This week on Computer Talk Radio, Benjamin talked about Norton Antivirus 2009 and the changes expected for it. It should install in less than a minute and take less 8MB of memory. It even updates rapidly every 5 to 15 minutes and scans while your computer is idle. However, Norton 2009 might not be ALL good… Many people are worried that it comes on a DVD and not a CD. All in all, however, this could be a very good change, but don’t go rushing out to buy it just yet; wait for actual user reviews.

It’s been a little while since we covered a green topic, so this week Benjamin also covered greener picture saving. People love taking and sharing photos, but printing photos uses valuable ink and paper. Instead, a better option is to make online albums through sites like Flickr and Facebook. These sites allow you to save pictures, identify the people, items, and locations in them, and even choose who can view the pictures. Additionally, if you just HAVE to have that picture made tangible, you can use recycled paper. You can save ink by cutting down page margins as far as possible. Paper can be saved by measuring your frame BEFORE you print so that you don’t have to shave the picture to fit it in to the frame.

Additionally, Benjamin talked about the next version of Windows, currently officially named Windows 7 (a very creative name). This shows a change from trying to come up with a unique name for each version, which Benjamin is happy about because numbers are easier to keep track of than names like Leopard and Cheetah. This new Windows looks much more promising than Windows, as written recognition and speech recognition are to be greatly improved. Paint and WordPad will both be getting updated, something that hasn’t happened in almost ten years. Additionally, it should feature multi-touch technology. And perhaps one of the greatest things, it should only have a ten minute install time!

Another thing that Benjamin talked about is the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The EFF is a non-profit legal organization dedicated to preserving the First Amendment in electronics, making sure that you can say what you want to say online about religion, politics, and even food and television shows without having to worry about being censored by someone who doesn’t agree with your views. It was founded in July 1990 by Mitch Kapor, John Gilmore, and John Perry Barlow. These men decided to form the EFF in response to the search and seizure of Steve Jackson Games. Since then, the EFF has been involved in many legal cases involving the First Amendment in the Digital Age.

Benjamin also interviewed Lance Worth from www.somethingtudu.com. This site provides a list of events going on and allows you to post your own events, getting the word out about sports games, computer shows, garage sales, and charity fundraisers.

Lastly, Benjamin also talked about “scareware.” These ads pop up on websites you visit, telling you that your computer is in danger and possibly infected by a virus. Ironically, clicking on this ad to protect yourself from a virus will actually load a virus onto your computer. In other cases these are mere scams where you order an antivirus and pay for it and never receive anything in return. Long story short, avoid these things like the plague.

In e-mails, Erica asked why she suddenly lost 50 GB on her hard drive, Macky wanted to know how to erase a CD-R or CD-RW, and Joe wants to monitor his computer his computer to make sure that it isn’t being used remotely by a hacker.

Remember to tune in next week and to listen to this week’s show right now by using the links below!