Published on July 6th, 2010 by admin. Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments
Disadvantages: Are you sure you don’t want a WYSIWYG program?
A lot of coding programs now are WYSIWYG — What You See Is What You Get — programs, with options to just click and change fonts, colours, placement, whatever.
This is not one of those.
Notepad++ is made for those poor souls who still like coding direct. It’s got a wide variety of potential codes (I’ve mostly used it for HTML, javascript, CSS and PHP). It’s tiny, free and made for those people who’ve only just been convinced that Windows Notepad itself might have alternatives.
So, what does it have over Windows Notepad? Line-numbering was the one that sold me on it (though I later discovered Notepad does have this, you just have to find it.) Tabs to allow you to open multiple documents is nice, as is the option to close all but the one you are working on. The document title turning red if you haven’t saved yet is very handy, and has saved me hours of “…but I just uploaded it. Where are my changes?” There’s syntax highlighting, the ability to click on one bracket and see where its partner is (very handy when you are doing statements inside other statements) and the ability to fold syntax.
All in all, it’s an awesome little program and I love it. But, and it’s an important but, I have fellow web-designers who think I’m crazy for using it at all.
The truth is that if you’re not looking to play with databases, with IFs and THENs, with complex little functions, if you just want a good-looking site and don’t want to have to learn code to get it, you probably don’t want Notepad++. Notepad++ means learning things from scratch, from the first bold tag to how stylesheets look. A WYSIWYG program saves you all that.. if that’s what you want.
I don’t. And I’ll continue to use and love it. Just be aware it’s not for everyone.
Summary: Great for its intended audience
Published on July 6th, 2010 by admin. Filed under Uncategorized | No Comments
Honestly, DropBox has got to be one of the best services I have ever come across, and if you don’t have DropBox account by the end of this article, I will be shocked. DropBox’s service offering is incredibly straight forward and simple. It is a file sharing and back-up program and system that allows you to sync the personal files you choose across Windows, Mac and Linux computers.
Here is the premise, you set up two or more computers with DropBox (a simple software install), and start saving files, photos, folders etc. to a specific directory (named “My DropBox” if you follow the default naming conventions) on one computer and within seconds, those files or folders magically appears within the DropBox folder on the other computer(s). Not only can you configure as many computers (within reason) as you want to have this folder backup and syncing, you are also given 2 GB of space for free to do it with. There are upgrades available for larger storage space (a tempting idea) – Pro 50 which is 50 GBs for $9.99/mo and Pro 100 which is 100 GBs for $19.99/mo.
You can always keep track of your usage online or within your computer.
If your computer is not connected to the internet, you can still fully take advantage of the DropBox functionality. Simply save your file to the My DropBox directory and the next time you are connected to the internet, your files are seamlessly uploaded and synced to other connected computers. And you can visually see what files have been synced and which ones have not. Below is a file waiting to be synced:
And the same file after it has been synced:
Some Use Case Scenarios
Before I go into a few of the really great features of DropBox, I wanted to outline some scenarios that are perfect for DropBox:
Multiple computer user – if you have computers at home and work, you probably want to be able to take files back and forth. Instead of having to throw everything on a USB drive or emailing it to yourself, just drag the files you want over to a folder within the DropBox directory. It will be there in that same folder with the same structure as before across all DropBox-enabled computers.
Backups – if you want to have an online backup solution that is quick and easy, set up DropBox and save your critical files to there.
Moving files within the same network – at my work, I have a Mac and PC that are on the same network. However, it’s a pain in the butt having to move files from one computer directory share to another. If I put those files into a DropBox folder, then I can almost immediately access it on the other computer.
Sharing files and folders with others – if you are in a workgroup (onsite or remote) and need to be able to easily share files with others around the world, you can either share certain folders or set up the same user/pass for the group.
Here is one scenario that I actually use all of the time. I write blog articles and reviews (obviously). In these articles, I frequently include photos or screenshots. The problem is, I write these articles on many different computers. I will start the article in an email (which I save to an IMAP Drafts folder – which means I can edit on any IMAP email like other computers or my iPhone). Eventually, I will get the article into LiveWriter for final editing and review. But, during the process, I may be compiling photos or images from a variety of sources. What I typically do is create a folder within DropBox of the project name and then save all of my images there. Then, regardless of the machine that I’m on, my images are always there!
If the product stopped there, it would be a great deal and critical to have. But, the guys & gals and DropBox have gone a lot further. They have added robust yet simplistic revision tracking and deletion recovery features as well.
Revision Tracking
Once you have set up a bunch of computers, you may run into issues where you need to look back at different versions of your files. The nice thing about DropBox is, it keeps a log of how many changes have happened, when they happened and what the file looked like before and after. You can preview and restore a previous version quickly and easily.
Within your local directory, you can right-click and launch the revision tracking feature:
Upon launch, you can see and preview all of the previous versions of a file on the DropBox website (note, it does not give you a side-by-side or red-lined view of the files and their associated changes):
Another nice features is the Recent Events section of the site. This will show any type of activity that you have done within your account. This is one place where revisions will show up, as well as file renames, deletions, shares, additions and edits.
Deletion Recovery
This feature can turn out to be a life-saver. If you have ever accidentally deleted a file, only later to find out that you absolutely needed it, DropBox gives you a great way to get that file back. Within the web interface is a toggle “Show/Hide Deleted Files”. Toggling this button allows you to see files that you have deleted, even ones that are quite old.
You can “shred” the file (permanently delete it) as well as see revisions to it. This is very useful if you are using DropBox as a backup solution or within a Work Group or shared environment. Just be careful to cleanse your account periodically. (I’m not sure if deleted files or revisions count towards your space allocation. I assume that they do.)
Summing It All Up
DropBox has been around for a while, so I’m surprised when I come across people who haven’t signed up for it. For starters, the first 2 GB of storage are free, but you can add an additional 3 GBs of storage, bringing your total to 5 by simply referring a friend. And, if you get someone signed up by referral, both you and they get an extra 250 MB of space (up to 3 GB extra). So, here is my link for DropBox, use it to get yourself an extra 250 MB.
I would love to find out how others are using it in a creative way. I realize now that I really couldn’t live without it. There are other files syncing services out there like Windows Live Sync or Live Mesh (both of which I have tried and used since betas) but I have always gravitated back to DropBox (and no, they didn’t comp me for an upgraded account or anything…but that WOULD be nice.) I just wanted to share a service that I think should be on every Windows/Linux/Mac out there!
Published on July 6th, 2010 by admin. Filed under AntiSpyware, Antivirus, Antivirus and filtering, antivirus | No Comments
There is no need to further stress the importance of having an antivirus product installed on your computer. Current trends in developing antivirus products and the new types of protection are proof not only of technological progress but also of more elaborated malware code being spread over the Internet. Cloud-based protection, behavioral detection and heuristics, all have earned their chops as standard protection layers in some products, while others are pondering their introduction or turnaround in order to reduce stress on system resources and diminish scan times. Emsisoft Anti-Malware is not a strong name on the antivirus market, but it cannot go unnoticed either. It is among the few AV applications backed up by two scan engines (Emsisoft’s very own and Ikarus) in order to increase malware detection. The cost of the product is $40 but the developer offers it with a special 50% discount for Romania-based users. The try-before-you-buy policy applies in the case of Emsisoft Anti-Malware too, and you have three days to test the program unhindered. If you need about a month to evaluate it, you have to register with a valid email and you’ll extend the trial period to 30 days. Getting Emsisoft Anti-Malware to run on your system is not as quick a procedure as in the case of other antivirus products on the market, like Immunet Protect or Panda Cloud Antivirus. Also, Emsisoft follows the traditional installation pattern of a security suite, presenting the user with a configuration wizard at the end of the installation process and before the application can be used. You’ll have to go through several configuration steps before you can start to use the program at its full capacity: set up the updater, running a computer scan and customizing real-time protection options. All this should not take long and the settings can be changed whenever you need it. There are no bells and whistles attached to the interface and everything looks pretty rigid, but this does not affect ease of use one bit. All the menus of the software roll down in the left hand side of the application window allowing comfortable navigation. The status of the three layers of protection available (File Guard, Behavior Blocker and Surf protection) is displayed under the Security Status screen; here, you will also find information on the time passed since the last scan or the last update. Additionally, you get to see the current state of all protection modules included in the suite. Scanning options present in the program are no surprise and cover both fast and target-specific scans, as well as comprehensive checks. The engines can be directed towards the areas of the system preferred by malware or set to scan the entire machine. On demand, scanning is available straight from Windows Explorer context menu (only if you opted for this during program installation) and from this menu. Testing Emsisoft Anti-Malware’s abilities to detect and eliminate malware showed that the dual-engine protection sported by the program really pays off. The two scan engines managed to ravage our malware database and leave a very small number of samples. Out of the 16700 malicious items we put it up against, after an on-demand scan, only 1014 samples were left, everything else was quarantined. This translates into 94% efficiency. Although the numbers are encouraging, there are some concerns. Further testing revealed that there is a high probability for the app to pick up innocent items and mistake them for malware. It would detect their activity as being malicious, although they would do no harm. Among the false positives, Emsisoft Anti-Malware also counted TweetDeck application on account that its behavior is similar to that of spyware (LAN bypass backdoor). If you do not handle too many files that could be wrongfully taken for malicious items, Emsisoft proposes a very easy way to eliminate the issue by creating application rules. You simply add the desired application to the list and instruct the antivirus to always block or allow it, or monitor it for specific malware activities, which again can be blocked or allowed by the user. However, there is no easy way to detect the smarter keyloggers, such as kernel-based ones. During our tests, commercial keyloggers found no way around Emsisoft Anti-Malware, but our set of kernel-based logging malware slipped by with no problems. Enabling the three protection components the application relies on for increased protection of your system (File Guard, Behavior Blocker and Surf Protection) can be done from the “Guard” menu. This is also the place for creating application rules, customizing the amount of alerts received or defining host rules. Behavior Blocker lists a set of malicious activities out of which you have to pick the ones the application should monitor. The default configuration shows them all enabled, and I would not change it. In case of false positives, you can make a decision by yourself, or rely on Emsisoft’s community response. Creating rules for various types of alerts can help you greatly diminish the number of pop ups on the screen. The File Guard component allows you to choose the best suitable time for scanning data. The possibilities include on-access verification, upon creation or modification or when they are read (heuristics is included). Mind that this is a decision of best protection over performance. Alternatively, as a compromise, Emsisoft Anti-Malware permits selecting the file formats you want to be scanned. Under the Surf Protection tab, it is only a matter of choosing the default actions for each of the types of threats listed: tracking cookies, ad/tracking hosts, malware hosts, exploiting hosts, fraudulent hosts, hijacking hosts, phishing hosts or warez hosts. For each of these, you can instruct the application to block and give you a notification, simply alert you, block silently (no pop up visible) or not to block it. The configuration panel of the application is no complicated deal, just a matter of ticking the right boxes. But this part of the software also holds the tab for scheduling scans, which is of huge help if you want to keep your PC clean automatically. More importantly, this area lets you set up the configuration access for non-administrative users. This means that you can impose limits to users that should not be allowed to tamper with the application’s functions. HijackFree, the bonus component in Emsisoft Anti-Malware, completes the program by enabling you to take a good look at the processes running free on your system. The level of detail is definitely intended for the power user in you. It shows all applications currently communicating outside your computer and the ports used in the process; moreover, you benefit from a list of all the startup items that can prevent the operating system from loading faster. In case you are unsure of the validity of an item, you can opt for an online analysis to show you which is good and which is bad. However, in plenty of cases, this showed well known processes (like Java updater jusched.exe) as unknown and being not yet checked. Emsisoft Anti-Malware showed a real talent at detecting malware with its two scan engines. It scored great and was not heavy on system resources (45%-50% CPU usage and an average of 90MB of RAM were used). However, during our tests, it failed to put a stop to the activity of kernel-based keyloggers and misinterpreted the actions of valid apps as malicious. Detection of false positives is among the chief inconveniences of the program and that is why it fits better with more experienced users. The Good The two scan engines it relies on (Emsisoft’s very own and Ikarus) do a great job at detecting malware. Protection layers include heuristics and behavioral engines. When creating rules for various applications, you can specify the type of activity it should be monitored for, as well as the behavior of the program when detecting such an activity. Emsisoft Anti-Malware can be configured to combine performance with protection by selecting the extensions you want the File Guard component to verify. The same flexibility is available when it comes to protecting the system against online threats. HijackFree is a great component that can lend a hand in discovering malicious items on your computer, as long as you know what you are doing. The Bad Kernel-based keyloggers and false positives are the main concerns in the program. Also, quarantining large numbers of malware at a time takes awfully long and the program may hang unresponsively (if you leave it alone, it will come to its senses). Starting an online analysis of the processes running on the system through HijackFree shows well reputed items as being not yet verified for validity, hence unknown. The Truth If you are an experienced user that cannot be easily deceived with false positives, Emsisoft Anti-Malware is a great detection tool. It runs pretty fast (went through 16,700 malware samples weighing about 3GB in 37’22’’) and it is thorough. HijackFree is a great tool for power users to track down illicit processes doing their bidding on the computer as it far more complete in terms of details offered than Task Manager. It rivals with freeware such as Process Explorer or Autoruns. There is still some fixing to be made in order to be accessible to less experienced users without the risk of misinterpreting valid programs’ actions but detection rate is definitely one of the best.
