Tag: Blog

Secure Browser Alternatives for browsing safely on the web!

Paul

Zero day vulnerabilites target Internet Explorer

Cyber Security Awareness Month

If you didn’t know October is Cyber Security Awareness Month and I wanted to give out some ways to keep you safe on the internet.   I know I am not the only to suggest some of this but if you didn’t know please don’t use Internet Explorer to web browse.   If should only be used for updating Windows and that is the extent of what it should be used for it.

Is Chrome more secure than Safari?

Safari, to my knowledge as a few vulnerabilities and thus you should be keep away from using it.   I won’t say much about this because we never really know who is actually going to use these but you can bet hackers know of ways to get into your system.

Which Browser is best?

Any browser you think is safe is probably going to be wrong.   I am going to tell you which browsers are safer but none of them are a 100 percent safe.   Each one of them has good and bad but I am going to at least guide you in the right direction.  

Chrome Browser

Chrome is one of the ones, I do recommend but it shouldn’t just be used by itself.   You should add a few extensions to better protect yourself:

  • Adblock Plus — Good to protect yourself from those annoying advertising.   (Please be aware that I use advertising on my site and that is how I pay for my hosting and other things like that.   Please consider white listing my website to allow advertising.)
  • Lastpass — This is one of those that I recommend on a constant basis because it makes sure you create a strong password that you don’t have to remember.   It helps make sure no account password is ever the same!
  • ScriptSafe — Keep unwanted scripts from playing when you visit a website!  Certain web sites should be allowed and white listed, like mine. 
  • Dolphin Connect — I use the Dolphin browser on my Android Device and this is one of those ways to keep track of all your bookmarks.   Not really security related but it is very useful!

These are just a few that I recommend when you use the Chrome Browser.

FireFox Browser

FireFox is another one that I recommend when you are looking to browse the web securely.  Although it isn’t 100% secure because none are.   Some of the Add On’s you should add to your FireFox Browser are:

  • NoScript Security Suite — It is another No Script app that lets you prevent unwanted scripts from running! 
  • Lastpass — Just like Chrome, it helps keep your passwords safe and helps you keep all passwords unique!
  • Adblock Plus — Just like Chrome this can help keep those annoying advertisements from showing but please remember to white list sites that do need to advertise and do not use annoying advertisements!
  • Web Of Trust — This is a good add on for Firefox to know which web sites you can trust more with and which ones that are not trustworthy!  (if you like my site could you review it and let people know what you think about this site!)

As you can see these are the two that I always tell my family to install, I usually don’t tell them to install both but one of these two but it is up to you if you want to have both web browsers installed on your system.   It just varies from person to person which one is better for your use!   I am sure there are more addon’s or extensions that you should add but these are the ones I tell my friends and family to install first.  Which one of these two browsers are you favorite?  Leave a comment and tell others!

 

The Long Road home, and When things go wrong! (A Short story)

Paul

Road

The long Road Home!

It was a dark and stormy night and nothing in the world could stop the downpour. The rain came down as if the heavens opened up and started crying.   You couldn’t see a foot in front of you and not even the head lights could help.   You wonder if your going the right way or if took the wrong road.   This long winding road just seems to unfamiliar and and a little spookie.   You pas by farm houses and see only a flicker of light from a few of them.   You check your watch and it says it is 9:00 o’clock PM.   It seems kind of odd that all these houses would be dark.   Your gas gauge is reading empty and you will need to get more gas.  You come to a gas station and you pull in to the next available gas pump.   You hear “ching … ching… ching” as your car stops.  

As you wait, you hear foot steps coming closer and you look to see who it was.  You hear a “BOOM” from the storm, it makes you jump and ask  “Who are you?”   He replies, “The gas attendant, sir.  You can call me Bob!”.   “Sorry Bob, it seems I been feeling on edge.  Please fill my car up with regular unleaded.” I said to the attendant.   He says, “certaintly sir, and no problem, this country side can do that to some people.”

The story and you!

So as you can see this is where I left the story and I have been thinking something else should go wrong after that but my brain coulnd’t come up with it.   I am asking my readers what it should be and what you think of this short story so far.   Should I make the driving more exciting or should I make the driving more longer.   You will help me develop this story and hopefully we can have a little fun with this story.  I’d love to hear your comments and suggestions.

[Rant] Obamacare and Minimizing Hours!

Paul

My Personal Insurance Agent (#93041)

Obamacare and Me!

I never thought this would of happened but lately my employer that I have been working with for over a year has started to move everyone they can to part time.   It seems that I may be one of those alas, the money I was getting might dwindle and I will need to find another job to help make up the difference. 

 

Who thought of this loophole?

I am very unhappy with this loophole and it will more than likely make everyone have to find two different jobs that are part time just to get 40+ hours somewhere and you know that isn’t going to be overtime but all straight pay.

I usually don’t talk about stuff that isn’t technology related but I wanted to just rant about out ridiculous this Obamacare is and how it does nothing to help the low income people who are just trying to survive.   I have yet to have insurance and now I have to figure out how to get around the 2.5% of my income in three years.   This is the going to hit me really hard.   I either have to pay around 120$ a month or pay 367.12 a year.   I hardly been sick and when I am it is moderately bad and thus I usually only go once a year.   How is this going to help me from getting into debt.  

Obama figure this out!

I’m calling on Obama to withdrawal this plan and come up with a more fair plan that will allow the low income workers from having to work harder than we have in the past few years.   Make companies increase hours and make companies to pay more is one step that will help use get out of debt quicker and much more easily.   We are working hard and can’t easily claw ourselves out of this debt.  You just don’t understand what it is like for a low income worker.   It might be time to get your hands dirty and do some of the things we do and then you tell me how fair this law is!  

Get with it and stop making the low income work harder for the same benefits!   You aren’t helping me but making it harder for me to survive!  

Ok so that is the rant and I won’t get into much else but this is just ridiculous. 

 

How to Remove / Replace a Acer 5739(g) Keyboard!

Paul

Carefull not to break those wires!

So I did it!

I removed the keyboard.   The Acer 5739g Series, has been really durable for the past  few years and I still recommend them.  I searched all over the internet for directions and then I just decided to do it without looking around.   It was quite easy, and I thought it would be high time to do a post on how to remove that silly keyboard.   The Acer 5739G keyboard isn’t a big problem but it did take about 10 minutes to do.  

How to:

  • Start by removing the battery!

There are a Total of 8 or 9 Screws you need to remove!

  • Once you take the screws out on the back, which are the ones that are the top only where the power cover is.   You will not need to remove any of the screws on the bottom of the laptop only the 8 or 9 screws on the top.  2 of the screws are underneath the battery.

See Picture at the top of the post!

Once you have removed the screws and turned the laptop back over.   You should grab the the cover that is closest to the screen which is the cover that is towards the back it should be really easy to remove and not to difficult to remove.   If it seems to not want to budge, check again for any screws you might have missed.

If you still have difficulty figuring out how to pull that top cover off, you can use your thumbs and and forefinger to peel it up like I did with the picture.  

  • Once you have the top of the cover off,  grab the keyboard and peel it back towards you carefully.   Making sure to disconnect the one little cord that tells the motherboard what your typing.   There should be a small latch that you just have to pull up to remove disconnect the cable.

    • When you plug in your cords you should not see this! You will should see the normal line indicating that the cords are secure!

  • Replace with a brand new Acer 5739g Keyboard, I found mine on Amazon US for about 10$ to 15$ and you should have no problem installing it.  All you will need to do  is reverse the steps I just given you to secure the new keyboard to the laptop.  You can check Ebay for a cheaper keyboard if you are wanting to try to save even more money but it depends on who has them and how well you trust that vendor!

If you pull the cords off by accidents!

You’ll have two small cords that are the power signal cord and the wifi, media player cords.   When I first did this, I actually did this and it wasn’t a big problem.  You will just need to connect them back to their spots and before you screw in the top cover you should plug in your power cord and see lights.   if you see this, then unplug the cord and reposition the cords and making sure those snaps are push down.   Don’t push to hard but do it gently!

That’s it, after you do this you have a new keyboard for your laptop that should keep that laptop running to days to come.   I will also talk about how to remove the Mouse and installing a new hard drive in the coming weeks.   What you may want to consider when you need to fix some of the most common problems of a laptop. 

Gadgets that look promising for Christmas! (2013)

Paul

Gadget craziness

Christmas is coming!

I thought it was high time to do another good post about Christmas gifts.  I how ever am going to do it a little more different this year.   I thought we should at least show you girls what men may want this year and why.  

  • Google Nexus 7 — With Google slashing the Nexus 4 Unlocked phones by 100$ which means you can now do more things with an unlocked android phone than ever before.   The only downside is it has no 4G capabilities.   I am certain they are slashing the prices to introduce a 4G phone in the near future.
  • Nexus 10 — Which looks extremely nice and sleek is one of those ones that any man would love to get during Christmas!  
  • Netflix — I am probably going to keep telling people this but at least this is one of those that you can’t go wrong with.   Great movies and great shows for the geek in all of us.  
  • A new Phone — I have been helping my sister decide for a new phone and I would recommend a Samsung Galaxy S3 or S4 device from Virgin Mobile.   It is one of those that I have been wanting because I could use this at work!

Finally the one thing that you probably want to know about is what I’ve talked about in the past two to 3 years and here they are:

As you can see I’ve done a few post on the subject, afterall I know what I’d want at least that is a start for you as well.  I am sure it isn’t going to be simple for the man of yours but at least you know where to start!