Home & Small Office Computer Guide

Intel has launched its new 3.46 GHz Pentium Extreme Edition 955 & 975X Express chipset today. It scores well in encoding, business desktop and a few other business related areas. However AMD’s Athlon 64 X2 4800+ dual-core processor is still a serious competitor especially when it comes to gaming.

You can read a full review at HotHardware.com

by Bruce Kramer

With the proliferation of spyware, or malware there has also been a proliferation of applications claiming to be your partner in fighting the problem.

Many folks get into a jam worse than they were in before they started using what they thought was a legitimate antispyware program. Rogue antispyware programs usually start out by alerting an individual in some unambiguous way, perhaps through a pop-up or unsolicited email (spam), that they have a spyware and or virus problem.

They will urge the person to buy or use their product. It may even tell them that they that it has already found (through osmosis I guess) a large amount of spyware and that by purchasing their product you will be free of the ugly vermin once and for all.

Not only are these programs digital snake oil serving no useful purpose and charging $30 and up, but it is like having a mole or insider infiltrate your computer. Once the rogue program is in your system it opens the door for other malicious programs to come in and wreck havoc on the computer.

Most of these programs go by heroic names such as Error Guard and WinFixer, or other names that sound very similar to reputable, well established antispyware programs. The user should not be fooled by the name or its claim or you could be in for a long ride.

Once the seed is planted and the rogue program has opened the door for his partners in mischief the programs will work together try to ensure their survival so it is not as easy as terminating a singal piece of spyware. After one is gone another one will take his job sometimes even regenerating the one that was just terminated. Once these guys have enough for a full team it can be an uphill battle unless the user has some experience in dealing with the tactics they employ.

What the user can do to protect themselves: First of all, be wary of any antispyware application that does not offer a free, fully functional, trial of their product. If it can’t be driven it around, kick the tires and ask some questions through tech support, either by phone, email or website because it might not be the real deal. Don’t buy from a pushy salesman, meaning don’t buy from spam and pop-ups.

Don’t be fooled by the fools.

Stay safe and happy computing.

Cramer’s Computer Services provides In home, on site computer service in the San Antonio area. Specializing in virus and spyware removal, upgrades networking and more.

Cramer’s Computer Services
210-865-2933
http://www.mysahomes.com

Have you wondered just how your favorite graphic card compares to all the rest?

Here is a little comparison of over 240 desktop graphics cards that compares 15 different specifications.

Dell has issued a recall notice for approximately 35,000 batteries that were used in several laptop models. The faulty batteries may overheat and start fires.

The batteries were used Dell’s Latitude and Inspiron laptop models. Owners of Dell laptops are encouraged to check the Dell Website to see if they are affected by the recall.

None of the Nortons products have ever been very high on the list of security software that we recommend and over the last few years Nortons products have really begun to sink to the bottom of the list. We see far too many virus riddled machines coming into our friend’s computer shop for repair that were supposed to be protected by Norton Anti-Virus for us ever to think of Nortons as anything more than a placebo.

Of course that has led to us receiving a lot of criticism for rubbishing a wonderful product and these days when the discussion turns to anti-virus software we tend to find some excuse to depart for the other end of town. It’s either that or wind up being dissed as haters by Nortons sycophants who attack us in one breathe and then wonder why their machines are running slow in the next.

So it’s nice to see a real expert who doesn’t think mucht of Norton range of products either. The Bleeding Edge is a blog written by a leading IT journalist here in Australia and here he gives yet another reason why Nortons is the becoming the joke of the computer security world.

BetterPhoto.com, the worldwide leader in online photography education, today announced the release of their Digital Camera Buyer’s Guide for holiday shoppers.

The Visual Digital Camera Calculator makes it easy to choose the right camera, by allowing consumers to select from photos that illustrate their interests, goals, and values, and the side-by-side Digital Camera Comparison Chart give detailed specs, reviews, estimated prices, and more. These tools will make it easy for shoppers to determine the right digital camera for them – or their family and friends – this holiday.

“Finding the right digital camera – for yourself or someone else – can be frustrating and overwhelming,” said Jim Miotke, President of BetterPhoto.com™. “Our Digital Camera Buyer’s Guide is easy to use, intuitive, and provides all the information shoppers need choose the perfect camera.”

Find the BetterPhoto Digital Camera Buyer’s Guide at:
http://www.betterphoto.com/digital/camera-calculator.asp

http://www.betterphoto.com/digital/camera-comparison-charts/overview.asp

BetterPhoto.com brings together nearly 50,000 members for learning, fun, and community. The site offers over 50 different online photography classes, taught by world-renowned, published authors; the Winter session begins January 4. The monthly BetterPhoto.com contest, considered the best on the web, brings in almost 20,000 entries monthly, and awards winners in 10 categories.

I can remember when an 8MB flash card was a big deal for digital camera users - in fact I still have one and use it from time to time.

But these days with 6 megapixel cameras being common an 8MB card really isn’t going to be much use anymore. Especially when you can have big boy like this.

Kingston have a range of high capacity flash cards ranging including:

CF/512-SFE 512MB CompactFlash Card

CF/1024-SFE 1 GB CompactFlash Card

CF/2GB-SFE 2 GB* CompactFlash Card

CF/4GB-SFE 4 GB CompactFlash Card

You should be aware though that the 4GB card only works in newer cameras and other devices that are capable of utilizing a FAT32 file system.

With cards that size it’s almost worth thinking about using them as a portable hard drive for your computer.