You should use OpenDNS

You probably don’t realize the value and power of DNS, it might be just a set of numbers or a domain name such as 2geckos.com.

 

If you're not yet using OpenDNS to secure your network and protect against phishing, malware, botnets and DNS vulnerabilities, take it from me - you should.

 

OpenDNS, chosen by Fortune 100 companies and more than 25,000 schools, provides comprehensive security services, including award-winning Anti-Phishing from PhishTank. OpenDNS is one of the only DNS services that was never susceptible to the recent threats.

 

In addition to Web and DNS security, OpenDNS provides comprehensive Web filtering and detailed network stats that let you see what's happening on your network.

 

It will also make your network faster and more reliable, and give you tools to easily see which Web sites are most visited on your network. If you see problem Web sites in your network stats, you can easily block them.

 

Taking just a few minutes to change your network's DNS settings will make your Internet overall faster and more reliable, freeing you of DNS-related outages.

 

Did I mention that its FREE!

Click Here to get started

Starting C# class

I've been getting my books and installing the development tools for class.

Its at Central Arizona College and look forward to the challenge.

 

The book is MS Visual C# 2012: Object-Oriented Programming (not cheap)

Almost got the Kindle version ($88) which may have been the better choice but found it in the Amazon rental for $66.

 

Then I needed software, luckily it’s all free but about 600MB so far

Visual Studio 2012 for Win 8 64bit is the newest version but after installing found out this version ONLY works for the Windows 8 Store applications.

 

But for class I need to also install Visual Studio 2012 for Win Desktop

and after installing I started seeing the development packages SDKs.

Visual Studio 2012 for Web

Visual Studio 2012 for Win Phone (!!! My Phone !!!)

 

I want Office Developer Tools but must get the Pro version of Visual Studio so will wait.  This will give me access my Office365 SharePoint server and writing application for the Microsoft Office Platform.

I had taken other programming courses but this is what you use to create windows applications mobile Apps for ioS, Android, and Windows Phone. 

 

A project the I’d really like to do is re-write my Gecko Radio application. 

Gecko Radio scans podcasts for weather conditions, news, technology shows then creates a scheduled playlist that includes 2 music tracks between each news story.  It also salts the playlist with weather reports, comedy tracks, and self-help tracks.

 

The Gecko Radio media server is connected to a low power transmitter at 88.7FM and has been transmitting since 2004. It has 3TB of storage with music ripped from over 800 CDs in categories.

I can control playback from a free App on my phone or tablet.

 

Regards,
Roger Biel rogerbiel@2geckos.com   

2Geckos Consulting www.2Geckos.com
(520) 709-2079 or (602) 325-4862
PO BOX 12812,Casa Grande, AZ 85130-0687

 

2Geckos has been serving the technology needs of Arizona businesses since 1987
We offer a wide range of services for all of your business needs.

 

Auto loading website

When I boot up my Windows 8 computer I’ve started getting a prompt to accept cookies from a website.

c.zzzconsumermsn.com

 

The domain isn’t registered and I could not find any reference to this on any other website or blog.

 

I’ve search my system registry and found no reference and not yet sure witch application is contacting this website on startup.  If anyone has seen this, please let me know.

TrafficSwarm is just a spammer

After unsubscribing from TrafficSwarm I immediately started receiving spam from trafficsurf.com

http://www.trafficswarm.com

This is a blatant act of spamming by a an illegitimate company.

This type of company should be put out of business.

Solar Electric is cool!

In December 2012 I had my solar electric panels installed by Solar Tops.

The equipment is impressive and the technicians got them installed very quickly.

I’m now generating a Mega Watt of electricity per month. As the days get longer it is interesting to watch the daily totals.  In central Arizona we have had some cloudy days recently and my electrical output has dropped by 60% on those days so I’m now a real Sun’s fan.

And now I have another reason to love sunny days when I generate over 36KW, cloudy days are as low as 10KW, so trying to keep my peak during the sunniest part of the day. I shutdown computers and other equipment overnight, programmed the computers to automatically boot-up at 7am. 

The reporting software is also very nice, I have solar panels on the east(YELLOW) & west (GREEN) sides of my house. The west does produce more but the east side isn’t far behind.