Secunia PSI (Personal Software Inspector) is a neat little application that scans your PC and informs you about outdated (only if it contains vulnerabilities), end-of-life and vulnerable software. Basically what it does is scans your PC (sort of like a virus scanner) and then creates a report of the software that needs attention.

When I first scanned my computer it was rated at 85% (the percentage of software that is “safe”). It took me a while, but in about three quarters of an hour I had all the software on my Windows XP install  updated and had my results up to 98% (I still have some software in Vista that needs updating).

The neat part is that it also provides you a direct link to downloads of new software versions  and if there aren’t any downloads it provides fairly detailed info on how to fix it if possible.

The current version is RC2 and it is free for personal use. Please be aware that this software stays in contact with a database at Secunia to provide up-to-date information about vulnerable and end-of-life software. If that concerns you then maybe you would want to stay away from this product.

If you are interested in giving it a try go to psi.secunia.com. I’ve include some screenshots of the applicaton below.

PS> I heard about this on Security Now…

I haven’t given up on my business dream yet. I’ve put my business plan on hold for a few days while I read a book called The E Myth by Michael Gerber. This book was recommended to me by Mike Muise and is apparently one of the “must reads” for anyone interested in starting a small business. Thus far I have managed to read up to chapter 3 and I must say it’s quite engaging.

I will probably need to buy a book on business plans (Business Plans for Dummies maybe?) as I’ve got about as much as I can done and now need some “help”. A business plan is quite involved and I would prefer to do it right the first time around so that if I do ever decide to proceed on my quest that I will be well prepared and have something to show the financial institutions and/or investors when the time comes.

I’m learning a lot about business and entrepreneurship and am loving every minute of it.

~TheNerd

Sikosis finished up the editing portion of the the Haiku Podcast and has posted it on the site.

This time around we talk about the Google Summer of Code 2008 again, BeServed code being donated to Haiku, the Pineapple News Reader is being resurrected and much more! Of course, I am once again co-hosting the podcast.

I must say thanks again to Sikosis for bringing me on to the show. I’m really beginning to love this podcasting thing

Click here to listen

As most of you already know I am a super huge fan of TWiT and Leo Laporte. Someday I hope to be a guest on the show but that is not what this article is about (some may have wondered because of the title).

Geoff Smith of www.ringtonefeeder.com wrote a very cool song called “I am a TWiT” and posted it on YouTube. It’s pretty clever if I do say so myself. I think everyone should take a listed. Just remember, if you aren’t a TWiT fan then you won’t get it or find it amusing. See below for the video but I encourage you to go to the YouTube page and leave a comment.

I’ve recently started listing items on eBay again and it got me thinking about the changes I’ve seen in the past 10 years.

When I first signed up on eBay, a little over 10 years ago, you didn’t need a credit card and there was no such thing as “Buy it now”. eBay was still full of Beanie Babies and Pez dispensers. At that time your user ID was your email address and it was publicly displayed, there wasn’t much worry of your inbox being harvested for spam.

At one time you could sell firearms, animals, and human body parts. Most of those categories were short lived because eBay soon found out there was lots of liability associated with them. Then there was eBay Motors, a separate place to sell your used cars and parts. There was no such thing as Half.com, Paypal, or Skype. You had to sit around and wait for a cheque or money order to show up in the mail and then hope it didn’t bounce.

When I first signed up, people used to actually take care when they left feedback. Buyers didn’t leave negative feedback on whim just because there was a speck of dirt on the box. Buyers and sellers actually communicated and solved their problems, what a strange concept. I remember when Safe Harbor was put into place, what a relief it was to have a way to solve those extra difficult problems.

So many things have changed over the years, some good and some bad came of it. The one thing I really do miss about eBay is the true sense of community. Now they have communities (forums and such) but you don’t make the personal connections you once did. I’ve made many friends over the years on the site but that happened mostly in the past.

~TheNerd