Free Credit Report

For those of you in the Midwest, as of March 1, 2005 you now have the ability to get a one free annual credit report each year at AnnualCreditReport.com. The Eastern and Southern states will be available later this year.

Adware, spyware, viruses oh my!

How many of you have a high-speed internet connection at home? How many of you have a firewall AND virus protection (and have it configured to update automatically)?

Does your computer run slow? Lots of stuff in the system tray? Do you keep getting annoying popups?

You need to PROTECT your computer from viruses, adware and spyware. Everyone should have the following:

• Firewall: This protects you from unwanted programs on the internet trying to access your system via open ports that you might have. It can also 'hide' your computers real IP address from other programs on the internet. If you have a hardware firewall or router, make sure it is properly configured. Windows comes with a firewall - it's not perfect, but a good start. An even better option is Norton Internet Security. This will cost you a little money, but it's worth it. I also recommend Zone Alarm, which comes in a free version and an inexpensive version that has more features.


• Anti-Virus: You need an anti-virus program that will monitor your system and squash viruses before they do damage. Make sure you have one that checks you email too (email is a popular way for viruses to enter your system). I personally run Norton Anti-Virus, which again will cost you, but it's worth it. A free virus-checker that I recommend is Grisoft's AVG 7, but keep in mind that it doesn't scan email (at least not yet). Make sure that any anti-virus program that you get is set to update automatically. There are new viruses every day.


• Adware / Spyware Removal: You should also have at least one adware/spyware removal tool that you run at least once a week. These tools find and remove annoying and potentially harmful adware and spyware programs on your computer. Go to What is the Difference between Malware, Adware, and Spyware? to read more about what these programs are, how to prevent them from infecting your system and how to remove them.

Most of the viruses I receive are from friends/family that have infected computers and my email address is in their address book. I used to get my share of Adware/Spyware, until I switched to FireFox and I don't them anymore (see previous post about Firefox).
Any question, feel free to ask!

Keeping up with Technology

I often get asked how I keep up with technology, especially what magazines I read: It's hard and there is too much going on and too many areas to keep track up. So I have several general sources that I use, plus I have specific things that I track regarding database technologies, project management, and business integration.

Here's my list of magazines:

• EWeek
• InfoWorld
• PC World
• Business Integration Journal
• SQL Server
• Oracle
• Discover
• Popular Science
• PMI Journal

I also subscribe to many email newsgroups, too many to mention here. If you want information on something specific, let me know. Hope some of this helps.

Dump Internet Explorer

Dump Internet Explorer? I know what all you IE fans are saying "But it's my favorite browser". Maybe not for long. In case you haven't heard it, the browser wars are back thanks to FireFox. This free, open-source browser is AWESOME! I have been using it for 6 months and I will NEVER go back to IE (except when I come across a site that only works in IE :) . FireFox doesn't support Active-X (where many ad/spyware programs take advantage of), it's very secure and very fast. FireFox uses tabs for open multiple sites at a time (instead of launching a new browser), and that makes it very easy to switch between sites. You can add "Extensions" that add functionality, like a little weather indicator that sits on the bottom status bar and shows you the current weather and forecast. I'm also a big fan of Gmail - there's an extension for that too that sits in the status bar and tells you how many unread messages you have. Plus a lot more. Try it out - you won't regret it.

Geek Test

Are you a geek? I am. Someone sent me this Geek Test - If you are technical in any way, check it out and post your score here.

Mine: 25.44379% - Total Geek

Are you surprised?

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to my little rambling space on the web. Enjoy.

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to my little rambling space on the web. Enjoy.


This is my first ever post on Blogger in March 2005, recreated here....