CyberCoyote - November 13, 2008

NEWS and NOTES

Check the program for upcoming events.

GPS Units

Maybe you knew that Bill Powers, who lives at Lot 1172 right here at Happy Trails, is a Garmin dealer. He gave us an expert overview of GPS units today. These devices are good at guiding you from place to place, but they are best at finding what you need -- shopping, fuel, camping, restaurants, and other points of interest -- after you get there. You won't find things like that on a topo map. ;-) Drop by and see Bill. I'm sure he can answer any questions you might have about GPS. He claims he can show you how to use a Garmin in two minutes. :-)

Photo (and file) recovery

Have you ever deleted a photo from your camera that you really wanted to keep? You should stop right there, take the memory card out, and take it to a computer that has a recovery program installed. (Replace the memory card with a spare one if you want to keep on shooting.) George demonstrated the MediaRECOVER file/photo recovery program, and then gave it away as the door prize today. There are also free programs that do much the same thing. For example, I installed Recuva.

TECH TOPICS
Take That, Stupid Printer!

Follow-up on last weeks printer-cartridge presentation: In the grand scheme of things, the expense of ink (or toner) cartridges may not change the course of world affairs. But it's not that far down the list of what's wrong with the world either. The whole industry is locked into a sort of bait and switch scam, which will naturally end up not working sometime in the future. Kodak has already recognized that.

When Kodak introduced a new line of printers last year, it emphasized its low ink costs. Kodak claims that its cartridges last twice as long as those of other printers and sell for just $10 to $15 each, a fraction of the price of other companies' ink.

Meanwhile, what's a person to do? Farhad Manjoo (interesting name, eh?) has some useful advice and links on the topic. I was amused by his suggestion to use "lying bastards" as one of the search terms when Googling for answers about your printer cartridge. :-)

A new leaf for security software

Security software is the necessary evil of computing. I've pruned and evolved my approach to online security over the years, and now rely on two innovative newcomers to the scene. Their products are powerful, yet efficient. However, they may present you with more alerts (which call for decisions) than you are prepared to deal with.

What about mainstream solutions? Several years ago, Symantec (Norton) produced the best security software. But their products became so bloated over time that in some ways they were worse than the threats. Symantec has been quietly working on a total remake of their approach though. They recognized that their old weapons were losing the battle with the present day flood of malware. Norton 2009 is the result of their effort. It will be interesting to watch how well it works out. That first Norton site is geared more to "Dudes" than to adults over 55, but you can have some fun there. ;-) Their main site is a bit more sensible. :-)

ODDS and ENDS
Economic recovery plan

Who needs a bailout?

Dominoes and Entropy

Maybe there wouldn't be so much trouble in the world if we could reverse the arrow of time once in a while. [video] --via Cosmic Variance

That's all, folks.

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