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Make Palm-sized Paper Booklets

Many D.C. area organizations do not allow people to bring in cell phones, PDAs, laptops, or any other electronic devices for security reasons. A great solution is to make a paper booklet for your information. There are two Flash-based websites that do a great job at this for free:

PocketMod

PocketMod includes lots of built-in templates: calendars, organizers, lists, references, games, RSS fees, and more. You can edit several of these to include your information. Creating a booklet is as simple as dragging the pages you want into your booklet and clicking Print PocketMod!

BookletCreator

BookletCreator prints any PDF (Adobe Acrobat file) file in a booklet form. If you have a long list of contacts that you want to print out, this works well. First you will need to turn your content into a PDF, as we explained how to do earlier.

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Backup your DVDs with HandBrake

HandBrake Rips DVDs

HandBrake is free open source software that can rip DVDs, meaning that it can make a backup of the video to your computer. HandBrake works very slickly and has multiple encryption options and presets for popular formats (ipod, PSP, Apple TV, etc.).

Originally just on Max OS X, HandBrake is now available on Windows.

You can keep your backup on your computer, on a small media device like an iPod, or burn it to CD or DVD.

MetaX adds Artwork

MetaX, also free, adds an image, description, and other info to the video. This allows you to, for example, see all your movies with associated artwork from within iTunes. Unfortunately, MetaX is only available for Mac OS X.

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National Cyber Alert System from US-CERT

For system administrators or those just interested in computer security, a great resource is the Cyber Security Alert system from US-CERT.

US-CERT formed in September 2003 as a partnership between the Department of Homeland Security and the public and private sectors, intended to coordinate the response to security threats from the Internet. US-CERT is the Federal Incident Management Center for the Federal Government and serves as the focal point for cybersecurity issues.

You can get their Cyber Security Alerts by email or add them to your RSS feed.

Here is an example of a recent Cyber Security Alert, warning of a particular security threat to Microsoft software and what actions to take:

Overview

Microsoft has released updates that address vulnerabilities in Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, Word, Excel, SharePoint Server, Visual Basic 6 and related components.

I. Description

As part of the Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for November 2008, Microsoft released updates to address vulnerabilities that affect Microsoft Windows, Internet Explorer, Word, Excel, SharePoint Server, Visual Basic 6 and other related components.

II. Impact

A remote, unauthenticated attacker could gain elevated privileges, execute arbitrary code or cause a vulnerable application to crash.

III. Solution

Microsoft has provided updates for these vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for December 2008. The security bulletin describes any known issues related to the updates. Administrators are encouraged to note these issues and test for any potentially adverse effects. Administrators should consider using an automated update distribution system such as Windows Server Update Services (WSUS).

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Acer Aspire One #1 Netbook

Our current favorite small netbook, the Acer Aspire One, is now the #1 selling netbook according to 3Q sales numbers as reported by DisplaySearch.

We expect competition to become only more fierce with companies continuing to flood the market with new models. Over the past week we just saw major price reductions from Lenovo whose IdeaPad S10 is now going for $349. HP similarly cut prices.

At some point, there could also be a response to the netbook market from Apple, either in a smaller screen laptop, a lower cost MacBook Air, or a tablet (a large iPod Touch?). While Apple has historically stayed away from cheaper products, this is the fastest growing part of the computer market.

Despite Acer’s loads of new netbook models released over 2008 (such as the recent Eee PC 1002HA), Asus gained market share with its simpler lineup with the Aspire One. See the full results below.

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Missing Vista Recycle Bin

I recently saw a McLean, Virginia, customer’s new laptop with Vista that did not have the recycle bin (trash can) on the desktop by default. She couldn’t find it in the program list or by doing a search for “recycle bin”. Here’s how to get it back.

Right click on the desktop, then choose Personalize. On the left side menu, you should click Change desktop icons.

This will show you the desktop items that you can have appear. Most people will want Computer, Recycle Bin, and User’s Files checked off so that they are easily accessible from the desktop.