Friday, July 25, 2014

Tips for Staying Safe Online




Tips for Staying Safe Online 

Keep a Clean Machine.
  • Keep security software current: Having the latest security software, web browser, and operating system are the best defenses against viruses, malware, and other online threats.
  • Automate software updates: Many software programs will automatically connect and update to defend against known risks. Turn on automatic updates if that’s an available option. 
  •  Protect all devices that connect to the Internet: Along with computers, smart phones, gaming systems, and other web-enabled devices also need protection from viruses and malware.
  • Plug & Scan: USB “thumb drives” and other external devices can be infected by viruses and malware. Use your security software to scan them.
Protect Your Personal Information
  • Secure your accounts: Ask for protection beyond passwords. Many account providers now offer additional ways for you verify who you are before you conduct business on that site.
  • Make passwords long and strong: Combine capital and lowercase letters with numbers and symbols to create a more secure password.
  • Unique account, unique password: Separate passwords for every account helps to thwart cyber-criminals.
  • Write it down and keep it safe: Everyone can forget a password. Keep a list that’s stored in a safe, secure place away from your computer.
  • Own your online presence: When available, set the privacy and security settings on websites to your comfort level for information sharing. It’s okay to limit who you share information with.
Connect with Care.

  • When in doubt, throw it out: Links in email, tweets, posts, and online advertising are often the way cybercriminals compromise your computer. If it looks suspicious, even if you know the source, it’s best to delete or if appropriate, mark as junk email.
  • Get savvy about Wi-Fi hotspots: Limit the type of business you conduct and adjust the security settings on your device to limit who can access your machine. 
  •  Protect your $$: When banking and shopping, check to be sure the sites is security enabled. Look for web addresses with “https://” or “shttp://”, which means the site takes extra measures to help secure your information. “Http://” is not secure.
Be Web Wise.
  • Stay current. Keep pace with new ways to stay safe online. Check trusted websites for the latest information, and share with friends, family, and colleagues and encourage them to be web wise.
  • Think before you act: Be wary of communications that implores you to act immediately, offers something that sounds too good to be true, or asks for personal information. 
  •  Back it up: Protect your valuable work, music, photos, and other digital information by making an electronic copy and storing it safely.
  Be a Good Online Citizen.
  • Safer for me more secure for all: What you do online has the potential to affect everyone – at home, at work and around the world. Practicing good online habits benefits the global digital community. 
  •  Post only about others as you have them post about you.
  • Help the authorities fight cyber-crime: Report stolen finances or identities and other cyber-crime to www.ic3.gov (Internet Crime Complaint Center), the Federal Trade Commission at http://www.onguardonline.gov/file-complaint.aspx (if it's fraud), and to your local law enforcement or state attorney general as appropriate.
 




Contact the CGU Help Desk by email helpdesk@cgu.edu, or by phone at 1-8174 (on campus), 909-621-8174 (off campus) plus 800-630-8893 (toll free). 

The CGU Helpdesk is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Credit for all information in this document is courtesy of © National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), StaySafeOnline http://staysafeonline.org/ - and - Stop.Think.Connect.™ http://stopthinkconnect.org All rights reserved.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

Top 5 Siri Productivity Booster Tricks

Top 5 Siri Productivity Booster Tricks



If you've dismissed Siri due to frustration, or never even gave it a shot, here are 5 simple tips to help get you started. Try them. Once you work out the kinks and get in the habit of using Siri, you'll wonder how you ever got by without it.



 1. Use Raise to Speak

Most people hold the Home button for two seconds to bring Siri to life, but there’s a better way to use Siri in public. Raise to Speak launches Siri when you lift your iPhone to your ear, and you are "not" making a phone call. Her voice comes out of the earpiece, not the speaker, and you look as though you are making a regular phone call when you speak to her.
If Raise to Speak is off, go to Settings > General > Siri and scroll to the bottom. There you’ll see the “Raise to Speak” button, which you can switch to "on."

2.  Set Up Your Contacts

Make sure to tell Siri about all your most important relationships. You can do this manually in Contacts by selecting your own contact information and filling in the slots for “wife,” “daughter,” and so on. A quicker method is to tell Siri directly: "Bob is my brother.” Just make sure the name is already in your contacts. Say “Yes” when Siri asks you to confirm. This is a great and natural way to contact people: “Call my boss” or “text my assistant I’ll be 20 minutes late.” You can even add custom labels like “accountant” or “lawyer.”

3.  Add Phonetic Spellings And Nicknames

Siri stumbled over my name until I added a phonetic spelling to the Contact card. In Contacts, find the person with the troublesome name. Hit “Edit” and scroll down to the bottom. Hit the button that says "Add Field” and select "Phonetic First Name" or "Phonetic Last Name," depending on which one Siri can’t recognize. Now when you ask Siri to say or recognize a name, she'll get it right. You can even do this for place names, like favorite restaurants or places with hard-to-recognize names. Palace of “Ver-Sigh,” for example.
Another useful trick is to add nicknames to contacts. Using a nickname to call someone or send a text is a great, natural way to do things. Again, find the contact, hit “Edit” and “Add New Field” and select “Nickname.”

 4.  Calendar

It takes some getting used to, but using Siri to manage your calendar can be a big productivity boost. Adding new events, for example, can be a lot easier with Siri than any other method, including typing on your computer. The main trick is to include as much information as possible in the command. A rookie mistake is to say, “Schedule a meeting for tomorrow,” to which Siri responds with a query about what time? Better to say "Schedule a meeting with Joe tomorrow at 11a.m." If Joe is in your contacts, he will even receive an email invitation.
Siri has quite a lot of smarts. If you make a mistake, you can easily fix things by saying "change the time" or simply “cancel.” If there is ambiguity, Siri will ask questions to clarify the time or location. She is aware of conflicts with events already on your calendar, and can respond intelligently if you say “Cancel the 5 p.m. appointment” or “Reschedule my meeting on Thursday.”
Siri is good for searching your calendar or changing specific events. She understands “What appointments have I got tomorrow?” as well as “Cancel my doctor’s appointment on Friday.”

 5. Location-Aware Reminders

 To-do lists never work for me because I always forget to check them. Not so with a reminder that pops up at a particular location. It’s dead easy to tell Siri: “Remind me to get milk when I leave.” And when I step out of the door, the reminder pops up. There’s no need to tell Siri my location thanks to GPS.   
There are lots of situations you can use location-aware reminders: “Remind me to feed the fish when I get home,” or “Remind me to say happy birthday to my boss when I get to work.”
I find it useful for errands:  “Drop clothes at Locals Dry Cleaners.” Then when I pass the dry cleaners on the way home, a reminder pops up. Of course, you have to put the addresses of the dry cleaners into your contacts and turn on Location Services in Settings > Privacy Location Services.
To add addresses to your contact book, say “Find Walgreens,” then hit the red pin in the map and select the “Create New Contact” button to add it to your contacts.



Monday, May 19, 2014

i-FlashDrive HD a flash drive for iPads, iPhones, and laptops

- iFlashDrive is the world first flash drive for iOS devices.

Now you can transfer data without wires or having to go through iTunes.
It is available in 8GB 16GB and 32GB and works with all iOS devices including New iPad.

Great idea, Retail Price is still a little too high. Read more here: http://www.macworld.com/article/2036911/review-i-flashdrive-hd-a-flash-drive-for-ipads-iphones-and-laptops.html  

Friday, May 9, 2014

Windows Tip For Accessing A Folder From The Taskbar

Windows Tip For Accessing Folder From The Taskbar



You need to open Windows Explorer whenever you want to open a folderIf you access certain folders frequently, you can save time from having to open the Windows Explorer and then browsing to it. 

You  can access the folder directly from the taskbar by creating a shortcut for the folder in the taskbar.


The following steps will do it:


Right-click on the empty space on the taskbar. Select the toolbar option and then select New Toolbar.


Choose a Folder window opens. Select the folder that you want to tag on the taskbar & Click on the select folder.




Now you can see the folder in the taskbar.















Monday, February 24, 2014

Cell Phone Storage Comparison

Here is an interesting info-graph about the amount of free storage space available on smartphones today :

Most probably, we can easily add another 64GB. That's usually what most smartphones are capable of supporting right now with adding an additional memory card.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Online Storage Services: What to Look For

Online Storage Services:
What to Look For


While all the services in our lineup provide the same rudimentary functionality of data storage, they can vary greatly when it comes to features, accessibility and support options. Understanding the offerings of an online storage service is crucial to ensure you opt for a service that provides the functionality and usability you’re seeking. Whether you are a consumer or small business user, these are the features you should look for in an online backup storage service.

Storage Space

One of the most important things to consider when researching online document storage services is the allotted storage space. The best cloud services are those that provide unlimited storage for a flat monthly fee. This means you can store as many files as you want without the service ever capping your limit. If storage space isn’t your top priority, opt for an online data storage service that delivers a low cost per gigabyte.

Features

Online storage backup services should provide practical features that make uploading and sharing your files easy and convenient. For instance, the service should provide folder sharing, offline syncing and file versioning in case you lose the most recent version of a stored file. Additionally, there should be backup options so files are automatically updated whenever you make changes, and you should have the ability to restore any file you delete from your account.

File Access & Support

Online storage services should allow you to store any digital file, regardless of type. They should also provide widespread accessibility to those files. This means you should be able to upload and access your data from several devices, including multiple computers and various mobile devices. Any service you are considering should also provide access to your account from any web browser, as well as a desktop app that allows you to easily drag and drop files or folders to sync to your online account.

Ease of Use

Look for online storage services that are powerful yet simple enough for the average consumer to understand and use. A clean, intuitive account interface fosters easy navigation. Uploading files and software installation, if required, should be straightforward. A good online storage service will allow you to begin uploading files to your account within a few minutes.

Help & Support 

Even the most user-friendly online storage services should be supplemented with useful help and support options. Troubleshooting and technical resources should be available, including video tutorials and a comprehensive knowledge base. Direct customer support should also be offered via telephone, email or live chat.

Cloud Storage Comparison




























Tuesday, February 4, 2014

4 Shortcut Keys to Speed Up Productivity

best shortcut keys
If you want to be more productive (or teach your team how to be more productive), learning shortcut keys is crucial. Here are some shortcut keys that you should know. 

Saving a File

Instead of reaching for your mouse, heading up to the menu bar to hit 'Edit,' and then 'Save,' simply use the Ctrl+S keys to save a file. Done in under ten seconds.

Copying a File

Here's a simple way to copy a file: Ctrl+C
If you want to 'copy all,' try Ctrl+A

Cutting a File

Need to cut something to paste is somewhere else? Try Ctrl+X.

Undo a Mistake

Messed up? You can undo a mistake by selecting the Ctrl+Z keys. You can also try Ctrl+Y, which will sometimes get rid of that mistake that you made with Ctrl+Z doesn't work. 

Why Bother With Shortcuts?

The great thing about typing is that your brain will remember the keystrokes you use regularly. So make a really good habit of using shortcut keys to reduce time and gain speed, and your brain will soon remember those shortcuts without the need to look around for the keys. 

A lot of people spend thousands of dollars boosting a system's capacity, which can help, when simple things like shortcut keys make the biggest difference. If you are a writer or spend a lot of time type, shortcut keys will make all the difference. 

Other Helpful Tools

There's one particularly helpful tool out there called 'AutoHotKey.' As the name suggests, this tool makes hotkeys out of everything. To understand this concept better, think about the automated hotkeys you use with your smartphone. Have you set your phone up to turn 'FYI' into 'For Your Information' quickly when you type FYI? 

Those are the kinds of hotkeys that AutoHotKey will create for you. You can also customize your hotkeys, so that you can grab what you want to whenever you want to. Using shortcut keys and hotkeys will mean a much faster work week, days that are more productive, and time that flies really quickly. Doesn't that sound nice? 

On Mac Too

You can use most of the same shortcut keys with your PC and your Mac. So, if you switch from a PC to a Mac or back again, you can still use the same keys. It takes about one month to really learn how to use shortcut keys, so give it a try for that period of time. After that, you should be able to use those keys quickly, and your workday should be a lot more efficient. 

Need help with shortcut keys? Just ask! Or, do you have any shortcut key tips that might work better? How do you feel about using these keys to increase productivity? If you have any additional tips, let me know - and let the people reading this know too! Sometimes, learning from others is the best way to get things done (and understood!). Now, get shortcutting!