The UsefulTechnology Blog: Computers and Internet

The importance of patching

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 08:28:37 GMT

You don't need me to remind you, dear reader, of the importance of keeping your computer up to date. Regular patching and anti-virus/anti-spyware updates have never been more important. But even this cannot protect you 100% from the most determined hacker. As The Register reports, in the three day Pwn2Own contest in Vancouver, a two man team of white hats eventually managed to uncover a vulnerability in Adobe Flash that allowed them to compromise a MacBook Pro computer, then a Windows Vista computer. The team ran out of time to run the hack on a Linux machine but said afterwards that their exploit would also work on OS X and Linux boxes.

The moral of the story is, as always, hidden at the end of The Register's article: "exploits like this are a fact of life for everyone no matter what kind of machine they chose."

So, for the best chance of staying safe, check your computer is up to date now!

Yet another Clipboard enhancer

Wed, 26 Mar 2008 14:51:28 GMT

If you find that the ClipboardManager gadget for Windows Vista just doesn't have the 'ooomph' that you need, try Yankee Clipper 3. YC3 is a handy little freeware application that keeps a record of everything (and I mean everything) that you place in your clipboard (by copying or cutting). It resides in your toolbar and works in all applications. It will sort your clipboard entries by type (text, pictures, rich text, URLs etc) and even allows you to create "boilerplate" clippings that you regularly use. So, for example, if you're forever typing your home address or pasting your company logo into documents you could save time by turning these into boilerplate clippings so they're never more than a mouse click away. It can even strip out messy quote characters like "<" from your clippings. Try the free version (1.06MB download) from here. You'll like it.

And, if you fancy an even more powerful clipboard tool that can recover deleted clippings, has support for up to 5 collections, and can even let you associate clippings with hot keys, take a look at Yankee Clipper X (YCX). There's a free 90 day trial, after which it costs just $14.95 to keep forever. I think regular clipboard users will quickly appreciate the great value this represents.

Windows Vista live icons

Wed, 06 Dec 2006 13:07:28 GMT

I keep discovering things in Windows Vista - there's so much 'newness' to explore. One cool little feature you may not know is 'Live Icon scaling' using the mouse and keyboard. For example, if your desktop icons are bit too small just click on the desktop, hold down the CTRL key and roll the scrollwheel on your mouse. Rolling upwards makes things bigger, downwards smaller. This same technique (CTRL+mouse scrollwheel) also works in place like Internet Explorer (changing the zoom level of the page you are viewing), Windows Explorer (changing the icon view), and Outlook (changing the zoom level). Very handy.

Have a play around next time your using Windows Vista. You might discover something unexpectedly useful.

New Day Dawns for Business

Thu, 30 Nov 2006 09:59:21 GMT

Big day today! We've just announced the business availability of Windows Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Office system and Exchange Server 2007. So, if you buy software for a business and are a volume licensing customer, today's the day that your business can leap ahead of your competitors by deploying our latest and greatest productivity tools. Find out more at http://www.microsoft.com/business/launch2007/default.mspx.

Windows Vista makes your laptop lighter!

Fri, 24 Nov 2006 08:33:52 GMT

Actually, that title's not entirely true. But wouldn't it be good if it was!

What I can say with absolute conviction is that installing the final RTM version of Windows Vista on my laptops has given them a new lease of life. The installation itself was a breeze - the most complicated thing being the requirement to upgrade the BIOS on my Toshiba machines. Once that was done, I managed to install Windows Vista and the 2007 Microsoft Office system in about 30 minutes. And my PCs (and me) have never been happier.

Like consumers outside of Microsoft I'll now have to wait until the 30th January before being able to install Windows Vista on my home computers. And having to switch back and forth between operating systems really highlights the differences. The things that I miss most on my Windows XP machines are having powerful search tools everywhere I go, being able to start up the computer from standby in a matter of seconds, and, though I never thought I'd hear myself saying this, the 3D flip tool (left) that makes switching between open programs both fun and amazingly quick.

30th January cannot come soon enough

Office Live in the UK [update]

Thu, 23 Nov 2006 22:21:09 GMT

As posted previously, Office Live is now available under beta outside of the USA. Predictably the UK site can now be found at www.officelive.co.uk. Register and get your free domain and website now. Even my dad has gone and got himself a new website (so it must be easy)!

Time Zones in Outlook 2007 Calendar Appointments

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 12:00:55 GMT

There's a nice post from Darren Strange about the handy time zones feature in Outlook 2007. If, like me, you get hopelessly confused organising meetings with participants across different time zones, check it out here.

Office Live is, er, Live

Thu, 16 Nov 2006 08:58:25 GMT

It's nice to see that Office Live has now been launched fully in the US and a new beta will start on November 21st in the UK, Japan, France and Germany. If you would like to have your own website but haven't tried out Office Live yet then you could be in for a treat. The Office Live Basics service is completely free (yes, really!) and allows you to register a domain at no cost, gives you 500MB of web storage space, 25 email addresses and a comprehensive set of web design tools to you can customise your website to your heart's content! It's the ideal solution for small businesses owners looking to give their company a simple web presence. More advanced (and much less free) services are also available if you need more web storage space, customer relationship management features and online project management tools. Check out the US site at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/officelive/default.aspx and check back after November 21st if you're based in one of the four new beta countries.