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ComputorEdge™ Online — 01/27/12

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How to Read E-Books on Your Computer

Many people think that you need a Kindle or iPad to read e-books. Not true. You can read e-books on any computer—and it's free!

Magazine Summary

List of ComputorEdge Sponsors

Digital Dave

by Digital Dave

Digital Dave answers your tech questions.

Office 2010 Always Crashes with Windows XP; Windows Defender; Removing Unwanted Web Browser Tool Bars.

Free Software for Reading E-Books on Your Computer

by Jack Dunning

An Abundance of Free Software for Perusing E-Books on Your Computer

Many people think that you need a tablet or e-reading device to read e-books. Here are some of the many free options for reading e-books on any computer.

Windows 7 Tips and Tricks: The Start Menu

by Jack Dunning

The Windows 7 Start Menu can be tailored to your computing style.

Considered a standard feature of the Windows operating system, surprisingly the new (and often misunderstood) Windows 7 Start Menu has more power and flexibility.

Wally Wang's Apple Farm

by Wally Wang

Textbooks and Education on iBooks and iTunes U

Textbooks and Education on iBooks and iTunes U; Why Textbook Publishers are Backing iBooks; Create Your Own Windows, Macintosh and Android Programs For Free; The Slow Death of Corporations; Archive Mailbox.

Beyond Personal Computing

by Marilyn K. Martin

How to Tell If Someone around You Is a Computer Hacker

Marilyn shares some amusing anecdotes about computer Hackers.

Editor's Letters: Tips and Thoughts from Readers

by ComputorEdge Staff

Computer and Internet tips, plus comments on the articles and columns.

"Kindle Fire Versus iPad," "Images Displaying in E-mails," "Let Them All Close Down," "Response To Wally's Apple Farm"

Send mail to ceeditor@computoredge.com with questions about editorial content.

Send mail to webmaster@computoredge.com with questions or comments about this Web site.

Copyright © 1997-2012 The Byte Buyer, Inc.

ComputorEdge Magazine, P.O. Box 83086, San Diego, CA 92138. (858) 484-1998

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Digital Dave

“Digital Dave answers your tech questions.”
by Digital Dave

Office 2010 Always Crashes with Windows XP; Windows Defender; Removing Unwanted Web Browser Tool Bars.

Office 2010 Always Crashes with Windows XP

Dear Digital Dave,

I bought a Compaq Presario SR2039x from Best Buy in 2006. It is a stand-alone, Windows XP system, and has never been connected to any network.

Recently, I bought Office 2010 Professional Edition from our campus bookstore. It requires SP3. Trying to install SP3 was hell (i.e. blue screen of death), and the flunkies at Microsoft "technical" support were useless.

Doing my own research, I found that the 316MB "IT SP3 Network Installation Package for IT Professionals and Developers" is needed for non-Intel processor machines. I downloaded it elsewhere, and installed it on my system.

Then I uninstalled Office 2003. Next, I installed Office 2010 and acquired the Confirmation ID (for activation) by telephone.

All should have been fine, except that Word started crashing within seconds of opening (even with an empty document). The message on screen is "Microsoft Word has encountered a problem and needs to close…The information you were working on last might be lost. Microsoft Word can try to recover it for you…" (similar for Publisher, PowerPoint, WordPad and Microsoft Works Word Processor).

The message tells me nothing of value. I have called Microsoft "technical" support at least four times. Every suggestion has been tried: Running Word without add-ins, disconnecting my printer, disabling virus protection, changing specific keys in the Registry Editor, running various FixIt software from articles at microsoft.com, and deleting normal.dot files. I still get the same crash message.

A few days ago, I did a full recovery to factory settings. I then uninstalled the Office 2003 trial version, installed SP3, and installed/activated Office 2010. When I tried to use Word or other Office 2010 applications, the same crash message came on screen.

Other people at forums have also had Office 2010 troubles. But none of the solutions (including at various Microsoft articles) have worked for me. My computer meets the minimum specifications for Office 2010.

Jay

San Diego, California

Dear Jay,

I'm thinking that the best help I can give you is to publish your letter in hopes that someone who has previously solved the problem for the same type of computer and Microsoft Office 2010 will read it and offer their solution. It looks like you have tried just about everything to get it working.

I'm assuming that you ran all the available Windows Updates from the Internet after you did a full recover to get your computer all patched up. If not, there could be a little fix in there somewhere outside of the Service Pack that fixes Office 2010 for this configuration. There are also patches for Office 2010 through Windows Update. Some people deliberately disable Windows Update and they often miss out on these types of patches.

Microsoft isn't much help because they are still trying to figure out how they can stop supporting Windows XP. I doubt that making Office 2010 compatible with every Windows XP machine was much of a priority. It seems that there is a built-in incompatibility in your system. I suspect that people with the same model computer are also encountering problems if they have purchased Office 2010, although it is quite possible that you have a hardware problem which 2010 is sensitive to.

I don't buy Microsoft Office products anymore—not because they cause problems, but because they cost too much. I've used OpenOffice.org for quite a while and now it looks like LibreOffice (an open source fork of OpenOffice.org) is taking over the free office suite market.

As is so often the case, "There is a logical reason for what is happening to your computer. We just don't know what it is."

Digital Dave

Windows Defender

Dear Digital Dave,

Since I have an antivirus and full Internet security suite on my Windows 7 PC, do I still need to update Windows Defender?

Marq

San Diego

Dear Marq,

Once known as Microsoft AntiSpyware, Windows Defender has now become part of the free download Microsoft Security Essentials. When installed, Security Essentials disables Windows Defender.

As long as your security suite includes anti-spyware software, you should not need to update Windows Defender. I wouldn't be surprised if your software has already disabled Defender.

If you do have other anti-spyware protection, then you should ensure that Defender is disabled. To do that on Windows 7 and Vista computers type "defender" in the Start Search field of the Start Menu. Select Windows Defender. If it is already disabled you will receive a message to that effect. Otherwise, after the window opens go to Tools => Options => Administrator options. Deselect the Use Windows Defender box and press the Save button.

Digital Dave

Removing Unwanted Web Browser Tool Bars

The other day I opened Internet Explorer (probably while investigating a reader's question). I noticed that it had a brand new toolbar which looked like an video arcade in Las Vegas. I'm not sure how it got there, but it was not something that I wanted—regardless of how little I use Internet Explorer. It was called the "midicair" toolbar. I had probably inadvertently installed it with another program I was testing.

I had trouble finding any information about "midicair" ("medicare" results kept coming up), other than that it was produced by a toolbar making tool called Conduit Toolbar. It looks like you can get or build a tailored toolbar for any obsession you may have. (It needs to be an obsession because there is only so much room at the top of a browser for toolbars.)

In any case, all I wanted to do was get rid of the "midicair" toolbar. I opened Tools => Manage Add-ons, found "midicair" and disabled it. But it seemed to me I had done this before only to see the toolbar come back.

To permanently delete the toolbar it was necessary to uninstall the program in "Uninstall or change a program." The Windows uninstall program can be found in the Control Panel under Programs and Features. (Type "programs" in the Start search field of Windows 7 or Vista, or open it through the Control Panel, see Figure 1. Find "Add or Remove Programs" in Windows XP.)

Figure 1. Programs and Features window.

Scroll down to the offending program and click Uninstall or Remove (depending upon your operating system).

Often you can remove browser extensions or add-ons through the tools in the browser. However, when that doesn't work you need to dig deeper. When an offending program has been installed on your system, sometimes, rather than merely disabling it, it's necessary to completely remove it with the uninstall program. Otherwise, it may continue to come back to haunt you.

Free Software for Reading E-Books on Your Computer

“An Abundance of Free Software for Perusing E-Books on Your Computer”
by Jack Dunning

Many people think that you need a tablet or e-reading device to read e-books. Here are some of the many free options for reading e-books on any computer.

With so much information readily available on the Web people have grown accustomed to reading Web pages on their computer. Web pages offer the text in a continuous top to bottom stream which can be scrolled through or possibly read as a series of shorter pages with links. When sitting at a computer we have come to expect this type of scrolling presentation, but when we want to relax with a book or take reading material with us, many people look for alternatives which don't require their desktop or laptop.

This is why the e-reading device came about, and with it the e-book format (and market) has exploded. Amazon now sells more digital e-books than paper bound editions. The Kindle has become one of the most popular reading platforms in the world. Millions of people have forsaken paper for a device which can literally carry thousands of books and be read anywhere. The Barnes and Noble NOOK, Kobo and the Sony Reader are all competing in the e-book market—although with a different e-book file format from the Kindle. (The Amazon Kindle uses the MOBI format while almost everyone else has adopted the EPUB format as a standard. The two formats are very similar, although they are not compatible. The right format is required for a particular e-reader. With the exception of Amazon Kindle, all of the computer e-reading software discussed here use the EPUB format.)

The explosive growth of the iPad tablet computer has only added to the growth of the e-book market. Every tablet computer is a potential e-reader. The iPad is capable of reading both EPUB e-books with the free iBooks app and MOBI e-books with the free Amazon Kindle for iPad app. However, if you want to read e-books, but don't plan to buy an e-reading device or a tablet computer, you can do it on your current laptop or desktop computer—free!

Why Read E-Books on a Computer?

The first reason for reading e-books on a computer is because you don't own an e-reading device such as a Kindle or iPad. There are tons of free e-books, many of them classics, available for download. If you don't want to buy a Kindle or iPad, then you can still get access to this vast library on your computer.

Or possibly, you just want to know what all the e-book fuss is about. You're interested, but want to do some testing before deciding that reading e-books is for you. In this case, you will be able to download one or two of the programs mentioned here and give it a try. You don't even need to go very far to find e-books to test. At the top of every page of ComputorEdge there are two e-book download links for the current issue of ComputorEdge (EPUB format for iPad, NOOK, etc. and MOBI format for Amazon Kindle). You can download the magazine e-book and decide for yourself. (To download the e-books of past issues, go to the desired issue. The links at the top of the page will match that issue. You can also find past issues in the Archive—the link is in the blue bar above.)

Free E-Reading Software for Your Computer

While a computer may not be the ideal equipment for reading e-books, it can certainly do the job. The reading experience when sitting in front of your machine is no worse than reading Web pages, PDFs or other document files. In fact, if you use the right software, it may be a much better reading experience than trying to navigate the Internet or dig through a PDF file. That's because e-reading software is written with reading in mind, not displaying Web pages or formatting pages for print (PDFs). Good e-reading software is simple, easy to use, and behaves like a book—only with extras.

E-readers (both hardware devices and computer programs) are limited in function. There is usually a library feature where a catalog of stored e-books is maintained. Changing the type size is easy to make the font more readable. Pages can be turned with a flick of the finger or click of a mouse. There is usually an interactive table of contents which will link directly to the chapter or subsection. Electronic bookmarks and search capabilities tend to be standard. Some of the better programs will display two pages at once, as would be seen in a book. This works better for wide computer screens since the shorter lines on a two-page spread are easier to read than lines which run across the entire width of the screen.

There is plenty of free software for reading e-books on a computer. Most of the companies who make e-reading devices also offer free computer software. Since these companies also sell e-books, their software is geared toward selling more books. This is the reason that they have developed free software for computers. They are hoping that if someone is using their software, they will also buy books from them. However, in most cases it is easy to use their computer programs as a personal e-book library and e-reader without buying their e-books—or even opening an account with them. There are plenty of programs from which to choose, but since they are free, you are not tied to just one program. If you like, you can load them all onto your computer and use them all.

A Word on Digital Rights Management (DRM)

Many electronic books still under copyright are controlled with Digital Rights Management (DRM). Most of the information in this article does not apply to the DRM copy protected books. Generally, moving and reading DRM e-books needs to be done through the source where you bought the e-book—Amazon, Barnes and Nobel, etc. There are hundreds of thousands of free out-of-copyright e-books available through Project Gutenburg which do not have DRM protection. These e-books can be freely copied and converted to other formats, such as EPUB to MOBI for use on different devices. (The free program Calibre is excellent for converting e-books without DRM. While Calibre does include both a library and e-reading capabilities—reading and converting almost all of the current e-book formats—it is not the best software for reading an e-book on a computer. However, it does have capabilities which will help you load e-books onto your reading devices.)

E-books from ComputorEdge E-Books do not have DRM protection. This makes it much easier for our readers to move the e-books between devices and computers. ComputorEdge E-Books does run the risk that people will give away copies of the e-books to all of their friends without making additional purchases, but it would be worse to make reading our e-books too restrictive. We expect that in the long run it will all even out.

Amazon Kindle for PC

Amazon Kindle is considered the granddaddy of all e-readers. From day one, Amazon was a bookseller, and most of its marketing effort has been geared toward selling more books. Therefore, it is no surprise that they introduced a light, easy to use, low cost e-reader called the Kindle. Through an Amazon Kindle account it is easy for users to buy e-books from Amazon—which are then loaded directly onto the Kindle either through wireless 3G or Wi-Fi Internet, depending upon which is available. It is only naturally that Amazon would develop software allowing people to read e-books on their computer as well as their Kindle. This allows Kindle owners to read their e-books on their computer, but it also encourages new e-book readers to buy e-books from Amazon and possibly buy a Kindle.

I've found that the Amazon Kindle for PC and Kindle for iPad (available at the Apple iTunes app store) programs to be quite good and easy to use. Since Amazon is just about the only company supporting the MOBI format, I use the software to test the final MOBI version of both the ComputorEdge Magazine e-books (download links at the top of the page) and the other e-books we publish for ComputorEdge E-Books. For Mac owners, Amazon offers Kindle for Mac as a free download.

The best e-book reading software will include a library which will display the cover of the e-book—if there is one contained in the e-book (see Figure 1). This makes it easier to differentiate the titles in the collection.

Figure 1. Kindle for PC library.

One advantage to reading an e-book on a computer is that the reading windows can be adjusted to suit the page size most comfortable for you (see Figure 2). As you drag the edge of the window to various sizes the text will reflow to fit the window. You can also select the optimum text size for your eyes.

Figure 2. Kindle for PC window in two-page format. Both the window size and the text (font) size can be adjusted to suit you.

The window adjustment is not an option with e-reading devices. You are stuck with the size of the screen, although the view can generally be rotated to change the layout from horizontal to vertical. For example, iBooks will display a two-page layout when held in a landscape (horizontal) orientation while converting to a larger single page when rotated to the portrait (vertical) orientation. Additional features include highlighting, adding notes copying, dictionary lookup, and search capabilities (see Figure 3).

Figure 3. Highlight a word in Kindle for PC for additional features.

Most of the computer e-reading programs have a special folder location for any e-books that you add to the program (see Figure 4). Generally, adding a new non-DRM e-book is as simple as dragging the e-book file (in this case MOBI) into the folder. Some of the free programs have an "add e-book" feature to make loading e-books easier. Kindle does not. This is the same e-book loading technique that is used when a hardware Kindle is plugged into your computer via the USB port.

Figure 4. Amazon Kindle e-books are added to the My Kindle Content folder by dragging (click and hold left mouse button and move to folder) the file into that folder.

Barnes and Noble NOOK for PC

NOOK for PC (or NOOK for Mac) is a good e-reader for a computer. It looks very much like Kindle for PC (see Figure 5) and works in a very similar manner, except that it uses the EPUB e-book file format rather than the MOBI format. Within the program, the content you add is maintained in a folder called "my stuff" in "my library." (On the hard drive, the e-book folder "My Barnes & Noble eBooks" is located in Users/[user name]/My Documents.) On the plus side, there is an "ADD NEW ITEM" button in the "my stuff" section of the program for importing EPUB e-books. This is easier than locating the hard drive folder and copying in (or dragging) the file. If you use this last dragging technique, you will need to close and reopen the program before it will recognize the new e-books. On the down side, the "my stuff" library does not display the covers embedded in the e-books.

Figure 5. Barnes and Noble NOOK for PC.

Sony Reader for PC

Sony Reader for PC may be one of the best e-reading programs for a computer. It is available for both the PC and Mac. It can be set to a one-page or two-page spread depending upon your preference (see Figure 6). The library allows you to set up collections and favorites, plus you can import pictures and audio files. It does not include the dictionary lookup found in Kindle for PC.

Figure 6. Sony Reader for PC allows the selection of a one-page or two-page mode.

One feature which does make things a little simpler is Sony Reader sets the computers default for the EPUB file format to the reader. That means when you double-click on any EPUB file in Windows Explorer it will automatically open the Sony software and load the file into the Library. This is by far the simplest method for adding e-books, although there is an Import feature in the File menu at the top of the main screen which serves the same purpose. (There is more on double-clicking to load e-books below.)

Mozilla Firefox Web Browser EPUBReader Extension

Mozilla Firefox users can download and install the EPUBReader extension, a free add-on that lets you read any EPUB e-book file type inside your open browser without requiring any other special software. One of the best features of the Firefox add-on is that you can click the download link for an EPUB e-book (i.e. the EPUB link in the top banner of this ComputorEdge Web page) and it will automatically open the file in Firefox. If you want to add the file to the catalog, click the save diskette icon in the lower left hand corner of the reading screen (see Figure 7).

Figure 7. EPUBReader in Firefox. The column width can be adjusted in the settings.

One of the best features is the ability to set the column width to a fixed size. This allows the column to be as narrow as you like, making the reading experience similar to that of a magazine or newspaper. The wider the screen and narrower the column width, the more columns appear. The only problem I noted was with the artwork at the top of the lead article overlapping some text, but this is a problem I've seen with a number of the e-readers if the window is too narrow for the artwork. Changing to the one-page view fixes the problem.

There are extensions for other Web browser, but none of the ones I tested work very well. I didn't do a complete search, but as time goes by there will be more and more e-book extensions for the various browsers.

Reading E-Books on the Web with Bookworm

O'Reilly Media hosts a free Web site for reading e-books called Bookworm. The advantage to reading e-books on the Web is that you can use any computer anywhere without carrying your e-books with you. As long as you have an Internet connection and a computer—any computer—you can use any Web browser to read your stored e-books. The e-reader works in the same manner as a Web page requiring scrolling up and down to read each chapter (see Figure 8). Each Web page is one chapter in the e-book. In one mode, you can go to the next (or previous) chapter by clicking in the right (or left) margin. The mode shown in Figure 8 has Next and Previous links.

Figure 8. The Bookworm Web site allows you to store your EPUB e-book in the Cloud and read them anywhere.

A good e-reading programs should not require scrolling to see the next page (or the rest of the chapter). This is the problem with Bookworm, the Calibre e-reader and Adobe Digital Editions. A click should take you to the next page. Scrolling is not ideal with e-book reading software.

Opening E-Books with a Double-Click

When Sony Reader is installed, it sets itself as the default program for EPUB files. That means a double-click on an EPUB file in Windows Explorer will open both Reader and the e-book while adding it to the Reader library. This is a good, quick way to get e-books into your computer e-reading software library. Kindle for PC works in the same manner for MOBI files. This is a tip that will help anyone who wants to add e-books to their libraries.

This double-click technique can be made to work for most computer e-reading programs as long as it is set as the default program for that type of file. But regardless of the default, you can load e-books into most e-book catalogs by using the Open menu Windows Explorer of Windows Vista or Windows 7 (see Figure 9 or "Open with..." in the right-click menu). Merely select the program you want to use. You may need to use the "Choose default program..." option to add the program to the list before it will appear. Even Mozilla Firefox can be added to the list. If the EPUBReader extension is installed, it will automatically open EPUB formatted e-books in Firefox when loaded with the Firefox option in the Open menu.

I was also able to use this method to add e-books to Kobo Desktop, although I don't discuss Kobo Desktop here because it was a particularly unfriendly program. Kobo may be a great e-reading device, but I didn't like the desktop software at all.

Adobe Digital Editions is used extensively with certain reading devices and for testing EPUB formatting. But as a program for reading an e-book on a computer, I couldn't recommend it.

The advantage to owning a Kindle or iPad is that you can take it with you and read your books virtually anywhere. Plus if you are reading a computer tutorial or manual, you can set the tablet next to you on the desk while working with the computer. This saves jumping between windows. However, if you don't want to invest in yet another piece of hardware, or find that reading e-books on your computer works just fine for you, then, as can be seen, there are numerous free programs for reading e-books on your computer.

Jack is the publisher of ComputorEdge Magazine. He's been with the magazine since first issue on May 16, 1983. Back then, it was called The Byte Buyer. His Web site is www.computoredge.com. He can be reached at ceeditor@computoredge.com. Jack is now in the process of updating and compiling his hundreds of articles and columns into e-books. Currently available:

Windows 7 Explorer Secrets (EPUB for iPad, NOOK, etc.)

Windows 7 Explorer Secrets (MOBI for Amazon Kindle)

Windows 7 Taskbar Secrets (EPUB for iPad, NOOK, etc.)

Windows 7 Taskbar Secrets (MOBI for Amazon Kindle)

Sticking with Windows XP—or Not? (EPUB for iPad, NOOK, etc.)

Sticking with Windows XP—or Not? (MOBI for Amazon Kindle)

Windows 7 Tips and Tricks: The Start Menu

“The Windows 7 Start Menu can be tailored to your computing style.”
by Jack Dunning

Considered a standard feature of the Windows operating system, surprisingly the new (and often misunderstood) Windows 7 Start Menu has more power and flexibility.

People tend to not like change. Even changes that may seem minor can cause a great deal of aggravation. This has been the case for the Windows 7 Start Menu, especially if someone is jumping directly from Windows XP to Windows 7. The Start Menu in Windows 7 has many more similarities with Vista, but even then there are important differences. When new to Windows 7, the question is how to approach the new Start Menu.

The reaction for some Windows XP users has been so dramatic that a mini-industry sprung up around making Windows 7 look and act like Windows XP. While I don't blame people for wanting the comfort of the operating system that they've always known, it's a bit drastic to install third-party software as a mask just to bring back the XP look—especially once a person realizes how much they are actually giving up in Windows 7. I won't be covering attempts to retrograde to XP with third-party software, but I will offer tips about how to simulate some of the more used XP features within Windows 7.

Until recently, I've taken the Windows 7 Start Menu for granted. Click the Start button in the lower left hand corner and pick a program or function. Beyond that, I usually shift to the Taskbar/Quick Launch buttons or Windows Explorer. However, after doing a good deal of testing, I now realize that in Windows 7 the Start Menu can do much more than initially meets the eye. When properly configured, the Start Menu can bypass many of the Taskbar and Windows Explorer functions. For example, the standard Windows 7 Libraries are integrated into the Start Menu which allows the quick location and opening of files, photos and music regardless of where they are located on the network—as long as they are included in the Library. (This will be a topic for next week.) Also, the search capability (first introduced in Windows Vista) within the Start Menu has become a reliable way to find programs and files, as well as troubleshoot computer problems and solutions in Windows 7.

The first step in understanding the Windows 7 Start Menu is to become familiar with it. While it works in a manner similar to Windows XP, and even more resembling Vista, once understood, it can be seen that the Windows 7 Start Menu offers new features with quite a bit more punch.

A Look at the Windows 7 Start Menu

After Start (the little blue button with the Microsoft logo in the lower left hand corner) is clicked, the Start Menu will pop up (see Figure 1). The default Start Menu looks very similar to Windows XP with a couple of differences. As in other versions of Windows, the Start Menu is divided into the program launch pane on the left side and the special navigation and functions pane on the right side. The top portion of the left program pane shows program shortcuts which have been attached to the Start Menu (called pinned in Windows 7) and the bottom portion shows recently opened program shortcuts.

Figure 1. The default Start Menu in Windows 7 looks very similar to previous versions of Windows.

You will also see the "All Programs" link at the bottom of the left side, plus the "Search programs and files" field—first added in Windows Vista. If we stopped at this point, we would say that it's not much different from the original Start Menu, although there appears to be fewer functions available on the right side.

Taking a closer look, on the right side of a number of the program shortcuts in the left pane is a little right-pointing arrow. This arrow tells us that there is more to see when we hover over the specific shortcut. These little arrows do not appear in Windows XP or Vista.

On the right side of the Start Menu note that there are no similar arrows. They appeared in earlier versions of Windows, but now they are gone. These arrows used to open lists of drives, folder, files and system programs and were an important part of the Windows Start Menu. Don't panic. You can get them back and add even more features. These topics will be discussed in next week's "Windows Tips and Tricks" and included in the upcoming e-book Windows 7 Start Menu Secrets which will be available at ComputorEdge E-Books—probably next week. (As it turns out, there is much more to the Windows 7 Start Menu than even I expected. My explorations are generating quite a bit of new material.)

One major difference in the Windows 7 Start Menu is the inclusion of Windows Libraries links on the right side. Documents, Pictures and Music are not the familiar folders we know from earlier versions of Windows (My Documents, My Pictures, My Music), but rather Libraries which can contain any number of folders from anywhere on the network (other computers and drives). Using Libraries adds some interesting capabilities and tricks which can be used with the Windows 7 Start Menu. These upcoming topics will be included in both the new e-book and published in ComputorEdge.

Pinned and Recent Programs

On the left side of the Start Menu, when hovering over a program shortcut with a little arrow on the right side of its name, the right side of the Start Menu transforms into a series of program options called Jump Lists (see Figure 2). Which options are displayed will depend upon the program, recently opened files, and how it has been tailored.

Figure 2. When hovering over a program shortcut ("Google Chrome"), the right side of the Start Menu becomes a list of program options called Jump Lists (red ovals). Right-click on the same program shortcut and a configuration options menu pops up (red box).

Right-click on the program shortcut and a menu pops up which gives options to add and/or remove the program shortcut to and/or from the Taskbar and the Start Menu. Between the addition of Jump Lists and the right-click menu, the Start Menu now can be tailored to best suit the needs of the user.

There are a number of ways to permanently attach (pin) a program shortcut to the left side of the Start Menu (above the light blue line). A recently opened program (located at the bottom of the list below the light blue line on the left side of the Start Menu) can be pinned by dragging it into the pinned list or by right-clicking and selecting Pin to Start Menu. There is also a Pin to Taskbar option. Also, the same right-click will work for program shortcuts on the Desktop. Another method of pinning is to drag (click and hold the left mouse button on the program name) a program (or folder) shortcut from almost anywhere directly onto the Start button (blue button with Microsoft logo inside located in the bottom left corner of the computer screen).

These processes can be reversed for any program shortcut pinned to the Start Menu with the Unpin from Start Menu option in the same right-click menu shown in Figure 2.

Windows 7 Jump Lists

One of the new features of Windows 7 is Jump Lists. The concept is not new. They appear in some form in every version of Windows as Recent Items or Favorites. However, the shortcuts in Windows 7 have capabilities that make it easy to tailor your lists. First, Jump Lists are program specific. Second, the program must support the Jump Lists. When implemented with an application you may get a number of quick pick possibilities.

The first place that you will find the Jump List is in the Start Menu (see Figure 2). If a program has jumps, then a small arrow will appear to the right of the program name in the Start Menu, whether recently opened or pinned to the Start Menu. Hovering over the program name will bring the jumps into view.

Figure 3. Jump Lists displayed for Google Chrome in the Start Menu for Windows 7.

In this case Google Chrome is pinned to the menu and displays the options: Pinned, Most visited, Recently closed and Tasks. To permanently pin an item to the list, hover over the item and click the tack icon at the right. This will move the item to the heading Pinned, adding it to the list. The Tasks heading is program specific, allowing you to execute certain program features while loading the program. In this case, designating whether a normal window will open or an incognito (private) window will open. The features available within Jump Lists will vary depending upon the application.

An alternative location for viewing and using Jump Lists is activated by right-clicking the quick-launch/program tab Taskbar button. The same list found on the Start Menu will appear as a menu (see Figure 3). This list acts in the same manner as the Start Menu jump list with the addition of the program launch option toward the bottom of the list.

Figure 4. Jump Lists displayed for Google Chrome in the Taskbar for Windows 7.

Finding the Jump Lists in the quick launch/program tabs makes the concept of pinning a program to one location that much more useful—at least for the software that supports these Windows 7 features.

Windows 7 Start Menu Properties

The key to expanding the capabilities of the Start Menu is the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties program. This window can be launched by right-clicking on the Start button in the lower left hand corner (or any empty area in the open Start Menu), then selecting Properties and the Start Menu tab (see Figure 5).

Figure 5. The Windows 7 Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window with the Start Menu tab selected.

If you want to display recently opened programs in the left side of the Start Menu, check the box under Privacy next to "Store and display recently opened programs in the Start menu." If you want recently opened files to appear in the Jump Lists, check "Store and display recently opened items in the Start menu and the Taskbar." These check boxes can also be used to clear each type of list by merely unchecking the appropriate box and clicking Apply. This action will erase the history associated with the selected list(s).

Warning: If you use this technique to clear the Recent items on the Jump Lists, it will clear all of the Jump Lists on the Taskbar and in the Start Menu, as well as the general Recent Items folder. However, clearing the general Recent Items folder by itself will not clear the Recent items in the Jump Lists. (There will be more on how to add the overall Recent Items list to the right side of the Start Menu next week.)

Adjusting the Size of the Start Menu

The vertical size of the Start Menu will depend partially upon the size and resolution of your display. However, there are adjustments which you can make to fix the size of the Start Menu. In the same Start Menu tab of the Start Menu is the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties window. Click the "Customize..." button. The Customize Start Menu window will open (See Figure 6).

Figure 6. In Windows 7 the height of the Start Menu can be adjusted by increasing the number of recent programs to display in the Customize Start Menu window.

By increasing the value of "Number of recent programs to display," clicking OK, then Apply in the next window, you can make the start menu larger. The size will remain fixed until you clear the recently opened programs list, as described above. Enabling the displaying of recent programs again will restore the fixed height.

There are numerous configuration choices available in the list box shown in the top portion of the Customize Start Menu window—including a way to pack even more into the Start Menu. While the default setup out of the box shows little of what the Windows 7 Start Menu can do, the true power is buried in these settings made in that list box. Next week, we'll explore how these options can be used to make your Windows 7 computer fit the way you like to compute.

Jack is the publisher of ComputorEdge Magazine. He's been with the magazine since first issue on May 16, 1983. Back then, it was called The Byte Buyer. His Web site is www.computoredge.com. He can be reached at ceeditor@computoredge.com. Jack is now in the process of updating and compiling his hundreds of articles and columns into e-books. Currently available:

Windows 7 Explorer Secrets (EPUB for iPad, NOOK, etc.)

Windows 7 Explorer Secrets (MOBI for Amazon Kindle)

Windows 7 Taskbar Secrets (EPUB for iPad, NOOK, etc.)

Windows 7 Taskbar Secrets (MOBI for Amazon Kindle)

Sticking with Windows XP—or Not? (EPUB for iPad, NOOK, etc.)

Sticking with Windows XP—or Not? (MOBI for Amazon Kindle)

Wally Wang's Apple Farm

“Textbooks and Education on iBooks and iTunes U”
by Wally Wang

Textbooks and Education on iBooks and iTunes U; Why Textbook Publishers are Backing iBooks; Create Your Own Windows, Macintosh and Android Programs For Free; The Slow Death of Corporations; Archive Mailbox.

The American educational system almost never places near the top of reading, math, or science among all the major industrialized nations. Despite being a world military superpower, the American educational system ranks mediocre at best. A major part of that problem stems from sheer boredom.

Today's children grow up with smartphones, Internet access, laptops and MP3 players. They're comfortable searching for and viewing content on screens while watching movies or TV shows, reading Web sites and blogs, and listening to streaming music from Internet radio stations. So it's not surprising that when you put kids in a classroom that looks no different than a classroom of fifty years ago, students wind up bored out of their minds.

Listening to a teacher lecture while sitting passively at a desk and staring at an outdated textbook simply isn't going to engage many students or encourage a love of learning. One possible answer lies in giving students control of their learning. On January 19, Apple introduced several solutions that they believe could help the educational system.

First, Apple has created a separate textbook category in their iBookstore where people can browse and purchase electronic textbooks. Unlike too many e-books that are nothing more than static text transferred from a page to the screen, these new digital textbooks incorporate audio, video and interactivity.

Figure 1. The next generation of e-books will routinely offer video and interactive graphics.

Audio and video lets students hear and see information so rather than just read about gazelles in Africa, they can watch gazelles running away from a lion. Video alone makes learning a bit more interesting, but the true value of these new digital textbooks is interactivity.

Today's textbooks can only display a static picture, but digital textbooks can display a static picture, one that rotates, one that offers a gallery of multiple pictures that you can slide to view one after another, or interactive graphics that lets the user tap or manipulate them somehow to see the pictures change. By actively engaging students and encouraging them to explore, such interactive graphics can make learning more interesting. Students no longer become passive observers of information, but become active explorers.

Figure 2. Interactive graphics lets students explore and discover facts for themselves.

Just like real textbooks, digital textbooks let you highlight passages of text. However, digital textbooks go one step farther and let you turn your highlighted notes into note cards that you can review to study for a test.

Figure 3. You can highlight text within an e-book.

Figure 4. You can type notes directly in an e-book.

In landscape mode, digital textbooks appear with text and graphics mixed together. In portrait mode, the graphics appear on the side, allowing you to focus on just reading the text.

Figure 5. Portrait mode lets you focus on text instead of graphics.

To create these interactive, video-enhanced textbooks, you can use Apple's free iBooks Author program, which closely resembles Pages from the iWork suite. Just choose a template, drag and drop Word or Pages documents, graphics, video, or even Keynote presentations, and you can create an interactive digital textbook quickly and simply. If you've ever tried to create an e-book using any other tool, you'll know that e-book creation tools are clumsy, slow and buggy. By using iBooks Author, creating an e-book is no different than using a desktop publishing or Web page designing program.

Figure 6. The new iBooks author program makes it easy to create interactive e-books.

To use iBooks Author, you'll need a Macintosh running Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, and to read your digital books, you'll need to use iBooks on an iPad. The obvious goal is to drive e-book authors to buy Macintosh computers and e-book readers into buying iPads. If you're using a Windows PC or a non-iPad tablet, you'll be out of luck.

To further encourage students to get an iPad, Apple has also introduced their free iTunes U app, which lets you access college courses from all over the world. Now you can get a college education without paying the always-increasing tuition. You won't get any credit for your learning, but you'll have the information and knowledge, which is more valuable. A dedicated student could literally get a four-year college education at no cost, although it's more likely that students will use the iTunes U app to supplement their current course rather than replace their college education altogether.

Figure 7. The new iTunes U app lets you access college courses for free.

The new iBooks, iBooks Author and iTunes U app is just Apple's way of making the iPad and Macintosh even more valuable than rival products. While you can expect rivals to come up with their own versions of accessing educational content, they're already behind and unlikely to catch up any time soon. Given a choice between an iPad that can access digital textbooks and college courses through a dedicated iTunes U app, or a Windows 8 tablet that can only access iTunes U through the Windows version of iTunes, which tablet do you think most students will choose?

It's likely people will buy a Macintosh just to create interactive e-books while many others will get an iPad just to read digital textbooks. Although Apple promoted their free iBooks Author program for creating interactive textbooks, anyone can use it to create any type of e-book.

Of course, digital textbooks have certain limitations. You can only view them in iBooks, which only runs on iOS devices. Since the screens on an iPhone and iPod touch are so small, it's only practical to read digital textbooks on an iPad screen. Most public schools can barely afford teacher supplies let alone iPads, which means the real push for digital textbooks will likely start at the college level where students buy their own iPads.

Another problem is that iBooks Author creates a new e-book format called .ibooks. While the program is free, the license agreement requires that you only sell any e-books created by the program in Apple's iBookstore and nowhere else. However, you can freely give away any e-books created with iBooks Author.

The iBooks Author program and the new standard of e-books is mostly important for demonstrating the interactive nature of future e-books beyond the static text on a screen approach taken by today's e-books. Whether the future e-book standard is defined by Apple, Amazon, or somebody else is irrelevant. With iBooks Author showing what's possible, other commercial software publishers and open source advocates can create their own e-book creation tools that match or even exceed the features provided by iBooks Author.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt offers a study that claims students increased their math scores by up to 20 percent by using an iPad. Naturally, the company has a financial stake in the results, but by reading their study, you can see what might be possible and how schools can enhance education today by going beyond ordinary textbooks and passive learning with everyone sitting neatly in rows of desks in a classroom, listening to a teacher lecture.

In the meantime, we can all wait until the end of the year to see how Microsoft hopes Windows 8 tablets and PCs can compete in the digital textbook market defined by Apple.

Why Textbook Publishers are Backing iBooks

At first glance, the textbook publishers should be threatened by e-books just as MP3 files threatened and ultimately decimated the music industry. The big difference is that the textbook publishers are joining the digital revolution rather than fighting it, not because they have altruistic motives, but because they see financial benefits.

Today's textbook publishers sell an expensive textbook once, and then it goes on sale as a used book multiple times. Each used book benefits the bookstore, but does nothing to bring additional cash to the textbook publishers. That's why textbook publishers crank out new editions of textbooks as fast as possible to force students to keep buying new books.

Students suffer by constantly buying new editions with marginally different information in them. Then they rebel by buying used versions of that same book or simply renting textbooks through a service like Chegg.

However, by selling digital textbooks, publishers can sell a $14.99 digital textbook to each student. Since students can't resell these digital textbooks, the publishers will make more money on volume. Theoretically, the students win by getting lower cost textbooks and the publisher wins by selling more textbooks. Realistically, publishers might find a way to gouge students for digital textbooks, which will encourage students to pirate digital textbooks instead.

As the cost of printed textbooks continues spiraling out of control, digital textbooks look like a reasonable alternative. The Trojan horse buried inside the iBooks Author program is that teachers can create their own digital textbooks and sell or give them away, thereby cutting out the traditional textbook publishers altogether.

As long as it's easier and cheaper to buy digital textbooks from the traditional publishers, everyone can benefit. If digital textbook prices start gouging students, then teachers can simply create their own digital textbooks while students turn to digital textbook piracy.

The fate of traditional publishers rests on whether they want to make a steady profit and stay in business or try to gouge a huge profit out of everyone now and risk losing their business in the long run. Knowing human nature, you can expect many traditional publishers will go for the "gouge the public at all costs now" strategy and wind up going bankrupt in the future.

Create Your Own Windows, Macintosh and Android Programs For Free

Writing programs that run on Windows, Mac OS X and Android is normally a pain in the neck since you have to use separate tools and programming languages for each platform. One solution for creating Windows and Macintosh programs is REALStudio (formerly called REALbasic), which mimics Visual Basic. If you know how to use Visual Basic, you already know how to use REALStudio.

The problem with REALStudio is that it limits you to creating desktop programs for Windows, Mac OS X, or Linux. A more flexible solution is LiveCode, which mimics Apple's old HyperCard. Unlike REALStudio, LiveCode lets you create programs for Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Android and iOS. The cost of LiveCode varies from $99 to $999 depending on which features you want or need.

While you can download a free trial of LiveCode, you might want to consider another HyperCard clone called HyperNext Studio. This program (written in REALStudio), mimics Apple's HyperCard just like LiveCode, except it uses a modified version of the REALbasic programming language. The best part about HyperNext Studio is that it's free to use and free to sell your own programs created with HyperNext.

Figure 8. HyperNext lets you create Windows and Macintosh programs.

If you're interested in creating Android apps, you can also download and use the separate HyperNext Android Creator (HAC). Just design your user interface, write your instructions using the modified version of the REALbasic programming language, compile it, and you can start selling or giving away your own Android apps as soon as possible.

Figure 9. HyperNext Android Creator lets you create your own Android apps.

HyperNext gives everyone the chance to create software quickly and easily. Try HyperNext to turn your ideas into a Windows, Macintosh, or Android program. You might be surprised at how creative you can be with a free tool like HyperNext, even if you've never tried programming before.

The Slow Death of Corporations

Research in Motion (RIM) recently announced that their two CEOs, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, were stepping down to allow a new CEO to lead the company. After fumbling their Playbook tablet launch and their touch screen Blackberry phones, these two CEOs realized they no longer had the confidence of their investors.

After Apple introduced the iPhone, Jim Balsillie had this to say: "Yeah on the iPhone touch, I mean I don't know, we do a lot of focused groups in what we do, there's a lot of market research in what we do, we had a lot of market research from our customers in the markets on what the market expects from a solution."

It's no wonder the company's leadership and long-term product strategy was as muddled as the CEO's thought process. Blackberries once ruled the corporate world. Now they've slipped behind Android and the iPhone with the possibility of Windows Phone 7 catching up and passing them in the future. How did Research in Motion die so quickly?

Perhaps the CEO of Kodak, Antonio Perez, would like to answer that question as he took Kodak's stock down 96 percent since taking over in 2005. Major corporations simply die when their markets evaporate and they have no contingency plans whatsoever besides panic, knee-jerk reactions and prayer.

Imagine if your sole source of income were to disappear overnight. Now imagine ways you could soften the blow of such a sudden income loss by searching out new sources of revenue as if your life depended on it because it does. It's always easier to look for alternatives now before you have to rather than look for alternatives when you have no choice and are running out of time.

In his book Instant Wealth—Wake Up Rich!, author Christopher Howard says the key to adapting to change is through constant learning, willingness to make mistakes, and the fortitude to recover from defeat no matter how many times it strikes you down. "Those who are learning will inherit the earth, while those who have learned will be very well equipped for a world that no longer exists."

Both Research in Motion and Kodak clung to their past successes without learning new ways to survive. Research in Motion assumed people would continue buying Blackberries while Kodak assumed people would continue buying film. Perhaps the most frightening statement of all comes from Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, who claimed that Windows 8 was the company's biggest bet.

A company with the resources and brainpower as Microsoft shouldn't be betting on anything. They could easily afford to support multiple projects and keep them in hiding. That way if their Plan A fails, they can quickly pull out Plan B and keep moving forward.

During the development of the original Macintosh, Steve Jobs wanted a word processor (MacWrite) to show people what the Macintosh could do (display text and graphics simultaneously). If MacWrite wasn't available when the Macintosh launched, Steve Jobs would have been left showing a computer with a new user interface and hope people could see a reason for why they might want one.

Plan A was to have a team working on MacWrite. Plan B was to have a second team secretly working on their own word processor. That way if the original MacWrite project failed, Steve Jobs could take the second word processor project, rename it MacWrite, and still have a word processor to show off with the Macintosh.

As it turned out, the MacWrite team succeeded on time and their word processor came bundled with the Macintosh. This second word processor got sold off and marketed under the name of WriteNow. By having two word processor projects, Steve Jobs insured that the Macintosh would have a word processor available on launch day.

When Apple created Mac OS X, it was originally designed for PowerPC processors. Yet Apple secretly ported it to run on Intel processors for years. This gave them time to work out the bugs and insure complete compatibility even to the point of having the Intel version of Mac OS X run PowerPC programs under an emulation program called Rosetta.

When the time came to switch from PowerPC processors to Intel processors, Apple could make the transition quickly and easily because they had planned ahead with a secret project that they had perfected over time.

Now why can't Microsoft do that? Rather than bet and pray that Windows 8 will become popular for tablet users, Microsoft could have easily continued funding their Courier tablet project, which had gained a small following up until the announcement of its official cancellation. That way if Windows 8 tablets failed, Microsoft could have easily whipped out their Courier tablet and continued forward.

Why bet when you can practically guarantee success by funding multiple projects to protect you should your Plan A fail? Perhaps Microsoft does have a Plan B in case Windows 8 fails on tablets and on ARM processors. If they don't (just like they didn't have a Plan B to deal with Vista's problems), then betting the company's future on Windows 8 risks becoming the biggest potential blunder in corporate history if Windows 8 stumbles out of the gate like Vista did.

When Microsoft officially launches Windows 8, look for actual shipping programs that can show you the advantages of the Windows 8 Metro interface in the same way that MacWrite showed off the capabilities of the Macintosh user interface. Windows 8 needs a version of OneNote or Microsoft Office (not just games or social media apps) that takes full advantage of the Metro interface on tablets that will immediately show people compelling reasons to use Windows 8 on tablets. If Microsoft can only parade a laundry list of technical specifications and hope that people use their imagination for how the Metro interface can make them more productive, then you'll know that Microsoft failed to use their vast resources to create a Plan B.

*                    *                    *

If you're using the Mail program that comes with every Macintosh and need to save a particularly interesting or useful e-mail message, just right-click on it and when a pop-up menu appears, choose Archive. This command moves the selected message to a special Archive mailbox so you'll be able to find your most valuable messages without wading through the usual junk stored in a typical e-mail account.

Figure 10. The Archive command lets you tuck important e-mail messages safely in a separate area.

In the early days, before Wally became an Internationally renowned comedian, computer book writer, and generally cool guy, Wally Wang used to hang around The Byte Buyer dangling participles with Jack Dunning and go to the gym to pump iron with Dan Gookin.

Wally is responsible for the following books:

My New Mac, Lion Edition

My New iPad 2

Steal This Computer Book

Microsoft Office 2010 For Dummies

Beginning Programming for Dummies

Beginning Programming All-in-One Reference for Dummies

Breaking Into Acting for Dummies with Larry Garrison

Strategic Entrepreneurism with Jon and Gerald Fisher

How to Live with a Cat (When You Really Don't Want To)

The Secrets of the Wall Street Stock Traders

Mac Programming For Absolute Beginners

99% Fairy Tales (Children's Stories the 1% Tell About the Rest of Us)

The Zen of Effortless Selling with Moe Abdou

The 15-Minute Movie Method

In his spare time, Wally likes blogging about movies and writing screenplays at his site "The 15 Minute Movie Method." Wally can be reached at wally@computoredge.com.

Beyond Personal Computing

“How to Tell If Someone around You Is a Computer Hacker”
by Marilyn K. Martin

Marilyn shares some amusing anecdotes about computer Hackers.

Top Ten Signs That Your Co-Worker Is a Computer Hacker

1. You ticked him off once—and your next phone bill was $20,000.

2. He's won the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes three years running.

3. When asked for his phone number, he give it in hex.

4. Seems strangely calm whenever the office LAN goes down.

5. Somehow he gets HBO on his work PC.

6. Mumbled, "Oh, Puh-LEEZ!" a hundred times during the movie The Net.

7. Massive RRSP contribution made in half-cent increments.

8. His online dating profile lists "public-key encryption" among turn-ons.

9. When his computer starts up, you hear "Good Morning, Mr. President."

10. You occasionally hear him murmur, "Let's see you try and use that Visa card anymore, jerk!"

Different Types of Hackers

Type One: Hackers who love to deliberately crash systems. It's a supreme challenge to break into super secure computer systems, and either post obscene messages/pictures on their Web site, or crash the entire system.

Type Two: Hackers who are programmers. They write games and utilities, "liberating" anything they need (or want) off the Internet. Then they take their games on disc to a software convention. There they are either recruited for their dream job as a game developer, or the discs are stolen after they loudly tell anyone and everyone that they've got the "next gen of Halo."

Type Three: Hackers who are motivated by stealing data that can be sold on the black market. Or finding a new way to hack into something no one has ever hacked before. Stolen credit card numbers are so old news. Today they aim for stealing corporate secrets and wealthy customer databases. They also can start to-be-stolen parked cars from miles away, and are working on a program to open all the cell doors in the local jail or prison.

Other Ways to Spot a Hacker

1. They bound out of bed at 4 a.m. to connect to the Internet. If using dial-up, their phone bills are greater than the yearly GNP of Third World countries.

2. Their computer areas, at home or office, tend to be seriously messy. It includes empty soda cans, soldering devices, electric diodes, computer parts, integrated circuits, and post-it note addresses for Anonymous and WikiLeaks. It's not only a pain to look at, but a prime Russian ICBM target as well.

3. They organize their clothes by piles, usually on the floor, instead of by color or style. They also like to sing songs like "We All Live In A Yellow Subroutine" and "Somewhere Over The RAMbow."

4. By Middle School, young Hackers are already into BASIC programming.

5. In high school, Hackers get good grades primarily to get a scholarship to MIT. However, spelling is apparently not that important to them, since Hackers' online postings are frequently filled with grammar and spelling errors—quickly ID'ing them as amateurs and Hackers.

6. They also tend to be fearful and distrustful of their environment. They may spend an inordinate amount of time looking at the sky, never sure if NORAD traced those prank "Incoming Immediately" warnings.

7. They truly love computers. Any computer, whether Trash-'80s or a super-computer. Once they turn a computer on, it frequently requires nothing less than an Anthrax Alarm to get them off of it.

8. They never really take time off. At a party, the Hackers are clustered in the corner talking about operating system security and how to get around it. At the beach, the Hackers are the ones drawing flow charts in the sand. At a football game, the Hackers are the ones comparing football plays against a simulation printed on 11 X 14 fanfold paper.

9. Hackers love graphics, the higher the resolution, the better. They design things like Sine waves, rotating 3D boxes and color-changing balloons. They are only confined by the limits of a system's capabilities.

10. All Hackers have their own unique rules. Like never using their real name, or even identifying what country they live in. They also endeavor nightly to make sure that absolutely nothing can be traced back to their computer.

11. Whether just released from prison or entering competitions at Hacker Conventions, all the best Hackers are eventually scooped up by the U.S. Government.

Best Environments for Hackers

They work best in rooms that have line-printed Snoopy calendars from the year 1969, pens and pencils stuck in the ceiling, and post-it notes everywhere, even on the walls. They prefer to spend their electricity on air-conditioners to keep their computers from overheating. Thus, during winter, they can be found at their computer wearing a half dozen layers of clothes, resembling explorers to the North Pole more than Hackers.

Safe in their chosen environments, they can talk freely on Webcams or in chat rooms about computer hints and short-cuts—all while playing a complicated RPG (role playing game). They also love to hang out in arcades, where they can rack up ten million points in under an hour on their favorite games.

They don't know how to cook, and don't care to learn. They survive on fast food and snacks. They also love caffeinated drinks, whether sodas or coffee. If their kitchens have any personally purchased appliances, they are usually coffee makers and microwaves.

Newest Hack Attacks: Malicious Hackers and Drug Cartels

The latest incarnation of Hackers are global groups called "hacktivists," or groups of Hackers attempting to exposed alleged corporate or government malfeasance, such as WikiLeaks. Or even hacking to expose malicious Hacker groups, such as Lulz Security. According to a July 2011 article in the New York Times, a group calling themselves the A-Team were successful in unmasking the identities of a group of Hackers called Lulz Security, who had maliciously hacked into everything from the CIA to the Arizona State Police. Under bombardment, LulzSec announced in June 2011 that they were disbanding.

LulzSec was an offshoot of Anonymous, the "global hacker collective." Anonymous has a handbook for new recruits, primarily to offer tips on how to safeguard one's identity. To be unmasked is to be "dox'd," as in documented. So Anonymous suggests using "Tor," a network of virtual tunnels developed by the U.S. Navy to protect online government communications.

Anonymous may have bitten off more than they could handle, however, when they announced that they were going to ID Mexican drug cartel members, and government officials who secretly cooperated with or facilitated the cartels' operations. By November 2011, Mexican members of Anonymous announced to the press that they were dropping out of Operation Cartel (#OpCartel). They claimed that one of their group members had been kidnapped by a cartel and released, although there were no police records on such an abduction. And that the Zetas drug cartel had threatened to kill ten innocent people for every cartel member that was identified online by Anonymous.

But then the plot thickened. AnonymousSabu, living outside Mexico, insisted that #OpCartel would continue anyway. Soon after the Mexican Anonymous members had dropped out of #OpCartel, Anonymous Iberoamerican claimed that a Mexican government undercover agent of their intelligence agency CISEN, had entered Anonymous chat rooms to try and provoke the administrators into reversing their decision to discontinue #OpCartel. There were many speculations over this incident, but it highlighted how seriously the drug cartels and even Mexican government took Anonymous' intentions to identify the drug cartels.

(Many of these amusing anecdotes can be found on multiple online joke sites, but special thanks to ahajokes.com.)

Marilyn is a freelance writer and humorist with many interests. She has sold teen anti-drug articles, as well as had numerous esoteric articles published. She has almost seventy mini-articles on Helium.com, and is writing a humorous Young Adult Science Fiction series, Chronicles of Mathias. Volumes One and Two have received a "Gold Star for Excellence" from TeensReadToo.com, and are available from most on-line bookstores.

Editor's Letters: Tips and Thoughts from Readers

“Computer and Internet tips, plus comments on the articles and columns.”
by ComputorEdge Staff

"Kindle Fire Versus iPad," "Images Displaying in E-mails," "Let Them All Close Down," "Response To Wally's Apple Farm"

Kindle Fire Versus iPad

[Regarding Jack Dunning's December 30 article, "Amazons Tablet Takes on Heavy Weight Apple":]

After reading this article, my first choice would be the Kindle Fire. Lacking a camera is no problem. Most cell phones have them. Thanks for all the information. Your articles and the magazine are awesome!

-Hector Olivera, Chula Vista CA

You didn't mention computing capabilities. It is my understanding that you can connect to the Internet with both tablets, but I really don't understand this. Would have been helpful if you had mentioned this.

-Jean Ritter, Colorado Springs, CO

I'm sorry, Jean. I should have been more clear. While I did mention Web browsing, I didn't make it clear that both tablets have the capability of hooking up to the Internet over a Wi-Fi (wireless) connection. In fact, Web browsing is one of the primary uses for tablet computers. Wi-Fi Internet for a tablet is now considered a standard feature. Also, both have e-mail capability.

Thanks,

-Jack Dunning

Thanks for the detailed explanation. You're the best.

-Ron Cerrato, San Diego

Images Displaying in E-mails

[Regarding the December 16 Digital Dave column:]

Hi, Dave—love your articles. I've also had the problem with images not being displayed in e-mails. I found that if I simply click on "Forward" the images appear.

-Wayne Ford, Huntington Beach, California

Let Them All Close Down

[Regarding the December 16 Digital Dave column:]

Hi Dave—Regarding the U.S. Post Office closures and cuts, I sincerely hope they do away with this antiquated, tax subsidized system. I'm sure UPS and Fed-Ex, or possibly an entirely new free enterprise company will replace it with a more efficient system. The idea that my tax money is used to pay for something totally unnecessary really irks me.

Next on the chopping block should be those egregiously expensive monoliths called Public Libraries. You know, where you can only get reference books that are so outdated as to be totally useless. If I need information on any subject, all I have to do is simply go to the Internet; or, go to Barnes and Noble and buy the latest book. I don't want my tax dollars being used for something I find to be completely useless.

-Wayne Ford, Huntington Beach, California

Response To Wally's Apple Farm

[Regarding the December 30 Wally Wang's Apple Farm column:]

Kodak, AGFA, Polaroid. You can lump them all into the category of industries that's time has come and gone. I would ask you to tell me what "buggy whip maker" is still listed on the stock exchange? None. Kodak only ever sold cameras in order to sell film. In Business, it's called offering the razor so you can make money selling the blades. Kodak has been for a very long time one of the largest chemical producing companies in the world. The reason they split into two companies is that they saw the writing on the wall for film and what is called the "Wet Process." The last market for film is in dental x-rays… and it's only a matter of time before that business ends. By splitting the company they can sell off assets and not have to post losses to the profitable side of the business. This ending is a part of nature and the nature of business.

Montgomery Wards stopped being a mail order company in the mid 70's. It wasn't that they didn't see the writing on the wall for mail order, they did and they stopped the mail order side. It was the same for the largest mail order company "Sears." It just wasn't profitable. They tried to make a place for themselves in the very crowded world of 1980's and 90's retail sales… and they lost. Montgomery Wards filed for chapter 11 in 1997. That year GE Capital took them over. (The Internet wasn't selling very much even in 2000 when they closed for good.) Another Business 101 lesson…One way to make money is to bleed a company dry. In other words, take all the profits and do nothing to grow or improve the business and when it's dead sell off any remaining assets. This is the way of business and this is what GE Capital did... it's called raiding a company.

As to Windows…Riddle-me-this: If Microsoft and Windows die, will Apple step up and fill the gap for business? My guess is not so much, since Apple no longer makes a server and that the best guess of those that are in the know say that 2012 will see the end of the Mac Tower. So Batman, what Apple products will businesses run on? iPads? Not if you want businesses to be successful. They are a great tool, but I can't see people in accounting doing heads-down work on an iPad.

Lastly, why is it you never write about the booboos that Apple has pulled off from time to time? Like waiting weeks before telling me that I had malware on my system and only admitting it after they had a fix. It drove me nuts and all the while being told that it was not an issue… it was a problem I alone was having. And can we talk about why Apple didn't issue Bluetooth headsets with the iPhone 4, because every time I put it to my ear the thing would loose connection. You never seem to write about problems with Apple. Why is that? Are you being paid by Apple? Remember... It works both ways.

-Dan Schmitt, Colorado MultiValue Users Group (CMUG)

First of all, it's ironic that you completely missed my point about astroturfing with anti-Apple critics claiming that nobody would ever write anything positive about Apple without being paid to do so, and then you accuse me of being paid by Apple to not write about their mistakes. It does work both ways. So are you being paid by Apple's competitors to criticize Apple and anything positive anyone might say about them?

Most likely the answer is no, just like I am not being paid by Apple either. The point is that people don't have to be paid by a company to criticize or praise a company. While some undoubtedly are paid to do so (hence the astroturfing story in my column), most people are not paid and to claim otherwise is simple ignorance.

Now to respond about your question about what buggy whip manufacturer is still listed on the stock exchange. Let's start with Research in Motion, the maker of Blackberry, whose stock has dropped 70 percent over the past year. Check the stock charts for Nokia? Gateway Computers? Blockbuster Video? Barnes & Noble (since Borders already disappeared just a few months ago). As you can see, there are plenty of buggy whip manufacturers on the stock exchange simply because every year, some company stocks drop to 0 and the company goes out of business.

As far as your question about whether Apple will step up in business if Microsoft Windows disappears. Apple no longer makes Xserve, their dedicated server computer. They do make Lion Server software that can run on any Mac including a Mac mini and Mac Pro. As far as a server goes, Macs can work just fine with a Windows, Linux, or Mac server. So Batman, businesses can run on any server and use Macs.

As far as Apple not reporting malware on your Mac until they had a fix; Adobe, Microsoft, and many other companies also don't report malware until they have a fix. Why just pick on Apple for this behavior?

You mention that you had malware on your Mac that was driving you nuts? What specific malware did you get? Most malware on the Mac is designed to secretly capture keystrokes to snare credit card numbers and passwords, then send it to a hacker without the user's knowledge, so how could that drive you nuts? How were you even made aware of the malware? I could see why some anti-Apple critics would make up a story about using a Mac and getting it infected by malware just to make a point that Macs aren't perfect, yet hate Apple so much from the tone of their language that it seems implausible that they would even buy, let alone use, an Apple product. Hopefully that doesn't describe you.

As I recall, back in 10/14/11, a Dan Schmitt from Denver claimed to have written me directly and never received a reply, yet I never received any message directly from any Dan Schmitt during that time frame, which means the message from Dan Schmitt either never got to me or was never sent in the first place. That Dan Schmitt also claimed that I was being paid by Apple and also complained that Apple didn't inform people of an infection until they had a fix, which sounds strangely similar to your complaint. That wouldn't happen to be your previous letter to me, would it?

Now getting back to your question of what Apple products businesses will use. You're right. Nobody is going to use an iPad to do accounting work. They would probably use an iMac, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, or any other Macintosh computer along with an iPad and iPhone. So why do you see this as a problem for businesses?

-Wally Wang

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