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Finally! Twitter has added two-factor authentication, which requires a second check (a verification code sent to your phone) when you sign into the service from an unknown device. This is a much-needed feature for online accounts to prevent hackers from taking over your account (and we’ve seen that happen a lot, on Twitter especially). Here’s how to get this set up and the other places you need to turn on two-factor authentication.

For Twitter, log into your account, click on the gear icon in the navigation bar, and choose Settings (or go to https://twitter.com/settings/account). Next to the Account security setting, check “Require a verification code when I sign in.” If that’s grayed out, you’ll first need to add a phone to your account and then go back to the Settings to turn on two-factor authentication. Learn more from Twitter’s announcement.

Where else should you turn on this extra security feature? In a word, everywhere. Most importantly:

• Your email account(s). See instructions for Gmail.
• All financial service accounts (bank, investments, etc.)
• Password-management sites, such as LastPass
• Online storage service providers, including Dropbox
• Microsoft(used for your SkyDrive, Office Web, Xbox, Windows 8 PC login, and more)
• Other social media sites, such as Facebook
• WordPress, if you have a WP blog (see my post on ITworld), other webhosting service, and domain name service providers

Learn more about two-factor authentication here.

Stay on top of the latest in mobile computing, telecommuting, and working on the road: Free weekly newsletter | Blog posts subscription | Follow me on Twitter: @melaniepinola or Google+

Image Courtesy LG Electronics

Prices have come down dramatically for Blu-ray making it an easy and affordable upgrade for a PC whether it is just playing back the movies or even having the ability to burn discs to the format. I’ve put together a listing of my favorite desktop Blu-ray drives broken down by whether you need simply a writer or a player drive. Be warned that all of current Blu-ray drives use the SATA interface and that there are additional hardware and software requirements for playing back Blu-ray movies on computers especially with the media support changes in Windows 8.

• Best Desktop Blu-ray Drives

The New York Daily News is reporting that the Monday’s tornado tragedy in Oklahoma  may be the most expensive twister in history with an estimated $2 billion in storm damages. Sadly, the article notes that at least 24 people are dead and ten times that number have been injured.

That storm is being tagged an EF-5. And EF-1 ripped though the little village I live in a couple of years ago and I will never forget the damage of that less-significant storm. Many homes were flattened, families were left iwth nothing but the clothes on their backs, news helicopters cirled the area for three days and chain saws were heard frequently over the next week. Beautiful forests and wooded lots in subdivisions lost mature trees, like the one that was ripped up by its roots in my own back yard. Thankfully, we had no fatalities and the police and fire personnel were fantastic, ringning doorbells twice that night to ensure all was well in the homes that were still standing.

Like I’ve been saying every year around this time for the past several years in this blog, protecting yourself and other people and pets is top priority to avoid injuries or dead, but recovering financially after a tragic storm is still stressful even if you escape physical harm. Prove what you’ve lost in belongings and home damages to the insurance company, and the claims procedure goes much faster. Home inventory software gives you an easy way to document the cost of your personal items and to have photo proof to back up claims, so please learn more about this:

• Home Inventory Software: What It Is, How to Use It
• Windows and Mac Home Inventory Software Choices
• Online Home Inventory Software Reviews

Photo by Shelley Elmblad, family after local tornado

Image Courtesy Razer Inc.

One of the great uses for tablet is entertainment and specifically games. The problem is that most of these games are fairly casual and certainly not the same as what can be done with a traditional Windows based PC. Razer now has for sale their Edge which combines a 10-inch tablet design with the components necessary for running PC games on the diminutive mobile tablet at a price similar to Microsoft’s Surface Pro. Is this really a new era for PC gaming or is this a much more niche product that lacks the performance for true mobile PC gaming? Find out in my review of the Razer Edge 10-inch Windows 8 tablet.

• Razer Edge 10.1-inch PC Gaming Tablet Review

Adobe’s mobile app Photoshop Express is now available for Windows 8 devices, including the Surface and other touchscreen laptops and tablet PCs. The Windows 8 app allows for basic photo editing as well as one-touch auto-fixing, slider controls to enhance images, and Instagram-like filters.

You can also upload the photos from within the app to Adobe Revel to sync them across your Windows devices and other platforms.

As more touch-optimized apps like this roll in each day, Windows 8 tablets potential as a great productivity tool–even in the Metro interface–gets even better.

Also interesting, as the Creative Blog points out, Photoshop Express comes hot on the heels of Adobe announcing it was moving Creative Suite software to the cloud and nixing desktop software.

Download the free Adobe Photoshop Express app for Windows 8 here.

Stay on top of the latest in mobile computing, telecommuting, and working on the road: Free weekly newsletter | Blog posts subscription | Follow me on Twitter: @melaniepinola or Google+

If you have a Windows 8 laptop, tablet, or desktop PC, you’re not limited to just the default themes that come with Windows 8. There are tons of free wallpapers available around the web, but in addition to those, you can use theme packs direct from Microsoft. These are packs of desktop background pictures, window colors, and sounds. New themes are available now with some stunning natural photos of Alaska, New Zealand, and Sweden, as well as a sweet illustration.

In addition to the new themes announced recently, other themes you can download for free from Windows cover all sorts of categories, including panoramic (dual-monitor) themes, animals, movies, holidays, and more.

They’re a great way to freshen up your desktop and keep you inspired as you work with your Windows 8 PC.

Related: 8 Things to Know About Windows 8

Image Courtesy Lenovo

Every so often, a new idea in computing comes along and tries to make a new category of computer. Sometimes its a huge success such as with the current tablets or not so successful such as Microsoft’s Windows 7 Slate initiative. Lenovo is testing the waters with something new in the Lenovo IdeaCentre Horizon with what they are calling a table PC. Now, touchscreen table computers aren’t new with examples such as with Microsoft’s original Surface now known as PixelSense, but the Horizon is much more affordable and designed as a home computer. The system looks like a traditional all-in-one computer with a touchscreen monitor with wireless mouse and keyboard but lay it back flat and it turns into something completely different. Unplug it and take it to your kitch tablet and it can be shared between the family for a variety of activities. With such a unique approach to a computer, does Lenovo’s attempt succeed or does it require a bit more work? Find out in my review of the Lenovo IdeaCentre Horizon table PC.

• Lenovo IdeaCentre Horizon 27-inch Table PC Review

Right now the laptop market is very much in a hold position as it waits for the next Intel processor release later this year. The market was flooded with new designs and updates last fall when Windows 8 was released but sales are way off what they have been. This has helped drive prices down making the more performance oriented mid-sized laptops much more affordable. If you happen to need a new laptop now before the release of the next generation based on Intel’s Haswell, check out my list of best 14 to 16-inch laptops broken down by prices, uses and features.

• Best Thin and Light Notebooks

Image Courtesy Toshiba

Six month ago I took a look at a very affordable 15-inch laptop from Toshiba. One of the big flaws for some was the lack of a dedicated graphics processor. Computer sales have not done well since the release of Windows 8 and prices have come crashing down. Now it is possible to get a very similar laptop that has dedicated graphics for a price close to what the model I looked at just six months ago was going for. Does this redeem the Toshiba laptop or did the price drops and feature gains for other brands cancel out Toshiba’s revised model? Find out in my review of the Toshiba Satellite S855-S5188 laptop.

• Toshiba Satellite S855-S5188 15.6-inch Laptop Review