Security Solutions for Windows XP
Security issues have bugged Windows XP users since its creation. Hackers, viruses, spyware, trojans, worms, and the countless other nasties can cause untold damage to your Windows XP PC, anything from slowing your performance to deleting your data files to corrupting your operating system. Thankfully there are some simple (and free!) solutions.
Daylight Savings: Windows XP & Mac OS X
Windows
Windows XP requires an update to be installed to deal with the new dates of Daylight Savings Time. Most likely your computer has already downloaded and installed this update; however in the unlikely chance that your PC hasn’t, we are providing the link to the Microsoft Download site for this update. It is important that you be running Windows XP Service Pack 2 (XPSP2) in order to install this update.
The site is:
Microsoft Windows Update
Mac OS X
There is a similar update available for OS X.
Any computer configured to use a time server (NTP) will automatically adjust its clock based on the remote server time. No software update is necessary in this case.
Please check this out for answers to many questions concerning the shift in Daylight Savings Time and your computer.
Internet Explorer 7 – quirky as usual
We’ve noticed some unusual things with Internet Explorer 7. We feel that the world would be a far superior place if Microsoft had simply discarded IE and supported Mozilla – Firefox being a standards-compliant browser that web developers can actually make use of as a presentation medium. Read more
Battery Maintenance – Laptop, iPod, Cell Phone, etc.
Batteries are running our lives these days. No one wants to be tethered by wire – SATV, GSM/CDMA, WIFI, MP3 – all make our lives easier & more mobile. Powering our devices is tricky, and no one wants to be left on a train ride to NYC with a dead iPod. Replacement batteries aren’t cheap. A typical laptop battery could easily cost over $100. This information about caring for your batteries may help preserve their life, and allow you to get the most performance out of them. Read more
Integrating Thickbox and Lightbox Javascript Packages
This post is a bit obscure, but since I found very little information about this topic on the web, I wanted to share it for all.
Thickbox and Lightbox are great packages. Very powerful. Very elegant. Excellently scripted. Unfortunately, however, they don’t play nice together. Though Thickbox does in many respects supercede Lightbox, we needed both for a project. Turns out they’re incompatible with each other – or rather the libraries they depend on, Prototype and JQuery are incompatible – sort of. Read more
Coping with Spam
True: Spam – or unsolicited email – is a serious problem.
Not True: Recent reports show that within the next eighteen months, most people will spend at least four hours of their day dealing with email, with almost 75% of that time wasted whilst wading through spam.
True or not, Spam isn’t fun. And unfortunately there isn’t much you can do about it. Read more
Windows Vista
Microsoft has finally released their newest concoction – Windows Vista. They’ve been developing it for the past six years. We haven’t had a chance to test it yet, but we will soon enough. All new PCs will be shipping with it as of now (January 30, 2007). Our current recommendation is to ignore it – stick with Windows XP, unless you’re completely upgrading your system. We’re concerned there may be software incompatibilities between Vista and other Windows-compatible software, not to mention the fact that the interface and usability will be altogether foreign to a non-techie. Here’s an excellent article from the NY Times written by computer guru David Pogue:
New York Times, December 16, 2006: STATE OF THE ART; Vista WinsOn Looks. As for Lacks…
And another rather scathing article regarding Bill Gates and Vista:
Bill Gates loses his grip on reality
Still yet another article pointing to problems with Vista: the version you pay for may not be what you get, despite assurances from Microsoft;
Freeing up Storage in Windows
In today’s digital world, computers can fill up fast with an assortment of pictures, MP3s, and videos whose files consume large portions of a hard drive. Unfortunately, other files and programs can fill up available storage space with unnecessary files. A few programs in Windows can take care of this problem and optimize your computer’s storage space. Read more