Which Browser Is More Secure?

Read a good article (here) on browser security.  This is focusing on the capability of browsers to protect you from infected web sites and downloading infected apps.  IE was the best of the bunch- overwhelmingly so.  I use Chrome for my everyday browsing, Firefox on occasion for some of its fancy features, and IE when I’m going to specific Microsoft web sites.  I've found IE is the most “fragile” of the browsers:  from time to time it will fail in a big way and when I go to one of the other two browsers, everything works fine.  In fairness, on occasion, where the site has been designed especially for IE, I find that Chrome and Firefox will break and I have to use IE.

A key point made in the article is that the testing was done on IE 9.  IE 9 is OK, but the author emphasized the need to move to IE 9 if you haven’t done so.  Search for “IE 9 download” and make sure you are at a Microsoft or cnet site. 

The Best New Computer All-in-Ones + The BIG AIO Problem

I probably should separate this entry into two, but I’m in a hurry, so…

Computer All-in-Ones are the computer where the screen and all the parts are “in-one,” so all you have is a screen and a key-board. 

PCWorld has come out with a new ranking.  You can find it here.

One of the models they highlighted was the HP Compaq 6000 Pro.  Its novel feature is that there is easy access to the hard drive, RAM, and the optical drive.  That means I can actually fix problems with these components. 

The second part of this entry is “The BIG AIO problem.”  AOIs are hard to repair.  If you have one of the Apple AOIs, which can cost several thousand dollars, for all practical purposes you’ve got a use and throw away machine.  It is more or less impossible to get at the hard drive, the RAM or other components.  If any of these go then you might as well throw the thing away.  My son alerted me to this problem when his big Apple AOI hard drive went.  To replace it, you have to use suction cups to remove the screen (after some tricky set up), and work between a lot of components. 

I should also mention that the Airport is just as bad.  If you have a Time Capsule and the drive goes bad, you are more or less stuck with throwing it away. 

HP and all the other manufacturers are not much better when it comes to maintenance.  So, beware!  AOIs are pretty, neat, etc, but you should consider them “throw away”. 

How to Use Skype on Your Smartphone (Android), especially when traveling

OK. Here's the scoop, which I have verified during my 3 week trip to Europe. You can use Skpye as your phone service when you are not in range of your primary cell phone provider. The steps are:
1. Download the Skype app. Do not download or use the Verizon Skype app, which is called "Skype Mobile." These are different beasts! It is Skype Mobile that restricts you to using its data network.
2. Be sure to set up your Skype account with an automatic replenishment of minutes: say 20 minutes at a time. That way, you won't be cut off of a conversation in mid-stream.
3. To use Skype, turn on Airplane mode.
4. Go to Settings.Data Manager.DataDelivery. Uncheck both "Background data" and "Data enabled." I don't think this is absolutely necessary, but I don't want to be surprised by roaming data charges.
5. Start your wifi (To use Skype you must be wifi connected and the connection must be a good one)
6. Start the wifi app and perform the necessary actions to log on to Skype.
7. Make the call.

A real convenience: Skype links to your regular google contacts! So you don't have to enter phone numbers, etc. Once in Skype, to dial the phone number of someone in your google contacts, tap the "all contacts" icon and enter a search string.

A note on making a phone call: The call is more like a walkie-talkie call. You both can't speak at the same time! It is the kind of thing where you talk and then say "over" to let the other person talk.

With respect to setting the phone to wifi: wifi uses a lot of power. Turn it off whenever you can.

Mac iMail “Gotcha” Makes All Your eMail Disappear!

I recently got a call from a neighbor who said that her iMail email had disappeared; not the app itself, but all the folders and email.  iMail wanted her to start over, defining the email accounts.  From her point of view, all her email, include some very important stuff, had disappeared. 

When I investigated, sure enough, all indications were that her email had disappeared!  What a disaster!  I googled the problem and came up with this link.  It started me on the trail to a solution, which was to find the original email folders and then redefine the email accounts using exactly the same name as used in the Mail folder.  She got all her mail back, but it was a little disordered, since the recovered email folders came under a high level email folder called Recovered or something like that. iMail doesn’t offer the necessary folder reorder options to move everything back to the appropriate folder structure. 

Anyway, the root cause of the problem is a an iMail “gotcha.”  iMail uses a special file, a .plist file, to define some key information about the mail configuration.

IF THE MAC COMPUTER IS TURNED OFF USING THE POWER BUTTON TWICE IN A ROW WHILE iMAIL IS OPEN, THEN OSX WILL DELETE THE .plist FILE, AND IT WILL APPEAR THAT YOUR EMAIL HAS DISAPPEARED.

This “twice in a row” doesn’t have to be “twice in a row in a few minutes;”  it is “twice in a row ever!”  Given our record of frequent internet outages, it is a given that those who use iMail will eventually encounter this problem.

Conclusion:  Don’t use iMail.  Use a free email application called Thunderbird.  OR stick with a cloud (internet) application like Google mail.  (By the way, Google mail also has a client program, so, if you have a slow connection, you can download your gmail through the client and manage your mail on your computer, not on the internet.)

Issues using Picasa (3.8) to create photo CD/DVDs

{Note:  I’m going to discuss the latest version of Picasa, 3.8; however, these comments are more or less true for earlier versions.}

How can I burn a CD or DVD from Picasa?  The answer is in “layers.” 

Layer 1:  Picasa says you should create a gift CD/DVD.  This is done by putting all the pictures in an album (not Picasa folder) and working from there.  Note that this does NOT move the pictures from the actual “physical” Windows folder; instead, it creates a copy “virtual” entry in Picasa’s “proprietary” database object called an “album.”  You can get the official detailed instructions here.   The result is a CD/DVD containing a copy of the photos along with Picasa software to view the photos.  The captions and comments associated with the slide show will be those you entered inside Picasa. 

   

Warning:  These captions and comments are in the Picasa proprietary database; they are NOT in the information Windows attaches to the picture file.  So, if you create a CD/DVD using the methodology used in Layer 2 below, your captions and comments won’t be in the collection.

I use Picasa because it really is powerful at managing and editing both photos and movies.  And, by the way, you can use almost any other photo/video manager and it has the same problem- it has a database that uses a proprietary database to contain labels and comments.

So,

Layer 2:  Use Windows Live Photo Gallery to edit file names, titles, and other information.  Get it here.  When you open Live Photo Gallery you can open the real Windows folder containing the photos.  Right click on any photo and click Properties.  At this point, the real Windows Properties dialog will pop up.  The general tab has the real name of the photo file.  You can change that, but leave the .jpg or .raw file type.  Then click on the Details tab. 

This tab shows you the Windows metadata associated with the picture.  It’s this information that, if you do it right, will be transferred with the picture to a CD/DVD in such a way that it will follow the picture wherever you copy it to.

You can click on any field, or nearly every field, and enter information into the field. 

1. Select all the pictures or folders you want to copy burn to the CD/DVD.
2. Click on the little folder icon at the top left of the window.
3. One of the options will be burn:
   
   
4. From here, follow the directions.  The Burn will use Windows burn technology. 

This technique works well if you have Windows 7.  Earlier versions don’t always work well- you might get repeated messages to load a blank CD/DVD and it never gets out of that loop.  This leads to level 3. 

Level 3:  Use a good general purpose burner to create your photo/video CD/DVD.   I use ImgBurn.   This application is reliable across Windows platforms.  Note that you are burning a data CD/DVD and you want the metadata to be copied as well.   

To summarize, the methodology for editing I recommend is:

1. Use Picasa to edit and manage photos.  But don’t add titles, descriptions, etc using Picasa
2. Use Windows Live Photo Gallery to add the titles and descriptions.  Note that these titles and descriptions WILL show up in Picasa. 
3. If you don’t have Windows 7, use a general burning app, such as ImgBurn, to burn. 

I know this post is loaded with techie talk.  Consider it just an outline. Please add comments if you want further explanation or have comments. 

Using a Laptop in the Car

Q.  We’re leaving Friday for our trip and I have a question for you.  My car has an auxiliary power area in the console.  It’s a small round hole almost like an earphone jack.  Of course, our laptop computer doesn’t have anything like that on the power plug.  Is there some kind of adapter I should buy?

A.  That wouldn't supply DC power, would it? Isn't that an audio output? What you would need is a cigarette lighter transformer to 120 Hz AC power- a transformer. Plug your computer power plug into that. I think they are pretty expensive. Google to see. Around here, Best Buy and maybe a larger Radio Shack would have them.

On the back or side of your computer you can read the power requirements for a DC power source. It is usually about 19 v and a few amps. That spec can be violated somewhat if you leave your battery in the laptop. Err on the low side and don't err by much.

To use your computer effectively, you should sit in the back on the side opposite the sun. Get a couple of those plastic sun shades that have suction cups to place on the back windows. That will keep the light low enough that you can use a lower screen brightness.

When you purchase your next car, consider the AC 120 plug accessory. I have an old Toyota (2004) and it came with that plug. It is great for all kinds of things, like a small cooler or a laptop.

All! the Microsoft Keyboard Shortcuts are in 1 place

Occasionally when I am helping someone I'll do something "dramatic" that completely changes what we are seeing on the screen. I used a keyboard shortcut; you know, cntl-C for "cut," etc. It turns out there is a keyboard shortcut for just about every feature and command in any Microsoft product. My secret is this web page: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/keyboard.aspx. Try it, you'll like it and you can dramatically speed up your work, or fun, for that matter.