TECH TIPS
Tips to keep your computer secure
Advertiser Staff
• Use strong passwords. Mix in numbers and symbols. Use uppercase and lowercase letters. Don't use common words or word combinations that would-be intruders can guess using dictionaries and other password-cracking methods.
• Back up your data. Do this daily, and verify your backups monthly.
• Use anti-virus software. Check for updates weekly. Scan all the files on your computer periodically.
• Install a firewall. A firewall acts as a gatekeeper between your computer and the Internet. Anti-virus software won't detect hacker intrusions and firewall software won't stop viruses, so use both.
• If you have a home network with multiple computers, use a hardware firewall on a router that will sit between your network and the Internet.
• Shut down when done. Switch off your PCs when not in use, or physically disconnect them from the Internet. If you have a broadband connection, turn off your high-speed modem when not in use.
• Beware of attachments. Do not open e-mail attachments from strangers. Be suspicious of unexpected e-mail attachments from someone you know — those could have been sent without that person's knowledge from an infected machine.
• Get security patches. Check your software vendors' Web sites regularly. Keep up with PC-security news that might affect you.
• Call the cops. Or contact the National Infrastructure Protection Center.
For a list of anti-virus vendors, see the Anti-Virus product developers Web site.
Go slim before prices rise again
If you've thought about slimming down, now is the time to act.
Prices for the wildly popular flat-panel liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors, which have dropped over the past year or so from $900 to as low as $300, are poised to start ratcheting back up again.
"We've reached the point now where demand for the flat-panel displays has caught up with supply," said analyst Alan Promisel, with the Framingham, Mass., firm IDC. "A lot of the corporate fall-off in demand is ending. Once they start buying, prices should start to go back up."
LCD displays are popular because they're typically superior in image quality to the once-standard cathode-ray tube (CRT) monitors and they take up less than half the desktop space. LCDs also cause less eye strain.
According to Texas-based DisplaySearch, LCD shipments were up 143 percent at the end of 2001 over the same period the year before, largely driven by the popularity of the 15-inch models.
In addition to convenience and looks, increasing sales of laptops, which use LCD screens, have helped drive demand. Also, lower prices have caused a rise in demand.
"Look for prices to go up by about $10 a month through mid-year," said Seth Ngin, product manager for LCD displays at monitor maker ViewSonic of California. "They should stabilize there, unless of course, demand continues to outstrip supply."
Analysts say vanishing rebates will be the first sign prices are on their way up.
Prices for LCDs started dropping rapidly at the end of 2000 as manufacturers were able to reduce the costly defects that had been plaguing the production process.
