This week Benjamin had a great tip for living greener by printing greener. One good thing to do is use recycled paper, as well as using as much space on one page as you can. Additionally, when you don’t absolutely have to print, online publishing is a great option.  Many sites, like Flickr, allow you to publish and share photo albums online. Of course, Facebook does this, as well as many other things, in that it is a social networking site.

In a general users tip, Benjamin also brought us information about laptop batteries. They have come in many different varieties, and now mainly use Lithium Ion batteries. These small, light batteries are less toxic and have a longer life. However, it never hurts to stretch your battery life, right? So, go through and change the brightness on your screen to a lower light, and it will last longer. Also, you can go into the Control Panel and change your Power Options for other things.

Benjamin also brought information on how the internet can help keep you safe. For instance, online weather reports can come in before radio ones do, and many police departments send out warnings over the internet. Additionally, you can use the internet to check security cameras at home or in your office. Still, remember that the internet can also pose dangers, and always be careful!

Another thing Benjamin talked about is security, and how common cameras are becoming. Store cameras and private businesses have had closed-circuit TV for years, and now “street-cams” are becoming very common, especially in the UK. This has led to a lot of controversy in Europe, as people are concerned about a 1984-esque dystopian civilization. As the US moves in this direction as well, be sure to pay attention about developments on this front. 

Another danger from the internet is scams, and Benjamin also brought us some information from that area as well this week. It seems that hackers released a fake update for the iPad, but it was actually a Trojan virus that targeted Windows PC’s. Users expect messages about updates from Apple, so when these hackers disguised their virus in the form of an iPad update, many users fell victim to it without noticing. Always know where you’re updates are coming from. They will not be sent in an email, but within iTunes! 

In other update news, McAfee has offered a security review to companies in order to compensate for their recent bad update. This isn’t all they’re doing, though. They’re also offering custom packages, as well as other services. Though details on what exactly they are offering are limited, they do seem very anxious to make up for their mistake.  Trend, Norton, and Symantec have also been forced to do this in the past for similar accidents.

Microsoft, however, is very confident with their updates it seems, and as they should be. These updates which are meant to keep computers safe are doing their job. As of the end of 2009, 56% of virus victims had not updated their computers since 2003. These six years are a lot of time, and especially in the world of computing. Over years computers can change and advance a lot, so hackers have to keep moving, and so should you. Keep an eye out for Microsoft Service Packs all the time!

This week Benny decided to change topics a bit, and talk about “mad scientists.” There are a lot of sites online with different science projects, ranging in difficulty from the traditional baking soda volcano to beginning robotics. Sites he mentioned include www.madsci.org/experiments and www./evilmadscientist.com.

This week, Benjamin of course also answered questions from the audience, including Joseph who asked about Firewire and Lisa who asked about Microsoft Word. Also, Earl asked about News Sites, and Benjamin referred places like www.drudgereport.com and www.wnd.com.