Winamp Pushing for The Top?

Winamp is a growing media player primarily among heavy user computers. Why? Because early on Winamp managed to take advantage of the radio. Winamp holds all of the same basic Windows/Zune Media player features, excluding things like Album Art which come with the pro package. Now offering over 500 stations from Gospel to Metal, it's hard to not want to check it out. The feature is Shoutcast Radio, and with a click of a button you can sort through hundreds of interesting radio stations such as "The Buzz" to find your appropriate taste.

With "Shoutcast Radio" and AOL video and radio, the program has quickly become a mini entertainment center. CD Burning also comes with all versions of Winamp, contributing to the effort to close the gap between the titan media players. Depending on which version of Winamp you have, there are set restrictions on the non-pro versions. Winamp is becoming an ideal media player even with its basic free "full" version.

The design is somewhat cloudy, because at the start there are so many options one has to take a step back to figure out what the hell they are even looking at. There are tabs and links to multiple radios and your media library along with most played, never played and other somewhat useless clickables. Minor features include a browser with the newest version, and the common "visualizations" to take you on that psychedelic trip. The lite version is only about a total of 3 mb on average, with the pro scaling it up to 8 mb. A noticeably hefty upgrade, but the features in pro are simply just a gathering of features you can find for free all over the internet. Overall the full version is a great free radio player and has some sleek skins and features for all viewers. All at a nice small size with average weight on your computers memory. I recommend at least checking this media player out, it's small enough anyway ;).

Check out Winamp and all of its versions here.

Microsoft Surface

Amazing new technology that was actually presented almost a year ago! This computer is essentially that link from the movies to real life. Allowing the user to get photos, credit information and pay bills, games watch videos with low limits. Microsoft Surface technology may be many years ahead of actually being implemented, but videos demonstrating the capabilities are amazing. There are a variety of videos out there some displaying other tricks that can be seen on YouTube and other video websites, just google Microsft Surface. It would appear this technology is eliminating physical currency and other things, let's hope for the better.

Virus Total Online Virus Scanner

If you talk online or frequently download files from third party websites, this website is handy. Virus Total allows you to upload a file to be scanned by multiple virus databases. This comes in handy when downloading something and you don't have a virus scanner on hand or any sort of protection. Also, if you are uploading a file, a great way to display a files security is to link it to your scan result which is available when scanning is complete in your address bar. Although this may not be the quickest scanning method, Virus Total uses virus databases from all of the popular Anti-virus programs and many more that are less frequent. I recommend this to users wanting to scan files less than 10 mb.

SkyDrive- Innovative Free File Hosting by Microsoft?

Who would have thought, the corporate giant coming out with a file hosting service for free? Well, with Microsoft's constant fluctuations in stock maybe more than one would think, but this even surprised me. Microsoft's "SkyDrive" is a free file hosting service offering a beginning 5 gb of space, proceeding "Windows Folders" which was available to beta testers last year. The service's name is accurate, and the style is parallel with other similar services out there such as Omnidrive which provides 1 gb of free space. The webpage gives you a feel as if you were actually looking through a hard drive at files, including folders which at default are labeled like those on your computer. Files such as Video, Music, Documents and Pictures to organize whatever you upload. All hosted online and accessible online, the user can put the files in various folders and select whether or not they are viewable to the public, private, or even friends. Yes, file hosting friends, sounds like a feature that may be out of place. But at the same time this could allow private file sharing between groups of people other than just "friends" for easy access to important things. This could easily be seen as an attempt to link your Live ID with everything.

The design is very elegant and simple, and if you have had to host and move alot of files around like me, this is music to the ears. Click here, for a full size screen shot of the welcome page of SkyDrive. The design is simple and broken down to the bone, Personal Files, Shared Files, and Public Files. All of which have options on their privacy.

Uploading and downloading is also very simple, as you can see in this screen shot. The web address is provided if you would like to give it out to anyone for them to download your file. Once they reach the file or folder page, the download bottom is located right above the file. There is surprisingly no wait, no annoying image you have to type in or password to download the file. Just simply click "download" and the prompt to download will appear. Uploading is just as simple, allowing you to upload multiple files at once and then organize them in any way you wish.
Click here and try it out. You will probably be just as surprised as me. Or, also check out Microsoft Surface-Amazing Touch-screen Super Computer!

Spybot Search AND Destory!

Download Here


If you are looking for a great, small, quick and easy to use program to keep your computer protected from malicious programs, SpyBot Search and Destroy is your program. SpyBot has been around for years now as a free program, only accepting donations as the main source of income. In the last year SpyBot has been growing exponentially throughout the internet because of the quality of work it does. Thousands of reviewed and recognitions have been given to SpyBot for it's outstanding work in keeping our computers clean.


The program offers various features that are all free, including constant updates, scanning, "immunizing" and various other nifty things. A big upside is that SpyBot also provides backing up before any changes are made to impress a failsafe feeling. Personally I have used SpyBot for a very long time, it is a great program that finds almost if not as much as programs that you have to pay for. SpyBot even managed to clean out over one thousand malware problems on my friends computer saving it from the landfill. Okay, so obviously this is some quality free stuff, but let's talk about the features. As mentioned, the updates are usually around at least once a day, and give an option on where you download them from--even though they are small and take little time after your first update. The scanning can be described as not being the fastest, but very efficient and describes what each malicious program does and the risk level.

Finally, Spybot offers a continual protection called "Immunize." This feature protects you from most malicious software from being downloaded on your computer from just visiting websites. Protecting you from cookies, pop ups, and anything else that would try to install without your permission. Immunizing acts like a mini virus fish net protecting your computer from all forms of spyware trying to get through. This program is simple to use, has a great interface needing no guide on how to take advantage of it. To be honest I am surprised you are still reading this article and not downloading the great program to test for yourself ;).

Speed Up Your Windows Start Up

MSCONFIG, sounds like a complicated word used only by geeks, standing for Microsoft System Configuration Utility. That may be so, but it can also be easily used to your advantage too. Msconfig is a program that manages the programs in Window's start up, found in most versions of the Windows operating systems beyond 98. Before this, or in some occasions during this version, programs also used a folder named "start up" located deep within your hard drive to tell the computer to start when windows was loaded. More experienced users even use the "Registry Editor" to edit Start up, which I will write a guide on using later. Since msconfig is the most frequently used, let's look at Microsoft's lifesaver. If you are interested in the location of this start up folder, i have provided it's location in each operating system at the bottom of this post. You can remove anything you want in this folder, because none of these programs are associated internally with windows!

What does "managing windows start up" mean to you? A lot, this means that you will be able to get rid of some of the things that load on your computer when you log in that cause you to have to sit there and stare. If your computer seems to torture you endlessly by loading one program slowly at a time denying entertainment, heres a great solution. NOTE: You may need to be logged on as administrator, especially in Windows Vista (which may prompt for a password,) if possible have this information ready or be logged onto an admin account before proceeding.

How do we even start this program? Simple. If you are using Windows XP or earlier, click start and then click Run and type in "msconfig" click Ok. If you are using Windows Vista, go to start and in the search menu type in "msconfig", and click on the option that appears. The program should appear on screen and look similar to one of these two pictures, depending on your Windows Operating System.














There will be alot of options and words that aren't of our concern right now, for either version, click on Startup. Heres where its a little tricky, NOTE: IF YOU ARE IN DOUBT OF DISABLING ANYTHING, DO NOT DO IT, OR AT LEAST GOOGLE IT OR LOOK AT THE LINK BELOW! Some things could be important to Windows Start up and mess things up, although VERY unlikely. So first let's clear up some fog here before we adjust anything. Everything in this list is simply what starts up either at convenience to you, or it is necessary. For example: something at convenience would be AIM starting up on start up, or CD Burning Software. Unchecking these options in msconfig will not cause any problems, simply because all you are doing is removing the program from starting automatically when we don't want them to. They will load fine if you click on them later ;), I promise.

On the other hand, there are necessary programs. These are the programs that make up our Windows OS. For Vista, these programs probably won't even appear, and if you just glanced at the other tabs in the program on Vista, theres even an option to hide these programs labeled "Hide Windows Services." As you probably guessed, Windows Services are the programs that make up windows. In Windows XP and earlier versions, we aren't so lucky to have these options hidden from us already. So you must be somewhat careful, only removing the obvious even though very few that will probably show themselves allowing to be unchecked in your list. If your in too much doubt about which one is which, check out a great site with a library of processes here. This website includes the author of the program your searching for and whether or not it's even a virus. Either use the hotkey "ctrl+f" to find your process, or use the processes finder located on the right of the page.

Finally let's make our adjustments. This is quick and easy, because as I said before, to stop something from loading at startup, just uncheck it. Carefully make a mental note on everything you have unchecked and make sure you are sure about what you've done, and click apply then ok. You will be provided with a prompt asking to restart, save anything important and restart. When you restart, you will notice that these programs aren't starting up, and depending on how much you have installed, your boot up speed could easily double. Going from an annoying headache that subliminally tells you not to restart your computer because of the long wait, to 35 seconds from start to finish or even less!


Location of the Start Up Folder
(Note: May be in your normal Start Menu, check there first)
These Paths are assuming that Windows is located on your C drive.

Win9x/98/Me - C:\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp
WinNT/2K - C:\Winnt\Profiles\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp
WinXP - C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Start Menu\Programs\Startup

CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2008

Looking for a upper class program to protect your computer? Computer Associates (CA) may be able to help you out, for about $70.00. I have tested Internet Security Suite Plus 2008 bundle that CA offers, to get a feel for all of the programs they offer. The Security Suite comes with Anti-Virus, Anti-Spyware, Firewall,Anti-Spam, Anti-Phishing (my favorite tool ;),) and a $10,000 "coverage plan" to protect you from the world. Certainly all these features are more than enough for most users.

The entire program installed very smoothly being the only form of protection this computer would receive. Once installed, one may be surprised at the speed that your computer will load even with this program protecting every piece of information. CA loads effortlessly along with other start up programs causing seemingly no delay. Right-clicking on the CA icon next to the clock will bring up a menu with options to update, turn off various features for sets amount of time, or to bring up the home menu. The home menu is very user friendly making sure to notify you of any vulnerabilities such as old updates. From here you can access the Firewall, Anti-Virus,Anti-Spyware, and Spam features. Upon start up if you use software for your e-mail rather than the web you may notice that it will integrate with your e-mail program such as Outlook Express when you open it. CA will guide you through this and is very simple and effective as another spam filter.

CA's Firewall is great for anything you want a firewall to do. Offering to block, allow, or force programs to ask for permission to do anything, very similar to various competitor firewalls like Zone Alarm. CA will also allow you to change default settings and various levels of security involving cookies and protecting private information; all which be changed, or shut off. The entire firewall can be shut off just like all other sections of the Suite for whatever reason you may need to do so. The Anti-Virus software is on the slightly above average level. Usually constantly updating itself, has the same scan options as most Anti-Virus programs. The protection itself is a 3.5 out of 5 because it seemed to miss a few viruses on my computer until it had to do a full system scan to clean them. These malicious programs weren't detected a month ago. This should be watched for because all the components combined, should in theory stop everything from getting in let alone install on your computer. Which would make the scan options good for scanning unopened or compressed files.

The spyware protection is excellent, keeping out all malicious spyware programs for over a month now. The scan is pretty short and sweet, and cleaned out the infections that were already on the computer easily. Similar to the Anti-Virus, the spyware definition list is updated constantly, behaving like Panda's programs with updates sometimes more than 5 times a day. Overall the program is great, having little weight on your computers speed while protecting everything a computer user would need protected. The license covers installment for three users, more than likely enough for a household.

Only one issue that is somewhat annoying with the Spam program is that some compressed files will have their extensions edited into .EFWs. This is some kind of form of e-mail attachment, and files such as .RARs may be compressed or downloaded into this format automatically. Luckily this is merely just annoying, because now you will just have to right click these files and select "Open With" and pick your decompression program like Win RAR or WinZIP. This is a slightly common problem, and I am sure it won't take too long to be addressed. CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2008 receives a 9 out 10 for great protection and limited problems. I encourage those who use the computer frequently for business purposes, or store important information on their computer to purchase this program. CA will hardly slow anything down on your computer even for users with 512 mb of RAM. They will even pay liability if anything somehow does manage to get across your computer and wreak havoc, which is a nice way of saying "we've got your back".

Click here to view CA Internet Security Suite Plus 2008

Internet Explorer vs Firefox

Which browses faster? Which loads faster? Which one is all around better? Three defining questions to compare the two most popular web browsers asked by most internet users. Both have been around for quiet some time. Internet Explorer can be found default on all Windows OS's. But is Internet Explorer really any better? Sure it is made by the same company that made the operating system the majority of the world uses, but is it really better? Firefox has been growing exponentially for a long time over the last year or two. Some claim that Firefox is even more secure, even when put up against the latest IE(Internet Explorer.) Statistics show that Firefox is now the most popularly used web browser on the Internet. This is within the past 6 months though, with Firefox passing IE6 late in 2007.

IE7 comes with "Phishing Protection" and some other pretty small features. Compared to Firefox that is installed clean by default with almost no add-ons or features, but a great assortment are listed at Firefox.com and can be downloaded and applied. When you think about it, this is almost ideal for most users. Personally I find no use for the phishing filter in IE, and have found it only slows down the explorer overall. Phishing is when a website masks or pretends to be another website to obtain your personal information. Phishing has caused a phenomenal amount of problems, but can be avoided with common sense. The internet explorer filter does a great job of warning you of these websites, but they commonly fool only those who are gullible. If you find yourself like me, you will probably end up shutting off the filter to boost the loading speed of the browser entirely.

Put the two explorers side by side, and Firefox as a program will load faster than Internet Explorer. Firefox is purposely designed to be stripped of the commodities that are all strapped on by default to Internet Explorer. Firefox is also much more malleable to change settings to your desire as opposed to Internet Explorer, as you will notice in our Tweak section. Firefox is like that 1970s car that you could fix and change yourself. While Internet Explorer is a modern car, getting so advanced to try to stay ahead of the changing internet that most things are done for you automatically and bring it down. Sure for the most part most users wont change many settings when using these browsers, but for those who's computers don't have a big payload of RAM, like mine ;), Firefox is for sure a faster way to go when comparing the toll on your RAM. If your looking for the simple speed of web browsing, many will argue both ways. I personally would say, if you have more than enough RAM that your computer can act on the information it receives very quickly, Internet Explorer will load browsing pages faster.

Overall, Firefox is a great browser for all users, especially those without the highest quality computers. Being so efficient on all platforms accounts for alot of Firefox's popularity. Internet Explorer, especially version 7, I would recommend more for the middle class to higher end computers only, because it will browse faster in many cases. Also, sometimes Firefox will have problems loading certain java scripts, but this is very rare. Both IE and Firefox's browsing speed is very close and you probably wouldn't notice that great of a difference; unless your computer is noticeably slow in which case more than likely Firefox would be quite faster both loading and browsing. Firefox wins the only determinable competition; lowest impact on your computer while loaded. I go with Firefox for that reason, because the majority of internet users are a few steps behind the most modern computers out there. Remember my example, if you want that cool 70s car that can be twisted for your liking, Firefox. For those looking for a sleek modern design like a Lexus 08 able to handle every possible thing that comes at it, with a small compramise in memory usage, Internet Explorer.