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…..

If it’s just software you’re having problems with then we can fix it with remote support, no need for an engineer visit and the hourly rate is lower, just £25!

We’re now pleased to offer an annual plan for remote support with a special introductory offer price of just £100 (1 PC) or £150 (2 or more PC’s).

Using a secure encrypted connection to your PC which you control, sit back and watch as our engineers work their magic and get you back up and running in no time.

I’ve had some interest in these new units from customers wanting to reclaim space, great for family PC’s especially in a kitchen or family room. Enjoy the video!

From today, Simple PC has reduced it’s hourly rate back to £35 along with some of their other fixed rate pricing.

The full list of pricing can be found on the following pages:

www.simple-pc.com/support
www.simple-pc.com/repair

Also take a look at the new Simple Cube Home Servers with huge price reductions against the previous versions, now affordable for all!

www.simple-pc.com/home-servers

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

Its been nearly a month since I posted anything, you may have thought I’d fallen off the face of the earth, and to be honest I felt like I had! I’ve had a dose of what some people call “Man Flu”. I’d call it a miserable cold followed by a week long headache, not even the paracetamol’s could save me, that coupled with the extra work load after a week off has taken it’s toll on writing.

Now I’m feeling on top of the world again, I’ve got lots of interesting stuff to share with you, check back daily or look on your RSS updates.

Thanks to Jim Clark over at We Got Served for this update.

I turned on my computer a bit earlier.  A message came up indicating a new version of Microsoft Security Essentials was available.  I opened MSE

and sure enough, the Upgrade now button was there.  A simple click

a few minutes later

and all done.  The new version numbers:

and the official webpage:

I’m sure there is some link to what the changes are, but I sure don’t see it.  Anyway, if you are using MSE, you might as well stop the nag screens by upgrading.  Now!

I’ve recently had a few reports that Adobe Reader has been disappearing, not just the mistakenly deleted icon from the desktop but the complete program??? At least 4 people have had the problem so I haven’t just called them mad.

A recent update has been released which possibly coincidental could fix this issue. At first it appeared to be Windows 7 operating systems but that was soon followed by XP and Vista.

After completing multiple anti-virus sweeps the machines appear to be clear and free from potential causes.

If you haven’t already done so, update to the latest version 9.3.1. Open Adobe Reader, click the help menu and select Check for updates.

If you’ve experienced the same issue or have some strange unanswered PC anomalies please let me know.

Thanks to PCTools for their monthly security update:

How secure is your password?

With most websites requiring you to create an account, do you find yourself in a bit of a pickle when it comes to inventing passwords? Many people use the same password for all their online accounts and often forget the password they came up with months ago. Hands up who doesn’t feel like banging your head against the wall trying to remember the password you created months ago?

Let’s face it – everyone has problems with creating and remembering secure passwords. That’s why we decided to help.

Tips on how to create and remember your passwords:
• Use the first letters of a sentence that you will remember,e.g. “I have 3 cats: Fluffy, Furry and Shaggy” gives: Ih3c:FF&S, or “Bouncing tigers have every right to ice-cream” becomes: Bther2I-C.
• Take the name of the website and then add your personal twist, like your height or your friend’s home address (e.g. “AmazonOceanRd6’2”). Avoid using your own contact details like your phone number or house number.
• Remove the vowels from a word or phrase e.g. “I like eating pancakes” becomes: Ilktngpncks”.
• Use a phrase from your favourite book and then add the page, paragraph or chapter number.

The Do’s and Don’ts of creating passwords

Do:
• Mix letters, numbers and symbols, and use case sensitivity (upper and lower case letters)
• The longer the better. Use passwords that are longer than 6 characters.
• Change your passwords at least every 60 days, cycling the numeric values up or down makes the new password easy to remember.
• Try copying and pasting at least some of the characters in your password that way keyloggers won’t be able to track your keystrokes.

Don’t:
• Don’t use words or phrases or numbers that have personal significance. It is very easy for someone to guess or identify your personal details like date of birth.
• Avoid writing your password down, use a reputable password manager to manage all your passwords.
• Don’t use the same password for several logins, especially if they involve sensitive financial or other personal information.
• Don’t tell anybody your password.
• When registering on websites that ask for your email address, never use the same password as your email account.

Our move has gone rather smoothly and we’re quickly settling in, just a few more boxes to unpack and a whole lot of cabling to do before the office is back up and functioning.

The telephone number displayed on our website is the old telephone number, if you have dialled the number you will have heard the new number read back to you, unfortunately this number isn’t currently in service and we’re working with BT to have this resolved by Thursday 4th February, which is also my Birthday! So a double celebration there then!!

I’m not back working until Tuesday but if you do need to contact me you can reach me on my mobile number 07789 488014.