Cyber News

Welcome to the July 2009 Edition of Cyber News, an ad free, spam free online magazine emanating from Stanley's Studio in Phoenix, Arizona. In Cyber News we'll try to pass along some useful tips and information about your computer, the Internet, computer products, digital photography, other related topics, and some stuff that's not related at all.

In this time, more than ever, we need not forget these words: "I pledge allegiance to the flag, of the United States of America, and to the republic, for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all!" Now, let's watch some talented artists sing about America.

Three iconic deaths last month, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, and Michael Jackson. I had the pleasure of knowing Ed and I put a blurb on my blog about him. Michael's sudden death will be compared to other memorable shocks, but his death will be discussed differently as he led such a turbulent life. He will go down in musical history though as one of the greatest talents ever.

I continue to test Windows 7RC (the version before final release on October 22nd) and will give you a full update in October's edition of Cyber News. At this time all I will say is that this new operating system will be well received! You can read all about it and watch videos at the Microsoft site.

On June 25th Microsoft announced that you can pre-order Windows 7 at a greatly reduced price. This offer expires on July 11th. There will be three versions of the new operating system, Windows 7 Premium, Professional, and Ultimate. Most people will opt for the Premium edition. For this limited time it will sell for $49 and when it goes on sale in October the price will be $119. More from CNET News.

I am also testing Firefox's browser 3.5 beta. The final version should be released soon. I have used Firefox as my browser for a couple of years and like it much better than Microsoft's Explorer. The new version will have more features, better security and is the fastest browser that I've ever used!

I think most of our Cyber News readers know what a browser is. If not here's the definition: A browser is a software application that enables you to retrieve, present, and traverse information on the World Wide Web. The most popular browser is Microsoft's Internet Explorer and there are others including Firefox. The new kid on the block is Google's Chrome. There is a distinct difference between a browser and a search engine. Watch this video of people in New York trying to answer the question "What is a browser."

Even after years of using a computer, some people have never figured out what happens when you press the PrtScrn key on the keyboard. (Top row next to the Scroll Lock button.) It is supposed to print whatever you see on the screen, but when you click the button nothing happens. It works essentially the same as copy and paste. When you copy something nothing happens until you paste it somewhere else. The same is true with the Print Screen button. Press it, now open Word, right click and choose Paste, or better yet paste it into your photo editing program so you can make changes and save it as an image. You can use ALT-PrtScrn to capture just the active window.

Henry Ford was the father of the automobile and the assembly line. Click here to read a short paragraph about his innovations then imagine Mr. Ford walking through this automated auto factory in Germany! Would he believe his eyes, and wouldn't you like to see his expression?

My father owned an electronics company and I can remember when the transistor replaced vacuum tubes. He couldn't believe it as that was a huge change in technology. He started one of the first mobile telephone services in the Midwest, which was pretty primitive compared to the cell phones we have today. Dad has been gone since 1973 and if he could come back today I don't think he could wrap his mind around big screen high definition TV, personal computers, GPS, my Iphone, or all the other marvelous technology we are surrounded by. Imagine where we are today and where he was back then!

Have you ever had a message pop up that says "Your Computer Might be at Risk"? If Windows XP doesn't recognize the anti-virus program you have installed you may get this nagging pop up. Same thing might happen with your firewall. If you know that your Anti-Virus program is working and your firewall is turned on, then here's how to fix the bothersome message. Click Start/Control Panel/Security Center. In the left pane, under Resources, click "Change the way Security Center alerts me." In the Alert Settings box uncheck the appropriate boxes, and click OK.

Are you overweight? Most of us are. Restaurants serve way too much food in my opinion. They should reduce the amount on your plate and the amount on your bill! There are hundreds of diets on the market and quite frankly none of them work. There is no substitute for proper diet and exercise, period. The same goes true with your pet.

This concerns sending out mass emails with everyone's address in the To: window. When you do that you're exposing all of your friend's email addresses to the world of spam, and virus threats! That's as bad as writing their telephone number on every bathroom wall across America!

PLEASE START USING BCC: in your email program. That stands for blind carbon copy. In Outlook Express, when you create a new message you should see: From:, To:, Cc:, Bcc:, and Subject. If you don't see BCC then click on View then click "All Headers." Now create an entry in your address book and call it "Friends," and enter your email address. Now when you want to send mail to dozens of people put Friends in the To: box and everybody else in the Bcc: box. When recipients receive your email all they will see is "Friends" in the To: window, and not dozens of addresses! Creating a Friends entry in your address book will send you a copy of the message. If you don't want to do that then just put all recipients in the BCC box.

But wait....there's more! You're just as guilty if your forward messages with lots of email addresses! Before forwarding an email, block all those address headers then hit the delete key on your keyboard. That will get rid of all those email addresses that have been forwarded by who knows how many people. Also erase the Fw: in the subject line!

I apologize to most of you that follow this rule as you will probably get as tired of reading about this as I am of Geico and men's enhancement commercials on TV! Not even the cavemen put dozens of addresses in the TO: window!

Alright, one more piece of advice. Are your data, music, and photo files backed up? Also your favorites and your address book? Why do I harp on this month after month? Because I get calls all the time from customers who say "My computer just crashed," and my first question is "Are your files backed up?" And they sheepishly say NO! If you don't wear your seat belt in your car and you crash, you're going to get hurt. If you don't back up your computer files and your computer crashes, you're going to get hurt. Your seat belt on your computer is an external hard drive. Don't be sorry.

June 19th, Apple premiered its new Iphone 3Gs. It's the third generation Iphone but this time people didn't stand in line to get it. Apple seems to be the leader when it comes to hype and that's okay, but what has hampered this great cell phone is AT&T. Lots of complaints from customers about the carrier and more bars in more places seems to be a joke. I have one of the first models and with the latest software upgrade to 3.0 I'll be satisfied until my contract expires in October. At that time I'll probably go with Verizon as they may be licensed for the Iphone by then, if not I'll go the Blackberry route. Whatever the ultimate smart phone is, I want it! Do I make that many calls? No, I'm just a tech nut. Being able to get on the net and get your email, in most cases, will allow you to leave the laptop at home.

One of my good friends, Spike O'Dell, who recently retired as morning personality on WGN Radio in Chicago, is a bird nut. So much so that he mounted a camera inside a bird house in his back yard so the world could see momma bird having her babies. That happened a couple of weeks ago and they are just about ready to "fly the coup." Spike says there may be more bambinos this month. On his site not only does he have a couple of cameras that you can watch, but there's also lots of other stuff to see, so look around. Those who loved Spike on the radio can even chat with him on his site.

Another good friend of mine, right here in Phoenix, is Barry Caraway. He was one of the first people that I met when we moved here 13 years ago. Barry is a cool guy, with lots of interests, one of which is motorcycles. He sends out a weekly newsletter to over 7,000 people, and his very popular website is www.cyclerides.com. He has ridden his Harley thousands of miles and loves to take pictures of his travels. For several years he put on a huge event called "Hearts to Heroes," with thousands of bikers involved, that honored our Nation's Armed Forces. This week, for a 4th of July celebration, he has orchestrated a party for over 1,000 bikers and will show this video that he authored on a giant screen at Westgate. That's the place were Ryan Seacrest broadcasted the Super Bowl pre-game party last year. (Must have a high speed connection to view the video.)

More warnings emerge about Facebook and Twitter. Facebook is now the most popular social network on the Internet. But with popularity comes hackers, weirdoes, and stalkers. If you are interested in how to protect yourself on social networks you might want to take advice from PCWorld.

Want the coolest thing ever on your computer? It's called Cooliris and this browser plugin will allow you to create a photo wall of all your photos or pictures from the Internet. This program is free and you can see and download it here. After installation in Internet Explorer you will see a "Launch Cooliris" icon on the toolbar. In Firefox you'll see a blue & green icon to the right of the search window. Click to launch Cooliris and be prepared to have some fun. Click on "Discover" on the menu to see all the options. One of my favorites is "Photos of the Day." You can make the photo wall move left or right with the bar at the bottom and zoom in and out with the scroller on your mouse. Click on an individual photo to make larger or view a video.

Photo Tip of the Month: Summer means lots of weddings and you just may be invited to one. Since most people have a digital camera it's only natural for you to want to take pictures at this special occasion, but a word of warning is in order. Chances are that the family has hired a professional photographer and you should respect this and stay out of their way. Remember you came as a guest and that's your prime function. I have to admit that I have been guilty of this myself and this article brought this to my attention. More from Digital Photo.

Want to take better pictures on your vacation this summer? Here are some tips to get you on the road to better photos.

About a year ago I told you about a great photo editing program. I think the best one on the market at any price is Paint Shop Pro, but if you want a program that works great and is absolutely free try Google's Picasa. Download it here.

Check out my photos that I've taken from around the world. You'll find over 1,100 pictures in 38 different galleries. New pictures of Bryce Canyon have been added to the National Parks Gallery. We have had over 229,000 views on our Photo Site. (Very busy site, may load slowly.)

Check out my blog. There you will find thoughts on many subjects and occasionally find supplements to Cyber News such as Virus alerts or other computer information that I think might be important to you. You can include it in your favorites if you like, so you can refer to it during the month. My Blog.

Back in February of 1983 the number one song in the Nation was "Africa" sung by the group Toto. Today there's a different version by a group that calls themselves Perpetuum Jazzile. I think you'll enjoy viewing this, especially the first part of it!

If you think a friend or family member would enjoy Cyber News, don't hesitate to let them know about it. An easy way to do this is to right click on the web address in the address window of your browser and choose copy. Open your email program and a new email. Address it, and in the body of the message right click and choose paste. That creates a link and when your friend receives the email he or she simply clicks on the link and it will take them directly to Cyber News. Of course you can do that with any web page.

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Secrets of Safe Computing are outlined below. Please don't ignore them. Read each point and be sure to follow the advice as outlined in System Maintenance. Just a few minutes of work each month will go a long way in keeping your computer running like a torch!

Thanks for being here. Stay Positive and remember "If it's meant to be, it's up to me!" Don't be afraid to dream and imagine your dreams coming true. Here's a young man named D.J. who had a dream and you will love his story!

Two years ago, on American Idol, Celine Dion and Elvis Presley sang "If I Can Dream." I know Elvis died in 1977, but through the magic of technology they sang together that night. You can view it and read about how it was done here. This is truly amazing!

Time to say goodbye and that's the name of a song sung by 14 year old Lydia from Norway.

"Live life with passion, in a constant state of joy, and with an attitude of gratitude!"

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The contents of Cyber News may be copied, reproduced, or freely distributed for all nonprofit purposes without the consent of the author as long as the author's name and contact information are included. Cyber News is a free service of Stanley Computing and is published each month, originating from Stanley's Studio in Phoenix, Arizona.

Disclaimer: The information presented in Cyber News is researched and is believed to be accurate. We cannot guarantee that all the information will work on your particular combination of hardware, software and user skills. All information herein is offered as-is and without warranty of any kind. Neither Stanley Computing nor its contributors are responsible for any loss, injury, or damage, direct or consequential, resulting from your choosing to use any information presented on this web site.