John Ager's Home on the Web!

Do I need to pay for computer security software? This a question many people ask, and quite often they feel that paying for software means they get a superior product! If that’s you, then think again!

Every computer with Microsoft Windows needs anti-virus software and a firewall, and probably some protection against malware and the like. There are plenty of free programs out there, the only difference from their paid-alternatives often being no support for the software. Also, many of the free programs out-perform many of the well-known ones that you pay for!

AVG Anti-Virus and ZoneAlarm are popular choices for free security, although they do have paid versions. But don’t overlook the program featured in this post from Microsoft. In December 2010 they quietly released a major revision of their impressive and free Security Essentials and anti-malware tool. The new version is slowly being rolled out via Windows Update, but you can grab it right away. MSE 2.0 is a nearly total rewrite of Microsoft’s security tool. Although there are some visual changes in the software there are some very significant enhancements which have convinced me to use it on my desktop computer. Why not check it out?

Today marks 10 years of Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia that anyone can edit. A free resource for school children, students and plagiarists all around the globe! Copy and paste essays have become so ubiquitous that schools, colleges and universities now use software to detect this type of plagiarism.

That aside, it’s a fantastic work of reference! You might think it would be unreliable because anyone can edit it, but there’s good reason to believe that the wisdom of the crowd can produce a more accurate body of work than groups of individuals working on conventional encyclopedias. I once read a piece of research that showed Wikipedia to be more accurate than a leading conventional encyclopedia, although I’m sorry I don’t have the reference at hand to back that claim up.

I have created an entry in Wikipedia about Commissioner Helen Clifton of the Salvation Army, and the entry was challenged several times before it was finally accepted. I had to justify the entry on the basis that she wasn’t just married to a significant person, but a significant person in her own right. Helen is married to the current General of the Salvation Army but, as a new General is about to be elected, the page will have to be modified in due course – and there’s nothing stopping you being the one to do it!

Have you ever been surfing the internet and wanted to make a quick note or copy and paste something? Well there are simple ways to do this and, if you use more than one computer, the notes can be synchronized between them. I regularly use two internet browsers, namely Google Chrome (fast) and Mozilla Firefox (versatile). Well, strictly speaking, I also use Internet Explorer (waste of space) for work emails – but that doesn’t count! On both Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox I have add-ons installed to take notes. In Google Chrome it’s simply called Chrome Note (in the photo it’s the icon to the left of the spanner), and in Mozilla Firefox I use QuickFox Notes. Chrome Note is also saved to Google Docs and can be accessed there.

For synchronization across computer to work you need to enable Sync in Chrome or Sync in Firefox (add-on in version 3.xx but built-in to version 4.xx). There are other add-ons for notes in both browsers, feel free to give your ideas and suggestions in the comments for this post.

Note: Since writing this post I have discovered QuietWrite and written about it here.

Using a computer to organize notes is easy today because of the plethora of notetaking software with the ability to tag and search the material. One such everyday application that I use is Evernote. I have the software installed on my computer, the app on my BlackBerry, and all the information is synchronized with the cloud.

But how do you apply the same concept to an analogue notebook? At first it seems impossible, but this is how I do it! I use hyperlinks. To help you understand this, if you click on the word hyperlinks it takes you to a page that explains what they are. What I do in my Moleskine notebooks is to number the right-hand pages (no need to number left-hand pages), and then place written hyperlinks at the bottom of the right-hand page with the topics on that two-page spread. For example, <journal> <ideas> and then underneath each I place two numbers – the first refers to the page number of the previous hyperlink of the same name, the second referring to the page number of the next hyperlink of the same name. In this way you can easily move forwards and backwards. I also place a very small index at the back.

When a two-page spread is complete, I scan it into Evernote and circle the page number to show it’s been done. The information is now available electronically, and I have the best of both worlds! Analogue and digital!

If you’re looking for software, probably the best site is FileHippo.com. Their site is regularly updated and provides all the freeware (and some shareware) you’re ever likely to need. They also have a very useful updater which will check your system and tell you which software needs updating, it can also be configured to start with Windows and then exit if no updates found. Another useful feature is that the results can be fully customized, and beta releases shown if desired. This is one of favourite websites listed on this page. You can also follow @filehippo on Twitter.