When I first published this article in April 2011 there were three Roku models from which to choose. At this writing (December 2011) there are now four models and some of the features have changed. This week I helped someone determine which model would work best given their existing TV and internet equipment and I’ve updated this article as a result of this new experience.

In this article I am talking about my experience with a Roku media player
and cutting the cord as in the cable TV cord.

Are you sick of paying for cable stations that you don’t actually use?

Seriously. Unless you are an extreme couch potato who can possibly put 120 TV channels to good use…let alone 200?

Roku boasts over 350 programs and games available through various channels including 100′s of free movies.

Realistically there are only a few dozen channels in which any one person (family?) is truly interested. And I know people…well friends and family in my circle…are getting sick and tired of this cable TV con and the lack of true choice as in I want to choose my channels and I want to pay for only those channels!

Ultimately our personal choices can be boiled down to selected genres and a limited number of particular programs aligned with our specific interests. Maybe you want the AMC channel because they show Mad Men, Walking Dead and Breaking Bad. Or perhaps Showtime for The Tudors and Dexter. Or maybe you’re more interested in news, documentaries and cooking or extreme sports. And let’s not forget the kids!

Watch Dexter on Netflix.

What if I told you you could cancel your cable TV and still watch all your favorite programs? That might not be 100% true but I am willing to bet…today on the 30th December 2011…I’m willing to bet you can drop your cable or satellite TV service and be 95% satisfied with the alternatives.

Join the Cut-The-Cord Movement.
There’s Ample Choice!

The alternative to the cable rip-off is your internet connection and video-on-demand (VOD) services such as Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and a growing number of services that let you stream movies and TV programs using a media player. Yes! You can quit your cable TV, cut your costs by as much as 50% and more…depending on various factors…and enjoy most if not all of your favorite programs.

On a visit home in late 2010, I bought a Roku media player as a gift for an elderly member of my family precisely to try to cut down on the high cost of cable. She wanted to watch a limited number of channels.

The Roku - 5 inches x 1 inch

Why Did I Choose the Roku Media Player?

After researching Internet TVs, various media players and conducting a little streaming test on a borrowed Wii, I decided to try the Roku media player.

First it had to work with Netflix because we are diehard Netflix fans…having used their DVD service for years now. But before making a choice I wanted to see how well Netflix streamed using a device besides the computer. So I tried it on a friend’s Wii. That convinced me that the streaming quality on the specialized Roku device could be even better. And I thought the Roku would be the easiest option for my elderly user.

It had to work with Netflix, be low cost, and simple to use.

The Roku media player is simple and serves the main purpose: streaming. And you can’t go past the low cost.

What Kind of TV Will Work with the Roku?

Streaming with Roku on a Standard Definition TV

The next thing I wanted to know about the Roku is: Do you need to use an HD (high definition) TV?

And the answer is No! With any one of the Roku models you can use an old fashion standard definition TV.

You can see a video here of the news streaming on the very TV that we used. It is a nice big TV and it is only 5 or 6 years old. We did look at the option of an internet TV but the $899+ price tag compared to the $59.99 (plus $9.99 shipping) purchase of the Roku with a 30-day money back guarantee…well it didn’t make sense to someone who is perfectly happy with the existing TV. Not to mention the volume of negative comments made about internet TVs poor performance. This TV’s internet connection is terrible. That TV won’t work with Netflix.

There Are Now Four Roku Models: What’s the Difference?

When I first wrote this article there were only three models. Now you can select from these four options: Roku LT, Roku 2 HD, Roku 2 XD and Roku 2 XS. The Roku LT is the newest model and the other 3 models are revamped as designated by the number 2 in the model name. The difference between these four models is…of course…price and features.

All Four Models Include These Features

1. Will work with standard or high definition TV.
2. Plays high definition video (at least 720p).
3. Has a built-in wireless (Wi-Fi b/g/n) and an Ethernet (wired) connection.¹
4. Has HDMI video output for HDTVs.
5. Comes with a remote but features vary per model.
6. Includes infrared (IR) and is compatible with universal remotes.

So that’s where the similarities end.

The Roku 2 HD includes two more features that the Roku LT is missing and these are new features: an expandable memory slot (for storing games and channels) and Bluetooth. The Bluetooth is intended to be used with RF (radio frequency) remotes.

The Roku XD and XS Models Include These Features

1. Plays 720p and 1080p HD Video.
2. Has the expandable memory slot (new!)
3. Also has Bluetooth (new!)

Only the Roku XS Model Has The Following Features

1. The latest wireless standard | dual-band wireless technology.
2. Component video and optical audio outputs.
3. USB port for playing stored photos, music and video.
4. An ethernet port (which is for a wired network connection).
5. Enhanced remote with motion control for games.
6. A free full edition of the Angry Birds game.

So What Do All These Technical Specifications Mean?

Your Roku selection depends to some extent on your particular TV (or your plans for a future upgrade).

If you don’t have an HD TV with all the bells and whistle and you are not planning to acquire one in the near future then either the low-end Roku LT or the Roku 2 HD is probably good enough.

In our case, since we didn’t have an HD TV and the 74 year-old user of this device is not a techno-geek…she just wants to watch TV, movies, and the news…I decided the low end HD model was fine. (The LT model was not in the lineup at the time I purchased a Roku.)

Below is an explanation of all the features of all the available Roku models.

What does 720P or 1080P Mean?

These terms refer to the resolution of the television display. The higher the number the higher the resolution. In essence it affects the quality of the display.

The higher resolution that your TV will play the more detailed the picture will be. When it comes to watching HD TV it can make the difference between seeing the actor’s facial pores or not!

So if your TV can play 1080p then you might feel a little frustrated with the limited Roku LT or Roku 2 HD model. For a few extra dollars you can eat your 1080p cake with either the Roku 2 XD or XS.

What is Enhanced Remote with Instant Replay (and Game Control)?

The Roku Enhanced Remote

Today there three different Roku remotes available.

The 12-button enhanced remote with instant replay was formerly boxed with the Roku XD/S (replaced by the Roku 2 XS model). But now this remote is an optional extra and it works with any one of the four Roku models.

By pressing the instant replay button on the enhanced remote the Roku will instantly replay 7 seconds. You can successively skip back to replay several 7-second splices of whatever program you are watching.

This instant replay feature is for those moments when you want to replay something that you just missed! It works quickly. You don’t have to fiddle with rewinding. Oops too far…fast forward…oh no…back again! Instant replay is just that: instant!

The Game Remote

When you purchase the Roku 2 XS model, the Game Remote is included. But you can order it as an optional extra accessory that works with the Roku 2 HD and XD models. And when you do order the game remote you can then download the Angry Birds game for free.

To recap: the Roku LT, Roku 2 HD and XD are supplied with a 9 button remote; no instant replay or game control. The XS model is supplied with the Game Control remote and it is an optional extra for the HD and XD models. The Enhanced Remote is also an optional extra that will work with all 4 Roku models.

What is Extended Range Wireless-N

First the basics: wireless means that you can connect any of the Roku models to your network…and ultimately to your internet connection…without a cable. To do this your router must also have a wireless feature.

Wireless-N is the Latest and the Greatest

Wireless-N refers to the latest wireless standard and ultimately the speed of data transmission (aka data rate). Wireless-N is much faster than the previous b, g and a standards. All four Roku models are compatible with b, g and n wireless standards.

Extended Range Wireless is also a feature of the wireless-n standard and refers to the distance or range that a wireless device will cover. To put it another way two wireless devices can be farther apart from each other than when less capable (perhaps older) wireless devices are used.

But Will It Work with Your Router?

The Qwest Router

The Roku has been tested with a long list of wireless routers and even if your router isn’t on the list it’s a good chance that it will work as long as it uses the 802.11b or 802.11g standard.

An Older Linksys Router

Linksys Router

D-Link Router

What is Dual-Band Wireless Technology?

A wireless device uses electromagnetic radiation to transmit data…just like a radio. Dual-band means that the device will operate on two different frequencies. When it comes to wireless networking the wireless standard (802.11a, b, g or n) determines which frequency a device will use. The choices are 2.4Ghz and 5.0 Ghz. The Roku XS lets you choose between the two frequencies. This dual-band feature is not found in the other three Roku models.

Comparison of Wireless Standards and Frequencies

Comparison of Wireless Standards

What is the Advantage of Dual-Band Wireless?

Many other home devices (garage doors, remote control toys, cordless phones) operate on the 2.4Ghz band and can interfere with your wireless network.

Sometimes you can get around this problem by choosing different channels for your network and by strategically positioning the various pieces of wireless equipment but if you have a dual-band option, you can simply choose a different frequency altogether to avoid clashing.

But remember! To take advantage of the wireless-n and dual-band features your router must also be capable of the features.

A Wireless Recap

All four Roku models use the latest wireless-n standard but only the XS provides the choice between using the 2.4Ghz or the 5.0Ghz band. All four models should work with any 802.11b, 11g or 11n router.²

What is Optical Audio

Optical Audio is basically a very high quality of sound…digital sound. One of the highest. You can get 5.1 surround sound through an HDMI cable but if you are a sound freak (and if your TV supports it) you’ll want to go for the optical audio feature in the high end Roku XS model and you will need to order the special cable pack separately.

What is Composite and Component Video?

Component Video Cable

Back to basics again. If you have a standard TV, you’ll use the component video cable (also known as an RCA cable) with the yellow, red and white connectors. This is the same kind of cable that is used to connect a DVD player to a TV.

If you have an HD TV, you can use the HDMI connector (see image).

A Composite Cable

But if you have the top top top of the line HD TV then you’ll probably want the top of the line Roku which provides a composite video cable with green, blue and red connectors. This gets you the highest quality video signal. Check the specs on your TV.

Play Your Own Videos from a USB Drive.
Which Formats Will the Roku Play?

In addition to streaming you can play your own library of video, music and photos by plugging an external USB drive into the Roku XS model. But there is a limit to the amount of power that the drive can draw from the Roku. You can safely use a USB flash (thumb) drive or a drive that has its own power source.

USB Flash (Thumb) Drives

The formats the Roku XD|S will play from a USB drive include:

• Video: MKV, MP4, MOV, WMV/ASF
• Music: AAC, MP3
• Photos: JPG, PNG

If your objective is to compile and selectively play media on a whim from a large library of videos, music and photos you may want to consider another solution such as the Seagate Free Agent Theater+ or a Western Digital media player. In addition to streaming, these players are capable of home networking and will play a much larger selection of media formats.

What About the Internet Connection?
How Big a Pipe Do You Need?

The third most important question I had about the Roku was about the internet connection. I wanted to know what sort of bandwidth was required to get good performance. I did not want any streaming hiccups.

I am not saying the Roku staff weren’t friendly or helpful but they could be more efficient if they had more hands-on experience with the product.

To get an answer to this question I contacted Roku online to chat it over. As with many technology companies today the service staff are young and inexperienced. You have to know how to communicate because they don’t. You will get a correct answer only if you know the subject matter well enough to tease out every last detail by asking lots of questions in different ways.

So back to the original question: how much internet bandwidth is enough to get satisfactory performance out of the Roku? The answer: 2MB (two megabits) at least and I quote: “…you should be fine.”

Since we have a 7MB service to play with I assumed we would not be disappointed. For the most part this is true. You can’t tell that we’re streaming. But there is an occasional blip that I discuss later in this post.

The ordering process was quick and easy and the Roku arrived 2 days after ordering.

Connecting the Roku to the TV

Go back
The Roku HD was extremely easy to setup and to use. We used the RCA cable to connect the Roku to a standard definition TV.

You can use the RCA cable with an HD TV but what a waste! You really need an HDMI or composite cable to get the best result from an HD TV.

An HDMI Cable

The Roku doesn’t come with an HDMI cable. You can buy an HDMI cable at a variety of places but if you order it from the Roku Store you’ll pay a third ($9.99) of the normal retail price ($29.99) and they say their cable is an exceptional quality.

Connect the Roku to the Router

I opted for hard wiring the Roku to the router using the ethernet cable instead of using a wireless connection. I wanted to minimise the risk of wireless interference and prevent interruptions to the streaming.

But to use the wireless connection, you have to turn the Roku on and configure the wireless connection just as you would when connecting a computer to a wireless connection.

Use the remote to select your connection from the available wireless connections displayed. If your connection requires a passcode, you will use the remote to navigate around an onscreen keyboard.

Entering Wireless Code with On-Screen Keyboard

Once a connection with the internet is complete the Roku will first do a software update.

The Roku Completing a Software Update

The Roku Boot Display

Then the Roku will reboot!

Link the Roku to Your Roku Account

Next the Roku will prompt you to select a time zone and then to link your Roku to your Roku account.

Now you are ready to start streaming programs, the news and movies.

For $8.99 a month you can stream an unlimited volume of movies and TV programs from Netflix.

If you have a Netflix account you go through another linking process. Select Netflix from the Roku setup options to get a unique code. Then log into your Netflix account and look for Watching instantly on your TV or Computer under Your Account. Choose Activate a Netflix Ready Device and enter the code that appearaed on your Roku. Same process will apply to a Hulu account.

My User is Not Entirely Happy with the Roku Experience

One advertising company ran an experiment with 5 families and they say cutting the cord is too difficult for the average³ family to grasp.

And I have to admit…in the early months…the one member of my family using the Roku was not entirely happy with the setup. It isn’t that she doesn’t have plenty of options to watch or that she can’t get her favorite TV shows. She can. But she found it rather challenging to add movies to her Netflix instant queue or navigate around Hulu in search of her favorite TV programs.

Maybe it is an age thing. My user is 74 years old. And while she has successfully used a computer and the internet and skype and email and other technological devices for the last 6 or 7 years…she’s no luddite…she would really rather go back to cable TV.

Or maybe Roku could improve upon their design. Certainly I found it tedious using the Roku remote to navigate around Netflix and Hulu. But there is an easy way around the problem which I describe later in this article.

And You Can’t Get Breaking News with a Roku

The other problem is that getting breaking news on the Roku was seemingly not possible. This wouldn’t be a problem if my user could get free-to-air news channels. But the introduction of digital TV broke free-to-air in that part of northern Arizona where she lives. The digital signal does not reach her small town because it is surrounded by mountain ranges on all sides and there are no digital towers! The only way that we can get live news channels is with a cable service.⁴

If this one problem were fixed it would make all the difference to her Roku streaming experience!

You can get some news on the Roku (CBS and CNN) but it is a day or two late. And yes…she can watch the news on the internet on her computer but it’s just not an elegant solution. She has to sit at her desk when she’d really rather kick back on the sofa and channel surf the news.

There is an Easy Way to Select Programs to Watch through the Roku

When it comes to selecting programs to watch whether using Netflix or Hulu, the best and easiest solution is to use the online queue facility. You login to your Netflix or Hulu account, search for the programs or movies you want to watch and add them to your queue.

Adding Videos To Your Netflix Instant Queue

On Netflix it is called Your Instant Queue.

Add to Netflix Instant Queue

You can add as many movies and TV programs (episodes or whole seasons) to your Instant Queue and you can also sequence the list. Then boot up your TV and the Roku, go to the Netflix channel and select queue. Now you can see and play the items in your queue. You can easily scroll through the list to make a selection. This is much easier than fumbling with the remote to navigate the menu.

Adding or Subscribing to Programs in Hulu Plus

Click the Plus Sign to Add the Program

In a Hulu Plus account there are two ways to add programs in your queue. As you search and browse you simply click the little plus sign that appears next to each video whether it’s a clip, movie or TV episode.




Or you can subscribe to a program and each time a new episode is published to Hulu it will automatically appear in your queue.

Occasionally the Play is Interrupted

Occasionally the internet connection will cut out completely and interrupt the Roku play but most times recovery is very easy. The Roku is smart about interruptions prompting with a simple click-to-continue where upon the Roku will pickup where a movie or TV episode left off. It rarely happens that you have to restart completely and fast forward to where the interruption occurred.

Is It A Perfect Cord Cutting Experience?

Okay, the Cord Cutting experience is not perfect. As one commentator at Crunch Gears aid it can’t duplicate channel surfing. But I love the way the Roku works. It exceeded my expectations.

I think it is very easy for the average person to set up. It is great value for money and an excellent escape from the “tyranny of the cable mafia”.⁵

The choice of viewing is wide and varied, not limited to just Netflix and Hulu. Amazon has a movies-on-demand channel at Roku and there are dozens of other channels from documentaries to history to classic movies to sports to news to university lectures to cartoons, games, music and many international choices. Subscriptions range from completely free to $1.99 a month to $3.00 per year.

And here’s the thing: with the Roku…or any other media player…you can sit down and watch what you want to watch when you want to watch it. You don’t have to worry about time slots or remember to record something.

Happy Streaming!

This is a video of a news program streaming over a Qwest direct connection (7mbps) using a Roku HD media player and a 6 year-old TV.

The Roku was simple and easy to setup and works beautifully with Netflix instant play and Hulu Plus. In this example, the Roku is wired to the router (not wireless).

Read more about my experience with the Roku and learn how to join the Cut the Cord movement!

It is getting more and more difficult for virus and malware scanners to intercept malicious software in a timely manner. Even though people are diligently keeping their virus software up-to-date these insidious, destructive, time-wasting and costly viruses are proliferating at an exponential rate and software companies simply cannot keep up with the information needed to identify potential viruses.

Particularly infuriating are the viruses that are security software clones. These clones act like virus detection sofware. They display security alerts advising that your computer is infected and these clones then try to dupe you into downloading a program and/or spending money to get the virus removed. An example of one of these clones is System Tools 2011. Another is a Security Shield clone.

You will get these alerts right at the point of visiting one website or another and perhaps you’ve clicked on a particular link…thinking that you are downloading a music file. Sometimes all you have to do is visit a page and it immediately starts a download. Many websites are infected without the knowledge of the website owners.

To Prevent Damage to Your Computer Shut It Down Immediately!

If you get infected with one of these viruses shut down your computer immediately. Do not attempt to get rid of the virus. Do not attempt to run your virus scanner. It is already too late for that. Typically the viruses block your scanners and will block your attempts to use online scanners. Attempting these tasks will simply spread the virus further. Unless you know precisely what steps to take, the more you try to get rid of the virus the more damage it will do. Eventually it will become impossible to operate your computer.

Use a Bootable Thumb Drive

The very best approach is to reboot your computer using a clean USB thumb drive…one that is setup to boot Windows. When you reboot your computer you select to reboot from a USB device and not from your hard drive.

You should make and keep a bootable thumb drive in your arsenal of tools. Don’t wait until you have a problem. Make it now!

Booting Windows from a clean bootable disk puts you in a position to safely use Windows Explorer to hunt for and delete the virus. The thumb drive should contain the latest versions of various virus scanners including the Microsoft Malicious Tool remover. Sometimes you have to scan with half a dozen different tools to locate the virus. Sometimes, depending on how new the virus is, none of the scanners will find the virus and you just have to manually search for and delete the virus.

Boot Windows in Safe Mode with Command Prompt

If you can’t get your hands on a bootable thumb drive, the next best step is to use the F8 key to boot windows in safe mode with the command prompt. You can then use the command prompt to safely hunt for the virus. This is a very technical procedure. Yesterday I spent two hours talking through the procedure with a member of my family who is thousands of miles away from me. We found the offending exe file and we were able to delete it. We then rebooted to safe mode and installed various scanning tools including a trial version of Vipre. Vipre was the only virus tool that found the remaining components of the particular virus (a Security Shield clone) and eradicated it. Vipre also found additional lurking trojans and which various other virus scanning tools missed.

Another point to note: in researching the Security Shield clone, I found various instructions for removing it. The instructions usually include the names of files and certain entries in the registry to delete. But none of these tips proved accurate. The specified registry entries did not exist and the file name containing the virus was competely different from the one specified and there was more than one file to be deleted.

Cut Their Friggin Fingers Off!

Here’s what I think the penalty should be for any one caught authoring or distributing software viruses: cut their fingers off! That way they can’t use a keyboard to create any more malware.

Be Alert and Cautious

Here is a list of do’s and don’ts that might help keep you safe from malicious software.

• Keep your Windows software up-to-date.
• If you don’t have system recovery disks, make them now!
• Keep your virus software up-to-date.
• Use more than one virus scanner and scan often.
• Be vigilant about opening email from strangers. Don’t open email unless you know the sender. Even if you do be cautious because email accounts are being breached daily and used to spread spam and viruses.
• Don’t click on links in email even if you know the sender unless you are absolutely sure it is safe.
• Be suspicious of any email attachments or tiny urls
  (This is a sample of a tiny url : http://bit.ly/dM5gJU
• Be careful about downloading freeware. Malware authors often use freeware to spread their malice.
• Pay close attention to all alerts and error messages. Are these legitimate? Note down the detail; it might be useful later.
• And be very very cautious about clicking yes to any unsolicited downloads or attempts to install software.
• Last and not least do regular backups of your most important files especially any recent work files.

Need More Information?

If you need more information about the any thing in the do’s and don’t list or how to make a bootable USB drive or how to use the command prompt to find virus files post a comment below and I will reply. On the USB bootable drive, you will find plenty of instructions on the internet but most are written by geeks and are rather too cryptic for the inexperienced.

WordPress is licenced under a GNU General Public Licence. That means it is free and as a general rule you are free to copy, modify, make derivatives works and share it…freely.

And that’s all generally good. I like free; especially when you can get a top quality, extremely flexible and versatile product like WordPress.

But what I am distressed about is the recent controversial battle between the author of the Thesis Theme Chris Pearson and the original author of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg.

It’s complicated but the argument goes something like this: the Thesis Theme is a derivative work…a derivative of WordPress…and it must also be free. Chris is accused of breaching the WordPress licence by charging people for the Thesis Theme.

As with most legal disputes there are grey areas. It isn’t black and white.

Ok! I like free especially when you get software like WordPress. It really is top notch. And with my geek hat on, the versatility and extensibility of WordPress is one of its strengths. But with my consultant/user hat on, I just want to get it installed and get things working. I also want something that is well documented and facilitates productivity both for me but also for my clients.

Herein lies the problem with free!

There are tons of free themes and plugins and precisely because they are free they are a problem. Clever (and some not so clever) people write plugins because they want some functionality that is missing. Then they decide to release it to the public but there is no motivation or incentive to maintain or support the plugins.

For example…

Today I wanted to install a social bookmarking plugin. A common desire. There should be a ton of plugins to choose from because it is a popular feature. I thought I would spend twenty minutes tops to find one or two plugins and get them installed. So I googled social bookmarking wordpress plugin to find a quick review or recommendation. This article 5 Best Social Bookmarking Plugins for WordPress looked good and from there I choose 3 plugins to try.

A strike on the first plugin: too many comments on the download page about problems with it.

A strike on the second plugin: not a valid header error when I tried to activiate it.

A strike on the third plugin: it installed okay but screwed up any posts with an embedded object (like video).

See this is the problem with free plugins: poor quality, lousy documentation (usually) and no support.

Same problem with themes. There are some great free themes. But you don’t want to get too dependent on a theme that isn’t maintained and supported because sooner or later they break. There you are with a 100 pages of content. You decide to upgrade your WordPress because…well there are new features and functions that you want to take advantage of. If you’re like me, you test your themes and your plugins on new versions of WordPress on a test site before you upgrade a live site.

But many people don’t. I’ve had more than one call from a panicked client. Help! I upgraded and now it’s broken!

I use the Thesis Theme and I recommend it to all my clients. I was willing to pay for it precisely because I got burned by free themes. Thesis gets developed, maintained and supported. And I’m quite happy to pay for that.

You can no longer be lazy about the passwords you use for internet logins and especially on your email accounts.

In the last few weeks I’ve received at least two or three emails per week from a friend or family or colleague trying to sell me Viagra. Of course this spam wasn’t really sent by my friends but it was sent from their email account.

I’ve also had calls from clients’ who’ve had complaints from their customers about viagra spam coming from their email address.

You can tell that someone has compromised your email account if the people in your contact list are complaining about your viagra spam.

This isn’t an email virus story. In each case, the email account has been compromised. Someone somewhere has been able to access the victim’s email account and used it to send Viagra spam to their contact list. As soon as we changed the password, the spamming stopped.

Password Guidelines

• Use a long and cryptic password. Something like this: aQBwr3Db9a$Qu8*fo8fJ)tj. I’m not kidding.
  Note the length, the use of upper and lower case, the use of numbers and odd characters. ¹
• Do not use personal information to devise your password. Not your birthdate. Not your wife’s name. Not your Mother’s maiden name. Not your kid’s name. Not your address. Not your tax file number.
• Don’t use the same password on all of your accounts. Just think about it. What if someone gets a hold of your favourite password? Where did I read a report that said 70% of identity theft is perpetrated by someone you know? That means there’s a good chance they know other stuff about you, like where you bank.
• Don’t write all your passwords in a notebook and then leave it sitting next to your computer!

How Do You Keep Track of All Those Passwords?

I know it is a royal pain to try to remember dozens (or hundreds?) of passwords especially long cryptic passwords but identity theft and internet fraud are both growing exponentially. There’s that other report I read that said there is a 1 in 4 chance of being a victim of indentity fraud. Can you afford to take the risk?

So get yourself a thumbdrive and download Roboform or Keepass. These are what I call password vaults. Once you set this up, the only password you have to remember is the password to get into the vault. Make it a good one! And don’t forget it.

These password-keeping tools can be used to generate long and strong passwords for your various accounts and to record and safely store in an encrypted format all of your login details. Roboform can be used to automate…to some extent…the logging in process at websites.

Yes! You have to spend a bit of time learning how to use these tools. They are not as user friendly as they could be but it is a worthwhile investment in today’s fraudlent world and will go a long way to preventing someone from hacking into one of your accounts because now you are using long and strong passwords!

Roboform operates on a wide variety of platforms…windows desktop, thumb drives, and various mobile phones including the iPhone. There is a free version and a paid professional version.

Keepass operates on a windows desktop or thumbdrive and is totally free. It is less complicated and a little bit easier to use than Roboform but it doesn’t offer any form of automation when it comes to logging into websites.

I have three thumb drives running Roboform. One I use daily and the other two are backups. I like to use thumbdrives because they are easy to cart around or hide or store in a safe.

Reduce your risk. Get some sort of password safe and start using long strong passwords to protect yourself.

Postscript 12 Jul 2010: After writing this post I was engaged to manage the upgrade of 6 wordpress blogs. During that assignment we discovered a problem with the Bei Fen backup plugin. Basically it works the first time you do a backup but it fails on subsequent backups. You won’t know that it has failed unless you look for the relevant zipped file for downloading. If you delete the plugin and reinstall it, it works again but only the first time. Bummer!

If there’s one thing I know about data backups it’s this: most individuals or small business owners aren’t even doing one.

This article is specifically for the internet publisher who is using a third party provider to host their WordPress website.

It is a mistake to think you can rely on your website hosting service to backup your site…unless you are specifically paying for a managed backup service. ¹ Even then, my cardinal rule is never trust anyone else to backup my data.

I can tell you plenty of horror stories about failed backups. I’ve seen the most zealously cautious organization discover that their backup procedure was in some way “flawed” only to discover the problem later on when there is some disaster and an urgent need for a restore. It isn’t enough to do a backup, you also have to test the reliability of it.

When it comes to backing up a WordPress site it is a two stage process. It needs to include the database files and the directory files. There are a variety of ways to do this and you can do it all manually but this is tediously time consuming, prone to error and if you are technically challenged it can be a bit daunting. I have not yet found the perfect user-friendly method but there is a free WordPress plugin that makes it relatively easy to backup your site.

The Ben Fei plugin will backup both the WordPress database files and the directory files in a couple of clicks. It will do a complete backup stashing all the data into one zip file that you can then download to your PC for safe keeping.

The thing I don’t like about the plugin is that you have to manually cleanup leftover backup files. If you don’t do that, you’ll end up chewing up disk space in your hosting account. But it provides an easy interface to do this cleanup. It also doesn’t automatically prompt you to download the zipped backup data. ² You have to use an FTP client to do this.³ If you are not familiar with the use of an FTP client, you can also log into your hosting service cpanel to download the file that way.

You can find this plugin at this link: download Ben Fei plugin and the documentation is at Ben Fei Info.

There are other backup plugins available for WordPress but many are foiled by their geekiness or they only do half the job.⁴ The Automatic WordPress Backup Plugin sounds good at first glance. Automatically backups your whole WordPress site to the Amazon S3 service.⁵ But it only works on a Linux host and only if curl is installed and shell_exec is enabled and the upload folder has the right permissions. Blah blah blah.⁶ This might all be okay for the more technical types to handle but the average user might find all of this too daunting. Still…if you can get it setup and if it is reliable…it could be a nice set and forget solution. ⁷

Remember, you can’t be totally sure about the reliability of a backup until you’ve actually tested a restore. I’ll make that the subject of a future post.

Aside: for my young friend who has the YLOD problem on his PS3…
check this out YLOD Fix

Photo courtesy of Nico Van Der Merwe

My friend The Plumber had a huge project for which he wanted to bid. It was a big project…bigger than any job he had managed before (he’s a young guy). He was confident he could do the job and he asked me how to use Excel to put together a plan.

Before I knew it we were at my computer putting together a project plan and schedule in Microsoft Project.

He had never heard of it. And I knew nothing about plumbing projects. But in about 2 hours we had a brilliant detailed milestone plan with costs. More than that, the process of putting together the plan helped him realize just what to quote for the job.

In the end he got the job and finished the project ahead of schedule and well within budget. He told me later that he made the most profit he has ever made and he believes he got the job because he was able to present a detailed and thoughtful timeline.

It also helped to manage all the resources because he could easily publish a calendar of activity for each and every supplier and subcontractor.

I’ve been polling tradespeople (electricians, carpenters, other plumbers, maintenance contractors) and none of these people use Microsoft Project or any sort of project planning tools!

Why is that?

I wonder if this chap Electrical Panel Service Upgrades uses it?

People are forever asking me: What is the best virus software? Best wireless router? Best accounting software? Best computer. Best this. Best that.

There is no best anything. Best is relative to your needs, your budget, your nous, you technical skills and in the end it all boils down to some sort of experience. Mine. Yours. Your friend’s. The collective wisdom of a crowd of strangers.

You can pay a little or a lot or zero money for software that does what it is supposed to do. The question is whether the software is going to do it well. But more importantly no matter how much money you pay you can’t get away from spending some time. It takes time to research and if you get something that is crappy or hard to use or doesn’t really do the job you want it to do you’ll spend a lot of time stuffing around with it.

So this is my current experience. Maybe it will save you some time and some money.

Over the course of many years…let’s say since 2003 when I had my first devasting experience with a virus…I’ve used all of the following virus and firewall and anti-malware software.

• Norton
• McAfee
• Bit Defender
• PC Tools
• AVG

When I say I’ve used I mean I’ve paid a subscription, installed and used for at least one subscription period or longer on at least three PC’s more. I’ve also helped many small business and friends and family install and use these products.

For years and before virus software came bundled with firewall software I used ZoneAlarm’s free firewall.

I ditched Norton, McAfee, Bit Defender and PC Tools because they all became too bloated. They take up too much computer resource to update or to run. And when my husband threatens to throw his notebook computer out the window every time it appears to come to a screaming halt (caused by virus software updates) then I know it is time to ditch.

I used AVG early in it’s historical life. I was always suspicious of it and in the end it let viruses slip through that at the time it simply shouldn’t have. Once burned twice shy so I never tried the paid version.

Last year I paid (by way of Trial Pay and this is not a recommendation) for a one-year subscription to Zone Alarm’s bundled version of virus and internet security software. After a good year’s run with it, I recently renewed my subscription, upgrading to their eXtreme Security product. But whoa! Every time I wanted to download something using Firefox it spit the dummy, produced an error message about being unstable, shut down my Firefox (which really pissed me off since I usually had at least 8 windows open). After a week (hoping that an update would fix the problem) I reported the problem to Zone Alarm (via online chat). I seemed to be the only person in the world who had this problem.

I asked for my money back (and they promptly refunded). Then after swearing that this is all a racket anyway (really isn’t someone out there getting paid to write viruses?) I also swore never again to pay good money for malware protection and I started my search for a money-free good reliable product.

Security Software That I Am Currently Using

Here’s what I am using (so far)…

Microsoft’s Totally Free Security Essentials

After dreadful experiences with Microsoft’s Defender firewall, I would normally stay away from any virus protection Microsoft offered. But I decided to try Security Essentials after my husband put a rave review under my nose. And I really like it. It is quiet and unobtrusive, efficient and best of all it works very very well on low configured XP machines. I’ve only been using it for two months but so far so good.

PC Tools Threatfire

I am also using PC Tools Threatfire (the free version) as an added measure because I rarely do a complete system scan and I like the concept of the behaviour-based real-time prevention (compared to other virus protection that relies on prior knowledge of virus patterns and necessitates regular updates). On Vista (with 3GB of ram) this extra protection doesn’t seem to impact on resources. I would be wary doubling up like this on an XP machine.

Ad-Aware

In addition to virus software, one needs occasionally to scan for spyware culprits. The alternative Spyware Doctor seems to do a good job but it isn’t free and it is resource hungry. I definitely would not let it run all the time.

Ad-aware was the only malware software that found a dormant key-logger on my PC. None of the virus scanners paid or free discovered it. I don’t let Ad-aware run all the time because there is a noticeable impact on system resources. I fire it up for a complete system scan about once a month.

The Final Measure

I have two final measures of good security (virus, firewall, malware detection) software. It is whether or not my 72-year old Mother can easily use it on her 6 year-old Toshiba laptop (XP 500MB of memory) without degradation in performance and whether my 70-year old Aunt using it on her 4 year-old Dell desktop can go at least 6 months without getting a virus.

I will report back.

If you are involved with internet marketing and in particular affiliate marketing or if you provide product reviews on the internet then you probably familiar with the uproar about the US Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) new advertising guidelines.

The guidelines are basically about how the FTC will continue to use a 30-year old act to police the use of testimonials and product endorsements in advertising. The guidelines provide numerous examples of advertisements in general and mentions brochures, TV commercials, infomercials and blogs.

In my very personal opinion, the lawyers, in their inimitable fashion are making it far more scary and complicated than it really is. The concept of misleading or deceptive advertising has been around for a very long time. Why shouldn’t it apply to sales and marketing of products on the internet?

The Bottomline for Affiliate Marketers

If you are conducting affiliate marketing then you are basically…in some way…endorsing products. The fact that you will earn a commission on referred sales is a material connection between you and the product suppler. To the reader of your comment, opinion, or product review you should disclose this fact and your disclosure should be upfront.

Consumer Endorsements

Advertisers using consumers to endorse their product must be able to backup or substantiate any claims made about product effectiveness. A disclaimer that the results are not typical may not be adequate. It is not clear what would be adequate.

The Nitty Gritty Detail

The new FTC Guidelines are related to the application of Section 5 of the FTC Act (15 U.S.C. 45) to the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising. This act has been around for 30 years but the new guidelines specifically outline how the FTC will apply the act to online (internet) advertising.

The Guidelines are only 12 pages, a little bit legalistic but plain enough for a thinking person to comprehend. I don’t think I need a lawyer to tell me what steps I need to take to protect myself in the internet marketing arena.

The Act is rather more complicated and involves 30 years of precedence and case law. Basically you need to be honest and don’t engage in deceptive advertising.

The FTC Notice
The Text of the new FTC Guidelines
The Act (Unofficial Version udpated June 2007).

Disclaimer
I am not a lawyer. This is merely my considered personal opinion.

(updated to test stealth plugin)

Suddenly for no good reason my Outlook 2003 (running on Vista) keeps restarting itself.

When a problem like this suddenly starts happening you just know it is probably caused by some other software that you’ve recently installed or a Microsoft update.

If you have installed some new software, uninstall it if you can and see if that doesn’t fix it.

In my case: I’m not 100% sure what was the cause. I haven’t installed any new software lately so I did another Microsoft update (there were 4 critical patches) and the problem went away as quickly as it appeared.

I’m still running Outlook 2003. I can’t bear to take the time to learn Microsoft 2007 and Microsoft 2010 is around the corner.