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Getting a program on your computer is easy. Getting it off can be more difficult, though. First rule: Never drag the program to the trash can to get rid of it. When a program installs itself, it usually puts bits and pieces of itself all around your system. Chances are you will miss some of these pieces if you try the brute strength method of deleting. Here’s the correct, and cleaner method of removing unwanted programs using Windows. Click on the “Start” button, and then on “Control Panel.” A window will pop up with many icons. Double-click on “Add or Remove Programs”. In Windows 7, click “Programs.” Once the window opens, you will have a list of all the programs you have on your system. Click on the program you want to get rid of, and hit the “Add/Remove” button.

Every once in a while you will get an e-mail message that appears to be legitimate.  You might even click on a link in that message that takes you to a legitimate site.  However, chances are, you are being duped into giving out personal information.  Very clever spammers are designing fake websites to look like banks and commercial companies and then sending massive amounts of junk e-mail luring people to the sites.  This technique is called Phishing.  Remember this, your bank never “loses” your password.  The department of Homeland Security does not close your bank accounts and then contact you via e-mail.  And, there is no Nigerian prince who needs your help to move a large amount of money around.  The FTC has put out some great information on protecting you from these threats. Always check the validity of an e-mail asking for information by calling the company in question.  You’ll be glad you did.

We’ve all been told not to download unknown programs or install strange attachments. After all, that’s how you get spyware and viruses, right? Well, a new type of attack has emerged: drive-by installations. Here’s how it works. You’re surfing around the Net and happen across some web page. It’s not the one you want so you leave. But what you don’t realize is that by simply viewing the page, spyware, or worse yet, a virus has been transferred to your system. Most pop-up problems occur this way. The newest version of Internet Explorer catches some of them. But, take my advice: make sure you have a good Spyware/Virus removal program like Malware Bytes or Windows Security Essentials, and keep it updated! Trust me, you will be the victim of drive-by installs at some point in the future.

Don’t you just love your digital camera?  After all, you can just snap and snap and snap and never run out of film (or pay for it for that matter).  But now that you have megabytes and megabytes of memories, how do you organize them?

Since your digital camera automatically stores the date and time every picture is taken, I recommend setting up a folder hierarchy.  Start with the My Pictures Folder.  Then, create a folder for the year.  Then put the months as folders underneath. Makes finding your photos a cinch.

If your collection is truly huge, though, I recommend Google’s free Picasa Software.  It allows you to sort and catalog every digital photo you’ve ever taken.  That way you can search for “just pictures of your kids” or photos taken before 2002.  It’s that easy.  Picasa can even do automatic facial recognition on your photos to make finding all the pictures of weird Uncle Harold a breeze.

Who doesn’t use Facebook?  I mean, c’mon!  It just beat Yahoo and is just under Google in being the most popular Internet site on the planet.  But are you using Facebook to its utmost?  For instance, are you sick and tired of receiving your friend’s Farmville updates or that some lost animal has wandered into your virtual back yard?  It’s simple.  When you see one of those posts, hover your mouse over it.  Look to the right and you’ll see a “Hide” button.  Click it.  At this point you can choose to hide all posts from that person or just all posts from that application.  After a few clicks, your Facebook stream will be clean.  Next, create a friends list.  Chances are, you have a lot of friends, but what if you only want to see posts from certain people?  Put them in a list.  Click on Friends on the left.  Then click “create list” at the top.  Add everyone you want, then click “Create list” at the bottom.  Simple!  I’ve also found some great privacy tips you need to check out!

Should you get an iPad or should you wait?  While I don’t have one…yet, I’ve been going through all of the reviews and I’m pretty excited.  Check out this video review.  Some users are calling it the laptop killer.  Would you really replace your laptop with one of these?  Initial uses show that it is blazingly fast.  Accessing websites is very quick and the screen is very easy to read, even in direct sunlight.  The batteries will give you 10-12 hours of continual use during the day.  And some of the applications I’ve seen for it are, well, amazing.  Now to the downside:  There’s no webcam.  No video chats.  Although I’ve heard of a plugin camera kit that will achieve this.  Also, I’ve heard mixed reviews on the keyboard.  Keep in mind you are typing on the screen itself.  I’m holding off the whole “ditch my laptop” idea until I test the keyboard.  To me that is the most important feature of all.  So, should you get one?  You know what I’m going to say, wait until the first software revision before even considering it.

Some people think that searching Google means simply typing a phrase into their blank and hitting Enter.  Well, little did you know there are a lot of shortcuts and tricks you can use to get your information faster, and even access info you didn’t know Google had.  For instance, simply typing movie: and your zip code will tell you what movies and their times are playing near you.  Typing define: and a word will give you the definition.  Typing phonebook: and a name will search every phone book in the US and give you phone numbers.  Adding site: and a website address will search only pages within that site.  So, if you only wanted to search Microsoft, you would type site:Microsoft.com and then your search phrase.  Type in a math equation.  Google will solve it!  There are hundreds more of these tips.  To see them all, head to ericspellmann.com and click on my blog.

I’m Eric Spellmann taking you to the Next Level.

More Information

Google Guide
http://www.googleguide.com/

 Other Tricks
http://www.dumblittleman.com/2007/06/20-tips-for-more-efficient-google.html

More and more employers, insurance companies, and even landlords are doing background checks on you.  If you are having a tough time getting a job or getting an apartment, these records may be the cause.  Your history is spread across a number of servers, but I’ve put them altogether in a list for you.  When you start visiting these sites, you’ll notice that most will allow you to request a free copy once a year of your own records. Do that.  You’d be surprised at how many inaccuracies there are.  Sometimes, a simple call is all that is needed to fix it.  Folks, you don’t want to miss a job opportunity or not get a loan because of bad information on someone’s website.  Check out your online records now.  For the links to all of these agencies and instructions on how to get copies of these reports, head to ericspellmann.com and click on my blog.

I’m Eric Spellmann taking you to the Next Level.

More Information

How to Do a Background Check
http://consumerist.com/2010/02/get-all-your-reports.html

Google is looking to install free super-high-speed Internet in a number of communities.  That’s right, free.  They came out with a YouTube video announcing the contest a while back, but now, as the competition heats up, some communities are trying to stand out.  The mayor of Topeka, Kansas, temporarily renamed their city, Google for a month.  True story.  Topeka, Kansas, is now Google, Kansas.  Other communities are getting in on the phone, too.  The mayor of Duluth. Minnesota has jokingly requested all pregnant women in his city to consider naming their children, Google Fiber.  The contest is really cool, despite the jokes.  The winning community will get 1 gigabit Internet speeds to their homes.  Folks, that’s 100 times the fastest Internet you can get now.

I’m Eric Spellmann taking you to the Next Level.

More Information

The Topeka Rename
http://cjonline.com/news/local/2010-03-01/topeka_to_be_google_kansas

The Google Video Announcement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wusklcNKDZc

Have you ever heard of a Rube Goldberg Machine? No doubt, you’ve seen them. Overly complex contraptions that are fascinating to watch, but don’t do much. If you ever played the game Mousetrap as a kid, you’ve seen a Rube Goldberg Machine. The reason I bring this up is because I just saw the coolest example of this online. The musical group, Ok Go, best known as the treadmill guys, have created a new video for their latest song, entitled, “This Too Shall Pass” and put it on YouTube. It’s simply incredible. A lot of work went into it. Another great Rube Goldberg Machine was built by Honda. The guys took apart an Accord and used the pieces to make the machine.