Computer Repair Experts in Phoenix, Arizona. my PC Techs Presents:

Recent Microsoft security updates available through Windows Update automatically remove the malware known as Ultimate Antivirus. This is a very popular infection that has been finding it’s way on to systems recently and, depending on how long it’s infected a computer, can be very difficult to eliminate. Remember to keep your systems updated regularly, good computer maintenance can go a long way to keeping your system secure and running smoothly.

Wired.com has this interesting article on the likelyhood of Apple ever allowing Adobe Flash on their 3G iPhones. It doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Meanwhile, there’s another article over at IntoFlash that describes the integration of Flash on the T-Mobile/Google G1 Android phone. The ability to browse the entire internet?

The ability to play Spin the Black Circle while in line at the DMV should be enough motiviation to ensure that your next mobile device supports Adobe Flash.

Please visit our latest client blog, And Then There Was One. Charlotte Fox provides end-of-live planning via an easy to use and very informative workbook. While the blog is brand new, we know that Charlotte will be working hard to jam-pack this with useful planning information soon. If you’d like more information about her end-of-life workbook, please visit the And Then There Was One website.

If you haven’t already switched to Firefox as your default internet browser of choice, there is no better time like the present. It is faster and more secure than Internet Explorer and it “just works better”. One of the huge advantages that Firefox has to Internet Explorer is a free add-on called NoScript. You are far less likely to be infected with spyware or viruses by using Firefox under default settings than you are with Internet Explorer. Even so, Firefox takes protection even further with free tools available for download called Add-ins. The best of these security add-ins is NoScript.

To install NoScript, all you have to do is visit the website https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/722 and click the “Add to Firefox” button. It’s that easy! There is no time better than the present to install and use NoScript, especially considering the rise of harmful password and information stealing traps on the internet. NoScript will protect you from most of the bad stuff on the internet that can harm your computer and steal your data. One caveat to using NoScript, there’s a bit of a learning curve associated with it. It can be a pain at first getting used to the add-on, as it blocks the usage of many legitimate websites you might use on a daily basis. You have to ‘teach’ NoScript about the sites you use and how you use them, but once it learns them, everything works great and you’re more secure than ever on the internet.

If you’re interested in protecting your computer and would like additional help and/or training to install and use this software, please give us a call. We can help you switch to Firefox, install NoScript and will teach you how to use NoScript to configure it to work for the sites you do trust and use, but block the bad sites that can harm your PC.

This article brings to mind mind the chorus from an old Alan Parsons Project song: “I am the eye in the sky, looking at you”. A new super high resolution satellite available to Google truly makes Google the eye in the sky. The GeoEye-1 is the world’s highest-resolution commercial satellite. Using technology previously only available to spy agencies like the CIA, the article states that the satellite can zoom in with enough resolution to capture the detail of a baseball diamond. While this brings a number of practical improvements to existing technologies such as Real Estate mapping, it also raises some interesting privacy concerns. Who’s going to be looking at high resolution photographs of you while you float around in your backyard pool? I guess from now on it will be best to save those types of activities for cloudy days. 🙂