Declaring Antivirus Software Dead, Firm Turns to Minimizing Damage From Breaches

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303417104579542140235850578

If you have a router at home, which many of us do, it might be infected with HeartBleed. Here is an article that should give you some info so you can check it out.

http://www.engadget.com/2014/04/10/the-heartbleed-bug-is-affecting-routers-too/

http://www.hansonrobotics.com/?cat=8

Welcome to the Integrated Technology Class! This is the last class for this year….where did it all go? I am so happy you are attending this class. I know you will find it interesting, educational, and hopefully very enjoyable. Check back often at this website for any information or links that I may refer to in class. If I have any handouts, you will find them mentioned here or may be in the list in the Internet folder on the right. There is no book for this class. But I encourage you to check out some computer books at local book stores (or Amazon!) to supplement what we will be discussing in this class. This class is Tuesday and Thursday, from 5:30 to 9:30. We will be missing two nights. The Thursday for Thanksgiving the 28th there will be no class. Also, the last Thursday we will miss since School ends on Wednesday. So that only leaves us three weeks to get it all in! Remember, your attendance is critical, so please attend if you can. I look forward to our time together. Thank you for coming!

Contract Information: (626) 256-0302 https://simpsongcc.wordpress.com simpsongcc@live.com

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=229524C4F877FFB1!119

Good article on creating passwords!

Welcome to Intro to Computers! I am so happy you are attending this class. I know you will find it interesting, educational, and hopefully very enjoyable. Check back often at this website for any information or links that I may refer to in class. If I have any handouts, you will find them mentioned here or may be in the list in the Intro folder on the right. There is no book for this class. But I encourage you to check out some computer books at local book stores to supplement what we will be discussing in this class. This class is 4 Saturdays from 8-12. Remember, your attendance is critical, so please attend if you can. I look forward to our time together. Thank you for coming!

Contract Information: (626) 256-0302 https://simpsongcc.wordpress.com simpsongcc@live.com

• How Computers Work
• History of Computers
• How software works
• History of Windows
• History of Apple OS
• Comparison of OSs
• Future of Technology
• Honda Robotics
• A Day with glass – Corning – Part 1
• A Day with Glass – Corning – Part 2
• Ray Kurzweil
• TED

Welcome to Beg. Excel 2010! I am so happy you are attending this class. I know you will find it interesting, educational, and hopefully very enjoyable. Check back often at this website for any information or links that I may refer to in class. If I have any handouts, you will find them mentioned here or may be in the list in the Excel folder on the right. The book for this class has the ISBN number of 978-0-76384-314-4 and I encourage you to check for used ones on http://www.Amazon.com . If you plan on taking the second part of the class, check for the Level 1 and Level 2 book, ISBN 9780763843106. It might be cheaper then buying two books. I look forward to our time together. Thank you for coming!

Contract Information: (626) 256-0302 https://simpsongcc.wordpress.com simpsongcc@live.com

• How Computers Work
• History of Computers
• How software works
• History of Windows
• History of Apple OS
• Comparison of OSs
• Future of Technology
• Honda Robotics
• A Day with glass – Corning – Part 1
• A Day with Glass – Corning – Part 2
• Ray Kurzweil
• TED

http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57548636-76/bringing-minority-report-touchless-gestures-to-windows-8/

Elliptic Labs wants to bring the touchless gesture controls seen in the science-fiction film “Minority Report” to everyday consumer electronic devices, starting withWindows 8.

The company — a Norwegian university spinout with offices in Oslo and Silicon Valley — unveiled a set of tools to help consumer electronic companies enable touchless controls in their products. These would be similar to the kind of gesture controls seen with theXbox 360 Kinect and in certain smart televisions like a few models from Samsung Electronics, but presumably would work more smoothly.

That’s because the Elliptic device won’t use a camera like the Kinect or Samsung television. Instead, Elliptic’s technology is based on ultrasound and employs multiple microphones in the device. The ultrasound technique has a much wider field of view, doesn’t require lights, and is more responsive, according to Morhan Kjolebakken, product manager for the company.

“The really big difference is you can do a lot of things with Windows 8 much more naturally,” he told CNET.

Elliptic’s announcement today includes the system, which has a set of touchless gestures programmed for each control found in Windows 8, a software development kit for developers looking to embrace touchless controls, and a “start kit” for developers and manufacturers looking to integrate the technology into products.

The company is talking with a number of partners on incorporating the technology into products, Kjolebakken said, adding that he expects products to come out over the next 12 to 14 months. He said that manufacturers have expressed interest in the company’s technology.

Elliptic doesn’t believe it’s a big step for manufacturers. Beyond a few extra microphones, a company needs to add a few “ultrasonic transducers” to capture the gestures.

While the first step has been to integrate the controls with Windows 8 laptops and PCs, Kjolebakken said that he expectstablets and smartphones to eventually get the feature. Down the line, he sees the potential for cars to get gesture controls as well.

Excel Level 2 starts next week! Excel Level 1 just flew by and I really enjoyed the class and all my students! Thank you so much. Hopefully I will see you next week in Level 2. The ISBN for the book is 9780763843151. There are some used ones on Amazon. Make sure you expedite shipping.

Welcome to the Windows 7! I am so happy you are attending this class. I know you will find it interesting, educational, and hopefully very enjoyable. Check back often at this website for any information or links that I may refer to in class. If I have any handouts, you will find them mentioned here or may be in the list on the right. There is no assigned book for this class but I encourage you to go out and find one you like at any major bookstore. I look forward to our time together. Thank you for coming!

Contract Information: (626) 256-0302 https://simpsongcc.wordpress.com simpsongcc@live.com

• How Computers Work
• History of Computers
• How software works
• History of Windows
• History of Apple OS
• Comparison of OSs
• Future of Technology
• Honda Robotics
• A Day with glass – Corning – Part 1
• A Day with Glass – Corning – Part 2
• Ray Kurzweil
• TED

For my Power Point students….sorry I haven’t gotten back to you. I was in the hospital on and off last week with a kidney stone! All I can say is wow! Doing better this week. The GCC computer system was not having a good week either. It was up and down and causing havoc. I finally got the grades posted Friday night last week. I picked up certificates today. I will be mailing them out to those that requested them at my email address, simpsongcc@live.com .

Now to something much more fun! Microsoft announced a new PC/tablet today called Surface. It looks very impressive and the pricing looks right. It might be the PC to get this fall. I will be keeping a close watch on it and will keep you informed here! For now, go take a look at it at their website.

http://www.microsoft.com/surface/en/us/default.aspx

Hope you all are doing well!!!

Thank you all for a great semester. I hope you had a good time and learned a couple of things along the way. I will be posting information all summer long on my site. I intend on having a couple of meetups at Fry’s and Best Buy this summer….so stay tuned!  See you soon!

Here is the web site for this weekend’s Open House at JPL. These are highly attended events. They make for a great family day! Hopefully you can attend on one of the days.

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/events/open-house.cfm

Sorry, but something has come up this Saturday and I am not going to make it. so have fun! I might be there Sunday. If so, I will post it here.

You will not need a book for this class. Instead we will be using Power Point presentations as the class material. You can access this material on the right undwer the links section in the PowerPoint folder. Thanks you for coming and I promise you we will have a good time over the next 4 weeks!

My contact information is:

Steve Simpson

(626) 256-0302
simpsongcc@live.com

Here is a link to a pdf file that has a lot of good information on facebook security. I encourage you to download and read it.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=facebook%20security&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CIABEBYwAg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fsafety%2Fattachment%2FGuide%2520to%2520Facebook%2520Security.pdf&ei=qZmuT_71FumfiALmoKz6Aw&usg=AFQjCNHY0ZaXaKGnTu3yCOi2MVe0yTx5jA 

Here is an article telling you how to use your USB for cool things!

http://howto.cnet.com/8301-11310_39-57426513-285/10-awesome-ways-to-use-a-usb-flash-drive/?ttag=fbw

When using the Bing Search engine, here are some pages of information that can help you narrow your search and find what you are looking for.

http://onlinehelp.microsoft.com/en-us/bing/ff808438.aspx

http://onlinehelp.microsoft.com/en-us/bing/ff808421.aspx

Googles advanced search tool:

http://www.google.com/insights/search/#

If you need a password Manager tool here is a new one that is free! Give it a try!

https://identitysafe.norton.com/why_identity_safe

Skydrive has just upgraded. Make sure and get your free space if you have a live (hotmail) account now by logging into your skydrive and look for the link at the top. Then download the free app.

https://skydrive.live.com/

DropBox has also upgraded their free services. Get Dropbox here…

Always have your stuff when you need it with @Dropbox. Sign up for free! http://db.tt/zO1QPz06

Here is a good article about this virus that you should check your computer for…

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2401227,00.asp

After reading article go to this website to see if you are infected.

http://dns-ok.us/

If you are, here is a repair tool you can download and run to fix the problem.

http://www.avira.com/en/support-for-home-knowledgebase-detail/kbid/1199

Please take the following poll.

Check out this wearable multitouch projector | TG Daily.

I posted the rest of the exercises for our Word Level 1 class in the Word folder.

I posted some cheat sheets you can use in the Word folder in the list on the right of this post.

Laissez les bons temps rouler!  (Lazay-Lay Bon-Tom Roulay)

The holiday season is upon us, and I wish everyone safe and joyous times. For many of us, the holidays mean celebrating with family and friends, finding and receiving special gifts, and giving thanks to those who have helped us throughout the year. However, even as we enter the season of gift giving and good tidings, cyber and other criminals are at large and more persistent than ever in seeking ways to compromise our identities, our credit, our livelihood, and even the wellbeing of our families.

Online and physical securities are vital to the defense and protection of both personal and professional assets. As we enjoy the festivities during this time of the year, let us also remember to take simple precautions to protect our homes, our work environment, and our families from those who may wish us harm.

• Lock doors and/or otherwise secure areas of entry from unwanted intruders.
• Do not provide personal or organizational information unless you are certain of a person’s authority to have the information.
• Be suspicious of unsolicited phone calls, visits, Web sites or email messages.
• Keep laptops, mobile storage devices and other valuables locked and secured.
• Encrypt important data, particularly when traveling with it.
• Ensure that your computer is up-to-date on all patches.
• Ensure that your antivirus program is installed and up-to-date.
• Do not enter your personal information in pop-up screens.
• Do not click on any links or open any attachments in a suspicious email.
• Be vigilant while you shop and be sure to protect your credit cards and other sources of personal information you carry with you.
• Be aware and cognizant of others listening in if you have to provide credit card information via phone or otherwise verbally.

It would be wonderful to live in a world of good will and benevolence. However, until that world evolves, simple precautions can go a long way to help us remain out of harm’s way as we celebrate the end of this year and welcome a new one.

Happy Holidays and Keep Safe.