CrexTechs Blog

If you haven't spent time perusing our blog, we offer links and information you might find interesting.

Beside the current posting the right and left columns contain information and links to help you with a variety of your computer needs.

Right column:

• Check out what is for sale at CrexTech. This is only a sampling of what we have on hand at the shop  so if you need something you don't see listed, give us a call.
• Our latest offering is our Web Development Package.  This link will take you to a pdf of what we offer for basic web development. If your business or organization is without an internet presence, give this document a look and come on in to discuss what you might need. We can get you up and running within a few weeks.
• Need help registering your Vipre? Check out this link.
• We recommend that you supplement your anti-virus with Malwarebytes especially if you or your kids do a lot of web surfing.  This link will take you directly to the Malwarebytes free download.
• We offer remote service.  That is, if you are able to get on the internet we can log on to your machine and from our shop help you with issues.  You can watch and learn!! We also offer Remote Maintenance Packages to handle all of your upgrades and any issues before they become problems.  (Sorry, dial-up is too slow for our remote service and maintenance packages).
• Dennis did a series of radio spots addressing some topics that are near to his heart. Learn about the cyber war that is going on on the internet and how it may affect you. Learn about the importance of backing up your data, virus protection and surge protection.
• Vaughn created a You Tube video on how to make your PC faster.  Check it out!
• Vaughn is our PC gaming guru. He and Dennis can custom build you a gaming PC that will blow you away. Check out what we offer.  Components vary as we search out the latest and greatest as well as the best price to give you the best price.
• Find us on Facebook with this handy link.

On our left column:

• Get directions and a map to find you way to our shop. We are located in a residential neighborhood, our shop is attached to the house.
• 25 Computer Tips gives you random tips that may be news to you!!
• Send your questions to us using this link.
• Check out our past posts by scrolling through this handy calendar.
• Or search our past posts by topic or key word with the search box.
• Or look through our past posts using the archive links.
• You can subscribe to receive blog posts through your email.  Input your email address and submit. Feedburner, our subscription service will ask you to verify the request. You will also receive an email from Feedburner that you must respond to to complete the process.

If you would like us to address any topic through our blog or offer any particular links, email us at blog@crextechs.com

Shopping for a computer can be frustration when you have no idea what criteria to use to weigh and measure what's out there.

One source of information is Rescuecom's annual report (with some quarterly reports thrown in) of computer reliability. Their latest report gives the following ratings (position 1 being the best):

1. Lenovo/IBM (281)
2. Toshiba (190)
3. Samsung (156)
4. Apple (151)
5. Asus (126)
6. HP/Compaq (100)
7. Dell (68)
8. Sony (64)
9. Acer (40)

To come up with this rating they combine market share (gathered through IDC, a market research firm) , repair rates (as logged by Rescuecom) and support figures (apparently extrapolated from the calls Rescuecom receives).

A quick check of Rescuecom on Wikipedia lets us know that they receive in excess of 20,000 annual service calls. Their large sampling gives credibility to their ratings.

While Apple computers once held the coveted position of most reliable (and according to other sources are still the best loved as rated by their owners), their reliability has declined even while they claim more market share. They rallyed in the previous quarter's report and sliding back again in this latest report.

Lenovo/IBM seems to be one of the most consistently reliable over the years. But don't take my word for it. Check out the reports for yourself.

Did you know that all our presidents, with the exception of one, are related, either on their mother's side or their fathers, to King John Plantagenet, the signer of the Magna Carta? This is big news in part because a 12 year-old self-taught genealogist made it her goal to track the ancestry of all our presidents.

Family history research has become very popular of late with the PBS series, American Faces, that traces the family history of celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, YoYo Ma and Meryl Streep, and the NBC series Who Do You Think You Are.

I've been doing family history research since 1993 when I got the bug while doing research for an out-of-town friend at the Minnesota History Center when I lived in the Twin Cities. I got curious and dug out an old suitcase of my grandmother's genealogy research from the 1960s that became mine when she passed away in 1974.

Doing research in the 1960s and doing research in the era of the internet is worlds apart.  I can go online and spend only a few hours on free websites any time of the day or night and come away with a gold mine of data. My grandmother spent years writing letters and waiting, sometimes for months for responses. I download digital files that I print in an instant while my grandmother received heavy photo paper copies of documents that in many cases were almost illegible.

My grandmother's goal was to apply for admittance to the Daughters of the American Revolution with her data and was turned down. She did not meet the standard of proof that the DAR insisted upon (see below).

One will find now days that what passes for genealogy research online at such sites at World Connect where family trees are shared through GEDCOM files, or on family name forums where researchers share information, that the research is all too often questionable-that is, lacking the proofs that are necessary.  The gold standard for genealogists is that each researcher must reprove the connections of family members provided by other researcher. It is not enough to simply cite someone else's work, even when that work is well documents.  It is important to track down all the sources.  Genealogy research is not just a stroll in the woods, it is scaling the craggy face of a mountain.

Even with online resources it is important to do the leg work as well which may mean visiting the National Archives, state and regional research institutions, and enumerable city offices and archives, cemeteries and local libraries.

Besides the Minnesota History Center, I have visited the Minnesota Genealogical Society, the Regional Resource Center at Stout University in Menominee, the tremendous Family Search Library at Salt Lake City, the National Archives in Chicago and Anchorage, the Quaker Library in Guilford North Carolina, the genealogy center at the Newberry Library in Chicago, not to mention all the cemeteries, city halls and libraries.

Needless to say, I take every travel opportunity to do family history research. Unfortunately, there is never enough time at any one place to do a really exhaustive job. The work of the genealogist is never done!

On my father's mother's side we too are related to the Plantagenets according to a number of family trees I have located online.  I am not willing to accept this as proof and I have not worked that far back on this particular line do to the proving I would need to do. I do use the information I get from every site I visit, whether proven or not, as clues to where to look for a new generations I am trying to locate or possible sources to investigate.  These clues and sources are invaluable to the work of the genealogist.

For more information:

Presidents all related http://www.quora.com/Are-all-the-US-Presidents-related-to-each-other (Van Buren is the only president for whom she did not find a connection with King John.)

DAR standard of proof reprinted from their website http://www.dar.org/natsociety/content.cfm?ID=92&hd=n

You will need to provide proof for each date and place, for each generation, starting with yourself and going back lineally to your Patriot. In the first three generations, these proofs would consist of photocopies of birth, marriage, and death documents. For other generations back to the Patriot, one or more of the following items would usually be considered acceptable proof: cemetery records, tombstone inscriptions, obituaries, probate records, wills, census records, Bible records, local histories, and well-documented genealogies. Relationships between generations MUST be proven. Data submitted as proof is subject to DAR standards and interpretation.

Other standards of Proof links  http://genealogy.about.com/cs/citing/a/proof.htm

If you have Vipre Internet Security you may be getting a message popping up that there is a new version of Vipre available. This is a legitimate update and it is free.

For step by step instructions on downloading and installing this new version, follow the link:

http://kb.gfi.com/articles/Skynet_Article/How-to-upgrade-VIPRE-4-0-4280-to-Vipre-5-0-5074

Not everyone is into Twitter or even Facebook but most Americans now do the bulk of their distance communications via some form of electronic media be it email, instant messaging, mobile phone or texting.  It is almost unimaginable that we used to live without any of these.

I've been known to text or email a person in the next room to avoid getting up and walking over--I'm sure I'm not alone. And it can be quite handy when you've been separated from your shopping companion in a big store to be able to call them and ask, hey, where are you? --like blinking your lights or setting off your alarm with your remote to find your car in a parking ramp!!

How many of us would like nothing better than to be rid of all this electronic stuff?  Well, probably not many of us.  When Skype is the only way to see your grandchildren growing up half a continent away, Skype is a godsend. But these devices have changed our relationships with people in some not-so-good ways.

A seemingly innocuous email or text exchange can end in hard feels or escalate into a full blown flaming attack because the social cues we rely on in face to face encounters have no electronic equivalent.  Reconnecting with hundreds of people from our past can be fun, but trying to keep up these relationships on an almost daily basis via Facebook can be taxing.  For some people, tweeting, Facebooking and texting can become an addiction, consuming hours of time that might be spent with actual face to face interaction with family.

Here is a look at an interesting experiment in doing without electronic social media conducted by a young man totally immersed in the electronic world as a student.  The experiment lasted 90 days and resulted in  some interesting observations as well as ingenuous ways of keeping up with friends.  Imagine, writing actual letters and sending them through the post office!! Or dropping by for coffee.  I enjoyed this article and hope you will too.

http://news.yahoo.com/90-days-without-cell-phone-email-social-media-015300257.html

Just like the firewall in your car that protects the passenger compartment from the heat and fumes of the engine compartment, in the world of computing a firewall is the first wall of defense protecting your personal or proprietary information from unauthorized access.  Both hardware and software firewalls are employed for this purpose.

Hardware firewalls are used by individuals, companies and  internet service providers on their routers, switches and servers to check data packets (all internet information is sent in packets of data) for authority to pass into and out of the computer or network. Hardware firewalls are very good but can be vulnerable to what is call IP Spoofing.

Software firewalls are installed on individual machines and so only protect the machine they are installed upon.  Software firewalls sometimes come as part of your virus protection software but can be purchased separately.

Software firewalls function differently from hardware firewalls and from anti-virus software.  Like anti-virus software, software firewalls must be updated regularly.  They will use system resources, slowing your computer down somewhat,  as they run continually in the background checking for attempts to gain access to or control of your machine.   Software firewalls may also help block worms and Trojans coming in on email.

Dial-up modems to don't have firewalls.  Because dial-up connections are so slow, users would not be able to keep a software firewall up to date which leaves these users vulnerable.

Cable and wireless routers do have firewalls.

Regardless of hardware or software firewalls, wireless users are more vulnerable to hacking because their information packets can be intercepted by anyone sitting near to them or outside their house because wireless bypasses both the hardware firewall on the router and the software firewall on the user's computer.  Wireless uses encryption of data packets to increase security.  Look for the https on the URL address line of your browser when using a wireless connection on the web to access sensitive information.  The https indicates that encryption is being used.  Using public wireless can still be risky.

We recommend a software firewall for all of your customers who have experienced repeated problems with malware infection on their machines and for anyone who does a lot of online banking and purchasing.

No firewall, whether software or hardware, will protect against users who click on links or open files infected with malware.  So be sure about what you are opening and clicking on.  Shut down your machine as fast as possible the moment you think something is hinky!

For more information on firewalls and wireless security check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firewall_(computing)

http://compnetworking.about.com/od/wirelesssecurity/tp/wifisecurity.htm

Looking for a laptop? For personal or business use? Do you have specific requirements as to hard drive size (will you be storing a lot of pictures, videos, music), RAM and CPU (is processing speed important), operating system (do you want Windows7 or are you used to XP). You definitely want WiFi. Do you want a webcam? How large does the screen need to be. Do you prefer a glossy screen or a matte finish.

And what about programs?

At the big box stores you will find the prettiest, shiniest laptops with all the bells and whistles--the largest hard drive, the fastest CPU, the most RAM,  and features and programs you might never want to use.

At CrexTechs, our first question is, why do you want a laptop? If it isn't for mobility--to take traveling for business or pleasure--we will probably try to talk you out of it.  Here's why:

• Laptops are notorious for component failure--the average life of a laptop is 2 to 3 years mainly because they are very expensive to fix so people generally buy a new one when they need work rather than pay to have them fixed.
• They are easily dropped.  Cracked screens are a big reason laptops need to be replaced.
• They are sensitive to extremes of heat and cold.  Bringing a laptop in from the cold can cause condensation.  This moisture causes corrosion to parts.  Extreme heat, from say a locked car sitting in the sun, can cause heat expansion which can damage solder points on boards and damage the screen.
• We get laptops in that have been taken to the beach or other locations were they can get lightly sprinkled with sand, dirt or water. These things will do in a laptop very quickly especially sea sand and salt water.
• Laptops are easily lost and stolen as well.
• Kids especially can be hard on laptops!

Laptops are definitely convenient so if you are traveling for work or pleasure or if you like to sit in a coffee shop and and write or work on spreadsheets, they are nice to have but you may not need all the bells and whistles that come with the high-end machines.

If you want a machine to hook up to wifi to check emails, play games, watch videos or to compose documents, picking up a cheap refurbished laptop for half what a new machine will cost could be just what you need.  We won't try to talk you out of a refurbished machine or even a new one if a laptop is really what you need.

At CrexTechs, our laptops do not come with all the software built in that you might find on a big box store machine.  We usually load a free suite of programs called Open Office which is the equivalent of Microsoft Office Suite but it is FREE!  Libre Office is a newer office suite that Dennis likes--it is also free. These programs can create the .doc .xls etc files that anyone can open. These suites also have the equivalent of PowerPoint and Publisher as well.  For photo editing we load GIMP.

We include our maintenance utility that tells you what maintenance to perform and a remote service icon so that we can service your computer remotely when applicable. We also load a free trial version of Vipre anti-virus. We can load any programs that you own and have the license key for.

Let us know what your requirements are for a laptop and we will see if we have a machine that fits the bill!

I recently got a spam email of the most egregious nature.  This is an email from a bogus Bank of America security department wanting me to update information.  I am sharing the actual email below to point out what to look for in such emails.

Here it is:

Subject:  Security Update Checkup

Dear Customer,

We need to confirm your identity. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we do not recognize the computer you are using. In order to help prevent an unauthorized person from accessing your accounts, we need to verify your
identity before you log on.

Confirm Your Identity

Why do we not recognize your computer?

* You may have bought a new computer or are using one you have not previously used.
* You may have changed the settings on your browser or switched to a new browser.
* You may have deleted your cookies.
* You may have reconfigured your computer, operating system or other software settings.
* Your Internet Service Provider may have changed settings on their system.

What do you need to do?
All you need to do:
1. Download the security lo-gin file attached to this email.
2.Fill the form on the security page you will be directed to and submit it.

This will verify your computer as an authorized user and grant you access to your lo-gin page.

Once again, We apologize for the inconvenience. Your security is our job.

SECURITY SERVICES
BANK OF AMERICA

End of email.

Looks official doesn't it? But Bank of America and every other banking or financial institution will never ever ever ask you to verify this information either through email or by phone.   If there is a problem they will send you a letter and will ask you to go into the bank or to go to the official website.  If they send you an email it will usually be about a product or service and they will use your name not "Dear Customer."

They seem to give a lot of good information as to why they want you to verify your identity.  You will know this is bogus when you go to the website of your financial institution and log in as you normally do with no problem at all. Your bank doesn't care what computer you are using.  They do care that you know your user ID, the correct answers to your security questions, and your password.  What computer you use or what browser setting you have or what cookies you may have deleted are all immaterial.

Don't be fooled and never, never, never follow a link given in the text of the email or as an attachment.  Go directly to the webpage you have always used to log on.  If there is a problem, you will handle it there.

If you haven't been keeping track of the news, there are a couple of pieces of legislation making their way through congress.  One is SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and the other is PIPA (Protect IP Act). These pieces of legislation are being championed by big business interests in music, video, film, images and other media that holds copyrights to the intellectual property they produce. The purpose of these bills is to protect the copyrights by making every site on the internet responsible for what is posted to that site.

Can you image Facebook scanning everything you post to be sure you aren't posting something that might be copyrighted. MIGHT BE is the operative phrase here because checking for copyrights on every bit of data won't be possible and yet the sites could be shut down or fined if they failed to shut down users who post such content.

There seems to be agreement that these two bills, as they stand now, will not pass and will not be signed into law but that hasn't stopped many sites from jumping on the band wagon to be sure we all know just what is going to happen to the internet if moneyed interests prevail in making these sites responsible for what users post.

This goes well beyond sites that facilitate the illegal downloading of protected music, videos, books and films. It enters the realm of censorship and tries to make every internet server the police.  The cost alone of implementing policing mechanisms would shut down most sites.  The fear of prosecution, defense cost, jail time and fines would shut down most of the rest.

I, for one, cannot image a cyber world without Wikipedia.

Read more about it.

http://t.crextechs.com/SOPA

The promise of a paperless society with the advent of the computer has not proven out. On average, Americans use about 700 pounds of paper products per year-- more, per capita, than ever before.  Despite efforts, there is little hope that this will change any time soon.

Do we really need to use so much paper?  And what about all the paper we save because we fear throwing out important records.

Getting out from under all that paper can be a real freeing experience and can make it a lot easier to file away and retrieve the paper records we do need to keep.

Here are a few guidelines for what to keep and what can be tossed (shredded and recycled)

• Cancelled checks or paper images of your checks: shred and discard, but keep those related to your taxes, business expenses, and housing and mortgage payments.  Save these for at least 6 years.
• Utility bills: Throw away those not needed for business or tax purposes.
• Personal Tax records: Save these for at least 6 years.
• Business records for tax purposes: Archive these indefinitely.
• Insurance policies: Keep your policy and updates for the life of your policy. Insurance claims records may be needed for tax purposes, save these for at least 6 years.
• Personal documents such as (birth, marriage and death certificates, diplomas, certifications, military records, work permits, passports, divorce decrees etc: Store in a fire safe or safe deposit box indefinitely.
• Mortgage papers, deeds, titles, and abstracts to real property such as your house, cabin or commercial property: Store in a fire safe or safe deposit box indefinitely.
• Wills, power of attorney documents, and other estate-planning documents: Keep the most current copy in a fire safe, safe deposit box or with your attorney.
• Stock certificates and other investment certificates and documents: Store in fire safe of safe deposit box. Save brokerage records for tax calculations at the time of sale.
• Medical records, prescriptions, medical power of attorney and any end-of-life directives: Save pertinent medical records and a list of current medications as well as clinics and doctors you have used where they can be easily accessed in an emergency. Current copies of your medical power of attorney and end-of-life directives should be given to appropriate family members.
• Receipts, warranties, guarantees and manuals for large and small appliances, tools, electronics etc: Keep as long as you own the item.

Staying organize is not easy, nor is winnowing out what you don't need to be discarded. Some records can be kept electronically, like downloaded bank records (be sure these are backed up). Most other records you will want to save hard copies.

January is a good month to get going with cleaning out files as you will want to start collecting the documents needed for tax time.  April will be less stressful if you can get much of the work done early.  Reducing the amount of space you need to store all that paper will be an added bonus!!