The Consumer Wrath continues....

A lesson Netflix is learning painfully well this month.  After the recent rate hike of upwards to 60%, it was a matter of time before customers started bolting.    The rate hike was announced in July and so far over 1 million customers have left.  It was thought that the departures would be minimum.  Despite the rate hike, Netflix is still the most viable option for streaming.  However, if you anger the average customer, the average customer will leave, no matter how good your product.  Let's see how Netflix responds.  Click here for a CNET article with more information on the fleeing customers

Bitcasa, another cloud backup solution, with more security

Bitcasa, an ambitious start-up, plans to offer unlimited cloud storage space, for $10 a month.  This is slightly different from your current crop of Backup solutions such as, Dropbox, Skydrive and other similar sites.  Bitcasa is offering unlimited backup.  Most others have tiered plans based on capacity.  Bitcasa claims to be using new technology that will bring down costs.  Bitcasa uses "patented de-duplication algorithms, compression techniques, and encryption", the company says.  We will see if it works, but for now, you cannot beat $10 a month.  Another great feature is that the company encrypts your data on their end, which means that even they cannot access your data or more importantly, if the government comes a calling, they cannot either.  It may be worth a try.  It is currently in Beta (free), but once out of beta, it will be $10 a month.

Mouse Without Borders: One Keyboard, One Mouse, Two Computers

New and free from Microsoft is a program called Mouse without Borders.  If you two have computers on your network, sitting next to each other, why can't you control both with one keyboard and mouse?  Well, you always could with a KVM switch, but the hassle with that is that you have to switch between computers to have control.  You could not go seemlessly from one computer to the other, until now.  This program is extraordinary in it's simplicity.  When you get to the edge of your screen with your mouse, instead of stopping the mouse simply hops over to the second computer and is fully functional there.  No more switching the KVM switch, just move your mouse to the edge of the screen and it continues to the next screen, the second computer.  Watch the demo video from CNET to see it in action:

Updating programs made easy

One of the biggest problem in securing your computer involves keeping up with all the other programs on your computer that need updating.  Windows does a good job of updating itself as long as you have Automatic Updates turned on.  For those other programs, you have to do much of the work yourself in keeping them updated.  I am about to lift the heavy lifting from you.  Go to Ninite.com to update your other programs.  It is a free website that is quite simple.  The homepage lists various categories of programs.  Simply check the programs you want installed, go to the bottom of the page and click "Get Installer", follow the prompts and sit back and wait.  Ninite installs all the programs for you.  There are several advantages to using Ninite.  One, you always get the latest version of whatever program you select, so it is great for updating those programs.  Two, if the program is already updated, it simply skips it.  Three, it only installs the program, it automatically unselects any software that may try to piggyback itself onto your computer.  An example of this is when you download a program and it also comes with an optional "toolbar" or similar program.  Ninite automatically unselects everything other than the program you chose.  Four, Ninite is free ( for personal use).  Yes, it is that simple

Yes, you can surf the Internet safely!

I would like to thank Vince for inspiring this post.  He takes a class that I have at the Salvation Army.  A couple of months ago in response to many people complaining about malware, I suggested a program to use that would give you the best protection possible against malware.  It is a program called Sandboxie.  It runs your browser (or any program) in a virtual sandbox, preventing any action taken in said browser or program from actually making any changes to your computer.  Vince stunned me by telling me that he actually uses it and it does work.  I assumed that that advice would go in one ear and out the other.  When you fix computers for a living, you find that most people ignore your advice and suggestions.  For example, those who use peer to peer programs to illegally download movies and music and then act stunned that they downloaded a virus.  You clean the system, return it, and the cycle repeats.  Well, just for those customers, I recommend Sandboxie, although I do not condone the illegal downloading of copyrighted material (what else would you think I would say, lol).  For the law-abiding computer user, Sandboxie can help protect you from rogue websites, infected emails, etc. 

Virtual Desktops, made easy...

Ever wish you can have different desktops running on the same computer?  One for playing Solitaire, another to type in Microsoft Word, etc.  Yes you can just run multiple applications and just minimize the ones you are not using, but what fun is that?  Try Dexpot.  It's a free program that will allow you run virtual desktops on your computer.  Similar to VMWare that allows you to run multiple operating systems, Dexpot allows you run multiple desktops.  Give it a try, you might find yourself being more productive as a result.