Recently i purchased a new laptop, a beautiful HP dv7-3183, configured with 4 Gigs of DDR2 RAM, a 320 GB hard drive, a 17.3″ display, 3 USB 2.0 ports, an eSATA and a 1394 port as well. It even sports a HDMI output, making it really easy to watch HD Movies on my TV. The full-size keyboard is really nice to use too.
One of the first things i did to it, within 20 minutes of opening the carton it came in, was to remove the Windows 7 Home Premium and install my own, licensed copy of Windows 7 Professional. I installed it on a new 128GB SSD drive i bought with the intention of installing another drive in the second drive bay. Unfortunately i also need a new part in order to take advantage of the 2nd drive bay. It took me about 2 weeks to finally find it.
February 28, 2010 at 12:37 pm
· Filed under General
Google has launched a tool to help people locate friends and loved ones who might have been affected by Saturday’s 8.8.-magnitude earthquake in Chile.
Google Person Finder allows users to search for information about people by name or leave information about people in both English and Spanish. As of Sunday morning, the page said it contained 22,900 records. However, the page cautions users that all data input would be viewable and usable by all and that the company plays no role in verifying the information.
A Google crisis response page also notes that Americans seeking information can call the U.S. State Department at 1-888-407-4747. The page includes a map listing recent seismic activity in Chile, as well as resources to donate money to charities supporting the earthquake relief effort. "Your donation will help disaster victims rebuild their lives and their communities," the page says.
As with the Haiti relief effort, donations can also be made via text message, according to the Mobile Giving Foundation, the organization that processes the donations. Cell users can make a $10 donation to the effort by texting the word "Chile" to any of the following numbers: 25383 (Habitat for Humanity), 20222 (World Vision), and 52000 (Salvation Army).
As of Sunday morning, local authorities report that about 300 fatalities as a result of the massive quake, but that number was expected to rise.
Seismologists had feared a major tsunami would sweep across the Pacific Ocean as a result of the earthquake. People in Hawaii, where the greatest tsunami damage was feared, were evacuated to higher ground but no major damage was reported.
February 28, 2010 at 12:36 pm
· Filed under General
Google has launched a tool to help people locate friends and loved ones who might have been affected by Saturday’s 8.8.-magnitude earthquake in Chile.
Google Person Finder allows users to search for information about people by name or leave information about people in both English and Spanish. As of Sunday morning, the page said it contained 22,900 records. However, the page cautions users that all data input would be viewable and usable by all and that the company plays no role in verifying the information.
A Google crisis response page also notes that Americans seeking information can call the U.S. State Department at 1-888-407-4747. The page includes a map listing recent seismic activity in Chile, as well as resources to donate money to charities supporting the earthquake relief effort. "Your donation will help disaster victims rebuild their lives and their communities," the page says.
As with the Haiti relief effort, donations can also be made via text message, according to the Mobile Giving Foundation, the organization that processes the donations. Cell users can make a $10 donation to the effort by texting the word "Chile" to any of the following numbers: 25383 (Habitat for Humanity), 20222 (World Vision), and 52000 (Salvation Army).
As of Sunday morning, local authorities report that about 300 fatalities as a result of the massive quake, but that number was expected to rise.
Seismologists had feared a major tsunami would sweep across the Pacific Ocean as a result of the earthquake. People in Hawaii, where the greatest tsunami damage was feared, were evacuated to higher ground but no major damage was reported.
February 19, 2010 at 9:11 pm
· Filed under General
Should I BACKUP my photos?
It’s important to note that because Picasa doesn’t store your photos (your hard drive still does), anything you delete in Picasa is also deleted from your hard drive and vice versa. If you accidentally delete photo files from anywhere on your hard drive, a “stored” copy will not be available in Picasa. As with any files on your computer’s hard drive, you’ll want to backup your Picasa photo files as well. You can do so by burning them onto a CD, DVD or backing them up onto another drive. Instructions for both can be found on this blog:
But what happens when I SAVE my photos, isn’t this the same as backing them up?
When you save edits (i.e. a photo you’ve turned into Sepia) we also save the original photo to a hidden folder and create a new copy of the image with the edits applied in place of where the original photo existed on your computer. However, the original and the edited photo are still associated with one another. Picasa saves your images so you can always go back to the original photo. However; as described above, if you delete the “edited” photo file from Picasa, you will also delete the original and vice versa. For more information on the saving of original photos, visit http://groups.google.com/group/Picasa/web/original-photo-files. Photos go into a hidden folder when saved, so the original and the edited photo don’t both show up in Picasa (Picasa doesn’t display images in hidden folders).
I used to have tetherberry, which is a tethering solution for my netbook. Recently tetherberry became tether, and they released an all new client, which FINALLY supports bluetooth. Today I was on the bus with my laptop, and I needed to do some online work. So I started Tether on my BB, the started Tetherr on my laptop. I had everythjing up and running in less than 2 minuetes. I have to say, this is an extremely convenient way to be able to get online from anywhere I get a phone signal, and even better it was just slightly slower than being at home with my DSL service. If you would like to try out Tether foer yourself, go to www.tether.com
Every once in a while I hear about how someone had a computer problem they needed fixed. They called in a professional, who then fixed the computer, or worse, did NOT fix the problem. Worse, afterward they were given a bill for much more than the original estimate.
As a computer repair professional, my policy is, and has always been, to provide the most honest and accurate diagnosis that i possibly can. A lot of others out there charge by the hour for their work, which to me does not make sense if your performing a task as simple as a backup. This type of task takes a mere 10 minutes to configure, and then you sit back and wait for 3 – 4 hours until its finished. Personally I feel that charge per task is a good way to give the customer a fair and honest cost quote. That way there is no confusion in the end. I know my customers appreciate the work I do, and I do it very well.
All customers also receive, at no additional charge:
Full Windows updates
Update of your antivirus program
Removal of any dust from fans and/or ports
I found the video below that kind of highlights what this post is about.
I am totally amazed at how much this little guy can eat. He eats all day, at least 4 time a day! Well i guess he is a vegetarian. He hasn’t even tried to bite my fingers yet!! The cutest thing is when I offer him a bit of lettuce, and he sometimes will just be content munching away at it from my hand, other times he will grab it really fast, and take it back to his house and eat it in there.
here is a typical days meal plan:
7:00am – A leaf of romaine lettuce, and a small sliver of green pepper.
9:00am – some more green pepper, and some timothy hay
noon – half a leaf of green lettuce, and maybe some orange or carrot. ** The carrots have to be organic, or he wont eat them!
3pm – some alfalfa pellets and some dried fruit treats
5pm – timothy hay and some more carrot, maybe a slice of apple
He has always seemed to have a problem drinking water from his water bottle, so I started putting a small bowl of water in next to the food bowl. I have seen him dip his dried food pellets in the water, then eat them when they become soggy enough. Talk about a finnicky eater!
It has been real fun learning the many things that he likes and dislikes. He absolutely LOVES lettuce.
“My Linux installs are perfect? There’s nothing for me to fix? Sigh. Good grief, I am bored! Let me go screw up my laptop again so I can have something to do”
And that’s after three years of being Windows free.
While Avira Antivir has one of the best detection rates of all antivirus, one of the main disadvantages is that after updating, you get annoying full-screen ads nagging you to upgrade. To remove these, read on.
Steps
Windows 2000 / Windows XP Pro
Go to Start > Run.
Type gpedit.msc and click OK.
Navigate through User Configuration > Administrative Templates > System.
Double click “Don’t run specified Windows applications”.
Start > Run: secpol.msc (You can also access this program through ‘Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy’ this is useful if it is easier the location of this rather than the file name)
Right click “Software Restriction Policies,” Choose “New Software Restriction Policies.” (Skip this step if there are subfolders in Software Restriction Policies already.)
Right Click “Additional Rule” folder > New Path Rule.
Where it says Path, Type the path of avnotify.exe on your computer, or use the Browse button to find it. (On XP64 using a default install of Avira, the path is: (C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avnotify.exe)
Make sure the “Security Level” Dropdown menu is selected as “Disallowed”
If you would like to make sure it went through correctly, open the Additional Rules folder, and verify the path and security level.
Log into an account with administrator privileges.
Open [driveinstalledon]:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic.
Right click on avnotify.exe and go to Properties > Security > Advanced.
Click on Edit-> Traverse Folder / Execute File-> deny-> OK.
Repeat for all users.
Reboot your computer normally.
or
Run the command “cacls “%SYSTEMDRIVE%\Program Files\Avira\Insertpath\avnotify.exe” /e /d Everyone” to change the rights without restarting. Everyone can be exhanged with another user account when needed
Windows 7 or Windows Vista Business/Ultimate
Open the control panel through Start > Control Panel.
Go to Administrative Tools > Local security policy.
Click on Software Restriction Policy > Action > Create new restriction policy.
Right-click, and go to additional rules > new path rule.
Click Browse and navigate to C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\ and double-click avnotify.exe.
Set the security level to Disallowed.
Click apply and OK.
Windows Vista Home 64-Bit
Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avnotify.exe for the current version, 9. For earlier versions, go to C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avnotify.exe.
Right-click avnotify.exe and go to Properties > Security.
Under the group or username SYSTEM, click edit.
Put a checkmark under the DENY column for “read and execute”.
Windows Vista Home 32-Bit
Go to C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir Desktop\avnotify.exe for the current version, 9. For earlier versions, go to C:\Program Files\Avira\AntiVir PersonalEdition Classic\avnotify.exe.
Right-click avnotify.exe and go to Properties > Security.
Under the group or username SYSTEM, click edit.
Put a checkmark under the DENY comlumn for “read and execute”.
Tips
Before giving up, try setting a restriction on avnotify.dll as well.
A more expensive way to do this is just to pay for Avira AntiVir Premium, if you are satisfied with the free version (but obviously not its popup ads).
Disabling the popup ads may be considered a violation of Avira’s End-user license agreement (EULA). The licensee is not authorized without the written express permission of Avira, to change, translate, retro-develop, decompile or disassemble the Software, or to create works derived from the Software or the documentation, or to reproduce, translate, change or create works derived from the documentation , insofar as this is not absolutely necessary within the context of contractual use. Understand that Avira has the right to terminate your software without notice in the case of substantial violations of contractual obligations [1].
CAUTION: Group Policy Editor and the other tools mentioned in this article are very powerful. Improper use may cause your operating system to stop functioning correctly, which could require reinstallation. Please, do not mess around in there unless you know exactly what you’re doing.[2]
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