Feds Offer Cyber Security Tips for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month!

As part of this initiative, the Federal Trade Commission has launched a new site focused on the cybersecurity. OnGuardOnline.gov provides practical tips from the federal government and technology industry to help consumers be on guard against Internet fraud, secure their computers, and protect their personal information.

Topics include computer security, broadband Internet, identity theft, Internet auctions, email scams, and social networking sites. The site also offers a variety of practical tips and tools consumers can use to be safe online, including a glossary of Internet terms, and tutorial videos on topics like spam filtering and wireless security. There is even a game, The Case of the Cyber Criminal, that teaches tips on how to protect privacy online.

For more tips on cybersecurity, also check out StaySafeOnline.org.

10 Easy Sun Projects You can do at Home

I'm not always the craftiest of people, but occasionally I like to try my hand at easy do-it-yourself projects at home. They don't always work out so great, but hey, what can you do?

However, I recently came across a post over on Lifehacker that demonstrated 10 DIY Projects that Harnass the Power of the Sun. For any of you sun nuts, there's a lot of great material here that you can easily spend a weekend knocking out. The projects range from using a magnifying glass to engrave cool shapes into wood to charging your iPhone with solar power. There's even a way to convert a lawnmower to solar energy and extend Wi-Fi to your backyard.

Who knew you could do so much with the sun's energy at home? I highly recommend checking out the cool list of do-it-yourself projects. To read more, visit Lifehacker.

Go to the Moon with Google Today

Forty years ago today, two guys got out of a spacecraft and then walked on the surface of the moon. The landing of Apollo 11 was a historic moment in our history.It is still quite incredible even today, though we've progressed in both years and technology.

So how is Google celebrating this occasion? By adding the Moon in Google Earth, of course. If you want to learn more about each of the Apollo missions, as well as browse over the moon's surface, Google Earth has expanded today with lots of information and added usability. There are videos, 3D images of the different craft that have flown to the moon, and general information that anybody can get into.

This is definitely a fun and interesting way to find out more about each of the lunar missions, and you can browse the information by landing sites. Anyone that's played with Google Earth knows how engrossing it can be and this only adds to it. Simply download the Google Earth application, and start clicking through to learn more.

Scientists Develop Synthetic Carbon-Capturing Trees

Ever see a decorative fake tree and wonder what its purpose was? Sure, it makes the hotel lobby seem a little more lively I suppose, but in the end, it doesn't contribute to the environment in the way a living tree does. Or even a synthetic super tree, apparently.

According to PhysOrg, scientists have developed a tree that traps carbon dioxide from the air, much like real trees. However, these synthetic trees capture carbon dioxide at a rate roughly 1,000 times that of a normal tree. The synthetic tree "could absorb one ton of carbon dioxide per day, an amount equivalent to that produced by about 20 cars, on average".

Oddly enough, they actually don't look like trees, but small buildings. While planting real trees is clearly the better route to go, these synthetic trees seem like they could be an alternative for crowded city spaces with high carbon dioxide emissions and no landscape for planting. Unfortunately, they cost about $30,000, so one wonders if we'll be seeing them any time soon.

To read more about the synthetic trees, visit PhysOrg.

Tech Packaging Starting to Go Green

If there's one thing that bothers me more than ridiculously hot summer days in Texas, it's tech packaging. I don't know about any of you, but trying to open electronic packages with the clam shell plastic wraps might as well be like breaking into Fort Knox. In addition to being tedious, all of that extra packaging is wasteful and unnecessary.

However, it seems like some top tech companies are finally taking notice and changing the way they present their products. CNET reports that Microsoft in particular is reducing the weight of their Windows 7 package by 37 percent, and improving the econometrics score by as much as 50 percent. Hopefully this becomes a trend, seeing as how almost a third of all consumer waste comes from packaging.

To read more about Microsoft's new tech packaging, check out CNET for more information.

American Women Choose Apple as Top Tech Brand

According to the results of Women & Digital Life, a study by Solutions Research Group Consultants Inc., Apple is the top technology brand among American women, followed by Sony, Microsoft, Dell and HP. The study asked the open-ended question "which technology brand or company do you admire the most?" Twenty percent of women who responded mentioned Apple. Sony came in second with 14%, Microsoft was third with just over 10%, followed by Dell at 10% and HP at 6%.

Other brands mentioned in the top 20 included Verizon, Google, LG, Nintendo, Samsung, Gateway, AT&T, Panasonic, GE, IBM, BlackBerry and Comcast.

Women are an increasingly important market for technology brands – in fact, an estimated 45 million women in the U.S. bought a digital product in the last six months.

“As women close the gender-gap in technology use, being top-of-mind is more important than before” said Donna Hall, co-director of the Women & Digital Life study. “Teens and young women influence their parents’ choices while moms make choices for themselves and their children, suggesting strong potential for additional Apple products in the home.”

This is the second in a series of releases from the Women & Digital Life study which is based on in-depth interviews and explores how women navigate in the age of broadband, mobile and social media.

For more information on the study, check out SRG's Digital Life in America.

The CEA Helps Consumers Enjoy Electronics While Protecting the Environment

When it comes to protecting the environment, you can never have too many handy resources. The Consumer Electronics Association agrees, which is why they created MyGreenElectronics.org. The site covers the FOUR R's of recycling: Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. Rethink!

These handy sections includes resources for every phase of buying, owning and getting rid of your favorite electronic devices. There are links to various organizations that can reuse your unwanted items, tips on buying the most energy-efficient products the next time you shop for electronics, and help for finding recycling centers near your house. They've also got a neat energy calculator that will show you the energy consumption costs of devices like your television, DVR and satellite TV system.

Seat Belt Holster for Cell Phones

The next wave of safer driving techniques is here: rather than holding onto your cell phone or having it tossed around the car with every turn and pot hole, clip it to your seat belt! This device employs a Velcro and clear plastic sleeve wrap that envelops your cell and attaches it to your seat belt right below the shoulder.

The manufacturer, Universal Cell Wrap, claims that this invention allows you to “drive hands-free using cell phone speaker without Bluetooth, wires or earpieces!” This device is user-friendly and can be adjusted to multiple positions depending on comfort and height.

Frankly, the demographic that I see this product appealing to are those who wear protect protectors and attach their cell phones to their belt clips. But who knows? It may be an overnight success waiting to happen in the likes of Tickle Me Elmos. For more details on this product, visit Universal Cell Wrap.

WhiteFence and Twitter

What a crazy world we live in. Remember when you used to talk to your friend next door with some cans and shoe strings? Or maybe if you're much older, you used wild grunts and the flailing of prehistoric arms. Regardless of those outdated forms of communication, things have come a long way, mostly because of the Web and wireless devices.

Take Twitter, for instance, a microblog service that many of you have no doubt heard of due to its recent explosion over the past few months. Last weekend, two London Marathon runners used Twitter during the 26 mile race, updating followers to their status as they progressed.

While there will be nothing quite as whimsical as a marathon update, WhiteFence has actually joined the Twitter-verse, updating users with things we find on the Web as well as money saving advice and even specials from our Web site. Visit the WhiteFence Twitter page and follow us! Hope to see you there.

G4 Feeds Your Technology Hunger

If you're a geek like me (and I know I am), then you know all about CES in Las Vegas. Each year, technology companies from all over the world gather in Vegas, baby, to show off the stuff they're working on and give previews of the new products to be released later that year or in the years to come.

Last year, they showed off 100 inch plasma screens, impressive HD camcorders and much, much more. Since technology buffs like myself can't get enough of this info on all the new gear, TV network G4 will be picking up the serving spoon this year to dish out constant coverage on CES.

All told, G4 will have over 6 hours of live coverage of CES, "as well as 60 second interstitial updates throughout the day". In addition, there will be liveblogs feeding the tech maniac inside of you with minute-to-minute updates of the big press conferences.

To find out more about the rigorous schedule, be sure to head over to B&C. So, how many technology buffs are out there reading along?