MIDTOWN COMICS SERIOUS ABOUT LIMIT ON DC COMICS VILLIANS MONTH 3D COVERS

DC Comics kicks off its Villains Month this coming Wednesday, 9/4/13, and all comic book lovers are going gaga over their 3D variant covers.  Anticipating a strong demand for these 3D covers, Midtown Comics, New York City's largest comic book retailer, has placed a limit of one cover per title per customer.  Anyone hoping to place more than one order using Midtown Comics' free pickup will be sadly disappointed.  This also holds true for those making multiple shipping orders.  Midtown Comics is doing its due diligence of screening every order placed online.  But, all is not lost, individuals can still get one copy of each title at cover price, $3.99.  Copies of these 3D covers are already selling on eBay for $12.  So, everyone should abide by Midtown Comics limit because you want them to be your friend and not your enemy.

MIDTOWN COMICS NEW FREE BACK ISSUE PICK UP

For years, you could purchase your comics from Midtown Comics Online. Midtown Comics offers both domestic and international shipping. However, there is a hefty price for shipping. Now, Midtown Comics is offering free in store pick up of back issues ordered from their online store. Customers can have their comics sent any one of their three stores. The process is not without its shortcomings. The offer applies to back issues only. Customers should expect to wait 3 to 5 business days before they can pick up their purchase. There is no e-mail notification that alerts you that your comics are ready for pick up. However, a store manage did tell me that they are working hard to provide e-mail notifications. All in all, it is a good deal.

MIDTOWN COMICS NEW CODEWORD FOR JUNE 2011

Midtown Comics, which his located in New York City, have a special sale for the month of June. Customers can use the secret codeword "LANTERN" to get 25% off of all DC Comics. The sale is particularly attractive because it applies to both current and back issues. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that Midtown Comics is offering a sale on new issues. Usually, these discounts only appear on their in-store sales. So enjoy the sale and save some bucks.

The codeword is not case sensitive. When you go through checkout, make sure to type in the codeword and click "Activiate."

BurnAware the Best Free Burning DVD Software Program

There are no shortages of good commercial burning software (e.g. Nero). But, really, how often does the average computer user need all that extra and intricate editing tools. In my experience, most users just want a simple way to burn files on to a CD or DVD. These can be either data files or video files or what have you. For simple jobs, I highly recommend BurnAware Free Edition. It does'nt have all those bells and whistles found in commercial burning software but, what it does, it does well. What I found particularly useful is its ability to burning video files (e.g. VOB, IFO, BPU...etc.). It has a clean interface making it very easy to use. Best of all it's free.

Speedup Your Browser

Believe it or not, there are simply things you can do to speed up your browser. The default settigs on most browsers are not optimized for fast internet connections (e.g. dsl, cable or satellite). This article details how you can change those settings to speedup your browser. In this article, I will cover Internet Explorer 7.0, Mozilla Firefox and Opera 9.6. I can not empathize enough that you should create a restore point if something goes wrong you can undo any changes.

Internet Explorer 7.0

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7.0 is a vast improvement from version 6.0; however, they left the default maximum number of connections per server to a measly 2. Theoretically, the more connections a browser has with a server, the faster the rendering of the webpage. However, there are limits and too many connections can be counterproductive. If you have a fast internet connection (i.e. dsl, cable or satellite), you can increase the maximum number of connections to a more reasonable 8. If you have fast cable or satellite, you can even bump that up t o 10. In order to change the default setting, you will need a single free third party program called “IE7 Pro.” I love this little program. Its adds so many more features to IE 7, including: ad blocking, proxy settings, mouse gestures and many more fun things. For more info about the problem, read Lifehacker’s piece on the program.

1. Download IE7 Pro and install it.
2. Once installed, start Internet Explorer.
3. On the menu bar, click on “Tools.”
4. Scroll down and select “IE7Pro Preference.”
5. On the left column, select “IE Settings.”
6. Under “Max connections to server,” increase the number to 8 or 10.
7. Click [OK] and you are finished. Enjoy faster browsing.

Firefox 3.0x

Mozilla Firefox 3.0 requires a little more work in order to speed it up but don’t be intimidated. There is no third party software or add-on you need in order to make the necessary changes.

1. Start Firefox and, in the address bar, type “about:config” without the exclamation marks.
2. Next, click [I’ll be careful, I promise!].
3. In the “Filter box” enter “network.http.max-connections” without the exclamation marks.
4. Right click the entry and select “Modify.”
5. In the new dialog box enter “40” and click [OK].
6. Next, right click “network.http.max-connections-per-server” and select “Modify.”
7. In the new dialog box enter “32” and click [OK].
8. Next, right click “network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-poxy” and select “Modify.”
9. In the new dialog box enter “16” and click [OK].
10. Right click “network.http.max-persistent-connections-per-server” and select “Modify.”
11. In the new dialog box enter “8” and click [OK].
12. Right click “network.http.pipelining” and select “Toggle.” The entry should change from “false” to “true.” (see note at the end of this article)
13. Restart Firefox.

Opera 9.6

Opera 9.6 is one of the best browser I have tested. It’s fast and feature rich. Many of the features found in Firefox and IE have long been available in Opera, such as: mouse gestures, tabs, integrated RSS reader, integrated e-mail and the list goes on. There are some minor tweaks you can make to speed up this already blazing fast browser.

1. In the menu bar, click on “Tools” and scroll down to “Preferences….”
2. Click on the “Advanced” tab.
3. In the left column, select “Network.”
4. In “Max connections to server,” select “16.”
5. In “Max total connections,” select “32.”
6. Next, in the left column, select “History.”
7. In “Check documents,” change the default to “Every 10 minutes.”
8. In “Check images,” change the default to “Every 5 hours.”
9. Click [OK] and restart Opera.

Note: For those curious about pipelining and how it speeds up your browser, read this article written by Mozilla.

Fed slashes rates - Jan. 22, 2008

Fed slashes rates - Jan. 22, 2008

Today, in response to growing concern that the United States' economy is heading towards a recession, the Federal Reserve lowered 2 key interest rates, the federal funds rate and the discount rate, both by three-quarters of a point. This is the first major cut made by the Federal Reserve for the year of 2008.

The interest rate cuts did manage to stave off a large drop in the U.S. Stock Market, where the Dow Jones Industrial dropped 400 points before the rate cuts were announced. The rate cuts will not be enough for the U.S. economy to recover. However, in combination with the propose tax rebate and other initiatives called by President George Bush to revitalize the economy might be enough to save it.

Netflix Now Offers Subscribers Unlimited Streaming of Movies and TV Shows

Netflix Now Offers Subscribers Unlimited Streaming of Movies and TV Shows on Their PCs for Same Monthly Fee

Several months ago, Netflix started offering to their customers free their "Watch Now" service. With the "Watch Now" services, customers could watch streaming video on their PC's. The selection was limited to older and B-rated movies and T.V. shows. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful addition to Netflix online DVD rental service. At the time, customers received a limited number of hours for the streaming video service based on their online DVD rental plan they were enrolled in. For example, customers on Netflix's unlimited 3 DVD at a time plan, which costs $16.99, received 17 hours of free streaming video. That was then.

Now, Netflix is offering unlimited access to their video streaming service to all their customers enrolled in their unlimited DVD rental plan. Translation, customers can watch as many hours as they like for free. Customers belonging to Netflix's limited 1 DVD at a time with 2 DVD maximum per month plan are not eligible for this offer. The one thing which would make this offer even sweeter is if Netflix offer a greater selection of content. I expect Netflix to do so soon.

Free 6 Months Trial of Antivir Antivirus Premium Edition

Try Avira's Antivir Personal Edition Antivirus Premium Free Through Dennis Publication Special

Antivir Antivirus Personal Edition, which is free for personal non-commercial use, is one of my favorite antivirus applications - AVG and Avast Antivirus are the other 2. Antivir has a powerful scanning engine which scans for viruses, worms,Trojan Horses and rootkits. It also scans outgoing e-mail but not incoming e-mail. In addition, the free edition does not scan for spyware or adware. These features are only found in the premium paid version. In addition, the paid version uses a dedicate server for updates while the free edition uses a shared server which downloads updates at a snail pace. I use a fast DSL broadband connection and downloading via the free edition feels like downloading using a 56kps dial up connection. And, as an additional annoyance, after every update, Antivir displays an obnoxious splash screen urging users to upgrade to the paid version.

Thankfully, there is a bit of good news. For a limited time, you can enjoy a free 6 months trial of the premium paid edition. And, all you have to do is fill out a subscription form, which require a name and a valid e-mail address - you don't even need to use your real name or e-mail address. Once you have filled out the form, Avira will send you an email with an activation code and instructions on how to install Antivir. Save the activation code on to your hard drive. Download the premium edition off of Avira's server and start the installation process. During this process, you will be asked to browse to the location of the activation code. That's it. Update the signature database and you are ready to run your first scan.

How to adjust disk space in Windows Vista:

How to adjust disk space in Windows Vista

Did you know that Windows Vista, by default, allots an obscene 15% of a computer's hard drive space to System Restore. So, for example, if you have a 200GB hard drive then 30GB is devoted to system restore. Who needs a 30GB system restore? It seems Microsoft doesn't seem to have too much confidence in the stability of its latest operating system. You can change the amount of space that's system restore uses; however, it is far from easy to do so. You will need an account with Administrator privileges and use the command line utility "vssadmin." Read MVP website's howto tutorial on how to use vssadmin.

Remove The Crapware Which Came With Your New Computer

Well, last week, I treated myself by buying a new laptop. For the most part, I am happy with my new Compaq Presario laptop. What I didn’t like was the collection of trialware, a.k.a. crapware, preinstalled on it. This isn’t a unique problem. Several computer vendors add trial software to their products. Why? For profit. Profit for them but not for you. What you can do is remove them. The first thing you can try is to see if the software program came with an uninstaller. In Windows XP and Vista, go to the Start Menu > All Programs > [Software Program] > Uninstall [Software Program]. If there isn’t an uninstaller, go to the Start Menu > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs…and find an entry for the software program you want to uninstall > [Remove] > [Restart]. If you don’t find an entry for the software program, all is not lost; you can try a standalone uninstaller program, like Total Uninstaller. Total Uninstaller scans the Windows Registry and files belonging to the software program and then removes them. It is by far the most elegant way to remove a software program. Other popular and effective software uninstallers include Tune-Up Utilities 2008, System Mechanic 7 and CCleaner. Nevertheless, there is a small chance that some stray registry keys and files will be left behind. You can use a registry cleaner to remove them but this isn’t absolutely needed. These stray registry keys rarely cause any problems.

Sphinx Software’s Vista Firewall Control

Microsoft touts Windows Vista as its latest and most secure operating system. Starting with Windows XP SP2, Microsoft has included a firewall which, by default, is enabled. While Windows XP’s firewall only monitors inbound Internet traffic, Windows Vista’s firewall monitors both incoming and outgoing Internet traffic. Windows Vista’s firewall is enabled by default. Windows Vista’s firewall isn’t the most user friendly application. In fact, it is downright impossible to customize. It does not allow users to set rules for traffic. Thankfully, there is a handy utility that can help, namely, Vista Firewall Control (VFC).

There is both a free and paid version of VFC. With the free VFC program, users can choose what type(s) of connections applications can make. For example, users can allow applications to make both types of connections, only one type of connections or block both. In addition, users can choose to apply it only once or apply it all the time. VFC doesn’t have all the bells and whistles found in other paid firewall programs; however, if you want to keep Windows Vista’s firewall then VFC can give you more control over the it. For those who want the bells and whistles, there are several free firewalls which support Windows Vista, such as: Comodo Firewall Pro, PC Tools Firewall Plus and ZoneAlarm.

Great Online Savings and CD Offers

The last quarter of 2007 has been particular rough on the U.S. economy. Several banks have lowered their interest rates on their products, including savings accounts and certificates of deposit (CD). For example, in the beginning of 2007, HSBC Bank offered their online savings account with an interest rage of 5.05%. After the mortgage market crash, the rate dropped to 4.50% and continued to fall to today's 4.25%. The Federal Treasury lowered interests rates but it did little to alleviate fears of a slowing economy. However, not all is lost. There are a number of decent investments.

Washington Mutual is still offering an online savings account with a 4.75% interest; however, you need to open a free checking account as well. The minimum deposit is $1.00. Washington Mutual is also offering an online 6 months CD with an interest rate of 5.10%. Minimum deposit is $1,000.

Countrywide Bank is also offering an online savings account with an interest rate of 5.25%; however, to get this rate there is a $10,000 minimum deposit. Countrywide Bank is also offering a 6 months CD with an interest rate of 5.45% with a minimum deposit of $10,000.

ING Direct is offering an online savings account with a more modest interest rate of 4.10%. There is a minimum deposit of $1.00. In addition, it is offering a 6 month CD with an interest rate of 4.70%.

HSBC Bank Credit Card Anyone?

Well, the holidays are over and you are reeling from the small fortune you spent for holiday gifts. But, don’t panic. There is some good news on the horizon. HSBC Bank is offering a number of credit cards with a special 0% introductory APR for balance transfers and purchases for 12 months. In addition, during this introductory promotional period, there are no fees for balance transfers. And, of course, there are no annual fees. If you have outstanding balances on your current cards, why don’t you transfer them to a new HSBC credit card? You can avoid huge finance fees and, with the money, you save you can deposit it in to your interest bearing bank account(s). Personally, I calculate the total for my balance transfer then invest that amount in to a 1 year high-yield CD. At the end of the year, when the CD matures, I use the principle balance to pay off my HSBC credit card and I get to keep the interest. If these aren’t enough reasons to go ahead and apply for a HSBC credit card, here are some additional benefits:

• Free online Bill Pay

• Purchase Protection

• Master RoadAssist® Roadside Service (1-800-MC-ASSIST)

• MasterRental® Insurance Coverage

• MasterCard Travel Assistance Services

• 24-hour toll-free assistance with lost or stolen cards, emergency card replacement and emergency cash advances

Spyware Doctor Starter Edition

Threats to computer security have changed drastically in the past decade. While once the greatest threat to computers were viruses written by introverted teenagers seeking bragging rights, now, the greatest threat is spyware written by criminals for profit. For the most part, viruses are destructive. Spyware, by nature, seeks to steal information (e.g. user ids, passwords, account numbers…etc.). Optimally, any computer connected to the Internet should have a firewall, antivirus and anti spyware installed. That’s a lot of software but you don’t need to spend a ton of money to secure your computer. In fact, you don’t need to spend a dime. If you are looking for a good free anti spyware program, look no further. PC Tools offers a free version of its very popular and effective Spyware Doctor. Spyware Doctor has earned high honors from both PC World and PC Magazine.

While the commercial version of Spyware Doctor regularly sells for $29.95, Google Pack offers a starter edition of Spyware Doctor for free. The starter edition uses the same scanning engine as its big brother; however, it lacks a number of real time protection features. Specifically, the starter edition does not offer real time protection for web browsers, Windows processes, network connection and startup programs. In short, the starter edition does not monitor and block unwanted changes to browser settings, addition of new Windows processes, changes to network settings and addition of startup programs. However, it does offer real time protection for files. Still, even without these real time protection components, it does an outstanding job of detecting and removing both inactive and active spyware.

To download the starter edition, you have to go through Google Pack installer. On the main webpage, uncheck all items expect Spyware Doctor. Next, click [Download Google Pack]. When prompted, save the Google_Updater.exe file to your desktop or some other accessible location on your computer. When you are finish, double click the executable file to start the download process. Once you have successfully installed Spyware Doctor, you need to update its definitions. To do so, on the main menu, click [Smart Update]. The initial update can be long depending on your Internet connection. After the update, click [Start Scan] > select “Full Scan” > click [Scan Now]. Be sure to quarantine any suspicious files. Spyware Doctor, by default, will create a system restore prior to any removal. I highly recommend that you keep the default settings. To schedule a scan, click [Settings] > [Scheduled Tasks] > highlight a task and click [Edit] to edit a task or click [Add] to add a new task.

Of course, the starter edition’s main menu has a radio button to upgrade to the full commercial version. Still, I am happy that PC Tools didn’t make the upgrade button too conspicuous. For those who want additional protection to cover the areas which the starter edition lacks, I highly recommend Bill Studio’s Winpatrol. There is a free and paid version of Winpatrol. For most users, the free edition is just fine. Winpatrol will monitor any changes to browser settings, startup programs, Windows services, Windows processes and Hosts file. I use Winpatrol and I find it indispensible.

Optimizing Windows Vista

Whether you upgraded from Windows XP to Windows Vista or purchased a computer with Windows Vista preinstalled, there’s a lot you can do to optimize Windows Vista. Optimization involves not only making Windows Vista work faster but more usable and safer. Optimizing Windows Vista isn’t too different from optimizing Windows XP. Before making again changes, it is best to create a system restore point. To create a restore point, Start Menu > in the Start Search box, type “system restore” (without the quotation marks) > click “System Restore” > the User Account Control (UAC) will appear, click [Continue] > click “Open System Protection” > select your local hard drive (e.g. Local Drive C: ) > click [Create] > type in a name for the restore point > click [Create].

Once you have created a system restore point, you are already to start optimizing Windows Vista. Here is how:

1. Restrict the number of startup programs: All programs use up RAM and CPU cycles. By limiting the number of startup programs, you have more RAM and CPU free. There are a number of ways to change the programs which load at startup. By far the easiest way is to use the Windows Vista’s System Configuration Utility. To access it, go to Start Menu > in the Start Search box, type “msconfig,” > from the search results, click “msconfig” > the UAC will appear, click [Continue] > a new dialog window will appear, click on the “Startup” tab > uncheck any program that doesn’t need to be loaded at startup > [Apply] > [O.K.] > Restart. It may be difficult to identify the startup program solely by its file name. Should you come across a program you don’t recognize, use the website Process Library to identify the program.

2. Remove junk files: You would be amazed that the number of temporary files, temporary Internet files, download files and log files which Windows Vista generates. Removing these useless files will free up hard drive space. Like the older versions of Windows operating system, Windows Vista has a built in disk cleanup utility called, of all things, Disk Cleanup. To start Disk Cleanup, go to Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Cleanup. Disk Cleanup gives you the option of cleaning files only from your user account or all users’ accounts. For now, just clean files from your account. Next, select the hard drive or partition where the files are located. Disk Cleanup allows you to select what files are to be deleted. At the very least, remove Download Files, Temporary Files and Temporary Internet Files. You can also include log files as well though some users might find the log files useful - to be honest, I have never found a need for them.

3. Defrag the hard drive: After cleaning your hard drive, it is time to defrag it. To start Windows Vista’s Disk Defragmenter, go to Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. Be aware that it might take several minutes or hours to defrag your hard drive, depending on the size of the hard drive and the level of defragmentation.

4. Get rid of the eye-candy: Windows Vista comes loaded with special visual effects, such as: transparent windows, animation, fading, special icons, sliding menus and other eye pleasing but computer resource hogging effects. You can select which visual effects you want to keep or disable, right click the “My Computer” icon on your desktop > click “Advanced system settings” > the UAC will appear, click [Continue] > in the new Windows, click on the “ Advanced” tab > under “Performance,” click [Settings] > click on the “Visual Effect” tab > uncheck any visual effect you can live without > [Apply] > [O.K.]. Personally, I keep “show contents when dragging,” “show shadows under mouse pointer” and “smooth edges of screen fonts.”

5. Get rid of the sidebar: Windows Vista is the first Microsoft operating system to have a sidebar. The sidebar can be used to install several gadgets on the desktop. For example, by default, there is an analog clock and RSS gadget installed. To access the sidebar, go to Start Menu > in the Search box, type “sidebar” > in the search result click “Windows Sidebar Properties” > uncheck “Start Sidebar when Windows Starts.”

6. Optimize the size of the paging file: There are 2 types of memory that Windows Vista uses. The first is the physical memory, RAM, and the virtual memory, paging file. With the paging file, Windows Vista converts part of the hard drive, ROM, to act like RAM. The important thing to remember is that RAM works much faster than virtual memory. By default, Windows Vista sets the size of the paging file to 1.5x the amount of RAM. For the most part, this is size is fine. But, if the size of is too large, Windows Vista would use more virtual memory, which is slower, than is optimal. So, the goal is to a set an appropriate size for the paging file. In addition, since the paging file which is part of the hard drive, it can also become fragmented. Fragmentation can be minimized by setting a fixed size for the paging file. To change settings for the paging file, right click on the “My Computer” on the desktop > click “Advanced system settings” > the UAC will appear, click [Continue] > click the “Advanced” tab > under “Performance,” click [Settings] > click the “Advanced” tab > under “Virtual memory,” click [Change] > select the local drive (e.g. C: ) > select “Custom size” > for both “Initial size” and “Maximum size” enter the same number. If you have 1GB of RAM, set these values to 1024MB. If you have 2GB of RAM, see these values to 512MB. If you have more than 2GB of RAM, consider setting these values to “0” and not using any virtual memory. When you have enter the amount of virtual memory, click [Set] > [O.K.] > [Apply] > [O.K.] > Restart.

7. Optimize the size of the Recycle Bin: The size of the recycle bin is a percentage of the hard drive. If you have a 200GB hard drive then 12% of 200GB is 24GB. Who needs a 24GB recycle bin? Thankfully, Windows Vista allows users to adjust the size of the recycle bin, right click the “Recycle Bin” icon on the desktop > select “Properties” > select the hard drive > select “Custom size” > enter a reasonable size for the recycle bin (e.g. 250MB) > [Apply] > [O.K.].

8. Display the extension for all files: By default Windows Vista does not show file extensions. Why is it important to see file extension you ask? Well, you don’t want to accidentally open an executable file (e.g. .exe). Sadly, hackers create files which look like innocent text files but, in fact, they are program files. Users click on them and end up installing spyware or some other form of malware. However, you can have Windows Vista show file extensions, start Windows Explorer > from the menu bar, select “Tools” > Properties > Folder Options > select “View” tab > uncheck “Hide extension for known file types” > [Apply] > [O.K.].

9. Make Windows Vista Secure: Microsoft made Windows Vista to be the safest operating system it has ever created and they did a decent job. Windows Vista comes with a bi-directional firewall and Windows Defender, Microsoft’s anti spyware application. However, you will need an antivirus program. There are several decent free antivirus programs so you don’t have to spend a dime - which is a good thing since you had to spend your money on Windows Vista. The 3 most popular free antivirus programs are: Avast, AVG and Antivir. All 3 programs can be downloaded from Filehippo’s website. All 3 programs have their strengths and weaknesses. Antivir has the highest detection and removal rate of the 3 but does not scan incoming e-mail – it does however scan outgoing e-mail. Avast has a detection and removal rate but its unorthodox GUI is less than intuitive to use. Grisoft’s AVG has the lowest detection and removal rate of the 3 but its inituitive controls makes it easy to use. PC World Magazine has an excellent review of many popular free and not so free antivirus programs.

10. Increase the number of simultaneous connections that Internet Explorer 7 (IE 7) uses to connect to the Internet: By default, IE 7 only creates 2 simultaneous connections to the Internet. However, if you have a broadband connection, you can increase the number of simultaneous connections to 10. Unfortunately, to increase the number of simultaneous connections, you need to edit the Windows Registry, which is no small matter. If you do decide to go ahead, create a system restore point prior to editing the registry. It will save you a lot of grief should something go wrong. To edit the Windows Registry, you need to start Vista’s registry editor, go to Start Menu > in the search box, enter “regedit” > in the results, click “regedit.exe.” At this point, refer to Microsoft’s support page to edit the registry. The webpage is for IE 5 and IE 6, however, they apply to Windows Vista as well. You can also refer to VistaWired’s tutorial as well. I am sure many people would say that, instead of editing IE 7 settings, switch to Firefox web browser. Well, I can’t deny that is a great idea.

Download details: Standalone Update Package for Windows XP Service Pack 3

Download details: Standalone Update Package for Windows XP Service Pack 3

Today, Microsoft has released the first candidate of Service Pack 3 for Windows XP. This was quite unexpected since many believed that even a release candidate would not be offered until after Windows Vista SP1 was released. I must emphasize that this is only a release candidate and not a final product. Nevertheless, there is great excitement over this third service pack for Windows XP. The computer gurus over at Devil Mountain Software have tested the preliminary SP3 and, based on their benchmark, they saw a 10% gain in performance compared to Windows XP SP2 (link).

BurnAware Free Burning Software

BurnAware is a free alternative to Nero and Roxio burning software. BurnAware can burn data, audio, image and video files to almost any CD/DVD media. There is no shortage of free burning software – DeepBurner comes to mind – but BurnAware is the first free alternative that burns video files effortlessly. It is incredibly easy to use. There is a main menu where you select what type of media file you want to burn. Next, you browse to where the file is located on your hard drive or optical drive and BurnAware does the rest. BurnAware doesn’t have the advance features you would find in Nero and Roxio. However, the average user rarely uses these advance features anyway. So, if you are shopping for free burning software, you don’t need to look and further.

PC World - Microsoft Readies 7 Patches

PC World - Microsoft Readies 7 Patches

Come next week's scheduled "Patch Tuesday," Microsoft will be releasing a total of 7 security patches. Of the seven patches, 3 are "critical" and the other 4 are "important." It is interesting to not that 5 of the patches affect Windows Vista, Microsoft's newest and supposedly securest operating system - I guess everything is relative. As usual, Microsoft has not disclosed details of the 7 patches. Sadly, once the patches are released, it is common now for hackers to use the details on the patches to create hacks to exploit them. Thereby threatening Windows users who do not patch their computers promptly.

Hackers Use Banner Ads on Major Sites to Hijack Your PC

Hackers Use Banner Ads on Major Sites to Hijack Your PC

There is a new danger on the Internet. Banner ads on several legitimate websites have been "infected" with malware.

Wire writes "If you've seen any of the ads, you may have experienced something like this: You're on a legitimate site. Your browser window closes down. A new browser window comes up, redirecting you to an antivirus site, while a dialog box comes up telling you that your computer is infected and that your hard drive is being scanned. The malware tries to download software to your computer and scans your hard drive again."

PC World - Gmail Update Draws Gripes

PC World - Gmail Update Draws Gripes

Earlier this month, Google has been slowly rolling out an upgrade to its popular e-mail client, Gmail 2.o. Sadly, many users are reporting problems with this latest version. The most common complaint is Gmail 2.0 works very slowly. Google is aware of the problems and are working hard to correct it. Many users, frustrated with the new upgrade, have returned to the old Gmail 1.0.