PC Memoirs

With the emergence of the new downloading technology called torrent and its increasing popularity, I thought it would be a good idea to dedicate a post to this subject.

I’m sure we’ve all downloaded a fake file or two, or even more, while looking for that special audio or video file. You spend minutes (or hours, depending on how fast your connection is) and waste many MBs waiting for the file to get to your hard drive, only to find that the file is either not readable, not the one you wanted, or even worse: a disguised virus. There are many scammers who phish for people’s identities in order to steal money or just to damage their PCs.

So, how do you make sure you don’t download a fake torrent? Here are some tips for you:

1. Always read the comments. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and see if any users have left feedback on the file. I’ve seen many sites that include user comments that either praise the file and thank the host/uploader, or curse them because the audio/video is bad or the file is fake. If you see more than one negative comment, keep looking elsewhere.

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Today almost everyone uses one of the Big Three search engines: Google, Yahoo or Bing. But what about the rest? As you may know, there are others, obviously less popular, but good search engines. A friend of mine gave me the idea to search the Internet and see what else is available. Many years ago my favorite search engine was Infoseek, but somehow I switched to Google, and I don’t even remember when or how. It just happened.

Now, I wondered if Infoseek and other old engines still existed. I was sure there are more than just the Big Three. It turns out, there are many…

So here they are:

1. Ask – ask.com – Popular search engine that offers results groupings. Clean presentation of results and easy to read.
2. AOL – aol.com – America Online, very popular search engine in the US.
3. Ecosia – ecosia.org – A search engine that aims to protect the rain forests. Each search saves 2 square meters of forest.
4. Dogpile – dogpile.com – This metasearch engine displays results from the Big Three engines, Ask.com, About.com and several other popular search engines, including those from audio and video content providers.
5. Clusty – clusty.com – This deep Web engine helps you locate sites and articles that are usually tough to find.
6. Mahalo – mahalo.com – A human powered search engine, where editors review thousands of pages of content. You get fewer results but they are more relevent and better quality.
7. DuckDuckGo – duckduckgo.com – Here, all your answers are displayed on the first results page and there is less spam than on Google. This engine features help to clarify what you are really looking for.
8. Webopedia – webopedia.com – This is an encyclopedic resource dedicated to searching techno terminology and computer definitions. Great learning resource.
9. Cuil – cuil.com – Offers column format like a newspaper, and either tabbled and columned groups to help you search a topic. Doesn’t rank the results in the same way as Google.
10. Internet archive – archive.org – Offers snapshots of Web sites from the past. You can see how Web sites looked years ago.

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I just discovered new software that lets you create quality movies from your photos and videos. It’s called DVD Slideshow Builder, and there is a free version, which is intended for non-commercial use, and another, full version, which costs $59.95.

So, what is DVD Slideshow Builder? The program helps you turn your digital photos and videos into Hollywood-like movies, without any other software. All you have to do is import your photos and using pre-made movie styles, you can instantly create a DVD movie with titles, soundtrack and even special effects. It is very simple to use and the results are great!

You can add an unlimited amount of photos and create a professionally looking movie that tells the story behind the photos, in style! Think of it as a more advanced version of a slide show, but this looks better, sounds better and is more fun!

There are many movie styles to choose from, and they all make your photos look better and stand out. You can add one of these pre-made themes and even special effects, such as backgrounds, visual effects and animation. Your new movies will surely impress your audience.

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Unless you still use your Pentium 1 and Windows 95, you must have changed a few computers over the years. If you have done this, you may know that getting rid of old computers is not easy. You have to consider the security and environmental impacts when disposing of old hardware.

First, you need to make sure that you delete your private data from the hard drive, so no one can access it once you send your PC away. To do this, you should use a data wiping program. Darik’s Boot and Nuke (DBAN) is one of the best free utilities for overwriting your hard drive’s sectors and making data unrecoverable. Even specially trained forensic analysts will have a hard time recovering your data – that’s how secure it is.

If you are very concerned about your data, you can buy a degausser, which will magnetically erase all the information on the disks, but this option will cost you over $2,000. There are companies that will do this for you, but this is also quite expensive. This is aimed at businesses and corporations, who can afford this sort of thing.

A cheaper, and much more fun option involves taking the hammer and smashing the hard drive in pieces. Just make sure you wear protective goggles and clothing, and don’t hurt yourself.

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I was asked to create a PowerPoint presentation at work and teach a few colleagues the basics of Microsoft Excel. I didn’t have much time to make my own design, so I searched the Net for free PowerPoint templates.

A simple Google search returned many Web sites that offer nicely designed templates for free.

Here are my favorites:

• Free Power-Point Templates
• Indezine
• Free ppt templates
• Powered Templates
• Template Ready
• Free PPT Templates
• Smile Templates
• Presentation Point
• Digital Office Pro
• Slides Direct

I downloaded mine from fppt.com and the presentation was a big success!