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Archive for June, 2009

What’s New in Firefox 3.5

Friday, June 26th, 2009 3:08pm UTC
What's New in Firefox 3.5

What's New in Firefox 3.5

Firefox 3.5 is the fastest Firefox ever.

Today I tested Firefox 3.5 RC3 (a pre-release candidate) and so far it looks great. Currently I use Firefox 3.0.11, but version 3.5 is going to to be released sometime around the first week of July. How Fast is It? Firefox 3.5 is two times faster than 3.0. And ten times faster than 2.0.

What’s New in Firefox 3.5

Firefox 3.5 is based on the Gecko 1.9.1 rendering platform, which has been under development for the past 10 months. Firefox 3.5 offers many changes over the previous version, supporting new web technologies, improving performance and ease of use, and new features for users.
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Posted in Software | 1 Comment »

Bozeman City Job App: Your Passwords Please

Friday, June 19th, 2009 11:43pm UTC
Bozeman City job requirement raises privacy concerns

Bozeman City job requirement raises privacy concerns

The city of Bozeman, with a population of 25,000 people in southwestern Montana, likely isn’t one you heard of recently. However, it’s in the news after a city job requirement has drawn heavy criticism over possible privacy issues.

An anonymous citizen who applied for a city job alerted local media that he or she had to provide log-in information and passwords for any and all social networking web sites they use while applying for a job with the city.

Along with the normal background check, criminal history, education and employment past, the following is written into the Bozeman city employment waiver statement:

“Please list any and all, current personal or business websites, web pages or memberships on any internet-based chat rooms, social clubs or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc.”

The application also gives room for three different web sites, account names and passwords, according to the applicant. … more

Full story at: Daily Tech

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Posted in Privacy | 1 Comment »

Bing – A New Decision Engine

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009 6:43am UTC
Bing.com a New Decision Engine

Bing.com a New Decision Engine

Microsoft has a new search engine called bing.com that is designed to replace Live Search. It’s a solid improvement over the previous search product, and it beats Google in important areas. It will help Microsoft gain share in the search business. It’s surprisingly competitive with Google.

I have been a Google fan for many years, I use Google several times a day. I wonder how they compare side by side? Which one should I use?

Here is a site that lets you try Bing and Google side by side in a face off: http://www.bingandgoogle.com/

Try them both for awhile, let me know which one you decide on and why. By Mike Challis

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Posted in Microsoft | Comments Off

Have You Tried OpenOffice?

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009 6:10am UTC
OpenOffice.org - Free Office Software

OpenOffice.org - Free Office Software

Did you know there is a very good free office program available?

I used to use MS Office until I found the free OpenOffice.org office suite software about 5 years ago. I work on computers every day and I run my own business. I need to be able to write letters and faxes. I need to be able to open documents made in Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and so on.

Why I tried OpenOffice.org and like it.

I was using MS Office and was getting annoyed every time I had to install a service pack for it. The service pack would be a huge file to download and when installing, it would ask for the program CD every time. Once I put in CD #1 it would complete half way, then ask for CD #2, sometimes even ask for CD #1 again! Why did it need the CD? What a pain. Also, there are critical updates available frequently to address vulnerabilities so you have to repeat this monotony almost monthly.
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Posted in Software | 1 Comment »

Where is E-Mail in Windows 7?

Monday, June 15th, 2009 2:28am UTC
Windows 7 E-mail Options

Windows 7 E-mail Options

What happened to the Windows Mail I was using in Vista? I can’t find it in Windows 7?
Windows 7 does not include an e-mail program. Outlook Express was left behind at WinXP. Windows Live Mail is now the successor to Windows Mail and is available free. Download Windows Live Mail.

There are other options for an e-mail client program such as Mozilla Thunderbird or MS Outlook.

Many people are now using web based e-mail like Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, etc. A major advantage of web-based e-mail over application-based e-mail is that a user has the ability to access their inbox from any Internet-connected computer around the world. However, the need for Internet access is also a drawback, in that one cannot access old messages when not connected to the Internet.
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Virut Virus

Sunday, June 14th, 2009 6:00am UTC
Virut Virus - Very Destructive

Virut Virus - Very Destructive

I am seeing a few cases of Virut Virus on customer’s computers brought into my shop for virus removal. Virut is one of the very destructive viruses. This virus attacks executable files (programs) on your Windows computer anytime they are accessed. This causes massive infection to your programs and the operating system. This virus infects USB hard drives and USB flash drives as soon as you insert them in an infected computer. Be careful sharing USB media with friends or re-introducing the virus to your computer after a repair. I always caution my customers of this fact when I perform virus removal for them.

Virut Virus Description
Virut is a polymorphic file infector with some additional features. It spreads all around the drive and infects even files infected by another virus previously. The only symptoms are a strange HDD activity while infecting, and also unwanted TCP traffic. Virut tries to connect into an IRC network under the user name “Virtu” and take control of your computer to do harm. Unfortunately, the cleaning of this virus is very difficult or almost impossible.
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Posted in Security | 1 Comment »

Windows 7 Release Date Announced

Sunday, June 14th, 2009 1:56am UTC
Windows 7

Windows 7

Microsoft will release Windows 7 on October 22, the company has confirmed. The date will put Windows 7 on store shelves a full three months earlier than originally planned. It follows Microsoft’s recent announcement that Windows 7 would ship “in time for the holidays” and matches rumors of a fall release spread around the Web in April.

Windows 7 Upgrade Option
Microsoft is expected to unveil an upgrade program for the Windows 7 release. The program will likely let you get Windows 7 for free or with a discount if you’ve recently bought a Vista-based PC that meets certain conditions. So what are those conditions? That’s not yet clear. Microsoft has confirmed the program will be called “Windows Upgrade Option.” Early speculation suggests it may mirror the Vista Express Upgrade program, which provided free or discounted upgrades for users who’d bought XP-based systems in the months leading up to Vista’s release…. more

Source: PC World

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Computer Blog added to the Site

Sunday, June 14th, 2009 1:40am UTC

I just installed this computer blog.  Now I will be able to add valuable computer news and commentary to the site.

Mike

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Posted in Announcements | Comments Off