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McAfee Anti-Virus & Firewall- Sweet Deal!

I know, I know, Steve the "Norton guy" is recommending McAfee!? What's going on here?

Well, it took awhile, but after about a thousand e-mails telling me I should at least try the current version, I decided to give it a go (I'm not stubborn or anything). So, with a painful look on my face and a tear in my eye, I uninstalled Norton Anti-virus from my computer. I grabbed the McAfee disk and installed.

You know what?

They were right! This really is a great program! I'm very excited about it and yes, like it every bit as much as I do Norton. I installed it a few weeks ago and it hasn't caused a lick of trouble (I wanted to make sure it was as good as it looked before recommending it to you).

So, at last, we are stocking McAfee Anti-Virus! Oh, but wait till I tell you the deal I was able to find a few days ago :-)

We have a bundle with both McAfee Anti-virus AND Firewall! Your price? Right now it's only $18.97 (FREE US shipping)! And yes, this is the current version of the software. The combined retail value of this package is about $100.00, so $18.97 really is an incredible deal. (You like saving over 80% off retail right?)

Now, why would you want it? Well, first off I found it to be a bit easier to use than Norton. The whole program is put together in a sort of wizard interface. You pick a task, then you get a screen with options. You pick an option, and so on until you get done what you want done. It's very intuitive and I was extremely impressed with how simple it was to use. And we all want easy to use, right?

As for features, the anti-virus program does a fantastic job. It takes care of over 60,000 different viruses including e-mail attachments, Internet downloads, shared disks, CD-ROMs, and synchronization with your PDA. McAfee VirusScan software also detects destructive ActiveX and Java applets, which are often downloaded without your knowledge while you browse.

Of course, it automatically updates itself while you're online so your virus definitions are kept up to date without you having to remember to do it. It also has an uncanny knack for monitoring suspicious activity. For example, I sent an e-mail twice, and it stopped the process and checked with me to make sure I was the one doing the sending (since viruses will do that too).

So, it not only stops current viruses, but also can keep an eye out for suspicious activity that could be caused by a yet-to-be-reported virus. Nice huh?

As for the Firewall component, that's fantastic too. It's really easy to setup and use. Remember, a firewall is used to keep hackers out of your computer and your anti-virus software will NOT be able to stop them. You need a firewall.

Time and time again I hear about computers getting hacked into. Information is compromised, files deleted, and in some cases the whole system needs to be re-installed. Almost without exception, the hacker problems are worse than the virus problems. We even have a lady working here who had hacker problems (we got her a firewall and she's fine now).

One of the best uses for this firewall (aside from keeping hackers at bay) is its ability to monitor and inform you about programs that are trying to access the internet.

For example, if you have a piece of spyware sending your information to someone, your firewall will detect this, notify you of it, and let you stop it. Or, if you have a virus that's trying to send e-mail using it's own SMTP server, your firewall will catch it in the act and protect your friends and contacts.

Again, the firewall that comes with this program is very easy to configure and extremely easy to understand. I really like the way it's designed.

Whew, that's about it. Be sure to head to the site and take a look at this incredible value. For $18.97 you can keep your computer safe from both viruses and hackers! I can't even come close to this deal with Norton. Here's the info link:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/mcafee.htm

PS - Don't miss out on this deal. Anti-virus and firewall software is something everyone needs on their computer and this combines power and ease of use in a way few others can. Plus, the price is fantastic!

Computers 101

Q:
I received an e-mail from a friend describing the "worst virus ever," but then I saw a report on the news that it was in fact a hoax. How can I tell the difference between a real and a hoax virus before I start to panic?

A:
There are several ways to determine if a virus alert is a hoax or not.

First of all, an alert about a legitimate virus should always contain a hyperlink that will direct the user to an exact web page of an antivirus manufacturer, such as www.mcafee.com or www.symantec.com. The hyperlink will then detail more about the virus.

Secondly, you should be wary of warnings such as "Worst virus ever" or "The most damaging virus every found." Antivirus companies, who would be the ones that would issue such a warning, will not use such statements for two reasons. First, doing so would cause panic, which is the last thing they want to do. Second, since every virus is different and affects each computer system differently, it would not be accurate to say that a particular virus was the "worst ever."

Third, be cautious about any alert email that instructs you to remove files from your system. If the alert is legitimate and this action is necessary, these steps will be found on the antivirus manufacturer's web site or Microsoft's site, but usually will not be included in a valid email alert.

Finally, if you receive an email saying that Symantec (Norton Antivirus) or McAfee will not be able to detect the virus, double check with the named manufacturer. This will usually indicate a hoax, since antivirus manufacturers routinely update the virus definition files specifically so newly discovered viruses can be detected.

There are also several sites devoted to exposing hoaxes. One good example is www.vmyths.com.

All that said, it is definitely worthwhile and recommended that users run a quality antivirus program frequently, using the most up to date virus definitions.

-- Lee Trulove

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http://www.worldstart.com/submitquestion.htm

Tip of the Day

Convert your Records and Cassettes to CD: Part II

In yesterday’s newsletter, I detailed how to transfer your old vinyl records and cassette tapes into a large .WAV file on your computer. In this final part, I will discuss four processes that will enhance your CD (noise reduction, sweetening, normalization, and editing).

And again, I use Sonic Foundry’s Sound Forge 6.0 for this entire process. If you would like a lower priced option, I would recommend CoolEdit 2000 from Syntrillium Software. But no matter what software you use, the following principles apply.

Noise Reduction: Cassettes and vinyl records were inherently noisier than CD’s. Cassettes have problems with background hiss while records are plagued with clicks and pops. The better shape your original source is in, the less time you will have to spend on noise reduction. It is difficult to explain how to do this, because every recording is different and will need different amounts of processing to make it sound right. There is a lot of listening and trial and error involved with this. With a little patience and a keen ear, you should be able to get rid of most of the offending noise from your recording. Don’t overdo it though. It’s better to leave a little noise in place than to end up with something that sounds sterile and lifeless.

To remove excess hiss from tape-based recordings, the best thing to do is not let the hiss get into your recording to begin with. Look at the original cassette and/or insert to see what type of noise reduction was used when the cassette was made (most prerecorded cassettes use Dolby B type noise reduction, and if it just says “Dolby” it is almost certainly Dolby B type). Select the same type of noise reduction on your tape deck. This will usually eliminate most of the hiss, but if there is still more than you want you can use the Noise Reduction Plug-in. This tool will allow you to take a Noiseprint of the hiss from a place on the tape where there is no music present (ex: the blank spaces between tracks) and tell the computer to erase everything that matches that noiseprint while leaving other sounds untouched. Used judiciously, this can be very helpful in cleaning up recordings with excess hiss.

Unless your original vinyl record is in pristine condition you will probably end up with some annoying clicks and pops that will mar your recording. Careful cleaning of your record before recording will help get rid of some of this surface noise, but some noise will still make it onto your recording. A Click and Pop Plug-in will work wonders with vinyl based recordings. As with the noise reduction tool, don’t overdo it. You should be able to get rid of most of the offending clicks and pops with a little experimentation. Try doing that with a standalone CD recorder!

Sweetening: Once you have removed the noise from your recording, give it a listen and see how it sounds compared to a well-recorded CD from your collection. You don’t want to make drastic changes here, but because of the limitations with your original source you may want to play around a little with the equalization settings. If your recording sounds muffled you may need to add a little treble, and if it sounds thin you can add a little bass. The Smooth/Enhance tool is also very useful for adding life to a dull recording or taming an overly bright one.

As with the processes above, you will need to listen to your recording as you are changing settings to see what sounds the best with that particular recording.

Normalization: Remember when you were setting the levels to make your recording? Chances are you ended up setting them a little lower than actually needed for fear of the meters going into the red. Now you can fix that. Using the Normalization tool, choose the setting that says maximize peak levels. This will raise the volume on your recording until it’s loudest peak is right at zero, giving you the maximum volume level available without distortion.

Editing: This is the final step before actually burning your CD. You now have a (hopefully) great sounding file that contains all of the songs from your recording. This needs to be broken down into individual files for each song. The easiest way to do this is to make a new folder on your desktop to house the individual songs. Now, starting at the beginning of your recording, highlight the first song and hit Ctrl+X to cut it out of the original file. Go to the File Menu and select New (or Ctrl+N) and a window will appear that will allow you to create a new sound file. Make sure it is set for “44,000Hz, 16 bit, Stereo” and click OK. You will now be able to hit Ctrl+V to paste the song here. At this point, you may want to use the Fade tool to fade out any leftover noise and the beginning and ending of the track (Select the Process Menu, then Fade, Out).

Next, go to the File Menu, Save As and save your track in the desktop folder you created earlier.

Burning the actual CD will vary depending on your CD burning software. Some general things to remember are to make sure that the tracks are in the correct order and that you haven’t inadvertently missed or duplicated any of the songs. Also, if your recorder supports it, select the Disc at Once burning mode. This will alleviate those annoying gaps between songs that fade together or have applause between them. When your CD is done, give it a listen before deleting the files from your hard drive, so you can make another CD easily if for some reason there are any errors.

And that's it! Please, don’t let the length of this article scare you away from making your own CD’s. It is really very easy (and fun!) to do.

--Bruce Neher

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Amanda's Cool Site of the Day

The Degree Confluence Project

This site’s goal is “to visit each of the latitude and longitude integer degree intersections in the world, and to take pictures at each location.” Why am I bringing it to your attention? Simple. The pictures are so lovely.

You can find beautiful pictures from all over the world – from Antarctica to Zimbabwe. There are pictures from all the seasons in every type of land. A really well done site that’s hauntingly lovely.

http://www.confluence.org/

Do you have a cool, non-commercial site that you want to share?
Send it to Amanda at amanda@worldstart.com