Tuesday, August 30, 2005

classic computers (they're old)

[8/22/05] Engadget 1985: the latest in 1985 technology

[8/30/05] Dinosaur sightings: old-school computer hardware (from WinXP News 191)

[9/2/05] How It Works... The Computer (from Cool Tricks and Trinkets #366)

Sunday, August 28, 2005

free email and internet services

[3/29/06] Mail2Web is a service that allows you to read your pop mail from any web browser

[8/28/05] Yeah, you know there's plenty of free email addresses out there, but there's still some free internet services too (on a limited basis).

Friday, August 26, 2005

internet slang dictionary

Internet slang consists of slang and acronyms that users have created as an effort to save keystrokes. Terms have originated from various sources including Bulletin Boards, AIM, Yahoo, IRC, Chat Rooms, Email, Cell Phone Text Messaging, and some even as far back as World War II.

Internet Slang is also called AOL speak, AOLese, AOLbonics, netspeak, or leetspeak (although leetspeak tradionialy involves replacing letters with numbers and is reserved for games). While it does save keystrokes, netspeak can prove very hard to read. Below is a list of some 890 user submitted internet slang terms and acronyms.

-- from Cool Tricks and Trinkets #365

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

bugmenot.com

Want to see what's on a registered site? You might be able to pick up a password at bugmenot.com.

-- from On Computers, Bob & Joy Schwabach, MidWeek, 8/17/05

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Using RSS

Many of us scan the Internet daily for business or pleasure. I sometimes read up to a dozen technology sites in course of the day to keep up on the latest products and to gather ideas for this column.

Fortunately there's a solution for hard core Web surfers at hand in a new technology called RSS, aka Really Simple Syndication. It's essentially a software program that anyone can download for free and install to make Web sites easier to scan. Really Simple Syndication (RSS) provides a simple way to monitor fresh content.

Friday, August 19, 2005

Intel to switch technology

For the first time in five years, Intel Corp. will make a major change in the plumbing of its chips by switching to a new design that promises better performance and lower power consumption than today's Pentium 4.

Beams, Rays, and Streams

The greatest beams, lasers, death rays and photon streams in movie history

-- from Cool Tricks and Trinkets

Thursday, August 18, 2005

recording streaming audio

[6/3/06] I tried Solway's Internet TV and Radio player [from frwr-news]. It plays, but the recording is barely audible.

[5/29/06] Freecorder does exactly as it sounds -- it is an easy-to-use FREE software program that lets you record sounds on your PC. The benefits: Records what you hear from your speakers, Saves recordings as MP3 files, Easy to use. [frwr-news, 5/10/06]

[4/7/06] Here's another one to try: MP3myMP3 Recorder (saves any audio you hear on your computer straight to mp3 or wav. IF YOU CAN HEAR IT, YOU CAN RECORD IT!) [from frwr-news 5/30/05]

[1/29/06] Here's an easy way to do it, XstreamRadio, an integrated radio player and MP3 recorder. However it probably doesn't have the stations I want. Especially now that kccn1420am has become a pay-per-listen. Actually it looks like it's no longer on the net? [5/29/06 - no it's KKEA 1420 now known as sportsradio]

[8/18/05] One of my future projects in mind is to record streaming audio off the internet.

I haven't tried too hard yet, but I'm saving some links to try for future reference.

Hi-Q Recorder is free sound recording software to record streaming audio, Internet radio, webcasts, music, meetings, classes, seminars, convert LP's, records, tapes and a lot more. It's an MP3 sound recorder to record anything you can hear!

[10/27/09] Finally (four years later) tried Hi-Q recorder after seeing again in the frwr-news list. I like it. You can adjust sound quality and volume. The major problem is that the free version doesn't support scheduled or timed recordings. Gasp, I'm even considering paying money for the full version to get that feature.

Monday, August 15, 2005

Windows Media Center 2005

[12/13/06] OK, I tried to set up my WMC computer again because my neighbor June wanted to borrow a computer and I remembered to try the fix that Vern emailed to me. And it worked.

In case the fix disappears from the web, here it is:

You may access the system registry by running the Registry Editor. To do that, simply go Start>Run and type "regedit" in the Run dialog box.

Once you are in the registry editor, you can navigate through the registry as you would for a regular windows directory.

To access the two specified keys, click on the following folders situated on the left hand side, in the specified order.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
SYSTEM
CurrentControlSet
Control
Class
{4D36E965-E325 -11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

Once you have opened the last folder, you should see two keys on the right hand side ("Upperfilters" and "Lowerfilters") which you may select and then delete by right clicking and selecting "Delete".

Alternatively, you could search for these keys instead of manually navigating to their locations. To do so, go Edit>Find and type either "Upperfilters" or "Lowerfilters" in the search field.

If you are unable to find these registry keys, it may be that they do not exist on your system. In such a case, this fix will probably not work for you.

[9/15/05] Maybe I should just build my own PVR [lifehacker link from Tricks and Trinkets]

[8/15/05] No, my WMC still ain't working right. When I tried to check the link to restore my DVD/CD drives, I see the link isn't active any more. I'm using it to try to try to troubleshoot my screwy DSL connection and I notice I don't see any network connections anywhere. Even after running the networking wizard, no My Network Connections (or whatever it is) appears. I think my best best is to try to get the DVD/CD drive working and restore the whole thing.

Maybe it's something like this problem mentioned at LockerGnome.

[5/2/05] The WinXPNews guys try out Windows Media Center 2005.

* * *

[10/19/04] So a few months after I get my Media Center and after weeks of frustration (the thing still ain't working right), Microsoft comes out with a 2005 edition (I got the review site from WinXPNews.)

It supports two things I missed in the 2004 version: the ability to save shows to DVD and support for watching one channel while recording another. I would have expected it to be in the beginning, since that's what a VCR does.

It states that HP will support the upgrade. I'll have to go look. But first I want to get my current one working.

How is it worked out so far? Not as well as I had hoped.

The first thing is the picture was very harsh. The tuner card puts out a overly bright picture that is harsh to the eyes. The harsh effect may be made worse by a slow frame rate.

Secondly, as mentioned above, it doesn't natively burn to DVD. There was an application that is supposed to do it, but it kept locking up while trying to edit the video. I finally was able to burn a DVD of a volleyball game. The picture looked OK, but the frame rate was annoyingly choppy.

After searching the internet, I plunked down $80 for CyberMedia Power Director which is supposed to import the propriety ms-dvr format and burn to DVD. But the thing wouldn't install.

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&th=543170ce65235f18&rnum=5

After much mucking around, I got it to install by uninstalling that first application. Power Director would still seem to lock up but not as badly as the first app. So I finally was able to edit a video, but when I tried to burn the DVD, the DVD drive was missing on the system!

I think the DVD (and CD) drive was affecting by the uninstalling of the first program. I was able to get it recognized by deleting a couple of items from the registry, but then it disappeared again when I ran Power Director.

Ugh.

I think I'm going to try to partition the drive and install WMC from scratch. But first I have to create the install CDs since the system doesn't come with any.

Stay tuned.

* * *

11/28/04

I'm going to try to get the DVD drive working again. Except I don't remember exactly what I did to get it working the last time.

Looking on google again, I seem to recall it involved editing the lower filter on some registry key.

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&selm=058801c32e74%24916debd0%24a601280a%40phx.gbl

http://www.hp.com/cgi-bin/cposupport/ccsearch/getdoc?doc=bph07162

See in particular step 8. I think I'll try that and see if the DVD drive reappears. Once I get to to reappear I will try to create the system restore CD drives. Then I will try partition the drive and install a fresh system to experiment on.

DSL connection problems

[8/7/05] There's something odd going on with my computer. All of a sudden it stopped connecting to the internet. I traced back the connection to the hub (which is connected to the DSL modem) and everything looks OK to me. I reset (unplugged and plugged back) the modem and hub. I hooked up one of my other computers to the hub (with a different cable) and it connected to the internet. So apparently the problem is either with the computer or the cable connected to the hub.

However when I connected the cable directly to the DSL modem, the connection worked. So evidently the cable and the computer are OK. Beats me what's going on.

I think the next thing I could try is to bring this computer over to where the other computer is and see if it connects using the same cable as the computer. If it doesn't then I'll know it's something odd going on with the computer. Funny though. It was working all this time.

[8/15/05 AM] It looks to me that it's a problem with Verizon. I tried two other computers using and not using the hub and they all had problems connecting eventually. I first suspected that Windows ME was at fault because my WMC computer seemed to connect better. But then later even that lost connection. As I'm typing this, I'm now (Monday AM) on a newly installed ME on my HP computer (on a new partition) and the connection has been working from about 3:00 AM to now (5:00 AM). It also worked about this time on Sunday morning, then died later that morning after I went back to sleep. I'm still getting only about 500 kpbs on the connection though. But I'll take it.

[8/15/05] Later that same morning, the verizon tech called, a nice lady named Raynella from California. My connection was still up when she called, but she ran some tests anyway. Everything looked OK from her end, but my speed seemed a little slow (like 600 kpbs). Then we switched to my other computer (Paula) and the speed ramped up to like 1.1 mbps. So my first computer became the suspect. But then the connection died again. Since the connection tested OK when we first tried, Raynella thought the problem was with my computers. But I maintained that wasn't necessarily the case since it would be unusual to have two computer having the same problem. (Not to mention my third (WMC) computer which I had tried earlier.)

Anyway, she agreed to send out a tech saying maybe it might be my modem. Scheduled for tomorrow morning.

Later that afternoon, the guy from Hawaiian Telcom surprisingly came early. (Another pleasant guy.) My DSL was still down. I told him the problem was intermittant and I hooked up WMC to show him. I think it worked at first but died a little later. He checked the line and it looked fine. But he went to retrieve his test modem and laptop to double-check. Luckily for me, the connection was dead on him too. So they can't blame my equipment any more. He made a call to the mainland. In the meantime, I hooked up his computer to WMC and tried. It didn't work. But while he was on hold (for quite a while), the connection finally took just before they answered his call. And I got pretty good speed from the infospeed and midco tests. Anyway they're going to try to change my circuit or rebuild my circuit (whatever that means) to see if that helps. I hope it works because I think we've eliminated the computers (the problem occured on three of my computers and the guy's laptop), the hub (the problem occurs even when plugged directly into the modem), the network cables (the problem occurs on both network cables that plugg into the modem), ZoneAlarm (if the connection works it also works with ZoneAlarm running) and the modem (the problem occured on his modem too). Don't know what else is left. Maybe the phone cord?

After the guy left, I plugged back my modem after it cooled off and still got no connection. So I don't think it's a overheated modem problem. I'm typing this on a dialup connection. Stay tuned.

[8/17/05]
connection seems to be working at 730 28,27 ms (ping)
slowing down again at 1030 68,69 ms w/ some time outs
but still connecting
1039 27 mixed with 69 trouble connecting (marginal)

[8/18/05]
302 - default gateway 4.16.84.1
getting 27,14,28,27,14,14 (good)
sleep
845am still looking good
851 spoke too soon, slow again
907 looks good again
908 bad again
913 ok again
915 bad again
1133 ok
1134 bad again
1146 ok
1149 bad
1152 ok
1154 bad
517 working
520 bad
628 working (yahoo is down)
down later

[8/19]
230 working fine
705 still good
nap
856 still good
1240 hey still working!

[9/15/05] So what was the problem? The Verizon guy was supposed to reset my connection or something. But when they called back a couple of days later, I still had the problem. I asked the tech guy who I asked how he would get an IP address. He said there were various ways and I told him I was using IPCONFIG. That seemed to trigger something and he told me to use IPCONFIG and ping the gateway. I was getting lost packets once in a while and the ping time was slow. After that he found that there were a lot of people with connection problems and they thought that the problem was an overloaded switch which was to be replaced. It seemed to get a little better after that but was still sporadic. Then a day or so after that, the problem went away. So it was a problem on their end after all.

The good news is when I called them to see if I could get credit for the lost service, their computer was down. So they're going to give me a month of credit (or was it two) when I was hoping for a week. I'll take it.

[4/20/10] - I don't think I ever got that credit

automated backup

I've been looking for backup program to do automatic backups at a scheduled time. Cobian Backup looks like it might fit the bill. Haven't tried it yet though.

[12/7/07] Replicator v3.5.3 - 2097 KB
Automatically backup files, directories, even entire drives! Karen's Replicator copies selected files from one drive/folder to another. Source and Destination folders can reside anywhere on your network.

[11/22/09/frwr-news 3/6/09] EZBack-it-up is a personal file backup utility. It is designed to be very easy to learn and use. It is not an archival tool that compresses all your files and folders into one file, but instead, it copies your data to a destination of your choice where you can readily access your backed up files any time you need. All directory structure is preserved and you can optionally choose to delete files from the target that are not in the source. EZBack-it-up includes a built-in scheduler, command-line switches, logging functionality, and more.

[11/26/09/frwr-news 11/18/09] FBackup is a free backup software for both personal and commercial use. It protects your important data by backing it up automatically to any USB/Firewire device, local or network location. The backed up data can be either compressed (using standard zip compression) or an exact copy of the original files.

[3/7/10 frwr_news] GFI Backup 2009 allows you to back up all your important documents, photos, music, emails and program settings using a simple but smart wizard-driven interface to nearly every storage device (including local and external disk drives, LAN, CD/DVD, removable devices, remote FTP servers, etc.). Download and use GFI Backup 2009 today - a FREE easy-to-use backup software solution, designed for secure backups of all your important data.

[3/15/10 frwr_news 2010-03-02] Handy Backup is an easy-to-use backup program, with user-friendly interface designed for automatic backup and synchronizing of critical data. Handy Backup copies, saves and restores your files, accidentally lost through system errors, hardware failures, viruses, laptop theft etc.

[7/4/10 frwr_news] Zback - portable backup and synchronize tool for Windows 9x, 2000, XP, Vista, Win7.

Sunday, August 14, 2005

A community of scammers

In Festac Town, an entire community of scammers overnights on the Internet. By day they flaunt their smart clothes and cars and hang around the Internet cafes, trading stories about successful cons and near misses, and hatching new plots.

The eBay Way

[11/20/05] Kailua resident Mark Macowitz credits eBay for launching his Internet business after he turned the $3 purchase of a 1940s Duke Kahanamoku aloha shirt into $1,800 when he offered it for sale on the world's largest auction site. But now, after four years of selling on eBay, Macowitz, 41, has moved on. He sells his vintage Hawaiian shirts through his own Web store and only uses eBay to attract people to his site.

[8/14/05] Tiffany Tanaka, owner of Wesellthings4u, sells merchandise for people on eBay

Friday, August 12, 2005

DSL vs. cable

With all the problems I've been having with my internet connection (I'm suspecting more and more that it's Verizon that's at fault. It may have something to do with lowering my throughput to 500 Kbps since I'm on the cheapie package now. I used to get something like 1.3 Mbps on the mcafee speedometer).

I wondered perhaps maybe the problem was running Windows ME since my WMC computer seemed to perform better when I hooked it up. It looks like it meets system requirements, but then I ran across the verizon page comparing DSL to cable.

Naturally DSL beats cable in cost, but it lagged in probably three most important categories: performance & reliability, customer service, and email. Here's the results:


Verizon RoadRunner
cost ***** ***
billing ***** ****
image **** ****
performance & reliability *** ****
customer service *** ****
email *** ****

Sunday, August 07, 2005

hubs, switches, and routers

what's the difference?

(I encountered the above link while struggling with my DSL connection.)