網址: www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/230387/9_ways_to_stop_your_it_outsourcing_deal_from_leaking_money.html

小棗認為這招影響性較低, 禍及特定平台既 firefox, 受騙人數亦極有限, 始終 firefox 用戶應該對電腦有較深認識.

要禦防這類欺騙網站其實好簡單, 只要使用 Windows 內置既 Windows Update 功能便可.

以下是各版本執行 Windows Update 既方法:

Windows XP: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/896532

Windows Vista: http://windows.microsoft.com/zh-HK/windows-vista/Install-Windows-updates

Windows 7: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/features/windows-update

與之前既結果比較, 今次 Norton 以最高平均分穩奪冠軍寶座. BitDefender 則以強勁既 malware 阻擋技能及較高既清除病毒能力保持第二名. 第三名被及時發力既 G Data 趕過 Avast, 亦獲得抵買之選既獎項.

下圖是轉載自 PCWorld 既評測結果:

2011 AntiVirus Comparison - Paid Version

想瞭解更多可直接參考 PCWorld 既文章:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/217389/antivirus_2011_digital_defenders.html

防毒軟件已是 Windows 用戶既必備品, 但產品花多眼亂. 除收費軟件外, 坊間還有免費防毒軟件可供選擇. 一般電腦用家往往只靠其他人既口碑去選擇, 但網上又難獲得一致結論. 最新一篇防毒軟件既報告, 當中分別對免費及收費防毒軟件進行測試. 測試針對介面, 防毒功效及速度三個範疇. 下表就簡明地列出免費與收費防毒軟件既排名:

1. Google Android 2.2 2. Apple iPad 3. Amazon Kindle (third-generation) 4. Netflix 5. Samsung Galaxy Tab 6. Sony Alpha NEX-5 7. HP Envy 14 Beats Edition 8. Samsung Epic 4G 9. Instapaper 10. Microsoft Security Essentials 11. Samsung UN55C8000 12. HP TouchSmart 600 Quad [...]]]> 唔經唔覺 2010 仲差兩個月就完結. 各大傳媒開始係每一個範疇選出全年既最佳. PC World 已經選出 100 樣最佳科技產品, 唔知你哋擁有或者聽過幾多樣呢?

1. Google Android 2.2
2. Apple iPad
3. Amazon Kindle (third-generation)
4. Netflix
5. Samsung Galaxy Tab
6. Sony Alpha NEX-5
7. HP Envy 14 Beats Edition
8. Samsung Epic 4G
9. Instapaper
10. Microsoft Security Essentials
11. Samsung UN55C8000
12. HP TouchSmart 600 Quad
13. Apple iPhone 4
14. Google Chrome
15. HTC HD7
16. Crucial RealSSD C300
17. Blizzard Entertainment StarCraft II
18. Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5
19. Microsoft Office 2010
20. Samsung LN46C650
21. Apple TV
22. Western Digital WD TV Live Plus
23. Canon Pixma MG8120
24. Blizzard Entertainment World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
25. Motorola Droid X
26. Adobe Creative Suite 5
27. Canon EOS 7D
28. Sony Handycam NEX-VG10
29. Alienware M11x (second revision)
30. Sonos ZonePlayer S5
31. Sony Reader Pocket Edition PRS-350
32. nVidia GeForce GTX 460
33. Origin Genesis Midtower
34. Google Voice
35. Logitech C910
36. Bump
37. Norton Antivirus 2011
38. MOG
39. AMD Phenom II X6 1090T
40. Livescribe Echo Smartpen
41. Google Gmail
42. Western Digital 3TB My Book Essential
43. Clickfree Network CN2
44. Flipboard
45. Panasonic HDC-SDT750
46. Handcent SMS
47. HTC Droid Incredible
48. SlingPlayer Mobile
49. At Bat 2010 for iPad
50. XMind
51. PC Tools Internet Security 2011
52. Seagate Momentus XT
53. Cisco M20 Valet Plus
54. Rovio Angry Birds
55. MyInnergie mCube Mini
56. Lookout Mobile Security
57. Maingear F131
58. ATI Radeon HD 5870
59. iVina BulletScan S300
60. DimDim
61. Smartfish ErgoMotion Mouse
62. Lenovo ThinkPad x100e
63. Second Rotation Gazelle
64. Facebook
65. Plantronics K100
66. Taptrix Brushes
67. Alphonso Labs Pulse News Reader
68. Corsair 800D
69. Qnap TS-259 Pro Turbo NAS
70. Fuze Box Fuze Meeting
71. Evernote
72. Iomega eGo SuperSpeed USB 3.0
73. Gateway SX2840-01
74. Jabra Clipper
75. Lenovo ThinkPad W701ds
76. FitNow Lose It
77. Cisco Flip UltraHD 8GB with FlipPort
78. Samsung BD-C6500
79. PopCap Games Plants vs. Zombies HD
80. Asus Eee PC 1201n
81. Genieo
82. Jabra Extreme
83. Virgin Mobile Beyond Talk Plans
84. Dell UltraSharp U2711
85. Grooveshark for Android
86. Epson PictureMate Show PM 300
87. Polar WearLink+ Transmitter Nike+
88. RideCharge Taxi Magic
89. Belkin Conserve Smart AV
90. Bitalpha Taska
91. 3M MPro120
92. B&W P5 Mobile Hi-Fi Headphones
93. Apple iPod Touch (2010 version)
94. TheFind.com
95. Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse
96. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3
97. Astro A30 Headset
98. Prezi
99. TomTom XXL 550-TM
100. Ubuntu 10.10

參考資料:
Best Tech Products 2010

http://www.pcworld.com/article/207485/best_tech_products_2010_full_list_1100.html

PCWorld’s editors never stop scouring the Internet for the best and most [...]]]> You know all about Google’s smorgasbord of Web tools, but have you tried Measy, Topicfire, or Yammer? While a few big names seem to dominate the Internet, the Web continues to flourish with a never-ending stream of incredibly useful new sites and services.

PCWorld’s editors never stop scouring the Internet for the best and most creative new ideas we can find. Here are 52 phenomenally cool Web services that you may not have heard of, but definitely need to try.
For a more detailed look at our choices for the most useful sites on the Web, see the stories listed below.

• 16 Productivity-Enhancing Websites
• 13 Terrific Sites for Managing Media and Sharing Files
• 13 Top-Notch Web Services for Business and Communication
• 10 Great Shopping, Dining, and Travel Websites

Business

• GenBook: Allows clients to schedule appointments with your company
• Huddle: Helps your workgroup manage projects, and offers online storage
• JobSpice: Generates attractive online résumés
• Phonebooth: Provides phone services
• Stacks: Organizes tasks by person and project
• TextFlow: Simplifies document collaboration
• Yammer: Gives workgroups a private microblog
• Zoho: Offers a large variety of cloud-based apps

Communication

• FaxZero: Sends no-cost, ad-supported faxes
• Foursquare: Broadcasts the locations where you and your pals “check in”
• Meebo: Connects to multiple IM services
• Sobees: Coordinates various social networks
• Tatango: Distributes texts to small groups

Dining

• Nutrition Data: Details the content of food at restaurants and in recipes
• OpenTable: Makes reservations at restaurants

File Sharing and Storage

• Dropbox: Gives 2GB of storage and syncs files
• Drop.io: Creates anonymous drop boxes
• Humyo: Provides 10GB of free storage
• Livecage: Allows live audio and video streaming
• Live Mesh: Syncs files and gives remote access
• Qik: Streams video from your smartphone

Media

• Animoto: Assembles stunning slideshows
• Citrify: Supplies quick photo-editing tools
• CutMP3: Trims any song to ringtone length
• Eventful: Lists happenings in your area
• Grooveshark: Provides diverse music and social features in a slick interface
• Librophile.com: Offers downloadable audiobooks
• Pixorial: Presents easy-to-use video-editing tools

Productivity

• Bubbl.us: Offers simple mind-mapping tools
• Evernote: Captures ideas, notes, or audio
• LogMeIn: Gives you remote access to your PCs
• Mint: Syncs with your financial accounts to help you monitor your budget
• Passpack: Manages all of your online passwords
• PearBudget: Tracks your income and spending
• Proxify: Gives you anonymous access to regionally blocked content
• Smart.fm: Provides free online courses
• Speedtest.net: Assesses your Internet connection’s download and upload speeds
• Springpad: Supplies templates for organizing your personal data
• Stickybits: Links digital data to physical objects
• Teux Deux: Groups your weekly tasks by date
• Topicfire: Aggregates news in topics you choose
• TwitPay: Lets you raise funds via Twitter
• Wakerupper: Makes calls to rouse or remind you
• Zip Code Lookup: Shows the right code for mail

Shopping

• Droolr: Lists the hottest gadgets
• Filler Item Finder: Digs up useful but cheap items on Amazon for meeting the free-shipping amount
• Measy: Gives quizzes to narrow down choices
• RetailMeNot: Provides store coupon codes
• TheFind: Ferrets out obscure products

Travel

• GasBuddy.com: Reports current local fuel prices
• SeatExpert: Shows the best seats on any flight
• Sit or Squat: Indicates the closest clean restroom

最大既問題當然係點樣管制特工們係 Facebook 既 “工作帳號” 同其私人帳號既活動. 其次就係目標身邊既朋友私穩權, 因為 Facebook 本身無一個好既私穩保障. 依類問題似乎連有關當局都未有實質既答案提供, 唯有以後用 Facebook要更加小心.

PCWorld reported that FBI is training its agent to be a friend of their target. It raise many people concern they privacy and the control of such act. As not much [...]]]> 跟據一個美國電腦網 PCWorld 報導, 美國 FBI 現正培訓特工怎樣用其他身份登記 Facebook 並成為其 “目標人物“ 既朋友之一. 雖然美國一向反恐, 不過此舉引起連番問題.

最大既問題當然係點樣管制特工們係 Facebook 既 “工作帳號” 同其私人帳號既活動. 其次就係目標身邊既朋友私穩權, 因為 Facebook 本身無一個好既私穩保障. 依類問題似乎連有關當局都未有實質既答案提供, 唯有以後用 Facebook要更加小心.

PCWorld reported that FBI is training its agent to be a friend of their target. It raise many people concern they privacy and the control of such act. As not much feed back from the Authority, the only way to protect yourself is be careful your activities in facebook.
資料來源 / Reference:
http://lm.pcworld.com/t/938024/5558357/63601/0/

Imperva studied the breached passwords and has published [...]]]> If you are using “123456″ as your password it is past time to stop. Same if you are using the always popular “Password” to protect your account. Those easy-to-hack passwords were the top and fourth most-popular from among 32 million hacked from RockYou.com, a new study finds.

Imperva studied the breached passwords and has published an interesting study that talks about them. While “Consumer Password Worst Practices” isn’t about us supposedly savvy business users, as an occasional system administrator I’ve run into both 123456 and Password on many occasions.

Here are the top passwords Imperva found among those compromised in the attack (they were posted online, without identifying details, for the world to see–and analyze):

1. 123456
2. 12345
3. 123456789
4. Password
5. iloveyou
6. princess
7. rockyou
8. 1234567
9. 12345678
10. abc123

If any of those look too familiar, please stop reading this story and change your password now. All these passwords are easy to crack using simple brute-force automated methods. And with the list now published, they are likely to move to the top of everyone’s list of those to try first when attempting to crack an account manually.

“To quantify the issue, the combination of poor passwords and automated attacks means that in just 110 attempts, a hacker will typically gain access to one new account on every second or a mere 17 minutes to break into 1000 accounts,” Imperva said in its report.

Among its key findings:
About 30 percent of users chose passwords whose length is equal or below six characters.
Moreover, almost 60% of users chose their passwords from a limited set of alpha-numeric characters.
Nearly 50% of users used names, slang words, dictionary words or trivial passwords (consecutive digits, adjacent keyboard keys, and so on).

If it makes you feel any better, a similar study of hacked Hotmail passwords from 20 years ago found much the same thing.

Imperva provides a list of password best practices, created by NASA to help its users protect their rocket science, they include:
It should contain at least eight characters
It should contain a mix of four different types of characters – upper case letters, lower case letters, numbers, and special characters such as !@#$%^&*,;” If there is only one letter or special character, it should not be either the first or last character in the password.
It should not be a name, a slang word, or any word in the dictionary. It should not include any part of your name or your e-mail address.

Following that advice, of course, means you’ll create a password that will be impossible, unless you try a trick credited to security guru Bruce Schneir: Turn a sentence into a password.

For example, “Now I lay me down to sleep” might become nilmDOWN2s, a 10-character password that won’t be found in any dictionary.

Can’t remember that password? Schneir says it’s OK to write it down and put it in your wallet, or better yet keep a hint in your wallet. Just don’t also include a list of the sites and services that password works with. Try to use a different password on every service, but if you can’t do that, at least develop a set of passwords that you use at different sites.

Someday, we will use authentication schemes, perhaps biometrics, that don’t require so much jumping through hoops to protect our data. But, in the meantime, passwords are all most of us have, so they ought to be strong enough to do the job.

And don’t even try 654321 or Qwerty–19th and 20th on Imperva’s list– OK?

(Here’s a story we did in early 2009 on how to protect your passwords and another with tips on creating strong passwords).

To help you make a good first impression and to cement your reputation as a seasoned troubleshooting guru, I offer the following list of my top 10 must-have Windows utilities for PC support professionals. Some you probably already know. Others you may have heard of only in passing. But all deserve your [...]]]> 近日睇到一篇工具軟件推介, 當中所講的全是解決電腦問題既有用軟件, 唔知當中你用過幾多個呢?

To help you make a good first impression and to cement your reputation as a seasoned troubleshooting guru, I offer the following list of my top 10 must-have Windows utilities for PC support professionals. Some you probably already know. Others you may have heard of only in passing. But all deserve your consideration for a place in your PC support and diagnostics toolkit.

1. Sysinternals Suite

When Mark Russinovich and Bryce Cogswell embarked on their quest to fill what they perceived to be glaring holes in Windows’ management and diagnostic capabilities, they couldn’t possibly have known the impact their suite of tools and utilities would have on the greater Windows IT community. Yet here we are, a short decade later, and it’s hard to imagine a world without Process Monitor, Autoruns, RootkitRevealer, and the rest of the Sysinternals Suite.

A lot has changed since those early days. Russinovich was eventually courted by Microsoft and now serves as a technical fellow overseeing the evolution of the Windows architecture (much to the benefit of users everywhere). Meanwhile, the Sysinternals Suite has been transformed from unofficial — yet highly prized and admired — collection of backdoor hacks into a must-have ensemble of fully sanctioned tools offered under the Microsoft TechNet banner.

There’s not much else to say about Sysinternals except that, like all of the tools I’ve highlighted here, it’s absolutely free. And no Windows professional should be without it. For shame!

2. HWiNFO32

What kind of CPU is in the PC you’re using? Does it support hardware virtualization so that it can run Virtual Windows XP Mode under Windows 7? How old is the BIOS? Are all of its core hardware components running within normal voltage parameters? Are any components overheating or otherwise misbehaving?

If you can’t answer these questions off the top of your head, you need a copy of HWiNFO32. A free, comprehensive hardware diagnostics and inventory tool, HWiNFO32 can tell you everything you need to know about the PC you’re trying to support. CPU and chip set type/revision/stepping levels; runtime capabilities (VT, SSE, etc.); disk drive S.M.A.R.T. support/health; and myriad other details — all are revealed when you run HWiNFO32.

To be sure, there are other hardware identification utilities. CPU-z, Everest, and SiSoftware Sandra all come to mind. However, none of them can match HWiNFO32′s breadth of reporting and rock-bottom pricing (it’s freeware). Next time you’re in the field and need to know what’s inside that flaky PC, don’t just guess at the specs. Run HWINFO32 and know exactly what you’re dealing with before you ever crack that case.

3. Crap Cleaner

Windows is an untidy beast. From orphaned registry entries to long-abandoned temporary files and folders, the process of running Windows makes a mess out of your PC’s file system and software configuration parameters. In fact, Windows’ tendency toward sloth has spawned an entire industry of tools designed specifically for cleaning up the detritus of daily life in a Microsoft world. And by far the best of the best is the appropriately named Crap Cleaner, aka CCleaner.

A combination registry and file system cleanup tool, Crap Cleaner makes quick work of those insidious configuration inconsistencies and accumulated temporary files and folders that can bog down system performance. It includes a variety of program-specific cleaning functions for common applications and directly supports cache maintenance functions for all major Web browsers. And for the truly paranoid among us, Crap Cleaner even offers a secure erase function to ensure that those deleted temporary files are gone for good.

Another must-have freebie, Crap Cleaner can breathe new life into what may have seemed like a terminally ill Windows patient. Before you reach for the Windows installation media to conduct a clean install, give Crap Cleaner a try.

4. Recuva

It’s the support call we all dread most. That guy in accounting, the one who always misplaces his data files, has accidentally deleted another critical workbook. Now he’s on the phone, screaming for help and expecting you to save the day.

Fortunately, there’s a red cape and tights lurking in your toolkit. With Recuva, you can recover deleted files from almost any Windows-compatible storage media, including removable disks and thumb drives. It works by scanning the disk for orphaned file data and giving you the option of recovering what it finds.

Recuva can operate in “quick” mode, where it checks for deleted files in the higher-level disk structures, or in deep “scan” mode where it searches your media block by block. If you later decide that the file in question was really better off dead, Recuva can perform a secure delete operation to make sure that nobody else can recover the data anytime soon.

You’ll want to keep a copy of Recuva handy for the inevitable panicked phone call from your accidental deleter. As with the other tools here, Recuva is completely free. There’s even a portable version that you can run off of a thumb drive, so there’s really no excuse to be caught unprepared when the inevitable occurs.

5. FileZilla

Spend any time supporting Windows PCs and you’ll find yourself becoming an expert at FTP. That’s because the File Transfer Protocol is the de facto way of distributing device driver updates and patches to Windows customers. And depending on the prevalence of specific makes and models, you’ll likely begin to learn the directory structure of your primary vendor’s FTP site like the back of your hand.

Fortunately, Windows users have access to one of the more powerful FTP clients available: FileZilla. Now in its third major generation, this capable if somewhat homely application makes transferring large quantities of files a snap. A capable queue management system helps keep the uploads and downloads humming along while a nearly endless selection of configuration options and protocol tweaks ensures that, whatever the situation, FileZilla will come through every time.

6. Virtual CloneDrive

Microsoft loves the ISO image format. From trialware versions of its OS products to its latest Patch Tuesday security fix collections, Microsoft distributes more software in the ISO format than any other vendor. So it comes as somewhat of a shock to learn that, as of Windows 7, the company still hasn’t integrated a basic ISO image mounting/drive-emulation capability into its core OS. Basically, if you want to use an ISO under Windows, you need to first burn it to a physical CD or DVD.

Fortunately, a variety of free third-party solutions fill this void. My personal favorite is Virtual CloneDrive, from Elaborate Bytes. Simple to use and highly compatible with all versions of Windows, VCD makes it easy to mount and access an ISO image. Just right-click the VCD tray icon, select Mount from the context menu, and point the ensuing file open dialog to the desired ISO file. The image then appears as a virtual CD-ROM drive in Explorer, allowing you to access its contents like a real disk.

Note: I used to be a Daemon Tools fan. However, recent versions have proven unstable under Windows 7 (I’ve traced several Blue Screens of Death to Daemon Tools’ kernel mode components), and the developer’s lackadaisical attitude toward supporting new Windows versions has turned me off from this once class-leading utility.

If you regularly need to mount and access ISO images, make sure you take along a copy of Virtual CloneDrive. It’s easy to use, installs in seconds (no reboot required), and provides the capability that Windows should be providing but doesn’t.

7. Defraggler

It’s a trend that many IT pros find disturbing: With each new release of Windows, the amount of control over and feedback from the built-in disk defragmentation utility has decreased to the point that now, with Windows 7, the process is almost entirely opaque. And while third-party defraggers have been available for Windows since the early NT days (Diskeeper qualifies as a national historical monument), they can be both costly and complex.

Enter Defraggler. Another freebie from the folks who brought you Crap Cleaner and Recuva, Defraggler is a Windows disk defragmentation utility that provides tremendous control over the entire defragmentation process. With Defraggler, you can defragment individual files, folders, or an entire disk. Need to speed up access to that massive database file? Defraggle it. Want to improve performance for newly created files? Defraggle your disk’s free space.

With Defraggler, you can even specify where specific files get stored on the disk, moving larger files that are accessed infrequently to the “end” of the disk media and smaller, frequently accessed files to the “front.” A scheduled, background execution option and portable version (so you can take it with you when you’re in the field) round out a surprisingly rich feature set for a free tool.

8. ImgBurn

Mounting ISO images is a great time saver. You get to save money on physical discs, and you don’t have to wait while they’re being prepared in your CD/DVD-write. But sometimes you just need to burn a physical CD/DVD — for example, when installing a new version of Windows or distributing a custom disc image. And while there are myriad commercial solutions to allow you to author your own media masterpiece, most are overkill when it comes to basic disc burning tasks.

Thankfully, there’s ImgBurn. The gold standard for freeware image burning tools, ImgBurn lets you transfer virtually any kind of ISO image to virtually any kind of writeable optical media. ImgBurn’s simple, straightforward interface makes quick work of most common burning tasks, while its more advanced modes let you handcraft your own disc image, including defining the disk format, directory structure, and numerous other custom parameters.

There are other free utilities out there for burning discs (Alcohol 52% comes to mind). But none of them provide the level of flexibility or control over the burning process that ImgBurn does. Definitely a must-have addition to your IT support toolkit.

9. 7-Zip

Zip archives are a fact of life. Whether you’re downloading an installation program from the Web or merely passing that bulky PowerPoint deck to your colleague in marketing, compressing files saves you time, space, and network bandwidth. Though Windows has included basic zip file support for years, its capabilities have proven anemic at best.

7-Zip is an open source archiving utility that improves upon Windows’ basic capabilities, adding support for additional formats — including its own, high-ratio compression algorithm — while remaining lean, mean, and true to its original purpose.

Unlike more elaborate utilities, like the shareware WinRAR archiver, 7-Zip doesn’t pretend to be all things to all people. You won’t find ISO extraction or other esoteric functionality in 7-Zip — just a basic archiving functionality that is secure, reliable, and fast. If you’re looking for a beefier alternative to Windows’ built-in zip capability, but don’t want the hassle of dealing with the overly complex, “nagware” behavior of the well-known commercial offerings, check out 7-Zip.

10. VirtualBox

Troubleshooting a complex OS like Windows can be a challenge. Sometimes the only way to effectively diagnose a problem is to reproduce the entire runtime environment. And the only real way to do that, short of building a new physical PC, is through virtualization.

In the IT support and help desk space, VMware Workstation has long ruled supreme. However, the combination of high per-seat costs and an increasingly complex feature set is causing many IT pros to gravitate to the simpler, yet deceptively powerful VirtualBox from Sun Microsystems. Even better, an open source version of VirtualBox is available free under the GPL; compared to the commercial version, it’s lacking only USB support and an RDP server that lets you connect to guests remotely.

Though not as full-featured as VMware Workstation — for example, there’s no equivalent to Workstation’s Easy Install feature for Windows guests — VirtualBox installs quickly, requires very little study, and includes all the essentials. It supports Windows, Linux, Solaris, and Mac OS X hosts and guests (including 64-bit editions), Intel VT and AMD-V hardware virtualization extensions, OpenGL and DirectX 3D graphics acceleration, VMware and Microsoft virtual hard disk formats, and of course, stateful VM snapshots.

So while VirtualBox may seem less sophisticated than VMware Workstation on the surface, the truth is that VirtualBox 3.8 delivers tremendous virtualization power. And like all of the other utilities here, it’s available absolutely free.

On Wednesday morning, users began seeing a message offering a new, simplified privacy settings page and the ability to [...]]]> As promised, Facebook has begun rolling out new privacy options to its 350 million users.Watch out for the “Everyone” setting.

On Wednesday morning, users began seeing a message offering a new, simplified privacy settings page and the ability to set specific options for every post made to Facebook.

The changes, first announced this summer, againpromised last week, and available today, give users much tighter control of who sees what, down to the individual reader, if desired.

Especially important is the new “everyone” setting that determines whether a Facebook post will be seen on other services, such as in Google search results.

Other settings include “only friends” and “friends of friends.” A “customize” option allows users to show or hide a post from specific individuals or user-created lists.

The options are available by clicking on a new “lock” icon that appears next to the “share” button when a Facebook user updates their status. Any setting may be chosen as a default and the default option may be changed as desired.

Facebook also today updated its privacy policy to reflect the changes.

Here is how the “Everyone” setting is described (this may be important to you):

“Information set to ‘everyone’ is publicly available information, may be accessed by everyone on the Internet (including people not logged into Facebook), is subject to indexing by third party search engines, may be associated with you outside of Facebook (such as when you visit other sites on the internet), and may be imported and exported by us and others without privacy limitations.

“The default privacy setting for certain types of information you post on Facebook is set to ‘everyone.’ You can review and change the default settings in your privacy settings. If you delete ‘everyone’ content that you posted on Facebook, we will remove it from your Facebook profile, but have no control over its use outside of Facebook.”

As of 8 a.m. Pacific Time today, not all users have been upgraded to the new privacy options. Others were upgraded months ago when Facebook began testing the new options.

My take: Facebook should add even more granularity to the “everyone” option, giving users the ability to opt-in or out of their posts being shared with specific services. It should also include links making it easier to for users to learn what the settings mean.

The description quoted above is complete and reasonably understandable, but is not easy to find. Not difficult, but it requires some looking.

I strongly encourage all Facebook users to visit all the privacy settings pages, especially those for applications and advertising, and make desired changes.

Facebook seems candid about what it does, provides privacy options for users, but it is still up to the individual to make the changes they desire. Not surprisingly, some Facebook defaults are more “open” than many users might desire.

By David Coursey

http://www.pcworld.com/article/174171-10/the_pc_world_100_best_products_of_2009.html