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Amber interviews Professor Andrew Clement on the subject of Net Neutrality

In Amber McArthur's new position at CityTV, she has produced a lot of interesting material including her blog, Inside Popnology . Here she interviews Andrew Clement, Professor of Information Studies at the University of Toronto on the subject of Net Neutrality.

Non-technical are not secure

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From my home, I can pickup several wireless signals, with about half unsecured. I have been using one of these connections, instead of paying Comcast's high prices. While connecting my desktop with my laptop (to transfer some files), I noticed from the laptop that I could see this neighbors computer. I decided, what the heck, I'll click on it and see if it is open. Well, I got challenged (which you would think is good), but I tried Windows XP default password for the Admin account and I got in. I suspect more people do not understand that they are not secure than being ignorant that they should be secure. Because people are assuming they are secure, their systems get left open to make easy access without any real hacker tools. If you're reading this, and are not sure about your computer security, I highly suggest you check your system out or have a technical friend help. Check the following: If you have wireless, at a minimum use WPA . You may also consider MAC ID filtering

Add additional options to your Boot Menu

Do you ever get frustrated by having to always press F8 when you want to boot into Safe Mode or the Command Prompt? With a simple modification to your boot.ini, you can add those options to the boot menu. Here's a typical boot.ini (located at c:\): [boot loader] timeout=3 default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS [operating systems] multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Windows XP Media Center Edition" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect C:\CMDCONS\BOOTSECT.DAT="Microsoft Windows Recovery Console" /cmdcons This boot.ini will prompt with: Windows XP Media Center Edition Microsoft Windows Recovery Console Add the following three lines under [operating systems] to get Safe Mode , Safe Mode with Networking , and Safe Mode with the Command Prompt : multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Safe Mode" /noexecute=optin /fastdetect /safeboot:minimal multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Safe Mode with Network" /noexecute=optin /f

Manage your digital photos with Picasa

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I recently was on vacation and was reminded how much I like Google's Picasa to manage my digital photos. Each night as I returned from my activities, I inserted my memory card into my laptop, launched Picasa, and had it load my new photos into a folder unique for that day. Occasionally I took a few additional sunset photos, and common to camera memory cards, when loading I ended up with duplicate file names. Picasa handles this for me by automatically renaming the new files as they were saved to my laptop. Once the photos were on my laptop, it was very easy to take care of basic photo editing -- perfect for most of us non-Photoshop experts. For example, removing red-eye is simple; I can also sharpen photos; and of course rotation is a single click. Once my edits are complete, Picasa will save my original, so that I can always go back to it later. Once I finished my edits, I viewed all the photos from the day using the slide show feature. And when I was happy with what I saw, it wa

Add a new Download Action in Firefox

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Recently I was asked how to add a new Download Action to Firefox. In other words, how can I get Firefox to always use the same program and open a file from the web without having to save it first each time. I scratched my head for a minute and then thought, "this is easy, just click Tools | Options , and then the Content tab ." I found out I could only manage them here, not add. After being perplex for a while, I realized it is actually very easy. Download the file type (e.g. PowerPoint), select the Open with radio button, select the application you want to open it with , and (here's the hard part) check the box next to Do this automatically for files like this from now on . Now you can go back to the Content tab in the Options menu if you want to remove or change the file association. Ahh, such an easy solution to any easy problem.

DVD Doesn't Play on Your PC

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Recently I took a class where the instructor could not get one of his DVDs to play for the class. This particular DVD was a custom compilation made by his organization. The error I saw when trying it on my laptop was that it was blocky and played fast. Another person tried it and got a black screen. I search Google on "free DVD codecs" and found a codec to that worked . Once installed, it still did not play with my default player, but it did play with the player installed with the codec -- the Media Player Classic. Because this first codec worked, I did not try the other downloads. I tried this one first because the file size was the smallest. So if you find that you still have trouble, try one of the other links within the first result ( Codec Pack All in 1 or K-Lite Mega Codec ).

View My Computer as a Menu

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Have you ever thought it would be easier to find a particular drive if My Computer would display a menu of all drives? Well actually it can do that, with a little configuration change. Right-click on the Start menu, and select properties Make sure the Start menu radio button is selected, and click the Customize button next to it Click the Advance tab Scroll through the list of Start menu items until you find My Computer Select the radio button next to Display as a menu Click OK twice That's all there is to it.

Is Your Windows XP Computer Internet Safe?

It is extremely easy to have your computer compromised if it is not setup to protect you before going on the Internet. Here are the steps to validate against your own Windows XP computer to make sure it is secured. Install a router. Even if you only have one machine connected to your Internet Service Provider (ISP), the router provides incoming firewall protection. Install a software firewall. Use this to protect your machine from having applications access the Internet without your permission. It can be a bit of a pain at first, because you will be prompted to approve applications that you do want to access the Internet, but it is worth it in the long run. I recommend ZoneAlarm (get the pro version if you want more information on messages, otherwise the free version is fine). The firewall that came with Windows XP does not protect you for outgoing traffic, so it doesn't give you any more benefit than your router. The software firewall will also protect you from incoming request

Fixing Boot Problems in Windows XP

It can be quite frustrating if you cannot get Windows XP to boot. Here are several things to try, which can solve boot problems: Look for clues where it hangs. First, if your computer is cycling through reboots, press F8 after the first beep of the reboot and select Disable the Automatic Restart on System Failure. Next time you boot, when the computer hangs, it may give you some clues to the problem . Use a Windows XP Boot Disk. This assumes you have made one prior to your problem. To create a boot disk , begin by formatting a floppy disk. Then copy the following files onto the disk: boot.ini, NTLDR, and ntdetect.com. Alternatively, you should be able to create this with a CD. Use System Restore. Assuming you can boot in Safe Mode (press F8 on reboot immediately after hearing a single beep, then select Safe Mode from the list of choices), from the Start menu, go to Accessories | System Tools and select System Restore . Follow the wizard interface to restore your machine to a previ

Vista may be the beginning of the end of Windows dominance

With Microsoft's pending release of the consumer version of Windows Vista, there have been many blogs and articles about the pros and cons of moving to Vista. Before I discuss some of the details, need I remind you as I did with iTunes , you DO NOT want to be the first to adopt new software. Let others use it first and see if the reported issues play out or not. Okay, so you are not going to be an early adopter to Vista. If you were recently in need of a PC, you bought one while you could still get XP, right? If you didn't, now is the time to give Apple another shot. Why am I taking this position? Well for one thing, Microsoft completely re-wrote the security layer for Vista, and there certainly will be bugs (and their track record for fixing bugs in a timely manner is abysmal). But don't just take my one reason, let's consider some other compelling arguments. franticindustries recently posted a good article on why power users will hate Vista. Case in point, with the