advice

Yes, people, you do want to keep up with security updates for all those programs and such on your computers. But, how do you recognize the legitimate ones? The written list includes: Windows Security Updates, Adobe Reader and Flash updates (or pretty much any update from Adobe) and Java.

Here are images of what to trust. They often pop up with an alert and then also leave a small icon down in the system tray, that little bar full of icons next to the digital clock in the lower right of your computer screen. Apply these updates sooner rather than later. If you are in the middle of something, at least keep the alert on the screen behind what you are working on so that you remember later to do the updates.

Windows Security Updates, part of Windows Update, will bring both security and Office and other Microsoft product updates. There are a variety of icon alerts, depending on your version of Windows.

Adobe Reader

Adobe Flash

Adobe products are moving towards asking you if you want to install updates automatically and in the background. If you see such a question, consider saying yes.

You can check for the most commonly needed updates at secunia.com, using their “Online Software Inspector (OSI)”

Apple also has updates, from Software Update which you can always check using the Apple icon in the upper left of your computer screen, and updates also for Adobe Flash and Reader. Microsoft Office runs its own updater and you may see notices from its monthly check, unless you disabled or changed it.

Why don’t the malicious software writers just use these images to trick you into thinking they are also legitimate? I suspect lawyers. But, they often uses images that are very similar, maybe just different color schemes or use the words security something or other.

1. Programs acting buggy all of a sudden? Remember that old stand by, reboot the computer. First close and reopen the wonky program and if things don’t get better, then reboot. It may work 50% of the time.
2. If some part of the computer, like the printer, speakers, mouse, is not working, check all cables. Fully unplug, undock, un-whatever each cable and carefully plug it back in. Power cables often work loose as you move a monitor around.
3. Internet down? Try restarting the cable modem, dsl modem, and/or router. Often these don’t have on/off switches, you just pull out the power cable from the back of the unit, wait 10 or so seconds, and plug it back in.
4. Check for software updates, the software vendor actually fixes some things. And, make sure you have the latest updates for your operating system at this time.
5. Can someone else make the same problem happen on your computer? Extra dragging fingers on a laptop touchpad makes things look broken.
6. Disable add-ons, those extra helpers that creep into web browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer. Add-ons can slow down opening your web browser.
7. Lithium-ion laptop batteries last longest if they are run down at least 50% once a month. See batteryuniversity.com for more information.
8. Remember Safe Mode as a way to test how broken things are. When you start up a PC, tap the F8 key a few seconds after turning on the power. Pick the Safe Mode choice. On a Mac, you hold down either Shift key as you start it up. Some devices, especially USB, may not work in Safe Mode.
9. Clean a gummy looking LCD panel with a 50/50 mix of distilled water and vinegar. Use a microfiber cloth, spray the cloth and wipe gently.

And, finally, when in doubt, RFTM, Read The Fine Manual. Consult your favorite search engine, if you don’t have someone to call.

Emailing many photos and video or audio clips is often limited by your internet service provider (ISP) or even the recipient’s ISP. It is so easy to attach video files to an email, or drag a bunch of photos into a new message. However, the megabytes build up fast. And, your outgoing mail may be limited to 10 or 20 MB, which you can easily exceed with five or ten pictures from any modern digital camera. So, a better alternative, especially if you want to share pictures with many people, would be Flickr, Picasa, even Facebook. Not to mention, that if you want to buy prints, you can share through CVS and other photo printers, just buying prints of those you want, with others being able to see the larger collection. Using these services means making an account, then uploading photos into collections or albums that you can then share with others. That makes it much easier than email to share many photos with a group of people.

The granddaddy for video sharing is YouTube. You might think your video is there for everyone to see but you can mark a video as unlisted (or even private) to limit how people can find your video, you would actually have to send them the link to the video. YouTube limits video length to fifteen minutes, unless you verify your YouTube account with a cell phone text message (SMS) and then the limit can be raised to 12 hours. Audio cannot be shared through YouTube, unless it is part of a video or image slideshow in video format.

Audio sharing usually means talking about copyright and that is not something for here. Personal experience points to most people seeking to share photos and videos of their own events. Sharing audio often means sharing music created by others.

These are just some options to get you going and to avoid clogging up someone else’s mailbox. And, the usual warnings and restrictions, you will loose your privileges at any of these places if you upload images and audio that are not really yours or that would cross over into pornography or child abuse.