Frank Fazio’s “How To’s”

Its been a while since my last blog post I have had heaps of people now asking me about passwords and security in todays society numbers and passwords play an import role in our daily lives. Numbers are important as these numerals relate to us our telephone and cell phone number, our driving license and code number for the electronic device that opens the door to the office.

Numbers are important in remembering our bank account number when you punch them at the ATM in order to get a bit of cash - no correct data, no money. And if you forget that you had renewed your credit card and punched in the wrong secret number, there will a long wait at line at the teller to cash a check. Numbers are important when you visit the land of red tape when conducting official business; A helpful clerk will greet you pleasantly and the ask, “File number please!” – then silence when you try to remember where you had written it down, most probably on a scrap of paper and jammed in your jacket pocket. Words are equally important when used as passwords to different web sites.

There are the passwords with a number or more for logging into your computer and without it no entry. There are passwords for many sites you may have on the computer that enables you to enter various programs and addresses. You need a password for the Windows network logon, your e-mail account, your homepage’s password, online passwords, etc., etc. - the list is endless. Yet, we know some sites require passwords with a combination of numbers and words, others require to use a certain length of the password, and others require a shorter form. Passwords are also required for entry in exclusive clubs, for business and governmental information and, off course, in the secret world of spying.

Now, we ask ourselves on how to remember the many required numbers and words that our are necessary in our daily lives. A pocket note book would be ideal and so would an address book for recording your passwords would be an excellent idea, but within time your filing order will turn into a nightmare as you try to figure out which order you filed the words and numbers. Or you could make your life easy by using the same letter/number combination for all your password requirements; maybe you can use the date of your birthday as the basis for your password. Nope, not a good idea as hackers are clever chaps that with a bit of guessing on their part, they can enter your bank account and help themselves to your savings and your credit card numbers.

Security experts state that you can have assurance in the safety of your computer program and e-mail site by observing basic rules.
1) Above all don’t use obvious identifiable words for your passwords.
2) Use different combinations of passwords for each of logins.
3) It would be a good idea to change your password every six months even sooner.
4) As to using laptops, notebooks and or an address book to keep a record of your passwords you must take note that there are many light fingers that would like to get hold of them; one slip and all your personal data is known.

It sounds like quite a dilemma, but don’t worry there is a solution to this problem in keeping our numbers and words safe and secure. Simply log on a free program called RoboForm is a password safe program with a guarantee to keep your data safe.  I personally use this program and helps me keep track of all my passwords and its extreemly easy to use. It is a portable software which can be carried on an USB Flash Drive (UFD), also known by heaps of other names, including USB stick , data stick, geek stick, USB data stick or USB memory key, and also runs on Windows systems without being installed.. Security is the word. Passwords can be stored in highly-encrypted databases, that can be unlocked and with a tap on the keys you can assign a different password to every Net site, e-mail and other accounts you use. In simple terms you can you can store your passwords in a highly-encrypted database, which is locked with one master password - yours. No need to remember,  RoboForm does that for you.
Note: Computer technology and language are sometimes above the knowledge of everyday folk. So if you need assistance let me know I am happy to help…

Download RoboForm – sit back and relax with the knowledge your passwords are secure.

Where do I find the Time?

When im out and about chatting with my clients, telling them my interests and hobbies - from running multiple businesses, property management, house renovations, rebuilding a Ford Escort and SPENDING QUALITY TIME WITH MY WIFE SONJA and I thought I would throw some blogging into the mix…

“Its always Frank where do you find the TIME??” 

Which I often reply I just dont sleep, well that used to be the case until I found a few little secrets that will help you gain control of your life again and free up time so that you can do all the fun stuff too.

Basically if your having time management issues then read on I hope this will help, this is how I do it… 

If you’re not sure where all your time disappears, keep a log of your time for a week or so. Make a note of everything you do through your normal working day.Include work and personal time; from when you wake up, how long you take for meals (too much, too little?) until you go to bed. There is no right or wrong answers, at this stage you’re just getting an idea of where your time goes.Now, answer the following questions to see where you are spending your time in the course of a normal working week.When do you plan what you’re going to do … today, this week, this month?

How do you prioritise your tasks or do you do them as they come up?

Do you usually finish what you planned to do each day?

How much of your time is spent dealing with crises or unexpected matters?

How do you manage interruptions from upsetting your work?

How much time each day do you spend on paperwork?

What proportion of your time spent at meetings is productive?

When in the day/week do you get interrupted most?

When in the day/week do you get interrupted least?

Do you choose how to use your time, or do other people manage your time?

Are you able to say ‘No’ to your colleagues/boss?

What tasks do you tend to delay or put off?

What tasks do you tend to avoid completely?

When is your most/least productive time of day?

If you had another hour every day, what would you do with it? What can you change about the way you work to get an extra hour in your day?

Look at how and where you’re spending your time and decide what changes you need to make in order to use your time more effectively.

Could you get up an hour earlier or go to bed an hour later.

Spend a few minutes at the beginning of each day to plan your working day and you’ll be able to get more done and be more productive. Look at where you potentially ‘waste’ time and decide what you can do to change it.

Make sure you’re getting enough breaks during the day. It’s all very well working hard but how productive is that working time? If you’re getting tired, you won’t be as effective, take frequent breaks.

In order to make the most effective use of your time you need to make sure that you’re focusing on what’s important. Prioritise your tasks and actions in order of importance or urgency. Ensure you spend most of your time focusing on the important to avoid them becoming urgent later on. Get the high priority tasks done first and break larger tasks down into smaller ones.

Well I hope you are able to use these questions and techniques to help you out with your time management…

Im off to bed I have a big day planned for tomorrow.

Most people who are using their computer everyday don’t realize the risk of loosing their data until the data loss disaster finally happen. There is nothing more frustrating than losing the important files and office documents that you have spent so much time and energy to create, edit, and publish them.

#1 Backup Your Important Files Regularly
Most operating system comes with built-in backup utility. You may use of this utility or third party backup utility to backup your critical files and documents regularly. Typically you can make a backup batch or backup job and then run an automatic schedule to run the job. Save your backup to another disk drive or external drive which separated from main disk drive where the operating system resides. Don’t forget to verify your backup!

#2 Use UPS and Power Surge Protectors
A sudden power down or power fluctuations can damage the data on the computer system. A power surge is one of the most common occurrences that can damage your data and potentially cause a hardware failure. Many UPS today comes with built-in surge protector as well as automatic voltage regulator to maintain reliable power output. You don’t have to worry about using UPS if you use a laptop, but you still have to use power surge protector to protect your laptop from lightning and power surge.

#3 Save Your Document Immediately and Intermittently
When you open a new document (office document, design graphics, or any document), save your file immediately with a certain name which you can easily find and locate later. Most application software comes with auto-save mode and auto-backup mode. It is best option to activate this feature to make sure your document saved or backed up within a constant interval of time, such as every 5 minutes or so. Or if your software doesn’t have such feature, you can safe your work manually every 5 or 10 minutes. Most software has a keyboard shortcut like “Ctrl-S” to save your document immediately.

#4 Install Reliable Anti Virus Software and Scan Regularly
Make sure to use virus protection programs and keep them updated. If you have an extra budget the use a “full version” anti virus software instead of “trial version” or “free version” which only give you a “basic protection”. The full version usually give you a complete real-time protection to your computer while you off or online to the Internet. Activate the schedule and scan your computer regularly. Don’t to lazy to do it!

#5 Make Sure You Know Exactly Where You Saved Your Files
May it sound doesn’t make any sense but for many times I find out that most users save their files without knowing the exact location or save the file with short and meaningless name like data1 or mydata. I recommend you to make a certain folder and organize them into a hierarchy with a category and always save your file with a meaningful name, thanks to a modern operating system today that allows you to save long file name even with a space!

#6 Scan Your E-mail’s Attachment Before You Open It
When you receive mails with attachment from unknown senders, do not open it. Rescan the attachment before you run or open it. E-mail’s attachments are the major cause of virus infections. Don’t forget to make a particular default location to safe the attachment file, otherwise the same file name could overwrite your most current file in your computer.

#7 Activate or Install Fire Wall Software and Visit Only Trusted Web Site
When you connect your computer or laptop to the Internet or to a public network with cable or wi-fi (wireless) at the airport or coffee shop or any hot spot, then your computer is prone to be hacked by someone. Fortunately, latest operating system comes with personal firewall software that can protect your personal computer from unwanted incoming connection. By activating this feature, then outsider are unable to “browse” your computer and steal your private / confidential data. While surfing the Internet, visit only trusted web site which are free from viruses, spyware, or any hidden malicious scripts.

#8 Always Shutdown Your Computer Properly
Don’t left your computer into operation unattended for a long time of period such as 24 hours. Some operating system has an auto standby mode or hibernate mode to safe energy, these could put you into data loss risk. Always quit your programs before shutting down your computer. Shut down your computer before you move the computer especially with the laptops.

#9 Avoid Drinking or Eating While Working With Your Computer
Don’t drink or eat while you working with your computer. A little accident such as coffee or tea spatter into a keyboard could ruin your works. Some keyboard are not design with a waterproof protection, this could easily cause computer become “hang” and you might loss your current work or any open files. Put your drinks away from computer keyboard or laptop.

#10 Store Your Backup Data Offsite
Your data isn’t safe until it is backed up and stored in a safe place away from your home or office. There are plenty of services that offer you an “online backup” with secure, reliable, simple, economical, and automatic online backup features to backup your important data to a “secured place” away from your home or office.

I hope these tips can be very helpful and enrich your knowledge and understanding to avoid massive data loss which truly can cost your time and energy. Remember that “Prevention is Better Than Cure”.

The most common problem I am seeing on a day to day basis is my clients keep asking me, why is my computer seem slower and seem to be having problems.

How often have wondered why your computer seems slower then when you first got it? No doubt someone will have told you that it is getting clogged up and you should remove a few programs to speed it up - often this tactic will make little or no difference unless your hard drive is almost filled to the maximum. There are a number of reasons why your computer could not be running as quickly as when you got it. As windows software gets more sophisticated and updates are performed, your computer becomes hungrier for resources - needing more disk space and memory to run efficiently. If your computer has plenty of   memory and disk space, what else should you look for?

Check that your virus scanner is up to date and that your computer is not infected. If it is not infected, what next? Run the system tools for disk and memory defragmentation. After this, run a registry optimiser or registry repair program. In simple terms the registry is a control database which instructs your computer how to work. Every program and feature installed on your computer accesses the registry and updates settings on this file, configuring the operation of every aspect of the machine.All being well the registry will keep your computer running smoothly.  

However, over the course of time the registry can get cluttered with errors and unnecessary bits of code. This happens on most systems during the normal  operation of installing and un-installing software, as well as making normal changes to the computer configuration.

Keeping your system registry tidy and compact is important to the efficient  running of your computer. If errors are left in the registry a number of things can happen. Generally your computer will run slower than it used to, random  error messages might appear, the computer might become unstable, and in lots of circumstances crashes and system freezes can occur.

Does your computer ever crash with a blue screen error message? Does your computer take ages to boot-up or switch off? Do you get error messages that you don’t understand? These are common issues on computers with registry problems. 

Registry problems are easy to fix with the help of the correct piece of  software. Without such software, self-repair is a dangerous path to take. The use of Regedit and trying to fix the registry requires specialist knowledge, and   in most cases, more damage than good is the result of this approach. 

If you run a registry repair scanner, this will show you any errors you have in your registry. Most applications will let you do a free scan to see if there are problems on this file. In the unlikely event that your registry does not have any problems then this has cost you nothing! You’ve got nothing to lose - and probably a lot to fix!

I love gadgets. I am addicted to them and if I see something I like then I feel a massive urge to immediately go and buy it.

Looking in a recent PC magazine I came across the EeePC by Asus - looking at the pictures I saw something that I had longed for, for some time. A small portable PC, a cheap price tag, seemingly specifically geared up for Internet on the move.

The EeePC is pronounced e-pc - it is meant to stand for three easy points - easy to learn, easy to work and easy to play. I think the original idea was to make something affordable to the many including students and families.

What attracted me to the device was it’s apparent portability. Measuring 225 x 165 x 21 mm this is tiny in comparison to any other laptop. It has a solid state hard drive so pretty rugged in the fact you can knock it and bang it about without damage occurring. With three hours of battery life and a mobile phone sized charger makes it all pretty portable.

Of course as with any relatively new gadget the demand is great and getting hold of one was pretty tough. They come in different colours. My preference was the black one and I guess this was the same for most people as it was completely out of stock. In the end I settled for the blue.

After pressing the power button the wait is minimal. I would say about 20 - 30 seconds. It’s strange as the machine is silent when booting. You kind of expect to hear the hard disks spin and the fan going. Peering into the 7 inch screen is surprisingly easy although I guess it could get annoying depending on what you are trying to achieve. However, so far, for just MSN, email and web browsing it is absolutely fine.

More surprisingly is the keyboard. It is obviously relatively small but it is quite easy to type on. I think after a small amount of adjusting typing should be relatively easy. Ok you would not want to type a full novel on it but for emails, blogging short articles etc - absolutely fine.

Even though it is hard to think of this little gadget like this, this machine is a fully functional PC. This means you can pretty much do anything on it that you could a normal PC. It comes with a Linux based system on it. This is open source and subsequently, with a couple of minor modification, there are literally thousands of free applications that can be run on it. The main screen is easy to navigate round giving you obvious icons such as ‘Internet’ or ‘email’ or ‘messenger’ so you really do not have to be a techie to work your way around. Having said that, if you wanted to, the machine is powerful enough to run XP on it should you require.

With wi-fi built in, connecting to the Internet is easy. A webcam, microphone and speakers allow for easy communication. You also have USB ports as well as a flash memory slot allowing for an addition 32gb of storage on top of the 4gb included within the machine. For me, this means I can take this machine and take it anywhere and where there is not a wireless network to connect to, I can connect via 3G from my data card. This means that I can be in the Internet anywhere without taking, what I now consider, a bulky item such as a laptop. This will even fit in the glove box of your car or in a handbag!

Whilst opening the EeePC will void your warranty - this system is upgradable. There are countless modifications or upgrades that can be done to make your Eeepc unique and super quick. As the software is open source, it can be modified to do pretty much anything you require.

I think this machine is going to be a huge success and pave the way for truly mobile computing. I have just paid $599 for the 4GB model. There was a 2GB model for $499 and I have heard rumours that Asus have managed to relocate the speakers allowing for a greater screen size on a soon to be released model.