Monday, November 29, 2010

Teacher Videos

In my job, part of the success of training teachers is providing them with sustained support AFTER the training.  I am spread thin, so I create little videos to help guide teachers through individual steps of each of the programs we have in my county.

If they can help you, WATCH THEM! 

http://www.kimberlymutterback.com

Deleting History in Skype

If you are in a situation in which close quarters may allow others to hack into your SKYPE account, you can delete your previous conversations with others by changing one command when you are in SKYPE.

When you are logged into SKYPE, there is a menu bar across the top of the screen that starts with SKYPE, CONTACTS, CONVERSATIONS, etc.  Click on SKYPE.

Go to PRIVACY and click.

In the pop up screen, about two thirds of the way down on the right there is a setting for HISTORY.

Change Keep History for:  NO HISTORY.

Click CLEAR HISTORY.

Click SAVE at the bottom of the page.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Protecting Your Computer

In my experience, managing the protection of your computer is the key to long lasting, uninterrupted service.  Many people think "well if I run this antivirus software, I am good."  You are protected to a certain point, but there is more you can do to really keep from having headaches later.

First off, you should really consider three factors when protecting your computer.
  1. Antivirus Software - You should have a program installed on your computer that serves as an antivirus program.  If you have Suddenlink internet services, they offer Mcafee for free.  (You get a free email account, so when you sign in to manage your account, you can search to find the free McAfee download.  If you do not have Suddenlink internet, you may want to consider Microsoft Security Center.  However, I have not checked thoroughly, but this protection may be limited to private home use and must be purchased if you use it on a work computer.
  2. Firewall - If you have cable internet or DSL internet, your computer is constantly susceptible to viruses and trojans.  I run Threatfire on my personal machine to basically act as a barrier between my computer and the internet.  You can use Threatfire for free in a personal, individual situation and not pay for the service.  However, a business would be required to purchase a license to utilize Threatfire in a business environment.
  3.  Spyware/Malware - As my safety net, I use Malwarebytes on my machine as well.  I run an update once a week and then let Malwarebytes scan my machine for viruses and trojans that may be hidden on my machine. (Your temporary internet file folders are a hotbed for activity.)
Your browser is another place where you can protect yourself from attacks.  Open Internet Explorer (even if you run Firefox) and change the settings below in order to safeguard against viruses occupying your cache.

  1. Open Internet Explorer
  2. Click on TOOLS and then INTERNET OPTIONS.  (If you cannot find the TOOLS menu option, right mouse click in the gray area at the top of the browser and check the MENU BAR option to show the File, Tools, Etc. selections.)
  3. Check the box for DELETE BROWSING HISTORY ON EXIT. (It is on the GENERAL TAB.)
  4. Check DELETE under Browsing History. On the next pop up box, make sure every box is checked and then click DELETE.
  5. Click on SETTINGS beside of DELETE under browsing history.
  6. Check AUTOMATICALLY under "Temporary Internet Files"
  7. Change DISK SPACE to 100.
  8. Change HISTORY to 0.
  9. Click APPLY.
Hopefully, this will help protect your computer against unwanted attacks.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Essay Contest with Cash Prizes for Students

What's Great About America

Opened to students ages 13 - 18, students have the ability to win cash prizes and instructors be invited to New York City.
Thought I would share!

New Virus

My system found and cleaned a new virus on my laptop today.

The filename for the virus was A0021483.exe

If you search for this file and find it on your system, be aware that it is a virus.  I will keep a running list on the menu selection on the right so that you can check to see if something you have found is something that is on my list.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

The Reality of Technology Use in Schools

This article was passed to me by a principal who is also a friend.  I have to say, I agree with what the findings were.  The old belief was that if we put technology in the classrooms, the teachers would automatically use it.  We also believe that younger teachers will automatically be adept at integrating technology.

I challenge you to read this article because I will be referring to it when posting in the future.Scholastic Article - 5 Myths about Educational Technology

Monday, November 8, 2010

Fighting the War on Technology

In the past two weeks, I have had to deal with more viruses and trojans that I care to mention.  Four years into this job, and the last two weeks have made me a believer.  I am going to offer some tips that I have found (through tears and sweat) that may help you if confronted with one of these maligned bugs.

Malwarebytes Anti Malware 
Make sure you have this installed on your computer.  This program helps to find even the most pesky of viruses.  However, the new smart viruses disable Malware when they infect your machine, and some are even good enough to hide when Malware is allowed to do a scan.  If you think you are infected but Malware does not find it, then you need to go to the next program.

rKill
rKill will stop virus programs from running (essentially taking away their ability to hide) which then allows Malwarebytes to locate them and remove them during full scans.  Think about rKill if you are trying to open a program and something is running in the background that keeps your program from launching.

RegVacRegVac is a program that will help to clean up your registry.  Make sure to optimize your PC first before you start the removal process.  You can run this program in trial mode without ever having to purchase the product.  Keep running RegVac until you have 0 entries.