In the interview, the discussion started heading towards the idea of a potential government bailout or other options for the newspapers. President Obama said he hadn’t seen any detailed proposals, but would be open to options to help the struggling papers.

We’re advancing technology right? Why do we need to support an industry that doesn’t need to be saved? I believe the reason they’re failing is because the newspapers haven’t adjusted to the changing of media and the economic impacts of those changes.

Barack says he’s concerned that if there were no newspapers or other official media outlets, and all the news was left up to the blogosphere we’d be at a loss. I find that a bit interesting since the blogosphere is what he used so effectively in his campaign.

Why can’t the newspapers exist purely online and in a digital format? Why can’t the same people that have been writing for print media, just write for the web? Advertising they sold for the print edition can now be sold in their digital format and they can get an even wider subscriber base. For example, I’d love to be able to subscribe to my little hometown paper from the tiny city I grew up in. It’s not worth them printing and mailing me a copy of the paper, but to give me access to it electronically or all the stories on their website. That’s a great deal!

Bailing out the newspapers to keep printing birdcage carpet isn’t a great idea!

We might as well go ahead and bailout candle makers, blacksmiths and typewriter companies?

Post from: EveryJoe

Is Obama Open to Newspaper Bailout?

I’ve had to use the compatibility feature on a couple of sites, ones that I’ve developed for clients, so there’s so more work for me to take care of and make sure those are up to par.

I’m still using Firefox as my browser of choice. I still say that the main reason I stay with Firefox is because of all of the plugins and extensions that are available on this platform. Hopefully IE8 will get more activity from developers and Microsoft will keep improving this browser. Competition is good for everyone. Let’s hope both of these browsers keep pushing each other.

Post from: EveryJoe

Now Running Internet Explorer 8

Image Source: sxc.hu

In grade school I always enjoyed the limited time I was able to play on the Apple IIe and other computers we had available. I had a few friends with Commodore 64’s and Commodore 128’s, as well as getting my taste of compuer graphics with the Amiga we had in art class in high school. College gave me more exposure as well as my first class in computer science, which I quickly dropped after the first class covered how to turn on the machine.

So what is it about this thing called the computer that’s grabbed my world? Is it just the computer or has it been due to the Internet?

What do you love about these things? Is it the device itself that you enjoy and the different things it can be programmed to do, or is it just because it’s one of the easiest and most useful ways to connect to the World Wide Web.

Since you’re reading the “Computers” section of this website, what are you really interested in? One thing? Both things? or just about everything?

Let me know.

Post from: EveryJoe

Does Not Compute

Do not make the mistake of installing it or upgrading it now.

Firefox’s “Find Updates” in Tools –> Add-ons could not find the latest version 2.9 just like the Mozilla Add-ons website couldn’t recommend it because Site Advisor is not your normal .XPI add-on. One has to download and install a .EXE through the Site Advisor download page.

The latest version is about 3.0MB large, takes a lot of time to install, asks for a reboot, and even then creates annoying problems post-installation until you disable it. The problem is that every time you open Mozilla Firefox or Internet Explorer, a popup asking you about post-installation settings appears again, asking you to Accept or Decline their EULA. The annoyance stops only after declining.

I tried this (by mistake) on a friend’s and my laptop and the problem was persistent. On one of the two, the pop-ups stopped but McAfee Site Advisor no longer had its search bar and it wasn’t showing whether a site is safe or not. That is because one has to “Decline” to get there in the first place.

I couldn’t find any fixes online yet. Let me know if you have any.

Image Source: McAfee Site Advisor Screenshots taken on my laptop.

Post from: EveryJoe

Do Not Install or Upgrade McAfee Site Advisor

Meanwhile, Michael Howard, a principal security program manager at Microsoft, made a clean post about what they have learnt from the latest bug and why they couldn’t detect it in the first place. It is a very interesting read, especially if you can put aside your demands for infallibility of security engineers and appreciate the honesty.

Whenever a security threat becomes known, Microsoft gets a lot of attention that it would prefer not to. This is leading to the exodus of the Internet Explorer users to other browser options. Gregg Keizer of ComputerWorld covers a story that says that IE’s European share fell under 60% for the first time. A more interesting part of the story is that Firefox’s user share has stalled too, after the release of Google Chrome.

Brad Linder on Download Squad discovered a tool to backup the Internet Explorer Settings. Also in the post are links to tools that can backup Firefox profiles and Opera data.

After finding Symantec Ghost distasteful in imaging Windows Vista, Brian of Reich Consulting finally tried the Windows Deployment Service and wrote about his first impressions on it.

Image Source: Internet Explorer Logo from the Microsoft Website.

Post from: EveryJoe

Internet Roundup About the Internet Explorer

So here are my thoughts about “teaching computers” .

Know What They Want
They may not want to write programs, tweak with the internals to improve PC performance, or even try out new applications. They might not even be interested in what the operating system and the hardware parts are capable of and they don’t need to know more than their names about them. My guess is that they would want to play media, browse the web, and connect with you through mail or chat as a start. It is good to ask and find out exactly what it is that they want.

Windows Games
The input devices are what one needs to learn well to move any further. The older generations are usually more adept in using the keyboard; they know typewriters better than you. But the mouse is an entirely novel idea unless they played arcade games in their childhood. I think the Windows Games like Solitaire or Minesweeper will come in handy in mastering the clicks. See if they might like one of these games and let them play awhile. Forget the middle-click and concentrate on the double-click because it can be especially troublesome and is essential.

Basic Operations
How to start and shutdown a computer; how to maximize, minimize, resize and close windows; how to create a new document or folder; how to open documents or media files or applications; how to navigate through the Windows Start and open various applications. Let your pupil perform these repetitively in various sequences. It helps if you can organize your program files beforehand to avoid any unintended uninstallations and use a separate folder for all the exercises while learning the copy, cut, paste, move, save operations. Discourage using cut and delete operations for the time being.

Explore One Application
Pick one application of their choice: word processor, paint brush, or media player, e.g. Help them explore all the features in it while making use of the tool tips more than your direct assistance. The basic menu structure and menu items within them largely overalp among most applications and this familiarity will make them more prepared when they ever encounter another application. Try moving to a second application to see how quickly they can correlate between the two.

Getting Help
Get them into the habit of trying various options in the Help menu, trying F1, browsing through the contents, index and searching for a string. That will help them with the next big thing as well.

The Internet
The first thing you might want them to learn about the Internet is Google, through which most of what they want can be gotten to. After learning to open the browser, that is. It is also a good idea to have shortcuts to various frequently visited websites, in case bookmarks seem tedious and the address bar is definitely more complicated. Create any account that they might need for the time being and show them how to use them: how to sign in, check mail, compose and send mail, sign out. Beginners might find it easier to sign into a chat client and open mail through the notifications. Let them search their own beginner websites through Google (or any other search engine) apart from using it for general browsing purposes.

Make sure you have a good anti-virus and firewall in place. And back up all your important files. Just in case.

Despite all your initial assurances, they are going to panic after every tiny mistake, afraid that accidentally dragging and dropping an icon into another might have caused something irrevocably faulty. Oftentimes, this clams them up bringing the course to a screeching halt or even a retrograde. I can’t advise you how, but you must make sure they understand that Windows is already goofy enough and no goof-up is big enough to screw it any further. They don’t know “format c:” yet, do they?

Have you taught anybody before? What have I missed? What would you do?

Post from: EveryJoe

Teach Your Grandma Computers

Jayvee inspects the culture of FAIL on the Internet and finds that video advertising is going to decline. Actually, the rate of growth of online advertising has reached a saturation point even though online advertising itself is continuing to rise.

In these tough times, when the economy has been slowing down, Clair suggests that choosing Linux and open source software has become more necessary. For those who are already in that path, there is a free Ubuntu training course. Ubuntu is Linux for human beings, isn’t it?

A survey found that only 1% of people are using Google Docs, and many of those use Microsoft Office already. However, Colleen feels that the Microsoft’s stranglehold on office suites may be slipping away with Microsoft promising and postponing their next release and the availability of too many options for the users.

Juan says that 2008 is the year of iPhone, which is not very debatable in the user sense though this is also the year for RIAs, Twitter (@bsravanin) and cloud computing. But then, he is an Apple guy. :-) He also shares the offer that MacUpdate is having as a holiday promo. A good offer, far better than dreaming about the Apple 24″ LED display which is about $900!

Speaking of promos, Jason has a post about the Sears Wish Promotion, similar to the HP Magic Giveaway which has recently ended. There is already several Top 10 lists too, like the top 10 viral videos of 2008. I personally don’t like the fact that these lists do not consider the rest of the year that is still to be lived through. The more important news is, in case you haven’t already heard, that a serious security flaw has been exposed in the Internet Explorer and it is advised to not use it for financial and other sensitive transations of any kind.

While you wait for the security update, be sure to take note of the 8 security bulletins that Microsoft is ending the year with. Various OS users may want to check out the 2008 Service Pack 2 beta releases.

Post from: EveryJoe

Tech Channel Roundup of Year End Retrospections and Forecasts

Everybody, even those owning a PC may have to visit a cyber café some time or the other. Unlike a place like Starbucks with free wifi where you can plug in your PC into the network, a large number of cyber cafés require you to use their own systems. If you find yourself in such a place, keep the precautions suggested here in your mind. Most consumers overestimate PC safety. If you’re one of these most consumers, pay more attention.

Unplug any media devices like floppies, CDs, DVDs, and pen drives if they are not yours or if you are not going to use them. Floppies and pen drives are especially prone for communicating infections.

Clear all private data from the web browser before and after using the Internet. This itself could save you a lot of embarrassment and security with the usage of Internet, remove any weak malicious scripts originally running in the background, and delete any passwords it may have saved without notifying you. For Internet Explorer, Tools -> Internet Options -> Browsing History -> Delete, checking everything (except the option of preserving favorite website data). For Mozilla Firefox, Tools -> Clear Private Data, checking everything.

Use a proxy site for whichever site it may be possible for greater anonymity, especially from the future visitors of the cyber café.

Don’t be surprised if the system is infested with viruses, adwares and spywares. Viruses usually harm the computer, not you, so ignore them. Adwares annoy you, but usually nothing more, so again ignore them. Spywares can track your usage patterns, even collect sensitive data from you (including passwords), so be extra careful about signing into any of your accounts and think four times before opening your online bank accounts. Most online banking websites these days offer a virtual keyboard, so make use of them for extra security.

Before leaving, double-check everything and make sure to permanently delete any files you may have saved on the computer. All said and done, it is always a better idea to trust thy neighbour than that cyber café. At least you can nail down the usual suspects.

Post from: EveryJoe

Take These Precautions in a Cyber Café