This is an older article which originally appeared in the Register-News.

Of course I’m using sarcasm. Search is one of the best tools there is for finding information you need on the web. Search is used to the point that Google is now recognized formally as a verb, as in to google something.

Unfortunately, the mainstream news is using the slight increase in ‘drive-by’ infections to create hype and scare people. Drive-by infections are when you search for a photo, news, etc. and then become infected with malware (virus, etc.) just by visiting the site. By now I would hope you know that viruses can be hidden in web pages, photos, screensavers, Word documents, and pretty much anything else you use on a PC.

So, use common sense along with antivirus/firewall, and don’t go to questionable sites searching for questionable material. Check with reputable sites you know for news or gossip about your favorite stars or topics. They do get infections as well, but VERY rarely. Mainstream sites pay a lot of money to keep themselves secure, and usually it works out well for them.

As a warning, a Windows computer connected to the Internet is infected within 4 minutes on average. This is from a source I trust that has done much research into the matter. Also, a friend recently purchased a new PC from a chain. He did not listen to my advice and install antivirus/firewall right away. One day later, he called me with a problem, and the end result was that he was infected. Within one day.

I jokingly tell people that if they knew how evil the Internet is that they wouldn’t connect. Unfortunately, that is the reality. Without antivirus/firewall, you are like my buddy who didn’t protect himself – open and ripe for attack. Whether it really is four minutes or one day, wouldn’t you rather keep your PC controlled by you instead of a virus?

So, while the mainstream is saying that ‘search’ is the latest evil predator of the Internet, it is the same threat that has always been there. The same advice still applies – antivirus/firewall, antivirus/firewall, antivirus/firewall…  Get the point?

In addition, stay away from questionable sites and questionable material. If you need to find something and don’t know where to look or whom to trust, send me an email. I’ll answer as best I can to help you, that’s kind of why I do this column.

Recently, I have found a new antivirus/firewall that comes in one neat package, is free for home use, and has been tested by some friends for awhile now – Comodo (http://comodo.com). If you are looking for change or needing something, go check them out and download the FREE version. There is also a pay version, but you probably don’t need it.

As always, email with thoughts, concerns, questions, and fan mail to askageek@register-news.com .

Earlier today I was in St. Louis adjusting some machines at our St. Louis Datacenter, and everything went well. I was on my way home about 1130 after only being there since 930. This was shaping up to be a good day. Then I started hearing strange noises and pulled off at the Shiloh exit. Apparently the valve stem on my tire was broken. I limped home on the spare and headed to the tire shop to get back up to speed. Since they have WiFi available, I did not have to miss out on work. This brings me to my question for you, readers: Do people consider or prefer businesses that have WiFi available for public use?

WiFi is not the reason I prefer this tire shop, but on a Monday where I have a flat tire, it does make it much simpler to get things done. So I looked around and started wondering if people do make decisions about where to shop and do things based upon connectivity.

Maybe on a day when I’m working from home and feel like a coffee, I’ll head to a shoppe that has WiFi so I don’t have to grab my ‘joe’ and go. A number of places are advertising connectivity for customers, and I’m curious if any of you base where you shop on whether you can hop online with your laptop, Droid, or other machine.

Are geeks the only people who prefer businesses with free WiFi? I find that hard to believe since fast food restaurants, coffee shops, and even truck stops make a very defined effort to let you know that WiFi or other Internet access is available for use. Maybe it is just the flavor of the month for everyone to offer wireless at their locations.

Surely someone out there can tell us whether the geeks are alone in paying attention, or if Joe Everyman pays attention too. Let me know if WiFi affects your decision of where to go or where to shop at askageek@register-news.com

This is a reprint originally in the Register-News some time back.

No, not really. You’re reading this, aren’t you? The line was uttered by the character Egon Spengler in the movie Ghostbusters, and I’m sure it has been said by many other people in many other instances. Fortunately for yours truly, and many others, print is far from dead. However, many technology advances may change how we consume news, books, and other traditionally printed material.

The easiest culprit to blame is the Internet. News sites, funeral home obituaries, blogs, and so much more are attempting to gain market share over traditional outlets of information. While these sites can do a decent job of providing national/international news and some opinions, they can in no way compare to local newspapers and their reporters for local and regional news.

Traditional newspapers will dominate this landscape for quite some time since Yahoo and other sites simply cannot maintain a full staff of reporters to cover every region. Thankfully, local media like the Register-News are realizing their expertise is their greatest strength. For example, the Register-News keeps a very active online presence at http://www.register-news.com . Most stories in the print edition can also be found online. Residents near and far can also discuss most anything on the R-N forums.

Books open a whole different realm of possibilities for a very print-oriented business. Generally, if you want to read a book you can buy it at your local store, borrow from the library, or perhaps borrow from a friend. Today, we are faced with some very decent e-book readers, iPhones, and laptop computers to read our favorite titles.

Amazon was first (or very close) to market with their Kindle e-reader. However, several entries have since come along to compete with the Kindle. All of them are pretty easy to read, use very little electricity, and support several formats. With the reasonably new ‘e-ink’ technology, the page is setup on the screen, and you read. The battery is only used when you choose to change the page, and the process repeats.

Unless you have a long wait, commute, or are just a geek, you probably don’t have an e-reader. However, if you are a college student, imagine how much lighter your bag could be by using one thin, light e-reader instead of several very heavy textbooks. Seems to be a great tool in that regard, and if you like to sit in bed and read. With a built-in backlight, e-readers can allow you to turn off the light to let your mister or misses go to sleep while not straining your eyes.

While print is far from dead, new technologies are providing us with new ways to use and view our content. Let us know what you think of our online content, and if you have any experience with e-readers. Personally, I would love to have one to try out and am really curious how well they work from someone with firsthand experience.

This is a reprint originally seen in the Register-News some time ago.

Today in our world of online sales, overnight shipping, ship to store, and direct-from-China orders the art of haggling for a deal seems to be a thing of the past. About the only time people negotiate today is for a car or maybe a house. Even those classic examples are fading with value lookups on the Internet.

Everyone seems to think that any price at a retail store is set by corporate and nothing can be  done to save some money except for a sale. For the most part, they are right. Corporations set prices and the chains can do nothing to offer a better deal even if you beg and plead.

The exception to this example happens when there is a return or discontinued item. When these conditions happen then the rules change and haggling can begin. Each place has their own rules and your results may vary, but here are tips that I’ve learned over the past few years.

My first example is Best Buy. You can check their stock online by location at bestbuy.com including their open-box returns and closeout merchandise. If you are in the market for a certain kind of product then you can check your closest stores for that product and then negotiate in-store for an even lower price. This method saved me $500 on the purchase of a TV a few years ago.

Up next is Lowes Home Improvement. I’m sure most of us have seen products that were returned or mildly damaged on Saturdays with bright yellow reduced price stickers. If you didn’t know, these prices can be negotiated even lower than what is on the tag. We have negotiated $30 returned paint to $10, and a $500 dishwasher to $175. Be sure to check behind the top right corner of the tag – that’s where the markdowns and dates are written down. The longer something has been on the floor, the better chance you can get a great deal.

Finally, our local Sears is closing, but they do offer some great deals on scratch, dent, and closeout as well. Sears also has a closeout (outlet) location on their site where you can check what is available by department. Sadly, Sears does not allow employees to drop prices in my experience but you can use the online site to check by location for your needs. We scored a great deal on a high efficiency washer and dryer set using this method. Watch for their prices to be updated or dropped every Sunday morning if you find something you like.

You have to be sure you’re comfortable buying something that may have a ding, scratch, or have been repaired. Our appliances were all brand new and we had the benefit of the full warranty. This made it easy for us to take the savings with little to no risk. I would imagine that any loss the company takes on these product discounts is written off as damaged merchandise for tax purposes.

Go out and get back to haggling! Your money should stay in your pocket as much as possible, right? Have tips or comments? Tweet me @DanVoyles or email me using askageek@register-news.com.

This is a reprint that originally appeared in the Register-News some time ago.

Rick Hicks from our forums suggested that I write about how to create an FTP server to share files that are too big to email. This is a very good idea, but we try to keep this column targeted toward general knowledge. Building and configuring an FTP server is not impossible by any means, but it is beyond the scope of this column.

Instead of trying to instruct everyone about File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Domain Name Server (DNS), port forwarding through a firewall (aren’t you running one by now?), file permissions, and the other pieces of an FTP server we found something much easier – Dropbox.

Dropbox (getdropbox.com) is an extremely simple program to use on any PC. Like most programs, you will just download the software, install, and begin using the program. Nothing much to do on the surface of Dropbox but to drop your files into a share in the Dropbox folder and then share the folder via an email invitation with whomever you want. Pretty simple to do for anyone.

Underneath the simple surface, what the program does is more involved than many realize. When you place a file in the Dropbox folder or your shared folder, the Dropbox software begins copying the file to your account on the Dropbox server. Then, when you access your Dropbox account from another computer or someone who you have shared with starts their computer, the Dropbox software downloads the file in the background.

The end result of this hidden uploading and downloading is that you can place pictures of the kids in a folder, share it with grandma, and her computer downloads it automatically. Need to share a project for school? Put it in Dropbox and share it. Everyone can see the file and work on it as needed.

Dropbox is not the only software or service to perform these functions, but I find it very easy and use it myself. Their file transfer is encrypted, as is the information on their servers. Personally, I do not recommend putting anything sensitive like passwords or financial information in your Dropbox, but I’m paranoid. Their security is pretty good for common use if you’re not trading government secrets.

Dropbox is free to use for up to 2GB of information. They also offer paid subscriptions of $99 for 50GB of space or $199 for 100GB of space. If you can get away with using that amount of space, I strongly recommend using them for an easy backup. Bear in mind, this service (like most) is best used with a broadband Internet connection such as cable, wireless, or even DSL.

Please give Dropbox a shot and let me know what you think.