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Hewie's Views and Reviews Welcome to this issue of Hewie's Views & Reviews. Be sure to visit Hewie's Favorites at http://www.hewie.net/ . ++++ AOL goes to ? ++++ AOL goes to ? There have been several articles lately that Microsoft and Time-Warner have been in negotiations for Microsoft to purchase a 50 percent share of AOL. That probably would lead to a merger of AOL and MSN. That's a big chunk of Internet users. However, Google and Yahoo are waiting to jump in, if a deal can't be completed. If Google ends up with AOL, you will see Google in a predicted fight for control of the desktop with MS. This is more likely the future and Windows may not be the winner. I only hope that we, the users, are not caught in the middle. ++++ Storms and Backing Up The recent huge storms remind us to back up our computers. What happens when a catastrophic storm such as Katrina or Rita hits? Obviously, you lose your computers and any data stored in the same building. Your off-site storage could also be destroyed when you get a storm that big. I always wondered why someone might want to use on-line storage. Perhaps this is an alternative if you have a company or extremely valuable data. I can imagine the problems of losing all of your data. Small businesses would lose vendor, customer, payable and receivable information. Churches, fraternal organizations, user groups, and other non-profits would lose invaluable donor and membership information. Be sure to think out the importance of your computer data. Then review your current plan for disaster recovery. You don't have one? Just think about those storms and do something now. If you put it off, the effect of the storm news becomes less intense, and a disaster recovery plan goes in to the "someday I'll do it" list. ++++ Go to Opera for Free Opera is one of the better Internet browser programs. Although there was a free preview version, it cost about $40. This past week, Opera has released version 8.5 and made their Windows version free. They still have versions for other platforms and add-ons for a fee, but the Windows Opera Browser is free at http://www.opera.com/ . Many Windows users have switched to Firefox http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ from Internet Explorer, so that they would be safer on line. Now that it has become popular, security vulnerabilities of Firefox are surfacing. No matter which the browser you use, be sure to have a firewall, an anti-virus program and an ad aware program to help protect you. Remember that no matter what tools that you have installed, the best way to prevent malware and viruses is to think before pressing a key. It only takes one "Opps!" to create havoc and many hours to fix your system. ++++ Is VoIP for me? As many of you know, I had a fire in my home and will have been displaced for 6 months. The contractors are almost done and I will be moving back about 2 weeks from this writing. While I was living in Titusville, about 43 miles from my home, I had my cell phone. I suspended my home land-line, but kept its number as voice mail with the local phone company. In that way, my listed phone number still worked, but only as voice mail. Now that I am moving back home, I need to assess my phone needs. Cell phones are still frustrating in that they tend to break up, especially on important calls, so I do not think that it should be my only phone service. The cell phone doesn't always ring or I don't always hear it ring. My voice mail line costs $15 a month. Just to have local phone service, voice mail, my monthly bill was about $40 a month and that is without long distance calls. I am considering going to VoIP or Voice over Internet Protocol. I have some friends using Vonage and the AT&T service. BrightHouse Networks, my broadband and cable company has a VoIP service and AOL is about to have one available. Pricing varies. Vonage has a $15 a month service that limits your minutes and a $25 service that does not. I think that the AT&T service is priced similarly. The BrightHouse service is $39 and AOL pricing will be about $30. I don't know of any differences in the services of the VoIP providers, except that the real cheap one limits the talk time. All of them include free long-distance, free caller-id, call-waiting and free voice-mail. The voice mail is voice-email, so you can retrieve messages anywhere on the Internet where you can get your e-mail. You have to have Broadband Internet service and many of the options do require that your PC be turned on. Of course, electrical power is required. Last year when central Florida got hit with 3 hurricanes in a row, power outages were the norm and cell phone access was almost impossible. However my POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) still worked. Once I decide that it isn't a priority, I probably will go to VoIP. I will let you know. ++++ New additions to Hewie's Favorites PriceTotal.com Repair XP Sysinternals Freeware CoolText Orlando Gas Prices Tech Junkeez |
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