By way of Dell Computer, we have just received notice that Microsoft will no longer be making Windows XP available after 10/22/2010. No matter when a system is ordered, if it is not shipped by Oct 22nd, Dell reports that the order will be canceled and the OS replaced with Windows 7. 

Many businesses have been relying on Windows XP for the continued support of their legacy applications. For these businesses, this will likely be a major cause for concern. Microsoft has announced phase-out’s of Windows XP in the past, but they have been forced to keep extending its life due to a strong reluctance by IT managers to embrace Windows Vista. However with Windows 7 outperforming Vista's opening sales by a wide margin, it appears that Microsoft has finally decided to let the venerable Windows XP sail into the sunset.

We would not be surprised if this announcement produces a short term surge in demand for PC’s, which in turn could cause a rise in PC prices temporarily, or even shortages of certain PC components.  

Kukui.com hopes to make searching for real estate easier than ever with the launch of KauaiRealE.com,  a state-of-the-art website created for the Kauai Real Estate Market.  

Developed for Sleeping Giant Sotheby’s International Realty, the new website offers an array of powerful and easy to use features, including expanded listing details, real time market statistics, Kauai real estate news, sales history, expert advice, and much more. 

The centerpiece of the new website is a next generation, interactive map based search. The new search interface, which Kukui.com refers to as IDX², gives real estate buyers a commanding birds-eye view of all the listings in their search, along with each listings price and exact location on a large interactive Google map. The new site is further enhanced with a ground breaking detail view that presents buyers with complete property details for every listing on Kauai, a slideshow, recent sales history, lot outlines, previous pricing, and much more.

 

1) Download the amazing 'Hope For Haiti Now' album from iTunes. Its only $7.99 and 100% of proceeds go to help Haiti through the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund, The Red Cross, UNICEF, The United Nations Food Programme, and many others. The album includes 20 songs from artists like Madonna, Sting, Dave Matthews, Cold Play, Shakira, Jay-Z, Christina Aguilera, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Key's, Beyonce, Taylor Swift, and more.

2) Text "HAITI" to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross. 91% of money donated to the Red Cross goes to help people in need.

3) Donate via the web. Food For The Poor is a great organization that has been on the ground in Haiti helping some of the poorest people in the world there since well before the current crises.  97.7% of the money donated to Food For The Poor goes to helping people in need, making them one of the most efficient charities. Royal Caribbean is currently dropping off enormous amounts of food & supplies to be delivered by Food For The Poor as their ships cruise by Haiti. They've already delivered 120 palettes of food, water and supplies so far.  So we believe monetary donations will go particularly far with them.  Because of that, we have decided to commit a portion of our profits over the next year to support our brothers and sisters in Haiti through Food For the Poor. Please Click Here to donate via their website.

If you have any suggestions,  please add a comment below. 

Finding a great, free anti–virus program for Windows has been a challenge in the past, especially for a new version of Windows.  This time however, Google and PC Tools have come to our rescue with 'Spyware Doctor with Anti-Virus', bundled as part of the new Google Pack. Google Pack is a bundle of popular, free apps provided by Google and its partners. It includes Adobe Acrobat, Firefox, Spyware Doctor with Anti-Virus, Picasa and several other apps.   If you are just looking to protect your new home PC or laptop from viruses, then you’ll probably just want to download Firefox and Spyware Doctor with Anti-Virus. These two apps together with the new and improved security built into Windows 7 will go a long way to help keep your PC safe on the net.
 
In our testing, we’ve found that Spyware Doctor with Anti-Virus does a good job of protecting your PC from new viruses. However, if your PC is already infected with a virus, then you’ll probably want to pay for the full version which offers more powerful removal tools. Aside from the fact it’s free, Spyware Doctor with Anti-Virus has also recently received the prestigious PC Magazine Editors Choice award.

So this is our top pick for the Best Free Anti Virus Program currently available: http://pack.google.com/ 

Note: Don't have Windows 7? The Google Pack also supports Windows XP and Vista.

Just in time for Christmas, Dragon Dictation for the iPhone has arrived. And not only is it free, it actually works!

After using it for a day, it appears even more powerful than the PC version. For starters, It doesn't require a bulky headset. Dragon Dictation simply uses the iPhone's built in microphone. But even more impressive, the accuracy appears to be near 100% with absolutely no training.

To use it you open the Dragon Dictation app, press the red button to record, and then click the stop button when you are finished. Within a few seconds your speech will be magically converted into text and displayed on your screen. From there you can copy and paste the text into any iPhone app.

The only drawback appears to be the fault of Apple's iPhone OS. The iPhone only allows one third-party app to be running at a time. So you'll have to open the Dragon Dictation app each time you want to dictate something which can really slow you down, especially if you're trying to chat using a program like Skype.

To get it, just pull up the app store on your iPhone and search for "dragon dictation".

 

 

 

1)     Switch to Firefox 3 for browsing the web. IE has two major problems. The first is it's popularity. IE is the most widely used browser by far, which makes it the #1 target for virus writers. The second is it's close integration with Windows. Often times a corrupted IE means a corrupted Windows. By switching to Firefox you can sidestep both of those problems.

2)     Check your Antivirus:  Make sure it's up-to-date. If you don't have an antivirus program, or if your current antivirus program is out of date,  then download AVG free edition from here: AVG . Note there are a slew of paid Anti-Virus options available as well that offer even better protection. For the best paid option we recommend Symantec Endpoint Protection 11 .

3)     Update Your Software: Finally, make sure your computer is up-to-date by going to Microsoft update. The link provided below is for Microsoft update which is slightly different from Windows update. Microsoft update will update all of your Microsoft programs, not just Windows: http://update.microsoft.com/microsoftupdate/. In addition its very important that you update your other programs as well. Especially programs that interact with the internet, such as: Adobe Flash, Adobe Acrobat , Firefox & Sun Java.

4)  Avoid file sharing: Programs such as Bit-Torrent, Lime-Wire and their associated pirate websites are laced with viruses and malware. Avoid these sites if you value your data!

5)  Protect your E-mail: For business email, consider a managed email service like the one we offer. Or if you just need a personal account, Gmail and Yahoo both offer well protected email accounts for free. The catch is that you have to either check your mail via their website.

 

As you may have noticed, we've significantly enhanced our website. Included in the update is the brand-new blog you are reading right now. This blog will allow us to post critical security information, product updates, and recommendations on an ongoing basis. And, you can easily receive a notification any time a new post is made to this blog simply by entering your email address at the top right of this page in the Newsletter box.

Also, We welcome your feedback! To leave a comment, just click the "Comments" link below this post.