Defensive Computing

Fixing bugs in the Flash Player yet again

Last month Adobe released version 10 of their free Flash Player plugin for web browsers. If you've installed version 10, then you're done. You are not missing any patches and can stop reading now.

If you're not sure which version of Flash is installed, Adobe has a tester page. Windows users that have installed another browser, need to run this test in both Internet Explorer and the other web browser(s).

Anyone still running version 9 of the Flash Player needs to be running the latest edition, 9,0,151,0, which was released just a few … Read more

Getting more battery power for your computer

James Kendrick, one of the bloggers at jkontherun.com, recently wrote: "Mobile computer users will tell you that the number one need they have is for sufficient battery power." There are a few ways laptop computer users can get more battery power for their computers:

Buy a larger battery designed specifically for your computer. When buying many, if not most, laptop computers, you should have a choice of batteries. Higher-capacity batteries are physically bigger, cost more, and may very well protrude either vertically or horizontally. If you find you need more power for a laptop computer you already … Read more

Get an MSI Wind Netbook for only $349

The MSI Wind has been around a long time by Netbook computer standards and generally gets good reviews. Laptop magazine, for example, loved it. Back in July, CNET gave it 3.5 stars out of 5.

The model CNET reviewed was, at the time, $479. It ran Windows XP, came with an 80GB hard disk and included Bluetooth networking. If you can live without Bluetooth, you can now buy a very similar model, the Wind U100-420US, with a 120GB hard disk for only $349. For that price you get a gigabyte of RAM, an Intel Atom processor, a 10-inch matte … Read more

Not interested in a Netbook computer? Consider the Honda Fit

Netbook computers are small and underpowered, making them a turn-off for many. But consider the Honda Fit, which was raved about in The Wall Street Journal on Saturday.

The Fit is a small, cheap, underpowered 5 door hatchback. Yet, Jeff Sabatini in the Journal said, "The Fit truly offers everything you need in a car, and nothing you don't." This is exactly the niche that Netbooks seek to occupy in the laptop computer world.

Compared with other cars in its class (the Chevrolet Aveo 5, the Nissan Versa and the Scion xD), Sabatini argues that a lot … Read more

Beware emails linking to blogspot.com

I'm seeing a new pattern of malicious emails in my inbox. The body of the email message is nothing but a link to a blog at blogspot.com. The subject is a single word such as: Hey, Ave or Hallo.

One message linked to   uyxmwrmxaxquiuxti.blogspot.com.

My browser stayed there for only a second before getting re-directed to xykribwams.com which claims to be My Canadian Pharmacy.

This is a great example of the value you can get from the Flagfox extension for Firefox (which I wrote about back in July). Flagfox shows that xykribwams.com is … Read more

When Word documents break

On November 6th, an article appeared in the New York Times that all Word users should review.

The question in the Q and A column was Is it possible to extract the content from a corrupted Microsoft Word 2003 file that won't open? Turns out there are a number of options.

When opening a file with File -> Open, the "Files of Type" drop-down menu has an option to "Recover Text from Any File."

A more ambitious approach is to repair the document. In Word 2002, 2003 and 2007, use File -> Open, … Read more

More about printer ink rip-offs

The latest shout about how printers prematurely warn they're out of ink came this week from PC World magazine.

The basic premise isn't news, but the article is nonetheless a useful read.

For one thing, the author calculated the cost of a gallon of black ink at $4,731. No wonder printer manufacturers are motivated to make their customers buy more and more. In some of the tests, PC World found that printers "left more than 40 percent of their ink unused."

The tests were done on multifunction printers from Canon, Epson, Hewlett-Packard, and Kodak. To … Read more

Some computers are too important to be networked

There is a common defensive computing thread in two recent stories.

In the first story, Newsweek reports that both presidential candidates had their campaign computers hacked from afar. As they put it:

The computer systems of both the Obama and McCain campaigns were victims of a sophisticated cyberattack by an unknown "foreign entity," prompting a federal investigation, both the FBI and the Secret Service came to the campaign with an ominous warning: "You have a problem way bigger than what you understand," an agent told Obama's team. "You have been compromised, and a serious … Read more

Where's Vista?

I've stated before on this blog that I think Netbooks will be very popular. The 25 best selling laptop computers at Amazon.com bears out this prediction. But, perhaps the most shocking thing about the list is how few computers have Windows Vista installed.

The top 10 consist of seven Netbooks running Windows XP, one Netbook running Linux and two MacBooks. No Vista.

As of 11 a.m. PT Thursday, here's the list of operating systems on the most popular laptop computers sold at Amazon.com.

1. Windows XP Home Edition 2. Windows XP Home Edition 3. Mac … Read more