TechRepublic has always been a good resource for computers and networking. I was going to quote their 10 dumb things users do that mess up their computers article, but when I clicked on their 10 things category I found something even more useful:
10 things IT pros should do when a relationship ends

#1: Change your passwords at work, if possible

You may feel confident that you never disclosed a password to your Former Significant Other (FOSO, for now). However, being mistaken in your trust can damage your career and possibly cost you your job.

#2: Repair any security breaches you have created

If you have any reason to think that an angry FOSO could gain access to other people’s data, you need to take immediate action.

#3: Change privileges on appropriate programs and systems

If your ex has administrator status on your system, remote access, etc., consider whether that status is still appropriate.

#4: Change passwords on your personal accounts

Okay, okay, it’s obvious. However, simple precautions are all too easy to forget when it’s your own personal heart that’s breaking. Think of all your password-protected places and change them. If you have an online business, be sure to secure access to that account immediately.

#5: Be careful about your communications on company computers

The office is not a prudent place to expose your innermost feelings, especially in writing. Keep in mind that your employer probably has access to all files on an office computer.

#6: Resist the temptation to harm your ex’s system or data

Erasing a critical file, formatting a hard drive, or introducing a clever virus may seem like a satisfying action when you are burning with rage and jealousy. However, all of these are bad ideas.

#7: Resolve any business issues between the two of you

If you and your FOSO worked together, especially if you have an IT consulting firm, the two of you need to straighten out any business matters, including any corporate or partnership matters.

#8: Retrieve your personal information

If your ex has any of your personal files on his or her computer, try to get permission to retrieve or delete them. At the least, ask your FOSO to erase the data.

#9: Refrain from online nastiness

Online communications can last far longer than the rage that spawned them. Venting your most intimate emotions in writing can be a bad idea, especially on the Web.

#10: Resolve any financial issues between the two of you

Longtime couples usually have some financial entanglement. You may need to split everyday stuff, like furniture, DVDs, and china. You should divide and close any joint accounts.

#11: Make appropriate changes to protect your assets

Finally, take appropriate action to protect your own assets. Change the locks on your doors. Change the PIN on your debit and credit cards. Don’t forget to cancel any joint credit cards or lines of credit, unless you and your ex have worked out a different solution.

Taking care of all these details will leave you little time to mope. When it’s all done, you can settle back with the bonbons, the Scotch, or the late night movie. Better luck next time.

excerpt from TechRepublic

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On the eve of Typhoon Reming

If it doesn’t flood in your house when it rains, and if your computer and internet connection contraption are at least 4 feet from the lowest level area in your living room, and you still have electricity and phone lines and therefore an internet connection, you might want to discover the utter usefulness of torrents.

I think the next most expensive thing in this country to software are books. And as usual, a utility has been made on the Internet to solve this problem. Torrents.

Torrents, simply put, are segments of files that are stored on several computers and are made available through peer-to-peer file sharing. My son calls it Limewire on steroids.

First of all you need a torrent client. My son recommends uTorrent, because it’s simple and fast. He also recommends isohunt, meganova, mininova and torrentspy. My latest discovery is ebookshare.net.

I have downloaded volumes of e-books in chm format into my barebones computer, which look like the help files that come with Windows programs. Adobe PDF versions of various Dummies books are also available for those who know where to look.

Don’t you just love the Internet …

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One utility that has been on the internet for a long time — but of which I have just recently discovered the use — are anonymizers. What’s an anonymizer?

It’s a website where you can go and enter a URL to browse. It’s like a browser within your browser, but instead of broadcasting your IP address to the sites you’re surfing, it gives the anonymizer’s address instead. Anonymizers were first developed for security reasons, so that spurious sites cannot remember your IP address and do malicious things to your server or provider. It also makes you untraceable.

For the uninitiated, your Internet service provider (ISP) gives you an IP address each time you connect to the internet. This IP can be the same each time you log in (static), or it can be different every time you log in (dynamic). But either way, your IP address is a way you can be traced, as it will reveal who your ISP is and its location.

Using an anonymizer takes away that possiblity.

But another use I’ve discovered for the anonymizer is getting on to websites that somehow I cannot access with certain ISP’s. I have had, for the longest time, intermittent problems accessing batjay’s and gelay’s sites if I surf to them direct from my browser. However, if I use an anonymizer, I can see their sites no problem.

Also, I discovered that iCable IP’s have been banned from Haloscan, as well as a few other commenting systems because iCable runs an open proxy. But if I comment on haloscan through an anonymizer, my comment gets published.

The Anonymous Browsing Quickstart Page can be found here. From here you can choose from several anonymous browsers. My personal choices are Anonymouse and Anonymizer because their frames are unobtrusive and the ads negligible.

It’s worth a try, especially if you’re having the “domain expired” problems while accessing some sites, and clearing your browser cache doesn’t work.

This anonymizer is, of course, different from those who write ugly comments on other people’s blogs under the name “Anonymous”. Good thing about WordPress is that it logs commenters’ IP addresses, the same way Haloscan does. I’ve never used Blogger’s commenting system, so I wouldn’t know if Blogger logs IP’s too. If you ever get any spurious comments on your site, find out what the IP address of the commenter is. Chances are you might find out where it came from.

Unless, of course, the commenter used an anonymizer.

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