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Some of my Favorites

All of the products featured are ones that I use myself, and recommend. I refuse to feature any products that I don't use and believe in.

Russ Jacobs
Jacobs Consulting, LLC

Product Recommendations

There are quite a few software products that I use on a daily basis, for both myself and for my clients. One that I will swear by is the Kaspersky Anti-Virus software. I have had other big name brands and they let viruses slip through that Kaspersky catches.

If you have young children, I have tried many of the parental control packages, but have found that IProtectU from SoftForYou is the easiest to use, and most comphrensive. It works well for a single machine, workgroup of several, or a network.

Other packages that I use and recommend are related to Linux. All of my web and mail servers run Ubuntu Linux, Apache2, MySQL, WebMin and ISPConfig.

Another product that I recommend is Logo Creator from LaughingBird Software. Your identity should look professional and Logo Creator allows you to do just, for yourself or to create logos for others, and at a very reasonable price.

Links to these products are listed below.

Kaspersky Anti-Virus

Every computer needs to have Anti-Virus software. I have used most of the major brands of Virus Software, with varying results.
Kaspersky cleaned my system after another 'major name' package let 18 viruses happily live on my system and wreak their havoc.

Kaspersky is, in my opinion simply the best package available, and it comes at a price that cannot be beat.

• 1,2 and 3 year licenses available for 1, 3, 5 or 10 users
• Business packages for 10 and 25 users, also available in 1, 2 or 3 year licenses
• Easy to install, and worry-free.

If you depend on your computer, then your computer needs to depend on Kaspersky

• Learn more about Kaspersky Labs products

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IProtectU Parental Control Software

As a father of 2 young girls, I want to make certain that I can monitor and limit the access they have from their computers to the Internet. After looking around and trying many different products, I choose IProtectU from SoftForYou.

The iProtectYou Internet filtering and parental control software program enables you to fully control your child’s online use, thus preventing your child from being exposed to the inappropriate, harmful and dangerous aspects of the Internet. In addition, this program enables businesses to limit and control their employees access to the Internet and computer as a whole.

• New: Integration with popular search engines.
• New: Block images section in popular search engines.

If you can't watch you childrens every move, let IProtectU help keep them safe on the Internet.

• Learn more aobut IProtectU
• 14-Day Free Trial Download

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Ubuntu Linux

You have probably heard of Linux, but have been either too unsure about it, or have heard that it is only for the truly technical 'geeks'. That might have been true a few years ago, and with some versions of Linux, it still is, but Ubuntu is certainly the easiest, most user friendly Linux system I have ever found. My own web and mail servers run Ubuntu as well as those of many of my clients. A complete server, with full e-mail and web functionality can easily be built within just two to three hours.

You can download the complete package, free of charge at:

Download Ubuntu Linux

Ubuntu is, in my opinion, the easiest to install and use Linux distribution available today. If you want to use Ubuntu as a mail and/or web server, you should consider using ISPConfig in addition to Ubuntu. It is a great package that makes the management of multiple web sites and e-mail accounts very easy. information concerning ISPConfig is shown below.

• Learn more about Ubuntu

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ISPConfig

If you have installed Linux and now want to be able to easily manage web sites and e-mail accounts on that system, ISPConfig is the package you need. ISPConfig, while it takes some time to setup and configure, is worth it's weight in gold. You have a new website up and running in less than a minute using this system. This is not to say that you will have a complete web site built, but the server and all that goes with hosting a web site will be there, e-mail and users are just as easy to add. The link below will take you to the ISPConfig site.

For more information:

ISPConfig Home Page

You can download the complete package, free of charge at:

Download ISPConfig

A complete step by step for installing and configuring for the latest version of Ubuntu is:

ISPConfig How-To for Ubuntu 8.04

Combine ISP with Ubuntu and you have an enterprise class system, which can be up and running in about half a day. Best of all, the software is all Open-Source and is available free of charge.

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Webmin

Linux is a notoriously text based system. Much of the configuration and maintenance is done through text configuration (*.conf) files. For someone who is used to the graphical interfaces of Windows or Mac, this can be very confusing and a bit frightening. Even with the graphical desktop of Ubuntu, much of the configuration of the system is not readily accessible through the desktop. Webmin helps by providing a graphical interface to most of the system functions, servers and interfaces within your Linux system.

Webmin is a web based application that runs on Apache2. Even if you don't have a web server running to provide a public web presence, using one on your internal network to run applications makes a lot of sense.Webmin is a great tool to use to give you a management interface to the functions of your Linux server.

For more information:

Webmin Home Page

You can download the complete package, free of charge at:

Download Webmin

Depending on what version of Linus you have, you can get installation instructions here:

Installation Instructions

Combine Webmin, ISPConfig and Ubuntu and you have an enterprise class system, which can be up and running in about half a day. Best of all, the software is all Open-Source and is available free of charge.

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Logo Creator

Creating Logos for your business can ba a daunting task for most people, myself included. With the assistance of the Logo Creator package from LaughingBird Software, you can have a professional logo designed in minutes. With the different packs that they have, you only need get the subjects that your are interested in, or you can get all of the packs in a Mega-Pack bundle for a great price. This is product that you can use to get your logo done quickly and at a fraction of the cost of a professionally designed logo. For less that $30.00, you can have a logo that fits your image.

The Logo Creator - The MEGA pak - Over 380 professionally designed logos that you can mix, match and manipulate ... in minutes! Click Here