Detect keylogging activity on your computer!

A keylogger is a computer program or hardware device that has the ability to record your keystrokes. It can record anything that you type, including your passwords, emails, credit card number, personal information, etc. Most keyloggers are invisible, so you won't know if they are running on your system. They save the recorded keystrokes into a log file.

There are two types of key logger: hardware key logger and software key logger. Hardware keylogger is a hardware device that records all keys you press on the keyboard. No software can detect this kind of keylogger. Software keylogger is a software that is able to record your typing. Some can even record the visited websites, both sides of chat conversation (AIM, MSN Messenger, mIRC, etc.), and actual snapshot of the desktop. If you can see it, the keylogger (or surveillance program) can record it.

How can someone install a keylogger on your computer? This is extremely easy if the person has unsupervised access to your computer. But in case you are the only person who use the computer, and your computer is connected to the Internet, the installation can be done remotely. Fortunately most keyloggers don't have this feature, at least until now. Once the keylogger is installed, your activity will be monitored (and be reported to someone) until the keylogger is removed from your system.

How can you protect your privacy? More specifically, how can you know if such program has been installed on your computer? There are some programs tailored to this purpose. Most are commercial. However, if you are in low-budget, you can try a freeware program called KL-Detector. It detects keylogger on your system and will tell you the location of the log file.

However, even with the aid of the so-called 'privacy protection software', you are not 100% safe. You are always vulnerable to data thieves. The thief will always find a new method to steal your information. They may make a bogus call or fake email or bogus start page or ..... the list goes on and on. Even a whole book cannot give you enough understanding to protect your privacy. But you will learn from your experience.

Requirements: Windows 2000/XP

Cost: Free

Link: dewasoft.com/privacy/kldetector.htm

10 Easy Ways to Change the World

Ok, do I think the list below will change the world? Not exactly. I do think opening our minds to ways to improve ourselves, our relationships and communities is the beginning of changing the world. I am fairly certain we cannot change other people. Only ourselves. Our own minds. If I want to see more honesty in our politicians/leaders, I have to be honest. If I want to see less greed on wall street, I have to be more conscious of how what I do affects others. I cannot expect a behavior I am not demonstrating. As my Dad put it to me at a very early age, “if you want to have a nice day, you have to be nice.”

1. Find the opportunity in every situation: A friend at church was scolded once because the person in front of him found his tambourine disruptive. Instead of taking offense my friend noticed an opportunity and now “reserves” the seat in front of him and warns anyone who gestures to sit there that he plays his tambourine. Or my friend who remembers the day no one let her into traffic when she was rushing to see her father in the hospital. Now she makes it a point to let people in. Everybody wins. Don’t take things personally, take them to the next level.

2. Non-perishables for the homeless: It’s hard for me not to give something to panhandlers. But, some time ago a friend (himself a recovering addict) advised not to give money. Now I carry mini boxes of cereal, small bags of chips and packages of ramen noodles in my car to hand out easily. They sit in the pocket of my door ready to hand out at a moment’s notice.

3. Say and Spread Thank Yous: How easy is it to complain when something goes wrong (esp. if we know a discount or freebie is coming our way)? Try the opposite. When you have excellent service at a restaurant, call the manager over and let her know. If your mechanic is the best in the business (like mine), write the Better Bus. Bureau in your area, leave positive reviews on websites (like citysearch or Angie’s List), and let the service-person know himself.

4. Goodsearch.com: You search, they donate money. Easy squeezy!

5. Find Good News: Check out the Good News Network, Daily Word, Good News Daily, or Daily Om and input some positivity. When you have a cold do you eat poorly, stay up all night and drink beer? No. You drink renewing fluids, sleep and eat well. Same with your brain. You want good thoughts? Put in good news. You want a sunny disposition? Put in sunny delight (though not necessarily the beverage :- )

6. Be a kid again: Let go. Take it easy. Chillax. However you want to put it, enjoy the world again. We aren’t here to run the show, we are here to enjoy it. Laugh. Dream. Get dirty. Play harmless pranks. Dance like no one’s watching. Make honey-drippers. Have sleep overs. Go camping. Lose control. And then do it again the next day!

7. Pay with cash: More so for small businesses. If one of your favorite spots is a mom & pop, cutting down on their visa transaction costs will help them, especially in this economy.

8. Save Paper: Make notepads out of “to-be-recycled” office paper. Reduce margins on printed materials to save number of printed pages on documents not requiring standardized margins.

9. eCards: Go to Hallmark.com (or the eCard site of your choice) and (pre-)schedule random eCards to be sent to people in your life. Spend a few minutes now, warm and excite the people in your life all year!!!

10. Dry cleaning bags and hangers: Tie the end of the bag then use it as a trash bag. Also, most dry cleaners will take back shirt hangers to reuse.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. What small steps do you take to help change the world?

Written by Garry a young black professional, Florida State and UNC Law grad, and attorney currently residing in Miami, FL.

Save money on printing costs

Cutting costs is important these days. There are plenty of ways to do it with your computer. One of the easiest is to reduce the costs associated with printing. As you know, ink and paper aren’t cheap.

You could stop printing documents all together. This would be the most effective way to reduce costs. But that isn’t always an option. If you must print, you can at least reduce use of resources.

Print only what you want

Printing Web pages is problematic. Maybe you like referring to my tips while working on your computer. A hardcopy of the Web page could be helpful. You could refer to it even if you have to shut down the computer.

But printing Web pages wastes a lot of ink and paper. You end up printing ads and banners that you don’t need. A couple free programs can help. They let you select a portion of the page to print.

You print only what you want. It’s a very smart idea. For help with this, use HP Smart Web Printing. If you use Firefox as your Web browser, there is a special extension Aardvark you can use.

Think of other ways to share

If you’re printing things to share with others, consider this alternative. PDF files can be viewed on any computer. Any document will retain its formatting when converted to a PDF. It’s a great way to share and store files without printing.

There are several free PDF writers. These programs add themselves to your list of printers. Just hit print in any document. Instead of printing, the document will be saved as a PDF. Try doPDF or PDFCreator. CutePDF will work on 64-bit and 32-bit Windows Vista. Mac OS X users can use CUPS-PDF.

TrapCall Reveals Who's Behind Blocked Calls

Free service TrapCall reveals caller ID information from blocked calls, unmasking numbers of blocked calls from telemarketers and prank callers with virtually no extra effort on your part.

TrapCall works like this: When you reject or miss a call, your phone forwards those calls to TrapCall's toll free number (you have to follow TrapCall's setup guide to do this). Once sent to TrapCall, the service works its magic on the missed call and then re-routes the call back to you, this time with the caller ID unblocked. If you reject the call a second time, it'll go straight to your normal voicemail. On the caller's end, all they hear during this whole process is ringing.

TrapCall offers three tiers of service. The free version does caller ID unmasking and lets you set up unwanted caller blacklists. The other two pay versions offer more features, including voicemail transcription, caller ID names, support, incoming call recording, and more. You'll need to check with your carrier to see that it supports TrapCall (and also to verify whether or not the service will cost you anything from their end—as call forwarding sometimes does).

The unmasking of blocked calls is great for people frustrated with telemarketers and prank callers, but there is a troublesome side to this service. Namely, as Wired discusses, victims of domestic violence count on caller ID blocking as a form of protection. It's a serious outside case, to be sure, but for general use, TrapCall does what it says, and it does it well.

TrapCall