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Apps for the Better You

January 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The New Year is upon us, and many people are trying to start the year right by making New Year resolutions. Whether it is to be more organized, to lose those extra pounds or to gain control of finances, the list sums up one thing: People strive to be better.

And in today’s technology age, you can set a holistic approach in achieving your goals. Yes, you can! Just take an advantage on all the gizmos at your fingertips. Your Android phone can actually help you out. Try these 10 Android applications to make you smarter and faster and on the way to a better you!

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Google Maps and Street View

This handy app aids the user in finding their way with a GPS navigation system with voice capability. It even has location tracking. You will be at ease exploring the off the beaten path and not get lost!

Talk to Me

If you have ever been in a foreign country and tried to order lunch, but you cannot speak their language, you will have an appreciation for Talk to Me app. This Android app offers one-tap speech translation in a variety of languages. It even produces voices in multiple languages. Now, you can better express yourself!

Lose It

This weight-loss app is the one many dieters swear by. It does not only compute how many calories are in the nightcap cocktail but it also calculates the amount of exercise needed to work it off. It will also inform you how many calories a day you can eat to reach a set goal weight.

Restaurant Nutrition

Trying to lose weight does not mean you cannot enjoy an evening out. Smartphone users can use this app to steer clear of dangerous calorie traps at their favorite joint. This app offers nutrition info for over 250 restaurant chains.

Math Alarm Clock

For all you snoozers out there, this is a unique app guaranteed to get you out the door in the morning. The alarm goes off like your average alarm clock but in order to shut it off, you must solve a series of math problems.

Voice Recorder

If you need to record anything for a longer period of time than the average integrated recorder allows, then voice recorder app is just right for you. It lets the user record for hours; meaning you are able to record lectures, business meetings or just a long grocery list to pick up on the way home.

Expense Manager

Designed to manage finances, Expense Manager app supports multiple accounts and recurring payments. It can track expenses daily, weekly, monthly or yearly.

Mint.com

Save time with this app when you sync it to your bank accounts and credit cards. It will automatically keep track of your transactions. A great money manager and time saver!

Goal Manager

Use this app to manage daily, weekly, monthly or yearly goals. This app has help widgets, and has the ability to allow you to share your goals with others.

Evernote

This organizational app does it all. It will allow the user to make to-do-lists, record reminders and even take pictures of your important undertakings. It is a great app for people who are busy and on the go.

People are always trying to make improvements for the New Year. And these 10 Android apps will help you realize your goals. They do not only make you smarter and faster, they also give you better chances of making this year more productive and efficient.

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Tips for Choosing a Good Password

June 12, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Password is one of the important factors for online protection. A password tells who the user is and how the system is protected. It becomes very important to safeguard the password as it is the key to access the online accounts. Anyone who has or can guess passwords can easily access personal details and can damage the entire system.

Password (game show)

Image via Wikipedia

Tips for Protecting the Passwords

First important step is not to share the passwords with anyone. Next important step is that the password created should be easily remembered. Most people tend to forget complex passwords and they write it down to remember. This is not a good action as anyone can gain access to passwords. Some scam emails may advice the user to change passwords, but the user should not react to such mails. Finally, passwords should be something very difficult for others to guess.

What should be avoided while Creating Password?

There are certain things that should be avoided while choosing passwords. They are words from the dictionary, real name, user name, words from the cracking dictionary, spouse name, and mirrored word from the dictionary,

How to Choose a Good Password?

A good password should be at least six characters long, should be the mixture of letters, symbols, and numbers, symbols should be added in the middle of the password, and deliberately misspelling the password. It is better to combine several techniques while creating passwords and even an uncommon phrase can be squeezed in to passwords. The uppercase and lowercase letters can be used alternatively in the passwords.

 

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The Wild World of the World Wide Web

March 31, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Wild World

Image via Wikipedia

As the Cat Stevens’ song Wild World, says “Take good care, hope you make a lot of nice friends out there, but just remember there’s a lot of bad and beware“, the same goes for the Internet.

There is beauty in the world and many great people, but there are also many ugly aspects in life, and bad people who wish to inflict harm on others.

The Internet is the same way, in that the advantages for children growing up today in the world of computers includes exploring and obtaining an infinite amount of information. Children can learn about different ways of life, expanding their horizons about different cultures, and a world of opportunities awaiting them.

There are cyber-bullies and cyber-stalkers, waiting to pounce, that can ruin the Internet experience for them.

Cyber- stalking vs. cyber- bullying

Cyber-stalkers seek to threaten the safety, reputation, or even the employment and earnings of others. Victims of cyber-stalkers can experience a number of adverse affects including frustration, fear, and low self-esteem. These adversities prevent users from using the Internet to connect with peers and to engage in healthy online activities.

Cyber-stalkers will target people they do not know personally, but who might have angered them in some way, in their minds, and they seek to avenge the discretion. Cyber-bullies, on the other hand, target someone they know, attempting to destroy them emotionally, just as real-life bullies do.

Adults should take control of either situation. Changing ISP’s, phone numbers and e-mail addresses, might be necessary to lose a cyber-stalker. Taking steps to end cyber-bullying include contacting the website where the cyber-bullying is taking place, contacting their ISP, and even contacting the parents of cyber-bullies, as well as school officials involved.

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Common Sense and Knowledge Best Protection Online

March 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Semiotics of Social Networking

Image via Wikipedia

The best way to protect yourself online is to use common sense and to understand the ways in which others can use certain information you provide, against you.

McAfee, Symantec, and other programs can help you to prevent harmful viruses from attacking your computer. Protecting your personal information is your responsibility. Knowing what to do, and what not to do online, can prevent others from acquiring private information they can use against you.

Monitor Yourself

Always remember that once you post a photo or text on a social networking site or on other online communities, it is fair game. Even if you decide you want to remove the photo or delete the post, several people may have already saved it to their computer. They may distribute it all over the internet.

  • Think before you post. Do you want the world to see or read it? If the answer is no, do not post it.
  • Remember who can see what you do on social networking sites and where what you do can be shared with others.

Getting Personal

When signing up to become part of an online community, whether it is a message board, social networking site, or chat rooms, use common sense when sharing information:

  • Always read the site’s privacy policy to find out who has access to any information you post
  • View the privacy settings that you have control over and if you have no control, limit what you share
  • Set up an additional free email account you can use for these sites. This will limit the amount of spam and junk mail you receive in the email account you use for work or business
  • Try to use an online screen name that does not give clues to your real name or any other personal information about you
  • Do not accept bribes or promises of rewards, in exchange for your personal information
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Ensure Your Prviacy is Not Being Compromised in Your Social Networking Endeavors

February 23, 2011 By Leave a Comment

As the Internet has drastically grown in popularity over the years, there is a vast world of innovative and interactive activities to perform while connected. Whether someone is simply looking to quickly find a snippet of information through one of the various search engines, or they are wanting to watch a music video via one of the many popular video sharing sites there is endless array of activities to be done. One of the more popular of these is exploring social networking sites. The reason why these types of sites are so popular is due to the fact that they make it easy to re-connect with people you might not have seen for years. Whether it is an old class-mate that moved cross country after graduation, or family from out of town; there are many reasons that people enjoy the social networking aspect of the Internet.

However, with the benefits of social networking come the prospective problems that tie hand in hand with it. Among one of the largest and most widely known problems is the issue dealing with privacy on these types of sites. Popular social networking sites have recently come under fire regarding their privacy policies; in that they are putting users private information into the public eye. The main aspect of this problem revolves around the fact that on many of these sites, when somebody signs up, their information is set to public by default. The problem lies in that there was no warning to person telling them their information was public, so they did not fix it.

Since that issue came to light, many of the popular social networking sites have been required to change the way in which they operate regarding privacy. However, it is vital that you double check your account settings to ensure that any information you do not want people who are not friends to see is not set to public.

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Potential Issues With Free Downloads

February 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

As the rise of the Internet continues in our modern society, more companies are moving massive amounts of their business to the online world on a regular basis. As this becomes more prevalent, marketing strategies and other aspects of getting people to become aware of the products the business is offering are going to have to evolve into something that is more functional for the internet. Among one of the most widely used and popular tactics employed by online businesses is to offer free downloads of various products and services. People tend to be enticed by the prospect of a free product, and thus will flock to the web site of the company in order to obtain these freebies. Theoretically, while the visitors are on the site looking for the free download, they will be furnished with the types of goods and services offered by the company. However, many illegitimate companies use this tactic as well, and create a slew of problems for those people who do download their “free” product or service.

Typically, when a free download is offered, the visitor must enter some generalized information such as their name and email address in order to gain access to the download. This is one way that companies get people on their email lists so that they can periodically send them updates on new products or services. However, the entities that practice unethical ways and utilize the free download tactic do not send the visitors on their email lists legitimate product updates and information regarding their company, but spam their in-boxes with various pieces of advertisements hoping to make a quick buck.

Another, and much less desirable tactic employed by the malicious entities that utilize free downloads to entice visitors is to cloak the free download as something that is helpful when in fact it is a virus. Visitors unknowingly download and install this virus on their computer thinking it is a helpful product or service for their computer. Unfortunately, these types of viruses remain unchecked for long periods of time, and can wreak havoc on the machine in which they are infecting.

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Helping Your Children Stay Safe Online

January 30, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Because the Internet is such an integral part of today’s society and will continue to be so for the future, if you are a parent, it is important that you take steps to introduce your children to the Internet from an early age to ensure that they will be able to lead a technologically-competent lifestyle. Most employers expect their employees to have a firm grasp on computer basics, and computers are also a large part of the American school system. Therefore, you can see why it’s important to help your kids feel comfortable when using the Internet, but you must also realize that the online world poses many hazards to young people. Ideally, you should monitor your children’s Internet usage carefully with a combination of interactive teaching as they browse the Internet, and the parental controls offered through most Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) and web browsers.

The use of parental control functionality is particularly importance because many Internet predators purposefully create objectionable websites with addresses that are very similar to legitimately educational destinations in hopes that children will mistakenly type in an address and end up in the wrong place. Parental controls can be set in such a way to only allow your children to visit a specified list of sites, while all other destinations are blocked. In their image search engine, Google has a “safe search” functionality that attempts to filter out all adult content, while popular streaming video website YouTube has a similar option.

However, there is no substitute for parental interaction to help ensure that your children have a safe and fun experience online. Coach them never to reveal personal details after first meeting someone, and warn them that the very nature of the Internet makes it easy for a person to pretend to be someone they’re not. By enforcing Internet rules and sparking discussion topics from an early age, you are helping your children remain safe in the ever-changing Internet world.

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The Threat Of Viruses and Spyware

January 27, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Although the Internet offers a wealth of information and benefits, the reality is that it also comes with a host of potential threats. However, by simply taking a bit of time to educate yourself about possible security hazards, you are already taking a big, efective step towards increasing your amount of safety online.

Viruses are one of the most common online hazards, and since they can come in a variety of formats, they can be particularly hard to spot. You can bring a virus onto your computer by doing something as seemingly harmless as visiting an infected website, or downloading a file that is attached to an e-mail in your inbox. Because of the fact that hackers are constantly developing new and more advanced computer viruses that are prevalent throughout the Internet, it is worthwhile to invest in a reliable anti-virus program that will continually scan your computer and monitor the websites you visit to alert you about any questionable material. Although viruses are small, they can be very destructive.

Unlike viruses, which usually try to replicate themselves in order to efficiently spread across the Internet, spyware applications prey on people who bring the spyware onto their machine thanks to a mistakenly downloaded file which is often bundled alongside another application that the user frequents. Some spyware is characterized by an endless stream of pop-up windows that disguise themselves as reputable Internet advertisements. In reality, the aim of most spyware efforts is to sift through your computer’s data in search of private information, and to take control of your web browser. Some spyware can be extremely hard to uninstall and often requires professional expertise.

Although viruses and spyware can seriously diminish your online security, the easiest way to protect yourself is to install anti-virus and anti-spyware software, so that they can be handled appropriately before they do any permanent damage to your computer.

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Keeping Security In Mind When Using Online Travel Websites

January 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Many people would readily admit that their world is dominated by hectic schedules, and a lifestyle that craves efficiency and convenience. Therefore, it is easy to understand why more and more people are turning to online travel booking websites to help plan their vacations. In years past, many people were heavily reliant upon travel agents to help with their travel needs. Now, an ever increasing array of travel websites allow even the most timid Internet users to book their own trip with ease and speed. However, with that comes the risk of potentially offering your personal information and payment details to a website or company that ultimately turns out to be a scam. There are a few things you can do to help ensure that your vacation planning needs or met without being fooled by such unscrupulous companies.

The nature of traveling often means that you will be required to invest not only time, but money into your vacation. Therefore, always ensure that the travel website you have chosen is secure before submitting your payment details.  The easiest way you can do this is to verify that the address of the payment page begins with “https://”. This indicates that your data will be transmitted over a secure connection. Also, look down in the bottom corner of your web browser to locate a gold padlock icon. This also indicates a secure webpage. If you will be paying an individual rather than a company, see if you can arrange to pay through a service such as PayPal so that the payment can proceed without you have to provide a lot of personal details.

Finally, once the vacation has been booked, watch your bank account balance carefully to make sure that all charges come across as expected. If they do not, notifiy your bank immediately so that an investigation can be made.

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Keeping Your Computer Safe When Playing Games Online

January 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment

A lot of people enjoy playing online games, but they can end up on sites that aren’t reputable and leave their computer unprotected if they aren’t paying close attention to what they’re doing. Don’t fall victim to that. There are better ways to handle your affairs online, whether you’re doing something important or just having a little bit of fun. You might not want to worry about hackers or other problems, but those kinds of things are out there for you to deal with, even if you try to ignore them. You can avoid them much more easily by taking a few simple precautions.

First, don’t visit sites that aren’t safe or give your information to sites you don’t know much about. Check them out. You can find plenty of online casino games and other things to play that are entirely safe and that are a lot of fun. Your information will be protected and won’t be stolen by anyone, and you can just relax and enjoy the site. There’s more you should do to protect yourself on other sites, though, like making sure you have anti-virus software installed on your computer.

Many people don’t bother with that kind of software, because they think that it’s really not necessary. They just shrug it off and assume that they don’t visit any sites that could get them into trouble. In truth, it’s not the sites that you visit in most cases. It’s the fact that you’re on the Internet at all that’s the problem. There are plenty of people who don’t realize that, and then they don’t understand why there’s such a serious problem with their computer and their information. Don’t get involved with that kind of problem. Just protect your computer with any of the popular anti-virus options so you can have peace of mind.

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