. He has an amazing inventory of incredibly creative tile to make your next project stand out from the rest. Call them at 907. 563. 1991
Photo Editing - Mac or Windows
Can't afford Photoshop? Neither can I... so check out this great alternative: Gimp. Gimp is an Open Source
software application that is available entirely free. This software gives you lots and lots of neat features that you would expect to find in Adobe Photoshop. But of course, not everything. You'll also find
dozens and dozens of plugins to provide special effects to your images.
Gimp makes it relatively easy to be creative. To download Gimp for Mac
OS X click here. Gimp for Windows, click here.
Office Suites - Mac or Windows
It's nice to have an Office Suite
of applications such as Word Processing, Spreadsheet, Presentation,
Database, and Graphics. An Office Suite with all those tools helps us
to do most of what we need to do when it comes to performing our daily
computer-related tasks requiring specific applications. Like many other
Open Source applications, such as OpenOffice,
StarOffice, or NeoOffice. Each of these is an office suite that is very
adequate when compared to Microsoft Office and easily compatible making it convenient to exchange documents with users that utilize 'expensive software solutions'. Especially when you
consider that most of us don't use 10 to 15 percent of the power of an
application such as Microsoft Office. Here are the links for each of
them. (I prefer OpenOffice.) I suggest you check out each website and
choose the one that fits your needs best.
All of these are compatible with easily compatible with Microsoft Office applications
Mac | PC OpenOffice totally free
Mac | PC StarOffice nearly free, $34.95
Mac Only NeoOffice free or nearly free, donations requested, not required.
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Over 8 million PCs infected
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 Feb. 16, 2009 According to CNN, A new sleeper virus that could allow hackers to steal financial and
personal information has now spread to more than eight million
computers in what industry analysts say is one of the most serious
infections they have ever seen.
Experts say a single infected laptop could expose an entire network to the worm.
Mikko
Hypponen, chief research officer at anti-virus firm F-Secure, says
while the purpose of the worm is unclear, its unique "phone home"
design, linking back to its point of origin, means it can receive
further orders to wreak havoc.
He said his company had
reverse-engineered its program, which they suspected of originating in
Ukraine, and is using the call-back mechanism to monitor an exponential
infection rate, despite Microsoft's issuing of a patch to fix the bug.
"On Tuesday there were 2.5 million, on Wednesday 3.5 million and today
[Friday], eight million," he told CNN. "It's getting worse, not better."
Read the full article...
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Microsoft offers $250,000.00
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Microsoft announced recently they are offering a reward of $250,000.00 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the mastermind of what is probably the most infectious virus ever released. As mentioned in the previous article "Over 8 Million PCs Infected", the success of this infection is due to a weakness in Microsoft's security.
You may remember in 2004 when when an infectious worm, called Sasser wrecked havoc on hundreds of thousands of computers, prompting Microsoft to offer rewards to anyone that could identify the hacker that created Sasser. The perpatrator was eventually caught in Germany, and sentenced the following year.
Are You Protected?
You can go to my website and read the Dec. 17th Security Alert that I published for more complete details and a link to the Microsoft Security Patch. Click here for more information. (or copy/paste this URL into your browser: http://www.techpronetworks.com/ie_critical_security_alert.html )
But briefly, make sure you do the following on every PC (including any Macs running Windows) in your network:Download and install the Microsoft Security Patch, "MS08-078.mspx" on EVERY PC in your network.
- Update the Anti Virus definitions.
- Update the Anti Spyware definitions.
- Do a complete Anti Virus and Anti Spyware scan every day. (this should be scheduled to run automatically)
- Verify that any employees bringing in their own computers are following the above suggestions.
- If you find an infected computer, disconnect it from the network IMMEDIATELY.
- Scan all external hard drives and flash drives (aka: pen drives; thumb drives).
- Notify your staff that un-scanned flash drives are a huge potential risk.
- Mark any currently unused systems that they are not to be used until the above steps have been performed on such systems.
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Not an advertisement... |
Well, not a paid advertisement anyway...
A few months ago, my "ex-Internet Service Provider" started metering my bandwidth. Quite a surprise when my bill jumped from $50/month to $150/month. And, since they don't provide a simple and accurate way to monitor the bandwidth, I fired them. There are ISPs in Anchorage that provide unlimited bandwidth (within reason) at competitive rates.
Being a geek that enjoys trying new things, I was intrigued by AT&T's new offering of WiMax, a wireless internet modem that provides up to 2Mbps service to select areas of Anchorage and Juneau. After having it for a few months now, I can easily say it is an excellent value, backed by a very dedicated tech support team.
This is great technology. It was easy to set up. I had service the same day. I didn't have to wait for someone to come to my office to test that it would work or to install or connect any special cables. I didn't have to call to activate the service. I simply plugged it into power, connected the ethernet cable from the modem to my router, and then activated my service. 1-2-3-Done!
If you're interested in WiMax, give them a call at 800-620-6520
or check their website, attalascom.com
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FREE Ringtones
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 If you've been wondering how you can create FREE ringtones, using music
you already 'own', or even from YouTube Videos! Who knew? Then here is the best solution I've heard about (and
actually use). My friend, JR, turned me on to this. And it works really well.
Go to this website http://audiko.net
You'll see many (thousands!) selections you can chose from and skip most of the steps I've outlined below. Simply download one from their library, and upload it to your phone.
But it is so easy to create your own, I'm betting you will do that instead. Here's the process I went through. Using iTunes, because I have an iPhone, it takes just a few minutes to:
Upload the song. -
Select the section of the song you want as the ringtone. -
Download it to your computer. Transfer it to your cell phone.
In my case, using iTunes:
I simply drag the downloaded ringtone on to the "Ringtones" icon in the left panel of iTunes. -
Then synchronize to the iPhone. - Go to the Settings and select the Ringtone you want.
The next time you are in a public place and you hear Pink Floyd's "Time", the cut with all the alarm clocks going off, it could be me. I hope you enjoy playing with this as much as I do.
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Pssst....I'm always looking for new stuff to write about. Email me your tips and information. I'll give you proper mention in the newsletter.
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Ask
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Tax Season
Strategies & Solutions
The coffee and first meeting are on me. That way, we can assess your
specific situation and discuss your options without running up a bill.
Everyone agrees, it only makes sense that the best thing you can do is to get the jump on the IRS is to prepare your tax returns as early as possible. Contact me, Bill Orfitelli, at Strategies & Solutions and let me evaluate your tax position this month. I want to save you money and help you to get the best return possible results on your tax situation! Bring your tax paperwork in and Bill will scan, and electronically store, all of your hard copy documents during your first visit and return them to you before you leave! He can then evaluate what you have, let you know what else you might need, and prepare strategies for your most beneficial options on your 2008 taxes. Bill has considerable experience from his many years of service as a CMA. |
Click Here to email a request for an appointment for your money-saving evaluation
Note: In the interests of FULL DISCLOSURE, Strategies & Solutions is a client of Techpro Networks, LLC and Strategies & Solutions prepares the tax returns for Techpro Networks, LLC and it's owner, David Stark.
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Would you like to have yourself or your business featured in the "Technologist" Newsletter? Send me an email. I'm mostly interested in how you or your business utilizes technology in a unique or interesting way. Send me an email and we'll discuss it.
Sincerely,
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David Stark, Technologist
Techpro Networks, LLC
Anchorage Alaska
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