Dennis Faas

I am in aw e. Yesterday, I asked Infopackets Readers to visit freetechmail.org and submit comments about this newsletter. There were a number of entries, but one comment in particular caught my eye (especially the last line). Douwe F. from Kuala ... Lumpur, Malaysia writes: " [What I really like about] The Infopackets Gazette [are the newsletter topics, which are] explained in clear language. Although I am an IT professional, I enjoy reading all the various articles [written by Dennis, and I especially enjoy the] different perspective on issues [which are presented to readers]. I find this ... (view more)

RE: search engines and algorithms One of the determining factors in the way that Google ranks a web site depends on something called link popularity. In fact, Google has patented technology known as "Page Rank", which lists sites based on how many ... other web sites are pointing to it (by the use of web links). For example: Lockergnome has very high link popularity because many other web sites on the Internet are linked to Lockergnome. Essentially, Google considers that: if a web page / site (such as Lockergnome) is regarded by a large number of other web sites, it increases the ... (view more)

I'd like to discuss a security threat which was recently discovered in Internet Explorer. Mike Healan of Spywareinfo.com forwarded an article to me today. The article urges all Windows users to take the necessary precautions to secure their browsers ... from a nasty exploit recently discovered in Internet Explorer. The exploit allows hackers to gain control of a system and execute harmful code. http://www.spywareinfo.com/articles/htasploit/ Without further adieu, here is the article by Mike Healan (edited): -- Members of the SWI support forums have uncovered a very nasty flaw in Internet Explorer ... (view more)

Today I received a very interesting question that deals with extracting vocals from a song. Infopackets Reader Lori J. writes: " Dear Dennis, I like reading your newsletter, even though I'm still kind of a computer 'newbie'. Is there a free or low ... cost software application that you know of that removes vocals from songs on CD -- such as for Karaoke? Thanks in advance for your help! " My Response: First, let me say that I know absolutely nothing about this subject. Until I researched the topic on Google, I didn't think this was even possible ... at least, not without knowledge of ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Colette C. writes: " Dear Dennis, I'm running Windows XP Professional and would like to know where I can find some easy-to-understand information about how to install and uninstall Windows XP themes. I'm having trouble try to ... disable the sounds which play when Maximizing and Minimizing a window. What can you suggest? " Side note: A theme for Windows consists of sounds and pictures which encapsulate a subject (for example: sports, art, computers, etc). Events on the PC coincide with particular sound files, such as opening or closing a window, or perhaps shutting ... (view more)

Yesterday's article about Spy Sweeper sparked interest from Readers. I received a few interesting comments and questions which I would like to address. Infopackets Reader David G. asks: " [Was Webroot's] Spy Sweeper made with stolen [database] code ... from either AdAware or Spybot S&D? I could be wrong, but I seem to remember reading something [about] this." My response: The short answer is simply, "No." The software in question is in reference to an article published in the Gazette earlier this year ("Controversy over Lavasoft Ad-aware and SpyBot S&D", ... (view more)

Infopackets Reader Ray M. asks: " I had a program that allowed me to play piano notes using my keyboard [on my old computer] ... [unfortunately I can't remember the name of the program] ... and would like to install one on my new computer. If you ... can [suggest] a program [which plays piano notes on the keyboard], I would greatly appreciate it. " My response: I didn't know of any piano programs off of the top of my head, so I searched Google and came across a site which provided an extensive list of shareware piano programs. http://pianoeducation.org/pnodsoft.html#IBM Many of the ... (view more)

If told you that 9 out of 10 PC's are infected with some form of Spyware, would you be concerned? According to Webroot Software, you should be! In general, Spyware is software which records information about you or your computer usage -- without ... your knowledge -- and then relays this information to a third party (quite often, for marketing purposes). Spyware has the ability to trace your every keystroke, and may record things such as passwords, credit card numbers, email addresses, and other personal information. All of this makes Spyware a serious threat to privacy and the protection of your ... (view more)

Last week, Infopackets Reader Ray M. asked if I knew of any freeware Piano programs he could download to his computer. Freeware Piano program? I personally didn't know of any (I haven't played Piano since I was a kid!), and suggested some picks I ... found on Google. I also asked Infopackets Readers to send me their favorite freeware picks, and here are the responses I received: Lisa C., and a number of other users highly recommended a program called "Aldo's Pianito". From the web site: " Pianito MicroStudio is an easy and funny piano synthesizer [plus] drum machine sequencer with ... (view more)

A while back, I was asked to review and critique a new program from Li Utilities: the same company who created WinTasks Professional and WinBackup. For the purpose of this article, I will explain basic tweaking terminology and how it applies to ... SpeedUpMyPC: all in Simple English. If you really want to learn about computer hardware and how tweaking can make a world difference -- you will definitely find this article an interesting read! OK, so what is SpeedUpMyPC? SpeedUpMyPC is a utility which runs quietly in the system Tray Bar. It monitors system resources, optimizes Internet connections, ... (view more)