If you use Facebook-Be Warned!

It appears Facebook is not immune to negative users that cause nothing but headache for all, as TechCrunch reports.

TECHNICAL-Kill Frozen Windows Applications

A recent read through the Lifehacker website finds this very useful tip which will provide you with an instant fix to frozen applications which call for you opening the Task Manager and ending the application "not responding".

It does require a little know-how creating shortcuts and copy/pasting the command, therefore I tagged this one TECHNICAL.

Email eddiquette

More and more people seem to be forgetting that just because they received a joke email from someone, that it should be forwarded on to 10 or more of their friends without any concern for the size of the email message. Unfortunately I see more email content that is over 3mb in size (some as much as 10mb) and yet people do not seem to wonder why they have problems. The real problem I believe, is this email message that is over about 1 mb in size is usually some video that could quite easily have been watched directly from the website, therefore a link to the site would have been the correct method in which to send the message. Take a look at the mail in your inbox and look at the size of it. Odds are, anything over 1mb in size is not only some video or music bit, but is a joke, nothing of real importance. Especially if it means blocking other 'legitimate' mail from getting to you due to the mailbox being full.

Home Video Editing

With more people uploading to such website like youtube and creating home photo slide shows and movies this website has a good line up of available software and web applications available to you.

Geocaching and Hotsprings

Because there is nothing like a hike through the wilderness to a secluded hotsprings. Here is a site that does a good job of giving you the coordinates for many hotsprings in BC.

I found your luggage!

If you have ever flown some place with typically more then one stop, there is a good chance your luggage didn't make it and if that happens you can usually get it from the next flight out, but then again maybe you won't.  There is some luggage that never gets picked up and so they auction this off. Now, there is a website that not only buys this luggage from the auction, but takes a picture of it and all of its content.. take a look to see if yours is one of these bags!

Use one link to open multiple urls - Web - development - Creative design and development - Wohill

If you ever need to create a link to multiple sites give one link a go!

email clients have got to change

Alistair Croll hit the nail on the head with this one!

Just take a look at how many twitter responses you get if you use Twitter (for example).

Blog items in the works

Attempting to find 25 hours in a day, I always come across many issues and/or ideas that I want to investigate and blog about but usually end up placing them aside for more 'important' issues such as continual computer repair issues. I like to think of it much like a triage where those that are not breathing get first aid and those just bleeding end up waiting for the next available medic.  I love the many IPhone Apps that are available to help with the 'things to do list' and to keep track of what I am spending my time on, but it seems even though I may find a quiet moment, that too is filled by my own computer updates, etc.

This being the case, here is what I want to blog about:

... damn! and now I forgot what it was I was going to blog about!

Geocities is no longer!

I remember way back, when the internet first started... I am talking about when I was still using Compuserve and this thing called the world wide web was something you connected to through your Compuserve account, (which is now one of the only places you will find the 'netscape' logo dominant).  At that time Geocities cropped up, allowing anyone to build their own FREE website.  Now, to learn that Geocities is no longer something that Yahoo wants to take care of, it does make me a little curious if this isn't the start of something much bigger. With Yahoo and Microsoft both discussing business ventures once again, this would seem a likely thing to do, since Microsoft has their own 'hotmail' community, which is now Windows Live...I'm just saying.

PayPal Sucks

I have officially stopped using PayPal as I have come to realize they not only Suck when it comes to customer service, but they suck at dealing with your personal finances by allowing third parties access to your accounting information. Don't deal with this company. After having numerous email 'request for payment' be sent out to various clients, without any notice or permission (these were canceled requests for payment that were never issued), I have received no recourse or apology of any kind from PayPal, because they suck!   I recommend visiting this site for more on just how much they suck! 

Automatic Windows Updates is not enough

For those of you that have windows set to automatically perform the various updates available, you should realize that this is not enough to confirm the security of your system. In fact I personally choose to disable this option and do these sorts of things manually, mostly because using the automatic update can result in device driver conflicts (mostly display drivers) that cause more problems then it is worth.  The best solution is to utilize the Belarc Advisor security service. First go and download and install Belarc advisor here. Then once it has determined what updates are available, if any, click on the IT PROFESSIONALS link for each update that is available. This will allow you to install each update one at a time, confirming that all are completed correctly. (note using the Home users link will essentially perform the automatic update process which will give you different results).

During the updates, as each one gets installed, if you are prompted to 'restart', select the 'do not restart' until you have completed all available updates (just to expedite the process).

Wash and Wear Flash Drive

Just did a wash and dry and found the cap to one of my kingston flash drives.  A little further in the laundry hamper from the clothes I had pulled out of the dryer, I found a 4gb Kingston Flash drive all washed and dried.  Plugged it in and everything works just fine. The true meaning of software cleaning!

Mac users should be aware of bug

If you use a Mac and also use VMware, you may want to read this from computerworld. 

Ediquitte with Technology

On a recent trip that I took, I couldn't help but notice how the technology that we currently use is not only taken for granted but quite often forgotten just where it is we are using it. The most obvious is of course the fact that flight attendants now give lengthy words on turning off our phones and other electronic devices included in to the safety instructions.  I am a huge fan of pushing technology any way we can but just because we can use a phone the moment the flight attendant says we can (typically right after landing and still taxing to the gate) people can't settle on texting their loved one that they have just landed, but decide everyone else on the plane needs to hear that oh-so important business call because you just couldn't wait 10 more minutes when you would be within the airport terminal.  Think how that 10 minutes would seem like an eternity if the rule was similar to how it is now with the 'no smoking' anywhere within the public place and terminal building! 

I think you truly have to draw the line when that phone rings and you happen to be using a stall in the mens room and decide you think you need to answer it. Not only that, but to put the call on speaker phone so that the rest of the restroom hears the conversation. Top that by having the guy at the other end of the phone actually ask, 'where are you, in the restroom?' and having the guy actually say 'yes, hang on while I pull up my pants'.. can you believe it! 

Conficker Virus Has Arrived

It appears, by the amount of phone calls and email I received this
morning that something was up.. with a little bit of diagnosis, it
appears the conficker worm has infected some of my clients that are on
the SHAW Internet system. What you will find is your email works
fine, so long as it is not through the web browser. When you open your
browser you see this 'oops' page with a phone number to call.. this is
NOT what you should be doing and the fact is, your browser has NOT
been hijacked either. This problem (the conficker virus) affects the
internet router, which you can attempt to get fixed by first
unplugging the power for about 2 minutes to the router as well as your
cable modem's power and then checking the status once again. If this
doesn't solve the problem, you may have to reset the router to factory
settings by pressing (and holding) the reset button on the back of the
router. Once you do this, your wireless and secure connections will
be lost but you should have the ability to reconnect to internet
websites.. if this happened to you, contact me and let me know you
have attempted the repairs mentioned and I should be able to connect
to your computer and repair the settings of your router.

Google losing 1.65M per day-really?

It is reported from Slashdot that Google is losing 1.65 Million Dollars A DAY on YouTube but how much per-day is Google earning in all its other ventures? I have to believe this is where the concept of "you must spend money to make money".

Twitter tools

Twitter is by far, the fastest growing web application today. This website has a very good set of twitter tools that you can take advantage of.

Need/Want an education online?

There are many ways to learn code and many are free right here on the internet. Google offers many options.

Vista 64 bit O/S

It seems quite interesting to me, that the last 4 computers (laptops) that I have worked on by performing the initial installation and cleanup of the 'crapware' that they all come with, all have been the 64 bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium edition.  Could it be that these are being bought up because they currently have the best pricing for new laptops? I am pretty sure in the 4 that I have worked on, non of these owners of new laptops realized the difference and simply knew it was Windows Vista, which was new to them since they were "used to using XP".   Personally it doesn't matter to me, especially since I am a strong advocate of the new Windows 7 and will be recommending to everyone, once Windows 7 is released, to go out and buy a copy!  Since it is now sounding more like the actual release date may be before the end of Summer, don't be surprised if there will be "free upgrades" available on upcoming sales of the Windows Vista systems. I warn you however, to not fall for this, as some may say to go for it because that way when Windows 7 is released, you will get this free 'upgrade' but that is just it, it is an 'upgrade' and not an "OEM" version which means, if you ever have to reinstall your operating system (in the case of a crashed hard drive where you are having to replace the drive completely), you will find you first have to install the original operating system, in this case VISTA and then perform the upgrade.  

I know this first hand as I personally had this happen on two of the systems I had built right around the time when Vista was being released.  Let me tell you how much of a pain it is, since you are doubling up on the amount of work and time it takes to get things back up and running smoothly again.  I am hopeful that Windows 7 will be released at a Sub $100 price tag but will not be surprised to see it selling for $149, similarly as Vista was.  I am almost afraid to be another one of those Windows 7 lovers, promoting the product before they do place a price tag on it in fears they will see that they (finally) have a winner on their hands and figure people will pay any price just to get away (as far and as fast as possible) from Vista.

Personally I don't find Vista to be that bad, so long as you have lots of memory and a fast processor, have it tweaked to optimum efficiency including all of the latest patches and updates, but comparing it to my initial beta install of Windows 7 where I have had it running without 1 issue since New Years Day... it is pretty hard to truly do any comparison.   But do you require 64 bit versions of an operating system?  Probably not.

Getting involved with Twitter

Is Twitter your new thing?  Unless you have been living under a rock, since the news media has taken to it you may be wondering what it is all about and what you need to get in to Twitter.  This blog post does a pretty good job of providing the resources.

My RANT-Technology-only look forward

Time to RANT as it has been some time:

As much as I would love to say I know it all, I don't and so I continue to search for answers and pass on to those that care, my expertise in the field I love which is technology. The thing is, I can't help you if you don't help yourself first and that is communicating in the appropriate way.. by simply saying that you give up and constantly complain that things are not correct and that you 'want to go back to the old ways', you must stop that sort of thinking because the technology is always moving forward, improving on the things we complained about at one time, and so if you are complaining, then the odds are you are not using the latest and greatest tool (and in this case, I mean program) to do what it is you are complaining about in the first place.

Conficker Virus-Results

It always amazes me when the news media gets a hold of and reports on certain viruses.  The Conficker Worm Virus appeared in over 2900 news articles the day after the "april fools day" release, or what was supposed to be when we would really see the results/release.

I was overwhelmed by phone calls the day of and most of them were from after they had watched the news on TV, telling everyone to unplug their computers!  Technically, how crazy is this?  I mean it is a date, and so unplugging it to bypass the day entirely is crazy, since the trigger time would have already past. Do they really think the creator of a virus that was to be released on a specific day, wouldn't become active AFTER that day?  And what about the Anti virus you should have installed on your computer? Don't you think the anti-virus vendors have already created a patch for something that was reportedly supposed to attack on a specific day? Of course they did. So to unplug your computer, or for that matter, even turn off your computer from the internet, would actually be more detrimental since now, when you turn your computer back on, would be out of date with ALL VIRUSES and would have to begin updating your computer once again.