A Tip to Protect Your Computer

You may not know it, but at this moment your computer is most likely being crawled by Internet bots. What are these software applications doing? They are scanning your machine, dropping snippets of code on to it and watching your surfing habits. Generally these bots are sending information back to numerous companies in an effort to market to you more efficiently. The good news is you can fight back against the bots by installing a couple of free programs that will remove their malware.

I have been running both programs on my machines because they seem to work differently and catch unique items. Note: These programs are not virus protection software; they are programs designed to only remove bots from your machine.

Spybot Search and Destroy
http://spybot.com

Ad Aware
http://lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

Did you find a bunch of bots after you ran the software?

Skype to the Rescue

With Skype I am able to call anywhere in the USA for $3 a month (even less if I pay for a year at one time). But does it work? Find out the skinny on this great free web communication tool.

Explore the world of Skype.
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Free MIT Course Onlines

So did you always want to graduate from MIT, but you couldn’t afford it? Well they aren’t handing out honorary degrees, but MIT is putting all their class material online for free. I was reading U.S. News and World Report the other day and stumbled across an article on things you should do in 2008. One of them was getting a complimentary Ivy League education by watching video lectures, downloading class notes and assignments from MIT.

MIT Open Course Ware

Free conference calls

Save time and money by conducting your next staff meeting on Free Conference. I have been using this service for years and I truly think it is convenient. The website is easy to use and if your staff has extra cellphone minutes to use then it’s ideal. You simply create an online account, choose the “free” option, and then choose the duration of your call. The website will generate a confirmation page that will list the long distance phone number and the time everyone needs to dial in.

Has anyone used this service? How do you rate it?
http://www.freeconference.com

Share the love!

Post your engagement, wedding or birth announcements on the web for the world to see. GHQ offers a free announcement service giving you the ability to post a picture and blurb about the special occasion. Try it out for yourself or a friend.

http://www.ghq.com/

Caption Bubble

Surprise your friends by sending them a special picture. You can attach your caption to a funny picture of your choice or use one from their website.
The website gives you the ability to enter in your own messages that appear in bubbles above your pictures.

http://captionbubble.com

Government Sites Help

When I was a kid, I sent away for a free Government directory that was an incredible list of free services offered by Uncle Sam. I had to write my name neatly on a 5″ x 8″ card, put in the mail and wait 3-5 weeks for my catalog. Today that has all changed with the Internet, now I can just logon to the net and get even more information. Here is a listing of great government sites that I recently found in my local newspaper. The hub of all these sites listed below is the Federal Citizen Information Center website.

Federal Citizen Information Center
Find out information on cars, computers, education, employment, family, federal programs, food, health, housing, money, small business, travel, consumer help, protecting children, recalls, scam and frauds.
pueblo.gsa.gov

Consumer Product Safety Commission
This is where you can find out about product safety and product recalls.
cpsc.gov

Caring For Aging Parents
Federal Trade Commission
Get up-to-date information on how to deter fraud against the elderly and long-term health care.
ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/services/apact/index.html

Protecting Children
Discover how you can control what information your children see.
ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/online/kidsprivacy.htm

Pension and Health Care
Find out tips on how to get the most benefits.
dol.gov/ebsa/publications/protecting_benefits.html

Air Travel
Learn how to travel efficiently.
airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/pubs.htm