Chet Davis - Your Technology Tutor

If a website or email asks, don't press that 'F1' key!

Microsoft has warned about the threat against those using older versions of Windows Operating System on their computer -- notably Windows 2000, Windows-XP and Windows Server 2003-based systems. Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows Server 2008 are not affected.

The other factor in this new threat is using Internet Explorer (the web browser).   The issue is a situation where the cyber attacker takes control of your computer - and is triggered when you follow on-screen instructions from a website, internet dialog box or possibly even an email message that asks you to press Function Key F1. 

The Microsoft Security Research and Defense Blog entry provides detailed information about this potential threat to your computer -- the easiest way to avoid becoming a victim is to refrain from pressing the F1 key and logging out of your Windows session.

Wal-mart Enters Online Entertainment Arena

Wal-Mart, the nations largest retailer,  plans to acquire Vudu, an online video service that offers movies to buy and rent through partnerships with makers of Internet-connected televisions and Blu-ray players.

The fact that Wal-mart has their eyes (and their pocket-book) on Vudu suggests to me they must be doing some things very well, and that Vudu stands poised for a successful future.

One of the primary factors that sets Vudu apart from another streaming video provider - Netflix - is the fact that Vudu is available without a monthly subscription or contract. You can rent or buy high definition and standard definition movies on what is essentially a pay per view system. As they put it "only pay for what you watch".

Ok - but how do you 'get' or access Vudu? There are two methods to access their movies & programs:
1. VUDU is now available built into products from LG and Mitsubishi (DVD players and TV monitors)

2. Or you can use a 'Vudu' box -- they have two models:

• The VUDU box ($149.00) may be purchased at Best Buy

• The VUDU XL model ($499.00), designed for high end home theaters, is available only through our authorized installers.

You can learn more about Vudu from their website:  http://www.vudu.com/

Google Announces the Future of Ultra High-Speed Internet!

News this week from the Google campus in California is exciting for those of us who use the internet for business, for communicating with family & friends, for sharing photos and viewing streaming movies... for pretty much everything and anything.

  We are likely already accustomed to the speed of our internet connection being sometimes slower than we would like -- I think there is this, oh I wish it would hurry up but I can just start the download/streaming video and come back later when it's done.

Google's announcement this week is that they are stepping into the ISP business, and in a fast way (read speedy!). They are planning to build and test ultra high-speed internet broadband networks in a number of areas around the country. 

 The plan is to offer 1 gigabit per second speed using fiber optic connection to your home. To give you a sense of the speed increase we are talking about, think 100 times faster than your current internet connection!  In another way, this speed/service would allow you to download a high-definition, full-length feature film in less than five minutes.

This suggests to me that Google has either on the drawing board or already in development a bag of cool applications or improvements to existing applications to take advantage of this higher speed delivery system.

In fact they point to some of the possibilities on their Google Blog:

Next generation apps: We want to see what developers and users can do with ultra high-speeds, whether it's creating new bandwidth-intensive "killer apps" and services, or other uses we can't yet imagine.

Imagine sitting in a rural health clinic, streaming three-dimensional medical imaging over the web and discussing a unique condition with a specialist in New York. Or collaborating with classmates around the world while watching live 3-D video of a university lecture

You can read more about Google's plans and proposals for enhanced, speedy internet service on the Google Blog - click here

The Mother of all Technology Demonstrations

I think today's article is a great way to close out a year -- by looking back at a fundamental piece of our technological past.

Last week I ran an article highlighting another blogger's 'history of the internet'. A comment inquired why she had not included any mention of what has been called the 'mother of all demos'.

This refers to a public demonstration made in 1968 by a group of technologists at Stanford Research Institute in California. In their 90-minute demonstration the world got their first view of the (computer) mouse, hypertext (which was the impetus for the way your internet browser sees other computers' pages), and more. 

It is very dated but it is an amazing piece of technology history and it is captured on film and is online for us all to view.  If you ponder that this was a little more than 30 years ago it is pretty amazing the advances we have made (and the genius behind these technologies).

From the host website:  The original 100-minute video of this event is part of the Engelbart Collection in Special Collections of Stanford University. This original video has been edited into 35 segments and reformatted as Flash streaming video clips. There is a brief abstract of the subject matter treated in each segment.

You can check out this bit of history here: Doug Engelbart 1968 Demo

Your Most Important Software: Your Web Browser?

By Chet Davis

I read a good article on the Official Google Blog recently that caused me to think about the most important software on our computer/s.  And as Jeffrey Chang, Associate Product Manager, Google Chrome Team and other on-line authors put it... this may very well be your web browser.

It is the web browser that is your conduit, your gateway, your toolbox that allows and facilitates your passage and travel on and around the internet.  And with all the recent developments in on-line tools like the Browser based email, computing in the 'cloud' (Google Apps), On-line Photo Editing & Sharing as well as the growing concern over data and identity security it is perhaps more important than ever to have a updated web browser.


As Jeffrey Chang mentions in his article: "Most browsers have released major updates over the past year, and to ensure your family is getting the most speed and security out of their web experience, you can help your family upgrade to the latest version of Google Chrome, Firefox 3.5, Opera 10, Safari 4, or Internet Explorer 8 — just to name a few modern browsers."

Mozilla Firefox remains my preferred browser -- but I have friends and colleagues who prefer IE (Internet Explorer) and my wife uses Safari.  A few friends have started using Google Chrome as well.

You can read more about the current round of web browser software on this page published by Top Ten Reviews: Internet Browser Software Review
They provide a nice summary and a thorough checklist for the features and benefits available in the most common web browsers.

Merry Christmas! (with some online holiday fun)

To you and your loved ones I wish a very Merry Christmas!

If you should find yourself with a little time on your hands and looking for some fun online today... here are a couple of suggestions from Your Technology Tutor:

Make A Snowflake

Remember when you were a kid and you would fold up a piece of paper, cut patterns, unfold and then  look at your 'snowflake'?  Well your kids (and you) can do that online without any paper trimming!  Visit the Make-a-Flake website, click on 'Make Your Own Snowflake'. Then maneuver the scissors icon to where you wan to cut... click to begin, then click again and again to make a pattern/cut. Click Preview and your paper will unfold and show your work.  You can even save to the online gallery for other to view.  Cool!

Northpole.com

Here is a website www.NorthPole.com that had more than 10 million visitors last Christmas.  It is a website that first debuted on the Web in 1996.  It's one purpose is "to provide all of our visitors an enriched Christmas experience through a totally child-safe, innovative, imaginative, and yet traditional holiday website"  You and your youngens can click on the different buildings at the 'North Pole' and play a number of different Christmas activities.

101 Christmas 'Classics' Online

Came across this website just this past week, and although it was created some 3 years ago and some of the links to the online videos/movies are dead, there are some fun things to watch all broug

ht together here.  It's a cool list, broken down by different groups of these video shorts (and longer clips) that are found online... here is a sampling of the groups that are listed:

The Essentials

Cartoons

Stop-Motion Animation (Claymation)

Versions of 'A Christmas Carol'

Sitcoms

Music Videos

Christmas 'Radio'

Lastly, here is a link that provides non-stop Christmas music for your holiday enjoyment:

Christmas Radio  Simply click on one of the links (at the right side of the webpage) for the computer  application that you have available to hear Christmas music play from your computer.

The History of the Internet - Condensed (and with cool pics)

By Chet Davis

Thanks to Cameron Chapman at the Six Revisions website we can take a nicely cataloged walk down memory lane... a relatively short memory lane as far as years go -- and if you compare it to other history, but a huge leap back in time in terms of function and capability. 

Cameron's article (originally posted in November of this year) highlights the history of the Internet.  It is a fun glimpse back at some of the foundational moments and developments in that 'thing' many of us use so regularly.

Some of my favorite mentions are the advent of Netscape Navigator in 1994 (picture at left). 

This was not the first but one of the most popular of the new group of software tools that enabled your computer to pull together the code transferred over the internet to make read-able text and images.

I also enjoyed seeing the beta screen of Google way back in 1998 ( way back... wow, that's amazing that Google has become such a powerful force in our society in just 11 years!).

You can read this article (and view the cool screen shots) at the Six Revisions website.

("Six Revisions is a website that publishes practical and useful articles for designers and web developers. We seek to present exceptional, noteworthy tips, tutorials, and resources that the modern web professional will appreciate")

Ever Worked In a Cloud Before? City of L.A. Employees Begin Today

I first learned of the term 'computing in the cloud' a few years ago and have always liked the idea... over-simplified, this is where you use the internet to work on documents, email, etc.  The file/s is not stored on your local computer (hard-drive) but is on a server out 'in the cloud'. 

This makes great sense if you bounce around from different locations and need/want to access the same documents or information.  Services like Go To My PC help in this regard - but there are other companies who have really been working on this cloud computing idea and one company who has given it lots of attention is Google. 

Many of us are already using a browser based email service - if you use Yahoo, Gmail, etc. It's the same idea but you use productivity applications like word processing,

I have used it in the last few weeks and find the applications work nicely - there is not (yet) as many features and options as you would have in say a Microsoft Word or Apple Pages application but more than enough tools to handle many 'simple', regular projects.

To access Google Docs, you simply need a Google account (free) and once you log in, go to the pull down menu under 'More' and select 'Documents'.

You see in the menu on the left you can create Documents, Presentations (think PowerPoint or Keynote), Spreadsheet (Excel or Numbers), and forms.


Today, a huge entity began using Google Documents: the City of Los Angeles.

From the Google Blog:  Starting today, Los Angeles will be equipping 34,000 city employees with Google Apps for email and collaboration in the cloud.The story of Los Angeles moving to Google Apps started early this year, when the city's Chief Technology Officer, Randi Levin, and her team at the Information Technology Agency (ITA) looked to replace their aging, on-premise system with more secure, productivity-focused technology.

Employees will have a new avenue for collaboration with Google Apps in the cloud: sharing docs, sites and videos and editing them together in real time as they work on making the city run more smoothly and efficiently and thus better serving Angelenos city-wide. Furthermore, Randi and her team realized that moving to Apps would mean less taxpayer money spent on IT — valuable budget that can be rededicated to other city efforts over the next few years.

You can read more about the city-wide implementation of Google Docs into Los Angeles and view a short 3 minute video on the project on the Official Google Blog.

Free Holiday Music packaged in a new 'iTunes LP' from Apple

For a limited time, Apple's iTunes music store is offering a free iTunes LP!  Twenty Christmas/Holiday songs for free... you download the Album in iTunes and then can sync it with your MP3 player (iPod, iPhone or other iTunes compatible device).

Now the collection of music is not necessarily one that will thrill music lovers as this is about as diverse an album as you could pull together -  from Wheezer to Barry Manilow, Mannheim Steamroller to Steven Colbert. There are 20 songs on the digital iTunes LP.

There are a few cuts I think anyone could find enjoyable... but the reason Apple is providing a free special iTunes LP, and not just a bunch of free songs is that it is designed to get you to try (and hopefully enjoy the new iTunes LP concept:

"The visual experience of the record album returns with iTunes LP. Download select albums and experience a beautifully designed, interactive world right in your iTunes library on a Mac or PC — many are created by the artists. While you listen to your favorite songs, you can dive into animated lyrics and liner notes, watch performance videos, view artist and band photos, and enjoy other bonus materials." 

To launch the iTunes LP from this special Holiday sampler, click on the 'iTunes Holiday Sampler line (as seen between 'We Three Kings' and 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas' from my iTunes menu below).

This opens a new screen in iTunes with the cute graphic (at the top of this article) and a small interactive menu that lets you 1. Play the entire sampler 2. Play a specific song (while viewing the album artwork) or 3. Learn about the artist of a particular track (with short bio and photos).

* To experience the iTunes LP - you must have the free iTunes Version 9.0 or later (on both Windows PC or Mac computers)

Here is the official Apple announcement with direct links to each song in iTunes
(so you can just go to that specific song if you are interested.

---

For your convenience I have listed here the songs on this special Holiday iTunes LP:

1. O Come All Ye Faithful
Amy Grant
3:01

2. The First Noel
David Archuleta
4:32
 
3. Silent Night
Sarah McLachlan
3:48
 
4. Carol of the Bells / Jingle Bells
Barry Manilow
2:45
 
5. It Snowed
Meaghan Smith
3:39
 
6. Above the Northern Lights
Mannheim Steamroller
4:33
 
7. Baby, It's Cold Outside
Lady Antebellum
3:34
 
8. We Three Kings
Toby Keith
2:26

9. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Rascal Flatts
3:54
 
10. Silent Night
Wynonna
3:26

11. Twelve Days of Christmas
Mexicani Marimba Band
4:16
 
12. We Wish You a Merry Christmas
Weezer
1:26
 
13. A Snowflake Fell (And It Felt Like a Kiss)
Glasvegas
4:22

14. Another Christmas Song
Stephen Colbert
2:39
 
15. Greensleeves
Vince Guaraldi Trio
5:28
 
16. Dream a Dream
Charlotte Church
3:49
 
17. The Nutcracker, Op. 71, Act 2: Character Dances (Divertissement) - Dance of the Reed Pipes
Kirov Orchestra & Valery Gergiev
2:13
 
18. Angels We Have Heard On High
Aretha Franklin
5:25
 
19. O Holy Night
Musiq Soulchild
4:21
 
20. Auld Lange Syne
The Lonesome Travelers
2:52

Apple buys Lala, entering the streaming music business

I just knew it was a great technology - earlier last month, I shared my appreciate for the streaming music website LaLa and I have continued enjoying using the 'cloud' service, where you can listen to _any_ of their songs for free and the whole song, where you can purchase a song for only 10-cents (and listen to that song on any computer in the world with an internet connection).

 Well - it was announced this week that Apple Computer (the number 1 music retailer - because of the success of the iPod and the iTunes) purchase LaLa.  

This brings Apple computer into the streaming music business. Apple declined to discuss its plans for the service -- there is some speculation as to whether Apple intends to move iTunes over to a more 'cloud' based service instead of the current computer application based service that we currently have.

You can check out LaLa yourself here http://www.lala.com/

Read the USA Today article about the Apple Acquisition here: Apple buys Lala, entering the streaming music business

Here is my previous article on LaLa: Lala Land - Where Online Music Plays For You