Help Desk tag:www.gongol.com,2009-06-23:/helpdesk//10 2012-01-06T21:07:37Z Answering tech questions from people who listen to the WHO Radio Wise Guys Movable Type Pro 4.37 How to buy a smartphone tag:www.gongol.com,2012:/helpdesk//10.183 2012-01-06T20:35:11Z 2012-01-06T21:07:37Z A friend sent me this question (capitalization isn't her favorite part of the English language):i'm considering purchasing an iphone, but those are EXPENSIVE, so i wonder if you would help me do a cost/benefit analysis?i wouldn't even consider such a... Brian Gongol http://www.gongol.com/
i'm considering purchasing an iphone, but those are EXPENSIVE, so i wonder if you would help me do a cost/benefit analysis?

i wouldn't even consider such a purchase except i was given the go-ahead yesterday to do an interview series/column, so i need a recording device. a dictaphone seems sort of expensive for a one-use gadget, so it seems that a smartphone that would allow me to do such recording as well as take photos and gps and play music (which look like the main features i would use aside from texting) might make sense. it's a large enough expense that it would be a major purchase for me, and i'm not sure what questions to ask (other than, hey verizon, will you please not charge me full price for the upgrade or i'm going to have to switch to sprint which totally makes me shudder).

thoughts? ideas? etc?

It's a great question, and one that's shared by many people. Here are some observations that might help:

If you're truly only buying a device so you can record interviews, a smartphone isn't necessary. Lots of budget-priced MP3 players have a recording feature built-in. The Sansa Clip, for instance, is usually about $30 or $40 in stores, and it produces a satisfactory recording. There are also dedicated digital voice recorders available for similar prices.

If you're looking to take advantage of using a smartphone for other reasons, too (and there are many), consider some of these matters:

1. Pick your network first. Nothing will make you more miserable than dealing with a bad cellphone network, no matter how nice your phone is. I've known people who couldn't get reception in their own kitchens. A great phone that doesn't ring and won't let you call out isn't worth any price.

2. Pick the form you like best, starting with the keyboard. You can get keyboards on the face of the phone (mainly from BlackBerry), slider keyboards, and virtual keyboards (they only appear on the screen when you're in a typing mode). The main advantage to a smartphone over a classic cell phone is the ability to do things like surf the Internet and send email -- the kinds of things that require a keyboard. If that isn't convenient for you, you're not going to get the experience you want from the phone.

3. After you've narrowed down your options based upon those first two questions, you may be ready to compare operating systems. People who like a hassle-free experience tend to rave about the iPhone because it's pretty seamlessly compatible with other Apple products. But it's also usually noticeably more expensive than comparable phones running the Android operating system, because there are lots of manufacturers competing to make Android phones, versus Apple's monopoly on the iPhone. If you get an Android-based phone, you will probably get more features than in a comparable iPhone (for instance, some Android phones can use 4G networks, which the iPhone presently can't), but the trade-off is that there remain more bugs in the Android system. There isn't a lot of customer support for the Android operating system -- but, offsetting that, there are so many other users now that any problem you have is probably one someone else has already addressed somewhere on the Internet. Android supposedly has 53% of the US smartphone market share. That's a pretty large number of fellow users troubleshooting the same problems you might be having, and it's also a very attractive market for developers creating applications.

4. From this point, some of the major distinguishing factors remaining include screen size, memory capacity, battery life, and camera quality. By this point in the process, you're probably down to just three or four remaining options anyway.
]]> A comment on planned obsolescence tag:www.gongol.com,2011:/helpdesk//10.176 2011-11-10T09:23:22Z 2011-11-10T09:25:10Z There's no doubt that lots of this stuff has planned obsolescence built-in, but then again, maybe we want that. I still use the television I bought in college, 15 years ago. It works just fine, but it's a woefully out-of-date,... Brian Gongol http://www.gongol.com/ want it to be cheap, since you don't want to be overpaying for things that last so long they're still working when they're several generations out of date. Why pay $10,000 for a computer that will last 10 years when it's going to be completely surpassed by something that will cost $2,000 in five years?
]]> Time for some program updates tag:www.gongol.com,2011:/helpdesk//10.167 2011-07-19T05:50:41Z 2011-07-19T05:59:09Z If you haven't updated your program files in a while, some significant programs have been updated in the last few weeks and months. It's time to update these programs if you haven't lately:FirefoxOperaGoogle ChromeThunderbirdLibreOfficeThese updates are important to the security... Brian Gongol http://www.gongol.com/

These updates are important to the security of any Windows-based computer.
]]> Weekly good housekeeping for your computer tag:www.gongol.com,2011:/helpdesk//10.166 2011-07-16T17:00:24Z 2011-07-16T17:23:27Z There are a lot of tasks that computer users should really -- in an ideal world -- be doing every single week. The pressures of life, however, inevitably keep us from doing them regularly enough. As a substitute, then, many... Brian Gongol http://www.gongol.com/
The first week of every month, one should run a complete backup of personal information on the computer's hard drive. This is usually best done straight to a portable hard drive, and run overnight when it won't affect any users. Once every few months, one should go a step farther and burn the really essential files (financial files, family photos, important e-mails) to a DVD, and send that DVD somewhere far away for safe keeping. This step is important because there's always the risk -- no matter how low, it's ever-present -- that one's home and entire community could be destroyed in a massive disaster, like the tornadoes that hit Joplin, Missouri, or Parkersburg, Iowa. Having a solid-state backup (like one burned to a DVD) of the really essential files somewhere far away guarantees that those most precious files won't be lost forever, even if everything else in the home is gone. An easy rule of thumb: Find a bank in a town at least 100 miles away from your home, but someplace you're likely to visit at least a couple of times a year, and rent a safe-deposit box there. Whenever you're in town, drop off your latest DVD in the box and walk away knowing that your most precious data is safe and sound behind lock and key.

The second week of every month, check for updates to the programs on your computer. This includes programs like the Internet browsers Firefox and Chrome, mail programs like Thunderbird, office suites like LibreOffice, and the add-on programs that make other programs work, like Adobe Flash Player. This task falls to the second week because it should always follow a data backup.

The third week of every month, install the latest Microsoft updates issued on Patch Tuesday (the second Tuesday of every month). This advice obviously doesn't pertain to Apple or Linux users, but they too should practice good housekeeping by looking for operating-system updates at least once a month. Microsoft, though, sets the Patch Tuesday schedule, so this task has a natural place in the normal monthly rhythm of good housekeeping on your computer.

The fourth week of every month, run a full (or "comprehensive") antivirus scan of your computer. Like a backup of the hard drive, this should be run overnight, when it won't interfere with any computer use. A thorough antivirus scan should also include a scan for spyware and other malware, and it could easily occupy 50% or more of the computer's processing power, so it can be a massive nuisance to run while the computer is in use. An overnight scan is just as effective and won't bother anyone in the process.

These recommendations, of course, depend on the precise circumstances of the individual computer user. But as general guidelines, they're good for ensuring that the truly essential steps for computer security get taken on a routine basis. Ideally, one would actually conduct a full backup, a round of program updates, and an antivirus scan every single week...but it's a sad fact of life that nobody but a small handful of hard-core enthusiasts does this. Committing to following at least a monthly cycle for these steps, though, will at least bring one's computer use to an acceptable level of safety and security.
]]> Adobe Illustrator tag:www.gongol.com,2011:/helpdesk//10.165 2011-05-05T23:43:16Z 2011-05-06T00:03:18Z We received this message in the inbox the other day:Does Adobe Illustrator record IP addresses as you are building a document? Now, in order to answer this fairly, we need to back up. Adobe Illustrator is one of a number... Brian Gongol http://www.gongol.com/
Does Adobe Illustrator record IP addresses as you are building a document?

Now, in order to answer this fairly, we need to back up. Adobe Illustrator is one of a number of programs that can be used to manipulate images. It's closely related to Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop is targeted at the manipulation of things like photographs, whereas Illustrator is better for drawing things like corporate logos or cartoons.

As to the question of whether either one of these programs records IP addresses as the files are being created or modified, the short answer is: No, I don't think so. At least, we have no evidence of them doing so.

But that short answer can be misleading, if the real question isn't "Is this recording my IP address", but really "Is it recording information about the computer that is either creating or editing the file?" If you're really asking the second question, then the answer is "Yes, it certainly is."

Save any picture you like off the Internet. For instance, let's take the first thing that showed up on Flickr when I searched for the word "Radio": A photograph of someone's very elaborate radio room. Note that on the right-hand side of the screen, Flickr says "This photo was taken on January 17, 2010 using a Canon EOS 50D." That information comes from the "metadata" stored along with the image. Metadata is the information about the picture that's stored inside the file data about the picture itself. If, for instance, you were to download the original version of the photograph in that link, you could then (using Windows) right-click on the file and select "Properties".

What you'll see depends upon which version of Windows you're using. Using Windows Vista, you'll have a choice of tabs, one of which is named "Details". Clicking on that tab brings up a list of details about the photo. Again, each computer is configured differently, but among the many pieces of information that may be stored include the name of the author, the title of the picture, the photo's dimensions and resolution, the time and date when it was taken, the type of camera used, details of the photo's setup (including factors like ISO speed and F-stop). All of this extra information is called metadata. It's also stored along with many other files you routinely use and create, including files in spreadsheets and word processors, PDF files, MP3 recordings, and virtually everything else. And, depending upon how your computer is configured, every such file you create may be recording details about your computer that can be retrieved easily by anyone who gets a copy of that file.

So: Is Adobe Illustrator recording your IP address? Not likely. But is your computer routinely storing information about you and your files inside the metadata within those files? You bet.
]]> Have your own evacuation orders tag:www.gongol.com,2011:/helpdesk//10.164 2011-04-23T07:49:15Z 2011-04-23T16:25:53Z You never know when a worst-case scenario could cause you to have to leave home in an emergency. Not all disasters are predictable, nor is there always time to gather belongings. But often, one has at least a couple of... Brian Gongol http://www.gongol.com/ leave home in an emergency. Not all disasters are predictable, nor is there always time to gather belongings. But often, one has at least a couple of moments of clarity before having to evacuate.

In those moments, everyone should have a plan to grab a digital backup of their most important files. Everyone should have an SD card or USB flash drive they could grab in an instant with at least three essential sets of items:

- copies of digitized family photos
- scans of important paper records, like medical details, birth and marriage certificates, school and employment information, and tax filings
- backup copies of any accounting records or other essential financial and business information that's routinely kept on a computer hard drive

The flash drive or SD card should always be kept current, and stored in its own secure location -- but one that can be reached speedily if the need arises.
]]> The laziest credit-card scam ever tag:www.gongol.com,2011:/helpdesk//10.161 2011-03-30T15:47:28Z 2011-03-30T15:49:38Z Here's an item from the inbox at my online store:Greetings,How are you doing. I would like to purchase some items from you to Rochester IN 46975 via next day air . Let me know if you accept credit cards as... Brian Gongol http://www.gongol.com/ online store:

Greetings,

How are you doing. I would like to purchase some items from you to Rochester IN 46975 via next day air . Let me know if you accept credit cards as only method of payment. Kindly get back to me with the your website address.

Regards

Jessica Johnson.

Really? This must be the laziest scam attempt ever. "Get back to me with your website address"? It's like the crooks don't even care about their craft anymore. Where's the artistry?
]]> Four reasons you should own your own domain name tag:www.gongol.com,2011:/helpdesk//10.160 2011-03-17T06:25:26Z 2011-03-19T01:57:07Z It may seem like a novelty or an extravagance, but everyone should own their own domain name -- specifically, whenever possible, one should own one's own name, ending in dot-com. There are many fine reasons, but four stand out above... Brian Gongol http://www.gongol.com/
#1: There is no better way to secure your online reputation in a single step
Nobody should doubt that the importance of one's online reputation grows every day. The breadcrumb trail you leave behind on the Internet simply by taking up space on this planet is greater than most people would imagine -- even if you do nothing at all on the Internet yourself, you'll still almost undoubtedly end up with a presence there. Because that trail you unintentionally (or intentionally) leave behind now influences such important decisions as whether you're considered credit-worthy or whether you're employable, it's important to have as much influence over that reputation as you can grasp. The single easiest way to capture that is by securing your own name as a domain name.

#2: E-mail services may change, but your e-mail address shouldn't
Any decent domain-name service (I like PairNIC.com, but there are plenty of decent providers) will allow you to forward e-mail sent to your domain name to your choice of destinations. That means you can set up your own permanent e-mail address on your own domain that will forward to whatever service you want to use -- Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, your Internet service provider, or any combination of destinations you choose. This makes e-mail management easier for you (since you can set up multiple incoming addresses to suit different needs, like financial services, personal messages, and comments you post on public message boards), and it means that nobody will ever have to search for your e-mail address again in the future, just because you changed webmail services.

#3: Everyone has some sort of domicile on the Internet anyway
If you have a Facebook page, then you already have a website of your own. If you have a Flickr account or a YouTube channel, then you already have a website. If you have a LinkedIn account, then you already have a presence. If you keep up a Twitter account, then you already have an address on the Internet. The problem with all of these is that they become your "domiciles" on the Internet -- and they're all owned by somebody else. Sure, you may have rights to your account, but that isn't the same as actually owning your own domain name. The difference is like that between being a renter and being a homeowner. Both give you a place to stay, but only one is really "your" property. Buying a domain name is a way to ensure that your chief domicile on the Internet really belongs to you. There's nothing that says you can't use that domain name to point directly to your Facebook wall or your YouTube channel. But if you're going to invest your time and energy into anything resembling a digital version of yourself, then you really should ensure that you own the digital version of the very name that belongs to you in the real world.

#4: You don't know how much you'll use it until you get it
...then, once you get it, you won't know how you got along before you got it.


]]> Five status updates people should never share online tag:www.gongol.com,2011:/helpdesk//10.159 2011-03-09T08:29:37Z 2011-03-09T09:16:02Z Social-networking websites, ranging from Facebook and MySpace to Twitter, Google Buzz, and LinkedIn, encourage people to share what's on their minds. In a way, it's just an amplification of the water-cooler talk that we've shared since the Industrial Revolution, and... Brian Gongol http://www.gongol.com/
But in the 21st Century, sharing what's on one's mind in the form of an online "status update" (as it's usually called) can be a dangerous thing. What was once offered as a passing comment to a co-worker on an assembly line is now a declaration of opinion to a potentially global audience, and unlike offhanded remarks made over a lunch break and quickly forgotten, these comments are now recorded for posterity -- quite literally, as in the case of Twitter, which is being archived by the Library of Congress.

This brings us to the risks few, if any, users are thinking about. Posterity will look back on what we think is just the flotsam and jetsam of the Internet with a different attitude than we expect -- if we're even conditioned to think about the consequences at all. Some people will benefit, no doubt: Their Tweets and Facebook status updates may end up looking progressive and maybe even prescient, even when viewed 50 years hence. Others, alas, will be highly regrettable. Here are five examples of things people should refrain from declaring online:

#1: "My boss/my significant other is a jerk" or "I hate my job"
The old advice went that if you couldn't say something nice, you shouldn't say anything at all. It was sage advice. It's along very similar lines to the advice that a married couple should never go to bed angry, but rather should always seek to resolve their differences quickly and with patience towards one another. Expressing angry emotions in a public forum -- in fact, a global forum -- isn't really a psychological release so much as it's a way of amplifying those emotions. Just because it's possible to inform the world in real time of one's soap-opera of life doesn't mean that it's a good idea to do so. It isn't. And when it's the boss about whom one is complaining, then it's an occupational hazard as well.

#2: "I'm on vacation in ___"
You wouldn't put a sign in front of your home saying "Attention burglars: This house is unoccupied. Feel free to rob us." Why would any sensible person put the same sign on the Internet where everyone on the planet can see it?

#3: "___ will hate me for saying this, but..."
If any instinct suggests to you that saying something might have bad consequences, or that doing so might violate someone else's trust, then it's time to trust the instinct rather than brazenly overriding it.

#4: "I'm calling you out, ___"
Rivalries, petty differences, and political animosity should be shelved whenever possible, rather than aired for all the world to see. Yesterday's competitors can easily become tomorrow's merger partners -- just ask Britain's Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties, or anyone who's ever worked at a company with a hyphenated name. The people at Bear Stearns likely never expected to find themselves working for JP Morgan, but it happened in a flash, and anything disparaging that any of them might've said anywhere online about their rivals-cum-overlords could easily have meant the difference between keeping a job and losing it.

#5: "You know who I hate?"
US Senator Robert Byrd was associated with the KKK in his young adulthood, and it was remembered until his death at age 92, as it rightly should have been due to his influential public presence. Countless other celebrities and public officials have spent years trying to distance themselves from youthful expressions of hostility towards other people. A common theme among many of the most damaging personal histories is hatred, particularly of classes of people. The world is simply too burdened with hate already, and there's no reason to add to it in the public marketplace of ideas -- nor, for that matter, in one's own heart and mind. Yesterday's common prejudices frequently become today's points of embarrassment. Why place hatred on the permanent public record?

There are, no doubt, many other things people shouldn't be sharing online about their inner thoughts and feelings. But these five are a good starting point for halting bad behavior before it does permanent damage.
]]> Three reasons you'll still be using YouTube long after Facebook is gone tag:www.gongol.com,2011:/helpdesk//10.158 2011-03-05T18:36:24Z 2011-03-05T18:42:32Z YouTube has at least three massive advantages that will keep it around long after other popular websites have faded away:1. It requires no effort -- none -- on the part of most users. They literally have to just press the... Brian Gongol http://www.gongol.com/
1. It requires no effort -- none -- on the part of most users. They literally have to just press the play button to watch a video. There's no logging in, no learning strange conventions like Twitter hashtags, no confusion about the purpose of having a Facebook "wall". Just a pure and simple purpose: Watch videos. Absolutely anyone can figure out how to use it.

2. It has become the default forum for hosting video. For those who wish to upload videos to the Internet, there's no question about where to go: YouTube is the default location. Anyone who bothers trying to come up with an alternative architecture would have a massive degree of effort required to convince people otherwise. Unlike Facebook, which took over social networking dominance from MySpace because MySpace ceased to have any "cool" appeal, there's nothing cool or trendy about using YouTube. It's just there, and doesn't attempt to make any waves of its own.

3. The amount of investment by users in YouTube makes it hugely valuable. Posting videos there -- many of which are not archived anywhere else -- is like putting something in one's safe-deposit box at the bank. Users have so much invested in their uploads that it would take a massive force to cause them to take them down and put them anywhere else.
]]> Four things you should never share on Facebook tag:www.gongol.com,2011:/helpdesk//10.157 2011-02-26T10:04:06Z 2011-02-26T11:19:50Z One of the problems with the speedy emergence and massive popularity of Facebook and other social-networking websites, like Twitter and LinkedIn, is that we haven't really grown into a realistic cultural knowledge of how to use them. With other technologies,... Brian Gongol http://www.gongol.com/ Carl Benz's 1886 patent on the gas-driven automobile and Henry Ford's 1908 introduction of the Model T, during which the new technology of the automobile could start to settle into a place in the popular mindset.

With the Internet generally, and in particular with sites that enhance the individual's ability to share instantaneously with a global audience, we haven't had the same kind of break-in period. All of the mistakes we make now are not only potentially public for all the world to see (as the Star Wars Kid learned) -- they're also really durable, as well. Once something finds its way onto the Internet, it can quite possibly reside there forever.

Thus when we equip ourselves with tools like Facebook, we're potentially a lot like toddlers in an armory full of loaded weapons. We don't really know the full extent of what we're doing, and the consequences can be permanent. This potentially dangerous situation is made even more hazardous by the fact that social-networking sites are designed to encourage the user to over-share. This is very much by design. The act of adding another person to one's social network on Facebook is called "friending". Whether or not we should even do something like that to the English language, the fact remains: One is programmed to believe that Facebook information is just shared with a bunch of "friends". This psychological programming just enhances some participants' willingness to throw caution to the wind and share too much. But no matter how the language of a social-networking site is framed, it is nearly impossible to ensure that the information one shares there will only go to true friends, and that it won't be deliberately misused by others. Thus, some precautions are in order.

There are many things that should never be shared online, and particularly not in a semi-public space like Facebook. Here are four particular examples:

#1: Never share your full birthdate or place of birth in a social-networking profile. There's a lot of pressure to do this. Facebook recently changed its profile layout, and it leaves a gaping hole for the user to see if he or she hasn't entered a hometown. And there's no doubt that one of the most popular uses of Facebook is to leave a birthday greeting for friends (and, most people should be ready to admit, mere acquaintances). But the problem is that those two facts, long assumed to be the kinds of things that only close friends and family might know, have also long been used by companies and organizations to help positively establish a person's identity. There are innumerable websites, for instance, that still ask "What is your hometown?" or "What was your place of birth?" as a security question. And while it's patently irresponsible for those sites to continue using those as security questions (since it really is absurdly easy to figure out anyone's place of birth), until they stop, it's unwise for anyone to share that information willingly on the Internet. And if there's any factoid used more often than the place of birth to establish a person's identity, it's the date of birth. In some cases, a name and date of birth are all that a person might need to offer to get access to medical records at a doctor's office -- especially by phone. Hometowns should always be omitted from social-networking profiles, and if one can't resist the urge to share his or her birthday, then one should at least leave off the year of birth. Again, it might not be very difficult for a crook to deduce, but there's no reason to make the job easier.

#2: A social-networking profile should not include photos or names of minor children. This prohibition probably sounds needlessly harsh, but it's actually surprisingly vital. First, bridging the notes in rule #1 about security questions, a question that remains much too widely-used in the security field is "What is your mother's maiden name?" Again, that may have been a suitable security question 20 years ago, but it's absolutely not today, when Facebook profiles, e-mail addresses, and old accounts of a million kinds routinely contain a woman's married and unmarried last names. A woman's "maiden name" is no longer any more challenging to figure out than her eye color. And if she leaves a digital footprint behind with her children's names, then she totally renders useless any online security checkpoint that asks the question. The question itself should be thrown out because it's totally obsolete today, but until that happens, there's no need to make crime easier for identity thieves and other crooks.

But there's also a more immediate risk for children, and it is that they become too easy to identify when their parents advertise them on the Internet (which is exactly what happens on a Facebook page, unintentionally or not). There is no reason to make the task easier for potential abductors by sharing names, routines, schedules, and photographs of a whole set of family members via Facebook. One might think, "Well, I only have 100 friends on Facebook, and I'm not worried about any of them." But how certain can a person be that each of those 100 friends are sufficiently security-conscious that they'll never have their accounts hacked?

And then, of course, there's also the concern that a parent should have about his or her child's reputation and good name. As of the latest count, a video entitled "David After the Dentist" had been viewed more than 82 million times on YouTube. It's funny, to be sure. But it's also going to be something for which that child will be known most likely for the rest of his life. Celebrity may be fleeting, but once it's been digitized and placed on the Internet, it's pretty durable as well. Leave the choice in the child's hands whether to put up pictures or videos of him- or herself once they reach adulthood. It's shocking, really, that virtually everyone can agree that youthful fame probably did permanent damage to Michael Jackson, but so many of those same people have no second thoughts about exposing their own children to Internet fame.

#3: No profile should detail a favorite book or movie or song. There are a few errors made here: Either one makes the mistake of sharing just a single favorite of each (which is, following the basic details of a person's birthdate and birthplace, yet another favorite "security" question), or one shares far too many of these items. If there's one thing to be learned from Netflix and its movie-recommendation algorithm, it's that a whole lot of predictive power is attached to whatever a person has strongly liked or disliked in the past. There's nothing particularly wrong with sharing five or ten favorite books or movies, but sharing dozens or scores of them gives away a lot more about one's psychological profile and other behaviors than are necessary to share. Sites like Facebook aren't being operated for the public interest; they're not charities. They make money, and they do that by selling detailed profiles of their users, whether that's as aggregated data, anonymous profile information, or otherwise. No matter how it's sliced up and sold, the data itself has enormous value, and simply giving it away for free -- especially in massive volume -- is a lot like going to work and declining to take a paycheck.

#4: One's immediate location does not need to be shared, ever. Shy of those rare instances (like the moment a commuter snapped a photo of the US Airways flight that landed in the Hudson River) when something truly remarkable has taken place, it's a bad idea to publicly share one's location -- or one's plans to be somewhere at a particular time. Giving away the details on an upcoming two-week vacation is the equivalent of putting a sign in the front lawn saying "We're not home". Posting a snapshot to Twitter of crazy times at a bar might just be telling an unstable ex or a faceless stalker where they can find inebriated prey. Even sharing too many photos of the commute to and from work might be an act that betrays when one's latchkey kids might be home alone.

It's altogether too easy to forget that what we place on the Internet appears on a global stage -- a stage that's not full of just bubblegum and teddy bears. It's a world in which today's supercomputers will very shortly become cheap, affordable tools that could be used by anyone -- with any kind of intent, whether innocent or malicious -- to scrape together the many little breadcrumbs we leave behind on the Internet to build a profile of any one of us that would have made J. Edgar Hoover envious. It is essential that nobody be lulled into a false sense of security about what they share on the Internet. As it's been said about crime, "The crooks only have to get lucky once. The cops have to get lucky every time." As Internet users, we are collectively in the same position as the police -- hoping, almost as much as deliberately trying, to keep our privacy, dignity, and security intact in the face of a world that may have a lot of reason to try to take those things away.
]]> Three ways to speed up a slow computer tag:www.gongol.com,2011:/helpdesk//10.156 2011-02-04T18:05:27Z 2011-02-04T19:11:29Z People often wonder why the computers that seemed so fast when they were fresh out of the box turn out to become such slow-moving dullards after a year or two of use. While some slowdown is inevitable, there are some... Brian Gongol http://www.gongol.com/
Let's look at the reasons why a computer might be running slowly. First, we need to break down the problems into two categories: The physical and the digital. The home computer itself is, of course, a piece of machinery, and like all machinery, it has moving parts and things that wear out. There's not a lot that can be done for most computers from a physical standpoint -- when things break, they tend to break catastrophically, like a motherboard burning out or a hard drive failing. But when it comes to the speed of a computer, there's a persistent little problem that often goes overlooked by the novice user: Dust. Dust is everywhere and cannot be eliminated unless you live in a clean room. And though it may seem innocuous, dust accumulates inside the computer and builds up around the CPU and around fans. That's a problem, because a computer that can't keep its processing system cool is a computer that works harder than it needs to (physically) to do the job of computing. Hence, tip #1 is simple: Apply a good shot of compressed air to fans and ports to the computer once every few weeks. It may seem like a silly bit of nonsense, but keeping the inside of the computer well-cleaned of dust keeps the CPU cooler, and that helps the computer perform better -- not to mention, if it's a laptop, that it keeps the machine from burning your legs.

Most ordinary computer users shouldn't do a lot more than that to address the physical needs of the computer, so we turn to the digital. The main digital culprit to what slows down most computers is programs that run when they aren't needed. We can break these down into two categories, each with an action step: Programs we deliberately install, and programs we didn't choose to install.

Among programs that we deliberately install, there are a huge number of programs that essentially declare, "Hey, I'm such an important program that you'll need to use me a lot. To make me install faster when you use me, I'm going to create a little preloading routine that makes me start up every time you start your computer." These preloading routines are common -- you'll find them built in to everything from office suites like Microsoft Office and OpenOffice to instant messaging programs and Skype. The problem is that what might make sense for one or two programs doesn't make sense when you have dozens loaded onto your computer at once. Honestly, you just don't need a lot of programs to pre-load themselves every time you use your computer. Sure, you sometimes want Skype to run, but it doesn't really need to pre-load itself every time you hit the power switch. This brings us to tip #2: Shut off the pre-loading feature in any program you don't use every single time you boot up your computer. You can usually disable the pre-loading feature by looking inside the options menus of most programs. For programs where that doesn't work, or to take care of several programs at once, you can follow some simple instructions to manage your startup programs list. One of the worst offenders on this list of self-important programs is Apple's iTunes, which defaults back into your startup menu every time you update the software. It's an obnoxious feature, and the people at Apple should knock it off. There's no reason for iTunes to pre-load every time.

Finally, we have the problem of software that you didn't deliberately install on your own computer. Broadly speaking, we call this stuff malware: It's our umbrella term for viruses, Trojan horses, and spyware -- anything bad (hence the prefix "mal-") that you don't want on your machine. This stuff can seriously hoover up more of your computer processor power than anyone should ever be willing to give away. There are two steps involved in cleaning up the malware on your computer, so we'll break up this third tip into two parts: Tip #3A is to run a complete and comprehensive anti-virus and anti-spyware scan of your computer. We are asked on the WHO Radio Wise Guys program all the time where people can get free antivirus software, and it's available from a number of sources (I think Avast is probably the best among them, at least as of this writing). But if there's one thing you should be willing to pay out-of-pocket to get on your computer, it's good antivirus software. Seriously. Pony up the $30 or $40 it takes for an annual subscription to a professional service like Norton Antivirus or Kaspersky, and get professional-quality antivirus protection. Most of the good (paid) antivirus programs also check for spyware. Yes, the free programs are better than nothing. But the paid stuff is better. Seriously, just pay for it -- just like automobile insurance and health insurance and homeowner's (or renter's) insurance, the cost of antivirus software is just the price you pay for having stuff you want to protect.

Once you've scanned the computer in full and have swept all of the bugs out, it's time to make sure that you don't let them back in again. Hence, we reach tip #3B: Use your administrator account only for installing and upgrading programs, and practice safe Internet browsing. Most people live dangerously by surfing the Internet and reading their e-mail while on an administrator-level access account on their computers. That's dangerous, because the computer assumes that the administrator is authorized to install programs whenever he or she wants. The trouble is, the computer is stupid and doesn't know the difference between you deliberately installing a program and you accidentally downloading a virus (which is, of course, a program). The computer, being stupid, allows you to do either thing without a lot of resistance when you're logged in as an administrator. The way to avoid this is by creating a second profile on your computer and giving it only limited powers -- not including the right to install programs. It's free and easy to create a limited-access account, and that account is where you should stay for 99.9% of your computer use, whether it's watching movies or surfing the Web or checking your e-mail. The limited part of "limited-access" doesn't keep you from doing these things, it just keeps you from installing programs. You can always log into your administrator account if you need to install something new, but -- honestly -- how often do you do that? Once a month? Get into the habit of doing most of your computing from behind the safety wall of a limited-access account. Remember, your computer doesn't know the difference between you and a virus pretending to be you. So if you're logged in with a limited-access account, the computer will just say "No" to installing new stuff -- whether it's you trying to do it, or (more likely) a virus trying to install itself. The limited-access account isn't a complete failsafe insurance policy, but it's probably 95% effective against allowing spyware and viruses onto your computer, all by itself. For additional safety, I recommend that you use an alternative Internet browser (by "alternative", I mean one that isn't the #1 browser, which at present and for about a decade has been Microsoft Internet Explorer). Use Firefox or Opera or Chrome or something else -- just do what you can to avoid using the same browser as the majority of other users. The IE browser itself is OK, but it's also so popular that it's a major target for crooks who write viruses. They know that most people are using IE, so they try to take advantage of its weaknesses. If you don't use it, you'll find yourself less exposed to danger.

These are three simple steps you can take towards faster computing, even on an old machine. Remember, computers don't last forever, so you should always backup your important data (like financial records and photographs), just in case something catastrophic happens to the machine itself. But these tips should generally help keep your computer running at its top available speed.
]]> Three things you should know before using an online message board tag:www.gongol.com,2011:/helpdesk//10.154 2011-01-29T01:20:16Z 2011-01-29T01:30:55Z Three things you should know before using an online message board:1. Use your own name, or use a pseudonym, but always behave as though everyone knows your real name. Sure, you may think you're safe behind a made-up name like... Brian Gongol http://www.gongol.com/
1. Use your own name, or use a pseudonym, but always behave as though everyone knows your real name. Sure, you may think you're safe behind a made-up name like MisterPlow or JessesGirl1998, but if people want to figure out who you are, it's not difficult. The people who control the website have access to server logs that give away quite a lot about who you are, including what websites you visited just before arriving at theirs. And if you think other people can't deduce who you are by your writing style or by the things you say, then you aren't aware of the power of just a little bit of research. Services like turnitin.com are built upon the premise that the patterns in written language can be recognized by a computer. If someone has enough reason to try to figure out who you are, they can.

2. If you think something you've written is smart or worth saving, copy and save it for yourself.  You never know when the message board you're using will have a database failure, change ownership, or otherwise fall apart. People can literally be hit by cars or have freak accidents, and if those people are managing your message board, then it could easily disappear overnight.

3. Don't feed trolls. (See our recent encounter with a YouTube commenter who's clearly just a plant for the Chinese government.) "Trolls" are people who search for hot-button issues to turn from mountains into molehills, usually for personal benefit or political gain. There's no use fighting with a troll on the Internet; just learn when to walk away.

Bonus:
4. Use language that you won't be ashamed for your grandma, your daughter, or an HR representative to read. First of all, you're putting it on the Internet anyway, and if it's language that you'd be embarrassed to encounter in day-to-day life, then you shouldn't be polluting the Internet with it yourself. But more directly to your own well-being, it's important to note that you are never as anonymous on the Internet as you think you are, and if someone cracks your identity (see rule #1 above), then you could find yourself making some sorry excuses to friends, family, and employers for things you said long ago.
]]> Why you shouldn't use your kids' pictures as your Facebook profile photo tag:www.gongol.com,2010:/helpdesk//10.151 2010-08-19T16:02:01Z 2010-08-19T16:30:42Z If you have kids (or grandkids), you're probably quite proud of them. That's great; it means you're a caring parent. But please do not use your child's picture as your Facebook profile photo -- or your profile picture anywhere else... Brian Gongol http://www.gongol.com/ But please do not use your child's picture as your Facebook profile photo -- or your profile picture anywhere else on the Internet, either. Here are several reasons why:

  • Safety. Don't make it easier for predators to identify your kids by putting their pictures on the Internet. It's ridiculously easy to figure out who's related to whom just by using a few simple Internet searches. Once someone knows your name, and knows that you have kids, it takes no more than a couple of steps for them to figure out your kids' names. And if a predator knows your name, your kid's name, and what your kid looks like, then it's remarkably easy for that predator to target your child at school, at soccer practice, or on the playground -- and then use their knowledge of your family to concoct a potentially convincing story: "Hey, [child's name], my name's [fake name], and I'm a friend of your mommy and daddy. [Your name] had some car trouble, and they told me to take you home." If the predator has followed your Twitter posts, he might be able to add convincing details about something you did last weekend. If he's been following your LinkedIn profile, he could add lots of information about where you work and false details about how long you've been "working" together. Most children aren't wired to be skeptical enough for the information that's readily available today.
Frankly, that reason alone should be enough to stop you in your tracks. Remember: Your Facebook profile photo is as public as public can be -- it shows up in any Google or Bing search of your name, and the searcher doesn't have to do anything to prove they know you. But if the serious safety risk isn't enough, there are two other very good reasons not to use your child's photo as your profile picture:

  • Confusion. If someone is looking for your profile online, they want to confirm that it's you that they've found. Casual acquaintances, old friends from school, and other people who are looking for you (which is what a profile picture is for) probably don't know what your kids look like. They might be able to locate a resemblance of some sort, but don't make their lives more difficult. Just put up a picture of yourself.
  • Identity in the Internet age. The Internet has delivered the age of permanent memory. And as tools like Google Image Search improve, words (like your name) and pictures are being linked permanently in the "memory" of the Internet. Linking your child's photo to your name means that, should something happen to you (good or bad), it can become associated with your child's identity. If, for instance, you were to be accused of a crime, or involved in an accident, newspapers and television stations are going to search online for a picture of you, because that's what their readers and viewers want to see. If you've caused your name to be linked to your child's picture, they're going to get false results -- but how would they know? Mixing the wrong name with the child's picture can cause confusion and possibly even damage the child's reputation. It's going to be hard enough in the future for people born in the Google age to keep their reputations intact, with tools like cell-phone cameras available to document every childhood indiscretion. Don't make it harder for kids to protect their reputations by intermixing their identities with your own -- who knows what indiscretions of our own from the pre-Internet era are going to find their way online, on top of the ones we add today?
It's a simple request: Don't put your child's picture up under your name. It's a free and easy practice, and it's more important than you as a proud parent might intuitively think.
]]> Scam alert tag:www.gongol.com,2010:/helpdesk//10.146 2010-07-19T20:44:40Z 2010-07-19T20:50:56Z Brian Gongol http://www.gongol.com/
Hello Sir/Madam,
I Start with much Greetings to you and your whole company,My name is John Corey a resident of Ypsilanti  Michigan I am interested in ordering some Well Pumps to my new  Store site at Sierra Leone.I will like you to email me the unit prices of the types you do carry in stock.I look forward to your response.

Regards,

J.Corey

Oh, wait. Here's a word to the wise: It's pretty well assured that nobody who actually lives in Ypsilanti, Michigan, actually writes anything like "much Greetings to you". And it's doubly assured that anyone who writes a stupid e-mail like this didn't actually look at your online store (where "unit prices of the types [we] do carry in stock" are listed as clear as day), but in fact is actually trying to pull off a scam in which you send them equipment and they choose not to pay for it.

Anyone who does any kind of business online needs to be alert to these scams.
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