added a new apple… MacBook Pro…

Added a new apple to my collection… MacBook Pro 13″. This MacBook Pro will be shared by my wife, son and myself. It is a backup for my iPod Touch too. After experiencing with Mac, I will replace my home desktop to Mac.

Presently, my Windows pc: an Acer desktop, Acer Netbook and Axioo Netbook. Axioo netbook is my business pc, Acer is the backup.

That’s it… A brief update of my collection of desktop and notebook.

what’s in my ipod touch…

Happy New Year to all…

After exploring, experiencing and trying out the various apps, it is confirmed that iPod Touch (iTouch) can be used as a pda. Those of you who has the iPhone or iTouch should already know that this is possible… hahaha…

The iTouch has tonnes of apps, like games, utilities, business applications and so on… below are the apps that I have installed in my iTouch. You go and figure out what they are…

Happy exploring…

exploring my iPod Touch…

… this few days, I have been spending some times in exploring the iPod Touch. I have also search through the internet to find out about tips & tricks of using the iPod Touch and was amazed with all the findings. I will share them at a later date.

My primary objective is whether I can use it as a pda to replace Windows Mobile device, and it seems that it may perform much better than Windows’. Still in the process of researching.

… for now… let’s celebrate Christmas… there will be no post on Friday as it is Christmas Day… Merry Christmas to you!

my 1st apple product… ipod touch…

Finally, I got my 1st apple product, the iPod Touch (8GB, 3rd Gen), on 13 Dec 2009. Below is some photos on the items…

One thing I’m not sure whether it is 2nd Gen or 3rd Gen, anyway, just use it. Ha ha ha…

To get updates and sync with PC, you will need the iTunes. When it 1st connected, it checks for the OS version and immediately update it to the latest version, 3.1.2 (7D11).

All applications in the iPod Touch are icon based. It’s very easy to pick up and use. The touch sensitivity is very good and accurate. Wonder why can’t all other brands also do the same for their touch screen.
I won’t be talking much about it, as you most likely can get whole lot of reviews from the internet.

If you are user of Palm OS, you will sure to like iPod Touch / iPhone OS. I was a user of Palm phone/pda, unfortunately they are moving towards Microsoft Windows. This iPod experience has pulled me away from the others and I am starting to explore more into Apple products, especially the Mac, iPhone and so on.

Happy exploring…

firewall…

firewall… if you have looked through the “applications” page, you will notice that, there is no mention of firewall application.  I am not using any 3rd party firewall, I just use windows firewall.

The common firewall applications that most people (I know) use are Zone Alarm, Norton Security Suite, McAfee Security Suite, AVG Security Suite and there are others too.

Firstly, I don’t like the “Security Suite” because they are too heavy loaded (that’s my own opinion). They normally comes with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall and other miscellaneous stuffs which I may not even use.

Secondly, the suites are large in size and take up quite a substantial disk space.  Anyway, since harddisk has been dropping price, there are not much concern of space.

Lastly (I hope), they tend to slow down the system (that’s my opinion again, which I experience in the past) because of too many applications running concurrently in the background.  Of course, sometimes it may be due to the user’s fault too for loading to many applications at startup.

I think who use what, is just a matter of individual preference.  There’s no right or wrong answer.  For me, freeware can be as good as the commercial ware.  Zone Alarm and Comodo are my suggestion for those who dare to use freeware.

No review on any of the firewall applications as you can find them in the internet, I just highlight those applications that I use in this blog.

Happy surfing…

anti-spyware… part 4 of 4… Ad-Aware

anti-spyware… Lavasoft Ad-Aware Free…

Another anti-spyware freeware… this is the last part of anti-spyware that I use.  Their basic function is to detect spyware… works quite the same as the Spybot.  However, they have different detection style.  Not much for me to say as they work the same way.

You have to decide what you want to use.  If you don’t use any, one day you will realise that your pc / notebook will become slow in response especially when you are accessing the internet.  So make sure you have something to detect spyware.  That’s all for anti-spyware.

Have fun…

anti-spyware… part 3 of 4… Spybot – Search & Destroy

anti-spyware… Spybot – Search & Destroy

… one of the popular free anti-spyware program.  A “MUST HAVE” program in your computer.

It has quite a number of features… which can be quite similar to Glary Utilities.  However, it also runs a resident program in the memory to detect unwanted process.  It also able to immunize your browser ( IE & Firefox ) against spyware too.

I don’t say much… just install and use it.

… next (the last part of anti-spyware) : Lavasoft Ad-Aware

anti-spyware… part 2 of 4… CCleaner

anti-spyware… CCleaner…

Another must have utility.

I use CCleaner after Glary Utilities finished its scanning. Even they are suppose to provide the same features of cleaning up unnecessary files, they don’t perform 100% efficiency. (May be paid version will be better, I don’t know, you find out and let me know. hahaha)

In CCleaner, I have to run the “Cleaner” to remove files and “Registry” to remove the unuse events in the registry.

After you have run both the Glary Utilities & CCleaner, I will say most of the spyware, adware or whatever wares are gone. ( I may be wrong… hehehe )

It works for me… go try it out yourself.

… next: Spybot – Search & Destroy

anti-spyware… part 1 of 4… Glary Utilities

anti-spyware… Glary Utilities, CCleaner, Spybot-Search & Destroy and Lavasoft Ad-Aware.

These are the 4 utilities that I use to take care of unwanted programs.

This is 1 of the 4 part series of anti-spyware… Glary Utilities…

… has quite a number of features… under the “1-Click Maintenance” tab, it can perform Registry Cleaner; Temporary Files Cleaner; Shortcuts Fixer; Tracks Eraser (optional); Startup Manager and Spyware Remover.

I use it all the time, as the name implies… hahaha.

It has other nice features too… under the “Module” tab, you will find more functions to take care and optimize your computer system. So far I have not used them, but you will never know when you will need it.

The scheduled scanning is only available in the paid version, so you will have to be hardworking to perform the scanning at a periodic interval. For me, I scan around once a fortnight or a month. Actually, it depends on how often you surf the web and what kind of sites you visit. You decide your own scanning schedule.

This program is important, so must have. This is only my opinion.

… look out for part 2: CCleaner.

anti-virus…

anti-virus program…. Avira Antivir…

I’m using Avira AntiVir Personal – Free Antivirus.

You may want to check the review at PC World…

So far it has worked well for me.  For those of you who wants to use this program, do take note that every time it updates its database, it will pop out an advertisement screen.  Just click close.

As for what’s my alternative, you may want to try out Avast! or AVG.  I have use both of them in the past and they worked fine too.

Why these 3 antivirus programs?  Because they are as good as the commercial one and the most important thing is they are FREE.