I've received a few calls in the past month from clients running Windows XP.  In my opinion, XP is a great operating system and there's no need to switch from it or upgrade your computer if it's still running efficiently - it still does a great job. In about a year from now, Microsoft intends to stop security patches and updates for XP.  At that point, bad guys writing new viruses for Windows will probably be more likely to go after Windows 7 or 8 (or the latest version by then).  

These days, Microsoft has been so good at keeping up with the security fixes for Windows that virus authors have been finding and exploiting security holes in third party applications that run on your machine.  There has been a lot of recent exploits that target software like Java, Flash, and Adobe's Acrobat Reader (not Windows!).  

My advice is to stay with Windows XP if it works for you.  If you're nervous that Microsoft is abandoning it then you can still use it safely for at least another year....and then you can decide whether or not you need to upgrade.  More than likely, you'll end up dumping XP when you need a new computer.  

Google released a great new app today for iOS.  Called Google Now (and included in the Google Search app for iPhone and iPad) it provides live weather and traffic updates, sports scores and a lot of other useful features.

From Lifehacker:

 

If you have a wireless connection and then plug into your wired network, Windows might continue to use your wireless connection for your network usage. Here's how to change it so Windows uses your wired connection by default.

As explained on Microsoft, when more than one network connection is available, Windows will choose the one with the lowest metric value (automatically assigned based on the network connection's rated speed). Previously, to change the default priority of each interface you would change the metric value for each connection. NirmalTV suggests a newer, simpler method:

• Go to Network Connections under the Control Panel
• Under the file menu, go to Advanced > Advanced Settings
• In the Adapters and Bindings tab, click on the connection you want prioritized (e.g., the ethernet connection) and use the up arrow to move it to the top of the list

That's it! Hit OK and now your wired connection will be the default (when you're plugged in, that is).

How to Make Windows Select Wired Connection Instead of Wireless Connection | NirmalTV

Believe it or not: starting today, the New York Metropolitan Transit Authority is rolling out Wi-Fi and cell service to 30 stations across the city.

Previously, Wi-Fi was available at a handful of stations on the L and C/E lines, but as of today it can be found at locations like Times Square, Columbus Circle and other stops on the West Side from 18th to 96th street in the from of free, corporate-sponsored Boingo hotspots. There will also be underground cell service...but for the moment it is limited to those with AT&T or T-Mobile service.  Verizon and Sprint service is on the way. 

In phase two of the project, Wi-Fi and service will come to queens and midtown by 2014 with the Bronx and the East Side to follow. By 2016, the MTA says all stations will be hooked up. 

via Gizmodo

I may have written a post about this feature before...but it saved me a bunch of time last night so I figured it would be well worth revisiting here.  I'm currently in the process of refinancing my mortgage and received an email from our broker that three of the documents we had recently sent him were left unsigned and undated.  The normal (tedious) procedure would be to print out the PDFs, sign and date them, re-scan them, and email them back to our broker.  The PDFs were also legal sized (and I did not have any legal paper at home) so I faced the prospect of printing out 6 letter sized sheets to print, sign and re-scan.  Arrrrgh.  

Then I remembered a great feature using the Mac's Preview software where you can create a digital version of your signature by holding a piece of paper (containing a written version of your signature or whatever else) in front of your Mac's web cam.  I went ahead and created the necessary digital versions for my wife and myself and also a handwritten scan of the current date.  Then I opened each one of the documents and added in all the signatures and dates, carefully resizing them as needed and placing them in the correct spot.  After I saved each signed file, I was able to email them directly back to our mortgage broker in about 10 minutes!  There was no waiting for my printer to slooooowly scan each page and even better was the fact that I didn't have to burn through a drop of any of my printer's (seriously overpriced) toner cartridges.  Amazing.  


If you're ever in a similar boat, give the following tutorial a shot.  I borrowed (and reprinted) the directions below directly from MacLife's website: 

This morning a client asked me for a way to edit a PDF form on their Mac.  This is easy to do if you own a copy of Adobe's Acrobat software but there is also a free way if you are running the Mountain Lion OS on machine.  I found a great little article on the Mac Observer website that shows you how to fill out your PDF forms using the Preview software that comes with your Mac.  When you open the form with Preview, the software will analyze your PDF and look for any text boxes, check boxes, or radio buttons on the form and allow you to fill them in or edit them.  Important: to make this work, Preview needs to be in Text Selection Mode before you start your editing.  Check out the original article here on Mac Observer for more information.