Much fuss has been made about electronic security breaches in the news lately. Whether it be someones bank card being compromised, email hacked or identity stolen, most of them have one thing in common, they could have been prevented with stronger passwords.

I know, passwords are a pain. We pick ones that are easy to remember, but that leaves us vulnerable. Memorizing one good password is hard enough but do we really need a different password for each site? What makes a good password? As more and more of our lives are online from pictures, banking and social activities, these are all questions people should be asking more and more. Luckily, P.C. Tantrums is here to help with this quick guide for password hints and tricks.

Things to avoid:
Here are some of the things to avoid when thinking up a new password.
- Never use a birthday as the password.
- Don’t use pet, spouse or children’s names.
- Don’t use your company name as your password.
- Don’t use words that can be found in the dictionary.
- Don’t make it to short (6-10 letters is ideal)

The most commonly used passwords are:
1. 123456
2. 12345
3. 123456789
4. Password
5. iloveyou
6. princess
7. rockyou
8. 1234567
9. 12345678
10. abc123

So we have gone over the donts, now lets figure out how to make a good password. First of all, we have to figure out what’s in a good password. A good password has the following characteristics:

- It has nothing to do with you.
- It is long.
- It has letters, numbers, a capital letter and preferably a symbol of some type like ! @ # or &.
- It is something you can remember.

Now I know what you’re saying. 1 threw 3 cancel out 4, but here are some ways to make them more memorable.

Tip 1:
Move everything to the right one. If you want your password to be fluffy, type the letters one space to the right of the letters you want. That way fluffy becomes g;iggu. You can even capitalize the first letter and that would give you three of the desired characteristics. It has nothing to do with you, it has a symbol and an upper case letter. Now if you could just make it longer and get a number in there, we would be off to the races.

Tip 2:
Substitute numbers for letters. If you want your password to be Mississippi, replace all of the s’s with 5′s making it Mi55i55ippi. That would be a lot harder to guess.

Tip 3:
Take the first letters of the first ten words in your favorite song, capitalize the first one and add a number at the end. Still requires some memorization, but it’s easier to remember over time.

These are just a few tips to help make a more secure password. Alternatively there are simple but powerful tools that can help you generate and keep track of your passwords like my personal favorite LastPass, but I will write more about that in a future post.

I hope this post has helped educate one not only the importance of maintaining a secure password, but provided easy tips on how to make one.

If you have any questions about any of this, feel free to email us and we would be more than happy to see if we can lend a hand.

The date was August 24, 1995. I was sitting on my girlfriends couch doing what all guys are doing with their girlfriends at that age when in crashes her father threw the front door like a raging bull. I immediately jumped up from the couch mustering up the best “we weren’t doing anything” look I could, only to watch him dart off to the right and go flying up the stairs carrying a small blue box.

“What the hell was that all about” I asked. “Oh, he’s going to his office to install this thing he has been talking about non stop for months” she said, looking annoyed by the inerruption. “What is it?” I asked. She shrugged and said “I don’t know, something called Windows 95″. Staring at the stairs where you could almost see his smoke trail from his blazing path all I could say was

“What a Geek”

Now fast forward to 2009. Everyone of my computers has a timer on the desktop counting down to the release of Microsoft’s new Operating System Windows 7 (19 d, 18h 49m 11s at the time of this writing). No doubt I will be standing in line on release day, speeding back to the house, crashing threw the door and flying to my office to play with all of the GUI (or gooey) goodness Windows 7 has to offer.

Thought my 7 years in business I have been approached by many parents that are worried about their Childs “online health”. I have compiled a few basic pointers to help guide parents threw this mucky and sometimes treacherous water. I have also posted answers to some of the more common questions I receive. These answers are a combination of my experience, lots of studying as well as procedures outlined and approved by the OPP Cyber Crimes department.

Tips for healthy computer use:

Use Common Areas.
I can’t stress this one enough. Always keep the computer in a common area (living room, kitchen) where anyone walking past can see what is on the screen. If you child has a laptop, tell them they can only use it in these common areas.

Passwords.
While it is better to not have a password at all, if you child wants to have one (ie: doesn’t want siblings reading their journal) make it a password of your choosing. Many newer laptops have built in fingerprint scanners that can have multiple fingers programmed so only you and your child can have access to that computer. It is recomended that your child know and understand that you have full access to their computer at all times.

Give them their own account.
All modern operating systems allow each user to have their own “profile” where they can keep their own files. They can even customize it with their own wallpaper and icons. There are several types of accounts thought, some allow for the users to have more control over the computer then others. Setting your child up with a “Standard User” account will stop them from being able perform certain potentially dangerous operations like installing new software or disabling content restrictions.

Enable Parental Controls.
Most modern operating systems (including Microsoft Vista and Windows 7) include Parental Controls that you can assign to your child’s profile. This enables you to restrict access to certain programs, ban games over a certain ESRB Rating and it can even restrict access to the computer at various times defined by you. If you want more powerful restrictions and monitoring capabilities, there are third party programs like Netnanny or Spector Pro.

Warn Them About The Dangers.
Many parents skip this step as they don’t want to scare their kids but the truth is, this conversation should be no different than the “Don’t talk to strangers” conversation. Letting them know some of the risks on the net can help them stop suspicious behavior and let them report it to you.

All that being said, it is mainly about finding a healthy balance. You know your child and you know what they are like. Some children need more supervision than others but following at least these simple steps will go a long way to ensuring all of your surfing experiences will be happy and incident free.

If you would like to research this topic further, here are a few websites you can visit for more in-depth conversation. They also cover more topics like Cyber Bullying, Chat Room Safety and Sexting.

http://www.safekids.com/
http://www.getnetwise.org/
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/family/guidelines/default.mspx

If you have any additional questions about this topic, please feel free to CONTACT us at any time.

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On  July/7/2009 Google announced two things. One, after five years Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs would finally be coming out of Beta, and 2010 would be the year we see Google release their new operating system. Hold it… what? An Operating System by Google? I almost shot coffee out of my nose when I read this.

Here is the official announcement on their blog.

So, what are we talking about here? Will this be an Operating System to rival Microsoft? Will it’s simplicity and ease of use finally kill Apples struggling OS? Well at this point no one really knows.
Here is what we do know. It will be a web-centric operating system meaning most of the apps will run in the browser. This may sound a little limiting at the moment but of you look at the current trend, their vision becomes clearer.

More applications that we use every day are going online and there are exciting plans to move even more in the near future. Email is almost exclusively online using applications such as Gmail, Yahoo and Hotmail. More and more people are putting expensive applications like Microsoft Word aside for free browser based options like Google Docs (which I am using right now to write this). There are even new technologies coming out like oToy that will enable low end PC’s to run super high end games and graphical programs by doing all of the rendering online using server farms.

Companies are excited about this for several reasons. If you have to log onto their website to be able to use their software, that eliminates pirated software as well as hugely reduces tech support calls as all of the hardware would be handled on their end. Really the only thing that could go wrong on the user end would be internet, browser or keyboard/mouse related.

The truth of the matter is that know one knows what to expect from Google. We have not even seen any (credible) screen shots. The few that were released turned out to be fakes. So if you hear anyone saying that Google OS is nothing special or someone else saying that it will be a huge game changer, they may both be right.

One thing is for sure, everything Google does makes a huge impact so it will be interesting to keep an eye on.

Welcome to our new website. We hope you enjoy our new format and all that it has to offer.

P.C. Tantrums has been offering fast and reliable computer services to customers in Toronto and the surrounding area since 1998. We look forward to helping you in any way we can.

We have added many new features like the reviews section where we review and rate new product that come to market. We have also added a Tutorials section where we provide step by step and video tutorials explaining how to take advantage of many of the features Windows has to offer. You can also request custom Tutorials if there is a feature you would like to know more about.

We have also added an articles section that will be added to on a regular basis where we cover in debth topics like how to avoid getting a virus, the difference between Notebooks and Netbooks and many others.

We hope you enjoy the new  site. Feel free to leave us any feedback you may have.

Tablet PC’s kind of flared and then fizzled out in the late 90′s, but like any great idea, they didn’t disappear. They have been widely used in the medial, construction and transportation industries where their small size and pen input displays make them the perfect tool for the job.

While Windows XP and Vista supported Tablet PC’s the interfaces were clunky and unreliable. All that has changed now with Windows 7 and many industry think tanks feel Tablets are going to be making a huge comeback.

While many companies have been making higher end laptops, HP has consistently had one or two consumer level tablets on the market. I recently picked up their TouchSmart tx2 and while it came with Windows Vista, a quick 20 minuets later it was running Windows 7 with ease.

This HP TouchSmart model is surprisingly well equip for the price. Here is a quick breakdown of it’s specs:

4GB Ram
320 GB SATA Hard Drive
12.1″ Dual Input Screen (input with pen or finger)
AMD Turion 2.10 GB Processor
ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics Card
Wireless A/B/G/N Card
DVD Burner with Lightscribe.
Fingerprint Scanner
Webcam
4 USB Ports

All for under 1200.00.

While there are better Tablet PC’s on the market, I would hazzard to say there is nothing better for the money.The higher end Tablets run Intel processors that run cooler and require less cooling. They also have better screens that are easier to read in daylight. The tx2 screen is nice but it is almost impossible to read outside and annoying even in the car on a sunny day.

The Good:
Great hardware specs.
Tablets run great under Windows 7.
Lots of expansion ports.
Great overall performance.

The Bad:
Screen not good for outside.
Runs hot.

First lets start off with the basics. What is a Browser. Every time you visit a website, check your email online or check Facebook, your using a browser. A browser is a software application that translates all the crazy code people who make websites use and makes them into an easy to read, eye pleasing format.

For example, if you look above you will see my wonderfully constructed header image. Its nicely placed and sized, but the code needed to put that there looks like this:

<img title=”browser wars” src=”http://www.pctantrums.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/browser-wars.jpg” alt=”browser wars” width=”330″ height=”180″ />

Not nearly as pretty is it? So a browser simply translates the line of code to show the pretty picture above.

So now your asking, “If they all do the same thing, what’s the difference”?

Good question. The easiest analogy would be to compare them to cars.  A Honda Civic and a BMW will both get you from A to B, the differences are in the bells and whistles and speed in which they get you there. There are also other differences like security and reliability but we will get into that later.

First lets identify the main players in the browser game:

1. Internet Explorer (IE)
2. Firefox (FF)
3. Safari
4. Chrome

If you look at the graph (that I stole borrowed from Wikipedia) you can see the percentage of usage per browser as of May 2009.

As you can see IE (shown in blue) is by far the the most used, but that is mainly because it comes installed in every Windows computer and most people don’t know they
have a choice of other browsers. Following IE is FF, then Safari, Chrome Opera (not worth mentioning) and other.

So now let’s get to the differences. While IE is the most popular, it does have it’s issues. Critics will say that it is the most vulnerable but that can be attributed mainly to the fact that it is the most used. It suffers from the Apple vs PC syndrome where Apple users boast that there are very few viruses designed to attack Apple systems, but virus makers look at them and say “why would we waste our time attacking something only 7% of people use?” Now that more people are using Mac’s we are seeing at least 2 new viruses released every week.

Since most people use IE, it has been picked at more and more vulnerabilities have been uncovered. There are however, some very nice advantages to using IE. When designers are making websites, they make them with IE compatibility in mind so you are more likely to have a consistent browsing experience with IE. It also integrates useful applications like accelerators, tabbed browsing and Phishing Filters.

Accelerators are Quick Access options for actions people use every day. If you are looking up an address that you found online, instead of highlighting it, copying it, opening a new window, launching Google maps and pasting it into there, you simply click on a little blue box that comes up and select the operation you would like to preform. Other Accelerators include Define, Translate, Search, Send and Shop.

Firefox is the second most used Browser on the market. As with the other browsers, it is free to download and use. This is the second most used browser and the most used by Geeks around the world. It is fast, stable and customizable. Because most Geeks use Firefox, they also make add-ons called “Plugs-Ins” that can drastically increase the functionality and usability of the browser. This can be great except for one major drawback. Not all coders are created equal and adding poorly coded plug-ins can cause more annoyances and frustration then they are worth.

Third is Safari. This is number three because it is the standard browser included in Mac Operating Systems. People that know better use either IE or FF on their Mac, those that don’t, continue to use Safari and suffer. It is by far my least favorite browser.

Coming in at number four is the new kid on the block and one to keep your eyes on. Chrome is made by Google and is one of the fastest browsers on the market. Unfortunately I find it to be to young and under developed a browser to use all the time. Google knows that more and more is being done in the browser. More people are using online applications like G mail, Google Calendar, Google Docs and so on. Chrome is designed to take full advantage of this.

So what one is the best? Unfortunately no one can answer that one but you. I love IE’s Accelerators, Firefox’s Plug-Ins and Chromes speed. While I  find my self using Firefox more than the others, I really enjoy using the other two as well.

The defining two features for me are being able to drag tabs out of the window to create new windows, and being able to view all the tabs at one time. Unfortunately there is no browser on the market that can do both. IE can show a preview of all open tabs but you can’t drag a tab out and make it into a new window as you can in Firefox and Chrome. But you can’t preview all open tabs in  Firefox and Chrome. (sigh)

As I mentioned, all of the browsers are free to download and use to feel free to try them out using the links below.

Please feel free to share your thoughts or questions in the comments section below.

IE 8 – DOWNLOAD
Firefox – DOWNLOAD
Chrome – DOWNLOAD
Safari – DOWNLOAD

Three of the most important (and often overlooked) parts of a computer are the screen, keyboard and mouse. This is especially true in offices where people are interacting with their computers for hours on end.

Take the mouse for example. It should be responsive, contoured for comfort and customizable. After all, you use your mouse for just about everything you do these days. Enter the Logitech G9 Laser Mouse.

The G9 mouse offers a slew of features that at first blush may seem unnecessary or even excessive, but one you use them, you will wonder how you ever lived without them.

First of all it features two outer shells. One wide one for people with big hands and a smaller one for smaller hands. Both are contoured for comfort enabling hours of pain free use.

Another great feature that I thought was a silly gimmick at first but have grown to love is the removable weights. Yup, weights. Different people like different weights when it comes to their mice. I prefer a heavy mouse but I have customers that want them to be as light as possible. The removable weight try allows you to decide how much your mouse will weigh by adding up to 28 grams of additional weight.

The G9 also features 7 fully programmable buttons. Take the scroll wheel for example. The scroll wheel has five functions. Scroll up, scroll down, scroll left, scroll right and click down. With this mouse you can program it so that instead of scrolling left and right, those buttons could copy and paste. They could also be used to launch commonly used applications like  Word, Outlook or Internet Explorer. All seven buttons can be programed in this manner.

Now lets add another level of customization to that. Let’s say you use excel and want the scroll buttons to copy and paste, but when you are out of Excel you would like them to launch Internet Explorer and Outlook. The G9 Laser Mouse can handle multiple profiles that can customize every action of the mouse depending on what program you are using making this one of the most customizable mice on the market.

While there are many more amazing features on this mouse, in the interest of not boring you to tears, I will just cover one more. Logitech has come up with a really innovative option for the scroll wheel. Traditionally when you are scrolling up and down large spread sheets or websites the scroll wheel clicks up and down limiting the speed you can scroll at. This mouse will do that as well but simply push a button on the bottom and it disengages that clicking action allowing for frictionless scrolling. This allows for amazingly fast scrolling threw large websites and documents.

As you can see, this mouse will cover just about anyone’s needs as far as mice go.

For more information on this mouse you can view Logitechs product page HERE.

If you have any further questions about this product, or would like to purchase it, feel free to Contact Us.

Many of you may have heard about Microsoft’s new operating system (due out October 22) called Windows 7.  While there has been a lot of Hype (and I mean a lot!!) not many people in the main stream media have actually used it.

Here is a quick overview from someone who has been using Windows 7 exclusively for a few months now.

Windows 7 has been called by many “Microsoft’s best Operating System ever!” and I would have to agree. Windows XP is fast and stable, but it is also 8 years old. Windows Vista received a bad reputation out of the gate and while it was very innovative, it could never shed that reputation.

Windows 7 is as fast and stable as Windows XP with all of the innovation and advancements of  Vista. It is truly a pleasure to use. The interface is minimal and clean. It is incredibly stable as well as fast. Microsoft has spent a lot of time tweaking every aspect of the system from the deepest code all the way up to the new and improved calculator.

While Windows 7 has not officially been released, Microsoft has released the RC (Retail Consideration) for early adopters to use. Since then they have changed and tweaked over 2000 objects based entirely on user feedback.

I will be writing a lot more about this in the future, I just wanted to give a quick outline on what it is and how it runs.

As always, feel free to ask any questions using our “Contact Us” section.

A UPS (Uninterruptible power supply) is an incredibly simple but important device that no computer should be without. It’s a battery that plugs into the wall. You then plug devices into the battery and use that to power them.

Now you may be asking, “why wouldn’t I just plug my computer or monitor directly into the wall?” and that’s a good question. Computers have many parts that are sensitive to fluctuations in electricity. Most of the time the current coming into your house or office is pretty consistent but we have all experienced brown outs, power spikes and even power outages. While rare, these fluctuations in power can be very harmful to computers. Ever notice the lights dim or flicker for a second when your fridge or furnace turns on? Your computer does as well.

The UPS keeps its battery constantly charged from the wall then delivers a steady and consistent flow of electricity to any devices plugged into it. This completely protects your devices from the negative effects of power outages, brownouts or power spikes. Many UPS’s even come with a “connected devices warranty” meaning if the product should fail to protect any device plugged into it, they will pay to replace it free of charge.

The most common parts effected by power fluctuations are the power supply, motherboard but more importantly the Hard Drive, where all of your data is stored. Even something as simple as turning off the computer by hitting the off button on the power bar or pulling the power cable out of the back of the tower can cause loss of data.

UPS’s come in many different flavors and can range in price from 35.00 to thousands of dollars. The average household UPS’s run in the 35.00 to 75.00 range depending on how much you need to plug into it. Most users will plug in their computer, monitor and modem so that if the power does go out, they can have an additional 15 to 30 minutes of power to finish what they are working on and shut everything down.

Here are just some of the advantages to using a UPS:

• Constant and consistent supply of clean power to all connected devices.
• Connected device warranty.
• Included software monitors your computer so if you are out of the house and your power goes out, it will save and close all of your documents ie: word, email etc and shut down your computer safely.
• Automatic self-test Ensures early detection of potential problems by periodic testing of UPS components.
• Keep working during power outages for up to one full hour.

This product is available for purchase threw P.C. Tantrums.

Please CONTACT US for more details and information.