How to Secure your Chromebook from threats!

Paul

Acer Chromebook C7

The Journey So far!

When I first started this journey to find a way to use my chrome book to blog and keep it safe, I just didn’t know how hard it was to switch from Windows or even the Linux system to this!   It wasn’t as if I had any choice in the matter.   It was in my price range, under 300$ and thus I decided I was going to overcome some of the obstacles of the OS.  I’m not saying you shouldn’t buy it but I am saying you need to know what your getting into before you try some of these things.

What you need to do!

If it isn’t obvious yet it soon will be is to make sure you have HTTPS Everywhere installed and running.   You don’t have much options when it comes to a VPN service but that will be changing soon because I have a great tutorial coming down the pipe from VPN4ALL.   I’ve have been talking to them and urging them to come up with a way to use their service with Chromebook.   I have found a temporary service for the time but I feel I should keep with my sponsors as long as possible.   I will also be publishing the tutorial about the other VPN services that work with Chrome OS in a few days.  As you can see I have been really busy and researching all this!   

Password Management!

I have told you in the past, I just love Lastpass and you should be installing a password manager that suites you and here are a few that you can install:

Some of you probably are wondering why I think this is important.   If a hacker got a hold of yoru account because your password was rather weak then you will have lost your chance to keep that account from being compromised.   So when your creating passwords it should not be memorable, and should have letters, numbers, and symbols and that is where these guys come in.   They all create unique passwords that will keep your account safe and they will also encrypt those passwords in a database.

These are just a few good apps to secure your Chrome OS and keep the bad guys from getting into your online identies and also snooping on your privacy.   Each person should worry about stuff like this but I am sure they have no clue.   At least this will help you start protecting your stuff and who you are online!

 

Reviewing the Acer Chromebook C710-2856

Paul

The New and Old!

As you know my Acer Aspire with Windows 7 was falling apart and I had to figure out a way to keep blogging without breaking the bank.   I happen to fin this nice little system for under 250$ and with the amount of positive reports from people around the globe about this laptop.  I figured I have to try it out myself.  As you know I simply love to buy products from Acer because I believe in them so much.   Every time I buy something from them, they just seem to last and thus I couldn’t resist trying this little Chromebook out.   I also thought this might be something that could be given as a gift to other people since Christmas time is almost upon us.   I just didn’t realize what I was getting myself into with this laptop.   

Specifications

Let’s start off by detailing to you what the specifications are for this Chromebook:

Chromebook With Chome OS:

  • Screen Size: 11.6”
  • Screen Resolution: 1366 x 768
  • Processor Type: Intel
  • Processor Model: Celeron 847
  • Processor Speed: 1.1GHz (Dual core)

Display:

  • Screen Size 11.6’
  • Screen Mode HD
  • Screen Resolution 1366 x 768

Network:

  • IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n (With Fast Ethernet Technology)

USB:

  • 3 USB 2.0

Comes with no optical drives, so no DVD’s or CD can be played with this device.   I am sure someone was going to ask this so I figured it was time to point that out!  Now I can tell you every detail about the specifications but it really doesn’t need to be discussed.  

Pros and Con’s

I am sure some of you are think there isn’t really anything positive that I could say about this laptop but you’d be wrong.   I started using this laptop last month for 3 weeks now and thought it was high time we at least do a review of this and try to talk about my experience.   

Now let’s get to the juicy parts of this article.   Would I recommend this to everyone, I would say NO.  If your doing photo editing or something that requires high processing editing then you might as well go look somewhere else.   The good part of this Acer Laptop is quite obvious but can be oblivious to others.  You can Stream movies and Shows and watch them on the laptop.   Google did a good job of this.   Just like Chromecast, you can stream them from your laptop to the big screen if you want.   

Processing Speed

The speed of the laptop when used with the Chrome OS is very different compared to my old laptop but then again, I am sure it was getting sluggish and probably needed a good clean refresh of the system.  I wasn’t how well I would like this system but I am not disappointed at all with what I expected to be doing with it.   I wasn’t going to be doing much other than blogging, surfing the net, and streaming movies and shows using HULU, CBS, and Netflix.  Let’s not forget about Pandora, which also worked perfectly for my needs.  It works perfectly on this Acer Chromebook.   I had no problems watching shows and movies from all those providers and many more.   

Hard Drive

If your planning on putting a lot of music files and documents on this laptop, think again.   You can however use USB drives to increase it to what ever size you may need but that will impact your time of the laptop if you don’t have it plugged in then you are are going to be using batter power to power the USB HDD.   It comes with a 16 gb Solid State Drive and it is really quite.   You can increase the space to 48 Gb’s by adding a 32 Gb SD card which is helpful for some.  

Screen

Most videos I streamed worked flawlessly and were quite nice to watch on the 11.6’ display.   They say it is High Definition and I believe it is.  I have had no problem surfing the web and checking out other web sites to see if there would be any problem with viewing them on a smaller screen and it was nice and no problems.

Battery

The battery power in this was quite amazing.   It at times has lasted me more than 5 hours on one charge an that has been a record for me.   The size and power alone is something that is definitely big plus to me because I don’t always need to keep it plugged in.   Very portable and can be taken to McDonald’s or any Wifi Hotspot.   I will be discussing this in detail later, and how to setup a VPN on a Chromebook! 🙂  So stay tuned!

Keyboard and Touchpad

Now to tell you I had a learning curve for the touch pad would be understand statement.   You have to understand that it has different gestures for double clicking and right and left clicking.   So when you first start using this laptop you will need to be prepared to go to the Chrome Book Help section to help you out and figure out all those new gestures.  The keyboard is like most other laptops and does a superb job at letting me type.  It all worked out in the end with me because it worked just well for all my needs.

If I haven’t changed your mind and you would like to try this laptop out for yourself you have a few options available to you and here they are:

 

Most of the time almost everyone has this version of Chromebook because it is the cheapest there is.   It is quite responsive and I have no qualms with this laptop.   I even like the size more easier to carry around and not be so bulky.   

*Those nasty disclaimers* Some of the links in the site are for use to help keep my website going and thus any Amazon links are undoubtedly affiliated with my site.

Electric Cars Deliver More Value for Money

Paul

Electric cars are great for the environment but somewhat less friendly on the wallet. Because of their battery packs, electric cars tend to cost between $8,000 and $15,000 more than comparable gasoline-powered sedans before federal tax and state clean tax credits, as The Washington Post reports. Through researching new vehicles, you’ll find the price differential may finally be narrowing, if the current crop of electric vehicles is any indication. Here in no particular order are some of the best electric cars for your money:

2013 Ford Focus Electric: Value for Money

Photo by Mariordo via Wikimedia Commons

With a base price of $39,200, according to U.S. News and Rankings, the electric version of Ford’s popular sedan is not exactly inexpensive. But it does offer considerable value for the money. Perhaps not too surprisingly, a lot of the car’s affordability stems from its energy efficiency. According to Ford, the car delivers a substantial 110 miles per gallon equivalent (MPGe) in city driving conditions and 99 MPGe on the highway. The Focus EV comes equipped with a 6.6-kilowatt onboard charger that adds about 20 miles of additional driving capacity for each hour that the car is charged. Even though the Focus EV has an all-electric train, the car is no wimp. Its 107-kilowatt magnetic motor engine delivers a decent 143 horsepower of thrust and 184 foot-pounds of torque. The car has a top speed of 84 miles per hour and goes from zero to 60 in 9.2 seconds.

Mitsubishi i-MiEV: Deceptively Large

Photo by David Villarreal Fernandez via Wikimedia Commons

Mitsubishi’s all-electric, egg-shaped oddity has the distinction of being rated the most fuel-efficient car in the country by the Environmental Protection Agency. The 2012 model of the vehicle delivers 126 MPGe in city driving and 99 miles for highway driving, according to JD Power. It can go up to 62 miles on a full battery and can be charged in less than 7 hours with a 240-volt recharger. The i-MiEV’s rear-mounted 49-killowatt magnetic motor engine delivers a modest 48 horsepower of thrust, but that’s enough to push the car up to a maximum speed of 81 miles per hour. The i-MiEV, which stands for Mitsubishi innovative Electric Vehicle, looks almost cartoonishly small from the outside but has a surprisingly large interior capable of seating four adults comfortably. With a starting price tag of less than $30K, the i-MiEV is one of the least expensive electric vehicles currently available.

2013 Chevy Volt: Hybrid Design

Photo by Mariordo via Wikimedia Commons

The Chevy Volt is not strictly an all-electric vehicle but rather a hybrid that runs on both gasoline and electricity. With a suggested retail price of more than $39,000, the Volt is in the same price class as the Ford Focus EV, but that’s where most of the comparisons end. As a hybrid vehicle, the Volt travels a lot longer on a full-charge than all-electric options do. The Volt can go 300 miles on a full battery and a full tank of gas, which is well more than double the distance offered by other electric vehicles like the Focus EV. The Volt takes about 10 hours to charge using an ordinary household outlet and qualifies for all federal and state tax credits for green vehicles.

Nissan Leaf: Popular Choice

Photo by Tennen-Gas via Wikimedia Commons

No lineup of affordable electric vehicles is complete without the Nissan Leaf. The Leaf was the first truly affordable zero-emissions electric vehicle. It continues to be a popular choice among those making the switch to green technology. The car has a driving range of between 60 miles to 95 miles on a fully-charged battery and takes about 10 hours to charge at a standard residential power outlet. The car’s 24-kilowatt lithium ion battery pack delivers 107 horsepower and 187 foot-pounds of torque, according to Nissan’s website, making it fairly zippy for an electric vehicle. The car goes from zero to 60 in about 9 seconds and has a respectable maximum speed of 90 miles per hour. Pricing for the Leaf starts at just over $36,000, putting it on par with most other electric vehicles.

Stacy Simpson

Stacy is working toward her masters in urban sustainability. When grad school isn’t ruling her life, she likes to blog about local green initiatives.

Chrome OS really needs some VPN providers like VPN4ALL!

Paul

Chrome OS Has No major VPN players!

I’ve been digging through the internet the last few weeks trying to find a VPN service that would work decently with Chrome.   Most of the options we have are either L2TP/IPSec + Shared Or L2TP/IPSec + User Certificate.   So we really don’t a whole of options in the past few weeks.   I do knwo we also have an OpenVPN option but am unsure on how to use that with what information I was given when I set up my account.   I sent a email to technical support about thsi and am waiting around.   I did a awesome revew of VPN4ALL and still believe they are one of the ones you should use when it comes to protecting your privacy and security.   

I Only found one so far!

I found one VPN that I don’t trust HidemyA**, Sorry I will not cuss on my blog.  So that was the only one I could find and really don’t like a service that is free for all.   You don’t know how they are using your information.   They have to be making money somewhere while your on their free service and thus that is why I will not use their service.   

Petitions

I did happen to find a Peition for TunnelBear, and that is when I decided I would create my own!  I created The VPN4ALL : App for Chrome OS and would like you to sign it and tell some of these VPN providers we are looking for an Openvpn solution that will keep us safe a secure.  If you think Chrome OS should have better ways to keep us safe this would be a good start.   You could sign both if you are that passionate about it.   I however would ask my readers to sign mine for right now.   Takes less than a minute to sign them and put your name to show them you like their service and would love to see it come to more Operating Systems like Chrome.  

Please Consider doing One or Both Petition to help keep our privacy and security from prying eyes!

3 Reasons Why Cheap isn’t all the best idea!

Paul

Hers and His Cell Phones

I’m interested to hear your thoughts on the Awe over the next week weeks. I, too, had a Kyocera Rise. It operated horribly, so I’ve switched to the ZTE Awe. 
I think you’ll be very impressed. I’ve only had it a week, but I’m very happy with it so far.

Audre

Electronics aren’t supposed to be cheap!

When we first starting making computers and cell phones, it costed an arm and leg to have those really nice slow systems.  At the early age of all this, it was consider the best there was for electronics and everyone was at AWE over it!   I don’t think we ever really imagined that the price of electronics would go down to almost nothing.   I’m currently working on a laptop the Acer Chromebook 11.1 Display and later on I will review it fully.   The problem with some of the stuff that is so cheap is in several places.

Companies don’t care!

When we first started having problems with computers you can bet Dell and Microsoft did everything they could to put the customer first.   Now a days we have companies like Apple who is slowly getting to the point of using math to figure out just how much bad components can we get away with and still make a profit.  I am sure each and every company does a full cost analysis on price versus failure of the products they sell or are indending to sell.  Not to say that isn’t a bad approach but it is definetly flawed in my opinion.   If they were more worried about the cutomer they would of been more successful because when Amazon US started off they never had to worry about advertising.  They used the word of mouth from other customers to drive their business because they believed in the customer first philosophy.

Customers don’t care!

Now this is probably going to spark some kind of controversy and I am sure I am not the only one seeing it but customers, that is you, have gotten tired of complaining to the companies.   Since they don’t care, you know you can fix the problem so you accept it and go on with your life.   This should not be the normal response, when A company I have a beef with wrongs me and I know they have.  I will not tolerate it and either call them up to fix it or take my business elsewhere and then they will not get any more income from me!

Quality has went the way of the Dinosaur!

Yep, It isn’t nothing new but if we expected quality then those electronic devices would probably be not so cheap and worthless.  I also know that quality is the key point in all three reason but it is the most important reason.   Companies who try to intragrate quality and start caring will be a two fold process.  Customers will recommend them more, and they will get a loyal customer base.   If you try to trick a customer and think they are dumb, then you must think your smart.   In truth, customers know what they want and how they wasnt it but they are fed up with the way they are treated when problems arise.   

Is there a company that you would like to see fixed?  Have they Wrong you?  Let’s discuss it in the comments!