Data Doctors - Weekly Newsletter

Tip of the Week: How Businesses use Twitter

When people working in the Empire State Building Twittered that they were craving ice cream delivery, New York local chain Tasti D Lite was there to listen and meet their need. When Houston's coffee drinkers decide where to get their daily dose, many choose Coffee Groundz, which lets them order via Twitter.

No matter what type of business you are a part of, learning how to leverage what is going on in the Twitterverse is just plain smart! Get the Twitter 101 for business straight from the source

Headwhack of the Week: Can't trust anything on the web!

You hear it nearly every week: a new way to exploit Internet users has been discovered and you need to watch out for a bunch of new red flags whenever you surf from now on.

The number of different ways that you can get taken advantage of just by visiting a website these days is staggering, but what's worse is that it's getting harder to know what is safe and what isn't!

Wouldn't it be nice if you could have someone warn you that a site that you are ABOUT TO ACCESS is questionable in nature? Wouldn't it be nice to see what a lot of other surfers are saying about a site before you click on the link?

Well, we have some good news (again) because the folks over at Web Of Trust have a FREE program that will do just that and it works great!

Geek Speak of the Week: Three-click rule

An unofficial web design rule concerning the design of website navigation. It suggests that a user of a website should be able to find any information with no more than three mouse clicks. Good rule to follow for do-it-yourself website designers!

Security: Adobe & Apple both fix major flaws

Adobe's popular Flash and Reader program were both starting to be attacked last week because of a major flaw that would allow a remote user to take control of your system if they could get you to attempt to watch a malicious Flash video or open a rigged PDF file. The bug was discovered in Dec 2008, but someone figured out how to exploit the bug last week and Adobe scrambled to get it patched this week. These vulnerabilities are very serious because active attacks are 'in the wild' so get the updates NOW!

Apple's very popular iPhone (as well as other types of mobile computing devices) was the topic of some security expert's presentation at last week's Black Hat security conference. They demonstrated the attack via SMS (text messaging) for a reporter from Cnet.com.

But Apple quickly acted upon this discovery and released an update, so if you own an iPhone, plug it into your computer and tell iTunes to Check for Updates!

News: High schooler sues Amazon: Kindle ate my homework

Amazon forcibly (and ironically) recalled copies of George Orwell's "1984" and "Animal Farm" earlier this month from Kindle devices after it was revealed that they were unauthorized.

A 17-year-old from Michigan has filed a lawsuit against Amazon after it deleted the Orwell classic he had purchased for his Kindle device and was reading for an advanced placement class!

News: Is your Printer Stealing from You?

Printer manufacturers have come up with a few creative ways to drain your wallet. Whether through overpriced ink or through flimsy construction, your printer may be robbing you of money and/or time.

Here are five ways to tell whether you're being cheated.

Data Doctors Video on Cnn.com: Free vs Pay Anti-virus

After a couple of weeks off, we are back at it with our friends at CNN.com. This latest segment covers our perspective of Free vs Pay anti-virus (see if you can tell that everything I was saying was looping back in my ear during the segment!)

Our complete advice column on Free vs Pay AV is located here!

Watch the video and help our rankings on CNN.com! You can watch us live AT OUR NEW TIME every Wednesday afternoon at 2:30PM Pacific, 5:30PM Eastern or watch the archived versions of our segments whenever you want at CNN.com/video.

Opinion: Drop the cell phone & drive!

"While heroic politicians all over America are mandating bicycle helmets, it's still legal to drive 4,000 pounds of steel 60 miles an hour while your brain is turned to the moron setting" rants Helen A.S. Popkin of MSNBC.com

Weekly Advice Column: Public WiFi security tips

FREE or pay per day public wifi seems to be everywhere these day and it sure makes it much easier to get on the Internet wherever you go (heck I just used on on an airplane flight).

Sure their convenient, but they aren't all that safe unless you know how to avoid some of the exploits that are becoming much more common!

This Week's Show: Why Firefox should be your browser

Nearly every week on the show, we introduce yet another caller to the wonders have having Firefox installed as an alternative browser.

It's always been a better choice for features and performance, but this latest incident with Adobe's Flash and Reader exposing Internet Explorer users underscores the security value of considering Firefox.

This week, we focus our attention on highlighting all of the cool, smart and safe things that Firefox can do for all web surfers!

Join us Saturdays from 12:00PM-2:00PM (Pacific) on News 92.3 KTAR or listen LIVE via the Internet at KTAR.com as we discuss your computer questions at: 602.277.5827 or ask your questions during (or before) the broadcast using the ask a question page.