Jeffs Talk Tech Blog

Adobe Reader Phishing Scam

2011-03-31T17:11:00.001-05:00

Have you received an email from Adobe about an update? Delete the email immediately. The email is part of a phishing scam. They are trying to get you to give some information about yourself. The email looks like the one below:

In this case it's always a good idea to go directly to the source. It's a bad idea to click on links in emails. If you receive email from someone that you are uncertain about, just go to the web site of the company in question. Delete the original email and you will be fine.

Phishing Scams Targeting CTI Customers

2011-01-17T15:23:00.001-06:00

There is an email making the rounds that looks like it cane from Computer Techniques, Inc. It is a phishing scam. If you receive this email delete it immediately. If you have responded to the email, with the information requested, you need to change your password immediately. These scams try to get information from users. Below is a picture of what this particular phishing email looks like.

The following links provide some information about what phishing scams are and how to deal with them.

Wikipedia - Phishing

Microsoft - Phishing: Frequently asked questions

Facebook for Parents

2011-01-11T17:00:00.001-06:00

If you have children, you know Facebook is how they communicate. To help you understand what Facebook is and how to use it, I found "A Parent's Guide to facebook". This guide was produced by the ConnectSafely site. After reading the guide you should have a better idea of how to use Facebook safely.

Facebook for Parents

What browser are you using?

2010-12-26T15:36:00.001-06:00

Has anybody ever asked you what browser you are using? Did you give them a blank stare?

Go to this site http://www.whatbrowser.org/en/ and it will show you exactly what web browser you are using.

Check and see what you are running. It might be time to try a different browser or update the one you already use.

Tweet Wrap

2010-12-11T12:51:00.001-06:00

OK, so it's MAJORly GEEKY, but there is a site that takes Tweets and turns it into wrapping paper. If you or someone you are gifting is always on Twitter this is the site for you.

http://pages.samsung.com/us/tweetwrap/

Text Filler with Fillerati

2010-12-07T19:33:00.000-06:00

Tired of using Loren Ipsum for your filler text? Try Fillerati. This new site will allow you to use the text from classic novels as your filler text for your next project.

Give it a try at Fillerati.com

Where in the world is my iPhone?

2010-11-22T14:28:00.001-06:00

Apple has made the Find my iPhone feature of their MobileMe service Free. All you have to do is download the app from the Apple App Store. Now, remember you've lost your phone so you'll have to download the app on a another iPhone. Once the app is installed all you have to do is enter your Apple ID and it will find your phone. This capability is only available for free for iPhone 4, iPad and 4th generation iPod Touch owners who have upgraded to iOS 4.2 and have an Apple ID. We tested this feature in the office and it worked as advertised. If you have any of the devices that qualify I recommend you get it set up before you need it.

Find out more at Find My iPhone

Me! Me! Me?

2010-11-20T21:39:00.002-06:00

Looking for a page that is all about you? Try Flavors.me. Signing up was easy. Just give them an email address, name and a password. You then start adding content to your page. You know all of those sites that you sign up for? You can have them all post to your Flavors.me page. You can check mine out at http://flavors.me/jeffdurbin. I also have a Google Profile and an About.Me page. I definitely sign up for too much stuff.

Track Santa with NORAD

2008-12-24T11:27:00.003-06:00

Every year for over fifty years NORAD has tracked Santa's movements across the globe. If you haven't experienced this web site and even if you have this is a great way to keep track of where Santa is during his travels. If you would like further information the NORAD tracks Santa page on wikipedia has the full story of how this all came about.

Make sure to check out the videos of Santa as he flies over some of the major cities.

NORAD Tracks Santa

Merry Christamas to you all!

Update Internet Explorer ASAP

2008-12-18T12:01:00.001-06:00

If you are using Internet Explorer make sure you computer is up to date. Microsoft has issued an out of band update to fix a critical problem in IE.

The vulnerability could allow remote code execution if a user views a specially crafted Web page using Internet Explorer.

So, if your computer is not up to date this is the time to run all your updates. For more information you can look at the Microsoft Security Bulletin.

Don't forget to update your Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware software while your at it.

Election Day 2008 Coverage

2008-11-04T10:44:00.002-06:00

Looking for Election 2008 coverage online? Well take a look at these links.

You can also go directly to the candidates web sites for information on your candidate.

John McCain's Web Site - http://www.johnmccain.com
Barack Obama's Web Site - http://www.barackobama.com

Windows Media Player and Windows Movie Maker

2008-10-15T23:26:00.003-05:00

We had a caller raise a question about burning DVDs with Windows Media Player. Since, neither one of us was familiar with the process I decided to look into it. According to Microsoft's web site you cannot burn DVDs with Windows Media Player in Windows XP. The feature is available in Windows Vista. Now, on the other hand Windows Movie Maker has the ability to burn DVDs. Windows Movie Maker is a fun program to play around with but when it comes to burning the finished product I still depend on Nero. If you don't have Nero you can always download BurnerXP.

Back to the callers problem. Updates sometimes remove functionality that we have become accustomed to. Sometimes these updates are required other times we can uninstall the updated software to revert back to our original program. In cases where we can't uninstall the software we do what we can to find a replacement.

There's a new version of Windows Movie Maker available at the Live web site. It's in Beta, but it's stable. Really the current version is plenty to do some quick videos. Also, Live Photo Gallery is shaping up to be a handy way to organize photos and video. If you are in to making slide shows check out PhotoStory from Microsoft.

I Love Google Maps

2008-10-08T00:00:00.005-05:00

I'm a sucker for cool uses of Google Maps. You can do all kinds of crazy and sometimes useful things with Google Maps. For instance check out my geoGreeting. Stumbled upon that one recently. OK, it's not really useful,but it is fun.

I'M A PC: Stereotype

2008-09-19T23:24:00.008-05:00

I'M A PC! OK now you say it... go ahead... Don't be afraid. I AM A PC! Very Good!

Google just got Chromed

2008-09-08T23:16:00.000-05:00

Google just released it's first web browser. They call it Chrome. I've been checking it out since it's release last week.

I've got to say it's not bad. Chrome is lightweight and fast. The home page shows the sites that you visit frequently.

One of the few unique features of Chrome is the ability to move tabs in and out of the browser. Chrome gives users a quick and easy way to move tabs around.

Creating shortcut's for your web app's couldn't be easier with Chrome shortcut to app's feature. Create Quick Launch icon's out of your favorite web page. I can see me using this more often.

For those of you worried about privacy Chrome has a feature just for you. It's called incognito. It's a way to browse in a tab that does not leave any tracks while surfing. It's not an original idea but it's a nice feature none the less.

Don't take my word for it why don't you download it yourself. Download Chrome

The Mojave Experiment

2008-07-31T23:46:00.001-05:00

I thought this was a clever way for Microsoft to respond to some of the criticism they have been receiving about Windows Vista. Initially I have to admit I didn't have a very good experience. My computer was not powerful enough to run Vista well. After getting a machine that was more modern my experience changed it performed beautifully. See for yourself what the Mojave is all about.

Mojave Experiment Site

Bill Gates Slideshow - Narrated by Bill Gates

2008-06-23T20:53:00.005-05:00

While doing some research for Talk Tech with CTI I found this interesting slide show. The pictures from the slide show were from the Microsoft Archives. To make the slide show even more interesting Bill Gates narrates. If you would like to watch it yourself just click on the link.

Bill Gates Slide Show

Join Me on DimDim!

2008-06-08T20:05:00.002-05:00

Join me on DimDim for a little chat. Had almost forgot until 10 minutes ago. If you are interested pop in. Join Meeting

Wii Fit - Hula Hoop

2008-06-03T08:42:00.004-05:00

During the radio show last week we were talking about Wii Fit the new game for the Nintendo Wii. I had said that there was a Hula Hoop game that you can play. Justin, had said that he'd like to see that. So, here it is me playing the Wii Fit, Hula Hoop game.

Web Meetings using DimDim.com

2008-06-01T20:38:00.004-05:00

DimDim.com is really easy to use to host web meetings. I've been trying to host meetings whenever possible. I usually have them on Sunday nights at 8:00PM. If you are not sure I'll post meeting announcements on TalkTechBlog.com. DimDim even has an Open Source version for all of you Tinkerers out there. Check it out here: DimDim Open Source And don't forget you can also chat with me on the Digsby widget on this site.

Live Web Meeting (June 1, 2008)

2008-06-01T19:24:00.004-05:00

Well, last weekend I didn't get to have a web meeting because of the holiday. Since, I have time to host a web meeting this weekend I thought I would give it a shot. We're still using DimDim.com to host the web meeting. Get to the web meeting here: Join Live Web Meetting. Almost forgot I'll be on from 8:00 to at least 9:00PM. Don't forget you can use the Digsby widget to chat with me when I am online.

Personal Software Inspector

2008-05-29T22:21:00.001-05:00

While listening to SecurityNow, Steve Gibson recommended the Personal Software Inspector by Secunia. It scans your computer and looks for software that needs to be patched. If you are serious about keeping your computer secure, this is a great tool to have in your toolbox. It tells you all of the programs on your computer that need to updated. It even notifies you of software that is end-of-life. It found several programs on my main computer that needed attention. It even has in depth descriptions and links to the updates. Give it a try for yourself. Let me know what you think.

CTI Open House (June 21, 2008)

2008-05-27T10:32:00.003-05:00

This year marks the 10th anniversary of Computer Techniques, Inc. We are all very excited to announce our Open House on June 21st. This will be at our offices at 1100 Sportsman Drive, Taylorville, Il (Next to the High School). Come and join us for some food and fun. We'll also be giving a bunch of stuff away. Including a Asus Eee PC, you know that cool Ultra-Portable computer that I've spoke of on the radio show. We'd be happy to see you, so stop on by and say Hi!

Live Web Meeting (5-18-2008)

2008-05-18T18:44:00.004-05:00

Come join us for the live web meeting on DimDim. The meeting will start at 8:00PM. If you have trouble getting in IM me at talktechwithcti(at)gmail.com or jeffrey.durbin(at)yahoo.com. If all else fails post a comment to this post. Stop by and say Hi! Almost forgot you can also use the Digsby chat widget that is on the blog to talk to me. Hope to see you soon.

Join the Talk Tech with CTI Live Web Meeting

Special Guest on Talk Tech 5-13-08

2008-05-13T00:46:00.000-05:00

We're happy to announce that we will be having a special guest on Talk Tech with CTI. Should be interesting. Our guest will be Chris Franzen,Technology Coordinator for Nokomis School District. We'll get Chris' take on technology in education.

Also, just want to remind everybody that the web meetings are getting smoother. I'll be having another one this coming Sunday. Stop by and chat or catch me on IM at jeffrey.durbin(at)Yahoo.com or talktechwithcti(at)gmail.com. If you see me on say hi.