Windows Vista SP1, Nintendo Wii and FeedDemon

Work has been keeping me so busy, I’m having a hard time reading feeds in Google Reader and keeping up with them. Anyone have any good tips with remembering to open Google Reader? I just have a habit of forgetting.

Here are a few stories that I managed to read in Google Reader this week:

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate

I read on Lifehacker that Windows Vista Service Pack 1 Release Candidate is now available for those of you who are brave. If it wasn’t for all of the troubles I had on my last computer and how much time I had spent on it to find out it wasn’t going to work right, I would install SP1 RC on my new computer. But, until the final release is out, I’m waiting. I don’t want to risk finding out something doesn’t work right and have to spend even more time trying to fix another computer.

I did hear that SP1 is supposed to speed up Vista a little. But, for someone with a lot of RAM, is it going to be noticeable at all?  Vista is already fast for me, so I wonder if I will notice an increase in speed.

Keep in mind, if installing the RC, you will have to uninstall it before installing the final release. So, it might be best to wait.

Nintendo Launches Raincheck Program for the Wii

Because of the Wii shortage, Nintendo is teaming up with GameStop to allow people to pay $249 up front for a Wii. You won’t leave with a Wii, but you can go back to the store and pick it up in January. Might be a tease walking out with a receipt that says you just bought a Wii, but you’ll know that you’ll be back in January to grab your own Wii.

For more about the program and updates, read about it over at Engadget.

Most Popular Windows RSS Reader

This is a perfect topic since I have such a hard time keeping up with Google Reader. Part of that is Google Reader isn’t local. I know Google Reader has an offline feature, but you need to be online to turn it on. Why not just automatically sync with an application every so often?  Gmail has IMAP, now Google Reader needs the ability to sync with a feed reader.

I read over at Jeffro2pt0 about FeedDemon which you can sync with NewsGator. I have always been a fan of NewsGator, but this year I became hooked to how easy it is to read feeds in Google Reader and access ’starred’ items. It would be great to access these in a feed reader as well.

FeedDemon seems to have a lot of features. I’m not sure that I want a whole lot of features, which is why I had liked the NewsGator plugin for Outlook.  I do like the News Bins feature, which is kind of like starring feed items in Google Reader, but in a different way.

To find out what other features FeedDemon has, read the post on Jeffro2pt0.

Anyone else have a favorite feed reader?  Share in the comments.

Judge a Post By the Images

I may be the only one who is guilty of this, but I thought I would write about it anyway and hopefully get feedback from others who are guilty as well.

I use Google Reader for reading feeds, so I’m able to quickly scan each post as they go by. I actually don’t read post titles first. I look at the image to see what the post is about. If the image doesn’t interest me, I move on to the next post. If there aren’t any images or they are too far down, I am forced to scan the title. Images are like a second title for your post, but usually without words.

So, having images in posts can actually be very important, especially if you want me to read them. I do subscribe to a couple blogs that don’t usually use images, but that’s okay if I remember that while reading them.

Posts about products are probably easier to find images for. Screenshots of software and other things are easy, too. But, how do you find an image for something like a thought?

Do you judge a post by the images or lack of?

Things I Learned This Week

While unable to blog regularly due to computer problems, I sat back and read the feeds in Google Reader and browsed some sites. Here are some things I learned this week and decided to share with you while I wait for a new computer to arrive. I will tell you about the computer in another post.

UPS tracking is available inside Gmail.

When using the UPS track by e-mail option, I opened the e-mail that I received with two tracking numbers that I was tracking, and on the right side above the Google Ads, there were the two tracking numbers with links to the corresponding tracking pages. Since the e-mail doesn’t give you any links, this is very useful. I wonder if this happens for FedEx or for any other company. Leave a comment if you know.

DTV will be here on February 17, 2009.

By law, television stations nationwide must switch from the old method of transmitting TV signals known as analog to digital television (DTV) on February 17, 2009.

As long as you know you can receive a digital signal, you will be fine. Learn how to prepare for DTV.

Free branded custom RSS reader.

Snarfware lets you give away a free branded custom RSS reader for your readers. I don’t think I will try it, but that could be a good way of getting more readers. Everyone likes to try new software, right?

No-follow option coming soon to PayPerPost.

Advertisers will be able to choose if they want no-follow added to their links. This is great for bloggers who may want to only write sponsored posts that have no-follow added, especially with the recent happenings with Google.

TeXtra with Natali Del Conte is a technology news show.

TeXtra is a video podcast providing you with technology news in just a short amount of time. I like this because my iPod battery doesn’t last long enough to watch every podcast I subscribe to when they are long.

Host Natali Del Conte follows the what’s what, who’s who, and WHY of technology news that goes beyond the Silicon Valley. She is an established technology journalist, having written for PC Magazine, WIRED, TechCrunch, MarketWatch, and more. For more about her credentials, visit Natali’s producer page.

Are you willing to go naked for one day for Akismet?

That title alone will probably attract comment spam later on. My answer to the question is, “No.” I appreciate Akismet, but if I turn it off for one day, I will feel like I’m giving those spammers what they want, and I also don’t have time to go through all of it. Will you do it? Akismet wants to know how it goes if you do.

Are You An Anti-Phishing Champion?

Are you an anti-phishing champion? Do you know what to look for in an e-mail to tell the difference between an e-mail that came from PayPal and one that did not?

PayPal has a Fight Phishing Challenge consisting of five true/false questions to determine if you know a few things about phishing and help you to learn what you should be looking for. Although it’s not new, I did just receive an e-mail about it and decided to check it out and find out if I’m a champion. It turns out that I am!

Here are a couple of the questions you will be asked if you take the challenge:

1. You can be sure that an email is valid based on the sender’s email address.
2. Clicking on a link in an email is the most reliable way to get to your PayPal account.

These two might be more difficult to spot. The first one, an e-mail address can easily be masked or hidden behind a PayPal e-mail address such as: security@paypal.com. An easy way to spot it, would be to click on ‘Reply’ and look at the recipient’s e-mail address.

The second one, it depends on how you check your e-mail. Not all e-mail clients will show you the masked or hidden URL behind a link. Some will display it when you move your cursor over a link as shown in the example below if you move your cursor over it:

www.paypal.com (Note: Nothing will happen if you click this link.)

Those are just two things to look out for. PayPal suggests that you forward any e-mail appearing to come from them if you are unsure about it.  Just forward the complete e-mail to spoof@paypal.com.

How to Spot Phishing

PayPal has a nice Phishing Guide consisting of Parts 1-3: Understanding Phishing, Recognizing Phishing and Fighting Phishing.

How to Protect Yourself

Using software that detects phishing is a good way to protect yourself from accidentally giving away private information.  Here are some anti-phishing browsers that try to protect you:

• Internet Explorer 7
• Firefox 2
• Opera 9
• Safari 3
• Netscape 8.1

Wikipedia has a list of these and other anti-phishing programs.

Jooce Desktop & Invites

Jooce allows you to access a desktop that is online. It has all your contacts (supports multi-networks), files: music, videos, photos, etc. No matter what computer you use, you will always have access to your files. This can be useful if you don’t have a large hard drive to store files you want where ever you go. Also great if you are someone who goes to an Internet cafe.

In my last post, Desktop Applications or Web Applications?, I had mentioned two similar services to Jooce: Goowy and YouOS.  All three, Goowy, Jooce and YouOS, offer most of the same features. Of the three, Jooce is the prettiest with Goowy right behind it.

Jooce has so many features. Instantly share files by dragging and dropping them. Watch videos, view photos, listen to music and play games. Check your e-mail, chat with friends and build your social network. Customize the look of your online desktop. Watch the How To Be Sejooced videos.

Invites

I have invites available for only four people. Normally, I just give invites out for free. This time I would like to see you do something for it. I want you to write on your own blog about Jooce and why you would like using a desktop on the web.

Instructions:

1. Leave a comment here saying you are going to write a post. This reserves your invite.
2. You have five hours after you comment to write the post. Even if your comment is placed in the moderation queue, the time still begins after you submit the comment.
3. After you are done, come back and leave another comment with a link to your post and your e-mail address (format: me[at]softtechreviews[dot]com).

If you do not come back and leave a comment after 5 hours are up, your invite will be available to someone else. I will look at your post to make sure it qualifies and then send you your invitation to Jooce.

Besides getting a free invitation to Jooce, you also may receive free traffic if someone clicks on your link.