Was Your Online Account Hacked

PwnedList is a tool that allows an average person to check if their accounts have been compromised. You can read more about where our data comes from here. Just enter an email address associated with any of your accounts to see if it's on our list.

Find Lost Photos in Your Email Account

Lost Photos (free for Windows, $3 for Mac) is a handy application that finds photos buried in the depths of your email account. Simply install it, enter your email address and password, and let it go to work. Lost Photos can scan AOL, Gmail, Google Apps, iCloud/MobileMe, and Yahoo email accounts for — you guessed it—lost photos.

What To Do if Your PC Gets a Virus

If you saw a message pop up that says a virus was detected, that's a good thing. Your antivirus noticed a virus and likely removed it without prompting you.

This sort of message doesn't mean that you ever had a virus running on your computer. You could have downloaded a file that contained a virus and your antivirus removed the file before it could ever cause a problem. Or, a malicious file on an infected web page could have been noticed and dealt with before it caused any problems.

http://www.howtogeek.com/126911/what-to-do-if-you-get-a-virus-on-your-computer/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=181012

Dropbox Makes Sharing Photos Easy

Managing photographs just keeps getting easier and easier. Now we snap images with our phone or tablet and immediately e-mail them to friends or family or post them on Facebook for all to see. Here is another way to leverage the features of Dropbox to share digital photos. Note: this may be a little technical for some, but worth considering.

Read It Later - now Pocket

A great free application for the PC and/or iPhone, Pocket provides a simple way to capture web related content (articles, websites and information  that you find interesting BUT prefer not to take time - at the moment, to stop and review the article. With a simple 'one-click', you save (or bookmark) that web page and site address for later reading. You can then return to Pocket on your i OS device or PC and view captured list of sites you collected/saved and read them at your leisure. Check it out http://getpocket.com and on the App store 

AES Encryption for DropBox - SecretSync

Many have learned the value of DropBox for sharing and syncing files across your PC's and devices. You know that it installs a special folder on your computer. Anything you put in that folder gets synchronized to all your other computers and devices. Now, even though DropBox encrypts files before syncing, you can add significant additional security to your very important and private files and documents. 

SecretSync works together with the Dropbox service to securely sync your files. It does this using client-side encryption, which means that before your files are added to Dropbox, they are encrypted first, on your computer. SecretSync also installs a special folder, separate from Dropbox, for confidential or sensitive documents. After installing SecretSync, you will have two folders on your computer, the SecretSync folder and the Dropbox folder.

Read more ... SecretSync

Have Your Account Passwords Have Been Leaked?

If you're curious whether your email address appears on collected leaked password lists, you can use a tool that quickly checks for you. Check out this site PWNLIST. Scroll down and enter your email address. Don't get nervous if your email was leaked (mine was in 2010). Your action is simple - change your password soon. Also, the site offers leak monitoring for free (personal). I have not checked that feature out. For those with time on their hands, read the article here.

Best Free PC Anti Virus

So Which Is Best?

Avira is the technical standout. It has posted excellent scores in recent protection tests and it also ran away from the competition in our performance metrics. The downside is a confusing user interface. I had to explore the software for a few minutes before I understood how to operate it. If Avira could make the software just at tad more intuitive it would have the perfect product.

Avast! may be a better option for users who want to fuss with protection as little as possible. It is nearly as good as Avira in our performance benchmarks and it offers a slick, simple interface. Advertising is kept to a minimum, as well.

Lavasoft and AVG are suitable choices, but both have a catch that may be significant for some users. Lavasoft uses far more resources than the competitors while running in the background and AVG has an unattractive interface loaded with advertisements for the full version and other AVG products. Both offer competent protection, however.

Last, and least, is Microsoft Security Essentials. It was not the slowest in our tests, nor did it eat the most RAM, but protection studies have shown it to be the least effective at stopping threats by a large margin. Missing 5% of recent threats in the AV-Test roundup doesn't sound like much, but all other competitors missed 2% or less. Going with MSE makes you substantially more vulnerable. See Best PC AV

60 Minute Security Makeover

Threat: It's hard to believe that attackers only need YOUR general or public email address to kick off the process of hijacking Twitter, Apple (and every other) online and mobile account. But in a recent study, attackers did indeed start with only an email address and billing address (available in many public records) to weak policies at for example Amazon and Apple and access accounts.

Defense: Don't use a publicly known email address for your account login and password-reset contact info. Instead, use one or more separate addresses that you reserve only for this use and not for any other type of communication. This makes it harder for someone who knows your personal or business email address to use that information to gain access to other accounts.

Bottom Line: create a second email address (try the new www.Outlook.com by Microsoft) for all password reset and login email addresses. Make September your security month!

Read more at ... PC World

Dummies: Taking Care of Your PC

Here is a great printable cheat sheet to troubleshoot and maintain your PC. Many tips and suggestions that you may find useful. Go to this link  http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/troubleshooting-maintaining-your-pc-allinone-for-d.html

Quick - Sign-up for New Outlook email

Microsoft has released today their revised web mail service for email called Outlook. Within the first few hours after launch, over 1,000,000 users signed up. As we all know, it is a good idea to have two (2) email accounts, one for managing online purchases, subscriptions, and blasts of marketing from online sellers ... and one for your family and friends. If you act quickly and sign-up for the Microsoft email account now, you have your best chance to establish your very own user name without having to add numbers, underscores, or abbreviated names. Click the link here: MS Outlook email.

Stop SPAM - Use an Alias

Gmail (and Yahoo and Hotmail) offer a simple way to protect yourself from getting spammed when you provide your email address to a website you visit. In Gmail, simply add "+keyword" to your user name (where keyword is any name you desire). For me, the email address I would use on a questionable site this address ... bobkyle+sitename@gmail.com. Gmail will send any messages from that website to your existing email address. Then if you find that that website is sending volumes of unsolicited emails or promotions to you, simply set up under Gmail Settings, a filter to delete any future incoming emails. For Yahoo and Hotmail click here. For a one time disposable address - I use  http://www.guerrillamail.com/.

Email Tool - Followup Then

Do you find your email sometimes becomes a To Do List or reminder system ... but the To Do's just sit there. Here is an email tool I have been using for a few months. It is an email reminder tool called FollowUpThen. For example: I receive an email from my bank notifying me that I have a CD maturing in 3 weeks. Before rolling the CD over 'at their rate', I want to check what is available at other banks and I must do this before the existing CD automatically renews. Using FollowUpThen, I simply forward that email to "2weeks@followupthen.com" (or other time specific keywords) and the service will send me a reminder email that I need to check other bank rates since my current CD is maturing. One thing that makes this truly a ToDo is to replace the existing email Subject Line with an actionable ToDo statement like ... "Check Bank Rates for CD Maturing on (date)".  Note: you can also use this to remind you of a request you made of others that you require a response.

Windows 7 Reference Card

July 4th gift - Windows 7 Reference Card ... tips, tricks and 'how to' hints.

Click the link.

Best Free Anti-Virus Software

PC World top two picks for free Anti-virus programs for 2012 are: AVG Anti-virus Free Edition 2012 and Avast Free Antivirus 7. Both have very good virus and mal-ware detection. Read more  http://www.pcworld.com/article/254121/free_antivirus_you_can_trust.html

Camera Simulator - Cool

Change settings, use aperture, shutter or manual settings, take the shot and see what happens. Great little site to give you a general view of what the various settings on that camera does. Try-it

http://camerasim.com/camera-simulator/

Let Your PC Run Cooler

We all know that heat will reduce the overall life of a PC. Over time, dust and pet hair is collected inside the PC basically forming a small 'blanket' on many components (including the cooling fan) and potentially overheating reducing the equipment life. Solution: buy a can of compressed air and carefully shut down your PC, remove the power supply, open the case and (while not touching any internal components with your hands or body) gently blow out accumulated dust. Now, I recently learned (who would have guessed) that a laptop is exposed to the same issues. See before and after photos of my laptop. 

Procedure: check this link for details http://www.pcworld.com/article/235434/how_to_make_your_laptop_run_quieter_and_cooler.html#tk.nl_hox_h_cbstories 

Your laptop will run quieter and cooler with this simple 5 minute maintenance task. Check the photos for my before and after conditions and my technology hints page for more tips. http://boginsolutions.blogspot.com/

Use PC Sleep Mode - Saves $24 a Month

Do I turn off the PC at night, use Sleep Mode or Hibernate. Studies by Lolo Labs recommends that putting your PC/Laptop in Sleep Mode will save $24.00 per month in energy use while allowing a quicker 'On' capability while not stressing your PC/Laptop with On/Off power surges. Read more ...

Free Antivirus You Can Trust

Can a free download really protect your PC? Yes, but you have to choose the right one. PC World's recent lab tests identify the most reliable no-cost security programs. The top two apps are: No. 1 = AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition 2012 and No. 2 = Avast Free Antivirus 7. My favorite is Avast (I like the lady who daily informs me I have been updated). Remember: DO NOT install two antivirus applications on your PC.

Tips on Using 'IDoneThis'

I Done This https://idonethis.com/  is a neat online website and iPhone/iPod app that allows you to record accomplishments and events in you personal, business and family life. It is free and very easy to use. Here are some basic tips and hints on how to use and take advantage of this application beyond just capturing completed tasks. Today, we are all have too many things on our plate and we move from activity or task to another activity or task. Then we need (or would like) to recall an event or activity/task completion - we are lost. Therefore, the bottom line for me: I like and use this 'tool' for one purpose - to collect and record things I want to remember. 

Here are my Tips for the new user:

• Once you sign up on the website - IDoneThis will send you a daily email
• Add the website to your browser 'favorites' or save the link in a draft email for easy access
• Download and install the IDoneThis on your iOS device(s)
• Daily - simply take 1 minute and reflect on those things you accomplished today, or events that contributed to your life and record the accomplishment
• You can record anything as it happens ... or at the end of the day (the tool allows you to record activity on past dates)
• IDoneThis has an excellent search feature - enter your keyword in the search 
• To allow you to view related activities, I created 4-5 prefixes that I include in each entry such as Fam (Family), Bus (Business), Pers (Personal), etc.
• Using those prefixes (for example "Pers - Went to Dinosaur World with 3 Amigos"), I can then search 'Pers' and see all 'Pers' recorded events
• Also, if you want to view all entries for a month, simple highlight the days of the month on the provided calendar 
• Once you have done a search or highlighted days in the Calendar the application provides you 3 options for exporting, printing or emailing your search or date results (see the small icons located to the right of the first date listed). Note: you may need to copy and paste results to capture them.
• Since this is a free app - there could be a time in the future that the service will be cancelled or convert to a fee based service, I recommend that as a minimum, you print or export/email the previous month's recordings to your PC or hard copy for a permanent record.
• Any questions - please email me.
• Note: explore the links and features of the site to become comfortable.

Extract Text from Images and PDF Docs

Free-OCR.com is a free online OCR (Optical Character Recognition) tool. You can use this service to extract text from any image you supply. This service is free, no registration necessary. We also do not need your email address.

Search Google ... Privately

I have always had a small concern about search engines and ISP's keeping track of who I am and where I search. It became more evident when Google announced the changes to their privacy policies. Simple solution if you are concerned - don't use Google search if you have a Gmail account (or Google account). However, from what I read, Google only uses the search history to tailor ads to your IP address - they do not have your authorization to share or sell your search records to 3rd parties. The option I may be using myself ... just to separate my searches from Google is to use Start Page  https://www.startpage.com/eng/ . This search engine is developed by ixquick - one of the services that does not keep track of your searches and prides themselves as a truly private search engine. I do like their star rating system - where they rate your search results with other search engines that have the same result in their top search outcomes. Check both sites out www.ixquick.com and www.startpage.com.

Feb 1st is Change Your Password Day

February 1st is the tech world's Change Your Password Day. Just a friendly reminder that violation of your personal and business web sites and accounts are more and more vulnerable that every before. Using brute force, computer generated algorithmic character strings, etc., computer techs are causing havoc. Check this - the 25 most common passwords in 2011 are: password, 123456, 12345678, qwerty, abc123, monkey, 1234567, letmein, trustno1, dragon, baseball, 111111, iloveyou, master, sunshine, ashley, bailey, passw0rd, shadow, 123123, 654321, superman, qazwsx, michael, Football ... so if you use any of these, you have a high probability of being 'HACKED'. 

Do you use any of these to log on to your email, online bank account, online store or any general information site? DON'T !. So what is the solution? Here are suggestions you can use (maybe set this month as a goal to validate and strengthen EVERY password you use:

1) use a Password Manager like free LastPass

2) create unique passwords for each site you use by using the last 4 letters of your street address and first 4 characters of the web site you are accessing

3) validate password strength at Password Meter 

How to Organize Computer File Folders

I am helping a friend setup and organize her file structure on her new PC. Although I have some preferences and biases, I decided to relay on Microsoft to 'suggest' an approach they recommend. I will provide the link to the detailed Microsoft discussion, but here is a high level summary of what they recommend:

1. Use Documents (or My Documents) - easier to find, backup and keep files separate from programs

2. Define and stick to a consistent file and folder naming convention - and stick to it

3. Keep folder names short - it is better to create sub-folders like Personal > Finance > Taxes versus a long file name

4. Separate files and folders you are working on from those that are complete - reduces searching

5. Store like files with like files - photos, documents etc. (they each have a different Arrange by method)

6. Create a folder structure that can be seen all at once - if it is too complex, it will be more difficult to locate files

7. Consider storing completed documents online - Windows SkyDrive, DropBox, SugarSync are a few to look into.
For more details and examples see Organize Computer Files

The Answer to App Addiction

If you are like me, and use a mobile device for productivity (and maybe just for fun) ... here is a simple four (4) step plan to get organized and simplified. Now a Rule you need to adopt -  no more than 12 apps on Page One, and no more than 12 positions (individual apps and/or folders) on Page Two

Step 1: Either remove all apps (not my favorite) -or- move ALL apps OFF the first our Main Page

Step 2: Now move your MOST USED APPS onto Page One ... or Home Page

Step 3: Move your next set of apps onto Page 2, but only fill 11 positions - leaving one space for a folder 'New Apps'

Step 4: Limit new apps for review to 1 week (and no more than 2 weeks) - and weekly review those apps and delete if you did not use the app

Now, if you need more info on this approach - see How I Beat My App Addition