I haven’t been in the mood for writing while the weather’s been reasonably nice, I’m still in the summer mood, football season has started but I haven’t taken interest yet, still too warm, football’s for winter, infact I’ve upgraded my sports package with Sky and have been enjoying the baseball every night on ESPN. I believe the season has nearly finished, that’ll be the sign to start watching football again, but hopefully not for a few weeks yet.

Anyway enough of my rantings, here’s a quick overview of updates and exciting new things….

Adobe Reader has been updated to 9.3.4, open up the program and you should be automatically prompted to download the update.
If you’re a regular PDF user and rely on Adobe Reader then maybe a change will pleasantly surprise you, update to Foxit Reader for super fast opening of PDF’s, no splash screens, and the rather handy tabbed reading for multiple documents.

Java, updated to release 21, head to Java.com and download the latest update.

Avast anti virus is now updated to version 5 with a new orange coloured logo, if you’re still running version 4.8 with the blue logo please update now at Avast.com
If you’re in the market for a new Internet Security Product I currently have stock of BitDefender 2010 with free download of the 2011 version, I also have great pricing on Avast’s Pro & New Internet Security package and Norton 2010. Current Norton users login to the account page and use the free update checker, if you’re using 2009 or prior, or 360 version 3 or prior you’ll be prompted to download the latest versions free of charge!

I was recently asked to record a radio program from the BBC iPlayer, after lots of searching and trying many shareware programs I stumbled upon a fantastic free program to do just the job, and aptly named Radio Downloader. The program outputs to MP3 format and you can subscribe to frequent shows.

You may have seen from the homepage or from the PC World television adverts that Microsoft has released the 2010 version of Office, building upon the ribbon interface which launched with the 2007 version. This time there’s no upgrade pricing structure and to simplify further there’s only three packages to choose from:
1. Home & Student
2. Home & Business
3. Professional

As always I have great pricing available, please see the upgrades page.
If you purchased Office 2007 recently you will be entitled to a free upgrade by download or supplied on a disc with a nominal charge, for more info go to: http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/tech-guarantee/

I have now moved over to a pre built Windows Home Server, reducing the cost, size, and time to deliver. The Acer easystore comes with Lights Out energy efficiency software pre installed along with an itunes server and 6 months of McAfee Home Server security, available in 3 storage sizes, 2x640gb, 2x1tb and 3x1tb, the units have a total of 4 drive bays for further expansion. For more details view the Home Server page.

PCTools has released a BETA version of Spyware Doctor version 8, currently only available with the antivirus plugin, I’m awaiting news of a standalone BETA version and will bring you more news on that later in the year. Meanwhile PCtools has updated and released its Simple Backup program at just £25, if you’re looking for a budget backup system here’s a great starting point http://www.pctools.com/simple-backup/

I recently upgraded my mobile phone and chose the HTC Desire with Google Android operating system, last weekend the handset offered me the upgrade from Android 2.1 to 2.2 which although has been around for a good few months now, HTC integrate their own home screen interface and apps into the OS accounting for the delay. But as the saying goes “all good things come to he who waits”, maybe in political correct world we live in that should read “he/she who waits”?? Anyway there’s a few button changes and tweaks here and there but the performance is the biggest boost and the handset feels faster than ever, I also like the Google voice search now integrated into the default browser rather than a separate app.

New apps for Android I’d like to give a mention to include: LogMeIn (I can now provide remote PC assistance direct from my mobile!), PayPal (official app finally launched, fully featured and very polished), Sky+ (another official app finally launched and very nice too!) Photoshop Express, Cineworld (unofficial), WordPress and amazon Kindle being my favourites. Natwest please hurry up and launch an Android app, iPhone’s had it for a long time, banking on the go is a must these days and Android is now just as big as iPhone, chop chop (rant over)

I’ve finally managed to get my mitts on the iPad camera connection kit, over 6 weeks waiting time from the Apple online store, but I managed to pick one up from my local PC World store, yes that’s right, you heard correctly, I ventured into the abyss, luckily I only had to walk in a meagre 10 feet before I was pounced upon, my question of “iPad camera kit” was quickly replied with “yes, 10 in today, follow me”, to the till, purchased and out, 3 minutes, not bad! Obviously they do have some uses???

Which moves me on to Photo apps on the iPad, after wading through nearly all of the 544, not quite making it to the end purely due to boredom I managed to purchase a selection to aid my photographic needs: Pow – a comic strip creation tool, Retouch HD – a simple yet powerful app for removing unwanted items from photographs with ease, the description stated “your ugly partner” quite harsh! ColourSplash – turns photos to black & white then re adds colour to your chosen areas, Photoshop Express – free app worth every penny… And I’m still undecided on Photo FX Ultra & Photogenie? Any thoughts on either please let me know.

Other notable apps I’ve downloaded recently include: Yell, BBC News, Sky Sports News, LogMeIn, TV Guide (now with Sky+ integration), UK Cinema Times Ad Free, Dragon Dictation, and the one I haven’t got working yet but haven’t had the time to play with is HP iPrint.

I hoped you’ve enjoyed the update, lots more to follow…..

Here’s the monthly PCTools Spyware Doctor report:

Online games offer the perfect environment for a cybercriminal’s scams to flourish, despite the close-knit community of users. There is both anonymity and trust, which can lead people to engage in risky behavior. Similar to the mentality behind the phishing attacks that work so well on Twitter and Facebook, gamers are more likely to click on links to external sites that steal personal information if these links are sent by a fellow participant.

In the most common forms of exploitation, cybercriminals do the following:

•Seed pirated copies of popular games with malware. Most recently, cybercrooks abused public interest in StarCraft II, targeting gamers downloading from a BitTorrent site. Several .exe files were malicious, and contained the ability to inject code, log keystrokes, and capture passwords.

•Attempt to gain access to a gamer’s personal information (usernames, passwords, even credit card information) by pretending to share a common interest. Take advantage of known vulnerabilities in software or operating systems to spread various forms of malware (viruses, worms, trojans, and the like). Once one computer has been infiltrated, an entire network could be next.

Gamers are exposed to more online threats than most simply due to the amount of time they spend online: greater connectivity equals a greater chance of becoming a victim. In addition to following standard online security practices, like investing in top-notch antivirus and antispyware software, gamers should constantly backup their personal data. PC Tools Simple Backup offers the perfect solution, dynamically adjusting the amount of space used for backups as you add or remove files, ensuring that you always have a complete backup of your system. PC Tools Simple Backup is easy, continuous, and complete, backing up files moments after they are created, modified or deleted, and even saving versions of files along the way.

PC Tools’ Gaming Tips So You Don’t Lose

1. Don’t get zapped: Get both signature-based and behavior-based anti-malware protection. Signature-based antivirus software proactively screens incoming and outgoing emails, Internet downloads, zip files and hard drives. Behavioral-based protection provides efficient and proactive protection against Internet threats such as viruses, keyloggers, rootkits and trojans, as well as new and unknown threats.

2. Turn on your shield: A firewall will prevent unauthorized users from gaining access to your computer through the Internet or a network and will also make sure that unauthorized programs don’t take up your bandwidth while you play.

3. Play smart: Don’t supply other players with your personal details or click on any links they offer you, limit the amount of personal information you supply the game’s administrator server, and don’t share your game password or your account credentials with other gamers –- fellow gamers and hackers can cheat!

4. Do your homework before you play: Research the game’s hacking history on the Internet before you subscribe to an online game to identify the security risk.

I was pleasantly surprised to see the Amazon Kindle app for iPad. A portal to the half a million or so books in electronic form. A quick tap on the Buy Now button and the book is swiftly downloaded to the device ready for you to read. It’s good to see the thought process from Amazon hasn’t been limited to pushing their own Kindle device and they recognise the potential for the new breed of tablet device.

So much so that I had another surprise yesterday when I spotted the release of the Google Android Kindle app. For those of you who read that with confusion, Android is an operating system for mobile phones and tablet devices, it has an app market, similar to the iPhone & iPad which opens up your device to make it truly yours, to make it a business tool, gaming tablet, multimedia player, or all three, the choices are endless!

So in the excitement I headed over to the app market and downloaded the app on my new HTC Desire Android phone and downloaded the books I’d already purchased using the app on my iPad, so whether I was on the move or at home I have access to my books…

If you have an iPad or Android device get the Kindle app now!  

This month’s update from PCTools focus’s on software piracy and the pitfalls of using such softwares.

Software piracy is the illegal copying of software for distribution or resale, to friends, colleagues, or online. Arguably, the most dangerous form of software piracy relates to what many people consider simple personal use; buying a software program and then installing it on more than one personal machine. Many people are not even aware that what they are installing is technically pirated software!

People may not know the real risk that pirated software poses to your online safety. If someone isn’t running a legitimate version of their software, he or she is denied access to crucial updates. Software manufacturers issue these updates, called patches, on a regular basis to fix security flaws before they can be widely exploited by criminal hackers. Skilled hackers can manipulate the flaws to spread viruses, which can corrupt data or impede a system’s performance, or install trojans, which allow cybercriminals remote access to a machine.

In a quest to save money or beat release dates, people might try downloading software from unauthenticated websites claiming to provide it for free. They may think they’re getting a bargain, but are they aware of the legal and financial costs they might have to pay for unintentionally using pirated software? Not only are there implications to being caught, but the software could be lacking critical updates and risks exposing their personal identity, finances and sensitive information to theft and malware.

Registered software users are kept informed of upcoming patches. Regular scans will ensure the speedy recognition of malware in the case of a zero-day attack, a type of attack that exploits a hole about which the software vendor is not yet aware.

Tips to ensure you are using legitimate software:

The Pac-Man game Google put on its home page gobbled up almost five million hours of work time, suggests a study.

The playable version of the classic video game was put on Google’s front page on 21 May to celebrate 30 years since the launch of Pac-Man in Japan.

The search giant reworked the game so the layout was arranged around letters forming its name.

The Pac-Man game proved so popular that Google has now made it permanently available on its own page.

Time delay

The statistics on how many people played and for how long were gathered by software firm Rescue Time. It makes time-tracking software that keeps an eye on what workers do and where they go online.

On a typical day, it suggests, most people conduct about 22 searches on the Google page, each one lasting about 11 seconds.

Putting Pac-Man on the page boosted that time by an average of about 36 seconds, the firm said based on the browsing habits of 11,000 Rescue Time users.

The firm believes this is a relatively low figure because only a minority realised that the logo was playable. To play, people had to click on the “insert coin” button which replaced the more familiar “I’m Feeling Lucky” button on 21 and 22 May.

Extrapolating this up across the 504 million unique users who visit the main Google page day-to-day, this represents an increase of 4.8 million hours – equal to about 549 years.

In dollar terms, assuming people are paid $25 (£17.50) an hour, this equates to about $120m in lost productivity, the firm said.

For that money, suggested Rescue Time, it would be possible to hire all Google’s employees and put them to work for about six weeks.

30th Anniversary Pacman celebrated by Google Doodle

The Pac-Man 30th anniversary Google doodle

Google has become famous for changing its logo for special events, but it has never converted it into a playable game before. Today, it is celebrating the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man’s launch in Japan with a version that lets you steer your pizza-shaped protagonist* around a maze that spells out Google’s name – at least for as long as you can evade the ghosts Inky, Blinky, Pinky and Clyde.

Read full article here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2010/may/21/pac-man-30th-anniversary-google-doodle

Microsoft is preparing to launch its latest weapon in its ongoing battle with Google.
The software giant will launch its flagship product Office 2010 to businesses on 12 May.
The latest version of the software has a free online component – called Office Web Apps
Analysts believe the web offering is a response to Google, which has been encroaching on Microsoft’s core business with its free online tools.
Crucially, Microsoft will also offer its online office suite to all users of one of the world’s most popular social networking sites, Facebook.
“There’s no question – Microsoft is responding to Google’s threat,” said Whit Andrews, analyst at research firm Gartner ’Microsoft world’
Google and Microsoft have increasingly begun to stray into each other’s traditional markets.
Microsoft has thrown its full weight behind its search engine Bing, whilst Google is about to launch its own operating system, known as Chrome OS.
The battle for the Office software market started in 2006 when the search giant launched the first elements of its Google Docs.
“Until Google emerged with a credible suite of networked applications, Microsoft was not compelled to do anything.”
Google Docs now offers word-processing, spreadsheet software and a presentation tool, amongst others. Businesses can pay for premium versions.
It currently has a small (4%) but growing share of the market.
By contrast, Microsoft dominates the Office software space, with a market share of more than 94%, according to Gartner. The vast majority of sales are to businesses.
Business “is still overwhelmingly a Microsoft world”, said Sheri McLeish, analyst at Forrester Research.

Google Chrome OS will be released in the second half of 2010
Microsoft retains its dominant position despite the free offerings from Google and other alternatives such as Zoho or the free office suite OpenOffice.org.
However, Mr Andrews warned that these offerings – and particularly those that were web based – were likely to appeal to younger people, who have not necessarily grown up using Microsoft products.
“If all your content is generated in the Google apps system and it lives there, you would need to have a really good reason to move,” he told BBC News.
Office Web Apps offers a free version of programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint.
The service allows people to access and edit documents from within a web browser, as well as share and collaborate on files. It lacks the entire gamut of features found in the desktop versions.
Microsoft has said that the suite will be offered free to its 400 million Windows Live users.
“It is critical that Microsoft capture users who are not tethered to the same desktop PC every day,” said Mr Andrews.
“They need to be able to serve the growing netbook community and people using their phones.”
The firm has also integrated the social web into its software in a bid to attract new customers and keep the desktop software relevant in an increasingly online world.
Its Social Connector service allows people to suck in information from social networks such as LinkedIn and MySpace into the Office Outlook e-mail program.
The firm has also released a trial version of its online apps that integrates with Facebook.”With the changes that have happened with social networking and web applications, Microsoft is bringing [Office] up to the present day,” said Ms McLeish.
The software for PCs and phones will be launched at an event in New York on 12 May. Business customers will be able to use it straight away, whilst home users will have to wait until June to buy the full version.

It’s time to check everything’s up to date once again.

Java – updated to Version 6 update 20, not sure which version you have? Head to Control Panel, Click the Java icon to open then click the About button, your current version is listed here.

Adobe Reader – updated to version 9.3.2, not sure which version you have? Open Adobe Reader, Click Help on the toolbar, then click “About Adobe Reader 9″, your current version is listed here.

Skype – updated to version 4.2.0.166, not sure which version you have? Open Skype, click Help on the toolbar, then click “About Skype”, your current version is listed here.
Skype can also be downloaded on your Windows Phone, Nokia & iPhone and even your iPod Touch turning it into a phone! You can also buy Skype phones which work independently to your PC making Skype a cost effective and versatile telephone platform.

Tweetdeck – updated to version 0.33.4, not sure which version you have? Open Tweetdeck, look in the top left hand corner, your current version is listed here.
What’s tweetdeck? The ultimate tool for social networking, keep up to date with Twitter, Facebook, Myspace & LinkdIn all in one browser with multiple columns. Tweetdeck is now available on iPhone & iPad.

iTunes – updated to version 9.1.1.12, not sure which version you have? Open iTunes, click Help on the toolbar, then click “About iTunes”, your current version is listed here, or Click Start, then All Programs, click to open Apple Software Update, this will launch the Apple automatic update checking program and will also offer additional software such as Safari – Apple’s browser competing with IE8 and Google Chrome. iTunes also includes Quicktime, Apple’s media player.

Allway Sync – updated to version 10.3.8, not sure which version you have? Click Help on the toolbar, then click “New Version Check”, this will open your internet browser and inform you if an update is available with a download button if available.
Allway Sync is a great tool for synchronising files & folders between PC’s, network folders and even internet folders.

It’s not a well known fact that Dell have an outlet store. Look hard enough on their website and you’ll find it! Offering returns or cancellations, fully tested, packaged to factory standard and with a full warranty at largely discounted prices. Both laptops and desktop PC’s are on offer, sometimes there’s lots to choose from and at other times there’s very little but if you’re patient and keep checking back you’ll find the perfect PC for you.

My current pick is the Dell mini 10 (netbook), looking today there’s 91 available with lots featuring the new Windows 7 starter edition operating system, prices starting at £128!

Another great outlet store to check out is Apple, with many refurbished iPods and Macbooks also at highly discounted rates.

Websites here:

Dell: http://www1.euro.dell.com/content/default.aspx?c=uk&l=en&s=dfo&
Apple: http://store.apple.com/uk/browse/home/specialdeals?mco=MTM3NDc5OTc

Java has released another update to its internet plug-in. The latest version is now: version 6 update 19.

If like me you have the auto update notifications turned off, then just head over to www.java.com to download the update. Be careful not to go on a next, next, next, clicking frenzy as the installer now includes additional software you’ll probably want to disregard such as the Yahoo or Google toolbars for internet explorer. Remember to disable the auto update through msconfig once the update is complete.

If you’re updating from update 11 or previous, you’ll need to uninstall the previous versions via Add & Remove programs (XP) or Programs & Features (Vista/Win 7) in Control Panel.

And if you’ve not disabled the update notifications you should be prompted with a small orange cube in your system tray, when prompted accept the update.

As usual any help required just give us a call…