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Back to School Tools

It's hard to believe but the summer's almost over and next week it's back to school for most students. There are staples that make a PC useful for a student and there are some cool software packages that make learning easier and more enjoyable.

Projects require research and historically that meant encyclopedias among other things. Today there are a plethora of online encyclopedias including encyclopedia.com and wikipedia.org. Wikipedia has taken a bit of a beating recently with content being falsified but the old stalwarts like Britannica and Columbia are all online. A Google search for the keyword "encyclopedias" is a great place to start.

Antivirus 2009, UPS, and MSNBC

Computer viruses, Trojans, spyware, greyware, and the like, are never fun but there seems to have been an explosion of them recently. Of course it may just be that I've seen an inordinate number of them, but I think it might just be that the authors of this nastiness are simply getting ahead of the antivirus and antispyware software that tries to keep them at bay. And the tactics they use to get you infected has gotten better too.

Take the UPS spam message that's been going around the past month or so. This message claims that a parcel sent by UPS couldn't be delivered because the recipient's address was incorrect. It then advises you to print the attached invoice and bring it to the UPS office.

Acceptable Internet Marketing

Recently I became frustrated with a business that began sending me unsolicited email seemingly out of the blue. The business markets other businesses and one of its marketing methods involves sending email to advertise on behalf of its clients. My frustration was in the fact that I had never met the owner nor had I ever asked to receive these ads.

I might have been able to live with it if the frequency of these messages was far less than the sometimes twice or three times daily they became. The straw that broke the camel's back was when a brand new "newsletter" came in from this company in addition to the messages I was already receiving.

Wi-Fi Security

I'd be willing to bet that most people with home networks have considered a wireless network at some point if indeed they don't already have one. Wireless technology is hard to ignore when you consider the ease of adding new devices, the mobility of computers, and the fact that equipment to create a wireless network is only marginally more expensive (and sometimes even cheaper) than the equivalent wired equipment.

Wireless devices have become more reliable than the original wireless equipment and at the same time, laptop computers have dropped in price to a point where it's reasonable to consider one as an alternative to a desktop computer. There are still challengers to the idea that a laptop computer can replace a desktop but I for one in most cases disagree. I have used a laptop computer exclusively for years now and don't miss a desktop in the least. And with wireless technology, who can resist getting some work done on the patio on a beautiful summer day?

XP Due to Die Tuesday?

With the recent release of Windows XP Service Pack 3 and Windows Vista Service Pack 1, with only a few exceptions, it will not be possible to buy a new computer with Windows XP after Tuesday June 30. Retailers will be able to continue selling copies of XP purchased before the 30th but they will not be able to buy new copies. More precisely, retailers will not be able to buy new Windows XP "licenses" but in some cases will be able to downgrade Windows Vista licenses in favour of Windows XP Professional.

Confused? Don't feel bad; when it comes to licensing, Microsoft has never been very good at making the subject particularly easy to come to terms with.

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Columns

Back to School Tools

Antivirus 2009, UPS, and MSNBC

Acceptable Internet Marketing

Wi-Fi Security

XP Due to Die Tuesday?

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