As you create new entries, you will see them listed in the “entry tree”, just below the calendar. When you first bring up a new entry date, it won’t be listed in the tree. Once you start typing, though, the entry will show up.

You can give this entry a Calendar Charm by pressing Ctrl+F2. The small graphical icon you select will be displayed on the calendar for this entry. Use Calendar Charms to mark important entries and add a personal touch to The Journal! You can also insert Calendar Charms in your entries, by pressing Shift+F2:

• Announcements of The Journal’s latest releases and updates.
• Tips and Tricks of using The Journal.
• Articles about journaling.
• Special journaling- and writing-exercises.
• And more!

There’s no doubt that cloud computing has made a huge splash in our technologically ubiquitous society. Its benefits help businesses with productivity and give consumers more convenience about back-ups and data storage. Still, there are a few issues that should be addressed for anyone, whether a business owner or average Joe computer user, before making the jump to any cloud computing solution.

Reduced Control

The popular concept of cloud computing involves offloading and archiving pertinent files and data to an off-site 3rd party company which guarantees virtually 100% uptime and secure access anytime anywhere. The problem is that you’re basically having another entity hang on to your confidential information which reduces the amount of control you have over that information. In addition, you have no idea where your information is being stored.

What if, for example, your data is managed by a 3rd party cloud service company whose computer servers are located in Niger and due to an anti-government uprising, the cloud company’s infrastructure is compromised? You would have no idea whether your data was saved and moved to another location or if the data itself was possibly compromised by unauthorized parties. Granted, the chance of this happening is probably low but the big picture is that you’re virtually powerless in safeguarding your own information against issues from the external environment. Regarding Murphy’s Law, many cloud service companies pitch a near-100% uptime guarantee but there is still a chance the service could be unavailable (due to system malfunctions or maintenance) during the time when you need it the most.

Legal Issues

Using cloud services also presents a potential legal headache for both you and the hosting company. For example, cloud service provider Dropbox recently experienced a security breach in which all accounts were accessible by entering ANY password for approximately four hours. While Dropbox was able to rectify the issue promptly, one of their users is now filing a lawsuit for the security issue.

What if you had personal (or company) information that was compromised? What legal recourse would you have? Basically it means there would be extra work for you (and your legal team) having to deal with straightening things out, (such as breach of contract and/or having to find another cloud service provider). For cloud service users looking to store music into their respective digital lockers, external parties such as music label companies have raised a legal uproar about Amazon’s cloud music service which could make it difficult, in the long-run, about what type of data can be stored on a cloud.

Proactive Measures

While there is zero way to completely prevent any type of cloud service issue, there are a few steps you can take to minimize the chance of having one of these issues compromise your confidential personal or business information.

First, it would be logical to adopt a “Don’t keep all your eggs in one basket” approach which means only uploading the pertinent data that needs to be accessible to the necessary company personnel.

For example, if you have sales personnel traveling to Europe for a trade show and they need cloud access, it would be wise to not leave your Finance, Competitive Strategy and Company Financial Statements available on the cloud.

You can also specify exactly, which employee(s) are allowed access to your cloud servers and make them aware of the heightened security involved with such access. (Increased accountability with updated IT security access/policies)

Next, you can also use a 3rd party encryption program such as True Crypt and encrypt all information before uploading it to your cloud service. This provides redundant security on two counts.

1. First, your data would be useless if intercepted (in any way) by unauthorized parties. (unless they can break through True Crypt’s ridiculously-tough encryption)
2. Second, if the cloud service’s infrastructure is compromised, your information is still useless to anyone except you or your employees. You can also save a copy of all your confidential information on your own secure personal or company network which provides an alternative access point in case the cloud service goes down for any reason.

The big picture is that with all this technology that’s continuously revolutionizing our personal and company lives, you should always approach new technological solutions with a balanced perspective, weighing both the pros and cons while considering what steps can be taken to keep your digital life secure.

Coming this fall, iOS users will be getting a an upgrade to their mobile OS, one that adds over 200 new features to the already popular line of iDevices. With this many features, it might be hard to get a handle on just how some of these new features are going to affect your experience.

In this TechTip, I’m going over the top 5 new features in iOS 5 that can change the way you use your iDevice.

iMessage

Do you want to cancel your text messaging plan because it’s too expensive? Okay, you probably won’t be able to do that right away with iMessage, but it might be enough to subscribe to a lesser plan. With iMessage, all iOS 5 devices will be able to send text, images, video, locations, and contats with all other iOS devices, over Wi-Fi or 3G, for free. Data rates will still apply, of course, but you’ll be free from the limits of messaging plans. This is a big move for Apple to get you, your family, and your friends to all use iDevices so nobody will be left out of the conversation.

Notification Center

How many times have you done this? You pull out your iPhone, you swipe to unlock and just before it unlocks, you see you have a notification, but it’s too late; you’ve already swiped and the message is gone. Unless there’s a badge to let you know where it came from, that message is gone. To cure this problem, Apple’s borrowing an Android-style method that puts all the notficiations in their own app called the Notification Center. All notifications will be logged here, and you’ll be able to see the most recent notifications on the lockscreen at a glance.

Camera App

I’m sure you don’t have to try hard to imagine this next scenario: you’re witnessing something momentous, you remember your iPhone is also a camera, so you pull it out and get ready to snap a photo, but you have to unlock the screen, touch the Camera app, and wait for it to open. It’s not something that ruins usage of the phone, and it’s on par with having to dig out a dedicated point-and-shoot digital camera, but it still leaves something to be desired. With the new and improved Camera app, you’ll be able to start it right from the lockscreen. Better than that, you’ll be through with doing that awkward maneuver you do when trying to snap a photo while touching the button on the touchscreen, because the Volume Up button will be the new capture button.

iCloud

There are more than just photos and videos stored on my iPhone. There are the many other valuable pieces of information that include phone numbers, email addresses, and appointments. iCloud is going to make managing this extremely simple at zero cost and with zero effort. Almost everything is going to be backed up to Apple’s own servers where it will be accessible by all of your registered iDevices. This will make it easy to avoid the embarrassing mass emails, tweets, or Facebook posts that tell everyone you lost your phone. There is much more to iCloud than this, but this feature alone makes it invaluable to me. The best part is that it is replacing MobileMe, a service that used to do less for nearly a hundred dollars.

PC Free, Over-the-Air Updates

Okay, I cheated, these are two features in one, but they should both be under the heading “cutting the cord” because that’s what these two are about. With PC Free setup, iDevices will no longer need to be plugged into a computer to initialize. Maybe you’ve only set up your phone once and you never plugged it in again, which is a surprisingly common scenario. With Over-the-Air Updates, you’ll be getting the latest firmware updates without having to plug in your device. You’ll still have to plug your iDevice in one last time to install iOS 5, but that could be your very last time! Removing this barrier to entry makes iOS devices even more accessible to users with very limited computer access.

With over 200 new features, these few functions barely even scratch the surface of iOS 5. Be on the look out this fall for the update.

In the last Tech Tip we touched on the differences between Facebook profile pages and Facebook “fan” pages. One major difference between the two is that you are limited to one personal profile but can have unlimited “fan” pages. Also, there is a limit of 5,000 friends (rumor is that this will be decreasing) on your profile page but there is no limit to the number of “likes” you can have. So If you’re looking to market yourself or your company on Facebook you’ll need a fan page.

This Tech Tip will address creating a page and maximizing all you can do to brand awareness, drive traffic and increase sales.

To start your page, if you’re logged in, scroll down to the footer on Facebook and click on Create A Page or you can go directly here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

Note: It is not a requirement to have a profile in order to create a business page. This is usually tied to placing a Facebook ad. But remember, Facebook is a “social” network so best practices is to have a profile.

Choose the category that best fits what you want to promote. (If you choose Local Business/ Place, that will create a Facebook Places page that we discussed in the previous Tech Tip.) Name your page, agree to the Facebook terms and Get Started. You can edit the info for your business, add an image (we’ll talk more about that in a minute) and find lots of ways to promote your new page.

You’ll notice that your new page has a very long URL such as: http://www.facebook.com/pages/YourPageName/241427782536616

Once you have 25 LIKES for your page you will be able to go in and edit that URL at http://www.facebook.com/username and select something easier to remember.

TIP ALERT: Be laser specific in choosing the right name for your niche. Do it wisely, with search engine optimization in mind, as you’re locked in once you make your choice. You will, however, be able to change the name as it appears on the page just by going to Edit Page and then Basic Information. Once you reach 100 LIKES however, you will not be able to change it.

Since this is primarily a “business” page you may want (and highly recommended) to have someone else also administer or manage your Page, especially if you hire a Social Media Manager. Go to Edit Page and then Manage Admins and add the new name. Manage Permissions will allow you to hide the Page until you are ready to launch and set other parameters. This is also where you will choose what landing page you want new visitors to see. You want to encourage interaction so don’t be too restrictive.

Going forward you will be able to access your Page by clicking on the link in the left hand nav. If you only have one page you’ll see a flag followed by the page name. If you have more than one page you’ll see the flag followed by Pages.

Images and Landing Page

Make the most of the Profile Picture real estate to promote yourself. It’s 540 pixels high and 180 pixels wide so do include your business URL, if you have one, and whatever you would use for your elevator pitch. You can also utilize the Photostrip banner images that we talked about last time. The only difference between the Profile Banner and Page Banner is the pictures are not static on the Page and will rotate. You’d think it would be the other way around and maybe one day Facebook will give you the option. You can create 97×68 thumbnails or how about creating a landing page/ad to promote your business.

To do this, start by making an image 720px by 720px and place the image that you want to appear in the thumbnail in an area 534px by 374px.The measurement of the “thumbnail area’” is the same 97×68 ratio that Facebook will shrink it to, and a location of 89px down and 94px in should do the trick. Adjust as needed.

You can go bigger or stick to the 97×68 ratio for the whole image but you’ll need to figure out where the thumbnail area needs to go. The 720 x 720 should work just fine.

Using the larger size allows you to add text to your image, a call to action, URL address or whatever you like – a sales page, info page etc.This may be out of reach for some novices but you can always have someone else create the image for you like fiverr.com, Elance or odesk.com.

Now that you have the images ready for your Photostrip, you’ll need to upload them and turn them into landing pages/ads. Just click on Photos in the left side bar of your Fan Page and then the +Upload Photos link. Upload your images and name the album. Once you’ve done that you can then enter a description for each one in the Description field – you can always change the description later.

You could say something like “Click here to get my free eBook of tips and tricks” followed by a link to the destination page on your web site where they can sign up for the eBook.

Publish the images. When a visitor clicks on one, it will expand to full size in the photo viewer and your relevant hyperlink will be underneath in the description field. It’s a good idea to upload the images one at a time over a few days. That way every time that you upload a new image, it will appear in your fans’ Newsfeeds with the description and link. Finally, remember that Facebook will display them randomly so be consistent with the overall look and feel of your Page.

Who Am I

Earlier this year, Facebook started to allow you to post on other Pages as your Page. To assume the identity of your Page, look in the right hand nav bar under Admins and you’ll see Use Facebook As ‘PageName’, click on that and you have a new Facebook Identity. You can toggle back and forth. You cannot “friend” a person as a Page, you can only LIKE and post on other Pages. This is a handy tool to help with your branding.

Insightful

If you’ve promoted your business online, you should be familiar with Google Analytics or other analytics packages. Facebook does a great job of providing you with its own analytics tool called Insights. Again, under that right hand nav, you’ll see View Insights. This will take you to the Insights page where you can review your Page stats, see viewer demographics (click See Details after Users) and Interactions.

Edgier the Better

As discussed previously, Facebook just doesn't serve up everything your friends post to their Wall. They have their own algorithm, much like the search engines, to determine the content you see. Similar to Google’s Page Rank, this is called Edge Rank. (An Edge is any object that appears in a Newsfeed.) It’s based on 3 key factors:

AFFINITY – how often you and your friend/fan interact

WEIGHT -whether your content has been liked, commented on or shared. Weight increases in that order: like, comment, share.

TIME DELAY – the older the object is, the less important it is.

TAKEAWAY: Post often and encourage people to respond. To increase traffic to your page, spend 20-30 minutes a day on Facebook. Fifty percent of that time should be on your page adding content, commenting on content/comments, sharing others’ content, tweaking it etc. Encourage people to respond to your content by posing a question or use the Poll feature. Spend the remaining 50% on other people’s Pages – sharing, commenting and liking.

One trick is to click the “Share” link under a Newsfeed story, click on the down arrow next to “On Your Own Wall”. Four additional options will appear including posting to Groups and on your Page.

Note: If there is no content in the post, the “share” option will not appear.

You can’t buy attention anymore. It used to be “pay to play” now it’s “play to play”. You have to interact and engage with your audience.

IFrame It

One of the main reasons businesses are now flocking to Facebook is the introduction of iFrames back in March 2011. Prior to that, the only way you could pimp out your page was to use their limited proprietary application Static FBML. Now thanks to iFrames you can build your own web site right there within Facebook. Your Page can incorporate video, opt-in script, whatever you can create in HTML and import into the iFrame. You’re still limited to the 520px width for your content. No restriction on length.

This opens up the ability to create tabs the way you want them. You can create a Welcome tab that visitors see before clicking the LIKE button. I’m sure you’ve seen them. Would you like to create your own tab? Let’s take the mystery out of creating an app.

An App A Day

First, assuming you have your own web site or landing page: go to http://developers.facebook.com click Apps in the top bar, then +Create New App, jump through their security hoops and give your app a name such as “Welcome”. Fill in the captcha. Then you will be on the Basic Info page. Click On Facebook in the left hand nav. Don’t get overwhelmed, you only have to fill in three of the fields:

1. Canvas URL is the URL of the web site you want to appear in the 520px area. Enter it there with a forward slash at the end http://www.example.com/

2. Tab Name – Welcome

3. Tab URL – same as the Canvas URL without the forward slash http://www.example.com

Save Changes, then click on View App Profile Page in the left hand nav. This will bring up your App page and click on Add to Page in the left hand nav. If you have more than one Page, choose the one you want your tab to appear on. Done. Now go to your Page and you should see your new Tab there. Look ma, I created an app! But for those of you who feel this is a bit adventurous, there are plenty of ready-to-go apps like iFrames.wildfireapp.com or Lujure.

To make your new tab specific for first time visitors, go to Edit Page, click on Manage Permissions, then the drop down menu for Default Landing Tab and choose (in our example) Welcome. Now your new visitors will see that tab first. After they LIKE your page, they’ll only see your Wall.

As you can see the possibilities are endless with creating your own apps.

If you create your own HTML landing page, remember to stay within the 520px width limit. If you don’t have your own web site or landing page, you can try out these templates: Chris Farrell iFrame Templates. They are plenty of free hosting sites, just ask the Google.

Wrap Up

As we talked about last time, Facebook is constantly in motion. There’s talk of significant changes to the “Page” coming soon. In fact, Mark Zuckerberg announced on July 6, 2011, not only are they rolling out the video chat but that there will be lots of changes to Facebook in the coming weeks and months.

If you would like to learn more about Facebook, I highly recommend these sites: allfacebook, MariSmith.com and chrisfarrellmembership.com (scroll down for free Recorded Webinars with excellent tips on how to drive traffic to your Facebook page) and SocialMediaExaminer.

BONUS TIPS

If you want to stay on top of the most current Facebook scams, LIKE the Facecrooks page.

Yes, Facebook can be wonky and a bit buggy so LIKE this page Known Issues on Facebook.

By Violet Blue | August 1, 2011, 11:37pm PDT

Click here to download Trillian v5.x!

Facebook 101

Tech Tips first reviewed Facebook back in 2009 . At that time there were “only” 200 million Facebook users and was pretty straight forward in terms of a social media tool. Fast forward two years and we find that Facebook has grown to 700 million users worldwide, is a major Internet player about to go IPO, host to a Presidential Town Hall Meeting and an instigating factor in the Spring Uprisings in Tunisia and the Middle East. Its impact on the world stage cannot be denied. It has saved lives of those who posted medical emergencies, alerted to potential suicides, rallied around animal causes, charitable issues. And yes, there’s even been the criminal posting his stand-off with a SWAT Team as it unfolds.

In fact, it has become so ubiquitous that you cannot read any magazine, visit any web site or watch any commercial without seeing the Facebook logo in some form. That’s a long, long way from the little web site initially conceived in a college dorm room for geeky guys to rate their female classmates.

Most Recent/Top News

So you think you’re hot stuff because you have 4,396 “friends”. Wow, your news is reaching a lot of people. Not. Facebook doesn’t necessarily serve up everything you post to everyone on your friends list. In the top right hand corner of your News Feed you’ll see Top News/Most Recent. The default is Top News.

Using its own blend of secret sauce, Facebook serves up what it determines is most noteworthy for you to view – which friends are indeed the most engaged with you and Facebook in general. If they post quite often, “like” things and share, chances are you’ll be seeing them in your feed. If you want to be seen, interact and engage with your Facebook community. We’ll uncover more about this secret sauce in the next Tech Tip.

If you’d like to see everything that is being posted by your friends, then click the Most Recent tab. To have some control over what appears, click the drop down tab there and you’ll be able to select from Status Updates, Pages, Photos, Links and more. The Edit Options link will let you choose who you’d like (or not like) to see posts from.

Pro Tip:

Another way to pare down what you see is to organize your friends into Lists which is one of the options on that drop down menu. Start by going to http://www.facebook.com/friends. Click create a List and add the friends you want to group. If you then go to Edit My Profile and click on Featured People. Under Featured Friends you can now add the group or list you just created. Save your changes and return to your profile. You’ll see your Lists on the left hand nav bar for easy access.

Tagging

In addition to tagging people in photos, you can tag your friends or pages that you follow in your status updates. The great thing about this is that your status post will then appear on the Wall of that person or page. It used to require first using the @ sign, as in Twitter, to tag someone else. Facebook will now intuitively offer suggestions for you to choose from. If that doesn’t happen, you can still access the list by using the @ symbol. Once you’ve made your choice the name will be highlighted and hyperlinked to their Facebook profile or page. If you don’t want to show the person’s full name, you can always delete the last name and the hyperlink will remain.

One new controversial Facebook tool is facial recognition in photos. This simplifies the somewhat tedious tagging process that enables you to connect a face in a photo with an actual Facebook friend. Again, Facebook provides suggestions for individuals in photos for you to choose from.

Some privacy advocates have concerns that this feature is enabled by default. here’s how you disable it:

1. Go to your privacy settings.
2. Click “Customize settings.”
3. Scroll down to “Things others share.”
4. Find “Suggest photos of me to friends.
5. Edit accordingly.

You do have the option of untagging photos you've been tagged in by going to the photo and then click your name. There is no option to prevent friends from tagging you in photos, but you can prevent others from seeing the photos via your tagged name by adjusting your privacy settings.

Banner Me Up

You’ll notice a row of 5 images at the top of your profile. They are 97×68 thumbnails of pictures that you’ve been tagged in. If there is an image that you don’t want displayed, simply hover over it until you see an ‘x” in the top right hand corner. Click the “x” and the image is hidden but not deleted. This feature allows you to control your “banner”, so to speak. You can create your own using Photoshop, Picnik or some other image editing software. You start with a 485 x 68 banner and divide it into five 97×68 images. You will then tag yourself in each image but the key to remember is that the last image tagged will show on the left hand side. There are apps out there to help you create something fun or representative of you such as Profile Banner or Banner Maker .

Facebook Places

Much like Yelp, Gowalla and Foursquare, Facebook Places lets you “check-in” to locations using a smartphone. You can tag yourself or other friends as well. We haven’t heard much about Facebook Places yet but stay tuned.

What’s Happening

Facebook is currently testing a new feature called the “Happening Now” feed on a very small percentage of Facebook users. It allows you to see what your friends are commenting on and “liking” in real time. Facebook has a habit of rolling out new features with no warning, so you never know what you might see when you log in. Rumor has it that Happening Now is going to replace the Most Recent tab we discussed earlier. Some changes aren’t always well accepted but let’s face it, it’s free and Mark Zuckerberg can do whatever he wants.

Secure Connection

It’s a little known fact but Facebook does offer secure browsing (https) as an opt-in feature. When you enable this, all of your activity on Facebook becomes encrypted, making it harder for anyone else to access your information without your permission. (Not yet an option for mobile) The only possible downside is that this feature MAY impede your ability to access iframe content on Facebook pages. Turn on secure browsing by going to your Account Settings page.Click the "Change" link next to Account Security, check the box under "Secure Browsing (https)" and then click the "Save" button.

Privacy

No matter what your privacy settings, as recent news events have demonstrated, what’s posted on Facebook doesn’t stay on Facebook. Exercise some caution and good judgement. If you have second thoughts and want to cancel a post, or if you “drunk posted”, you can delete it by hovering over your comment and clicking the “x” in the top right hand corner. The movie was called “Social Network” for a reason, it allows you to share just about anything and everything within your community. It’s your responsibility to oversee what limits you want to place on that sharing of information. If you don’t want Facebook to share your phone number or home address, then don’t give it to them. There’s no requirement for such personal data to have a Facebook profile. Do yourself a favor and periodically review your privacy settings to make sure they are in alignment with your comfort zone for sharing.

The Job You Save May Be Your Own

Security and Privacy take on a whole new meaning when you learn, as reported by Forbes, that in June 2011 the Federal Trade Commission gave its stamp of approval to a background check company that screens job applicants based on their Internet photos and posts.The FTC determined that Social Intelligence Corp. was indeed Fair Credit Reporting Act compliant.This means a search of what you’ve said or posted on Facebook/Twitter/Flickr/blogs etc., may become a standard part of job application background checks.

If that doesn’t make you reconsider posting those f-bombs, bong pictures and semi-nude images, I don’t know what will.

You’ve Got A Friend and a Friend and a Friend…

Let’s say you’ve maxed out at the 5,000 friends that Facebook allows you to have. Do you really know that many people? There are instances of Facebook cutting you off even before you hit the magic number. Once you’re done, you’re done. No amount of deleting “friends” will free up space for new people. So choose wisely when accepting that next friend invitation.

If you’re really using Facebook to promote yourself or your business then you should consider setting up a Facebook page where you can have an unlimited number of fans.

The 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo wrapped up in early June and like every year, it was filled with excitement for the video game industry and its fans. If you missed this year’s show, not to worry; photos, trailers, demos, and more are available to watch from the comfort of your own home, safe from the crowds and the noisy show floor.

In this Tech Tip, I’ve chosen Five Things From E3 2011 You Have to See!

Bioshock Infinite:

(developer: Irrational Games, publisher: 2K Games) The third entry in the Bioshock series is not due for release until some time in 2012, but if the trailer debuted by Irrational Games is any indication, it will be more than worth the wait. The first-person shooter’s setting is the floating city of Columbia and the latest trailer showed off the city’s Skyrail system; a cargo transit system that you, as the player, can use to move throughout the city. Riding the Skyrail has the look and feel of hanging off a roller-coaster, and with the added elements of the chaos and combat you see in the trailer, you definitely get the sense of being on an explosive thrill ride. A comforting line at the end of the trailer reads: “This trailer was made entirely from in-game footage”, so you know it’s not just pre-rendered cinematics; that is what the game will look like.

Sony PS Vita

Sony’s next portable console, the PS Vita , was announced in January as the “NGP – Next Generation Portable”, months before E3, but the hardware, along with its new name, made its debut in the physical realm for the first time at the expo. The Vita boasts front and rear multitouch screens, high-quality graphics, WiFi and optional 3G connectivity, and PlayStation 3 integration, which Sony promises will be a seamless transition from home console to mobile and back. The PS Vita has a similar look to the original PlayStation Portable, but incorporates modern technology and is competitively priced starting at $249, roughly the same price as Nintendo’s 3DS.

Nintendo Wii-U

Nintendo’s Wii-U , the successor to the Wii, takes the Wii-mote design a few steps further, giving you a controller that is a 6.2-inch 16:9 touchscreen tablet. The new system will let you use the screen in conjunction with your TV to give you a new interactive window into games. The Wii-U also makes the jump to full HD (1080p) output, something the Wii lacked, and will be backwards compatible with all existing Wii peripherals. The new system will be released in 2012 and will feature entries from popular franchises like Nintendo’s own Mario, Smash Brothers, and Pikmin as well as other entries from well-known franchises by third party developers.

Three Big Threes:

It’s impossible for me to choose which of the next three titles is a must-see for you, so I have some conditions:

If you own a PlayStation 3, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception is your exclusive must-see game. The game looks fantastic and there are some minor updates to the game play that add to an already excellent franchise.

If you own an Xbox 360, Gears of War 3 is your exclusive must-see game. At the expo, the game’s lead designer Cliff Bleszinski showed off some co-op play with musician and actor Ice-T and announced that the game would support up to four-player cooperative play.

If you have both systems or you don’t have a system preference, your must-see game is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. If you’re a real Call of Duty fanatic, this installment of the game will launch with a service called Call of Duty Elite, subscription-based service that provides extra features like downloadable maps (which are usually sold separately), an online community, and stat tracking. To see more of these games, head to their respective websites.

The Sims Social for Facebook

(publisher: EA) Electronics Arts (EA) announced The Sims Social for Facebook during their press conference. The Sims has been an immensely popular franchise and The Sims Social brings the experience to your browser for online play and lets you interact with your Facebook friends in the game. Unfortunately, due to the few details available, there’s nothing to see yet, but just think about it: The Sims on Facebook. It’s a chocolate-peanut butter situation.

It’s safe to say that among the critical software elements for any computer, Microsoft Office, Windows Updates and an antivirus/antimalware applications are the bare minimum for most people. However, if you’re looking to squeeze out further productivity, we have 12 applications that can help you get things done more quickly whether you’re a student, working professional or a hardcore gamer!

1.) Gadwin Print Screen – This neat little program allows you to print-screen shot and capture the activity happening on your system if you’re trying to document tech support issues, making a how-to guide/presentation and need illustrative pictures or show other co-workers what you’re looking at for comparison purposes. It has a host of features such as image capture format, configurable shortcut buttons, destination and capture such as whole screen, currently active screen or selective rectangular area.

2.) Log Me In Hamachi – Hamachi is great if you want to have a secure connection between your notebook and home or office network. It creates a VPN tunnel which is encrypted so all your network traffic is safe from prying eyes which comes in handy for public Wi-Fi networks.

3.) Teamviewer – Offered in both commercial and free personal-use flavors, this remote desktop application enables you to connect to your home or office computer and access your files like you’re actually in front of that computer. It works great at transferring files, helping clients or family members with tech support issues and for managing your home/office IT network from a mobile location.

4.) PDF995 Printer – Along with the PDF995 printer driver, this awesome piece of software functions as a virtual printer and allows you to physically print any document or web page as the output is a PDF file on your desktop. Saving a web page via CTRL-S or SAVE AS in HTML is hardly practical and this program does an excellent job of documenting important pages like online academic resource database articles, newspaper articles, confirmation pages and reduces the need to have 50+ browser tabs running and eating up system resources.

5.) Alcohol 120% – CDs and DVDs are so 2004. This advanced application can rip and save your optical discs as a simple image file on your computer. Instead of having to deal with the possibility of scratched and/or unreadable CDs/DVDs, Alcohol 120% functions as a virtual optical drive on My Computer. If you want to load an image, you click “Mount Ghost Recon.iso” and Windows will load the game image file as if you’re putting the CD in the actual drive.

6.) VLC Media Player – With no shortage of media players in existence, VLC proved itself to be robust and very useful when it comes to reading a wide variety of formats. Whether it’s a divx file or DVD, VLC can play it back without additional installation such as video codecs.

7.) CPU-Z – This awesome application is geared more towards gamers and computer users looking to identify and monitor their computer’s configuration. For example, it can not only identify the computer’s CPU, but will also show its current speed, FSB, clock multiplier, RAM amount and which memory bank holds what stick.

8.) WinRAR – WinRAR enables file compression and decompression, works quickly and is perfect for archiving or trying to make files smaller for quicker file transfer. It supports a wide variety of formats including traditional ZIP and even has a password encryption feature so unauthorized parties cannot extract & uncompress your important RAR files.

9.) True Crypt 7.0a – While it is free, this open-source encryption tool is worth more than its weight in gold considering its wealth of features. Its most impressive feature allows you to encrypt flash drives and your own hard drive(s) which reduce the chance of any unauthorized parties from accessing your personal or company confidential data.

10.) Download Accelerator Plus – It comes in free and premium versions but I’ve found the free version to be fast enough for being free. Downloads like drivers, patches and other large files are quick for this program as it searches for the best connection and availability of download mirror sites.

11.) Evernote – While Windows 7 does come with notepad and stickypad built in, Evernote offers advanced note-taking features that ca help you remember and finish that paper or report just in time!

12.) Handbrake – Need some mobile entertainment on the go? Handbrake allows you to rip DVD movies in MPEG format to your laptop and is perfect for long airline flights, car rides or long downtime at the airport.

Of course, there are other software programs out there that are just as valuable to have that are either free or low-cost.

If you know and/or use one in particular, share it here on the Geeks Tech Tips Blog!