The 10 commandments of Safe Computing

This is probably one of my most important blog entries as I have consolidated all of my computer security tips into a single post. Please take the time to read through it all as it has valuable information that will help to prevent any harm to you and your computer.

1. Thou shall not visit any unwholesome websites.
Gambling, Porn, and Illegal sites are such a few examples. If you ignore this commandment alone, then there really is no use following the rest of the commandments as infection is almost inevitable. Visiting these sites is like strolling through the ghetto and hoping that nothing bad will happen to you. In other words, you are asking for it. I hate to break it to you but most of the Internet is not safe. And even sites that ought to be safe might not be because they themselves might have been unknowlingly compromised or hacked by some bad guys. Nowadays, your computer can get infected by merely visiting a site versus downloading and installing a malicious program.

2. Thou shall not click on pop ups.
Im sure you are familiar with those annoying pop up ads as they seem to pop up everywhere. Some pop ups are really sneaky and evil. There are pop ups that tell you that your computer is infected and you have to click on them to perform an emergency scan to get rid of it. You then proceed to install a software program that is more often than not a spyware program. No matter how convincing they are, do not click on them.

3. Thou shall not click on links...
in emails, IM clients or URL shorteners. (ie. Tinyurl.com)You have to be 100% sure that the link is legit and safe. Most people think that if the link is from someone you know, then you can assume that it will be safe to open. WRONG. The problem is that your friends computer could be infected with viruses. These viruses can use your computer to automatically send out harmful emails to everyone in your address book. Even the buddies on your instant messenger program can unknowingly send you instant messages that say "hey, check this out!" accompanied by a harmful link. And im sure you've seen urls created by url shorteners (ie tinyurl.com/adwtud) in which you have absolutely no idea where they will direct you to. Emails in html format might display the url address but dont be fooled. Just because it spells out the full url, it doesnt necessarily mean that you will visit that site by clicking on that link. However if you hover over the link, you will be able to see the true url address in the status bar located on the bottom left hand corner. If you dont see a status bar, make sure to enable it in the browser. Next try to examine the "true" url displayed in the status bar. Does it look fishy? Why doesnt it match the address displayed in the email? Why does it display an address that does not look familiar to me? Why does it contain a website that is familiar to me but has a bunch of unecessary characters preceding it?

4. Thou shall not open attachments.
This is probably the oldest trick in the book. If you fall for this one then shame on you. If you want to open an attachment from someone make sure that its one that you are expecting instead of receiving one out of the blue one day. In gmail, you can preview most files within the browser. So if you are not sure what the attachment is then previewing the contents would be a safe way to see whats inside. You can also use an antivirus program to scan the attachment before opening. Lastly, you should never open a file with a .exe extension. There arent too many cases whereby someone would send you a .exe file as an attachment.

5. Thou shall not commit a typo.
Be very careful as there are domain names out there dedicated to catch you. They take advantage of the most common mispellings. Most of these dummy sites take advantage of all the hits they get by putting up advertising that may be related to the correctly spelled website. For example, just imagine how many hits amazan.com (note the mispelling) gets if amazon.com get millions of hits per day. But there also can be malicious sites set up whereby you might get infected with a virus or spyware merely by visiting the site. All because you made a typo.So what can you do to prevent this? For one thing you can use open dns which filters out a large portion of bad sites from there database. Click here for more info. Another thing you can do is install a browser plugin which will help prevent you from visiting bad sites. Lastly, instead of typing the url directly, just type it into the google search engine. Google does a pretty good job of knowing which site you want to visit. And it will offer appropriate (Did you mean?) suggestions, if you happen to mispell a websites name.

6. Thou shall keep your software updated.
ie. Windows, Web browsers, Flash player, Acrobat Reader, etc. Make sure you enable the Windows automatic updates so you dont have to always remember to update Windows and Internet Explorer. Firefox auto downloads the update in the background when you are using it. You can tell because it will ask you if you want to update Firefox when you launch it. Flash player has its own standalone upgrader and should prompt you automatically when an upgrade is available. Acrobat Reader uses the general Adobe upgrader which is used for all Adobe products. No matter how annoying and obtrusive these upgraders are, just remember to let it do its thing. There is a software program that manages all software updates on your system, but I forgot what its called and never used it before.

7. Thou shall use wireless security.
Always use the highest encryption possible (ie. WPA2) in your wireless router settings along with a password Never leave your wireless network open. Leaving your wireless network unsecured is like leaving the front door of your house open. Anyone willing can easily get access to all of your files. Also, remember to change your default router password. More info

8. Thou shall not memorize passwords.
Use a password manager. Dont store your passwords in some text or Word file on your computer as anyone can easily steal them.Dont create unsecure passwords.Dont use the same password for all of your sites. More Info

9. Thou shall turn off your computer.
If your computer is off (ie. Standby, Hibernate, Shutdown), then it is essentially unplugged from the Internet. Therefore, it would be impossible to get infected or hacked. More info

10. Thou shall use a antispyware/antivirus software.
You might be wondering why I placed this commandment last. Most people use this as their first line of defense, however it should really be your last. I highly recommend Microsoft Security Essentials.

How to maintain your computer

Like a car, your computer needs routine maintenance. I highly recommend performing the following 3 steps on a quarterly basis. Not only will this increase the longevity of your computer but will also make your computer healthier and faster.

1. Ccleaner - Clean up temporary and unecessary files.

2. Quick startup - Clean out unwanted applications that automatically start when you startup your computer.

3. Auslogics Disk Defrag - Reorganize and optimize your hard drive. If you are too lazy to install this program, you can use the Windows default Disk Defragmenter. Start-->Programs-->Accessories-->System Tools

You can also find these programs in the Free Downloads section on my site located on the right hand side.

OpenDNS

Do you want a boost in your Internet speed? Do you want a safer way to surf the Internet? Read on...

Each ISP (ie. AT&T DSL, Comcast High Speed Internet) has its own set of DNS servers. The DNS server will contain a huge list domain names and their corresponding IP addresses. The IP address specifies the exact location of the website's server. A DNS server is like the yellow pages phone book which contains the names and addresses of local businesses. When you type in a URL (ie. google.com), that request is first handled by the DNS server. The DNS server will perform a look up for that domain name and send your browser the ip address. All of this happens in a fraction of a second.

Unfortunately, each ISP maintains their own DNS server for their users. Therefore, if it goes down or gets corrupted or is slow, the user will be directly affected. So thats where OpenDNS comes into play. OpenDNS is a central DNS server system that is reliable, fast, and safe. What exactly does that mean for the end user?

• Reliable - its highly available and more stable than the ISP DNS servers.
  
  
• Fast - You are more likely to receive a faster response from OpenDNS, therefore, you will get to the website you want to go faster.
  
  
• Safe - They have a large database of bad or malicious sites. Therefore, they will help to filter those sites in order to protect you. For example, if you accidently made a typo in the URL (ie. gooogle.com) it will catch it and warn you before allowing you to enter that website. This is a good thing as there are many bad people out there who register mispelled domain names on purpose in order to attract many visitors or potential victims by bombarding them with ads or spyware.

For those of you who are using routers, the instructions are simple. Just login to your router and look for DNS settings. Instead of "Get Automatically from ISP", specify the Primary DNS and Secondary DNS with the following IP addresses:

Primary - 208.67.222.222
Secondary - 208.67.220.220

That's it, you're done. I told you it was easy. For more specific instructions, visit the OpenDNS website.

Bottom Line

OpenDNS is easy to use and will make your surfing faster and safer.

Wireless printing

Interested in getting one of those wireless printers so that you can print wirelessly? Why bother when you can do exactly that right now? Assuming of course you have a desktop computer, a laptop and a wireless router. For those of you who have set up wireless file sharing with the instructions from my previous post, then you should have no problems at all, although it is not a requirement.

1. On your desktop PC, go to Start--> Settings--> Printers.



2. Right click on your printer and select Sharing.



3. Click the "Share this Printer" radio button.



4. Enter a share name. ie. epsoncx8400



5. On your laptop with wifi, go to Start-->Settings-->Printer and double click on Add a printer.



6. You can either search for the printer on the network or you can just "Connect to this printer" by specifying the printer share name ie. \\yourdesktopname\epsoncx8400
   Replace "yourdesktopname" with your desktop's computer name. If you dont know what that is, right click on "My Computer" icon and select properties. Click here for some helpful screenshots.

Thats it. When you print from your laptop make sure you choose to print from this shared printer or set it as the default printer. Lastly, the only caveat with this solution is that you must have your desktop machine powered on when you print from your laptop.

Wireless File Sharing

Ever want to transfer files wirelessly from your desktop to your laptop or vice versa? Let me show you how its done.

Most likely your home network has a desktop, laptop, and a wireless router. Your desktop is hard wired into the router and your laptop is wirelessly connected to the router.

Instructions:

1. On the desktop computer, choose a folder that you want to share. If you want, you can choose to share your entire C: drive, but I would not recommend doing so. In any case, for this example lets just share your "My Documents" folder.
   


2. Right click on the My Documents folder and select Properties.
   


3. Select the Sharing tab and look under the Network sharing and security.
   


4. It might tell you to go through some wizard, but just try to enable the sharing without going through any wizards.
   


5. Check "Share this folder on the network" and "Allow network users to change my files" boxes. If you check the 2nd box of allowing network users to change my files, you must be very careful. By checking this option, you will be able to change, move, or delete files on your desktop computer from your laptop. If you delete files located on your desktop from your laptop, there could be no way of recovering these files.
   


6. In the Share name field, type in something descriptive like "my documents on my dell desktop", then press ok. Thats it for the desktop computer.
   


7. On the laptop, go to Start button then Run. Type in "\\yourcomputername". In otherwords, replace yourcomputername with the actual name of your desktop computer. You can find what your computer name is by right clicking on My Computer and selecting properties. So for example if your desktop computer name is called "dell510" then you would type "\\dell510".
   


8. A window should pop up and you should see the shared folder. That it! Now you can move files back and forth. Or even open up and change files located on your desktop with your laptop. All wirelessly!

Secure Password Management

So how do you manage all of your passwords? Do you write them down on a post it note? Memorize them? Store them on your computer?

Here's a better question. How secure are your passwords? Do they contain words in a dictionary? Do they contain a mixture of numbers and letters and symbols?

Im afraid to say it, but Im willing to bet that none of you securely manage your passwords. But dont fret as I will show you how. But before that, here are some password tips.

1. Passwords should not be a word in the dictionary.


2. Passwords should use a random mixture of lowercase and uppercase letters plus numbers plus symbols. ie. Ws4d!y1d#


3. Use a password manager to manage your passwords.


4. Do not enter passwords on unsecure public computers. For example, I wouldnt dare to check my online banking balance at the library.


5. Make sure your browsers are up to date with the most recent patches and updates.


6. Dont use the same password across different accounts.


7. Do not use browsers to store your passwords.


8. Do not write down your passwords on paper.


9. Do not store passwords in a Word or text file.


10. If you memorized all of your passwords, then most likely they are not that secure.
    

Here's how I do it which was taken from this Lifehacker article using Keepass to manage my passwords and Dropbox to sync my passwords across multiple computers. Basically it goes down like this. I store all of my passwords and account info in Keepass. Keepass will not only encrypt my data, but will only open my list of passwords with a master password(in which I initially set). Therefore, I only need to memorize 1 password to unlock all of my passwords. I store my Keepass password file in a Dropbox folder. This special folder gets synced to all Dropbox folders that I install on any other computer. For example, if I add a new password to Keepass on my home computer, Dropbox will automatically detect the change and perform a sync to my other Dropbox folder on my work computer. That means not matter which computer I am currently on, I will always have my most recent passwords available to me. The only caveat is that I must have both Keepass and Dropbox installed on each computer.

The Bottom Line
You might say thats a bit troublesome and probably not worth the hassle. I agree, its a bit inconvenient. But did you know that there are bad guys out there who's full time job is to steal your information? How many of you had your identity stolen or even had credit card/banking information fall into the wrong hands?

Usually, there is an inverse relationship between security and convenience. The more you want to secure something, the more inconvenient it will be to access it. So the question is how important is your personal information to you? Are you willing to take that risk?

Roger's Favorite Things

Here are my top 5 favorite tech products.



1. Tivo Series 3
Tivo has become the heart of my home entertainment system. Its not just a DVR anymore but instead has become a home media center. Recording shows is the main function, but it can do so much more especially when connected to my home network. Stream video, photos, music. Rent and watch movies from amazon or netflix. Watch youtube videos. Transfer recorded shows back and forth between my computer. Convert shows to my iphone. The possibilities are endless. No need for a Home PC Theater set up.
Full Review




2. iPhone 3G
Nothing can compare to the iphone's intuitive interface. Checking email, surfing the internet, taking pictures, playing games at your fingertips never felt so natural.
Full Review




3. Eye-fi memory card
This is a perfect example of thinking out of the box. Instead of enabling the camera to perform wireless transfers, why not just do it for memory cards. I had my doubts but this thing actually works. Not only does it transfer my photos wirelessly to my computer but it can automatically upload to flickr - my photo sharing website. 2 birds with one stone. Love it.
Full Review

4. Western Digital My Passport portable hard drive
This small, compact, and sexy external hard drive is all you need to back up or transfer your files. The best feature about this drive is that there is no separate power supply needed. Yes, that means all you need to do is plug it into your USB slot (in Windows or Mac) and you are good to go. No software necessary.




5. Logitech Harmony 880 universal remote
You will only need to purchase one of these universal remotes in your lifetime because you can always update the remote using your computer and the internet. The remote is configured by connecting to Logitech's Harmony website application. The application has a comprehensive database of all tv components. So all you need to do is find the new component you just purchased and the remote will know exactly how to control it. Not only that but you can also create a custom sequence of commands to perform with a click of a button. For example, I have a "watch a dvd" command which will turn on my tv, dvd, and receiver and set the correct inputs all at once.

Web 4.0

Here is my prediction of the Internet in the future.

Internet Software (Web 2.0)



Today we are seeing a huge growth in rich internet applications. The web no longer consists of pages for just viewing. Instead, we are seeing pages that interact with the user, communicate with other services, and process information. So I call it, "Internet Software". Many businesses are creating and selling Internet Software instead of the traditional shrink wrapped software that you install on a home computer. For example, Microsoft creates software such as Word, Excel, and Powerpoint. But Google has created an almost identical set of software on the web called Google Docs. Why is software moving to the web?

1. Inexpensive - No manufacturing or shipping costs. Hosting/traffic fees are insignifcant.
   


2. Easy Upgrades/Fixes - Updating Internet Software can be quick and easy. For example, let's say there is a huge security bug in the product. For Internet Software, you just have to perform the fix to the 1 application. As soon as that is done, the millions of people who use the application will be instantly using the fixed version . For shrink wrapped software, millions of customers would have take the initiative and seek (download) out the fix (patch). And we all know how often companies try to force those updates onto us with their annoying updaters that secretly run in the background of our computers.
   


3. Reach - Practically anyone can use Internet Software regardless of OS or platform.
   

The line between Internet Software and boxed software is starting to blur. We see plenty of sites that allow you to edit video, edit images, play music, do your taxes, manage your finances, play games, and the list goes on. So I dare you readers to try to answer this one question, "Can you name something that you can do on your local computer that you cannot do using a particular website?"


Bye Bye Computers
Say goodbye to computers as they will be replaced by "terminals". I can envision just a thin touchscreen LCD display. That's it. All it does is connect to the Internet wirelessly. And of course, there will be other portable terminals as well ie. cell phone, tablets, etc. I wanted to point out that these "windows" to the Internet will not need much processing power whatsoever. They just need to be capable of displaying the Internet. So where does all of the processing and heavy lifting take place? The Cloud of course.


The Cloud


Remember Internet Software? So all software will be running on the Internet by now. All processing will be performed and handled by the Internet servers. So what else does that mean? That means that you wont be spending your money on a computer with the latest Intel CPU processor chip along with gigs of RAM and a high end graphics card. Instead, you will be purchasing to rent/own an Internet computer (dedicated or shared) that will process all of your Internet Software applications. So the more you spend, the faster processing speed you will get or the more server space to store files/information or the more Internet Software applications you get. So just think of it like buying a computer that is not physically placed at your home, but instead exists somewhere in Internet Cloud. Your terminal will be able to connect to your Internet computer so that you'll be able to perform or execute commands.

A good example of the Cloud is Apple's MobileMe. With this online service, you can store and manage your contacts, calendars, email, and files in one central place. After you set everything up, it can automatically synchronize with any of your devices such as your PC, Mac, or iPhone. So the Cloud stores everything and pushes the information to your devices. The concept of the Cloud pushing information to your device is a very important concept. All the work is done via the Cloud instead of your device. Your device just acts like a receiver.


Terminals
We are already seeing the trend today from the largest manufacturers like Apple, Dell, and Lenovo. They are creating mini laptops aka. "netbooks" and computers which dont have much horsepower but good enough to surf the internet on the go.

Dell Inspiron Mini 9





Lenovo Idea S10




Apple MacBook Air




Dell Studio Hybrid



Mac Mini



Apple iPhone

iPhone Review

I just got the new iPhone 3G from work. I never had a "smart" phone before, so I wont do much comparison with other smart/pda phones such as the treo or blackberry as I have no experience with them whatsoever.

Pros

• Email/MS Exchange
  I can check all of my email (work and personal) anytime, anywhere. Love the integration/sync of MS Exchange. All of my work contacts and calendar appointments are only a tap away.
  
  
• Touch Screen
  Apple did an excellent job of matching what feels natural to us with its gestures ie. swiping left to right as if Im turning a page of a book or zooming in or enlarging.
  
  
• Browser
  Viewing the Internet on a phone using a "real" browser is great. I dont like phones that use some custom internet viewer and web pages that are slimmed down to support them. I want to view web pages exactly as they are as if I was using my computer.
  
  
• Apps
  I like the wide variety of useful apps that I can download directly to my iPhone ie. Weather, Notes, To do lists, Tip Calculator, Games, etc.
  
  
• Voicemail
  Listening to voicemail with 1 click. No more will I have to dial my own phone number, press #, type in my password, and press 1 to listen to my messages.
  
  
• Camera
  When taking a photo, the entire screen is used making it very easy. I can also turn the iPhone sideways for wider coverage.
  
  
• Graphics
  2 words...Eye Candy. The graphics look so crisp and clear especially on a black background. I just want to eat those little application "pills".
  
  
• Earphone Headset
  Not only can you listen to your music, but you can also answer phone calls with it. The earphones have a small microphone on the wire. Dual purpose. I like it.
  

Cons

• 3G
  What 3G? I dont see it. Where is it? They should rename the phone to 3E (E stands for the slow Edge network) because I never get 3G. I cant even get it in San Francisco of all places. Not sure on where to put the blame, but there are only 2 choices - Apple or AT&T.
  
  
• Battery life
  Your lucky if it lasts a full day without charging. In otherwords, you will need to carry around a charging cable where ever you go. Here are some battery saving tips from Apple.
  
  
• No filesystem
  Cant store any files on an iPhone except for music (mp3s) of course. Yes, that means I cant store any word, excel, or pdf files. I can only view them when they are attachments in my email. I wanted to store a Caltrain pdf schedule on my iPhone, but cant even do that. Yes, I can go directly to Caltrain's website every single time to open the pdf, but then that would take too long especially when I dont get 3G.
  
  
• Keyboard
  Typing on the iPhone takes some getting use to, since the keyboard is on the screen itself. So you definitely wont type as fast as the Blackberry or Treo, but then again, the iPhone looks better. The on screen keyboard does get larger when you turn the iphone sideways, but it doesnt work for emailing or texting. Eh? What's up with that? Also, the iPhone has an auto complete feature where it tries to complete the word that you are typing. It does not work well and is sometimes really annoying. There are times where I want to misspell a word or use an acronym on purpose, but it will obtrusively auto complete it for me no matter what I do.
  
  
• Crashes
  Sometimes, when you are displaying a web page or using an application, the iPhone can all of a sudden crash. Usually, the browser or application just quits. But in some cases, you have to restart the iPhone itself.
  
  
• Pricey Accessories
  For example, the USB charging cable costs $19 and the outlet power adapter which is sold separately costs $29. So that means if I wanted an extra charger, I will have to fork over an extra $48 just to charge my iPhone over a plug outlet? Ridiculous. Talk about Monopoly.
  
  
• No Picture Messages
  You can send text messages, but you cant send picture messages. Weak. Instead, you can only send pictures as email attachments.
  
  
• No Software
  Does not come with or work well with any software except for iTunes. I wish you could use Outlook or something to be able to sync contacts or notes or something. I only use iTunes to sync music or to update the firmware. But I guess that's what MobileMe (paid subscription) is for syncing with the "cloud" vs. a local desktop.
  
  
• No Copy and Paste
  

Conclusion
The iPhone is only halfway there.

All About HD

I just got a killer deal on a new 50" plasma HDTV. Its all set up now and just wanted to share some things I learned about HD.

1. 720p vs. 1080p
   I am sick and tired of people complaining about 720p HDTV's as opposed to 1080p. Every time there is a good deal on a 720p HDTV, the great debate over the 2 resolutions starts, but never ends. Well, the plasma I got is 720p and I have no regrets. Take that haters! First of all, the 1080p's are almost double the cost of 720p's. Secondly, you wont notice a difference unless you are closer 7 ft. away from the TV. Thirdly, the only way to get your picture in 1080p is by using a Blu-ray player (or PS3 which has a built-in Blu-ray player). Lastly, Im not going to convert my entire DVD collection into a Blu-ray collection. So for me, 1080p is totally not worth it. But for those of you who want to shell out twice as much $$$ and will sit closer than 7ft away from the TV and owns a Blu-ray player and has a Blu-ray collection and can tell the difference in quality...good luck to you. Just leave the 720p owners alone.



2. Break in
   Did you know that you should break in your HDTV? Yeah, I didnt know that either until recently. Here's the scoop. The HDTV's by default have their color, contrast, and other settings set really high. That's because when stores display the TV's, consumers are attracted to the brighter and more colorful ones even though that is totally the wrong things to look at when buying an HDTV (more on that later). In any case, those extreme settings are too high especially during the first 100 hours of the TV. Its like when you buy a new car, dealers will often say not to drive the car too rough for the first 1000 miles. This is all to help prevent "burn-in" on your TV. Burn-in occurs most often by having static images on the screen for long periods of time. For example, when you watch TV, you will notice that most stations have their logo on the bottom right corner. Well, if that image stays their for a really long time it can leave an imprint. Or if you play video games, there can be many static images that dont move. So to break in your HDTV, people suggest lowering the settings and playing a special DVD (or SVCD) for at least the first 100 hours. I've been doing this for my TV and even though I dont know if its really helping, it doesnt do any harm. Im sure if people are posting specific TV settings and if someone went through all the trouble of creating a break in DVD, there has to be some truth in it.
   
   
3. HD Quality
   "Wow". I say that everytime Im viewing HD. Once you see and taste HD, there is no going back. Food never looked so delicious on the HD Food channel. Tivo Series 3 does an excellent job recording HD shows. It is so amazing clear that I cant believe it is a recording.



4. Cable Cards
   Because Im using my Tivo Series 3, in order for me to get HD, Im using 2 cable cards that I picked up from Comcast. It was fairly easy to set up myself, but I wasnt getting all the channels that I was supposed to, so a Comcast technician had to come by my house. Turns out it was just some wrong data set up on their end. So what is this cable card and what does it do? The cable card takes the place of a Digital or HD receiver because it does all of the unscrambling of the channels. So instead of getting a clunky HD or Digital receiver from comcast, you can just get a cable card and stick it directly into your HDTV. But not all HDTV's have cable card slots, so you will have to check. Its a lot cleaner this way because you dont have to plug the receiver and you dont have to use their ugly remote. But keep in mind that my set up is different because Im using Tivo. But can you imagine if my Tivo did not have cable card slots? Then I would have Tivo talk to the clunky receiver which then talks to my HDTV. Anyways, cable cards are a good thing. I would do anything to avoid those clunky comcast receivers and their nasty remote control.
   
   
5. HD Channels (Comcast)
   Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that I have Comcast cable (non digital) in the SF Bay Area, so Ill be writing about my experience under those conditions. If you have Comcast and use a receiver that they gave you, then this wont apply to you.
   
   
   If you recently bought an HDTV, most likely it will have QAM tuner and ATSC tuner. An ATSC tuner, will allow you to get "over the air" (OTA) local HD channels (ie. 2, 5, 7) . Although, I couldnt get any channels whatsoever in my area. A QAM tuner will also allow you to get local HD channels, but by using the coaxial cable. Now I thought that to get local HD channels, I would not only need an HDTV to view it, but I figured I would also have to pay extra for it. But currently, Im not. As long as you have a QAM tuner, you should be able to pick up local HD channels merely by sticking the coxial cable directly into your HDTV. But recently, the local HD channels on only one of my HDTV's have been disappearing. In otherwords, I cant view them anymore. The weird thing is that my other HDTV still gets it. But I heard that its because Comcast is gradually taking away those local HD channels. I guess you arent really suppose to get local HD channels for free so Comcast is trying to filter those out and make you pay for it. The Comcast cable packages are confusing, but I believe I have the Standard Cable package. It includes local channels plus the other popular channels like MTV. So with the addition of my cable cards in my Tivo, Im now getting all the channels that I use to get with the addition of non-local HD channels (ie. Discovery, TNT, etc). Comcast only charges me an extra $2 per month. Now to get the non-local HD channels on my other HDTV's, I would have to get a Comcast HD receiver and pay an extra $8 per month for each one. Am I confusing you yet?
   
   
6. Upscaling DVD Player
   If you plan to watch DVDs on your HDTV, do not hook up your old DVD player to it. You can, but it wont look that good. You need to get what's called an "upscaling" DVD player. These players will upscale the DVD video to fit and conform nicely to your HDTV. I think if you use a regular DVD player, you will get the black bars on the side. Costing around $50, these players arent that expensive. Or you can altogether skip that and get a Blu-ray player. But those are very expensive, not to mention the cost of Blu-ray discs.
   

Get Cash Back When Shopping Online

Did you know that you can earn cash back for many of your online purchases? Whenever I purchase something online, I always check 3 Cash Back sites (ebates, fatwallet, upromise) that pays me back 1-5% (sometimes 10%) of my total purchase. So the next time you buy something online, here is what you do (after signing up for an account on each of the sites).

1. Search for the online store on the Cash Back sites above to see if they offer cash back.
   


2. Of the sites, choose the one that gives the most % cash back (as it may differ).
   
   
3. Click on their special link that redirects to the participating store.

That's it. You just shop as you would normally and these Cash Back sites will automatically know how much you spent at the participating shopping site. In a few days, you will receive cash in your account. Then you can have them send you a check or transfer the amount to your bank account or even paypal it to you.

Right now, Ebates is having a referral promotion where if you sign up and make a qualifying purchase before May 31, 2008, we both get $10. Click here to take advantage of this offer.

Remote control a PC anytime...anywhere

Sometimes, I need to troubleshoot my parents computer when something goes wrong. The best way to do that is to remotely control the computer. Im going to show you the most effective way to remote control another PC for free. Keep in mind that this method is only for circumstances in which you would like take total control and have instant access to the host computer whenever and wherever you want.

Requirements:

1. Both computers need to be connected to the Internet...duh.


2. DSL or higher internet connection

Instructions:

Host PC (computer you wish to control)

1. Sign up for a free no-ip.com account



2. Click Add under Hosts/Redirects.



3. Enter a hostname and choose any domain name. For example, mydadscomputer.no-ip.org.
   Choose something easy to remember as this will be part of your login.



4. Install the Dynamic Update Client.
   This software ensures that the host computer ip address is always current and updated for the mydadscomputer.no-ip.org host.



5. Install VNC (free edition). During install, choose the server version.
   Run VNC and in the options, specify a password.
   
6. Turn off Windows Firewall in the Control Panel.



7. That's it. Both the Dynamic Update Client and the VNC server should automatically run in the background from now on.

Controller PC

1. Install VNC (free edition). During install, choose the client only version.



2. Launch VNC.



3. Enter "mydadscomputer.no-ip.org" for the server name and the password that you set in step 5 above.

Voila! Now I can control my dads computer wherever and whenever I want with a click of a button. My dad doesnt even need to be at the computer when I take control as long as the computer is on.

Now you might ask, why not just use something like crossloop to remote control another persons computer. The big difference is that I wanted full control of the host computer without having to call my dad every time I wanted to do so. With crossloop and most other remote controlling software, there has to be physically someone sitting at the host computer.

Computer Upgrade - Mission Accomplished

Phew! My new computer is up and running. And its speedy I must say. Well, I havent really tested out how fast it really is by performing benchmarks and having it do some major processing. But I want to get everything stable for now while I load in all my software and transfer all of my files.

My computer boots up extremely fast now. But one speed improvement I wasnt expecting at all is my internet. For some odd reason, my dsl connection feels like a T1. Im guessing its the hard drive that is boosting the rendering of web pages in my IE 7 browser. I thought that it was the internet connection alone which determined the speed of loading web pages, but I guess not. I can also hear my hard drive working fast when loading a web page.

I've learned a lot from custom building my new computer.

1. User Friendly - PC component makers are trying to make it easier for a user to install. Surprisingly, I only had to make 1 support phone call because I had trouble with the case. But other than that, the manufacturers dont want customers calling them 24/7, so they try to make it as simple as possible. How? 1) Installation manuals have lots of pictures. 2) Wires/plugs/components only fit in one way. Its almost impossible to plug in the wrong thing 3) Everything is clearly labeled.
   
   


2. Drivers - In order to get the onboard ethernet, usb, sound working, you need to install the motherboard drivers. Too bad the sound driver that was on the motherboard driver cd didnt work. So I had to download the latest driver from the website.
   
   


3. Startup Crap - I hate software that installs a bunch of useless things to run when your computer starts up. Whenever you install software, make sure you open up the registry or use msconfig to get rid of those nasty startup items. I like my computer booting fast and to keep it that way, I have to make sure that I get rid of these useless start up items.
   
   


4. Carbonite - So they easiest way for me to transfer all of my files would be to transfer them over my network. But that wouldnt work for me since Im using Carbonite to backup my data. If I were to transfer my files from my old computer to my new computer, I would have to rebackup those transfered files on my new computer, since Carbonite has no way of knowing that these are the existing files that it has on its server. So basically, you have to install Carbonite on the new computer and restore your files from Carbonite to the new computer. Its much slower, but that's the best way of doing it.
   
   


5. Software/Driver CDs - I have a binder full of software/driver cds. I've learned that most of them I can get rid of because software can get outdated really fast. Almost ALL software and drivers can be downloaded from the internet. And for those cds that you really want to keep, you can just copy the cd onto your hard drive. That way you can throw away the cd and install it directly from your hard drive.
   
   


6. Shred it and forget it - I had to use some free shredding software to make sure that all my files are permanently deleted and unrecoverable on my old computer. Who knows is it really worked. But since Im selling my old computer, I dont want to leave any trace of me behind.
   
   


7. New Every Two - This Verizon promotion allows customer to get a new phone every two years (actually its just a $100 credit towards a new phone). And I believe that this also applies to technology nowadays. Technology is moving so fast, that you have to upgrade your phone, computer, software, tv, etc almost every 2 years to keep up, if not sooner.
   
   
   
8. Overclock - I've been doing a lot of research on overclocking since a lot of the parts I got are optimized to overclock. But my machine seems plenty fast enough for what Im doing. So I havent decided whether or not I will overclock. But if I do, Ill definitely blog about it.
   
   
   

Computer Upgrade

I've been so busy researching and buying laptops/desktops for my friends/families that I forgot about my own upgrade needs. Last week, I decided that Im going to upgrade my desktop computer. My current Dell desktop works perfectly fine and it is only 2 years old. But so much has changed in the past 2 years in the computer industry that I feel that my computer is being left behind.

• Dual Core Technology - CPU's are so much faster now with this technology.
  


• Vista - Though I love XP and have no reason to migrate, but it is an inevitable upgrade.
  


• Demanding Software - With the new multimedia explosion of the internet (ie. online video), programs need more processing power to edit videos and photos.
  


• Serial ATA - This hard drive interface has been out for a while, but Im still using my old IDE hard drive, because I didnt want to reinstall all of my dozens of software applications.
  


• RAM - 1GB is now the minimum

Im going to be trying something a little different this time around though. Im going to custom build my entire PC instead of buying another full Dell system. In other words, Ill be buying every single component of a computer. This will provide me more flexibility down the road since I'll be able to swap in and out PC components as needed. Usually, it just takes 1 single component to slow down or even break your computer. Therefore, instead of buying a new computer, I can easily just swap out the messed up component. Building your own PC is definitely not for everybody. You really have to be a computer enthusiast and know what every computer component does. Its almost like souping up your car to get the maximum performance ie. spoiler, exhaust, etc.

Since I made my decision last week, there have been some amazing deals. RAM and CPU prices have plummeted. So I took full advantage and my computer is now complete (well...I still have to put it together). The only thing I really splurged (but still got a great deal) on is the Raptor X hard drive. It costs twice as much (at least) than a normal hard drive. But I felt that this was a necessary upgrade because the hard drive would be the only component that would slow or limit the performance, since my CPU, motherboard, and RAM are quite speedy.

In fact, hard drives are the only component that noticeably slows down your
everyday work with your computer. Whether you start or shutdown your system,
open large project files or applications or have the system load level data in
3D games, it is always the hard drive you are waiting for.

And now, I am proud to announce. My new baby...

• Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHZ (will attempt to overclock)
• GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard
• 150GB Western Digital Raptor Hard Drive SATA (10,000RPM)
• G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
• Antec Sonata II 450W Mid Tower Case
• Antec NeoHE 550W Power Supply
• BFG Tech GeForce 6600GT 128MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card
• Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Fan
• 300GB SATA hard drive (existing)
• Plextor DVD burner (existing)

Securing your wireless network

If you use a wireless router, I have some suggestions on keeping your network more safe and secure. It will also prevent others from "smooching" off your internet connection. A year or two ago, I went anywhere with my laptop and was able to get a wireless internet connection from a neighboring, unsecured wireless router. It was so easy, I didnt even have to configure anything since Windows XP automatically connected to the strongest signal. All I did was turn on my laptop and voila...I was online. Today, to my surprise, wireless routers are actually being locked down and secured. Is your's secured? Here are some simple tips that can be done in your router configuration.

1. Change the default username/password - If someone gets on your wireless network, it would be easy for them to log into your router using the default username/password and then they can mess with your DNS settings. That would potentially give them full control over the sites you visit.
   
2. Dont broadcast SSID - That way people cant even see your router.


3. Use maximum encryption - I think the most secure now is WPA2. WEP is not that secure.


4. Filter by MAC address - This takes a little more work and management, but is probably the best thing you can do to secure your network. Even if someone knows your SSID and password, they still wont be able to get in. By specifying this option, the router will only allow access to laptops that you specify. To find the MAC address on your laptop, just go into your command prompt and type in "ipconfig". Make sure you choose the MAC address of your wireless card and not your ethernet. Yes, that means everytime, you have a new laptop or your friend/family brings their laptop over, you will need to add their MAC address to the router's allowed list.

Read this article on more ways to secure your wireless network. But I think the ones I mentioned above are good enough. Anything more might be overkill.

Email Etiquette

Would you email out your home address to complete strangers? No? Okay, how about your friend's and/or family's home addresses?

Treat your email address info in a manner similar to your home address info. Do you want people stalking you at your home? Well in the same way, when you give out other people's email addresses, spammers and other bad people will stalk you.

One might say, "I dont give out other peoples' email addresses." Well...have you ever emailed a bunch of people and put all of their email addresses in the TO: field? If so, then yes you have done it. Everyone reading that email can see all the email addresses in plain view. One might then say, "Are you telling me I cant use the TO: field when sending to multiple email addresses?" YES...and sometimes no.

Check out the following scenario:

1. You want to send out a deal or coupon to a bunch of people. The people you want to send to are a mixture of friends, family, coworkers, etc. And they all do not know each other. What do you do?
   
   A. Put all of the email addresses in the TO: field. That way, your coworkers can see your auntie's and uncle's email addresses and vice versa. Also, when one of the persons on the email list does a "reply to all", everyone gets to see his/her response. Yay, now we can have a whole discussion on the deal with strangers. Instead of getting that one single email, now we have listen to everyone's responses and there is no way to stop it. Also, one of your coworkers decides that this is such a good deal, that Im going to FOWARD the email to his/her other coworkers, friends, and family. Wohoo. Now everyone's email addresses are being sent to more total strangers because when you foward an email that have email addresses in the TO: field, those email addresses are completely visible in the body of the email.
   
   B. Put all of the email address in the BCC: field. That way, all email addresses are hidden and when people reply, the response will only be sent to the original sender. Since the content of the email is treated more like an FYI rather than an actual discussion.

Hopefully, you would choose B. So when is it appropriate to place multiple email address in the TO: field? It's appropriate when you actually want to start or have a discussion amongst everyone on that list whether it be planning an outting together or discussing last night's episode of 24. Hopefully, everyone on that list knows each other and are of the same group type. ie. Friends, Family, Coworkers.

Now this brings me to mailing lists which is one of the major culprits. You create this massive list of 100 emails and save it as a group email list. You email this list weekly to give updates on your rantings or whatever topic. Here are my suggestions.

1. Respect and protect peoples' email address info. Therefore, when you send out your emails, please do not put their email addresses in the TO: field. Use the BCC: field.
   
2. Realize that you have assumed that they would like your weekly update emails. Im sure 99% of the people you send it to probably dont mind your emails. However, there could be that 1% like me who would prefer not to receive or read the emails. Then I would be forced to either manually delete your email every week or create a filter that automatically moves your email to the trash can. Whoa, that sounds harsh. Sorry, but I dont want to deal with more work than I have to when reading email. I have enough work reading other unwanted email or dealing with spam. Actually, surprisingly, I dont get much spam especially when using gmail. But that's another discussion. Anyways, its similar to signing up for an account on a shopping website. When I sign up, I always uncheck the "sign up for our newsletter" checkbox. But there are some sites, that dont have this and automatically sign you up for their newsletter and such. Therefore, just because you are signing up for an account, they assume that you want their newsletter. Bad boy! You've heard of the saying "Every man is assumed innocent until proven guilty." Now I'd like my saying heard "Every man is assumed opted out until he opts in." You hear that spammers? You hear that junk mail? You hear that telemarketers? You hear that shopping web sites? Dont send me anything, unless I have requested it. I dont give you permission to send me stuff.

Sorry for digressing. Back to mailing lists. I am not blaming you guys for anything because no one has ever told you or taught you how you should use mailing lists. And apprarently there arent any mailing list managing websites out there. I just did a google search and there isnt much out there except for coollist.com. I havent tried it and it looks like its currently not even working. Hmmm...Maybe I should create one?

So I guess I dont really have a solution yet when it comes setting up an easy mailing list. Since I have website hosting, they usually have mailing list managers, but they are not that simple to set up. But in theory, let me explain how mailing lists should work.

Add all of the people you want onto a mailing list that you create. Yes, in otherwords, subscribe them to the mailing list without even telling them. Dont worry, it should be okay, since its a gesture that you are just inviting them to this mailing list knowing that they can always opt out. No harm done. When subscribing them, members should receive a message detailing why you are adding them and include a link to unsubscribe to the list. You are really suppose to let them subscribe to it themselves, but its really hard to get people to opt into things. The most important part is the ease and the anonymity of opting out. People dont want to hurt your feelings by sending you an email that says, "Please remove me from this mailing list." So all of the emails that are sent to the mailing list should have a remove me link on the bottom of the message.

As I was finishing up writing this post, I ran into this interesting article on email. Notice how it reconfirms what I said above. Cool!

Tivo Series 3 HD

I recently upgraded my Tivo Series 1 to Tivo Series 3 HD. Nope I dont have HD programming. So why did I get it you might ask? Well, because Tivo made me do it.

Here was the deal (expired).

For a limited time, transfer your product lifetime service from a Series1™ or
Series2™ box to the new Series3™ HD for only $199. As an added bonus, we'll
keep TiVo service activated on your old box for another 12 months for no
additional charge.

My current Tivo Series 1 w/ lifetime subscription works perfectly fine. I've been using it for over 5 years now and I love it. But what caught my attention in this deal was the opportunity to transfer my lifetime subscription. Tivo recently retired their lifetime subs on all Tivos. You can no longer get a lifetime sub on a new Tivo. Also, you cannot transfer a lifetime sub to another Tivo box. So this would be my only opportunity to upgrade my Tivo box as well as transfer my lifetime sub in one shot. I dont think Tivo will ever offer the opportunity to transfer a lifetime sub again. In otherwords, this will be the only way to get a Tivo Series 3 with lifetime. But that $199 lifetime transfer fee hurts, especially when I originally already paid $299 for my original lifetime sub. Ouch. So that's how Tivo trapped me.

Why do you LOVE Tivo? - No one can beat the functionality and the user experience that the Tivo has to offer. It is smart, sexy, and simple. You've probably heard of the cable companies offering their DVR's, but everyone who has experienced them says that they cannot compare to Tivo. Tivo is truly one of my favorite tech gadget. Tivo really did an outstanding job when it comes to user interface. Its hard to think of anything to improve it even on my standards ;)

What are the main differences between Tivo series 1, 2, and 3? - A lot. Let's talk about the Series 2 first.

1. Series 2 has the networking functionality which allows you to network your tivo to your home computer which is connect to the internet. You will need a Tivo wireless adapter to wireless connect your tivo to your wireless router.



2. Once you have this connection, you can do several things.You can use TivoToGo which is the ability to transfer your Tivo recordings onto your computer. Once the videos are transfered to your computer, then you can do whatever you want with the video. ie. burn them on dvd.



3. Stream your mp3s and pictures to your TV and home theater system.



4. Update Tivo without using a phone line.



5. Use Tivo online scheduling. In otherwords, you can go to Tivo's website and schedule your recordings there. This is cool if you are not home and you forgot to record something. However, you must schedule the recording at least 1 hour prior to the show starting since the Tivo does the online update about once per hour.



6. Real time Traffic and Weather



7. Many of the series 2 are dual tuner which is one of my favorite features. It can record 2 shows at the same time. Therefore, you can also record a show and watch another show at the same time.

Onto to Series 3

1. Series 3 has all of the features above except for TivoToGo. This is very sad, but hopefully they will allow it in a future software update. I think Tivo ran into a lot of copyright issues so until they get those settled, no TivoToGo.



2. Can record in HD.



3. THX



4. More than enough space. 300 hours standard record time. 32 hours in HD.
   

So basically, Series 3 is much like the Series 2, but has all of the high quality sound and video capabilities.

So what happens to your Tivo Series 1 box? - So this box no longer has the lifetime sub. Tivo gives me a free year's subscription. But in order to use the box after a year, I would have to start paying the monthly fee :(

Online BackUp - Carbonite

I finally decided on online backup as a method of backing up my computer data. I never thought I would pay a subscription fee for any internet service, but it is well worth it. I was pretty good about backing up my data on hard drives and DVDs, but as gigabytes of Caden's photos started to accumulate, I started to worry. A while back, a bunch of Caden's photos were on my compact flash card and somehow the card got corrupted. We were so sad because those pictures meant a lot to us and there was no way to get it back. We would do (or pay) anything, just to get those pictures back. Luckily, it seems that memory flash cards crash frequently and there was software out on the internet that tries to rescue those files. It took many hours, but I was able to restore 99% of the photos :)

So I thought about all the ways to backup my data since they are more precious to me than anything.

1. External Hard Drive - Very fast and convenient. But what happens if my internal drive gets larger than my external drive? Then I would have to keep buying larger and larger external drives. Also, what would happen if I connect my USB external drive to back up my internal drive and something happens? Like a power outage or whatever. It could damage BOTH my external and internal drive in which my data would be lost on both drives. What if there was a fire?

2. DVD - Inexpensive. But a lot of my data is growing larger than the 4GB capacity. Therefore, I have to span my backup across several DVDs. And what happens if I change a file on my computer after I already backed it up on DVD? I would have to do burn another back up. You have to be diligent when it comes to backing up your data on DVD. You have to know what you have or have not backed up and you have to back up often. Also, I heard that DVD media just like CDs dont last forever. I just cant imagine that after my PC crashes, I would go into my binder full of DVDs and find out that they all arent readable. All that work for nothing. Again, what if there was a fire?

3. Online Back Up (Carbonite) - Let me just list some of the PROS that I experienced thus far with this service:

• Unlimited Storage: Go ahead and store you're terabytes of data. All other online backups have a limit.
  
• Set it and forget it: You dont have to manage it at all. It will automatically backup whatever you specify. It will do it in the background and will NOT slow down your internet connection. Its smart enough to detect that if you are using the Internet, it wont do any backup transfers.
  
• Inexpensive: The price is just right. $5 per month. Its actually cheaper than $5 in their 1 or 2 year subscription. So instead of buying that external hard drive or all your DVD media or paying someone to retrieve data on your crashed hard drive, use the saved money on the monthly fee.
  
• Restore deleted files: Ever delete a file and then empty the recycle bin and then wish you could take that back?
  
• Restore files easy: When you install the software, it will add a Carbonite drive in your my computer, just like your C: drive and your dvd/cd drives. Just double click it and you'll be able to navigate through your already backed up files. Then just right click the file or folder you want restored and select "restore". That's it. Just wait and presto, the file is back on your computer in it original location.
  
• Fire proof: So let's say that you have a fire and your computer is burnt to a crisp. No problem. When you get your new computer, just install the software and download all the files that were on your burnt computer.

Now you might ask, what can go wrong? Okay let me tell you how you can lose all your data even with Carbonite. All of the following need to occur at the same.

1. Your hard drive crashes
2. Carbonite's server hard drives crashes.
3. Carbonite's backup data center crashes.

If only 1 of the above occurs, you still have your data right?
If your hard drive crashes, your data is still safe with Carbonite.
If Carbonite crashes, well duh, you still have your data on your computer.

I just signed up for a 2 year term. I highly recommend them.
For more info, click here to go to their website.

Haha, as I was finishing up writing this post, I blew a fuse at my house and my computer shut off instantly. Luckily, my computer survived. Phew.