Complicated World, Simple Solutions…

Simplify your life, your business and your world.

Starting yesterday if you logged into a Gmail account you would find a new feature in your Gchat box: the ability to place or receive calls. This is an expansion of the Google Voice service, the phone service of Google which previously was confined to just phones. Now if you are in a area of poor phone reception or if you’re travelling internationally and don’t want to incur expensive roaming charges you can simply use your computer to place or receive calls.

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Though the Temptations famously sang “keep on walkin’, don’t look back” we here at the Linked IT blog thought it would be useful to new and old readers to blow the dust off the old archives and give you some of our most useful postings from the past.

• Give New Life to an Old Computer- This posting shows you a great way to rejuvenate any old computers you have lying around. It gives users a step-by-step tutorial on what Linux Mint can do and also how to install it. Very useful stuff. (Also check out Part 2 of the posting)
• 10 of the Top Open Source Alternatives- This posting gives you descriptions of 10 great open source (i.e. free) and also links on where to download them from
• Photoshop Tutorial for Beginners: Neon Glow- This posting gives you a tutorial on how to create the stunning Neon Glow effect in Photoshop.
• Stone Portrait Tutorial- This posting shows users how to give their photos the dramatic and breathtaking stone portrait effect.

Scammers are infecting computers with a Trojan horse program disguised as software that determines whether PCs are compatible with Windows 7. The attack was first spotted by BitDefender on Sunday and is not yet widespread; the antivirus vendor is receiving reports of about three installs per hour from its users in the U.S. The scammers steal their marketing text directly from Microsoft, which offers a legitimate Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor in its Web site.

Users who try to install the attached, zipped file end up with a back-door Trojan horse program on their computer. BitDefender identifies the program as Trojan.Generic.3783603, the same one that’s being used in a fake Facebook password reset campaign. Once a victim has installed the software, criminals can pretty much do whatever they want on the PC… That could mean installing a keylogger to steal banking credentials or even gaining full access to the hacked system.

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With more of our work, play, and business conducted online it has become increasingly important and necessary to use a diverse set of strong passwords. Most people don’t have the recall skills to keep dozens and dozens of complex alphanumeric passwords stored in perfect order in our memories. A password manager is the compromise between using a few passwords you can remember and risking forgetting some if you use too many complex passwords. The following five tools will help you build a strong password set and securely store it so you’re never stuck using the same old password for fear of forgetting it.

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To install Thunderbird go to: http://www.mozillamessaging.com/en-US/thunderbird/

This should have the latest version of thunderbird on the page. Click on the free download button and it’ll take you to a new page. A popup will appear. Click on Save File. After you have finished downloading this, double click the newly downloaded .exe file. Follow the setup wizard and install Thunderbird. After you have finished installing, bring up Thunderbird and the mail account setup window should pop up.

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Check out some of these open source applications that rival many of the main stream software that you need to pay for. These applications are perfect for someone who needs high performance software but is unable to afford them. Can’t afford Photoshop? Try out GIMPshop. Can’t Afford Microsoft Office? Try Open Office.

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Want portable high speed internet at a very affordable price? Try CLEAR™ mobile internet for your home & mobile devices. You can now go to the park or sit out in the yard and still be able to access the same quality of internet you get in your house. Even when you travel, you can take your internet with you.  Using this technology you will be able to access internet in any of the cities covered by CLEAR™.

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The open source alternative to Microsoft Office, Open Office, is great software for people who are using a Linux desktop such as Linux Mint 8, or cannot afford Microsoft Office but needs free alternative software. It offers many of the same functions, are formatted in a similar fashion, and even offers features not included in Microsoft Office. The only problem is the fact that it saves everything in a different format than Microsoft Office. This is not really a problem if you are sharing documents between other people who use Open Office. However, if you need to share files with someone who uses Microsoft Office, then you might run into slight road blocks. (more…)

Yesterday Google wasn’t in the business of selling mobile phones. Today, they are. The Nexus One smartphone has arrived and on sale at Google.com/phone. Our live notes from the event are here.

I’ve been using the Nexus One with TMobile since mid-December as my primary mobile phone. This is the best Android powered phone to date. It’s also the fastest and most elegant smartphone on the market today, solidly beating the iPhone in most ways. In this rapidly evolving market there is sure to be something better just around the corner. But if you are looking to buy a high end smartphone right now, this is the phone for you. The Nexus One is the Android signature device.

Complete review is here.

A $2.2 billion lawsuit has been filed in federal court today accusing China of software piracy and code theft. China accused of software piracy? How can this be?

http://www.hardocp.com/news/2010/01/05/suit_accuses_china_pc_makers_piracy