Tired, stressed, worn out

After a major virus that hit my server and took down my domains I'm worn out. 3 days on the phone with support (Virtual Dedicated Server and host company pulled the plug on the server) trying to get thinsg resolved I am slowly coming back online.

I will be taking the next few days to catch up on work and get back on track. This weekend is State Singles racquetball torunament and I need to get my head into that.

Stayed tuned as I will be back on Sunday bigger, better, stronger....

All about fonts on large, high resolution displays

Text Legibility: Using 120 DPI Fonts on High Resolution Displays:
http://blogs.msdn.com/.../94391.aspx

High Res Problem on Windows
http://.../web-dev-problem-win-ie-on-widescreen/

Adjusting Scale for Higher DPI Screens
http://msdn.microsoft.com/.../highdpi.asp

Why do large displays have so few pixels?
http://.../why-do-large-displays-have-so-few-pixels

How to access Outlook Express Newsgroups from Outlook

1. On the Standard toolbar (toolbar: A bar with buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. To display a toolbar, press ALT and then SHIFT+F10.), click the Toolbar Options arrow .
2. Point to Add or Remove Buttons, and then click Customize.
3. Click the Commands tab.
4. In the Categories list, click Go.
5. In the Commands list, click News, and drag it, without releasing the mouse, until it rests over the Go menu. When the menu displays a list of commands, point to where you want the command to appear, and then release the mouse.

10 Things You Need to Know about Deploying Windows Vista

You've deployed Windows XP in the past, and now you're thinking ahead to Windows Vista. Whether you'll be deploying to 10, 100, or 100,000 computers, just knowing how the process has changed from Windows XP will make the deployment run much more smoothly.

Link:
http://.../Deployment/default.aspx

Remove autocomplete URL suggestions when typing URL's in Firefox

A great tip, and drop dead easy too, on how to remove URL's that Firefox remembers when you start typing a website into the address bar.

Link:
http://.../firefox-tip-mistyped-autocomplete-suggestions

Why Certain Web sites are Slow in Vista

Do you have a problem with certain websites loading verrrry sloooowly? Google around a bit and you'll find you're not the only one. Microsoft's new network stack has had a number of different problems, most of them caused by the rest of the world not being completely up-to-date with the latest standards (backwards compatibility, who needs it!). This problem is no exception.

Read how to resolve this Vista issue:
http://.../itsvista-tip-37-why-certain-web-sites-are-slow-in-vista/

Congrats to Emurasoft on EmEditor

Congrats on EmEditor being one of only 104 other applications being listed by Microsoft as Certified for Windows Vista.

This is the best text editor around and use it daily in my work.

Keep up the great work!

Link:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/933305

OpenID: One password to rule them all

OpenID is an open, decentralized, free framework for user-centric digital identity. How it works:

To login to an OpenID-enabled website (even one you've never been to before), just type your OpenID URI. The website will then redirect you to your OpenID Provider to login using whatever credentials it requires. Once authenticated, your OpenID provider will send you back to the website with the necessary credentials to log you in.

OpenID:
http://www.openid.org/

Get an ID at GetOpenID:
https://getopenid.com/

419ers Scambaited Into Recreating Monty Python "Dead Parrot" Sketch

This is too funny.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 released

Virtual PC 2007 is a powerful software virtualization solution that allows you to run multiple PC-based operating systems simultaneously on one workstation, providing a safety net to maintain compatibility with legacy applications while you migrate to a new operating system. It also saves reconfiguration time, so your support, development, and training staff can work more efficiently.

Link:
http://.../virtualpc/default.mspx

10 things every blogger should know or...

how to get more out of each blog post.

1. Create titles that go after keywords. The more important the keyword is to the post, the closer to the front of the title it should be. Try and not use simple words too close in the title. So, instead of The hidden things we found in Windows Vista we would write Windows Vista's hidden features disclosed
   
2. Wisely name your images. Have image names that include keywords or words that may be searched upon in Google's image search. If your blog is good enough every visitor you can get to stop by may be a source for multiple new readers. So, instead of having a picture named vlogo.jpg name it microsoft-vista-logo.jpg.
3. Create posts that not only informs but add a personal touch. Write like you are talking to a person face to face. People read your blog because they either like the information you provide or the personality of your writing. Create posts that combine the best of both worlds.
   
4. Link, Link, Link. Create links from blog posts to sources that assist the person reading. Always link to posts you have previously made on the subject. With linking you are trying to accomplish two things: 1) Give the person enough information and sources that your blog post is the only one they need to read on the subject and 2) Get a person to read multiple posts of yours, the longer they stay on your blog the more chance they will come back and tell others.
5. Become the expert. Figure out the purpose of your blog. Revisit topics and posts on subjects that your are knowledgable in. Making posts where you come across as a topic expert can help get on sites like Digg, Slashdot, Reddit and Furl.
   
6. Break it up. Don't be afraid to create posts that span several days using a Part 1, Part 2.. designation. Bring the person back to your blog for a couple of days. When doing this make sure to cross-link all posts together so no matter which post they come in on they can get to the others with ease.
7. Add some style. Add lists, bold, italics, quotes, larger text and other simple styling. The styling not only creates a better reading experience for a person viewing your blog but also provides a very important thing for SEO. Google treats keywords that are emphasized in some way (bold or italic) with more importance than ones that are not. So, adding a bold phrase that contains your keywords can help in your Search Engine Result Placement over another blog / page that didn't make something bold.
8. Stay ahead of the curve. Create posts on hot topics and subjects that are current even if its a personal blog. People want to read about what's happening now, not what happened a week ago.
9. Followup. If you create a post that promises for a follow-up or addtional information, then do it. Don't leave the readers hanging.
10. Tell the world. Your blog will be lost in the behemoth blogging world unless you tell people about it. Place a link to your blog in your email signature, in a signature on forums, approach other blogs for link exchanging, add your blog to blog directories, post comments (usefull not spamming) on other blogs. Basically get your name out there.

So, what do you think? Helpful?

Firefox 2.0 Vista Black Theme

Link:
http://www.deviantart.com/...

2007 time zone update for MS Windows operating systems

Be ready for the brand new daylight savings time change. You need to get Windows and Office ready.

Link:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/928388

Sysinternals Suite

The Sysinternals Troubleshooting Utilities have been rolled up into a single Suite of tools. This file contains the individual troubleshooting tools and help files.

Link:
http://.../SysinternalsSuite.mspx

You Can Install the Vista Upgrade Without XP

You can install the upgrade version of Vista even if you don't have XP or 2000 installed, or even without access to a disc with one of the old OSes.

Link:
http://.../whoops-you-can-install-the-vista-upgrade-without-xp

Just how big is Amazon's database

42 Terabytes and growing. Read about that and 9 other huge database's...

Link:
http://.../2007/02/top_10_largest_.html

PHPEdit: Great product, even better support

PHPEdit is one of the better PHP IDE's that I could find. After numerous downloads and hours of testing, I determined that PHPEdit really offered the complete solution for me. There was a problem though.

The mouse movement would slow down when the IDE had focus. I was able to deal with if for a while but it got to be too much as I need a really fast mouse because of a wrist problem. I finally submitted a trouble ticket to WaterProof Software, the company that makes PHPEdit. They contacted me several hours later and contacted me continously over the course of a couple of days until the problem was solved. They went so far out of there way to make sure my problem was resolved and I could keep using the program. What they found out was that the Logitech drivers were identifying the application as a game, and the setting 'disable acceleration in games' caused the mouse to perform sluggish. Uncheck the setting and its working flawless.

A big thanx to Bastien Hofmann of WaterProof Software. Keep up the great work on an excellent product.

...and life is good again...

Are you concerned about RFID powder?

You should be. RFID Powder is down right scary what this can be used for.

• Imagine walking into Walmart and having the 'powder' stick to your shoes so they can track how you walk around the store. Couple that with what you buy they could better setup stores to maximize what you will purchase.
• What about placing the powder inside of purchases where a retailer or small time business owner could drive through a neighborhood and determine who is using their product.
• Just so many ideas of how this could be used.

It just worries me what and how someone could use this.

Link:
http://.../hitachis-rfid-powder-freaks-us-the-heck-out/

When things go wrong in Vista, and they will.

Scares me to death to do a system restore in WinXP but others swear by it. For the mom and pop user, System Restore is the greatest thing added into Windows since Solitaire. Why? Because you can totally screw your system up and press a couple buttons and Windows will put your system back to a known stable restore point. I just don't trust it and would prefer to work through the problem myself and fix it.

Now comes Vista and System Restore is still in place. So, heres a tutorial to get you up to speed in using System Restore in Vista...

Link:
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/...

Create a custom internet shortcut on your desktop

Would you like a customized desktop shortcut that will take you directly to a website of your choice? Then follow these steps.

1) Right click on the desktop and select New -> Text Document
2) Rename the text document some meaningful name like VeignBlog.txt
3) Edit the content of the file by opening it in Notepad
4) Add these lines (between the lines)
----------------------------------------
[InternetShortcut]
URL=http://veign.com/blog
IconIndex=0
IconFile=c:\somepath\MyIcon.ico
----------------------------------------
5) Edit the URL to point to the URL of your choice (I would recommend leaving it pointing my blog)
6) Edit the path to the Icon you want to use. If you dont have one remove the two Icon lines and it will use the default icon for your browser
7) Save and close the file
8) Edit the name of the file changing its extension from .txt to .url
9) Allow the change to happen and you should now have a customized shortcut to a website using an icon of your choice.

(in case you need some icons check out this list of free icon sources)

Download the entire Wikipedia wiki.

I dare someone to download the entire Wikipedia wiki. This has got to be huge.

Link:
http://download.wikimedia.org/

Read about it on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Database_download

Vertical Bar Graphs with CSS and PHP

Ahhh PHP and CSS:
http://www.terrill.ca/design/vertical_bar_graphs/

How to submit your website to the major search engines

Lets just get to it.

Yahoo!
http://search.yahoo.com/info/submit.html

MSN
http://submitit.bcentral.com/msnsubmit.htm

Google
http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl

DMOZ (Open Directory Project)
http://dmoz.org/add.html

Altavista
http://www.altavista.com/addurl/default

Alexa
http://www.alexa.com/site/help/webmasters

More trouble for Best Buy

Seems that Best Buy may maintain a special intranet site at its stores so that it can show customers that discounts, that customers found in the internet, are no longer available.

Read on:
http://www.courant.com/news/local/...

Now this is cool

Pictures with long exposure times of video games:
http://www.rosemariefiore.com/...

Show us more....

Ultra-mobile PC (UMPC), What happened?

What ever happened to all the buzz that MS generated with the Ultra-Mobile PC's? OQO has been around for a while. In fact they have recently released a new version of their UMPC, which is pretty impresive - listening OQO, my address is on the right if you want to throw one in the mail to me. A better priced, but not as impressive UPMC can be found over at Windows Marketplace. I think the key to these things is to have a qwerty keyboard.

If OQO could lower their price and increase its size by a bit, I think they would have a winner.

So much buzz, so little results.

Picnik, another online image editor.

With Picnik you can quickly edit all your online photos from one place. It's the easiest way on the Web to fix underexposed photos, remove red-eye, or apply effects to your photos.

Unlike others, I gave Picnik a shot since I heard some good things about it. A clean, Flash design makes this one very simple and intuitive to use. Plus its fast. Faster than the other all inclusive online image editors I've reviewed, probably because of the use of Flash.

Link:
http://www.picnik.com

Also, check out my online image applications:
http://www.whatsitscolor.com/
http://quickthumbnail.com/

Another post of mine makes it to Lifehacker

Cool, as my IE7 Menu Hack has been posted on Lifehacker.

Amazing, how people just copy your stuff

Does this:
http://www.netgautam.com/.../

Look like this (my post):
http://.../relocate-menu-bar-in-ie7-to-top-of.html

What I hate is he stole the images right off my blog post. Some people just can't think for themselves and must steal other peoples posts. Oh, well I hope Nitesh Gautam enjoys the post about him stealing posts from someone else's blog...

Anna Nicole Smith died

Kinda of sad...

Link:
http://.../story/0,2933,250974,00.html

Its all about Word Processors

When the Word Processor Review is completed it will be the most comprehensive review of word processors around. I'm already blown away at Part 1: Major word processors. I was going to outline it but there is just way to much great information.

Part 1: Major word processors:
http://www.donationcoder.com/Reviews/Archive/WordProcs/

Iconize Textlinks with CSS

There was another blog post about how to Iconize Textlinks with CSS and I forgot to mention it. Glad I did as this tutorial is much more complete and even supplies the icons for you.

Link:
http://www.pooliestudios.com/projects/iconize/

Relocate the menu bar in IE7 to the top of the window

Would you rather have the menu bar in IE7 to be more like IE6 in the sense that it will appear at the very top of the window? A simple reg hack will get that going for you.

1) Copy the bold text below into a text file (between the lines)
-----------------------------------------------------------
REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Toolbar\WebBrowser\]
"ITBar7Position"=dword:00000001
-----------------------------------------------------------
2) Save the text file with a REG extension (like toolbar.reg)
3) Double click the file and allow it to update your registry
4) Shut down IE7 (if open) and restart it.

or download this pre-made file

Before the change:

After the change:

Two flaws found in Firefox

A security company has reported two new flaws in the Mozilla Firefox browser that may leave locally saved files vulnerable to outside attacks.

Link:
http://news.com.com/...

All to common from computer repair shops

Kinda of sickening and the reason I fix the computers of my friends and people I know. I just can't let them go somewhere like Geek Squad.

Link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBvUt2bIQFk

Recutting movie trailers is the next big thing

First, there was numa numa which launched the online videos of people making fools of themselves lipsyncing to songs. Now there is a growing trend to recut movies trailers to make movies appear as they were never meant to be. Some of these trailers are quite professionally done. See below for some of the better ones.

• When Harry Met Sally
• The Shining
• Office Space
• A Christmas Story
  

Page Headers tool now supports user selected Agent

Page Headers now lets you choose the user agent that is used to request the page from the server. Why is this useful? Some websites use underhanded methods to get higher ranking in Google and using Page Headers you can see if they are pushing a different page to Googlebot (Google's spider) than what is push to a user of Firefox. I tried to include some of the more popular agents out there, like: IE, Firefox, Yahoo, Google, MSN, Opera, Askjeeves.

Have one you wanted added? Just ask.

Link:
http://pageheaders.com/

About User Agents:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_agent

Easily add a Digg button to your website

Digg has a released a new feature where you can easily add a Digg button to your website. It now even easier than ever to get dugg.

Link:
http://digg.com/tools/integrate

Sample (bottom of the page):
http://quickthumbnail.com/

Google extends support for determining links to your site

This is a huge improvement over the 'link:' operator in a standard Google search. Google will now show every internal and external link to each page that Google has indexed. This is not only amazing, as no other tool offers this kind of information, but extremely useful.

Want a list of every URL that is linking to your website and what page(s) they are linking to? You can do this by choosing the Download all external links option at the bottom of the report.

The one thing I wish they would add is the ability to sort the results based link quantity.

Check it out in the new webmaster tools:
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/

Read all about it:
http://.../discover-your-links.html

Printer Tracking Dot Decoding Guide

Did you know that every page you print contains a tracking code? Its very, very difficult to see and can be used to trace the printed page back to your printer. If you didn't know about this or just curious about the tracking code check out the Track Dot Decoding Guide.

Link:
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/printers/docucolor/

Windows Help program no longer included with Windows

Vista does not support the older Windows Help file (.hlp). So if you are upgrading and you have an application that still requires this type of help file then you will need to install support for it yourself - if MS ever releases it.

Link:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/917607

No tech: Open a locked door with a tennis ball

What? Ca