This month there's a HIDDEN message somewhere inside of Cyber News. The message reads, "You have found the secret message. Congratulations!" If you find the message, email me and I will publish the names and home towns of the first three people who find it. You will have to use some ingenuity in the process, so be patient and we'll see how clever you are. In your pursuit to find this, don't forget to read all the good stuff in this month's edition! You know that old saying about the weather and the month of March. So how did it start where you live, lamb or lion? Regardless of the weather, March is a good month for me as it's my birthday month as well as my Dad's, my son's, daughter's, granddaughter's and many friends. Really, any month is a good month if you have happiness and good health! So, here's to that for you! As previously mentioned all my computers are now Windows 7 machines, except for one, and I'll keep that on Windows XP so as to help customers that are still using that system. Last month we remodeled the studio including new monitors. You can view a photo by clicking on the Stanley's Studio link above in the first paragraph. Everyone asks, "Why so many monitors?" Well, the one on the left is Diane's. It's her connection to the outside world and where she spends hours playing spider solitaire. The next three are connected to one computer and where I spend a good part of my life and the last one on the right is a combo TV/monitor that is connected to the XP computer. The laptop usually only gets used when we are on the road or giving a seminar. Are multiple monitors for everyone? Certainly not, but if you spend a good amount of time computing you'll wonder how you ever got along with just one after experiencing this environment. When people see so many monitors in my studio another frequently asked question is how to keep the screens clean. I explain that it only takes one click of my mouse, and of course that's when I get a funny look. After the click I get smiles!
Facebook is a social networking revolution and today has over 400 million members! If it was a country it would be the third largest in the world. Google is now in on the act and at this time next year just may be "king of the hill." With the younger generation email is almost a thing of the past and socializing in one spot with all your friends is the "in thing" to do. From all that I'm reading, people are saying that Google's Buzz will be the next hot thing on the net. Check it out and watch the video at www.google.com/buzz. Speaking of Facebook, is your profile an open invitation to crime? You must remember that everything you do and everything you put on the Internet is there forever. You might think your comments and photos are private on a social network such as Facebook but nothing is really private anymore So how careful should you be? More from MSNBC.
Occasionally, Microsoft will issue a Service Pack which is a conglomeration of patches and fixes to your operating system. Windows XP is up to Service Pack 3, Vista, Service Pack 2, and Windows 7 has none so far. Check to see if you are current by right clicking on My Computer, then Properties. If you don't have the latest Service Pack then click on Start, Programs, Windows Updates, and download all critical updates. Super Bowl 44 is now history, but some of those special commercials live on. Even though you may not drink beer, you have to admit that Budweiser has had some cute ones. Here's one from six years ago that will put a smile on your face. Who doesn't have a cell phone today? Even grade school kids have them, which at first thought maybe silly, but it adds a great deal of security to the family circle. I can't imagine life without mine, but picking out your next one may not be as easy as you think, especially with "smart phones." If you're thinking about a new car, you can test drive it before before you buy it, but not so with cell phones, which is sometimes frustrating. Tryphone.com may have some help where you can interact with some of the latest and greatest!
I've mentioned many times before a keyboard short cut that will delete a mistake you made in almost any program. It's magic! Hold down the CTRL key and tap the Z key, and presto, the goof-up is gone. But what if you accidentally did it twice and undid something that you didn't want undid? CTRL-Y will redo your undo. Now that's a play on words. Don't you just have to laugh at some of those fraudulent and ridiculous emails? Maybe the dumbest is the guy who is posing as a bank official in a foreign country telling you that you can claim millions of U.S. dollars just by replying to the message with your bank account number, pin number, social security number, etc. How dumb do you think we are? I suppose some people have fallen for it. A lot of us have shredders in our office to destroy documents. With the present high rate of identity theft, it's a great idea to shred anything that contains any personal information. Well, that's one thing, but "The Monster Shredder" is another. This thing will tear up anything, and I mean anything! Watch it being built, then watch it in action!
Seems like everyone has some kind of a video camera these days, even if it is built into your cell phone. You could spend the rest of your life watching videos on You Tube, and there are some good ones out there. If you like dogs and someone who is original, then you'll love this one. Okay, here's one that I'll bet you put in your browser favorites or in your link bar. You've probably played mini-golf a few times in your life, and now you can do it sitting in front of your monitor. Try it once and you'll be hooked, but watch out for hole 14! I'm an adventurous person and love new challenges. One adventure I do often is riding our all terrain vehicle in the Arizona mountains. We have traveled up and down many steep and rough trails, but this guy tried something that I don't think I will be doing soon! Well, hold on a minute. Even though I flew airplanes for years as my occupation, I don't think I'll be doing this either! Stick with it through the telephone conversation with his mother, as he has a good message at the end, part of which is "Life is just a bunch of experiences you have until you die." If you want to spend a little more time, you can watch a 12 minute video of what this man is all about and his upcoming challenge in Las Vegas. You won't believe it! It seems that every day we go online and there's some new type of nagging Web annoyance to deal with. In a perfect world, we wouldn't have to worry about auto-playing video ads, leaping pay walls to read the news, fake emails phishing for our bank details, or Farmville spam from Facebook. Here are 15 of the most annoying things on the Internet, and how to work around, ignore, improve or fix them. Details from PC World.
You might enjoy browsing my personal Photo Site. You'll see over 1,100 pictures in 38 galleries that I've taken from around the world . We have had over 280,000 views on our Photo Site, thanks in part to Cyber News readers! Sometimes you can take a photo of the simplest thing and make it look intriguing. Examples of this would be in my "Odds n Ends" gallery. Check out this one and without reading below the picture try to figure out what it is. Or this one, which is part of a design on the side of our RV. Start shooting anything, have fun! Digital photos cost you nothing. Check out my Blog. There you will find thoughts on many subjects and occasionally find supplements to Cyber News such as Virus alerts or other computer information that I think might be of interest to you. 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!" God Bless our Troops and God Bless America!
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. |
Windows
7 continues to perform flawlessly. I am very pleased with its features and performance, but will admit disappointment with
Windows Live Mail. I have had it freeze up several times and a couple of
times it won't let me delete some emails, giving me an "unknown error
has occurred" message. Windows 7 does not include an email
client so you have to choose one, download, install, and configure
it. Windows Live Mail and Mozilla's Thunderbird are the most
popular free email programs. Of course you can pay for Microsoft's
Outlook, but it is used almost exclusively in the corporate world.
Is
your operating system up to date? I continue to see customer's
computers that have not had critical updates applied.
Microsoft sends out updates once a month that are downloaded to your
computer but don't get installed because your computer is turned off at
the default time of 3 am. If you see a yellow exclamation point in
your system tray, in the lower right corner of your screen, click on it
then click the Install button. By not continually updating your
system you are inviting many potential problems.
There
have been over 30 million iPhones sold and it is by far the most
popular smart phone on the market today. One problem is that many
people don't like the service from AT&T. Incidentally I am not
one of those persons. Since I acquired the new 3G version I have
been very happy with their coverage and service. It seems like the
majority of iPhone owners would love to switch to Verizon and there has
been a rumor that this could be possible later this year. However, even
if the rumor is true, there are technical problems with this
transfer. If this is your situation you may want the details from
the 
I
know how smart you think you are, but let's find out the
truth. Take this 
Photo
Tip of the Month: Leave the big cameras to the pros.
Sure they have advantages, like rapid shooting and advanced settings,
but you can make some great photos with your pocket camera, especially
with a little post editing. Let me give you an example. We have
driven past a beautiful old railroad bridge just south of Wickenburg,
Arizona, many times on our way to camp in the mountains. Seems
like the opportunity was never right for a photo, but this time we
stopped along side the highway, put on the flashers, grabbed my Sony
pocket camera, and hiked a short distance to capture the shot.
When I got home, I imported it into Paint Shop Pro, adjusted the
brightness, added a blue sky, gave it a painted effect with a Topaz
filter, and sharpened the bridge to give the photo some depth of field.
I like it. 
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.
