It was announced last week that a new vulnerability (CVE-2011-0609) was found in some of Adobe’s products.  This is a dangerous scenario for many non savvy experts because sometimes they don’t even know that they have such applications installed on their machines. Many of them work as plugins in your browsers that allow you to watch videos or webpages.

Which applications are at risk?

The products at risk include Flash Player 10.2, Acrobat and Acrobat Reader X including versions for PC’s, Linux, Mac’s and even Android smart phones.

How do I know if I’m using these applications?

Adobe Reader – If you are using Adobe Reader you will see an icon on your desktop unless you have manually removed it. If it says “Adobe Reader X” then you are at risk.  If it has any other number less than 10 you might not be at risk for this particular vulnerability, but at risk for others since you are using an obsolete version of the application. I’d suggest you wait until Monday and then upgrade to X.

Flash Player – There isn’t a clear way to know unless you are more experienced if you visit pages with Flash, but if I had to guess I’d say that yes, almost every person that navigates the web visits a few Flash-based pages every day. They include Flash Player Videos, games, etc. Once again, if you have older versions of Flash Player, wait until Monday and then upgrade.

Android devices – Only users with Android 2.2 and 2.3 are at risk. The reason is that versions earlier than 2.2 do not have Flash accessibility and version 3.0 released Flash recently and it is my understanding that it was patched before release. For a list of devices using Android 2.2 or 2.3 please click here.

How is it happening?

Most of the attacks are happening via email.  People are receiving Microsoft Excel files (.xls) with a Flash embedded file (.swf) that contains the way in for the saboteurs. But that is not the only way. I’ve had users in the company I work for that forget to update Adobe Reader and later succumbed to malware infections. So don’t take this lightly.

When will this be resolved?

Adobe released their out of rotation patch this week (Monday 21st of March, 2011) .

What do I have to do?

One thing I will definitely give to Adobe is that they are pretty fast when they find vulnerabilities. Once they have deployed their patch, more than likely you will see a pop up on your system tray icons (lower right corner of your monitor where all the small icons are).  It will say “updates available” and there will be an Adobe logo there. Click on it and install. If you don’t see it go to the following page and click on the buttons for Adobe Reader and Flash Player (one at a time of course).  Reinstall them after you have read or given the green light to do so (meaning when you know the patch has been released). Keep an eye out while reinstalling that you are not opted in to download other software or toolbars that you don’t need.

Where do I get more information?

Stay tuned to this blog. We’ll be updating if anything else happens and we’ll update this post once the patch is out.  Also you can visit Adobe’s website for additional security information.

In these days where people are so busy with life and responsibilities it’s hard to find the time to stay current on technology trends. As we have said before, technology changes by the minute and it could be a 24-hour job to be informed and up to date with what is going on out there.

A personal example: I am one of those individuals that have a pile of books that never seems to go down. I finish a book, start another and while this happens, I discover new readings that make the cut to my precious nightstand. I wonder if I would ever have the time to read them all. It seems like there is not enough time right? The same happens when we talk about technology. If you are here reading, most likely you have a desire to understand and learn about it, maybe would like to be one of those techies who know everything before it actually happens. Truth be told – it can burn you out. Just like the pile of books on my nightstand, technology will never cease to amaze us with new things.

This doesn’t apply just to technology; it can be almost anything. Take world news for example; try staying on top of those! Although I have to say my husband is a great competitor in that race. Why the rush to be the first one to know? Why do we need to be on top?

It’s important to understand the benefits of technology, how it can help us in business and personal matters. Of course, it’s nice to have somebody like us to give you technology insight and answer your questions instead of finding the answer by yourself.

So following that line of thinking, what are your favorite sources of technology information? Who or where do you go to when you need to know about something technology-related? I’ll share with you some of my favorite sources of information; the ones who made the cut to my RSS feed:

www.mashable.com – Excellent resource containing the latest news on social and digital media and web culture.

www.venturebeat.com – News and information on innovation and technology for professionals and execs.

www.engadget.com – Online magazine with the latest on new gadgets and electronic products.

There is a saying where I come from, “what’s free ends up costing you more”, but I can see that being a little too extreme for this case. However, there’s another one that’s a permutation of classic quote that says “trust is in the eyes of the gullible.”  The question to ask is, are you gullible?

Let me start by saying this is not a rant against Google. In my line of work, knowing how to use its search capabilities is an essential skill. This is a story of alertness so that once you are done reading you can make your own decisions with some new information. If after reading this you still feel that your privacy is not threatened and you know well how to be the owner of what you don’t say and avoid being slave of what you say, then by all means continue.

What is the issue with privacy?

If you have no idea of what I’m talking about let me give you the thirty second summary. Google and all of its apps are free for end users. Therefore, they are a huge enterprise with tons of money to be invested in development and infrastructure. Where does that money come from? The answer is ad revenue. Yes, everybody has that nowadays so, what makes them so special? Their custom tailored system.

If you use any of the Google applications (Gmail for example), most likely you have noticed the ads showing up above your inbox.  Most of the time the ads change with every click you make into different emails. Even better, the ads seem to resemble the context of the email you receive.

Basically Google scans your emails and sorts through its list of ads and according to that sorting, it present things you might be interested in — like what happens when you order a book through Borders online for example. So, what could be wrong with that, right? I mean, they already scan your inbox for spam. They are just checking it twice like Santa does — but for profit.

The same goes for Google Talk, Voice, YouTube, etc.  It’s an ad driven world, and Google is driving a military tank.

Google talks explicitly about how they go about this and makes all decisions based on the following three principles:

• Transparency – We provide detailed information about our advertising policies and practices.
• Choice – We offer innovative ways to view, manage and opt out of advertising cookies.
• No personally identifying information – We don’t collect or serve ads based on personally identifying information without your permission.

Can they do that without asking me?

Well, here’s where the disconnect starts. They did ask. First of all, you have to accept EULA (End User License Agreement) by either checking a box, selecting accept, etc. in order to actually register to the service. Second of all, you are getting a fantastic software that does incredible things ten years before were not possible and you are not paying a dime. We really are in no position to tell Google not to use our data. Nobody is forcing you to use their applications.

They are really not different than any other company even before the Internet era. They have a huge client database with specific details and sometimes they sell it so others can sell stuff to that particular group. Its how marketing work. Besides, some people actually like it. They enjoy tailored advertising. Even Hollywood thought about the idea in another dystopic future movie back in 2002. Do you remember Minority Report and how cameras could scan your retina, read your details and then show ads that could be relevant to you? Who knows, maybe Spielberg’s second last name was Nostradamus.

Can I do something about it?

There is always a choice. If you don’t agree with a company policy you can always stop using their software. It’s that simple. Of course, if we are talking about an email account that is part of your online identity that you’ve used for years and can’t see yourself parting ways with, yet the thought of tailored ads based on scans of your data scares you like the apocalypse, then there might be another solution you haven’t heard of before.

Google has an option called “Opt Out”, where they allow you to part ways with their collection processes from most of their applications. The top three browsers (Chrome, Firefox and Internet Explorer), offer a browser installer called the advertising cookie opt out plugin which, blocks their attempts to collect your details. Other browsers need to follow manual steps. Their advertising and privacy section goes into detail about what you can do regarding your information and the collection of data.

The bottom line of this whole issue is that, companies need to make money to survive and grow and ad revenue is the best way to do it. When something is given to us for free we cannot expect to put the rules in place. We can only follow them or find a place where your money decides what happens.

Well, I’m not here to tell you which one is the best browser (not getting paid or endorsed here), but, I can give you some pros and cons although I can’t make any guarantees.

On a side note believe it or not, the European Union forced Microsoft to give users the option of choosing the browser they want, meaning they had to provide other browsers in their Windows installation. As a result, now people have the opportunity to choose how to navigate the Internet. Here in the United States, we are not so fortunate and there’s a lot of people that only know Internet Explorer.

So, why should I have multiple browsers?

There is no “do or die” reason if you want the honest truth but, then again, is there a real need for every household to have more than one car? Do we really need more than one TV in the house? Why do we even bother with data backup in our computers? Oh that’s right, that little thing called redundancy.

Whether we like it or not, things break down and with computers, one erroneous click can take you to own a dead computer within a matter of seconds (pardon my drama!).  Sometimes the computer might still function properly but, the browser doesn’t.  If I had to count with my two hands the amount of times an installation of Internet Explorer went corrupt on me… let’s just say I would have to ask for the hands of the entire Lakers team to count.  It’s a fact that the browser gets corrupt and yes, you can try and download it again but how are you going to do that if you don’t have another browser?

Sure, you can repair Windows, just go into the Control Panel or do some maintenance tasks to try and troubleshoot the problem. However, another fact of life that I’m sure Murphy would agree with is that, things will only breakdown when you are in a hurry.  So why not just have another browser ready to go, to avoid unnecessary emergency troubleshooting that could end up costing you more money if you are not technical enough (which that might be the case considering you are reading this blog).

What are other browsers are people using?

Like any statistics out there, there are different types that look at different samples and the results obviously are different.  I’m going to use data from the past 2 years from the website StatOwl which has sample of 28 million unique visitors per month.  What I can interpret from this data is that although the first two spots more than likely are in the correct order, the numbers may actually vary.  As per the other contestants (which I doubt that’s their order too), but, I don’t collect data from 28 million visitors so I can’t really compare, here is the percentage count of users and their preferred browsers for Internet navigation:

• Internet Explorer (IE): 62.14%
• Firefox: 20.14%
• Safari: 9.15%
• Chrome: 7.72%
• Opera:  0.33%

Even though you might read this and say, “wow, there is no competition against IE”, you have to understand that five years ago, IE had 90% of the pie and now it’s down thirty percent. Like I said before, I would not be surprised if its more than that.  You might want to ask yourself, why are people changing? That is an answer only you can find.

Which other browser should I download then?

Ok so, by now I’ve probably scared you or ‘guilted’ you into downloading another browser.  Not the reaction I was going for but I’ll take it nonetheless.  So which one right? There are so many options.  Well, you really can’t ask me which one, because me being the overly paranoid pseudo geek that I am, I downloaded them all. You know, because you never know when 5 browsers go bad and the sixth will save your day. Plus I’m not here to sell you my favorite but to give you the options.

Anyway, what I can do is give you a list of the most familiar browsers out there, tell you a little bit about them and give you positives and negatives about their use.  Then, you need to pick which one(s) you want to download.  Who knows, you might discover something other than Internet Explorer and your structured navigation world might come crumbling down allowing you to expand your horizons… wouldn’t that be something to be proud of?

Internet Explorer

Believe it or not, IE is on its 9 iteration (currently in public beta, meaning it’s still in the testing stage).  What that means is that it’s been a part of us for the longest time.  Since its appearance in 1995 as part of Windows 95, it’s been a wild and crazy ride that some of us have taken without realizing that… there are other cars available.

I can tell you that it’s a Windows product so, it goes without saying that it integrates fairly well with anything Microsoft-related and for the average user, there is very little outside that. That might change soon with all the free apps online but that’s material for another story. Also, there are places online that still require you to use IE to navigate.  Which means that even the IE haters know they can’t get rid of it.  They just hide it as best they can until such time when they have to wake him from the bottom of the code.  It’s their version of the Kraken I would say.

The cons? Well, were to start. Ok how about security? Every month new patches come out to secure some flaw someone found that will put your machine in jeopardy.  Then there’s the layout of the buttons that a lot of people tend to dislike. Not to mention its a very heavy browser; it can be slow as molasses!  And let’s not forget the bugs.  When this browser decides to throw a tantrum, man oh man!

Firefox

If you haven’t met him, allow me introduce you to one of  the darlings of the developer world for the longest time.  It’s an open source browser (in simple terms, free code unlike Microsoft), that has been known as the antithesis of IE.  Anybody that has been using the Internet long enough will remember Firefox’s twice-removed second cousin named Mosaic and closer to home was it’s stepfather Netscape, also known as Mozilla Application Suite.  The first complete version under the name Firefox launched in 2004.  Since then we have gone through 3 versions (in their defense, they do release half versions) and version 4 is already on public beta as well.  As you can see, the competition is fierce when it comes to release dates.

As to the pros well, anybody who is anybody loves it, and in the end it’s about the cool factor, right? But in all seriousness, it has a reputation for being flexible and fast with the functionality of add-ons which are small applications that get installed into the browser that serve multiple purposes, from spam busting to social media talking.

The cons are limited but important to know.  Basically, once you get the hang of the add-ons, you grow a little crazy and start installing more and more of them.  The result is a slower, more sluggish browser and sometimes add-ons have issues among themselves creating problems.  In addition, if you have to navigate a site that requires IE, the navigation experience is really bad.

Chrome

You know,  kids in every family develop their own personalities.  The old mature one, the slim athletic one, the efficient one, etc.  Chrome is the attention craving baby in my mind.  The little kid that would sing and dance and do anything for the crowd at the family gathering.  Since it’s release in2008, it has already grabbed close to 10% of the market.  Mainly because its a Google product and like a lot of their products, they tend to be a hit.*

The pros? It has a unique design and although it could be compared with Firefox by some, it does its own thing.  Recently, they released the Chrome Store which are apps like you’d find on a smart phone but for the browser.  It’s a very interesting approach that has a lot of people hooked.  Also, based on my experience, it’s a pretty fast browser too.

The cons are simple.  It’s new.  As a result, some web pages have issues with the browser, others don’t recognize it properly and the look and feel although very slick, may seem confusing and different for more traditional people.

Opera

Then comes the middle child.  You know the one that’s good, but he’s not the first, nor the latest, nor the adopted, he’s the other one.  I personally believe Opera has not been given the respect it deserves.  How bad is it? Well, the first browser came out in the late nineties, they were one of the first browsers to go the smartphone route, and they are already on version 11 trying to not stay afloat but ahead of the curve.  The problem is… well, I don’t know what the problem is.  Perhaps people associate it with a musical Opera and the short attention span kicks in and they just run.

The pros are enormous.  It’s stable, it has few complaints on security issues compared to other browsers, works perfectly in multiple operating systems and has great security features. Yes, I know I mentioned security twice.

Cons? I can’t really say.  I don’t use it that often which adds insult to injury to the fact of me trying to defend it so much. This might mean that there is a real mystery involved when people decide not to use this browser.  Here’s a funny sarcastic list of possible reasons people might not want to use Opera written by an intern candidate to that company.  I would agree that its an Ophobia.

Safari

This browser is not new.  Anybody with a Mac knows that Safari has been around for a while.  However, its PC version wasn’t released until a few years back .  My first experience with the Windows version was a crash of my computer right after opening up the browser.  As you can imagine, I was not very pleased with the result.  Since then, there have been many updates/upgrades and its stable but, I’ve never been a big user of it.

The pros include a very clean and easy to navigate toolbar.  You know Apple, everything has to be slick. Another pro is that for anybody coming from a Mac, or anybody going to a Mac, this is a good transition to experience an application from that platform.  It may not be exactly the same but you get an idea.  I see it as training wheels.

If you are not going or coming from a Mac, you might find it a little annoying.  I’m not dissing, I’m just saying what I’ve already heard from end users.  Like I mentioned earlier also, it’s a recent product so there are still kinks here and there that they are trying to get around specially when it comes to navigate sites that expect IE.

*for a curious look at Google products that have not succeeded take a look here.

The noise could be generated by multiple reasons, but in my experience, more times than none, it comes from the fan that ventilates the processor chip in the motherboard.  It is a very important indicator when things are not going so well in there. Think of that fan as the laptop’s lungs and compare the “lack of maintenance” that you are surely not giving it, with smoking cigarettes. The more you smoke, the more trouble you’ll have to breathe until one day you can’t breath anymore and you shut down.

So what is actually happening to the fan?

There are two main possible causes for an ‘over-working’ fan. It could be that it’s clogged and dust is not allowing it to move properly. It can also be an overuse of resources, meaning too many applications are running at the same time against a processor that can’t really take that beating so it overheats and the fan has to work harder and longer than normal. These are two completely isolated problems but having the same symptom, just like in our human body, it takes a little investigation to find out exactly what the problem is.

Another one bites the dust:

Let’s consider the first possibility. Dust happens, and to fans (regular ol’ fashioned fans as well as computer fans), it happens all the time! Be that a desktop or a laptop, odds are that if you’ve used the machine for more than six months without cleaning the fan, it has some nice little dust bunnies. A little more time and they become dust encrusted bunnies, and a few more months and they could make the fan stop spinning. As a result, the temperature in the computer raises and it ends up overheating and shutting down. So, while an overworked fan could indicate that there is a problem, not hearing the fan at all and not being able to feel it throwing hot air out is even a worse sign. If you get to the point where the fan stops working, you’ve lost the war. At that point you need to either contact your warranty service provider or find a person to repair your machine.

It’s an App world after all:

The second possibility says that many applications are running against an overworked processor. What do I mean by that? Well, it’s something that goes under the radar for a lot of people. You buy a computer with some software installed and it’s running fine. Months pass and you download tons of music, videos, free apps, tool-bars, renew your anti-virus and new Microsoft windows updates, and a new browser and its updates… and the months turn to years, and the updates keep on piling. Then you buy a new version of Office and so goes the story until you get to a point where the newer updates or the newer applications installed, have specific processor requirements that your machine barely supplies.

Another example: I have this laptop I bought in 2005 with a very nice single processor. Now I know most people would say, “Woa, that’s an oldie!”, but in reality, it behaves rather decently. This is true, mainly because I take care of it (yes, I’m looking at you who don’t even do a defrag). So, if it behaves so nicely, what’s the matter you ask? Well, this computer was built to work with Windows XP SP2, Office 2003 and various other softwares with versions equal or previous to 2005. As the years passed, I was forced to go to XP SP3 which required a lot more from the hardware. Then the Internet Explorer browser upgraded from 7 to 8 and recently to 9 Beta. All of a sudden, the Internet was all about video. In the meantime, new computers with dual processors and even multi-threading quad processors (basically meaning a lot of processor power), meant for this new Internet. So my little old computer can browse the web or use Office fine but, the moment I try to do more than three things at the same time, I start hearing the fan music. If you hear that music too, then you most stop some of your activities because, you really want your oldie to last you a bit more, don’t you?

So how do I resolve this?

If you are proactive with your maintenance you can tackle the first issue quite easily and in a very inexpensive way. All you need is a can of compressed air and find the fan (in some laptops is on the side and in others at the bottom). Spray the air in short bursts and while you are at it, clean between the keys. It can get very nasty there too.

If you have some more know-how or feeling more intrepid (only if your warranty is done with), then you can try to find online instructions for your laptop model and see how to open and clean it more efficiently. But remember, never reverse engineer something you might not be able to put back together.

For the second issue, if your computer starts freezing while the fan is going, the best option is to go to task manager. You can get to task manager by right clicking on the START Bar below and selecting Task Manager or by pressing the CTRL + SHIFT + ESC keys together at the same time. Close the applications open that say “Not Responding”.

If this becomes an issue on a constant basis then you should consider purchasing some application that allows you to clean your machine from debris of old and unnecessary applications that make your computer behave slower and hotter than it should. I’ll talk more about that type of applications later on.  If the computer is extremely old and navigating the web becomes unbearable, videos buffer, you can’t have more than two or three windows open at any given time no matter what you do, then perhaps its time to start planning for an actualization of your equipment.  For now, I’ll keep listening to the silence my normal working fan makes. That is a beautiful lack of sound we should all be able to enjoy.

So, what computer should you buy? I’m going to answer your question with a series of questions. The first one:

What type of computer do you need?

Not so long ago, this question was very important, mainly because mobility wasn’t such a big thing as it is now and desktop sales where number one. Gradually the sales for desktops started to decrease and so did their cost. Now, what you need to determine is if your machine going to be in one location and you don’t want to move it or if want to take it around the house and even outside. With this decision you know if you are getting a laptop or a desktop. There are cost and benefits to both but nowadays, the only people that seem interested in a desktop are those that are looking for a home server (to run the whole house network systems through it), or those that use a lot of heavy duty applications like gamers, graphic designers and video editors. If you don’t fit these descriptions, maybe a laptop is what you are looking for. If you are interested in a desktop, more than likely your options will be limited to what you can find on a store (very little), or buying online using some of the same parameters you’ll read below.

What size should my laptop be?

Assuming you have determined that a laptop is what best suites you, then let’s talk size because in this subject, it does matter. Since mobility has become all the rage, there are different sizes for laptops that will benefit different types of people based on their needs. The key here is that the size of laptops gets measured in the screen size. If you enjoy watching a lot of movies in your computer you can get a 17″ inch monitor laptop. If you need something that doesn’t take that much space but still has a normal size keyboard then you can buy your typical 12″ to 14″ monitor laptop.

There is a new generation of laptops for those that hate to carry big bulky machines but still require a full operating system even though the size of the monitor is irrelevant. For these people, netbooks work wonderfully. Netbooks is a new breed of laptops about 5″ to 7″ in size (monitor wise). They vary from full keyboard to smaller keyboard (these tend to be a little uncomfortable) and they can run Linux Ubuntu or Windows XP Home for the most part. Some might start selling now with Windows 7 and if that’s the only one you find, go that route. It’s time to start thinking about leaving XP behind. That of course, is another story.

Do I need a CD/DVD player?

Why is this relevant? Well, netbooks are so small they don’t have a slot for CD’s and they are mainly limited to an Internet cable connector and a few USB ports. If you are a person that still listens to music in CD’s and not in MP3 players, or that purchase DVD’s at the store and not through online stores like iTunes, then a netbook might not be for you. Of course, you can always use it as an excuse to start using MP3 players and downloads.

I hear Mac laptops are the best, should I just buy one of those?

I’m never going to tell a person not to buy a Mac. I believe Apple makes great products and they are going out of their way to try to approach a larger share of the computer user market. Their products have great benefits and their machines sure are pretty. But ask yourself this question: are you interested in a Mac because YOU think it’s the best option or because a Mac aficionado brainwashed you into getting that because it’s super awesome and so much cooler than a crappy PC? If that’s the only reason, then do yourself a favor and stick to what you know. Besides, if we are looking to simplify your life, the truth of the matter is that there are far more people available that can help you troubleshoot Windows based computers than Mac’s. That might change in the future but right now, it’s a PC world.

But what about the important junk? The processor and the memory thingy and the hard drive stuff? What about that?

Hold your horses. Yes that’s important. Those three are the big ones when it comes to the machine and what will raise or reduce the price.

First let’s talk about memory. I’m about to use some terms you probably don’t know or use, so make sure you write it down at the time of going shopping. For Windows, operating systems come in 32 bits and 64 bits. What they do I’m going to skip and just say, that 64 is more scalable. The reason I mention this is that nowadays, those two models are sold side by side and the explanations a sales person might give you will probably be confusing. How does this relate to memory? In 32 bits, a machine with Windows will take only up to 3 GB of RAM, with 64 you can do more than that. When it comes to memory, the more, the better. Remember to play this according to your budget.

Hard Drive is a tricky subject. The first instinct is to get the biggest one available even if it costs a little more. My personal take is to get a medium size drive that doesn’t add a lot to the price. These days, that would probably be more than 100GB (and that’s a lot). Hard drive technology is always changing and growing making larger size drives more affordable. But you don’t want all your eggs in one basket. Yes, you want a hard drive big enough to hold a lot of your data, but what you really want is an external hard drive where to place your backups. Keep that in mind. No, you don’t have to buy that external drive right away, just don’t wait a year either. After all, it’s your backup.

Now the big Tamale: the processor! There are so many names for processors between Intel and AMD (the two biggest competitors) , that it’s hardly impossible for me to mention them all. I’m just going to say, for a regular user that just downloads music, watches videos on YouTube, reads blogs, uses Microsoft Office and prints/scans every once in a while, a computer with a processor speed of 2.00GHz makes very little difference than one with 2.2GHz. Just look for the best deal. What will make a difference is the type of processor itself. Check for dual core, quad core, or the new six core. The simplest way to differentiate them would be to say that for streaming video and editing videos, the more “cores” the better and once again knowing this, plan according to your budget.

What about iPads/Tablets? Should I get that instead?

Sorry, I’m not going to talk about iPads and or tablets in this story because I don’t consider them equal to a laptop (even though some people enjoy calling them the laptop killers). Later on I’ll be commenting on the new trend of tablets and how that will interact with what we know today.

Is there anything else?

Yes, there is. The most important thing: if you end up buying a laptop, you need to breathe deep, concentrate and purchase the lengthiest and all covering warranty you can get. It usually is 3 years (some offer 5 years) and covers everything from broken monitor, burned internal pieces, failing hardware, etc. It is expensive and it will destroy the awesome price you thought you were getting on that cheap cheap laptop with all the bells and whistles but, laptops are not like desktops where you can easily add/remove parts. They are more complex to troubleshoot, far more sensitive and easily damaged.

So dig deep into your tight budget and understand that you are doing yourself a favor for the future. Sooner or later, all hardware and software fails and if you are covered, that’s money you won’t have to spend.

So there you have it. I hope this is helpful and with this information you can move forward in your computer shopping spree.

You have read about the good and the bad aspects of many technology tools and the need of establishing a balance to be able to get the best of them. The question is if we really are routing for that balance. Looking at the things that are happening in the world these days because of the abuse and misuse of technology, the answer will be an absolute no. I must point out that, I am fully aware that this is a controversial topic and each individual will have an opinion about it but, what I’m sure you’ll agree with me is that the most important thing to help combat technology misuse is education. Certainly, it is the best weapon to prevent sticky situations.

Technology can bring us closer… and divide us. A common example that most likely you have experienced: you are sitting at the table with a group of friends and/or family and suddenly you see one or two individuals texting (text messages delivered by phone), completely out of the loop and the reality of the moment. Of course, to be able to communicate so fast with others is convenient but in a way, they are also sacrificing the human interaction that is going on (maybe for hours!). And, what about those terrible accidents caused by texting drivers?

Recently I read a story about a girl who committed suicide because somebody posted a video of her online in compromising situations. All of a sudden, what is fantastic of being able to share video with others brings a bad taste to the mouth. There have been numerous media campaigns emerging in an effort to inform people about the dangers of cyber bullying which is, needless to say, a huge concern in our society. Although older generations are generally more cautious on their sharing, that does not exclude them from the problem. We need to understand the problem to contribute to the solution. We can all be victims.

Technology could debilitate our capacities… and get us fired! Sure you have read those stories about employees posting how much they hate their boss or company in Facebook only to be fired the day after. In terms of our capabilities for example, having a calculator in our computer to do all our mathematical calculations is super convenient but, wouldn’t this affect the capacity to do it on our own? Because we depend so much on the gadget we don’t do it anymore with our brain. I have heard students protest passionately when their teacher warns them that the calculations for the math exercises are to be done manually on a test (of course in my time, I was one of them). If we think about it for a second, the argument is in theory, valid. Why bother in learning that when there are tools that can do it for me?

My Carrie Bradshaw alter-ego suddenly emerges, and I couldn’t help but wonder: as society evolves, will this negativity transform into a weakness in the future? Studies have proven that humans only use a minimal part of their brain capacity. Is technology adding to this issue? Is ironic to know that to create these great tech tools, super minds and intelligence were needed. When I think about this, I always remember the movie Idiocracy, a comedy were the world has degenerated into a barely functioning society held together by mostly automated technological infrastructure created by intelligent individuals many years before. Check it out if when you have some time; it brings an interesting perspective.

It has been said also that social media could diminish work productivity because of all the hours employees dedicate to Twitter and Facebook. The reality is that, a lot of people today spends long hours on social networks; so much that they don’t have time for anything else in their lives. Definitely, it is a dangerous and risky behavior.

I could be here all day writing about this topic. In reality, there is no magic formula that can protect us from the dangers of technology misuse. What you can do is always exercise your best judgment and make decisions based on education and thorough research (and by research I don’t mean a one-minute search on Google). Take the time to read, research and understand opinions, essays and lectures about topics. That is the key to obtain that balance so difficult to realize. What do you think?

1) READ. It may seem funny that I’m telling you this but, 3 out of 4 people that come to me with a pop up panic attack never actually read what it said. Now, I can understand that when you get the Blue Screen of Death where the text makes little to no sense to a non technical person, but not when it’s a 1-2 sentence pop up in clear English. Read the message so you can better understand what the pop up is trying to tell you.

An example. Not long ago, a computer user having issues with an application. He said that the application continuously logged him out after every action and a message appeared forcing him to enter his details over and over again. I asked him if he was reading the message and he said: “No. I just saw the lines to type the username and password and so I did“. I asked him to go through the process while I watched. When he got to the issue at hand and the message showed up, his first instinct was to enter his details once again and hit enter really fast. I stopped him from typing so I could read the message and really fast, realized what the problem was. I told him “You should really read this“. Right under the detail lines where three radio buttons asking if he wanted to save the details or re enter them every time. Guess which one was marked?

2) FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS. If the message is simple enough and it tells you what you should do, then do it. If it says, ‘click here to end now’ because the application is not responding, there is no need to restart the machine, or to forcefully bypass this message or call somebody in desperation. If the message tells you to restart, then do it. If the message tells you you have a virus, then take the required steps to make sure you get rid of it as per your disaster recovery plan for your computer. If you don’t have one, stay tuned because that will be one of my future entries. If the message and the instructions are not generic or benign and in effect are alerting you of something that’s going wrong in your machine then you should really read the next number.

3) TRACK ERRORS. Sometimes the message is not good and its trying to alert you of a behavior in your machine that needs your attention, maybe even require you to turn off the music or the YouTube video you are watching. One thing to be aware of is that every error you find is kept in the Event Viewer for Microsoft Windows. Depending on what version you are using, getting there will vary a bit. For XP users and earlier platforms would be: START ->CONTROL PANEL ->ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS ->EVENT VIEWER. For Windows Vista and 7 users, use the Circle with the flag on the lower left corner, find Control Panel, Administrative Tools and then Event Viewer.

From there you can view three logs: Application, Security and Systems. Whatever has a red circle is an error and yellow triangles are warnings. Double click on those to get more details. However, more than likely this will also be like reading another language, yet it gives you some clues that will help you find the answer. Think of yourself as a nerdier Robert Langdon looking for The Lost Error. There is a number called Event ID on that error message and with that number you can redirect yourself to Google (or your favorite browser), type it in as: “Event ID: [number here] and whatever else related to the situation and then, investigate the entries. Some will be related, others not, some will give you ideas, and so goes the process of finding a solution. If you are a little more adventurous, there is a website you can visit that gives you some information for free and if you are a member you can get a lot more details. The site is EventID.net and it specializes in well, Event ID’s. If the steps seem to complex for you to follow, think about it this way: if you find the solution, that cuts the cost of whoever you hire to resolve the problem because they don’t have to find the answer first.

4) GRAB IT. If all else fails and the pop up is a continuous intrusion in your day to day work affecting your other applications and you can’t seem to find any details to resolve the problem yourself, then its time to take a snapshot. You need to take a picture of the pop up so an expert can see it. No, not with your phone’s camera but with your keyboard. There is a key called Print Screen (sometimes it shows as PrntScrn), and depending on your keyboard is on a key by itself or it could be sharing a key in which case if it was on top it would require to press SHIFT + Key, or if its a Lenovo laptop FN + Key (Key meaning the actual Print Screen key). Press the key once, open either Microsoft Paint (it comes included), or Microsoft Word, paste the image by either going to the Edit tab and selecting Paste or by pressing CTRL + V. Save it and send it to whoever is going to help you. That way you eliminate having to explain what that pop up was.

So, the moral of the story can be resumed in Reading the pop up, following instructions, tracking the error and grabbing it for documentation purposes. These four steps will guarantee that either you resolve the problem or you accelerate the process. In the end, that is what want. To continue working like before the damn thing interrupted your vibe!

Stay tuned for the second part of this story focused on Internet Pop Up Messages.

]]> http://whythehelldidyouclickthat.com/2010/11/04/there-is-a-pop-up-on-my-screen-what-do-i-do-part-1-error-messages/feed/ 0 http://whythehelldidyouclickthat.com/2010/11/04/there-is-a-pop-up-on-my-screen-what-do-i-do-part-1-error-messages/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/whythehelldidyouclickthat/~3/s0m3hY-ERXE/ http://whythehelldidyouclickthat.com/2010/11/03/an-introduction-to-social-media-the-great-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-part-2/#comments Wed, 03 Nov 2010 21:39:00 +0000 Karen Martínez http://whythehelldidyouclickthat.somohanoconsultinggroup.com/?p=19 This entry will give you an insight on how businesses can benefit from social media. The reason why I divided the article in two parts is because although the social media forms are the same in both cases, from a business point of view it’s a completely different approach. You know what social media is, why it’s used and its most common pros and cons. Now, let’s focus on how it can help businesses. So, if you own a company, plan to start one or simply would like to know more on the importance of social media, read on.

First, I want to share with you some interesting numbers:

• 48% of respondents to a PRWeek study said that they were moving money from advertising to social media – only 18% said they were taking money from public relations
• 78% of people trust peer recommendations, 14% trust advertising
• 91% of Inc 500 companies are using social media
• 38% aren’t monitoring their brand, product or reputation in social media

These were given by Katie Paine of KDPaine & Partners in the PRSA International Conference in 2009. They show how social media has grown in the last years and why companies should be incorporating a social media strategy. Recently Twitter announced that they currently have 175 million registered users, which is 30 million more than they had last September. This is impressive growth considering that Twitter had a total of 58 million users in 2009. That’s a 200 percent increase from 2009 to 2010 in terms of users. This is great! People are online sharing content, commenting on products, promoting services, giving insight and feedback which is gold for organizations and companies. Back in the day if a company wanted to know first hand what customers are saying about their product they would had to send out surveys, letters, approach people personally or on the phone. Although these ways continue to be important today, feedback can be just a click away. As a business owner, can you afford not to engage with a part of those 175 million users?

Social media is a channel in which the relationship between the company and its market can develop in a more personal way. Businesses can communicate with clients, respond to questions and make damage control when necessary which is very good. It’s also good that to enjoy the benefits of social media, you don’t have to incur in extravagant costs. Depending on your company needs you might want to hire a professional or a team skilled in social media forms and strategy to get the ball rolling but, nothing compared to those super high advertising or elaborate marketing campaign costs (remember, you can also do this yourself which is probably why you are here reading). Most of the applications are free or charge minimal fees. Again, depending on your company needs you can choose the most suitable way of entering your business into the social media arena.

The most important aspect of a corporate social media strategy is to determine the goals and objectives of the organization therefore, create, oversee, and develop said strategy with relevant and up-to-date techniques. A top-notch social media pro will be an avid researcher, able to meet the strategic goals, successfully identify its key public, develop fulfilling relations with said public, be team players as well as leaders, are technologically-knowledgeable, and effective communicators.

An effective social media strategy goes beyond than just knowing how many followers the Twitter company account has or how many members ‘like’ the Facebook profile. A strategy is about how people react and interact with the brand or product and how these interactions can generate positive feedback that will translate into more revenue. If you are serious about your business, don’t let this important point to plain old luck. That is bad!

So, if things get ugly in your company, social media is an effective way of communicating, monitoring and interacting with your market. The days where nobody knew what was going on in a business are over. Unhappy customers will talk and will talk a lot! Take for example the recent change of the Gap store logo. With little fanfare the company redesigned the logo, announced the change and posted in on their website. Immediately people started to speak their minds on Facebook. The reaction was so negative Gap had to change back to the old logo. True bad judgment or test drive? Don’t know. What I do know is that because of social media, the company was able to make informed decisions based on what their customers wanted.

Excited about incorporating social media to your business? Great! You have made a wise decision. Social media is here to stay and will continue to evolve. Your competitors are in it too so it’s time to get the social media bull by the horns!

What the hell is Twitter?

Created By: Jack Dorsey, Evan Williams, Biz Stone
Established: 2006
URL: www.twitter.com

Twitter is one of the original companies that started the micro-blogging movement in the Internet. Right… and what’s micro-blogging? First, let’s define Blogging. This is the art of writing entries in a time-line format where people, from amateur to professionals, share about a particular subject they want to talk about. Micro-blogging refers to the art of doing it in a shorter format allowing for rapid posting/uploading, sometimes being just a picture with some notes or a simple note. Twitter itself allows for a “Status Update” with a max of 140 characters including spaces.

So, if you have never interacted with Twitter other than listening to Betty White telling you she’s in it on her latest movie, then this 140 char thing might seem odd. Who the hell communicates in twenty words or less? We’ll, you’d be surprised to know then that 75 million users do it on a constant basis. Over the past four years the company has managed to build on it’s application to create a solution to the ever growing flood of data in the web. What do I mean by that? Well, that it has become the perfect vehicle for a minimalist first layer to filter the excess data noise out there by only giving you 140 characters to communicate. I have to admit I enjoy how it forces me to find a simpler way to express my thoughts. True some people take the easy way out by assassinating their respective languages but it doesn’t have to be if you have high writing standards. If I had to compare it with something else, I’d use a phrase that has lived with me since my days of creative art in high school taught by my teacher. She would always tell me “less is more” and boy was she right!

It’s important to understand, Twitter IS a social network, and communication is a two way street between people. That allows the interaction that is this web 2.0 we live in. I remember my first interaction with Twitter back in 2006. At that time I was still a little reluctant to understand the fact that the Internet was changing. I read a story about some kid that got detained in Egypt and before he was captured he was able to send a ‘tweet’ (that’s the act of submitting a post) explaining what happened to him. One of his friends contacted his parents and they were able to help him get out of jail. I also read a story of a girl that found her dog by posting a picture and the ransom through Twitter. I thought “hmm, this has potential”. Since then it has grown ten fold and it keeps growing. So, less is more might apply to the application itself but for its users, in an ironic twist of logic, Twitter gives back to you as you give to Twitter.

Another thing Twitter has accomplished is removing the barrier between famous people and their fans. Today actors, athletes, newscasters, writers, singers, etc. can bypass the public relations through 3rd parties and talk to their fans directly.

Can it be used for small businesses?

Yes. For the longest time the best way to receive your news online was using an RSS reader (and take “longest” with a grain of salt if you will…we are talking about a decade at the most, which in terms of the Internet that’s like an eon). Now Twitter allows people to use URL shorteners (free applications that turn a very long URL into it’s smallest form possible, I’ll write more about them very soon), to include links to stories and perhaps the title of the story. Also, by using automated manipulators of entries/Twitter feeds like Hootsuite or Tweet Deck, people can automate the process of sending new posts. It all comes together to give you an easier way of reading and picking what you want to read more of.

Nowadays companies are using Twitter as a first tier of direct communication for customer service and sales. As a social media must, organizations need to engage in a direct relationship with their public and Twitter (like many other social media forms), provides that opportunity. To give a recent example, I posted not too long ago a tweet where I said I was watching a web cast from Symantec regarding Security and its new services. Very soon, one of my vendors contacted me reaching out to see if I needed anything regarding such solution, to let him know. It’s that fast.

What’s the catch?

The catch is the same as any other free app I’ve mentioned before. It’s free, it can be addictive for some, it’s about sharing so privacy can be tricky, sometimes it becomes congested, there is close to none tech support and if you contact somebody via Twitter you must do it in 140 characters (good luck with that. If you need help, contact me). But that’s mainly irrelevant. At this point, people have realized that it is what it is and you get what you pay for.

I however, find a bigger catch about Twitter and that’s ironic because originally I mentioned that the micro posts help eliminate the flood of data, meaning you didn’t had to go through large posts to decide if you want to read a story or not. Because it’s so simple and posts are so short, most users tend to “follow” (term used in Twitter to explain the act of including someone to your feed or posts flow), a lot of people, and all of a sudden you are back to saturation of posts. If you follow 100 people that use the application a lot, you might have 50 posts in the first half hour some with irrelevant commentaries others with real good content. Imagine people that follow more.

So if I have to give you a suggestion I’d say, exercise moderation when following people. If you are using Twitter for personal use, just add your friends and those businesses that you truly have interest in. If you have a business, think about your strategy and stay away from only using automated spam-like behavior or people might unfollow you. Interaction is the key to success in Twitter for entrepreneurs.