In the spirit of Valentine’s Day last Monday (we won’t debate the merits of whether it’s a valid holiday or not), I want to thank you for reading and commenting. Because of you, I keep on trekking and sharing what I learn along the way.

Artwork by Marko Schmitt

Brain food…

• How Kindle’s new Public Notes could change the way we read ebooks: This will be an interesting feature. I hate writing in books because I like them clean, bright and wrinkle-free. So far, I haven’t made notes in the three books I’ve read on the Kindle — but all were fiction.
• Confessions of an Ex-mill Writer: Tempted to join a content mill to get writing experience and build up your portfolio? Stop. Do not pass go. Read this first. If you still want to do it, more power to you.
• How to Avoid the Most Common and Dangerous Passwords: I hope you’re not using the same password at all the sites. What if one site is hacked?
• 110 Ideas to Get More Freelance Work and Generate New Client Leads: Nice list organized in several categories.

For fun because we’re allowed…

• Think Snow: Sick of winter, ice storms school cancellations? Me, too… and so are the subjects in these hilarious photos.
• 7 Sites You Should be Wasting Time on Right Now: Nintendo does Great Gatsby. Ha!
• 13 Funny School Names: There’s always more to the story… based on my experience in seeing “General Hooker entrance” in Boston. General Hooker was riding on a horse at that entrance.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

The recently released movie, Firewall, is about an executive who designed antitheft computer systems. This is a fictional movie, but the problems with firewalls are real. Some people innocently believe that having a firewall is enough. But it’s not. The current feature of February’s Shavlik Remediatory Security Digest shatters the firewall myths and explains what is needed.

Most of us have dealt with difficult managers and colleagues, and it isn’t always easy to work through the problems. The reader who asked last month’s question has been struggling, and we received reasonable and professional advice from readers. We hope this helps those who find themselves in this difficult situation.

Do you deal with computers that operate more like a tortoises than hares? This month’s question asks how to improve a computer’s performance. Users who are comfortable with computers might “over clean” their systems only to make things worse than before they started messing with them. We’re betting many of you are pros in fixing and speeding up computers, and we hope you share your secrets. Get all of this in the current Remediator Security Digest.

From the sponsor: Seven Jeans isn’t a person who owns seven pairs of jeans. They’re a brand of jeans.

Here’s a faster way to lock a workstation without going through the CTRL+ALT+DEL route.

On the desktop (Window+M), right-click an empty area and select New > Shortcut.

Copy and paste the following into the location box:

rundll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation

Name the shortcut “Lock workstation” or whatever you prefer and click Finish. Click on it and the PC stands guard until you return and enter the correct password.

Thanks, Martin, for the reminder that rundll32.exe is already in the path.

Andrew Coates wrote in, “Firstly, I’m not totally sure how creating an icon is any easier than the ALT+CTRL+DEL option. Pressing those keys then hitting space I would say is more often then not going to be quicker than finding your desktop and clicking on an icon. However, if you are looking for a quicker way to lock your computer. Perhaps you should try Windows + L.”

I responded to Andrew saying the ALT+CTRL+DEL option requires selecting Lock Workstation. Since we have to lock our workstation so often, I find clicking an icon faster. However, the Windows+L will work for keyboard fans.

Update: I checked Windows+L and it didn’t work on my work computer.

From Stuart S.:
Right-click on the shortcut icon and click Properties. There create a shortcut key to invoke the shortcut. I use F4.

I’ve written a GnomeReview of Steven Splaine’s Testing Web Servers. Not an easy topic to swallow, but Splaine makes the medicine go down easy.

Security is a hot topic, so hot that it’s currently the #1 topic in which to get certified.