Okaaaaaaaaaay ... Suuuuuuuure ...

Apple's Safari web browser for Windows.

... um ...

I guess that's cool?

With Firefox already available and already my Windows browser of choice I'm just not sure I care, Steve.

I guess I'll just wait and see where they're going with this. I suspect it has something to do with being able to tie services you have on your iPhone to your desktop, even if you're a PC user.

P.S. The first two minutes of the video are hilarious.

How to Protect Your PC for Free

Here is the new, simple, reality of using the Internet.

Ready?

If you haven't already taken some pretty comprehensive steps to protect your PC, the following statement is 100% guaranteed....

You are infected with spyware, viruses and/or worms.

Now a lot of people still cling to the belief that because they are not a bank or the CIA they are not targets. This was true in 1988, but not anymore. While it may be true that there is nothing of interest to hackers on your hard drive. Your computer itself is very interesting to them.

Your computer is fast and it is connected to the Internet. If it can be hijacked, they can steal your passwords, credit cards, bank accounts or commit identity theft. They can copy every file on your hard drive, use your computer to send out millions of spam messages or turn your PC into a porn server. And all this can be done without the hacker ever having to target you specifically. They run scripts that scan the Internet for people who haven't protected their PCs. The hacking and control of your system has all been automated. So unless you stop them, your computer will join the legion of zombie PCs doing the bidding of Internet scammers who never even need to know your name to recruit your computer to their evil purposes.

Being "a nobody" no longer offers any protection. Your computer is being scanned for vulnerabilites, every single day it is connected to the Internet. "It'll never happen to me" just doesn't cut it any more. Chances are, it's already happened to you.

So here are two plans for protecting yourself.

PLAN A -- Switch to Macintosh ... really. What are you waiting for? Since the release of Mac OS X five years ago do you know how many viruses and spyware programs have successfully breached the security of the Mac system? Zero. None. Not one. If you use a Mac, instead of spending 10 hours a month trying to keep the forces of evil off your computer, you can actually work. Quell Fromage!

PLAN B -- OK, fine. You're keeping your Micro$oft PC. So your need to take some proactive steps to protect yourself.

1. From a security standpoint, Microsoft Internet Explorer is possibly the worst program ever foisted upon the public. For non-existent, all-powerful entity's sake, stop using it! Switch to Firefox. It's far more secure and has lots of nifty features like, tabbed browsing, RSS feed support and a built-in pop-up blocker.
2. If your don't have an anti-virus program, get one. AVG Anti-Virus is free. Whatever anti-virus program you use, be sure to keep it up to date.
3. Viruses and spyware are two different threats. Anti-virus software will not protect you from spyware! If all you have is the Norton or McAfee anti-virus program that came with your system, it is not enough. Get AdAware and Spybot Search and Destroy and use them both. There's so much spyware out there, that one program isn't enough to protect you.
   
4. If your PC plugs directly into your DSL or cable modem you are totally exposed and at much greater risk of having your system completely hijacked. It's much safer to connect your computer to the Internet through a router, like a Linksys or an Apple AirPort. They all have simple but effective firewalls built in through a system called Network Address Translation (NAT). If you don't have a hardware router, you need a software firewall. Download ZoneAlarm. Or if you're using XP at least turn on the Windows Firewall. It's not that great but it's better than nothing. Note, one firewall is enough. If you have a router, you don't need a software firewall. If you use a software firewall, only use one.
5. Disable Windows Autoplay. This dangerous Microsoft Windows "feature" is one of the ways that stuff like the Sony Music rootkit gets on your computer in the first place.
6. Run Windows Update often and keep up to date with all the latest Microsoft security patches. Windows 2000 and XP users can set Windows Update to run automatically.

Notice two things ... first, Plan A is a lot easier than Plan B.

And second, Plan B is all free. So it's perfect for you starving artist types.

Get Your Blog On! (RSS)

I've mentioned RSS Feeds before. Put simply they allow you to read a bunch of news or other items from many different web sites all on the same page. This is fabulous for blogs. By subscribing to the RSS Feeds from all my friends blogs, I can read them all on a single page. It's quick, easy and free. You can do it too, and it's much easier than you think.

The first thing you need is a browser that supports RSS Feeds. There are two popular ones. For Mac there's Safari and Firefox. For PCs there's just Firefox.

Microsoft Windows Internet Explorer doesn't support RSS Feeds. But it does support your computer being hijacked by various pornographers and hackers. Please oh please won't you switch to something safe? Do it for me.

Once you're using the right browser, here's what you can do!

This next link demonstrates RSS Feeds. If you're using Safari, click on it and you'll see how cool it is!

RSS Feeds for Dale and All His Buddies

This is really easy to set up.

Safari RSS Setup

The first thing you should do is create a folder on your bookmarks toolbar. Call it something like "RSS Feeds" or "Mondo News".

Watch for sites that offer RSS Feeds.

In Safari, you'll see this logo at the top.

When you see this icon click it. You can be sure you're looking at a feed page because the address starts with "feed://" instead of the usual "http://". Then drag the site address into the folder you created on your bookmarks bar.

Here's some more help.

Safari RSS Feeds


Firefox RSS Setup

RSS seems to work best in Firefox as a Sidebar. Turn your Bookmark Sidebar on.

View -> Sidebar -> Bookmarks

Create a folder for your RSS Feeds and watch for sites that offer them.

In Firefox, you'll see this logo at the bottom.

Click the logo and choose "Subscribe to this feed."

Here's some more help.

Firefox RSS Feeds

Advice for Bloggers
If you are a blogger yourself, you may already be publishing an RSS Feed and not know it. Blogger.com, LiveJournal.com and a lot of other blog engines support RSS and you don't have to do anything extra. Just check your blog settings and make sure RSS Feed publishing is turned on.

Blogosphere

I've added links to friends' blogs to the panel at the right. These are intelligent, funny folks whose musings I enjoy very much.

If you're using Windows Explorer you'll have to scroll to the bottom of the page to see them. (I'm having a template issue I can't figure out. Help! Murray? Are you there?)

And if you're still using Windows Explorer, for fuck's sake, go download Firefox right now! It's free and will keep you from getting infested with spyware. Which, if you're using Windows Explorer, you probably are already.