Ron Schenone

I had a client ask me an interesting question yesterday afternoon, in that they wanted to know if there was a safe way to test their anti-virus program. The eicar test virus has been around for many years and is a simple way to confirm that your AV program is in fact working. On the [...]

I thought I would mention this and also provide a link to the Microsoft article referencing this fact. Will you have to reactivate your copy of Vista after installing SP1? I did. Microsoft mentions the following circumstances in which you may need to reactivate:

Cause 1: Changes to hardware or to hardware device drivers are detected
[...]

Now that a court has decided that a suit against Microsoft revolving around its Vista Capable logo has gone to class action status, it seems that Microsoft is now clarifying some of the logo’s that you may see. There are logo’s for both hardware and software plus a logo for Vista Basic. Hopefully this clarification [...]

There doesn’t seem to be any good economic news lately including a new report about Google and shrinking revenues. It seems that in a recent survey the search giant has suffered a reduction of about 7.5% in the number of clicks people are making on Google Ads. Because of this, Google is suffering a dip [...]

This morning I received a comment in which the writer stated he had a new PC using Vista and he tried to record a show and the system froze and would not come out of sleep mode. Also with a question as to why is this? If this was an isolated incident I would not [...]

Unless Congress has a mental break down and extends the date for all digital TV signals, there is only about 356 days left before the big change. Most of us have seen the local advertisements with some vague advice about how to handle the change over. But the feds have a very good site for [...]

I really had to laugh when I read Ed Bott’s article about when Windows XP  originally came out and all of the complaints users had at the time. It is also funny to read his take that many users proclaimed they would not upgrade to Windows XP from either 2000, 98 or whatever they were [...]

The Lenovo ThinkPad X300 is one of the first full size laptops to go up against the thin of the thin, Mac Air. Though the X300 isn’t as thin, it does offer some hardware features that the Mac Air can’t handle because of its thinness. But the X300 still fits inside a standard interoffice [...]

The chairman of the FCC has stated that the agency is ready to punish some of the ISP’s that secretly control users web traffic. Though not specifically mentioning any names [Comcast], it is fairly common knowledge that one of the big cable providers was caught doing just that. Consumers have complained to the FCC that [...]

There is no doubt that Google is one of the most successful technology companies in the world. The secret of its success as described by Hal Varian, Chief Economist for Google, explains why Google really owes its success to the ’secret sauce’ it is using. In his report he states:
It seems that a lot of [...]

I recalled several months ago one of the loyal readers, I believe it was Don Naphen, who asked whether defrag a USB drive would improve performance. I responded that to defrag of a USB drive was not necessary which I still feel is correct. But during the past several months I have read in some [...]

For the past few months I have been looking around for a new laptop system to supplement my full sized laptop system. I had also previously mentioned my fondness for the old IBM Z50 which I really enjoyed using. So when I saw the Asus Eee PC yesterday, I was immediately drawn to it. So [...]

Beside spending my time here at LG pounding on the laptop keys to present articles here, I also write computer related articles in a local newspaper in California. Part of my article process includes a feedback section in which readers can post their problems. I recently received this question from a reader on 02-17-08:

Dear Ron,
Thank [...]

Looking for the cutting edge in fuel efficiency? Want to have a car in your garage that uses a renewable source? Well the Air Car may be just for you. This futuristic vehicle, dubbed the Air Car, makes some pretty hefty promises:
The Air Car is a new generation of vehicle that finally solves the motorist’s [...]

Make sure your system is up to date and that you have the latest protections in place.

AVG anti-virus: 02/24/08
Norton anti-virus: 02/20/08
McAfee anti-virus: 02/20/08
Lavasoft Ad-Aware: 02/18/08
Spybot Search and Destroy: 02/20/08
Microsoft Windows Defender: 02/20/08
Nod32: 02/23/08

Updates as of February 24 , 2008 6:00am CDT.
Tags: avg, norton, mcafee, lavasoft, spybot, defender, nod32

Back in October 2007, my wife and I had an unfortunate incident while trying to fly from Honolulu , HI. to Kona, HI. aboard a GO! airline flight. So when I read about two GO! airline pilots suspected of falling asleep during a flight to Hilo, HI., I wasn’t surprised. For thos of you who [...]

Most of you already know that I am a die-hard Firefox user and have been for many years. The only time my computer sees IE is when I am forced into it when a site won’t function properly in Firefox. But today when I read everyone shouting the fact that Firefox has gone over the [...]

In a research paper it is alleged that some of the major encryption methods used by companies such as Microsoft and Apple have been cracked. According to the article it states:

By Ryan Naraine
 

Like the Apple iPhone, the MacBook Air has a battery that can’t be changed by the user. You need to either send your MacBook Air back to Apple or take the laptop to an Apple store. What I don’t understand is why Apple is producing products in which the battery cannot be changed by the [...]

Google announced yesterday its involvement in an agreement with a Cleveland Clinic to start the storing of medical data for patients on a test basis. The pilot program will involve the storage of medical data, which will be available to all those who agree to participate in the program. Google on its blog states the [...]