Memory Lane Sales Blog

Anyone who has discovered Mozilla Thunderbird already knows the security & useability benefits it offers over Outlook Express.  One down-side, though, is signatures.  There are a few extra steps to setting one up, but it’s still quite easy.  Give these instructions a try and call me if you have any trouble. 

Note: “Click” means single-click. 

1. Open Notepad (Start –> All Programs –> Accessories –> Notepad)
2. Type out your signature, however you want it to look
3. Save it somewhere you know you can find it but not somewhere you’ll want to move it from (eg not on your desktop)
4. Close Notepad
5. Open Thunderbird
6. Click Tools –>  Account Settings
7. Click on your email address at the top of the left hand column
8. Click on the “Attach this signature” check box
9. Click “Choose..”
10. Navigate to the signature file you saved in step #3.
11. Click OK

In those Account Settings, you also have the option of attaching your vCard.  This is an electronic business card and may be worth doing as well.

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The new Creative Vado video camera is the latest new toy to exemplify the “less is more” idea.  At $99, it’s only 4″ high and 2″ wide.  That’s 10 cm x 5 cm for those who have moved beyond Imperial.

Even at that size & price, though, it’s a pretty good performer.  It works with PC or Mac, holds up to two hours of video and doesn’t require installing any software on your computer.  It’s perfect for YouTube, MySpace, etc. with a 620×480 resolution.

If you want more information, just drop us a line at sales@memlane.com.

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I should start by apologizing for the alliteration, but I’m not going to….I like it!

Just a short Hints & Tips entry this time.  If you’re looking for some cool new fonts, check out www.dafont.com.  When I checked this afternoon, I found just over 800 different fonts. 

They’re freeware & open source, so help yourself.  Just find one you like, download the zipped file, extract it and then move the fonts to your Fonts folder.  In Windows it’s c:\Windows\Fonts.  In Mac, put them in System/Library/Fonts.

Have fun & happy computing!

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There are a whole bunch of details that go into keeping your computer running & happy.  A few that have come up recently are as mundane as they are important.  So, here are a few common mistakes:

1. Plugging into the wall without using a surge protector.  A power surge that hits your equipment can cook all sorts of components including power supplies, motherboards, routers, etc.; equipment that can run into the hundreds of dollars.  At $9.99, a surge protector is cheap insurance.  Keep in mind that the less-expensive ones work by burning out; once they’ve absorbed a surge, they no longer do their job and need to be replaced.
2. Surfing the internet without a firewall.  Plugging your computer directly into a modem leaves you exposed to all sorts of bad things.  Plug your computer into the ‘net through a router.  If you’re using a laptop in hotels and other wi-fi hotspots, install a software firewall.  It’s not nearly as effective as a hardware-based one but it will still offer a lot of protection.
3. Ignoring antivirus, antispyware & other software updates.  Virus signature updates & security patches are critical for protecting your computer….that’s why they call them critical updates.  Set your operating system to update automatically.  Relatedly, letting your antivirus expire, even for a day, is an invitation to viruses.  An unprotected Windows machine has a 50% chance of being hacked within 12 minutes.
4. Free Software, Music & Videos!!  Downloading software from Limewire and similar sites seems free up front, but it’s actually quite expensive when you factor in the tech time it takes to clean out all of the garbage that comes along with it.  Files, whether they’re software, music or videos, from peer-to-peer sites are notorious for carrying spyware & viruses.  If you absolutely have to get stuff from P2P sites, download it onto a Mac or Linux computere, scan it there and then move it to your Windows machine.
5. Keeping disks full & fragmented.  Installing & removing lots of programs, or saving & deleting lots of files with result in a seriously fragmented disk.  This results in a seriously slow computer.  The closer the disk is to full, the worse this problem gets.  Disk cleanup & defragmenting tools can do wonders for a slow computer.
6. Automatically opening attachments.  Emails with unexpected attachments often contain malware.  Emails with expected attachements also often contain malware.  Don’t open unexpected attachments.  It’s bad enough that some email clients simply won’t accept attachments.  That’s a little much, but anything with file attachements ending in exe, bat, com, hlp, pif or scr shouldn’t be downloaded or opened.
7. Clicking on everything.  Clicking “OK” can quickly become a reflex, particularly for Vista users.  It’s important, though, to know what you’re clicking on.  Read the text in the box.  And, if it doesn’t make sense, click the “X” to close it, rather than “OK”.  If you’re ever unsure, just give us a call.
8. Picking lousy passwords.  Weak or easily guessed passwords are a great way to give away access to your computer and your personal information.  If you scroll down this blog, I have an entry that gives you some fairly simple ways of coming up with very strong passwords.
9. Suffocating your machine.  Ventilation is needed to keep components cool.  The cooler motherboards, video cards, etc. run, the longer they run.  Overheating is one of the top causes of failure.  Keep the fan openings away from the wall or the shelf and every few months you should check on the size of the dust-bunny herd inside the case.  An easy way to check for dust accumulation is to look in the fan openings.  If you see dust stacking up there, then it’s probably stacking up inside your case too.
10. Failing to back-up your data.  Anyone who’s read any of my other posts knows how much I flog this.  Backing up your data is easy, and it’s critical.  Having an up-to-date backup makes a hard drive crash inconvenient instead of a panic. 

As always, if you have any questions about how to implement these, just drop us a line at sales@memlane.com or at the shop at 526-2288.  Have fun and happy computing!

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One thing Mac users or prospective Mac users may notice is that Macs (like many PCs actually) do not come with a comprehensive CD/DVD burning application. iDVD will of course author and burn DVDs, and iTunes can burn music CDs, but anything past that requires additional software.

The most popular application (and the one I use…it’s awesome!) is TOAST, by Sonic (the company that bought Roxio awhile back). It retails for around $89, and I highly recommend it for most burning tasks.

If you can’t (or don’t really want to) spend that much money on a burning app, there are a couple of freeware alternatives. I haven’t personally used them, but they seem highly recommended from websites that review software.

SimplyBurns and Burn are two freeware burning apps for Mac OS X 10.3 or higher. Adding TOAST or one of these apps to your Mac should give you all sorts of burning options that you didn’t have before.

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BBC News has a story today about a consulting firm that lost a USB flash drive with confidential information on it.  As a result, they’ve lost a $2.8 million contract and have $15 million worth of contracts being reviewed.

There are two tragedies in this.  First, this isn’t just a problem for multi-million dollar companies in distant lands.  The convenience of flash drives makes them easy to carry & use, but it also makes them easy to lose.  Unfortunately, when they get lost, they often have work information & personal data that isn’t really public information.

The second tragedy is that it’s so easy to avoid.  If you’re a do-it-yourselfer, there is a program called TrueCrypt that will encrypt your data for you.  It has a bit of a learning curve but it’s very effective. 

If you’re looking for a simpler solution, we have flash drives or hard drives that come with simple, four-step encryption utilities. 

Either way, someone finding your files will only see gibberish; encrypted data is safe data.  So whether you’re protecting work information or personal files, encrypting your information is both easy and secure. 

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Antivirus XP 2008 is virus that is advertised in fake security alerts.  It tells you that you have infections and offers you its software as the solution.  When you click on the link, it installs itself on your computer and begins to warn you about all sorts of security risks that don’t really exist.  It will tell you that the only way to remove these risks to to buy a license from them.

The only time you should ever see a pop-up message is from your existing antivirus software.  No credible antivirus software will advertise itself to new customers through pop-ups.

If you’ve having trouble with Antivirus XP 2008 or you’re not sure, please give us a call at 526-2288.

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A great little notebook with a 3 year parts and labour warranty makes the Toshiba Satellite Pro M300 a perfect computer for students.  Includes a free Canon Pixma MX300 Multi-Function printer.  $999 for a limited time, while supplies last.

Toshiba Satellite Pro M300

Intel Core 2 Duo T5750, 2GB memory, 120GB Hard Drive, DVD+/- Drive, 14.1″ screen, 1280×800 display on Intel GMA x3100 Video, Intel Hi-Def Audio, Wireless b/g/n, Webcam, 5-in-1 Media Card Reader, USB 2.0, Firewire, Windows Vista Business with XP Pro retrograde option.

Canon Pixma MX300

Reliable 5-in-1 Printer for All Your Home Office Needs.
For work and play, here’s the perfect 5-in-1. You’ll produce life-like photos with resolution up to 4800 x 1200 colour dpi1 — and quickly, too: A borderless 4″ x 6″ photo takes only about 46 seconds2. You can also print photos directly from a camera DV camcorder or camera phone3, without a computer. Your documents will feature bold, laser-quality text, and copies will be remarkably true to your originals. This All-In-One produces 600-dpi scans with vibrant 48-bit colour depth. Plus, it achieves Super G3 fax speed in colour and B&W, and its memory can store 20 speed dial codes and receive 50 incoming pages4.

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Like a car, a computer needs a little care now-and-then to keep running smoothly.  The file below will give you a pdf checklist of some of the things you can be doing to extend the life of your computer.  Enjoy!

computermtcchecklist (PDF)

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