Cel's Place

Huh #2

2010-03-10T06:11:00.000-05:00

Was to good to be true. Was holding on. That sucks big time

Huh

2010-03-03T07:51:00.002-05:00

huh? Timing is always off. Oh well, what is new. It is now a tradition

Just when ya least expect it

2010-02-28T05:37:00.002-05:00

Hmm No complaints here. Like where things are going. Got your curiosity going I bet. Grin

Oh the program I use for my smoking quit stats is Silkquit. http://www.silkquit.org/stop-smoking/Default.aspx

Current Stats:

Five months, two weeks, two days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 55 seconds.

3384 cigarettes not smoked,

saving $1,269.63.

Life saved: 1 week, 4 days, 18 hours, 0 minutes.

Feb 17-22

2010-02-24T09:46:00.002-05:00

For as long back as I can remember this time frame Feb 17-22 has always contained great changes in my life. Let's see I left one job to embark on my career. Another time I applied for a grant and it was awarded. Then another time I went for a job interview and got it. Another time years back I met someone special ooops that was on Valentines day but ya get the drift. Nice things happen in February I am a very fortunate person. Think I will go outside and make a snow angel and maybe even a snowman.

Stats on my smoke quit

2010-02-20T12:27:00.003-05:00

Five months, one week, one day, 12 hours, 32 minutes and 22 seconds.

3230 cigarettes not smoked,

saving $1,211.73.

Life saved: 1 week, 4 days, 5 hours, 10 minutes.

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

Saturday's thoughts

2010-02-20T10:17:00.003-05:00

Been reading my blog? Great. If you have been this means you also have been reading some of my posts on a new forum in our city. I have had concerns about that new forum and I felt I wasn't getting answers to my questions about Who, what, where why and when of it.

I have since gotten answers to my questions and it feels invigorating.

I love to write. Mostly about sharing factual stuff but at times I have opinions. Such as I will share with you here today....

When one is hurt deeply and never gets a chance to discuss the reason why they felt hurt with the person they feel was responsible for the hurt things get way out of wack.

We then have to think of all the reasons why that person said or did what they said or did and we really don't have facts or truths to work with. This leads to so many conflicts in this world. Some conflicts are severe enough to cause death. Wars have been fought on folks misunderstanding or assuming things based on errant info from others. I feel so sad for situations I come across in my life where I see wonderful intelligent individuals lose out on each others gifts because of misunderstandings or misinformation.

I became aware of how short our lives can be. Think my age has something to do with that some. I try not to hold on to the angers and rage I once felt when being misunderstood and the frustrations of what comes from that.

All I know is I love and care about each person I meet. I try to always see the goodness in them. I try to accept their frailties and if I can't then I gently remove myself from their influences so as not to be unkind to them. I am human I said I "try" to not hold on to my angers didn't say I was superwoman. :)

Well I used up my characters for the day and the lettering on the keyboard is getting fainter. Thank goodness I can sort of type without having to look for the letters.

New day dawning

2010-02-19T07:25:00.001-05:00

A new day is dawning and I welcome the sun and really appreciate there are no snow storms on the horizon. I am concerned though, we need lots of snow in the North Country to help give us water for the summer. Bet we have a drought this summer.

That forum I spoke about is turning out to be interesting. One troll is a riot especially all the folks that are buying into her/his postings. I think it is a woman posting but that could be cause most of the handle they refer to themselves as Paralegal and most are women. Grin Stereo typing but I can do whatever I want on my blog. Political correctness is for whimps although there are times I will adjust my identifying out of respect for the interest or person.

Dum de dum dum oh change that in honor to a great troll Dumb de Dumb Dumb

Such a bad girl I am

2010-02-17T20:57:00.005-05:00

Grin, bet that title got your attention. Gosh, second night to write in my blog. Think I will write some controversial stuff. Neat thing about a personal blog is I can say what ever I want on it giggle.

I support the Safety Commissioner in our city, Wayne Bennett. He hasn't shown me anything to not trust him. Are there problems in the city police department damn tootin. It makes the wild west look tame but he is really in there fighting to get control back.

He is against a powerful union and a questionable judicial system. I wonder about the prosecuting attorneys too.

The police chief is in the same position. Both men have a horribly powerful union to fight and years of mismanagement and a core of officers that are not law abiding.

There are problems but the current safety commissioner inherited the mess and I hope the new chief will be a hard working honest one. He came from within the ranks of all the rogue cops. The chief has my support too until he I believe he is not doing his job

Most who follow on a local forum in the city I live in voice opinions about how he is not doing his job and boy could I get beat up for disagreeing with the majority. I could maybe even get banned for voicing my opinion on one new board. I don't know. I am keeping my posts focused on the topic and not the person posting.

The ground rules and limits to how much of an opposing opinion one can have is unkown since we really don't even know who the owners or entity behind the forum are. Talk about stupid.

Why would I want to post on a forum that I don't even know who operates it or what they truly are about? They sort of leave an impression that there will be some sort of freedom of expression but then again only time will tell.

I had trust in the original owner of the site her goal was to provide a community forum for discussion of all types of issues regarding our city. Her approach was to cut and paste news articles then get folks to respond to the stories but when she stopped doing that the board started to get quiet and sort of stale. So then flamers sort of spent a little time there but they left too. Then she after near 10 years sold the forum and domain name. So...I guess I am being a sheep and following along based on my past history with her and trusting her choice of who she sold out to but I am keeping an eye out for the wolf in sheep's clothes ya just never know. Oh how I wish the entity behind the new forum in our community would be more open on who all is a part of it's creation. Could be a conservative or democratic or libertarian or who ever type group and then I wonder does that mean by participating in presenting my opinions there that I am supporting their stand on things?

I said "I support Bennett" Giggle already got lambasted by one poster grin. Love it.

I don't have to present any facts on why I stand behind the man really if I don't want to. I have one topic in regards to a recent insodent that I have an insider trader type bit of info that I brought forth. Actually stuff anyone who reads the current PBA union contract can learn but how many folks would know about some of the rules and agreements in a contract. It just isn't something one does for an afternoon of reading.

So I stay on point focusing on that one little fact I am sure of. I can't waiver into other issues since maybe I am not aware or have enough info on those areas so I step lightly but have to carry a big stick giggle. Ever see a sheep carry a big stick?

The new forum has an interesting title "The informer" hmm could mean a couple different things. According to dictionary.com

–noun

1.	a person who informs against another, esp. for money or other reward.

2.	a person who informs or communicates information or news; informant.

Hmm since I don't know the entity behind the forum could be for every click there is some monetary reward to the owners of the site. Hmm. So be it I guess. Give them credit.

Hmm it does inform or communicated information or news but now folks are arguing which news is the most important. Sort of picking and choosing what is exceptable Hmm I think I got caught in this one myself. I voiced an opinion that I had no use for posts with just links in them nor for posts that are just copy and pastes of someone elses work. So I guess I am at fault too. Hmm interesting. I am telling someone else how to post. Nope not doing that at all. I am just voicing my opinion on what I don't like and that is ok.

What I do like is kindness and caring and sharing of information and opinion. I find it so difficult to post on forums where folks focus on the person posting and not the information presented. I could call one poster a real prick and dick cause he is one arrogant self absorbed bastard but what will that prove. At the same time I could make a choice to not share what I think of him as a person but focus on the information on a topic he presented. I may or may not agree with his facts presented or his opinion but that is ok long as I stay focused on the topic and not the fact he is a outrageous, self obsorbed arrogant prick.

Seems simple enough to me but is it really. Nope I find it so much safer to just post information and not opinion because many of the sheep I am following along with on this latest journey may be wolves only time will tell.

Where have I been

2010-02-17T03:00:00.002-05:00

Holy Mackeral where has time gone? I have not posted on this blog in way too long of a time. So much has happened this past year. Lots of good stuff. To personal to share moste of it here but rest assured 2009 was a productive year for me.

Met many new friends. Had goals for last year that I achieved many of. Have some more new ones for this year. Nope not doing the Jan 1 I will promise to to something thingy

My greatest achievement for 2009? September 12th I quit smoking. (35+ year habit) Check out the stats below. The info is from a small program that can run in my task bar if I choose or I can call it up at my leisure. It is called Silkquit http://www.silkquit.org/stop-smoking/quit-meter.aspx

Five months, five days, 3 hours, 8 minutes and 43 seconds.
3162 cigarettes not smoked,
saving $1,186.29.
Life saved: 1 week, 3 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes.

Well that's all for now folks nothing more to see here move along Grin
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

79 Lincoln Town Car for sale

2008-09-21T04:11:00.011-04:00

This beauty is still around. 01/24/10 Folks you are missing out on a peach of a car.

1979 Lincoln Towncar, 32K original miles, V8 400 Cubic Inch. 6 aluminum wheels, snow tires included, Leather interior, Motor in excellent shape.

Location: Schenectady NY

Body damage on passenger side, and front bumper. Great car for restoration. With the exception of the passenger side body damage rest of car in mint condition.

Email ( cyclecel AT gmail DOT com)

Cel

Show compassion for our police commissioner

2008-09-20T12:11:00.006-04:00

In our city Schenectady NY there has been a history of poor performance and illegal activities by officers of our police department. Some actually going to prison for their crimes. The problems with the department are based on decades of poor leadership. We had a new chief for a few years he started the ball rolling on cleaning up the department. Thank you Chief Geraci.

We now have a new position on the force called the Public Safety Commissioner who oversees both the police and fire departments. We have not had a police chief for near two years as Geraci retired. We just hired a new police chief from within the ranks.

Recently our local "Official" newspaper the Daily Gazette has been printing many very negative stories on our police administration. In response to one editorial I wrote a letter to the editor and was surprised it was printed. Below is my reply to the Gazettes editorial.

I have included an image of the original editorial and posted the text of my response. Click on image to enlarge.

*******************************************************************************

In regards to the editorial September 17th "Statistics confirm worst fears about Sch'dy PD".

The Commissioner was appointed May 2007. So the Gazette tries to put the blame on him for stats that were gathered from another watch.

After decades of abuses the Gazette and many folks in the city expect him to fix it all at once. Let's get the facts straight.

There has been a tremendous amount of organizational work done by Bennett to get the rocky foundation of the department stabilized but give him a break. He isn't giving excuses he is stating the facts. He is not afraid to admit where there needs to be improvement. Maybe his honesty is something the Gazette can't handle and as usual you put a negative spin on things putting the blame in the wrong areas.

Why not present the stats for the first six months of this year. Yes, it appears like there are more murders but what about the stats on arrests for other crimes?

What is needed the most in this city is once and for all to give our police support, not tear them apart every chance you can. Yes, there are serious problems inherited in the department that need to be resolved. One is the blasted union stranglehold, two is the decades of neglect.

Support our commissioner and the police department. There are many good officers on our force, we just need to give the commissioner time to weed out the rotted wood and also we need to deal with the union. I have a feeling the stats for the first 6 months will show an increase in arrests for crimes mentioned as being below other cities.

How to blog, hints on creating a interesting blog

2008-03-27T05:48:00.002-04:00

A friend recently blogged about his experiences regarding blogging. In his blog is a great article written by Steve Barnes a local reporter with the Albany NY Times Union in their Life section of the paper. Steve offers some good ideas on how to create an interesting blog.

Check it out and enjoy. "At the keyboard" Blah, Blah, Blah, Blog.

Road Runner Web Mail Albany NY

2008-02-22T17:15:00.007-05:00

https://webmail.nycap.rr.com/do/logout?l=en-US&v=standard

Time Warner RoadRunner service in the Captial District, Upstate New York now has a new improved web based email service. Included is a spam filter, spell check, rich text editor and many more features.

Did you know you could always access your email from anywhere via the web mail service. All you need is your email address and password. If you don't know your password there is a link on the login page to send you a new one.

What is important and is the feature called 'spam filtering'. Any email that looks suspicious or is considered 'Spam' is automatically filtered and put in a 'Junk' mail folder. This email never gets to your regular email program like Outlook or Outlook Express instead it is held in this 'Junk' folder. The only way to see this 'Spam' or junk mail is to use this improved web based service.

It is important to check this junk mail folder every once in a while since good mail you were expecting can sometimes be considered 'Spam' by accident and you will never get it in your Pop3 Outlook or Outlook Express program.

What I find interesting is Time Warner has always insisted they did not use any spam filtering on their email server. I was missing mail so I called them on numerous occasions asking if they filtered mail and they always said no, in fact insisted they didn't.

On a average I would get maybe 5 spam mails a day into my outlook express. I noticed today looking at my 'Junk' folder on the web based mail program that there was 20 waiting for me!!

I had argued with TW RR that I was missing important email and now I know why. They lied.

If you have questions about the new features offered on the web based program ask away. No question is a stupid one

Uninstalling a Program On a Windows XP Computer

2008-02-16T10:40:00.005-05:00

Uninstalling a Program

Sometimes we want to uninstall a program. Here are some hints on how I uninstall a program.

First thing you must be in the 'Administrator' account. An administrative account or being the administrator allows you to install and remove programs. A limited user account (LUA) doesn't.
How can I tell which account I am in? With Windows XP there are a number of ways to determine if you are in the 'Admin' account and have administrative the privileges to add and remove programs.

1) Go to the control panel. (Start, Settings, Control Panel) once there look for 'User Accounts' double click on it. You will see one of two things. You will see multiple accounts listed if you are currently in the Admin. account. The page will tell which is the 'Admin' account or a 'Limited User Account'. If you see more than one account listed then restart your computer and log into the top account shown on your login page. Enter that account.

Now you are ready to uninstall the program.

2.) There are two ways to uninstall a program. One using the 'Uninstall Feature' that comes with the program or by using the "Control Panel'.

Uninstall:
A) Go to: Start, Programs. Find the program you want to uninstall. See if there is an uninstall option there. Click on it and follow the instructions. If there is not an uninstall feature then go to the instructions below for removing a program using the 'Control Panel' feature.

B) After uninstalling the program it is recommended you restart your computer. After the restart, check your desktop for icons for that program and right click them and choose delete, you won't need the program shortcuts. Pay special attention to make sure the icon as a little arrow on it. Sometimes folks store the actual exe or execute file on their desktop so they can use that to reinstall the program. Keep the .exe for a few days in case you want to reinstall the program later on.

Control Panel:
A) Go to: Start, Settings, Control Panel double click on 'add/remove programs'. Be carefull to not click on add/remove 'Hardware' . If you do, just close it out and click on the 'add/remove programs' icon. Find the program you want to unistall. Highlite that program. On the the right side is a button that either indicates Change/Remove or Remove. Click on that and follow the instructions.

B) After unistalling the program it is recommended you restart your computer. After the restart, check your desktop for icons for that program and right click them and choose delete, you won't need the program shortcuts. Pay special attention to make sure the icon as a little 'arrow' on it. Sometimes folks store the actual .exe or execute file on their desktop so they can use that to reinstall the program. Keep the .exe for a few days in case you want to reinstall the program later on.

Upgrade Versus Update

2008-02-12T11:54:00.000-05:00

What is the difference between an upgrade verses update?

The Windows Operating System is the software that your computer runs on. Some examples of versions of operating systems are Windows 98SE, Windows ME (Millenium Editon), Windows XP and the newest one Windows Vista.

'Programs' can be referred to as software also. These run on the operating system. Examples would be a photo editing program like Photo Shop or the Adobe PDF Reader are programs that run 'on' the operating system.

Both the Operating System and the programs that run on it need to be updated or upgraded periodically.

Upgrade means to take the version of the software you have and do a complete upgrade to a newer version. Example, the Adobe PDF reader over the years has offered upgrades, the program manufacturer was using Version 7 then they completely revamped the program and made major changes and the current version is 8.

Update means doing minor updates to the current version. An example would be Adobe Reader is currently in Version 8 but if they make a minor adjustment to the program, the complete version number might be Version 8.1. The number following the decimal point indicates you are still using version 8 but there was an update to that program.

Another application of updates is to the Operating System. The operating system may be 98SE, ME, XP or Vista.

The Microsoft company that produces the Operating System will once a month usually on the second Tuesday of the month put out updates. These are important.

All manufacturers of operation systems and programs find after the software has been on the market that there may be compatibility problems or critical vulnerabilities that need to be corrected.

Some example of reason why a company updates their programs like Adobe Reader, Microsoft Media player etc. or the Microsoft Operating System is the "Vulnerability". This means that after research the company has found that given the right set of circumstances this vulnerability can be used in a manner to cause harm to the computer system or programs you are using.

Difference between Windows update and Microsoft Update

2007-12-09T05:11:00.000-05:00

Recently I read a great blog on how to better understand what Windows Update means compared to Microsoft Update. Two different things. I would like to share it with my readers as I found it easy to understand and most informative. Thanks Corrine.

http://securitygarden.blogspot.com/2007/12/understanding-microsoft-updates.html

cc3-205-03031f02 Error code Brother MFC5460CN

2007-10-15T04:59:00.001-04:00

First thing to check if using Windows XP are that you are a Administrative Account and try again. If this doesn't resolve the issue then try the suggestions below

I do not know if these downloads resolve the issue or if the download the support person had me do was a "firmware update" since I fixed the problem by calling support. Would like to ask a BIG favor to me and those looking for the resolution via the internet and not calling tech suppport please let us know if using the download page resolved the issue.
Driver, firmware and utilities download page http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bsc/public/us/us/en/dlf/download_top.html?reg=us&c=us〈=en∏=mfc5460cn_all

EDIT: For those folks from countries other than the US go to this Webpage Brother Solutions http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bsc/Public_s/index.html Pick your country then follow the instructions to contact brother to get the proper drivers.
********************************************************************************
Control Panel on the unit to "scan" a document and send it to my computer did not work.

Using the "control panel" on the unit to scan to email, file etc. it opens the Scansoft Paperport 9.0 Control Center 3 software then it gives an error fault. "Please try to scan the image again if the error happens again please restart your computer and then try the scan again. ERROR Code (cc3-205-03031f02) This did not work. I uninstalled and reinstalled the software and it still didn't work.

I sent Brother a trouble ticket. Support They suggested I call their customer service at 1-800-284-4329. Keep in mind it is important when purchasing a new electronic equipment that you register it. The call taker asked for model and serial number. I am registered so I don't know what support they give if you aren't.

The problem resolved by calling support. They directed me to downloading a zip file that reset the drivers on the system. Unfortunately, I can't recall the url address to get the file but calling support they will assist you.

When I called I had a 3 minute wait for a representative. After a short discussion she transferred me to tech support. The message there said I had a 56 minute wait which I was not to pleased about. I was pleasantly surprised when 4 minutes later a representative was on the phone. Within just a few minutes of following the techs instruction the issue was resolved.

Color me very pleased with the results using Brother Support Services.

Brother MFC5460CN won't print black

2007-10-15T04:41:00.000-04:00

I bought my first all-in-one printer, copier, fax, scanner. The Brother MFC5460CN. Retail price is around $155 but I got it on sale.

I asked the store clerk if in order to print black do all the color cartridges have to be full. He looked at me cross eyed. Said he never heard of that before.

Doing research on the internet I found out YES all the color cartridges have to have ink in order to print Black. Go figure. There is a work around for the problem. I located info on the internet about how to cheat the machine into believing there is ink in the cartridge. One forum I located which unfortunately I lost the link to mentions the fix maybe I will locate it again and I will edit this to include that link if I find it again.

Note every time you print it cleans the heads which mean you use up some of the color ink even if you are printing in Black only. In theory you could use up your colors without ever printing a color document.

Site Hits Review

2007-09-09T13:17:00.000-04:00

It's about time to do a review of my site counter and share what the hot topics in my blog are.

First and foremost is searches for issues with the Emachine Power Supplies. I have gotten so many hits that I finally located a link that lists all the Attorney Generals in the States and recommend readers contact their AG to complain about this product. The info I have is found on the blog entry for "Emachines Power Supplies" http://cyclecel.blogspot.com/2006/11/emachines-power-supply-problems.html

So far out of the last 100 hits. I have counted 46 for this one blog. Wow. The previous 100 hits I counted 37. That is an unbelievable amount that indicates to me this issue is widespread. Unfortunately, some of these hits are from foreign countries and I don't know how their government works, if they have a position similar to our Attorney Generals.

Command to Program error Firefox

2007-08-22T16:29:00.000-04:00

Command to Program Error Message Fix http://kb.mozillazine.org/Windows_error_opening_Internet_shortcut_or_local_HTML_file_-_Firefox

Error messages when using Firefox:
--"Windows cannot find <URL>. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again. To search for a file, click the Start button, and then click Search."
--Prompt from FF indicating (There was a problem sending the command to the program)

Microsoft Huh?

2007-08-17T17:32:00.000-04:00

Click on image to enlarge.

I use a site meter counter on my blog. It is interesting to see which subjects folks are looking for information about. The site meter also lists some basic information ISP, Operating system, Browser used etc. Got this hit from Microsoft :) :) :)

2007-08-16T20:54:00.000-04:00

Click on Image to enlarge

For computer enthusiasts we can identify with a computer that starts very slowly as it loads all the icons for the various programs that have a self determined need to be running at startup and in the background. Each of these programs take up some of the memory on your computer and can cause it to run slower..

Quick Time, Itunes, Picasa Media Detector, Ati Launchpad, Creative Soundblaster, Hewlett Packard Printer, Ebson Printer, AOL Instant messenger. MSN Instant Messenger, are just some examples.

These programs don't always need to be running until we call for them so it is a waste of memory. Some programs such at security programs definitely do but all the others don't. There are some ways to control this issue, some of the programs offer features to disable the "run at start up" feature but so many do not.

Steve Gibson http://www.grc.com/default.htm the man who many say coined the term spyware and created the first anti-spyware program, creator of Spinrite and ShieldsUP gives an example of a computer overrun with startup programs. During one of his lectures he demonstrated examples of system trays just loaded to the hilt with programs that run at startup.

Above is a picture of a computer and all the programs running in the system tray.

Helping friends out with their computers their main complaint is that the computer runs slow. Many times it is a matter of spyware but there have been times that I have come across the issue of so many programs running in the background looking very similar to the image above. I use Winpatrol http://winpatrol.com to control these programs.

It is a shame that software developers insist that their program must be running in the background. Total disrespect for the computer user. The developer knows how these background programs effect a system but don't care. I needed to install Quick Time recently. In addition to it deciding I needed I tunes it also decided that it needs to run every time I started my computer. If I didn't have to use that program, no matter how good, I wouldn't. I have no respect for developers that are more interested in their program invading a system then thinking about the end user.

Find what you are looking for?

2007-08-09T00:06:00.000-04:00

Many times a topic can be lost in all the entries I have on this blog. Keep in mind there is a search feature in the top left area of the blog. Type in the topic you are looking for and you will arrive at the entry.

ATI TV Wonder 650 Thumbs Down

2007-07-26T18:19:00.000-04:00

After the failure of the Gemstar + Plus software on my original ATI TV Tuner I upgraded and bought a new card. ATI TV Wonder 650. I really liked my original card but missed the guide and figured the new card would be better.

I can't say I am impressed for what $130 brought me. There are many features missing that the old software had. The record formats are very limiting. There are no adjustments for the video like gama, brightness, contrast, chroma, hue and saturation. This is a real drawback since many broadcast signals especially WNYT Channel 13 have extremely dark video. The other place I need to adjust the video is the Channel 16 feed of the city council meetings. Usually they are dark, excessive Chroma and the hue is off. With my old card I could adjust these perimeters.

The ATI Catalyst Media Center EPG or guide is not functioning. After a few calls to their free technical support (Free for supported cards) I come to find out that their guide which is software by Cyberlink Corporation... is not working. Seems they are having technical trouble with certain areas of the country in getting the software to post the data. This I found out from their tech support in Canada. After not being satisfied by the response to the problem from their tech support I asked to speak to a supervisor. They were most polite but their answers just didn't satisfy me. They gave me a number to call. Long distance in Canada I left a message and would you know it the man called me back!! He acknowledged the problem indicated it was a problem at the software developers end and he had no idea when it would be resolved. I was impressed by the tech support ATI offered in this area but I still don't like the software even if it did work. The TV perimeter options are too limited.

The plus side to of all this is the card was easy to install on my XP SP2 Pro operating system. If you follow the directions which are not complicated at all it was a breeze to install the hardware and software. The audio is offered in stereo and sounds good. I did have to update my Dell onboard audio drivers. The tuner comes with FM radio and attenna which which works pretty good.

I am returning this card to where I bought it and try out a different manufacturer. I liked my first ATI card but two cards and both failing in the program guide area and most importantly the limited record format options no video controls etc. this isn't the card for me.

When purchasing a TV Tuner card I recommend doing some research in particular what is the minimum video graphic card you should have in your system I was lucky that the onboard video in my Dell handled the signal ok. The second thing is what type of program guide does it have. Does it cover all the functions you are interested in. The box cover will not point are the particulars so you will have to do the research on the net.

I can't live without my TV on my computer so off I go to return the TV Wonder 650 and try something else. I will post here in a weeks or so and let you know how the next card works out.

Edit 8/14/07 Ended up not getting a new card. They were too high end to work with my onboard video. So I put my All In Wonder VE back in. Later that week suddenly I could download the program guide.

Oh the other thing is. What appeared to be a toll free call (800 number) to their tech support was all in Canada not just the call that the man returned. Being out of the country it cost me $15 to find out the guide on the 650 was not functioning and they had no idea how long it would be out. From what the first techs told me it had already been non functioning for a while.

Wish I kept the phone number that I called the first few times to the techs I could have sworn it was a toll free one for cards still supported. I know the last one was going to Canada.

Cel

Gemstar Guide + Plus Failure

2007-07-26T17:58:00.000-04:00

I have an ATI TV Wonder VE tuner card in my computer. This allows me to view television and record programs. It has many nice features. Can adjust the video signal. Has "many" record format options. Can capture high quality stills. Can program to record at a predetermined time. Sometimes I just can't be around for a show. Although it is monoraul the sound is good and the video also. It also comes with an AVI player.

The feature I like best about this particular card is it's software the TV guide feature "Gemstar Guide + Plus". You can see what programs are coming up and get an abstract of the episode. There is also a feature to just see the shows in a particular genre. Like Sports ie Baseball, racing or football games that are on that day. There are a number of genre.

The unfortunate thing is the programing guide has quit working. It either connects to the server but doesn't import the data or won't even connect to the server.

I have written 4 times to Gemstar support which is a rather lengthy intense report that has to be filled in the only thing they don't ask for is your first born son. I have not gotten any replies in the past three weeks to these requests for technical assistance. It appears the problem is on their end. I even turned of my software firewall and bypassed my router in case they were somehow blocking the data but no change.

Up until now I loved my tv tuner card but I really miss the guide. I am not impressed with Gemstar their support is very lacking. ATI indicated the problem is with Gemstar contact them but as you have read there is no response from Gemstar

I have all the luck. I bought a new TV Tuner card ATI TV wonder 650 and guess what the guide doesn't work in that one either but the ATI technical support was very good. Read my next blog.

Edited 7/27/07 After near three weeks being out of service the Guide + Plus TV guide is now functioning. Have no idea why it was out of service for so long. I still stand by my position that Gemstar does not have very good if any technical support for their product.

Duck tape to the rescue

2007-07-14T10:03:00.000-04:00

To temporarily get this latest system up and running a little duck tape does the trick. Now to go to the used computer store and pick up a pci video card and hopefully it will do the trick.

Searching a blog

2007-07-06T11:42:00.000-04:00

There is a search feature in the top left area of the blog. Type in the topic you are looking for and you will arrive at the entry.

Computer Technical Help Forums

2007-06-26T04:58:00.000-04:00

Many times while working on computers I am stumped on how to proceed with a repair. I never went to school for computer repairs and do this as a hobby. I have gotten myself into everything from replacing on/off switches, to power supplies, replacing motherboards and other hardware. I also have spent even more time cleaning up machines with spyware and rebuilding or salvaging an operating system.

Sometimes the challenges can be...well just when you have seen a lot something new crops up.

The original complaint was the system was just about working. Extremely sluggish. I stopped over my friends house and sure enough he had some real problems with his computer. Sizing up the issues it was decided I would return to pick up the system the following day. I left it up to him to unplug the system.

He did not realize about the screws on the video connector and yanked to the point of snapping one screw before he realized about them. In the process he broke the on board video connection right off where it connects to the mother board.

Getting the machine home I realized in horror what happened. What to do next? While surfing the internet I came across a wonderful forum for technical support, The PC Guide Discussion Forums http://www.pcguide.com/vb/ There is everything from hardware support to various operating systems forums.

When you have a problem whether it is the operating system or hardware failure this is a good choice of forums to utilize.

From the replies to my thread in the forum I found I can bypass the onboard video and being there wasn't a AGP slot it was possible to use a pci video card if I can find an older one. The problem was this was an older machine and not worth the cost nor would it probably handle the newer pci video cards.

Visiting our local used computer supply warehouse in town I was able to find a real nice card and all was good. I also was able to increase the memory, the computer store sold me a 128 for $9.00

Afterwards I spent some time reading the forums and I gained a great deal of information on many aspects of the world of computers.

I recommend this forum when you have a question and need to know.

Free Audio Books

2007-04-22T18:20:00.000-04:00

I just love listening to audio books. These are stories that are read to you. Reminds me of my childhood when we would visit the town librarian for story telling. Nice cozy feelings for sure. I came across an organization called LibriVox that offers free audio books. These are presented using the Creative Commons licensing approach http://creativecommons.org/

I set out over the weekend to check out some of these audio books. There are over 500 books. Most books contain many chapters but there are also books that are just one download file. I downloaded a couple by right clicking on the file and "Save Link As" in my browser Firefox but you can also do the same thing in Internet Explorer by right clicking and choosing "Save Target As". I chose the mp3@128kbps format. The files are bigger and take a little more time to download but on a high speed ISP it is not noticeable. They offer a smaller file mp3@64 kbps for those with a slower ISP or dial up and ogg vorbis formats.

Once I downloaded all the chapters from a book I burned a cd. I love relaxing in the lazy boy and just floating away in the story.

Some of the genre they offer are.

* Adventure
* Animals
* Biography
* Children
* Comedy
* Cookery
* Epistolary fiction
* Essay/Short nonfiction
* Fairy tales
* Fantasy
* Historical Fiction
* History
* Horror/Ghost stories
* Music
* Mystery
* Nature
* Philosophy
* Psychology
* Romance
* Religion
* Satire
* Science
* Science fiction
* Sea stories
* Short stories
* Spy stories
* Teen/Young adult
* Tragedy
* War stories

LibriVox: free audio books http://librivox.org/

LibriVox volunteers record chapters of books in the public domain and release the audio files back onto the net. Our goal is to make all public domain books available as free audio books. We are a totally volunteer, open source, free content, public domain project.

LibriVox Objective
To make all books in the public domain available, for free, in audio format on the internet.

Check out the newest releases http://librivox.org/newcatalog/NewReleases.xml
Find books by Genre http://librivox.org/newcatalog/genres.php
Browse the entire catalog http://librivox.org/newcatalog/search.php?title=&author=&status=complete&action=Search

WalMart AT+T Phone Card Ripoff

2007-03-12T09:44:00.000-04:00

I was given a WalMart AT+T 500 minute phone card as a gift last year. I only call long distance "within" the State of New York. I had gotten a sense that my minutes flew by faster than I thought I had used them but with 500 minutes it was difficult to tell.

My suspicions are correct. My brother brought this bit of information to my attention. He bought a 300 minute card and found he only got 100 minutes for his $19.00.

They charge a higher rate for "In" state calls then "Out" of state calls.

Calling to Florida you get 1 minute charged for 1 minute used but calling within NYS, an example: Albany NY to Buffalo NY, you are charged 3 minutes for each 1 minute you use.

I read the attached AT+T information card then read the back of the actual card and no where does it indicate, to the best I could tell, that instate calls would be a different charge.

Upon calling the AT+T information number and going through many prompts to find the information, they finally indicated via a recorded message that their "may" be a higher rate for In state calls depending on the state.

Well, chalk it up for another reason living in NY is so expensive.

Blind Carbon Copy Hints

2007-03-08T23:44:00.000-05:00

How often have you received email with a list of all the other people the email was sent to? The sender used "CC" Carbon Copy to create their mailing list. This is not a good.

There are various ways for your email address in this list, to be harvested especially if any one of those people listed has a computer that may be infected or compromised with a virus that collects email addresses. These unfortunate users listed in the "Carbon Copy" list most likely will start to receive spam mail. You know the kind trying to sell you medications to enhance your body or saying you just won the lottery.

Blind Carbon Copy “BCC” means you send the email without anyone seeing who else received the mail.

The best way to do this is create your email, then the "To" should contain your email address. The "BCC" or Blind Carbon Copy should contain all the other addresses you want the mail to go to. Yes, you will receive a copy of the email also but you can delete it.

Webpage that shows you how to create a BBC in Outlook 2000 and AOL 9.0 can be found Blind Carbon Copy http://www.mailmsg.com/bcc.htm

Webpage that shows you how to create a BCC in Outlook Express. http://www.somewhere-in-time.net/tutorial/OutlookBCC/ This website also has information about using Eudora and Netscape.

US Cert about how and why to use BCC can be found at BCC Tips http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST04-008.html

Another in depth look at how and why to use Blind Carbon Copy http://www.answers.com/topic/blind-carbon-copy

Dell won't let me purchase XP

2007-03-02T05:18:00.000-05:00

EDITED 4/22/2007 Looks like Dell has changed their mind and now is offering a choice of operating systems XP or Vista. Bill P's blog has more info on this latest development.
*************************************************************************************

I am not sure I want to go Vista yet. First off my current computer may not be able to use Vista. Second I like my system the way it is. But I have a couple friends who need to and want to upgrade their systems. One has a 333 MHz system the other a 400 MHz. I am the one who maintains their systems they are 98SE and they are real headaches so I welcome their decision to purchase new computers but CAN they purchase a computer with XP?

Recently I read Bill P's blog where he explained the difficulties he had trying to buy a Dell system with XP on it. Dell refused to build a machine with XP. Gateway would build a system with XP. Bills' Blog is a good read about this issue.

So, I braved the online chat with a Dell representative and asked if she could order her system with Windows XP. The answer was No! She can’t have XP installed on her new Dell but he recommended downloading Microsoft Virtual PC. That way she could still create a partition and install Windows XP on it.

SIW System Info you always wanted to know

2007-02-27T07:06:00.000-05:00

SIW
System Information for Windows
http://www.gtopala.com/

SIW is a System Information tool that gathers detailed information about your system properties and settings.

A utility that includes detailed specs for:
Motherboard, BIOS, CPU, Devices, Memory, Video, Drives, Ports, Printers.

It displays information about Operating System, Installed Programs, Processes, Services, Product Key (CD key), Serial Numbers, Users, Open Files, System uptime, Users, Network, Network Shares, and more, as well as real-time monitors for CPU, Memory, Page File usage and network traffic. SIW also displays currently active network connections, Passwords hidden behind asterisks, installed codecs, and more. A standalone tool that does not require installation.

A friend brought this program to my attention. I am impressed in fact very impressed. This program can fit on a floppy and is a wonderful tool for a technician to use but even more importantly it is IMPORTANT for you too.

Information it shows is all the passwords stored on your computer that normally show up as asterisk.

Not sure how I feel about this in that 95% of computer users I come across have very little interest or knowledge about how to clear their cache from their browsers. If they use the Firefox browser they do not understand how to use the "Options" tab to set their browser to not store passwords. The other thing is when entering a password on a webpage you may get a prompt asking if you want to store your password for future use, Say No.

I can use this tool to teach my friends just what information their computers store and why learning to change these settings is important. One way clear cache in their browsers I recommend Crap Cleaner. http://www.ccleaner.com/ Clearing out the cache will not delete or hide the password info but it will delete traces of where you surfed at.

CCleaner is a freeware system optimization and privacy tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your online activities such as your Internet history. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains NO Spyware or Adware! :)

I also recommend Most Recently Used
MRU http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/mrublaster.html program that also cleans out tracks of where you have surfed to.

SIW is an important tool but one that can be abused if anyone has physical access to your computer. A very important issue here is if using the Firefox browser Check your browser "options" settings to see if it automatically stores passwords. Change it and learn to type in this information manually. The other thing to think about is if you have your Instant Messenger programs set to auto logon. The passwords will show up with this program if they are set to auto. Safety is up to you the user.

Firefox Command to program error

2007-02-26T17:29:00.001-05:00

Windows error opening Internet shortcut or local HTML file - Firefox
Problems with opening a website via Quicklaunch bar or desktop shortcut.

http://kb.mozillazine.org/Windows_error_opening_Internet_shortcut_or_local_HTML_file_-_Firefox

1. "There was a problem sending the command to the program"
2. "Windows cannot find url or path to file Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again."

Below is the fix
(In Windows XP and Windows 2000)

1. Open Windows Explorer (or My Computer).
2. Go to Tools -> Folder Options -> File Types
3. Select Extension: "(NONE)" File Type: "URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol"
4. Click "Advanced". In the "Edit File Type" window, select "open" and click "Edit"
5. Uncheck "Use DDE" (the dialog should then hide the lower part).
6. Click OK for that dialog and the next one (afterwards, the "Use DDE" box is still checked but the "DDE Message" box will be cleared, as shown here)
7. Repeat for Extension: "(NONE)" File Type: "URL:HyperText Transfer Protocol with Privacy" (and any other protocols you want to fix)
8. Repeat for Extension: "(NONE)" File Type: "Firefox URL"
9. Repeat for Extension: "HTM" (or "HTML") File Type: "Firefox Document"

EDIT: December 30,2008 Came across something in regards to using this fix. This is for XP users Starting with the 3.03 version I could fix this problem only in my admin account but couldn't in my limited user account. I resolved this by temporarily changing my limited user account to an admin making the changes then putting the account back to a limited user account. This version of FF was the first time I had to do that in order to resolve the issues.

Let Scotty protect you with the new 2007 Winpatrol

2007-02-18T04:41:00.001-05:00

I have been using Winpatrol on my system for 6+ years. The following is information on what this program has to offer. Recently I worked on a friends computer that just barely started up. She was loaded with spyware. Using the Free version Winpatrol I was able to disable these startups. Doing so allowed me access to the system so I could clean up the system.

This program lets you get a handle on programs that run at startup it will also alert you to hijackings, malware attacks and critical changes made to your computer without your permission. I have always been frustrated at the number of programs that run at startup that the computer manufacturers think we need to have running. Every software company thinks we need to have these startups on our computers even though we may not be in need of the program right at the startup, all they do is slow your computer down by taking up resources.

There are two versions the Free one and the Plus version. The difference being the Plus version will give you more information about a particular file, is it malware or is it a safe one to find on your computer. This is a robust SECURITY MONITOR, this program. The WinPatrol PLUS version includes a unique, patent pending R.I.D. technology .

One example of a problem file that Winpatrol Plus version would give you.

NETDOTNET.DLL This program is a good example of what's being referred to as Foistware. Foistware is software that adds hidden components to your computer. Usually it's done without your knowledge when you install some other program that would be useful to you..

Another example of information found about a safe file:
Registry Server - REGSVR32.EXE The Regsvr32 tool is commonly run after installing new programs. It's an application supplied by Microsoft to register new programming objects....

The newest version Winpatrol 2007 11.1.2007 is out and it's newest feature is Delayed Start. You probably have programs which you do want running in the background but you don't need to launch immediately on boot up. Delayed Start allows you to specify the time to wait before launching programs which may typically try to load while other system initialization are happening.

Internet Explorer 7 Outlook Express Hyperlink Problem

2007-01-10T06:33:00.000-05:00

If you recently upgraded to Internet Explorer 7 and are having a problem with clicking on hyperlinks in your Outlook Express mail there is a problem with IE7.

The following blog, Security Gardens has more information about how to resolve this issue.

Thank you Corrine

Webpod Studio "Fun Stuff" Edited

2007-01-08T05:51:00.000-05:00

As I wrote about podcasting in the Fun Stuff post I found out a couple things about Webpod Studio.

First they do not respond to any email support questions. Bad sign. Second thing is they insinuate that one can make a Radio RSS feed which is not the truth. You can record audio and save it as a wave file and Mp3 file but there will not be the associated RSS XML file generated. If you create a A/V file then there is a RSS XML file created.

I am pleased with the quality of a simple audio file but when you create a A/V file the audio becomes very chirpy and distorted. I tried a couple settings that are offered for the quality of audio but they still were less than desirable.

Well, I now have a program that allows me to record both Mp3 and Wave files so all is not lost. The cost of the program was very cheap at Comp USA but I would not recommend buying their download program at the cost starting at $89 you don't get what they present on their website and on the boxed version.

Fun stuff

2006-12-27T01:55:00.000-05:00

I got a new program and am experimenting with it. It is called Webpod Studio. I have the retail version. Looking at the features list I don't know what many of the features mean. This program alleged to allow one to create a podcast audio or audio/video podcast and also you can create the needed RSS file. Mike has been working with me to learn about RSS and what it is.

My first step is to learn how to create a podcast using my new program. I have been able to create an audio podcast and an audio/video podcast but am having difficulties with creating an xml file for the solo audio podcasts.

Last night while playing I was able to create an XML file. I don't know much about how XML is used but again Mike is teaching me and I am sure as time goes on I will know more. The problem I have now is I just want to do an audio podcast with the associated xml file but just can't seem to do that. If I create a mixed podcast A/V it creates the XML file. One of two things could be occurring. One...I am doing something incorrectly or maybe I can only do a combination A/V podcasts that has the RSS component. Reading the book and the help files it leads one to believe I can create an audio only podcast and it will also create the associated XML file but my program doesn't seem to do that.

As I become more familiar with various podcasts terms and features I am sure things will become easier.

New Computer Setup

2006-12-25T22:30:00.000-05:00

Many of our friends received computers for the Holidays. There are some things that you can do to extend that gift for them. Security is an issue that should not be overlooked. The following blog entry Security Garden has a good presentation of securing a new computer. Included in the blog is information on antivirus and firewall programs. Information on how to update the operating systems security updates and activate the operating system firewall is also found on this blog.

Main index page for Security Gardens http://securitygarden.blogspot.com/ You will find a great deal of useful information on the blogger's other entries well worth bookmarking for future reference.

Happy Holidays to all
Cel

Sitemeter Hits - win list

2006-12-02T13:04:00.000-05:00

I installed a hit counter a month ago. The hit counter I use, Sitemeter shows statistics on the search term the user was looking for information with. Example "Black Friday Specials" or "Emachines Power problems".

I lost my original sitemeter for November and had to reinstall a new one so unfortunately my stats are not including every hit. The new hit counter was installed around mid month.

The most hits for November were for my blog "Black Friday Specials". In second place and this statistic I am not surprised about is searches relating to power supply issues with Emachines. Of 100 searches listed as of today 30 of them were for Emachine power problems.

Somehow I get the feeling this issue is something that is ripe for a class action lawsuit or maybe a state attorney general could get involved to have Gateway (the current manufacturer of the emachine) acknowledge the problems and offer a resolution to compensate the buyers of these machines. I believe the machines in question were manufactured before Gateway bought the Emachines company.

The other statistic I found interesting was the types and version of browser used.

Using Microsoft Paint to resize pictures

2006-11-28T12:42:00.000-05:00

Hints on how to use Microsoft Paint to resize your images from your camera so you can email them.

The pictures you are going to be working with should be the ones that have not been resized yet but the large ones that just came off the camera. What we will be doing below is resizing the image to 33% of the original size.

Click: Startup - Programs - Accessories, go down the list click on Paint.

Click: File - Open and browse to the folder you image is in, double click on the image file. Don't be concerned if you can't view the entire image. The image you have chosen is one that came from your camera and has not been resized yet so it will be very large.

Go to File - "Save As" Choose a place to save the images to. I use my desktop but any place is fine as long as you remember where you placed them.

Be very careful to remember to ***give it a new name***. You will see a place to create a new name at the bottom of the window "File Name". This important otherwise you will be changing the original copy and you don't want to do that, you want to be making a new copy from the original image.

Close the Paint program..

Now reopen the Paint program.

Click on File - Open and locate the image you just renamed. Now you will be working with a copy of the original.

On the menu bar click "Image", then "Stretch/Skew". You will notice a place to adjust percentages, change both percentage windows to 33% Click "OK"

Now "Save" it.

In the window near the bottom you will also be given choices of format types to save the image as. In the "Save As Type" window save as JPEG or GIF.

Now open your email program and insert or add file as an attachment.

Emachines Power Supply Problems

2006-11-17T18:30:00.000-05:00

Edit: 11/17/2007 Site meter hits now running at 55% of all referrals to this blog are in search of info about emachine failures.

Edit: 8/10/07 I never expected so many hits to my blog concerning the issue of the failure of the Power Supplies on Emachines. Last 100 hits 45 were directed to this one blog entry below. That does not include the previous 35% of 800 hits that I have gotten that I recall. Unfortunately no one leaves comments to let me know how this blog may or may not have helped them.

I strongly advise you to contact your State Attorney Generals office and ask them to investigate this product. This is the only way anyone will get resolution and maybe reimbursement for their non-functioning computers. The following link is to a list of names addresses and phone numbers to contact the Attorney General of your state. List of State Attorney Generals
http://www.naag.org/ag/full_ag_table.php

***********************************************************************************

This past year has been a trying year with Emachines.

This year alone I worked on seven, with serious powersupply problems. I only work on computers as a hobby and to help my friends. I am not a repair shop or store or anything like that.

Some of the first symptoms on more than half of them is the CD/DVD drives stop functioning. This is followed by turning the machine on and having a prompt on the screen saying no video. The next event is the user can't turn the machine off and must actually unplug the unit from the wall. The final blow is upon reconnecting the power the unit won't start at all.

In 100% of these cases the motherboard (main circuit board of the computer) was damaged beyond repair. The options for the owner is to replace the powersupply (PS) AND motherboard (MB). The cost of the parts plus the labor does not make this an economical move.

One shop wanted $130 just to replace the power supply. I made the mistake of recommending the owner take it to the shop. I was shocked when he reported back how much it cost him. Needless to say 4 months later the unit went out again. Prior to the total failure he had intermittent operating problems but nothing we could repeatedly duplicate. The PS failed again and this time a new PSU did not resolve the issue.

Remember you get what you pay for. In researching this issue I was shocked to find hundreds of reports of Power Supply problems with the Emachine. These machines are the showcase of what is considered a throwaway product. They are not economical to repair.

Laptop Fire Demonstration

2006-11-10T12:53:00.000-05:00

The seriousness of having a laptop battery fire is shown on the following link. Notebook PC Explodes Please don't ignore checking to see if your laptop contains this type of battery.

You are loved by others and others are loved by you.

To determine if your system may have a suspect battery I have been posting information on how to check and who to contact in regards to this issue. The information has been updated as each day went by. Laptop resources to determine if your system has a faulty battery.

Relaxation

2006-11-07T04:26:00.000-05:00

Today I decided to blog something non-technical. Sometimes I need to just kick back and slowdown. Mellow out. Been under some stresses lately that have taken it's toll on me.

I light an aroma candle and listen to soothing music. I like sandalwood but it is hard to find just the right scent. Each one is different. I recall getting sandalwood candles at a crafts fair in that were made right in the town in Vermont that were so nice. They weren't a sweet smell like perfume but had a slight bitterness or realness to them if there is such a thing. The other aroma I like is vanilla but I only use them to add a nice scent to the room and not for relaxation.

My favorite music is from a series called Celestial Listening. I have two of the series but am considering looking at Borders for more.

I light the candle, turn on the tunes and sit comfortably in my lazy boy. While there I take long deep breaths and start by focusing on my toes. Telling my feet to relax then I go up my leg telling my calf to relax and I continue this right up to my forehead. The cd's are 50 minutes in length but after 30 minutes I am so relaxed that to get up out of the chair I have to wake up my body cause it is like Jello. What a refreshing feeling this is.

Being a forum administrator

2006-11-03T16:17:00.000-05:00

If you read my previous post you would see that just recently a friend assigned me the task of being a forum administrator. I was pretty hesitant but now that I got my feet wet all is going well. One thing I realized is the most difficult part was the installation of the forum and we have to thank Mike P for his hard work and efforts.

Mike P set us up with a separate forum that we can practice on without harming the official one which eases my mind considerably. There are two of us that are sharing the admin responsibilities.

The forum is extremely small only 10 participants than goodness.

Forum settings Main Preferences So far I've changed the clock to show the correct time.
Member Setup Controls, Preregister members I created new accounts.

Member setup controls, View all members I deleted an account.

Boards and Categories A somewhat more difficult part was creating a new Root category and sub category. This was a little strange at first. I had to give the root an ID which I didn't understand what that was so I took a chance and gave it a number. Then to create the board I had to assign that one an ID. In retrospect I can see where there can be a problem remembering which number you used last so I have to think about the ID process some more. Gonna practice some more with this.

There are many options to setup this particular forum that we are using. I have barely touched the surface of all it can do.

Open source, forum software E-Blah

2006-11-01T15:52:00.000-05:00

E-Blah is free, open source, forum software that is over five years in the making. E-Blah has been built, from the ground up, by only one individual which has helped maintain the security and stability throughout the years. E-Blah is a Perl-based forum system that has low system requires to help power your forum, making it one of the fastest forums available. In the years since the first release, there have been over 30 releases. Any issues are dealt with within a couple of hours by our virtually 24/7 technical support staff.

I have been a simple user of a local forum setup with the Eblah software. As a user I have found this forum to be easy to use and has many nice features. Now on to the challenge. A friend has setup a Eblah forum on his website and asked me and another person to share in the responsibilities of administrating this new forum.

Not sure how I feel about this newest challenge. At first I was excited about learning something new but now I am frightened by it. My understanding of computers is at a basic level. As the months go on I will share with you what I have learned and how easy or difficult this might have been for me to utilize and understand what being an administrator is about.

I never have thought much about what goes into being an administrator of a forum although I am using them constantly when I am looking for help with a particular issue or computer problem. Seeing a forum from the inside looking out will be an interesting treck.

Edit: Wow piece of cake. Is easy to figure out the admin features. Like it more each day. Nov 29th.

Site Meter For Your Blog

2006-10-29T00:09:00.000-04:00

What is Site Meter?

Site Meter is a free, fast, and easy way to add a web counter to your web page or blog. Not only does it display the number of visitors to your web site or blog, it also keeps statistics on the number of visits each hour and each day.

This is a wonderful tool brought to my attention by a friend Bill P. Thank you Bill. I have been having lots of fun with this tool.

Site meter lets you see who has visited your blog, which pages they viewed, how long they viewed it, what part of the world they are from. It tells you which operating system the person was using and which browser used. Looking at the left side of this sample webpage http://sitemeter.com/?a=samplestats&site=sm5sitefreestuff&HELP=ON you will see the many categories by Details, Referral, Location and many more stats you can monitor.

Webhosting Service HostPC 5 stars service

2006-10-28T17:30:00.000-04:00

A few years back a friend, Mike Abair talked me into learning how to create my own webpages and upload them to the internet. For about a year I used the space hosted by my ISP but found them lacking in what I was looking for.

While viewing our local Police Department website I clicked on the link for the webhosting company for their site. I found there was a local company called HostPC. http://hostpc.com I have been with them 3 years now and found them to be extremely reliable and easy to work with if I have a question regarding their service. Their help desk should I need them, which has been very infrequently responds in a manner of minutes to my help ticket. Posted is a quote from the company's administrator, I heartly agree with his presentation. You might want to check out their great prices and solid reliability.

Ask yourself these questions:

* Have you been burned by another DirectAdmin hosting company?
* Feel abandoned with no support / lifeline?
* Feel you're not getting the service you need?
* Feeling like you're pumping $ into a sinking ship?
* Feeling like your host doesn't really give a damn?
* Has your site been up/down more often than a yo-yo - or been restored from backups that are weeks old? (If they even HAD backups)

HostPC can help you get settled once again. You work hard for your money, HostPC will convince you that you're spending your hard earned cash on a quality company that wants and works hard to retain your business.

No doubt, you were very comfortable with your host for quite a while. Then something happened, and it hasn't been the same. HostPC wants you to be "comfortable" again.

Why is HostPC better?

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How to use a Tech Forum

2006-10-20T14:18:00.000-04:00

Having difficulty with a program? Getting error messages or found you have a virus or spyware. This is where Google is your friend. Locate a forum for the product you are having difficulty with. There are some basic procedures to use

1. Google for the name of the program followed by the word "forum". An example would be "Spybot forum". There may be a number of forums listed, try to identify one that is offered by the program company or is listed as the "official forum". Googling "Spybot Forum" I found numerous entries one appeared to be the spybot forum that is supported by the developers of the Spybot program. http://forums.spybot.info/ Spybot Forum There may be others but try to start with an official one. Sometimes they will identify the forum as official, sometimes the product representatives will actually participate in the forum.

2. Read the "How to Post" thread usually located as the top thread in a forum. This is very important. This will maximize your responses to the post and offer options to assist in resolving the issue prior to posting.

3. When posting use a title that identifies the difficulty. Don't use "Help me", or "Problem" Use something like "Missing Dll xyz.dll" or "error message abc10004". This is a quick and simple way to have others with a similar issue identify with it. Maybe someone else has had the same problem and found a resolution to it. Reading a specific error report in the title flags it.

4. The following information in your initial post will help those reading your post.. Include what operating system you use and if it has the latest service pack and updates. List what programs you have running at startup including the version numbers. Include the name of the program or issue you are experiencing and the error message you are having.

5. Try to be brief. Wordy threads bore tech folks. At the same time explain what things you have done to fix the problem ie. online virus scans, reinstalling program etc.

Hope this information helps you in utilizing a Help forum.

Msn Messenger Windows 2000

2006-10-18T15:43:00.000-04:00

I was surprised to find out I could not install the most current version of MSN messenger on my Windows 2000 operating system. The most current version can only be installed on the XP or newer operating systems.

I was able to locate version 7.0 that is compatible. I tried it out and it works.

I found it on CNET download.com

MS Defender GDI+ error Windows 2Kpro

2006-10-14T22:31:00.001-04:00

While installing Windows Defender (Beta 2) on a Microsoft 2000pro operating system it kept showing an error message saying "Windows defender requires GDI+. Please load the windows 2000 security software prerequisite" Took some time to find out why. There is a dll missing that belongs in the system32 folder. (gdiplus.dll) Below is the link to the microsoft knowledge base explaining the issue with directions on downloading and installing the dll.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/915052 knowledge base.

Now to the story behind it. Recently I purchased a used computer at a technology surplus store. 850Mhz Dell Dimension L866r with a cd writer windows 2kPro 256 RAM. First thing done was downloading all the programs that needed to be installed on it by burning them onto a cd on my other computer. The first programs installed were the firewall, ZoneAlarm Free, antivirus AVGFree and my favorite WinPatrol.. Then on to updating the operating system to SP4 and operating system security updates. In all there were 49 updates to bring the OS up to Service Pack 4. Being on a cable service it didn't take as long as I was expecting. All together I have about 3 hours in from the start of burning the programs cd.

The next step was to install, setup and update Adaware, Spybot Search and Destroy, Spyware Blaster, Cablenut, Crapcleaner, A-Squared, Firefox Browser (with google toolbar and noscript extentions), Site Advisor (Installed for use with Foxfire, there are installs for Internet Explorer and other browsers) Adobe Reader (Due to being 2k OS I installed older version 6.0), Winzip and the Open Office package. A free Office package that includes all the programs you can find in MS Office but for free, a data base, spreadsheet, presentations, word and calculator. I couldn't get Defender to install so I moved on to address that later.

The Open office package was a 92 Meg download which surprised me The download went rather fast at around 800kbs.

So far with the installs of each program all the updates and the reboots after each program install it took a good 3 or 4 hours or maybe more.

Another 20 minutes for the next step doing one more set of updates, non critical ones, which included windows mediaplayer9 and Directx 9c. Then after that there were critical security updates for both of those that took another 10 minutes.

Still not done yet, next was to create a limited user account and add a password to each account. Somewhat different then the prodedures from an XP machine but close enough that I could figure it out.

Then on to updating Nero Ultra that came installed on the machine. Another 30 minutes download and install. Now to test burn a CD with the updated Nero files and Microsoft Defender Antispyware download and dll for future reference should I need to reinstall the programs.

Ready for fun stuff. I installed my favorite chat program. Now I can participate in my favorite computer tech chat rooms which on a cable service worked fine.

The last thing to do was to test the phone modem so there was another half hour for setup. I have a very sophisticated setup indeed, a 25 foot cord connected to the wall jack. Then to install the dial-up network. All went well. The final test was to go to Paltalk and see how my microphone and voice is handled on a 56k dial up and I was pleasantly surprised, it was great.

Well, that was my Saturday. A full 8 hours and I probably am short on that by 2 hours. Folks wonder what it takes to properly build a computer there it is.

This is where I spent at least a half hour maybe more researching the install issue with Windows Defender Antispyware program. After finding the solution it took another 15 minutes and all is done. For now at least. Have two more chat programs to install but we will do that on another day. Grin

I enjoy working on computers. Each time I learn something new that I can share for a future reference should someone else have the same situation. Folks wonder where I learn the stuff I know and there it is in a nutshell I'm a nut about computers.

Happy surfing
Take Care
The Critter Killer
Cel

Kudos to Winpatrol and Aumha Forum

2006-10-13T13:15:00.000-04:00

AUMHA FORUMS and the use of Hijackthis program
Supporting Users of Windows Desktop Systems

I use the Microsoft XP Pro Sp2 operating system.

I recently had an unknown service running on my computer that had me baffled. I found it from my Winpatrol Program. http://winpatrol.com WinPatrol identifies many aspects of your operating system. Startup files, Active tasks, Cookies, Internet Explorer Helpers, Services, Hidden files and many more features. It was in the WP Services panel that I noticed this service. It had an unusual file name which sometimes is a clue to being a critter (Virus, Malware/Spyware, Trojan, etc.) so this prompted me to look for help about this addition to my Services.

In search of help I came across the Aumha Forums Hijackthis Thread. http://aumha.net/viewforum.php?f=30&sid=ef1da7ea7fcd2a5600626de6a69f4cfb A free service run by experienced volunteers. Their research begins with a well organized approach of cleanup tools. Sometimes these will resolve the issue. Cleanup tools http://aumha.org/a/quickfix.htm If the issue is not resolved then they will recommend utilizing Hijackthis.

HijackThis examines certain key areas of the Registry and Hard Drive and lists their contents. These are areas which are used by both legitimate programmers and hijackers. In other words rogue programs that hijack your homepage or spyware/malware issues.

It is very important that when using Hijackthis YOU DO NOT DELETE any entries until directed to do so from the helper reviewing your information. If your machine is heavily infected with spyware etc. it may become a long drawn out process but I can surely say you will be pleased with the results.

Following the instructions from this great forum you may save yourself having to refomat your system which is a real pain to reinstall all your favorite programs and very time consuming. Especially in regards to doing all the operating system security updates. If you don't know how to do this it will probably cost a minimum of $125 to take it to the shop to have the system reformated and the operating system reinstalled. Then "you" will have to reinstall all your programs. Antivirus, Firewall, Antispyware Games Budget programs etc.

Keep in mind taking the computer to a shop means you probably will lose all you data including your records on any bookeeping programs you may use. Like Excel or Quicken. Unless of course you have been making a backup copy.

I can't say enough about Aumha Forums and how they approach helping a computer user with rogue programs that highjack your home page, spyware/malware issues or something like what I encountered. I found their service very professional and after following their basic instructions to cleaning up a computer then following it with an more in-depth procedure my system issue I had with the rogue "service" they even helped me clean out some other minor issues.

I give them my Thumbs UP and 5 star rating. Aumha Forums. http:aumha.net

Burpin

2006-10-09T01:09:00.000-04:00

How to tell if a restaurant is a good one. When walking into a restaurant tonight a woman was leaving. As she passed by she let out a belch that was a very noticeable burp. My friend and I chuckled. As the couple in the next table went to leave the gentleman leaned over and inquired "did that lady you passed by burb?" We replied "yes" He responded something to the fact they were sitting near her and there was a good reason for her burp. Seems she really liked the buffet and helped herself to most of it.

Site Advisor McAfee

2006-10-05T02:36:00.000-04:00

I like to fiddle with computers. I especially like to work on problem child ones.

The most frequent problem I come across are computers infected with spyware/malware. These spyware and malware programs leads to other problems showing up as Trojans, Worms, Viruses, Keyloggers and Dialers

It is hard to determine if the machine has a spyware infection or like years past we would say a virus. There is so much crossover of the terms. Antispyware programs are turning into AntiTrojan programs then AT programs are now becoming AS programs. Antivirus programs will not protect against Trojans or Spyware. Talk about confusing.

The bottom line is it is important first to make sure you have all your Microsoft Windows security updates done. This is a simple task on the XP operating system since it has a feature that turns or automatically does the updates for you.

Be careful of where you surf to. Easier said then done. There is no way I can explain what is a way to be careful but if you search for porn sites I guarantee you will have a problem. But that is not all that is just a given. Simple google searches for subjects that peek your interest that are not porn sites can also cause grief also.

There is a program you can install called SiteAdviser by McAfee http://www.siteadvisor.com/ You will see a check mark next to each entry in your search results. A green check means it is safe to surf to a yellow one means it is questionable, a red one mean warning, there are known problems with the site and it is advised not to go there.

When you search with Google, Yahoo! or MSN, SiteAdvisor's safety ratings appear next to search results.
As you browse, a small button on your browser toolbar changes color based on SiteAdvisor's safety results.
Menu options on SiteAdvisor's toolbar let you customize SiteAdvisor or see a site's detailed test results.
Warnings inform you of threatening Web sites.
Detailed test results for every site are just one click away.

Happy Surfing
Cel

Shots Fired

2006-10-04T04:57:00.000-04:00

Some days are better than others. Tonight's ended with shots being fired outside my apartment. Must be something about October. Two years ago a man was gunned down the end of October in front of my place and 5 shots ended up in the front porch.

You ask me why I still live here. Economics. The average price of an apartment not in a shooting zone is $600. That is without gas and electricity. I don't have the kind of income to be able to move outside the war zones.

The basis for all the violence is drugs. Our neighbor hood just had two drug raids and now the area is ripe with tensions.

Well enough of me rambling just can't get to sleep after being woke up by the gunfire I guess and I figured if I write maybe my anger will subside.

Apple Sony Battery Recall

2006-10-02T12:39:00.000-04:00

Apple Support Apple
https://support.apple.com/ibook_powerbook/batteryexchange/

The above link is to the iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 Battery Exchange Program

IBM/Levono Sony Battery Recall

2006-10-02T12:35:00.000-04:00

IBM/Lenovo Laptops IBM/Levono Support
http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?sitestyle=lenovo&lndocid=BATT-LENOVO

Lenovo and IBM Corporation, in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and other regulatory agencies, have announced the voluntary recall of certain lithium-ion batteries manufactured by Sony Corporation. In the interest of public safety, Lenovo will offer customers free-of-charge replacement batteries for all recalled batteries. Lenovo (800) 426-7378

The above link goes to a page produced by the laptop manufaturer. On this page is infomation on how to determine if the laptop you have may contain the faulty battery. There is a small program there that can be used to determine if you do in fact have a bad battery.

You must be using the suspect laptop to run the program.

Toshiba Sony Battery Recall

2006-10-02T12:26:00.000-04:00

Toshiba

For more information on which models are affected go and how to get a free replacement battery go to:
Toshiba Recall Info
http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/su/su_sc_dtlView.jsp?soid=1482876

Toshiba has identified a problem with some of the batteries in Toshiba Satellite and Tecra portable computers (laptop) manufactured between March and May of 2006. The affected batteries simply stop working, i.e. they stop accepting a charge, and they no longer supply power to the computer. They do not overheat, or pose any safety related issue or concern.

The affected batteries were sold with several Toshiba portable computer models, and were also sold as accessories. The problem has been fixed by the third-party battery vendor, and batteries manufactured since June 1, 2006 are not affected by this problem.

Toshiba is offering to replace affected batteries with new batteries, free of charge. This offer extends to affected batteries only - those that are known to have this problem. Toshiba will replace affected batteries whether or not they have actually failed, with the intention that as few customers as possible will ever experience the problem.

Since the problem is confined to the battery itself, and is not related to the computer that uses the battery, this exchange program is only for replacement of affected batteries, not the computers that include those batteries.

Dell Sony Battery Recall

2006-09-29T17:04:00.001-04:00

Specific Information on whether you Dell laptop battery is affected by this recall. The following information is quoted from the dellbatteryprogram website.
Dell Battery Program
http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/

Is your specific battery affected by this issue?

To determine whether your battery is affected by this issue cut and past the following link into your browser.
Dell Battery Program
http://www.dellbatteryprogram.com/batterymodels.aspx

The website will direct you to find and enter an identification number from the back of your battery so as to determine whether the battery is affected by this issue. If the battery is subject to this recall you will be automatically connected to a replacement order form. Dell will also provide a means for you to return the affected battery for proper disposal.

Please note that only the described batteries are subject to this recall and not the notebook computers themselves.

Batteries subject to recall should not be used while awaiting a replacement battery from Dell. You may continue to use your notebook computer using the AC adapter power cord originally provided with your notebook.

Updating Critter Killing Programs

2006-09-29T16:21:00.000-04:00

The past few days I have been posting about various programs that can be used to assist you in cleaning out Spyware, Malware, Trojans, Viruses, Dialers etc. I have not listed them all because as I write in this blog I realize I forgot this one or that one. Sorry for that.

Some of these programs are used only on an "on-call" basis. In other words, you have them installed on your computer but they are not actively running. They are programs that run only when you start them. Thus I call that "on-call". Usually these are the free versions of the programs I listed below in previous posts. The paid versions usually offer "resident" protection that is runnning all the time to protect you.

There are some exceptions Spybot Search and Destroy is a good example of a program that basically is an on call scanner but it does have some features that protect you all the time. This is what is so powerfull about Spybot Search and Destroy. Read more about it at: http://www.safer-networking.org/en/spybotsd/index.html

It is recommended that you run these your programs at least once a week or more if you believe you may have been infected. Yup, it sounds like a lot of work and at times it is. I usually update and run my programs in the evening while watching TV or getting ready for bed. I am basically done with using the computer for the day. Only run one program at a time. As you become familiar with each program you will get a basic sense for how long each runs. Some run for a rather long time an hour or more. A nice way to approach this is each evening run one. So on Monday you do Spybot Search and Destroy on Tuesday you scan with Ewido etc etc.

The most important thing to remember is to "update the definitions" every time you use the program. Usually you will notice when you first open the program that there will be link or button to "Update" the program. This is important to do. These updates include the latest protection against the newest critters out there.

Till tomorrow Take Care
Cel

Rogue Antispyware Programs

2006-09-28T12:15:00.001-04:00

Recently a friend downloaded a trojan. Her antivirus program just would not get rid of it. She searched the internet for solutions to her problems and came up with the following program to supposedly correct the issue. "XoftSpy" I bolded the name of this particular rogue program because there is another program with a very similar name. Sneaky isn't it. The other program that I will not mention here most likely doesn't contain spyware this is one way rogue programs that supposedly will help you fool you.

In addition to their free scanner, which you have to pay to repair more than 15 registry problems, which they told her she had hundreds, they installed a nasty malware call WinAntiVirus Pro 2006.

Now she can't get rid of that additional problem. Of course "Xoftspy" will gladly charge her $50 to take care of it.

This is a rogue/suspect program!!

If you are searching for programs to help solve a spyware problem check on the site below to determine if the program is truely a legitamate one and not one that will in truth install more spyware or charge you to remove the critter. Be carefull.

"Rogue/Suspect" means that these products are of unknown, questionable, or dubious value as anti-spyware protection.

Some of the products listed on the following website page simply do not provide proven, reliable anti-spyware protection or may be prone to ridiculous false positives. Others may use unfair, deceptive, high pressure sales tactics to scare up sales from gullible, confused users. A very few of these products are either associated with known distributors of spyware/adware or have been known to install spyware/adware themselves. Not all products exhibit the same problems, however. http://www.spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm
The main index page can be found at http://www.spywarewarrior.com

The following is one way to approach the problem that I have found to assist in dealing with spyware/malware and trojan issues.

Spywareinfo Forum to get you started. In particular the use of the program "Hijack This" is a part of this forum's work. The forum explains what HJT is about and has great instruction how to use the log it creates and directs you on various steps to rid your registry of remnants of critters. Read the FAQ section to get a jist of how the forum works. Be patient it may take a day or two to get a reply. http://forums.spywareinfo.com/index.php?showtopic=79038

A-Squared http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/

Spybot Search and destroy http://www.safer-networking.org/en/index.html

Adaware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/software/adaware/

Ewido online scanner for spyware/malware scanner link on left side of webpage http://www.ewido.net/en/product/

Ewido Program Trial for 30days as a resident protector then after the 30 days you can keep it as an on call scanner and do the updates manually. http://www.ewido.net/en/

CWShredder http://www.trendmicro.com/cwshredder/

Vishing

2006-09-26T05:20:00.000-04:00

You may have heard about “phishing scams” that thieves use to gain access to your personal information. With this type of scam, a thief sends you a fake e-mail pretending to be a vendor you may already use − like PayPal or your financial institution – and tells you to visit a website to update your account information so the thief can gain access to your personal data.
Now scammers are using a new ploy called “Vishing” to gain access to your personal data. Here’s how.

What is “Vishing”?
In a new twist, identity thieves send e-mails to victims saying your credit union or PayPay account has been compromised. However, unlike phishing e-mails, they don’t give you a Web link to “confirm” your account information. Instead, they urge you to call a phone number to verify account details. When you call, you’ll be asked to enter your name, card or account number, and social security number so they can capture this information.

Tips to avoid being scammed by “Vishing”
The best way to avoid becoming a victim of a scam is to stay educated. Here are some tips to consider to make sure you don’t become a victim.
• Never call a phone number you receive from a spam e-mail.
• Do not open an attachment to an unsolicited e-mail unless you verify the source.
• If you believe the contact is valid, go to the company’s website by actually typing in the address you know to be correct.

If you are ever in doubt about the origin of an e-mail, call the vendor to confirm that they actually sent it. Keep in mind you don't want to call the number you received in an email get the phone number from your phone book or on your account statement.

Toshiba Laptop Battery Recall

2006-09-24T17:59:00.000-04:00

Toshiba has identified a problem with some of the batteries in Toshiba Satellite
portable computers (laptop) manufactured between March and May of 2006. The affected batteries simply stop working, i.e. they stop accepting a charge, and they no longer supply power to the computer. They do not overheat, or pose any safety related issue or concern.

The affected batteries were sold with several Toshiba portable computer models, and were also sold as accessories. The problem has been fixed by the third-party battery vendor, and batteries manufactured since June 1, 2006 are not affected by this problem.

Toshiba is offering to replace affected batteries with new batteries, free of charge. This offer extends to affected batteries only - those that are known to have this problem. Toshiba will replace affected batteries whether or not they have actually failed, with the intention that as few customers as possible will ever experience the problem.

Since the problem is confined to the battery itself, and is not related to the computer that uses the battery, this exchange program is only for replacement of affected batteries, not the computers that include those batteries.

For more information on which models are affected go and how to get a free replacement battery go to Toshiba Battery Recall

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/su/su_sc_dtlView.jsp?soid=1482876

Scanning for viruses tip

2006-09-23T18:34:00.000-04:00

Many times when we find a virus or malware on our computers the Antivirus program will get rid of most of the critter but not all of it. You may ask why? If you have a newer computer with an XP Operating system there is a "Restore" feature. This feature takes a snapshot of your system so you can restore back to a previous time if for some reason you need to. An example you had a problem with a program you just installed you can go back to a time just before the installation, before the problem occurred.

This can have its' down side. Sometimes reminants of the virus can hang in this restore folder so that the computer is not fully cleaned.

Here is a tip to fully clean out an infected computer.

1. Disconnect from the internet.

2. Now restart your machine in the safe mode. Do this by starting the machine and after the manufacturer splash screen stops then tap the F8 key a number of times. It may take a couple tries to time it correctly between the splash screen and the start of the windows screen. Choose "Safe Mode" and wait for the computer to complete it's startup.

You will notice the screen looks different but that is ok. Go to "Start" "Programs" then click on your Antivirus program to start it. Run a complete scan. Follow the directions of your AV program should it find the remnants of the virus or malware.

3. Restart the computer and reconnect to the internet if you are on Broadban or DSL service

You can find more info about other things you can try to clean out malware and viruses in my blog titled Critter Killers.

Best of luck
Cel

Critter killers

2006-09-06T10:11:00.002-04:00

Just recently a friend came to me with a problem with a computer. The machine kept dialing out to a number in Europe. This was so persistent that it kept disconnecting him from his ISP. This is what is referred to as a "Dialer". This critter is something you definitely do not want on your machine and is a form of an infection. The first program I recommended is he install WinPatrol. This program gives you the opportunity to disable and control all programs running at startup. Temporarily disable any programs running that are not needed. Keep your Antivirus and Firewall active. Sometimes you can find the rogue dialer by disabling one program at a time.

The second thing I recommended was to look at the connections settings in his browser Internet Explorer. You get to this by going to Tools, Options then click on the tab called Connections. The only thing listed there for dialup connections should be his ISP any others most likely are the rogue dialer. Sometimes you can delete the critter there.

The third thing I recommended is to run a series of online Anti-virus scans.

The fourth thing I strongly recommend is installing A-Squared a program that helps heal rogue dialers and many other issues.

The fifth thing you should do is install Ewido a antispyware-malware program. It offers a 30 day free trial for resident protection then after that it can be updated manually and used for scanning for spyware and malware.

Another thing is to use the Mcafee program Stinger.

More information about these programs is listed below.

Mcafee Stinger Free. Is a stand alone program you download and run. It only scans for particular viruses.
http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/

A-Squared Free Emsi Software provides the Malware scanner a-squared Free completely free of charge for private use. But it is not a very limited version, it is a full tool to clean your computer from Malware. Not only Spywares, as detected by classic Anti-Spyware programs, but also especially Trojans, Backdoors, Worms, Dialers, Keyloggers and a lot of other destructive pests, which makes it dangerous to surf the web. http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/free/

*Online Scanners*

Housecall by Trendmicro
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/

Active Scan by Panda Active Scan

Kaspersky
http://www.kaspersky.com/kos/english/kavwebscan.html

Bitdefender
http://www.bitdefender.com/scan8/ie.html

Ewido Networks
http://www.ewido.net/en/ 30 day free trial cleans spyware and malware.

Hijackthis
The final step after cleaning as much as you can is to do a *Hijackthis* This is a program you download that scans and gives you a report of the registry keys that may contain the spyware, malware that is left over. http://www.tomcoyote.org/hjt/ The download is on the left side of the page. The webpage gives you instructions on how to run the program. Once you have a log created then you go to the forums (they are also listed on the left side of the page) follow the instructions on how to post your logs and someone there will review them and instruct you from there. It is important you follow the instructions for removal very carefully since removing the wrong registry key can be harmful

Microsoft Security Updates Part II

2006-08-12T11:57:00.000-04:00

I haven't done the updates on both my computers only one. I am waiting to hear if others have any troubles with them effecting their computers.

The computer I did do the updates on caused a minor problem with my trial version of Ewido.

When I restarted the computer the Ewido resident shield was no longer in the systems tray and per Winpatrol and looking at my taskmanager they also showed that the program did not run at startup like it was set to do.

Luckily the fix was to just reactivate that feature on the program and now all is ok. I know for a fact that something occurred during the updates causing this problem since it was the first time this occurred. It occurred right after the updates on the first restart that MS tell you you have to do.

There is no doubt that the settings on Ewido had been set to run at startup and now that feature had been deselected. I have since selected "run at startup" and all appears to run ok now.

If that is the only problem the MS updates did then I can live with that.

My concern though is my other computer contains the MS office package and I am still hedging if I can trust the updates not to foul up something there.

Maybe I will wait just a few more days before doing the updates.

Web Hosting Part II

2006-08-12T11:51:00.000-04:00

Well, I followed the directions to open a help ticket when I was ready to do the stuff I had to do.

Guess what, I received a reply from my ticket saying they were going to physically move all the servers and I am all set and there will be nothing I have to do. Eases my mind about the changeover. I think if there is a need to change my IP they are set to do it for me which I appreciate a great deal.

I hate it when I feel so ignorant but I will keep trying to learn more about this.

Webhost changes

2006-08-09T19:37:00.000-04:00

Web host changes:

I just had to reregister to access the helpdesk and billing with my hosting service. Seems they are going to a new system. I liked the old one just the way it was.

The concerning thing is they plan on changing over their server locations in Florida. They are moving about 30 miles from where they were to a building that is better protected from hurricanes. This might mean I have to change my Domain Name Server and IP addy. Wow you think I know what I am talking about, heck no I really don't. The issue I have concerns about is if I don't know how to utilize the new helpdesk service I may have my site go down.

It appears so far that the "direct admit" feature is the same as it was.

So far they have changed my server at least 2 possibly three times since I started with them in July 2004 and each time after reading the instructions I had to go to their help desk and have them do the changes. Per the instructions if you do it wrong you lose everything which I don't really know what that means either. But either way I have to make sure during the next few weeks I understand how the new help desk works so I can ask them for help if they change my server and IP during the move in Florida. aaarggg.

I learned how to make a backup of my web information the other day which did not work like it was supposed to. The webpage offered during the backing up said to wait till I got a confirmation page which never appeared. As it was I had created 3 backups and didn't know it till I finally closed out the page went to my Direct Admit website and found them there. Grin.

I deleted the two I didn't need and Mike my friend explained how I needed to download the bkup file to my computer. This means if the webhosting server loses my data I can restore it by uploading that one file. Thank goodness again for having Mike around to explain these things to me.

Cel

Microsoft Update

2006-08-09T06:40:00.000-04:00

MS updates really ticked me off today. I had it set in the security center to "Notify me but don't download or install them" and it downloaded them on my other computer anyway. So just to be safe I turned "Off" the updates on my main computer.

I usually wait at least 7 days before downloading and installing the updates. Usually during that time others can be the test subjects that find out what breaks on a computer as the result of the updates.

Ewido

2006-08-08T14:24:00.000-04:00

Well, the issue about the worms worm/generic.TX and worm.randon and the REG.EXE file is resolved and the chapter closed. The final part of this saga was to receive an answer to my email inquiry directly from the company and I did!

I also noticed that on the official forum for this product that representatives of the company finally also posted this infomation. Up till now I was going on second hand info that this was a false/positive issue.

I am impressed. My email was responded to in less than a day.

I learned two lessons from this have patience when the issue arises over a weekend and write directly to the company before going to a forum. Although I must say the AVG Free and Ewido forums on Wilders were awsome.

Live each day to the fullest
Cel

Worm Part II

2006-08-07T13:56:00.000-04:00

I must say that I was impressed with how fast the Grisoft AVG Antivirus company corrected the situation. In fact their support department even replied to a request for information about their flagging the file and the person submitting the report wasn't even a paid subsciber but a user of the free version. This has me impressed.

It took Grisoft Ewido Antispyware a little longer to correct the issue. I must admit I never even considered contacting the company directly I just kept going to their official forum. Learned a lesson to go directly to the company but I guess since previous experience with other companies over the years I just tossed that option out the window without even trying.

One poster on the official forum http://www.wilderssecurity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=81
did take the time to contact them directly. Way to go RobinB.

Just to ease my mind I also contacted the company to confirm her post since there is no post directly from the Ewido company on their official forum.

If I get a satisfactory answer it may swing me into purchasing the product. I have about 27 days left on my trial period of using the product with full features available. I understand after 30 days the product can then be used with limited features and still offer resident protection.

I may continue the free version for a while to see the difference between the full version and the free version.

Enjoy your day
Cel

A Worm but it ain't for fishing

2006-08-05T15:34:00.000-04:00

I am a very security minded computer user. So color me surprised. Yesterday during my usual antivirus scan with AVG Free it flagged my computer as containing a Worm. The critter it flagged was called worm/generic.TX found in file C:\I386\REG.EXE. The AVG program could not heal it so it put the file REG.EXE in quarentine.

I went to the forum for AVG free regarding Removing Viruses, Virus Removal tools. http://forum.grisoft.cz/freeforum/list.php?4

I followed their guidance which some of it was just basically a repeat of what I had already done. The only new thing was to guide me to install Grisoft's program Eiwdo an antispyware program.

This all occured on the 4th of August. Well, today Aug 5th I am seeing evidence via googling and asking about this in some other tech forums that this might be a false positive. The site that reported this posted an email a reader received from the AVG tech center http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/archives/2006/08/now_thats_what.html and also SANS reported the possibilty this is a false positive http://isc.sans.org/diary.php?storyid=1545

Now I stand on the fence not knowing if this file REG.EXE actually is a worm or if it is an important part of my operating system. From what I gather reg.exe is a part of regedit32 and is used when editing the registry. Since I don't edit the registry I don't know if quarentineing this file will cause me problems down the road.

As today goes on and the days following I am sure I will be hearing more about this. I will post any new information I gather.

Edit: Well it appears per AVG that this file is ok BUT... now Ewido flags it as Worm/Randon. Now we will wait and see is Ewido, offers an update or says if this is a false positive. As I mentioned before there is more activity on the forums concerning this issue so either it "is" a false positive or there is an extremely new critter on the lose.

Have a good day

Rebuilding my website/ Internet Explorer 7

2006-08-01T07:05:00.000-04:00

I took the plunge and installed IE7 on my blowup computer. Hewlette Packard Vectra XP Pro 500Mhz 192 RAM

Just installed it yesterday after reading a blog that had links to Myths about XP on http://billstudios.blogger.com. That blog linked me to Myths on Firefox. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/SupportCD/FirefoxMyths.html.

Haven't had much time to check it out. Took some time to get used to it. So far my blowup machine has Netcape 7.2 Foxfire and now the IE7. I did notice the IE7 has tab browsing but I again haven't had the time to really sit down and figure out how it works. The thing I have found out so far is it didn't crash my machine and all my programs appear to still be functioning ok. A big thank you goes out to all those who did the nitty gritty work of beta testing. Not even sure if this version just downloaded yesterday is part of the beta program.

Watch for more info as time goes on I plan on sharing how it goes.

Today they are saying the temperatures will be in the mid nineties with the humidity the temp should feel like 100 or more. Plan on starting my laundry at 9 as soon as the guy downstairs wakes up. The washer and dryer are in the basement right under his bedroom.

My other plan for the day is to work on my website. Some of the links are no longer are active and I no longer have a hit counter on any of my pages. I dread the thought of rebuilding it. I don't know where to start I see other webpages and they look all nice but mine is just plain jane.

One thing I am going to drop is my pictures of lock 5.

My experience building a webpage is extremely basic. Wish I could build them to look like the club site but I realize that the builder has taken years to learn all he has on those pages.

My brother called last night. He found $80 at work. He works at a Mall in Western New York for a maintenance company. He turned the money over to security. Later in the evening a woman claimed the money. She was very thankful to Greg and gave him a $10 reward for his honesty. I am so proud of him. I know Dad and Mom would be too.

Just a reminder. In this seriously hot weather remember to check in on your elderly neighbors.

Take Care keep cool, drink lots of water

Domain Name registration

2006-07-29T19:57:00.000-04:00

This past spring I won one year free webhosting space from my webhoster. Well I thought I had taken care of the Domain Registration but low and behold I hadn't like a thought I did. Well, my website went down. Only for a short time. Within an "hour" (talk about fast tech support) and communicating with my provider http://HostPC.com we were back up an running. It cost me an extra $5.00 because it was an expired DN but hey I learned a lesson. Now next year I will understand more about renewing both the webhosting and Domain Registration.

My website is old and not very involved. It has one page of simple information about security and using a computer. There are many weblinks to various AntiVirus programs and antispyware programs. A webpage about Women on Wheels a motorcycle club and also much other information like NYS Drivers manual for motorcycling and information about the Motorcycle Safety Foundation courses offered in our area Albany/Schenectady New York.

I love to take pictures so I have a few other pages with various pictures some boring some not so boring. You can get to any of these pages from my main home page at http://cyclecel.com

Enjoy your browse
Take Care
Cel

Another Hot and Humid Day

2006-07-27T20:51:00.000-04:00

Today was a very uncomfotably hot and humid day. Since my heart surgery I don't handle days like today very well.

Even though the weather was uncomfortable I had a good day. I met with a friend for coffee this morning. I always find her to be a good person to chat with. She has a level head and a warm heart.

Following my coffee I went to another friends house to fix his computer. He couldn't get on his AOL. Well, the problem was not AOL. In fact after getting the issues resolved the AOL9.0 ran rather well considering he had an older computer with ME with only 64 RAM .

Seeing I could not access the internet from Internet Explorer I knew we were in for some work.

I called RR and spoke to Hagee from India and got nowhere. I kept telling him the power light was blinking and the battery light was blinking on the modem. He finally transfered me over to tech support who after a few questions I felt like a dope when she asked me if the modem was plugged in. I had to climb under a desk and around the desk then over some boards but after untangling oodles of wires I found the plug had fallen out of the wall outlet. I plugged it back but the connection was very lose. So I replugged it into the surge protector the computer was plugged into and told my friend to never turn it off even in a rain storm cause then they wouldn't have phone service.

Learned a little about these new duel modems for phone and broadband. Now I know what to look for on the indicators and believe me when I say I will check the outlet first when someone doesn't have connectivity. GRIN

Take Care my friends

Cel

The Rainbow Bridge

2006-07-25T22:14:00.000-04:00

I received the following from the animal shelter that took Pumpkin

The Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here,
that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends
so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine,
and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals that had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor;
those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again,
just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for the one small thing;
they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together,
but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance.
His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers.
Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass,
his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet,
you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again.
The happy kisses rain upon your face;
you hands again caress the beloved head,
and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet,
so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown

Life without a cat

2006-07-21T15:41:00.000-04:00

I am surprised how quickly I have adjusted to Pumpkin being gone.

First thing I noticed was how much my behavior had been changed because I had Pumpkin. Little things like putting the cover down on the toilet cause she liked to play in the water. Or being able to open a door to the outside without having to be carefull she would get out.

In the warm weather she liked to jump into the refrigerator and I would have to be carefull there too! Grin

In the beginning is was difficult but because she was sick for so long I sort of had started to get used to not having her around my feet. The last two months she spent most of her time hiding and sleeping.

I don't think I will ever own a pet again the end is to much for me to handle.

Pumpin is gone now

2006-06-23T13:10:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I took pumpkin to the shelter. I was hoping they might have folks who would be willing to take a cat in who has diabetes and adopt her. The woman said animals that have medical needs will be euthinized.

All I have done yesterday and today is cry. I am crying because I am so selfish to not want to take care of her anymore. The financial aspect put things outside what I could afford and she started to urinate outside the box. Why did she have to do that. She also was hiding all the time and showing no interest and energy like she used to. I can only assume she was feeling ill.

As I walk through my apartment I keep expecting her to be rubbin against my leg following from room to room. Last night I slept alone and I cried. Actually she stopped sleeping with me a few weeks ago deciding to stay to herself. A couple nights she came up and layed her head on my arm I value those times with a sad heart now.

They weren't open

2006-06-22T12:47:00.000-04:00

My best friend took us to the shelter on Tues. They were supposed to be open at 12noon-4:30 but we got there at 1 and a sign on the door told us to come back at 2pm. Something told me that was not the right day to give Pumpkin up.

I will have to be honest with the shelter conserning her having diabetes and I bet they put her down. She has not been well. She hides all day and the past two days has hardly eaten her food.

When it gets near her feeding time she usually had been hounding me and following me all over meowing starting a 45 minutes before her feeding time. It is important to feed her on a very regular squedule but yesterday she didn't care. Usually she jumps into bed and walks all over me around 7am but this morning she didn't I overslept until 10:30 and she didn't seem to care. She got a little excited about her food her favorite kind but only ate a little of it. She didn't want her shot this morning usually she jumps up on the table and lets me give it to her.

I called the shelter this time and they are open so at 1pm my friend is coming over to pick us up.

god bless pumpkin

Sayign Goodbye

2006-06-20T10:56:00.000-04:00

Today I had to make a very difficult decision. A friend is taking me and Pumpkin to the shelter to either find her a new home or to euthanize her. I have been a wreck these past few days and have done nothing but cried all morning.

She looks well but I can tell she is not well. She hides most of the time and now is urinating outside her litterbox.

She was so sweet and after a few weeks got into the routine of getting her shots after her meals. She would let me put her up on the table and she would lie down so I could give it to her.

God please forgive me for my selfishness and lack of being able to take care of her.

Pumpkin you brought me great happiness and fun. You comforted me when I needed a friend most. You played with the lazer light and would come when I called you. You slept at the foot of the bed warming my feet on a cold winter night. To you my dearest friend I say goodbye and God please forgive me.

Welcome to Cel's Place

2006-06-20T10:55:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Cel's Place

Pumpkin isn't well Feline Diabetes

2006-06-06T09:56:00.000-04:00

This is Pumpkin. She is 9 years old. She likes to help me with using my computer. In the winter she stays warm by sitting on my monitor. When she is really into it she likes to play with my keeeboarrd. She has to learn to use the spell checker.

She was diagnosed with Feline Diabetes. I never knew cats could get this. We realized something was wrong when she was drinking an unusal amount of water and started to lose weight.

Surfing the net I found a great site to help answer all my questions Felinediabetes http://felinediabetes.com

My First

2005-02-04T19:22:00.000-05:00

Tracy and Ashley helped me set up my first blog. Feels good to be back to Collage and the computer.

Finally weather here in Upstate NY has warmed up. It is a heat wave in the mid and upper thirties.

Saw a motorcycle out today. Wish I had my motorcycle I miss it so.