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Installing OpenOffice 2.40
Joe M posted in free stuff, products on March 31st, 2008

I turned on my Windows XP machine today, and received an error message during startup regarding Lotus Symphony.
I remembered seeing a posting that OpenOffice 2.4 had been released a few days ago.

I decided to give it a spin.

Having downloaded and installed it on several other Windows XP machines several times before, I immediately went to download the Sun Java JRE before I tried to download or install OOo, using the green download button.

I uninstalled Lotus Symphony, rebooted and downloaded OpenOffice 2.4 from OpenOffice.org.

I click Next.

I take the default folder and click Unpack.

The progress dialog appears.

I click Next.

I accept the agreement and click Next.

I enter my username and click Next.

I want a complete install, so I click Next.

I choose handling for all three document types of MS Office and click Next.

I click Install.

I get the progress dialog for the installation.

I click Finish and start OpenOffice.

I click Next.

I scroll down and click Accept.

I enter my username and initials and click Next.

I click Next and let the updates download, which is pretty fast.

I choose my registration option and click Finish.

Success! The splash screen displays.

I pull up my document and examine my options.

Looking at the options available, I have all of the functions I need to edit and manage my documents.

I read a study a couple years ago regarding ‘the switch’ from MS Office to OpenOffice. It spoke of a ‘learning curve’ and ‘re-training’ that has to occur during the switch. I heard somewhere that the ’study’ was actually sponsored by a dominant software company, and the ‘findings’ seemed pretty biased.

Who do you know that still does a mail merge or some operation that is complex enough that they don’t have to look it up?

Everyone I know, regardless of what they use, if they are performing something complicated inside of an Office Suite, regardless of which one… they all have to look it up!

I can tell you, I have used both products for years. I still come across documents in MS Word that I have to stop and spend a little while trying to figure out ‘who-has-protected-or-hosed-up-what’. There is always a magic key combination that someone has inadvertently found, or someone has ‘protected’ a portion of a document that should not be protected.

I don’t find myself running into the same crazy scenarios when I am using OpenOffice. Partiality? Maybe. Bias? Maybe.

Satisfaction?
A great deal of it.

First Day With the XO0
Joe M posted in products on March 30th, 2008

I got home from work yesterday to find a box on my front porch.

Seeing the XO symbols on the box, I grabbed it and brought it inside.

I opened the box, and turned it on.

I fired up the browser and pulled up a couple of websites, after connecting to my wireless access point.

It’s made for smaller hands, but still an amazing piece of technology.

The browser seemed to do OK on its own.

I found an article on installing Firefox and Adobe Flash on the OLPC Wiki.

It went pretty well, and Firefox fired right up.

The only thing I noticed, for some reason, I have to download an MP3 completely and then listen to it.

When I tried to use Flash Player from a website, I noticed echo, repeat audio and several abnormalities.

I am still playing with it, but overall the experience has been pretty good.

I like the ebook mode with the XO.

You can download an Adobe PDF file, then flip the screen around and close it.

Arrow keys on the screen will allow you to scroll through the PDF file without using the keyboard.

I have read articles where people have installed OS X and XP (not at the same time) in different scenarios.

I wish I had two or three of these to play around with.

I will post more about it later, as I get more acclimated to it.

Using Your Head0
Joe M posted in homelife on March 29th, 2008

How To Pull A Van Uphill (with Only A Rope) – Click here for funny video clips

I have to hand it to this guy. Looks like he has thought this through. He does not seem to be straining, either!

Polyphasic Sleep0
Joe M posted in Musing, homelife on March 28th, 2008

Disclaimer: This post is for entertainment purposes, only. In no way am I condoning or recommending that anyone try this. Should you want to try this — I can’t imagine anyone would — consult a medical physician first.

I don’t remember all the details, but I caught a rerun of Seinfeld recently, in which Cosmo Kramer was doing something drastic and strange.

(That narrows it down, right?)

Kramer was sleeping in 10 minute intervals, if I remember correctly, and trying to ‘maximize’ his time during the day… and quit ‘wasting’ 8 hours every night. It’s also been called Da Vinci Sleep.

Interestingly enough, I came across an article on Lifehack.org Wiki regarding Polyphasic Sleep.

Here is the Wikipedia article.

It is amazing to read ideas and theories from others on topics such as this. It often gives you a different perspective, opening your mind to new ideas and ‘out-of-the-box’ thought.

I can remember trying crazy things like this when I had to, while I was still in college.

Now, I am not sure I would try this, but it does make for an interesting read.

Running a Spyware Scan with Ad-Aware0
Joe M posted in Home Support, free stuff, products on March 27th, 2008

Someone stopped me today to ask me about how to use Ad-Aware.

I figured this would be a great opportunity to make a blog post.

This is for Windows, of course.

Ad-Aware has been one of the de facto standards for malware and spyware scanning. In general, these things can make your Windows system run slower, use more resources and often cause a number of problems. Many virus scanners come with malware scanning capabilities, but not all of them do.

That’s a great opportunity to use Ad-Aware.

I am using the free version, there is a paid subscription version available.

Double click the Ad-Aware icon on your desktop.

You get the Ad-Aware intro screen.

I click Scan Now.

On the next screen, I select Full Scan. I have not done this in several days, so I am using Full Scan, as opposed to Smart Scan, if I ran it more often.

I get a screen that shows me the progress of the scan.

I see nothing on the Critical Objects tab, so I click on the Privacy Objects tab. I expand the Tracking Cookies object.

Next, I click on Remove.

I’m done!

I click on Finish.

Ad-Aware can be downloaded from http://lavasoft.de or from download.com.

Three Year Old With His Finger Paints0
Joe M posted in art on March 26th, 2008

This kid does better with his fingers than most adults with brushes and years of lessons.

Dealing With Anger0
Joe M posted in well-being on March 25th, 2008

We all have different ways of venting and dealing with anger.

Somewhere, somehow, someone is going to make you mad.

I got to thinking about it.

How do I deal with anger?

Step back from the situation. Walk away, get a coke, chew some gum, open a different conversation with someone.

Hold your breath and count to ten. If you say something, it may be the wrong thing. If you type something, it may be the wrong thing. There is a physiological change that takes place when you hold your breath. Add to it the count, and you help physiologically put your body and emotions into a pace.

Pray for the situation or person. This one comes from my Mom and Dad, and being raised in a Christian home. Pray for the welfare, pray for an open heart, pray for understanding. This one has always worked very well for me. I need to do it more.

Come back and assess the situation later. This works for anger, puzzles or anything that involves heavy duty thought. This will give your subconscious the opportunity to work on the issue. If it involves another person, many times their views or demands will change after having a chance to think a little more.

Lifehack.org has a simple article on squelching your anger.

We all know someone who is manipulative or loves to ‘push our buttons.’ They love to shock or disappoint people, for the thrill of the reaction.

Don’t give them one.

Patience and ignorance can pay off in this situation, giving way to their frustrations and subsequent resolve.

If it appears that the ‘buttons won’t push,’ they usually cease to do whatever it is they are doing.

I know people that love to boast of being antagonistic and argumentative.

I watched one person I know let her boss trick her into walking out on her job, because she thought she was ‘being strong,’ and giving her boss a ‘piece of her mind.’ To this day, I don’t think she understands that is exactly what her boss wanted her to do.

Think about how anger can affect your physical well-being. I don’t do it often, but I blew my top one day at someone. After it was over, and I calmed down, I was fatigued, nervous and felt horrible the rest of the day.

How do you deal with anger? What is the best way to deal with a difficult person?

Comparison: Vista and Linux Mint0
Joe M posted in products on March 24th, 2008

Everybody has done it. A comparison of Linux and Vista. It’s cliche, by now.

After reading several sour reviews over the past year, I always avoided installing Windows Vista.

I have had it sitting on the same shelf for over a year.

I was at a friend’s house yesterday, and had to change a couple of things to try and troubleshoot a problem. They had Home Premium.

I made a change and had to use the search feature to find it.

Out of pure curiosity, I decided to give it a spin, so I would know where everything was if for no other reason.

I picked a machine that according to the Microsoft website met the minimum requirements.

I popped the DVD in and booted up.

Bootup took several minutes. I stepped through the setup menus and clicked install.

Without going into the mundane details, setup took about 50 minutes.

When I rebooted, I waited for about seven minutes until I finally came to the Vista logo progress screen.

I got several scoob.exe errors and $Msft errors. After clicking on them several times to make it through the progress indicator, I finally arrived at the blank (but pretty) blue screen (not the BSOD).

I tried about four times to reboot and see if I could surpass the pretty blue screen to no avail.

I stopped. I was not going to spend a great deal of time or energy on it. Why bother?

I decided to take my copy of Linux Mint 4.0 and just review what the experience was like, installing on the same machine.

Bootup took a little less time than the Vista bootdisk.

I am not going to step through it, but I was completely done in 35 minutes. My wireless card was found and installed.

Worked like a champ.

I am reminded why I made the decision and the switch in the first place when I bought my laptop.

Conclusion?

I made the right decision.

Even thought I run Ubuntu on my main machine, the underlying experience was similar installing Linux Mint.

After never trying to install Windows Vista, I always had the curiosity of what the experience might be like.

No doubts in my mind, now.

Happy Easter0
Joe M posted in photos on March 23rd, 2008

Printing Directories in Windows XP0
Joe M posted in Howto on March 23rd, 2008

If you are working with your MP3 directories, or your extremely organized and you want to print a directory listing, you have a couple of options in Windows.

If you just want a snapshot, you can use Paintbrush, pbrush.exe.

You open your directory… Start… My Computer, and navigate to the directory you want to print.

Press the Print Screen button or Alt-Print Screen to copy just the active window to the clipboard.

Run Paintbrush and select Edit and Paste.

If you print it to the printer, you will have to fiddle with the Page Setup options from the File menu.

Usually it will print your screen capture in two pages and you have to tell it to print to one page only.

The drawback is, you cannot easily edit the snapshot of the window.

You can pull up a Command Prompt window and use cd \ (up a level) and cd directoryname to get to the directory of which you want a listing.

To print the directory contents to a text file, you can use the pipe symbol (>).

This command will pipe the output of the directory listing to a file called filelisting.txt.

Now, I can just run notepad from within the window, and tell it to pull up the file I just created with the pipe.

Now, I can edit the contents of the directory listing.

This can be really useful for MP3 files, documents, pictures, etc. for cataloging or inventory.

Pipes are great for capturing text from the command line, or redirecting the command line output to a printer.

A Simple Backup Script for Ubuntu0
Joe M posted in Howto on March 22nd, 2008

Thinking about the importance of backing up, I pulled out the script that use to backup my main ubuntu machine every night.

It names the backup file after the current date and time, with a .tgz extension, and puts it in the /backups directory.

It calculates the amount of time it takes to complete the backup, then displays a pop-up message using Zenity.

#!/bin/bash
mydate=`date +%m%d%y`
stime=`date +%s`
sudo tar cvpzf /backups/$mydate.tgz –exclude=/proc –exclude=/lost+found –exclude=/*.tgz –exclude=/backups –exclude=/mnt –exclude=/sys /
ctime=`date +%s`
ttime=`expr $ctime – $stime`
ttime=`expr $ttime / 60`
zenity –question –title “Operation Complete” –text “Time to complete the backup: “$ttime” minutes”

The time at the beginning of the backup is placed into stime and then subtracted from ctime which is the end of the backup. I divided the result by 60, since it is in seconds to give me the results in minutes.

ttime is the result.

I exclude several directories from the backup, to avoid redundancy and to avoid backing up drives that are mounted. I put the backups into /backups, so I exclude that directory as well.

To restore the backup

tar xvpfz /backups/{filedate}.tgz -C /

You will substitute the actual name of the .tgz file in for {filedate}.

The nice thing about both of these is you can use them to backup your drive. If you do something to hose your machine, you can restore your drive using the backup. I have used an external drive and backed up to that.

On several occasions, I have reinstalled Ubuntu and restored the backup, just to make sure all is working well.

If you wanted to, you can just backup your home directory.

You can substitute

tar cvpzf /backups/$mydate.tgz /home/(your ubuntu user name)

for the tar statement in the script above.

There are much more elaborate ways of doing this, but it does the job.

If you want to use Zenity for the messages, you may have to install it.

sudo apt-get install zenity

Or you can install it using Synaptic Package Manager.

Zenity is pretty flexible, too. You can use it to ask questions with a choice of answers, buttons, radio buttons, etc.

I should spend more time using it and learning more about it.

I consider myself adequate at scripting, but I enjoy sitting down and challenging myself to simple tasks in Linux such as this.

Really Useful, Photo to Text0
Joe M posted in art, free stuff on March 21st, 2008

Okay, I am going to pretend that this is really useful.

I am sure that there are uses for this out there, but the cool factor is definitely there.

I came across www.photo2text.com.

You submit a photo, and it does the conversion for you. Does a great job.

My eyeball:

Here is what it made:

Pretty accurate.

You can adjust some of the settings, characters, etc.

It creates a text file that you download after you complete your settings.

Now, I am going to find a use for this…

Ringtones to Annoy0
Joe M posted in Musing on March 20th, 2008

Whenever my cell phone rings, no matter what tone I have it set up to use, it always gets on my nerves.

I think it is probably a conditioned response, but it got me thinking.

They’re usually irritating enough, as they are, even if they are aimed or created to be pleasant.

But…

What if you programmed your phone to use tones that not only annoy you, but -purposefully- everyone else?

My friend Craig has his phone programmed with several. He played several for me today. It’s funny in a dark kind of way.

Ten Ringtones or (sound phrases, since they may be in a collection) that would definitely annoy me, even (or especially) if on someone elses phone:

1. The drill the dentist uses, putting on / removing clamps on your jaws

2. The ‘phone off the hook’ or the ‘number disconnected’ tone

3. Arguing, stomping and doors slamming

4. Leaf blowers, lawn mowers and yard equipment

5. A symphony of car horns and car alarms or sirens

6. Sniffling, snorting and noseblowing

7. Dot matrix printers or the sound of an old dial-up modem connection in negotiation

8. Gum smacking, bubble popping and slurping / sucking

9. Nails on a chalkboard or a train coming to a halt

10. Individually, or any combination of Gilbert Gottfried, Carrot Top, Fran Drescher, Joan Rivers, or Pauly Shore singing, reading poetry or telling you that you have a phonecall.

I have never hacked my cellphone, and I do not have one that you could easily do this on.

What is the worst ringtone you have ever heard?

Do you have a phone in which you could re-program or set up your own ringtones on, download mp3 files to use as ringtones, etc?

What if you used your message off of your answering machine at home for a ringtone, do you think you would get strange looks from other people?

Recording ISO Images to Disk in Windows XP2
Joe M posted in free stuff, products on March 19th, 2008

After making several posts about downloading ISO image files for different boot disks and Linux distributions, I realized that many people may not know how to record the ISO image to a CD or DVD.

I found the perfect tool or power toy for Windows XP that does the job extremely well.

It’s called ISO Recorder.

It’s written by Alex Feinman, and he has done a fantastic job. Gets the job done, and my favorite, it’s free.

Alex has a tutorial on his website on using the ISO Recorder utility.

Installation is straight forward and intuitive. There is one version for Windows XP SP1 (V1), and one version for Windows XP SP2 and Windows XP 64 bit versions (V2). If you decide to check it out, make sure you download the correct version.

ISO Recorder versions can be found here.

After installing it, you simply right-click whatever ISO file you download or create with your mouse, and choose Copy ISO Image to CD.

There is a dialog that comes up, but it is very intuitive and easy-to-use.

There are several commercial packages for Windows XP that will burn an ISO image to disk for you, but I love to find things like this where someone has done a great job.

Alex has a donation button on his site, so you can show your appreciation.

How to Moonwalk0
Joe M posted in Howto on March 18th, 2008

Okay, I have been heavy into the technology and software posts lately.

Here is a video that is interesting, even if it is a little cliche.

I have two left feet, but I have always been fascinated with this and always wanted to learn it.

Resizing Your Windows Partition with GPartEd Live CD1
Joe M posted in Howto on March 17th, 2008

Sometimes you need to change your partition size, for one reason or another.

My favorite tool is GPartEd, and this was a perfect opportunity for me to download and try the GPartEd Live CD.

I downloaded the ISO image from here, and burned it to a CD.

You can use Nero or any other package to burn the ISO image to a CD.

Next I popped the CD in and booted up.

I chose the first option and pressed Enter.

I take the default and press Enter.

I take the default again and press Enter.

The main screen comes up. The windows manager is fluxbox, which is pretty lightweight and simple. Easy enough to use.

When we examine the instance of GPartEd running, we can tell that there is 3.4 GB of unallocated space on my disk.

I am going to resize the partition to use the entire disk, and take advantage of the remaining space.

I right-click on the partition image in the upper part of the window and choose Resize / Move.

In the dialog that comes up, I can change the partition size by using the edit boxes or smaller arrow keys in the dialog, or I can drag the arrow at the top right of the dialog further to the right.

I click the Resize / Move button.

It takes me back to the main screen. I click Apply.

I confirm by clicking Apply.

I get a progress indicator.

The operation completes, and I get a confirmation.

I close GPartEd and shut the machine down and reboot.

When you reboot into Windows, Disk Checking may try to start. Hit any key to avoid it.

Everything will probably be fine, but I have seen Disk Checking undo the partition resize operation.

This is useful if you are working with images, backups, etc.

Since I have an array of different sized hard drives around the house, I use when I need to copy an image from a 30 GB drive down to a 20 GB drive, for example. I run GPartEd on the 30 GB drive and shrink the partition down to a size small enough to fit on the 20 GB drive.

Note: The drive contents must not exceed the size of the new partition.

I have really grown fond of GPartEd. It’s saved me several times when manipulating disk images. It comes standard in Knoppix and is published under the GNU General Public License (GPL).

GPartEd Live CD was painless and effective. My only gripe was with trying to make screenshots for this post. Took a little doing, but I still got it to work, though, so all is well.

VirtuaWin, Windows Manager for Windows XP2
Joe M posted in Howto, products on March 16th, 2008

After enjoying multiple desktops on Linux, I got curious about Windows Managers for Windows XP.

I did a search and found VirtuaWin. It’s Open Source, published under the General Public License (GPL).

I installed it and documented my efforts.

It’s available at http://virtuawin.sourceforge.net.

I downloaded the Windows EXE file for setup.

Click Next.

Affirm the agreement and click Next.

Accept the default location and click Next.

Click Next.

Click Next.

Click Install.

Uncheck View README.TXT and click Finish.

The Welcome message appears. Click OK.

Go to the system tray and right-click the VirtuaWin system tray icon.

Select Setup.

If you examine the setup dialog, you have multiple options and tabs. You can define up to 20 different desktops.

For a test, I defined four desktops. Click Apply and OK.

On Desktop 1, I ran Google in Firefox.

On Desktop 2, I opened My Computer.

On Desktop 3, I ran Notepad.

On Desktop 4, I ran my virus scanner.

To switch back and forth between Desktops 1, 2, 3 and 4, I use the Windows key in combination with one of the arrow keys.

Alt-Windows-Left Arrow and Alt-Windows-Right arrow will switch to the previous and next desktops.

It works pretty solid. I did not have any problem with errors or crashes. The Hotkeys are customizable and you can set several other options for desktop switching.

This is really useful in multitasking, and running multiple applications at one time. Sometimes you have to open several applications and work concurrently between all of them.

VirtuaWin does a great job allowing you to do that.

Linux is still my first choice in running an OS, but projects like VirtuaWin definitely make using Windows seem a little easier.

It does not do anything graphically heavy or fancy, but it does a good job. No 3D desktop elements, but the function is all there.

Writing Files to a CD in Windows XP0
Joe M posted in Howto on March 15th, 2008

I got a call from a good friend of mine the other evening.

She was trying to write files to a CD. I did not have a Windows XP box in front of me, and we struggled through it.

It is possible to write files and audio to a CD in Windows XP, without any additional software. Microsoft provided a built-in package with XP written by Roxio.

After I hung up the phone, I sat down to figure it out.

I walked myself through it, and I am sharing it here.

First I usually open two windows; one with the files I want to burn, and the other with a disc in the CD-R / CD-RW drive (usually D: or E:).

I put them side by side, for easy drag and drop operation.

I select the files I want in the left window, then drag and drop them in the right pane.

Once I have the files I want listed in the window to the right, I click on Write these files to disk.

At this point, I have my choice of a data CD or an audio CD.

I choose data, and click Next.

It shows me the progress in writing the CD. It will take a few minutes, depending on the size and amount of data I am writing to the CD.

When it finishes, I have an option to write another CD with the same files or I can close the dialog with Finish.

It’s not real hard to do, but it’s not exactly intuitive. I can usually walk people through howto’s like this over the phone without a Windows screen in front of me. No matter how much I concentrated, I could not remember my way through this one.

There are also other packages both commercial and free that will do the same things.

This is useful to know, in case you ever need it.

Using RSS in Linux with Liferea0
Joe M posted in Howto on March 14th, 2008

In some previous posts, I talked about RSS and some of the benefits.

Remember, it stands for Really Simple Syndication. It’s a way to pull info from your favorite websites and have it automatically delivered.

On Ubuntu Linux, Version 7.10, also called Gutsy Gibbon, I use Liferea. It’s one of many applications that are RSS Aggregators. You can find several on Linux and Windows that are free, and do a fantastic job with collecting feeds.

You can install it on Ubuntu via Synaptic Package Manager, but you may have to enable the extra repositories.

It’s also available at http://sourceforge.net/projects/liferea/.

To set up a feed in Liferea, you simply run the program and click the New Subsciption button at the top of the screen.

The dialog for a New Subscription comes up.

Switch over to your browser and find the RSS link.

Right-click the RSS link and choose Copy Link Location.

Switch back over to Liferea, where you have a waiting dialog for a subscription.

Right-click (inside the white space) and choose Paste.

Click OK.

Now you have a new feed.

If you right click on the subscriptions in the left pane, you have options for configuring each one.

You can simplify a great deal of your web surfing through using RSS feeds and an aggregator like Liferea.

More and more sites are offering RSS feeds these days. It’s a way to automate and cut down on time you spend typing links. We’re all looking for ways to make shortcuts, and this one is a good start.

And it’s FREE!

Happy Aggregating!

Speed Up Firefox0
Joe M posted in Howto on March 13th, 2008

How To Speed Up Mozilla Firefox Easily – Click here for more blooper videos

Thoughts on Buying Printers and Printing0
Joe M posted in products on March 12th, 2008

Sometimes I get asked, “What’s the best printer I can get for the money?”

As with any other hardware, I always tell them, “Depends on what you are going to be doing with it.”

Some people want to print color photos. Some just want to print black and white. Some want to print large pictures. Some just want to print documents for informational purposes.

The caveat with desktop printers is, and it has been true for several years; the printers are really cheap. You can get a new printer in the $30 to $50 range. The quality is acceptable, but the cartridges will cost you. Plan on buying a new cartridge about every 3 months.

I don’t know how true it is, but I have heard there is software in some drivers that will send a signal to the Operating System that the cartridge is out of ink or just plain needs to be replaced… based off of a timeframe, regardless of the amount of ink or the condition of the cartridge.

Most of the printer companies actually make a profit more off of the cartridges than they do the printers.

I saw a study about a year ago that said regardless of if you print your own pictures, or you take your picture files to a photo shop or a print shop, each picture costs about the same in both scenarios.

Take into account that you may not be able to afford the heavy duty and high quality equipment that the shops have, you might be coming out better to take them to a shop.

The other part is, you do not have to worry about having the desk space to put a printer. No maintenance, no hassle, no having to buy cartridges.

For me, I print quite a few things that are informational. I don’t really care about the quality or how pretty it is. For me, it’s all about the function.

For the desktop printers, the cartridges will cost around $35 to $60. Considering you will have to replace them about every 3 months, that will run about $140 to $240 a year.

The toner cartridge for my laser printer runs $70. I have replaced it once. Figure you’ll replace it about every year and a half to two years, every year for heavy printing.

I can’t tell you how many times I have been at a friend’s house and the printer has been down because the cartridges were ‘out,’ and just had not been replaced. When I had one of the cheaper color desktop printers, mine was the same way. I always needed to add cartridges to my list of ’stuff to buy,’ but never could remember to put in on there.

If you can live with black and white, my suggestion is a black and white laser printer if your needs coincide mine.

Take the pretty pictures to the photo or camera shop.

For my needs, I got a black and white laser printer, for about $100. That was about 3 years ago. It works like a charm. The cartridges are much more reasonable for me. I have had to replace the cartridge one time in 3 years.

Trying to Avoid the Rant0
Joe M posted in products on March 11th, 2008

When I started this, I told myself that I would not turn this blog into a constant rant.

BUT…

I worked on a machine over the weekend with some friends. We got the components put together and installed.

When we finally got to the ‘power-up’ stage, we turned it on. The lights lit, the fans blew. Every thing looked like it was going well.

After about 30 seconds, the lights dimmed and the fan shut down for two seconds, then everything started up again.

We did not get any video, at all. No matter how many settings we tweaked, no matter how many items we connected or disconnected.

I came to the conclusion, after trying different video cards, that the motherboard must have arrived sour.

To eliminate the beautiful chome power supply (looks really cool), I thought I would take it to get someone with the equipment to check it.

Seems like about once a week, someone diggs (digg.com) a story about one of the big name retailers.

I took it to Circuit City. I was not crazy about the idea about going to them, but I thought, “What’s the worst they can say? No, right?”

WRONG.

The guy behind the counter was stout, Red-headed with a goatee and a mohawk. He was sitting down, very relaxed, almost like royalty.

I asked him, “Can you check a power supply for me? How much do you charge?”

He said, “Yes, $29.99.”

With wide eyes and a pretty stupid look, I asked him, “$29.99 to CHECK a power supply?”

You could tell he was attempting to give me a look like, “That’s reasonable,” but it didn’t really fly.

He slowly shook his head from side to side and held his arms out to his side up in the air, more like, “I don’t know.”

I told him, “I suppose you have one you’ll sell me, right?”

He said, “Yes, we have power supplies.”

I looked at him and said, “Thank you” and walked off.

I know these places have to make money, but that still seems pretty doggone steep to me.

Any retailers listening, out there?

I priced two Antec power supplies while I was there, $69 and $99, respectively.

If he had checked the power supply and it had been bad, I would have bought one on the spot. If the power supply had been good, I would have remembered the positive experience. That would have added building blocks to the long term customer / retailer relationship.

That type of reinforcement goes beyond advertising.

With the pricing structure the way it was, I got the impression that they were priced that way to encourage you to buy a power supply instead of getting one tested.

Retailers could re-capture some of the profits made online by enhancing the customer experience, in person, in the store.

This was another example of why I hesitate less and less to shop online.

Using Tabs in Your Browser0
Joe M posted in Howto on March 10th, 2008

While helping my parents last night, I showed them a little about multi-tasking in Firefox.

It prompted me to think about the fact that many people are unaware of the fact that you can use tabs in just about any internet browser these days.

If you are already familiar with this feature, make it a point to share this with someone you know.

I use Mozilla Firefox the most. It come installed standard on Ubuntu Linux. You can also download and install the Windows version at getfirefox.com.

I usually install it for people if I work on their machines. It has features that I have grown to depend on.

It offers tabbed browsing. I can pull up several websites and keep them all up and easily accessible.

If I pull up Firefox, and go to Google, it looks like this:

Looks pretty familiar to most people.

If I hold down the Ctrl button and press t, I get another tab.

If you look at the top, underneath the URL, you’ll see two tabs, now. I have Google open in one, and CNN open in the other.

I can change to each website quickly by clicking that tab.

If I press Ctrl t again, I get another tab. I type in ebay.com and press Enter.

Look at my tabs below the URL. I now have Google open in one tab, CNN open in the second tab, and ebay open in the last tab.

This is useful if you are multi-tasking on different websites.

The way I surf, I usually keep 10 or 12 different tabs open at one time. That way I don’t have to keep retyping over my URL, or running 10 different instances of Firefox.

I have to do plenty of research. Sometimes I pull up a website that prompts me to pull up another one. I don’t want to lose the first website, so I keep it open in another tab.

This works well with other browsers, too. Mozilla, IE 7, Opera and several others all offer the option of tabbed browsing.

Share it with someone you know. If they don’t know how to do it, they’ll thank you.

Up and Running0
Joe M posted in Home Support on March 9th, 2008

I went to finish the DSL setup at my parents this evening.

After plugging and unplugging the router and DSL modem, I finally got stuck at the same screen my dad was last night.

The modem setup passed the authentication, but kept obnoxiously redirecting my browser to the ISP ‘password change tool’ HTML screen.

It read something to the tune of “Incompatible browser or operating system.”

The screen suggested that I “upgrade” my browser and OS to Microsoft products (Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Vista and Internet Explorer 6 or later).

I kept my cool. There was a number on the screen. I called it and spoke with a technician, Chris, very helpful to my surprise.

He actually had great diction and obviously seemed English was his primary language. I could have been fooled into thinking he was in the next town.

I told him what Operating System and browser I was using, Linux and Mozilla Firefox, respectively. I expected, “We don’t support those.”

Instead, I got, “Okay. Let me change your password.”

He gave me a new password, and within minutes we were in and functioning. He also gave me the quick and dirty instructions for connecting a router.

This involved setting the DSL modem to Bridged Ethernet mode and setting up the router to do PPPoE authentication. In other words, the router would do the username and password, rather than the DSL modem.

Easy enough, I have done it dozens of times.

I hung up. Within 10 minutes I had the machine online and the wireless router operational in Bridge Ethernet mode. The old laptop was up and functioning now along with the desktop.

My experience with Chris was quite pleasant. He was knowledgeable, courteous and prompt. I did not have to wait long or argue with him at all. There was no language or dialect barrier.

I asked him where he was, he told me the call center was in the Philippines.

I told my parents to make sure they gave him a good rating on the survey.

Now, even though dealing with Chris was pleasant, I still have my gripes.

Why did the tech have to know what browser or OS I was running? Why should they care?

(Here is the part where the conspiracy theorist comes out in me…)

What is there some setting to turn off the “Network-Nazi-Anti-Linux” switch? Did he have to contact the commandant?

I got an authenticated message on the DSL modem BEFORE I called tech support, but I kept getting REDIRECTED to the “Password Change Tool” site with the hokey “Upgrade your…” message.

After I spoke with him, it started working. If you ask me, he did something in addition to changing the password.

Okay. Enough ranting.

It’s connected. All is well.

I did get a good home-cooked dinner as always from my Mom!

Ranting About ISPs0
Joe M posted in Home Support, homelife on March 8th, 2008

I had my brush with the issue of Net Neutrality, at the micro level.

I spent a great deal of time on the phone with my father this evening.

They took the plunge and ugraded to DSL. After setting up the DSL modem, which I provided, we were finally able to get a “successfully connected” message.

When he tried to pull up www.google.com, we got a silly message about “upgrading your Operating System to a current version.”

I don’t remember the exact wording, but the message implied that they would have to be running Windows in order to connect.

After trying to change the config several times, we finally decided to put off the setup until tomorrow when I can do it in person.

Now, the thing that I get perturbed about is the fact that the ISP does not provide what I consider free and open standards. Putting stipulations on the operating system or browser being used is what I consider limiting at best.

I thought this was America, home of the free and the brave?

I am going to attempt it again tomorrow, possibly having to set it to bridged Ethernet mode, and letting the router do the authentication.

Hopefully it is just a bug. I hope no one is intentionally trying to dictate what OS someone is using.

B2B relationships should extend beyond the business world. Several companies, like Wal-mart came to the realization that you keep your profits up by nurturing long-term relationships with your customers.

I thought that the old attitude of “you bought it, tough stuff, live with it” mentality was long gone.

I remember having DSL right after it became available, and calling the ISP, the same ISP. The technician knew less than I did. The first thing that he told me was, “First, you need to disconnect your router. We don’t support those.”

I remember hanging up on him with a quick, “Thank you, I will figure it out myself.”

My knee-jerk reaction was not, “Oh, you don’t support those?”

It was actually, “No, you want to try and reach into my POCKET$ again.” I believe the ISP was pulling a POPULAR software company tactic with opportunistic behavior, attempting to charge for additional machines connected to their network.

After a little useful Googling and about an hour of persistence, I found the answer and took care of it, myself.

In an ideal world, ISPs will understand the necessity to provide freedom and open standards, and will not try to dictate Operating Systems or Browsers.

If you REALLY want my business, be less concerned with what software I am running. The Internet was based off of a perception of a standard of delivering web presentation. As long as my browser and my OS meet those standards, don’t tell me what I have to run to line your pocket$ or the pocket$ of others.

In the long run, someone has to lose. I believe in Meritocracy. If you act with virtue and merit, you will keep customers.

If you don’t act with it, customers will seek out some other entity that will.

Speed Painting0
Joe M posted in art on March 7th, 2008

This guy is entertaining to watch, add to that trying to figure out what the final product is. How long does it take you to figure and place the form in your mind?

Figuring Out What Your IP Address Is0
Joe M posted in Home Support, Howto on March 6th, 2008

What is an IP Address?

An IP Address in simplest terms is a unique identifier on the network that allows your machine to interact with other network resources and devices via TCP/IP protocols. When you find it, it will be four numbers in the format XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX, where each XXX will be a number from 0-254. Each XXX in the previous example is called an octet.

IP Addresses, for the most part, are assigned to network cards. If I have one network card, I will have one address (in most cases). For two network cards, I will have two addresses.

Sooner or later, you are going to have to figure out what it is.

Whether you are playing a game online, or configuring your IM client through your router; you’ll need it.

To find your IP Address on Windows XP or Vista, pull up your command prompt. (Start… Run… type cmd and press Enter or click OK.)

To get the IP Address from the command line, I use ipconfig and Enter.

On my machine, here is the output:

Simply looking at the output, I can tell easily that my IP Address is 10.0.2.15.

Simple enough, right?

On a Linux machine, the process is just as simple, but the command is ifconfig and Enter.

The output:

Examining the output, I can tell that my IP Address on this machine is 192.168.1.107.

Not as complex as it sounds.

Now, if your home network is plugged into a router, your IP Address on the “Open Internet” will be different than what ipconfig (Windows) or ifconfig (Linux or BSD) displays. There is a process called NAT (Network Address Translation) that keeps the IP Addresses on your local network private from the outside.

For example, my IP Address on my machine may be 192.168.1.107. That IP Address is private and issued basically from my router. To the outside world, on the internet, my actual IP Address is 27.234.3.233.

My router handles the ’special stuff’ in the NAT process to make the traffic flow smoothly from the internet to my machine and from my machine back out to the internet. It does all the work for me.

Should you need your actual IP Address (as others outside your network see your machine) you can use one of many external and public websites to find out what that address is.

I like http://grc.com and http://ipchicken.com.

Try it out and become familiar with it.

On Windows, ipconfig/? and Enter from a command line will give you more info.

On Linux, ifconfig –help and Enter at the command line will give you more info.

You’ll find yourself a little more comfortable with your machine and your network!

IM Just Amazed at Pidgin for Windows and Linux1
Joe M posted in free stuff, products on March 5th, 2008

I have enjoyed using IM for years for a more interactive experience than email provides.

I have used ICQ, AIM, MSN Messenger and Yahoo IM to name a few.

What I got me frustrated was having to have a multitude of different IM clients running at all the same time.

AIM or AOL Instant Messenger always caused me grief. I never was quite sure what it was doing or installing.

I ran Trellian for a while, but was never impressed with the stability or the interface. I usually choose function over aesthetics.

I even backed away from IM for a while, due to the bugs and my frustrations with the lack of coherence.

When I started running Linux, I found GAIM, now called Pidgin.

Pidgin fits my needs, exactly. It provides me with one client for multiple IM networks.

The days of trying to juggle two or three IM programs in the system tray on Windows are gone. (So is Windows for the most part!)

Pidgin supports AIM, Bonjour, Gadu-Gadu, GoogleTalk, Groupwise, ICQ, IRC, MSN, MySpaceIM, QQ, Simple, Sametime, XMPP, Yahoo and Zephyr.

Now, I am back to using IM again, and it is a much more pleasant experience this time around.

It’s available on both Windows and Linux.

My Unexpected Reliance on Google Notebook0
Joe M posted in Uncategorized on March 4th, 2008

I never was that impressed with it when it was first launched, but recently I have started to rely heavily on Google Notebook.

It can be found at http://www.google.com/notebook.

I thought, “What’s the point?’

Slowly as the days go by, I find more and more reasons to use it.

I paste batch file snippets for Windows in it, linux commands, web addresses, you name it.

It has become an integral part of my personal brainstorming sessions.

The advantages are I can pull it up on any computer with Internet access, and like the other Google products, it is password protected.

What I have found is it’s great to type in an idea, a word or even a couple of letters. When I come back to it later that day or the next morning, the idea seems to have taken root and grown.

Yes, I could use a pad and pencil for the same process, but I would always forget my pad and pencil.

Using Google Notebook allows me to type it in, forget it and come back to it whenever I want.

My lists are more complete these days, and now I have more of them.

You can also share your notebook with others.

Software Remote Control with VNC1
Joe M posted in Home Support, Howto, free stuff on March 3rd, 2008

The part of joy in being a man is enjoying your laziness. We love using remote controls for everything.

I came across a ‘problem’ at home. I have three or four machines. Each one has a different function. I do certain things on my laptop and my desktops have other functions.

What I wanted to do was set up a way to interact with my desktop from my laptop without having to run back and forth between the living room and the office. I wanted complete mouse and keyboard control.

VNC would fit the bill perfectly. VNC is a package for remote control. There are commercial packages on the market that do the same thing, but VNC works wonderfully for me at home. It is available in Windows, Mac OS X and Linux versions. I can click and control the desktop and menus without having to get up.

For this post, I am using my laptop which has Ubuntu and VNCviewer installed. VNCviewer is my client and it is going to connect to my VNCServer, which I will install on my Windows Desktop. There are many ‘flavors’ of VNC available, but I am using the standard VNC on my laptop and UltraVNC on the Windows Desktop.

I go to ultravnc.com and download the package, which actually links back to sourceforge.net.

For my setup, I am using the Beta, but the stable version is probably better.

I scroll down the page and find the Win32 version.

I right-click and save it to my desktop.

After it finishes downloading, I click Open.

I click Run.

I click OK.

I click Next.

I accept the license agreement and click Next.

I click Next again.

I click Next again.

Full Installation is what I want. I click Next.

Click Next again.

I am running XP, so I don’t need the Vista addons. Click Next.

I let it download the driver. I click Next.

I want to use this as much as possible. (I can be REALLY LAZY.) I check all four boxes and click Next.

Click Install.

Let it install.

I click Next.

I click Finish.

Next, I need to know what IP Address is assigned to this server, because I am going to use that IP Address on another machine to connect to this one using the VNC client from the other machine. I hold my mouse over the UltraVNC icon (eyecon) in the system tray.

It shows me the IP Address. (I can also go to a command prompt and type IPCONFIG and it will list it for me.)

Next I right-click on the icon and select Admin Properties.

I highlight the password and change it. Then I click Apply and OK.

Now, I have my VNC Server installed and setup. I need to make an exception in the Windows Firewall.

UltraVNC uses TCP port 5900. So now I go to Start… Control Panel… Security Center… Manage Security Settings for Windows Firewall.

I click on the Exceptions tab.

I click Add Port.

I click OK and OK again to close the main dialog.

I am now ready to connect from another machine.

I pull up a command prompt on my laptop.

joe@joeslaptop~$ vncviewer 192.168.1.114:0

It prompts me for my password and I type it in.

Now I am in!

A few notes about VNC:

I have gotten several different ‘flavors’ of VNC to work with each other. It has been a trial and error process. Usually, if you have the same client and server, you will not have any problems, provided you make exceptions in your firewall.

I use this in several instances around the house. I can start a CD or DVD burning on my desktop, and check on it from my laptop without having to get up.

Find your ‘inner laziness’ and give it a shot!