If you want to know about a free way to block adult oriented sites, then this post is for you. If you have a Windows Home Server and want to block adult oriented sites, then this post is especially for you.
Continue reading "P*O*R*N* Blocking and Windows Home Server (Windows Wednesday)" »
Thanks to the great folks at DownloadSquad (do they find everything or what!?), I found a great remote desktop application called CrossLoop . Have you ever experienced the frustration of trying to help someone over the phone with a software question? It's so much easier if you can see what they need and show them how to do it. CrossLoop (and other applications like it) overcome this by allowing you to connect to someone's computer over the Internet, see what they are seeing, and control their mouse and keyboard.
Continue reading "Can You See Me Now? (Windows Wednesday)" »
This is a guest post by Qwin Humphries, M.Ed, Author of PC-Mommy; 123 Ideas To Run The Family With Microsoft Office And Get A Promotion. Visit her at http://pc-mommy.com.
After a huge business loss from being forced to change my phone number (long story), I went on a hunt to find a possible solution to avoid that ever again. Luckily, I arrived at Google Grand Central and I love it! My husband uses it more than I and my kids think it is the coolest thing I gave them last year. . . And it is all FREE!!!
1. Eliminate unwanted startup programs. Check out the wonderful Black Viper site on how to do this. You might be surprised how much faster your computer boots after you finish this process. Not only that but this also frees up RAM, your computer's most precious resource.
2. Eliminate unwanted programs. Just go to the Control Panel and open up Add or Remove Programs. Then uninstall programs that you don't use anymore.
3. Eliminate unwanted files. Even if you have a huge hard drive, the fewer files that you have on it, the faster it will run. There are a number of free and commercial programs that will visually show you all your files by size. This makes it much easier to find and delete your largest files. One program you might want to try is Jam Software's TreeSize Professional.
4. Buy more RAM. If you want or need to speed up your system and can only upgrade one thing: this is the one. If you have Windows XP, 1GB is enough for most people. If you are running Vista, you will want 2GB or more.
5. Buy a faster hard drive. Many applications, especially games and programs like Photoshop, make extensive use of the hard drive. Moving from a 5400 RPM to a 7200 RPM drive can make a noticeable difference.
6. Buy a faster video card. If you are trying to play modern games on your machine without a decent video card, you are not going to be happy. This is easy to do if your machine is a desktop but difficult or impossible if your machine is a laptop. Also, before you go shopping, find out what cards work best with the game you love. Some games are optimized for NVIDIA and some for ATI.
7. Speed up your mouse. You laugh but perception is everything. All you need to do is go into the mouse settings and change the speed. Since it feels faster it is!
8. Speed up your hard drive. You can use Window's built in utilities to do this. Run Disk Clean Up and Disk Defragmenter.
9. Speed up your video. You can speed up your video by reducing one of two things: the number of pixels or the number of colors. Depending on what you are doing, this may make things look not so good. On the other hand, it's free and easy to play with. Right-click on your Desktop and choose Properties. Then click on the Setting tab. To reduce the number of pixels your card has to process, reduce the Screen Resolution. To reduce the number of colors it has to manage, reduce the color quality. For Vista users, consider turning off Aero Glass.
10. Use NOD32 for your Anti-virus. It's simply the best and uses the least amount of resources.
Some of these suggestions can make a big difference; others you may not even notice a change. Try a few and see how it works for you. And remember one of the fundamental principles of computing: they are never are fast as you would like them to be.
What about you? What are your favorite ways to speed up windows?
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This is one area where Leopard beats Vista hands down. I was listening to a TWiT podcast the other day when this issue came up. Leopard has only one edition. Yet Vista has four or five editions (depending on whether or not you count "Enterprise"). Why do I think Leopard beats Vista in this aspect?
Simplicity. With Leopard you just have one choice. You don't have to spend the time and energy figuring out which one to buy.
Less disappointment. My laptop runs Vista Business and my wife's runs Home Premium. We can't connect to her laptop remotely through Window Home Server. I can't take advantage of the cool media stuff she has because I don't have Windows Media Center. The worst has to be those people who bought a machine with Home Basic edition. It can't support more than 1GB of RAM!
Easier on retailers. Can you imagine how much more complex retail displays have to be? Not only that but it's at least 4 times harder to manage inventory. What a mess!
I've got an MBA and I know this is all about money. Microsoft has made more money because of all the editions and the way they are priced. And I'll bet they'll make even more through Windows Anytime Upgrade. On the other hand, I believe it is this kind of practice that will cause more people to turn to Leopard or Linux.
Microsoft could learn a thing or two from Apple about simplicity.
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Do you send PDF files to other people assuming that they are secure? I thought so too but it's shocking how easy it is to change one.
No hacker tools needed. With Adobe Acrobat Standard 8.0
How? All they have to do is choose Tools > Advanced Editing >Text Touchup. Then they can click in the document and replace any text that they want. Adobe even loads the correct fonts! If kids could use this for forging notes to the teacher, they'd never get caught.
What documents are affected? Any unsecured document that retains the underlying text. For instance, is you convert a Word document to a PDF it would be affected. On the other hand, most of the time when you scan a document, someone would not be able to easily change it.
The good news. It is easy to secure a PDF document. Using the same, Adobe Acrobat
More bad news. I was talking to a friend about this yesterday and she said, "You can just print the PDF, scan it back in, make whatever changes you want, and save it under the same file name." She is absolutely right.
The moral of the story. The only way to make sure that a document you send has not been changed is to compare the original with what you receive back from them.
More good news. PDF is a good choice to avoid the potential problems with Metadata associated with Microsoft Word documents. Word retains much more information in metadata (e.g. Track Changes) than PDFs do.
I don't recommend that you stop using PDFs. They are one of the most universal document formats around. Just be aware that someone could easily change them without your knowledge.
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What did you say?! I said Vista is better than Leopard and Linux. It's better because more people use it. Period.
It's the same story as it was 23 years ago. In 1985, Texas Instruments (the ones that make great calculators) created a marketing campaign called "Dare To Compare". It pitted their PC against the IBM AT. The TI PC had a better monitor, better keyboard, and faster processor for the same price as the IBM AT. Guess what: nobody bought them. Why? Because everyone was already using IBM PCs.
Buy computer stuff based on how many other people are buying it. WordPerfect is better than Microsoft Word. On the other hand, I think it's stupid to use WordPerfect because when you try to exchange documents with the rest of the world (that uses Word), it's a problem. When you need to hire someone the odds are that they will know Word and not WordPerfect.
If Dell has a problem, 100, 000 people will scream and they will get it fixed. But if you buy a "better" PC from the shop down the street, you may be the only one screaming when you have a problem.
More tools are written for the most popular products. Need an Add-in for Excel? No problem? Need an Add-in for Quattro Pro? Good luck.
Is Leopard more stable and just plain cooler? Yes. Is Linux free and superior in so many ways? Yes. Which is the better operating system? Vista or Leopard, Linux? Vista is the best because more people use it.
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Maybe it is and maybe it isn't.
Mind Mapping seems to have somewhat of a cult following. Not that many people use it but those who do are really into it. When I bought MindManager
What do I use it for? When I am brain-storming a new speech, class, or group of either, I love to use it. Recently, I was planning for a new 12 week class I'll be teaching at church next year. One Sunday morning I used MindManager to outline the classes and add notes to various ones. It worked great.
Do you need it? If you speak or write for a living or a hobby, I would recommend that you try it. Also, if you manage projects but don't use project management software, I think you would love it.
Want to know more?
The Mind Mapping Software Weblog – the mother of all Mind Mapping blogs.
The Underlying Blog – another excellent blog with a Mind Mapping focus done by my friend Kyle McFarlin.
MindJet.com makers of the market leading MindManager. You can download a trial version of the software.
What about you? Do you use Mind Mapping either on paper or on the computer? Do you love it? Hate it? Let me know.
The year was 1984. I was selling computers at Computerland on Oxmoor Road in Birmingham, Alabama. One day, a man walked in and said "Gimme some of that Ms. Dose; I don't know what it is but I've heard it's good; So gimme some of that Ms. Dose". In 1984, the operating system of choice was MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System). In the world of personal computing we've come a long way since 1984 in large part because of Microsoft Windows. Why I am thankful for windows?
Windows created a standard user interface. 1984, to save a document in WordStar (the word processing market leader) you pressed CTRL+KD. To save a document in Lotus 1-2-3 (spreadsheet of choice), you pressed /FS. Every software vendor had their own way of doing things. It was frustrating and confusing! Then Microsoft stole an idea from IBM called SAA (Systems Application Architecture). SAA was a set of standards that specified that every program should have a basic set of menus and keyboard shortcuts associated with them. That's where we got the File, Edit, and View menus we all take for granted now.
Windows works with everything. I've got nothing against Mac or Linux but they don't work with everything. Windows works with literally millions of devices and configurations. Millions! It's a minor miracle that it even runs. 20 years ago, when you thought about buying a new printer, you had to find out if it was compatible with the programs you were using. Then once you bought the printer, you had to install a driver for each program you used individually. Wow. Today, in most cases, you plug the printer in, put the CD in the drive and it works! Amazing.
Windows is graphical. Yes I know that Apple stole the GUI (Graphical User Interface) from XEROX PARC and then Microsoft stole it from Apple. On the other hand, neither Apple nor XEROX made the right decisions to create a GUI that was accepted by the masses. Microsoft did. For engineers and other geeks, a command line was and still is a beautiful thing. But for most folks ideas like "folders" and "drag and drop" were breakthroughs that made it so much easier to get your work done.
Yes, Microsoft is at times evil. But every now and then it's good to take a step back and be thankful for what they have done to make the world of personal computing a better place.
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This is a review of PhotoSync Beta2 for Windows Home Server. It's an Add-In that automatically uploads photos from your server to your Flickr account.
Installation. Installation was straightforward and simple. The steps were as follows (Steps 1-4 apply to any Add-In):
Use. The way I use the Add-In is illustrated in the screen shot below.
I created one folder called ToFlickr. Then I created a sub-folder for each set I wanted to create on Flickr. After that, all I had to do was copy the folder from my machine to the sub-folder. As soon as the Sync happened, it created the set on Flickr and copied the files to my account. Sweet!
Conclusion. If you use Windows Home Server and Flickr, this Add-In is a clear winner. I recommend it.
This post also appears on Philip Churchill's blog, MS Windows Home Server.
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Software piracy and inane attempts by vendors to fight it costs us law abiding citizens a great deal of money and hassle.
My first experience with this was back in 1984. At the time, Lotus 1-2-3 was the king of the spreadsheet market. Many businesses were run on Lotus and all it took to bring Lotus to a screeching halt was one bad floppy. That's right, Lotus used a special floppy that you had to have in your machine or it wouldn't run. Like all copy protection, some smart folks overcame this limitation so people who bought the software could use it without fear.
My sticker shock. I love my tablet PC (Toshiba Portege M400-S5032" TFT 1024 x 768 ( XGA )
I am a big fan of Microsoft products. I understand that piracy is a big problem. On the other hand, I think Microsoft, like the big record labels, need to find ways to make money without hurting the customers who are paying for their products and hardware vendors need to be careful where they put stickers.
Based on my experience: YES!
For several months I have been beta testing Windows Home Server (WHS). It seemed to be a product with a lot of promise but I wondered if Microsoft would make it easy enough for the average person to install.
Well, thanks to great service from NewEgg, I got my copy of the OEM version on Friday. So, Saturday morning, I was ready to install it.
With Paul Thurott's Screen Shots pulled up on my laptop for comfort, I got started.
How hard was it? Scout's honor, the hardest part was putting in the product ID. With the package, you get one DVD for the server install, one CD for the clients installs, and one CD to restore a client image from backup. So, put the DVD in and turn your machine on. After that you enter a couple of things like language preference and geographic location, click next a few times, it starts to crank away. It ran for about an hour and fifteen minutes, copying files, configuring, and rebooting before showing the welcome screen (my server is a two year old machine with an Athlon processor and 512MB of RAM). I did not have to manually reboot even once! Wow. The server install worked without any problems.
I then put the CD in for the client install. The installation was quick and easy. I installed a total of 5 clients including 2 Vista Laptops and 3 XP Desktops.
How long did it take? As stated above the server install took about an hour and fifteen minutes. Each client install took between 5 and 10 minutes. Keep in mind though some of this was my own paranoia. I rebooted and turned off all non-essential software before installing the client. In addition, I moved some data from my old server, installed a printer and a scanner on the server, and set up each of the clients to access the network printer. All told: less than 3 hours start to finish.
Why was I so impressed? For one, I had to do absolutely no troubleshooting or tweaking to make it work. Also, I didn't have to answer any "technical" questions. In fact, I hardly had to give any input during the install. WHS just detected my network settings and configured itself and my router as necessary. This is pretty amazing considering how complex networking can be.
Why would you want one? For now, it's the best home backup solution available. If you want to rest easier at night knowing that all your machines are backed up, you can't go wrong with WHS. Another big plus, is that if you have machines that use Windows XP Pro, Vista Business, or Vista Ultimate, you can access any of those machines remotely. In addition, anyone who has a login can login remotely and get to files that are on the server.
What does the future hold? I believe Microsoft intends for this box to become the single computing appliance for your home. Future plans include adding media sharing and streaming and home automation. What I would love to see is something that combined adds TIVO, AppleTV, and SlingBox capabilities to the current features. That would be really sweet.
Should you buy one now or wait? If you have multiple PCs and a Broadband connection, you may want to buy one now. That is, if you have a box to put it on (only the software is available for now so you have to dedicate a machine to be the server. On the other hand, you may want to wait to buy a box with Windows Home Server already installed. There should be several to choose from this holiday season.
How about you? Would you buy one? If you already have, what has been your experience?
Note taking with OneNote 2007 is like being in paradise (slight exaggeration).
Being somewhat Anal Retentive, I hate when things aren't neat. Hand written notes are inherently messy (especially with my handwriting) and difficult to manipulate. Not so when taking notes with OneNote.
Whether or not you are a Tablet PC user, note taking is better with Microsoft OneNote 2007
Use voice recognition software. Vista's built-in software is pretty good. Dragon Naturally Speaking is better.
Want an even bigger productivity boost? Buy the package that includes the Preferred version of Dragon Naturally Speaking 9 and a digital voice recorder that works with it. You can "write" a blog post while driving. The jury will disregard that last statement.
If you decide to try it, a great resource is KnowBrainder.com . To avoid having to "train" Dragon, you may want to try their Univoice Enabled Solutions .
I've tried voice recognition software before but this is the first one that's worked for me.
What's been your experience?
If you're not a OneNote (Microsoft OneNote 2007
If you are a OneNote user, you are going to love the OneNote Printer. With the OneNote Printer, anything you can print, you can send to OneNote. It rocks!
At a recent conference, the handouts were available as pdfs (not a format OneNote supports directly). So, I opened them up in Adobe Reader and "printed" by simply selecting the OneNote printer from the list of printers. This process imported the pdf into OneNote as an unfiled note. Then I was able to take notes directly on the handouts using my Tablet PC. It was so much better than taking notes on paper handouts.
This was a real breakthrough for me. Now . . . anything I want in OneNote, I can have in OneNote.
