When available, always use custom install options as more and more freeware authors (even well known authors) are using installation wrappers which may try to install other options you may not want. Many require opting out by unchecking those options. Be careful.
Scott Hanselman has made an outstanding instructional video on how to use Windows 8. He covers just about everything you need to know about how to use the new operating system.
On a Windows PC simply get Google Chrome Canary which is the developers version of Chrome.
Invoke Canary and go to your settings and choose OPEN ASH DESKTOP (CTRL+SHIFT+A). A ChromeOS Window opens.
The Chrome Canary channel lets you install a version of Chrome with the latest bleeding edge (and possibly broken) features as a separate web browser. In other words, you can have Chrome stable and Chrome canary running on the same computer.
ChocolateyGUI is like apt-get, but built with Windows in mind. For those unfamiliar with Linux apt/debian, think about chocolatey as a Windows program repository that is a global silent installer for applications and tools. It can also do configuration tasks and anything that you can do with PowerShell.
There are over 800 program packages available and growing fast. ChocolateyGUI is a nice GUI on top of the chocolatey commanline tool. It let's you install, upgrade and uninstall packages. It shows you the available packages and it shows the installed packeges. It shows all the information about a package.
To install ChocolateyGUI, run the following command from the command line or from PowerShell: C:\> cinst ChocolateyGUI. Requires .NET Framework 4.0 and PowerShell 2.0+. Win XP/Vista/7/2003/2008.
Why use Chocolatey? One of the reasons Windows picks up malware is the fact that available programs are collected from all kinds of websites, some of which have bad intentions. Linux and Apple offers repositories for programs that are malware free. Chocolatey is now a repository for Windows machines and developers can submit their own packages to Chocolatey which is the only reason to register at Chocolatey.
Most of the programs listed on BearWare are contained in the Chocolatey repositories. This is a fantastic tool for safely installing/uninstalling great programs.
Chocolatey, unlike Ninite, is community driven and does allow packages for some payware. Both Ninite and Chocolatey do suffer a bit keeping programs in the repositories updated, however, once installed most programs will check for updates or have the option to check. Ninite also only has about 90 packages and does not take community submissions.
Windows software management is a tedious business. If you want to download a particular program, you have to find the relevant website, then the download link, save the file locally, grab any other components the program might need, and install everything in the right order. You’ll need to start again for every new program. And they’ll all have their own procedures for updating, or uninstalling.
What if you could automate all of this, though? Manage downloads, updates and everything else, just with a few keypresses? That’s the aim of Chocolatey, a tool which brings Linux-like package management to the PC.
The GUI manages the repository for you, but if you like or comfortable with the command line, installing programs is as simple as using the “cinst” command. Would you like a copy of Skype, for instance? Type “cinst skype” (less the quotes), press Enter, and Chocolatey will handle the rest. Or try “cinst keepas” to install KeePass Password Manager, “cinst procexp” for Process Explorer, “cinst gimp” for the GIMP image editor, and more. (Enter “clist” at the command line for the full list of packages, or use “clist | clip” to copy the list to the clipboard).
This isn’t just a matter of downloading an installation file and leaving you to do the rest, either. If a program needs something else installing before it’ll work, Chocolatey will grab that first. And as long as the application allows it, installation is silent – there’s no working your way through some tedious setup program.
Better still, Chocolatey can also handle updates for you. So if you need the latest version of Firefox, just enter “chocolatey update firefox” (or “cup firefox” for short) and it’ll be downloaded and installed.
Or, if you really want to save time, using “cup all” will check everything you’ve installed via Chocolatey and update it to the latest version.
Choose the App Bump from Google Play and install it on your phone. Bump now also works with computers, as well as, sharing files with other phones that have Bump installed. Photos, videos, files, everything. Just go to http://bu.mp on your computer web browser. No setup required, just follow the instructions on the website.
Use Bump to share contact information, photos, videos, and files by opening Bump on your phone, choosing the files you wish to transfer, and on your computer's browser navigate to http://bu.mp and while holding your phone, simply bump your computers spacebar (or just about anything on your computer) (or by bumping two phones together to share between phones) -- Bump will magically do all the rest.
"Your computer is blocked!" - Not something you enjoy seeing when using it. Unfortunately thousands of PC users worldwide find themselves in a situation where, all of a sudden their computer is unusable unless they pay a fee to unlock it. The FBI or a similar national law enforcement organization seems to claim that access to the computer has been restricted. Read the Rest of the Article by Emsisoft
Bear says: Not a problem if you do two things. This is the case for all malware issues.
Have a current pristine image of all your partitions and have backups of all of your data in the cloud and on an external HD.
The best and only reliable method of having a current pristine image is to start with a new system installation (never used) and install all of your programs and updates. Make an image of all partitions. Use that system until you desire to install additional software and/or enough updates warrant a new image update. When that happens, reload your known pristine image, install your program(s) and/or your updates. Once done, make a new pristine image and use that system until the next time you need to install or update. Never image a system you have been using.
If you have your data backed-up (at least daily) on an external hard drive and/or Cloud storage, no one can ransom it. If you have any sensitive data, it must be encrypted on your system, external hard drive and Cloud services. (Seriously sensitive data should not be stored on any computer connected to the Internet.) IMO it is important to duplicate your data on external hard drives and Cloud Storage as some Encryption Ransomware will encrypt all drives connected to the computer then ransom the decryption key to you. If you use an external hard drive and leave it connected to your computer when you become infected with encryption type Ransomware, it may be encrypted and held for ransom also. I use two external hard drives. One always connected to the computer for routine backups and a second which I use to manually backup that external hard drive and never leave it connected to my computer.
If you encounter Ransomware or any malware for that matter, immediately shutdown your computer, disconnect from the Internet and restore your pristine image and then recover your data. You are now back to a known clean pristine system.
You defeat Ransomware or any Malware with this process. No need to call for help, seek out the neighborhood guru, or take your computer to a shop for repairs. You can easily do this yourself - anyone can.
A security plan that first covers recovery, and data protection is key.
Have a current image of your operating system and files stored on an external hard drive.
Backup your data on an external hard drive or off-site regularly preferably in real-time.
Use a Anti-Keylogger.
Have a Identity Theft Plan.
Have a financial transaction plan such as PayPal or MyProtect (especially with Credit/Debit cards.) Anything truly sensitive, keep it encrypted and off of any computer that is connected to the net.
Use anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewall tools to help reduce events requiring recovery from malware. Just about any of the top free tools are good enough. Just remember, the bad guys are always one step ahead and there are no silver bullets for 100% protection.
Your computer being hosed beyond use or a critical hardware failure is not the most important issue. An image of your system or a hardware component replacement easily remedies that. The issue is protecting yourself from financial harm, sensitive data being compromised, or data loss.
A complete detailed presentation with additional information is contained in:
Google Drive lets you publish a directory as a website. You can insert static web assets such as HTML, CSS, and image files in a publicly shared folder, and then serve those files directly to users via file names in a relative path. Drive supports JavaScript and other client-side scripting languages, so it's even possible to run a JavaScript Drive app directly from Drive.
The requirements to publish are:
To create a public folder programmatically, you'll need to insert a "file" of the MIME type application/vnd.google-apps.folder (a type reserved for folders in Drive) and then set the appropriate permissions. The account type must be set to anyone, and the role must be reader. The following samples demonstrate how to create a public folder using the supported client libraries.
Site44 is a web service that provides an easy and fast way to publish static HTML files to the web by linking the contents of a special folder in your Dropbox account to its optimized hosting platform. One of the obvious advantages of using Site44 is the integration with Dropbox. Your Dropbox is your hosting platform. And because of this, editing website contents has never become that easy. Changes to the files on Dropbox automatically appears on your website within seconds. No more FTP headaches, and no more publishing hassles.
GoogleTalk has Video and Voice chat which you can easily use through Gmail. Users of Gmail in the USA can now make and receive free telephone calls from their computers, communicating with any other telephone. A VOIP softphone for your computer.
To make telephone calls you should install Voice and Video chat plug-in to Google Chat in Gmail. To receive telephone calls you need a free Google Voice phone number and in Google Voice's voice settings/phone tab, check Google chat. If you have a webcam, you now also have a Video Softphone. Even if your friend doesn't have a video camera, you can still have a voice phone or a 1-way video phone.
If you do not already have a full Google Voice account, you must upgrade your Gmail account before receiving phone calls in Gmail. This process is free and gives you access to additional Google Voice features such as one Google Voice number that rings all your phones and voicemail transcription and more.
GMAIL Google Talk Google Voice
Note: upgrading to Google Voice requires a valid US number to get started.
Tip: If you download the GoogleVoice App to your Android phone and in settings select to always call with Google Voice, then (if necessary) add your Google Voice number to your 'friends' list with your Cellular provider prevents call minutes. Your calls will be made via Google Voice through your data plan.
Tip: Inbound calls through your Google Voice number may be recorded simply by pressing 4 on your dialpad. Recording outbound calls is not directly supported but can be done using a Call Widget created in your Google Voice Settings. Create a Call Widget, save the code in a text file with the html extension and when you wish to record an outbound call, open the file, click the call me button and insert the number you wish to call. Google voice will connect with the person you called, then connect to you. You can then press 4 on your dial pad and the call will be recorded and placed in your Google Voice mail. In both cases, an announcement "this call is being recorded" will be made which cannot be prevented.
Click on the source link below both graphs and you can change the statistic from Browser to Browser Version, Browser Version (Partially Combined), Mobile Browser, Operating System, Mobile OS, Search Engine, Mobile Search, Mobile vs. Desktop, Screen Resolution, Mobile Screen Resolution, Social Media, Digg vs Reddit, or Mobile Vendor (Beta).
BearWare indirectly began development in 1980 when I purchased my first computer, created from a list of freeware I maintained prior to it. One of my interests has been free applications or services for PC's and I've maintained due vigilance to find, research and document the best for my own personal repository. If I discover better software for a category, I replace the current holder of that category.
Friends, family and coworkers discovered I maintained such a list and requested that I send the file to them every time I updated it. As I frequently updated the list, I created a website for those who wished the data. Bearware's theme lists the best freeware and services in category, easy navigation, no ads, and no pop-ups or monetization of any kind. It's primarily a tool for my use which I share as others may find it useful.