CrexTechs Blog

Happy Halloween

Ever wish you'd kept better track of when things happened in your life or labeled you photos better?  You always mean to sit down and do a timeline  just for yourself, maybe the kids would be interested one day.  And all those photos that need organizing....

Now you can do just that on Facebook, or soon anyway!  You can organize your life history in a timeline using events and pictures and share it with whom ever you wish.  Check out the short video Facebook offers on Timeline.  Then read the post on, are we ready for Timeline.

Facebook's Timeline

Is the World Ready for Facebook Timeline

Does your computer go to sleep or hibernate when you step away for 20 or so minutes?   Have you often wondered if your Vipre scans are really getting finished?  Are you getting messages that your scan did not finish?

When you are running Vipre scans, your computer does not detect Vipre and may go to sleep.  Once asleep, the scan is stopped and will not resume.

What to do about this:  You must change some settings.

(See the screen shots below for help with turning off the sleep/hibernate function so you can run your scans.)

Step 1: click the START button on the bottom left of your screen and select ALL PROGRAMS >>>> CONTROL PANEL >>>> POWER OPTIONS

Step 2: On the POWER OPTIONS screen, select POWER SCHEMES tab. Select NEVER for turn off monitor, turn off hard drive and system standby.

Step 3: Now click on the HIBERNATE tab and uncheck the enable hibernate.

Your computer will now stay up and running even when you step away so if you are going to be away for a fairly long period of time you will want to close your browser and shut off your monitor and maybe even turn off your computer.   Shutting down will save power and, if you have high speed internet that stays connected all the time, shutting down will keep your machine safer from hackers. Shutting down also helps clear your RAM memory. Clearing your RAM can help your computer run better.

While running Vipre, leave your computer up and running.  It will shut itself off.  You can turn off your monitor while it runs.  For more info on running Vipre.

Depending on your operating system, this procedure may vary a bit.  Give us a call if you have problems finding the Power Options window.

If you have ever wondered where you can report internet fraud and abuse the latest Vipre Security Newsletter offers a number of links to places you can report internet fraud.   Here are a few of them:

http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Internet_Fraud.shtml

http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

http://www.consumerfraudreporting.org/reporting.php

http://www.fbi.gov/scams-safety/fraud/internet_fraud

It is not enough just to report an incident.  Certain  information contained withing the email or popup or link is needed in order to effectively track down the abusers.

Here is a primer from Charter.net on what you need to know to effectively report internet abuse. This includes a great definition of internet abuse that includes not only fraud but other forms of abuse such as threats and harassment as well as copyright infringement.

Internet fraud and abuse are so pervasive that it would be difficult to report everything.   It is important to make the effort in especially egregious cases such as claims aimed at frightening un-savvy users by scammers masquerading as legitimate businesses such as banks or utilities, or anything intended to ensnare children.

The internet belongs to all of us.  It is an important and powerful tool that we are growing more and more dependent upon in our personal and business lives.  It is our responsibility to help police cyberspace.

A friend was ready to abandon Facebook altogether this week with the latest rounds of changes taking place.  We just get used to what's new and feel confident we understand fully what Facebook is doing with the information we post, who can see what and how we want to use this powerful set of online applications, then bam!! They change it again and not just in a little way but in huge, almost conceptual ways.  How much time does one have to put into researching the changes before we are again confident that we know how we are being used and possibly abused by Facebook.

Privacy is the main issue. Who sees what and how is our information gathered and stored and used to sell to us or feed information to us that we may or may not want to know.

Some of these changes have to do with the two types of interfaces that Facebook offers.

1. The personal "Profile."
2. The "page."

Most users don't have "Pages," they have "profiles."

What is a Page and how is it different from a profile? (this is not new)

From the Facebook definition: "Pages are for organizations, businesses, celebrities, and bands to broadcast great information in an official, public manner to people who choose to connect with them."

By definition, pages are public.  CrexTechs has a page.

A profile is a place on Facebook where an individual presents themselves in order to connect with family and friends, usually privately.

An individual can have a profile and a page and keep their profile private and post what they want to be public to their page.  But in most cases, pages are for businesses and organizations who want to be "Liked" so they can promote themselves.  Profiles are for people to connect with friends and family privately.  To connect you must request to be a "Friend" and be accepted provided your privacy setting is set to Friends or Custom not Public (see below).

So what is new?

In the past one had to "Like" a page to comment on a post.  It is no longer necessary to "Like" a page to comment on that page. All such comments on "Pages" will be public.  If you have friends who also "Like" the page and have made posts or comments, you can click on "Friend Activity" to see what they have posted or commented on in the past (you will also see your comments and posts) .  Non-friends will not see this compilation of posts and comments.  They will see their own posts and comments and their own friend's posts and comments.

From a page that you are perusing, for instance the Grantsburg, WI page, you can click through to a profile of someone who has posted or commented.  You will see their profile page but you will not be able to see anything they don't want you to see.  The same goes for anyone who clicks through one of your post to get to your profile.  They will not be able to see anything you don't want them to see.

Privacy settings

As in the past, you must set your own privacy setting but you don't need to do it again unless you have custom settings that you want to review.  If you have selected Public, all your posts are public.  If you selected Friends, then only your friends can see what is on your wall or news feed including posts and comments by others.  Be warned, if you have a friend whose profile is public and you post or comment to her wall, your post or comment will also be public (your profile, your wall and your news feed are still friend's only though). Her posts to your wall or news feed will not be public.

Subscribe is a new feature that is pretty interesting.  If you have an update on your news feed from a friend, right click on your friend's picture or link.  You will see Subscribe.  Click on that.  Now select the things you want to see from that person. You may not want to see everything they post such as status changes.   This looks pretty slick to me.

There are a lot more changes.  Take a look at these articles to see what else you need to know about these changes.

Facebook Changes: New Privacy Concerns Surround Facebook Changes

Facebook’s Latest Changes: A Hands-On Look [PICS]

I am using the new chat feature while writing this article.  I had a FB message from my brother while I was exploring some of the changes.  I responded and he was online so he was able to respond immediately to me.  What's not to like!!

I am quite incredulous when I get email from strangers with the subject line, "I need your help," or "You won't believe what I just heard," or any number of obvious come- ons. Can they really think we are dumb enough to fall for such transparent ploys? It must work though because the emails keep coming.

I have also grown leery of the No Subject subject line emails. These from people in my contacts whom I have not heard from in a long time. Very tempting to open these. Then when there is only a link, I know not to go there.

When I get email from banks and credit card companies, even my own, I discard them right away without opening them. Then I log into my account to check to see if there are any pertinent messages attached to my account or any suspicious activity. Invariably there aren't. Banks and credit card companies will send you a letter when they have something to tell you, unless you have opted for email alerts.

Email is one of the most common ways to get infected so caution is your first defense. Curiosity can kill your machine. Better to delete the email. You can always email your friend to see if they really did send you something.

This may sound counter intuitive but paying a higher price can actually save you money.  How's that?

When you shop closer to home you often pay a higher ticket price but, surprisingly, not always and not always  much more. When you consider that driving 40 to 160 miles round trip, with wear and tear on you and your vehicle, you are adding expense to what you buy. Doubling up on errands and making lists can help make those costly trips more efficient but buying closer to home when possible can save you big bucks.

Shopping at Crex Techs is a good example of how you can same money shopping closer to home. You can head to the cities and shop for your new laptop at Best Buy. There they have a great selection of machines with all the bells and whistles and can sell you a service agreement and all the peripherals you can dream of.  Or you can come in to CrexTechs where we always have machines on hand.  You may not get all the bells and whistles but then you'll probably find you don't need all the bells and whistles, won't use them, and will wonder why you paid for them.  We will sell you only the peripheral that you need.  And we won't sell you a service agreement unless you beg us for one!!  We will sell you just what you need.  That is going to save you money!!

When you do need service, you won't have a service agreement you paid big buck for, so you won't have to make that 160 mile round trip twice, once to drop off your machine and once to pick it up.  You can drop off your machine right here in Grantsburg, maybe even wait while we take care of your problem.   We can also service some issues remotely.

And we have monitors, printers, surge protectors, battery backups, thumb drives and other backup media, mouses, keyboards, etc, etc, etc.

So shop closer to home and save not only on gas and time but by getting only what you really need and want.

The latest issue of VipreSecurityNews offers a very useful link to an article on CNET News examining the relative safety of browsers.  While Internet Explorer appears to be the best at stopping "socially engineered malware," the whole story is a bit different.  Note, "socially engineered" in this context is defined as the art of manipulating users into performing actions online that may have deleterious consequences.  "Socially engineered malware" is malware that masquerades as a legitimate website to lure in unsuspecting traffic convincing users to download software that is actually spyware or other malicious software.  Your browser is at the front-line of your defense against such sites so it is important to know if your browser is really effective. But remember, you are the real front-line in your defense against this new breed of "confidence men" so vigilance is equally important.

Check out the article:

Can any browser be considered 'safe'?

Laptops are great--you can take them anywhere and work for hours untethered to a plug, well, at least for the first few months.  Then, it seems, the battery does not last as long until you really don't have any battery life at all.  This can happen within the first year.

Why is this?

All rechargeable batteries lose some of their capacity over time. I can run my cordless drill for what seems like hours, drilling holes and sinking screws.  When it runs down, I switch out the battery and put the old one in the charger.  I have never run the recharging capability out of these batteries, though I'm sure it's possible.  So why do laptop batteries run down and out so fast?

How you use and charge your battery can have a lot to do with how long your battery lasts.   My cordless drill charger shuts off when the battery is charged up so there is never a chance the battery will get over-charged but the heat produced by the charger by being plugged in can reduce the life of the battery. Keeping your laptop plugged in twenty-four hours a day produces heat which will reduce the life of the battery.

Use it or lose it, is the rule of thumb with laptop batteries.  Use your battery daily, even to the point of running it down (at least once a month).   Plug in only when you need to.  Do not leave your laptop on when not in use.  It is also advisable to unplug when not using your laptop.  (Note: Li-Ion batteries should never be run completely out but the automatic shut-off will keep this from happening).

If you don't use your laptop for stretches of time, it is advisable to run the battery down to 40%, take the battery out and store it in a cool dry place.   Some also advise that if you are going to be plugged in for extended periods of time, remove the battery.

To get more hours out of a charge, reduce the brightness of your screen and shut off any peripherals or WiFi if not in use.

Do not leave your laptop anywhere hot like the back seat or trunk of the car on a summer or sunny day.  Heat is the real killer of rechargeable batteries.

Laptops come with their own meter to let you know how much charge in left in your batter.  Based on this meter, your laptop will warn you, then turn itself off when it thinks the battery is drained.  However, this built in meter may not be giving you an accurate reading.  You can download a free meter to check the accuracy of your built in meter.

To download a free meter:

http://download.cnet.com/BatteryBar/3000-2094_4-10866804.html

You can also re-calibrate your laptop's meter.  Check your laptop instructions or search online for instructions on re-calibrating the meter for you particular laptop.