Still About Windows 7

Here are some more interesting views about Windows 7, by Rick Broida of PC WORLD:

Windows 7: Five Unique Features
Is Windows 7 necessary? Yes, because some of its improved features simply aren't available for Vista or XP. Here are five reasons you'll eventually want to step up to Windows 7.
Rick Broida, PC World

Other parts of this story package are dedicated to explaining how to replicate Windows 7 features on a Vista or XP machine--and we offer so many suggestions that you may be starting to think that perhaps there's no compelling reason to upgrade to Windows 7 after all. If so, you should think again. Though Vista and XP users can enjoy some of the new operating system's goodies, either directly or by proxy, various highly desirable features are available only in the genuine article. Here are five that will require you to roll a 7:


Device Stage: Whereas Vista barely seems to recognize the presence of cameras, phones, printers, and other external devices, Windows 7's Device Stage treats them like royalty. The operating system devotes a slick-looking status window to each device, so you can browse files, manage media, and perform other device-specific tasks.

HomeGroup: At long last, Microsoft promises to take the pain and frustration out of home networking for users of its operating system. Set up a HomeGroup, and then add PCs and other devices--and without further ado you can share files, printers, and the like. Why did it take seven versions of Windows to get this right?

Jump Lists: Like souped-up Recent Documents menus, Jump Lists provide quick access to application-specific documents and/or tasks. For example, you can right-click the Internet Explorer taskbar icon and choose from a list of frequently visited Web sites or from a list of available tasks (such as New Tab and InPrivate). Once you get started using Jump Lists, you'll wonder how you ever got along without them.

Libraries: Most of us have documents, music, pictures, and video scattered across multiple folders on our PCs. Libraries are special folders in Windows 7 that catalog these items under a single roof, regardless of where you actually store them on your hard drive. And best of all, Libraries are easy to share within your HomeGroup.

One-click Wi-Fi: Unlike Windows Vista, Windows 7 makes choosing a wireless network to connect to simple and convenient: Click the system-tray icon, and choose from the resulting list of available hotspots. Granted, you can find third-party connection managers for Vista, but nothing this streamlined and unobtrusive.
See more like this:

Windows 7,
windows vista,
windows,
windows xp,
vista,
xp

Windows 7 coming this Fall

Windows 7 is already here and a beta try our version is already installed in thousands of computers. Reviews are generally good.
I have not experienced this new upgrade of Windows, but I have read a lot about it.
There are many new features, some very good, some not so good, but overall, within a year I'll bet that most people will switch. I believe that new computers sold after September/October will come with the new Windows 7 version.

Here is some "good stuff" from W7 that will be available, but that you can now install and use with your version of W Vista. (This info as usual comes from our friends at PC World:

"Windows 7 has an excellent taskbar feature: When you mouse over a taskbar icon, you get a pop-up thumbnail preview of the corresponding program (if it's running, that is). And if you're running multiple instances of a program--such as Internet Explorer--you'll see multiple thumbnails. To get the same effect in Vista only, install EnhanceMyVista Free. After starting the program, click Customization, Taskbar, and then enable Iconize your Taskbar. EnhanceMyVista is an easy to use yet advanced enhancing, optimizing and tweaking tool for Windows Vista. With a clean and simple interface it brings you an All-in-One set of powerful and neatly classified tools, settings and tweaks. As a bonus there are some unique and uncommon options too. Being permanently in development it is the best choice in its category.

--Rick Broida

To download this nice feature go to:

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,78521/description.html?tk=nl_ddx_h_dlfeat

Just copy and paste the above address in your browser and you are there.

George

AP IMPACT: Weak security enables credit card hacks

With the financial crisis looming on this is becoming more and more of a problem:

AP IMPACT: Weak security enables credit card hacks
-- Every time you swipe your credit card and wait for the transaction to be approved, sensitive data including your name and account number are ferried from store to bank through computer networks, each step a potential opening for hackers.
And while you may take steps to protect yourself against identity theft, an Associated Press investigation has found the banks and other companies that handle your information are not being nearly as cautious as they could.

To read more in great detail go to:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/14/AR2009061401320.html

George Freire

USEFUL FREE SOFTWARE : START UP DELAYER

This free software allows you to start your computer smoothly and in orderly fashion. You can configure the start up so that your most important programs start first and delay the ones that are not so important to start later:

Start up Delayer allows you to configure which programs to start first and which ones to delay when your computer is rebooted. You can set a custom delay for each one, even drag the visual display graph which shows you exactly how your programs are starting and allows you to easily modify the order or adjust delay times.

To download this free program go to:

http://www.snapfiles.com/get/startdelay.html

I have it in my computers and they all start up much better now with a lot less delay.

George Freire

SECURITY PATCH PALOOZA:Microsoft issues important updates to Windows XP and Vista users that fix some (not all) security flaws.

If you do not have automatic windows update functioning, make sure you update your Windows software with these important security patches.

George Freire

Security Patch Palooza: Microsoft Issues 31 Big Fixes
Information issued by PC WORLD, Todd R. Weiss
timestamp(1244645160000,'longDateTime')
Jun 10, 2009 10:46 am

It may be June, but Microsoft techies haven't turned their focus to summer vacations yet. Instead, company security engineers have been busy prepping 10 major software patches that fix 31 important security vulnerabilities in Windows, Office, and other Microsoft products. Eighteen of the vulnerabilities are classified by the company as "critical fixes."
Patches were delivered Tuesday via Windows Update and are targeted at Windows XP, and to a lesser degree Vista. Beta users of Windows 7 don't appear to have been included in the update. If your PC isn't set up to receive automatic updates -- it should be. Here is how.

Patches target the usual security suspects, such as new vulnerabilities found in Microsoft's own Internet Explorer Web browser. Also included with the updates is help for computers impacted by a rogue "antivirus" application called Internet Antivirus Pro. The purported antivirus program installs itself onto users' computers, then eats up huge resources as it slows systems down, flashes up constant pop-up messages (see above), and then downloads software that steals passwords and causes other havoc. Tuesday's Microsoft patches include a fix that can detect and help remove this rogue application, according to the security team.
Some Applications Get Patched, Others Not
Also included are patches for Windows, Excel, Word, and much more, all aimed at fixing the latest moderate- to critical-level security vulnerabilities recently uncovered.
One fix that didn't make it into this month's Patch Tuesday release was a patch to fix a generally rare vulnerability that involves DirectX and QuickTime. The security vulnerability can affect Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 users, but not Vista or Windows Server 2008 users, according to the company. The vulnerability can allow an intruder to take over control of a computer using an exploited QuickTime file. In the meantime, here's a workaround you can install to protect your PC from this possible vulnerability.

FREERASER FILE "DELETING FOR GOOD" SOFTWARE

Preston Gralla, one of our favorite technical analyst writers of PC World recommends this free software for those who need to delete files "for good", meaning that nobody will ever be able to get to your hard drive and revive files that you have deleted. He comments:

"Simply deleting doesn't actually get rid of the file or its data--it can be reconstructed relatively easily. If you're worried that someone might invade your privacy by restoring files you've deleted, give Freeraser a try. It's as simple a program as you'll ever find for killing files so that they stay killed.

How easy is it to eliminate files? Run the program, select a file to delete, and it's gone. The program doesn't just delete a file; it first fills the contents of the file with random data, then deletes it. That way, if someone reconstructs it, they'll see only random data.

Freeraser has three levels of settings for deleting files. The "Fast" one fills the contents of a file, then deletes it, and as the name implies, this is the fastest. The "Forced" mode is slower, and first fills the file with three separate rounds of data. According to vendor Codyssey, Freeraser uses an algorithm approved by the U.S. Department of Defense. And Ultimate is the slowest, filling the file with 35 rounds of data, using the Guttman algorithm. The program claims that it is impossible to recover the data in the file destroyed in this way.

If you're worried at all about old files coming back to haunt you, Freeraser is an easy, effective way of making sure those files don't come back from the dead."

In order to be able to download this software, copy and paste the following address to your browser:

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,77849/description.html?tk=nl_ddx_h_dlfeat

Enjoy,

George Freire

CODYSAFE FREE SOFTWARE

From our friends at COMPUTER WORLD here is another great piece of free software that can be very useful for most of you, especially those who carry files and applications from one computer to another:

By Prston Gralla:

"Why use a USB flash drive as a mere data shuttle? The free CodySafe is one of the cleverest ways you can find to turn a USB flash drive into what the developer calls a "computer on a stick." Install CodySafe on a USB stick, and it lets you take applications along with you, managing them along with your documents and the drive itself. The beauty of this approach is that you can plug your USB drive into any computer, and never actually have to store data on the computer or use the computer's resources. With CodySafe, everything can be done from the USB drive itself.

Install CodySafe on a USB flash drive, and when you run it from the drive, it looks very much like the Windows Vista Start menu. Install programs to the drive, and they show up on the CodySafe menu, just as they do in Vista; run programs by clicking on them. CodySafe also includes quick navigation to folders it creates, including Documents, Pictures, Music, and Video.

CodySafe also includes features for managing your USB drive, including a "Drive Doctor" for checking the health of the drive, an applications manager, and a "Find-if-Lost" feature that lets anyone who finds the lost drive find out your contact information so that they can get it back to you.

Vendor Codyssey.com also has a number of portable applications at their site that you can download for free to your USB drive, as well as links to other portable applications. Once you've got your USB drive set up the way you want, carry it with you, plug it into any computer, and you've got your applications and data, all within easy reach."


In order to download this software, copy and paste the following address into your browser and enjoy!

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,77843/description.html?tk=nl_ddx_h_dlfeat

George Freire

ARE YOU TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE GOOD INFO , FUN STUFF , TECH ADVICE AND FREE SOFTWARE PROGRAMS OFFERED IN THIS BLOG?

There are various items of information, advice and pure fun published on a daily basis and shown on the left side of the blog, such as:

WORLD WEATHER DATA
WIKIPEDIA SEARCH ENGINE
TECH STUFF ADVERTISED BY GOOGLE
STOCK TICKER
TV SHOWS ON LINE
MUSIC SEARCH ENGINE
THE DAILY PUPPY SHOW, (MY FAVORITE...)
FREEWARE DOWNLOADS ENGINE
ALL U TUBE VIDEOS YOU MAY WANT TO SEE
ESPN SPORTS NEWS

ETC. ETC.

If you have not taken the time to review the above items yet, try checking them out; they are all very enjoyable and you can also find lots of good tech info for your use.

Hey, I try to make this Blog as interesting as possible, not a boring page that few people would read, and for that reason I put a lot of work into it.

I would also very much appreciate that now and then you would post a comment of approval or disapproval, suggestions for improvement or your own stuff for publication.

The best way to do it is to email me at

gfreire@att.net

LOAD IT ON ME...

Thanks; I hope you enjoy the blog.

George Freire

FANTASTIC SCREEN SAVERS

Today I have three downloads for screen savers that will thrill just about anybody; just copy and paste the addresses that follow to your browser or just click them and you are in business. As always our thanks to PC WORLD for the information supplied.

HUBBLE IMAGES SCREEN SAVER:

Take your mind to the heavens every time your computer is left idle. The Hubble Images Screen Saver displays images of nebulae and celestial bodies, captured by the world-famous telescope.

There's no other information concerning the images than the names, so if you wish to learn more about spacey sights with names like "Eta Carinae" or "NGC-3603," you'll have to look elsewhere. But the full-screen NASA photographs will jettison you to places far removed from this mudane, terrestrial existence.

Options include setting the delay between images, image size, and transition effects. The software also includes a screen-saver utility.



http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,4327-order,4-c,screensavers/download.html


STAR TREK VOYAGER 3D SCREEN SAVER:

Do you ever wish that the computer graphics in recent science-fiction TV shows had more air time? With the Star Trek: Voyager Screensaver, you can watch a 3D rendition of the beloved ship as it soars through the galaxy.
Stars fly past at different speeds, and the perspective changes, so you can examine the bottom and sides of the ship (pointing out every flaw in the design, if you like). At intervals that you choose, watch the ship warp into hyperspace. You can also change the number of background stars, the length of the warp lines, and more.

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,3691-order,4-c,screensavers/download.html

OCEAN DIVE:

It goes without saying that you'd rather be exploring the mysterious depths of the ocean than staring at a computer screen. OceanDive plunges you into the ocean without risk or costly equipment. Immerse yourself in this 3D environment at nine different "cameras" in the screensaver.
This screen saver will let you get your toes wet (metaphorically), but there are greater depths to discover. When you register OceanDive, you'll receive a free ocean game and new screen saver scenes.

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,30083-order,4/description.html

You all have fun with the above.

George Freire

SPACE SNIFFER RECOMMENDED BY PC WORLD

Where did all my space go?" This question has been asked by every computer user since the days of the 5.25" floppy (probably since the days of the ENIAC), and SpaceSniffer is a fast, easy, way to answer it. While SpaceSniffer in itself does nothing to reclaim space, it does provide you with a very good overview of what's occupying the nether reaches of your hard disk.



Brief product description

SpaceSniffer is a freeWare (or, better, donationWare) and portable tool application that gives you an idea of how folders and files are structured on your disks. By using a Treemap visualization layout, you have immediate perception of where big folders and files are situated on your devices. Treemap concept was invented by Prof. Ben Shneiderman, who kindly permitted the use of his concept into this tool.

Start a scan process and see the overall situation. Bigger are the elements on the view, bigger are folders and files on your disk. You need more detail on a big folder? Just single click on it. The selected element will be detailed with its content.

Need more and more detail? Keep selecting elements and they'll discover their secrets to you. Need a larger view of a small folder? Then double click on it, and it'll zoom to the full extent of the view.

If you need to understand why no more free space is left on the media, keep following bigger elements. Maybe you want to focus only on particular file types... ok. Just type the file type on the filter field (example: *.jpg) and press enter. The view will react and show you only JPEG files.

Want to know if you have old files? Type the condition in the filter field (example: >2years) and the view will react accordingly.

You can also filter on file size, file date and combine all filters
(example: *.jpg;>1mb;<3months) Please have a look at features. Copy and paste to your browser the address below and enjoy!

http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,77951-order,4-c,harddisk/download.html

George Freire

I AM BACK FROM MY VACATION IN PORTUGAL

My wife and I got back from our vacation in Portugal this week-end. We had a great time and gained a few lbs...

Since you have had no new stuff in this blog for almost three weeks, I hope the following posts will keep you interested and busy.

More to come in the next few days.

Have fun,

George Freire

ANOTHER FREE TV VIEWER IN YOUR COMPUTER BETTER THAN THOSE ALREADY PRESENTED IN THIS BLOG

If you're not satisfied with the TV available through your cable or satellite provider--or if you're looking for alternative channels around the world--give the free RevoluTV a try. This free program lets you tune into TV channels around the world for news, entertainment, sports and more. The channels are all broadcast via the Web, so you don't need a TV tuner or any other special hardware.

Using RevoluTV couldn't be simpler. Install it, then choose from any of the many built-in channels from countries ranging from Argentina to France, Germany, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S. Then tune in to foreign news, entertainment and sports in the small video viewer. To help keep track of your channels, you can add them to a favorites list in the program so you can easily return to them.

In order to download this new software, copy and paste the following address on your browser:

http://sites.google.com/site/revolutv/Home

The software is free but the author accepts and encourages donations towards further development.

Enjoy and let me know how it works for you.

George Freire

HOW TO ORGANIZE FILES INSIDE YOUR VISTA FOLDERS

Here is a useful article by Rick Broida from PC WORLD for you Windows Vista users who would like to organize files in an orderly way inside any of your folders:

Use Stacking to Organize Files in Vista

I've done my fair share of Vista-bashing over the years, but the reality is the OS has a lot of hidden talents that go unheralded. One of them is stacking, a handy way to organize the files contained in any given folder. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it's one of Vista's best-kept secrets.
Suppose you have a folder packed with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. Wouldn't it be nice if you could divide them into "stacks," with one stack for each file type? Alternately, if you have a folder that contains a large quantity of files, it might be helpful to organize them into alphabetical stacks: A-H, I-P, and Q-Z.
Before you get started with stacking, keep in mind that Vista makes no changes to the physical location of your files. Rather, stacks are really just virtual folders, and they're temporary to boot. Thus, you can feel free to fiddle and experiment without worrying that you'll mess anything up.
1. Open a folder containing some documents, photos, MP3s, or whatever.
2. Right-click any open area within that folder and mouse over Stack By.
3. Choose the kind of stack you want: Name, date modified, file type, size, etc. Note that the available options will differ depending on the kinds of files in the folder.

Presto: Vista creates your stacks, which appear under the banner of "search results." That's what I mean when I say they're temporary: Stacks are really just a filtered, folder-specific form of searching.
If you want to save a stack for future use, click the Save Search button up on the toolbar.
Neat, huh? And while you're lovin' on Vista, be sure to check out Add Windows 7-Style Icons to Vista and Turn on Vista's Hidden 'Checkboxes' Feature.

See more like this:
file management,
windows vista,
document management

The above will keep you occupied for a while.

George Freire

I´M WRITING THIS POST FROM PORTUGAL

Friends,

4 more days in Portuglal and I´ll be getting back home in Chapin, South Carolina.

These have been two weeks of a a wonderful vacation, in a wonderful country, fantastic good food and great friends and family.

Our friend and former parishioner James Kruse who is now the Naval Attaché at our Embassy in Lisbon and his wife Susan invited us for lunch at his beautiful new house in Monte Estoril,(outside Lisbon),where they will spend the next 4 years. How I envy them...

I also had lunch with old school friends who graduated with me in 1955 at Portuguese Military Academy. Of course they are all retired. We as always, had a good time remembering days of our youth.

See you all soon.

George Freire

NO TECH STUFF TODAY

Just to tell you all that I am having a great vacation in Portugal.
I´ve been here 5 days and possibly have gaine 2 or 3 pouds...

George Freire

GAMES FROM PC WORLD

Friends,

Check this out from PC World, sent to me by email. I have not tried it because I'm leaving on my vacation tomorrow morning and I have to pack, but judging from prior stuff from PC World, it must be good!

See you all after the 15th of May.

George Freire


Today's Picks:April 24th, 2009
Runes of MagicVersion: 2.2File Size: 343KBPrice: FreeOperating Systems: Windows XP, Vista
Runes of Magic is something almost unique in the world of free-to-play MMORPGs: It would be worth paying money to play this game. To a large extent, Runes of Magic is a clone, or at least a close relative, of World of Warcraft. Runes of Magic is a "free to play" game, but that does not mean the company is running it as a charity. Runes of Magic is what is known as an "Item Shop" game, where you can exchange real-world money for in-game currency, which you then use to buy virtual items from the item shop.--Ian Harac
Read more and download this software:Runes of Magic

IT IS AMAZING WHAT COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY CAN DO!

Go to this web site and get amazed:

http://www.oddcast.com/home/demos/tts/tts_example.php?sitepal

Write any sentence and select any language you want to translate it to, whatever it may be!

The girl in the picture or the fellow, (you can select your characters), will speak the translated sentence in the language you selected in no time flat!

The sentence can also be written in any language and the girl or the fellow will translate it in spoken English or English American, the choice is yours.

It is very entertaining, try it.

You must copy and paste the above address to your browser.

Have fun,

George

I'll be away for a couple of weeks...

Friends, I'll be away for a short two week vacation from April 29 to May 15.

In order to give you some interesting stuff to experiment with, and... submerge yourselves in better computer opperating knowledge..., starting today and in the days to come until next Tuesday, I'll post a bunch of good information, which I hope you all will enjoy.

Thanks for your support in keeping this Blog going. Since its inception in December 2008, I have had over 600 visitors. Thank you, for if I did not have visitors like you, I would just close the Blog down and entertain myself with something else.

For your information, it takes a lot of work investigating, reading and composing, in order to bring you all this stuff. I have nothing to gain but my own satisfaction for bringing good and enjoyable reading for you computer users.

I would hope that once in a while some of you would just post some comments, whatever they may be. It is easy, just click "comments" and take it from there.

Thanks again,

George Freire

"How to Improve Windows Vista's Performance"

More from PC WORLD:

Just about every week I get emails from PC WORLD with wonderful stuff.

Are you frustrated with slowness of WINDOWS VISTA, after you have been working with it for some time? Go to the following site and watch a video from PC WORLD that will advise you what to do about it:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/157312/article.html?tk=nl_sbxvid

Copy and paste the above address into your browser and enjoy the video.

George Freire

"How to Start Up Your PC Faster"

PC WORLD is a wonderful source of good information.

This week they sent me an email with some useful stuff that you can see on the following site:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/157394/article.html?tk=nl_sbxvid

Copy and paste the above into your browser and whatch a video that will give you good advice on how to get your computer to start up faster.

Enjoy,

George Freire