Web Browsers

November 20th, 2009

There is an ongoing debate about which browser is the best. For years and years companies have been trying to capture the market. But nobody can answer that one browser is the best. I say this because there are people who swear by their browser of choice. The most popular browser is Internet Explorer currently using version 8 but is judged by combining stats for version 5.5, 6, 7, and 8. Theoretically that is 4 browsers. If you take that into consideration, the number one browser to date would be Firefox. Statistically the next popular browsers are Opera, Safari, Chrome (in no particular order).

With that said, why do IE and Firefox stand out? Mainly because they are the only browsers that get marketing campaigns. IE ships with the Microsoft operating systems which are used by 80% of PC users. This guarantees that uninformed users will use the IE browser because that’s all they know exist. Firefox on the other hand has a huge fan base which is constantly growing. Constantly Firefox is being sold as the safest browser and I would have to agree that it has the most safeguards in place to prevent novices from getting infected. This however doesn’t mean that it is safe. Countless time’s I’ve attempted to infect a PC while using Firefox and have succeeded.

Opera is a strange browser, known to some but not many. It has nowhere near the market share IE or Firefox has. This is usually because when someone finds out about it, they might install it and try it on for size and discover it looks awkward and feels strange to operate. Opera has come along ways in the years and in my opinion is quite good. Very low resources, reasonably fast and contains some decent protection.

Chrome is an up and coming browser created by Google. To me Chrome is awkward and has some quirks. This browser however is backed by the internet guru which says a lot. This browser does not plan on dying and because it was just born there are many many years ahead of it. It is still an infant in the browser world, but it is taking all the latest technologies and cramming it into one package. Probably why I feel so awkward using it. I cannot say very much about the security of chrome but given some time the truth should be revealed.

For those that use Safari, version 4 is quite good. The improvements are top notch and the stability is great. But that’s only for those using a mac. If you are using safari on a PC I have to ask … why?

In conclusion, I will reveal my thoughts on the browsers. I personally use Firefox and IE 8. IE 8 has come a long ways and is very stable there are still many web pages that are friendly to IE only. So generally I only use the browser when those situations arise. Firefox is my main browser just because it is very easy to use. Firefox is a horrible browser, it crashes, has memory leaks, and doesn’t function well with many addons. My biggest issue with Firefox is the slowness that comes with it.  IE and Opera are by far the fastest loading browsers and for that I give them my regards. To be honest with you all, I don’t like any browser. There is no browser that is good enough for me to recommend.

  • IE is the least secure
  • Firefox has a huge memory leak issue and has had since day one. When will someone decide to fix that? I really with they did because that’s my main concern with them. How can anyone recommend a browser that uses up all your ram? Some computers only have 1 gig of ram some even less. No browser should have a memory leak and that’s final!
  • Opera is great, I really have no issues other than its clumsy.
  • Safari is the mac browser, why use it?
  • Chrome has yet to make a stand in my books. Its still very new so I will be keeping my eye on it for a few years.

Please keep in mind that my facts and comments are based on my personal usage and the usage of others that I have witnessed. I wanted to voice my opinion that no browser is perfect. When you install a browser for the first time, it should work great, but many don’t. I use what I use because I am comfortable using it. Many people I know have switched to Chrome because they are sick and tired of Firefox problems. Some use Opera because its just great and others hate it because it doesn’t feel like a browser they are used to. Others use IE because it is the standard. You personally have to make a judgment for yourself. Don’t let anyone else decide for you because no browser is perfect. Find the one you like and use it and support it.

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Computer Self Care Guide

November 11th, 2009

I’ve decided to write a short entry on what I do to keep my computers running in tip-top condition. Most of these tasks are very easy and anyone with basic computer knowledge should be able to handle. A computer consists of hardware and software which require some form of maintenance to keep running. There are so many articles out there, but not all of them emphasize on the hardware aspect. It is really crazy, but there is not a whole lot that needs to be done.

For starters, every month open up the case of your computer and take a can of compressed air and blow out all the dirt and dust. A key note is to take a small screw driver or some form of hard object to place inside the fans of the computer. Compressed air will make your fans spin to fast causing damage to the fans themselves and by using an object to prevent fan movement, you are preventing any damage to the fan. Make sure you use the compressed air in bursts, this prevents any condensation from forming. Just remember, a clean system is a cool system and a cool system is a fast system. Also try turning on the system while the case is open. Take note of any fans that are slow, sluggish, or non functional. You will want to replace any malfunctioning fans as soon as possible. Most fans run for 50,000 hours but any dirt buildup can cause a shortened lifespan.

The second thing you really need to watch out for is the software troubles. It is highly recommended that you defrag your computer every month. The hard drive is the slowest piece of technology in your computer. By completing a defrag on your hard drive each month, you are ensuring your files are together and in order allowing for a smoother faster operation. If you are a photo addict, try backing up your pictures onto an external device and removing them from your hard drive. In general, clearing out old files that are no longer needed will help keep the drive clean and running at its best. The less files on the hard drive, the faster the hard drive can find what its looking for. Clear your temp files every month or as often as you see fit. CCleaner is a great program for automating this process. Keep your anti-virus up to date, and scan once a week. Check for any spyware/adware by using programs like Spybot Search & Destroy.

Following these simple steps will give your computer new or old an extra boost to keeping it feeling fast and ready to use.

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Spyware, Adware, & Viruses

November 8th, 2009

As of late, I have been asked the same question over and over again. In fact, this whole year 2009 has been considerably lively in the area known as the unknown. I am constantly asked, what programs can I use for spyware? And even more so, what ‘free’ programs can I use? A less common question is, how do I protect myself from viruses? So what is with all the hype about spyware and viruses?

These are legitimate questions especially in today’s environment. More and more people are shopping online, doing their banking online and surfing the web wondering if they will stumble upon a bomb. About 90% of the computers I take in for repairs or troubleshooting have legitimate spyware, 30% have adware, and close to 55% have some form of virus. To be honest that is pretty good numbers, especially considering most of these users are not trained to use computers. The computers belong to parents in their late 30’s and up or they belong to children usually 12 and below. Adults are not especially adept to learning all the ins and outs of the computer world and I don’t blame them. They have their own lives to contend with, they don’t take hours out of the day to learn new computer skills. Once they know how use check their email or learn how to use it for business they are done. Children on the other hand either don’t care or don’t have the understanding on how things work. Children often frequent sites like facebook or other social networking tools. A friend will find something nifty, post about it and then all their friends check it out. Easily infecting every computer within days.

Everyone that takes a little time to protect themselves learn a thing or two about anti-virus. A program installed on ones computer to seek and destroy any malicious content on their computers, or so they think. If I told you that 80% of those infected computers have anti-virus you’d probably think I’m lying. Unfortunately I’m not. Far to often I see non-updated anti-virus software. The key to anti-virus software is that it updates when new threats are found. If its not updated then what use is it? Secondly, I see a lot of users using the wrong anti-virus software. There are to many choices for anti-virus software, so how is one to know what to use? To be honest you shouldn’t know what to use.  Every tech guy you know probably uses something different. Your business will use something completely different than the company next door and your neighbor uses something different than you.

Continuing the thought, why are these computers infected with anti-virus programs installed? Anti-virus does not protect against spyware or adware. Even if they say they do, trust me because they don’t. Every good company will put resources to work to prevent spyware and adware but their main focus is viruses, it is how they make money.  You may be familiar with the brand names like Symantec (norton), McAfee, Nod32. Far to often something is told to buy anti-virus software but not told what to buy. So they go to the nearest store like Wal-Mart or Best Buy. They will ask an employee which anti-virus should I get and the employee will usually grab a random software off the shelf and provide an inadequate answer. The consumer not knowing the better takes the software and purchases it.

By now you should either be intrigued by what I have to say or are just tired and want to know the answers to the questions. I wont make you wait any further, as I shall spill the beans. I am all for educating those who want to learn. But I have to tell you, what I say today might not hold true tomorrow. The never ending fight will always be changing.

My method of madness begins with Kaspersky. Kaspersky is an up and coming anti-virus that is leaps and bounds better than any other solution I have found. I have been using Kaspersky for many years now, and it has brought computers from near death to life again. A word of caution, this program requires significant amounts of horsepower. If your rig is old and outdated you should probably reconsider using this program. It will bring a system to its knees even if its not scanning.

With the anti-virus covered we are left with the next threat, spyware and adware. Considerably worse than a virus is spyware which will most likely bring even the most power hungry system to a crawl. Every day there are many new threats. Spyware is evil and tricky. After all, the point is to spy on you. Begin with Spybot Search & Destroy. This program has one of the best immunization systems to date. This program comes with a feature called tea-timer. I highly recommend not using this. When installing uncheck this so it is not installed.

Second step to a clean system is ad-aware. This program can be incompatible with spybot at times, but fear not you will only get warning messages which may annoy you. This program has one of the deepest scanning tools I have found in free software. When you seem to have no other options, ad-aware comes to the rescue.

Crap Cleaner aka CCleaner is by far the most unknown application to most people I know. This program will efficiently clean out our temporary files (where many spyware,adware,viruses make home) and thoroughly clean up your registry. This program if used correctly will help speed up your system.

Using these programs together will effectively protect your system. Keep in mind that a sloppy user can and will still get infected. Even with the proper tools installed to prevent such disasters, a user who clicks and installs anything is asking for trouble. In my opinion, these selections of software working together are the most user friendly and efficient programs to keep any home user safe and secure.

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Fake Reviews and Incompetence

November 6th, 2009

The one thing that annoys me most is incompetence. There is a term we all know and love called ‘Google.’ Anyone can be a doctor and anyone can be a lawyer. The internet is so powerful it lets people believe that they understand what they are reading. I will google a term RJ45 and come up with 10 million hits. However on the very first page of results I can find out how to create and wire my very own ethernet cord. Now, if I am smart I will check out wikipedia or another source on the web to verify my findings. Once I have validated my findings I can now say I know how to create ethernet cables. However life is not so simple. Creating an ethernet cable is much more then knowing how to wire. You must have the proper crimping tools, the proper stripping tools, proper wire is also a necessity because we all know there are different types of wire(not!). The specification of wire is another misconception because many people thing cat6 is required to create a gigabit ethernet cable. I wont go into the details of creating the cable, but as you can see there is a lot of extra know how behind the scenes. To make a proper cable you have to know and understand how all the components work.

I am trying to make a statement here that people shouldn’t assume they can do something because they read and think they know how it works. Often time’s when I am deciding on a new computer build I read many reviews and check benchmarks on all the components that I plan on putting into the system. The most common phrase I hear or get asked is “How much”? But really what they are saying is, how much cheaper can it be. Each component has a purpose and each component can be swapped out for a different performing component. Everybody wants more for less and how much can you really get for less? So many people assume more is better but in reality right now that is not the case. If I want a gaming computer, do I want quad core or dual core? What about triple core? There is no easy answer to that question. But comparing benchmarks you can easily discern that cost/performance ratio says dual core outperforms quad core. The vast majority of games don’t utilize the multi-core architecture. However, the games of tomorrow might and that is a problem. What is one to do?

Everyone that reads this blog should have or does do online shopping. You browse the web sites, you see something that interests you and you read reviews. The product you are looking at has 4 stars out of 5. You scroll down the page and see that all reviews are 5 stars. So why is it a 4 out of 5? Because there is this one person who tanked the reviews with a 1 out of 5 ranking. Now any normal person is going to see this and say, I wonder what is wrong with this product to deserve a 1 if everyone else is giving 5’s. They begin to think, maybe I shouldn’t buy this product because something might happen to mine. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! So you begin to read the review and the first thing you see is it has really good strengths! Its simple, good quality, and has some form of unique quality the user likes. So what could possibly be wrong? Most people would wonder, did he get a dud or is there some vital flaw in the product that nobody else realized? The reviewer begins to write the weaknesses and first and foremost at the top #1 weakness the reviewer says its over priced. They will continue by saying there are not enough options or something is missing, one of the features doesn’t perform the way it should, and last but not least they compare it against another product.

This is what I refer to as a ‘Fake Review’. Anybody that posts a fake review is #1 google educated and #2 incompetent. Lets take a look at what they are saying. It is simple and they like that, yet they say they dislike how there is not enough options. So it is now to simple but they like simple. Am I missing something or was that an oxymoron. They love the good quality of the product and complain that the product is overpriced. I would like someone to show me a product that gets cheaper when build quality gets better. If you want something good you pay for it. Common sense says, duh! The best is whey they compare to another product. One should never compare one product to another unless they are designed for the exact same purpose and have the same market value. Mouse A vs. Mouse B or Monitor A vs. Monitor B. both serve the same purpose but have some form of uniqueness. It is too often one compares a mouse that is $100 to one that is $40 or a monitor that is $200 to one that is $350. There is something unique about that product to make it cost 50% more. Often times they are using a different technology. The mouse might be optical vs. laser. The monitor might be 6bit vs. 8bit. To the common user, they don’t understand the difference. Even if you are google educated you wont be able to discern the difference because you don’t understand the purpose.

My hope in writing this is to help people understand that there are professionals in the business for a reason. Many people rely on family friends or a friend of a friend or that tech guy you know from who knows when. Realize who is educated and not just google educated. It might just save you time, money, and frustration. When you buy a used car you get it inspected and often get a second opinion. If you get diagnosed with an illness you often get a second opinion. Technology is no different, get a second opinion! And please, please, please stop writing fake reviews!

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Welcome to the blog

November 5th, 2009

Glad to see you found your way here. I am probably going to be the main author of this blog and decided to start this blog as a humor release. I enjoy explaining my views on technology and how my view differs from others. It is great to be able to write about ones own stupidity and others. I have done many stupid actions in my past which have resulted in horrible results. Everyone has and anyone who says otherwise is a liar. You can expect biased reviews and true fact reviews. Not every day will I want to dig up articles to reference to my facts or point of view so I wont. I’ll tell it as it is and how I see it. Only you can be the judge of what is true and what is not. (This is the internet after all)

The theme of the blog will be Computers, Technology and Web Hosting but don’t limit the blog to just that. I plan on ranting, raving and hallucinating while I write. Usually something triggers my will to write and often times it is because of something stupid. Someone said something that is not truthful or just doesn’t have their facts straight. Other times its because someone writes a lengthy post or review about something that is totally irrelevant. (I will be writing about that later today) I must say though, after writing for 2 minutes I realized that this is a chore. Or my clock stopped. Technology is very generic as a topic and that was intended. I wanted the blog to be open ended just in case there was an urge to write about something less relevant like cameras, speakers, gaming consoles and the like. It is tech none the less.

My very first job in the IT field was as a Technical Writer. I must admit it is not the most fancy job in the world nor is it the most exciting. However you do learn a lot. Even though I held a position as a Technical Writer I am not a writer and don’t plan to be either. By this I mean a journalist or a news reporter. Don’t hold it against me if I randomly start typing in slang or not capitalizing my I’s.  A technical writer’s job is to be on point, exact and without error. This can however lead to misinterpretation and often leads to misunderstanding or really confused people. I hope to evade all the cons while I write my articles but knowing as I do, there will always be someone who does not and will not understand what I am trying to write about. I will not hold it against you if you want to strangle me or drown me; but because that is impossible to do, you can settle for writing back and voicing your own opinion.

So finally I must say welcome to my new W3-Home.
Enjoy your stay, Cheers

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