See What Google Knows About You

If you use any of Google's products, Google probably knows a lot about you.  While there are ways to opt out of some of Google's most invasive tracking features, use of Google's products will allow them some freedom to gather information about you.

If you want to find out what information Google knows about you, simply head to:
https://www.google.com/ads/preferences

The most interesting area was the interests category.  While many of the interests did apply to me, I have no idea why Google thinks I am interested in (to name a few):

• Air Travel (when I haven't flown on a plane in years)
• Bicycles & Accessories (I don't even own a bike)
• Hygiene & Toiletries (I guess I have some interest in this area, but I don't think I have more than the average Google user), or 
• Make-Up & Cosmetics (The only time I wore make-up was when I was in a high school play)

As a final note, the last option displays your settings for opting out of interest-based advertising.  However, clearing your cookies can change this setting.  At the very bottom is a link to install the "DoubleClick opt out extension".  This will permanently set your preference to opt out, even when you clear your cookies.

Change Your Desktop Background

Many people decide to stick with the default background for their desktop.  While there is no problem doing that, changing the background to something more exciting is easy and fun!  You can personalize your desktop for your favorite sports team, the next holiday, or even with your significant other's image.

To change your background, simply right-click on the desktop and select "Personalize".  (In Vista, you will need to select "Desktop Background" after selecting Personalize.)  You will then see a window with a few desktop options, but in the middle of the window will be a link:  "Get more themes online".

This will take you to Microsoft's website, where you can download from a variety of desktop backgrounds.  Many of them have a series of pictures that will alternate.

You can also add your own picture as a desktop background.  At the bottom of the window, click "Desktop Backgrounds".  In the new window, you will see a drop-down box after "Picture Location:".  Select "Pictures Library" to see all the pictures available.  (If a picture is not here, you may need to move it to your pictures folder.)

Four Tips To Protect Your Email

The more we learn about government surveillance and hacking efforts, the less secure email really seems.  Yes, there are simple steps we can take to protect our email accounts, but there are also many vulnerabilities in email systems that can be exploited.  Here are four reminders to protect your privacy:

1) Strong Passwords - If your email password is "password", it is time for a change!  If you don't want your email account hacked, you need to choose a strong password.  If you need help selecting a strong password, you can read my tip here.

2) Trust Your Gut - Got an email from someone you don't know?  It's probably best not to open it!  Did your friend send you a strange-looking link?  Better check with your friend before you click it.  If anything seems strange, it's probably best to avoid opening it until you're sure it is legitimate.

3) Keep Your Private Information Private - The best way to keep your information private is to not share it at all.  Before you send information over email, think about whether or not you would want it posted online.  Even if your email is secured, do you know for sure that the recipient is not using an insecure password or being careless about opening emails?

As an additional thought, don't forget that the recipient could choose to forward the email or post it online.  I once received a very rude email from the owner of a company, and I chose to reply with a snarky, sarcastic response of my own.  I ended up taking the matter all the way to mediation through the Better Business Bureau, and my email was forwarded to the mediator.  Even though I was able to pass along multiple rude, insulting, and profanity-laced emails I had received from the business, my case would have looked much better if I had thought before I responded.

4) Watch Who's Watching You - I once was logging into my laptop in the car with a friend sitting in the front seat.  My friend was jokingly pretending to spy on my password as I entered it.  Fortunately, I can type very fast.  (I can regularly hit 70-80 wpm on a typing test and break 100 wpm on a short sprint.)  To my friend's amazement, I had my password entered in less than a second.

What happens when that person watching you isn't a friend with a sense of humor, but a man casually chatting with the lady at the computer next to you in the library?  If you type with your two pointer fingers (and there's nothing wrong with that!), that man could steal your email address and password from over your shoulder.  If you must check your email from a public place, take a look around before entering any sensitive data.

See What Apps Protect Your Privacy

Do you read each privacy policy before you click the "Accept" button?  If you don't, you are certainly in the majority of tech users.  Wouldn't it be nice if there was someplace we could turn to cut thought the legal junk and quickly explain how each privacy policy impacts us?

Well, for Android apps, there just happens to be a site for that!  PrivacyGrade.org looks at the permissions each app requests and compares them to the functions of the app.  (For example, it will be fine with GPS mapping software accessing your location, but it will be skeptical if a free game wants the same permissions.)

PrivacyGrade gives each app it analyzes a grade based on the permissions it uses, and it also offers an more detailed analysis of the app's permission requests.  If you are concerned about privacy, check the grade and analysis of some of the apps you use most often.  You might be surprised!

Convert File Formats Easily

Have you ever been given a file only to find that you don't have the right program to open it?  Or do you want to send a file to many different people, but you are afraid that they will not be able to open it.  Today's site will help you!

Zamzar supports over 1200 types of files.  Simply upload your file, select the file type you want it converted to, enter your email address to receive the link, and click Convert.  You will usually receive a link to your file in under 10 minutes, and the file will be available on Zamzar's server for download for 24 hours.

If you want a larger file size, ability to do batch conversions, and priority in the conversion queue, you can sign up for an account for as little as $9/month.

Free Alternatives to Expensive Software, Part 2

Yesterday, we started looking at free alternatives for paid software.  Today, we continue our list.

Microsoft Publisher - Microsoft's Publisher provides greater control over your document than a simple word-processing program.  However, if you are going to go with LibreOffice (or another free office suite) instead of Microsoft Office, you may need to find a replacement for Publisher.  Scribus is a great alternative for creating professional-looking pages.

Adobe Illustrator - Part of Adobe's suite of programs, Illustrator is a vector graphics program that creates items like logos and signs that need to be scalable to a variety of sizes.  (Vector graphic images won't pixelate when enlarged like other image formats.)  Inkscape is a free alternative to Illustrator for creating vector graphics.

Photoshop - Another Adobe program that I'm sure you have heard about is Photoshop.  This software allows you to do image editing.  Professionals will probably want to stick with Photoshop (despite its $19.99/month price tag), but amateur photo editors will likely find that GIMP meets all their needs.  While it may not contain all of the features of Photoshop, it does contain most of the major ones, and there are many more available through third-party plugins.

Adobe Acrobat - Most of us use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view PDF files, but the full Adobe Acrobat software allows you to create PDFs.  However, you can use PDF Creator to create PDF files from any program.  This software installs like a printer.  Simply create a file in any program, go to print, and then select the PDF Creator printer.  The software will then walk you through the process to create your PDF file.

Quicken - Intuit's personal finance management software is great, but it is also expensive, especially if you want advanced features like rental properties or business income/expense tracking.  For most users, KMyMoney will do the job.  It is user-friendly and it still syncs with your online banking like Quicken.  The only reason I use Quicken instead of KMyMoney to track my business expenses is that Quicken allows me to scan my receipts and attach them to a transaction.

If you want income and expense tracking that can go with you anywhere, consider using Mint.com.  Mint is an online program that will sync across all of your devices to keep track of your spending and help you set financial goals.  Mint also has Android, iOS, and Windows Phone apps to track spending on the go.  Mint was independent when it started out, but it became so popular that Intuit (the makers of Quicken and QuickBooks) bought it in 2009.

QuickBooks - Unless you are a business owner, you probably don't need QuickBooks or a replacement for it.  However, if you have your own business and find that Quicken isn't powerful enough for you, check out Front Accounting ERP.  It does not currently handle payroll, but there are payroll add-ons available.

Obviously, no one could write a complete list of paid software and available free counterparts.  If you are looking for an alternative to a particular program, consider searching for "Open Source alternative for [Program]" and see what results you get.  If there is an open-source program available, chances are good that it will show up on the first pages.

Free Alternatives to Expensive Software, Part 1

Software can be expensive.  Very expensive.  The cost of Windows alone runs over $100, Microsoft Office will set you back another $100, and various other software can quickly add up.  By the time you're done, the cost of the software you are loading onto a computer can easily exceed the cost of the physical components.

However, for many of these expensive software programs, there are free alternatives available.  Before you pay hundreds of dollars for expensive software, it might be worth your time to see if a free program might meet your needs.  While these programs will differ in their capabilities and performance, many of them will work similar to their expensive counterparts.

By now, you are probably wondering, "Are these programs really free?"  The answer is yes!  Many of these programs are considered open-source, which means that the program's code is freely available.  If you know how to write code, you could even download the code and edit it to add features.  (While I have some familiarity with coding, I prefer to simply contact the software developer and request that they add a new feature in the next version.)

The companies that produce open-source software make their money from selling support and custom development packages to companies that use their software.  Many will also ask for a donation when you download the software.  A few of the programs on this list are not open-source, but in each case, the company has developed its own way to cover its costs outside of charging for the software.

Now, here is my list of free replacement software:

Windows - Yes, you aren't stuck with Windows on a non-Apple computer.  There are many open-source operating systems available for your computer, most of which are based on the Linux kernel.  My preferred version is Ubuntu.  For geeks, a new version is released every six months, and for typical users, an edition is released every-other April that offers long-term (5 years) support for security flaws.

I recommend sticking with Windows unless you are an advanced computer user.  Installing an operating system has become much easier, but it still takes some know-how.  Then, you will have to learn an entirely new interface.  Finally, most computers come with a Windows license included in the purchase, so there is really no reason to switch to a different operating system unless you are building your own system.

Office - Before you spend over $100 on a version of Office, give LibreOffice a try.  Before I started my business and wanted to use some of the more advanced programming features of Access, I was a LibreOffice user exclusively.  Writer, Calc, and Impress have almost all of the features of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and they even contain some that are not included in Microsoft's software.  Plus, they can open and save documents in Office format, so you can easily share documents with Office users.  If I have one criticism, it would be the lack of features in the database program (Base), but most users are not going to be creating complex databases, anyway.

Outlook - One item included with some versions of Microsoft Office that is missing in LibreOffice is a desktop email client.  While most people simply connect to their email from a browser window, some people prefer to have desktop software for offline access to email.  If you are among the group preferring desktop email access, check out Thunderbird.  It contains most of the features of Outlook.

Internet Explorer - Internet Explorer is already a "free" program (included with your purchase of Windows), but you may find that another internet browser may work better for you.  Firefox is a great open-source browser that many say works faster and better than Internet Explorer.  Google's Chrome browser is my preferred choice, but many people try to avoid using Google products.

Windows Media Player - This one is also "free" with Windows, but once again, there are other options available.  One of my favorite media players is VLC.  This is a lightweight player that, in my opinion, functions much better than Media Player.  It does not require codec installation for different media formats, and it also has the ability to play broken files that other media players will not play.

I'm running out of space for today, but we're not done yet!  Tomorrow, I will finish the list for you!

Using the Windows Key

If you use a Windows computer, you have probably figured out that the key with the Windows logo (usually located between the Ctrl and Alt keys on at least one side of your keyboard) will open the Start menu.  However, the Windows logo key can be combined with many other keys to create a variety of shortcuts to perform useful features on your computer.  Here are a few of the ones I use the most:

Windows + E - Opens a Windows Explorer window, which allows you to view all the files on your computer.

Windows + F - Opens a search box, allowing you to search for files, programs, and Windows tools.

Windows + L - Locks your computer, requiring a login screen (and password, if applicable) to get back to your desktop.

Windows + T - Cycles selection of the programs located on the taskbar.  This is helpful if you want to open a program off the taskbar and your mouse is not working.

Windows + [Number] - Using the Windows key plus the number 1 will open the first program on the taskbar, or it will switch to that program if already opened.  Using the 2 key will open the second program, etc.  This works for all 9 numbers, plus the 0 (10th item).

Windows + [Arrow] - The Windows key can be combined with the arrow keys to resize Windows.  Using the up arrow will maximize the window.  Using the down arrow will unmaximize the window (restore it to its previous size).  Using the down arrow on a window that is already unmaximized will minimize it.  Using the right and left arrows will maximize the windows on one-half of the screen (left for the left side and right for the right side).

Staying Safe on Public Wi-Fi

Free Wi-Fi is wonderful when you are travelling away from home or you work some distance away from a home or office.  However, free unsecured Wi-Fi can also be a way for someone else to gain access to your computer or your data.  There are many tricks that people can use to threaten your security.  Here are a few tips to stay safe when you are using public Wi-Fi.

1) Recognize You Are Vulnerable - Unless you absolutely must, avoid connecting to any site where you have to enter your password when you are using public Wi-Fi.  This includes email, online banking, and social networking sites (probably the majority of the sites that you use).  Also avoid making any purchases where you have to enter your credit card information.

2) Mark Your Network Public - The Windows Firewall has three built-in levels of security:  home, work, and public.  When you connect to a network for the first time, Windows will ask you to identify it as one of these three.  Be sure to select "Public" for unsecured Wi-Fi.  This will activate a stricter set of rules for allowed connections.

3) Verify the Network Name - For a long time, a restaurant that I frequented because of its free Wi-Fi had a very strange name for its network.  (I can't remember exactly what it was, but it had nothing to do with the restaurant's name.)  But what would happen if someone set up nearby with a network that contained that restaurant's name?  Most people would probably connect to that network thinking it was the restaurant's Wi-Fi network, but all their data would now be going through someone else's hands on its way to the web.

To avoid using a malicious Wi-Fi network, be sure to double-check the network name with a server at a restaurant or a front desk clerk at a hotel before you connect.

4) Connect Securely - HTTPS Everywhere is a free add-on for Chrome, Firefox, and Opera that forces sites to use a secure connection whenever it is available.  Most major websites have support for secure connections on the entire site, but only use secure connections by default when entering personal information.  This utility will force sites to connect securely if they are designed to do so.  However, understand that it cannot force a site to connect securely if it the site owner has not enabled a secure connection.

If you must connect to a site where you have to enter a password or other information, at a minimum, be sure the address begins with "https://", indicating a secure connection.

5) Use a VPN - A Virtual Private Network (VPN) sends all data in an encrypted format to the VPN provider, who then forwards the traffic to the internet.  Returning traffic is sent to the VPN provider, who encrypts it before forwarding it back to your computer.  Using a VPN makes it much more difficult for an intruder to gain access to your data.  SecurityKISS offers a free VPN with a 300MB/day cap (this should be more than enough for checking email a few times from a hotel or coffee shop).  If you think you will use more data per day, you can purchase a one month plan at a low cost.

If you must give personal information over public Wi-Fi, a VPN is a much safer option than a secure connection.  Plus, since you now have a free option for a VPN, there is no reason not to use one!

How Safe Is PayPal?

Recently, a friend asked my opinion on the safety of PayPal.  I have not researched the exact security methods that PayPal uses, so I cannot comment on exactly what PayPal is doing to keep your information safe.  However, I did make two points regarding PayPal.

First, PayPal's entire business model depends on its security.  If PayPal's security is less than what you would expect to find on an average retailer's site, then no one would be interested in using PayPal.  PayPal knows that one major hack could cause enough people to lose trust and make it go under.  Therefore, I would expect that PayPal's security procedures are similar to that of the largest banks.

Second, given the number of hacks that have occurred recently, I would be most interested in keeping my credit card number in as few places as possible.  If a site offers PayPal as an option, I usually choose that option.  I can then keep my card number in one place (PayPal) as opposed to two places (PayPal and that retailer).  (Obviously, this assumes that you already have a card number entered into PayPal.)  If you think about all the retailers that you might do business with online, paying with PayPal whenever possible will greatly reduce your vulnerability.

Five Online Threats You Need to Know About

It seems like there is no end to the ideas people come up with to steal information from you and your computer.  Most people lump all these threats into a single category of "viruses", but the term actually refers to a specific type of threat that is somewhat rare in comparison to other threats.  While you may not need to know the specific terms for the myriad of threats we face online, it is important to be aware of the types of threats that we will face and how we can avoid falling victim to them.

Trojans - The term trojan comes from the Trojan Horse of Greek history, where Greek soldiers were hidden inside a horse that the soldiers of Troy took to be a peace offering.  Trojans are usually installed along with a free download.  Sometimes, the a person will write a free useful program and package it along with the trojan for download.  However, it is more common for people to take a legitimate free download and build a new installation program that will install the program and a trojan.  By getting toward the top of the search list, a person can trick many people into downloading the program from their site instead of from the legitimate site.

We can steer clear of trojans by being careful of what we install on our computers.  Do not simply begin searching for free software to solve a particular problem.  Do some research and select a legitimate software provider for a particular program type, and then make sure you only download it from the company's site.  Also, make sure you stay away from sites that offer paid software for free or at a greatly reduced price.  That $10 version of Windows probably has several of these threats built in to it.

Phishing - Phishing gets its name from the idea of catching fish:  you throw bait out and see if you can get anything to bite.  A phishing scam usually begins when you receive an email from a company claiming that suspicious or unauthorized activity has taken place on your account and provides a link for you to confirm your information.  Then, you immediately enter panic mode, click the link, enter your information, and it gets sent to hackers in Russia or China who will then actually hack your account.

We can avoid phishing scams by staying away from those email links.  Remember, no legitimate company will ever send you an email link asking you to confirm your personal information.  They will always ask you to go to their website and log in.  Also, for the few that do trick us when our minds enter panic mode, installing a browser add-on like Bitdefender's Traffic Light will double-check the sites we are visiting and warn us when one claims to be something it is not.  (I actually clicked on a link once, and Traffic Light popped up a warning saying that this site was asking for my Amazon credentials but did not appear to be associated with Amazon.)  Finally, if you use a password manager to generate random passwords, the password manager will recognize when an unaffiliated website is asking for you information and refuse to give it up.  As one person put it, "You can't accidentally give your password to the wrong person if you don't know what your password is."

Pharming - Pharming is similar to phishing in that the goal is to get you to give up your personal information, but it differs in how it goes about getting it.  In phishing, you receive an email and click on the link that takes you to the site.  However, in pharming, software on your computer convinces your browser to go somewhere you don't want it to go.  When you try to go to Ebay or Amazon, the software will step in and tell your computer to go to a similar-looking page that will steal your login credentials.

Unlike the two threats above, you actually do nothing wrong in a pharming threat (unless you allow the program to install on your computer.)  You enter amazon.com, but the software on the computer automatically has your browser go to an illegitimate site.  Besides having an up-to-date antivirus, the best way to stop a pharming scam is to check the address bar at the top.  If you simply type ebay.com and end up at a site with a 1000-character address, you may be a victim of pharming.  Also, be careful of the information you enter on a public computer.  It would be very easy for someone to slip software on the computer to conduct pharming scams.

Ransomware - Ransomware is designed to hold your computer hostage until you pay a fee.  The two most popular ransomware threats are the FBI scam and Cryptolocker.  In the FBI scam, the computer boots to a message claiming that your computer has been locked by the FBI and you must pay a fine in order to access everything.  Cryptolocker would encrypt all your personal files and then require you to pay a fee to get the encryption key in order to decrypt them.

The FBI scam was relatively easy to solve with a good software program that could boot around the ransomware, but Cryptolocker was much more dangerous because removing it still did not give you access to your files.  While there were sometimes ways to recover your files, there were other occasions where you had to hope that important files had been backed up.  Good browsing habits and a good antivirus would help you avoid these threats sometimes, but unfortunately, they may still find a way to get on your computer.

Spyware - Spyware is designed to track your activity and then transmit it back to someone else.  Some people may use spyware to check on a spouse they think is cheating or to track their kids' internet activity.  However, others will use spyware to steal your information or invade your privacy.  Keyloggers are designed to keep track of everything you type and transmit it back to a location.  When you enter your email password, banking password, or social security number, it is stored and then sent later.  Adware is a little less threatening:  it simply keeps track of the sites you visit and then begins displaying advertising for products it thinks will interest you.

Scanning with a good antivirus software (or even several programs) is the only way to stop spyware, although good browsing habits can limit your chances of getting it.  If you suspect that your computer is infected, it is best to stop using it altogether until you can get it cleaned.  Also, be sure to check the terms of use for everything you install.  You may be giving the publisher of a program permission to install adware on your computer, too.

Seven Security Programs You Should Have on your Computer

If you have a Windows computer, you probably know that you need an antivirus.  But did you know that you need more security software than just an antivirus?  Here are seven types of security software you should have on your computer:

1) Antivirus - We'll start with the most obvious one.  Antivirus software is designed to protect you from threats trying to get onto your computer.  Antivirus software actively scans to protect you from the latest threats.  In addition to performing regular scans of your hard drive, it will usually scan websites and downloads.  If you do not have an antivirus on your computer, Avast and AVG are the two free programs I recommend.  Make sure you only have one antivirus program that is actively scanning your computer.  Running more than one program will cause conflicts that may allow viruses into your computer.

2) Firewall - A firewall uses rules to determine which network connections to allow.  Without a firewall, anyone who knows or guesses your internet address (known as an IP address) can send you messages.  While we can't stop them from sending messages to your IP address, we can stop those messages from ever reaching your computer.  Most firewalls are configured upon installation to work with your computer, but you may need to enter exceptions to allow programs to connect to the internet.

Fortunately, Windows has a built-in firewall that runs automatically unless it detects another firewall, so you probably already have a firewall running.  To check your firewall settings or enter exceptions, simply type "Windows Firewall" into a search box.  If you want to use something other than the Windows Firewall, I recommend ZoneAlarm's free firewall.  Just like antivirus software, you should never run more than one firewall on a computer.

3) Emergency Cleanup - It doesn't matter how good your antivirus is, it will not catch everything.  When something slips past your antivirus software and a full scan still won't catch it, it is time to call in some backup!  These programs scan like antivirus software, but they do not actively scan everything in the background and they are designed to work alongside your primary antivirus.

My preferred programs are Hitman Pro and Malwarebytes Anti-Malware.  Malwarebytes is totally free (although it will offer you a free trial of its premium version).  Hitman Pro is free to scan.  If malware is detected, it will offer you a free 30-day trial license to remove it.  If you have already used the 30-day trial once, you will need to purchase a license in order to remove any malware.

4) Emergency Boot - Malware is continually finding ways to make it harder to remove.  I dealt with a computer recently that blocked the download of just about any antivirus software.  Fortunately, I already had software downloaded onto a flash drive!  Recently, there has been an abundance of malware that stops the boot process.  The FBI scam is the most notable example.  Instead of booting to your desktop, your computer is taken to a screen claiming that your computer has been locked by the FBI and requiring a MoneyPak code be entered to pay your "fine".

These emergency boot programs will bypass your computer's normal boot process in order to allow you to run their scanner.  My preferred emergency boot programs are made by the same companies that I recommend for emergency cleanup programs:  Hitman Pro with Kickstart and Malwarebytes Chameleon.  Both programs contain instructions on how to set up a flash drive with the software for your use.

5) Website Reputation - When you conduct a search on Google (or some other site), the pages are ranked in order of the search engine's perceived relevance to your search terms.  However, there are companies that specialize in getting websites to the top of your search results.  If these companies are able to manipulate search engines to get to the top of your results, don't you think that the bad guys know the same tricks to get their pages up there, too?

When you get a list of search results or even visit a site, do you know what pages are safe and what are not?  Fortunately, there are products that specialize in providing analysis of pages.  My favorite is Bitdefender Traffic Light.  It will analyze each page you visit and give you a green light (appears safe), a yellow light (appears questionable), or a red light (not safe).  The traffic light appears at the top of your browser window and also next to your search results.  Bitdefender Traffic Light is available for Chrome, Firefox, and Safari, but it is not currently available for Internet Explorer.

6) Ad Blocker - For years, I refused to use or recommend using an ad blocker.  I felt that advertising was the price we had to pay for the availability of free content on the internet, and I still hold that opinion today.  However, recent stories of advertising networks allowing malicious software to be transmitted through their ads has changed my opinion on ad blockers.

I now use AdBlock Plus to block advertising.  It is available for all major browsers, and it offers a great compromise between my feelings on internet advertising and security by not blocking non-invasive advertising (the criteria for this determination is set out on their website).  If advertising networks are not going to keep us safe, then we will have to take the necessary steps to do it ourselves.

7) Privacy Protection - Websites are getting sneakier at tracking everything you are doing online so that they can give you "relevant" ads.  Recently, it was revealed that two of the most popular cellular providers were using "supercookies" that were difficult to remove in order to track users.  It seems like everywhere you go, there is someone wanting to watch you.

To assist in protecting my privacy online, I use Blur (formerly DoNotTrackMe).  This will stop secret data collection on your devices.  It also has the ability to mask your email address with a disposable one and generate and store secure passwords for all your accounts.  (I do not currently use the password feature and I rarely use the email feature.  I primarily use it to block tracking.)  Blur is available on all major browsers and also for your mobile devices.

Do I Need to Update My Antivirus?

I received the following question from a reader last week:

"My AVG keeps telling me it is downloading updates.  Is it normal for it to always be updating?"

Yes, it is normal for an antivirus program like AVG to be updated regularly.  More on that in a minute.  However, I first want to address one other issue.  If it seems like your antivirus is constantly updating, it might be a good idea to make sure that updates are actually being downloaded and installed.  To check this, open your antivirus software from either the Start Menu or the Notification Tray (near the clock).  Then, search for a place where it lists the date of the last update (it could be in a variety of places depending on what software you are using).  If it is more than 24-36 hours old, there is probably something not working properly with the update process.  If you cannot quickly solve the issue, I would recommend uninstalling and reinstalling your antivirus.

Now, back to why antivirus updates are important.  Antivirus software relies on files (called "definition files") that provide information on the latest threats detected.  These files tell the software what clues will be left on the computer for each type of infection.  This makes these programs excellent at detecting threats that they know about, but it means that a new threat (not in its definitions) can easily escape detection until the file has been updated with its information.  While software is getting better at detecting threats based on behavior, detection based on definition files is still much better.

In order to keep your system safe, antivirus software will update regularly.  Some software will be programmed to only update once per day, and others will update anytime it is connected to the internet and a newer file is available.  Most antivirus software publishers will release multiple updates each day, and most will update as soon as it realizes a newer file is available.  Fortunately, most of these updates are small and need very few resources.

I do not know of any antivirus programs that allow you to shut off automatic updates, but I definitely do not recommend doing this.  Turning off automatic Windows updates is generally not a good idea, but turning off automatic antivirus updates is even worse.  Not keeping your antivirus up to date is almost as bad as not having an antivirus.

Seven Fun Ways to Use Google

Yesterday, we talked about some useful ways to use Google's search.  Today's tip will not be nearly as useful, but it will be a lot more fun!

Before we begin, it is important to note that Google adds and removes features regularly, so some of these may not work if you reread this in a few months.  (Unless otherwise noted, they do work right now.)  I was very disappointed to see that one of my favorites, the "Kayak across the Pacific Ocean" instruction on Google Maps, had been removed.  You can read about it here if you didn't see it before.

Now, here are seven ways to have fun on Google's search pages:

1) Give Google Commands - Type "do a barrel roll" into a search box and watch the page...do a barrel roll.  Type "tilt" or "askew" and watch the page go slightly off.  Around Christmas last year, you could type "Let It Snow" and the page would snow and frost over, allowing you to draw on the window.  (But as I tell the kids on my school bus, "Keep it school appropriate!")

2) Calculate More Than Numbers -  The Google Calculator is also programmed to handle other questions, such as "what is the loneliest number" (a reference to a song from the 60's) or "what is the answer to life, the universe, and everything" (a reference from the movie, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.)  Type anything with a numerical response in and see if Google knows it.  Then, amaze your friends who don't know the references (that's what happened to me with both of those examples!)

3) Calculate a Bacon Number - No, this isn't how much bacon you should eat each day, this is a play on the "Six Degrees of Separation" game using Kevin Bacon.  Pick any actor or actress and see how many connections must be made in order for Google to connect that person to Kevin Bacon.

4) Fight Off a Zerg Rush - I had never heard of a Zerg Rush before reading this online, but apparently, this is an alien race that attack in swarms in the video game Starcraft.  Search for "zerg rush" and a whole bunch of little O's will invade your screen and eat your search results.  Keep them from destroying your screen by clicking on them to destroy them.

5) Get a Random Result - Hover your mouse over the "I'm Feeling Lucky" button with nothing in the search box, and the button will change to another random "I'm Feeling ..." statement.  Click on the changed button to get a search result related (at least loosely) to the revised statement.  For example, I just got "I'm Feeling Stellar", and my random page was pictures of nebulae.  Another time, I got "I'm Feeling Trendy", which brought up a list of the top searches.

6) Fly Yourself Anywhere - If you use Google Earth, you can use the flight simulator option to fly anywhere in the world.  In Google Earth, click on Tools and select Enter Flight Simulator or press Ctrl+Alt+A.

7) Browse the Google Doodles - Okay, this one is fun and somewhat useful!  You have probably noticed that the Google logo often changes based on current or historical events.  These are called "Google Doodles".  Google actually produces many different doodles for events around the world.  If you go to google.com/doodles, you can browse the many recent doodles published around the world.  Not only can you have fun looking at the various doodles, but you can learn some history at the same time.

Bonus:  Google has released some doodles that are actually games.  You can play goalie in this soccer game, race a canoe in this slalom canoe game, jump the hurdles in this race, or play Pacman in this doodle celebrating the game's 30th anniversary.

Eight Useful Ways to Use Google

When most people think of Google, they usually think of the search engine first.  Most of Google's other online products are usually referred to by a different name (such as Gmail) or by something added after Google (Google+, Google Apps, etc.)  However, Google's search page has a lot of useful (and some fun but not so useful) features.  Tomorrow, I will talk about some of those fun ways to use Google, but today, I will cover some of the more useful ways to use Google's search.

As a side note, most of these work in the search boxes or address bars on Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome if they are programmed to use Google.  All of these features are available on various sites, but Google simply makes them all available with just the search box.

Here are ten things that might make your search experience more useful:

1) Weather - You can get the weather without having to leave Google.  Simply type a city or zip code followed by "forecast", and Google will display a detailed forecast for today along with simplified forecasts for the week ahead.  Type your city or zip code followed by "weather" to get the current weather along with the week's forecast.

2) Translate Words - Typing "translate <word/phrase> to <language>" will quickly access the Google translator and display the result.  Just be careful, because while Google Translate is usually pretty good with words, it can be less accurate with longer phrases.  People have made blog posts and videos of what happens when you take a poem or song and translate it through several languages before taking it back to English.

3) Check the Time - Can't remember if London is four or five hours ahead of us (it can be either due to the differences in the daylight savings time dates)?  Type "time in <location>" and Google will give you the current time and date.

4) Do Math - Instead of taking the time to locate a calculator on the internet or find the one installed on your computer, just type your math problem into a search box.  Google will do the math and display the result.

5) Conversions - Need to convert from one unit of measurement to another?  Google can handle it. Simply type "<amount> <unit1> in <unit2>"  (for example, "100 dollars in pounds") and Google will handle the conversion for you.

6) Check Flight Status - Now you don't need to go to the airport and look through many television monitors to see the status of a flight.  Simply type the airline and flight number into a search box to see the status of the flight.

7) Search Public Data - Want to see the latest population estimates or unemployment rate for a particular location?  Simply type what you are looking for and the location into the search box and watch Google give you the data.  Want historical data?  Google gives you a 10-year lookback, and by clicking on "Explore More" underneath the graph, you can view older data.

8) Define Words - If you want a dictionary definition of a word, simply type "define:<word>" to have Google give you its definition.

Tomorrow, we'll look at the fun side of Google by examining some of the little built-in tricks.

Creating a Secure Password

Yesterday, we discussed methods to keep track of all your passwords.  However, there is no point in trying to store your passwords securely if they can be easily cracked by software.  It would be wonderful if we could create a simple, four-letter password to get into all of our accounts.  Unfortunately, this is definitely not secure.

Password-cracking software is designed to break passwords by trying all possible options.  If your password is only six lower-case letters, it can be cracked in less than a second.  Even adding capital letters, a number, and a symbol only takes the total for a six-character password to 52 seconds.  An eight-character password (with all of the above items) would take only 3 days to crack.  It is critical that you use a long password.  So that you don't have to constantly make your passwords longer, I recommend using at least 12 characters.

But this leads us to how you can remember your password.  Obviously, you can use a password manager or a notebook to store them, as long as you keep them secure.  But there are some easier ways to remember your password.

One possible way is to think of a sentence.  For example, I might choose:  "The Chicago Bears won the Super Bowl in 1985, the same year I was born!"  Then, I can take the first letter of each word to make my password:  "TCBwtSBi1985,tsyIwb!"  That's a 20 character password!  Even if I need to write down the password, I can write down the sentence as a reminder without needing to actually give up my password.

You can also use a similar method.  Instead of the sentence, I could just use a few words of it:  "Chicago Bears Super Bowl 1985!" and take the first three letters of each word to create:  "ChiBeaSupBow1985!"  That's 17 characters!

A less secure method would be to use symbols to replace letters in a sentence.  For example, "I love to watch soccer!" could become "Il0vet0w@tch$occ3r!"  You could also misspell words, creating something like, "Iluvt0w@atch$ock3r!".  These passwords are not as secure as the ones earlier, but they will still be difficult to crack.

One final method is to use the same root word or words for a password, and then add modifiers to it.  For example, I might choose to use my name and the names of my parents:  "JimYvonneSteve".  Then, I can make unique changes to it for each website.  "J!mYv0nneSt3ve", "!jImyV0nnesTeve", or even "Jim!22Yvonne!22Steve!"  This method also helps you if you need to write down your passwords:  you can write down clues to help you remember the modifications, but only you know the root password.

As a final note, password crackers are optimized to do what most of us will do when forced to create complex passwords.  They will usually check the top passwords first, then they will start to use words, and then start adding an uppercase first letter, a 1 or 2 placed after the word, and a symbol at the end or used to replace a letter.  Enough passwords collected from password dumps follow these guidelines.

Keeping Your Passwords Safe and Accessible

Passwords are a necessary evil.  On one hand, we have to have them to keep our information secure.  However, on the other hand, we also have to remember them all so that we can keep access to our information.  This situation is what prompted one of my readers to email me last week asking about the best way to keep track of passwords.

Of course, it would be wonderful if we could use the same password for everything.  Unfortunately, that is no longer a secure option.  With the large number of hacks that have occurred in recent months, we can be assured that a password to one of our accounts has probably been compromised somewhere.  If that password is the same for everything, knowing your email (probably accessible from inside your hacked account options even if it wasn't hacked itself) will give others access to any accounts using that same password.

I certainly wish I could write a "best-in-all-cases" option for keeping track of your passwords securely.  Unfortunately, there is no best option.  The key is to find something that works for you.

One option is to use a password management program.  These programs will keep track of all your passwords, and many will automatically insert them in the proper places.  Some will even generate random passwords for you.  These passwords will be secure because they not only use all the general password-selection criteria (lower-case and upper-case letters, numbers, symbols, etc.), but also because you will not remember the random passwords they generate.  This prevents you from accidentally giving your password out to a phishing site that you think is legitimate.

However, there are some problems with password managers.  If a password manager is installed on your computer, you are unable to sync it with your phone, tablet, or other devices.  You will need to install a separate program on each device and then update passwords on all of them when they are changed.  An online password manager stores your passwords on a server so that they sync between all your devices.  Unfortunately, this is my least-recommended method because it can be hacked to expose all your passwords.

If you don't want to use a password manager, you can consider using a notebook to keep track of your passwords.  (Before writing down login information for work in a notebook, check with your company's IT department.  Many have prohibitions against writing down passwords.)  This works great if you primarily access the internet from home on one device.  However, if your computer travels or you use many different devices, this becomes a problem.  Your notebook could be lost, exposing your passwords, or you could leave the notebook at home and not have any way to access your information.

If you do use a notebook, do not write your user names along with your passwords.  If your notebook is stolen, someone will have quick access to your accounts if both are written down.  You can also write down your user name along with some generic hints that remind you about your password.  This way, you will know your password by reading it, but others will be unable to decipher your password from the information.

If you are wondering what I use, the only simple answer is:  "All of the above".  There are many accounts that I only access from my primary computer.  I use a password manager installed on my computer to provide me quick access and secure passwords for these accounts.  For my most-used accounts (email, Facebook, bank, etc.), I simply remember the passwords.  And I store user names and hints for all of my passwords in a password-protected file that I store in my Dropbox account, making it accessible on all my devices.

Obviously, my solution is not going to work for everyone.  Some people will find that a notebook in a desk drawer will work fine.  Some will be willing to take the risk to have the convenience of an online password manager.  Others might opt for a hybrid solution like me.  Whatever method you choose, be willing to accept the risks and inconveniences that will come with your method, and don't be afraid to try out different methods until you find the one that works best for you.

Can Software Keep Windows XP Safe?

I received a question this week regarding ads on TV that promise to keep Windows XP safe.  The customer specifically asked if this product would allow someone to continue to use Windows XP even though Microsoft is no longer supporting it.

I responded by stating that not only would this product not be able to keep Windows XP completely safe, but also that I would not trust a security product that promises that they can keep Windows XP completely safe.

Yes, this program may be able to keep Windows XP safer than if you did not have it, but that would be true for any security product.  However, there is much more to keeping Windows safe than what this program can do.  There are holes in any version of Windows that can be exploited, and only modifications to the source code can fix these holes.  Since Microsoft does not release the source code for Windows, this program would be unable to find the exact hole and patch it.  It might be able to provide a workaround that renders the hole useless, but the hole will remain unless Microsoft release a patch (which it says it will not do).

Yes, I realize that many people do not want to upgrade to anything newer than Windows XP.  However, XP is now 13 years old, and that is well beyond the lifetime for a technology product.  When XP was released, the first Blackberry device was two years away from its release, and the iPhone would not come along for another six years.  Hard drives were measured in tens of gigabytes instead of terabytes, and 256 MB of RAM was considered adequate (most systems now use at least eight to sixteen times that amount).  If you have a Windows XP computer, the simple fact is that it is time to upgrade.

Software may be able to help keep Windows XP safer, but nothing will be able to keep XP completely safe.  Without patches from Microsoft, Windows XP is a risk, especially when it is online.  If you want to keep your XP computer around as a device for your kids to play games on or for you to type a few documents while offline, that is fine.  But if your primary internet computer is running XP, then you need to upgrade!