Update

Please be informed that I have migrated to a new site at KIX|TRIX (Kixtrix.com).

Because of this, PC Buster will no longer be updated or revised, unless necessary to remove any critical information error.

If you would like to enjoy more articles about the tech industry and the web, please visit KIX|TRIX (Kixtrix.com).

Thank you.

Francis Panganiban

Owner, PC Buster

Google Chrome

Google Chrome is by far the scariest, yet most awesome browser I’ve ever seen. Comparing Chrome and Firefox is almost harder than making mountains bow (except if you own a chopaxe that would dice it in half, just like how Google Chrome cuts through the web like a heated knife through butter). –The PC Buster

Google Chrome

Google Chrome is a BETA browser released by the giant internet company Google. It boasts lightning-fast zero configuration browsing speed, safe browsing and secure connections, minimalistic yet flexible design, and an integrated Google engine. What is this? The integrated Google engine is an advanced technology pioneered by Google web developers that blends power with assurance. Whenever you type something in the address bar, Chrome displays a list of all matching web pages through the Google search engine, while at the same time making suggestions to make things a lot easier — imagine being able to find what you need without ever leaving the current page. Plus, the integrated Google engine puts every single Google product (i.e. Blogger, Orkut, YouTube, Maps, Gmail, etc.) into its main system, providing you with everything you need on what you’re currently doing, by scanning the page you’re currently on for content and using the Google search engine to match with all possible conveniences. Don’t worry, this is completely safe — at Google, your privacy is important and is highly protected. Read the Chrome Privacy Policy.

And speaking of privacy, Google Chrome also has a unique feature called incognito mode; a powerful stealth browsing mode that puts everything you’re doing on a temporary location which will be deleted later, meaning no one will ever find out what you were doing, what page you were on, and what the activities you just did, since no history information is committed (saved).

Chrome also warns you of malicious sites based on site ratings on dedicated and reliable rating networks, making sure that you’ll stay safe with no hassle at all.

By the way, Chrome also offers a powerful crash control architecture; a system that puts every tab running on Chrome on a different process, so whenever a single web application crashes, it won’t affect the whole browser. Chrome will just shut it down without causing any lag or hasle at all.

Speaking of tabs, Chrome also includes a dynamic tab architecture, which means you can manipulate running tabs in any way you want. For example, you can drag a tab out of the Chrome window to open up another browser window, or move several tabs into another browser window to organize running activities.

To learn more about Google Chrome, check out these cool links below:

• The story behind Google Chrome (video)
• Read about the Chrome Technology (a comic by Scott McCloud)
• Read about why Google Chrome was built

Or, watch these cool videos about Chrome:

Still not convinced? Read more about Google Chrome here on its official page.

What’s new this September

It’s been two full glorious months since PC Buster rose from complete scratch into a stable blog with more than three thousand hits, and now that we’re in September, we are going to show you some insights on what new plans and events we have for the site, and its brother sites that are soon to rise.

First of all, we have just established the newest (and official) forums dedicated to PC Buster discussions — its very own GearFactor Forums. So what is it all about? As said earlier, it’s a site dedicated to everything about PC tweaks, tips, and free assistance. Read more about it here (blog page), or here (article permalink) and be the first member!

Next, we’ll be implementing picture posts. What are these? These are ordinary blog posts with much more elaboration and article pictures — pictures that are relevant to the post that briefly explain the whole article. They are also used as easy references to articles, and can be used on post galleries, RSS feeds, and Social Bookmarking services (primarily Digg!). Expect to find these in the future posts.

Thirdly, we’ll be optimizing RSS feeds through an RSS aggregator called FeedBurner, and we will provide easy and free subscription access for everything found within the blog. These feeds will be accessible and readable through any RSS reader, including webmail providers such as Yahoo!, offline mail clients such as Mozilla Thunderbird, or a dedicated RSS Reader such as FeedDemon. What’s more — these feeds will even be accessible through your web browser; we’ll make HTML formats of feeds so you can have easy access everywhere even on the go!

And finally, sometime within December, we’ll be offering paid reviews for your products, web sites, or blogs. All you have to do is pay us for a professional review of your site that we guarantee would attract traffic and drive you income. Not only that, after the review has been posted, we’ll be making gateways to your site or product page for an even heavier traffic.

And thanks for continually supporting PC Buster! Without you, this blog wouldn’t have come this far. Stay tuned!

Oh and by the way, PC Buster already forgot about WordPress’ own post editor — we have already switched to ScribeFire; a fast, free, and reliable blogging addon for Firefox that will surely fire up your blogging!

Gear Factor Forums

Attention, readers and subscribers!

Gear Factor Forums is now open!

GearFactor

 

Discuss blog articles, tweaks, entertainment, sports, gadgets, codes, programs, web sites and more! By joining the newly-opened GearFactor Forums, you are entitled to:

• Become a forum staff member
• Become a partner (advertiser or blogger)
• Become one of the first members, and be called an Old Guard
• Access technology-inclined discussions and group activites
• Join events held on PC Buster
• Know the latest and upcoming on PC Buster
• Submit an article to PC Buster and get a chance to have it published as an official article
• Share your thoughts, comments, questions, and suggestions about the site
• …and more!

So, what are you waiting for? If you feel that you want to become in-touch with the PC Buster and GearFactor team and be able discuss what you want, join now! Joining is absolutely free of charge and without limitations whatsoever. By becoming a member, you are entitled to all the features and privileges above, and more. You will be able to receive support for your tech problems and have all your questions answered, by the PC Buster and by the other members.

Come on! Hop in! Share your thoughts, speak your mind! Be one of us now!

What happened to StarCraft.org?

For all StarCraft.org confederates wondering what happened to the all-time number one StarCraft site, here’s a direct quote from AJ, owner and administrator of the entire Blizzard-gaming .ORG network:

Hi all!

I really must apologize for our recent downtime and overall network connectivity issues. We’re still in the process of migrating 10 years worth of website and network over to a brand new infrastructure. As I have shared with a few of you, it is an incredible new system for us and will hopefully help to alleviate most of the issues we’ve had in the last couple years.. with some room to grow.

I must admit the timing of this move was poorly placed, as I (this week) was in the middle of also moving myself and my belongings to a new apartment and getting back into the swing of things for another new school-year. This did not help our timetable in getting things transitioned.

While we await our new cluster to be fully established at a new datacenter and take the necessary time to transfer and re-initialize the sites on their new homes.. I will do all I can to make sure we will be seeing significant performance and possibly feature additions to these sites. With the coming-launch of a new ORG Diablo site, Khanduras.org, the growing pains that SC.org is experiencing for the first time in years, and the continual load that a site like WarBoards offers we’ve a lot on our plate to improve.

I do not wish to try and excuse this downtime, it’s inexcusable, but at this point necessary and unavoidable for me. We hope to be back online and running ASAP, it isn’t to anyone’s advantage for the sites to be down. Yours or mine. I can promise you we’ll have great coverage of BlizzCon in October as well as some more changes in our network as the weeks press on.

Until then, I’ll do my best to keep you all better informed of the current state of affairs, I’ve just been ridiculously busy in my personal life which always tends to pull 1:1 away from the time I spend on ORG.

<3 your local ORG Network alderman.

Right. So as AJ said above, they are moving their server machines to a new cluster datacenter, where there should be lesser down times, DNS issues, and inconnectivity problems. Plus, after the move is successful, we should expect 100% uptime of all .ORG network sites (primarily StarCraft.org), and the launching of the new Khanduras.org, a new Diablo-based site offering written articles and updates, and open discussions to all Diablo players and Diablo III enthusiasts.

Pinay Sex Scandals, Filipina Scandals and Adult Videos

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Attention! Stop! Before you begin to wonder why this blog article is like this (or before you report us to the internet authorities or the local police), and why these obscene keywords are scattered all over it, read the real content of this blog post below.

Recently, I have learned from many other respected Filipino bloggers that more than fifty percent of the world’s adult online population are scouring the interwebs for obscene and erotic videos of Filipinas. Because of that, a number of bloggers decided to conduct an experiment on attracting traffic by using the most common keywords used to find the said videos. As expected, the bloggers received a boost of internet traffic within a mere span of two days, resulting better PageRank and site visibility.

But, this isn’t the only reason why I posted this article (well yes, I am also aiming to attract more traffic =p). Another reason is because I’m joining an online blogging campaign aiming to protect the dignity of Filipinas by redirecting users to fake pages like this one, thus taking them way off course, away from seeing videos of our country’s ladies being slaughtered with lust.

If you are one of the shameful people aiming to see the videos and ended up here, stop, look, and listen. Reflect. Are you really prepared to sacrifice your purity for a mere feast of lust?

How Malware ‘Sweepers’ can fool you, and how WOT can prevent that

Recently, there’s been a massive outbreak of fake ’sweeper’ programs on the internet, most of which came from sources claiming to be authentic, and providing faked testimonials to further show off how ‘good’ their products are.

For this reason, the WOT team chose a certain advertised PC health program and tested it on a fresh Windows Vista Ultimate installation… and they were shocked of the results.

Here’s a direct quote from a circular newsletter by Deborah Salmi, a Web of Trust correspondent:

A clean installation of Windows Vista Ultimate has 572 problems!

We started with a clean install of Windows Vista Ultimate. PC Doc Pro scanned the system and found 572 problems, out of which 31 were severe! On a clean Windows Vista installation! Oh yes! The product fixes 50 problems for free, but to fix the rest, you need to buy a 30-day license that costs $29.95.

This is a good example of software that scares consumers by producing fake or false detection warnings. Misleading unaware computer users into downloading and paying for the “full” version of bogus software seems to be one emerging trend within the rogue software on the Internet.

Traditional security software doesn’t provide protection

This type of scam cannot be detected by traditional security software, since the website as such doesn’t necessarily spread malware that anti-virus or anti-spyware systems would notice. Preventive protection against fraudulent sites is provided by reputation based systems such as Web of Trust, WOT. WOT provides users a common platform where they can share their experience with websites and companies by rating sites and leaving their comments. This way the word about good and bad customer experiences will spread fast.

It is unbelievable, we know. But fraudulent sites are dangerously increasing in number around the internet, and most don’t even contain malware for anti-virus programs to detect. So how can we avoid that? Since programs don’t have their own reasoning and logical thinking capacities, you can’t just simply trust your anti-virus solution.

That’s where WOT comes into action.

Because the WOT warning system is based on sophisticated security networking and its community members’ ratings, artificial intelligence is combined with real human thinking and reasoning skills, allowing you to have the power to know whenever your security is in danger. The WOT system does not only rely on online listings, but also on real world surveys, polls, ratings, comments, suggestions, and real human activities to help you beat the danger of surfing.

With WOT, you are guaranteed an absolutely safer and more reliable internet— for free.

—Update August 30, 2008—

If you want to see the full video of PC Doc Pro Lies, visit the myWOT Internet Threats Video Examples.

BitComet vs FileHippo

It looks like we’ve got a major drama going on between one of the world’s most distiguished downloads site, FileHippo, and one of the world’s most illustrious Bittorrent downloader, BitComet.

As directly quoted from BitComet’s download page on FileHippo.com:

As of April 2008 FileHippo will no longer be updating BitComet. As they have copied the FileHippo site text, files, images and update checker and are passing it off as original work. We recommend you use a different more reputable torrent client such as uTorrent.

Upon further investigation, we’ve found the site that ripped off all of FileHippo’s original codes, downloads, and scripts… and it belongs to none other than BitComet itself.

So folks, do not continue using or supporting BitComet. For all we know, it may already be ripping off your work without you knowing about it.

How to open Microsoft Office 2007 files

I haven’t posted for quite a while, so here we go.

Yesterday, I was asked by a friend to modify a document. He wanted me to fix the grammatical errors and correct the spellings. I thought, ‘no big deal. it’s just a matter of good English knowledge and a sharp eye.‘, so I grabbed my flashdrive and got the document from him.

When I got home, I quickly copied the file to my desktop and ejected my flashdrive. And that’s where my hear-tearing experience began.

The document file was in .docx format, meaning it won’t work with my Microsoft Office Word 2003 (I hate Office 2007, it’s sluggish on my PC). I tried opening it anyway, thinking that it has a probability of being recognized by Word, but the problem was that it wasn’t. I needed to open, edit, and save it… and fast.

So I instantly went to Google to search for methods of opening Office 2007 files, and luckily, I found three extremely easy-to-do techniques:

1.) Online Conversion

There are many sites that offer ‘free’ file conversions, but most of them don’t actually work and in turn download malicious codes to your PC. But thank heavens, there’s Zamzar. Zamzar is a web-based free file conversion utility, which can convert almost any file to any compatible file type. It offers instant file conversions, video downloading and conversion (download and convert videos from sites like YouTube, Metacafe, Google Videos, etc.), and online file storage and management.

All you need to do is upload your file (in this case, the Word 2007 .docx file), have Zamzar convert it to a desired related filetype (in our case, to a Word 2003 .doc file), and have Zamzar send the email download link to your email address.

Note: For some reasons, Zamzar does not provide the download link on-site. It will need your email address and send you the download link there. For free users, this can take a minimum of ten minutes and a maximum of 24 hours.

2.) MS Office Compatibility Pack

Another easy workaround is to install the MS Office 2003 to 2007 Compatibility Pack, a free and lightweight application that modifies MS Office 2003 modules to support 2007 formats. I’ve tried and tested this myself, and I recommend it for users not wanting to rely on internet-based services. It also makes things a little bit more convenient and would reduce hassle.

3.) Manual Data Extraction

Office 2007 files are just zipped-XML files. Meaning they are only organized XML files contained in a zip archive. Actually, if you change their formats to .zip, you would be able to browse their internal structures. Try it!

This method is recommended if you only need to extract media files such as images or other embedded files from a Office 2007 file. I do this quite a lot, and I’m always satisfied with the results.

Remember, there’s no real need to install a sluggish Office 2007 on your PC if all you need is file compatibility. Enjoy!

PCB Recommends: WOT – Web of Trust (Firefox Addon)

Last time, I posted a list of 15 Freeware Programs that PC Buster Loves and noticeably, I’ve put an add-on called WOT on the top of the Firefox Addons list.

WHAT IS WOT?

WOT, or Web of Trust, is an online community led by a team of dedicated people aiming to provide a more enjoyable, safer, and more secure internet for everyone. It provides early warning systems for every link pointing to sites that may potentially contain malware, spyware, phishing, fraud transaction scripts, pornography, and various other things that surfers would hate to encounter.

And no, WOT was not established just for that. WOT also offers comphrehensive social site statistics, such as a site’s reputation, popularity, and social references where links pointing to the target site were found.

By becoming a member of the WOT community, you are given the power to:

• Rate sites according to how you find it Trustworthy, Reliable, Privacy-Secure, and Child Safe
• Post comments and/or reviews of sites, and how you like or dislike a certain site
• See how much a site is linked to by other social communities
• See which online references point to a site
• Join discussions with other WOT members and staff personnel
• Share your experiences with other members
• …and much more!

Joining is easy, even easier than taking a break and refreshing yourself with a drink, as my cousin says. All you have to do is download the necessary browser plugin, and from there you’ll be guided accordingly.

HOW WILL WOT PROTECT ME?

After you have downloaded the proper plugin for your browser, WOT will display miniature (”O” or ring) icons near every external link found within a page, with the following color codes: Green for safe or “Excellent”, Yellow for potentially unsafe or “Unsatisfactory”, and Red for dangerous or “Poor”. The plugin will also display yellow strip banners at the top of the browser window when alerting you of the dangerous content of the site you’re currently on.

WOT’s default configuration however, does not limit the ability of the user from accessing an unwanted site. By default, it will only display warnings and notifications, and will not restrict access whatsoever. Entering sites marked “Poor” should be done at your own risk. A bit of tweaking in the WOT Settings on the other hand, can make WOT totally block dangerous sites.

Update (Aug 10 2008)! Finally! An official correspondent from WOT explains to us how WOT really protects its users:

As directly quoted from Esa’s comment on this post:

I would like to clarify where WOT gets it information: First, all WOT members can rate sites and enter comments. Secondly, WOT gathers information from trusted sources such as phishing site listings (such as Phistank, DNS-BH, hpHosts, Artists Against 419) and spam black lists (such as Spamcops). WOT uses patented algorithms that process the ratings based on the reliability of each source. Altogether WOT has hundreds of trusted sources.

WOT has been developed with the individual Internet user in mind. By gathering information from large amount of sources we want to give our members an easy-to-use tool that protects them against online threats. Some of the threats are caused by malicious code, some of them are caused by unreliable online shops or crooks that have built their websites simply to scam people.

A virus can be detected by running an anti-virus software. Detecting a phishing site or other Internet scams requires human thinking. That’s why we think that our people-driven approach is great! See an example of the WOT Security Scorecard of a dangerous site at http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/errorsafe.com
http://www.mywot.com/en/scorecard/beijingticketing.com
This latter one is the fraudulent site that scammed people who wanted to by tickets for the Olympics.

Tested, tried, and acclaimed by many professional security experts, WOT truly is providing a safer and more convenient surfing experience for everybody. To get started and become safer right now, begin by visiting the WOT home page, and follow by downloading the appropriate plugin for your browser.

Download WOT Now and be safer

Good luck, and happy browsing!

Note: For best results and for an even safer online experience, use in conjunction with OpenDNS.

Regards to the WOT Team especially Deborah Salmi for the extreme friendliness and openness towards clients, and Esa for the clarifications. More power to you guys!

“WOT is w00t”

–THE PC BUSTER