Chatbug Karen

How many of you use the Internet to pay bills and check the balance of your checking account? I raise my hand. How many of you use Twitter? Raising my hand again. How many of you think your information is safe from hackers?

With the news this morning about the hacking of a Twitter employee’s personal e-mail account, we have to question whether our information is really safe. The employee’s account housed some of Twitter’s private financial documents and notes. In another incident, a hacker broke into Twitter chief executive Evan Williams’ wife’s e-mail account and then accessed Williams’ PayPal and Amazon accounts! Holy smokes!

What can we do to protect ourselves from such incidents? We can arm ourselves with knowledge. Are you staying ahead of the curve facing everyone with information on the web? With training from Lewis University you can be assured of the ability to take charge of your personal and business IT security needs. Graduates of their online Masters of Science in Information Security program are armed with up to date tools to stay ahead of the game on the information highway.

Lewis University offers the following to ensure IT knowledge and personal success:

* Flexible online format to accommodate your professional and personal life
* Comprehensive coursework that explores the technical and societal aspects
of data security in depth
* Affordability — they offer competitive tuition and generous financial aid
programs
* Regional Accreditation

Perhaps your job has been terminated and you are looking for a new field. In today’s world, almost entirely dependent on computer networks, databases, and the Internet, there is a global need for Information Security professionals. Don’t waste your time filling out applications for jobs that are going nowhere. Prepare yourself for a lucrative and exciting future. A career in IT security is challenging and rewarding. The Masters of Science in Information Security program at Lewis University will challenge you to think, analyze, and strategize in unconventional ways and to expand your creative and innovative problem-solving abilities. Don’t you think it is time we all arm ourselves with knowledge? I do.

Thank you to my top droppers for June!

On The Bricks

My Gypsy Goods

Blogger Templates

Online Marketing

ThemeLib

My Review

Shopperista

Whatever Comes to My Mind

Foodarrific

All Contests

is all it took to mess up my laptop. I wish there was a wholesale laptops business where you could buy parts for your laptop. A small, teeny, tiny screw fell out of the frame that holds my screen together. The frame was separating and became so out of whack that I could not even close it. What a pain. Thank goodness, I have a warranty on my laptop and was able to send it in to be fixed.

It would have been a lot easier to put in a teeny, tiny screw.

On a good note, I went shopping today and bought a new dress. The things we resort to when our laptops are not at home. Sigh.

Have you ever been blogging your thoughts away and had to leave the computer to run an errand or do something around the house or office? You were ok with that because you knew that when you returned you would pick up where your thoughts left off and begin again. At least that is how it is supposed to work.

I was ready to scream a few times last month because I got CPU exceeded errors from my host. I am a little bitty blogger who is careful to upload all my pictures to a photo site as to not draw too much from my host. I am careful about those things. I could not believe this was happening to me. It was time to make a change.

I relied on Web Hosting Geeks to find out information on different hosts. They list the top 10 webhosting companies as rated by independent reviewers. They also list the features of each web host so you can compare each to see which best meets your needs. You can see the price, amount of domains you are allowed and the amount of space and traffic allowed by each host. Web Hosting Geeks has customer reviews as well as webmaster reviews. I read those to see what a blogger like me would need to choose. Those reviews reminded me to check whether they offered Live Chat and other features that were important to me. They also have a page for those of you interested in e-commerce. Web Hosting Geeks allowed me to make an informed decision as I chose a new, wonderful web host. So far so good with my new host! Let Web Hosting Geeks help you make the right choice for your blogging and/or e-commerce needs.

My blogging buddies know that I rely on their help to understand Internet technology. I have been blessed with good friends who have been willing to help me fix my blog and make it pretty. I am pretty excited to have been asked to review computer software jv16 PowerTools 2009 because I like to give out good information that helps us all. It is nice to be able to repay all the information I have been given.

How many times are you afraid to work with programs because you are afraid that everything will disappear? When you use jv16 PowerTools your data is protected. You can feel comfortable working with new things because you will be able to undo things you try. Shew! Wouldn’t that be a relief?

I have noticed that my computers run slower now than when I first bought them. jv16 PowerTools has so many different scans listed that clean up your computer. I don’t know what half of them do but they offer a free scan and I am going to try it. What do I have to lose? I’ll be back in a few minutes and let you know how it went. brb

Wow! Macecraft Software has me as a new customer. The step by step process was very easy and the scan found a few things that were out of wack. I remember running my computer’s scan and watching all those little boxes line up. jv16 PowerTools cleans up all those remnants of previously uninstalled software. It cleans the registry and analyzes it to make your computer run safer and at optimal performance. It gets rid of all the remnants of unused downloads that might hinder your privacy. It has automatic backup and safety features to make sure your data is safe.

Available in may languages, the most important feature of this software is that it comes with 24/7 Live Chat based technical support! I always have to have a crutch and a live one is my favorite.

You can see by the screen shot, there are many tools this software uses to make your computer run at its best speed and performance.

If there is one software that both novice and professional users should have, it is jv16 PowerTools. Try the free scan to see if you agree.

Wow! One of my favorite blogs, The Pioneer Woman, was listed as one of the top 25 blogs for 2009 at Time.com. What an honor Ree has received. Congratulations to her.


I noticed that Michael Arrington’s TechCrunch was listed as one of the 5 most overrated blogs for 2009. The comment was made that during the rise of Silicon Valley’s movers and shakers, TechCrunch was important. Apparently, Time.online feels TechCrunch has run its course. Irrelevant was the word used to describe the blog. Are there any opening for promoters for Vegas vacations? Do you think that Arrington is interested in getting back into law?

Thank you to all my loyal droppers. These are the top ten and may not include many of you faithful Entrecard droppers. I appreciate your drops and hope I can reciprocate and leave many comments on your blogs. Thanks again. You can look at my drop list for the 50 blogs I drop on. If you are a regular dropper on my blog and I don’t have you on my list, PLEASE LET ME KNOW. I will add you to my list. I am very persistent about leaving comments and hope to get to know you.

Lofty Matters
The Junk Drawer
Is 8 Enough
Theme lib dot com
Sewing Mom
Beyond Feron
i Walk u 2
Simply Abundant Living
Mumsy Little Miss.org
Natural Hawg

Gmail, also known as Google Mail, is a free email service with innovative features like “conversation view” email threads, search-oriented interface and plenty of free storage (almost 7GB). Need to get caught up on your Gmail? Gmail is available through your mobile devices.

The only drawback of using Gmail for our business has been the inability to work with our email when offline. Not to fear! Gmail has come through.

Google is rolling out a Google Gears version of Gmail that will be available to users starting today in Gmail Labs. It will be reaching users slowly so you will need to check on it.

After installing the Google Gears plug-in to your browser, Gmail detects when you are offline. By caching your e-mail so that you can read it, respond to it, search it, star it, or label it and open attachments, Gmail is more accessible.

These are all the new features listed on Gmail’s website:

Multiple accounts.New! Quickly switch between your Google Apps email and Gmail from the same client.

Multiple Mobile Drafts.New! Jot your thoughts down, finish and send later.

Shortcut keys*.New! Undo, scroll up and down, archive, delete, refresh at the push of a button. See Menu/Help in the app.

Basic offline*.New! Compose and read your most recent email even when you’re on the subway or plane.

Language Support.New! Gmail for mobile 2.0 is available in over 35 languages.

I have dwindled down the list of blogs I read everyday. There are so many blogs who have excellent writers who write about subjects I enjoy but they never update. Poof! off my list they go. Here are a few of my favorite blogs and why I love them. Note, the list in no way includes all of my favorites. I am only highlighting a few.

I love to read Lofty Matters. This blog is full of stories about her family, (she has 8 kids!!!) and everyday chat. She is on top of new revelations on the Internet, so I check her site daily to see if there is anything I can learn.

I read Laane On the World to see how she is coping with all the work she does to make the world an better place for those who deal with Autism. This lady is incredible.

I check out Natural Hawg’s blog just to see what antics he is up to at the moment. He is a spitfire of a writer! He plans some big things in honor of his 40th birthday. You just have to read it to understand.

There you have it. Three of 100 or so blogs that I read everyday. They are the reason I don’t get my laundry done.

What a surprise. I have a few blogs that I just have to read every day. If I don’t check out what is new, I feel like I have forgotten something. That is how I feel about Life With Kim. She is a great writer. I was so surprised that she nominated me for the Lemonade Award. This award is given to a blogger because the giver feels that the blogger in question shows great attitude and gratitude. In other words, I make lemonade out of lemons. LOL

Thanks Kim. I am honored.

Now, for the rules.

• Put the logo on your blog or post.
• Nominate 10 blogs which show great Attitude and/or Gratitude!
• Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.
• Let them know that they have received this award.
• Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received your award.

My husband will bonk my head if I don’t get some work done in my office today so I better not take the time to nominate anyone. Most of you know who I admire already anyway!