Maki & Brian DeLaet EduCyber founders

July 2005 EduNotes

Inside this edition of EduNotes: find out how to optimize your business, Google Maps, Test the speed of your Internet connection, get anti-spyware software to combat advertising that takes over your computer, learn more about flash memory and check out your local library. Send feedback or questions to edunotes@educyber.com .

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Business Optimization

EduCyber offers a service specific to web site owners to optimize their site so that search engines can easily index them AND get them ranked high for selected key words. But we can also help you optimize your business technology to get the most out of it.

If you've got piles of paper on your desk or even on several desks and tables, we can likely help you improve your technology usage to a) lessen the amount of paper you actually print out and b) store your data in a method that makes it easier to retrieve should you need it.

If you're spending all of your time putting out fires instead of building your business and ensuring customer satisfaction, we can help you use technology to stay on top of situations before they become “fires” and give you more time to service your customers.

If you're “saving money” by spending a great deal of your time dealing with technical issues – updating antivirus programs, troubleshooting computer problems or trying to figure out what technology best meets your needs, we can actually save you time and money by managing your technology for you so that you can focus on your business.

Like to have more time for actually taking care of business? Give us a call today at 720 275-4646 and ask about our free business checkup.

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Is Google on Your Map?

Google, the ubiquitous provider of search, has done it yet again. Mapquest has ruled the roost for some time as THE mapping site, albeit with firm competition from both Yahoo and Microsoft. But now, the heavy-hitter has stepped to the plate in a big way.

Google maps ( http://maps.google.com ) is a great resource for quickly finding places. Simply type in an address in a Google toolbar or even at Google's main site and the top choice will be to find it with Google maps. Type in the address at the URL above and you get a very clear, detailed map of the area (I find it much easier to read than Mapquest).

One feature that is far superior with Google is that the pin showing the actual location also has a bubble with links to get directions to or from the location. Essentially, it looks like Google has a better, more intuitive user interface than other sites. Figuring out the next step, whether you're looking for directions or just a map of the area, is quite easy.

But the coolest feature of Google Maps is the satellite views. From virtually anywhere in the United States you can get a satellite view of the address or location you've chosen, often at quite high resolution. They're still tweaking the system but at the time of this writing, the Satellite button appears ON the map in the upper right hand corner.

For functionality though, Google Maps has incredible power. By providing access to the mapping system through an Application Programming Interface (API), practically anyone can grab the power of Google to show locations on the fly. Selling a house? Map it with Google. Showing where earthquake activity is? Map it with Google. Identifying high crime areas by actual locations of the crime? Map it with Google. Just about any mapping need you can think of, you can do with Google Maps.

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Losing Your Memory

Don't tell me you're still using floppy disks! And don't tell me you're still using your zip disks! Floppies are archaic and often go bad just when you most need the data on them. Zip disks are expensive and of course, you can only use them on a computer that has a compatible zip drive.

Faster than either and able to hold far more in single unit, you should be using a USB Flash Drive (they're also called memory sticks but don't confuse them with camera memory). Well over a year ago I bought my first 256 MB flash drive for nearly $90. Well times have changed and now you can get a 512 MB drive for less than half that.

To help you get rid of the floppies, buy 10 or more maintenance hours from EduCyber before July 30 and you get a 512 MB flash drive for free! Call now before you forget and we'll get you started on a floppyless lifestyle – 720-275-4646.

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The Need for Speed

How fast is your Internet connection? Fast enough? Faster than your buddy's? Fast enough to beat your friends at the latest online game? While it has been a long time since my home and business have tried to cope with a dialup connection, there are still plenty of folks doing just that.

According to eMarketer.com, just over half of online households in 2005 (53.0%) will have high speed or Broadband Internet access. That means that 47% is still using dialup. Recently I found a home user client whose dialup speed was under 20 kbps. That is ridiculously slow.

Whether you are dialed up or have a hi-speed connection, you can test and compare your speed to others. There are a number of sites that do this but I like dslreports.com. It clearly shows you what your upload and download speeds are and how that compares with the rest of the internet world. So check out your connection and see how you measure up.

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Summer Time

Ah, the wild, carefree days of summer are here. Whether it's vacation time or just slow because everyone else is on vacation, it seems like this is the time when everyone spends just a bit more time surfing the web.

And downloading nifty little programs. And trying out the latest peer-to-peer software for downloading music. And installing handy utilities that help you stay on top of the date or time or weather. And this extra surfing time can come back to bite you and take a bite out of your wallet.

Beware of spyware! Since you've got a bit of extra time anyway, take just a minute or two to check out the EULA (End User License Agreement) that nearly every program comes with. Look to see what else you'll be installing if you install the program you want. Often you'll find that by accepting the agreement, you're actually agreeing to let spyware be installed on your computer. Oh, they don't call it spyware mind you. They don't even call it adware usually, but it's usually one or the other or both.

Clients often ask me why their antivirus program doesn't stop spyware. Simply put, the answer is because spyware or adware aren't viruses. Companies (I noticed one computer full of spyware was sending me to Travelocity when I wanted to go to Frontier's web site for example) pay to “drive traffic to their web sites”. The companies on the receiving end of these payments create small programs that track your surfing habits and send the information back to a server somewhere. That server then sends your computer advertisements related to what you're doing or where you're surfing.

At best, spyware can be annoying and at the worst such prgrams actually capture personal information and are akin to viruses (but these are a small percentage of the spyware being used).

But because they are commercial endeavors, there is nothing illegal about most of them and so antivirus programs don't detect them. But spyware programs do. Here's a few that can help. We recommend using one that actually has real-time protection. Alas, all but one are not free.

Ad-aware from Lavasoft ( http://www.lavasoftusa.com/ ). Free for home users but the paid version has better features and you MUST pay if using it on a work computer.

Microsoft Antispyware ( http://www.microsoft.com/ ). Free for all this program is still in beta mode which means there might be bugs in it. I run it on many of my systems and have found it to do an excellent job. The beta version expires on December 31 st though they just recently extended that so it may be extended again.

PestPatrol ( http://www.pestpatrol.com ). This Computer Associates company makes a quality product that gets rid of all kinds of spyware. A couple of clients have used this and had very good results.

Spybot Search & Destroy ( http://www.safer-networking.org ). Well technically this one is free, too but it is donate-ware. They'd like to have you donate something if you use and like their product. Spybot can safely be run on computers also running any of the above software. It works differently so if your computer is already infected with spyware, I recommend running this one along with whichever of the programs above that you might choose to use.

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Library Update

It's been a few years since I addressed this issue so let me once again direct you to your local library. Yes, we advocate your library. Whether for students doing research papers, adults wanting to check current local news around the country or businesses wanting business information, your local library can help.

And you might just find out you can visit your local library without leaving your computer. Being a Jefferson County ( Colorado ) resident and library card holder, I can log in from any computer anywhere and have access to a great deal of information not available elsewhere on the Internet or at least not available without a price.

You see, since we pay taxes, we get benefits. For example, I can read over 500 newspapers online at no cost (other than the aforementioned taxes) and better yet, run a search against any or all of them for key words and phrases to quickly find the information I want.

Your student could benefit from many of these resources as well. For example there is a biography resource center with a database of over 1,000,000 people past and present.

And there are all manner of resources that businesses or business people can benefit from, from grantwriting resources to business topics to ThomasNet, an industrial information resource. Jeffco residents can visit http://info.jefferson.lib.co.us/ to find out more. If you're not a Jeffco resident, contact your local library to see what resources are available online in your area.

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© 2005 EduCyber, Inc. This newsletter is brought to you by EduCyber, Inc. EduNotes can be viewed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week online at http://www.educyber.com/edunotes/ . Visit us on the web at http://www.educyber.com or call us at (720) 275-4646. Permission is hereby granted to redistribute all or part of this newsletter as long as this entire copyright message is included.
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