Friday, May 23, 2008

Technical-Windows ICS cannot start-repair/solution

After getting errors on a box that would not allow the firewall to be turned on due to ICS error I finally found the solution.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Trojan viruses hiding within MP3 files

Part of my job of repairing computer problems is explaining why it is a problem when peer to peer file sharing is installed. Security company McAfee explains.


Friday, May 16, 2008

Read the end of the box!

Who ever looks at the end of the aluminum foil box? You should,
because you may find something written on it like, "press here to lock
end". Right there on the end of the box is a tab to lock the roll in
place. How long has this little locking tab been there? I then
looked at a box of Saran wrap and it had one too! I can't count the
number of times the Saran wrap roll has jumped out when I was trying
to cover something up. Isn't technology great!

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

The best approach to educate those with anger management issues and computer problems-not to mention some serious animation and marketing!

Given a choice of watching commercials throughout a program or for a longer period of time before it begins, bring on this sort of commercial any day as it so entertaining you are sure to be talking about it and passing it on to others and isn't that exactly what it is intended to do, the next time you put a coin in the pop machine?

This is the sort of thing we should all be thinking about the next time we become impatient about something not working quite as fast as you would like. Sometimes it is not only one part to the equation unless you know exactly what is wrong, in which case, you should probably be able to fix it yourself!

Tuesday, May 06, 2008

New Technology in Cars

Why is it we still have major fatalities with our vehicles when technology should be able to prevent them?  It appears Volvo is going to put an end to it by 2020, but that is still 12 years away. When they make mention of using Radar and Sonar technology, which has been around for, oh, about 50 years or so, it seem strange we aren't using more recent technology such as GPS, Cellular/Microwave technology, not to mention Bluetooth and Wifi.  Regardless I am still glad to see safety getting better with the help of technology!

Air Canada USB seat power

As I do travel a lot, thanks to Air Canada's flight passes they make available, I do take advantage of the in-seat power (when available).  Note the website SeatGuru can help you confirm if your flight equipment (plane) has the power but something that most flight attendants are not aware of, as I have heard one recently tell a passenger, that yes, the USB power is 110 volt.. nope, not true!  In fact I am not even sure it is 12 volt but sure it is 5 volt which is the typical output power for USB devices. I have used this to power/charge my pocket pc but most definitely it is NOT 110 volt. This is a separate plug which is available on most of the equipment that is in the air, however on many seat backs you will only find the 110 volt on the first class seats and those in the front economy seats so be sure to use SeatGuru to get updates on this.  This site does a good job of providing pictures.

I am about to get on another flight and trying to think if I have any device that I can plug in to the USB which requires 12 volt or a way of testing, but since I am very limited to what I can bring on the plane I might have to wait until my next flight where I can be sure to bring along a voltage checker.. 

Road Trip-Knowing the Gas Prices helps

I came across a great site to keep you in touch with the gas prices as you travel across this nation and the one just South of us!

Monday, May 05, 2008

Domain Transfer fun and games

I believe all is well once again, after the successful transfer of my domain to a new domain host.  Initially it appeared it went through without a hitch, until I awoke this morning to no email. That is when I pretty much knew there were problems and oh yeah, there were problems!

Now, after numerous tests, I believe all is well once again and in the process, I am sure I have managed to lose a lot of junk mail but hopefully anyone that has had their email bounce back to them can re-send.

If you have troubles, please use this contact link to get through to me.

Sunday, May 04, 2008

Parallels doesn't suck anymore!

When I first purchased Parallels, it was at the time I purchased my macbook and although it did work, I would find on more then one occasion where it would not run and would give me an error.  After numerous attempts it would start, or I would just give up.  Restarting the computer and trying it again seemed to get it to work but even that was still hit and miss.  I initially did check the parallels website and at that time, I was using the latest version, but that was months ago and so checking back there now, it appears there have been a few updates and so installing the latest version I have had absolutely no problems. Not once will I get the error and it now opens perfectly... once again I a have Vista working on my macbook in a parallel environment.. all is good once again.

This is just one more reason why it is so important to check back with the software manufacturers website with regards to "updates".  However, I am still a firm believer that, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" theory and this should apply to most software unless you are having a problem, you should not update it. That is, unless it is anti-spyware/malware software, your antivirus or your internet browser software as this is stuff that should ALWAYS be running the latest version in order to keep your system safe.