Internet tips

Browser security and privacy tips

Microsoft has made great strides in educating Windows users about the need to keep their systems secure by downloading and installing the most recent updates. (I still recommend that you set Windows' Automatic Updates to download but don't install, as I described in a blog post from last July.)

The irony of the heightened awareness of Windows updates is that malware is less likely to target vulnerabilities in Windows--or other PC operating systems, for that matter. These days, most viruses and Trojans use holes in your browsers, media players, or Web applications to breach your system's security. That'… Read more

Three productivity-enhancing Firefox add-ons

I'll save us both some time by getting right to the descriptions of three Firefox add-ons that shave minutes off my workday. Hey, they add up!

Navigate Web pages using only your keyboard. When it comes to speed, I'll take a keyboard over a mouse any day of the week. A post from April 2008 explains how to create a keyboard-shortcut list you can access quickly. I also wrote about using your keyboard to move and resize windows and shortcuts for Word and Excel.

Now I can park the mouse when I surf. Instead of clicking, I enter … Read more

Five simple PC security tips

The list of PC security products never ends. For every name that drops off, two more jump on. In fact, determining the best security hardware and software is a full-time job. Sometimes, you just want to throw up your hands and take your chances.

Maybe I'm just a cockeyed optimist, but I think you can stay safe without spending all your spare time doing research, installing updates, and generally becoming a PC-security expert. Here are five relatively easy ways to improve your security.

Use the firewall that's closest at hand In the computer industry, the reputation of a … Read more

Prevent infection by updating your applications

You may have noticed Elinor Mills' story out of this week's RSA security conference on an F-Secure researcher recommending that PC users avoid the Adobe Reader PDF program because of its unpatched vulnerabilities. The story includes a link to PDFreader.org's downloads of free Adobe Reader alternatives.

My favorite Adobe Reader alternative didn't make that list, however. Foxit Software has a reputation for patching its free Foxit Reader PDF program faster than Adobe plugs holes discovered in Reader.

It's starting to feel like keeping your software up-to-date is a full-time job. Last October, I described how … Read more

Three Firefox add-ons enhance Google searches

The first program I open every day is Firefox, and most days the first Web site I visit is Google. That's why I'm glad so many Firefox add-on developers have created tools that give me a new perspective on my Google search results. Here are three of my favorites.

Sharpen your searches with GoogleEnhancer The primary reason I click Google's Advanced Search option is to limit the results to a specific date range. With NettiCat's GoogleEnhancer add-on I can narrow my searches by date as well as by file type and a handful of languages via drop-down menus that are placed to the right of the search box.

As nice as the search enhancements are, one of my favorite GoogleEnhancer features is the addition of icons to the left of the results for each link's site. The add-on also numbers the results, though these don't really add much to the results, in my opinion.

Map addresses in a Google spreadsheet

If you store street addresses in a spreadsheet, you can now plot those addresses on Google Maps in just seconds, with no programming required. And doing so won't cost you a cent--unless you volunteer a contribution to the people behind the Map A List beta service that makes it all possible.

Start by pasting your addresses into a Google Docs spreadsheet. (If you don't already have a Google account, you'll have to create one, but doing so is also free.) Give the spreadsheet separate columns for the location name, street address, city, state, and ZIP code. Make … Read more

NCAA basketball brackets you can share

It's that time of year again: days are getting longer, the weather's warming up (a bit), and 65 college basketball teams are hoping to be the last ones standing when the buzzer sounds, ending the last of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament's 64 games.

For last year's March Madness, I created a version of the tournament brackets on Google Docs and Spreadsheets, and invited readers to download it to make and share their picks. This year's version of the brackets spreadsheet includes a form you can use to make your picks and post them … Read more

Are passwords our best security option?

Last week, Steve Bass described in his TechBite newsletter how someone cracked into his PayPal account, hitting him up for $400. Fortunately, Steve caught the theft in time to have the bogus charge reversed, but reading about Steve's experience made my blood turn cold.

The fact is, people get their online accounts pilfered every day. But this is Steve Bass we're talking about. I learned more about PC security from Steve while we worked together at PC World than I have picked up from any other 10 so-called experts. I know how careful he is when making purchases … Read more

Simple, free Web address book needs encryption

I spent a good part of the last week searching for a simple, free, and safe place to store my contacts online. Well, two out of three ain't bad.

The last time I synched my iPhone, iTunes offered to sync my contacts as well. I clicked OK without thinking. Before I knew it, I had lost about half of my phone's contact entries.

Backup? What backup? The entries in my Outlook and Gmail contacts were woefully outdated, compared to the contact information I stored in my iPhone. I had no choice but to reassemble the lost data phone … Read more

Gmail works offline, with Google Gears' help

Ever since Gmail became my primary e-mail service in 2006, I've been waiting for the ability to search my voluminous message archive without a network link. My hopes jumped with the arrival in 2007 of the Google Gears plug-in for Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Gears lets you store Web services data on your local PC, among other functions. Gears and Gmail are such a perfect fit, I was sure that it would be just a few short months until I was rummaging through my Gmail archives while disconnected from the Internet.

Wrong again. That's what I get for … Read more