Charlotte Melichar gave a favorable user report on Softland’s doPDF Free PDF Converter. It’s a PDF Virtual Printer “add-in” that allows just about any Windows application, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Publisher, to save documents as PDF files if the application does not already provide that function. Current versions of most applications have that function built-in — as File > Save As, or File > Export as PDF — but if yours doesn’t, this sort of thing can be very handy. Charlotte pointed out that doPDF is one of many PDF converters available for download at Microsoft’s Office Marketplace site.
Eric Hein said the tax preparation software Tax Cut (which he uses) installs the PDF995 PDF Virtual Printer. He has used PDF995 quite a bit, and has been pleased.
These GPS devices with gigantic screens are a sight for sore, road-weary eyes.
Barry Hammond offers a view of All-In-One Security Suites quite different than the April 17 item below. Barry writes:
I also like to read Rob Pegararo’s articles and columns, but Rob has limited resources for testing security suites. If you adopt his conclusion that it is better to choose your malware fighters à la carte rather than in a suite, I would suggest that everyone consult AV-Comparatives at http://av-comparatives.org/ for the results of their tests of Anti-Virus software. On the home page is a list of the software they have tested with links to the vendor’s sites. On the “Comparatives” page are links to their reports.
Because of rapidly changing software and viruses, usually only the two most recent reports are useful. Twice a year they do tests on the software to determine how they perform during “On Demand” scans. Since viruses detected during scans probably have had a chance to damage your data or software, they do tests few months later on the software to determine how they perform in detecting and blocking viruses before they can do damage. Results of the most recent On-Demand tests were published March 1st. The results of what they call their “Retrospective/ProActive Tests” will be available June 1st. The last ones were published December 1st.
On AV-Comparatives’ “Links“ page you will find a link to ProtectStar Test Lab’s website http://protectstar-testlab.org/ which features a 785 kB PDF report of their recent test of thirteen All-In-One Security Suites. They made use of AV-Comparatives’ tests of AV engines but also performed a comprehensive analysis of the thirteen security suites. Using their report you can find a security suite that will perform better than any that Rob Pegoraro evaluated.
Unfortunately, neither organization evaluates software from all security vendors. For example, ZoneLab’s security suite and firewall were not evaluated. Perhaps they will be evaluated later.
Security-software developers have kept adding new defenses for new dangers: worms, spyware, spam, phishing and so on. More recently, by adding tools to back up your data, they’ve built all-in-one security suites that claim to do everything to defend a Windows machine. Are Symantec’s Norton 360 Version 2.0, McAfee’s Total Protection and Microsoft’s Windows Live OneCare all-in-one suites up to the task, or are you better off mixing different programs – for example, pairing the free firewall in XP and Vista with a basic anti-virus program? To find out, read Rob Pegoraro’s column in the Washington Post.
Need to put a PC in a public place? Schools, libraries, and other organizations often want to make computers available in public places. These can become tempting targets for hackers. Even well-intentioned users can wreak havoc by deleting important files or accidentally installing malware. Dan Lee found this article at PCMag.com.
Most Wi-Fi hotspots are unsecured. Identity thieves can visit a hotspot and capture users’ Internet traffic. Here’s what you need to know.
Badware is malicious software that tracks your moves online and feeds that information back to shady marketing groups so that they can ambush you with targeted ads. If your every move online is checked by a pop-up ad, it’s highly likely that you, like 59 million Americans, have spyware or other malicious badware on your computer.
StopBadware.org is a "Neighborhood Watch" campaign aimed at fighting badware. Consumer Reports WebWatch serves as an unpaid special advisor to StopBadware.org.
Harvard Law School’s Berkman Center for Internet & Society and Oxford University’s Oxford Internet Institute are leading this initiative with the support of several prominent tech companies, including Lenovo, Sun Microsystems, and Google. Google’s Web crawler robots look for malicious badware when they visit a site.
When a Google search produces a link to a site that seems to contain malicious badware, Google attaches this label: “This site may harm your computer”.
Vic Kivat offers the following tip from the Washington Post HELP FILE, Sunday, November 19, 2006; Page F08 – by Rob Pegoraro
Question: I bought a new computer, but I’m afraid to dispose of, sell or give away my old machine without making sure all of my data is gone first. How can I completely clean all old data files from a MAC or PC, so the computer can be safely discarded or donated? Here’s Rob’s answer.
Brian Krebs wrote this article in the Washington Post, that should serve as fair warning to all of us. Its headline is Hacking Made Easy:
When Graeme Frost received an e-mail notice that an expensive digital camera had been charged to his credit card account, he immediately clicked on the Internet link included in the message that said it would allow him to dispute the charge.
As he scoured, the resulting Web page for the merchant’s phone number, the site silently installed a password-stealing program that transmitted all of his personal and financial information to another computer.
Frost is just one of thousands of victims whose personal data has been stolen by what security experts are calling one of the more brazen and sophisticated Internet fraud rings ever uncovered.
"The quality of the software tools cyber criminals are using to sort through the mountains of information they’ve stolen is a clear sign that they are seeking more efficient ways to monetize that data," experts say.
Here’s the whole article.
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This page last updated July 8, 2008