CyberCoyote - September, 2006

NEWS, NOTES and NOTICES

The latest "Smart Computing" Newsletter is also online. Enjoy a sample of their "written-in-plain-English" tips and articles.
http://cybercoyote.org/articles/smart.shtml

TIPS and TOPICS

Advice on upgrading to IE7 - RC1 | ZDNet:
You may have been thinking about trying IE7, Microsoft's upgrade of Internet Explorer 6. It's still not released -- RC1 means the first release "candidate" -- but it's matured enough to be fairly safe to try.

I upgraded to Internet Explorer 7 the other day, and I think it's much improved from IE6. It does take a little getting used to. Don't worry, IE7 won't make me want to switch back from Firefox though. :-)

If you're interested, it might be time to try IE7. Consider Ed's advice first, and then be sure to follow Microsoft's instructions if you decide to install IE7 - RC1.
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=122 -- upgrade or not? http://cybercoyote.org/url/214.html -- Ford Pinto?

Tabblo is a new photo editing, storing, printing, and sharing website. It's best feature may be it's quick, easy-to-use interface.
http://ptech.wsj.com/archive/solution-20060621.html

COMPUTING

Some new hard drives have gigantic capacity -- 750 GB for a recent entry. How do they do it? The secret is "perpendicular recording".
http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/research/recording_head/pr/

Letterman's tribute to Bill Gates and Microsoft [better with broadband]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NoGbLI3ePA

"Don't put all your eggs in one basket." The risks are obvious in a agricultural context. Risks to your backups may be less apparent. CDs deteriorate or get lost. DVDs are probably even less robust. Hard drives crash. Floppys are a joke. If you only have one backup of your important data you're living dangerously.

Online storage is a good way to diversify your backup methods (and physical locations). PCWorld.com recently published a report on free and low-cost online storage.
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,125729,00.asp -- 17 services
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/article/0,aid,125949,00.asp -- comparisons
http://www.box.net/ -- one that I like
http://cybercoyote.org/url/190.html -- how to use Box.net

"Dirty little secret of the Laptop Industry"
http://cybercoyote.org/url/191.html

"Please don't send me Microsoft Word documents" :-) Tristan Miller explains why it can be the wrong thing to do, and gives some alternatives.
http://www.nothingisreal.com/dfki/no-word

SECURITY

Intel WiFi has been breached: If you have a Centrino sticker on your laptop, you'll probably want to fix the breach.
http://cybercoyote.org/url/208.html

Jessica hijacked: Beauty is only skin deep, but bad goes clear to the bone. :-)
http://stopbadware.org/reports/reportdisplay?reportname=jessica -- report
http://stopbadware.org/home/reports -- home

Link updated: I've changed my personal approach to online security, and I've used a new way to present it. I also updated the webpage on WiFi and Hotspot security.
http://cybercoyote.org/security/pro-part1.shtml
http://cybercoyote.org/security/wi-fi.shtml -- WiFi & hotspots

INTERNET

Google has a spiffy new WiFi hotspot finder. Just select "United States" and enter 85374 as your Zip to get an example.
http://hotspot.live.com/web/SearchView.aspx

Explore Arizona -- maps and more:
http://www.squidoo.com/arizonamaps/ -- maps of Arizona
http://www.ghosttowngallery.com/htme/bisbee.htm -- Bisbee
http://www.ghosttowns.com/states/az/vulturecity.html -- Vulture

ECLECTIC

Remember the days?
http://cybercoyote.org/url/213.html

"Iditarod legend passes..." | SI.com
http://cybercoyote.org/url/203.html

Life in miniature. Be sure to click the "next page" links at the bottom of each page. [a Larry Stanford find]
http://community-2.webtv.net/Velpics/HUM/

Sunrise in Toronto -- wait a bit for the lower image to fully load and then follow the instructions.
http://cybercoyote.org/url/212.html

I like pithy statements. :^) One of the best was about Steve Wolf, a friend of mine. Steve is a natural born aviator. He also designs and builds unique custom airplanes. After 30 years as a well-known air show performer, some of his friends talked Steve into entering an IAC meet.

As you might guess, there was special coverage of his first aerobatics competition. It was a good story, which included mention of a couple of flaws in Steve's performance, and ended with "But, the man can fly."
http://www.wolfpitts.com/index.html -- a whole new website
http://www.java.com/en/everywhere/airportmonitor.jsp -- the other extreme (play air traffic controller -- try the 40 mile radius)