The other day I was at a 3 hour GPS class that gave me some hands on experience and I found these handheld devices pretty easy to use and fun.  Not only can you track and mark locations, it will also calculate mileage too.  I can see why these are so popular.

For a trucker, a GPS receiver can be a real time saver with finding where you are going and pinpointing a delivery point.  It will even calculate your miles of your trip.  

Of course you can buy any model you want, it just depends on how much you want to spend.  Remember, you get what you pay for, so go middle of the road on cost unless you can afford more.

Cost for a receiver is anywhere from $150 to $800.  Add another $100 for color.   A good middle of the road price for a good handheld is around the $450 range. 

The GPS runs off at least 4 satellites of a string of 24 GPS satellites that orbit the earth twice a day, so it needs direct access to the sky.  The satellites are positioned so that a GPS receiver anywhere in the world can receive signals from at least 4 of the satellites.  

Having the receiver on your dashboard is the best location and there are various ways of securing it.    Some can be mounted with suction cuts onto your windshield where others come with a holder for your dashboard.  The handheld model is the most versatile.

A GPS receiver is also used for hunting, fishing, vacationing, and surveying farm land for crops.

Okay, let’s talk some features of the GPS.

Common brand names are Garmin, TomTom, Lowrance and Magellan.

The more you spend on your device the larger your viewing screen.  These also come in black/white versions but you will probably prefer something in color to look at.

The largest viewing screen I’ve seen is approximately 7” with a base price tag of around $800.  You can also add on traffic, weather and radio to this one.   Again, everything has a price.  It just depends on what you will or won’t use.

All devices run on batteries and some will include a vehicle adapter or AC power cord.

Your GPS receiver can give you sunrise and sunset times as well as your bearing, and distance to destination, even velocity.

Mapping capability will give you general direction or street-level details depending on your path.  Map data can include streets, restaurants, etc.

When a destination has been entered into your receiver, it alerts you when you have arrived at your destination.

You can buy a GPS almost anywhere they sell electronics and be sure to buy from a reputable store.

Remember, all GPS devices are portable and an easy mark for thieves.  If you have this located in your truck or car, be sure to put it out of site in a glove box or under the seat when not in use and remove, if you can, the holder.  This is always a dead giveaway to thieves that you have a GPS device in your vehicle.  

There is GPS software for your computer out there too in Windows and Mac versions.  Again you get what you pay for so shop around to find what will work for you and fit into your budget.

So, bottom line….. when you are in the market to buy a GPS receiver, shop around and do your homework first on what you want and how much you want to spend.  Ask other truckers that use GPS for what brand they have and how they like it.  Getting more information can only help you in making a better decision for you and your business. 

Easy Truckin is brought to you by Easy Trucking Software. We hope you enjoy it.

Keeping up with your paperwork as you go allows you some much needed time with family and friends when you do get back home.  

But what about your laptop?  Are you doing everything you can to protect yourself against theft?  Sure you may carry insurance on it but what if it is stolen?  Do you have all your data backed up to something else, somewhere else?  Good question, huh!

It is highly recommended that you backup your data to an external source such as a USB / Flash Drive or external hard drive.  Losing all your data can be a nighmare or worse if you have all your personal credit info on your laptop.

In this article I’ll be talking about ways to safeguard your laptop from theft.  Nothing is fool proof, but lets make stealing your laptop something undesirable to a potential thief.

There are several different ways of safeguarding your laptop, whether it’s a Mac or Windows computer.  

First off is a lock and key.   Prices range from $12 – $40 and are an excellent deterrent.  Attach the steel cable, usually 6 feet long, to something permanently part of your truck interior and attach the lock to your computer.  If you are leaving your truck for any reason and not taking your computer with you, be sure it is locked and take the keys with you.  Most thieves want to grab and go.  Not so easy with your computer it attached to your truck.  From what I have read the lock and key methods seems to be the most popular.  There are others with combination locks.  You decide and choose what’s right for you.  If you are taking your laptop with you into a restaurant and want to work while eating, be sure to secure the cable to the leg of the table or something secure where you sit.

Another method of security is alarms and security cameras.  Most of the newer computers are coming with a build-in camera.  So now that you have your laptop physically locked down, you will want to arm your laptop from growing legs say in a restaurant.  Lets say you have stopped for something to eat, stretch your legs and take a break.  While you are at it you want to catch up on some paperwork so you take your laptop into the restaurant with you.  If you walk away from your laptop to visit the buffet or salad bar, who knows if it will be there when you get back.  

You can arm your laptop like some people have a car alarm.  Any movement of your laptop or mouse will start the alarm and bring all sorts of attention to your laptop and whoever is trying to move/remove it.  If you have a build in camera it can act as a security camera that can also activate if someone moves your mouse, touches the mouse pad or keyboard while in alarm mode.  The camera will take a picture and can even be sent elsewhere.  

For window users there is a free application called Laptop Alarm.  For Mac users, there is iAlertU, Gawker or Lockdown.  Check them out if interested.

Worse case is your laptop is stolen.  If you have some sort of security on your laptop it can be tracked the next time the thief tries to use it.  But let’s hope it never comes to that.

A little bit of research and a little money can give you some piece of mind and added security when traveling with your laptop. Easy Truckin is brought to you by Easy Trucking Software. We hope you enjoy it.

 Some truck drivers are very savvy when it comes to surfing the web and running their computers.  Others are just at the start of their journey or someplace in between beginning and experienced.  Everyone has to start some place.  You didn’t suddenly overnight or by reading a book or seeing a movie know how to drive your truck.  It took practice and some time driving to gain the experience you have.  Same is true with learning the computer.  Give yourself a break and some time to learn.

In this article I’m going to cover some basics for those that are needing the help.  The rest of you are welcome to read along just in case there is something new to learn.  

I’m not going to get into how to turn your computer on, I’m pretty sure you already know this.

ANTIVIRUS PROTECTION

An antivirus program will protect your PC and data from any virus coming into your machine and messing/erasing/scrambling your data and possibly wreak havoc with your  hard drive on your PC.

Always, always, always have your antivirus program turned ON!  I can’t stress this enough.  Especially if you are out on the internet and surfing from one site to the next.  You can pick up or open the door for a hitchhiker  to enter into your computer and cause all sorts of problems.  Don’t take a chance, keep your antivirus program running at all times and update your program as updates become available.

When you purchased your computer it probably came with Norton,  McAfee or some similar antivirus program.  If not, beat feet to your nearest big box store of someplace selling computer programs and get yourself an antivirus program and install it.

SPYWARE

Spyware protects your PC from downloads (bugs) coming into your computer spying on your buying habits, websites you visit etc.  This is something invisible running in the background as you surf and not something you can see but you do need to protect yourself from.

Do a search on the internet for Free Spyware and pick one.  Download it and run it weekly.  Unlike an antivirus program, the spyware filter isn’t always engaged, you will need to run a scan of your PC manually by opening the program and running a search.

The first time I downloaded spyware to my PC and ran a scan, I had hundreds of spyware bugs that were removed by my spyware from my PC.  After that, I ran my spyware on a weekly basis and had fewer problems with my PC running slow or getting locked up.  It also cut down on spam to my email too.  

SAFE ON-LINE BUYING 

When you are surfing on the internet and giving out your information to make an on-line purchase be absolutely sure that the website you are on is secure.  How do you know this?  Look in the browser window at the top of your screen for the web address and find where it begins http://   If your site is secure it have the “S” in the https://.  You will also see a padlock in a locked position in either the upper right corner of the page or lower right.  Look around the page just to make sure you see it.  Do this before you give out ANY personal info like your credit card number.  Protect yourself as much as possible to avoid identify theft.  Your personal information should be given on on a need-to-know basis ONLY.

If a website you want to order from does not show you the https:// in the browser window and have a locked padlock on the page, DO NOT enter any of your personal information for a purchase.  Any reputable company doing business on-line will have this information displayed.  Anyone else, get off their website ASAP.  There are other vendors out there to do business with that do have a secure web ordering site.

For some of you truckers this information is all pretty basic but not for others.  I hope this has helped and safe surfing!

Easy Truckin is brought to you by Easy Trucking Software. We hope you enjoy it.

Technology is a wonderful thing. We can create documents, edit images, create music files and do just about anything we like with a computer. The advancements in technology grows at an alarming rate, and each week we see new things that before were never possible. With all this comes a down side. Having this complicated machine in our home offices means we need to be even more careful with our data. Today, people keep tax returns, family information and personal data on their hard drives, thinking that it is safe and that they always have access to it. Nothing could be further from the truth. Computers can, and do, fail. If we don’t protect the data we have on our operating systems, we may run into problems that are extremely hard to amend. Knowing how to back up data and protect it is more essential than learning the most difficult computer program. Here, we discuss backing up data, how to do it, when to do it, and how to insure that it is safe.

Types of Backup Systems

The type of system you use depends on just how valuable your data is to you. Because I rely on a computer exclusively for my business, I use a backup system that is both redundant and backs up every three hours. This would be overkill for people using a computer for family fun and email. How does the casual user back up their data to insure integrity? Windows XP operating system has a backup utility that works well for this. The backup utility in Windows XP Professional will back up your data to a CD, DVD, external hard drive, or even another computer. Because the file system on a Windows XP machine contains relevant data in your My Documents file, it is always best to at least back this data up. If you are sharing the computer with family, the computer should be set up so that each family member has their own log ons and file structure. That way, using the Backup Utility to choose the files to back up can include everyone’s My Document data.

What To Backup To?

I personally use an external hard drive that is equal to my internal hard drive capacity for backup.  I do this along with running Time Machine on my Mac.  Time Machine updates any changes to my external hard drive every hour.  During my Windows years on a computer my data was automatically set to be backed up weekly to my external hard drive.  You can’t back up your data too often.  Better to do it twice than not at all.

How To Schedule Backups

Backups can be set to run automatically through the use of the Widows Task Manager. This can be accessed by going to Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Backup. Here, a wizard walks you through the task of backing up your data, including files and setting, cookies, and contacts. It allows you to choose what to back up, and then asks where you wish to back up to. Choose the appropriate media, and the backup utility does its thing.

A much better way to do this is through Scheduled Tasks, because you never forget to do the backup. With the regular Backup Utility, you must manually do the backup, and with the Scheduled Tasks module, you can have the task performed automatically.  If you use the Scheduled Tasks module be sure to leave your machine on for the backup to run as scheduled.

Backing up personal data is your responsibility. Use the utilities on your operating system, and never lose valuable data again.

Owning a computer and having access to the internet is a very good thing. It can also be hazardous to your privacy in ways you are not aware of. Because we keep so much personal data on our computers, it is not hard for a hacker with a lot of determination to access that data and cause you a world of problems.  Even with sophisticated security programs, you are at risk whenever you access the web. There is also the threat of security over network connections, and safeguarding these should be a top priority. Here are ten ways to protect your privacy, including personal data and identity.

Your Personal Data

Credit card numbers, banking information, home addresses and a lot of other sensitive data are typically stored on the home PC. People often see identity theft as someone stealing their wallet or pocketbook, or unscrupulous desk clerks at hotels scamming their information from an entry card. Actually, it is the computer that is the biggest offender. Let’s look at ten different ways that a determined thief can steal your identify.

1. A computer that is hooked to a DSL internet connection that is always open and connected to the internet is just waiting for a hacker to break into and steal your private data. When you are finished with your internet connect, close it, log off.   If your business needs to keep an internet connection open, there are many free firewall programs, available at such places at http://download.com and http://shareware.com to help protect your information from hackers.

2. Always use secure sites when making any internet purchases. You can determine this by checking two things – the address bar on your web browser, and an identity icon that must appear in the form of a padlock in the task bar. A secure site will begin with the prefix “https” to alert you to a secure site, and the padlock in the task bar will be in the closed, in the locked position.

3. Never give out any information to any site unless you absolutely must for a secure transaction. Suspect any site that asks for personal information when it is not necessarily needed for using the site.

4. Always keep a “throw away” email address to do business with any site or individual that you do not absolutely trust. This protects you from spammers, who harvest email addresses from the web. 

5. Never reveal any information to people who you meet on forums or in chat rooms unless you are absolutely sure you can trust them. Don’t put personal information on a public home page.

6. Always reject unnecessary cookies. Cookies are a necessary evil for some site which you do business with or are taking such things as training from, but do not allow other sites to set cookies on your hard drive. Use the privacy section of the web browser options to set cookie security to a high level.

7. Always be sure to read any privacy policy on any website you do business with, and be sure you agree with their policies. If you don’t, move on.

8. Educate your children. Insure that they never give out personal information online, such as name and phone number, or home address. A law was passed in 1998 requiring companies to gain parental consent before collecting personal information from children under 13 years old.  Give each child their own personal sign-on and restrict where they can & can’t go on the web with security controls in your computer.

9. Use an encryption method to send and receive email. Email can easily be rerouted and read by unintended persons. Outlook Express, Netscape Messenger and Mozilla thunderbird use encryption, as should your internet provider. You can download Pretty Good Privacy (PGP), a popular encryption software, free for non-commercial use.

10. Never reply to spammers, for any reason. Also, never reply to the message asking to be removed from their list. All this does is confirm that you have a legitimate email, opening yourself up to even more attacks.  In some email clients you can “bounce” the email back to the sender so it appears as though your email is not good.

The ultimate in computer security would be to have two computers – one that connects to the internet and contains no personal data, and a second computer that has no internet access to use for personal data. Although this may sound extreme, it is the only real way to know that your computer is safe from prying eyes on the internet. Consider using a hub that allows you to use the same monitor and keyboard for both computers.  Better safe than sorry.