FREE Drugs and FREE Programs

Users should consider the offer of FREE software with the same caution and care that they give to the offer of FREE drugs!

1. WHO is giving me this? Is it someone you know and trust in a reputable establishment? There is a difference between your physician giving you samples of a prescription and packet of pills from a stranger. In computer programs and apps, there is a difference between software recommended by another computer user you know and trust and one offerred by a clip art image on a website or a link in a curios email from a stranger.
    
2. WHERE am I getting this? Are you at a club (or website) with a lot of flashing lights and suspicious activity in an unknown area? This is probably not a safe place to get drugs or software. If you are at pharmacy or doctor’s office with certificates on the wall which has recommend by others you trust in a well established and maintained environment, the products have a better chance of being safe and effective.
    
3. WHY am I getting this? Is this software or drug prescribed after diagnostic that you sought to solve a problem you have? Reputable doctors and pharmacists don’t call you at home to tell you you’re sick and need to this miracle cure. Neither do reputable computer software companies. Disconnect and, IF you have a concern, seek advice from your choice of enthusiast friends or recommended professionals.

These practices won’t protect you absolutely in life or on-line. Nothing will. But practicing similar caution between what you put in your body and what you put in your computer will help you keep your computer healthy.

Update on Tuesday, May 6, 2014 at 9:41AM by Christy Ramsey

Think you are protected because you have an antivirus? Here’s a link to an article in the Wall Street Journal on May 4, 2014 where Symantec (Norton Antivirus) states they catch less than HALF of the malware attacking computers.

Symantec Develops New Attack on Cyberhacking

Declaring Antivirus Software Dead, Firm Turns to Minimizing Damage From Breaches

Symantec Develops New Attack on CyberhackingDeclaring Antivirus Software Dead,
Firm Turns to Minimizing Damage From Breaches

10 Reasons To Use PDF files instead of Word files

Ever get a poster, announcement, or handout in Word format that wouldn’t print right? If the person sent the information in PDF (Portable Document Format) you could print with confidence from any computer on any printer. PDF was designed to make printing easy regardless of the varieties of computer and printer combinations.

Here are 10 reasons PDF files are better for distributing information than Microsoft Word files, (which are made for easy editing not universal distribution and printing.)

1. Word reformats documents every time it opens a document on a different computer.
2. Word reformats docs every time a different printer is chosen even on the same computer.
3. This reformatting can change page numbers on long documents, ruining references and producing different versions for different people.
4. Reformatting can put hyphens in the middle of sentences making meaning of words harder to understand (mis-son or mission?).
5. Old versions of Word cannot open versions formatted for newer versions of Word (2007 vs, 2003 vs, 2000 vs. 97).
6. Word documents can easily be changed either accidentally or for reasons not agreeable to the author.
7. Every version of Word (or Word with add-ons to view different versions of Word files) is not available on all computers 
8. Free PDF viewers are easily available while Word is a commerical program that users must pay to obtain and upgrade.
9. PDF is created for electronic distribution and use on a wide variety of computer configurations.
10. PDF can be easily opened and viewed from the web sites.

PDF viewers

You probably already have one on your computer.  

Adobe is the creator of PDF and has the most common reader It is free, but I recommend unchecking the option box that installs McAfee Security Scan.

FoxIt Reader is also free and less demanding on computers. 

Making a PDF file

Version 2007 of Microsoft Office has a free download plug-in that will save files as PDF

Recent versions of Wordperfect have a built-in option to print to PDF

PrimoPDF has a free version that installs as a “printer” that prints by saving a PDF version of the document (or any file) to your computer.

CutePDF also installs as a “printer”

Wikipedia has a list of other PDF programs 

Online options (nothing to install!) include NitroPDF’s free pdftoword and Adobe’s CreatePDF (previously free, an annual paid subscription required) You send a file via a web page and they email you a link to download the PDF file in a few hours.

The original post was on Eastminster Presbytery’s website.