ITS Technology Tips

When you take care of your banking online, your bank’s website uses a protocol called https to secure your financial data.  If you login to unencrypted wireless networks, i.e. at coffee shops or airports, https will keep your email encrypted so someone sharing the network can’t read it. If you use Gmail, you have the option to always leave https on to keep your email protected each time you access it.  By default this option isn’t selected so you will need go to your Gmail settings and choose Always use https next to Browser Connection then click Save Changes.  Keep in mind that https may make Gmail a little slower; you can always turn this feature off if you are using a secure network. 

Source – The Official Gmail Blog:  Making Security Easier

Format Factory is a handy tool that allows you to easily convert media files from one format to another. Whether you need to reduce the size of a media file for uploading to the Web or you need to convert files for iPod or iPhone compatibility, file conversion software can be incredibly useful. With a free download of Format Factory, you can convert common video formats such as AVI, MOV, WMV, and SWF to another video format.  You can also convert image and audio files to popular formats.