The impending demise of Windows XP
April 8, 2014 is the last day for Windows XP support from Microsoft.Well, what exactly does that mean to you if you are still using Windows XP on your computer?About one third of the viruses I treat in the field are the result of un-applied security patches. Patch Tuesday occurs on the second Tuesday of each month in North America. On that Tuesday Microsoft regularly releases security patches. These "patches" close holes, potential breaches, in Windows that would allow malware into your computer. Anti-Virus software might not be addressing these breaches in anticipation of the patch doing the same job. Once Microsoft stops supporting Windows XP no more patches will be issued. That means that the bad guys will be able to create new menaces without your being able to stop them. The good news is that as the number of Windows XP machines diminish, so does the incentive for the bad guys to exploit the XP operating system. Additionally, Anti-Virus software will likley pick up the slack. One might think that after all those years of patching, perhaps there are no more holes. What about patching up? Microsoft will certainly leave access to existing patches for a longtime to come. Additionally, the likelihood is that, as with Windows 98 (remember 98?), third party websites will continue to host all of Microsoft Windows XP patches, starting with the time that Microsoft takes down its own patch site and for a goodly amount of time after that. New activations? Suppose your hard drive fails or a virus invades your computer and you need to reinstall Windows XP! Well your covered, the quote from Microsoft is "The end of Windows XP support will not affect activation, but rather security updates and phone/online technical support." Then again when was the last time you thought of calling Microsoft for support? Similarly, hardware manufactures (Dell, HP, Lenovo, etc.) will continue to offer the drivers necessary to make their hardware operate with the now defunct O/S. So no worries there either. Finally, in my opinion and experience, your XP machine, like my 1962 Dodge Dart, will likely die of old age or you will become frustrated with its shortcomings, well before software support from third parties runs out.
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 Have you heard about Facebook's Graph Search? Facebook has garnered trillions of pieces of data about you and your friends. They have your pictures, comments, likes and dislikes and its now going to make that data searchable!
Find a Dentist, a doctor or a local florist. Find photos of friends that may have vacationed in that resort you're thinking of visiting. Looking for pictures of your ex in incriminating positions? Sure. The search engine is touted as being intuitive, helping you find friends who might want to bike or hike as a group. Graph Search, if you're interested, needs to be activated from the search bar. Facebook will guide you through the rest.
Facebook will dredge up any bit of data that mentions your name when completing a Graph Search request, so you might be inclined to check your privacy settings right now and see "who can see my stuff". Anything you've tagged in photos, likes, comments, etc. is available to Graph Search, so start deleting what you don't want others to see. Have a look here.
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 On that note Google's new search engine, coded "Hummingbird", is supposed to make search results "more relevant and useful." In an on-line search a user types in a word or two and, as I'm sure you've noticed, Google begins to bubble up some results for you. Today, however, it appears more searches are being initiated by voice command (Android and Apple smart phones) making complex searches more likely. This revamp will affect 90% of the searches Google makes for us. Try this link for a more detailed explanation. It certainly makes sense to be proactive Google-ing yourself, asking questions others might.
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The Scoop on Using Public WiFi
 Using Public WiFi is risky. Yes, that TV Commercial is on target. When you connect to that hotspot in Starbucks or the airport, you are exposing your information to anybody clever enough to work a simple and readily available software program called a "sniffer". Short of actually paying a monthly fee for the occasional need for a secure internet connection, what else can you do?
Firstly, you can browse any vendor's site on the internet without worrying about these types of intrusions. When and if you decide that you do want to order on-line, using a public wifi, you should note that the vendor has switched your transaction to a secure site. Secure sites start with an "https://" not "http://" , the "S" stands for secure, which means that the transaction will take place within a bi-direcitonal encrypted connection. Look for that "https" in the address bar at the top of your browser. Additionally, when you reach the point of entering credit card information, Look for a Padlock either at top or bottom of the browser. This will reduce your risk dramatically.
When picking up email try to log in via a web browser using an encrypted connection. Gmail, Hotmail, AOL and Yahoo mail all provide an encrypted connection as of right (look for that "https"). Most, if not all, corporate email is encrypted as well. If you need to use an email client such as Outlook, make sure that your account, both in and out, (POP, SMTP and IMAP) are using an encrypted connection.
Even if you're on an encrypted wifi connection, like the one that might be provided by a hotel wifi, it's possible that others on that same wifi network have access to your traffic. (HTTPS:// is still protected). That's because encryption, unless it's enterprise class (802.1X) does not encrypt the traffic within the flow. Meaning, other users of the same network you're on, can with the right software, watch what you do on the internet.
If you have what the cell phone companies refer to as a "shared data" plan, wherein all the members of the same cell phone plan share monthly data access, then you're in luck. These plans have integrated "tethering" and mobile hotspots, which will allow you to "tether" your laptop to your phone and use your existing data plan to complete a secure internet connection. Similarly, you can turn your phone into a mobile hotspot complete with an SSID and encryption code. Switch back to wifi to watch a movie or read a newspaper on line.
This type of connection is not available for those of your that have retained your preexisting unlimited data plan.
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New & Smarter Shopping Tools
 If you're interested in getting the best price on that item, try one of these browser add-ons. Remembering that there's no such thing as a free lunch, your sign up, at the very least, is going to generate advertising emails. In fact, you might see advertising for products you've previously shown interest in, appearing on totally unrelated web pages. All that real estate is for sale. Actually, don't we see that now? Before you sign up, create a Gmail, Hotmail or a similar free email account for the sole purpose of intercepting these emails and any other traffic that might come your way as a result of these, or actually any other advertising or marketing sign up. Invisible Hand is a free extension for Firefox, Chrome and Safari. Browse for a product and a yellow bar will drop down to notify you if you can get it somewhere else for less. Price Blink adds Internet Explorer to its list of supported browsers. In addition to providing the same basic functions as Invisible Hand, it also provides you with reviews from multiple sites on the product you're considering to help you to decide. Coupons At Checkout. How about a coupon code or promo code every time you try to checkout but not until the very minute you need it. Try this add-on; It's available for all browsers. It stays out of your way until you're buying something and there's a prompt for a coupon code. Need some Honey? Just click the orange "find savings" button that pops up next to the promo code on any supported site. Honey inserts codes, one at a time, applying as many as it can to get you the maximum savings.Lastly, there's Camel Camel Camel. Amazon price too high? Best Buy or New Egg also want too much? Try CamelCamelCamel for Firefox, Safari and Chrome. CCC lets you track the price of a particular item and get alerts when the price is right. I do in fact put Amazon items in my cart and wait until the price goes down (sometimes it goes up). CCC has a tool bar they call the Camelizer which lets you track multiple products from a variety of sites.
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Virus Threat of the Month
Get an email from Amazon lately? Subject "Your Amazon order #..." The email goes on to thank you for your order and provide a link to look at the order details. Problem is, you've not ordered anything from Amazon lately, or maybe you have, but this is not it. More importantly, this is not the way Amazon communicates. It's just another attempt to have you click on a link and let another virus into your computer. Anytime you get a confirmation email and you're not sure of the origin, go to the vendor's website, sign in and check for yourself. DON'T CLICK ON THAT EMBEDDED LINK.
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Bizarre But True!
Printer ink has an average cost of $80 per ounce and a manufacturing cost of $10 an ounce.
The cost, to us, of an average text message is 20¢ and nothing to the vendor. Your cell company needs to send packets of signaling data, within their network, to maintain your phone calls. It maintains that packet network full time. It sends your texts on that same network in between other packets. Effective cost to your cell carrier? Nothing!
That HDMI cable you bought at Bestbuy for $19.99 (29.99?) has a production cost of $3.
The NSA collects some 250 million address books each year and follows 500,000 (buddy list) chat conversations each day. Cable Internet Caps: For years the cable companies have insisted that metering cable bandwidth was necessary to allow everyone to use their internet connection without bottlenecks. The cable companies have used this postulate to raise rates, impose caps and try to thwart government regulations. These companies have employed think tanks to spin stories about potential network congestion. This has been going on for the better part of 10 years. Recently, former FCC boss, turned cable lobbyist has acknowledged that it's all baloney. Motion sickness from a cell phone? Yup, IOS 7, with its "zooming and Parallax" animation have been giving users motion sickness. A fix is on the way.
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I make DVD, BluRay, Chromecast and Roku connections for that Netflix account or to watch web content on your TV.
I also connect your Homelink and your garage door.
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