*CyberCoyote - February 7, 2008*

NEWS, NOTES and NOTICES

*OneNote*
Kathy Jacobs, Microsoft MVP (expert), was here to regale us with Microsoft OneNote. It's one way to get organized and get the scraps of paper out of your life. OneNote is part of Microsoft Office - Home and Student version and is also available as a standalone program. It's obvious that it's good. You can learn more at her website. I've also provided a link to an alternative (ZoHo) and if you're mostly interested in capturing stuff online, take a look at Google Notebook.
http://tinyurl.com/33fsqx -- Kathy's notes about OneNote
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/onenote/default.aspx
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,134756/article.html -- ZoHo
http://www.google.com/notebook/ -- Google Notebook

*SP1 for Windows Vista*
According to the Windows Vista Team Blog, "In mid-April, we will begin delivering Windows Vista SP1 to Windows Vista customers who have chosen to have updates downloaded automatically. That said, any system that Windows Update determines has a driver known to not update successfully will not get SP1 automatically. As updates for these drivers become available, they will be installed automatically by Windows Update, which will unblock these systems from getting Service Pack 1..."
http://tinyurl.com/2au56m -- Vista Team Blog
http://www.winsupersite.com/faq/vista_sp1.asp -- the faqs
http://tinyurl.com/2as2dk -- behind the scenes
(Don't feel obligated to click all these links. They just help me archive this point in time.) :-)

TIPS, TOPICS and TWEAKS

*MicroHoo*
John C. Dvorak is a cranky sort, but his pessimistic analysis of Microsoft's offer to buy Yahoo! is close to the online consensus. I predict that Europe (the EU) will throw up a roadblock that further bobbles, if not blocks, the purchase.
http://tinyurl.com/2fzp5a -- Dvorak
http://tinyurl.com/2e7hq9 -- the Google angle

*Clearing Up Some of the Confusion Over HDTV*
Too much HDTV buzzword bingo for you? Some straight talk from Steve at Best Buy cuts to the basics. He was interviewed by David Pogue.
http://tinyurl.com/35mct4 -- the interview

*Skeptical Computing*
You need what I call "web smarts" -- the equivalent of "street smarts" -- to be safe online. There are other things too, but only a firewall is more important. (I cover web smarts in Step 6, "Staying Informed," of my 7-step security plan.)

The short article on malware prevention in "Ars Technica", by Adam Baratz and Charles McLaughlin, is about "skeptical computing", which is their take on web smarts. Here's part of what they say:

"The easiest way to deal with malware is to not get it in the first place. A little bit of common sense helps, but experience goes a lot farther. Experienced computer users, like it or not, hopefully possess the common sense that will let them avert potential disasters.

"This edge can be acquired. The distinction is largely one of attitude, one which for lack of a better term I'll call "skeptical computing." We can examine this attitude and see how it reacts to common sources of trouble."
http://tinyurl.com/qpn6g -- the article
http://tinyurl.com/2xruqm -- the context
http://cybercoyote.org/security/step6.shtml -- "Staying Informed"

ODDS and ENDS

*Goliath Grouper*
Complete with fan club.
http://tinyurl.com/2wl6kq

*Advances in Packaging*
http://tinyurl.com/2sqa54

*Child Abuse*
http://tinyurl.com/372asp

*That's all, folks.*

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