Free Copy Of TaxCut 2008

It's almost that time of the year again, when we have to file our Federal and State income taxes. To help you deal with your taxes and to save you a pocketful of change, I'm holding a giveaway for H&R Block TaxCut 2008 Premium Federal + e-file. I've used TaxCut software for several years now and it has done a great job for me.

There will be a total of two copies of H&R Block TaxCut 2008 Premium Federal + e-file to be given away (shipped to you free of charge).

Rules for the contest

Rules are simple, just leave a comment on this post stating you want a copy. Would appreciate if you can let me know what you like best about my blogs. Good Luck! Winners will be chosen randomly using Random.org's number generator.

Giveaway will end Friday March 27, 2009.

You must provide me a way to contact you, just email me or send me a Twitter DM so I can let you know you have won. If you do not provide contact information, the prize will go the the runner-up.

For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC or FrugalTech in any way (guest posts, articles, ideas, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else), feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add this to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalTech by Email.

5 WiFi Security Tips And Great Wifi Tools

Several months ago I had to troubleshoot a wireless connection issue. I used NetStumbler to figure out all the available wireless networks available and I was very surprised by the number of wireless APs (access points) available. I was used to picking up stray wifi APs as most people usually do in the home or office in large cities, but I was surprised by how many there were.

NetStumbler allowed me to see what wireless channel each AP was using, which helped me determine which ones to avoid. If your wireless AP is on a channel that is very busy, you are bound to get disconnected from time to time. Most people stay on the default channels or let it autonegotiate channels and it may help to change it to something other than the default. Here is a link to some NetStumbler Alternatives if you are looking for one. Kismet for linux is said to be very good and here are two tutorials I found on installing it on Ubuntu 8.10.

• SurfWerks Tutorial
• Learn Something New Every Day blog
  

Knowing how easy it is to pickup other people's wireless signals, I got to thinking about wifi security. When it comes to wireless, security is much more complicated than wired connections. That is why it is important to make sure you are doing your part in keeping your computing devices secure. Below are some tips I have read about and put to practice.

• Always use a personal firewall
• Always have up to date Antivirus and Antispyware
• Avoid open access, ad hoc WiFi networks
• When using public WiFi, use your corporate VPN for any work related links
• Make sure all your trafic is individually encrypted. Use SSL (POP3S, IMAPS and SMTPS/SMTPTLS) instead of regular POP3, IMAP and SMTP.

A great resource for all things Wifi is WLAN Book. What are your Wifi security tips?

For additional links to frugal tips and tricks follow me on Twitter. If you would like to contribute to FrugalNYC or FrugalTech in any way (guest posts, articles, ideas, interesting links, advice, financial assistance, or anything else), feel free to contact me via email. Click here to add this to your RSS reader or Subscribe to FrugalTech by Email.

Photo by curiouslee