There are plenty of programs and services running in the background of your Windows machine that you may not even know about. Sure, you know the browser is running, you know that Windows itself has a few programs attached to it, and, yes, your instant messenger does, too. But what about that program that's always running to check and see if there's an update available? Or others that are just installed by third-party software developers?
Booting up the task manager should allow you to see all of the running processes. In Windows 7 and Vista, you can search for "task manager" using the search box built into the start menu. For all machines, you can just press Control-Alt-Delete once (which used to restart your computer) and it should bring up a menu where you can select "task manager". Go to the Processes tab and take a look at what's currently running. If you right click any of them, you're given some options, including the option to "End Process" which would close the programs out. But BE CAREFUL! Know what you're ending! You certainly don't want to delete something that you don't want to get rid of or are working on!
I used to give a link of a website to check all of those programs out, but nowadays, you can just take the entire process and use a search engine (Google, Bing, etc.) to check it out. Bring up your search page and type the entire process, even the file extension (e.g., .exe, .doc, .bat, .dll). It should bring up results that let you know what it does. Most sites also tell you whether or not it's critical or something that you can get rid of.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Have any computer or internet concerns or questions?
Let me give you the opportunity to ask any computer or internet-related questions that you might have for future posts!
There's plenty to discuss, but allowing readers to give feedback and pose questions certainly inspires the right material!
There's plenty to discuss, but allowing readers to give feedback and pose questions certainly inspires the right material!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Social Networking and the Workplace...BE CAREFUL
There has been a big discussion on the topic of social networking at the workplace and there will be for years to come. Opinions vary by company and sometimes by region of the US, but there are some things to keep in mind.
People HAVE been canned or at least in trouble because of what has been done on social networking sites.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703701004575113792648753382.html
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Companies+cracking+down+Facebook+Twitter+workplace/2934691/story.html
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2010/04/25/social-media-is-work-worry.html?sid=101
It's a touchy issue and no case has shot straight to the Supreme Court just yet, but technically, your employer can take a look at what you're doing online anytime, especially if you make it public. Certainly posting Facebook and Twitter updates during work hours spells disaster, especially if you're making those posts about something you shouldn't be doing at work. It may seem like your employer cannot hold your personal life against you, but then again in some states, they don't need a reason to get rid of you (e.g. New York). And applying to a new job? There's no laws saying that an employer can't look at your social networking profile to see what you're about.
Make sure your privacy settings are set to a maximum or keep a public and private profile. It may seem like more work, especially for something that you don't want to admit to checking constantly, but it's worth it in the long-run.
As time goes on, some companies have developed policies that restrict user access to social networking websites. Some companies are on their way to. On the opposite side, Microsoft's newest mobile phone development is integrating Facebook and Twitter into a phone they say will be used by many businesses. They say they did it because the companies' IT departments requested it; "mixing business with pleasure can increase productivity".
Just be careful!
People HAVE been canned or at least in trouble because of what has been done on social networking sites.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703701004575113792648753382.html
http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/Companies+cracking+down+Facebook+Twitter+workplace/2934691/story.html
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2010/04/25/social-media-is-work-worry.html?sid=101
It's a touchy issue and no case has shot straight to the Supreme Court just yet, but technically, your employer can take a look at what you're doing online anytime, especially if you make it public. Certainly posting Facebook and Twitter updates during work hours spells disaster, especially if you're making those posts about something you shouldn't be doing at work. It may seem like your employer cannot hold your personal life against you, but then again in some states, they don't need a reason to get rid of you (e.g. New York). And applying to a new job? There's no laws saying that an employer can't look at your social networking profile to see what you're about.
Make sure your privacy settings are set to a maximum or keep a public and private profile. It may seem like more work, especially for something that you don't want to admit to checking constantly, but it's worth it in the long-run.
As time goes on, some companies have developed policies that restrict user access to social networking websites. Some companies are on their way to. On the opposite side, Microsoft's newest mobile phone development is integrating Facebook and Twitter into a phone they say will be used by many businesses. They say they did it because the companies' IT departments requested it; "mixing business with pleasure can increase productivity".
Just be careful!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Getting lots of spam all of the sudden? It could be your email address on display...
Have you wondered where the sudden influx of spam or junk email has been coming from? What has caused such a break in the levee that you thought was so secure for the longest time? Most of us immediately think of our email providers (e.g. Yahoo!, Gmail, Hotmail, etc.) and their "apparent" inability to update their filters. Well, the true answer might be where you've been typing in your email address and other related contact information.
Let's take a quick shot and see what's out there. Head to your favorite internet search engine (e.g. Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc.) and go ahead and type in what's called the "local-part" of your email address(es). That refers to the beginning stuff before the "@" symbol. So go ahead and enter your "jimmyriff24" or "bharrison120" and hit the search button. Where does it take you?
If you're unlucky enough to have some results, you might be looking at a list of websites that list your email address or screenname publicly. Not good. In fact, there are programs out there just hunting the internet for email addresses just to send you their wonderful attempts to spam you with junk.
Do this with all of the local-parts of your email addresses and even do it with your social networking or chatting screennames with an added word or phrase specifying what you use it for (for example, for AOL Instant Messenger users, search for "jimmyriff24 AIM"). Results indicate public occurrences that you don't want.
So, seeing that might be scary, but how did it get there in the first place? Well, some websites can sell that information to others, whom may post that information publicly so their partners can see the list as well. Sometimes, you may be registering for a website or social network and one of the settings is for you to display your email address or chat screenname.
Searching for this information is the easy part. The harder part comes in getting your addresses and screennames off of the internet. You will have to check out each of the website results and investigate. Some websites, you will have to look to see if there is a setting to remove your publicly displayed email address or screenname and switch it off (Facebook does this). With some websites, you may have to remove your contact information all together. With others, you will see your email address listed with others and wonder "how the hell did it get there???" For those, you may have to contact the website via one of their links at the bottom of the page and request that it be removed.
Either way, the lesson is to keep track of where your information is and how it's visible. It may seem controlled and private but with searching a screenname with "AIM" right behind it (let's say for "jimmyriff24 AIM") can show people that jimmyriff24@aol.com is a valid email address. So is jimmyriff24@aim.com. It also hints that perhaps other email accounts might have the same local-part, perhaps jimmyriff24@yahoo.com or jimmyriff24@gmail.com because so many people use similar screennames and local-parts.
Getting your name off the results page can be rewarding because you can eventually see your success in the future. Remember, that it takes a while before the pages come down, as you basically have to wait for your favorite search engine to revisit the same page and index the results WITHOUT your email address this time.
Let's take a quick shot and see what's out there. Head to your favorite internet search engine (e.g. Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc.) and go ahead and type in what's called the "local-part" of your email address(es). That refers to the beginning stuff before the "@" symbol. So go ahead and enter your "jimmyriff24" or "bharrison120" and hit the search button. Where does it take you?
If you're unlucky enough to have some results, you might be looking at a list of websites that list your email address or screenname publicly. Not good. In fact, there are programs out there just hunting the internet for email addresses just to send you their wonderful attempts to spam you with junk.
Do this with all of the local-parts of your email addresses and even do it with your social networking or chatting screennames with an added word or phrase specifying what you use it for (for example, for AOL Instant Messenger users, search for "jimmyriff24 AIM"). Results indicate public occurrences that you don't want.
So, seeing that might be scary, but how did it get there in the first place? Well, some websites can sell that information to others, whom may post that information publicly so their partners can see the list as well. Sometimes, you may be registering for a website or social network and one of the settings is for you to display your email address or chat screenname.
Searching for this information is the easy part. The harder part comes in getting your addresses and screennames off of the internet. You will have to check out each of the website results and investigate. Some websites, you will have to look to see if there is a setting to remove your publicly displayed email address or screenname and switch it off (Facebook does this). With some websites, you may have to remove your contact information all together. With others, you will see your email address listed with others and wonder "how the hell did it get there???" For those, you may have to contact the website via one of their links at the bottom of the page and request that it be removed.
Either way, the lesson is to keep track of where your information is and how it's visible. It may seem controlled and private but with searching a screenname with "AIM" right behind it (let's say for "jimmyriff24 AIM") can show people that jimmyriff24@aol.com is a valid email address. So is jimmyriff24@aim.com. It also hints that perhaps other email accounts might have the same local-part, perhaps jimmyriff24@yahoo.com or jimmyriff24@gmail.com because so many people use similar screennames and local-parts.
Getting your name off the results page can be rewarding because you can eventually see your success in the future. Remember, that it takes a while before the pages come down, as you basically have to wait for your favorite search engine to revisit the same page and index the results WITHOUT your email address this time.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Welcome to Nerd Rapport!
Welcome to Nerd Rapport, the blog that attempts to get you in sync with technology and the internet and making sure you're not on the naive side of things out there in a brave new digital world.
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