MyFaves: Going, Going, Gone!

T-Mobile has announced that it will put to an end the unlimited calling optiont o five selected people known as the MyFaves. Too bad, this option which was first launch in 2006 and has since found a side of grace with many families will have to end.

However, this change in policy does not affect already existing die-hard fans. Current subscribers using MyFaves will still be able to enjoy this service. This change in policy will, no doubt, change the phone bills of families.

Sorry Dwayne Wade and Charles Barkely!

Poor IT Customer Service

In a way to reduce cost, major IT companies have outsourced many jobs abroad. No doubt, such jobs now provide bread on the table for millions of Non-American families. From highly skilled to mere customer service jobs, they continue to move them across the borders in search of cheaper labor. Speaking of customer service, are you satisfied with the technical skills of these people? Would you rather wish to chat with an expert than someone with a degree in mass communication?

After several complaints from online computer users, I decided to go on a mission myself. First, I picked an HP server problem. I contacted HP customer care and within seconds, I was onto a customer care agent who told me her name was Peyton. I set down the problem and asked for troubleshooting help and the rest of the story was sheer madness. To cut a long story short, eleven customer care agents with American names (we all know they are not American) attended to me over a space of four days without resolving the problem. It was a complete waste of time.

Outsourcing or no outsourcing, that is not for me to judge. All I am trying to say is that computer users with problems should be able to get straight troubleshooting and product supports from customer care centres. Big computer names like Dell, Acer, Apple Mac, Nokia and a host of other IT giants have a lot of work to do in this regard. IT savvy staff and not a bunch of "journalists" should mount customer care centres.

Google Voice Rocks Again

For those us of that are familiar with the hippy features that Google voice has to offer such as call blocking, listen in, call recording, conferencing calling, call screening and lots more, we definitely would attest to the fact that Google Voice from Google is off the hook. It is worth every cent. Google keeps giving us truckload of reasons why Google voice rocks! Now mobile phone users can now forward their incoming calls from their existing mobile phone lines to their Google voice mailbox without the need for a new Google number.

The new voice mail service from Google voice offers low-priced international calling, free automated voicemail transcription, custom voicemail, and greetings for different callers, and searchable voicemail. It’s simply loaded.

Latest Windows 7 Points

1. Apart from the AppLocker, BitLocker to Go, BrancheChe, support for HomeGroups, Better User Control Settings and a finer graphics, Windows 7 is simply an upgrade of Vista.

2. For users without Software Assurance SA, and did purchased a new PC without windows7 license, Microsoft plans to make them pay from $120 to $200 per personal computer for an upgrade license.

3. According to one report by Microsoft researchers, by 2013 third party support for windows XP may completely disappear. The company itself plan to end Windows XP's extended support phase by 2014.

4. While many people are not ready to deploy Windows 7 until the release of its service pack 1, Microsoft has repeatedly issue assurances that all problems will be fixed by regular updates and that there is no need to wait for service pack 1 which is due for mid 2010 before deploying the new OS.

Startup Optimization

If your windows XP or Vista machine takes way too long to startup, you may need to cut down on the number of program that start at windows startup. I found the this guide to optimize startup programs in Windows. This guide is one way to help your computer startup faster.

The second thing that could be slowing down your computer from starting up quickly are unneccessary services. Here is another guide from the same website that can help you to disable unneccessary services.

By both cutting down on unneccessary services and startup programs you can make it so your pc starts up much faster. These tips should also help your computer to run faster as well.

All about Computer Firewalls

Here is a great article by John talking about firewalls, what they are, and how to use them. This is great information for any computer user.

Computer Firewalls
By John Browning

A firewall is a computer software that provides protection from hacking attempts from the Internet. It is very important to install a suitable firewall software to protect the computer from spyware and virus infections. A large number of security companies have developed firewall software. Some of these software are free for personal use.

A firewall software is basically a "packet sniffer". Data that gets transferred via the Internet moves in the form of packets. The firewall software intercepts these packets, analyzes its contents and determines if it is harmful to the computer. If the packet contains malicious content, the firewall blocks it from accessing code on the computer, thus preventing damage to the computer.

Most spyware, malware and virus programs can be prevented by installing a suitable firewall. Firewalls can also prevent software from accessing the Internet and transmitting information without the user's knowledge. Thus even if a virus program gets installed on the computer, it still won't be able to access the Internet and transmit sensitive information like credit card numbers, etc.

The latest version of Microsoft Windows i.e. Windows Vista has an inbuilt firewall in it. This means if you are using Vista, you don't have to download and install additional firewall software. However, if you still want to install a third party firewall, you can do that for added protection.

For maximum protection, it is advisable to invest in an "Internet Security Suite". This is a software bundle that combines a virus scanner, email scanner, spyware protection and a firewall. By installing such software, you can get complete protection from all sorts of malware programs that spread via the Internet.

More information: Free spyware removal

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Browning
http://EzineArticles.com/?Computer-Firewalls&id=2023129

Speed up before buying

With the bad state of the economy, everyone is looking to save money where ever possible. One great place to save some money is speeding up an old computer instead of buying a new pc. This blog will contain tips and tricks to speeding up an older and slower computer. I will try to include mostly free tips. However, if I think I have found a cheap way to speed up your computer, I will include that as well.