Think a Virus Scanner is Enough? Learn Why You Also Need Spyware Protection

<br /> <p>Most people do not want viruses, so they get a virus scanner to catch, protect, and solve those problems. While this is a good practice, it's only half protecting your system. There is something else called spyware that you as a user needs to deal with.</p><p>Just like you need a virus scanner, you also need to have a spyware scanner. Many of these are free although there are paid ones that do work better at times. Sometimes these are called adware protection and malware scanners as well.</p><p>What can spyware do to your system?</p><p>If you have spyware on your system, just as the name implies, it can spy on you. One type of spyware that is the most common is called a keylogger. This will log your keystrokes on your keyboard. This means that when you have logins and passwords that you want to remain safe, a keylogger will steal this information meaning your accounts could be hacked. For some accounts this doesn't matter as much, but if it's your banking account or PayPal, spyware could end up costing you money.</p><p>Other types of spyware violate your privacy. These programs watch what you do on your computer. Everything that you are doing, opening, visiting online, and other tasks are being logged. If you want to keep your privacy, you need to get rid of these spyware programs.</p><p>Just like viruses, new spyware is created every week. It's very important to keep the software protection updated at least once a week to have protection from the latest types of spyware.</p><p>The first time you run this scan do a full system scan as there is probably quite a bit of spyware that you already have. If there is a safe mode option, use that one as it will get more off your system than in a normal boot into Windows.</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />

Think a Virus Scanner is Enough? Learn Why You Also Need Spyware Protection

Most people do not want viruses, so they get a virus scanner to catch, protect, and solve those problems. While this is a good practice, ...

Continue Reading>>

In Depth: Learn from the hackers: how to avoid website exploits

<div align="center"><img src="http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/7928/pcp302make8bodyimage320.jpg" /></div>When large data breaches are announced, the media can go overboard with its portrayal of hackers as uber-geeks with flashing fingers and skills that are almost supernatural in origin. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. <br /> By using basic tools and a logical approach, hackers turn websites into playgrounds full of interesting servers to explore, subvert and destroy. There are databases to plunder; there are pages to deface. <br /> But just what is their approach, and how can we learn to avoid it?<br /> <strong>Footprints on the web </strong><br /> Once a hacker finds a website that could be worth exploring, their first task is to create a detailed profile of the target, called a footprint. This identifies the basic building blocks of the site and enables the hacker to draw a map of how everything fits together. <br /> Unfortunately, the way websites work provides hackers with lots of useful information without them having to do much. If there's a login process, for example, they know there's a database containing usernames and passwords. If the site has an ecommerce element, they know there's a shopping cart product in use, or some handcrafted and potentially vulnerable code to try to subvert. <br /> Similarly, a catalogue of products indicates another database, which could link to a stock control server and possibly also a re-ordering application containing information about trade accounts. The hacker will also survey links to ad servers that feed content into the site. They will also consult the DNS records for the domain.<br /> DNS is the only way to keep track of what's on the internet and where it all is. But it also gives information about all the publicly accessible servers owned by a domain, regardless of whether their addresses and names are meant for public consumption. <br /> When I began working as a network security consultant, I found that it was easy to shock clients by showing them their DNS records, and then drawing a map of how I believed their servers were plumbed together. Some network admins had been naïve enough to think that all their important servers needed public IP addresses, making them easy to profile prior to an attack. <br /> <strong>DNS information </strong><br /> Windows and Linux have tools capable of interrogating DNS, but they're fiddly command line utilities. Luckily, plenty of websites provide easy access to DNS information, including <a href="http://www.kloth.net/services/dig.php">Kloth.net</a>. Enter the name of a domain you're interested in (such as pcplus.co.uk) and press [Enter]. In the answers section that appears, you'll see lines containing the domain name and associated IP addresses. <br /> <div align="center"><img alt="Kloth.net" src="http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/3756/pcp302make8bodyimage142.jpg" width="420" /></div>To search for a possible web server, add www. to the start of the domain and press [Enter]. This time you'll see the domain's web server. If you change the query type to 'MX' and click 'Look it up', the answers section will contain the name of the computer acting as the local mail server (technically called the mail exchanger). <br /> This name may be the same as the web server, but if it has a different name, enter it into the 'Domain' input box to see its details. <br /> Another important part of this process is the use of a port scanner such as nmap to discover what services are running on each internet-facing server. See nmap in action at <a href="http://nmap-online.com/">www.nmap-online.com</a>. The default IP address is your own computer. <br /> <div align="center"><img alt="Nmap" src="http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/3461/pcp302make8bodyimage242.jpg" width="420" /></div>To scan it for open ports, click the 'I agree with terms of service' and then click 'Scan now'. Enter an email address for the site to notify when the scan is complete, along with a password to access the results. <br /> Nmap sends carefully crafted packets to each potentially open port and analyses the information returned to discover not only what's running, but sometimes even detailed information about the running operating system and its TCP/IP stack. This can aid hackers in profiling a website and formulating a coming attack. <br /> If a mail server is also running port 80, there's a good chance that connecting to it via a web browser will reveal a web mail interface that may have exploitable bugs. However, if the hacker is met by a default Apache web server installation page, it may be that system administrator installed the web server but has forgotten about it. It's likely that the software has never been patched and is vulnerable to a range of exploits. <br /> By examining the verbiage returned with the web page, the hacker can determine the exact release of the software and any extra modules installed. Finding a NetBIOS service running (ports 137 and 139) indicates that the server runs Windows. An SQL service (port 1143) indicates that there's a database engine running, and so on. <br /> <div align="center"><img alt="detailed map" src="http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/8518/pcp302make8diagram24201.jpg" width="420" /></div>It's possible to build a detailed map of a domain's capabilities and vulnerabilities from this process. <br /> Once the hacker has constructed a detailed footprint of the website's hardware and basic software, their attention turns to the web applications. Computer science says that above a certain level of complexity, no program can ever be free of bugs. Luckily for the hacker, less skilled programmers keep making the same basic assumptions and mistakes in the logic of web applications. <br /> The first task is to map out how the apps work. The hacker begins with a simple click-through of the site to note the names of the pages and what they contain – which ones need authentication, for example. This tells them a great deal, but they can also delve deeper by mapping out the actual directory structure on the server. <br /> Directory mapping is a matter of noting down the paths in the URL bar of the browser during the click-through. This reveals a lot of detail about the structure of the site, and can give indications about the skill of the web designer. Some structures reveal the hand of a site-builder program at work, in which case a hacker can consult a list of known exploits for sites made with that program. <br /> <div align="center"><img alt="Hack this site" src="http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/3706/pcp302make8box1image142.jpg" width="420" /></div>The hacker notes the methods pages use to pass data from input boxes to PHP scripts. Do they use the GET or POST methods? Each implies the type of processing used by the site's scripts, and may provide ideas about testing for weaknesses in the way rogue input values are dealt with. <br /> The web is set up to serve the index file of any URL you enter, so the hacker will try adding likely directory names to the domain name to see what he can find. For example, for www.victimsite.com, they might try 'www.victimsite.com/admin' to see if they can access an administration page. <br /> Another great source of hidden directories is the 'robots.txt' file. This is a plain text file that sits in the root directory of websites and contains directives to search engines about which directories are OK to index and which aren't. The 'robots.txt' file has to contain a list of all the directories that the hacker shouldn't know about, which highlights the need to avoid putting anything on a site that you wouldn't want to find on Google. Where you can't avoid this, don't give files obvious names. <br /> So-called helper files are also a useful source of information for the hacker. Cascading style sheets, Java classes and embedded JavaScript all give an indication of the skill level of the person who coded the site. This gives an idea of the kinds of errors to expect. <br /> One of the biggest mistakes made in trying to secure a site is to have users validate themselves using JavaScript embedded in the login page. To the developer, the ease of use, compatibility across browsers and speed all seem like benefits, but the advantages are all on the side of the hacker. <br /> <strong>The attack begins </strong><br /> The hacker now has a footprint of your site, a list of hidden directories and a map of how the scripts fit together to make up the site's applications. What now? <br /> They have many options to choose from. The simplest is to point a password-cracker at the administrator account and leave it to gain entry for the purposes of stealing information that can be sold on, or to simply deface the site. This childish activity is normally associated with 'script kiddies' – teenagers who consider themselves hackers, but just run scripts developed by others. <br /> Real hackers will begin to explore weaknesses in the services identified as part of the footprint. On discovering an SQL service, for example, they can try connecting a telnet client to the port to gain command line access to the database management system (DBMS). Similarly, FTP and Telnet services are easily attacked using password crackers and by exploiting bugs in their software with buffer overflow attacks that can give command line access to the server. <br /> A more knowledgeable hacker still will try to break or bypass the validation code applied to an input field on a web page to see what happens. Validation code is supposed to take the values of input fields and sanitise them, rejecting data that's clearly wrong. <br /> If an input field is supposed to contain a number, for example, its validation should reject input if it contains anything other than the digits 0-9. If the hacker enters letters and doesn't get an error message, he can tell that the validation code is lacking. If the input field is for a part number, it may form the basis of a query to a back-end SQL database. <br /> That being the case, the hacker will ask what happens if they enter the SQL statement termination symbol (the ' symbol), followed by their own query. If this works, they could then ask the database for a list of tables. If they find ones that store customer details and credit card information, it's game over.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://www.techradar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Source.</a>

In Depth: Learn from the hackers: how to avoid website exploits

When large data breaches are announced, the media can go overboard with its portrayal of hackers as uber-geeks with flashing fingers and sk...

Continue Reading>>

Latest humanoid robots learn to use objects as tools

<P align=center><img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/world%20of%20tech/Robot%20using%20tools.jpg-200-200.jpg"></P><br /><P>The latest humanoid robots being developed in Japan are learning to use obstacles in their way as tools to help them achieve specific tasks.</P><br /><P>In what may well be seen in the future as a major breakthrough for robotics AI, the humanoid robots are also learning to walk in a way that is very similar to an elderly person.</P><br /><P><STRONG>HRP-2 is your friend</STRONG></P><br /><P>The HRP-2 robot learns to use obstacles blocking its path to its advantage. </P><br /><P>The HRP-2 has been developed at Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology in Tsukuba. </P><br /><P>The new robot made its public debut at the rececnt <a href="http://www.humanoids2010.org/index.php">Humanoids 2010</A> conference in Nashville, Tennessee.</P><br /><P><STRONG>The new robotics paradigm</STRONG></P><br /><P>The Institute's <a href="http://staff.aist.go.jp/sebastien.lengagne/">Sébastien Lengagne</A> argues that: "Roboticists usually just see objects as obstacles to be avoided…But they can help us."</P><br /><P>"If I ask you to look below your desktop, you will put your hand on the desktop for support," he adds. "But most methods will try to get the robot to do the task without touching the desktop."</P><br /><P>It can perform basic tasks such as leaning on a table to balance itself while kicking a ball, as <EM>New Scientist</EM> reports.</P><br /><P>You can see a <a href="http://www.newscientist.com/articlevideo/dn19901/718897381001-robots-learn-to-walk-like-a-senior-citizen.html">video of the HRP-2 in action over at New Scientist's website.</A> </P><br /><P><a href="http://www.techradar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Source</A></P>

Latest humanoid robots learn to use objects as tools

The latest humanoid robots being developed in Japan are learning to use obstacles in their way as tools to help them achieve specific tasks....

Continue Reading>>

Remove AV Security Suite - Learn to Get AN AV Security Suite Removal Right Now

<br /> <p>If you are experiencing a perceptible dip in the performance of your PC, and your Internet connection has suddenly become spotty, you may have malware on your PC. Have you recently installed AV Security Suite? If so, then you definitely have one virus, as this supposed antimalware software is actually a virus in disguise. Because it is a virus, is does do real harm, and because it's a virus, it can be quite difficult to remove AV Security Suite. While the option to uninstall AV Security Suite will actually appear in the change/remove programs portion of your control panel, it won't do you any good.</p><p>What is so scary about this type of virus is that there are so many of them out there. In this case AV Security Suite removal has proven particularly difficult. It writes itself into several directories of your computer and spreads fast. The virus' main purpose is to steal your private information so that it can be sold. It slows down your PC and your internet connection in the process.</p><p>An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, really does apply in this case. If you don't want to have to delete AV Security Suite, then don't get infected by it. To prevent infection you should avoid these things:</p><p><br />Browsing new and obscure websites- Many websites are set up specifically to hijack your browser.<br /> Opening email with strange, generic subjects - these are often from people you actually know, if the message is not explicitly personal, you may want to ask your contact about it through other means before opening it.<br /> Avoid using P2P software- The files you download using such software come from a "swarm" this means that your PC is open to several users who may not all have virus protection.</p><p>If you have been infected, there are two ways to remove AV Security Suite; you can do it manually, by deleting all the files the virus has copied onto your system. There will be virus associated files with.exe,.bat,.dll, and.lnk extensions. You need to delete all of the ones related to the virus, but you mustn't delete any other file of this type or you could render your PC unbootable. Next you need to do a registry hack, you need to seek traces of the virus out in the folders HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE and HKEY_CURRENT_USER. Again though, care must be taken not to delete anything but the virus related files.</p><p>Not too many people opt for manual removal as it is complicated and risky. The safer, easier and more effective method to get rid of AV Security Suite is with a reputable virus remover. This will not only thoroughly scan your computer and eliminate the virus, it will also provide sustained protection.</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <p>Tired of viruses infecting your computer? Want to surf the web with the peace of mind that your computer is safe and secure? Get your free scan from the top virus protection and remove <a href="http://www.spyware-fix.net/remove-av-security-suite.html" target="_new">AV Security Suite</a>.</p><p>Jim Marshall is an expert computer technician with fifteen years of experience in the industry. Since his own computer was destroyed by malicious software, he has been studying antispyware, adware, and malware systems for years. His website details the comprehensive results of this research, ranking the best antispyware and antivirus programs available.</p><p><a href="http://www.spyware-fix.net" target="_new">http://www.spyware-fix.net</a></p> <br />

Remove AV Security Suite - Learn to Get AN AV Security Suite Removal Right Now

If you are experiencing a perceptible dip in the performance of your PC, and your Internet connection has suddenly become spotty, you may...

Continue Reading>>

How to Learn VB for Access

<P>Grab some books for beginners. Most bookstores have copies of books for beginners. Microsoft Access VB books are available for programmers who are just getting started with Access or who have a little more experience. If you plan to make advanced applications, purchase a book for beginners and one with more advanced material. You can also purchase reference books for VBA.</P><P>Take a class online or at your local <a class="StrongLink" href="http://www.ehow.com/education/">school</A>, or use an online tutorial (see Resource 1). Some students learn programming more quickly using a class. Classes tailor activities, so you can read the language syntax and practice programming beginner applications.</P><P>Review language syntax on free online content sites (see Resource 2). Some sites let you learn VBA for free. It is not a class-like structure, but you can get up to speed on language basics. This is beneficial for people who are already familiar with programming basics and just need a refresher on the language syntax.</P><P>Practice by creating a small application using sample code (see Resource 3). If you plan to create an advanced application, you start with Access VB by creating a small application. Practicing lets you start off slow and learn the basics of the language, so you avoid creating a buggy application.</P>

How to Learn VB for Access

Grab some books for beginners. Most bookstores have copies of books for beginners. Microsoft Access VB books are available for programmers ...

Continue Reading>>

Learn to Solve Laptop Failures by Determining the Causes

<br /> <p>Computers are one the technological innovations people can't live without. In all facets of life, computers perform an active role. In education, business, social securities, telecommunications, and banking for instance, people greatly rely on what computers can do. Computers have become the status symbol of the modern people, so to speak.</p><p>If you use a computer at home or at work, the most frustrating thing that could happen to you is when your computer fails to work properly. Therefore, it is important to know some troubleshooting methods as they come in handy when you find difficulties making your computer work again. However, you have to know that you can not fix everything. If all else fails, seek the help of professionals.</p><p>Virus attack is one of the most common computer problems you may encounter. There are different kinds of viruses and the problems they cause differ in level of seriousness. Some kinds of viruses that you should be aware of are Malware, Adware, and Spyware. Such kinds of viruses primarily attack your computer to hack personal information. If you experience slow loading of programs or erroneous functions, your computer may be under virus attack.</p><p>Hard drive failure is another computer problem that can knock down or damage your computer. The damage caused by hard drive failure may include file corruption and file losses. To solve this problem, you have to install a new hard drive. And to safe keep your file, you have to always make back up copies of your files in case your hard drive gets damaged.</p><p>If you see that your computer is producing abnormal sound and noises, it can be due to fan failure, another computer problem. This problem can only be repaired by certified professionals, so make sure that your computer is always under warranty.</p><p>The three problems are some of the possible computer problems that may occur when you are using your computer. And as preventive measures, you have to always do computer health check once in a while. Or, you can ask a certified computer engineer to upgrade your software and install antivirus programs to fight virus attacks.</p><p>Your computers should be maintained properly to keep it working all the time. The troubles that you may experience would be too risky too take if you fail to take care of your computer, the way you take care of your other valuable properties.</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <p>Steven Hall Is The Owner of RJB Computer Services. He Has Many Clients Searching for <a href="http://www.runslikeadream.com" target="_new">PC Repair Brighton</a> East Sussex UK Visit His Website If You Are Looking For <a href="http://www.runslikeadream.com" target="_new">Brighton Computer Repair</a></p> <br />

Learn to Solve Laptop Failures by Determining the Causes

Computers are one the technological innovations people can't live without. In all facets of life, computers perform an active role. I...

Continue Reading>>

Think a Virus Scanner is Enough? Learn Why You Also Need Spyware Protection

<br /> <p>Most people do not want viruses, so they get a virus scanner to catch, protect, and solve those problems. While this is a good practice, it's only half protecting your system. There is something else called spyware that you as a user needs to deal with.</p><p>Just like you need a virus scanner, you also need to have a spyware scanner. Many of these are free although there are paid ones that do work better at times. Sometimes these are called adware protection and malware scanners as well.</p><p>What can spyware do to your system?</p><p>If you have spyware on your system, just as the name implies, it can spy on you. One type of spyware that is the most common is called a keylogger. This will log your keystrokes on your keyboard. This means that when you have logins and passwords that you want to remain safe, a keylogger will steal this information meaning your accounts could be hacked. For some accounts this doesn't matter as much, but if it's your banking account or PayPal, spyware could end up costing you money.</p><p>Other types of spyware violate your privacy. These programs watch what you do on your computer. Everything that you are doing, opening, visiting online, and other tasks are being logged. If you want to keep your privacy, you need to get rid of these spyware programs.</p><p>Just like viruses, new spyware is created every week. It's very important to keep the software protection updated at least once a week to have protection from the latest types of spyware.</p><p>The first time you run this scan do a full system scan as there is probably quite a bit of spyware that you already have. If there is a safe mode option, use that one as it will get more off your system than in a normal boot into Windows.</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <p>In his free time the author enjoys hunting game using his <a href="http://nikonriflescope.net/prostaff-rifle-scope" target="_new">prostaff rifle scope</a>. Take a look at his website for a comprehensive guide to many rifle scopes including the <a href="http://nikonriflescope.net" target="_new">nikon rifle scope</a>.</p> <br />

Think a Virus Scanner is Enough? Learn Why You Also Need Spyware Protection

Most people do not want viruses, so they get a virus scanner to catch, protect, and solve those problems. While this is a good practice, ...

Continue Reading>>

Life Hacking - Learn From the Nerds How to Get More out of Life

<br /> <p>I am a nerd. I've been one all my life. The good news is that finally, it's OK to be a nerd. Cool, even.</p><p>It wasn't always cool. Before technology and information took over our economy, nerds were seen as, well, nerds. Uncool by definition.</p><p>I was never cool. I wasn't fashionable; I wore Keds sneakers and whatever was on sale in the "husky" department at JC Penney's. I wasn't the guy you'd call to come over and work on your hotrod Camaro. You'd call your cool friend for that. You called me when you needed help writing a book report. Then I was your best friend.</p><p>Girls didn't like nerds much back then. I wasn't a big hit with the ladies. When I coerced a lovely woman to marry me 22 years ago, folks were shocked; they still are.</p><p>But here's my point: It's cool today to be a nerd, and the nerd subculture has coalesced on a group of Web sites dedicated to something called "life hacking."</p><p>A technology writer named Danny O'Brien created the term "life hack" after surveying a group of productive geeks on their work methods. O'Brien discovered a pattern among the most productive programmers: The best of them - the nerdiest of the nerds - all had created odd tricks and shortcuts to get their work done faster or better. O'Brien shared his research in a report called "Life Hacks: Tech Secrets of Overprolific Alpha Geeks." The term "life hack" spread through the nerd community like a computer virus. Today there are many books, podcasts and websites on the topic. One of the goals of life hacking is to make life simpler. Life Hackers say it helps people to get more done, quickly and efficiently, with simple solutions. Merlin Mann created a blog called 43 Folders, which is one of the most popular life-hacking sites. Mann suggests having everyone stand during meetings so no one will waste time. Another suggestion from Mann is to check emails on a regular schedule rather than reacting immediately to every email that arrives. (A great many life-hacking ideas relate to managing email more effectively.)</p><p>The Hipster PDA is another life-hacking idea. It's an alternative to using personal digital assistants, or PDAs, such as Blackberries and Palm Pilots. The Hipster PDA is simply a few index cards held together with a paper clip. It's a "system" I've been using for years, since tiring of my Palm Pilot and its annoying stylus, batteries and synchronization hassles. People laugh at my low-tech notecards, but now the top geeks in the country have endorsed my system! My version of the Hipster PDA costs about a penny per notecard, plus 45 cents for a pen. My version is different in one important respect. Many nerds carry multiple index cards clipped together; I carry just one. If my new activities won't fit on one card, that tells me that my life is full and I need to reprioritize. You'll find much more at 43folders.com.</p><p>Lifehacker.com is a website that takes a life-hacking approach to saving money. It can tell you how to: have a meal for under $3, extend the life of your laptop battery, and keep cool in the hot weather. It tells you the best days to make major purchases and much more. It's like Hints from Heloise on steroids.</p><p>Another site, Lifehack.org, gives daily advice on things such as how to turn around bad experiences and sleep your way to better fitness. It also gives tips for travelers, hints for people who need help beginning conversations (such as nerds), and advice on making the workday more manageable. The website has 101 Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things. Learn how you can use tape to test out nail polish colors, prevent plaster from chipping off walls when hanging pictures, and arrange flowers in a vase.</p><p>Most life hackers are focused on speed and how quickly they can finish a task. Life hacking is meant to get things done faster so that you have more time for recreation, not just so that you can get more work done. The key, life hackers say, is learning to squeeze more out of your time.</p><p>I'm not convinced. After perusing these sites, I find myself still wasting time, but at a much faster pace.</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <p>Steve Cebalt of Bottom Line Public Relations is Founder of the Social Marketing Leadership Roundtable in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He specializes in marketing, advertising and public relations issues of interest to nonprofit communications professionals.</p><p><a href="http://www.bottomlinepr.com" target="_new">http://www.bottomlinepr.com</a></p><p><a href="http://www.nonprofitPRforum.blogspot.com" target="_new">http://www.nonprofitPRforum.blogspot.com</a></p> <br />

Life Hacking - Learn From the Nerds How to Get More out of Life

I am a nerd. I've been one all my life. The good news is that finally, it's OK to be a nerd. Cool, even. It wasn't always coo...

Continue Reading>>

Yet Another Reason To Learn Linux - Integration With The Internet

And here is today's technology history lesson. No, Bill Gates and Microsoft did not invent the Internet. In fact, these visionaries actually jumped aboard the information highway fairly late after vainly trying to counterpose their own MSN to the Internet.<br /> <br /> In contrast Unix computers have been accessing the Internet and what's more running the Internet for decades. Unix and the Internet have had plenty of time to evolve together. Of course you can access the Internet from Windows with Internet Explorer, Firefox, and numerous other browsers. Many sites do use Windows-based Internet servers. Whether you are just an Internet user or an Internet Service Provider you probably want to know the concrete differences for you and your associates to help choosing between Linux and Windows for meeting your Internet needs. (Actually Internet Service Providers tend to know the differences and have made their choice, which is usually Linux. In the interest of fairness I must tell you that their choice is definitely not Damn Small Linux - it's just too small.) Let's examine some of the differences between Linux and Windows with respect to the Internet.<br /> <br /> Linux browsers are much less likely to stall than their Windows competitors. This increased stability reduces those annoying Internet browser restarts and even more annoying operating system restarts. This latter advantage is particularly important for Internet Service Providers but is also important for individual Internet users.<br /> <br /> The Linux Internet experience is much less likely to be interrupted by Adware, in which intruders foist their junk on unwilling victims. As far as I'm concerned Adware is theft of my time and energy. I happen to know that I'm not the 10 millionth visitor to their site and even if I were there is no way that I won any free vacation to Las Vegas or Never-Never Land. Linux systems far outdo Windows when it comes to blocking these criminals and letting me do my Internet work or have my Internet fun.<br /> <br /> I don't want people snooping around my stuff, whether on the computer or not. Spyware is often a major problem with Internet browsers that run on Windows computers. Linux systems are more resistant to Spyware than are Windows systems. But in the interest of fairness I don't believe those silly claims that Linux computers are completely resistant to Adware, Spyware, hacking, viruses and the like. Whatever some people can build, others can tear down or worm their way in.<br /> <br /> This leads to our next subject, computer viruses. Can you guess which operating system is better equipped to combat this major problem?<br /> <br /> Levi Reiss has authored or co-authored ten books on computers and the Internet. He loves the occasional glass of wine as exemplified by his wine websites including www.theworldwidewine.com. He teaches Linux and Windows operating systems plus other computer courses at an Ontario French-language community college. Visit his new website www.linux4windows.com which teaches you how to download and run Damn Small Linux on Windows computers, even if they are "obsolete."

Yet Another Reason To Learn Linux - Integration With The Internet

And here is today's technology history lesson. No, Bill Gates and Microsoft did not invent the Internet. In fact, these visionaries actu...

Continue Reading>>