tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54254385666832118152024-03-23T06:13:56.922-04:00Simply Seniors Computer TutorComputer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.comBlogger91125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-69117999023988294522011-09-27T10:57:00.001-04:002011-09-27T10:57:50.279-04:00Social Networking a Waste of Time or Genius Government Surveillance System?<p>Do you use facebook?  Have you ever really thought about all the information about you that is now out there for everyone to see… It does sound scary but when you think back hasn’t this same information almost always been out there for all to see, just not so neatly packaged.  Not too long ago I needed some information so I used google to search for my friends name.  Not only did I find the girl’s name, I found her house, the address and photo than went all around her house.  I could then enter in my own address and find the exact driving directions to her address.  Now if this is one of those things that makes you go “ahh” is this too much information?  Just step back and think, we have had telephone books for years which contained this very same information.  It would have taken me a little longer because i might have had to use a paper map to figure out those directions and I would not have seen the house until i was driving by it – but all in all it was still there for me to see.</p> <p>I ran across this video floating around on FB today.  I think you’ll enjoy this and by all means pay attention to who the broadcast company is before you get all up in arms about this video.</p> <p>Now please do not take this video for anything but what it is, entertainment,  just like facebook is entertainment.  </p> <div style="padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; float: none; padding-top: 0px" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:8f106992-0802-4952-9795-7c8b1bb5cae6" class="wlWriterEditableSmartContent"><div id="61ec5884-efe8-4646-ae76-079c9bd9a264" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><div><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juQcZO_WnsI" target="_new"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizQFohmPTQ4jETZEXP7Glp5EbIIz3DuY1IwVti9lX6v71F4tVPHt-rKP4a5N-hTa3WPzwmM7Pzuo-tOCxK_6j27Ifp0-vgixmTZEFFtCaAxtGFrB7yYeAg3swbCWOFTZmOEGjJr59RPH8/?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('61ec5884-efe8-4646-ae76-079c9bd9a264'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = "<div><object width=\"425\" height=\"355\"><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/juQcZO_WnsI&hl=en\"><\/param><embed src=\"http://www.youtube.com/v/juQcZO_WnsI&hl=en\" type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"425\" height=\"355\"><\/embed><\/object><\/div>";" alt=""></a></div></div></div> <p>So what does this tell you?  Remember that everything you post, EVERYTHING is visible to everyone else so do not ever think that you are having a private conversation on Facebook or any other social network.  As a matter of a fact new computers, start with a disclaimer that explains that your email transmissions could been seen by others.  There is a little check box that we all hit to make that message stop appearing after the first time we see it.  Then many users act as if they are shocked that their information can be seen by others.  remember what we used to call this thing just a few years ago it was called the World Wide Web, a web of interconnected computers.  It is still exactly that a web of computers that are all connected to each other.  There are safety precautions that many of us take to keep our information from being seen by others but remember nothing is fool proof.  </p> <p>I tell my clients that if someone really wants their information, there are many places beyond our control.  Just please be careful and smart about sharing your personal information.  </p> <p>If we can be of assistance to you please feel free to contact Simply Seniors Computer Tutors 321-431-3866</p> <p>So what do you think of all of all of this social networking?  Contact us on facebook and tell us all about it!  </p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-75507093966523098122011-09-26T09:45:00.001-04:002011-09-26T09:45:17.065-04:00October class schedule<p>Welcome to October!  Ok well I am a couple of days early.  I love this time of year, when the leaves change the kids go back to school the air becomes cooler in a couple weeks and you really start to feel fall (I live in FL so it’s at least mid October before we get to pull out our hoodies and turn down the air conditioners).  </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfzzI4_-qZWg2E6nJaL8bVkkucSPHM2lbkE1oFBe8zE6dsgRIHUAHGkN1geypnvbuyONwtwAJ7rrEEMzFvTzEf2g-d2FlzxBrfMnDYynIezWfhh7IwTuRtQRX1pJmf2pXb8y8h5lLiOkM/s1600-h/Wpsc%252520%252520Oct%2525202011%252520PHOTO%252520schedule%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="Wpsc Oct 2011 PHOTO schedule" border="0" alt="Wpsc Oct 2011 PHOTO schedule" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr2hSvu7CJst6yrQ11y4NbBvgndKobNX9FXN0x0nKdi28_DF01HAjxL7qTEa4hshDe-M5M91Yag_0YBOV-mcEppHb9hx2J_wTrlXacSLcwG2pcoYh6hQHS5qbIh8KdN7ZPHbuGay8VXrI/?imgmax=800" width="503" height="388" /></a> </p> <p>Simply Seniors Computer Tutors has a great fall line up and NEW Computer classes.  We are even offering ipad and Andriod classes!  That’s right as the prices start to come down seniors are looking for earlier to use equipment and the ipad might be the right tool for you.  Never seen one before?  Want to come see what all the hype is about?  Come to class this Friday 9/30/2011 and we’ll be demonstration a hands on ipad class.  If you already own one bring it and we’ll learn something new together!</p> <p>Remember these classes are just $10 but for that to remain that way we need a higher class count.  So please do tell your friends and bring them with you.  All Simply Seniors Computer Tutors classes are held at Friday at 10am, the Wickham park Senior center, Melbourne, FL.  </p> <p>Do you have questions? Need in-home computer services, training or repair?  Just call the ONLY computer business just for Senior Citizens, “Simply Seniors Computer Tutors”  321-431-3866 we are located here in Central Florida and looking to help you with your unique computer needs! </p> <p>321-431-3866 visit our web site <a href="http://www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us">www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us</a></p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-48948944818070349392011-08-09T13:52:00.001-04:002011-08-09T13:52:54.715-04:00Back to School with Computer Tutor!<p>Join Stacey Kile of Simply Seniors Computer Tutor for Computer Tutor’s great Computer Classes being offered Friday mornings  10:00am at the Wickham Park Senior Center, Melbourne Florida.\</p> <p>These classes explore a variety of computer topics and they are geared toward the newer computer users.  Past classes have included “<em>How to back-up your PC” “Windows 7 Tips & Tricks” and “Digital Photos and your Computer”</em> .  </p> <p>The Aug – Sept 2011 class schedule is posted below.  Please share this with your friends.  If you know someone who could use computer help – don’t be shy – contact “Computer Tutor” we specialize in In-Home Computer Services for seniors and home bound individuals.  Our tutors have 10 years hands on experience teaching seniors age 60+ we have the experience and patient knowledge to lead you down the information super highway!  </p> <p>Simply Seniors Computer Tutors 321-431-3866 serving Central Florida and Beyond!  </p> <p>Let’s Be Friends</p> <p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKaDERgGU13B2arV2oPqaB0Dhf8UViOk10TvmZHN62ePF8qZA2ei7Rd_PaYdGchJ9htQq8HqusrbBhpeD79OlxLmO2guXMn-tabIg1dqFFiat6WTRLmy7lCM620K_wq-tgQa5XYMwUfr0/s1600-h/image%25255B8%25255D.png"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhI4IZe1878iqqn5WTI6HKUcJj6AiCxf6HMOdznntPHQyTkR60UWc4K0H6DfX9S6mzp-z0jGt-jR3hQheZewBV1_0IfzgIUYasZ1YRRKdjlDm9Rc2NXuKdh7S6QisZaVMvglDRMfbWuuA/?imgmax=800" width="177" height="66" /></a>   </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQTRwfDYg5aGQJKS0BaAlk4sWRIDQuP5JfR9eLf2ziSxccP1NXSLCTVajZRxq8bKIX2z6X4d-uTnAViBZb0u6DE2OtTUHX40ySQb9qxODpkch4DJHobwfP1EK93K1Djx084X6BY9L9JZc/s1600-h/image%25255B5%25255D.png"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6Qdb-FeMLNmlKI_yPxKjan5S5CXIJUh4F1yvjX1T1vIxuC5KMeS-vwrG4T3U0wqkQFmSOUn5PEN3j0Hoagq8A88crgH_wQ50T-eOYh8OGj9w3XayPbyCbRVyIYnCElZjS3U88_R5wflg/?imgmax=800" width="789" height="618" /></a></p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-80794702694488267302011-05-24T15:44:00.001-04:002011-05-24T15:44:01.520-04:00June 2011 class schedule & letter to clients<p>This is Stacey, your Computer Tutor form Simply Seniors Computer Tutor writing with the June class schedule. These classes are offered at the Wickham Park Senior Center and each Friday is a different topic. These classes are slightly advanced (if you can read this email you’re advanced J) . During June we will have a “pick the tech’s brain” session where you are welcome to bring your computer questions and have them answered live. We will not be able to work on your computer, but we will be glad to give you the steps to solve your own problems. New on the class schedule is “Computers Inside Outside” we will dissect a computer and explorer the inner workings. You’ll learn correct terminology and go away with a better understanding of how things work (so you won’t be taken advantage of at a Big Box store or by an unethical technician). Also new on the calendar and inspired by televisions new reality series “Extreme Couponing” is “Internet Couponing”, you are going to learn the tips and tricks of the professionals and may walk away from this class and never shop the same way again. Learn how to save big money using coupons and Facebook marketing.</p> <p>I hope to see you there! We price the classes very low at $10, most include a printed text and we attempt cover a variety of interesting topics to fill almost everyone’s need. If you have a class suggestion, for example, someone has been requesting a class about e-readers, we sure would love to hear from you.</p> <p>We will be taking a little break during the month of July and not offering classes. These very popular classes will start new and fresh late August 2011. We hope you have a wonderful summer where ever you may end up this season and will be looking forward to working with you again soon!</p> <p>Additionally, starting June 1<sup>st</sup> is Simply Seniors Computer Tutors FLORIDIAN CELEBRATION!!! We will be offering our in home services for just $79 hr! This is the time to get those computer files organized; have someone else back up your computer’s data to a safe location; learn that computer task you’ve been putting off; put in that new wireless router – have all of your computer & technical needs taken care of for a great discounted rate!</p> <p>Thank everyone for your support throughout the years I could not do this without you! I want to thank my many clients who have been so thoughtful and helpful in passing around these class schedules and I appreciate your assistance!</p> <p>If I can be of further assistance please contact me at 321-431-3866</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2Qkt-P4KABLul0LjS68ZGU5w75Db_OxrA38mB5pxVoBdBtSIjx2Rm2jmxvi3b3X5nOVdBqY8Z7WrseC8R1I67TsV9-ESmEVholkuxLHisxmxZFTS0Z9u-JwgosO3RpLZwHFAudJv_V6E/s1600-h/image%5B5%5D.png"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOoP1H3HPEsXbfB3BKobAZJQZ8W6kKypX6qNDa2hqMepgykHo2VkpuWO1h0dOpcmL_2fLa-q2Caueuz6bJy4NGD1F6DLuXkxn8K0eEBmVgcdtBsFAA4m-Lw6_mnSoiusYYJzuKsaCsesI/?imgmax=800" width="824" height="646" /></a></p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-72347992969124706032011-05-18T17:15:00.001-04:002011-05-18T17:15:09.020-04:00Learning Facebook<p>At Simply Seniors Computer Tutor, we are being asked everyday “How do I Facebook?'”  We often give a brief overview and demonstrate how we use our own Facebook account.  Because of your overwhelming response we have decided to create a new facebook class.  This class will be offered June 2011 for the first time.  It will repeat throughout the Brevard county area as needed.  While preparing for this class I have examined and studied many “Facebook How-to” web links.  I will share the best of the best information below as today’s Blog topic.  </p> <p>The following was written by Susan Nq and was first posted at <a href="http://hubpages.com/hub/facebookforbeginners">http://hubpages.com/hub/facebookforbeginners</a>.  </p> <p>Are you thinking of joining Facebook? Or are you new to Facebook and are now staring at Facebook's homepage thinking: What the hell to I do now? Then this article is just what you need to learn the basics of Facebook. You'll be connecting with your friends in no time.</p> <p>The first thing you'll probably want to do is upload a profile picture. You can do that easily by clicking on the link that appears when you hover your mouse over the space for your profile pic. Once you've done that, you are ready to tackle Facebook.</p> <p> </p> <h4>THE MENU BAR</h4> <p>The menu bar is located at the top of every page. It contains four items on the left side: Home, Profile, Friends, and Inbox. Let's run through each of these briefly.</p> <p>By default, Facebook takes you to your <strong>Home </strong>page when you log in so that's probably where you are right now. It's where you will find your friends' activities, that is if you have friends already. Your <strong>Profile</strong> page is where you will find all your stuff on Facebook. It's also where you will find your "wall", which is a Facebook term that you're going to be hearing a lot of from now on. Your <strong>Friends</strong> page is, of course, where you will find a list of your friends and where you can search for other people who you would like to be your friend. Your <strong>Inbox</strong>, well, I don't think I need to tell you that it contains mail that you receive or send to friends.</p> <p>Now that you know that you can navigate between these pages using the menu bar, let's discuss each page in detail.</p> <h4>Your Home Page</h4> <p>Your home page has five major components: News Feed, Filters, Requests, Suggestions, and Highlights. (See figure below.)</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGOc_uZdCtf09q7IS4uSYyen7cWeeXGQ2OtPzm7MrUfDIYjq9Qe6Eu2E86RWyJ0rYoDZ_MZIc5LBJyYAgS-oZJeUk225BtpGVYPQFihopmnIqFE4F4wL2ucmcg3_iB6ENLjjSRAzZXKWI/s1600-h/image%5B3%5D.png"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSnVSWH9PqNwOntrshLAByaAOo5mItsHXMak9h5qpJaUtHSOZLoYSpY_-4n0R7WyTIpkTSzUY4A1lKuRzNcA69nBauI0mq6qh5GtzkbGU09-uQUI6c3QQsA2xB8zBpbr5ZlRXsgww31o0/?imgmax=800" width="364" height="312" /></a> </p> <p>Facebook Home Page Layout</p> <ul> <li><strong>News Feed</strong>. Here you will see all your friends' activities on Facebook. Wall posts, uploaded photos or videos, posted links, etc. If you want to know what your friends have been up to, this is the place to go.</li> <li><strong>Filters</strong>. You can create filters so you can manage how you see your friends activity on your homepage. You can do that once you already have many Facebook friends.</li> <li><strong>Requests</strong>. Any request or invitation that you receive, such as friend requests and application invitations, will appear here. (More on Facebook applications later.) Clicking on an invitation gives you the option to Accept, Ignore, or Block.</li> <li><strong>Suggestions</strong>. Facebook suggests friends, groups or pages that it thinks you may know or be interested in. It will appear in this space. </li> <li><strong>Highlights</strong>. This area shows things like pictures your friends have commented on, videos they have liked, etc.  It also contains links that enable you to "join in the fun" your friends are having.</li> </ul> <h4>Your Profile Page</h4> <p>Your profile page is your own "personal space" on facebook.  It is where your friends will find your profile picture or avatar, your friends list, applications widgets, and your tabs.  By default, there are two tabs when you sign in: Wall and Info.  Later when you start uploading photos or videos, corresponding tabs will appear next to the Wall and Info tabs.  (See figure below.)</p> <p><img title="title" alt="alt" src="http://s1.hubimg.com/u/1182084_f520.jpg" width="520" height="402" /></p> <p>Facebook Profile Page Layout</p> <ul> <li><strong>Wall</strong>. The wall is your main "space" on Facebook. Just like on a real wall, you and your friends (if you choose to let them do so) can "write" on this wall by using the What's on your mind? box right below the tabs. </li> <li><strong>Info</strong>. The basic information you typed in when you signed up for Facebook can be found in your Info tab. You can add or remove data at any time. </li> <li><strong>Other Tabs</strong>. Additional tabs such as Photos, Videos, Boxes, Notes, etc. may appear once you have used these internal applications. Once you've uploaded a profile picture, for example, the Photos tab will already be visible.</li> </ul> <p><img title="title" alt="alt" src="http://s2.hubimg.com/u/1193081_f520.jpg" width="520" height="112" /></p> <p>Just type in what you want to write on your wall and hit the Share button.</p> <p><img title="title" alt="alt" src="http://s1.hubimg.com/u/1193088_f520.jpg" width="520" height="150" /></p> <p>Clicking on the What's on your mind? box reveals the buttons for posting a link, photo, video, etc. on your wall or someone else's wall.</p> <h4>Your Friends Page</h4> <p>Clicking on Friends in the menu bar takes you to a page where you can find your other friends who might also be on Facebook. You can choose to find people through your email address or simply use the Search for People option also in the Friends page.  Once you already have some friends, you can see all of them by clicking on All Friends in the filter located at the upper left corner of the page.</p> <h4>Your Inbox</h4> <p>You can have a "conversation" with one of your friends by sending them mail. I say "have a conversation" because your replies are appended to the original message and you can see the full history of the conversation in a single thread.</p> <p>A circle with a number on it beside the word "Inbox" on your menu bar indicates that you have new mail, the number in the circle corresponding to the number of new messages you got.</p> <p></p> <h4>Chat</h4> <p>You can also talk to your friends through the Chat feature in Facebook. You'll see the button for it on the lower right corner of the page. Clicking on it brings up a menu with friends who are available for chatting. So what's the difference between the inbox and chat? Chat conversations are lost once you sign out of Facebook, mail in your inbox stays there until you manually delete it.</p> <p>I should also mention that you can turn off chat if you don't feel like it. Just click on Chat > Options > Go Offline. Going offline doesn't sign you out of Facebook, it just makes you unavailable for chatting.</p> <h4>Applications</h4> <p>Basically, there are two types of applications or apps for short: those that were created by Facebook and those made by third-party developers. The internal Facebook applications include Notes, Photos, Links, and Video. Third-party applications include games, quizzes, etc. I've talked about my favorite third-party Facebook apps<a href="http://hubpages.com/_myhubpageslinks/hub/favoritefacebookapps">here</a>.</p> <p>Where do you find Facebook apps?  Click on Applications on the lower left corner of the page and select Browse More Applications.</p> <h4>Bookmarks</h4> <p>Right beside the Applications button I mentioned above are your bookmarks.  By default, you should see icons for Photos, Links, and Notes along with some others.  Hovering your mouse on them shows a description of each icon.</p> <p>You use bookmarks as shortcuts to where you want to go.  I should mention though that clicking on the bookmarks will bring you to a recent activities page.  For example, if you click on the icon for Photos, it doesn't bring you to your photo albums, it shows you the recent photo albums of your friends.  From there you can go to your photo album by clicking on the My Photos link at the top of the page.  The same applies for the other bookmarks. </p> <h4>Notifications</h4> <p>See that small icon that looks like a signboard? That's where all notifications can be found. Facebook notifies you if your friends post something on your wall, comment on your uploaded photos, etc. When you see a red bubble with a number on it, it means there's been some new development. So aside from watching your inbox, you'll also want to keep an eye on those notifications for friend updates.</p> <h4>Settings</h4> <p>Hovering your mouse on the Settings button on the upper right side of the page, you'll see three options: Account Settings, Privacy Settings, Application Settings.</p> <p>You can change your real name, email address, password, etc. through <strong>Account Settings</strong>. <strong>Privacy Settings</strong> allows you to create different levels of privacy. For example, you can set certain information to be viewable by selected friends only.<strong>Application Settings</strong> allow you to control how applications behave. Just have fun and experiment with these options.</p> <p><img title="title" alt="alt" src="http://s4.hubimg.com/u/1193327_f520.jpg" width="520" height="315" /></p> <p>Account Settings page</p> <p><img title="title" alt="alt" src="http://s2.hubimg.com/u/1193337_f520.jpg" width="520" height="415" /></p> <p>Privacy Settings page</p> <p>----------------------------</p> <p>Did you know that Simply Seniors Computer Tutor specializes in coming into your home to help you one on one with your computer problems? We also offer classes each Friday at the Wickham Park senior center. These classes start at 10 and each Friday is a different topic. We look forward to helping you in your home or in our classroom. Visit online at <a href="http://www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us">www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us</a> or 321-431-3866 servicing Brevard and beyond.</p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-9627269991968002002011-03-16T21:21:00.001-04:002011-03-16T21:21:34.249-04:00Tweet Tweet, How to set up a Twitter Account, write the best ‘tweets’ and build followers quickly!<p>Simply seniors Computer Tutor loves showing people new things!  Many of our seniors are now using Facebook on a daily bases and some even Tweet!  Today we are going to look at the basics to creating a Twitter account, then we will review article on how to create the type of Tweets people want to read and share with their followers ie., (friends, social network).  Lastly, we will find out what methods one can use to bring the followers to your account.</p> <p>How to create a Twitter account from <a href="http://www.ehow.com">www.ehow.com</a>:</p> <p><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto" src="http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/files/2010/04/twitter-logo.png" width="119" height="119" /></p> <p><a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_4541204_create-twitter-account.html#">Twitter</a> is a social networking/blogging site that allows you to update your personal blog and communicate with your online friends via 140-maximum character messages, or "tweets," that describe your current status. Whether you are reading something online, or boarding a plane, Twitter is a great way to keep in touch.</p> <ol> <li>Go to The Twitter homepage and scroll all the way to the bottom. Click on the "Get Started" button.</li> <li>Create a username and password. Twitter will automatically check the availability of your username. Once you find one that is unique, enter your <a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_4541204_create-twitter-account.html#">email address</a> and continue.</li> <li>After you create your account, you can manually see if any of your e-mail contacts are on Twitter. Just enter your e-mail username and password, and twitter will automatically import anyone it recognizes.</li> <li>Invite friends. Any emails Twitter didn't recognize, it will display on the next page. You will be able to check different email addresses to send invites to.</li> <li>Search for friends. Chances are good that your friends have multiple email addresses, so it is a good idea to enter their name in the search bar and double check.</li> <li>Set up your <a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_4541204_create-twitter-account.html#">phone</a>. The big advantage of Twitter is that you can update via text messages from your phone. Go to the "Devices" tab on your profile page and then enter your cell phone number. A confirmation message will be sent to your phone, and then you'll be able to make your first update.</li> </ol> <p> <br />Read more: <a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_4541204_create-twitter-account.html#ixzz1GoZawhMU">How to Create a Twitter Account | eHow.com</a> <a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_4541204_create-twitter-account.html#ixzz1GoZawhMU\">http://www.ehow.com/how_4541204_create-twitter-account.html#ixzz1GoZawhMU\</a></p> <p>-----------------</p> <p>A new service being offered by <em><strong>Computer Tutor Consulting</strong></em>, is our “Be Socially Challenged NO MORE” package.  We will set up any 3 of your Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, Google Buzz, Yahoo, AIM, Windows Live, Skype, Blogger, and link these accounts for just $99 set up fee!  In addition get a 6month maintenance package for just $59 month for the 1st 6 months!  This is a deal that will pay for itself in publicity in NO time flat!  Call 321-431-3866 Today! Ask about the Socially Challenged Package!</p> <p>---------------------</p> <p>Writing the perfect tweet; this was written by and published at <a href="http://twittercism.com/the-perfect-tweet/">http://twittercism.com/the-perfect-tweet/</a></p> <h3>How To Write The Perfect Tweet</h3> <p>Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 8:00 am  </p> <ul> <li></li> <li></li> <li></li> <li>1<a>digg</a></li> <li></li> </ul> <p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ftwittercism.com%2Fthe-perfect-tweet%2F&t=How%20To%20Write%20The%20Perfect%20Tweet&src=sp" name="fb_share">Share28</a></p> <p>Twitter has rapidly become the ultimate platform for sharing and exchanging link content. For bloggers and brands, Twitter has surpassed Digg, Stumbleupon, Delicious and Reddit as the greatest and most efficient way to build website traffic.</p> <p><img title="How To Write The Perfect Tweet" alt="How To Write The Perfect Tweet" src="http://twittercism.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/write-the-perfect-tweet.jpg" width="255" height="255" />Better still, by building an <a href="http://twittercism.com/twitter-rules-of-engagement/">engaged</a> and<a href="http://twittercism.com/targeted-following/">relevant</a> community, marketers can continue to reap the benefits of that traffic on a daily basis. Almost by accident, Twitter has provided us with a new and improved take on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Permission-Marketing-Turning-Strangers-Customers/dp/0684856360/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267963804&sr=8-1">permissive marketing</a>, which has allowed the network to leave many other websites in its dust.</p> <p>It’s not all gravy, though – it’s easy to make mistakes that can be very costly indeed, leaving your tweet (and content) all but ignored. Continue making those errors, and Twitter will be about as beneficial to your brand and website as a badly-drawn flyer at your local community centre.</p> <p>And while it’s perfectly acceptable to link to your own content, if you <em>over</em>-sell it, <a href="http://twittercism.com/tweet-ratio/">self-promote</a> too much, or start to resemble an old-fashioned salesman (even <em>slightly</em>), you’re very quickly going to be overlooked. Worse, likely it won’t be too long before you’re labelled as nothing more than a spammer.</p> <p>When you get right down to the nitty-gritty, only two things really count when striving for the perfect tweet:</p> <ol> <li>Maximum <strong>readability</strong></li> <li>Maximum <strong>retweetability</strong></li> </ol> <p>These are both vital, but neither should be tailored at the expense of the other. For maximum benefit, each needs to be perfect every single time.</p> <h4>1. Think Like Your Readers</h4> <p>This is a bit of a no-brainer, but it’s easily overlooked. For your tweet to be perfect, it needs to appeal most to your <em>readers</em>, to the majority of your network, and not to you.</p> <p>Unless you’re a world-famous celebrity or brand with millions of devoted followers, adopting an attitude of ‘they’ll know what I mean’ will almost always backfire.</p> <p>You have to take the time to craft your tweet accurately and pleasingly, thus ensuring that it will be appeal to the highest number of readers.</p> <h4>2. Use Consistent Excellence To Stand Out From The Crowd</h4> <p>Take a moment to peruse your Twitter feed. Refresh the page. Who stands out? Why?</p> <p>Through prolonged Twitter use we all become tuned into paying attention to certain things in our timelines, notably the avatars and usernames of our favourite profiles. But a friend or valued associate sharing new content isn’t always enough to make us click on that link. We trust their judgement, and we have liked some of the things they’ve shared in the past, but this hasn’t turned us into a robot, automatically clicking on everything they tweet.</p> <p>Conversely, there are many times when we suddenly notice the tweet of somebody we’ve only recently started following, or have previously not paid much attention to, because it was <strong>excellent</strong>. It ticked all of our boxes, and we read the tweet and clicked on that link.</p> <p>This has an additional benefit in that because the tweet was so good, subconsciously we’ll make a little note about the user (particularly their name and avatar) and are more likely to notice them the next time they update. This attention will rise exponentially if their tweets maintain a consistent quality.</p> <p>Likewise, if the quality of updates dips too sharply or wanders too far off-course, we’ll start to pay less attention, and in severe cases this can lead to a total tune-out and unfollowing. Hence, while being occasionally excellent is better than nothing, being<em>consistently excellent</em> is better than everything.</p> <h4>3. Sell The Headline (In A Non-Salesman Way)</h4> <p>People need a really good reason to click on your link. Remember, at any given time (and in almost any Twitter client) the reader is faced with a number of choices to make – there might be as many as a dozen different tweets on their screen, and a lot more if they’re using columns or groups.</p> <p>And things move <em>fast</em> – one or two refreshes later, and you could be long gone.</p> <p>So, even if you’ve been consistently excellent for tweet after tweet and dear reader comes straight to you, your job is not done. They still need a reason to click, which means your copy has to <em>sell that link</em>.</p> <p>The trick is you have to do this in a way that makes it seem like you’re doing something else. People don’t really like to think they’re being sold to, especially in social media.</p> <p>Let’s call it unselling.</p> <p>It goes without saying that ‘click here to buy my stuff’ should only be used if your intention is to be completely ironic or you don’t actually care about people visiting your site.</p> <p>Learn the difference between selling the link and selling the content – the content is what will sell your product or idea, but nobody is going to care about any of that unless you’ve first sold them the <em>reason</em> to read it. You might have discovered the cure for cancer, but nobody is going to care if you link it next to ‘This is cool.’</p> <p>The reason can be number of different things. <a href="http://www.copyblogger.com/headline-promise/">Promises</a> work extremely well, but only if you actually deliver. Lie to people enough and it doesn’t matter how good your headline copy is. Honesty is essentially your best policy, but that doesn’t mean you can’t give it a fresh coat of paint with a little spin and reverse psychology.</p> <p>It’s worth noting that superbly-written headline copy can often generate immediate retweets, even if it’s obvious the other party didn’t actually read the content, or because they trust and believe in you enough to make the (hopefully safe) assumption that you’re going to deliver the goods.</p> <p>A word on linking to website content that is not your own – don’t be afraid to rewrite the headlines of others. Most of the time these are formatted to appease a single platform or marketplace, and won’t work as well on Twitter. Other times they just suck, plain and simple. If you can do it better, do it better. Nobody is going to object if you’re sending them solid traffic.</p> <h4>4. Use Correct (And Acceptable) Punctuation</h4> <p>Here’s the thing: I’ve never met anybody who was offended or put off when they read something that paid attention to the correct use of punctuation. The opposite is not true – many people (enormous numbers if you use the internet as a gauge) feel that, rightly or wrongly, missing or an incorrect use of punctuation reflects poorly on the writer.</p> <p>This is certainly true when it comes to first impressions.</p> <p>Use full stops and commas. Put your apostrophes in the right place. Use speech marks and parentheses.</p> <p>Don’t end every sentence with an exclamation mark. A simple hyphen can often be the difference between a real word and one that <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/noone">doesn’t exist</a>.</p> <p>It can help to read your tweet out loud before you submit it. Are the pauses in the right place? We still need to breathe, even at 140 characters (or less).</p> <p>Studies have <a href="http://danzarrella.com/retweet-punctuation.html">shown</a> that retweets contain more punctuation than normal tweets, even ignoring the colon that is automatically inserted by most Twitter clients (i.e., RT @).</p> <p>Everything, that is, <strong>except semi-colons</strong>. I love the semi-colon, which is an underused and <a href="http://theoatmeal.com/comics/semicolon">misunderstood</a> little fellow at the best of times, but much as it pains me I feel it wise to leave them out of my tweets. It’s all about the little sacrifices.</p> <h4>5. Accept Nothing Less Than Flawless Grammar And Perfect Spelling</h4> <p>If you’re a bad speller, or struggle with grammar, consider writing your tweets in your favourite Word processor first. This might seem unnecessary, or even patronising, but let me just echo the sentiments above – people will judge you on how you write, and how you spell, and this will have a direct impact on whether your links are clicked and your updates retweeted.</p> <p>A quick checklist for every tweet:</p> <ul> <li>Always start with a capital letter </li> <li>Always use a capital letter with each new sentence (and you only need one space after the full stop) </li> <li>Learn the difference between your and you’re, its and it’s and there, their and they’re </li> <li>Capital letters make it LOOK LIKE YOU’RE SHOUTING </li> <li>Avoid text-speak at all costs. Far better to take an extra minute or two to elegantly craft your message and link into the desired 140 characters than it is to resort to writing like somebody who dropped out of high school (and then banged their head)</li> </ul> <p>Don’t look to celebrities for guidance here. Many of them break most of these rules, most of the time. It doesn’t matter for them, because they’re celebrities. The rules don’t apply. They’re going to get tons of attention and retweets no matter what they do. The same goes for lots of power-users and long-established Twitter veterans.</p> <p>It’s different for the rest of us. Remember: be consistently excellent. You cannot afford to be anything less.</p> <h4>6. Observe The Magic Retweet Number</h4> <p>The <a href="http://twittercism.com/magic-retweet-number/">magic retweet number</a> is the total number of characters you need to leave blank at the end of every tweet to ensure maximum retweetability.</p> <p>Over time, I have given considerable thought to this figure and continue to refine and perfect it. Currently, the magic retweet number stands at <a href="http://twittercism.com/magic-retweet-number/">twenty-five</a>. Which means your copy, plus link, should ideally be 115 characters or less.</p> <p>This is a rule that you will need to break from time to time. Certainly, you should not sacrifice a really quality piece of copy to squeeze your tweet under that ceiling. And Twitter’s internal retweet mechanism has somewhat decreased the need to be so mindful of retweet space.</p> <p>But if you never any room for others to share your message with their network, chances are that most of the time they either won’t make the effort, or that perfect piece of copy you wrote will be bastardised and lost to the horror of txt spk. Guess what – as it’s a retweet, now everybody thinks <em>you</em> wrote it like that. Welcome to your legacy.</p> <h4>7. Shorten All Links With Bit.ly (And Nothing Else)</h4> <p>This <a href="http://danzarrella.com/the-url-shorteners-that-will-get-you-the-most-or-least-retweets.html">chart</a> says it all.</p> <p>If you’re using anything other than bit.ly to shorten your links – certainly if you’re using TinyURL – you’re actually <em>hurting your brand</em>. Bit.ly is Twitter’s URL shortener of choice and that recommendation, plus the stats and convenience that bit.ly provides, make it nothing less than essential for those looking to get their content re-shared.</p> <p>Tip: the bit.ly <a href="http://bit.ly/pages/tools">sidebar</a> is super-convenient.</p> <h4>Conclusion</h4> <p>Twitter is supposed to be fun, and doing everything by the book, or in a very methodical or rule-driven way, can sometimes make it seem just a little bit too much like hard work.</p> <p>However, if you really want to succeed on the network, then you’re going to have to put in that little bit of extra effort. If you want to be consistently excellent then I’m afraid you <em>will</em> have to work hard – at least until it becomes second-nature. Few people are naturally wonderful, certainly all of the time.</p> <p>Trust me: it’s worth the sweat. Once you see the benefits that great headline copy, can’t miss <em>unselling</em> techniques and first-class grammar and punctuation can make to your Twitter presence and impact – as well as your website traffic, and sales – you’ll never again settle for anything less than the perfect tweet.</p> <p><strong>If you enjoyed this post, here's some cool things you can do to give a little back: </strong></p> <ol> <li><strong>Follow </strong><a href="http://twitter.com/sheamus"><strong>@Sheamus</strong></a><strong> on Twitter </strong></li> <li><strong>Like the </strong><a href="http://facebook.com/Twittercism"><strong>Twittercism page</strong></a><strong> on </strong><a href="http://facebook.com/Twittercism"><strong>Facebook</strong></a></li> <li><strong>Share this article on one of these fine networks:</strong></li> </ol> <p><strong>---------------</strong></p> <p><strong>Now how to build the followers!</strong> Thanks to <a href="http://www.jamiefaidley.com">http://www.jamiefaidley.com</a> for the great info on how to build followers on Twitter. I started a Twitter account last night and 24 hours later have 250+ following me just because of what is said about –so follow this advice if you are looking to build a twitter community of your own!</p> <p>One thing that I really like about using <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jamiefaidley">Twitter</a> as a marketing tool over blogging or even newsletters is how easy it is to build a large following.  Of course, it isn't nearly as easy to make money from these followers so don't just disregard your traditional marketing tools because you have a lot of followers on <a href="http://www.jamiefaidley.com/twitterpage">Twitter</a>.  If you are new to the platform or your numbers have been stagnant then hopefully this post will show you how to get more followers on <a href="http://www.jamiefaidley.com/twitterpage">Twitter</a>.</p> <h5><strong>Find People to Follow</strong></h5> <p><strong>Friends</strong>: Start off by finding the people that you already know, this way you can build up some decent numbers before using any additional tactics, which will help because there is a landslide effect on <a href="http://www.jamiefaidley.com/twitterpage">Twitter</a> which shows the more people that are already following you the more that will start to do so.  (I'm assuming of course that your friends <em>will </em>follow you back, I mean they are your <em>friends</em> right?) <br /><strong> <br />People with the Same Interests</strong>: You want to search for people who share the same interests as you, for example if you like sports then follow sports news services, major blogs, etc.</p> <p><strong>Industry Leaders</strong>: Find the key people in your industry and follow the same people they are, since chances are you will be interested in them as well.</p> <p><strong>Suggester Tools</strong>: <a href="http://twitter.com/invitations/suggestions">Twitter's suggestion tool</a> will help you find other people to follow.</p> <p><strong>Pace Yourself</strong>: Don't go out and follow 1,000 people over the next hour.  Besides the fact that you look spammy just for doing this, when people come to your page they will see that you are following a massive number, but not being followed by nearly as many.  To them this must mean that you are not popular in relation to the people you are following.  Other Twitter users are normally pretty quick to follow you if you are following them, so add a batch, wait it out, then add another.  Rinse and repeat this process over time and you'll start to accumulate a following.  Just make sure you have a fairly balanced follower/following ratio.  It also stands to reason that you should not use a script or bot to add followers because this is spammy and could get you banned from the system.</p> <h5>Follow People Back</h5> <p>The whole point of Twitter is to build relationships with other people, after all it is a <em>social</em>media, so follow people back who follow you.  As you start to get more popular on Twitter you will find that more and more people will start following you that you have never heard of before.  If you follow every one of them back, you can lose track of the people that you actually signed up to follow.  This is why you should probably have one account that you use for business and marketing that you strive for popularity and another you use just to follow the select few people you want to hear from.  If you want to automatically follow people who follow you, sign up for <a href="http://www.tweetlater.com/">TweetLater</a>.</p> <h5>Be a Person</h5> <p>Seems obvious, right?  I mean you are reading this article.  Well, let's make sure that you are letting the Twitter universe know by going over the details on what I mean exactly by "be a person."</p> <ul> <li><strong>Use a picture for an avatar</strong> - Show off your face and people will relate your tweets to you.  A real picture for an avatar translates into you sharing real life experiences.  Some people use a company or site logo to help with branding, but this isn't as personal and can cost you followers, but is better than nothing.  If you just have the default image up then you can't be too serious about Twitter so why would anyone want to follow you? </li> <li><strong>Name</strong> - You also want to have a real name and not just your company name. </li> <li><strong>Details</strong> - Post a description or biography of yourself to give your account some personality. </li> <li><strong>Add a link to your homepage</strong> - You want to let people know what you are about and what kind of information you will be providing, how else are they going to decide whether you are worth following or not?  Besides, how are they going to visit your site if you don't provide a link and of course you want to increase your traffic numbers!</li> </ul> <p>Again, this all adds up to showing that you are a real person and not spammer JohnDoe1212 or an evil corporate empire!</p> <h5>Tweet!</h5> <p>If your newest tweet was weeks ago then why would someone want to follow you?  If you aren't updating your account then you must not be committed and are probably inactive.  People want to know what you are currently doing or working on, but keep the noise to a minimum and don't spam everyone on your list.  If you tweet more than 20 times per day you are clogging up my page and I will probably unfollow you.  You also want your tweets to add value for your followers and contribute something to community, but they should also be fun so you don't bore your followers into ignoring you, or worse, unfollowing you!  Great tweets on a consistent basis will not only help you to grow your following but also will get people to become more interested in what you are doing, thus driving traffic to your actual site.</p> <h5>Promote Yourself</h5> <p>There are several ways to promote yourself to increase your Twitter following.  If you already have a blog then simply write a post about Twitter and add a link to your account in the article.  If you have a newsletter send out a blast to your subscribers about how they can also follow you on Twitter.  <a href="http://www.twittercounter.com/">TwitterCounter</a> has a chiclet that lets you show off how many followers that you currently have.  Put your Twitter link in the signature of your emails or forum posts.  You can even add cool buttons from <a href="http://www.twitbuttons.com/">TwitButtons</a> or <a href="http://www.twitterbuttons.com/">Twitter Buttons</a> to spruce up your site a little bit.</p> <p>-------------------------</p> <p>Remember, if this all seems to much, Simply Seniors Computer Tutor can help! Simply Seniors Computer Tutor is the premier technical assistant for seniors! Not only do they offer classes at various locations throughout Brevard, they offer one on one in home services, virus clean up, repairs, pick up and delivery, new computer set up and specialty projects such as photo recoloring, digital photo archiving and much more. Simply Seniors Computer Tutors are Florida and Brevard County background checked, arrive in identifiable uniform, with company ID, additionally, UNLIKE the 'average guy' posting on CL, our company is licensed, insured and certified to work on your computer. KNOW YOUR COMPUTER TECHNICIAN do not allow just anyone into your very personal data and information or your home! Simply Seniors Computer Tutor understands seniors have unique learning abilities and we have spent the last 10 years researching the BEST methods for computer training and senior citizens. Stop struggling to use your PC or stop your parents constant phone calls asking "how do I..." Call Simply Seniors Computer Tutor today at 321-431-3866 </p> <p><a href="http://www.computertutorhelp.us/">www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us</a></p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-44498085083704405392011-03-14T14:13:00.001-04:002011-03-14T14:13:07.525-04:00Facebook users become the latest victims of the Japanese Tsunami<p>I have been telling you about virus I have seen on FB – here is a GREAT article that AVG antivirus alerted me to you can read the orginal at <a href="http://www.ghacks.net">http://www.ghacks.net</a></p> <p>It’s not the first time that spammers and malware writers have used a tragic public event to spread malware on Facebook, but the latest are fake videos purporting to show “breathtaking” or “unbelievable” footage of the Japanese tsunami.</p> <p>These links, when clicked, will take you through to another website where you will be required to perform additional actions such as clicking further links in order to view the the <a href="http://www.ghacks.net/2011/03/14/facebook-users-become-the-latest-victims-of-the-japanese-tsunami/#">video</a> (which doesn’t exist!)</p> <p>In performing these actions you will be giving the malware writers valuable information, especially if you “like an app” and have personal information such as your home address, telephone and mobile phone numbers and your email address of your Facebook profile.  Such malware, and there are many on Facebook and other social<a href="http://www.ghacks.net/2011/03/14/facebook-users-become-the-latest-victims-of-the-japanese-tsunami/#">networks</a> at the moment, could even require you to download and install a plugin or codec to watch the video.  Such a file will certainly be malware of some variety such as a bot or keylogger.</p> <p>Simply clicking on the main link for most of these “apps” will post a link to your wall saying that you <em>like</em> it.  This is most commonly how these malware apps will spread.  Should you see on on the wall of a friend, you may want to notify them or post a message under it informing people of its real purpose.</p> <p>The tsunami which hit Japan last week after a massive 8.9 magnitude earthquake has killed thousands of people, with up to 10,000 people still missing from a single coastal town, and caused billions of dollars of damage including critical damage to one nuclear reactor and further damage to two others.</p> <p>Past events where spammers and malware writers have tried to exploit users on Facebook and other social networks have included the death of Michael Jackson and the Indonesian tsunami of 2004.</p> <p>Here at gHacks we wish to send our continuing sympathies for those people from around the world who have been affected by the earthquake, and especially to those people in Japan who are continuing to be affected by this tragedy.</p> <p>We urge you to pass the word around about these malware links and, if you can afford it, to donate a small amount of money to help those in need through your local Red Cross, Red Cresecent or other disasters charity</p> <p> </p> <p>-----------------</p> <p>Thanks to the ghacks team for sharing the above info with us! again the original can be seen at <a href="http://www.ghacks.net">www.ghacks.net</a></p> <p>Remember, if this all seems to much, Simply Seniors Computer Tutor can help! Simply Seniors Computer Tutor is the premier technical assistant for seniors! Not only do they offer classes at various locations throughout Brevard, they offer one on one in home services, virus clean up, repairs, pick up and delivery, new computer set up and specialty projects such as photo recoloring, digital photo archiving and much more. Simply Seniors Computer Tutors are Florida and Brevard County background checked, arrive in identifiable uniform, with company ID, additionally, UNLIKE the 'average guy' posting on CL, our company is licensed, insured and certified to work on your computer. KNOW YOUR COMPUTER TECHNICIAN do not allow just anyone into your very personal data and information or your home! Simply Seniors Computer Tutor understands seniors have unique learning abilities and we have spent the last 10 years researching the BEST methods for computer training and senior citizens. Stop struggling to use your PC or stop your parents constant phone calls asking "how do I..." Call Simply Seniors Computer Tutor today at 321-431-3866 <a href="http://www.computertutorhelp.us/">www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us</a></p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-12798856170872460032011-03-08T15:35:00.000-05:002011-03-08T15:35:00.845-05:00Microsoft Security Essentials Alert - FAKER NOT THE REAL SOFTWARE!!!<p>I wrote this blog while doing some research on FREE Microsoft software.  I thin you need to beware of this.  The information in today’s blog comes from <a href="http://www.bleepingcomputers.com">www.bleepingcomputers.com</a> a great web site for computer technical info!!!</p> <p>What this infection does:</p> <p>The fake <strong>Microsoft Security Essentials Alert</strong> is a Trojan that attempts to trick you into thinking you are infected so that you will then install and purchase one of 5 <a href="http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/rogue-programs">rogue anti-virus</a> programs that it is distributing. When the Trojan is run it will masquerade as an alert from the legitimate Windows Microsoft Security Essentials Program <a href="http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert#">anti-virus</a>program. This alert will be titled <strong>Microsoft Security Essentials Alert</strong> and states that a Trojan was detected on your <a href="http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert#">computer</a>. It will list this Trojan as <strong>Unknown Win32/Trojan</strong>and state that it is a severe infection. It will then prompt you to clean your computer using the program in order to remove it. When you click on the <strong>Clean Computer</strong> or <strong>Apply actions</strong> button, it will state that it was unable to remove it and then prompt you to scan online. If you click on the <strong>Scan Online</strong> button it will list 35 different anti-virus programs, 30 of which are legitimate anti-virus programs and 5 that are rogues that the Trojan is distributing. These five rogue programs are:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Red Cross Antivirus</strong></li> <li><strong>Peak Protection 2010</strong></li> <li><strong>Pest Detector 4.1</strong></li> <li><strong>Major Defense Kit</strong></li> <li><strong>ThinkPoint</strong></li> <li><strong>AntiSpySafeguard</strong> or <strong>AntiSpy Safeguard</strong></li> </ul> <p>During this fake online scan only the 5 fake anti-virus programs listed above will state that this supposed Trojan is an infection. It does this to scare you into clicking the <strong>Free Install</strong> button next to them that will install the rogue program onto your computer and then reboot your computer. It should be noted that Red Cross Antivirus, Peak Protection 2010, Pest Detector 4.1, Major Defense Kit, AntiSpySafeguard, ThinkPoint, and AntiSpy Safeguard that this Trojan is distributing are exactly the same. They just have different names and different graphical user interfaces. You can see images of each of the above rogues below.</p> <p><a href="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/f/fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert/security-essentials-alert.jpg"><img alt="Fake Microsoft Security Essentials Alert" src="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/f/fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert/security-essentials-alert.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/f/fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert/unable-to-remove-threat.jpg"></a><a href="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/f/fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert/major-defense-kit.jpg"></a><a href="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/f/fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert/peak-protection-2010.jpg"></a><a href="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/f/fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert/pest-detector-4.1.jpg"></a><a href="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/f/fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert/red-cross-antivirus.jpg"></a><a href="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/f/fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert/antispysafeguard.jpg"></a><a href="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/f/fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert/fake-infection-alert.jpg"></a><a href="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/f/fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert/fake-security-alert.jpg"></a><a href="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/f/fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert/fake-virus-scan.jpg"></a><a href="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/f/fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert/outdated-databases.jpg"></a> <br /><b>Fake Microsoft Security Essentials Alert <br />For more screen shots of this infection click on the image above. <br />There are a total of 11 images you can view.</b></p> <p>After your computer is rebooted, the rogue that was selected will automatically start and perform a fake scan on your computer. When it has finished it will state that it was able to clean numerous files, but was not able to clean some files, such as iexplore.exe, until the program is purchased. While running, this program will also terminate many programs when you attempt to run them and display a message stating that they are infected.</p> <p>--------------</p> <p>Remember, if this all seems to much, Simply Seniors Computer Tutor can help! Simply Seniors Computer Tutor is the premier technical assistant for seniors! Not only do they offer classes at various locations throughout Brevard, they offer one on one in home services, virus clean up, repairs, pick up and delivery, new computer set up and specialty projects such as photo recoloring, digital photo archiving and much more. Simply Seniors Computer Tutors are Florida and Brevard County background checked, arrive in identifiable uniform, with company ID, additionally, UNLIKE the 'average guy' posting on CL, our company is licensed, insured and certified to work on your computer. KNOW YOUR COMPUTER TECHNICIAN do not allow just anyone into your very personal data and information or your home! Simply Seniors Computer Tutor understands seniors have unique learning abilities and we have spent the last 10 years researching the BEST methods for computer training and senior citizens. Stop struggling to use your PC or stop your parents constant phone calls asking "how do I..." Call Simply Seniors Computer Tutor today at 321-431-3866 <a href="http://www.computertutorhelp.us/">www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us</a></p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-72005187277160248112011-03-08T12:39:00.001-05:002011-03-08T12:39:23.619-05:00Best Free Microsoft Downloads<p> </p> <p>I often like to share information on the best free/shareware on the web.  Today’s information is going to focus on some great freeware from Microsoft!  Can you believe that they actually give away software?  </p> <p>This great information was located on this web site:  <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com">http://www.techsupportalert.com</a></p> <p>When people talk about freeware, a lot of times they think about free alternatives to Microsoft products – free office suites, free operating systems, even free alternatives to products that are already included with Windows like Paint, Notepad and Internet Explorer.  However, Microsoft does provide a collection of free software that is definitely worth checking out.  This article is designed to provide an overview of the best free Microsoft programs.</p> <p>Antivirus</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/"><strong>Microsoft Security Essentials</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows XP and up</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-security-essentials.jpg"><img alt="Microsoft Security Essentials" align="right" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-security-essentials.jpg" width="200" height="140" /></a>This may be the best free product ever from Microsoft.  MSE is a free anti-malware program with an interface ideal for average users, and effectiveness ideal for advanced users as well. Its interface is simple and unobtrusive, and when it detects threats, it displays messages that are meaningful and easy to understand. It is light on resources, receives regular updates, and has exceptional detection rates. You can perform scans on demand, but it also continuously guards your system with real-time protection. The recent release of version 2 adds more features, including a "Network Inspection System" and a heuristics engine for a more comprehensive set of protective measures. Another feature added in the new version is the ability to adjust the maximum CPU usage the scanner uses – this is particularly useful if the computer in question is underpowered and the scanner needs to use less resources. Overall, MSE is an excellent product that rivals even some commercial antivirus software.</p> </li> </ul> <p>****watch out for a VIRUS that is currently discising it’self to look like this sofwtare!****</p> <p>from <a href="http://www.bleepingcomputer.com">www.bleepingcomputer.com</a> </p> <p>Please follow our Removal Guide here <strong><a href="http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert">Remove the Fake Microsoft Security Essentials Alert Trojan </a></strong>. <br />You will move to the Automated Removal Instructions (see our next blog)</p> <p>MORE FREE MICOROSOFT SOFTWARE</p> <p>System Analysis</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=02be8aee-a3b6-4d94-b1c9-4b1989e0900c"><strong>Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows 2000 and up</p> <p>This tool analyzes a computer and provides a summary of how secure or insecure it is. Some of the things it checks for are security updates that have not yet been installed, settings that are not recommended (such as weak passwords, disabled firewall, etc), running services that may not be necessary, network shares, and more. This program can be a valuable tool for IT professionals, but it can also help average users who want to make sure their computers are as secure as possible.</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="ParentalControl"></a>Parental Control</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://explore.live.com/windows-live-family-safety"><strong>Windows Live Family Safety</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows Vista and up; <a href="http://explore.live.com/windows-live-family-safety-xp">Click here</a> for the XP version</p> <p>Family Safety is a parental control program for filtering web content. It can also restrict email contacts. It has an activity log that allows you to see who tries to access which sites, and activity across multiple PCs with Family Safety installed can be collected in the same log.</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="Internet"></a>Internet</p> <p><a name="Browser"></a>Browser</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://windows.microsoft.com/ie9"><strong>Internet Explorer 9</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows Vista and up</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-ie9.jpg"><img alt="Internet Explorer 9" align="right" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-ie9.jpg" width="200" height="155" /></a>Internet Explorer has long been troubled, unable to keep up with other browsers in several areas, particularly in speed, security, and support for newer web features. Internet Explorer 9 looks to change all that, boasting a wealth of improvements over IE8. It starts much faster, it loads web pages much faster, and it takes full advantage of hardware acceleration wherever possible. It includes a download manager (with pause/resume), and it has a startup manager for add-ons that lets you see which add-ons use the most resources and disable them if needed. The interface has been revamped and is simpler - the address bar now doubles as a search bar (like in Chrome), tabs are on the same row as the address bar by default (this can be changed), and the buttons have been shrunk and rearranged.  Also, its improved support for standards like CSS 3 and HTML 5 allow web designers to deliver a richer online experience to IE users. As for security, Microsoft has added protective measures against pop-ups, phishing sites, and suspicious downloads. A sandbox mode has also been added, which can help keep malware contained and prevent it from affecting your system. I can't say whether it will outdo Firefox or Chrome, but it definitely looks to redeem Internet Explorer as a viable browser.</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="Filehosting"></a>File Hosting Service</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://skydrive.live.com/"><strong>Windows Live SkyDrive</strong></a></p> <p>This one isn't really a download - SkyDrive is an online file hosting service provided to anyone with a Live account (registration is free). It offers an impressive 25GB of online storage for documents, pictures, website favorites, and other files, and you can share these with friends. It includes a search feature so you can find things quickly. Folders on SkyDrive can be added to the Live Mesh program for synchronization with folders on local machines. The one downside is a file size limit of 50MB, so if you're looking to store large files, you'll have to split them or use a different service. SkyDrive has also been merged with Office Web Apps, an online office suite that lets you create, upload and edit Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote documents. These web apps include common office features and work really well; just bear in mind that they are essentially stripped-down versions of the Office programs and don't have all the features. SkyDrive is a great service overall and is a reason by itself to create a Live account. (<a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/best-free-online-backup-sites.htm">Review</a>)</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="filesync"></a>File/Folder Synchronization</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh"><strong>Windows Live Mesh</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows Vista and up</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-mesh.jpg"><img alt="Windows Live Mesh" align="right" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-mesh.jpg" width="200" height="158" /></a>Mesh is a synchronization program that lets you synchronize files, folders, and settings for IE and Office between different machines over the Internet. You can also sync up to 5GB of files and folders onto your SkyDrive online storage. Additionally, if you log into your Live account, you can see a list of your computers that have Mesh installed, and you can remotely control any that are currently running Mesh (this feature must be manually enabled in Mesh, and Internet Explorer is required). In my experience, the remote control is not as fast or smooth as TeamViewer, but it does work well and is a nice feature to have bundled with the synchronization functionality.</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="Mail"></a>Mail</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mail"><strong>Windows Live Mail</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows Vista and up; <a href="http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mail-xp">Click here</a> for the XP version</p> <p>Mail is actually a decent program and is similar to Outlook. It supports multiple email accounts, RSS feeds and a calendar all combined in one attractive application.</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="messenger"></a>Instant Messenger</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://explore.live.com/windows-live-messenger"><strong>Windows Live Messenger</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows Vista and up; <a href="http://explore.live.com/windows-live-Messenger-XP">Click here</a> for the XP version</p> <p>Messenger has the standard features expected of an instant messenger client, but it also has integration support for social networks (Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn) and a photo viewer for shared albums on SkyDrive and Facebook. <a href="http://explore.live.com/windows-live-messenger-companion-overview-using">Messenger Companion</a> is an add-on that lets you share links to websites with friends, who in turn can share comments on these links.</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="blogtool"></a>Blogging Tools</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://explore.live.com/windows-live-writer"><strong>Windows Live Writer</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows Vista and up; <a href="http://explore.live.com/windows-live-writer-xp">Click here</a> for the XP version</p> <p>Writer provides an easy way to create and publish blog entries. It has the standard formatting features, and you can add links, pictures, videos, maps, and more. It integrates with many popular blog sites, including Blogger, WordPress, SharePoint, and several others.</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="SysTools"></a>System Tools</p> <p><a name="SysToolsSuite"></a>System Tools Suite</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb842062"><strong>Sysinternals Suite</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows XP and up for all tools except RAMMap (Vista and up); some tools won't run on 64-bit systems</p> <p>This suite contains a long list of a variety of system utilities and troubleshooting tools, from system monitors to disk tools to maintenance. Two of them, Autoruns and Process Explorer, are listed below.</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="startupmgr"></a>Startup Manager</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902"><strong>Autoruns</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows XP and up</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-autoruns.jpg"><img alt="Autoruns" align="right" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-autoruns.jpg" width="200" height="161" /></a>Arguably the best tool of its kind, Autoruns gives you complete control over the things that run when you start Windows, including items in the Startup folder and items listed in the Registry. It can be useful for optimizing the speed of your system by letting you disable unnecessary programs, and it can also help combat certain types of malware that run when Windows starts. This is a must-have for any computer repair kit. (<a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-startup-manager.htm">Review</a>)</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="Processview"></a>Process Viewer</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653"><strong>Process Explorer</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows XP and up, including IA64</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-process-explorer.jpg"><img alt="Process Explorer" align="right" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-process-explorer.jpg" width="200" height="163" /></a>An advanced process viewer. Process Explorer was once the best tool of its kind, but it is still useful for anyone who wants something better than Task Manager but doesn't need all the whistles and bells. It lists all running processes in a hierarchical format, you can restart, suspend or kill processes, you can kill process trees, and you can set process priorities. It also lets you view threads, strings, and other details about processes. It displays CPU and memory usage, and you can configure tray icons to show these as well. You can optionally configure it to replace Task Manager. (<a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-process-viewer.htm">Review</a>)</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="Autoplay"></a>Autoplay Utility</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=c680a7b6-e8fa-45c4-a171-1b389cfacdad"><strong>Autoplay Repair Wizard</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows XP/2003 only</p> <p>This utility is used to fix invalid or broken autoplay settings for CD, USB or other drives.</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="Tweak"></a>Tweaking</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx"><strong>Tweak UI</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows XP only</p> <p>One of the PowerToys for Windows XP, Tweak UI lets you change various settings to the appearance and behavior of the user interface. For most users, these settings would otherwise be unavailable for adjustment.</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="Multimedia"></a>Multimedia</p> <p><a name="Animation"></a>Animation</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://download.cnet.com/Microsoft-GIF-Animator/3000-18512_4-12053.html"><strong>Microsoft GIF Animator</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows 95 and up</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-gif-animator.jpg"><img alt="Microsoft GIF Animator" align="right" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-gif-animator.jpg" width="169" height="200" /></a>This program is no longer supported by Microsoft or even hosted on their site, but it serves its purpose well as a simple GIF animation creator. You can create new frames from the clipboard or from files, you can set the duration of individual frames, you can configure looping and transparency, and a few other features. It isn't very fancy, but it does about everything you need if you create your frames in a separate program like Paint or Photoshop. (<a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-gif-animator.htm">Review</a>)</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="ImageTools"></a>Image Tools</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/redmond/groups/ivm/ICE/"><strong>Microsoft Image Composite Editor (ICE)</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows XP and up</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-ice.jpg"><img alt="Microsoft Image Composite Editor" align="right" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-ice.jpg" width="200" height="126" /></a>This is a panorama stitcher – it takes a group of overlapping photos and uses them to form a panoramic image. When started writing this list, I had not previously used Microsoft ICE. I was eager to try it out since it has received so much praise. I took a few quick photos of my office with my cell phone and fed them to ICE, and I was amazed – they were stitched together nearly perfectly and the exposure was blended across the whole image.  ICE allows you to do some additional things, such as crop the panorama, change the panorama rotation, choose between planar, cylindrical or spherical projection, and save in several different formats, including JPEG, TIFF, BMP, PNG, HD Photo, and Silverlight Deep Zoom. You can also upload and share your panoramas on the <a href="http://photosynth.net/">Microsoft Photosynth</a>website, where others can view them interactively by rotating and zooming, even panoramas that are full 360 degrees (Microsoft SilverLight is required to use Photosynth). Needless to say, there are many awesome examples that show off the power of ICE on Photosynth, examples that weren't taken with cell phone cameras. (<a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-digital-image-stitcher.htm">Review</a>)</p> </li> <li> <p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx"><strong>Image Resizer</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows XP only</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-image-resizer.jpg"><img alt="Image Resizer" align="right" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-image-resizer.jpg" width="200" height="126" /></a>One of the PowerToys for Windows XP, Image Resizer lets you quickly resize one or multiple images to fit within a certain length and width. You right-click on the file(s) and select "Resize pictures" to bring up a simple interface, where you can select one of four pre-set sizes, or specify your own. You can also choose whether to save over the original files or create new files.</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="Photo-Org"></a>Photo Organizer</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://explore.live.com/windows-live-photo-gallery"><strong>Windows Live Photo Gallery</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows Vista and up; <a href="http://explore.live.com/windows-live-photo-gallery-xp">Click here</a> for the XP version</p> <p>Photo Gallery lets you organize, tag, upload, and edit your photos, among other features. The editing features are no replacement for programs like Photoshop, but they are handy for quick and easy alterations. (<a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-digital-photo-organizer.htm">Review</a>)</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="VideoEdit"></a>Video Editor</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://explore.live.com/windows-live-movie-maker"><strong>Windows Live Movie Maker</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows Vista and up (XP users can find "Windows Movie Maker" in their Programs menu, but the features are not all the same)</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-movie-maker.jpg"><img alt="Windows Live Movie Maker" align="right" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-movie-maker.jpg" width="200" height="147" /></a>Movie Maker doesn't boast a set of advanced features, but the features it includes are sufficient for many users and are ideal for putting together slide shows and short videos. Plus, you can use it to publish your videos on SkyDrive, Youtube, Facebook and Flickr.</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="Slideshow"></a>Slideshow Software</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=92755126-a008-49b3-b3f4-6f33852af9c1"><strong>Photo Story 3</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows XP and up</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Photo-Story.jpg"><img alt="Photo Story 3" align="right" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Photo-Story.jpg" width="200" height="147" /></a>A very easy yet powerful program for creating slideshows. The program walks you through each step, providing a variety of different feataures along the way. You can add effects of every sort, from photo effects to transition effects to panning and zooming effects. You can add text to each picture, narration, and background music. Overall I think this program is outstanding, and I wish I had started using it years ago. Just be aware of two things: the only video format it can save is wmv, and WGA validation is required if you download from Microsoft. (<a href="http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/Microsoft-Photo-Story-Download-24871.html">Alternate download location</a> | <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/content/best-free-photo-slideshow-software.htm">Review</a>)</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="Educational"></a>Educational</p> <p><a name="math"></a>Mathematics</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=9caca722-5235-401c-8d3f-9e242b794c3a"><strong>Microsoft Mathematics</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows XP and up; .NET Framework 3.5 SP1</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-mathematics.jpg"><img alt="Microsoft Mathematics" align="right" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-mathematics.jpg" width="200" height="155" /></a>This program is targeted primarily for the educational audience, but it can be useful for jobs that require math calculations. It packs in many features, including equation-solving, unit conversion, 2d and 3d graphing, algebra, trigonometry, and even calculus. It can display step-by-step instructions on how to solve a problem, which can be very helpful to students who are learning new math topics. You can also scribble things free-hand as input, and it does a fairly decent job at recognizing everything (although sometimes you may need to redraw some symbols). This program was originally not free, but Microsoft released the newest version as freeware on January 11, 2011. Microsoft also provides <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=ca620c50-1a56-49d2-90bd-b2e505b3bf09">Microsoft Mathematics Add-In for Word and OneNote</a>, which adds Microsoft Mathematics features to those programs.</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="EduProgramming"></a>Programming</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/beginner/ff384126.aspx"><strong>Small Basic</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows XP and up; .NET Framework 3.5</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-small-basic.jpg"><img alt="Small Basic" align="right" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-small-basic.jpg" width="253" height="198" /></a>Small Basic provides a programming environment suitable for beginner programmers. It uses a simplified version of the BASIC programming language. Even though it's found in the "Kid's Corner", it can be an excellent learning tool for both kids <i>and</i> adults who are just getting into programming. It includes a PDF tutorial to get you acquainted with the program and walk you through programming concepts.</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="Miscellaneous"></a>Miscellaneous</p> <p><a name="Virtualization"></a>Virtualization</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=28c97d22-6eb8-4a09-a7f7-f6c7a1f000b5"><strong>Microsoft Virtual PC 2007</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows XP and up</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-vpc.jpg"><img alt="Microsoft Virtual PC 2007" align="right" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/bfm-vpc.jpg" width="200" height="146" /></a>A virtual machine is a simulated environment in which an operating system can run without actually being installed on real hardware. It can have several uses – some use it to test software without altering their system; others use it to run an older operating system compatible with older software. Several free options exist for creating and running virtual machines, and one of them is Microsoft Virtual PC. Linux and other non-Microsoft operating systems are not officially supported (although it is possible to get them to work), but it runs versions of Windows just fine. When you create a virtual machine for a specific operating system, Virtual PC will recommend certain settings (hard drive size, memory), but you can adjust these as desired. Once your guest OS is installed, you can install a set of tools called Virtual Machine Additions that make the virtual machine run more smoothly. It also adds support for seamlessly moving the mouse from the host OS to the guest, drag-and-drop files from the host to the guest, and setting up shared folders. One feature that's especially useful for testing purposes is undo disks, which gives you the option to run a virtual machine without altering the virtual hard drive. Other virtual machine programs can run a wider range of operating systems, but if you're virtualizing a Microsoft OS, Virtual PC is a solid solution. It hasn't disappointed me in the 4+ years I've used it.</p> </li> <li> <p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/"><strong>Windows Virtual PC</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows 7 only</p> <p>Windows Virtual PC is the latest version of Virtual PC, exclusively for Windows 7. It only supports (officially) guest operating systems from XP SP3 and up. If you have Windows 7 Professional or higher, you can download and install XP Mode – this installs a pre-configured XP virtual machine and allows you to run applications in the virtual machine while making them appear to run on the host operating system.</p> </li> </ul> <p><a name="Development"></a>Software Development</p> <ul> <li> <p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/express/Windows/"><strong>Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express</strong></a></p> <p><strong>System Requirements:</strong> Windows XP SP3 and up</p> <p>This is a great free set of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_development_environment">integrated development environments</a>, essentially lightweight versions of the commercial Visual Studio programs. It consists of Visual Basic Express, Visual C# Express, Visual C++ Express, Visual Web Developer Express, and Windows Phone Developer Tools.  It also supports the newer .NET Framework 4. Registration is required within 30 days.</p> </li> </ul> <p>Again a very big thanks to <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/">http://www.techsupportalert.com</a> for all the hard work of finding this information.  </p> <p>-----------</p> <p>Simply Seniors Computer Tutor is the premier technical assistant for seniors! Not only do they offer classes at various locations throughout Brevard, they offer one on one in home services, repair, pick up and delivery, new computer set up and specialty projects such as photo recoloring, digital photo archiving and much more. Simply Seniors Computer Tutors are Florida and Brevard County background checked, arrive in identifiable uniform, with company ID, additionally, UNLIKE the 'average guy' posting on CL, our company is licensed, insured and certified to work on your computer. KNOW YOUR COMPUTER TECHNICIAN do not allow just anyone into your very personal data and information or your home! Simply Seniors Computer Tutor understands seniors have unique learning abilities and we have spent the last 10 years researching the BEST methods for computer training and senior citizens. Stop struggling to use your PC or stop your parents constant phone calls asking "how do I..." Call Simply Seniors Computer Tutor today at 321-431-3866 <a href="http://www.computertutorhelp.us/">www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us</a></p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-29949910323955757802011-03-07T12:58:00.000-05:002011-03-07T12:58:00.423-05:00WordPress hit by massive DDoS attack<h3> </h3> <p>I love blogging.  Wordpress is one of the world's largest blogging host and it has been attacked not once but twice this last week.  Read on to learn more.  Credit to <a href="http://www.h-online.com/">http://www.h-online.com</a></p> <p><img alt="alt" src="http://www.h-online.com/imgs/43/6/3/8/4/0/9/WordPress_200-8e4d7a9b904e9883.png" width="200" height="45" /></p> <p>On Thursday 3 March <a href="http://www.wordpress.com/">WordPress.com</a>, the world's largest blogging host, was subject to a massive Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, the largest that it has ever experienced. The first notification on the <a href="http://status.automattic.com/">status page</a> for Automatic Inc., the owner of wordpress.com, stated that "WordPress.com is currently being targeted by a extremely large Distributed Denial of Service attack which is affecting connectivity in some cases. The size of the attack is multiple Gigabits per second and tens of millions of packets per second." Just over two hours later, Automatic reported that "Our systems are back to normal. We'll continue to monitor them and post updates here if needed."</p> <p>Judging by various reports, there is as yet no indication of either the origin or reason for this attack. According to security company <a href="http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/03/wordpress-com-suffers-major-ddos-attack/">TechCrunch</a>, the founder of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg, has informed them that: "This is the largest and most sustained attack we've seen in our 6 year history. We suspect it may have been politically motivated against one of our non-English blogs, but we're still investigating and have no definitive evidence yet."</p> <p>DDoS attacks, such as those during <a href="http://www.h-online.com/news/item/Operation-Payback-protests-via-mouse-click-1150790.html">Operation Payback</a>, are usually mounted from botnets – a number of computers that have been infected by malware that, given certain instructions or at a preset time, flood the target site with excessive amounts of traffic.</p> <p>WordPress is open source software for the design of blogs and other web services. The manufacturer provides not only the software, but also the necessary space on a web server. About 18 million blogs run on the platform.</p> <p>This information came from <a href="http://www.h-online.com/">http://www.h-online.com</a> </p> <p></p> <p>-----------------------------</p> <p>Simply Seniors Computer Tutor is the premier technical assistant for seniors! Not only do they offer classes at various locations throughout Brevard, they offer one on one in home services, repair, pick up and delivery, new computer set up and specialty projects such as photo recoloring, digital photo archiving and much more. Simply Seniors Computer Tutors are Florida and Brevard County background checked, arrive in identifiable uniform, with company ID, additionally, UNLIKE the 'average guy' posting on CL, our company is licensed, insured and certified to work on your computer. KNOW YOUR COMPUTER TECHNICIAN do not allow just anyone into your very personal data and information or your home! Simply Seniors Computer Tutor understands seniors have unique learning abilities and we have spent the last 10 years researching the BEST methods for computer training and senior citizens. Stop struggling to use your PC or stop your parents constant phone calls asking "how do I..." Call Simply Seniors Computer Tutor today at 321-431-3866  <a href="http://www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us">www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us</a></p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-61136663549506808862011-03-07T10:54:00.000-05:002011-03-07T10:54:00.355-05:00A Virus for Macs?<p>A good friend of mine was showing off her very cool Mac products recently.  My daughter is obsessed with owning an iPod-touch.  Everyone wants an iPad…. WHY??? I don’t get it!!!  The entire line of ‘i’ equipment is WAY over priced and WAY overly complicated.  This is just my opinion.  Why would I pay hundreds of dollars just so I can use my finger to move things on the screen?  Doesn’t my daughters $20 MP3 player do all a 10 year old needs it to do?  Why do I want an iPad when I own a full laptop that has the ability to do everything vs the iPad that doesn’t have a keyboard, is a very tiny screen can’t play movies (ok I can but very small).  I do not get it – these people must just have extra money to burn and I really wish I could have it!  :-)  The big selling point is supposed to be that the Mac is untouchable, no viruses… maybe this isn’t so true.  Check out this info I read this morning.  </p> <p>This information was found on <a href="http://www.howtogeek.com">www.howtogeek.com</a> </p> <p><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20037158-17.html">Mac OS X Trojan catches Sophos' eye</a><em>A new Trojan has cropped up and it's targeting Mac OS X users, one security firm says. According to Sophos, the Trojan, called "BlackHole RAT" by its author and "MusMinim" by the security firm, is a variant of the Remote Access Trojan on Windows. The author of the Trojan says the malware is not yet completed, but it already does some annoying things.</em></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6svdWst3dN_zkPcvqrnvhLOQ4ZLZ8Thb7QZMcUmhdKjyZc4D4IiIyY3y-Vh0RCW_2EAZqbRWaM3UNeheskpc22lVYtMik0_ec29yHWcaK9zGgWWoTGlXIolAukoceYpyQqFYQzdeGBnc/s1600-h/image%5B3%5D.png"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdNh-tb2ZEHD6XvjzRnFXsoJHS3ywaGuAOZM3SRL4EjnQtITgf7Cy8QSFc8PlzOfTyFOVbWXU5amcgbfb_VWOx-6tjHr5vLCCBdoa9Wk6bTFQcVk20pjSKrQWQhuQPfchl3IvWiNHwKDg/?imgmax=800" width="395" height="253" /></a> </p> <p>Simply Seniors Computer Tutor is the premier technical assistant for seniors! Not only do they offer classes at various locations throughout Brevard, they offer one on one in home services, repair, pick up and delivery, new computer set up and specialty projects such as photo recoloring, digital photo archiving and much more. Simply Seniors Computer Tutors are Florida and Brevard County background checked, arrive in identifiable uniform, with company ID, additionally, UNLIKE the 'average guy' posting on CL, our company is licensed, insured and certified to work on your computer. KNOW YOUR COMPUTER TECHNICIAN do not allow just anyone into your very personal data and information or your home! Simply Seniors Computer Tutor understands seniors have unique learning abilities and we have spent the last 10 years researching the BEST methods for computer training and senior citizens. Stop struggling to use your PC or stop your parents constant phone calls asking "how do I..." Call Simply Seniors Computer Tutor today at 321-431-3866  <a href="http://www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us">www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us</a></p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-86861687294857109992011-03-04T08:30:00.000-05:002011-03-04T08:30:01.241-05:00Best Free Operating System For Kids<p>If you read the blog during Feb I was playing with Joli-cloud and new operating system that allows me to use my Facebook login and user information in order to maintain a whole “computer in the clouds”  - if the term ‘cloud computing’ is new to you I suggest you read a few of the older Simply Seniors Computer Tutor Blogs or just google the term.  </p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Keeping young children occupied these days is quite a challenge. Quite naturally they see computers as a source of entertainment and want to enjoy them along with the rest of us. Herein lies the next challenge in that some areas of the internet are not suitable at all for child viewing and can potentially present real life dangers.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Doudou%20Linux%20activity-menu.png"><img title="DoudouLinux Activity Menu" alt="DoudouLinux Activity Menu" align="left" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Doudou%20Linux%20activity-menu_1.png" /></a><a href="http://www.doudoulinux.org/web/english/"><strong>DoudouLinux</strong></a> aims to achieve an optimum balance by providing an environment aimed at kids 2-12 which is fun, educational and safe to use. This is good thinking because it removes the need to let your kids loose with your own operating system and also prevents the possibility of them bypassing whatever security software you have installed on it. Never underestimate the ability of little minds to work these things out. Instructions for bypassing <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-parental-Filter.htm">parental filters</a>can easily be found via Google or on social networking sites.</p> <p>The easiest way to run DoudouLinux is from a downloaded CD image. Once you've <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-cd-dvd-burning-software.htm">burned</a> the image to a disk, there is nothing to install, update or configure. Running it from a live CD also means you wont interfere with your normal Windows installation. To run Windows again just pull out the live CD and reboot.</p> <p>An alternative using a USB key is also provided but this is a lot more complicated and not supported by all systems. The download link and instructions for both options are <a href="http://www.doudoulinux.org/web/english/documentation-7/article/get-doudoulinux">here</a>.</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Doudou%20Linux%20Whole.png"><img title="DoudouLinux Whole" alt="DoudouLinux Whole" align="right" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Doudou%20Linux%20Whole_1.png" /></a>Although DoudouLinux is designed primarily to run as a live CD, if you like what you see and have a spare computer, it is possible to make a <a href="http://www.doudoulinux.org/web/english/documentation-7/advanced-tools/article/installing-doudoulinux">full install</a>.</p> <p>Access to the installed system on which the CD is running is not possible so your resident files and settings are in no danger of being lost, altered or infected.</p> <p>The system comes complete with a <a href="http://www.doudoulinux.org/web/english/documentation-7/applications-13/">range of programs</a> which are both fun and educational. Content filtering is included by default so you have no worries about your charges accessing inappropriate material when connected to the internet. Most of the programs don't even require a knowledge of files, folders or menus and can be operated without the ability to read.</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Doudou%20Linux%20Mini.png"><img title="DoudouLinux Mini" alt="DoudouLinux Mini" align="left" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Doudou%20Linux%20Mini_1.png" /></a>Some users may even find DoudouLinux suitable for older people with learning difficulties or other disabilities.</p> <p>There's no doubt that older kids will soon outgrow this and want the “real thing”, but for younger children, DoudouLinux is an ideal introduction to the world of com</p> <p> </p> <p>------------</p> <p>Keep watching for Simply Seniors Computer Tutors reviews on DoudouLinux in up coming blogs!</p> <p>Simply Seniors Computer Tutor is the premier technical assistant for seniors! Not only do they offer classes at various locations throughout Brevard, they offer one on one in home services, repair, pick up and delivery, new computer set up and specialty projects such as photo recoloring, digital photo archiving and much more. Simply Seniors Computer Tutors are Florida and Brevard County background checked, arrive in identifiable uniform, with company ID, additionally, UNLIKE the 'average guy' posting on CL, our company is licensed, insured and certified to work on your computer. KNOW YOUR COMPUTER TECHNICIAN do not allow just anyone into your very personal data and information or your home! Simply Seniors Computer Tutor understands seniors have unique learning abilities and we have spent the last 10 years researching the BEST methods for computer training and senior citizens. Stop struggling to use your PC or stop your parents constant phone calls asking "how do I..." Call Simply Seniors Computer Tutor today at 321-431-3866</p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-64882883648161214252011-03-03T20:00:00.001-05:002011-03-03T20:00:07.895-05:00How to Remove WinFixer / Virtumonde / Msevents / Trojan.vundo<p>This is an old one, it dates back to 2009 but for some reason it has been surfacing once again.  Here is a great resource on how to remove this Trojan if you have it on your computer.  You will probably find that the solution includes running Malware Bytes, (available for safe download through <a href="http://www.filehippo.com">www.filehippo.com</a>).  I hope you find this helpful.  The original information was posted at: <a href="http://www.bleepingcomputer.com">www.bleepingcomputer.com</a> – thank you to everyone at Bleeping computer, a great web site for technical help!</p> <p>What this programs does:</p> <p>The Vundo family of Trojans is one of the most common infections we find on user's computers. This infection can cause popups that include advertisements for rogue anti-spyware programs. Some common rogue antispyware programs that are advertised include WinFixer, SysProtect and WinAntiSpyware. Users are normally targeted by false positives, fake alerts, and warning of infections on their computer. An example of this type of misleading advertisement would be popups alerting users that they are infected with a blackworm virus. The most common method of infection is through outdated versions of the Sun Java platform; older versions are being exploited so it is important to firstly make sure that your Java software is fully up to date. This infection is normally detectable by users receiving popups when they use the Internet. Your antivirus program might also notify you via an alert that you have a Vundo Trojan on your computer. </p> <p>The Vundo infection has evolved over time to include harder and harder protection methods so that it cannot be easily removed. These methods are random names, random autorun locations, random CLSIDs, and rootkits to hide these locations from removal tools. Due to this, specialized tools have been created in order to target this specific infection and remove it. The following guide will explain how to use the tool, and hopefully rid your system of this malware. </p> <p>Threat Classification:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/trojan-horses">Trojan Horses</a></li> </ul> <p>Tools Needed for this fix:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/malwarebytes/mbam-setup.exe">Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.atribune.org/ccount/click.php?id=4">VundoFix</a></li> </ul> <p>Symptoms that may be in a HijackThis Log:</p> <p><b>The file names in these entries are random:</b> <br />O2 - BHO: (no name) - {904e23fc-67aa-4ac1-89e6-dd4eed16b596} - C:\WINDOWS\system32\zibuzuhu.dll <br />O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [nohawevufi] Rundll32.exe "C:\WINDOWS\system32\vosevodi.dll",s <br />O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [7cc01263] rundll32.exe "C:\WINDOWS\system32\ropoligi.dll",b <br />O4 - HKLM\..\Run: [CPM7ff321ff] Rundll32.exe "c:\windows\system32\kamideva.dll",a <br />O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-19\..\Run: [nohawevufi] Rundll32.exe "C:\WINDOWS\system32\vosevodi.dll",s (User 'LOCAL SERVICE') <br />O4 - HKUS\S-1-5-20\..\Run: [nohawevufi] Rundll32.exe "C:\WINDOWS\system32\vosevodi.dll",s (User 'NETWORK SERVICE') <br />O20 - AppInit_DLLs: C:\WINDOWS\system32\mufezuwi.dll c:\windows\system32\kamideva.dll <br />O21 - SSODL: SSODL - {EC43E3FD-5C60-46a6-97D7-E0B85DBDD6C4} - c:\windows\system32\kamideva.dll <br />O22 - SharedTaskScheduler: STS - {EC43E3FD-5C60-46a6-97D7-E0B85DBDD6C4} - c:\windows\system32\kamideva.dll</p> <p>Guide Updates:</p> <p><em>01/09/07 - Updated guide to reflect updates to the tools 11/03/09 - Updated for new removal technique.</em></p> <hr align="center" size="2" width="100%" /> <p>Choose the removal method you would like to use:</p> <ul> <li><a href="#first">Automated Removal using Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware</a></li> <li><a href="#second">Automated Removal Instructions for the Vundo or Virtumonde infection using VundoFix</a></li> </ul> <hr align="center" size="2" width="100%" /> <p><a name="first"></a>Automated Removal Instructions for Trojan.vundo and Virtumonde using Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware:</p> <ol> <li>Print out these instructions as we may need to close every window that is open later in the fix. </li> <li>Before we can do anything we must first end the processes that belong to Trojan.vundo and Virtumonde so that it does not interfere with the cleaning procedure. To do this, download the following file to your desktop. <br /><a href="http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/grinler/rkill.com">rkill.com Download Link</a></li> <li>Once it is downloaded, double-click on the <strong>rkill.com</strong> in order to automatically attempt to stop any processes associated with Trojan.vundo and Virtumonde and other Rogue programs. Please be patient while the programs looks for various programs and closes them. When it has finished, the black window will automatically close. If your desktop was hidden, you should also now be able to view it again. <strong>Do not reboot your computer at this point, or the programs will start again. </strong></li> <li>Now you should download Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, or MBAM, from the following location and save it to your desktop: <br /><a href="http://download.bleepingcomputer.com/malwarebytes/mbam-setup.exe">Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware Download Link</a></li> </ol> <ol start="start"> <li>Once downloaded, close all programs and Windows on your computer, including this one.</li> <li>Double-click on the icon on your desktop named <strong>mbam-setup.exe</strong>. This will start the installation of MBAM onto your computer.</li> <li>When the installation begins, keep following the prompts in order to continue with the installation process. Do not make any changes to default settings and when the program has finished installing and is at the last screen, make sure you uncheck both of the <strong>Update Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware</strong> and <strong>Launch Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware</strong> check boxes. Then click on the <strong>Finish</strong> button. If Malwarebytes' prompts you to reboot, <strong>please do not do so</strong>. <br />If you receive a code 2 error while installing Malwarebytes's, please press the <strong>OK</strong> button to close these errors as we will resolve them in future steps. The code 2 error will look similar to the image below.</li> </ol> <p><img border="0" alt="Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Screen" src="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/mbam/code-2-error.jpg" /></p> <ol start="start"> <li>As this infection deletes a core executable of Malwarebytes' we will need to download a new copy of it and put it in the <strong>C:\program files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\ </strong>folder. To download the file please click on the following link:</li> </ol> <p><a href="http://mbam.malwarebytes.org/program/random.php">Malwarebytes' EXE Download</a></p> <p>When your browser prompts you where to save it to, please save it to the <strong>C:\program files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\ </strong>folder. When downloading the file, it will have a random filename. Please leave the filename the way it is as it is important that it is not changed. You may want to write down the name of the file as you will need to know the name in the next step.</p> <ol start="start"> <li>Once the file has been downloaded, open the <strong>C:\program files\Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware\ </strong>folder and double-click on the file you downloaded in step 8. MBAM will now start and you will be at the main program screen as shown below.</li> </ol> <p><img border="0" alt="Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Screen" src="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/mbam/mbam.jpg" /></p> <ol start="start"> <li>Before you can perform a scan, you must first update the program. To do this click on the<strong> Update</strong> tab, and that at the new screen click on the <strong>Check for Updates</strong> button. Malwarebytes' will now check for new updates and download and install them as necessary. When the update is completed, you will be prompted with a message stating either that you already have the latest updates or that they have been updated. Either way, you should now click on the <strong>OK</strong> button to continue.</li> <li>Now click on the <strong>Scanner</strong> tab and make sure the the <strong>Perform full scan</strong> option is selected. Then click on the <strong>Scan</strong> button to start scanning your computer for <strong>Trojan.vundo and Virtumonde </strong>related files.</li> <li>MBAM will now start scanning your computer for malware. This process can take quite a while, so we suggest you go and do something else and periodically check on the status of the scan. When MBAM is scanning it will look like the image below.</li> </ol> <p><img border="0" alt="Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Scanning Screen" src="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/mbam/scanning.jpg" /></p> <ol start="start"> <li>When the scan is finished a message box will appear as shown in the image below. </li> </ol> <p><img border="0" alt="Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Scan Finished Screen" src="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/mbam/scan-finished.jpg" /></p> <p>You should click on the OK button to close the message box and continue with the <strong>Trojan.vundo and Virtumonde </strong>removal process.</p> <ol start="start"> <li>You will now be back at the main Scanner screen. At this point you should click on the <strong>Show Results</strong> button.</li> <li>A screen displaying all the malware that the program found will be shown as seen in the image below. Please note that the infections found may be different than what is shown in the image.</li> </ol> <p><img border="0" alt="Malwarebytes Scan Results" src="http://img.bleepingcomputer.com/swr-guides/v/vundo/mbam-vundo.jpg" /></p> <p>You should now click on the <strong>Remove Selected</strong> button to remove all the listed malware. MBAM will now delete all of the files and registry keys and add them to the programs quarantine. When removing the files, MBAM may require a reboot in order to remove some of them. If it displays a message stating that it needs to reboot, please allow it to do so. Once your computer has rebooted, and you are logged in, please continue with the rest of the steps.</p> <ol start="start"> <li>When MBAM has finished removing the malware, it will open the scan log and display it in Notepad. Review the log as desired, and then close the Notepad window.</li> <li>You can now exit the MBAM program.</li> </ol> <p>Your computer should now be free of the <strong>Trojan.vundo and Virtumonde</strong> program. If your current anti-virus solution let this infection through, you may want to consider <a href="https://www.cleverbridge.com/342/?affiliate=1878&cart=29945&scope=checkout&x-at=vundo">purchasing the PRO version of Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware</a> to protect against these types of threats in the future.</p> <p>If you are still having problems with your computer after completing these instructions, then please follow the steps outlined in the topic linked below:</p> <p><a href="http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/topic34773.html">Preparation Guide For Use Before Posting A Hijackthis Log</a></p> <hr align="center" size="2" width="100%" /> <p><a name="second"></a>Automated Removal Instructions for the Vundo or Virtumonde infection using VundoFix:</p> <ol> <li>Please print these instructions as they will be needed later when Internet access is not available.</li> <li>Save these instructions in word or notepad to the desktop where they can be easily found.</li> <li>Download <a href="http://www.atribune.org/ccount/click.php?id=4"><b>Vundo Fix</b></a> and save it to your desktop.</li> <li>When it has completed downloading, double-click<i> </i><strong>VundoFix.exe</strong><i> </i>to run it.</li> <li>Click the<strong> Scan for Vundo</strong> button.</li> <li>Once it's done scanning, click the <b>Remove Vundo </b>button.</li> <li>You will now receive a prompt asking if you want to remove the files, click the <b>YES</b> button. Once you click yes, your desktop will go blank as it starts removing Vundo.</li> <li>When completed, it will prompt that it will shutdown your computer, click the <b>OK</b> button.</li> <li>When the computer has shutdown, turn your computer back on.</li> </ol> <p>The WinFixer and Vundo infection should now be removed from your computer. </p> <p><strong>If you are still having a problem then please perform the following steps:</strong></p> <p><i>Note: This step should only be used if the instructions in the previous steps did not remove the infection</i>: </p> <ol> <li>Download <a href="http://secured2k.home.comcast.net/tools/VirtumundoBeGone.exe"><b>VirtumundoBegone</b></a> and save it to your desktop. </li> <li>Now reboot into <a href="http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/tutorials/tutorial61.html">Safe Mode</a>. <ol> <li>This can be done tapping the F8 key as soon as you start your computer </li> <li>You will be brought to a menu where you can choose to boot into safe mode. </li> <li>Select safe mode with networking using your arrow keys on the keyboard and then press enter.</li> <li>When you computer reaches the desktop make sure you log in as the same user which you had performed the previous steps,</li> </ol> </li> <li>Once you are logged into safe mode, double-click <strong>VirtumundoBeGone.exe</strong> file you just downloaded and follow the instructions.</li> <li>Exit when it has finished, and reboot back to normal mode.</li> </ol> The WinFixer and Vundo infection should now be removed from your computer. <p>--------------------------------</p> <p>Simply Seniors Computer Tutor is the premier technical assistant for seniors! Not only do they offer classes at various locations throughout Brevard, they offer one on one in home services, repair, pick up and delivery, new computer set up and specialty projects such as photo recoloring, digital photo archiving and much more. Simply Seniors Computer Tutors are Florida and Brevard County background checked, arrive in identifiable uniform, with company ID, additionally, UNLIKE the 'average guy' posting on CL, our company is licensed, insured and certified to work on your computer. KNOW YOUR COMPUTER TECHNICIAN do not allow just anyone into your very personal data and information or your home! Simply Seniors Computer Tutor understands seniors have unique learning abilities and we have spent the last 10 years researching the BEST methods for computer training and senior citizens. Stop struggling to use your PC or stop your parents constant phone calls asking "how do I..." Call Simply Seniors Computer Tutor today at 321-431-3866</p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-71994415288659214482011-03-03T16:39:00.001-05:002011-03-03T16:39:38.476-05:00FREE Internet! Yes, it’s possible!<p>I just received a phone call from someone that helps seniors.  She told me that her clients were looking for a free internet service provider (ISP).  I did a little research and I found a web site that give information on free isp’s according to your location.  </p> <p>One thing you will need to remember (ok maybe two) 1st, don’t expect to be moving on the internet at lightening speeds! 2nd, if your computer is a newer desktop purchased in the last couple of years, more than likely you do not have an internal telephone modem. It’s no big deal, but this is a ‘card’ that will need to be installed into the computer before you can use a dial up service.  Additionally, you will have to have a phone line in the house as well, there are no free broad band ISPs at this time.  IF you see information stating other wise can you please pass it along.</p> <p>Here is the link, I hope you find this helpful!</p> <p><a href="http://www.all-free-isp.com/">http://www.all-free-isp.com/</a></p> <p>This is what is available in the Melbourne, FL area – the web site’s most recent date was 2009:</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyW_B2zQ7VnhF0Uk3_b2hIEWyM9zIlVyEMo0DSV1VnQ_WMEeDZ9OdWOvhZSqWNFUyWsGN9lMGa2Ch96SwiNMmQkjXuRBRF0SVPIYZOYvnhyjRuKFigHpN81pWM2OED7HS1QZKY71Ou_jY/s1600-h/image%5B3%5D.png"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMc8ksZFr6GFdsQVJYE0vgpM8ohXZKK1HgzNVnOfpO3yXAU_YamHIiSp5iNDuJWPbTAwWQodXXy49t96VQr1cqmnKESdfm8m8zzOMa7I5qCV99Sr4pyh93iZ7DEjYyCyk-wjo6N1ZzgmA/?imgmax=800" width="368" height="80" /></a> </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkQ4qPLGJk59FLBZOCkCk2p6QF3Mwr1WjHFhj863hrkflkNTRMWEx0e7N73goQRzESY3XWznkZQqh_Lgy-ZVENdDV9zp7pfhHXvdOUsLpf3LVWE02ouSYkyMzp0UnHyh9lZnoUhsp_5CY/s1600-h/image%5B7%5D.png"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1wkUKM1GL7jjrBTk09_B0nux4OFRVt2km5CpfDua6HY5zYDrFFtssMMfrMvbJBvswyb_W7Hfm7-822R3msMxsaMEcOYPJVhCzoOFdBdZJ01pfbg4QIfZr1l0Qzj1ejK17EEL5KFuKln4/?imgmax=800" width="382" height="102" /></a> </p> <p>These services work on all Windows based machines.</p> <p>Simply Seniors Computer Tutor is the premier technical assistant for seniors! Not only do they offer classes at various locations throughout Brevard, they offer one on one in home services, repair, pick up and delivery, new computer set up and specialty projects such as photo recoloring, digital photo archiving and much more. Simply Seniors Computer Tutors are Florida and Brevard County background checked, arrive in identifiable uniform, with company ID, additionally, UNLIKE the 'average guy' posting on CL, our company is licensed, insured and certified to work on your computer. KNOW YOUR COMPUTER TECHNICIAN do not allow just anyone into your very personal data and information or your home! Simply Seniors Computer Tutor understands seniors have unique learning abilities and we have spent the last 10 years researching the BEST methods for computer training and senior citizens. Stop struggling to use your PC or stop your parents constant phone calls asking "how do I..." Call Simply Seniors Computer Tutor today at 321-431-3866</p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-18275541199326572011-03-02T17:44:00.001-05:002011-03-02T17:44:21.034-05:00Government Financed Cell Phones for Seniors!<p>I was watching what i like to call Junk Food TV this afternoon – imagine!  I saw an ad for safelink, a government funded FREE cell phone for seniors.  This reminded me that my own mother has this cell phone and I think that more seniors need to know about this service.  </p> <p>Here is the official web site:</p> <p><a href="https://www.safelinkwireless.com/EnrollmentPublic/home.aspx">https://www.safelinkwireless.com/EnrollmentPublic/home.aspx</a></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7HsIiIFGLw6dcY7_ag3_LHRTWCToAzXA_-yrUNa1xVIMTqamTxLLAuxohQ1floAhothLR-ZplKKWGcr_H0OELn2EY6ERq9BtjF81FJJnj70P_7OknNk6BFJuUCtCfouxP3ihyrXpfKMg/s1600-h/image%5B2%5D.png"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzw97tRXG8jAPnJhznveRqF70-wf1lD9SAgDnPOZq1bsHL6gyP1gt7qGGO3XI5Y_PtvQgZnr70y3P3mOIxfXmWAdSktuaGQnFDAkHaCjIAXXs01pwdb07HmJuNKpRmuhuVAe7JLWdquk8/?imgmax=800" width="244" height="214" /></a>  These are quality cell phones just like the ones you can walk into Walmart (for example) and purchase right now.  </p> <p>This is great information – so i am going to post below the ABOUT US section from the safelink.com website:</p> <p>------------------</p> <h4>LIFELINE/SAFELINK FACT SHEET</h4> <p><b>There is no "Obama phone" or other newly created federal program to provide free cell phones.</b> As you may know, this is a myth that is now circulating on the Web via email and blog sites. It has been thoroughly debunked by independent groups. (See for example: FactCheck.org at <a href="http://www.factcheck.org/2009/10/the-obama-phone/">http://www.factcheck.org/2009/10/the-obama-phone/</a>, which notes: <i>"Low-income households have been eligible for discounted telephone service for more than a decade. But the program is funded by telecom companies, not by taxes, and the president has nothing to do with it."</i> <br /><b>The federal "Lifeline" program was created during the Reagan Administration.</b> Lifeline is a federal program created by the Reagan era Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1984. The program was enhanced under Telecommunications Act of 1996, which was supported on a broadly bipartisan basis in Congress. The FCC’s Low Income Program of the Universal Service Fund, which is administered by the Universal Service Administrative Company (USAC), is designed to ensure that quality telecommunications services are available to low-income customers at just, reasonable, and affordable rates. Lifeline support reduces eligible low-income consumers' monthly charges for basic telephone service. <br /><b>Thanks to SafeLink, Lifeline support is now available for wireless phones.</b> Traditionally, the Lifeline program was only available as a discount on a consumer’s landline telephone bill. SafeLink Wireless was created by TracFone Wireless, Inc. when the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently approved the company to offer Lifeline -- a public assistance program that ensures telephone service is available and affordable for low-income subscribers. SafeLink Wireless applies the Universal Service Fund subsidy to an allotment of free airtime minutes and TracFone provides the wireless handset at the company’s expense. Instead of receiving a subsidized monthly telephone bill for Lifeline service, SafeLink converts the total amount of discounted service into minutes each month for one year. The cell phone offers in-demand features: voicemail, text, three-way calling, call waiting, caller ID and access to 911. <br /><b>SafeLink phones are <u>not</u> paid for by taxpayers or the federal government.</b> TracFone Wireless pays for the phones and also the cost of promoting its SafeLink program to make sure that eligible consumers know about the program. <br /><b>SafeLink Wireless is making the vision of universal access to telecommunications services for all Americans a reality.</b> As of October 2009, SafeLink has over 2 million customers and is available in 33 states - Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, DC, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Today, there are over 1,700 companies in the United States currently providing discounted telephone service. But, thanks to its extensive outreach promoting SafeLink, TracFone Wireless is one of the largest providers of Lifeline services in the United States, second only to AT&T.</p> <p> <br /><b>Only certain Americans are eligible for SafeLink.</b> Eligibility guidelines vary by state but in general individuals qualify if they participate in a public assistance program such as Food Stamps, Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), National Free School Lunch, Federal Housing/Section 8 Assistance, or if they do not receive any of these public assistance programs, they may also qualify based on total household gross monthly income. Customers can learn more or apply by calling 1-800-SAFELINK or visiting <a href="http://www.safelink.com/">www.SafeLink.com</a></p> <p>Your exact benefits, including the number of free Minutes you will receive, depend on the state you live in.</p> <p>--------------</p> <p>I hope that you find this information helpful!  Remember, Simply Seniors Computer Tutors are here to help you or your senior loved ones.  </p> <p>Simply Seniors Computer Tutor is the premier technical assistant for seniors! Not only do they offer classes at various locations throughout Brevard, they offer one on one in home services, repair, pick up and delivery, new computer set up and specialty projects such as photo recoloring, digital photo archiving and much more. Simply Seniors Computer Tutors are Florida and Brevard County background checked, arrive in identifiable uniform, with company ID, additionally, UNLIKE the 'average guy' posting on CL, our company is licensed, insured and certified to work on your computer. KNOW YOUR COMPUTER TECHNICIAN do not allow just anyone into your very personal data and information or your home! Simply Seniors Computer Tutor understands seniors have unique learning abilities and we have spent the last 10 years researching the BEST methods for computer training and senior citizens. Stop struggling to use your PC or stop your parents constant phone calls asking "how do I..." Call Simply Seniors Computer Tutor today at 321-431-3866</p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-32280174066882878532011-03-02T13:47:00.001-05:002011-03-02T13:47:12.110-05:00Best Free Genealogy / Family Tree Software<p>I located this great information on <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/">http://www.techsupportalert.com</a> My clients are always asking questions on the best software for this application and they often ask my opinion on Free software – so this will cover both :-)</p> <p>Later I will download, install and verify this software for you. </p> <p>Here is the bulk of the article:</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-genealogy-family-tree-software.htm#legacy-standard"><strong>Legacy Standard</strong></a> is my top pick for the best free Genealogical software.  The program is fairly easy to use, flexible, and has plenty of capabilities.  The free version supports family, pedigree, and index views.  You can easily navigate to younger, or older generations simply by clicking on the individuals. Clicking on Events icon displays all of the events for an individual.</p> <p>You can attach photos or any other type of document.  I love the well structured source formats.  The location field is unstructured but the Master Location List can help keep the locations consistent.  Strong report generator supports eight general report types. Legacy can print narrative book style reports using generic sentence templates.  Creates stunning graphical charts, ancestor, descendant, fan, hourglass, bow tie, and DNA charts.  Imports  from GEDCOM or PAF files.  Exports to GEDCOM, PAF, or Clooz. The program provides Research Guidance with tips, Internet Search links, and a To Do List. </p> <p>Legacy creates the best looking web pages and has the most features for web site creation of these programs. Supports photos and CSS.</p> <p>Legacy places data files in the C:\Legacy\Data directory instead of the normal %UserProfile% directory unless the default directory is changed in the options.  If the user has backup software they should take care that the backups include the nonstandard location.</p> <p>Also many menu items when selected display a message that the feature is available only in the Deluxe Edition.  Greying out the unavailable options would have been less obtrusive and nagging.</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/gramps.png"><img title="Gramps" alt="Gramps" align="left" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/gramps-thumb.png" /></a><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-genealogy-family-tree-software.htm#gramps"><strong>Gramps</strong></a> is a strong contender for the top slot.  I liked that I could easily navigate or filter by people or name list, family, relationship, ancestry, events, places, sources, repositories, media, and notes. </p> <p>I felt the place entry especially outstanding.  Places have distinct fields for street, city, latitude, church parish, etc.  Alternate locations can be entered for each place, e.g. one could enter West Virginia as an alternate for some Virginia locations prior to the Civil War.  Sources, notes, multimedia, and internet links can be linked to each place.  Also all events linked to the place are displayed and can be navigated to.</p> <p>I loved the date support.  Dates can be based on several different calendars, e.g. Gregorian, Islamic, etc.  The date can have a quality of regular, estimated, or calculated.  And finally the type can include before, after, range, span, etc.  Events support roles, e.g. bride for a marriage event. </p> <p>Gramps can create narrative style web sites.  You can select a standard copy right or from any of the Creative Commons copyrights.  Not only can living people be excluded, entirely or name only but also a date range to restrict recently deceased people can be selected, e.g. people who died within the last five years could be treated as if they were still living.</p> <p>Sources can be attached to people, families, events, and multimedia.  I would have preferred source templates based on Mills' or Lackey's books.</p> <p>Gramps directly supports patronymic style names, e.g. ap Robert, verch Evan, etc.  However, matronyms are not supported so for example ‘Īsá ibn Maryam would need to be entered as a patronymic.</p> <p>The installation can be intimidating.  There are several required programs which must be installed in a specific order.  I recommend using the all in one installation or the portable version on the Portable Apps website.</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Family-Tree-Legends.png"><img title="Family Tree Legends" alt="Family Tree Legends" align="left" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Family-Tree-Legends-Thumb.png" /></a><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-genealogy-family-tree-software.htm#family-tree-legends"><strong>Family Tree Legends</strong></a> is fairly easy to use, flexible, and has many capabilities.  Clicking on Events icon displays all of the events for an individual.  You can add alternate names, birth, marriage, death, and burial events along with the many other events of the individuals life.</p> <p>You can attach photos or any other type of document.  Strong report generator supports ancestor, pedigree, descendant, descendant summary, time line, family group sheet, kinship, and other reports. Creates ancestor and descendant charts in fan, standard, and vertical formats as well as hourglass and bow tie charts.  Legends can print collections of reports with table of contents, an index, and other pages.  Imports date from Family Tree Maker and GEDCOM files.  The program supports a To Do List and a correspondence list.</p> <p>I like having the ability to merge duplicate sources and repositories.</p> <p>There is only one source format.  No location list to help with consistency in place entry but you do have a replace function to help clean up variations on a place name.</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Rootsmagic-Essentials.png"><img title="RootsMagic Essentials" alt="RootsMagic Essentials" align="left" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Rootsmagic-Essentials-Thumb.png" /></a><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-genealogy-family-tree-software.htm#rootsmagic-essentials"><strong>RootsMagic Essentials</strong></a> has a variety of source templates based on Elizabeth Shown Mills <u>Evidence</u>.  Rootsmagic supports narrative reports.  I was able to open multiple databases or the same database multiple times and display them side by side.</p> <p>Supports multiple parent relationships, e.g. adoptive.  However, all parent relationships assume that the parents are married.  Happily I was able to enter a gender neutral relationship for the parents of a child.  However, one of the women was denoted the father and the other as the mother.  I'd prefer to be able to list both as parent, both as mother, or the actual mother as mother and the other as parent.</p> <p>Create a web site is disabled in the free version.  Saving reports to other file formats is disabled in the free version--viewing and printing is allowed.  There is no option to hide living people or events for living folks in reports.</p> <p>RootsMagic displays a nagging splash screen at every start up requiring the user to chose between the free and the Full version.  This is immediately followed with a RootsMagic News screen.  Many menu choices are not functional in the free version but I do appreciate that they are highlighted in a reddish color.</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/scionpc.png"><img title="ScionPC" alt="ScionPC" align="left" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/scionpc-thumb.png" /></a>If you're interested in a portable application then <a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-genealogy-family-tree-software.htm#scionpc"><strong>ScionPC</strong></a> should be at the top of your list. </p> <p>I love the lack of gender constraints, e.g. I can add both of my grandchildren's same sex parents without resorting to tricks such as changing the gender of one of the parents.  Both members of marriages are referred to as partner's.  (There is a warning that the couple is the same sex.)  I wish other genealogy programs would adopt this standard.</p> <p>ScionPC has exceptional date format support, e.g. Circa, Before, After, Estimated, and Date Range modifiers as well as Georgian, Julian, Hebrew, French Revolutionary, Islamic, Persian, Indian National, Coptic, User Defined and Unknown calendars.  I like the pop up calendar for use when entering dates.</p> <p>The program creates a complete web site for upload.  Supports CSS. </p> <p>The program has no place list but it does provide a unique method for merging similar places.</p> <p>No method of excluding living individuals or their events in either reports or website.  Surnames default to all uppercase.  Only one source citation is permitted per event.</p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Personal-Ancestral-File.png"><img title="Personal Ancestral File" alt="Personal Ancestral File" align="left" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Personal-Ancestral-File-Thumb.png" /></a><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-genealogy-family-tree-software.htm#personal-ancestral-file"><strong>Personal Ancestral File</strong></a> (PAF) is the software supported by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It's a good basic genealogy program and easy to use.</p> <p>The reports are in Born, Married, Died, Buried order but the other events are not sorted by date.  No box style charts.</p> <p>Only one source citation is permitted per event. </p> <p>No bookmarks. </p> <p>PAF can generate html files for upload to your website. </p> <p><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Myheritage-Family-Tree-Builder.png"><img title="Myheritage Family Tree Builder" alt="Myheritage Family Tree Builder" align="left" src="http://www.techsupportalert.com/files/images/Myheritage-Family-Tree-Builder-Thumb.png" /></a><a href="http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-genealogy-family-tree-software.htm#myheritage-family-tree-builder"><strong>Myheritage Family Tree Builder</strong></a> has an nice hour glass view that can adjust from just one generation above and below the focus person to three generations.  This eliminates the need for seperate person, pedigree, and descendant views.  There is a handy list for navigation just to the left which can be expanded or retracted out of the way.</p> <p>MyHeritage automatically checks for possible duplicates when entering people.  This feature mitigates the absence of a merge duplicate people tool.</p> <p>A button appears next to the place entry field when clicked will offer suggestions from similar places already appearing in your database. </p> <p>Individual reports can be saved to HTML format.  MyHeritage supports a direct upload to the MyHeritage web site but no other independent web site creation.</p> <p>No place or individual reports. </p> <p>There is no context sensitive help available but the PDF format manual is very helpful.</p> <p>-------</p> <p>This post is TO BE CONTINUED…</p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-1700010032337783572011-03-02T13:33:00.001-05:002011-03-02T13:33:49.137-05:00Windows Efficiency Manager - NOT SAFE!!!<p>I was contacted by a client this morning that told me that they had a new software “<strong>Windows Efficiency Manager</strong>”  - well what a nice name, sounds useful doesn’t?  This is a rogue anti-spyware program that is part of the <a href="http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert">Fake Microsoft Security Essentials</a> infection. </p> <p>Yesterday, I was contacted by a client that had suddenly been knocked off the internet.  I had not seen the computer in some time so i checked to see if his AVG was up to date.  I found it shut off and in it’s place was the icon for <a href="http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert">Microsoft Security Essentials</a>, a real program that does work nicely, offered by Microsoft.  However, after a little research I have found that this client actually was infected!  Here is what I learned and how to resolve the problem yourself.    Don’t worry this stuff can be intimidating, just contact Simply Seniors Computer Tutors for help 321-431-3866.  </p> <p>What this infection does:</p> <p><strong>Windows Efficiency Manager</strong> is a fake rogue anti-spyware program that is part of the <a href="http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/remove-fake-microsoft-security-essentials-alert">Fake Microsoft Security Essentials</a> infection. When this infection is installed on your computer it will display a fake Microsoft Security Essentials alert that states that it has detected an <strong>Unknown Win32/Trojan</strong> on your computer. This alert will state:</p> <p><strong>Microsoft Security Essentials Alert</strong><b> <br /><strong>Potential Threat Details</strong></b> <br />Microsoft Security Essentials detected potential threats that might compromise your private or damage your computer. Your access to these items may be suspended until you take an action. Click 'show details' to learn more.</p> <p>It will then prompt you to scan your computer, which will start a fake scan of your computer that ultimately states that a particular file is infected with <strong>Trojan.Horse.Win32.PAV.64.a</strong>. It will then prompt you to install Windows Efficiency Manager to remove the virus. The text of this prompt is:</p> <p><strong>Threat prevention solution found</strong> <br />Security system analysis has revealed critical file system vulnerability caused by severe malware attacks. <br />Risk of system files infection: <br />The detected vulnerability may result in unauthorized access to private information and hard drive data with a serious possibility of irreversible data loss and unstable PC performance. To remove the malware please run a full system scan. Press 'OK' to install the software necessary to initiate system files check. To complete the installation process please reboot your computer.</p> <p>When you press OK, the infection will download and install Windows Efficiency Manager and reboot your computer.</p> <p>When your computer reboots you will be presented with the Windows Efficiency Manager screen before your normal Windows desktop is shown. It then prompts you to scan your computer, which will state that your computer is infected with numerous infections. In order to get to your normal Windows desktop, you will need to close the Windows Efficiency Manager program when it has finished its fake scan. As you can see this program is a scam as it is ransoming the proper operation of your computer until you purchase it. It goes without saying that you should not purchase this program for any reason.</p> <p>While the program is running it will also display fake security alerts that are further used to scare you into thinking that your computer has a serious problem. Some of these alerts include:</p> <p><strong>System Security Warning</strong><b> <br /></b>Attempt to modify register key entries is detected. Register entries analysis is recommended.</p> <p><strong>System component corrupted!</strong><b> <br /></b>System reboot error has occurred due to <strong>lsass.exe</strong> system process failure. <br />This may be caused by severe malware infections. <br />Automatic restore of lsass.exe backup copy completed. <br />The correct system performance can not be resumed without eliminating the cause of lsass.exe corruption.</p> <p><strong>Warning!</strong><b> <br /><strong>Name: </strong></b>firefox.exe <br /><strong>Name</strong>: c:\program files\firefox\firefox.exe <br />Application that seems to be a key-logger is detected. System information security is at risk. It is recommended to enable the security mode and run total System scanning.</p> <p>Just like the fake scan results, these alerts are also fake and are only being used to scare you into purchasing the program. Therefore, please ignore them.</p> <p>As you can see, Windows Efficiency Manager was created to scare you into thinking your computer has a severe security problem so that you will then purchase this program. For no reason should you purchase Windows Efficiency Manager, and if you already have, you should contact your credit card company and dispute the charges stating that the program is a computer infection. Finally, to remove this infection, and any related malware, please use the removal guide below.</p> <p>Threat Classification:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/virus-removal/rogue-programs">Information on Rogue Programs & Scareware</a></li> </ul> <p>Array </p> <p>Tools Needed for this fix:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/download/anti-virus/malwarebytes-anti-malware">Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware</a></li> </ul> <p>This informwas brought to you by <a href="http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/index.php?showuser=3">Grinler</a> on Wed, 02 Mar 2011</p> <p>Hope you find this helpful!</p> <p>Thanks for reading – Simply Seniors Computer Tutors are on the web at <a href="http://www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us">www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us</a>!!!</p> <p>Don’t forget our Friday Classes at the Wickham park Senior Center, Melbourne, FL</p> <p>registration is required: 321-431-3866</p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-3392438974343171252011-03-02T10:39:00.001-05:002011-03-02T10:39:07.186-05:00Simply Seniors Computer Tutor is the premier technical assistant for seniors!<p>Simply Seniors Computer Tutor will be offering a series of computer classes this March. All classes are $10 and this will include a printed book.  Classes are offered at the Wickham park Senior Center in Melbourne.  Class starts promptly at 10am until 11:30am.  Each Friday you will learn a different topic.  Pick and choose only the classes you need! </p> <p>Simply Seniors Computer Tutor is the premier technical assistant for seniors!  Not only do they offer classes at various locations throughout Brevard, they offer one on one in home services, repair, pick up and delivery, new computer set up and specialty projects such as photo recoloring, digital photo archiving and much more.  Simply Seniors Computer Tutors are Florida and Brevard County background checked, arrive in identifiable uniform, with company ID, additionally, UNLIKE the 'average guy' posting on CL, our company is licensed, insured and certified to work on your computer.  KNOW YOUR COMPUTER TECHNICIAN do not allow just anyone into your very personal data and information or your home!  Simply Seniors Computer Tutor understands seniors have unique learning abilities and we have spent the last 10 years researching the BEST methods for computer training and senior citizens.  Stop struggling to use your PC or stop your parents constant phone calls asking "how do I..."  Call Simply Seniors Computer Tutor today at 321-431-3866</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMObWLlcAcx9BtPpkEmPte_M7Ed0hh1sW0MCt0INiVK_Me9XpMo3KmXK90a4_IgkfdOpP7NHHE4TpJ6zuiLay4BrGXbMXwQetTz75Oq9yv5QMSFin7TVlnAHQcdOc_XHtTs5oHm2TC3bQ/s1600-h/wpsc%20march%202011%20schedule%20JPG%5B3%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="wpsc march 2011 schedule JPG" border="0" alt="wpsc march 2011 schedule JPG" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs9tPZIo7uerYQO0tAibqa30MxoWKO6Z-lhcDlh5RS_8hASj8-iEy2c7DSyiX0udFCgczS7TVcoKIxiCISRtVeqtOzGRhUnwLqbgbVyhCa7JOZ4EV2wSGVetf-O90mvvUEyhAXa1VOdw8/?imgmax=800" width="398" height="311" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><a href="http://www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us">www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us</a></p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-32760895675819619452011-03-01T20:15:00.001-05:002011-03-01T20:15:47.881-05:00Computer Tutor March Class Schedule<p>It’s March!  No way!  March 2011 is already here, are you ready to learn something new about your computer?  Ready to get mom & dad off your back?  Simply Seniors Computer Tutors offers in home computer services for senior citizens in Central Florida.  Tutorial, Technical and Terrific!  That’s how I’d describe Simply Seniors Computer Tutor!</p> <p><a href="http://www.ComputerTutorHelp.com">www.ComputerTutorHelp.com</a></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbj2Xp6TxGqNaP7sKcMM76Lmv4JRHZVdoJtl46gWPutOUlyCGoedIlruJNcD6kZzIrKk81fPe2-la0EBIFNbHK_4eqpKHcXdNu_uYbmiPeunMW6erNt59aMxliZLVVyzVu_tAH0B_kBp8/s1600-h/wpsc%20march%202011%20schedule%20JPG%5B4%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="wpsc march 2011 schedule JPG" border="0" alt="wpsc march 2011 schedule JPG" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir8YcHoXR3yvXqSqb5g9Kr9FRMys4LuY_388Cuw-XcNFe5QXVzs4OYyr-dHAApJf_BYjMcshkVHdeqEHVGC_Wy6m5L7x93CUfGe5RwstZWchvS32OfZYiG1zPDXJ06iciFCMkj9KKDBAU/?imgmax=800" width="347" height="273" /></a> </p> <p>Simply Seniors Computer Tutors – we make computers simple for seniors! 321-431-3866</p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-50649821819208121222011-02-15T12:14:00.001-05:002011-02-15T12:14:34.492-05:00Seniors Learn Differently<p>We at Simply Seniors Computer Tutor have spent the last ten years learning the BEST teaching methods for older computer users.  Learn more about our services at <a href="http://www.ComputerTutorHelp.us">www.ComputerTutorHelp.us</a></p> <p>This article is about how seniors learn differently from younger students.  The original content is located at <a href="http://www.associatedcontent.com">http://www.associatedcontent.com</a>.  It is very useful to anyone that may offer a service like <em>Simply Seniors Computer Tutor’s</em> or for anyone that wishes to be helpful to an senior new to computers.</p> <p><em>Simply Seniors Computer Tutor’s</em> looks forward to seeing you soon! </p> <p>--------------------</p> <p>For several years, I taught basic computer use, from introduction to computers to office skills. I learned a lot doing it - that weapons scanners at the courthouse wipe diskettes clean, and that if you bond too much with rich kids their daddies lean on you to do personal tutoring.</p> <p> <br />But the most interesting thing I learned was that older people - those born before 1950, primarily - learn technology differently from those of us who have more or less grown up with computers. As an older population, they also have different physical issues; and as a completely different generation, they have very different learning styles.</p> <p> <br />It requires a different approach to teach our respected elders how to use the technology we take for granted. But if you're a teacher excited about technology, and creative about ways to get others excited about it, older people learn better than younger people. <br />You heard me right. I prefer my older students to my younger ones. They are smarter, more motivated, and genuinely excited about learning. But it can be a challenge.</p> <p> <br /><b>Seniors Learning Computers: The Issues</b> <br />Getting older students to the point where they can learn technology is the first hurdle. Physical, mental, and attitude issues all get in the way.</p> <p> <br />Physical issues include: <br />Vision - Not only do older students have poorer vision overall, it's poor in a different way from younger students. You may have to learn how to adjust screens for each individual student - and then teach them how to do it themselves. <br />Mobility - Most people think of mobility problems as wheelchairs and walkers. That's not a problem; in a comfortable chair, everyone's the same. What is a problem: arthritic hands. <br />Once you have those problems sorted out, you often find serious learning issues lurking behind them:</p> <p></p> <p>Lack of technological background: Your seniors grew up in an age where not every house had a television - and when they did have a television, there were likely one or two channels, four or five hours a day. It was a  radically different world, and you have to understand where they're coming from before you can teach them. Students who learned how to operate older generation mainframe computers are often the hardest to teach, as they have to unlearn things they've known for forty years.</p> <p> <br />Difference in learning style: Our kids today learn in a group setting that often seems chaotic; our seniors learned much more individually and may value politeness over assertiveness. The most important difference: you have to learn to spot questions without the student asking them. Many seniors, especially women, simply won't ask questions, and get lost instead.</p> <p> <br />Senility and mental acuity problems: There's nothing you can do about this occasional problem except have patience with it. Older people don't learn as easily as younger people, and even when they do you may have to go back more often. This requires your patience. <br />Resistance to learning new things: A lot of older people just want to learn one thing on computers, or believe that "old dogs can't learn new tricks." You have to sell them on the fact that they will need to understand more than just one thing, and that they can, indeed, learn new things. This requires mostly respect and patience.</p> <p> <br /><b>Methodologies in Teaching Computers to Seniors</b></p> <p><strong></strong> <br />If you're teaching older people in the US, always use <a href="http://www.associatedcontent.com/theme/1199/microsoft.html">Microsoft</a> products. That's not because <a href="http://www.associatedcontent.com/theme/1199/microsoft.html">Microsoft</a> is better - it's not - but rather because most of what they will get out of the box on a computer or run into at the library will be Microsoft. (Outside the US, visit a library to see what's most commonly used in your locality - <a href="http://www.associatedcontent.com/theme/982/linux.html">Linux</a> and Corel are more common as close as Canada.)</p> <p> <br />Once your classroom is set up and you have everyone comfortable - and you've familiarized yourself with your students' limitations - desensitize them to computers. The most common problem I run into is a fear of breaking the computer, or just a fear of the computer. Open an old computer box (unplugged, of course!), show them the insides, explain what the processor, memory, etc. do. Take out chips and components, and let the students handle them as you explain what they do. Especially show how the connections in the back work with individual cards. This will go a long way toward taking the mystery out of the computer.</p> <p></p> <p>Explain computer safety, and introduce peripherals like the mouse, etc. Encourage them to plug in and unplug their own peripherals so they can see how it works. Watch for any uncertainty, and only move on when everyone seems comfortable.</p> <p> <br />Then - play games. This enables seniors to work on the mouse, their own mobility and vision, and allows you to teach the very basic components of Windows. Even if you have a senior who's used the internet, etc., require the games. It tells you a variety of things. For example, I had one sweet lady who would move her mouse to the right position, then take her hand off it and click it from above. This did not work well! I had to put my hand over hers to guide her, and then she got it.</p> <p> <br />Other students may obviously at this point have mobility issues. Consider using trackballs for these students, and if the mobility issue is severe look at ergonomic options like special keyboards or even chord keyboards.</p> <p> <br />After this task is completed, teach basic windows tools, generic keyboard shortcuts (especially CTRL-Z, Undo) and other generic Windows things. Use slideshows and handouts to help them remember. Move from there into specific programs like word, excel, etc., and into specific tasks like downloading pictures from digital cameras.</p> <p> <br />One last tip for this section: at the end of every class every day, teach your students something useful you think their children and grandchildren don't know. It can be as simple as the CTRL-Z, or as complex as where to find a particularly useful website. This will keep your students eager to return to the next class, and allow them to impress their younger relatives.</p> <p> <br /><b>Teaching Techniques For Seniors</b> <br />Throughout your courses, you should encourage your students to direct their own learning. Older people often lack patience, whether they say so or not, and they want their time to be THEIR time. Keep classes small, and let them tell you what they want.</p> <p></p> <p>At the same time, teach slowly and patiently, emphasizing hands-on. My rule is to show them how once, and then guide them through doing it themselves thereafter. Because the slow, patient approach is a must, it's a good idea to match students with a pre-test to their skill level. With younger students, I often encourage quicker students to help the slower students next to them; this has less-predictable effects when you're working with an older population.</p> <p> <br />Most importantly, watch for those mobility and other ergonomic issues. Donut cushions may be necessary, or back support cushions. Learn everything you can about ergonomic keyboards, antiglare screens, improved contrast screens, and the <a href="http://www.associatedcontent.com/theme/1199/microsoft.html">Microsoft</a> accessibility tools. Larger screens may be necessary for some students, at least when they take their skills home with them. As a last resort, talking programs for either input or output may be a necessity.</p> <p> <br />Chord keyboards are something a little different. These resemble game controllers, and have up to six keys. These keys, pressed alone or in combination, can duplicate the normal keyboard. They're harder to learn, but if you have a student with severe arthritis, this frees up one hand and requires much less movement of the arm in order to get the same results. A person who is sincere about teaching technology to older people would be wise to purchase one and learn how to use it.</p> <p> <br />As you can see, the problems presented when teaching technology to seniors can be mild to extreme. However, this sort of teaching is also lucrative. There are few computer schools or tutor programs that focus exclusively on seniors - and it is our older people who are most motivated to learn how to use computers. They didn't have the exposure younger people had, but want to use the technology to keep up with family and especially grandchildren. <br />With decent marketing, a talent for teaching, and patience, you can teach technology to seniors through churches, local adult ed programs, or as commercial classes. It's fun, rewarding, and not all that hard.</p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-10887324686243569092011-02-10T13:08:00.001-05:002011-02-10T13:08:59.902-05:00Are YOU Following Me? Website ‘tracking’ and what Microsoft is doing to help you.<p>I was reading some website this morning and that led me to thinking abut that little agreement that we all just have NO other choice but to click YES on when we want to install certain softwares on our computers.  Reading one of the agreements made me want to do reseach on “TRACKING” what does it mean, why, who, and how!  I hope these articles I located will mhelp clear up soem fo those questions for you!</p> <p>First, lets find out what “TRACKING” means:</p> <p>Website tracking refers to the act of archiving existing websites and tracking changes to the website over time. There are many applications to website tracking which can be applied to many different business. ... <br /><a href="http://www.google.com/url?ei=kCdUTauRL4mztweMgYXlCQ&sig2=Z7ZX-Yze4pQ7yeJLfZK7Lw&q=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website_tracking&sa=X&ved=0CAQQpAMoAA&usg=AFQjCNHNgLSrUo3bFgSOw3cjMpk7ub9m7Q">en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Website_tracking</a></p> <p>Then it was off to this web site to learn a little more.  You can read the entire article on there site:</p> <p><a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/do-websites-track-and-record-ip-addresses.htm">http://www.wisegeek.com/do-websites-track-and-record-ip-addresses.htm</a></p> <p>An IP or Internet Protocol address is a unique numerical address assigned to a <a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-computer.htm">computer</a> as it logs on to the Internet. The <a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-ip-address.htm">IP address</a> can be mapped back to a specific individual with help from Internet Service Provider (<a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-an-isp.htm">ISP</a>) records. Virtually every website on the World Wide Web (Web) will track and record IP addresses as visitors click through the site’s pages. Two primary reasons for this are security and site improvement.</p> <p>Every website is hosted on a server. When a visitor clicks his or her way to a website, the user’s browser sends a request to the server for a webpage at the location. The server returns the webpage to the IP address on the request. The page subsequently loads on the visitor’s computer screen.</p> <p>If the server is bogged down by traffic (handling many requests at once), pages might load slower for visitors. In the case of an overload of simultaneous requests, the server will “crash” or go down, leaving the site temporarily unavailable. This can be a form of attack, called a Denial Of Service (DoS) attack. If the attack comes from a network of infected computers called a<em>botnet</em>, it is referred to a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack.</p> <p>A malicious <a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-hacker.htm">hacker</a> might infiltrate a <a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-web-server.htm">Web server</a> in an attempt to gain information from protected databases that hold customer data such as credit card numbers. So-called “script kiddies” might simply want to malign a site by uploading images or text to the website.</p> <p>For these reasons and more, websites track and record IP addresses as a matter of course, storing the numerical addresses in server logs. Each request from the IP address is recorded, along with a time stamp. Older data is routinely purged from logs to make room for newer data. The length of time a website holds on to IP logs is variable, configured by the site’s administrator, and dependent upon many factors.</p> <p>Website policies generally refer to IP addresses as “anonymous” data. However, with the help of computer cookies there are many ways for websites to link identities to IP addresses, even when the address is dynamic, or changes with each Web session. Many websites also contain “Web bugs” or a few <a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-pixels.htm">pixels</a> linked to an advertising firm that can track and record IP addresses <em>across</em> the Web, from one site to another, surreptitiously compiling detailed <a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-surfing.htm">surfing</a> profiles of individuals over a period of months or years.</p> <p>A visitor need not register at a website to be tracked and profiled. Typically all visits to a site are time-stamped and recorded to a cookie, if cookies are enabled in the Web browser. All pages and links visited within the site are commonly added to the cookie (in addition to the sever logs). While server logs are purged, cookies are commonly retained. Deleting a cookie from a user’s computer does not remove the duplicate cookie on the Web server. Upon a subsequent visit to the site, the server might “recognize” the surfer by various system and software data that browsers routinely hand over; even when the surfer is careful to allow temporary cookies only, or no cookies.</p> <p>Due to these concerns, many savvy netizens prefer to surf anonymously. In this case a proxy server stands between the surfer’s computer and the Web. All browser requests are sent to the proxy which relays them to the Internet. Web servers return pages to the proxy’s IP address, logging its address instead. The proxy receives the page, forwarding it on to the surfer, acting as a go-between. Web servers have no record of the surfer’s IP address, (however, the proxy server will trackand record IP addresses).</p> <p>If using a proxy service, it is important to know if it is truly anonymous. Some proxy servers forward the requester’s IP address in their headers, defeating the purpose. Only <em>anonymous</em> proxy servers hide this information. Some proxy’s claim to be anonymous but are not, so personal checking through available proxy tools is advisable. Using international proxies can also increase anonymity because the proxy’s logs will not be subject to jurisdiction of the <a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-netizen.htm">netizen</a>’s home country. That said, proxy services are designed to help maintain freedom and privacy for legal activity, not protect illegal activity.</p> <p>The <a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-firefox.htm">Firefox</a>™ browser has an add-on plug-in called <em>FoxyProxy</em> which allows users to keep a list of proxies and easily switch between them to keep records from accumulating on just one proxy server. One can also link proxies, placing two or three proxy servers in a chain, however, this slows surfing. Also, if one of the proxies is down requests get lost. Additionally, there are various <a href="http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-shareware.htm">shareware</a> programs for proxy surfing.</p> <p>Web-based anonymous services allow visitors to surf the Web through an onsite interface. Surfing from the site, requested pages appear in a window. The only IP address revealed to the Internet is the website’s own address. But once again, the website itself will track and record IP addresses of those that use its services.</p> <p>--------------</p> <p>Wow I learned much more than I ever wanted to know!  But it’s all good information!  Simply Seniors Computer Tutors wants to let you know how to safely use the internet.  </p> <p>Here is a link to Microsoft’s IE9 web site with very helpful anti-tracking software's:</p> <p><a href="http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/Browser/TrackingProtectionLists/Default.html">http://ie.microsoft.com/testdrive/Browser/TrackingProtectionLists/Default.html</a></p> <p> </p> <p>You will want to choose the link above but if you do not and land on their home page – choose the “tracker protection” link under the Brower's Demos column.</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0qFncgyNjXy6zbC0nIeIwVeff3k2X6_kFRvwvDQdg_BeibVop_HRgeXJb_H61FXjeQDAXDHSxt0r1OPNhB0OHDZguUU2u9b3EiDoAQnZf1WTP26XLdjXfqggHZ3pZuUsYYmL5ARLlh1w/s1600-h/image%5B4%5D.png"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBMWo-PB0z_skC1VlryrqQe4rnUAlAU3W81AI2e1M1HEvDFouNQ8IWYORvmJydL-QW42RZLfpBtaim5RbHAwfdHYdG-WRSI1dLVgEFppWb1eYG4YFg1igP9daiKmNMQYWfCBUd6VuOgOk/?imgmax=800" width="448" height="285" /></a> </p> <p>I hope you have found this information entertaining and insightful!  If you know someone age 50+ that needs technical help, please consider Simply Seniors Computer Tutors 321-431-3866</p> <p>Thanks for reading and please share our links with your friends!  Knowledge IS Powerful Stuff!</p> <p><a href="http://www.ComputerTutorHelp.Com">www.ComputerTutorHelp.Com</a></p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-57946735311205857262011-02-09T20:47:00.001-05:002011-02-09T20:47:21.964-05:00The Laptop Life: Tips to Improve Portable Computing<p>This information comes to you from AOL.Com, the original author is <em>Deanna Glick. </em>  At Simply Seniors Computer Tutors I am often asked how to make things easier.  This article has some great tips and is worth passing along!</p> <p>More information on Simply Seniors Computer Tutors at <a href="http://www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us">www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us</a>.</p> <p>------------------</p> <p>People seem to be on the go more than ever before. And they’d never dream of leaving their electronic life behind.</p> <p>Ah, the lure of laptop computers. A fully-featured computer that weighs a few pounds and can be carried in your briefcase on a business trip or under your arm as you migrate from the home office to your family room. What’s more, along with ever-expanding wireless Internet availability, laptops allow you to surf at the beach without getting in the water or send email from your porch on a nice day.</p> <p>This might be why the first quarter of last year saw the best sales record for mobile PCs in eight years, according to <a href="http://asia.cnet.com/crave/2010/05/26/first-quarter-of-2010-showed-largest-laptop-sales-since-2002/">a blog at CNET.com</a>. This coincided with the onset of intense iPad hype. However, as one analyst pointed out, limitations of that product category in the face of aggressive price cuts of regular notebooks seemed to give the larger notebook computers staying power in the market. They do more than their smaller counterparts, but consumers still seem generally willing to sacrifice the performance of a desktop for portability, making the traditional laptop the proverbial happy medium for most people.</p> <p>When it comes to laptops, good things might come in small packages. But portability comes at a price.</p> <p><b>A Small Space</b></p> <p>For all their benefits, laptop computers can certainly fall short when it comes to memory, speed and hard drive space. And special considerations should be given to wireless network security and battery life. Fortunately, there are some great tips and tricks, special services and accessories that can help make laptop users’ lives a lot easier.</p> <p>Whenever you open a file or an application, data is stored via Random Access Memory. Laptops use a smaller, slower version of RAM than their desktop counterparts. Once that memory is used up, the computer reverts to the hard drive, causing it to operate much more slowly. <img src="http://o.aolcdn.com/os/daol/images/laptop300" />What this essentially means is that the more RAM you have, the more applications and files can be open simultaneously without affecting performance. Therefore, it can be helpful for laptop users to use as few applications at a time as possible.</p> <p>How much hard drive space you need depends on how you use your computer. If you find your music, photo and video collections are causing your hard drive to burst at the seams and thus reducing operating speed, additional options for data storage might help. External hard drives and online storage services can go a long way in freeing up space and providing backup protection for your data in the event of a computer crash.</p> <p><b>Wireless Worries</b></p> <p>While you may have the ability to work on spreadsheets on the sun porch, the portable life isn’t entirely peaceful. Laptop users would do well to pay special attention to issues that affect wireless network security.</p> <p>Unlike computers that connect via router or Ethernet cable, wireless networks talk to devices using radio waves. According to <a href="http://laptoplogic.com/resources/5-tips-to-secure-your-wireless-network">an article at LaptopLogic.com</a>, these open radio waves leave you susceptible to myriad snooping attacks that could make way for a hacker to access your network and all of your valuable information. This means family pictures, passwords, electronic bank statements, the information contained in your emails and your personal files are all compromised.</p> <p>LaptopLogic.com suggests some preventive measures to help achieve security while using a wireless connection with a laptop. For example, when you create a wireless password make sure that you use a combination of numbers, letters (upper and lower case), and symbols. You also need to make sure that password is long -- the longer the password is, the more time required to crack it. It is also recommended that you use guest wireless networks rather than readily giving out your passwords to friends visiting your home. A guest network is a common feature found in newer routers, that is essentially a second network which is completely isolated from the network your personal devices use.</p> <p>Simply Seniors Computer Tutor is here to help those age 50+ with technological needs!  321-431-3866</p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-60308982874136711002011-02-07T16:47:00.001-05:002011-02-07T16:47:46.959-05:00Desk top Publishing<p>This Friday, Feb. 8th is the Desktop Publishing class at the Wickham Park Senior Center.  In preparing for this class I have run across many great articles that just need to be shared!  So if you are a fan of desktop publishing with Microsoft Publisher or if it’s all new to you; you’re bound to learn something so read on!  </p> <p>--------</p> <p>This article is located at <a href="http://www.printingforless.com/Microsoft-Publisher-Design-Tips.html">http://www.printingforless.com/Microsoft-Publisher-Design-Tips.html</a></p> <h3>Professional Printing Results with Microsoft Publisher</h3> <p>I'm going to make the bold statement: </p> <p>"You can get the same professional printing results using Microsoft Publisher, a program that many people already have on their computer or can obtain for only about $140 as you would get by using the far more expensive Adobe Indesign or Quark XPress."</p> <p><img alt="Microsoft Publisher" src="http://www.printingforless.com/images/Publsher2010.jpg" width="115" height="115" /></p> <p>And I'm going to tell you exactly how to do it in this article. <br />All layout/design programs do essentially the same thing; they allow you to position text, photos, clip art and other elements in a document which is generally destined to be printed on some kind of media such as paper. And the secret here is that Publisher is equipped to do all these things just fine. In addition, we've found that it's much faster to learn than the more expensive programs. <br />Since we began, PrintingForLess.com has been the printer for tens of thousands of small businesses who have chosen to use Publisher to create their marketing pieces. And what we've learned in over 10 years of experience is that if you avoid some very common pitfalls you can create a very effective, professional looking marketing piece for your business. We'll focus on how to overcome these pitfalls while using Publisher. </p> <h4>Planning</h4> Before you fire up Publisher and begin to add pictures and text to a layout, consider doing a little planning and idea development first. Brainstorm with your team exactly what change in thought or behavior you desire to create in those who view your piece. What story are you telling? What bold premise are you putting forth? What call to action are you building into your marketing piece? Get clear on these questions and then sketch on paper some possible ideas for how to attain these results before you begin the actual layout. <h4>Images</h4> After you do the above mentioned planning it's time to obtain whatever photographs your piece requires. Two of the largest mistakes that we see with photography are: <ol> <li>Using haphazardly produced or pre-existing photographs simply out of convenience instead of obtaining exactly what your planning process calls for </li> <li>Poor lighting or low resolution</li> </ol> You can get decent quality photography with only a moderately priced camera of perhaps 4 or more megapixels. If you frame your subjects correctly (hint—get close...), mount the camera on a tripod for maximum sharpness and use some supplementary lighting when indoors, you will probably be happy with the results. With a 4 megapixel image which is uncropped you can stretch it to about 7" wide and still have sufficient resolution to create a sharp, professional look. If you use it at a smaller size than 7" it will be plenty sharp. <p>It's not important to convert your photographs from RGB to CMYK since Publisher stores them as RGB anyway. At PrintingForLess.com our RGB to CMYK image conversion process is state of the art and will yield the most accurate possible results. </p> <h4>Logos, diagrams, clipart, etc.</h4> Many marketing pieces require a company logo or other types of images which are not photography. The main thing to avoid here is using artwork which was obtained from a website. It will be much too low in resolution and will look fuzzy or blocky on the edges. Use original artwork which is 300 dpi or greater in resolution or even better, is still in a native format which is vector. <p><img border="0" alt="common logos for publishing" src="http://www.printingforless.com/images/publisher-logos.gif" width="545" height="75" /></p> <p>Please call us about this part of your design process if you have questions. We have highly trained creative and technical people with libraries of such artwork who can help you get what you need inexpensively or perhaps even free of charge. </p> <h4>Create the layout document</h4> Create your layout document in Publisher at the trimmed, finished size of the piece. If the piece is folded use the layout guides tool to create "Grid Guides" to indicate where the folds are and also where the center of each fold panel is. In other words, for a three panel, folded brochure, create six columns. The Grid Guide in the center of each column will make it much faster to accurately center the images, text and other contents of each panel. <p><img alt="publisher layout guides" src="http://www.printingforless.com/images/publisher-layoutguides.gif" width="340" height="297" /></p> <p>You can find the Layout Guides tool under the "Arrange" menu item. <br />When positioning text and images in a column, if you select an object it creates "handles" on the corners and sides of the object which you can use to stretch it. To perfectly center all your layout items select and nudge each object so that the center top and bottom handles line up with the grid guides you created.</p> <p><img alt="publisher image handles" src="http://www.printingforless.com/images/publisher-handles.jpg" width="320" height="253" /></p> <p>In general, if you use actual measurements, guides and other tools to position your layout items instead of merely "eyeballing" their positioning you will be certain of creating a more professional looking layout. Margin guides can be set to .125" to help you avoid placing text or other important items too close to the edge of the paper. <br />Feel free to use one of Publishers premade wizard templates if you have a hard time getting your ideas to flow into a blank sheet of paper. When using these templates you will simply substitute your text and graphics for what is in the template. </p> <h4>Color Selection</h4> Printing with ink is about color—and everyone has fun picking the colors for their text, panels and other design elements. Two very common mistakes are: <ol> <li>Selecting colors directly from the color picker within Publisher based only on how the color looks on screen </li> <li>Picking colors using the RGB color space</li> </ol> The problem is that the color you see on screen is glowing light while ink on paper is very different. And RGB is a color space based on light, not ink. Selecting colors this way often causes disappointment when the printed color does not resemble what your eye and brain thought it saw on screen. <br />The answer is to pick your color formulas from an ink and paper color guide. If you do this the colors in your printed piece will be just what you expected. Two very good sources of ink and paper color guides are: <ol> <li>Pantone CMYK color swatch books </li> <li>Free PrintingForLess.com design guide we enclose in every pack of printed samples sent to anyone who requests one</li> </ol> <p><img alt="Pantone color guides" src="http://www.printingforless.com/images/publisher-colorguides.jpg" width="288" height="104" /></p> <p>After you have selected your layout colors from one of these color guides set up the cyan, magenta, yellow and black values in the color selector in Publisher, be sure the Color Model is set to CMYK as indicated below: </p> <p><img alt="publisher color selector" src="http://www.printingforless.com/images/publisher-colorselector.jpg" width="332" height="406" /></p> <h4>Fonts, Fonts, Fonts</h4> A common mistake is to use too many different fonts within a layout. It's fun to pick fonts that call attention to and uniquely highlight each section of your layout. But to most viewers, using too many fonts will look busy, tedious or just plain goofy. Instead, choose a single font family (includes a plain, bold, italic, etc.) which is somewhat conventional and easy on the eye for most of the informational text in your layout. So called "serif" fonts such as Times New Roman, Bodoni and Garamond have proven to be easiest for the eye to read in paragraph text. And if your layout can benefit from some playfulness by all means select and use a different, unique-looking font for a headline or other attention-grabbing section. <br />You'll find that as you begin to put text into text frames in Publisher the program remembers your "palette" of selected fonts and conveniently positions your selected fonts at the top of the font selection dropdown. This makes it easier for you to quickly select from your "chosen palette" of fonts as you build your layout. <p><img alt="alt" src="http://www.printingforless.com/images/publisher-fontsdropdown.gif" width="337" height="249" /></p> <h4>Grouping Elements</h4> After you have a section of your layout positioned very precisely, it might be a good idea to select all the items (hold down the shift key and click on each one) and then group them together by pressing the "group objects" icon located directly below the objects you've selected. This will lock them together in their relative positions. This is especially useful if you will need to duplicate this configuration somewhere else in your layout; copy and paste the group to another page and you will have perfect consistency throughout your layout. <p><img alt="grouping objects in Publisher" src="http://www.printingforless.com/images/publisher-groupingobjects.gif" width="196" height="245" /></p> <h4>Use Master Pages for Common Backgrounds</h4> If your design calls for a consistent background color, company logo in the corner of each page or some other consistent design element on every page, don't waste your time doing it manually. Open the Master Page (View...Master Page) and carefully place the repeating elements here. Uncheck Master Page and you'll be back in normal (foreground) view—except the contents of the Master Page will now be in the background of every page in your layout. This is a great tool when you are creating many identical business cards for people in your company. Create a multi-page document and put the logo and other common elements on the Master Page. Each employee's contact info is the only data on the foreground layer of each page which is much easier to manage. <h4>Spell Check</h4> There is a good chance that the spell checker is already on and making spelling suggestions as you type in Publisher. But it would be a good idea to manually run the spell checker (Tools...Spelling) so that you can consciously review any remaining spelling/grammar issues before sending your layout to a commercial printer. <h4>Print a Hard Copy</h4> <p>Print several copies of your finished layout on a desktop printer and read one as though you are seeing it for the first time. Get a couple of your detail-conscious friends to proofread and review the layout. You'll be surprised at how you might perceive the layout on paper vs. on-screen and you'll probably find some mistakes that you were unaware of when viewing on-screen. <br />You've probably noticed that some of these suggestions aren't specific to using Microsoft Publisher—and you're right. The majority of regrettable and less than professional issues we see with layouts created by those who are not design professionals; and not the fault of the software they used. It's simply the lack of a checklist-something that airline pilots use every flight. If you use this short guide as a checklist each time you create your own designs, you'll consistently gain superior results and feel proud of your work.</p> <p>-----------------again thank you to <a href="http://www.printforless.com">www.printforless.com</a> for the above article----------------------------</p> <p>AND DON’T FORGET:</p> <p>Simply Seniors Computer Tutor will be teaching Microsoft Desktop Publisher Friday Feb. 8. 2011.  For more information dial 321-431-3866.  Class is only $10 registration is required!</p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-69887943479107651982011-02-02T13:35:00.001-05:002011-02-02T13:35:58.977-05:00Google Earth & Google Mars<p>If you have not already tried this out – you really shoudl give it an install.  It has improved over the years as well.  The other day a friend of mine was showing me his mother’s house on Google Earth.  We were amazed by the clarity of the pictures and then as we were in awe of the technology, there he found her!  His mother!  She was walking out to check the mail when the satellite took the photo!  A little scary to know that someone is taking a photo of you and your person from space!  So, like I said give it a whirl install the programs by going here:</p> <p><a href="http://www.google.com/earth/download/ge/">http://www.google.com/earth/download/ge/</a></p> <p>and  try Google Mars for something different!</p> <p><a href="http://www.google.com/mars/">http://www.google.com/mars/</a></p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio4cicuJ35Hq8TtwF1Ibu4U5uZWetxx1_DKQQBt9eO_Bpus14XDRlko4EBxGnBF0GbGLSxchxBpzSlNYeal8PZjqP_OizTxl8YdpK56vElcWpCdQ4LslRUxPhYCRrPthbSwyITktvGHx4/s1600-h/image%5B2%5D.png"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="image" border="0" alt="image" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwi-X6qvciWG-g05btnXJcq3IJH8rvwIYLkGgP3RC9vR_dzOoOFYPYLF5nRwH2Lv0G_mzzh4tZvdzoV-zwPukaExBhWyIVdp5Shl5RqKVaMgvj8oE9pUvII2DmpsvlwCf27kp1mXpd1kw/?imgmax=800" width="244" height="171" /></a> </p> <p>Today’s blog is brought to you by Simply Seniors Computer Tutors Call today to join a class near YOU!  OR in home instructions! </p> <p>Simply Seniors Computer Tutor is here to help those age 50 and over with their growing technological needs!  From your home computer purchase and setup, to setting up home entertainment equipment Simply Seniors Computer Tutors does it ALL!</p> <p>863-949-0667</p> <p><a href="http://www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us">www.ComputerTutorHelp.Us</a></p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5425438566683211815.post-49576429478303129932011-02-01T23:02:00.001-05:002011-02-01T23:04:39.775-05:00Our February Class Schedule<p>These classes are being held at the Wickham Park Senior Center, Melbourne, FL. To have classes held in your area call 863-949-0667</p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNItIVl_NVY0bCVROl8b4LX_Pj59EqAMQHPRrhBkuRibDR1nCvwgeyUfjdNxFQ7agtywlreH4n2xTsxVMvKZEqryOgcv121XXFw7PZkOencB_-kUMEetSUuXcToX9OorvGWt1EQ2aVWrA/s1600-h/wpsc%20feb%202011%20classes%20photo%5B5%5D.jpg"><img style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="wpsc feb 2011 classes photo" border="0" alt="wpsc feb 2011 classes photo" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdiW5fh5BTNTdyCjoOswGCib80LqxJqCcYd9nyUigQMC76xmVvQFE_X5Nep264nMkdfHaHUw-YbCQdN81XOGo1IkYjl953g59zXsv8GwlRZTjTIUmy7BCs66vvI20DotLwl2p1LfPsOsg/?imgmax=800" width="448" height="358" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><strong><font size="3">Click on the picture for a larger image</font></strong></p> Computer Tutorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07119326467106331194noreply@blogger.com0