Data Doctors Blog - Computer Repair and Data Recovery Discussion

Is Personal Info Stored in Printer/Copier/Scanners?

Fri, 11 May 2012 09:18:13-0700

I have an old HP scanner/fax/printer. Is it true that it stores your personal info inside somewhere and you should remove it before getting rid of it? I called HP and they denied that; Help! - Julie

There are some cases where a printer could be storing lots of information about you, including hundreds of copies of previous items that you scanned or copied or any information that you input when you first setup your printer (name, fax #, etc.). In order for your previous copy/scan jobs to have been stored, the printer would have to have an internal hard drive installed, which isn't something a consumer grade printer usually has. Unless you spent thousands of dollars on a commercial grade network copier/scanner/printer, you don't have to worry about your past copy/scan jobs as there won't be a hard drive that automatically stored what was sent to it. Corporate printer/copier/scanners use internal hard drives to store items that are copied or scanned for a variety of reasons that improve performance and reliability, especially for very large document scans or copy jobs. Many stories have surfaced over the years of the ability to recover information from hard drives that were installed in commercial copier/scanners that contain a plethora of sensitive information. We were asked by a local television station a couple of years ago to see what we could gather from a couple of corporate copier/scanners that were headed for recycling and within 15 minutes, we had payroll records from a large restaurant chain. With this in mind, everyone should be careful what personal records you copy or scan at work, since you don't have any idea if the internal hard drive will be properly cleansed before it gets returned, sold or recycled. Business owners should consider having the hard drive scrubbed or removed from their commercial copier/scanners before selling, returning or recycling it to help protect everyone that has ever used it. On our home printers, this issue doesn't exist because the queuing is done via 'volatile' storage, which is memory that gets flushed whenever we turn off our printer. It is possible, however, that you stored somewhat sensitive information when you first setup your device, especially if it has the ability to fax. You can generally figure out what information of this nature might be stored in the printer by going to the printer's setup menu (it's different on every printer, so consult your owner's manual or the printer company's support website for specific instructions) and taking a look around. If the printer is capable of storing any personal information (like your fax #, name, etc.), it will generally have a reset process that will put the printer back to the factory settings. Most consumer all-in-one printers store the actual user information and the previously scanned/copied documents in the printer software on the computer instead of in the printer itself. If you really want to understand what a third party can find on your printer, disconnect it from your computer and dig around the settings to see what you can find.
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Drive-by Downloads Now Targeting Android Users

Thu, 03 May 2012 17:53:46-0700

Can my Android smartphone really get a virus from the Internet? - Joel

The popularity of smartphones combined with the high rate of daily usage has made them an obvious target for malware attacks. While the relative threat to date has been pretty minimal, you can count on the underworld of the Internet to continue to develop ways to exploit this very desirable sector of Internet connected devices. In general, the Android platform has been and will continue to be the most likely to be exploited for two reasons: the open architecture and its market share (it's now #1). The very thing that attracts many to the Android platform (its lack of restrictions relative to iPhones and Blackberrys), is also what is attracting malicious code writers to the party. Most existing malware designed to exploit smartphones has either been 'proof of concept' applications developed by security firms or very crudely written programs that require the user to download and install an infected app. For the most part, if you are very careful where you get your apps (i.e. Apple's App Store or Google Play) and don't 'jailbreak' or 'root' your phone, which allows you to install apps that have not been approved by the vendor, you can sidestep most of the danger. Because Android phones can take advantage of 'sideloading' apps, which allows the user to install anything they want from any source they want, they can also be exploited in this way. A recent discovery by Lookout Mobile Security uncovered the age-old exploit used to infect computers called 'drive-by downloads' is now being used to attempt to infect Android smartphones. It's now technically possible to have an infected program slipped onto your Android smartphone simply by visiting a hacked website that has been rigged with malicious code. The good news is that it's fairly rare and still requires you as the user to approve the installation of the app to complete the infection. Even if you allow the install, the current Trojan (NotCompatible) doesn't do any real damage or take advantage of your personal info (yet!) The bad news is that they figured out how to sneak apps onto your phone just by coaxing you to visit a website and you can count on this being just the beginning of this type of exploit. It's still pretty easy to avoid being a victim of this newest exploit by making sure that your Android phone does not allow apps from 'unknown sources' to be installed (go to Settings/Applications/Unknown Sources and make sure there is not a checkmark). If you are in the high-risk category (rooted or jailbroken phone and you install apps from outside sources) you may want to consider installing Lookout's free security app (https://www.mylookout.com/download iPhone or Android). Lookout watches over several areas of your phone to alert you when suspicious activity is detected. The downside is that it may also cause some performance issues as it becomes a constantly running overlord in order to protect you from yourself, so only load it if you think you need the extra protection. This is a fast developing arena that will continue to be targeted by the bad guys, so make sure you keep your smartphone updated (regardless of which platform you are on) and avoid installing any apps that you really don't need.
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Tips for Speeding up a Sluggish Firefox

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:38:27-0700

About a year ago, I heard you guys mention having a couple of browsers on a computer, so I installed Firefox. My web browsing has gotten HORRIBLY slow these days. BTW, I installed Chrome and everything loads fine. Should I assume I picked up a virus that affects Firefox? - David

There are a number of reasons for having multiple browsers on your computer (Windows or Mac), one of them being so you can more easily troubleshoot Internet issues. It's certainly possible that you have a malware infection, but I'm more likely to guess it's something else since Chrome is running fine. One of the reasons so many people like Firefox as their primary browser is because of all the add-ons that are available to customize your browsing experience and enhance security. Unfortunately, this wonderful feature is also a large reason many Firefox users experience performance issues. Just like with your computer, if you load it up with tons of programs and utilities, it will take forever just to get started and it can be sluggish in use as it tries to juggle all the code added by the add-ons. Taking the Zen approach to computing (minimalism) will go a long way to keeping your computer and browser from getting stuck in the mud, so always be picky about what you allow to be installed. The easiest way to test this theory is to try starting Firefox in 'safemode' which tells it to open a session with the bare minimums, which will strip off all your add-ons. To do this, open Firefox and click on the 'Help' menu and select 'Restart with Add-ons Disabled' (if the text menu is not at the top, tap the Alt key to expose it). When the 'Firefox Safe Mode' window pops up, don't click on any of the boxes, just click on the 'Continue in Safe Mode' button at the bottom to begin your test. If everything speeds up again, you will know one or a combination of the add-ons is causing the performance issuer. You can manually disable your add-ons , one at a time to track down the offending add-on by hitting Ctrl-Shift-A, (Shift-Command-A on Macs) which will open the the Add-ons Manager. Make sure you disable everything (one at a time) in the Extensions, Appearance and Plugins sections as they all contain add-ons that could be causing your issue. It's a tedious process, but unless you are willing to throw all your add-ons out and start over, it's the only way to track down the problem (welcome to the world of computer troubleshooting!) If running is Safe Mode didn't improve the speed, it's possible that your profile database is need of some optimization, especially if you use Firefox a lot. There's a free utility called SpeedyFox ( http://goo.gl/cWxcT ) that will compact your profile databaseand clean up the corruption or fragmentation that comes from installing a lot of add-ons. If none of that works, your next step would be to uninstall Firefox completely and reinstall it with the latest version from the Mozilla website: http://firefox.com . If you have an older computer or one with a small amount of RAM, it's possible that you opening too many tabs at the same time for your computer to handle. You can easily test this by browsing old school: only open one tab to do all your browsing.
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Do my smartphone pics show where I am?

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 16:09:11-0700

Is it true that if I post a picture from my smartphone on Facebook that it will show where I took the picture? - Candice

Facebook's new Timeline makeover includes a Map section that can show where certain photographs were taken, so if you upload a picture and tag it with the location (from your smartphone or your computer) it will show the location in the post and it will appear as a pin on your Timeline Map. In general, simply uploading a photo via your smartphone will not automatically include the exact location information which you can easily verify by clicking on the Map section on your Timeline. If you want to make sure you can't tag your location on any post from your mobile device, you can turn off Location Services for the Facebook mobile app on your phone. It is true that depending upon your smartphone's settings, an image may contain location information (specifically longitude and latitude) in what's called the 'metadata'. Metadata is hidden information that is embedded in photographs that records a number of details. Metadata is essentially data about the file itself that is common to many digital file formats including most of the images and documents that you generate. In the case of photographic images, the metadata can contain any or all of the following: - Date & Time the picture was taken and any subsequent edits - Camera settings such as make, model, ISO speed, aperture, shutter speed, focus length, whether flash was used. - Any software that was used to edit or touch up the photo - General description of size, resolution and copyright info - Longitude and latitude (but only on cameras that have a GPS, such as smartphones and some specialized digital cameras) The list of potential data that can be mined from photographs is actually quite extensive and easily viewed on your computer by viewing the properties (right click on any image in Windows and click on the Details tab). The location issue (or geotagging as it's often called) came into play when smartphones that were equipped with both a GPS and a camera became popular. Depending upon your smartphone, the location data may be automatically captured on your photographs and available to anyone that knows how to view this hidden data. While this could be of concern in some obvious situations, not all pictures taken by a smartphone and posted on the Internet contains all of this information. Facebook, for instance, removes any of the user generated metadata when you upload images so your location info (if it exists) is automatically stripped from the image that the public can access (the original file that Facebook has on their internal servers, however, will still contain all of the original info). Flickr (and most photo-sharing sites) also strips out metadata for any picture that it resizes and only allows metadata to be retained on originals for those with paid accounts, which means you have to pay and purposely want that info on their network (professional photographers may want this ability for copyright purposes). The biggest risk for most smartphone users is if you take pictures with your GPS enabled smartphone and e-mail the picture from your phone to others, than the location information will generally be included. The easiest way to eliminate location information from your smartphone photographs is to turn off the location services while you are taking the picture (airplane mode will do it). On some smartphones, you can specifically turn off location services for all photographs, but have it remain in use for everything else. IPhone users can go into the Settings/General/Location Services to turn it off for the built-in camera or any third-party apps. Android users can turn off location info by going to the 'Camera app' menu and making sure the 'Store Location' option is turned off. Blackberry users can go into picture taking mode, press the menu button and choose 'Options' and set 'Geotagging' to disabled.
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Google Maps Power Tips

Fri, 13 Apr 2012 11:31:26-0700

I just learned that I can use cross streets as a way to find things on Google Maps! What else don't I know that I should? - Craig

Google Maps has become a ubiquitous resource for most of us, but we tend to use it in a very limited way. Typing in cross streets to find a destination (ex: 2nd Ave and Adams in Phoenix) is just one of many features that aren't commonly used. In cities like New York, using this method is ideal since all the locals tend to describe everything by cross streets. If you are visiting a city that you aren't familiar with, besides the default driving directions, you can get walking, bicycling or public transit instructions by clicking on the icons at the top (bicycle routes are currently not available on some versions of the mobile app). Once you have used Google Maps to get directions to a specific destination, you can easily alter the route by clicking and dragging any point along the route (on a computer only). This can be very handy if you need to make a quick stop along the way or if you know you want to avoid an area because of an event or traffic accident. Another great option for traveling in unfamiliar cities is the ability to avoid toll roads by clicking on the 'Show options' link just below the destination address. If you have never done so, simply right click on any Google map to see a host of shortcuts including the wonderful discovery tool called 'What's here?'. If you have a website or a blog and want to embed a map on it, you can click on the 'Links' icon at the top that looks like a small chain (usually next to the Print icon) to get the embed code. This same process allows you to get a link that you can e-mail, post on a social site or text message to someone on the go (including a shortened version if you want to tweet the location). If you really want to get ambitious you can create your own customized maps that will allow you to add text descriptors as well as embed photos and video on the map, then share them privately or with the whole world via Google Earth. An instructional video is available at: http://goo.gl/WE11H . If you own a retail business, you want to make sure that it isn't in the wrong location, so Google gives you the ability to move location markers and edit the details: http://goo.gl/p8mjC . If you haven't already claimed your location as the owner of the business, doing so allows you to add a lot of details or even offer specials via Google Places: http://goo.gl/L2uB2 and it's free! Another often overlooked feature is the 'Pegman' icon that allows you to use the street view of any map: http://goo.gl/YKl5O . Street views are really handy for finding visual landmarks that can help you find things in unfamiliar destinations. If you ask for directions while in the Street Views mode, you can click on the camera icon for each segment of the directions to see what it will look like before you leave your house. 'Mashups' are another very cool thing happening with Google Maps where information from other resources is 'mashed up' with the maps. For instance, http://www.housingmaps.com mashes up Craigslist posts for rental and for sale properties in your city, while http://Safe2pee.org mashes up public bathroom information on a map for finding relief near your location. Need I tell you what the mashup might be at http://beermapping.com/brewery-maps ? For more Google Maps tools and mashups, checkout this resource from Mashable.com: http://goo.gl/8bSG3 .
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Help! My E-mail Account is Sending Spam!

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 14:28:21-0700

I have had people tell me that they have been receiving spam email from me. I have changed the password for my account and the spam is still being sent from my account. Do you guys have any ideas as far as what might be causing this? - Andrew

The two most likely possibilities are that your e-mail account has been compromised or you are simply the victim of the age old 'spoofing' tactic that's been around since the early e-mail days. If you are able to change your password, that confirms that your account hasn't been taken over but it doesn't mean that it wasn't compromised at some point in the past. When you get locked out of your own account, you'll know that someone is engaging in some nefarious activities with your account. These days, there are a multitude of tactics used by spammers to silently infect your computer just so they can gather your e-mail information and address book. Once they have scraped the information, they don't use your machine to send out the messages, they simply make it look like its coming from you. Spoofing a return address is pretty simple to do and is commonly done to help increase the chances that a message will make it through spam filters and the recipient will open it, especially if it's being sent to people that actually know you. It's no different than sending a letter via the postal service and listing someone else as the sender; there is little you can do about it once they have acquired your info. If you're hearing from a large number of people about the same spam message, your computer might have been compromised at some point or you could still be infected with a silent malware program. The first thing to do is change your e-mail password from a completely different computer just in case your computer is infected, or the malware tracking program will know what your new password is as well. The second thing to do is have your computer scanned by a security program that isn't already installed on your computer as they could also be compromised. Today's malware is very sophisticated and is capable of bypassing or even disabling any security program you have running, so using what you have installed to scan your computer is generally a big waste of time. If they can trick you or anyone that uses your computer (like kids) into clicking on malicious links or inadvertently installing a program that allows them to overtake your computer, your security program will be the first thing that they go after. Another way they can gain access to your e-mail account is if you access your account from another computer that has been compromised or has a tracking program running silently in the background, which is why it's never a good idea to access your e-mail from a public terminal. To properly check your computer, you really need to get 'a second opinion' from a completely different program that could not have been compromised in an attack. Microsoft has a special Safety Scanner ( http://www.microsoft.com/security/scanner ) that can be used as an on-demand scanner if you suspect you are infected. In our service centers, we take an additional step by booting to a special CD/DVD or flash drive so that any potential malware can't activate from an infected hard drive. If the problem is bad enough, you may want to consider getting a new e-mail address and notifying your friends about the change so they can block your old address.
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Tools for Awesome Timeline Covers

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 16:36:04-0700

I'm trying to get a decent image uploaded to my Facebook Timeline, but it's so wide that nothing is fitting the way I want it to...any suggestions? - Carey

Facebook's Timeline (which became mandatory for business pages on March 30th and will soon be mandatory for all users) allows you to upload a huge cover image that is essentially cropped to look like a panoramic image. The problem is that important items in the image often get cut off in order to have it fill the width. (If you are a hater of Facebook's Timeline, don't fall for all the scams claiming it can be removed: http://goo.gl/nzFpa ) There are a number of ways to deal with this crazy format besides the limited tool that Facebook offers. Most of the following resources are Facebook apps, meaning that you have to allow them to access your profile info in order to upload images, so be selective. For more control over a single image, you can use the free web app from Aviary http://blog.aviary.com/say-goodbye-to-bad-cover-photos which makes it simple to crop an existing image or one that you upload. If you don't care if the cover image is one you took yourself, you can find a number of libraries with optimized images at sites like http://fookcover.com, http://covertimeline.com, http://www.firstcovers.com, http://coverjunction.com and http://www.facebooktimelinebanners.com just to name a few. If you want the cover photo to be your own pictures, the easiest way to fill the space is to create a collage so you aren't trying to fill the space with a single image. Most of the collage sites are pretty easy to use because they simply grab random images from your existing photo collection and stick them into pre-formatted templates. Some of my favorites are http://thesitecanvas.com and http://picscatter.com . If you want more control over which images get used, you can use sites like http://www.coverphotomagic.com and http://timelinecoverbanner.com . If you have an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad, you can install a free app that allows you to create and upload the cover image from your mobile device using Facebook Cover Designer (search the App store from your device to install it). If you are looking for inspiration for that eye-catching Timeline banner presentation, there are a number of very creative people that have uploaded some amazing and artistic cover images that can be found at http://goo.gl/y5oq3 . If you want to try to pull something that creative off, you can use try the easy to use templates at http://www.trickedouttimeline.com or if you have Adobe's Photoshop, you can pull off some pretty advanced tricks by combining your profile image with the theme of your cover image with a template that I found at http://goo.gl/nlOeZ . Despite the uproar from those that don't like the massive changes, Timeline is here to stay (don't freak out: http://www.datadoctors.com/help/columns/21860 ) so you may as well have fun with it! If you are a business, you should really take some time to learn how Timeline works and how it is impacting how you engage with your fans: http://goo.gl/W2ZNm
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Beware Of 'Hide Facebook Timeline' Offers

Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:48:40-0700

Saw a post that claims FBPurity can remove Timeline from my Facebook profile. Question, is this link worth trying? - Bob

There are several reasons why I would recommend that you steer clear of anything that claims that they can remove Facebook's Timeline feature from your profile. The first reason is the overwhelming number of scams that prey on folks that are hell bent on 'getting their old Facebook back'. The scams range from funneling you into a survey scam to taking over your Facebook profile so the bad guys can spam all your friends. The other reason to avoid them is because they don't actually get rid of Timeline, they simply change YOUR view of Timeline. Facebook has made it clear that Timeline is not an option, but a fundamental redesign of their network. NOTE: If you have a business page, it will automatically convert to Timeline on March 30th, so if you haven't already configured it for the new look, I highly recommend you do so before the switch is flipped. In other words, even if you install one of the many browser add-ons such as FBPurity, you aren't actually changing anything for the rest of the world, just when YOU are viewing Facebook via that specific modified browser. Think of it as putting on a pair of rose colored glasses; it doesn't change anything in reality, just your perception. The other problem with these browser modification scripts is that they often 'break' other parts of Facebook that you will likely want. AND, even if someone figured out how to bypass anything Facebook is doing now, any change at Facebook would potentially render the 'fix' useless. You essentially would be playing a constant cat and mouse game to try to avoid moving forward with the rest of the world. Understanding some basic things may help you overcome your need to 'fight THE Facebook' on the Timeline update. First of all, too many users think that Timeline somehow exposes things to the public that weren't previously accessible. Nothing could be further from the truth and I cover these common misconceptions and what you can do to ensure your privacy in a previous column ( Don't Freak Out About Facebook's Timeline: http://www.datadoctors.com/help/columns/21860 ). Instead of installing a script that simply fools you into thinking your profile isn't using Timeline, spend that time making sure you have properly protected what you don't want others to see (and get in the habit of not posting anything that you wouldn't want others to see, since you really can't control what others share about you anyway). Facebook has a roadmap that they are taking us all on and Timeline is just one of many changes that will continue to be made to the network. Fighting the inevitable changes that will occur on any social network is often futile since the motivation for the change rarely has to do with what we want as users. Every social network's primary objective is to monetize the traffic and user interactions on their networks while providing a valuable service to the users. We as users are the product and the actual customers on social networks are the advertisers. If you aren't comfortable with this arrangement, you should really consider removing your profile. I'm not saying that we should just be sheep and stay silent when we don't like something (lots of features have been modified or removed in the past after users revolted) but one area that that has never be under our control is the actual user interface. BTW, this is nothing new for Facebook. When the News Feed was first introduced in 2006, users were proclaiming that they would stop using Facebook because of the change, but here we are at 850,000+ users and counting...
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Survey: 75% of Smartphone Owners Admit to Using It On the Toilet!

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 11:40:00-0700

A recent survey by 11Mark suggests that 75% of smartphone users have 'tweeted while seated' (we think it's higher!) That inspired us to have fun with our latest music video chronicling what we are starting to see more often: water-logged smartphones that need to have the data recovered: Enjoy and please share this with your fellow closet smartphone on the throne users!

Windows 8 Consumer Preview: RUN AWAY!

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 17:03:45-0700

I keep seeing ads for the Windows 8 Consumer Preview that I can download to test out but not sure if I should. What are your thoughts? - Paula

STOP! Do not pass go! Do not touch that mouse! Stop, drop and roll! Run away! I guess what I am trying to say to you and any other curious consumer is ABSOLUTELY NOT. The next generation of the Windows family of operating systems is getting quite a bit of publicity and is being discussed in some circles as the most significant thing to come from Microsoft in a long time. I won't spend time on whether I think it will be that significant or the second coming of Windows Vista in this column because it's still a work in progress and that is why I am stressing that you not fall for the hype. Microsoft did the unsuspecting computer using public a disservice by calling the beta version (tech speak for an unfinished program) of Windows 8 a 'Consumer Preview'. When most folks hear 'preview' they equate it to a quick sample or a sneak peak of something, not a complete transformation of your operating system that can't be reversed. Beta software should never be marketed to the general consumer (shame on you Microsoft!); it's for techies that understand that they are playing with an unfinished product and are volunteering to be a guinea pig. I've already encountered numerous unsuspecting consumers that fell for the hype and installed the 'Consumer Preview' and rendered their computers virtually useless because of the usual list of incompatible hardware and software that always exists with a new operating system. The only people that should consider installing this version of Windows 8 are tech savvy users with computers that they don't care about or rely upon for daily productivity. IT managers, software developers and web designers have valid reasons to start testing this unfinished product, but the average 'consumer' should run like the life of their computer depended upon it (because it may!) Despite Microsoft's attempts to scan your hardware and warn of incompatibilities that might exist before you take the plunge, they can't possibly know all of the issues until a couple million guinea pigs provide them with feedback on what's still broken. For instance, one of our test machines that passed all the hardware tests during the pre-install scan was no longer able to connect to our wifi network after the install because of a missing drivers for the USB controller and the USB wireless adapter. Folks in the tech industry know how to deal with this type of an issue, but imagine if the same thing happened to someone at home with only one computer...they wouldn't have any way to connect to the Internet to research how to fix the problem and this is just one example. At the bottom of Microsoft's download page is this warning: "Important: If you decide to go back to your previous operating system, you'll need to reinstall it from the recovery or installation media that came with your PC, which is typically DVD media. If you don't have recovery media, you might be able to create it from a recovery partition on your PC using software provided by your PC manufacturer. Check the support section of your PC manufacturer's website for more information. After you install Windows 8, you won't be able to use the recovery partition on your PC to go back to your previous version of Windows." Windows 8 has a lot of promise but until the bakers are done baking, don't dip your finger into the batter!
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The (yawn) New iPad vs iPad 2

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 15:06:23-0700

In your opinion, is the iPad 3 worth it or should I just buy an iPad 2 and save money? - Kyle

The recent announcement of the upcoming New iPad (it's not being called the iPad 3 or iPad HD as widely rumored) has a lot of people asking the same question. The primary 'upgrades' to the new iPad include a Retina display (much like that of the iPhone 4S), a better rear facing camera, support for 4G LTE and a faster processor. The New iPad comes in the same physical package as the iPad 2, so it won't look any different. Despite Apple's attempts to label this a revolutionary product, I don't see this as anything other than an evolution of the existing product line. Retina Display The new display technology is bound to be more impressive and faster, especially if you were to compare it side-by-side with an iPad 2, but the reality is that you won't use it that way. The display on the iPad 2 is pretty darn good for reading your e-mails, surfing the web, watching movies, playing games and using apps (many of which are still stretched versions of iPhone apps anyway). If you're an avid reader of ebooks, want to play the newer action games that support higher resolutions or really want to zoom in on text to see if it will stay smooth (one of Apple's demos), you're likely going to benefit from this new display. iSight Camera The upgraded 5 megapixel rear facing camera that they are calling an iSight camera is a vast improvement over the iPad 2's laughable 0.7 megapixel camera and the video capture capability goes from 720p to 1080p (the front facing VGA camera remains the same). Having said all of that, I've used the camera on my iPad 2 a handful of times in the year that I have owned it, not because of the poor quality images but because it's just not a great form-factor for taking pictures and videos. In fact, I feel kind of foolish using an iPad as a camera, especially shooting video because it's so unnatural. Shooting video outside with an iPad can be especially challenging since the display is hard to see in direct sunlight. 4G LTE If you really want to pay for yet another data plan, you certainly will be surfing, streaming and downloading faster than us iPad 2 owners. You can only get 4G LTE service on the New iPad from AT&T or Verizon and I'd highly recommend you make sure that actual 4G service is available in the areas that you frequent (home, office, school, etc.) before you sign up for another data plan. I've always purchased wifi only iPads and used my existing laptop USB data device with Cradlepoint's personal hotspots ( http://goo.gl/c8Oc2 ) whenever I'm not near a wifi connection. This way, I can use all my mobile devices (up to 16 at a time) on one data plan. A5X Dual-Core Processor We don't have any specific published speed differences from Apple when it comes to the actual processor, but what is significant in the A5X is the quad-core graphics support that will make high-resolution gaming look amazing and smooth. So for me, most of the 'enhancements' aren't enough of an incentive to dump my iPad 2. Only the display and graphics performance would be, if I was a gamer but I'm not. If you own an original iPad or nothing at all, you have to decide if any or all of the 4 main differences are worth the $100 bump. Note: The iPad 2 is now only available with 16GB, so if you plan on storing a lot of music, photos and videos, you should either step up to the New iPads (16, 32 or 64GB) or step down to a refurbished iPad 2 (hidden deep within Apple's website http://goo.gl/fysWV ). I don't normally recommend refurbished electronics (I refer to them as 'pre-broken') but since the iPad is a solid state device with no meaningful moving parts, I'm comfortable making this suggestion.
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Get a Grip on Google Privacy

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 11:58:38-0700

I missed Google's March 1st deadline to clear my history so does that mean that my information is now being shared or can I still clear it? - Arnie

The amount of misinformation circulating around the recent changes to Google's privacy policies is pretty amazing. Let's make sure we have some proper perspective before we get into the details. If you haven't thought about it, we all use various Google products free of charge yet their stock is trading at $600+ per share. How can a company that gives its users a plethora of free products have such a high stock value? ADVERTISING! Those of us that use any Google service (or Facebook or Yahoo or AOL or fill in the blank free service) are actually the 'product' and the advertisers are the customers of that product. Google has clearly created a multitude of powerful ways for advertisers to target customers which is why their stock price is so high. This practice of using your behavior to generate targeted ads is nothing new (in fact, Google didn't invent it; they just out did all their competitors). If you are suddenly having a problem with this, you might want to take a deeper reality check into life in the digital age. Your credit card companies and banks have been collecting this type of information on you since way before the Internet. Your cell phone reports your location to your cellular provider every 7 seconds and virtually every website that you visit on the Internet knows what kind of computer or mobile device you are using (Windows, Mac, etc.) which browser you are using and your general location via your IP address. Tracking 'cookies' get dropped on your machine with every click of your mouse and I am here to tell you that it's not all a conspiracy to dig into your personal life...it's all to sell you something. This is how things that we all take for granted every day are being paid for. Google is not suddenly exposing your surfing habits and history to the whole world; they are simply consolidating what they already had from you. Up until March 1st, the privacy policies and information gathered at the various Google entities such as Gmail, Google Search, YouTube, etc. were all individual silos. This meant that there were 60 different privacy policies and data sets that we all read and understood (right?) Google announced that they would be combining them all into a single policy and data set so they could improve what makes them the most money; targeted advertising. If you're really concerned about what Google collects and stores from you, they have an ample toolkit that gives you control over virtually everything at: http://www.google.com/privacy/tools . The first item, the Google Dashboard ( https://www.google.com/dashboard which requires you to log in to your Google account) consolidates all of the major account settings with various ways to manage or remove anything you are concerned about. If you are really uncomfortable with personalized ads, click on the Keep My Opt-Outs link to install an extension for Chrome that will do it for you. Personally, since ads are going to exist in my online life, I'd prefer them to be relevant. I'm not here to say that Google has been perfect with their information collection and data sharing policies, but neither has any of the other major online companies. I'll leave that battle to the privacy advocates and foundations that spend their every waking minute digging into the intricacies of each privacy policy. I'm not suggesting that you bury your head in the sand and just allow things to happen; you need to routinely monitor how these companies are using your info by checking your settings. But, unless you are ready to unplug completely, your online behavior will continue to be the currency that drives most of what happens on the Internet, so spend it wisely!
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Timely Twitter Tips

Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:43:57-0700

I attended your Twitter for Business 101 workshop and you mentioned that there are tools that help you understand the best time to post tweets. What are they and how do they work? - RD

The popularity of Twitter continues to grow as they just past the 500 million user mark and continue to grow. Before I ( http://twitter.com/TheDataDoc ) go into the specific tools that allow you to be more strategic about when you 'tweet', let's do a quick review. In my workshops, I stress the three keys to being successful in social communications: Listen, Engage & Measure. Twitter has become the first place that just about anything that happens in the world is first reported, making it a great resource for 'listening' to what is happening in virtually any industry or what others are saying about your business. Those at the leading edge of the social/mobile revolution have figured out how to have the information that they care about find them instead of the other way around. Apps like Flipboard ( http://flipboard.com ) for the iPad and iPhone for instance, convert tweets into a display that mimics magazines and newspapers, making the information you seek just show up in an easily digestible form for us old timers. Following trusted sources for your information (just like you have always done offline) works the same way on Twitter. You would follow the Twitter profiles you believe are trust worthy sources whether it's a traditional news organization or an individual that you trust as a source. Becoming a trusted source yourself has a lot to do with what you tweet and when you tweet it. The 'what to tweet' question is much too complicated to cover in this advice column, but the when to tweet will help you post when your followers are most likely to see your info. Another issue is frequency of your tweets as it is nearly as important as timing your tweets. I've tested a lot of the free and pay tools that do an excellent job including WhenToTweet ( http://whentotweet.com ), TWeetStats (http://tweetstats.com ) and Tweriod (http://www.tweriod.com ) but one in particular that I recently discovered I find to be exceptionally useful. I really like the combination of features in a tool called Timely ( http://timely.is ) especially for those struggling with the time element of social media. Timely will quickly analyze your past tweets to help you understand the best times of the day to post, but then it goes one step further; it allows you to start queuing posts for both Twitter and Facebook based on the times it determined are best for your followers. You simply go into the Settings menu and decide how many posts per day you want to make and whether you want to post on the weekends or not. Based on your choices, it automatically queues your posts based on your settings, so all you have to do is start compiling what you want to post and Timely will automatically take care of when to post. You can also track the performance of your posts with the built in analytics, so you can understand the type of content that strikes a chord with your followers. Many tools give you these types of capabilities, but most of them aren't free or as simple to use for beginners. The best feature of this toolset is the ability to add a 'Create a Timely' to your web browser's bookmark bar which allows you to quickly add relevant information to your queue as you are surfing the web. If you aren't able to sit down once a week and schedule out your Twitter and Facebook posts, you can use this tool to simply add posts to your queue as you run across information that you want to share. If you just keep adding relevant information to your queue, you can efficiently start to build a following because it will automatically keep posting at the best times (& it even alerts you when your queue is empty!)
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Will You Lose the Internet on March 8th?

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:29:16-0700

What can you tell me about the FBI shutting off the Internet for thousands of users on March 8th? - Alan

The sometimes salacious 'kill switch' headlines about this story can easily give readers the wrong impression if they don't dig a little deeper into the details. The FBI actually stepped in to ensure lots of folks didn't suddenly lose their ability to surf the web last year and those safety measures are set to expire on March 8th. Last year, a group that had infected over 4 million computers worldwide (with an estimated half a million in the US) with what is called the DNSChanger Trojan was brought to justice. The primary impact of this infection is that it caused web surfers to be sent to fraudulent websites by changing what is called the DNS settings on compromised computers. The Domain Name System (DNS) is the backbone of the Internet's address scheme and DNS servers are special computers around the world that act as Internet traffic cops providing directions to websites that you wish to visit. For instance, when you type www.datadoctors.com in your web browser, your computer sends the request to the DNS server usually associated with your Internet service provider which translates your human friendly text request into the actual numeric address for that website (called the IP address). If your computer was infected with the DNSChanger Trojan, you are being sent to a 'rogue traffic cop' that would send you into a virtual dark alley to be mugged. It also made sure that you couldn't get to security sites that had tools to help you clean up your computer. When the FBI pinched this group, if they had shut down the rogue DNS servers, everyone that was infected would have instantly been cut off from the Internet so the FBI chose a different strategy. They decided to get a court order allowing them to replace the rogue DNS servers with legitimate stand-ins so that all the infected computers wouldn't get cut off without warning giving them time to get the word out. The court order runs out on March 8th, so anyone still infected with the DNSChanger Trojan will no longer be able to access the Internet because the temporary DNS servers won't be online anymore. So you can see that the characterization of the FBI using a kill switch to cut our citizens off from the Internet is pretty inaccurate. If everyone that's infected by this Trojan cleans it up before March 8th, no one will have a problem, but the infection is so widespread that it isn't likely to happen. Both Windows and MacOS users are at risk for this infection because it exploits your browser, not your operating system. If you are somewhat technical, you can do a self-check of your computer to make sure you're not infected by comparing your computer's DNS setting to the list of rogue DNS servers: 85.255.112.0 through 85.255.127.255 67.210.0.0 through 67.210.15.255 93.188.160.0 through 93.188.167.255 77.67.83.0 through 77.67.83.255 213.109.64.0 through 213.109.79.255 64.28.176.0 through 64.28.191.25 The FBI has published a pretty decent guide to performing the self-check at: http://goo.gl/raqfL but if you aren't comfortable doing the check yourself, make sure you consult a tech savvy friend or professional to avoid getting cut off on March 8th. If you are infected by the DNSChanger Trojan, the FBI reminds us that this malware also disables security updates which could have further exposed you to other malware. Be sure you have a thorough cleanup performed and you get caught up on all the missing updates if you find your computer has been compromised as detection and removal is just the beginning of the process.
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Tips for Diagnosing Browser Crashes

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:03:20-0700

Can you tell me what causes Google chrome or Firefox to have numerous crashes while online? - Nathaniel

The web browser has become the single most important piece of software on our computers because it's the gateway to everything on the Internet. Browsers are the 'swiss army knife' of software on your computer; they have to constantly improve their capabilities and performance to keep up with the advances on the Internet while fending off the relentless attempts to be exploited by malicious groups around the world. The browser is ubiquitous and allows hackers to exploit users without regard to which operating system (Windows, MacOS, Linux, etc.) you're running, which is why it has become such a big target. A common method for improving the performance and security of your browser is through what are called 'extensions' or 'add-ons' which are additional software programs that change how the browser works. A number of browser crashes that we see in our service business are as a result of these additional components that have been added over time. Extensions and add-ons can conflict with one another or can simply be poorly written code that cause instability in your browser. The quickest way to see if an add-on or extension is causing a stability problem is to start your browser without any of them (often referred to as 'Safe Mode'). To temporarily disable all add-ons in Internet Explorer, click the Start button / All Programs / Accessories / System Tools and then click 'Internet Explorer (No Add-ons)'. Firefox users can simply hold down the Shift key while clicking on the Firefox icon to launch the Safe Mode options window and then click on the 'Continue in Safe Mode' button at the bottom. Chrome users can try launching an 'incognito window' to see if the crashing is being caused by an extension. Click on the icon of the wrench (upper right corner or Ctrl+Shift+N) to open a window that will disable the extensions. If the crashes continue in these diagnostic modes, you either have corruption in the browser itself or have a bigger issue with a corrupted operating system. You can try uninstalling the browser and reinstalling with the latest version from the Internet, but if that doesn't work, you should seek technical assistance. If you don't experience crashing while in Safe or Incognito mode, you know that one of the extensions added to your browser is causing the crashes. You can then try disabling the various extensions one at a time to figure out which one is causing the problem. In Internet Explorer, press the Alt key to activate the menu, then click on Tools /Manage Add-ons to disable the various add-ons. In Firefox, click on the Tools menu, then on Add-ons to access the Extensions and Plugins that you have installed. In Chrome, click on the icon of the wrench, then on Tools / Extensions to disable the various installed extensions. We have always advised that all Internet users have multiple browsers installed to help you shorten the process of troubleshooting when a problem occurs. If you experience crashes in multiple browsers, then the problem is likely with your operating system; if you only experience crashing in a specific browser, then the problem most likely resides within that browser.
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