photo of Peter Adams

About Peter

Office: Wheatley 3-154/10
Tel: 7-7118
Hours: M-Th 9:00-4:00
Fri. 8:30-5:30 (home office)

Send Peter a note


Recommended Software

The following software packages, most available for both Mac and Windows, will allow you to do 95% of the computing most people need to do — safely, securely, and at no cost!

Get Firefox!
Firefox 2.0

This free web browser is fast and extensible, allowing you to build the browser you want — and it's more secure than Internet Explorer!

Get Thunderbird!
Thunderbird

This free email client supports POP and IMAP, works perfectly with the UMass Boston mail system, is extensible, and offers both spam and phishing protection.

Use OpenOffice.org
Open Office 2.0

This free office package has a word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentation and drawing tools, reads and writes Microsoft Office files, exports to PDF — and complies with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' guidelines on supporting the Open Document Format. (The Mac OS X version is NeoOffice.)

Get Acrobat Reader
Adobe Acrobat Reader

This free product allows you to read PDF files which look the same on any computer.

AVG Anti-virus Free Edition
AVG Anti-Virus (Free edition)

Lavasoft logo
Ad-Aware (Free edition)

Spybot
Spybot S&D

If you use Windows, you need both anti-virus and anti-spyware software. And if you use your computer at home, you are not covered by the University's site license for McAfee ViruScan. AVG Free Edition is a great alternative. For spyware, you have several choices, including Ad-Aware and Spybot. PC World recommends both, but gave the nod to Ad-Aware.

Computer hardware

UMass Boston recommends the following brands. As a University employee or student, you qualify for educational pricing.

Apple Computer

Dell Computer

Personally, I can only recommend Apple. As Walter S. Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal puts it, "Apple's flagship model, the iMac, is the best consumer desktop on the market." And David Pogue of the New York Times writes that "the MacBook Pro is a beautifully engineered machine. If it's not the world's finest, it's darned close."

Computer software @ CPCS

Links to software used at CPCS:

Adobe PageMaker

Adobe Creative Suite

Macromedia (now Adobe) Suite

Final Cut Pro

DVD Studio Pro

iMovie/iDVD/iWeb/Garageband

Fathom

Inspiration

FileMaker Pro

Microsoft Office

 

 

Peter C.S. Adams

Director of Communication and Information Technology
College of Public and Community Service

University of Massachusetts at Boston


Peter is responsible for the web, email, and file servers for the College of Public & Community Service at UMass Boston. In addition, he manages the Taylor Center computer classroom and assists with general computer and printing issues throughout the College. He serves on the University's Technology Advisory Committee, and is a member of both the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Graphic Artists Guild.

He is a graduate of Rice University and has been using computers since 1976 (Honeywell mainframe via teletype, though he no longer has the paper tape to prove it). His first personal computer was an Apple II and he was among the first people to use Apple Lisa (1983) and Macintosh computers (1984), and set up one of the world's first AppleTalk networked LaserWriter printers (1985).

He has worked at UMass Boston since 1993.


Following are selected writings on various topics:

University of Massachusetts

 

Technology Articles

Increasing Network Security through Heterogeneity

Top Ten Tips for Safe Computing

Why the music industry is wrong about DRM

Technology Letters

Windows Vista: One Expensive Operating System

Standards, not standardization

Microsoft does not innovate
(with examples and links to computer history sites)

UMass should keep its Macs

Simplifying spreadsheet formula calculates faster

Literature / Speculative Fiction

Science Fiction as a Literature of Alienation

Return to Womb Fantasies in Recent Science Fiction Films

Why the Religious Right is Wrong About Narnia

Film Criticism / Psychology

Toward a Feminist Psychoanalytic Model: In the Realm of the Senses, The Deadman, A Question of Silence, and Marianne and Juliane

Philosophy

Creativity and the Formation of Mind from Consciousness

Art / Criticism

“Nice” Art and the Political Eunuch

Art in the Tantric Tradition in India, China, and Japan

 

 

Computer Security

Useful Links

UMB Help Desk

Secunia Software Inspector
(online security scanner)

Windows Update
(requires Internet Explorer 5+)

Houston Chronicle Help Desk

New York Times "Circuits"

(More below virus news)

Virus News

Security Threats

CIAC Advisories

CERT

Security Focus

FIRST

Secunia

Viruses

IBM Anti-Virus Research Center

FedCIRC

Virus Bulletin

Joe Wells Virus Encyclopedia

Joe Wells Wild List

Hoaxes

Hoaxes & Myths

Urban Legends

Urban Legends Reference Pages

Hoax Kill

Mac Info & Software

Mac Virus FAQ

Virex

Sophos Antivirus

Norton Antivirus

Tech Tool Pro

Apple Security

Apple Support

Windows Info & Software

Spybot
(Windows anti-spyware program)

AVG Pro
(free edition available)

NOD32 Antivirus

Sophos Antivirus

DataFellows (F-Prot)

Trend Micro

Symantec

Network Associates (McAfee)

Antiviral Toolkit Pro

Project VGrep

Quarterdeck

Stiller Research

Cheyenne

Microsoft Security

Microsoft Support

Microsoft Windows Update

Last update: February 27, 2007

Disclaimer: The opinions or statements expressed herein should not be taken as a position or endorsement of the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Obviously.