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Panda Cloud Antivirus Free Software

Among all of the free antivirus software we tested for our latest roundup, Panda Cloud Antivirus was the best app at blocking known malware. However, its work-in-progress status and its unique methods kept us from ranking it on our free antivirus software chart.

Panda Cloud Antivirus is still in beta and not feature-complete, unlike the other beta product we tested in this group (Microsoft Security Essentials). At this writing, it's easy enough to install and use, but Panda is still adding features, and some bugs (large or small) may remain. For example, during our testing, we ran into a performance glitch, but since then it seems to have been fixed.

Rather than using your PC's processing power, this cloud-based app sends data about potentially malicious files and programs to Panda's servers for analysis. The approach is intended to take advantage of the latest signatures without the need for signature-database updates--and if its excellent showing at detecting malware in AV-Test.org's zoo of half a million samples is any indication, the approach works. Panda's app produced an impressive 99.4 percent overall detection rate.

However, the program's design also meant that it could not work with our current method of proactive-protection testing, which requires us to use two- and four-week-old signature databases to simulate how well an antivirus tool performs against new, unknown malware. The same goes for our on-access scan tests, which gauge how much slowdown a program introduces when it scans files that the user copies. Panda uses a multitiered scanning model that only blocks access and does an immediate scan for programs that attempt to run, which it considers the highest risk. Files on a hard drive (preexisting and newly copied) are tagged for background scans only during idle time, to improve performance. (The app checks downloaded files right away, but doesn't block the files before the scan).

On a full on-demand scan, it offered middling speed, coming in fourth (among nine contenders). It was reasonably good at cleaning existing malware, and it detected all ten test infections. But it failed to disable one infection, and it failed to remove Registry entries and other largely harmless junk after every cleanup attempt.

For now, we can't give Panda's app a complete score, but its impressive ability to detect malware makes it well worth keeping an eye on.

Review, by Erik Larkin on PC World

Wanna try safari v4.

Download Apple Safari 4 browser for Windows XP and Vista:

Apple has launched a version of its web browser Safari for Windows, competing head to head with Microsoft's Explorer and Mozilla's Firefox.

According to Apple's website:

"The fastest web browser on any platform, Safari loads pages up to 2 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2. And it executes JavaScript up to 2.8 times faster than Internet Explorer 7 and up to 1.6 times faster than Firefox 2. What does all that mean for you? Less time loading pages and more time enjoying them.

A test version of Safari 3 for Windows XP, Vista and Apple Macs running OSX, is available for download from the Apple website. Apple is hoping to replicate the success of iTunes, which has proved enormously popular on both Macs and Windows machines.

"We think Windows users are going to be really impressed when they see how fast and intuitive web browsing can be with Safari," 

said Mr Jobs."

DOWNLOAD APPLE SAFARI 4 BROWSER FOR WINDOWS XP / VISTA

Twitter, what I’m going to do with it.

I join twitter to follow the US Presidential election. Since taking over America from the Red Indians, USA has been the pace setter. US did what the Red Indian would consider it, as against mother nature. Basically they screwed up the world, and the rest follow. That’s the reason why we have to keep in touch with developments there.

It was interesting, the campaign against Obama. It started with calling him a Taliban from Indonesia, then a socialist trying to wrack USA then the Anti-Christ to destroy American Christianity. What a world, but then, they said he won because the Republican wanted him too. The level of the global rejections of US leadership and hegemony has been too high. They need that break. Then, I used twitter to follow their nemesis’s development, the Iranian Presidential Election.

Now, I thought … thinking aloud, I am going to proceed using twitter. I have locked it. I intend to make it like a dairy. Accessible only to my immediate family members. Malaysia had in their 2010 budget allows a tax deduction of RM500 per year for broadband. It high time that I ask my working kids to install broadband in their houses. They then can access my twitter, the “family diary” and update it with their inputs and hence we shared the necessary information about our immediate family.

Five Years of Firefox

LONG LIVE OPEN SOURCE

Five Years of Firefox

Posted using ShareThis

Nov. 10, 1983: Computer ‘Virus’ Is Born.

1983: Fred Cohen, a University of Southern California graduate student, gives a prescient peek at the digital future when he demonstrates a computer virus during a security seminar.

Read entries. >>

The Best youtube downloader

A while ego, I added 2 videos showing an easy way to convert a video into yor PC. You may store the video as movies or music such as mp3.

This is Downloadhelper , the one click downloader. Let me tell you the big deal about this extension, if you can play a file ( by file i mean movies, videos, mp3, and so on...) on your web browser, it can save it. It is not just for you tube.

Downloadhelper is Add-on for Firefox (Firefox is a Browser for those who don't know). There are other extensions and 3rd party websites that claim to do the same thing, but this one is the Best, its fast and very simple to use.

Be smart, you can use this extension with a lot of websites out there, not just with youtube, myspace, dailymotion, etc... You Find something on the web you like, Downloadhelper will do the trick.

Build Your Own PC.

• STEP 1 : Materials Required
• STEP 2 : Remove Case Cover
• STEP 3 : Case Preparation
• STEP 4 : Install Power Supply
• STEP 5 : Install the CPU
• STEP 6 : Install Heat Sink/Fan
• STEP 7 : Install Memory
• STEP 8 : Configure the Motherboard
• STEP 9 : Install the Motherboard
• STEP 10 : Connect Motherboard To Case
• STEP 11: Install Floppy Drive
• STEP 12 : Configure the Hard Drive & CD-ROM
• STEP 13 : Install Drive
• STEP 14 : Install the CD-ROM(s)
• STEP 15 : Install The Video Card
• STEP 16 : Post-Assembly
• STEP 17 : Initial Boot-Up
• STEP 18 : Configure The BIOS
• STEP 19 : Test The System
• STEP 20 : Prepare the Hard Drive(s)
• STEP 21 : Install The CD-ROM Driver
• STEP 22 : Install The Operating System
• STEP 23 : Tidy Up

It is increasingly popular to build your own computer

. In most cases, it saves money, and it guarantees you get what you want. It also assures you avoid proprietary designs many companies use to keep you coming to them for new parts. Best of all, having built the system yourself, you become very familiar with that system and with computers in general.

People from all walks of life today build their own PCs. Executives, engineers, students, housewives, they all do it today. But, at the same time, pre-built PCs have come down in price quite a bit. Today, one is left to wonder whether it is best to build a PC yourself or to simply buy one off the shelf. I’ll address that here.

If you are a real PC enthusiast, this question may be a non-issue. The answer may be as obvious as the color of the sky. This is predictable, of course. When one builds their own PC, they are able to not only understand their PC better because they built it, but they are able to choose each component that goes into their PC. There is really something to be said for choosing your own components, and I’ll go into that further below. There is also a certain sense of satisfaction with having built a PC. One spends a few hours (or less for those more familiar with the process) to put the thing together. Then comes the moment of truth when one hits the power switch for the first time. If it works on the first try, its beer time!

But, besides the joy of it, is it worth it? Is it a practical use of your time? Will it really save you money? The answer to that question today has become a bit gray. A few years ago, the answer was obvious. Pre-built PCs were typically built from OEM, cheap components. The performance was average to simply awful. The choice was obvious: If you wanted a decent PC, you better build it. Today, the line has blurred. Where many off-the-shelf PCs today still use cheaper components in an effort to save money, there are more pre-built PCs today which do use quality hardware and whose performance ranks up there with the best of them.

Let us look at some of the key areas of interest in this:

Component Selection

Most commercial PC buyers (except for the ones who build higher end models) do not make a big deal of which components they use. They will, of course, tell you the specs of the system, but often do not elaborate on the brands of the equipment they use. Most lower to average priced pre-built PCs use more or less generic hardware. It gets the job done, but what you get is what you get. Upgrading can be a problem for this reason. In contrast, building your own PC means you can handpick all components in your system. You can ensure you get good, name brand hardware which will have proper manufacturer support and driver support. Most importantly, you can ensure you get hardware that will perform. One aspect of pre-built is that compatibility issues are taken care of by the manufacturer, but there is a tradeoff made in that guarantee.

Price

In general, you can get more bang for your buck building your own PC. In many cases, you will find equally priced and comparable PCs, where one is pre-built and one would be homebuilt. You can buy PCs cheaper than you can build them, but when you consider the hardware choices within, the price is offset in favor of homebuilt. One thing to consider here is the value of your time. If you are a very busy person where time is money, then you most likely want to buy a pre-built PC. If you don’t mind taking the time, though, you can do better doing it yourself.

Support

Available support is a key concern for do-it-yourselfers. When you build it yourself, there is nowhere to take the PC for service. You can’t say “Here, make this work.” On the other hand, pre-built machines typically do come with manufacturer support. But, support is anything but consistent. Some manufacturers have questionable records on support whereas some are quite good at it. Having support for your PC is no guarantee of having a problem-free user experience, and it is certainly no guarantee that they will take responsibility for your PC if it doesn’t work. The good news for do-it-yourselfers is that the community of people who do this kind of thing themselves is increasing. There is a lot of data on the internet, and community sources for assistance. I’m compelled to mention our own forums where a community of thousands is available to help you out on your PC.

Warranty

On pre-built PCs, there is typically a warranty on the whole system, and in many instances, you are offered an extended service plan at the time of purchase. Home built PCs do not have full system warranties, of course, but if you buy good name brand hardware, most of the components will themselves have warranties. So, really, either way, you can be covered here.

Software

Pre-built PCs often come with much software on it, most importantly the operating system itself. The actual price of the software is pretty good, because manufacturers get great deals on this software because they buy in bulk. On the flip side, though, these PCs sometimes come with too much software, meaning garbage that you do not want and just clutters the hard drive and bugs you to buy stuff. It can be quite annoying. On homebuilt PCs, you might pay a little more for the software per unit, but you will get what you want and only what you want, plus you can set it up how you want.

In general, I’m a big fan of the homebuilt PC. I’ve never used a PC I didn’t build myself. I think its a huge money saver. In my case, I built it myself, and then as technology progressed, I incrementally upgraded the machine. This saves a lot of money in the long run, because with a pre-built commercial machine, once it goes out of date, you pretty much need to start anew with a new PC. >> more videos below:

MORE GUIDES ON PC HARDWARE

Signs of Malware

You all know there are millions of malware infections out there today. It seems as if there are tons of new infections that pop up everyday. In the past, I've written about how antivirus software and anti-spyware software don't always find all of the infections on your computer. After writing that article, I received several e-mails asking, "How do I know if I have a virus?" Well, today, I will cover some of the signs your computer will show if it's possibly infected with a virus or some other type of malware.

1.) Your computer slows down majorly. If your system slows down drastically, you may have an infection. Viruses and adware use resources on your computer. They can destroy files, send spam e-mail, redirect your browser and many other things that will slow your computer down.

2.) Internet browser crash. If your Internet browser stops working or shuts down often, you may be infected. Since most malware programs use the Internet to spread themselves, they will affect the performance of your browser. If your Internet browser just starts closing with no warning, you need to check for viruses.

3.) Random e-mails. Many viruses spread through e-mail. If you use an e-mail client, such as Outlook Express, MS Outlook or Thunderbird, a virus could infect it and start sending spam e-mail out to all your contacts. If you start to receive strange e-mails like "Message Undeliverable" or "Mailer Deamon," a virus may be sending e-mail with your address.

4.) Error messages at startup. If you start receiving error messages when you turn your computer on, you may have some type of malware infection. Malware programs usually turn on at startup and they sometimes cause errors, so you need to keep an eye out for that.

5.) Things look "strange." I know that seems a little vague, but sometimes you open something and it just looks funny. If you didn't install something or make a change to your system, there's no reason why something would change. Computers don't make decisions on their own. If something has changed and you didn't initiate it, you should scan for viruses and malware.

Those are the five most common signs of an infection. Many of them may indicate a virus, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're infected.

Some of the signs could indicate a hardware issue or a program conflict. As a general rule, if you know of a recent change that caused the actions, it's probably not a virus. If the signs happen for no reason at all, you should be concerned and get your computer checked. Until next time, stay safe out there, my friends!

~ Gary

IP version 6

07 June 2007 - this is a serious problem with the internet that nobody seems to know about. Allow me to shed a little light on the subject to hopefully make you guys a little smarter.

Google Holodeck: StreetView In 360 Degrees.

May 27, 2009 - Google StreetView images are pretty cool, in how you can virtually spin around and see what’s on a street in all directions. But far cooler is a Google StreetView “Holodeck” simulator that Google has at its Mountain View campus. Climb into this, and you get StreetView scenes animated, projected on screens all around you, as if you were inside the camera itself.

I first saw Holodeck back in October, and it’s been kept pretty quiet within the company since. But now Google has brought it out as part of its Google I/O conference today.

Think of it as CircleVision For Streetview, CircleVision being the popular Disneyland and Disneyworld rides where cameras were used to film in 360 degrees. Images were then projected on the walls all around the audience and could produce such a sense of montion that people used handrails to keep themselves stable at times.[more]

For Firefox & Internet Explorer 8 users!

Attention Firefox & Internet Explorer 8 users! Have you ever closed a tab, only to realize too late that there was something important on there? What did you do? Re-browse to the site?

That's too much work.

Next time you're in this situation and you want to re-open the tab you just closed try the combination:

Ctrl+Shift+T

This will re-open the last tab you closed, saving you an extra couple of minutes of frustration!

~Andrew

What does "IP" stand for?

Outside the computer world, IP sometimes stands for Intellectual Property.

In computer lingo, IP stands for "Internet Protocol". You'll often see it paired with TCP, "Transmission Control Protocol." Together, TCP/IP allow two different computers to talk back and forth over the internet.

Every computer and server (email servers, IP hosts) has an IP address.The IP address acts like a return postal address stamped on packets of data that your computer sends through the internet.

IP addresses are made of four numbers separated by periods, for example, 69.44.18.176. This stamp on data sent through the net tells receiving computers what country, service provider, host, and computer sent the info.

Some routers and software can make you anonymous over the internet by masking your IP address. In addition, less scrupulous computer masters can take control of a remote computer and thus have that computer's IP (return address) stamped on their evildoings.

~ Chris (worldstart.com)

Did you know? Technology.

November 16, 2008 - This is an amazing video about stuff we never knew.

Hope you enjoy!

Internet users: Beware of new malicious spam

SINGAPORE, March 30 - reported by malaysianinsider - source : Bernama

A new, large scale malicious spam, posing as an email from courier firm DHL is on the loose, warned IT security and control firm Sophos today.

It said in a statement here that internet users would receive messages that the courier company had tried to deliver a parcel to them on March 14.

"The messages also stated that they needed to print out the attached invoice which contained a zip file and bring it to the DHL office," it explained.

According to Sophos, computer users who fell for the scam and opened 'dhl_n756512.zip' would not see an invoice but actually download a malicious Trojan horse, known as Troj/Agent-JJP onto their computers, giving hackers remote access.

The emails all used the subject line, 'DHL Tracking number' but had a randomly generated reference number it said, adding that the scam was the second in the space of a week masquerading as DHL.

Quick Tip - do you know the MENU key?

I made a new friend today. It was there all along and I never noticed it on the right side of my keyboard between the Window Key and the Control Key. I don't even know it's true name, so I'll call it the "Menu Key". Why? Because when you press it, it opens up a drop-down menu for whatever program you're in. The menu includes all the information you would see if you right clicked, so I guess you could also call it the "Right-Click" Key.

So, next time you're typing away and need an edit menu or some other feature that you normally right-click to get, just head down to the Menu Key. Pretty soon it'll be your friend too.

~ David (worldstart.com)

Today's Feature : Safari 4

How many of you out there use Safari as your main Web browser? Well, if you do, you might be interested to know that Apple has released Safari 4 Beta! If you don't use it now, this would be a great time to check it out. The new version packs a big punch with only a couple drawbacks. Let's check it out!

First, the new version of Safari is fast! I installed it and it loads pages faster than any other browser I've ever used. Secondly, version 4 is well laid out. The tabs have moved to the top of the screen, which is a great idea. Also, the menu bar is greatly reduced so that you have more screen available to see your favorite Web pages.

Now, there are a couple other great features, but they come with a warning. The two coolest features of Safari 4 are Cover Flow and Top Sites. Those features allow you to look at your Web sites in a whole new way! Top Sites provides you with a live view of several sites at once. You can even choose to move them to a full screen version. Cover Flow works just like Apple's iTunes to allow you to scan through sites one by one. The problem with those features is they don't work on older computers. You need to have a newer and more powerful video card to be able to use them. If your computer doesn't meet the requirements, the buttons you need to use the features will not appear.

So, if you have a new computer that meets the requirements for Safari 4, you should check it out in all its glory! If you don't, it's still a very fast Web browser, just without all the fancy thrills.

The system requirements for Safari 4 Beta can be found here. You can also download Safari 4 Beta for yourself right here. Enjoy!

~ Gary

Worms and Viruses

VIRUS

A virus is an unwanted program that, in almost all cases, the user accidentally installs onto his or her computer. Some are relatively harmless and cause little, if any, damage. Some are much more hazardous and can render the information on your computer's hard drive useless.

So why do people make viruses?

Well, some (maybe most) do it just to see if they *can* do it. Some are genuinely looking to cause havoc. Others, and these are the ones to watch, are trying to get personal information from you. Many of the viruses out there are used to send their creator information from your computer via e-mail. Sure, there are more than just those 3 reasons, but I believe those are probably the primary ones.

Worms and Viruses

I got a question the other day from a reader wanting to know what the difference between a worm and a virus. So, without further adieu, here we go!

Viruses are self-replicating programs that embed themselves into other programs, or even the operating system , and use the host to carry out its function. Unless it attaches itself to an email, a virus stays put on the victim's computer.

A worm is also a computer program that makes copies of itself. They spread from computer to computer (instead of file to file), infecting whole systems, using up resources in the affected computer, and causing heaps of damage. Worms penetrate the computer's memory from a network, find network addresses of other computers, then send their own copies to these addresses. Once launched, a worm can email itself to everyone in an address book or launch a trojan horse.

So, worms are designed to spread out to many computers while viruses generally stay put. Worms take over your computer while viruses destroy files.

Regardless of the differences, though, they are both destructive to your system.

~ Andrew (worldstart.com)

Microsoft to give users IE removal option

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 19:26:22 GMT | PressTV

Internet Explorer can be removed from the new version of Windows 7

The Microsoft Corporation is designing an option in the beta version of Windows 7 that will enable users to turn off Internet Explorer.

After releasing Vista, Microsoft came up with Windows 7 in which Internet Explorer is pre-installed. Google Inc. and Mozilla foundation, which have their own browsers, believe that Microsoft is trying to dominate the market by leaving users no choice but to use its own software.

In January, European regulators accused Microsoft of "abusing its dominant market position by bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with its Windows operating system," Reuters reported.

While the software would be available in the market next year, the primary version is widely used by many around the world.

"Windows 7 is becoming more and more important for Microsoft," said Michael Cherry, an analyst for the research group Directions on Microsoft, "You don't want anything that gives anyone even a doubt as to whether or not they should upgrade".

Instacalc Online Calculator

I found this online calculator Web site to be very interesting. To get started, I recommend scrolling down to the Ready to Use section and taking the tour. It will walk you through the features for the calculator.

What I love about it is you don’t have to press Enter to get an answer. Also, you can use multiple lines to do more than one step in a problem!

To switch between styles of math you want to compute, use the drop down box on the calculator. Perhaps you need to do trigonometry or find a volume. If so, just switch it from Basic Math to whatever you need.

You’ll find examples on the calculator as well. They're demonstrating how to put in the information so that you get the right answer. I would have been lost without the square root example!

You can also find other kinds of calculators here: BMI, Unit Conversion, Home Loan, Video Game Prices, Web site Bandwidth and Web site Earnings, just to name a few. To use those calculators, just click on the links under the Ready to Use section.

You can also share the calculators either via a link or you can embed them into your Web page. For more instructions on that, check out the Hassle Free Sharing section underneath the calculator.

I’ve been using this calculator when I can’t find my own to do my math homework. I love it and I think you will too!

instacalc.com

courtesy ~ Amanda

What's new in Windows 7: Faster & easier

Windows 7 was built around your feedback, so you'll see a lot of things you've asked for. You asked us to make everyday tasks faster and easier, make your PC work the way you want it to, and make new things possible. And that's exactly what we're doing. Click below to see how it's coming to life!

Here's a first look at what's coming in Windows 7. It's early, so be sure to watch for more details as we get closer to launch. Thanks again for taking the time to help make this a great product.

Improved taskbar and full-screen previews

The taskbar at the bottom of your screen is what you use to switch between the applications you've got open. In Windows 7 you can set the order in which the icons appear and they'll stay put. They're easier to see, too. Click once on the new large icons or bigger preview thumbnails and you're ready to go. You can even see a full screen preview before switching to the window.

[download window 7 ]