PC Memoirs

Free wi-fi networks have become much more common as more businesses have started to add this perk for their customers. It’s convenient to be able to check your e-mail or do some research while you’re enjoying a hot coffee and scone. However, while these wi-fi hot spots make it easy for you to log in while you’re out and about, they also pose great security risks for your personal data.

Many public wi-fi spots are not protected, and hackers can easily steal your personal data or try to attack your computer or mobile device with spyware or malware. It is important to learn how to use these networks securely so you can protect your data while also enjoying the convenience of connecting when you are away from home.

Here’s how you can use wi-fi networks without compromising your data:

Activate Your Firewall

Your firewall is your first level of protection whether you are connecting to the Internet at home or on a public network. While your firewall won’t make your computer invincible to attacks (don’t feel too overconfident and start downloading programs from untrusted sources), it will provide a strong barrier between your computer and malicious programs.

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As malware continues to evolve and becomes more difficult to detect, the best Internet security strategy is to try to avoid it altogether.  In order to do this, it is important to know where malnet operators prefer to host their malware.  There are a variety of different methods they use. However, there are some which have proven to be particularly dangerous for the average Internet user.  One thing to keep in mind is that they often rely on hacked websites, which makes detecting malware and where it came from difficult, even for Internet security experts.

Malvertising

A recent Internet security risk is a technique known as malvertising.  Essentially, the malnet operator tricks ad networks into serving malicious ads.  This technique is becoming more common as demonstrated by the 50% increase in reported cases since 2010.  What makes this technique so dangerous for Internet users is that these ads are posted on legitimate, trusted websites.  Moreover paid advertising now exists on more than 90% of all websites.  The current trend is to display an ad for a fake anti-virus scanner or use drive by downloads.

Software downloads

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Photography is a hobby for some and a passion for so many. Seeing how media dominates most spheres of our lives, photography has taken center stage like never before. The success of Instagram is an indication of how much in love we are with our images and the image capturing process. There are applications and software, free tools and dedicated websites to help us make better pictures. If you so choose, you can add effects, texts and other features using the large amount of help you will find online.

Today we take a look at two such options- Adobe’s Photoshop and Apple’s Aperture. At a basic level both are image editing software that let you edit your pictures to make them better. This is a huge similarity but where they differ is how seriously they take their photography.

Photoshop offers almost unlimited options to change pictures to make them look better. A simple visit to the website will tell you of the many different options the site offers. For instance when you combine Photoshop with Adobe Lightroom, you can do so much more than edit and convert. You can store and organize pictures and ensure everything is easy to find. Lightroom can be used to make adjustments and conversions all over the picture. In Photoshop, you can use tools to make specific changes and to polish and sharpen images.

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‘Charm’ and ‘Metro’ are buzzing and they are buzzing hard. With Windows 8 out, you’d want to give it a try but there may be a lot of factors that stop you from doing so. Before we explain how to dual boot Windows 7 and Windows 8, let’s look at them individually.

Windows 7

After months of testing and public betas, Microsoft released Windows 7 in July, 2009. The operating system was received well and although it had some compatibility issues, developers strived hard and almost all major applications were fixed. There were a lot of changes to the core applications and a service pack was released in 2010. The operating system was available in both 32 and 64 bit versions.

Windows 8

After 3 years, Microsoft released Windows 8. It was a bold and a daring move by the company. The one thing that was common in all versions of Windows, starting from Windows 95 was the Start menu. With Windows 8, the entire layout, design and the functionality has been changed. A new theme called Metro Style has also been introduced. It may take a while before you get used to the redesigned Start screen. If you are a professional, who makes a living by designing or developing content, you may experience trouble when the tool you use isn’t compatible with Windows 8.

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No one can deny the fact that Windows is one of the widely used operating systems (OS), but if we talk about data safety and security, then Linux is in the same range and also available for an affordable price. Virus infection and other system threats are common with Windows OS bases systems, but Linux OS based computers are considered as more secure and reliable. This is the reason organizations prefer to have Linux systems. However, despite the robust nature of Linux OS, there are times when Linux users encounter severe data loss due to accidental deletion and system crash. In such situations, use of an efficient Linux data recovery software is preferred.

If you search over the Internet, then you will find many tools that recover lost, deleted, or formatted data from Linux based systems. Among these tools, one of the most efficient and highly recommended software is Stellar Phoenix Linux Data Recovery. This software has easily understandable user interface and for recovery of your lost, deleted, or formatted data and it provides four very simple options under ‘Data Recovery’ tab. The brief description of these options is explained below:

Quick Recovery: The very first option provided under ‘Data Recovery’ tab is ‘Quick Recovery’. This scanning method performs quick scanning of selected volume formatted in FAT, ext2, ext3, and ext4 file system. This scanning method is relatively quick and effective and lets you select only one volume at a time for scanning and data recovery.

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