Various Useful Links
Four easy tips to help keep your computer
safe on the Net:
#1 Keep up to date on Windows Critical Updates - Windows Update
#2 Purchase, install & keep your anti virus software updated - Norton or Macafee.
#3 Install a firewall, ZoneAlarm offers a free version for home use, is worth $40 for the full install.
#4 Install Spybot Search & Destroy & Ad-Aware to keep the spyware crap off. Use the Immunize function on Spybot. Check for reference file updates frequently.
#5 NEW - Install Hijack This, new program that allows you to check, analyze, and remove spyware or unwanted start-up programs. Can also be downloaded from Major Geeks
Emergency Email Services (get scanner info/news/weather to your pager/cell)
IPN - Incident Page Network, reasonable coveraage of Mpls/St Paul area for scanner alerts. Cheap subscription or volunteer as a dispatcher and get the service for free!
EmergencyEmail.org - County by county weather alerts, some otther alerts too.
FreeEAlerts.com - Another source for weather alerts.
Mapping
Mapquest
Mapblast
Tiger US Government Census maps
Lookup by Lat/Long,
City or Zipcode - Handy for getting Lat/Long for FCC lookups!
Various Metro area GIS maps
Reference Info
Dictionary.com
Refdesk - lots of helpful links
US Patent Office
Direct
to the USPO search engine
National PD phone # lookup
National
area code & time zone reference
Various Internet
Internet/Technology glossary
DSL reports - Is your home DSL
reachable?
Internic Internet domain name lookup
Neoworx - various Internet IP search
programs
Neotrace -
Freeware copy (very useful DNS/ping lookup)
Internet.com
Variety of Internet resources
Various online computer
tutorials
Security
ZoneAlarm - A MUST HAVE! Excellent freeware firewall program - perfect for home users (56k, DSL, Cable)
+Get this one
immediately for your own good+
GRC.com Gibson Research Co - lots of good security
info and automatic tests.
GRCDOS -
Excellent article on trojan virus - read this - then download ZoneAlarm - very
scary stuff.
Adsoff
- Great program for blocking popup ads &ammp; gif bugs. No longer supported
by the maker, but still available on the web.
Bugnosis - Freeware program alerts you to
web bugs (Check the site for an explanation)
Encryption
PGP.com
Ross Anderson's homepage - lots of
crypto information
Various PGP links & sites
& FAQ's
Spam mimic - disguise
messages as spam.
Virus Info
CERT.org - Carnegie/Mellon
Computer Emergency Response Team
CIAC.org - Department of Energy -
Computer Incident Advisory Capability
Datafellows - (F-Secure)
Datafellows
Hoax warnings
Norton
Freeware
Tucows
ZDnet
Download.com
Current Internet Health/Speed stats
Internet Traffic Report
ATT Internet Hub health
General Electronics
Science Workshop.com - Build your
own spectrum analyzer kit
Science Hobbyist
Circuits in the
Cellar archives
Commlinx - Various
schematics/plans
Jameco - Good source for electronics parts
FAQ on setting up mobile webcams
Egg Factory -
See what the future may bring...
DARPA Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency - see what toys your tax dollars pay for!
Fun with microwaves!
Unwise Microwave
experiments
Create a Plasmoid in your
microwave
Batteries
Greenbatteries.com
- Battery charger FAQ
Greenbatteries.com
- Charge time calculator
News
Security Focus - Various
national security/privacy issues
Slashdot - The best source of new tech
info & discussion
Humor
The Onion -
Satirewire