Welcome to the April 2010 Edition of Cyber News, an ad free, spam free online magazine emanating from Stanley's Studio in Phoenix, Arizona. In Cyber News we'll try to pass along some useful tips and information about your computer, the Internet, computer products, digital photography, other related topics, and some stuff that's not related at all. If just one thing you read here can help you in your computing world then it's worth the time of putting this together. Last month we told you there was a hidden message inside of Cyber News. We also mentioned to be patient and use some ingenuity in the process of finding it. I can't tell you how many people wrote and said the message was in the second paragraph. Not hardly, as we said it was "hidden!" So where was it, and who found it? First, let's go find it. Click on the "Stanley's Studio" link in the first paragraph. Place your cursor to the bottom left of the photo, hold your left mouse button down and swipe from left to right. Bingo! The reason you can't see it normally is the print is the same color as the background. Suzanne Coble of Bartlett, Tennessee was the only one who found it and wrote to us within hours. She said "I had fun looking for it" and that I was clever in hiding the message. No Suzanne, you were the clever one for finding it. Congratulations! Last month we talked about Service Packs, and that Windows 7 had none yet. Now Microsoft is talking about Service Pack 1 for Windows 7, although at this time it will contain only minor patches and fixes some of which have already been issued through the normal monthly update cycle. Some say that this early release is only because some people and businesses won't deploy to a new operating system until the release of the first service pack. No date has been set yet. Here's a cool trick if you're running Windows 7. There are a lot of features that I love about 7 and one of them is the ability to see all open applications in 3D. Hold down the Windows key and tap the tab key to scroll through all the programs you have open. Now that's kind of nifty!
Three of the most biological urges of mankind are the desire to be loved, to be recognized, and to be touched. Sometimes being touched means a hug, and that's always a good feeling being the recipient of one. Here's a hug however that I don't want any part of. Warning: This may freak you out! Ready? Alright then, on the lighter side, I smiled all the way through this home video. You've got to admit this four year old girl is a real cutie! Is this your lucky day? I feel every day is lucky for me, but for some people things are extraordinarily lucky! Watch this amazing short video to see some examples of luck or what certain people call fate. Life is a montage of memories. The things we experience today are the memories of tomorrow. I have so many memories in the computing world; my first computer being a Commodore Vic 20. It sold for $299 and featured a whopping 5K of memory. Included was a cassette recorder, printer, and an external floppy drive. From there I graduated to a Commodore 64 and then to a Tandy TX1000 with a dot matrix printer sold by Radio Shack. This computer didn't have a hard drive, just two 5 1/4 floppy drives, and a whopping 640k of memory. You would insert the operating system in number 1 drive and the program you wanted to run in number 2. From there I can't count the number of desktops and laptops that I've gone through. It's very interesting to think about how far we've come in technology in such a short period of time. Where will we be in 2020?
Something else you'll be hearing about is the 4G network for cell phones. What does that mean, what carriers will have it, and when will it be implemented? The 3G network offered more speed and the implementation of simultaneous use of speech and data services. 4G is a natural progression to better service and faster speeds, but the problem right now is universal use by all carriers. Implementation should take place by mid 2011, and it looks like the big four will offer different types of service. I guess that's the name of American free enterprise so we'll see how this plays out also. More from CNET. Smart phones are getting smarter! Retailers are getting smarter too by sending you coupons to your phone. When purchasing an item for the discount, the clerk simply scans the bar code on your cell phone screen. You can subscribe to a monthly mailing of coupons and Target seems to be the first to jump on this concept. Details from the Wall Street Journal. Will someone tell me what the big deal is about Brad Pitt. There's not a month go by that one or all of the drug store magazines have his picture on the cover. Brad this and Brad that! So, I asked my wife the other day about him. I said "take away his good looks, the fact that he's a mega movie star, and all his money and what do you have?" And she replied....."You!"
On the other hand Dancing with the Stars continues to wow the crowd, and this season promises to be a good one! We missed the first show which premiered March 22nd and didn't have it scheduled on our DVR. Not to worry; computer to the rescue. I just typed in www.hulu.com, did a search for the show, and watched the entire first episode . So, if you don't have a DVR or a TIVO, you can watch programs that you missed on your computer. Couldn't do that on my VIC 20! Music makes the world go around and here's a man who believes just that. The story from CBS Evening News. Cyber News is a endless study of what's going on in technology. We are constantly surfing the net for news items, reading other professional news letters, and just looking for human interest stuff. If you see something that might interest our readers drop me an email. I'd love to hear from you. In order to read PDF files you have to have Adobe's Reader installed on your computer. In the beginning that was fine, but the program has become bloated, a whopping 141MB, and is constantly updating. To me it has become a pain in the you know what. Well there's a new kid in town to take its place and over 8 million people are using it. The program is only 6.6MB, and it is fast loading. As soon as I heard about it I uninstalled Adobe's Reader and installed Foxit Reader! It works on Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7, and it's free. One word of warning though, like any other program installation, watch for "piggybacks." Make sure you take the check marks away from letting it change your home page and default search engine. Get it here.
Check out my personal Photo Site. You'll see over 1,200 pictures in 38 galleries that I've taken from around the world. We have had over 290,000 views on our Photo Site, thanks in part to Cyber News readers! Our recent trip to Moab, Utah provided some new pictures in the "National Parks" Gallery. Pictures have also been added to the "Arizona" gallery, "Misc Outdoor Shots" gallery and 8 great adventure shots in the "Photo Effects" gallery. My Blog contains thoughts and photos on many subjects with the latest entry regarding our trip to Moab. Read about the greatest challenge I've ever had just to "get the shot!" Gary's Blog.
Remember you can read previous editions of Cyber News by clicking on the links at the bottom of this page. You can also search previous editions of Cyber News by typing key words into the search box. If you would like to be added to our mailing list (absolutely not shared with anyone) just click here. You will be notified when each new edition is posted. Since spam filters seem to be getting stricter our notification may end up in your spam folder, so be sure to check that occasionally for any important email that may have ended up there. Cyber News is a permanent web site, so you can put it in your "Favorites" and refer to it anytime. Secrets of Safe Computing are outlined below. Please don't ignore them. Read each point and be sure to follow the advice as outlined in System Maintenance. Just a few minutes of work each month will go a long way in keeping your computer running smoothly. "Live life with passion, in a constant state of joy, and with an attitude of gratitude!"
Disclaimer: The information presented in Cyber News is researched and is believed to be accurate. We cannot guarantee that all the information will work on your particular combination of hardware, software and user skills. All information herein is offered as-is and without warranty of any kind. Neither Stanley Computing nor its contributors are responsible for any loss, injury, or damage, direct or consequential, resulting from your choosing to use any information presented on this web site. |
If
you get a virus alert that indicates your computer is infected, DO
NOTHING, until you analyze the situation. Make sure the alert
is coming from YOUR anti-virus program, and if so then take the
suggested action. If this alert has any other name do not click on
"Remove all Threats" or a similar button. That will only
make things worse, and above all don't fall for the scam of paying for a
fix. Immediately run Ad-aware or Malwarebytes or both to get rid of the
nasty intruder, then run CCleaner.
You'll
be hearing the phrase "Cloud Computing" more and more as time
goes on. The term means that applications you use and the
saving of your data will all be on Internet computers and not your
own. One of the advantages of course is anywhere access. Facebook
is an example of Cloud Computing. The idea
is great for dissemination of information but there are a couple of
questions I have to ask about this concept. First, what happens
when you lose your Internet connection? Your productivity stops
cold. Secondly, I am fearful of trusting my business and personal
data files on a stranger's server. 
Being
on the radio for years, and a lover of music, I have always enjoyed
American Idol on TV. Until this season that is. In my
opinion four judges are too many. We are sick of Randy's jive
talk, Kara's long dissertations and she and Simon acting like third
graders. Simon is over the top in his judgmental remarks to the
singers who, by the way, possess only average talent this season.
The great one is leaving the show this year, so unless something drastic
happens I see it going down the tubes.
Photo
Tip of the Month: What is white balance? You can
always set your digital camera to the auto mode and, most of the time,
it will take a good picture. Manually setting the white balance
can sometimes make a big difference in the outcome of your photo. In the auto
mode your camera has to guess what kind of light it is reading. Taking a
photo indoors with incandescent light is much different than natural
sunlight. All digital cameras have different white balance
settings, usually sunny, cloudy, shade, incandescent, florescent, and
flash. Ever wonder why some of your photos have a blue tint?
White balance is the answer.
If
you think a friend or family member would enjoy Cyber News, don't
hesitate to let them know about it. An easy way to do this is to
right click on the web address in the address window of your browser and
choose copy. Open your email program and a new email.
Address it, and in the body of the message right click and choose paste.
That creates a link and when your friend receives the email he or she
simply clicks on the link and it will take them directly to Cyber News. Of
course you can do that with any web page.
