He has also switched anti-virus. We were running Avast! anti-virus but as of now, my resident anti-virus is NOD32 which claims to be one of the fastest. As a start, it does use much less ram than Avast!.

One of the most useful malware preventive software we installed lately is SandBoxie. Google it and I suggest you give it a try. Do pardon the crude comparison, imagine the condom as one of the best ways to ensure safe sex. SandBoxie protects your PC pretty much the same way as it isolates the browser (and any programs you choose to use it with) from the internet. No malware from the internet can pass SandBoxie and do damage to your PC. It’ll sure save you a lot of headache. Check it out.

At the top of my WordPress admin panel, there’s always a reminder “A new version of WordPress is available! Please update now.” So I asked when he’s going to update mine to version 2.5 coz mine is several versions behind. He told me wait a bit as with any new major release, there’s bound to be minor update releases soon to iron out bugs and security issues. I guess I’ll wait for WordPress 2.5.1 or 2.5.2.

I can’t wait to try out the new version of WordPress and I hope it lives up to all the hype. I would love to try the ‘one-click’ plugin updating feature and built-in gallery function.

• 2 DVD-Rewritable discs
• a 4GB Thumbdrive
• 2 external hard drives
• my online Flickr! account
• my laptop and desktop’s harddrive (which I don’t count as being safe at all)

If you think I’m being a bit paranoid, that because in the past 2 years, I’ve had CD-ROMs, DVDs, harddrives and external harddrives fail on me. In fact, I’m quite disturbed that CDs and DVDs which doesn’t get subjected to much wear-and-tear, could spoil so easily.

I’ve lost important stuff but none of them compares to how precious my baby photos are to me. So I’m not about to take any chances to risk losing the photos.

Obviously the main problem is the file size. On average, a 2-minute 640×480 uncompressed mpeg video recording from my digital camera is about 130-140MB. You’d be hardpressed to find an email service provider that allows you to attach such a huge file to your emails.

“Hang on, there are file transfer and sharing websites like YouSendIt, RapidShare or MegaUpload to name a few that lets you upload huge files onto their server. Your friends and family can download them using a link they provide you with,” you say? These pioneering sites are notorious for making your file transfer experience a nightmare. Prepare yourself to deal with account registrations, page after page of jumps, required downloadable tools, geographically-limited bandwidth and a lot more inconveniences just to send a simple file across to your friends. Speaking from experience, MegaUpload and RapidShare are among the worst among the big names I’ve ever used.

Luckily, I’ve found one recently that gives you 100MB limit (more than that you have to register for a free account) without the fuss. You’re given a download link to your file when you start to upload your file. That means you don’t have to wait for hours to have your file completed upload to get the link. The best thing is your friend can start to download the file WHILE you’re still uploading it. That saves quite a bit of time.

Try it out at EatLime.com if you have some large files to share. I can’t guarantee if the rules and requirements remain the same a few months down the road. But right now, I’ve just transfer a few video clips of baby Clarisse to my brother-in-law without a cinch. Not bad, I hope EatLime.com keeps up the performance, simplicity and lack of annoying limits and requirements.

I thought I’d share with you a simple way to prevent your kids, and everyone else in the house, from accessing malicious websites. For adults, weeding out pornography sites is easy but phishing websites are much harder to detect. Phishing refers to dummy websites setup by pranksters to steal your private data like usernames, passwords, credit card details and such.

I recommend OpenDNS.com, a free DNS service that filters out malicious websites. The website describes how a DNS server works and how OpenDNS.com can protect you by routing your URL requests to their own DNS server instead of your local ISP provider’s.

However, you’ll need some technical knowledge on how to login to your router’s administration panel and replace the default set of DNS addresses with the ones provided by OpenDNS.com. That’s it. There’s no need to install any softwares in your computer.

OpenDNS.com may not be a 100% fool-proof way to keep malicious websites away. But it is very effective and works without fuss. I wouldn’t hesitate recommending it to friends and family who wants parental control over the internet for their kids.

Safe computing, everyone!