Wirelessly Backup your Cell Phone Photos/Videos with DropBox

If you use DropBox, you can backup or sync your cell phone's photos/videos to your computer. Its an effortless way to transfer your photos/videos automatically without having to use a physical wire.

Instructions:

1. Press on the image icon in DropBox on your phone.
2. Press "Enable Camera Upload" button.
3. Choose "Only Wi-Fi" or "Wi-Fi + Cell".

Now every time you take a new picture, it will automatically upload to a folder in your DropBox and thus sync to your DropBox on your computer.

Tips:

• I would recommend first downloading all of your photos/videos to your computer first and delete them from your phone. Otherwise, DropBox will start uploading your entire current collection. And if you dont regularly back up and delete photos/videos on your phone, that can be a lot of files.
• Now every couple of months, on your computer, you would transfer (cut and paste) all of the photos/videos in your DropBox folder to another folder on your local hard drive. This will free up space from your allotted DropBox storage limit. (e.g. 2GB for free account).
• In Step 3 above, I would recommend choosing "Only Wi-Fi". That way, it wont use up your phone's data plan. However, keep in mind that the uploading will only occur when you enable your wi-fi at a later time.

Hard Drive Encryption

Do I need to encrypt my hard drive? Unless your hard drive contains lots of private information that you wouldnt want an identify thief to have, you could just manually encrypt some of your personal files. Let's say someone breaks into your house and steals your computer. What information on your computer would you be most afraid of if it got into the wrong hands? For myself, it would probably be my tax files as they contain SSN information and other sensitive information. So I just encrypt it using 7zip. 7zip is an open source archival tool (like Winzip) which I use all the time for creating zip files, but it conveniently has an encryption tool built in. For instructions on how to encrypt files using 7zip, read the article below.

http://www.medicalnerds.com/how-to-encrypt-zip-files-securely-using-7zip/

Using DropBox to Share Photos

If you use DropBox, the below article explains a quick and easy method of sharing photos.
http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/quickly-set-share-beautiful-photo-galleries-dropbox/

Kill the Password

Great (and scary!) article on how passwords arent really secure anymore.
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2012/11/ff-mat-honan-password-hacker/all/

Using a password manager is the least you can do.
http://www.simpleist.com/2009/01/secure-password-management.html

Adobe Creative Cloud in a nutshell

What is the Adobe Creative Cloud? In a nutshell, its the bundling of Adobe's most popular products and services into one subscription package.

• Think all-you-can-eat buffet - Get access to practially all Adobe products and then some.  Eliminates the need to perform those intense suite comparisons to find out which combination of products you want for maximum cost savings.
• Think no more version upgrades - Gain access to all new features immediately so you dont need to wait and buy the newest version every 1-2 years. No more install DVDs.
• Think Adobe's version of Facebook - Social networking to shared your works (e.g. portfolios).
• Think Dropbox - Syncing your media files and assets across cloud, desktop, laptop, phone, tablets, etc. so that you can view and edit from any device.

Adobe has embraced one of the popular trends in the tech industry today where Subscriptions outweighs the benefits of the traditional Perpetual license model. We see this movement today in the music industry with cloud based services such as Spotify and Grooveshark where you can get the latest music anytime and anywhere. Would you prefer one time purchases of individual mp3s (e.g. iTunes) or would you rather pay a monthly subscription fee to get access to all mp3s anywhere/anytime (e.g. Spotify)? In the long run, you will most likely pay out more for a subscription but dont you think its worth it considering the many benefits and removal of waste? For example, if you download mp3s, you will need to transfer them to all your playback devices such as cars, phones, tablets, etc. Also, you will need to create manual playlists for each device. Instead, the Spotify app will run on all your devices and be sync'd with the cloud (playlists included!) Not to mention that you dont need to choose individual songs or albums to buy since you gain access to the entire collection.

Technology is moving so fast that software and hardware gets outdated within 1-2 years. Therefore, users need updated software and hardware with minimal disruption. Adobe is embracing this major shift as they move their products towards subscriptions rather than the traditional shrink boxed products.

For more details, check out this Cnet article.

Upgrading a Netgear Wireless Router Instructions

Prerequisites:

• AT&T DSL
• Wireless Netgear Router

 I recently upgraded my netgear G router to N. I didnt have the install CD, but you dont really need it. Below are the step by step instructions.

1. Find out what your AT&T DSL username is. It is the email address that they created for you when you set up the DSL account. (e.g. bob@att.net)
2. Find out what your AT&T DSL password is. It is different from your AT&T email password. If you dont know it, call AT&T support.
3. If you filter by MAC address, take a screenshot, print out, or pdf the page of MAC addresses. PDF is the best option as you can copy and paste the MAC addresses later.
4. Turn off the DSL modem, router, and computer.
5. Replace router with the new one.
6. Turn on Modem and wait about 2 minutes until the DSL light is on.
7. Turn on router.
8. Turn on computer.
9. Open your browser and go to routerlogin.net.
10. Login with the default username and password which is usually "admin" and "password".
11. Under Basic Settings, enter the AT&T DSL username and password gathered from steps 1 and 2.
12. Upgrade the firmware under Router Upgrade.
13. If you use OpenDNS, under Basic Settings, specify the primary DNS ip to 208.67.222.222 and the secondary ip to 208.67.220.220.
14. The final step is to secure your wireless network.

My Raptor Hard Drive died

Original Post Date: 3/5/09

I turned off my computer when I left for vacation. When I got back a week later, my computer wouldnt boot Windows XP. I opened up the case and I heard the infamous clicking sound that came from my Western Digital Raptor X hard drive. Definitely not a healthy sound, but at least I knew for sure that it was just the hard drive which should be fairly easy to replace.

Did I lose all of my data? No way. I had my "flawless" back up plan in place. Remember that I have 2 hard drives. I use the Raptor hard drive to hold just my Windows XP operating system. My 2nd hard drive has all my real data on it. So basically, I just lost all of my software applications and would just to have to reinstall them all over again. But wait...no I dont need to do that because I have kept a back up image of my Raptor drive. An image is like taking a snapshot of your current computer settings and applications. So all I need to do is restore the image and Im up and running again like nothing happened. So I had thought. More on this later.

I purchased the Raptor drive on 4/17/2007 (thank you gmail for keeping a record of all my purchases), so I was quite surprised that it only lasted under 2 years. Coincidentally, my brother's Raptor drive died recently as well and his Raptor was only a year old. Fortunately, there is a 5 year warranty on these drives.

To get the hard drive replaced, WD gave me 2 options. The website stated that they can immediately send me a replacement hard drive first, and then I can send in the broken hard drive afterwards. The only catch was that they required my credit card information and that they would charge me for the full retail price of the drive if they did not receive the broken one within 30 days. That sounded fair to me. The other option would have me send my broken drive first and once they received it, they would send me my replacement drive. Of course, I chose the 1st option because it was faster even though it still took about a week to get it.

I received the new hard drive and restored the image using Acronis True Image 11 which is a highly rated and very popular imaging software application. Wohooo...it worked! I didnt have to reinstall the 50 software applications I had. Wait a second...why did my computer just reboot all of a sudden? It turns out that the image was unstable and my computer kept rebooting by itself every so often. Unstable image!? Are you kidding me? Geez, after all that work and excitement of maintaining a backed up image. Maybe its because I had over 50 applications installed but that really shouldnt matter. That really chaps my hide.

The Bottom Line:

1. WD Raptor X drives dont last very long, so be prepared to have it replaced more often than you think. But man they are fast!
2. Even though Acronis True Image failed me this time, I will still maintain a backup image and be confident (or hopeful) that it will work the next time.
3. I dont use Carbonite to back up anything on my primary drive because all of my data is stored on my secondary drive. But the one set of data that my wife kindly reminded me about are the fonts. The fonts live in the Windows/Fonts folder and therefore it seems that Im unable to configure Carbonite to back up those files. I guess Carbonite cant touch Windows system files for obvious reasons. In any case, I was luckily able to retrieve my fonts directly from the image. And now I back them up on my secondary drive.

10/17/10 Update:So my hard drive crashed again. This time the replacement drive WD gave me only lasted about a year, but luckily, I am still under warranty. This time I was able to successfully restore using the backup image I made a couple of months ago. It only took about 20 minutes! But I also learned to keep a recovery boot disc in handy. Using the Acronis True Image installation cd worked for me. However, if you dont have the install disc, make sure you create your own recovery boot disc using the software. The reason for having a boot disc is so that you can restore your backup image directly from boot up. Otherwise, you would have to reinstall Windows, reinstall the imaging software, then restore the backup image.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are using an imaging software and Carbonite, you will have to disable Carbonite BEFORE taking the drive's image. If you dont perform this step, then Carbonite may not work anymore when you restore the image. Carbonite did not work after my image restore. Booo!

This will be my 3rd hard drive within the 5 year warranty. Let's hope this will be the last one for a while.
Hard Drive Replacement dates
1. 4/17/07
2. 2/12/09
3. 10/14/10

A Guide on How to Get Rid of Spyware

Some things to keep in mind before starting. Disclaimer.

• Reboots galore - you will probably need to reboot at least 5 times if not more.
• Backup - You should already have a back up of all of your files just in case as your system might get to an inoperable state. Always hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
• Time - At least 2 hours, but it all depends on how badly infected you are.
• Newbie - If you are a newbie when it comes to computers, you really shouldnt be doing following these steps. I'd recommend having someone more computer savvy doing it for you.

1. Clean out your system
The first thing you need to do is to try to clean up your system. This will help you get rid of all the unnecessary garbage on your computer. CCleaner is very safe as by default it only cleans up files that you really dont need like temporary browser or system files that are harmless to remove.

2. Uninstall
You most likely have some bad software recently installed on your computer. Check the 2 places. Click on Start-->Programs then you will find the most recent applications installed on the bottom of the list. Look for unfamiliar items. The next place is to go to the Control panel-->Add/Remove Programs. Review the list of applications and see which ones may be unfamiliar to you as well. After compiling a list of unfamiliar or strange items, use Revo Uninstaller to uninstall those applications. Revo Uninstaller will completely remove all traces of the program.

3. Control your startup
Windows has a list of items to launch or auto start when Windows starts say from after a reboot or turning on your computer. Spyware is notorius for adding unwanted items there. So even if you remove spyware by using antispyware programs, you can easily get infected all over again after a reboot. Use Quick Startup to view and remove any unwanted items. Pay close attention to the items that have a strong red rating. Keep in mind that these ratings come from other users who have had the same program start up. They also provide viewable comments that specify why they gave that rating and tell you why you do or do not need it. Be careful not to remove a program that is necessary for Windows to start up. Also, if you are not sure, you can always google the item to see if its safe to remove or not.

4. Install Microsoft Security Essentials
Install Microsoft Security Essentials and then perform a scan to get rid of the bad stuff. Continue to use MSE as it will actively monitor your system for threats. More Info

5. System Restore
If none of the above seems to work, you can try to think back to the last time when you felt that your computer was stable and normal. Then you can system restore back to that point. More Info

6. Start Fresh
As a last resort and a 100% method to get rid of any virus or spyware is to reformat your hard drive and reinstall Windows.

The 10 commandments of Safe Computing

This is probably one of my most important blog entries as I have consolidated all of my computer security tips into a single post. Please take the time to read through it all as it has valuable information that will help to prevent any harm to you and your computer.

1. Thou shall not visit any unwholesome websites.
Gambling, Porn, and Illegal sites are such a few examples. If you ignore this commandment alone, then there really is no use following the rest of the commandments as infection is almost inevitable. Visiting these sites is like strolling through the ghetto and hoping that nothing bad will happen to you. In other words, you are asking for it. I hate to break it to you but most of the Internet is not safe. And even sites that ought to be safe might not be because they themselves might have been unknowlingly compromised or hacked by some bad guys. Nowadays, your computer can get infected by merely visiting a site versus downloading and installing a malicious program.

2. Thou shall not click on pop ups.
Im sure you are familiar with those annoying pop up ads as they seem to pop up everywhere. Some pop ups are really sneaky and evil. There are pop ups that tell you that your computer is infected and you have to click on them to perform an emergency scan to get rid of it. You then proceed to install a software program that is more often than not a spyware program. No matter how convincing they are, do not click on them.

3. Thou shall not click on links...
in emails, IM clients or URL shorteners. (ie. Tinyurl.com)You have to be 100% sure that the link is legit and safe. Most people think that if the link is from someone you know, then you can assume that it will be safe to open. WRONG. The problem is that your friends computer could be infected with viruses. These viruses can use your computer to automatically send out harmful emails to everyone in your address book. Even the buddies on your instant messenger program can unknowingly send you instant messages that say "hey, check this out!" accompanied by a harmful link. And im sure you've seen urls created by url shorteners (ie tinyurl.com/adwtud) in which you have absolutely no idea where they will direct you to. Emails in html format might display the url address but dont be fooled. Just because it spells out the full url, it doesnt necessarily mean that you will visit that site by clicking on that link. However if you hover over the link, you will be able to see the true url address in the status bar located on the bottom left hand corner. If you dont see a status bar, make sure to enable it in the browser. Next try to examine the "true" url displayed in the status bar. Does it look fishy? Why doesnt it match the address displayed in the email? Why does it display an address that does not look familiar to me? Why does it contain a website that is familiar to me but has a bunch of unecessary characters preceding it?

4. Thou shall not open attachments.
This is probably the oldest trick in the book. If you fall for this one then shame on you. If you want to open an attachment from someone make sure that its one that you are expecting instead of receiving one out of the blue one day. In gmail, you can preview most files within the browser. So if you are not sure what the attachment is then previewing the contents would be a safe way to see whats inside. You can also use an antivirus program to scan the attachment before opening. Lastly, you should never open a file with a .exe extension. There arent too many cases whereby someone would send you a .exe file as an attachment.

5. Thou shall not commit a typo.
Be very careful as there are domain names out there dedicated to catch you. They take advantage of the most common mispellings. Most of these dummy sites take advantage of all the hits they get by putting up advertising that may be related to the correctly spelled website. For example, just imagine how many hits amazan.com (note the mispelling) gets if amazon.com get millions of hits per day. But there also can be malicious sites set up whereby you might get infected with a virus or spyware merely by visiting the site. All because you made a typo.So what can you do to prevent this? For one thing you can use open dns which filters out a large portion of bad sites from there database. Click here for more info. Another thing you can do is install a browser plugin which will help prevent you from visiting bad sites. Lastly, instead of typing the url directly, just type it into the google search engine. Google does a pretty good job of knowing which site you want to visit. And it will offer appropriate (Did you mean?) suggestions, if you happen to mispell a websites name.

6. Thou shall keep your software updated.
ie. Windows, Web browsers, Flash player, Acrobat Reader, etc. Make sure you enable the Windows automatic updates so you dont have to always remember to update Windows and Internet Explorer. Firefox auto downloads the update in the background when you are using it. You can tell because it will ask you if you want to update Firefox when you launch it. Flash player has its own standalone upgrader and should prompt you automatically when an upgrade is available. Acrobat Reader uses the general Adobe upgrader which is used for all Adobe products. No matter how annoying and obtrusive these upgraders are, just remember to let it do its thing. There is a software program that manages all software updates on your system, but I forgot what its called and never used it before.

7. Thou shall use wireless security.
Always use the highest encryption possible (ie. WPA2) in your wireless router settings along with a password Never leave your wireless network open. Leaving your wireless network unsecured is like leaving the front door of your house open. Anyone willing can easily get access to all of your files. Also, remember to change your default router password. More info

8. Thou shall not memorize passwords.
Use a password manager. Dont store your passwords in some text or Word file on your computer as anyone can easily steal them.Dont create unsecure passwords.Dont use the same password for all of your sites. More Info

9. Thou shall turn off your computer.
If your computer is off (ie. Standby, Hibernate, Shutdown), then it is essentially unplugged from the Internet. Therefore, it would be impossible to get infected or hacked. More info

10. Thou shall use a antispyware/antivirus software.
You might be wondering why I placed this commandment last. Most people use this as their first line of defense, however it should really be your last. I highly recommend Microsoft Security Essentials.

System Restore

If your computer ever gets into a bad state, the first thing you should do is find out how it got into that state. What was the most recent change to your system? Did you install a new piece of software? Did you change some system settings? After identifying the cause, try to revert the change (ie. uninstall the program).

If all else fails, dont fret. You can use the handy dandy built in System Restore where you will be able to restore your computer to a previous working state. Go to Start-->Accessories-->System Tools-->System Restore and follow the simple wizard. Your system will be reverted to an earlier state but dont worry; your files and documents will not.

Another good time to use system restore is when get infected by viruses or spyware. Instead of spending countless hours trying to get rid of them, just use System Restore.

Bottom Line
Try to do some initial investigation at first so you can avoid troubles in the future. But if all else fails, try using system restore.