October may be a good time for those hesitant about upgrading to Windows 7, Microsofts best operating system yet.  Starting October 3, Microsoft will be offering the Windows 7 Family Pack.  This family pack upgrade to Windows 7 Home will be sold in retail stores and Microsoft online store for $149.00 and will be good for three computers.  The normal upgrade cost is $119.00 each.  So if you have multiple computers in your family, this would be a great money saver.   To see if Windows 7 will run on your computer, download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor.

WARNING: scammers may try to steal your account by sending an official-looking email with a link to a fake craigslist login page that looks like this page, hoping you'll type in your username and password.

Look carefully at the web address near the top of your browser to make sure you are on the real craigslist login page, https://accounts.craigslist.org. (like in the image below)

 I saw an article in the news today of another local person on trial for child pornography.  Sad to say, I believe that its not as uncommon as most would think.  People behind the seclusion of their monitors think that "no one will know" or find out what they see or watch. With the technology of today, it makes it a lot easier for transmitting images and videos and thus a lot harder for parents to protect their kids.  Below are some tips and actions to take to help make the Internet and technology safer for kids.  

1. Set ground rules for computer and Internet usage.  This may be easier said than done.  Kids and teens have grown up in the "Internet age" and there are a lot that are more "tech savy" than their parents.  With the news headlines increasing with cases of child pornography, cyber bullying, and identity theft - information is going to be the best weapon to provide.  Explain the dangers of the Internet or what could happen for sending private photos or personal information. 

2.  Be aware of what the kids are doing on the Internet.  Even with ground rules in place, kids will be kids.  Parents can install software that can filter based on website, keywords, categories, etc. as well as set time limits for Internet access.  Internet history is also recorded and can be reviewed.  A free program that does a great job is K9 Web Protection.  If nothing else, just do a search for all Photos on the hard drive.  You might just be surprised. 

3.  Understand what constitutes child pornography.  The NCMEC has a great fact sheet that explains it in details.

4.  Know how to report child pornography.  What do you do if someone is luring your child on the Internet or if you receive child pornography?  Mandated by Congress, the CyberTipLine provides a mechanism for reporting child sexual exlpoitation.

5.  Get professional forensic analysis. As stated before, a lot of today's kids are more tech savy than their parents.  If you suspect your child has been targeted by a sexual predator through the Internet, a professional forensic analysis of the computer may be beneficial.  Forensic analysts have tools and utilities that can "dig" the hard drives even when images and messages have be deleted.  This will help determine the source of any malicious activity. 

There are many sites on the Internet geared to child safety on the Internet and to help parents stay informed.  A good starting point, it the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.  It contains additional information to help guard and protect from sexual exlpoitation. 

Note:  If you suspect your child has been targeted by an online predator and would like a free forensic scan, please contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  We are a registered Electronic Service Provider to the NCMEC and all scans are strictly confidential.
 

 Ever get tired of your Facebook newsfeed getting filled up fast with who needs a board or who found a lost sheep or other updates from applications?  Well there is a simple way to hide those updates. First, login to FaceBook using a computer. Go to your news feeds, find someone who has posted a game status. On that particular game post, hover your mouse on the far right corner. The box "hide" will appear. Click on "hide". An option will pop up in that game status post which asks you if you want to hide the person or hide that particular game posting. Click on hide the game posting and no more game updates in your newsfeeds.  

No doubt anyone that has a cellphone, mp3 player, or a plethora other electronic devices have used USB.  USB (universal serial bus) was created in 1996 by Ajay Bhatt working at Intel and virtually replaced parallel and serial connections for computers and subsequently became the standard for other devices. 

Now Intel is at it again with what is being called Light Peak. Light Peak is the code name for a new optical technology designed to connect electronic devices together with speeds up to 10Gb/s with future expectations of 100Gb/s.  What does all this technical jargon mean?  Currently, USB 2.0 devices can transfer up to 480Mb/s.  With Light Peak at 10Gb/s - you could transfer a full length Blu-Ray disc in about 30 seconds as opposed to aproximately 20 minutes with USB. 

Intel is working with optical component manufacturers to be able to beginning shipping the components in 2010 will work with the technology industries to determine the best way to incorporate Light Peak as the "new" standard.

Will it be the end of USB?  Only time will tell and like most if not all technology, just because the latest and greatest is available doesn't mean consumers are going to buy in.  Cost will be a huge factor as to whether it will become mainstream.  As for now, the potential and the outlook looks good but again, only time will tell.