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States should collect Internet sales taxes

Chief Editor Ted Como brings you the latest tech advice on Tech Bytes

Published Wednesday, September 30 2009 - (3) Comments

Before the end of the year, Microsoft will do us a very large favor - as well as save us money - by releasing Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE,) a free security package for the XP, Vista and Win7 operating systems that will protect your computer against viruses and spyware, Trojans, worms and other malicious software. It will effectively replace second-party security suites which require us to not only purchase them, but pay an annual fee for the privilege of using them.
No doubt, McAfee and Symantec security products have overcome problems that I and many others users encountered years ago. So when AVG released a free version of its antivirus and security software I immediately began using it and since, have never had a problem where something got by it. Part of my setup on a new system is to remove any McAfee and Symantec products and install AVG.
But from what I'm reading from beta testers, I'll be switching to MSE when it releases - which should be soon since testers have been advised to upgrade to the latest beta release to ease the transition to the final product.
There's no costs to download MSE - I'll advise you when it's released and where to get it. And there is no annual subscription fee. Testers say it's easy to install, easy to use, and updates and upgrades are automatic. And it got a thorough review through 75,000 beta testers.
Antivirus software should be part of any operating system and Microsoft has recognized that with Windows Defender, which provides limited protection, and its failed attempt at a commercial security suite called Live OneCare that was shelved last June. But MSE is a full security suite: it will scan your system for malware, check files that you import from thumb drives, block downloads from phishing sites, and use less memory and disk space than commercial products. It's fast and quiet, and displays an icon in the taskbar that, so long as it stays green, means your machine is clean.
Easier Searches: The search engine war between Microsoft and Google has notched up a bit with an agreement between Microsoft and Yahoo to merge search engines - search Yahoo and you'll get Microsoft Bing results as well - and by several new search innovations. While Google accounts for about 65 percent of the search engine market, Microsoft's Bing is the fastest growing engine and claims about 11 percent of the maket since its launch about three months ago.
Microsoft is testing a visual search through Bing - visit the beta test site at www.bing.com/visualsearch - whereby you look for information using image galleries rather than text links. The test currently centers on visual searches in the areas of entertainment, famous people, reference, shopping and sports, and features such galleries as digital cameras, dog breeds, movies in theaters, new cars, sports players and celebrities, popular books or TV shows, top songs, heroes and villains, film legends, greatest movies and U.S. states, among others.
It's an interesting approach; more focused that simply searching Bing (or Google) for images and videos.
And Google has unviled Fast Flip (http://fastflip.googlelabs.com) that combines "the best elements" of print and online articles. Fast Flips allows you to browse sequentially through recent news reports and popular topics which include feeds from some publishers. You "flip" through the information rapidly by clicking such information categories as politics, business, sports, world, health, opinion, travel, etc. Each category returns thumbnail images of related information sites. For instance, click on "Sci/Tech" and you'll get a couple dozen images that include the latest science and technology news from the BBC, private web sites, Smithsonian, Technology Review, the Washington Post, and others.
This design is useful if, for instance, you're interested in the latest on healthcare legialtion or some other focused informational interest.
As with any intense competition, the battle for search engine advertising dollars is driving innovation that we all benefit from. Note: if you launch a Bing visual search and don't have it installed, the site will ask to install Microsoft Silverlight, a web application framework that integrates multimedia, graphics and intereactivity into a single "runtime environment." The download is necessary to visual searches and will not harm your computer.
Facebook Scams: Facebook is more than a phenomonen. The number one social networking site in the world now claims more than 300 million active users and these aren't kids: the fastest growing demographic are users over 35, the average user has 130 friends, half of users log on daily, more than two billion photos are uploaded monthly, and more than 45 million active user groups exist on the site.
With that kind of incredible userbase, Facebook has become a breeding ground for scams and users need to take care they don't become victimized.
The most prevelant scam involves theft of log-information through what are known as phishing attacks. These involve messages posted on Facebook pages that suggest users visit a particular site, many set up as fake Facebook pages, If you visit the site, it downloads malware - most often a Trojan that allows the hacker to gain access to your computer. The site may also steal your Facebook login nformation.
Various quizzes and applications may be a scam: a popular IQ quiz on Facebook requires you to submit your cell phone number and await a text message. One user entered her cell phone number three times and then got a phone bill for $44. Another scam hijacks a Facebook page and then sends "friends" a message that the person is in financial trouble, asking for PayPal donations. Others can send messages to friends containing links to malicious sites, and steal passwords, account numbers and credit card information from your computer.
Never give out your telephone number online - at Facebook or any other site. Use up-to-date browsers that protect against phishing site; these include IE8 or Firefox 3.0. Be cautious of any links, and do not use the same password for Facebook as you use for online financial transactions.
If you're a Facebook user, visit and thoroughly read Facebook's security information at www.facebook.com/secutiry, for information on new threats and how to protect yourself. Do likewise for MySpace or Bebo.
Off Beat: When salesmen became associates and we began to insult chairmen by calling them inanimate objects upon which one sits, I began to mourn the purge of language by the intellectually challenged. Advocates of political correctness demand we limit our discourse to words which do not offend in any context and we are at the point where, according to the Times of London, where dozens of quasi non-governmental agencies in Great Britain (we should no longer use that term since it implies that other nations are inferior) are demanding politically correct use of English. Among everyday sayings that have been dropped are: gentleman's agreement (offensive to women,) black mark (offensive to blacks,) right-hand man (offensive to left-handed persons,) ethnic minority (something smaller and less important,) and master bedroom (implying I'm not sure what.)
It all started with words deemed inappropriate on the basis of race but of course, censoring language does not serve the intended purpose and how can it, when we continue to propagate racism by classifying people as to their race. Why, for instance, should the Census Bureau ask us about our race? What does it matter what race we are? How is it that we continue to allow race-based organizations such as the NAACP? At some point, I suppose, we'll refer to the recently deceased as living impaired.

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I'll second citigreg here... there's plenty of free software that is PLENTY capable of taking care of what ails you, without having to resort to Microsoft. Avast or AVG for antivirus, Zonealarm for firewall, etc.

C.K. Bigoldi | 10/2/2009 - 8:52 AM - ( Comment

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Microsoft isn't doing anyone any favors, get real. Look at that upgrade price for Win 7, what a rip off. If you want free AV, look at Avast! This one really does the job and doesn't slow your computer to a crawl like Norton does. If you want an OS that works, look at Linux or a Mac.

citigreg . | 10/1/2009 - 8:24 AM - ( Comment

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Considering how poorly Microsoft's Live OneCare performed before it was finally shelved, I have no faith in anything Microsoft might promote as being either "free" or a "security suite". I'll stick with my Norton Internet Security 2010... it's not free but it's proven & reliable.

QT P2T | 10/1/2009 - 1:24 AM - ( Comment

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