Google Contact Merge

I know I promote Google and their services quite a bit, but why not when they just work so well!  I came across a really great feature when cleaning out my contacts and that is, the MERGE feature.

It is really quite simple.... you select all the contacts that are identical, or at least have the same name, the content will most likely be different in the case of an updated email address or telephone number. Once you have selected the contacts, you will see the MERGE button which then shows you what the one contact will now look like. At this point you can adjust whatever settings you need, such as removing the older email address or telephone number, then simply save it. There are instructions for this if you find yourself having troubles.

Its Sunday which means No Agenda time

Just doing my part in promoting Adam and John's No Agenda podcast.

Direct from Adam Curry's website, this is what is in store for today's show.

NA-134-2009-09-27

Posted on Sunday 27 September 2009

#134 No Agenda For Sunday September 27th 2009

Fox News Babes

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Rock balancing – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

G20 protesters blasted by sonic cannon

Fox News ratings rise with TV Anchor Babes' short skirts and great legs

US ships arrive ahead of joint missile defense drill

G20 will become main economic council

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inductees suck!

Americans for Stable Quality Care – Truth About Reform

The American Conservative — Who's Afraid of Sibel Edmonds?

Sydney Blanketed By Red Dust

CNN's Sanjay Gupta Gets the Swine Flu While In Afghanistan

http://www.flufighters.org.uk/

US Dollar is set to collapse at unprecedented speed

Donate to the No Agenda Armory Today!

Check out our site at NoAgenda.SquareSpace.com and get your own SquareSpacesite at a 12% discount forever by using our code AGENDA on checkout.

Other cool sites: NoAgendaForums.com NoAgendaChat.com

Direct Link To The Show

No Agenda Podcast

Just wanted to do my part and advertise the podcast I look forward to listening to most. Currently twice a week, Adam and John are using the 'public broadcasting' approach in donations only, to keep the show politically correct. Interestingly they even bring up points about that 'public broadcasting' that many are already donating to.

Not only will I post the link to this podcast, but a recent screen shot of the current episode.

THE SHOW

What started as a simple conversation between friends has now become one of the most intriguing alternative news sources on the Web. No Agenda began simply enough, in late 2007, as an unscripted, unrehearsed and unedited dialog between MEVIO President and Co-Founder Adam Curry, and MEVIO VP John C. Dvorak. Sometimes recorded over a meal, sometimes over the Net, their premise was to create a stripped-down show with "no sponsors, no jingles and no agenda." Initially they talked about the news of the day, tech developments, and Silicon Valley scuttlebutt - and even included restaurant reviews, wine ratings and things that were going on in their personal lives. Although those subjects are certainly still on the table, the focus of the program has shifted more toward global politics and other topics from perspectives not usually found in so called "mainstream" media. In fact, Dvorak and Curry lambaste big media, drawing attention to its endless fascination with insignificant drivel (celebrity gossip, etc.) and its hesitance to cover important stories with any depth or insight.

"Crackpot" (Curry) and "Buzzkill" (Dvorak) focus on stories that you might not hear about otherwise, from sometimes opposing, but always complementary, points of view - with Curry playing the outlandish conspiracy theorist and Dvorak the hard-nosed pragmatist - though surprisingly they sometimes switch roles depending on the topic and their individual depth of knowledge on a particular subject.

To this day No Agenda remains unscripted and unfiltered. Wherever the discussion may go, you'll be enlightened, informed, entertained, and perhaps sometimes incensed - but you'll never listen to the news in quite the same way again.

No Agenda is one of thousands of informative and entertaining podcasts on the MEVIO Network.

THE SHOWNOTES

• NA-132-2009-09-20
  published on Sun, 20 Sep 2009 11:38:26 -0700
  
  Play mp3

  #132 No Agenda For Sunday September 20th 2009

Where was Gmail 10 years ago?

I truly wish GMAIL was around 10 years ago... right around the time when everyone was just starting to use Outlook Express and/or Outlook. I say this because now, with GMAIL as, in my opinion, the ultimate way to use the email services, means no worries from wondering if you are getting your mail or not.  Sure there are times when GMAIL has gone down, for what, 2 hours one day out of about 200?  That is a pretty good record I would say, considering what you are getting for this service, which is FREE!  Sure this could/should be a plug for GMAIL, but when a service just works, why shouldn't it get praised? 

The fact that you can utilize the IMAP server means yes, you still can use Outlook or whatever email program you want but when it breaks, you must remember you can always go back to the source, which would be gmail.com directly.  This is why I make every effort to move every computer I work on, over to a gmail account, simply because I know I can always direct them to their email when the program they (continue to use and complain about) doesn't work.

The problem seems to always be, when attempting to teach a 'new way of doing things', the resulting complaints are always because the person has learned another way (which is to use outlook express or outlook) and as much as method in which you deal with your mail is completely different, given a month of using nothing but GMAIL through the web is typically enough time to make the person realize just how wonderful it truly is.  I know, it is the ARCHIVE feature and then using the SEARCH to find the message which always seems to be the problem, but once you realize in order to find a message, you simply have to ask yourself what it is you are looking for and simply type that in to the search window to find the message, it does seem to work.  Like anything we do  with computers, the more you use any program, the more you will understand it and, as always, don't be afraid to go in to the options/settings of that program to see just what the program is capable of doing.  Google email is no different.  Take advantage of the LABS features as you will find there are many 'shortcuts' or other quick ways to do just what it is you want to do.

The fact that Gmail wasn't around 10 years ago and the fact that so many people are STILL using an email program that 'downloads the mail to the one specific computer' is so antiquated and wrong!   True, there may be attachments that you do wish to have located on that specific computer, but why wouldn't you want to have your mail accessible any time, from anywhere, no matter what computer you use?

ADHD likely!

The latest results from my online test.

IE8 download/install, should you do it?

Should you be installing IE8?  I have answered this previously and my feelings have not changed and this is because Windows 7 comes with IE8, you simply don't have to use it and can do a pretty good job of turning it off, but it is better to have it installed and not being used then leaving the older IE7 (or IE6 yikes!)=

Here is where you can get it directly.

Direct Download Links to Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) Setup Installer

IE8 for Windows XP 32-bit Edition: IE8-WindowsXP-x86-ENU.exe
IE8 for Windows Server 2003 32-bit Edition: IE8-WindowsServer2003-x86-ENU.exe
IE8 for Windows Server 2003 or Windows XP Professional 64-bit Edition: IE8-WindowsServer2003-x64-ENU.exe
IE8 for Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 32-bit Edition: IE8-WindowsVista-x86-ENU.exe
IE8 for Windows Vista or Windows Server 2008 64-bit Edition: IE8-WindowsVista-x64-ENU.exe

Starting from IE7, and similar in IE8, installation of Internet Explorer 8 no longer requires WGA genuine Windows validatoon. Microsoft also provides a few documents for end users, developers, IT professionals, businesses and enterprises to make better use of IE8.

Google Network Status

If you are finding yourself using more and more Google applications, you may want to check out the network 'apps status dashboard'.

Problems? No, only solutions!

I have just decided part of my daily de-stressing routine must be to stop talking to ignorant people. I'm going to go back to spending more time with machines, they either work or don't work, either way it is without attitude and, after all, attitude is everything when it comes to dealing with problems, if there is no attitude, there is no problem.

 Oh wait a minute, that requires thinking.

Computer Repair FlowChart

A flow chart can always be a great way to diagnose a problem. The problem is making just the right flowchart that has every angle covered.  I would say this set of flowcharts does just that.

The thing is, you don't have to be a technician to be able to solve the problem, but if you can follow a flow chart, quite often it will help point out what isn't wrong with the computer and can most certainly help the tech do a faster diagnosis.  The other thing is with most computers today, there are very few components (about 5 major ones) and if one of these has a problem, you are going to simply be replacing it.