Category: Computer Related – Basic

http://websupportblog.files.wordpress.com/2006/10/keyboard-shortcuts-trifold.pdf
…and here is another list…
General Shortcuts
Use these keyboard shortcuts when working with files and folders within Windows
Keyboard Shortcut – Action
CTRL+A – Select All
CTRL+C – Copy
CTRL+X – Cut
CTRL+V – Paste
CTRL+Z – Undo
DELETE – Delete selected item (move to Recycle Bin)
SHIFT+DELETE – Delete item permanently without moving to Recycle Bin
F2 – Rename the selected item
F3 – Search for a file or a folder
F4 – Display the Address Bar list in My Computer or Windows Explorer
F5 – Refresh the contents of the active window
F6 – Cycle through the screen elements in a window or the desktop
F10 – Activate the menu bar in the active program
CTRL while dragging an item – Copy the selected item
CTRL+SHIFT while dragging an item – Create a shortcut to the selected item
SHIFT with any of the arrow keys – Select more than one item in a window or on the desktop
ALT+ENTER – View the properties for the selected item
ALT+F4 – Close the active item, or quit the active program
ALT+ENTER – Display the properties of the selected object
ALT+SPACEBAR – Open the shortcut menu for the active window
CTRL+F4 – Close the active window
ALT+TAB – Switch between the open items
ALT+ESC – Cycle through items in the order that they had been opened
SHIFT+F10 – Display the shortcut menu for the selected item
ALT+SPACEBAR – Display the System menu for the active window
CTRL+ESC – Display the Start menu
ALT+Underlined letter in a menu name – Display the corresponding menu
Underlined letter in a command name on an open menu – Perform the corresponding command
RIGHT ARROW – Open the next menu to the right, or open a submenu
LEFT ARROW – Open the next menu to the left, or close a submenu
BACKSPACE – View the folder one level up in My Computer or Windows Explorer
SHIFT when you insert a CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive – Prevent the CD-ROM from automatically playing
CTRL+SHIFT+ESC – Open Task Manager
Windows Explorer Shortcuts
The following shortcuts can be used within Windows Explorer.
Keyboard Shortcut – Action
HOME – Display the top of the active window
END – Display the bottom of the active window
LEFT ARROW – Collapse the current selection if it is expanded, or select the parent folder
RIGHT ARROW – Display the current selection if it is collapsed, or select the first subfolder
NUM LOCK+ * (Asterisk) – Display all of the subfolders that are under the selected folder
NUM LOCK+ + (Plus key) – Display the contents of the selected folder
NUM LOCK+ – (Minus key) – Collapse the selected folder
Dialog Box Shortcuts
The following shortcuts can be used when a Windows dialog box is open.
Keyboard Shortcut – Action
CTRL+TAB – Move forward through the tabs
CTRL+SHIFT+TAB – Move backward through the tabs
TAB – Move forward through the options
SHIFT+TAB – Move backward through the options
ALT+Underlined letter – Perform the corresponding command or select the corresponding option
ENTER – Perform the command for the active option or button
SPACEBAR – Select or clear the check box if the active option is a check box
Arrow keys – Select a button if the active option is a group of option buttons
BACKSPACE – Open a folder one level up when a folder is selected in the Save As or Open dialog box
F1 – Display Help
F4 – Display the items in the active list
Accessibility Shortcuts
These shortcuts can be used to modify Windows Accessibility settings.
Keyboard Shortcut – Action
Right SHIFT for eight seconds – Switch FilterKeys on or off
Left ALT+left SHIFT+PRINT SCREEN – Switch High Contrast on or off
Left ALT+left SHIFT+NUM LOCK – Switch the MouseKeys on or off
SHIFT five times – Switch the StickyKeys on or off
NUM LOCK for five seconds – Switch the ToggleKeys on or off
Windows Natural Keyboard Shortcuts
Use these shortcuts to navigate Windows with a Windows Natural Keyboard
(The keyboard must have a Windows logo key next to the Alt key).
Keyboard Shortcut – Action
Windows Logo – Display or hide the Start menu
Windows Logo+BREAK – Display the System Properties dialog box
Windows Logo+D – Display the desktop
Windows Logo+M – Minimize all open windows
Windows Logo+SHIFT+M – Restore all minimized windows
Windows Logo+F – Search for a file or a folder
CTRL+Windows Logo+F – Search for computers
Windows Logo+F1 – Display Windows Help
Windows Logo+L – Lock the keyboard
Windows Logo+R – Open the Run dialog box
Windows Logo+U – Open Utility Manager
Text Editing
The following shortcuts can be used in text-editing programs, such as Notepad and WordPad.
Keyboard Shortcut – Action
CTRL+A – Select All
CTRL+C – Copy
CTRL+X – Cut
CTRL+V – Paste
CTRL+Z – Undo
CTRL+RIGHT ARROW – Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word
CTRL+LEFT ARROW – Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word
CTRL+DOWN ARROW – Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph
CTRL+UP ARROW – Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph
CTRL+SHIFT with any of the arrow keys – Highlight a block of text
SHIFT with any of the arrow keys – Select a block of text one character at a time

No one knows security mistakes better than hackers – because for them, tiny errors in security are the ‘keys’ that allow access to home PCs and office computer systems.

And hackers are clear about one thing. Computer users make mistakes all the time – and often the same ones, over and over again. Two hackers – one ‘ethical hacker’, who tests computer systems by attempting to break into them, and one ex-hacker who now works in security – lay bare the ten errors that crop up most often.

‘People are too trusting,’ says Tom Beale, who has worked as an ‘ethical hacker’ for 10 years, protecting corporate and government systems by finding weaknesses.

‘The human element is always the weak link in the chain. People are very easily distracted – and particular attackers prey on that.’

‘People are just getting more and more stupid,’ says Cal Leeming, an ex-hacker who was convicted for a cyber crime, but now works in computer security.
‘They want their stuff to be protected, but they expect someone else to do it for them. People don’t want to know. Even for companies, computer security isn’t a priority, because it’s not a primary source of income. It’s only once the company’s been hit that they realise, “Oh we should have paid more attention than that”.’

1. Don’t use the same username everywhere
‘People often upload photos of themselves to an online library, say,’ says Cal Leeming, a former hacker who works in security at Simplicity Media, ‘But they use a username they use on other sites. They don’t realise that people can use Google to connect them across all the different worlds they visit, and then work out a way in.’

2. Don’t trust public wi-fi
‘When you go on a public wi-fi network you have no way to determine whether it’s a real network run by a reputable company, or a fake run by a spotty guy next to you,’ says Tom Beale of Vigilante Bespoke. ‘The problem’s particularly bad on mobile, where you really can’t tell if you’re on a fake network set up to steal your data. If you’re going to use public networks for business, use a laptop, because the browser will warn you of security breaches – your phone won’t.’

3. Be careful about who you friend on Facebook
‘Facebook has been basically forced to implement privacy settings,’ says Cal. ‘But people still get it wrong. They randomly friend other people, not realising they are giving away information that could be useful in a cyber attack – for instance names of pets or family that might be a password or security question.’

4. Don’t trust people you don’t know
‘I always tell people to do an ‘offline test’ – ie would you do the same thing if you were offline? So for instance, if you’re chatting to someone online, and you tell them some information, would you give that information to someone you’d just met in a bar?,’ says Tom. ‘Online, you’re even LESS safe – because you may not be talking to who you think you are. People just seem to lose all concept of reality when they’re on a PC.’

5. Use two-factor passwords when you can
‘People resist this except when they’re made to do it – like by their bank,’ says Tom. ‘But it does add that extra layer. It does offer protection. People accept that their bank will use tokens or keycard readers, but when other sites add it, people resist it – they just want quick access.’

6. Don’t re-use your email password
‘This isn’t going to be a problem that goes away any time soon,’ says Cal. ‘People don’t realise what are the risks of using the same password. If you reuse your email password, you’re handing out the keys to be hacked and breached – giving hackers access to the information they’ll need to hack your bank account and other networks you use. People use simple passwords for convenience – memorising too many is just a pain.’

7. Don’t be fooled by ‘cries for help’
‘Some of the most effective attacks are “cries for help” from friends – sent by email from a compromised machine. It’s incredible how many people respond to that,’ says Tom. ‘If it’s someone who travels a lot, and their email is hacked, it’s more convincing when you get an email saying that they are stranded abroad, and need money. They target people with a scattergun approach, but when they find someone who IS abroad a lot, it’s very effective.’

8. Use antivirus software
‘I can’t see any reason why you wouldn’t run AV software,’ says Tom. ‘It’s not a Holy Grail, but it helps you to deal with most known problems. Browsing without it is like driving without a seatbelt. It’s your first layer of defence, whether you’re using PC, Mac or Android.’

9. Remember that funny videos can be very unfunny
‘Facebook’s system doesn’t filter for malicious links, so they can be very dangerous. Often a ‘video’ link will try to fool people into visiting an infected site or downloading something in the guise of video software or fake antivirus software. Your only defence is to think, ‘Would my friend really post that?’ so be careful about people you only half-know. Facebook and Twitter need to inform users better.’

10. Set everything to auto update
‘Attackers will be actively looking for vulnerabilities – not just in your operating system, but in your browser, in plug-ins such as Flash and Java. Be sure that all of those are up to date,’ says Tom. ‘If you don’t, you are leaving security holes. Most updates don’t add functions, they just fix holes, and if you don’t get them, you still have the holes.’
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/hackers-reveal-10-pc-security-mistakes-we-all-make.html

Decent computer screens with pixel densities of 220 PPI or more lead to new usability guidelines for on-screen typography. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/web-typography.html

Simple usability tests where users think out loud are cheap, robust, flexible, and easy to learn. Thinking aloud should be the first tool in your UX toolbox, even though it entails some risks and doesn’t solve all
problems. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/thinking-aloud-tests.html

It happens to me often that Windows loses all the icons on my desktop. They normally reappear after a reboot but sometimes not. I found out today that if you right click a blank area of the desktop there is a menu option there [Arrange Desktop Icons\Show desktop icons] What a find!

“If your network is connected to the Internet, and you have something of value to a threat actor, you are likely already compromised,” he said. http://www.itnews.com.au/News/271997,defence-contractor-warns-of-false-cyber-security-beliefs.aspx

Re the cloud as presented in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm-Vnx58UYo
What happens when someone in authority does not like what you have stored on “their/your” cloud and decides to delete your account? (Recently happened to the email account of an anti-vaccination campaigner I know.)

What happens if your cloud vendor has a power outage and you cannot access your data for three days? (Happened recently in EU – Amazon’s botched backup causes cloud chaos, admits software bug also caused it to delete storage snapshots. Some customers forced to wait up to three days for Amazon to retrieve a snapshot… http://www.itnews.com.au/News/267086,amazons-botched-backup-causes-cloud-chaos.aspx)

Whilst the incidents in the Chrome notebook presentation are dramatic and we probably all know someone who has suffered a loss, they are far from routine. Good backup practices are vital for data preservation.

http://www.taobackup.com/

The cloud most benefits the storage space vendors and big brother.

Not for this little black duck!

A week out from Microsoft’s planned Office 365 launch, customers on its existing cloud platform Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) suffered more downtime on Wednesday. http://www.itnews.com.au/News/261586,microsoft-exchange-cloud-goes-down-again.aspx