Good Google, Bad Google

Well on the good news front, when you use Gmail inside of Google Chrome's web browser, Google automatically encrypts your email, making it safer to use.  This new feature has been rolled out in the wake of recent hacking attempts in China into Gmail accounts.  You will notice when logging into Gmail it will begin with https:// and not the typically used http://.  The technology used to enforce the encryption is called HSTS, which stands for HTTP Strict Transport Security and which lets a browser specify that a Web site may only be used over a secure HTTP connection. HTTP, or Hypertext Transfer Protocol, is the standard that governs how Web browsers communicate with Web servers to retrieve a Web page.

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20071239-264/chrome-encrypts-gmail-whether you-want-it-or-not/#ixzz1PT8qejzx

On the bad side, an exclusive investigation by CNET has revealed that when using Google Maps, Google has been collecting more than your IP address at the location.  They have also been collecting your Hardware ID of the device you are using (ie. computer, smartphone).  What this means is that, technically, Google can track your whereabouts and has a history of your whereabouts.   All the privacy advocates are throwing up at this point.

Windows Update day!

Get off your rump and make sure your Windows is updated.  For a more thorough description of what fixes are made with this update, click here.

Spacesniffer...see exactly what is stored on your hard drive

Do you know exactly what types of files are occupied on your hard drive?  If not, check out a free program called Spacesniffer.  It will give you a visual display of what folders and files are on your computer in a nice graphical display.  Best of all, it's free.

When the PC is down, who do you think to call first?

This is an awkward question for me, because I would call myself, but I understand that many are unaware of tech guys like me and others in the areas who do a good job.  Check out this article that details how many think of the G**k Sq**d from B*st B*y (sorry, no free google juice from me) first.  If you do not know of a local tech guy, you think of the big box stores first.   I will excuse myself from the conversation, as far as rendering an opinion, you can read the...delightful stories from other customers of the infamous service.

The 9 confessions of a former geek squad member is great reading, albeit scary if you have ever used the service.  Take it with a grain of salt as it may well be just a disgruntled ex-employee, but it is very accurate from my experience with dealing with ex-customers of the service.

Beware, fake anti-virus program targeting firefox users

A new, but old scam is out there targeting Firefox users.  Beware of any "Windows Update" page that pops up when using Firefox.  It is a scam scareware attempt to try and get you to install a bogus anti-virus program.  First thing to beware of is that Firefox does not have the ability to trigger a Windows Update screen.  Only Windows itself and Internet Explorer can do that.  In general, beware of any pop-up trying to alert you to a security problem, they are almost always fake.  Ctrl-Shift-Esc will bring up the task manager to allow you to safely exit the popup.  More on the scareware here.

Why won't you let me just quit you?

One of the more annoying aspect of signing up for all of the services on the net is the apparent inability to cancel/delete/unsubscribe/quit the service when you want to at a later date.  Well, those days are over, check out Accountkiller.com.  This site gives you detailed instructions on how to cancel/delete/unsubscribe/quit most of the popular services on the net.  It will also give you a blacklist of sites that will not let you eliminate yourself from their site if you join.