Google Chrome Pros & Cons

Q:
Can you maybe give us a list of pros and cons for Google Chrome? Thanks!

A:
Great idea! I know there has been a lot of hype the past couple of weeks about the new Web browser from Google called Google Chrome. Yes, it's great to finally have a browser from Google, but along with the excitement, people are having some reservations. So, yes, the best thing to do is put together a list of pros and cons for the browser and you all can decide for yourselves. We're going to start with the pros today and we'll then go over the cons in tomorrow's newsletter. Okay, let's get busy!

Pros

1.) Google Chrome will not crash. Everything within the browser runs on its own, so you won't have to deal with bad Web sites or browser crashes. That also adds a little more security, because it isolates everything into its own environment.

2.) Google Chrome is really fast. Again, since everything works on its own, one slow Web site won't drag the rest of your work down. You can just go to another tab or window and be on your way!

3.) Google Chrome is unnoticeable (in a good way!) The interface for Google Chrome is perfectly streamlined, so you won't even know you're in a Web browser. Most of your window space is devoted to the Web site you're visiting, so there are no big buttons, etc. taking up all your room.

4.) Google Chrome makes searching easier. One of the main features in Google Chrome is Omnibox, which is basically an all-purpose bar located at the top of the browser that you can use to search for something or to find a Web site. All you have to do is type in a URL or a search term and it will do the rest of the work for you. Omnibox also remembers the sites you've visited and suggests others you might like.

5.) Google Chrome gives you more tab control. Tabbed browsing is taken to the next level with Google Chrome. You can drag and drop your tabs, you can combine them together, you can set up your own configurations and so much more!

6.) Google Chrome livens up your homepage. The Google Chrome homepage is very dynamic and like I said before about the Omnibox feature, it will remember the Web sites you've been to so that you can revisit them with ease. It also compiles a list of your favorite top nine sites and displays them on the homepage. Of course, you can change your top nine at any time, but that's just another example of how Google Chrome makes your life easier!

7.) Google Chrome keeps you private. Along with everything else, Google Chrome also offers a private browsing option. It's called Incognito and it basically sets up a browsing area for you that is away from everything else on your computer. You get your own private window to search with, which keeps your information as private as possible.

Sounds pretty good, doesn't it?! I know we haven't gotten into the cons for Google Chrome yet, but the seven pros above will give you something to think about before tomorrow's edition of the newsletter. We'll delve right into the cons first thing tomorrow, so be sure to stay tuned!

~ Erin

New SiteMeter Windows Vista Gadget

As many of you are aware SiteMeter has developed a Yahoo Widget that allows you to view your sites daily page views and visit totals “live”, on your computer’s desktop, as they happen.

A few months back we were introduced to Rajesh Lal. He was interested in making a similar tool for SiteMeter members using Windows Vista Gadgets. Rajesh Lal is an author, technology evangelist, and solutions engineer specializing in web technologies. Rajesh has completed the new Widget and has also written a book on how to construct you own gadgets.

We have arranged with Rajesh to provide anyone wanting to have a SiteMeter Vista gadget on their desktop with a full working version available through download. Just download the gadget, enter your SiteMeter codename and password and track your sites stats, live on your computer desktop. You will of course need to be using Windows Vista.

The download is available here.

For those interested in learning how to create your own Vista Gadgets the book is titled - Creating Vista Gadgets - Using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript with Examples in RSS, Ajax, ActiveX (COM), and Silverlight.

The book is oriented towards beginner to intermediate users and teaches how to –
• Build a blog tracking Gadget
• Create an Information Gadget with Ajax
• Develop Utility Gadgets using ActiveX (COM)
• Incorporate Internet Radio and YouTube Videos in Gadgets

The book’s cover price is $34.99 and can be found at Borders, Barnes and Noble, Amazon.com and other online retailers. The book is published under the SAMS label and is also “Safari Books Online Enabled”. For more information you can go to www.innovatewithgadgets.com.

Source:- http://weblog.sitemeter.com/2008/06/18/new-sitemeter-windows-vista-gadget/

PC take so long to shut down?

Why does my PC take so long to shut down?

Dear CNET members,

Happy Friday! Sorry I missed you folks last week, I had some troubles with both my wrists and was decommissioned for a while. However, I'm back in the saddle again. So have you folks had a chance to check out the all-new CNET? I hope you have and I really hope you enjoy it, our entire staff has put countless hours and energy into bring you this new experience. If you haven't done so already, after you've soaked into our new site experience for a while, tell us what you think--hate it or love it, go to the top of any CNET page and click the "Send feedback" link and tell us about it, we are all ears. Now let's get right into Victoria's question on why her PC takes so long to shut down.

Well Victoria, after reading many of our member suggestions for you, there can be many factors that could be causing your Windows system to shut down so slowly. It can range from your PC being infected with viruses/spyware and having an overly defragmented drive, to an excessive amount of programs running in the background, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. The major reasons why PCs will eventually take longer to shut down is simply because more programs in the background need to be ended before the operating system can completely shut down. And one quick solution for that is to minimize clutter and unnecessary programs on your PC, but it may not be as simple as that. So give all the answers a read, start with the simple recommended tasks, and see if there are any improvements. If not, go forward from there. I have selected a few answers to get you started in the Q&A section.

For those of you who suggested completely wiping your hard drive clean and reinstalling Windows, I would keep this option as a last resort. While this is a completely valid method of ridding yourself of many Windows problems, unless you are up to the task and know exactly what you are doing, it can be a daunting task. If you have any more suggestions or advice for Victoria, please swing on by and post your suggestions in the discussion thread. Thanks everyone and have a great weekend!

Cheers!
- Lee

Got suggestions? Send me an e-mail: messageboards@cnet.com

Pepsi Video Online

How to prevent your PEN drive from VIRUS

Friends many of your PC/laptop's normally gets virus because of Pen Drives or USB devices (Even PC's who are not connected to network ). Some Virus like Ravmon Virus , Heap41a worm which are not detected by anti virus normally spreads mostly by the Pen Drives . In such a case what can you do to prevent your PC from getting infected with Virus that spreads through USB devices or Pen Drives ?

You can protect your PC by just following the simple steps below . It won't take much time.

* Connect your Pen Drive or USB drive to your computer .
* Now a dialogue window will popup asking you to choose among the options as shown in the figure.



Don't choose any of them , Just simply click Cancel.

* *Now go to Start-- Run and type cmd to open the Command Prompt window ..
* *Now go to My Computer and Check the Drive letter of your USB drive or Pen Drive. ( E.g. If it is written Kingston (I:) , then I: will be the drive letter ..)
* *In the Command Window ( cmd ) , type the drive letter: and Hit Enter ..
* *Now type dir/w/o/a/p and Hit Enter
* *You will get a list of files . In the list , search if anyone of the following do exist
*
* 1. Autorun.inf
* 2. New Folder.exe
* 3. Bha.vbs
* 4. Iexplore.vbs
* 5. Info.exe
* 6. New_Folder.exe
* 7. Ravmon.exe
* 8. RVHost.exe or any other files with .exe Extension .
*
* If you find any one of the files above , Run the command attrib -h -r -s -a *.* and Hit Enter.
* Now Delete each File using the following Command del filename ( E.g del autorun.inf ) .
* That's it . Now just scan your USB drive with the anti virus you have to ensure that you made your Pen Drive free of Virus .


To know whether ur system is infected just type C:heap41a in the address bar...
if there is a folder named heap41a, then ur system is infected...
(AVAST antivirus is the best solution for this worm...) symantec also works.

Screen-o-Meter

Screen-o-Meter

I ran into a problem the other day. I needed to know how big an envelope was, but I couldn’t find a tape measure or a ruler to save my life. So, I started looking online for one and ran into this Web site!

Screen-o-Meter is a site that allows you to measure things online with your monitor’s screen. All you need to know is the size of the screen your monitor has. If you were to measure it, you would measure the diagonal length of the screen from corner to corner. The site is set up to work with TFT and LCD monitors, but with some adjustments, you can use it with a CRT monitor as well.

To begin measuring, set the monitor screen size. Choose the correct one from the drop down box on the right hand side of the page.

Next, select how long you want the Screen-o-Meter to be. Then click on the Let’s See button. That will take you to the page where your ruler will load.

On the Measurement page, you can test it to see if it's accurate. You’ll put in your screen size and then click on the Check button. When the page loads, there will be a large orange circle. If a CD or DVD fits in the circle perfectly, you know you are calibrated right and you're getting precise measurements.

Back on the main page, under the Main Measurement field, you’ll see a link for a rectangular ruler. That's how you would measure envelopes and such. You just put in the dimensions you’re trying to get and it makes a ruler for it. For example, you could do 3x5, 5x7, 8x11, etc.

Seeing as I can never find a ruler or tape measure when I need one, I know I’ll be using this Web site a lot. I hope you will too!

http://som_en.showdown.hu/

Saying Yes to Spam?

This week's security article will be a little bit different, but it's definitely worth the read! I know I spend a lot of time telling people what to do to keep their computers safe. I always tell people to keep programs up to date, never reply to spam and keep a good set of security tools available. That's what you should do, but what if you don't? What if you replied to every spam message you ever received? What would happen to your computer and your identity?

Well, I found a very interesting experiment that aimed to find the answers to those very questions. The project is called the Spammed Persistently All Month (S.P.A.M) Experiment. The study was put together by the McAfee security company and it found some very interesting results.

The experiment was conducted all over the world by 50 different volunteers. McAfee gave each of those people a brand new computer with no antivirus or spam filtering software. They were also given a PayPal account to make payments for items they decided to investigate. Each of the volunteers in the experiment were told to respond to every spam e-mail they received. They were also told to visit "bad" Web sites and follow through with phishing e-mails they received. The results were unbelievable!

Most of the volunteers were left with computers that would barely function, e-mail boxes that were crammed with spam and mail showing up at their front door addressed to the fake names they used for the experiment. The U.S. volunteers received 23,233 spam e-mails by the end of the one month study. That was the most compared to the rest of the world. Eighteen percent of the e-mails were phishing e-mails and the largest amount was in English.

The study shows exactly what happens if you're not careful on the Internet. It's not hard to have your computer completely taken over by junk!

If you want to read more about the S.P.A.M Experiment, you can visit the Web site where each of the volunteers kept a blog. They wrote about their experiences daily. You can check it all out right here. Until next time, stay safe out there, my friends!

~ Gary