Better Faster PC

Two Google related topics you should be aware of:

• A bunch of holes have been discovered in the security of the web application Google Docs. If you are a user of Google Docs and keep any sensitive information stored there you would want to read this. The article at TechCrunch is HERE. If you don’t know what a web application (webapp) is, then you might want to read the Wikipedia entry which is HERE
• Gmail is celebrating it’s fifth birthday soon and with that they have announced “Google is celebrating with the launch of an exciting new product”. What it is I am not sure, but come April 7 we will find out. Read more about it HERE and HERE

Microsoft has just released Internet Explorer 8 and for many it may be a good idea to upgrade. Newer browsers generally mean better security, apart from any new features or speed increases they may incorporate. Tighter security measures mean a safer browsing experience and are just plain a better idea. So, let’s get into the good stuff, the software.

• The official Microsoft Download Page for Internet Explorer 8 is HERE
• If you DON’T want Internet Explorer delivered via Windows Update then you will need the Official Internet Explorer 8 Blocker Toolkit from Microsoft which will prevent the Automatic Delivery of Internet Explorer 8 via Windows Upate. You can get it HERE
• Download Squad has two great posts detailing how to “Pimp” Internet Explorer 8 which basically give a good run down of add-ons and other goodies for Internet Explorer 8. Really worth checking out. Pimp Internet Explorer 8 Part 1 is HERE and Part 2 is HERE
• Microsoft has it’s own add-ons gallery which has a large number of add-ons which you can sort by category etc. Also worth checking out - right HERE
• Want to find out a bit more about Internet Explorer 8 before installing it, then you can check out the Wikipedia entry right HERE. Also check out the official Internet Explorer 8 Blog which is HERE
• PCMag.com has a list of their favourite add-ons for Internet Explorer 8 which you can check out HERE. Simple Thoughts has their list of 20 Internet Explorer 8 add-ons which you can check out HERE
• If you have not installed Microsoft Silverlight yet, then you might want to do that as well, to enhance your browsing experience, though it is not essential. The Official Silverlight Site is HERE
• You will also need .NET (as far as I know) though you should have it. If you don’t, which is unlikely, you can get it HERE

After a single post on an American blog called Consumerist regarding a change in the Terms of Service pertaining to personal and private content storage and distribution for users of the Social Networking platform (which you can read HERE), there has been a massive response from all sorts of media and other places on the internet.

Here are a couple of things you might like to read. Firstly and most importantly is a post detailing 10 privacy settings you really should know about and I think every Facebook user should read this post - right HERE.

Some more posts regarding this issue over at Consumerist worth reading are >>

• BREAKING NEWS >> Facebook Reverts Back To Old Terms of Service
• Facebook Privacy Fallout Goes Nuclear
• How Does Facebook’s TOS Compare To Other Social Networking Sites?
• Facebook Clarifies Terms Of Services

There is a lot going on in the world of browsers these days. So I think it is time for a little update just to refresh your memory a bit.

Mozilla Firefox 3.0.6
Firefox is the most used of the alternative browsers and really is a very stable and secure product. It is completely open source (and free) and there are a ton of add-ons available which are completely free and offer enhanced functionality for a host of other features not included in the basic installation.

Check out the homepage HERE. Lots of Add-Ons are HERE and themes are HERE.

Google Chrome
Chrome is a new open source browser from Google which has grabbed quite a sizeable share of the browser market. like Firefox it is completely free and it is fast, not only that but Google has ensured that when integrated with Google Apps like Gmail and Docs, Chrome performs much faster than any other browser. So, if you are a big user of Google Apps then Chrome is the way to go. Remember though, Chrome is in it’s infancy and support for plug-ins / add-ons does not exist. So if you use things like Ad Blockers or Bookmarks Synchronization add-ons then Chrome is not yet mature enough to offer that kind of functionality, though it is in the works.

Check out Google Chrome right HERE.

Opera
Opera has come along way since when it first started. Now at Version 9.63 Opera has become some people’s favourite. It offers a slightly different browsing experience to other browsers and some people really prefer it. As a personal choice it is my second browser, preferrable to Internet Explorer - at least for now. It offers some unique features which are not found in all browsers by default.

Check Opera out HERE.

Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer from Microsoft takes a lot of flack even though it is the most widely used browser out there. The reason it is often criticized is for security issues but Microsoft has been working on this over the years and if you use an updated version of Internet Explorer then you should not have any issues. Internet Explorer is just about to graduate to Version 8 (it is currently on Release Candidate 1).
To be fair the reason why Internet Explorer receives a lot of criticism is due to it’s historical version being quite insecure but these days that is not the case. Things have changed and with Internet Explorer 8 being shipped with Windows 7 (to my knowledge) we will be probably see a resurgence in the popularity of Internet Explorer.

Check out Internet Explorer right HERE.

Safari
Safari was originally a browser for Apple computers only but now it is available for Windows as well. To be honest, I do not know much about Safari so cannot give you much of a review but if you are interested check it out.

Check Safari out HERE.

So, there you go - a decent list of the better known browsers out there - if you interested in further browsers to look at then check out Flock - HERE, K-Meleon - HERE, Maxthon - HERE, Camino - HERE.

 For anyone (or basically everyone) that uses Facebook you should be aware of the New Terms of Service. From now on all content (videos, pictures, whatever you upload) is officially the property of Facebook and can be used in anyway they deem fit.

Apart from this even if you delete your account Facebook now has the right to retain a copy of any of the media you uploaded - even if you delete it!

So, please be aware that from now on, anything on Facebook might still be available to prospective employers or partners who invest time researching your profile. Plus you have no idea what all this information (which now is completely the property of Facebook) will be used for. BEWARE!

Read about it at Consumerist HERE. The new terms of service on Facebook are HERE. If you want to permanently delete your account today then check this out HERE.

Foxmarks, if you don’t know is a bookmarks synchronization tool which enables people to keep the same set of bookmarks wherever they are and what computer you are using as long as it is connected to the internet.

Previously it was only available as a plug-in for Firefox and many users would not use any other browsers for the simple reason that Foxmarks was just not available for Internet Explorer and now Chrome or Safari.

Well, things are changing. Foxmarks has just released versions compatible with Safari and Internet Explorer. That means that if Firefox is NOT your favourite browser but you use it for the synchronicity options then it is now possible to make a switch!

Apparently a version for Google Chrome is also on the way.

The official Foxmarks website is HERE if you are wanting to migrate or have never tried it. I would recommend all users try and make the switch as it is an essential part of any toolbox.

Have you ever wanted to find someone? In this day and age of being connected you would think it was very easy to find anyone you wanted and if you use Facebook you will probably have contact with most people but what if you are looking for someone who is not on Facebook? Well, the guys over at Lifehacker have done a round up of their reader’s top choices for people search (Facebook is on the list but there are a couple of others as well). Give it a look if you are looking for a lost friend or relative.

The Five Best People Search Engines are HERE.

The browser world is a complicated one these days. Just a few years ago almost everyone used Internet Explorer or Netscape almost exclusively. Today there is much more variety available to the end user, which has brought along with it a number of added benefits.

With the rise of all the alternative to Internet Explorer there has been a lot of negative press surrounding the browser over compatibility, security and monopilzation. After all has been said and done the fact remains that Internet Explorer retains the largest market share of any interent browser in the world by a significant margin.

IE8 Release Candidate 1 (RC1) is on the way soon but if you are not keen to download it automatically through Windows Update there is a tool available HERE which will block the installation.

Personally I cannot see any reason why you would want to block the installation of Internet Explorer 8 as I would not recommend using old browsers due to security concerns if they have not had the correct security updates installed.

Since I recently migrated to Gmail I am probably going to be loading on the Gmail stuff for a while! Anyway, here are a couple of things I found quite useful.

•  GmailAssistant - This is an Open Source project at Sourceforge.net, that means it is completely free. It is a JAVA application and does not require install, just double click the .JAR file and it will run provided you have JAVA installed. If you get a “Cannot find main class error”your file associations have been messed around with, possibly due to your ZIP program or an old installation of JAVA. Get a fresh install of JAVA from Sun HERE. GmailAssistant provides notifications from multiple Gmail accounts at once, so if you have more than one Gmail account and want to be notified of new mail in all accounts at the same time (while working for instance) check it out HERE. Otherwise the Google messaging client also gives notifications while you work, though this is only for a single account. Google Talk (or Gtalk) is HERE. There is also a more advanced Labs edition which you can get HERE, that gives desktop notifications for Gmail as well as Google Calendar.
• MakeUseOf.com has a great list - the Ultimate Gmail Collection - containing tips, tricks and other things just for Gmail. If you are looking for a certain kind of application for Gmail you might find it HERE.
• Labs & Themes for Gmail - I can’t provide a link as you must be logged in to your own Gmail account - so log in, click ‘Settings’ in top right corner and then look at the tabs at the top of the new window. The last two tabs on the right should be labelled Labs & Themes. Themes just make your Gmail look pretty and there are quite a variety. More interesting is Labs. If you read carefully through the Labs features you can enable a lot of powerful features in Gmail. In my personal account I have integrated Docs & Calendar into my Inbox as well as a few other nifty features. It really is worth checking out Labs features if you use Gmail a lot.
• If you can’t get the Gmail address you want (most of them seem to be taken, almost everything I could think of…) then sign up for another email account that is POP enabled and use Gmail to fetch mail from that account. There are tons of free accounts out there. I would recommend Zenbe as a decent one, with no advertising. That way you can still be johnsmith@zenbe.com instead of johnsmith1329@gmail.com which can be a bit confusing. Check out Zenbe HERE.

And that’s it!

Do you go home and get irritated when you have to log into your Gmail business account as well as your personal Gmail account and trying to juggle between messages and calendars and work out what is going on? You need to setup up POP mail fetching.

1. Login to your personal Gmail account - the login page is HERE
2. In the top right corner click SETTINGS, then select the label ACCOUNTS
3. Find “Get mail from other accounts” and then Add Account (or something similar)
4. A little box will pop-up. For username enter full username your company Gmail account uses including domain ie. nicholas@yourbusinesshere.com 
5. Enter password
6. For POP server enter - pop.gmail.com
7. Port - 995
8. Tick - Use SSL (my business account uses SSL. If you are not sure, login to your business account on Gmail. If it says https:// in the address bar then it uses SSL otherwise not but  I am assuming they all do but you can never be 100% sure)
9. DO NOT tick leave a copy of message on sever
10. Think of a label ie. Work Emails or YourBusinessHere.com

And that is it!

Now all your work emails will arrive in your personal Inbox and will be labelled with whatever label you chose. Don’t worry all the message remain archived on the work Gmail account so if you mess it up the first time nothing will be lost. Now just share you Google Calender between Work and Home and you are ready to work anywhere.