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



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