Decemeber 2010

DECEMBER2010 | VOLUME01 | ISSUE02

Advance Hotmail security features

7 Commands to Command

Build your own Tablet PC

How-To

www.TheActiveGeek.com

DECEMBER2010 | VOLUME01 | ISSUE02

Welcome

Editorial Oh, hello there! Since, you are reading this; I’ll assume we’ve not been out rightly rejected after the inaugural edition. (Wait, I’ll just open my special bottle of wine on this!)

Apart from that little pleasure, it’s heartwarming to have notes from readers and our friends in the community in the past month – feedback and suggestions. It’s a tough start, and we continue to form a structure and background processes to publish this monthly. For starters, we have a launch issue date – The first Monday of each month.

We’ve had columns, updates, reviews, and tutorials in the previous issue and delve around the same in this one. Technology news, a do-it-yourself tutorial, geek tips, and software review included. It would be interesting to hear from you about which of these categories and domains you like and despise. It’s always a work in progress.

Until the next edition, geek out!

Abhishek Baxi | Editor, The Active Geek | abhishek@theactivegeek.com

Meet our team Abhishek Baxi (Editor) – A technology enthusiast with an evident bias for Microsoft products and technologies, Abhishek hosts an online show – Microsoft Talk (mstalk.in) – and writes on Windows ecosystem. He lives on the Web at baxiabhishek.info and talks incessantly, being the overopinionated individual he is, in person and on Twitter (@baxiabhishek).

Nithin Ramesh (Founder) – The man behind the whole idea of The Active Geek, Nithin loves writing about technology and focuses on the Windows ecosystem. He is doing graduation in Electronics and Communication engineering.

Abhishek Ghosh – A doctor by profession, Abhishek loves to write about technology. His fields of interest include Microsoft technologies, 2D and 3D graphics, painting and medical robotics.

Annkur P Agarwal – At work right out of school, Annkur has been an online retailer since 2002.

Currently Director, E-commerce at Kratee E-commerce and Consulting Ltd, Annkur runs an online blog network – OnlyGizmos - and oversees the e-retail arm. Other than that, he spends his Saturday mornings teaching computers to under privileged kids under an education project iLearn.

Corrine – A Microsoft MVP in Consumer Security, Corrine authors a blog - Security Garden (SecurityGarden.blogspot.com) - and serves as administrator, moderator and contributor at a number of online forums. Additionally, she provides help to home computer users with malware issues.

Dustin Harper – Very active in the online Microsoft and third-party forums, Dustin is an MCTS in Windows Vista Configuration and Windows 7 Configuration.

John Ackerley – A techie from UK, John loves gadgets and gaming. He is now a moderator at TheWindowsClub.com.

Rahul Manekari – A curious techie who likes to legwork on tech gadgets and news, Rahul is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology.

Vasu Jain – A Microsoft MVP, software engineer and a tech blogger, Vasu writes for popular Windows blogs like MeraWindows.com and TheWindowsClub.com, and can be found active on Twitter where he shares his day-to-day thoughts and his views on the world of technology.

Vipul Taneja – A techie kid who loves playing with technology, Vipul loves reading about latest tech gadgets and future tech products. He is also a Microsoft Student Partner, and is moderator at MeraWindows.com and Windows8beta.com. He also loves coding sometimes, and has a better hand on C#, SQL and Windows Phone 7 apps.

Tech Buzz Rahul Manekari rahul.manekari@theactivegeek.com

Microsoft Fuse lab's

M

icrosoft is working on a new publishing platform which will collect the information like news headlines, photos, and tweets based on Bing searches from the source you choose. These items can then be placed on a page that

stays static or changes based on the searches and feeds.

It also allows you to create and share a visual album on desire topic. It can be static or dynamic and users can lock a Montage in time by pinning news, stories, photos, videos.

"We are going to let you eventually embed montages in a Web page, and of course you can just iframe them now if you want to. We want to make that even easier, we want to support that. There's also this reverse embedding, where you can embed your existing blog into a topic page that then gets surfaced in the Montage gallery."

- Matthew MacLaurin, User Experience Director at Fuse Labs Montage is the latest creation to come out of FUSE Labs, a skunk works project group within Microsoft, formed a little more than a year ago by Ray Ozzie to build social computing projects. http://montage.cloudapp.net/gallery

Tech Buzz

Google launches Boutiques.com shopping search

G

oogle is making a step forward in to the fashion market with their new Boutiques.com, a central hub for shopping which collects the latest fashion apparels from different source and puts together under the same hood.

Boutiques.com claims to change the way you shop for fashion online by providing a revolutionary way to search mini boutiques created by industry insiders, celebrities, and stylists. You can also create your own personalized boutique for a customized experience every time you shop.

Tech Buzz

Facebook on the roll with their new Seamless Messaging and Social Inbox service

Microsoft's new Gaming Hub Microsoft has announced a gaming hub which combines the three major social gaming portals - MSN Games, Bing Games, and Windows Live Messenger.

Facebook

will

be

providing

a

"With

@facebook.com email address to

play the games you love while

wants to take advantage of this

connecting to the people who

exclusive service from Facebook. Now friends Facebook

can

send

and

matter most to you."

receive

Xbox Product Marketing

on Facebook or not.

months but you can sign up for an early invite (We haven’t got any as yet) at: http://www.facebook.com/about/messages/

- Michael

Wolf, Senior Marketing Manager,

messages from the friends whether they are

The broad release is scheduled in a couple of

announcements,

we’ve made it easier to find and

every person on Facebook who

from

today’s

Microsoft clearly intends to make casual gaming more social. The hub will integrate with

your Facebook

Windows

Live

account

account

from

or

your

different

platforms where millions of players can share their experiences with their friends.

The idea of integration to create a social hub looks to be a great attempt by Microsoft

but

would

face

tough

competition from the thriving community built around Facebook gaming applications.

Vipul Taneja

Feature

vipul@theactivegeek.com

Microsoft Kinect How about a device which enables you to race just standing at the same place? How about a gaming console which allows you to play with your family without any mess of wires and without any controller? Do these things sound magical or something you have never imagined?

Well with Kinect for Xbox 360(codenamed Project Natal) these vague things are possible.

What’s Kinect?

The Kinect is an add-on to XBOX 360 and uses a combination of cameras (sensors) and microphones to identify and track the movements of a person standing in front of it, as well as enabling voice control of games and video running on your TV. Wave your hands to play a game? Get your posture corrected by a virtual personal trainer?

Kinect does that.

Feature

How it works?

Kinect incorporates several distinct technologies. It has an infrared emitter that transmits lots of infrared radiations in your play space with invisible light, coupled with a CMOS sensor that then looks at how it's reflected back and passes that data to the console - as a gray scale image – so that it can form 3D view by overlaying the input from the RGB camera with the depth sensor.

This RGB camera also used for facial recognition, in-game snapshots and video chat. It measures the positioning of 48 key joints in your body and by tracking the movements of these joints, it can find out exactly what position your body is in.

The sensor contains four capsule microphones that, in combination with an audio processor, can pinpoint your voice, picking it out from background noise and even determine which direction it's coming from.

Also, a tilt motor is installed, which automatically moves the sensor up and down depending on the user's height and distance from it. Kinect is based on software technology developed internally by Microsoft and range camera technology by Israeli developer PrimeSense, which interprets 3D scene information from a continuouslyprojected infrared structured light.

Feature

Sensor

Color and depth-sensing lenses Voice microphone array Tilt motor for sensor adjustment Fully compatible with existing Xbox 360 consoles

Field of View

Horizontal field of view: 57 degrees Vertical field of view: 43 degrees Physical tilt range: ± 27 degrees Depth sensor range: 1.2m – 3.5m

Data Streams

320×240 16-bit depth @ 30 frames/sec 640×480 32-bit Color@ 30 frames/sec 16-bit audio @ 16 kHz

Skeletal Tracking System

Tracks up to 6 people, including 2 active players Tracks 20 joints per active player Ability to map active players to LIVE Avatars

Audio System

LIVE party chat and in-game voice chat (requires Xbox LIVE Gold Membership) Echo cancellation system enhances voice input Speech recognition in multiple

Feature

Likes:       

Great fun with sleek form factor Amazing potential, could move beyond gaming Great voice control New, innovative technology Can be used as home theatre Compatibility with Windows Live Messenger Flawless gesture recognition

Dislikes:      

Requires lots of space Costly; $150 (INR 9,900) add-on to Xbox 360 Half-second of inherent lag is an issue Fairly basic games on launch Only handles two players at a time Camera’s narrow viewing angle

How-To

Abhishek Ghosh abhishek.ghosh@theactivegeek.com

Build your own Windows 7 powered Tablet PC in under $500 Seems unrealistic? Does it seem that I am going to write a rocket-science explanation? If your answer to any or both of the questions is yes, then continue reading.

Advantages:

 It can use all the features of Windows 7 including the Touch feature.  Use it while standing!  One can get a bigger screen at the same cost of a high-end Smartphone.

Background: There are many people who feel like me. If I

Therefore, I started to do a market research

had a tablet PC, it would be great for use in day-

about the price and specifications of them.

to-day life. I have to carry my laptop all-around

Frankly, I came to know the specifications and

to remain involved in online activities. A tablet

price is in logarithmic scale. Further I noticed,

PC has certain advantages over conventional

except few, most of them do not sport the

laptops.

features I expected to have.

It is nearly impossible to hold the

laptop while standing and work on it! Either I have to rest it over my lap while sitting down or I have to rest it over a firm surface in order to work.

Therefore, I started to search the Web to look for ideas to build a tablet PC of my own. As it always happens, I discovered that I was not alone!

How-To Basic tools:

Requirements

1. Universal screwdriver with changeable heads (for bigger screws).

2. Set of Philips screwdriver (those are used for mobile phone repairing).

3. Glue, Scotch tape.

4. Sandpapers, of different grades.

5. Plenty of tissue papers and soft clothes.

6. Pliers, lightweight hammer, electric/hand drill with different sized bits.

7. Better to have a multipurpose-meter to check various parts before we are going to switch it on.

8. A pair of protective gloves 9. Many other instruments those are found in the kitchen.

9. Must have some knowledge about assembling a PC. It is not a rocket science; read various forums, blogs, and tutorials to gain more knowledge. Otherwise, accept the help from a friend who is accustomed to this type of project.

Specific for our project: You can build a new one from some company that sells assembled kits. You can see Liquidware ( http://www.liquidware.com/shop/show/BBESK/Beagle+Embedded+Starter+Kit ); You have to spend around $ 400 to get one (quite yummy to me!). They have projects, wiki etc., to provide you enough resources for the whole process.

How-To Requirements

Image Courtesy: http://www.engadget.com/

If you are more creative, or have some parts from your old desktop or laptop, you may consider the alternate way: 1. First, you need a case, something looking like this: ( Cost around $5 )

Image courtesy: http://www.sunsky-online.com/

How-To Requirements 2. A touch enabled screen that can support the size of the case. Yes, you have to chop out some parts of the crystal cover. I generally use a hand-made heater knife for chopping these types of plastic cases/modules. This is nothing, but a coil is wrapped around the base. Do not try to simulate my way of work, because it often gives me electric shock. You can go to your kitchen, find some sharp knife, heat it over the flame and use gently to heat melt it to cut out. This is a better option for most people.

Touch screen - it depends on your budget. It can be anywhere between $100300, depending on the make.

(After housing it, it should look something like this)

Image courtesy: http://www.sunsky-online.com/

Image courtesy: http://itbbs.pconline.com.cn

How-To Requirements 4. Motherboard: You can use HP 2530P Intel SL9300 1.6GHZ (around $183): Image courtesy: http://www.dhgate.com/

There is no restriction to your imagination: you can use any mobile PC motherboard you want!

5. I am not going into further details. You can install Hard Disk Drive, RAM and other optional components, as you’d like:

Image courtesy: http://itbbs.pconline.com.cn

How-To 6. Finally, you will get something like this:

Image courtesy: http://carbontablet.blogspot.com/

Image courtesy: http://itbbs.pconline.com.cn/

Total cost: Around $450

Vasu Jain vasu.jain@theactivegeek.com

Windows

7 Commands to Command Windows 7 Windows 7 is one of the most robust operating system that Microsoft has launched since the beginning of Windows era. This is the first time people haven’t felt a need for a Service Pack even after a year of public release of Windows 7. The reasons people are loving and adopting Windows 7 as their primary OS is because the flexibility and control it provides to end users be it an administrator or a general user.

Geeks from the dinosaur era of Windows still love the command interface to perform tasks in Windows 7 as it gives them much more control and a wider scope of functionalities as compared to many of the GUI features. With Windows 7, there are a few new command line utilities that have been included that can be used to view information about your system directly from the command prompt.

Before we dig deeper into this article, a prerequisite for the commands that we going to use. Since most of the commands require Admin privileges to work, to make the commands work as desired, use of an elevated command prompt is mandatory.

Windows Open elevated command prompt by typing cmd in your Start menu and opening it with administrator privileges.

Also, in all of the examples illustrated below it is assumed that Windows is installed in C drive of your system. If Windows is installed in some other drive in your system use the corresponding drive letter.

Command # 1 View Your System Information The System Information command Systeminfo allows a user to see the system information about your operating system and computer components connected.

You can obtain information like Host Name, OS Version, System boot time, original Installation date, BIOS version, Information related to Memory, Processor, Network etc. The command also displays a list of all the hotfixes installed over a period of time.

Command Syntax: C :\> systeminfo

Windows

Command # 2 Displays the List of Currently Running Processes Tasklist command in Windows 7 lists all of the currently running processes in your system. The list will be similar to the below where you will see details like process name, PID (Process identifier), session name or memory usage. To see the list type tasklist at command prompt and press Enter. You should obtain a list

Command Syntax: C :\> tasklist

Windows

Also you can extend the functions this command provides, one of which is to kill a task within the command prompt by using taskkill /PID <processed> of a process.

Windows Command # 3 Find Laptop Battery Health Status Windows 7 has a command through which efficiency of your laptop battery can be known. Details about your laptop battery like its efficiency, maximum charge potential, serial number etc. can be seen. To find exactly how much the battery of laptop is giving, use the powercfg -energy to find out how health your battery is.

The command enables tracing for 60 seconds and would collect all the data after observing the system behavior.

Command Syntax: C :\> powercfg â&#x20AC;&#x201C;energy

The energy report is generated in HTML format in the directory shown in the command prompt. Scroll the HTML file till you get information like this:

This shows the Battery ID, Manufacturer name, Chemistry, Design Capacity and most importantly the Last Full Charge.

Windows Command # 4 Set Time Zone A command line utility tzutil.exe has been included in Windows that lets a user set a PC's time zone from scripts.

Command Syntax: C :\> tzutil

"tzutil.exe" is a command line utility introduced in Windows Seven which can be used to change Time Zone or to view the current time zone information. To use this command (from a command prompt as administrator):  tzutil /g - To view current time zone  tzutil /l - To get a list of all available time zones  tzutil /s <time_zone_ID> - To change time zone time_zone_ID is the new time zone which you want to set. For example, to set the time zone to Eastern, Central, Mountain or Pacific Daylight Time, you would use any of the following: tzutil /s "Eastern Daylight Time" tzutil /s "Central Daylight Time" tzutil /s "Mountain Daylight Time" tzutil /s "Pacific Daylight Time"

Windows Command # 5 Enable/Disable Hibernation Hibernate power management feature in Windows saves an image of your desktop with all open files and documents, and then it powers down your computer. When you turn on power, your files and documents are open on your desktop exactly as you left them. Many a times, after the fresh installation of Windows it may be found that option is missing.

To enable hibernate option use the command below: Command Syntax: C :\> powercfg /hibernate on

To disable hibernate option use the command below: Command Syntax: C :\> powercfg /hibernate off

This command requires elevated command prompt, failing which the message as appearing on screen below may appear.

Windows Command # 6 Display folder structure The tree command in Windows, graphically displays the folder structure of a drive or path. Folder structure is displayed as a tree list of the current drive.

Command Syntax: C :\> tree [drive:][path]

Command used two additional optional parameters /F and /A where, /F Display the names of the files in each folder. /A Use ASCII instead of extended characters.

Below is a basic example of what a directory may look like.

C:. ├───Common ├───Director ├───Flash ├───Shockwave 8 │ ├───DswMedia │ ├───Prefs │ └───Xtras └───update

Windows Command # 7 Compare two files FC, or file compare, is used to compare two files using FC command in Command prompt. Once compared, fc will return lines that differ between the two files. If no lines differ, a message is returned indicating no differences encountered.

Command Syntax: C :\> FC [drive1:] [path1] filename1 [drive2:] [path2] filename2

Bonus Tips: Did you know that you can type the previous command one letter at a time by hitting [F1] repeatedly? There are other extremely useful functions shortcut keys perform in Command prompt.



F1 : Repeats the letters of the last command line, one by one F2 : Displays a dialog asking user to "enter the char to copy up to" of last command line F3 : Repeats the last command line F4 : Displays a dialog asking user to "enter the char to delete up to" of last command line F5 : Goes back one command line F6 : Enters the traditional CTRL+Z (^z) (End-Of-File) F7 : Displays a menu with the command line history F8 : Cycles back through previous command lines beginning with most recent.



F9 : Displays a dialog asking user to enter a command number, where 0 is for first command

      

line entered.

Caution If you misuse the commands listed in this article, you can risk losing the data opened in the running processes. It is important to be careful and have a backup available for your data.

Review

Dustin Harper dustin@theactivegeek.com

TuneUp Utilities 2011 PC

are

Of course, that is the claim. I aim

always looking for

to see if this is in fact true, if there

ways to speed up

are any noticeable improvements

their systems, looking for that one

in speed and usability. I have never

magical

owned

setting

users

to

make

or

used

an all-in-one

everything run smooth, fast and

maintenance tool for my PC and

stable. Unfortunately, there is no

this will be my first experience with

single magical setting. There are

one.

many factors that go into making your PC faster using your current hardware. Sure, you could spend hundreds of dollars to upgrade to the fastest, newest hardware, but we want to get the most for our money and our existing hardware.

For that, there is a program called TuneUp Utilities and I will be reviewing

their

latest

version,

TuneUp Utilities 2011.

TuneUp Utilities packages multiple tools into one package, allowing you to get the most performance from your PC with very little work.

Review Setup is very simple, very similar to other applications. Once the initial setup is complete, you are presented with a 1-Click Maintenance window. You can run an initial scan that cleans and defragments your registry (registry defragging is still considered snake oil by some), deletes temporary files, fixes broken shortcuts, and defrags your hard drive.

The main window of the program has five tabs to help you tune your PC for maximum performance, as well as scheduling routine maintenance.

The Tuning status can help speed up your system using tweaks and registry changes. You go through a series of questions that help the program improve system and network speed.

Review It also suggests which programs to remove if you havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t used them in a selected period of time. There are programs on systems that you run once and are done, but they still sit there using system resources. The people at TuneUp have tested thousands of programs, installing and uninstalling to find out which ones use the most resources and how much performance you gain by uninstalling the program.

The Program Deactivator can enable and disable certain programs that present a higher load on your system. You can disable the high load programs until they are needed to gain more speed.

Corrine Chorney

Security

corrine@theactivegeek.com

Enhanced Hotmail Security Features During the summer and early autumn, the Windows Live Hotmail team rolled out many new features for Hotmail. Some of the enhanced features of Windows Live Hotmail include the new Sweep menu, freshly integrated Office Web Apps, via SkyDrive, new attachment limits up to 10 GB, and the ability to create and send photo albums right from Hotmail.

Although those enhancements provide additional capabilities and features to Hotmail, the added security features are most impressive. Let us take a closer look at the new Hotmail security features.

Account security information One of the key additions added to Hotmail is multiple ways to verify Hotmail credentials. With the new Hotmail, you can increase the security of your account by adding security information that you can privately associate with your Hotmail account. In the event you forget your password or your account is compromised, this invaluable feature provides the tools to recover your Hotmail account.

Verify your Hotmail Credentials: The options below for verifying your Hotmail credentials are accessible by clicking on your account name when logged on to Hotmail. Select "Account" and provide your account password in the requested field. The options are located in the section on "Password reset information".

Security 1) Designate an alternate e-mail address.

Be careful when entering the information of an alternate e-mail address. Watch for a confirmation e-mail from the Windows Live Team (postmaster@windowslivemail.com) with the subject, “Windows Live Account Security Confirmation” at that address.

The alternate address will not be finalized until you click the link in the e-mail to confirm your alternate address. Check the spam folder if you do not see the confirmation in the alternate e-mail inbox.

2) Add your mobile phone number You will receive another e-mail from the Windows Live Team with the subject, “Windows Live Account Security Confirmation” at your alternate e-mail address when you add your mobile phone number to your account. In the event you need to reset your password or your account is compromised, you can select the mobile phone number as an option to receive a text message with a secret code via SMS. Use the secret code to reset your password and reclaim your account.

Security

3) Create a secret answer

Creating a secret answer is a common feature used by banks, credit card companies and other sites for identification purposes. Provide an answer that you will remember. The secret answer is used to identify you if you forget your password.

Warning: do not use the city where you live or your motherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s maiden name in any security question. In the event your account is hacked, that information is much too easily obtainable through public records.

Security

4) Set up a "Trusted PC"

When you add a trusted PC to your Hotmail account, it becomes the only computer that can be used to recover or change your password from another location. This prevents a hacker from changing your password. You can add up to two trusted PCs. Note: To add a trusted PC to your account, you need to have Windows Live Essentials installed.

Security

Now that you have one or more of the above four options in place, should you forget your Hotmail password or your account is compromised, follow the instructions Account Compromise - Unauthorized Account Access to reclaim your account. After following the instructions there, if you still need assistance, a dedicated

support

path

is

available

from

Microsoft

at

http://windowslivehelp.com/accountrecovery.

Trusted senders

The "Trusted Sender" feature visually identifies legitimate mail from about 100 senders, mostly financial institutions like banks that are commonly spoofed by identity thieves. Windows Live Hotmail adds the trusted sender icon (a green shield) next to senders identified as authentic, making it easier to see which messages are safe.

Security Single-use codes Although not recommended, according to a Bit Defender survey, 73 percent of people use the same password at all sites. Regardless of whether you are among those 73 percent, if you will be using a public computer (i.e., at an internet cafe, airport, coffee shop, library, school), you can seriously jeopardize not only your Hotmail account, but also any other accounts with the same password if passwordstealing software is installed on the public computer or the Wi-Fi connection is insecure. Single-use codes are ideal for those occasions when you will be using a public computer.

With a single-use code, even if there is keylogger software

installed on the computer, you will not find your Hotmail password compromised.

To get a single-use code, you first need to have your mobile phone number associated with your Windows Live ID. In order to do this, when logged on to Hotmail, go to https://sms.live.com/ or click on your account name in the upper right-hand corner. In the drop-down box, select "Options". In the section for SMS, select â&#x20AC;&#x153;settingsâ&#x20AC;? and enter your mobile number. You will receive a verification code in a text message to your phone.

Security Now that you have associated your mobile number with your Windows Live ID, all it takes to obtain a single-use code is clicking "request a code" at the logon window.

You will receive a one-time use authentication code in a text message on your phone. By using a single-use code on a public computer instead of your password, you avoid the chances of a keylogger stealing your account password.

Request a single-use code and use it to sign in:

Full-session SSL Windows Live Hotmail now includes the option to enhance the security of your entire Hotmail session with HTTPS data encryption (via secure socket layers, or SSL). Before this change, full encryption was only available on the Hotmail sign-in.

Security

If you regularly use public computers or unsecure wireless connections, HTTPS will help keep your account secure from hackers. In addition, SkyDrive, Photos, Docs, and Devices pages now all automatically use SSL encryption. As a result, all of your data is transferred over HTTPS.

Important Note: If you use HTTPS for Hotmail, the connections below will not be available:   

Outlook Hotmail Connector Windows Live Mail The Windows Live application for Windows Mobile (version 6.5 and earlier) and Symbian To enable HTTPS for your Hotmail inbox, calendar, and contacts, go to https://account.live.com/ManageSSL. Tip: If you only need a temporary HTTPS connection, sign in to Hotmail and enter "https" in front of the web address instead of "http".

Security Smart Screen Hotmail uses Microsoft SmartScreen to filter spam and, more importantly, to help protect you from phishing and malware.

This is the same technology used by

businesses and governments to help protect their email. To help keep your inbox clean, SmartScreen generally works behind the scenes to separate legitimate messages from spam. It also automatically verifies senders and, with the safety bar, lets you know when to be wary of a sender.

You can enhance the SmartScreen filter by managing approved addresses allowed to send you e-mail, identify safe mailing lists, and blocked senders. Adjust these lists from the Hotmail Options page under â&#x20AC;&#x153;Safe and Blocked Sendersâ&#x20AC;?.

According to Microsoft, Hotmail is localized to 48 languages and 160 markets, to over a billion inboxes. If you are one of the billion plus Hotmail users, be sure to take advantage of the enhanced security features. These enhancements will help protect your account from spam, phishing attempts, malware, bots, and hijacks. Use a strong password, with a variety of characters/letters. The longer your password, the odds of your password being cracked decrease. periodically and do not use the same password everywhere.

Change your password

Š 2010 TheActiveGeek

For inquiries, contact us at contact@theactivegeek.com Editor: Abhishek Baxi | abhishek@theactivegeek.com Design: Rahul Manekari | rahul.manekari@theactivegeek.com Webmaster: Nithin Ramesh | nithin@theactivegeek.com