Help Protect Your Kids On The Internet With DNS Angel

Keeping our kids from being exposed to the bad sites on the internet, such as pornography, is a real challenge. There are numerous software options that a parent can install to protect their kids, but knowing what I know about software, computers and parenting; the software option often falls through the cracks. Besides, most people today are app oriented and only want to install something that has a very quick (minimal) learning curve. This is why today apps are so popular on our smartphones and tablets.

To help you through this dilemma of protecting your kids on the internet and at the same time keeping it simple, I found a software option, called DNS Angel, that is an app in a sense. You simply download it and run it (no install – portable app).

When you open DNS Angel you will see buttons, as illustrated above, where you can select Norton Connect Safe 1, Norton Connect Safe 2, Open DNS Family and MetaCert DNS.

If you click on any of these buttons, it will change the DNS settings on your computer. Do not worry if concerned. You can click on the Default DNS button to return your computer to its’ default DNS settings. Each of these Domain Name Systems (DNS) are services that specialize in blocking  —  known adult websites (porn sites),  malicious sites, phishing sites, and malware sites.

I cannot really attest as to which one of these DNS services are better at protecting your kids (and your computer) from bad sites, but from what testing I did perform, I was quite impressed.

In the end, I found DNS Angel to be an easy install, one click software application, that changes the DNS settings on your computer to a DNS service that specializes in blocking bad content that will (at least) give you some peace of mind (and is better than nothing).

For matter of educating the visitor’s to the blog, DNS is this:

Domain Name System (or Service or Server), an Internet service that translates domain names into IP addresses. Because domain names are alphabetic, they’re easier to remember. The Internet however, is really based on IP addresses. Every time you use a domain name, therefore, a DNS service must translate the name into the corresponding IP address. For example, the domain name http://www.example.com might translate to198.105.232.4. [Source: Webopedia]

GEEK BONUS AREA Visit Bookmarks4Techs.com Time Management Pointers to Improve Productivity How to Upgrade a Laptop HDD with Solid State Hybrid Drive (SSHD) Technology Tumblr Introduces Ads into iOS and Android Apps Solar Power Energy Cockroach A solar powered energy cockroach that can start its mini-engine by shaking itself when exposed to sunlight. No batteries are needed.

Subscribe by RSS

Get What's On My PC by Email

[ CLICK HERE TO LEAVE A COMMENT ]

Hide Your Serial Numbers, Passwords, Phone Numbers and Everyday Notes In A Safe Place

A program that I use on a regular basis to protect and hide my personal text based notes is called Steganos LockNote.  In a sense it is like notepad with an encryption option.

Store your most valuable notes as a LockNote
Hide your serial numbers, passwords, phone numbers and everyday notes in a safe place. Your informations will be encrypted using a password and most modern AES 256bit encryption technology.

Secure, yet simple
Just double-click a LockNote and enter your password to access your text files as usual.

No installation required
Move LockNotes wherever you want, as often as you want. A LockNote document does not require much more hard drive space than an unencrypted document.

Encrypt existing text files in no time at all
Simply drag and drop existing text files on a LockNote window: they will be encrypted automatically.

Open and free
LockNote is open source and is based upon open source technologies, e.g. the certified CryptoPP program library for strong encryption.

GEEK BONUS AREA Visit Bookmarks4Techs.com Move your Blog from Blogger To WordPress without losing traffic PS4 sharing button: Now developers can disable share button Tech Thoughts Daily Net News – May 7, 2013 World’s 1st Touch Screen Wireless N Router + Range Extender For the first time users can setup & maintain their router easily from its highly intuitive touch screen. You can avoid the cumbersome PC/Mac based setup that is common with other routers. Its dual purpose — You can use it either as a Wireless Router or a Range Extender

Subscribe by RSS

Get What's On My PC by Email

[ CLICK HERE TO LEAVE A COMMENT ]

Glary Utilities Beta 3 – NEW Design, Faster Scanning Engine, Over 20 System Utility Tools

Today’s post is an announcement of sorts! I am an advocate (and user) of the popular Glary Utilites system optimization software.  As such, I recently received notice that version 3 of Glary Utilities is currently in beta and is available for download.

The beta is touting a new design with over 20 plus system utility tools to maintain your PC and according to their site, the scanning engine, designed to scan for issues, is over 800 percent faster.

• Provides a one-stop solution for PC performance optimization
• Boost PC speed and fixes frustrating errors, crashes and freezes
• Features one-click functionality and easy, automated options
• Protects your privacy and makes your computer faster and cleaner

I have tried and tested numerous system maintenance and optimization tools and I always come back to Glary Utilities to keep my computers tuned up. Glary Utilities is also available as a portable app.

GEEK BONUS AREA Visit Bookmarks4Techs.com Everything You Need to Know Before Making a Backup Choice on Your Mac OS X GEGeek – PC Tech Quick Reference How to create and scan QR Code Transcend 16GB Class 10 SDHC Flash Memory Card

Subscribe by RSS

Get What's On My PC by Email

[ CLICK HERE TO LEAVE A COMMENT ]

A FREE and EASY Offline Browser Utility That I Use To Backup My Web Sites

I currently maintain two public sites and one private site using WordPress.com, Weebly.com and Blogger.com. Each of these services provide a back door option to backup a web site; however, these backup options (with the exception of Weebly) are somewhat proprietary and difficult to follow.

My primary concern with using these FREE services is that you are at the mercy of the provider and could be at risk of waking up one morning to find you are locked out of your site. To help keep my sanity, due to the amount of content I do have posted (on all three sites), I use a FREE utility called HTTrack Website Copier.

HTTrack Website Copier allows you to download a World Wide Web site from the Internet to a local directory, building recursively all directories, getting HTML, images, and other files from the server to your computer. HTTrack arranges the original site’s relative link-structure. Simply open a page of the “mirrored” website in your browser, and you can browse the site from link to link, as if you were viewing it online. HTTrack can also update an existing mirrored site, and resume interrupted downloads. HTTrack is fully configurable, and has an integrated help system.

HTTrack Website Copier may appear to be non-user friendly, when in fact it is actually pretty easy to use. You can get a quick step-by-step rundown on using it [HERE] . What I primarily use HTTrack for is to copy the main content of my sites in the event I need to move elsewhere.

GEEK BONUS AREA Visit Bookmarks4Techs.com Online Photo Sharing Vs. Online Photo Storage Tips for Writing a Headline to Bring in Traffic How to Back Up Your PC Rosewill 45 Piece Premium Computer Tool Kit

Subscribe by RSS

Get What's On My PC by Email

[ CLICK HERE TO LEAVE A COMMENT ]

How To Save and Print A List of Installed Programs On Your Computer

I recently experienced a situation where a person’s computer, that was several years old, required a complete factory restore. When asked, “What programs did they have installed on the computer?”, the person was at a loss. Following this occurrence, I started to wonder if there was an easy way to view, save or print the programs that we have installed on our computers? This would be especially handy as a reference in the event of a computer crash. I know myself, there are many software packages I have installed; and, trying to remember what programs I installed (in the event of a computer failure) would be a real challenge, even for an ole’ geek like me.

I am sure there may be other options or methods to accomplish this task, but what I came across was a small software utility, that is portable, called MyUninstaller (by NirSoft). I know you are wondering, what does an uninstaller utility have to do with what we want to accomplish?

First, let me explain that MyUninstaller is in fact an alternative uninstaller utility to the standard Add/Remove applet of Windows operating system; HOWEVER, built into MyUninstaller is a menu options that gives you the ability to either save the list of all installed applications on your computer into a text file or HTML file (that can be viewed in your web browser).

To save the list to a text file, click on the File Menu and select Save Selected Items. To save and view the list as a HTML file, click on View and select HTML Report – All Items.

After using the options in MyUninstaller to generate a list of the programs on my computer, it has now become part of my overall backup strategy.

GEEK BONUS AREA Most Vulnerable Software: Is Yours On The List? Financial Hacks Everyone Should Know About Free Security Software Seagate Hybrid Drives

Subscribe by RSS

Get What's On My PC by Email

[ CLICK HERE TO LEAVE A COMMENT ]

WinPatrol Remains The Smallest, Fastest System Monitor Of Its Kind

There are those occasions where I will rehash a FREE software product and WinPatrol is one of those occasions.  WinPatrol is a mainstay on my computers and is one of the first software products I install when setting up a new computer. It is a “must have” layer of protection that will compliment your other security software.

After you install WinPatrol a snapshot of critical system locations and resources are recorded and you will find that a small Scotty dog shows up in the tray on the taskbar. This little dog is on patrol and will alert you if any changes occur to those critical system resources. The dog will even bark.

WinPatrol, in conjunction to constantly monitoring your system, also serves as a system utility that allows you to review the services and task that are running on your computer and the programs that automatically load in the background when your computer starts. There is a whole lot to this little dog, as you can see from the features below.

Features of WinPatrol:

Detect and Review New Auto-Startup Programs
Alerted you to New Browser Add-Ons like BHO’s and Tool Bars
Alerts you to newly installed Window Services
Alerts you to creation of Scheduled Tasks
YesAlerts you and Locks Changes to File Type Associations
Alerts you to newly registered ActiveX components
Alerts you to changes in IE Home and Search pages
Alerts you to changes in the Windows HOST File
Lets you know if your AutoUpdate or UAC settings change
Add/Remove and Review Auto-Startup Programs
Automatically Disable Reoccuring Startup Programs
Delay Auto-Startup programs for quick bootup
Review and Remove unwanted Scheduled Tasks
Remove Unwanted Brower Add-Ons like BHO’s and Tool Bars
Review, Display and Kill Multiple Running Tasks with a single click
Review, Stop and Control Window Services
Manage and Automatically Remove Unwanted Cookies
Review and Edit your Windows HOST File
Review and Remove Hidden Files
Track Date/Time when programs are first detected on your system
Multiple System Report Options
Undocumented or HIDDEN Registry Startup Keys
Now Available FREE

GEEK BONUS AREA Frustrations With The Android Phone How to Back Up Your PC Site Speed | Visitors Love Speed! A Mouse That Works In The Air

Subscribe by RSS

Get What's On My PC by Email

[ CLICK HERE TO LEAVE A COMMENT ]

Storing and Opening Password Protected PDF Files Online Using Google Drive and SkyDrive

If you are concerned about security and storing personal document type files online, you may want to consider converting the document file to the PDF format, then password protecting the PDF file. Password protection of online files is one of the most requested features out there.

What I stumbled across, through experimentation, is that Google Drive and Microsoft SkyDrive can handle and open password protected PDF files, using their built-in (online) viewers. When you go to open a password protected PDF file using either of these services, you will be prompted for the password, and the PDF file will be opened online, without downloading, using either of these services.

This gives you an additional level of security protection when storing or sharing files using either of these services’ PLUS, the convenience of keeping the file online (and not downloading it). These were the only two file storage (and sharing) services I tested, where this will work; however, there may be other services, as well, that can handle or open a password protected PDF file. I also found that you need to be using a modern web browser, as well.

I know you are probably wondering, how do I convert my file to the Adobe PDF format and how do I password protect it?  The easiest way to do this is to download the FREE Nitro PDF Reader, which has a built in a PDF creator (or printer).

After you have downloaded and installed the Nitro PDF Reader, you will notice that when you go to print a document, you will see that a new printer is on the list called “Nitro PDF Creator (Reader)”.  If you want to convert the document to an Adobe PDF file, simply select the printer labeled “Nitro PDF Creator 2 (Reader”). Basically anything that can be printed on your computer to a regular printer can be printed to “Nitro PDF Creator 2 (Reader)”, including image files, spreadsheets, Powerpoint slides, etc…

Using Nitro PDF Reader you also have the ability to password protect  any PDF file you desire to create. When you go to print on your computer, the print dialog box typically appears. When it appears, select the “Nitro PDF Creator 2 (Reader)”, then click on and select “Preferences”.

Once you select preferences, the “Printing Preferences” dialog box appears. You will then notice a tab labeled “PDF Security”.  Click on that tab, click on “Require a password to open the document”, enter the desired password, then click on the “OK” button, then click on “Print” to generate (and create) a password protected PDF version of the document.

I know this may seem like a lot of steps, but really it is a cakewalk.  After you have created the password protected PDF file, then simply upload the file to either Google Drive or SkyDrive. Your file can now be stored and opened online, with the additional security of password protection.

GEEK BONUS AREA Update: TuneUp Utilities 2013 Cleans PCs Better Than Ever Before Product review: O2 Hurricane canless air system Some of the Best Kindle Fire Apps elago Mobile Nano II USB 2.0 microSDHC Flash Memory Card Reader

Bookmarks4Techs – Over 500 Listed Tech Sites

Links To All Articles Ever Posted At What’s On My PC

——————————————-

[ CLICK HERE TO LEAVE A COMMENT ]