Tezzo's Technology Blog

Yes, big changes have come to Facebook, but not quite this profound. You should have noticed by now prominent notifications that privacy settings on the social network have changed. The major changes are: > You can control who does and doesn't have access to every item you post. The major settings you can make are "Everyone," "Friends" and "Friends of Friends" but you can include and exclude specific names. > Regional networks (cities, countries, etc.) have been eliminated. Many became so large the lost their usefulness. > Certain information about all users is now publicly available. This may be more information than you previously had available to complete strangers. > Facebook apps and outside sites that use the Facebook API can only access information that you've made accessible to Everyone (unless you grant them greater access). More from PC Mag How the New Facebook Privacy Settings Work - Security Watch

"Many scroll wheels also double as middle mouse buttons. As I mentioned yesterday, few users know the power of their mouse's middle button (which on many mice is also the scroll wheel). That's why I'm devoting this week to our good friend 'Middy' and its unsung abilities. Yesterday, for example, you learned that clicking Middy on any open browser tab closes it immediately--even if it's a tab that's not currently visible." More at PC World

Windows XP has built-in functionality to burn CDs: Insert a blank CD-R or CD-RW into the drive. When the drive options window appears, select Open writable CD folder and click OK. Drag and drop the files you wish to burn to the CD folder. In the task bar to the left, click Write these files to CD, label the CD, then click Next to burn the files. DVD burning is not native to Windows XP. To burn a DVD, refer to the documentation for your DVD burning software, such as Roxio CD Creator or Nero.

"In Applications on a Flash Drive , I mentioned that I keep a flash drive with portable diagnostic tools I use for fixing friends' and relatives' PCs. Andy Ludlum asked what programs I keep on that flash drive. I'm glad you asked. It gave me an excuse to update some of these programs and look for better alternatives. All the programs here are portable--meaning you don't have to install them to run them. They're also all free for personal use, but not necessarily for professional use. If you're charging people for your computer repair services, check the license for each program you use and see if you have to pay for it."   More at PC World

7 Windows 7 Printer Installation Tips - Reviews by PC Magazine : "7 Windows 7 Printer Installation Tips 11.23.09 Getting your printer or MFP to run in Windows 7 will be easy if your printer is new, but older models may require troubleshooting. Here's our expert advice."

avast! Free Antivirus 5.0 beta - Full Review - Reviews by PC Magazine : "Prague-based ALWIL Software has offered 'Free antivirus for everyone' for ages. The company started in 1991, and their core product dates back to 1988. With around 100 million users, ALWIL provides the security software that protects a substantial fraction of all consumer PCs worldwide. avast! Free Antivirus 5.0 (free, direct), currently in beta, has a totally new appearance and offers significantly enhanced protection against malware"

"Now that we've installed Windows 7 on a new partition, it's time to copy over iTunes files and important data. For the past month or so, I've been leisurely migrating to Windows 7--at my own pace. If you've been following along, thus far we've partitioned the hard drive and installed Windows 7 on a new partition, and then used a couple free programs to install favorite apps and copy over Firefox bookmarks. This week I'll show you how to finish up the process by migrating your Apple iTunes library and copying over your data. Move Your iTunes Library Copying over your iTunes library is a drag-and-drop procedure, though it may take some time . . . ." More at PC World

Time and time again, people tell me that they've bought an external hard drive to back up their pictures, music, and documents. Great, right? Sadly, that's not always the case. There's one simple rule about backups that everybody needs to fully understand: Your files should exist in at least Two places, or it's no longer a backup—and your data is at risk. Too often people delete the files from their primary PC, assuming they are backed up. It's time to educate people on proper backup strategy, so we'll run through your options and talk about the pros and cons. These days, you've got plenty of choices on the Windows side of things, Mac users have Time Machine, and there's online backup for anybody. More at Lifehacker

"Uh, remember yesterday when I called iTunes 9 out for failing to add folder monitoring? Well, it turns out I was wrong. Sort of. See, if you peek inside C:\Users\[Your Username]\iTunes\iTunes Music, you'll find a new addition: a folder called Automatically Add to iTunes." More at PC World

Dropbox, at its core, is a simple file synchronization utility that stores your data in the cloud and makes it accessible across Windows, Mac, and Linux machines—or via the web interface from any browser. What sets Dropbox apart from other file syncing tools is that changes are nearly instantaneous, uploads are blazing fast, and it just works. Dropbox doesn't have to be limited to simply syncing your documents, photos, and music, however—with the proper setup you can completely synchronize your digital life across any PC. More at Lifehacker

Speed up your PC without paying for upgrades. 1. Optimize your Hardware 2. Windows Tweaks 3. Application Tweaks More at TechRadar

What do you do when your laptop won't turn off? And how can you fix sticky, broken keys? Here's the problem: "I have a Dell Studio Laptop. When I turn off my computer, the Power button light stays on and blinks. The only way I can stop it from blinking is to disconnect the battery and then connect it again. Please help." I have a pretty good idea what's happening here. Shawn's using the Studio's Power button to shut down, but it's actually putting the system into Standby mode. That would explain the blinking LED. There are two easy fixes for this . . . More at PC World

With the arrival of Windows 7's release to manufacturing (RTM) imminent, our inbox is teeming with questions about the next version of every PC user's favorite whipping boy. You need to make a few key decisions to ensure that you pick the Windows 7 version that best meets your needs. Read more at Windows Secrets

"Hassle-Free PC reader Randy is suffering from a vexing problem. Each time he boots his PC, he gets a pop-up Internet Explorer window with this message: 'Cannot find 'File:///'. Make sure the path or internet address is correct.' I feel your pain, Randy. Stuff like this can be seriously annoying. My guess is that you recently installed or uninstalled a program that Windows is looking for--but can't find--during startup. What you need is some kind of startup monitor that will show you everything that's trying to run during the boot process, so you can determine which Internet Explorer-related item is the offender--and then disable it. If you're reasonably tech-savvy, I recommend Autoruns , a free utility hosted on Microsoft's TechNet site" More at PC World :

"Q: I have heard of people throwing out their hard drives because of virus infections. Why not zap the hard drive with an electromagnetic videotape bulk eraser, then format and reload the operating system? Works for me....— Ann A: It's never reasonable to throw out a drive because of a virus infestation. If you're frustrated enough to wipe everything and start fresh, you can do so without any special hardware. A product like the free DBAN (Darik's Boot And Nuke) will overwrite the entire disk multiple times, wiping out all data to military standards. You create a floppy disk or CD of DBAN on a clean system and boot the to-be-wiped system from it. DBAN then thoroughly wipes the drive's data. A different problem arises when the drive is actually nonfunctional. Your data is still on it, and conceivably a forensics expert could recover it. If the data is sensitive enough for this to be a worry, you can solve your problem the old-fashioned way: Take the drive out to the

If you're running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or even Service Pack 3, what happens if you have to perform a system recovery using your original XP CD? Hassles, that's what. Reader Ralph recently experienced that exact scenario, resulting in an awful lot of Windows Updating after the installation. That's because the old CD doesn't have all the patches and updates you've downloaded over the years. It could take hours or even days to re-download and reinstall all that extra stuff, during which time your PC is more vulnerable to viruses and outside attacks. (A lot of those patches tackle security issues.) Consequently, Ralph wanted to know if there was some way to back up the Windows Service Packs so he wouldn't be in the same boat next time. There is--you can download the Service Packs as standalone installers directly from Microsoft ( here's SP3 , for example)--but I propose a different solution: slipstreaming. Slipstreaming is the proces

My first strategy in getting rid of an unwanted, but impossible-to-uninstall program is straightforward and usually successful: Reinstall the application and then remove it using Revo Uninstaller . If that works, cool, you're already home free; crack open a beer and celebrate. Unfortunately, reinstalling the app isn't always possible. One reason could be that the program took a nose dive the first time you installed it, maybe stopping midway. If it left bits of detritus on your PC, the junk easily confuses the installation program, an app that's usually not very smart as it is. So you might see the program's icon in the Start menu, but you get an error message when trying to run it. Start by running Microsoft's Windows Installer CleanUp Utility . If the program you're having trouble with was installed using Windows Installer, the Cleanup Utility will list the program; select it to clean up remaining parts of the incomplete or faulty installation progr

If you download a lot of files on iTunes, particularly videos, eventually you're bound to get a corrupt file that can't finish downloading. As a fix, iTunes might prompt you to "Check for Available Downloads" under the Store menu, but chances are this will only redownload the corrupt file, sticking you with something you paid for that doesn't play. The solution? Easy. On a Mac, go to Users\User\Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Downloads. In the Downloads folder, you'll find the TMP folder for the corrupt file—delete it. Then click on Check for Available Downloads: iTunes will download a fresh, uncorrupted file, and you'll get your money's worth. On a PC, it's basically the same drill. For Windows XP, the folder path is: Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Downloads . In Vista, it's Users\User\Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Downloads . via PC Mag

Windows XP and Vista store the DNS information of Web sites you've visited, to reach those sites faster each time you access them. The cache sometimes gets corrupted or stores a lot of unusable data, and that leads to slower Internet response times. To clear the cache, go to the command prompt and type ipconfig /flushdns . The command purges the DNS cache and restores your Internet access speed." via PC Magazine

By Paul Rubens With growing numbers using wi-fi in their homes, Paul Rubens looks at how good security is on these networks. In less than two minutes hackers can defeat the security measures protecting many home wireless internet connections. Defeating these measures could let them capture passwords, steal confidential information or download illegal pornographic material using the connection. Many home internet users rely on an encryption system called Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) to stop others using their wi-fi link, even though WEP has long been known to be flawed. In early April three cryptographic researchers at the Darmstadt Technical University in Germany revealed a method of exploiting the flaws far more effectively. Before now it took at least 20 minutes of monitoring the airwaves before it was possible to break in to a wireless network protected by WEP. Now, armed with a program written by the researchers, it is possible to break in to the same network far faster. More her

"I have customized Google Chrome to make it simple to send the current page to: Blogger (create a post about the page) Google Bookmarks (bookmark the page) Gmail a.k.a. Google Mail (create an e-mail containing the page) Wayback (show the page’s revision history) Google Translate (show the page in English translation)" More: Scrupuli

The only rule in photography is that there are no rules . However, there are many composition guidelines which can be applied in almost any situation, to enhance the impact of a scene. Below are ten of the most popular and most widely respected composition 'rules'. 1. Rule of Thirds The most important elements (the horizon and the haystack) are placed on or around the lines and points of intersection. Image by Cayusa . Imagine that your image is divided into nine equal segments by two vertical and two horizontal lines. Try to position the most important elements in your scene along these lines, or at the points where they intersect. Doing so will add balance and interest to your photo. Some cameras even offer an option to superimpose a rule of thirds grid over the LCD screen, making it even easier to use.   More at Amateur Snapper

Inexpensive iPods, music-playing cell phones, and—heck—even PCs have essentially replaced the traditional stereo system. As the typical stack of 17-inch-wide audio components goes the way of the dodo, so too do their accompanying fiberboard shelving units stuffed with hundreds of plastic CD jewel cases. That doesn't mean that your organizational chores are over, unfortunately. The average music fan may have one or more PCs, an MP3 player, a cell phone, a car stereo, and other music-playing gadgets. And while you won't catch many of us returning to the days of physical media for music—despite what SanDisk may think—it's still tough to keep everything under control. With that in mind, power up your iTunes 8 organization, navigation, and maintenance skills with the following tips: Blogger Labels: music , cell , stereo , system , components , player , navigation , maintenance , tips , units , gadgets , skills , iTunes More at PC Mag

Before Windows 7 can be useful, you need to understand how it organizes your data. Here's a look at a new feature in Windows 7 called Libraries. Windows 7 has its share of highly visible user interface tweaks. After getting past the oohs and aahs of the spiffed-up taskbar , you'll likely find the new look of good old Explorer the most dramatic difference. Click the Windows Explorer icon on the taskbar, or open Computer from the Start menu, and you'll get a window that displays not only the standard expandable hard drive labels but also a new feature called Libraries.   More from PC Mag

“ Like many of you, I got a kick out of flying to my house the very first time I used Google Earth. But after I'd had enough of zooming, tilting and panning around my neighborhood, I wound up asking myself, "What next?". I knew that Google Earth could take me virtually anywhere I wanted to go. But West London, England, is where I grew up — before I sought out new places, I wanted to see what Google Earth could show me about my own home turf that I didn't already know. As it turns out, it showed me quite a bit, and it was turning on the Google Earth Community layer that really made my neighborhood come alive. The Community layer showcases placemarks posted to the Google Earth Community by users: Google Earth fans who seek out the coolest places and want to share them. These range from natural phenomena visible from above, to the biggest man-made structures that represent the greatest engineering feats. Near my home, however, I found that the Community laye

The Internet is loaded with spots that broadcast during emergencies. You might consider saving this section of the newsletter, just in case. As you browse through these links, you'll see that some sites have standard fare -- news and weather, say. But they'll kick into action if there's a severe situation, usually gearing up with local TV broadcasts. For instance, during the Katrina fiasco, Weatherserver had three TV feeds on the air. The National Weather Situation also covered Katrina with six windows showing weather and satellite maps, and TV and radio feeds. Television broadcasts are fairly common across the Net. There's Joost and MyTVPal and a host of others. My focus is strictly news: You can watch Los Angeles stations KCBS and Fox in your browser; DMZ has multiple live Los Angeles video feeds. Ditto for LiveNewsCameras . Sometimes AM-FM radio is a better bet in an emergency, so try Live-Radio . I've been able to glean inside information by listening to

Grownups, take note! Here is what you need to know before "friending" your first Facebook connection. Recent news stories have reported a litany of Facebook horror stories from geriatrics—you know, people over age 30—who dented their dignities, if not their careers, through careless social networking . Some people think that the post-collegiate crowd is simply too fuddy-duddy for Facebook . Others insist that the site is now as essential as e-mail and phone service, if not air and water, and nobody of any age should be discouraged from squandering time on Facebook. Even Bill Gates is reported to have a half-hour a day Facebook habit. More at PC Mag

PC World blogger Rick Broida shows you how to customize Apple iTunes to make it easier to use and speed it up. From PC World

Sometimes the best way to ask a question is to get Google to 'fill in the blank' by adding an asterisk (*) at the part of the sentence or question that you want finished. Google will return results that fill in the gap. Try these searches: * was the first city with electric street lighting Isaac Newton discovered * * is the oldest restaurant in the world * is the capital of Estonia

Interesting article from Seeking Alpha : “I thought it interesting that Google’s CEO would refer to Twitter as the poor man’s email but did not address the growing threat to Google’s search system from Twitter’s real time search ability. I rarely use Twitter but use Twitter Search quite often and I admit probably more than Google and the other search engines. The content is a lot fresher than what one would find on Google News or Yahoo! News. I suspect as the word gets out about the growing reliance on real time search, Twitter will take share from the other search engines. I think this caught Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft off guard and I am sure all three are scrambling to find a solution to this growing threat to their business models. Twitter is essentially the answer for social search that Yahoo! and others have been seeking to master. The search engines should look to partner with Twitter to organize the real time search data, index it, and make it searchable

If you have two or more PCs in your house, you've probably wished for an easy way to keep certain types of data in sync between them. All you need is Microsoft's SyncToy 2.0 , an unsupported but effective tool that creates "folder pairs" between PCs. Once you set up a pair, all it takes is one click to sync the contents of the two folders. For example, maybe you do most of the MP3 downloading on your PC, while your wife stores the family's digital photos on hers. Ideally, those files would be in sync and up to date on both your machines. That's not only convenient, it also creates an extra backup in case one of the two systems dies an untimely death. More at PC World

GIMP - which stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program - is a testament to how open source applications can successfully compete with their proprietary, commercial counterparts. Rich with an amazing set of useful tools and effects filters in a user-friendly GUI, GIMP is an excellent application for image editing and graphics creation. In this article, you’ll find 10 excellent sites that feature design tutorials and information about GIMP. 1. Gimp-tutorials.net etc., etc. More here

The hot story on PC World these days is a humongous collection of " 100 Incredibly Useful and Interesting Web Sites ." I'm still wading through it, and it got me thinking about my faves--you know, spots that I keep going back to. Here are some really practical Web sites that I've come to depend on. Terrific Reference Tools OWL, the Online Writing Lab , gives you a way to look up the whys and wherefores of grammar. The Phrase Finder is a handy thesaurus for phrases. Need a fact checker? Refdesk.com has all the facts--or links to them--you'll ever need. Visiting LibrarySpot is like walking in to the local library and walking into the reference room. Let's say you've got 15 barrels of oil and need to know how many gallons that is. Digital Dutch Unit Converter can tell you it's 630. The site covers just about everything anyone could need to convert... you've just got to see for yourself. One thing that Digital Dutch doesn't handle, though, is m

As part of my recent migration to a new PC , I needed to find the product keys for various programs I was planning to reinstall. Easier said than done. (When, when will I organize this disaster area of a home office?) Fortunately, I found a sweet utility that saved me hours of rummaging through boxes. Magical Jelly Bean Keyfinder quickly and efficiently finds the product keys for installed programs, then lets you print them for safekeeping. More at PC Mag

CHANGE Change Terminal Server Session properties CHKDSK Check Disk - check and repair disk problems CHKNTFS Check the NTFS file system CHOICE Accept keyboard input to a batch file CIPHER Encrypt or Decrypt files/folders CleanMgr Automated cleanup of Temp files, recycle bin etc., etc. Windows XP Commands

There are a few reasons to know your connected devices' IP addresses. For one, it's invaluable in troubleshooting. After making sure your unresponsive device is actually plugged in, the next step will nearly always be to point your PC's browser at its IP address and make sure that something having to do with the device appears, such as a configuration page, or at least the device name. This leads to another reason: Often, a device's "home page"—what you see in your browser when you type in the device's IP address—will give you easier access to device options, and in some cases, more settings and extras. How can you find devices' IP addresses? Through your router's configuration screens. In your browser, type in your router's IP address, then find the DHCP client table among the config screens (which vary by router brand), which shows all devices connected (physically or wirelessly) through the router (if a device doesn't appear, make sure

Here is a quick summary for those of you who don’t want to read the whole article: 1. Always use strict doctype and standards-compliant HTML/CSS 2. Always use a reset at the start of your css 3. Use opacity:0.99 on text elements to clean up rendering in Safari 4. Never resize images in the CSS or HTML 5. Check font rendering in every browser. Don’t use Lucida 6. Size text as a % in the body, and as em’s throughout 7. All layout divs that are floated should include display:inline and overflow:hidden 8. Containers should have overflow:auto and trigger hasLayout via a width or height 9. Don’t use any fancy CSS3 selectors 10. Don’t use transparent PNG’s unless you have loaded the alpha   The complete article from Antony Short is here .