Daily Cup of Tech

Note: This post is sponsored by ReviewMe!.

Product Name: Outpost 4 Pro

Manufacturer: Agnitum

Website: http://www.agnitum.com

Product Type: Software Firewall

Price: Starting at US$39.95 (see purchase page for more information)

Website Description

Best-in-class ID-theft protection
Outpost Firewall Pro will detect and prevent (using the most effective data leak prevention technology available) malicious applications from trying to transmit data out of your PC. The security of that information is assured.

Advanced protection against network attacks
Outpost Firewall Pro detects and prevents any attempted hack attacks from outside the network.

360-degree protection against spyware
Outpost Firewall Pro detects all attempts by spyware to activate; instead, spyware is instantly removed from the PC.

Automatic detection and configuration updates for optimum security
With Outpost 4.0 you receive ImproveNet updates for the whole license period that include secure firewall settings and rules - meaning with ImproveNet you will get much less prompts from the firewall as it will be always up-to-date when it comes to deciding what to do.

Self-protection against malicious software
Outpost Firewall Pro protects itself from being terminated by malware.

What I Liked

• Nice interface
• Easy to install
• Found spyware on my system
• Protected my system from both incoming attacks and outgoing connection attempts
• Had some very good rulesets already written for common application
• Integration with Internet Explorer
• DNS caching
• Live network activity monitor by application
• Live port monitoring
• Content blocking
• Attack detection
• Attachment quarantine
• Ad blocking by size and keywords
• Active content (pop-ups, ActiveX, Flash, etc.) blocking
• Detailed even logs
• Supports multiple configurations
• Supports plugins
• Password enabled to prevent settings changes
• Protects itself from attack
• Various different modes for different situations

What I Didn’t Like

• Asked a lot of questions in the beginning
• Average user would not be able to answer questions (too technical)
• Slowed down my system a bit (especially when connection attempts were being made
• No Firefox integration
• Does not work with Vista (but a free upgrade is on the way)

Other Links

• Outpost Pro 4 Website
• Purchase
• Download Trial
• Plugins
• Screenshots
• Features
• About Agnitum

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Note: This blog entry is sponsored by LoudLaunch.

For those of you who are blogging for a little extra cash (maybe not the best reason to blog but it’s nice to have a little extra coin for those new toys), you may want to look at Data Deposit Box’s page Online Backup Reseller Success.

According to their website, their reseller program offers:

The Reseller level is our easiest program to implement. You can be up and running with your own online backup business within a day.

Our Reseller Program is:

• Marketed under the Data Deposit Box™ brand
• Data Deposit Box™ retail pricing model
• Monthly commission paid on each customer’s bill
• Everything hosted and supported directly by Data Deposit Box™
• Customer billing handled by Data Deposit Box™

Resellers create and manage customer accounts directly using our administrative portal. Customers can also register online using an encoded link from the reseller’s site. Referred links from the reseller’s site will earn the same commissions.

I haven’t personally tried this but it looks like it may be an interesting business opportunity. I would be interested to hear about how this works for people.

And the service looks pretty good to. According to PC World:

Data Deposit Box’s set-it-and-forget-it desktop client automates the backup process and handles everything in the background. It lacks scheduling, though; instead, the client backs up files as they’re changed. In our hands-on testing, the client seemed to use hardly any Windows resources and didn’t interfere with other tasks. It uploaded our 21MB backup set and didn’t slow down our Web browsing.

I kind of like the idea of instant backup. Might be worth a try.

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2007/03/20/another-affiliate-program/trackback/

Note: This blog entry is sponsored by LoudLaunch.

I was playing around with my home firewall the other day and I discovered that it has a serial port on it. Upon further examination, I discovered that I could hook an old modem up to it and if my Internet connection ever went down, it would automatically dial out and I would continue to have (slow) Internet access.

I though that this was a pretty cool idea, since I am completely lost without Internet access. Now, I definitely will not be able to run streaming videos this way but at least I can still access my e-mail and go a quick Google search.

I am fortunate enough that my Internet provider give me a free dial up account with my broadband connection. If you are not as fortunate, you can sign up for relatively inexpensive at dial-up service at locally or you could try a new startup company called PCDialup.com.

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2007/03/15/dial-up-for-redundancy/trackback/

Note: This blog entry is sponsored by LoudLaunch.

Are you a hardcore gamer? Can you complete every level of Half-Life in your sleep but still get lost on the way to the bathroom? Do you see an article on how to overclock your system and you are surprised to realize that there are some people who do not overclock their systems? If so, then FiringSquad.com is looking for you!

FiringSquad.com is looking for creative writers and videographers who are avid gamers and technologists to compete in a chance to win cash and prizes and ultimately content contracts with FiringSquad.com.creative writers and videographers who are avid gamers and technologists to compete in a chance to win cash and prizes and ultimately content contracts with FiringSquad.com.

FiringSquad.com is the premier website for the hardcore gamer. From the website:

FiringSquad continues to bring you the absolute latest in the world of PC technology, hardware, and the games that take advantage of them. In these pages you’ll find the rigorous and unbiased reviews and previews, technology guides, and up-to-date events coverage that you’ve come to expect from FS. Our roots have always been in hardcore gaming, and we believe that these gamers will be the ones to shape the communities, competitions, and industries of tomorrow.

The writing contest preliminaries end Wednesday February 28th. The video contest preliminaries end on February 25th and March 18th. So get your entries in now!

LoudLaunch - Compensating bloggers for their unbiased opinions, reviews, and analysis. View the LoudLaunch campaign release this post was based on.

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2007/02/23/852/trackback/

As you may have noticed, I have added a new section to the sidebar on Daily Cup of Tech.  This is the new DCoT Discounts.  There are two purposes for DCoT Discounts:

1. To generate income for Daily Cup of Tech so that I can keep it running
2. To provide products to DCoT readers at a discounted price

I see this as a win-win situation for everyone.  If you are in the market for a product and it is available through DCoT, you may as well get it at a discount.  It also helps to keep DCoT going (which is starting to become a costly venture).

The other thing about products in the DCoT Discounts section is that they are actually products that I use.  I will not put a product in the DCoT Discounts section until I have worked with it and I feel that it is something of use.  Which is pretty difficult since I find that there are a lot of FOSS products out there that will do what you want them to do for nothing.

So, hopefully we can all see a benefit out of this.

Trackback link - http://www.dailycupoftech.com/2007/02/11/discount-products-for-dcot-readers/trackback/