Computer Tips and Tricks

Firefox 3 RC 1 now available

2008-05-24T23:15:00.007-06:00

(Screenshot via Alex's Thoughts blog)

Mozilla released Firefox 3 release candidate 1 on May 16th. Afer 33 months of development Firefox 3 is getting much closer to being officially released!

New Features:

Faster page loading (through faster HTML and javascript rendering)
Less Memory usage
"Memory cycles are broken and collected by an automated cycle collector, a new memory allocator reduces fragmentation, hundreds of leaks have been fixed, and caching strategies have been tuned."
Better auto-complete in the address bar
Now when you type part of title, a tag, or an address, Firefox will instantly pull matches from both your browsing history and bookmarks. The results are displayed in order of frequency, so your most visited pages will appear first.
Smart Bookmarks
These new bookmarking feature will display your recent or most visited bookmarks. The smart bookmarks folder now appear in the bookmarks toolbar and gives you quick access to all your most visited websites.
Multple page zoom options
When zooming pages you now have to option to zoom text, images, and layout, or only text
Multiple text selections
Now you can make multiple, non-continuous text selections in Firefox by holding down the Control/Command key to easily make multiple selections.
Native look for Mac OS X
Firefox now sports a brand new theme to make the toolbars, icons, and buttons visually integrated with OS X.
Bookmark Tagging
If you're a fan of del.icio.us or any other social bookmarking service, you'll love Firefox's bookmark tagging feature.
Resize the location and search bar
You can now resize the location and search bar without installing any additional extensions.

Compatible extensions

If you can't live without your extensions, I would first recommend checking the Firefox Add-ons page to check that your must-have extensions have been updated for compatibility with Firefox 3.

The only reason I haven't completed switched over to Firefox 3 already is because the Del.icio.us extension has not been officially released yet. Gina Trapani of Lifehacker posted Del.icio.us Extension Beta Plays Nice in Firefox 3. She links to the Del.icio.us blog post about their new beta extension.

Here's some popular extensions compatible with Firefox 3

Test Drive Firefox 3 and Keep Firefox 2 Safe

If you're running a Mac and would like to try out Firefox 3 and keep Firefox 2 intact, check out Install Firefox 2 an 3 on the same computer. Since Firefox 3 shares the same profile folder as Firefox 2, they also give instructions to create a new profile and keep your original intact.

Read More:

Mozilla's Firefox 3 Release Notes

Lifehacker - Top 10 Firefox 3 Features
Lifehacker - Complete Field Guide to Testing Firefox 3

Why is my computer so slow?

2008-03-28T10:58:00.000-06:00

Why is your computer running slow? It could be due to a number of issues, but in the end it's either a software or hardware related issue. The big culprits are file fragmentation, spyware, and not enough RAM in your computer.

Hardware issues

Computers running with less than 1GB of RAM are generally going to be slow
Using a computer with less than 1GB RAM on Windows XP, and especially Vista can slow your programs to a crawl. Upgrading your RAM is the best and most cost-effective way to improve the speed of your computer. RAM memory upgrades are also cheap--typically less than $200, and should be closer to $100 for a decent upgrade.

Mac users should not run OS X with less than 1GB of RAM, especially if they're planning on doing anything with music, movies, or photos.
Your computer does not have a dual-core processor
Dual-core processors are not a necessity, however, you'll notice a significant speed improvement with a dual-core processor.
Your hard drive is overfilled
If your hard drive has less than 20% of it's free space remaining, you could be noticing slowdowns because the computer has to look longer for files before opening them. With the size of today's hard drives, typically 320-500GB for a desktop computer, users should not have a problem with this. However, if you're running an older desktop, or an older laptop with less than an 60GB hard drive, you may have less free space than you think.

Software (operating system issues)

Windows XP has a half life
As a computer is used frequently, the Windows operating system degrades over time. File fragmentation across the hard drive slows down an otherwise OK machine. Every computer user should know this and be defragmenting on a regular basis, especially if the machine is used regularly. Another solution, which will make your computer seem brand new is to reinstall a fresh copy of Windows. Reinstalling Windows will be like starting with a new computer--no fragmentation, no spyware, no viruses, no trial software.
Malware (Spyware, Viruses, Trojans)
Most Windows users, unless savvy with their browsing habits, are likely to have spyware crawling on their machine slowing it down. Most computer users that complain that their machine is slow

I'd love to hear your comments and questions. . . .

How to protect your computer from spyware

2008-02-04T01:25:00.000-07:00

Spyware is becoming a growing problem in the computer world. A little knowledge can go a long way to prevent spyware from invading your machine.

Here are some tips to avoid spyware:

Use the Firefox Browser. Most spyware can be prevented by simply switching to the Firefox web browser. Firefox is protected from drive-by-downloads, spyware toolbars, and other security issues that are prevalent in Internet Explorer. By using Firefox, your computer won't be vulnerable to ActiveX related spyware that can be installed without the user's knowledge.
Only download software from reputable sources. Millions of computer users are unknowingly installing spyware and adware on their machines because they are downloading "free software". Don't download software from websites unless it's a trusted source. Download.com is one of the best places to find free software. All their programs are tested to be spyware and adware free. Most spyware infections require that you download and install something onto your computer. By downloading free software from legitimate sources, you eliminate the possibility of most spyware infecting your computer.
Use an anti-spyware program. If you're having trouble with spyware slowing down your machine, crashing your computer, or flooding your screen with pop-ups, scan your computer to remove spyware and adware. (Are you using Firefox? Are you being careful about downloading free programs?) Download.com's list of popular downloads includes some good free anti-spyware programs, Spybot Search and Destroy and Ad-Aware. These programs can help clear out some of the spyware and adware lurking on your computer.
Don't click on internet pop-ups. You can take simple steps, such as not clicking on internet pop-ups to prevent spyware from infecting your machine. Lots of internet ads will offer to scan your machine for spyware. Don't click on these advertisements! By clicking, you're giving an open invitation for spyware and adware to get on your computer. There are many fake anti-spyware programs that will offer to scan your computer, or say that your computer is infected. These bogus programs will trick you into installing them and actually infect your computer with spyware and adware.
Check your browsing habits. If you're already using Firefox and you're careful about what you download, also be mindful of your browsing habits. Thousands of bogus websites will try to install spyware and adware on your machine without your knowledge. By avoiding websites with pornography, software cracks, and torrents you can reduce the chance that spyware will make it's way onto your machine.

DVD Shrink runs fast in Parallels

2008-01-18T18:03:00.000-07:00

DVD Shrink performs fast while running in Parallels.*

* MacBook Pro
2.2GHz dual-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 128MB Geforce 8600 graphics card
* Using a Windows XP VM (virtual machine) with 512MB of RAM and up to 15GB allocated to the VM.

A backup of a DVD movie took only 10 minutes in Parallels (using a pre-ripped DVD Video folder). This is faster than any compression I've done on a PC. Usually it would take around 15 minutes to compress a DVD on my old Dell Latpop (1.86GHz centrino processor, 2GB of RAM). DVD Shrink is performing faster in a virtual machine than it was on my midrange laptop from 2005.

* Note: Copying the ISO file created by DVD Shrink into a Parallels shared folder took about five minutes, so this actually evens out the amount of time for the compression.

Bottom Line: If you're a PC user that misses DVD Shrink, definitely consider running it in Parallels, unless of course you are already running Bootcamp. Mac users: DVD Shrink is probably the best DVD Compression program available on PCs or Macs, and it's also free!!

Be aware that DVD Shrink has not been updated in the last three years, so it cannot remove the latest copy protections. Use MacTheRipper to rip the DVD Video files to your hard drive, and then compress them with DVD Shrink.

If you know of any DVD Shrink equivalent (free) programs for the mac, post a comment. DVD2OneX is the closest thing I've found for Mac, but it only allows the main movie to be extracted, and it costs around $40. I want to keep the menus and the chapters when backing up my DVDs.

Coming Soon:

Burn and Backup your DVD movies on a Mac

Tip: Take screenshots with keyboard shortcuts (Mac)

2008-01-13T00:19:00.000-07:00

Mac OS X offers a quick and application-free way of taking screenshots of just about anything.

Here's a rundown of the keyboard shortcuts.

Command-Shift-3:
Take a screenshot of the screen, and save it as a file on the desktop
Command-Shift-4, then select an area:
Take a screenshot of an area and save it as a file on the desktop
Command-Shift-4, then space, then click a window:
Take a screenshot of a window and save it as a file on the desktop

Command-Control-Shift-3:
Take a screenshot of the screen, and save it to the clipboard
Command-Control-Shift-4, then select an area:
Take a screenshot of an area and save it to the clipboard
Command-Control-Shift-4, then space, then click a window:
Take a screenshot of a window and save it to the clipboard

When a using the first set of shortcuts (with #4), the screenshot will be saved to the desktop as a PNG file.

If you need to do any extra cropping afterwards, simply open the images in Preview, crop, and re-save them.

Also check out the freeware application Backdrop for masking any desktop icons, desktop backgrond, or other clutter before taking the screenshot.

Download of the Week: Block out distractions with Backdrop

2008-01-13T00:00:00.000-07:00

If you regularly watch movies on a Mac with dual monitor, backdrop may be perfect for you. Backdrop is a nice little freeware program for Mac that will block out the rest of the screen with a solid color of your choice. I use this on my laptop when watching movies on my 19" LCD monitor connected to my laptop so that the other screen is black while watching the movie.

Backdrop is also great for taking screenshots without the clutter of other application, desktop icons, or background images to inflate the image file size of your screenshot. You won't have to worry about taking the time to clear off all your desktop icons before taking the screenshot

If you're running Windows, check out Dropcloth featured on Lifehacker.

Backdrop website

Tip: Save time with Firefox Bookmark Shortcuts

2008-01-12T23:49:00.000-07:00

A little know feature of Firefox bookmarks can save you even clicking on them. You can assign custom text as keyboard shortcuts for Firefox Bookmarks.

Here's how:

After creating a bookmark, edit the properties of the bookmark (PC users right click, Mac users go to the Bookmarks Manager). Enter whatever custom letters you'd like into the "keyword" field. See in the screen shot above an example for using "ym" as a shortcut to Yahoo Mail. Now I simply type ym into the address bar and I instantly go to the Yahoo Mail login page.

Website of the Week: Google Notebook

2008-01-10T21:36:00.000-07:00

Google Notebook serves as a convenient way to keep all sorts of notes stored online. It's perfect for keeping bits of web research together, or managing small slices of information. The interface is organized into "notebooks" which you can then divide into "sections".

The interface is user friendly, intuitive, and there's a even a Firefox extension to help you add clips of information from any website instantly.

Store a lot of small notes in text files? Google Notebook can help you eliminate the file clutter and get these notes organized online and whenever you have web access.

Google Notebook

Logins are so 2007!

2008-01-08T23:25:00.000-07:00

It's the new year and it's time to make your online life a little easier. There are several programs available to manage all of your online logins. You won't ever have to remember a password again (except for your master password, of course). Try out either one of these programs and I guarantee you'll be hooked!

Roboform (Windows, free for up to 10 saved logins)
Save all of your logins, forms, etc, even keep small encrypted notes with extra information. RoboForm integrates with both Internet Explorer and Firefox. Once you've entered your master password, any login you have saved can be automatically entered, without any typing. RoboForm will go to the login page, enter the information, and login!

RoboForm

1Password (Mac, $30)
Essentials functions the same way as RoboForm, except you will have to manually drag all of your saved logins to the bookmarks bar in your browser to get to automatic login fuction like RoboForm.

1Password

Both applications encrypt your stored logins and information. They also offer strong password generators with custom settings. In addition they offer a "timeout" feature where the logins are locked if any login is not used in a specified amount of time. This offers a good extra level of security.

The Save Mantra

2008-01-08T01:44:00.000-07:00

You're working in Microsoft Word typing a multi-page document and it freezes. Yes, Word does have an auto-recovery feature, but that only works in some circumstances.

Here's the solution. The "Save Mantra". Save when start, save every 10 minutes, and save when you're finished. I guarantee if you get into this habit, it will save you many hassles and even headaches down the road.

Saving is not inconvenient, it's your friend. It's only a keystroke away. Control + S on a PC or Command + S on a Mac.

Look at it this way, it takes only seconds to save, but every time you don't remember to save you run the risk of loosing everything up the present that has not been saved. Nobody likes having to retype an essay because they forgot to save at the beginning. Even if the program crashes or freezes, you'll have everything from your last save.

Connect your Mac to a TV

2008-01-07T00:50:00.000-07:00

How to Connect a Mac to a TV

You can connect your Mac to a TV for under $25, with the Apple's DVI to Video Adapter. This cable connects to the DVI port on the Mac Pro, Mac Mini, and MacBook Pro and outputs to either S-Video or Composite (yellow video cable). I bought one directly from Apple for $19 + $4 shipping. Excellent deal if you ask me! I would have bought it on Amazon but it's $20 plus $5.78 shipping--Yikes!

If you're using an Intel iMac, MacBook, or PowerBook g4, you can get Apple's Mini-DVI to Video Adapter for $19 + $4 shipping also.

Both of the these video cables will only cover the video portion. They do not send the audio to the TV. If you don't already have one, you can pick up an 1/8" inch to RCA cable for about $5-10 at your local RadioShack, Target, etc. This cable will go from the headphone jack of your computer to the red/white audio jacks of a TV or stereo system. You can also get this Belkin audio cable on Amazon.

Free those Office, Lost, and Heroes episodes from your Mac, and get them in your living room where they were meant to be watched!

Access your files quickly

2008-01-05T21:31:00.000-07:00

Here's a quick rundown of things that both Windows and Mac users can do to access their files and applications quickly.

Windows users

Use the Quicklaunch bar (Create folder shortcuts)
The quicklaunch bar will appear directly to the right of the Start button if it's enabled. You can add both program shortcuts and shortcuts to folders to this menu. To add a folder shortcut, locate the folder, right click on it, and select "Create Shortcut" drag this shortcut just left of the double arrow in the quicklaunch bar to add it. If you don't see any icons immediately to the right of the start button, enable the Quicklaunch bar by right-clicking on the
Use the Recent Documents in the Start Menu
Keep files organized into folders
Use the My Documents, My Music, and My Pictures Folders. Keeping your files organized into folders is an easy thing to overlook, but can be easily remedied. Create a new folder every time you have a project, or develop a personal hierarchy of folders that you know exactly where something is and you won't have to spend time looking for it.
Clear the desktop
Although it may seem convenient to save your files and folders on the desktop, it can also be just an problematic to store your folders here. With a multitude of files stored here it can take a while just to find a file that you need. I would only recommend keeping minimal shortcuts, including My Documents, the Recycle Bin, and maybe shortcuts to one or two folders that you use everyday. Instead, place shortcuts to folders in the Quicklaunch bar where they can be accessed without having to minimize every program to get to the desktop.

Note: If you must use the desktop to store your files/folders, the "show desktop" shortcut in the Quicklaunch bar can save you a lot of clicks. Check it out.

Mac users

Use the Finder Sidebar
You can drag folders and even individual documents to the finder sidebar to access them quickly and keep your desktop clear from aliases. This should help keep your dock clear of any folders that you've added here
Use Stacks (Leopard only)
Your documents folder appears as a stack by default. Drag other folders to the stack area of the dock to create a stack.
Use the search function in the Open/Save Dialogs
The search toolbar is available in the open and save dialog boxes. It can find both files and folders and is probably the fastest way to save/open a file at a specific location.
Create a New Smart Folder
In the finder, go to File > New Smart Folder. You can add parameters for this new smart folder, such as "Last opened date" or "Late modified" date is today. This will enable you quick access to any files and documents that you've already worked on today. You could also change those options to encompass the entire week for files from recent projects. You can also add an extra parameter for only files that are Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, or any other file type. Add this folder to the dock or finder sidebar when you're finished, and now you have easy access to any recent files of your choice.
Recent Items Menu
Click on the Apple and you'll see the "Recent Items" option with an arrow. Hover your mouse over this option to see a list of documents and applications you've opened recently.

Useful Facebook Applications

2008-01-05T19:09:00.000-07:00

I've already written about all of the junk Facebook applications clogging up user's profiles. On the other hand, there are some useful and worthwhile applications to check out.

List of useful Facebook Applications:

Where I've been
Shows a map you can customize for states and countries you've visited, live in, and want to visit. Remember all those places you've been.
Books iRead
Displays thumbnail images of books you've read, are currently reading, and books that you want to read.
Flixter movies
Keep a list Movies that you've seen and want to see. Write quick reviews and rate movies. See the ratings/reviews from your friends
del.icio.us (bookmarks)
See a feed of your most recent del.icio.us bookmarks
Digg
See a feed your most recent Diggs.
Top Friends
Keep a list of friends that you contact frequently. (I wouldn't normally use this except it can be useful)
Free gifts
This is a good alternative to paying for Facebook's gifts.
iLike
Display a list of songs you enjoy.

Games and other entertainment (good timewasters)

Attack
Risk clone that allows you to challenge your friends in world domination
South Park Character Creator
Create your south park characters. A good timewaster.
Chess

Send me an email with any comments on Facebook applications you've found useful

Facebook Application Madness

2008-01-05T18:40:00.000-07:00

Since Facebook added the feature to allow custom applications to be added, many Facebook users have gotten out of control with adding these annoying and mostly useless applications to their profiles. I don't mind a few apps here and there, but when you have to scroll down through ten pages of garbage just to post on a friend's wall, that's getting ridiculous.

Also see my list of Useful Facebook Applications.

If you have a friend who litters their Facebook profile with every application they can find, simply click on this little green icon below their profile picture to be taken directly to their wall. (See the image to the right)

If you absolutely must have all of these applications, do your friends a favor and simply drag them to the left hand column so we can get to your wall quickly!

Note to Facebook admins: end this madness before you succumb to mass, trashy feel of MySpace. I wouldn't go back to Myspace, but I'm beginning to get annoyed with the junk accumulating on Facebook. What happened to that clean, unadultered Facebook we all knew and loved?

Here's a short list of the culprit, junk Facebook applications:

Vampires
Zombies
WereWolves
Happy Hour
Harry Potter Magic Spells
Booze Mail
I love Dogs
Kind of Eyes
Superwall
(It's cool that you can post photos, but then people end up posting junk like they do on Myspace.)
Funwall
Youtube skins
Fortune Cookie
X-Me
Astrology
Horoscopes
Games
Knock Knock Jokes
Superpoke (can be mildly entertaining and good timewaster)
Causes
Honesty Box
Emote
Tarot
Numerology
Compare People
Pirates vs. Ninjas
Superlatives
No Mercy
What's your stripper name
Double Dare
Food Fight
Magic 8 Ball
Social Profile
Spark
Beer!
I wanna get Leid!
Scrapbox
Advanced wall
Naughty gifts
My Aquarium
Jack-o-Lantern
My Solar System
Beer Pong
Are you interested
Circle of Friends
Inner Circle
What flower are you
What kind of eyes do you have

This is just a sampling from one profile. The list could go on and on, there's junk and advertising laden applications being developed every day. Oh Joy!

A note the high school kids, you can show some maturity by NOT adding 100 useless and space-wasting applications to your profile.

Cheers and Happy Facebooking!

Mac Apps - Maybe Someday

2008-01-03T00:52:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of great Mac apps out there, and many of them happen to be free to boot! Here's a rundown of the Macs I plan to install at some point in the future. Most, if not all of these applications have been featured on Lifehacker.

Caffeine ("stay awake" Utility)
When Caffeine is activated it prevents the computer from going into sleep turning on the screensaver, extremely useful when watching movies, slideshows, etc. After you're finished using it, simply turn if off to have normal sleep functions. I only let my Mac go to sleep once (in two weeks of use) My boss has told me that sometimes his mac is sluggish waking from sleep. I'm sure I'll end up using this to watch movies, and pass it along to friends who also watch lots of video content on their macs
DiskInventoryX (Hard drive space usage)
When my 120GB laptop hard drive has less than 40GB of free disk space, I'll probably install this one, or I might use it to analyze which folders on my large external hard drives are taking up the most space. Right now I don't need, but I'm sure I will come 6 months or a year from now. On my Windows computer I used JDiskReport, which is apparently also available for Mac.
Quicksilver (Application launcher)
Yes, I've read all about it's features on Lifehacker, but it's functionality for launching apps may not be neccessary with stacks of application aliases. Quicksilver's other features could prove to be useful, and I'm just the type of Geek that would love it for the sake of it's keyboard functionality.
Handbrake (DVD video ripping)
This handy application rips DVD to various video formats and has presets for iPods among other things. It's one of the simplest, free ways to get videos converted for your iPod. I've got the DMG saved, but I probably won't use this very often, because I prefer to "backup" DVD movie discs with DVD Shrink. I don't like the loss of quality when ripping below a 1GB video file and I'd rather have a disc that I can pop into any DVD player with the chapters and menus intact, not to mention a great quality boost!! If I run across some novelty movies, then I might install and it and fire it up.
Backuplist+ 5.0 (Backup utility)
It looks like a great free backup utility and it's the exact functionality I desire with backup, simply knowing that a few essential folders (pictures, music, documents, software) are backed-up on my external hard drive. I'll give this one a spin to backup the new photos on my laptop.
Transmission (Torrent client)
It was picked by Lifehacker in their "2007 Guide to Free Software and Webapps". It's open-source, and the only reason I don't currently have it is because I don't have high speed internet access. In a few weeks, I'll install this one to get some torrents up and running again.
Google Earth
I'll probably install this in a few weeks, but unless I'm bored or have some time kill, I would rarely use it all.
Schoolhouse 2 (assignment/project organization)
This would have been a great app to have in high school to keep track of all my assignments. I might use it before I finish my college degree, when I have lots of work to keep track of. Featured on Lifehacker here: Download of the Day: Schoolhouse 2 (Mac)

Other apps in the waiting list:

Writeroom (only text on the screen to help focus on writing, $25)
JDarkroom (free alternative to Writeroom, text only writing tool, Windows/Mac)
Celtx (Media pre-production and collaboration tool)
ImageWell (image viewer/editor)
Isolator (applcation focuser/isolator)
Celestia (free space simulation program Windows/Mac/Linux )
FreeDMG (make DMGs for free, and w/ more features than Disk Utility)
Renamer4Mac (free batch/bulk file renaming utility)
DVD2oneX (DVD video compression for burning)

I welcome any comments with applications you've tried, plan to try, or will get around to eventually. Send me a buzz by email.

Macs handle zip files out of the box

2008-01-02T00:24:00.000-07:00

Mac can both unzip Zip files and create them, without any additional software!! It appears that this feature was made available with the release of Tiger.

To open a zip file, simply double clip on it and you'll see a new folder appear in the finder within a few seconds with the name of the zip file. Dead simple. No extractors or unzippers needed, unless you're dealing with .RAR files.

To create a zip file, simply select a file, folder, or group of files and right click on them. In Tiger choose Create Archive of . . . In Leopard choose Compress "your-filename" from the context menu. In a few seconds you'll have the zip file, which you can rename if neccessary.

See: Apple Pro Tip of the Week - Making ZIP Files (Compressed Files) in One Click

My essential Mac applications

2008-01-01T23:43:00.000-07:00

Here's a list of my current essential Mac applications. Most of these applications I use on a daily basis, and some I couldn't live without!! I've seen lots of lists of "top Mac apps", but a good portions of those applications tend to be specialty items.

Firefox
Safari isn't bad, but for web design and a more customized surfing experience it's the only way to go. If you're on Windows this is a must to keep you secure from security holes in Internet Explorer.
OmniFocus
This GTD (Getting Things Done) based application is excellent for keeping track of every task and project you need to accomplish. Things can be organized by project, "context" or due date. I couldn't live without this at work, and it's helping me stay on track. A license will cost you $80, starting Janurary 8th, 2008.
Thunderbird
An excellent email client from Mozilla, the makers of Firefox. It's clean, simple, and a much appreciated alternative to Outlook and Outlook Express. If you're currently using Mail for Mac, it might not be worth the switch.
Lock Desktop
This automator application is the equivalent of locking the desktop on a Windows comptuer. It keeps all of the applications running, so you don't have to put the machine to sleep to protect it with your password. Stepping away from your desk for a few mintues? Lock Desktop is perfect for keeping your computer secure while you're away. It's compatible with Leopard!
1Password
Have a hard time managing all your different passwords and logins. 1Password comes to the rescue, storing all your logins and encrypting them with one master password. You'll never have to try and guess what username and password combination you used. It integrates with Firefox and Safari among other web browsers. There's a strong password generator for times when you need a secure password on demand. Macworld is still offering a free license giveaway for 1password. It's normally a $30 license!
Backdrop
This application is essential for taking screenshots or even watching movies when using dual monitors. It covers your screen in the color of your choice. This will enable you to take screenshots that have smaller filesizes and eliminate distracting backgrounds. Watch movies on a laptop with second monitor? Use backdrop to cover the screen in black so you don't see anything on the screen.
TextWrangler
For a free code and text editor, Text Wrangler has some excellent features. Lifehacker has featured TextWrangler several times.
Lifehacker's 2007 Guide to Free Software and Webapps
Lifehacker: Rebuild your mac with 20 useful downloads

Coming soon:

Mac Apps - Maybe Someday
A list of great Mac apps that I'll haven't gotten around to trying yet.

Read more:

Lifehacker's Top 10 Free Mac Downloads
Lifehacker's Top 10 Mac utilities

Top reasons to love Macs

2007-12-29T00:51:00.000-07:00

I've only had a new Mac laptop for about a week now, but it's been a great experience and a refreshing one after being a PC user for nine years. Without further ado, here are my top reasons why I love my new Mac.

Stacks
push away all those lesser used, but neccessary applications to a stock, or add the Adobe suite to a stack to restore valuble space to the dock (got this idea from Lifehacker)
(Leopard only)
Exposé
One thing windows should try to copy. . PC users can get Switcher 2
The Dock
Essential to my launching apps fast. . .sorry quick launch bigger icons are better. Windows users can get Object Dock
keyboard shortcuts
see Switching to Mac - keyboard shortcuts
Less digging through menus
Mac menus are simplified, especially when dealing with preferences (options). Most things, like setting display preferences are much faster, and I can even open my system preferences with one click from the dock--it doesn't get any better than that.
Run Windows Virtually, or in Boot Camp
Parallels is an excellent way to run both Windows and OS X simultaneously. You can switch back and forth. . and don't worry, if Windows kicks the bucket, it's a short 30 minute virtual reinstall away. Boot Camp now lets gamers and others run more intensive PC apps natively, which requires a restart, but may entice many current PC users to make the switch to Mac.
Learn Linux Virtually
Someday I'll learn to use Ubuntu Linux or Knoppix through a Parallels virtual machine on my Mac.
Frontrow
For multimedia and a home theater experience, it doesn't get any better than this! All the new iMacs and laptops come with remotes to boot!!
Built in functionality means less freeware apps to download
On the PC I used Irfanview, Comodo Pro Firewall, and tried Object Dock for a while. Preview is a prime example of this--no acrobat reader necessary.
No balloon notification madness
I despised these on PC's. They would always interrupt my work and annoyed the hell out of me, even though I was a seasoned PC user they were an unnecessary evil.
Mac OS updates are not an issue
Updating Mac OS doesn't bother me, however by default on XP machines they will try to restart every five minutes after an update is downloaded unless the update settings are changed in the control panel. . I had to keep checking the machine to make sure it wouldn't turn off while I stepped away for ten minutes. The balloon icons to install the updates never stop bothering you!
No Spyware/Adware
Mac OS does not only have spyware, it's safeguarded against it by default. When applications want to install, or system changes are going to be made, you have to enter your account password. Microsoft are you listening?
Preview
No need to download acrobat reader to open PDF files, and it's a great image viewer and allows quick, easy slideshows, even for RAW images
Screenshot Capability
Just during the writing of this post, I've used the keyboard shortcuts to take several screenshots and select areas quickly. . .as a web designer and PC trainer easy screenshot capabilites are invaluable.
Backlit Keyboard
An excellent showcase for Apple. . .and a nice thing to have in dimly lit rooms.
(MacBook Pro only)
No pesky startup items
Most common applications you install on a PC will place themselves into the startup, slowing down the machine when logging in, and lowering the user's available RAM. Shame on Microsoft for not making the startup items easily accessible and comprehensible, especially to the average user. My new Mac only has one startup item, the Microsoft Office updater--how ironic!! At this point I would have had to remove Quicktime, MSN Messenger, and other from my PC startup list. Whenever I help a Windows user who says their computer is running slow, I simply check the startup items in Msconfig and voila--after cleaning out several entries, their computer has some of its speed back.
It's not Vista
Vista has too many problems and a service pack to clean up the mess is still a few months away as of this writing (Dec. 2007). Apple is going to get a real shot in the arm from the Vista users bailing out on Microsoft. Leopard vs. Vista. . Leopard wins hands down. See The Road Ahead: Leopard and Vista
No Drivers to install
I have to hand it to Apple for this one. No drivers. That's impossible. Not on a Mac. I'm fairly comfortable with installing drivers, but if I don't know a computer's hardware, that makes the job much more difficult than a Google search for the manufacturer's website. Drivers are especially a pain with Vista. . .
The new Finder Sidebar
Not only does the new finder sidebar save me time, but it allows me to add my own folders for quick access and shows all my attached devices for easy access without going to the desktop. Yes, Vista does have this, but XP could have had a custom menu.
(Leopard only)
Display preferences appear on both monitors
This is invaluable when configuring dual displays, and exceptionally user-friendly and straight forward. Good work Apple!!
Searchable help
I'm not sure if this is only in Leopard, but the searchable help is fantastic. Immediately after I start typing anything, a list pops up with the relevant topics in the help file. This means no more digging through help files to find an answer!
Widgets
They are great. . .I can check the weather for the two cities I live in, see stock quotes, and much more--and they can be displayed/hidden easily
Less application crashes
I'll admit, applications didn't crash on my PC that often, but I'm not an average user with spyware, viruses, and fragmented OS on my hands. I've been running my new Mac laptop for a week without an application crashing--that's almost impossible on PC.
No crash reporting
When applications do crash, I don't get asked to report it to Microsoft (I turned this feature off in XP immediately, it was irritating and wasted my time.) One of the worst annoyances in Windows--but hey, if it helps Microsoft's OS and software to crash less, all the better.

Other bonuses:

Multimedia included
I know that I have essential multimedia applications available even though I'll rarely use them. . . but PC's are extremely crippled out of the box when it comes to multimedia apps
They're great for the whole family
Photobooth, iPhoto, iTunes, iMovie, and GarageBand, are worth part of the extra premium you pay for Macs, with PC's you'd have to spend at least $50 on each type of application to get something even remotely comparable. . .
The fun factor
In the first 20 minutes that I was using my new mac, my family crowded around my laptop to have some fun with Photo Booth. . you just don't get this kind of experience on a PC. . .at least not before configuring the webcam, downloading the software for it, etc.
Macs aren't ugly
Most PC users will argue that some people like Macs just because of the way they look, and yes I'm sure some people buy Macs to be hip, but Macs are much more than just than just eye candy.

Share your experiences with Macs. Love them? Hate them? Do they help spend less time solving issues and more time getting work done?

Please email me with any comments and stories. (My email is on the right column).

Switching to the Mac - keyboard shortcuts

2007-12-29T00:03:00.000-07:00

After eight years using PC's I was worried that my switch to the mac would be problematic because of my love and usage of keyboard shortcuts. Immediately after using the Mac I've already discovered several keyboard shorts that I use regularly. There's only a few shortcuts that I miss from the PC, but so many new ones that I use to save me time on my Mac laptop.

Command + ,
Open an application's preferences
Command + Q
Quit an application (saves time over going to dock or using the menu bar)
Command + Tab
Equivalent of Alt+tab on windows, easily switch between two applications or any applications. . .I couldn't work without this, especially in web design

F11 Show all Windows in Exposé (I custom set this key for this)
F12 Hide all Windows and show the desktop (custom set)

Command + N
Open a new finder window
Shift + Command + N
Create a new folder (one of my favorite shortcuts on the Mac, and unfortunately there's no equivalent on PC's)

Option + arrows Move a word left or right, helps to quickly get through a typed line

And of course. . . .

Command + C Copy
Command + V Paste
Command + X Cut

Thank God these basic commands are essentially identical on the Mac.

The only shortcut I really miss from the PC is F2 which allows you to quickly rename a file or folder. There's no keyboard shortcut for renaming something on a Mac, but click twice slowly a filename can be renamed.

Firefox shortcuts

Command + T
Open a new tab (this one saves a lot of time, I'm a tab-a-holic)
Command + R
Reload a page
Command + arrows
Use the left and right arrows to go back and forward in the history (can be a real timesaver on a website you just browsed when you're not using tabs)
Scroll wheel click
Yes, it's not a keyboard shortcut, but it will open a link, bookmark, etc. in a new tab, a college friend of mine showed me this one, and he's been my hero ever since. I feel pity for the poor souls that are control-clicking on links in web browser, or even worse, opening pages in a new window. I couldn't browse the internet without this one. . .

Maybe someday

Command + D
Bookmark a page in Firefox

Function (fn) + delete
equivalent of using the delete key on a PC keyboard. My laptop doesn't have a "delete" key so I might start using this eventually

Eject button
Apple's design prowess really shines with the eject button standard on all mac keyboards for several years back. It's faster than going to the desktop and dragging a disk to the trash

If you have any keyboard shortcuts you can't live without that I've missed, please feel free to send me a comment by email.

Guide to computer experience

2007-12-26T00:26:00.000-07:00

Every person has to work their way up to becoming a power user or a "geek" on a computer. I would classify myself more in the power user category because I haven't taken the dive into Linux yet, and I don't build my own machines--which I plan to learn to do in the near future. If you want to learn what advanced or power users do with their computer, and also the things that novices learn along the way, look no further than this guide to progressive computer experience. I've tried to break the items into categories, but some may overlap so bear with me.

I welcome any suggested additions or changes to this list, especially for the Power User and Savvy user categories. Please see my email address to on the right hand column, or feel free to post a comment.

Beginner

Uses their computer to type the occasional document and may send a few emails a week
Don't use more than 3 or 4 programs on their computer
Enlist someone else to help them buy a computer
Purchases software they don't end up using, or only uses the software pre-installed on their computer.
Don't know what degragmenting is and why it needs to be done
Are using a computer with less than 1GB of RAM, especially a new Mac or Windows XP/Vista
Are running Vista because a salesman told them it was the best new operating system
Pays more than $60/month for high speed internet
Pays for their anti-virus/anti-spyware software
Are extremely wary of using the internet because of viruses, fraud, phishing (if they even know wha phishing is of course), etc.
Have lots of unchecked spyware and adware sitting on their machine
Open obviously SPAM messages.
Pay for their email service
Uses regular English words as passwords (not safe, time to get educated).

Novice

Has switched to Firefox because a friend recommended it
Uses a different photo editor beyond what came pre-insalled on their computer (or had someone add this for them)
Uses software to burn an audio CD
Uses software to burn mix CD's
Has heard of Skype but is not convinced enough to use it
Purchased an external hard drive to backup their photos (even though most people will never use more than 30-60GB to backup every photo)
Knows what zip files are and possibly how they work
Are aware of sales pitches when buying a computer
Have heard of torrents, but don't know how to use them or what they are
May have recently started using online banking
Calls a flash drive a "thumbdrive" or even worse, a "zip drive"

Savvy user

Uses Firefox
Uses Firefox extensions for productivity
Use Firefox search plugins
Knows what open-source software is and may have used some OOS beyond Firefox.
Doesn't pay for Anti-virus/Anti-spyware software and uses perfectly good alternatives like AVG Anti-Virus and Comodo Firewall Pro or ZoneAlarm (free)
Use advanced search queies on google to search only education sites, pull up local information, or filter results with special operators
Have used social bookmarking regularly
Uses a webmail service other than Hotmail or some no-name email service
Has used Gmail with POP or IMAP
Got Gmail before 2006 when it was still by invitation only
Has used online banking for at least a year, before it became all the rage and every adult discovered it.
Have switched from an ISP's email service to something free or otherwise not from their ISP
Rip songs from an iPod to another person's computer (or help someone recover the songs on their iPod)
Upgrade the RAM on a computer (the easiest hardware upgrade to perform, and especialy simple on a laptop)
Knows what Linux is
Uses Skype and understands its benefits
Purchased an external hard drive
Has used DVD Shrink to copy DVD movies
Rip DVD's to movies files
Have successfully downloaded something with a torrent
Has made minor registry tweaks discovered online
Can recognize most file extensions
Use or have tried an alternative IM client that supports multiple IM services
Has purchased something on Newegg.com or Tigerdirect.com for computer hardware
Purchased an external drive to store DVD rips, DVD ISO files, TV show downloads, software downloads, etc.
Uses dual-monitors (also Power users and geeks)
Use an extra monitor with their laptop
Read RSS feeds (with an online or desktop reader)
Does not use regular English words as passwords, may use strong passwords
Understands why more people should be using Macs
Have used msconfig to clean up their startup items (some savvy users don't know about this)
Doesn't use Windows Media player
Have changed their media player settings to rip music in an unprotected, higher bitrate format
Use VLC or Mplayer to play video files (some savvy users have never heard of these, so Mplayer also extends to the Power User category).
Doesn't pay for software very much.

Power User

Have upgraded the optical drive (CD/DVD) on their desktop
Knows what Linux is, why people use it, and may have dabbled in Linux
Have reinstalled Windows before
Has used DVD Shrink in conjunction with DVDfab Decrypter or DVD43 to copy a DVD movie
Has burned an ISO/IMG or other disc image file to a CD/DVD
Has made registry tweaks to clean up their system or tweak more advanced settings
Knows just about every common file extesion and what can be used to open it
Never uses Internet Explorer whenever possible and cringes at the thought of using it, Firefox is the only way to go. Sorry Mac-heads, Safari is still inferior, especially for web development
Regularly reads articles on LifeHacker.com
Purchased a flash drive before fall 2005 (AKA thumbdrive or incorrectly called a zip drive by newbies)
Always uses strong passwords (min. 8 characters, alphanumeric, mixed case, with a symbol)
Runs Windows virtually, or dual-boots with Bootcamp
Uses the command line occassionally
Rarely pays for software except when it's from a small developer, they want to go legit wit something professional like Photoshop, or something awesome like Parallels that's relatively cheap ($80 list) and extremely invaluable.
Uses a separate FAT32 partition to store their data, drivers, etc. for faster Windows reinstalls and as a contingency in case Windows kicks the bucket
Would like to own a Mac, but they're just too expensive for their budget most of the time

Geek
(Note that geeks can be lacking in some of the skills in the "Power User" Category because geeks tend to be especially proficient in a specific area, such as hardware, or linux for example. Just because someone is a Linux geek does not mean they know how to copy DVD movies.

Build their own computers
Have setup and use a dual-boot or triple boot machine (yes, it can be done)
Can comfortably diagnose hardware problems
Reinstall Windows more than twice per year (this
Are completely comfortable with the registry and have no problem editing it
Uses the command line frequently
Have written their own software
Use Linux, swear by Linux, or will avoid Microsoft products like the plague
Program Java/C++
backup their essential files regularly and without fail (even geeks can forget to do this and we should all strive to do this with our irreplaceable photos and home movies).

Mac: View System Processes and Performance

2007-12-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

How to view the System Processes and Performance on a Mac

Navigate to:
/Applications/Utilities folder/Activity Monitor

The Activity Monitor on the Mac is the equivalent of the Task Manager in Windows

The Activity Monitor displays the system processes, CPU/memory usage.

Photoshop Tutorial - Create 3D Box Art

2007-06-03T01:17:00.000-06:00

Photoshop Tutorial - Create 3D Box Art

Photoshop Tutorial - Creating Reflections

2007-06-03T01:14:00.000-06:00

Photoshop Tutorial - Creating Reflections

Photoshop Tutorial - Blending images with Gradients

2007-06-03T01:09:00.000-06:00

Photoshop Tutorial - Blending images with Gradients

Photoshop Tutorial - Painting Effect

2007-06-03T00:58:00.000-06:00

Photoshop Tutorial - Painting Effect

Photoshop Tutorial - Match color, lighting effect

2007-06-03T00:42:00.000-06:00

Photoshop Tutorial - Match color (create lighting effect)

Photoshop - Turn photos to sketches

2007-05-04T20:30:00.000-06:00

Photo to Sketches Tutorial

Photoshop Gradient Blending

2007-05-04T20:27:00.000-06:00

Blend Tutorial with Gradients (version 7)

PC World Articles

2007-04-28T03:27:00.000-06:00

Video Downloading Tools

15 Great Free Utilities you've never heard of

Top Anti-Virus Programs
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,130869-page,1/article.html

Videos on PCWorld.com
http://www.pcworld.com/video.html

Top 5 external hard drives
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,123728-page,1/article.html

Top 10 Black and White Laser Printers
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,123860-page,1/article.html

Top 5 20-inch Monitors
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,126075-page,1/article.html

top 10 Value Desktop PC's
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,123848-page,1/article.html

Top 5 All-Purpose Laptops
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,123678-page,1/article.html

JPEG Photo Format on Its Way Out?

2007-04-22T02:06:00.000-06:00

JPEG Photo Format on Its Way Out?
Microsoft's new HD Photo format offers higher-quality images half the size of JPEGs, company says.
PC Magazine Article from 03/08/2007

Digital Books (ebooks)

2007-04-21T14:00:00.000-06:00

Apple Pro Training Series - Final Cut Pro 5

Apple Pro Training Series - DVD Studio Pro 4

Advanced Editing and Finishing Techniques in Final Cut Pro HD (2nd Edition)

ISBN: 9780321256089

Advanced Editing Techniques in Final Cut Pro 5

Premiere Pro 2.0 Studio Techniques

Photoshop CS2 Studio Techniques

Word 2007: The Missing Manual

-----

Essential Photoshop Editing Techniques

501 Web Site Secrets: Unleash the Power of Google, Amazon, eBay and More

Photoshop CS2: Image Editing for New Users and Professionals

Shoot Like a Pro! Digital Photography Techniques (PDF)

PSP Hacks (O'Reilly, 2006)

Creating Photomontages with Photoshop (PDF)

Powerpoint Advanced Presentation Techniques

Enhancing CAD Drawings with Photoshop

Photoshop Tips

2007-04-19T22:59:00.000-06:00

From Outdoor Photographer:
Using Layer Masks

Use the X key when painting Layer Masks

Mistakes are reversible by switching from white to black or black to white and repainting the area. When painting in a Layer Mask, keep your free index finger hovering over the X key on the keyboard.

When you make a mistake, hit X and the painting color will switch to the opposite color. You can quickly paint out your mistake, hit X and go back to painting the Layer Mask.

Watch your progress on the Layer Mask in the working image on the screen. Look at the Layer Mask itself to examine whether certain areas are filled. Thumbnails in the Layers Palette are too small to judge critical areas. Use Alt-Click or Option-Click on the Layer Mask thumbnail in the Layers Palette to see the Layer Mask on the screen. Return to the image by clicking on the image thumbnail in the Layers Palette.

Layer Masks and Split Neutral Density Filters
Article from Outdoor Photographer

The Gradient tool shares the space with the Paint Bucket tool in the Tools Palette (ND 1).

The Gradient tool can be used in a Layer Mask to simulate several Split Neutral Density filters. Combined with the Brush and other tools, a Layer Mask can be adapted to enhance any image. The Linear Gradient and the Radial Gradient are the most useful Gradient modes for a Layer Mask.

Here’s a simplified start from the many modes and choices available. Click on the Linear Gradient and the Gradient Preset Picker and choose Foreground to Background (ND 2). In the Layer Mask, this means black to white or white to black.

To use the Linear Gradient, click somewhere in the image and drag the “rubber band” to some other point in the image. The space between the beginning and ending click points will be shaded from black to white. Outside of the click points will be solid colors. If you click at the very top and drag to the very bottom the whole area is shaded in a long, soft blend simulating a soft neutral density filter (ND 3).

If you click and drag a short distance, the blended area is small and there are large areas of solid color simulating a hard neutral density filter (ND 4).

The Linear Gradient can be used high or low in an image or at an angle. Combined with a Brush, a very accurate Layer Mask can be made for any image.

A Radial Gradient in a Layer Mask is used to spotlight a subject or vignette an image.

How to convert DVDs to AVI or MPEG video files

2007-04-17T04:10:00.000-06:00

WikiHow page on steps for converting a DVD to an AVI file or MPEG file.

AutoGK or DVDx can be used.

AutoGK (Official) Tutorial

For Macs

Handbrake, there's also Instant Handbrake.
Handbrake gives a good interface and multiple format/compression options.

Installing Windows

2007-04-07T00:00:00.000-06:00

Tips for Reinstalling Windows:

Download all your drivers and save them to a flash drive or burn them to a CD before you reinstall windows, that way you they'll be handy, and you won't have to go looking for them to have the correct resolution on your screen or to allow your DVD-Burner to function.

Before you install windows and the option appears to create a partition, create an extra partition for your data, so if you ever need to recover data, you'll be able to. This should help speed up the process of reinstalling windows later, since essential drivers and software can be saved to the separate partition.

From my experience, you can create this extra partition now, however you have to wait until windows is installed to format it. Double click on the partition in My Computer and it should prompt you to format it. It's best to format it FAT32, because it's readable by more OSes. A 26 GB partition took about 20 min. to format in FAT32 without the "quick option" on my laptop.

After reinstalling Windows. . . . .
here are some settings you may want to change:

Show file extensions
Set automatic updates to download automatically, but select "let me choose when to install them"
Disable error reporting
(WindowsKey + Pause), click on Advanced at the bottom and disable the error reporting
Add the volume icon to the system tray
Remove Windows Media Player from music/video files associations
Adjust the your scheduled anti-virus scans
Change the location of the My Documents folder
(Right-click the My Documents folder, choose Properties, select the Target tab, and click Move to transfer your current My Documents folder and its contents to another location (see Figure 5). To make My Documents point to an existing folder, click Find Target instead of Move.)

Hardware Drivers

2007-03-21T01:28:00.000-06:00

Dell Inspiron 6000 Drivers

From the Microsoft Page:
Automatic Driver Updates
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/games/learnmore/updatingdrivers.mspx

To use the Windows Update Catalog

1.	On the Microsoft Update home page, under Other options click Administrator options.
2.	Under Update multiple operating systems click Windows Update Catalog.
3.	Click Find driver updates for hardware devices.
4.	Click Pick a hardware category, and search for the latest updates to keep your devices working properly

You can search for driver updates to hardware products, organized by kinds of product and then by manufacturers.

You'll see a list of driver types. Select the category you're updating (Sound, Video, Printer, etc.) and a search form will display. Select from the list of manufacturers, choose your operating system, and search for your update. You'll see a list of suggested updates in the search results. Find the one you need, click Add, and click Go to Download Basket. From there, browse for the location where you'd like to download the software and then click Download Now. Finally, install the update.

What if I can't find my driver using the Windows Update Catalog?

A great resource in the gaming community is a Web site called FilePlanet that hosts drivers, trial versions, and hundreds of other gaming resources. Check FilePlanet if Microsoft Update doesn't list your driver. In the Browse menu on the left, under other files, click Drivers. When the Drivers page appears, enter the name of your device in the Search field, or scroll down to browse by category (Sound, Video Cards, DirectX, etc.)

Dust and Noise on Desktop computers

2007-03-21T01:12:00.000-06:00

About half of the noise generated by desktop computers can be eliminated by dusting out the inside.

Use Meebo to IM from a Browser

2007-03-15T01:18:00.000-06:00

Meebo
Meebo.com
Supports AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, MSN, and Yahoo! instant messaging services all from within a browser window. A new feature lets you move your chat windows onto the desktop. Meebo works in Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Safari.

IM without using or installing an IM client.

From PC Magazine, March 6 2007 issue p.43

Keyboard Shortcuts

2006-11-14T02:15:00.000-07:00

Bypass CD or CD-ROM autoplay [SHIFT] while inserting the disc

Delete an item with no undelete [SHIFT][DEL]

Rename an item [F2]

View an item's Properties [ALT][ENTER]

View an item's Properties [ALT][MOUSE R][MOUSE R]

Paste Special (Microsoft Word) [ALT][e][s][u][ENTER]

When browsing through files, start typing the name of a file or folder to find it.
(Works in explorer, open, and save dialog boxes)

Create a new folder [MOUSE R], [W], [F]

Copy a file [CTRL] drag the file

Arrange icons in alphabetical order [ALT]V, [I], [N]

Arrange icons in alphabetical order [MOUSE R], [I], [N]

Arrange icons by size [ALT][V], [I], [S]

Arrange icons by size [MOUSE R], [I], [S]

Arrange icons by type [ALT][V], [I], [T]

Arrange icons by type [MOUSE R], [I], [T]

Convert Fat32 hard drive to NTFS

2006-11-07T21:48:00.000-07:00

To convert a volume to NTFS from the command prompt

1.	Open Command Prompt. Click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, and then click Command Prompt.
2.	In the command prompt window, type: convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs

For example, typing convert D: /fs:ntfs would format drive D: with the ntfs format. You can convert FAT or FAT32 volumes to NTFS with this command.

Important Once you convert a drive or partition to NTFS, you cannot simply convert it back to FAT or FAT32. You will need to reformat the drive or partition which will erase all data, including programs and personal files, on the partition.

Software List

2006-08-22T00:22:00.000-06:00

List of Great FREE Software

AVI2DVD - Burn a DVD to play in your DVD player from an AVI movie file on your hard drive.

CD Burner XP - Burn music CDs, computer files, and more with this free CD burning application

CutePDF Writer - create PDFs from Microsoft Word, Exel, Powerpoint, and any program that can print. Create PDFs for free!

Daemon Tools - creates a virutal CD/DVD Drive so that you can load Game files/discs that are disc images or ISO files, it also lets you watch DVD ISO files on your hard drive. Definitely a Gamer's Choice program! (You don't have to have the disc in your drive, or hear it spinning!)

DVD Decrypter - Remove most DVD copy protections, and copy DVD movie files to your hard drive, or create an ISO file to burn/ watch on your computer without the DVD disc.

DVDFab Decrypter - rips DVD video files to a hard drive and removes all the newest copy protections

DVD Shrink - this DVD burning program will shrink DVD video files, discs, or ISO files to fit on a 4.7GB disc. It's compression technology creates/burns files that will fit on a standard 4.7GB disc and still look great like the original. It also allows you to remove DVD video clips/extras that you don't need/want.

Irfanview - view images quickly, resize images, automatically resize, rotate, or rename many images.

MPlayer - simple, easy to use video player that includes many popular video codecs pre-installed. Simply drag your video file to the shortcut and watch it. Mplayer is great for watching stubborn video files or files that won't open with Quicktime or Windows Media player.

Printfolders (alt. Download link)- print a list of files/folders (saves to a text file)

Quintessential Player - clean, fast, and free music/video player, and CD Ripper

Source Edit - edit HTML, PHP, and other source code, and FTP server uploads can be set to run every time you save the file.

Videora iPod Converter - converts DVD video files to the iPod video format (requires DVD Decrypter)

WASTE - create a private P2P network on your College Campus to share music, movies, and software, users can only see the network when connected by a friend already on WASTE.

Wink - record flash video demos of computer tasks (can record audio)

Yamipod - copy files from your iPod to your friend's computer, or copy files from his iPod to yours. Yamipod allows you to manage the files on your iPod without using iTunes!

ZipFree 2000 - create ZIP files for FREE! Uses a right click send-to menu in explorer

Prevent Reboots

2006-08-21T12:20:00.000-06:00

(Found article on pcmag.com on 10-24-06)

Prevent Reboots
ARTICLE DATE: 10.11.06

Many people leave their PCs on all of the time. That often means dozens of open windows, and information that hasn't been saved as recently as possible. There's nothing worse than going back to your PC and seeing a message that says "Windows recently downloaded and installed an important security update to help protect your computer. This update required an automatic restart." Or, while you are working, you may grow tired of the nagging little pop-up window with a countdown that tries to reboot your computer in 15 seconds. A simple edit to the system Registry will end this annoyance and save you from losing potentially hours of work if a reboot occurs when you aren't there to prevent it.

In fact, the U.K. publication The Register recently reported that a computer consultant in the U.K. has invoiced Bill Gates for £1,200 for "sabotaging" his work, left open during a critical system update reboot. Even if you tell Windows Update that you wish to perform a custom manual installation of new software, updates can still be pushed down to your system. Most of these critical updates are system-level files that require a reboot to fix problems properly, but you can still make Windows work the way you want it to.

Click Start, then Run. Then type regedit and press Enter. Be careful in the Registry, following the directions slowly and reading twice before clicking once. With the Registry Editor opened, click and expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies and finally Microsoft\Windows. Right-click on Windows and select New\Key with your left mouse. Type WindowsUpdate and press Enter. This will create a new folder.

Now right-click on that folder and create another new key, this one named AU, and press Enter. AU stands for Auto Update. Turn to the right-hand pane, where an entry reads (Default); right-click on the white space and select New DWORD Value. Enter the string NoAutoRebootWithLoggedOnUsers, and press Enter. Now double-click that entry and change the Value Data to a 1, with the Base button of Hexadecimal selected.

Click on File | Exit, after which the Registry autosaves (just as other applications ought to but don't), and reboot. Once Windows loads this value it should never force a reboot when you are not present. It's a small price to pay for regaining control of your computer.

Copy Playstation 2 disc screenshot

2006-08-11T23:03:00.000-06:00

Screenshot from Alcohol 120% for copying a Playstation 2 disc to the hard drive.

Full DVD Burning Guide

2006-07-07T20:42:00.000-06:00

If you're new to DVD Burning this guide with screenshots should help get you on the right track.

If you're burning a movie that was released by Sony, including any of the following, You need to look at the Burning Sony and new DVDs guide.

- Batman Begins
- Fun with Dick and Jane
- Howl's Moving Castle
- Legend of Zorro
- Madagascar
- Memoirs of Geisha
- Transporter 2
- Underworld 2 - Evolution
- Walk the Line

For other movies, read below:

Commercial programs and technology companies have to abide by copyright laws, so that's why you can't burn DVDs with Windows Media Player.

Copying Movies can be a slightly complicated process if you're not familiar with the programs used to do it. However, once you're accustomed to using the software, it's much easier.

So here's how to get started:

Burning DVDs with DVD Decrypter, DVD Shrink, and Nero.

Before you start, you’ll need to have the following programs installed on your computer:

DVD Decrypter
http://www.mrbass.org/dvdrip/

DVD Shrink
http://www.mrbass.org/dvdshrink/

Nero (version 6.3 or higher recommended, which you can download from oldversion.com)
http://www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=nero

serial number for Nero 6.3
http://computer-tricks.blogspot.com/2006/05/nero-63.html

(Note: DVD Decrypter and DVD Shrink are free online.)

(Note: Always try to use a new, unscratched DVD movie disc whenever making copies, as discs in poor condition may not copy, or will likely pass on glitches to the copy.)

It’s also recommended that you don’t run other programs while burning DVDs unless you have over 1GB of RAM or more.

Insert the disc you wish to copy.

Close any DVD player program that opens.

Phase 1

Open DVD Decrypter.

Click on Mode > ISO > Read

Now click on the folder icon that shows where the DVD file will be saved. Choose a folder.

Now click on File > Decrypt.

The process of making an exact copy of the disc to the hard drive should take approx. 30-40min. depending on the length of the movie and extra features.

When DVD Decrypter is finished creating the file, you can close the program and eject the disc.

Phase 2

Now open DVD Shrink.

Click on File > Open Disc Image

Browse for the file that you saved when copying with DVD Decrypter.

DVD Shrink will now analyze the movie for a minute or two.

Uncheck boxes for extra audio Languages that you don't need on the DVD

Click on the plus + sign by the Extras folder.
(This is where the bonus materials are on the disc)

To have higher movie quality, remove the extras by clicking on the individual files and selecting Still image/still images from the dropdown menu. (You can preview the extras if you want to see the clips before removing them.)

If you'd like to keep the extra features on the DVD, select the clip and change the dropdown menu to custom compression and lower it to about 50 or 60 percent for each extra.

Click on the main movie folder. If you've removed enough extras, or compressed them, the movie quality should be around 60-70%, the HIGHER THE BETTER.

Note: Target quality is about 65-70%, anything higher than 65%, and on regular size
TV's you won't be able to tell the difference between the copy and the original.

I personally either remove the extras or compress them to achieve the best quality.

If a movie is not too much over two hours, or doesn't have many extras, it will copy
closer to 100% quality.

Insert a blank DVD disc.

When you’ve achieved the quality setting on the main movie that you’d like, click on the Backup! icon.

Before clicking OK to start the burning, click on the Burn Settings tab and change the speed to 1 or 2 speeds lower than the highest available.

DVD Shrink will now compress the file that DVD Decrypter made and create DVD video files. Afterwards, it will automatically burn those files and the disc will be completed.

This will take about 20-30 min. to create the DVD video files and approx. 10-15 min. to burn onto the blank disc.

Burning new DVDs

2006-07-06T22:54:00.000-06:00

NOTICE: THIS GUIDE IS TO HELP YOU BACKUP MOVIES THAT ARE GENERALLY HARD TO COPY. YOU SHOULD ONLY COPY MOVIES THAT YOU ALREADY OWN; IT IS ILLEGAL TO COPY ANYTHING ELSE.

If you've had problems copying movies in good condition with DVD Shrink, this guide should help you work around any problems. DVD Decrypter is also no longer updated, so it cannot break copy protections on movies released since about Dec. 2005 / Jan. 2006, including a few other movies that have been re-released to include new content.

You'll want to use DVDFab Decrypter, because it is updated so it can break new copy protections, such as Sony's new Arccos.

This guide will help you “backup” the following DVD movies:

- The Aviator
- Batman Begins
- Fun with Dick and Jane
- Howl's Moving Castle
- Legend of Zorro
- Madagascar
- Memoirs of Geisha
- Transporter 2
- Underworld 2 - Evolution
- Walk the Line

You can find a full list of the movies that need to be copied with DVDFab Decrypter at the Wikipedia article below:

ARccOS Protection - Wikipedia Article

Note: If the movie fails to complete in DVDFab Decrypter, and the disc has little or no scratches, the movie most likely has a new copy protection scheme.

You can download DVD Fab Decrypter here:

http://www.dvdidle.com/free.htm

After downloading the program, also download a copy of DVD Shrink, so that you can fit the movie on a standard 4.7GB blank DVD disc.

DVD Shrink download and Guide here:

http://www.mrbass.org/dvdshrink/

And finally, you'll also need Nero (version 6.3 or higher recommended, which you can download from oldversion.com)

http://www.oldversion.com/program.php?n=nero

serial number for Nero 6.3

http://computer-tricks.blogspot.com/2006/05/nero-63.html

Install all three programs before beginning.

Insert the DVD movie that you’d like to copy, and press down the shift key for about 30 seconds immediately after you insert the DVD into the drive. This helps prevent some copy protection schemes from loading automatically.

If you were pressing down the shift key long enough, no DVD playing program should appear. Otherwise, close any DVD player that open.

Open DVDFab Decrypter.

Click on the button to the right of the “Target” that shows a folder.

Select a folder to save the DVD files, and create a new folder.

If DVDFab warns about deleting files, don’t worry as long as you either created a new folder, or if the selected folder is empty.

Now click on the Start button.

DVDFab will now copy all of the DVD files to your computer and this will take approx. 20-40 min. depending on the length of the disc and the maximum reading speed on your DVD Burner.

When DVDFab has finished successfully, you’ll get a confirmation message.

Close DVDFab.

Open DVD Shrink.

In DVD Shrink, click on File > Open

(Locate the files that you saved with DVDFab Decrypter).

DVD Shrink will now analyze the movie for a minute or two.

Uncheck boxes for extra audio Languages that you don't need on the DVD

Click on the plus + sign by the Extras folder.

(This is where the bonus materials are on the disc)

To have higher movie quality, remove the extras by clicking on the individual files and selecting Still image/still images from the dropdown menu. (You can preview the extras if you want to see the clips before removing them.)

If you'd like to keep the extra features on the DVD, select the clip and change the dropdown menu to custom compression and lower it to about 50 or 60 percent for each extra.

Click on the main movie folder. If you've removed enough extras, or compressed them, the movie quality should be around 60-70%, the HIGHER THE BETTER.

Note: Target quality is about 65-70%, anything higher than 65%, and on regular size

TV's you won't be able to tell the difference between the copy and the original.

I personally either remove the extras or compress them to achieve the best quality.

If a movie is not too much over two hours, or doesn't have many extras, it will copy

closer to 100% quality.

When you’ve achieved the quality setting on the main movie that you’d like, click on the Backup! icon.

Insert a blank DVD disc.

Before clicking OK to start the burning, click on the Burn Settings tab and change the speed to 1 or 2 speeds lower than the highest available.

DVD Shrink will now compress the files that DVDFab Decrypter created. Nero will finish burning the DVD Automatically.

This will take about 20-30 min. to create the DVD video files and approx. 10-15 min. to burn onto the blank disc.

Alien Skin Exposure Software

2006-06-25T01:52:00.000-06:00

PHBHEJNALOMH

This serial s/n was pretty hard to find, because there were several links to follow on those serial sites.
I thought I was going to end up in a loop of dead links.

I confirmed that it should work by entering it into a google search.

Submitted to serialz.to on 6/25/06 at 1:45am. Gave them the crap_emails address.

The Sims 2 - Open for Business

2006-06-24T12:31:00.000-06:00

1DQQ-GNME-FIGH-TING-4FUNSDSJ-NKFG-WPEM-N7GC-44RJGKDM-
FYLL-Y57Y-WBT5-2C2L

OR

XVSA-24UG-G34W-NG32-YRLD

OR

9UWE-LLX8-VZKG-PFST-2SR5

Warcraft 3 III

2006-06-24T12:21:00.000-06:00

RWOIGJ-MYAK-ENT7B6-JXRQ-24G70N

(it won't work on BattleNet.St3R30)

OR

NO5T79-FQYI-84ECPR-XVH6-7GWDBN

OR

FCHFXL-JPLA-TTMWZJ-RN19-D3UOBY

Dawn of War - Winter Assault

2006-06-24T12:15:00.000-06:00

458B-F302-1B93-D140-8C1F

The Sims original and living large

2006-06-24T00:30:00.000-06:00

The Sims (original)

101121-202080-217218-4564

OR

100866-456455-547801-5458

OR

100270-325684-522575-8212

The Sims Living Large

1501-8620638-9299163-2529

OR

1501-3787712-1919378-7449

OR

1501-8620638-9299163-2529

3D Studio Max 7

2006-06-24T00:21:00.000-06:00

040-11111111

OR

7205 1809 5391 3524 2452

Starcraft

2006-06-24T00:14:00.000-06:00

4835-08309-0407

OR

2951-83214-3418

Vegas Video 6.0

2006-06-24T00:11:00.000-06:00

Name: 1BENWWF
S/N: JB-46NQR9-R7Q9W3-9DMZ80

Command and Conquer Yuri's Revenge

2006-06-19T17:46:00.000-06:00

050821-978742-248929-4557

OR

043930-288237-966022-4511

OR

042830-841635-898083-4674

Freehand 11

2006-06-19T17:29:00.000-06:00

FHW110-57381-91665-81669

OR

WSW600-58472-80660-08253

OR

FHW110-53573-58422-28900

DVD Burning Software Links

2006-06-13T11:48:00.000-06:00

DVD Shrink Download and Guide
DVD Decrypter Download and Guide
Nero download on Oldversion.com

DVD Burning Guide

2006-06-12T20:20:00.000-06:00

If you're new to DVD Burning this guide should help get you started!

If you'd like to see this guide with photos/screenshots, see the Full Guide Here.

If you're burning a movie that was released by Sony, including any of the following, You need to look at the Burning Sony and new DVDs guide.

- Batman Begins
- Fun with Dick and Jane
- Howl's Moving Castle
- Legend of Zorro
- Madagascar
- Memoirs of Geisha
- Transporter 2
- Underworld 2 - Evolution
- Walk the Line

For other movies, read below:

Commercial programs and technology companies have to abide by copyright laws, so that's why you can't burn DVDs with Windows Media Player.

DVD Shrink is no longer updated, so it cannot remove new copy protections from the last approx. 6 months. Unfortunately, you can waste blank discs using only DVD Shrink. To burn newer DVDs, reference the following guide:

Insert a blank DVD disc.

Save a DVD to your Computer

2006-06-11T10:04:00.000-06:00

If you have a large hard drive, or an external hard drive, you can make a full copy of the DVD to your hard drive using DVD Decrypter.

Note: The file will be between 6GB-8.5GB depending on how long the movie is and how many extra features are on the disc.

You can download DVD decrypter from the link below.

DVD Decrypter Download Page
Daemon Tools Download Page

You'll also need to install Daemon Tools, which I've also included a link for.

After installing DVD decrypter, insert the DVD and close any DVD player programs that appear.

Open DVD Decrypter and select Mode > ISO > Read

Now, click on the little folder icon where it shows the save location and choose a folder to save the DVD File.

Now click File > Decrypt.

This process will take approx. 20-40min. depending on the speed of your DVD Drive, and luckily you can do this with a mere DVD-ROM drive.

Note: Make sure you use a disc that is not scratched and is in the best possible condition.

When it's finished and has completed successfully, close DVD Decrypter.

You can eject the DVD movie.

Make sure you've installed Daemon Tools.

Open Daemon Tools.

Now look in bottom right corner of your screen (system tray) for an icon with a lightning bolt.

Right click on that icon and go to Virtual CD/DVD Drives > Mount Image and navigate to the folder with the DVD file that you just created.

If DVDs automatically load when you insert them into your computer, the DVD should start playing!!

Internet explorer save dialog

2006-06-03T19:17:00.000-06:00

If you don't know where your files are being save in Internet Explorer, click to save a file, and you should see this box appear. Click on the down area to see where your files are being saved.

Nero 7

2006-05-31T20:23:00.000-06:00

5C800010800000000056668786915C80001080000000008666123019

OR

5C82-0010-8011-0000-7932-4090-9107

OR

5C800010800000000086661230195C800010800000000006664341975
C80001080000000002666685258

Don't ever register the software if you use serial numbers from the internet!!

Diablo 2

2006-05-31T19:08:00.000-06:00

4XB6-87J4-E4M9-K4CJ

OR

Z6PH-N7ZG-JFGM-P4P8

OR

ZPZ9-6W7X-DJPJ-ZN7W

Need for Speed Most Wanted

2006-05-31T19:01:00.000-06:00

PL33-NKML-S49X-DR7W-6MY9

OR

A6RR - 55C9 - P4TN - SPZH - 9XLR

Warcraft 3 III Reign of Chaos

2006-05-29T20:41:00.000-06:00

4PGJ6F-H26K-KZJ26C-GXPH-RMC8CY

FIFA 2006

2006-05-29T20:38:00.000-06:00

4788-7MA4-C2MF-GXEF-QDXQ

Warcraft 3 III Frozen Throne

2006-05-29T20:31:00.000-06:00

C9JC7R-XNYY-BNFNWD-DWNJ-PCX7XJ

OR

VNM6K8-D24F-DV7JJJ-2DVM-9X9D9MJN9YDG-WY7Z-XGEK4C
-N6WB-CEGDG9HH84GY-2CPR-EYB8MM-6VYV-C2P8P8YF74K9-
HZ2N-ZXK6CN-JCRV-9E6467T4CH2G-E6BF-Y7WZ7Z-6BPK-
PRM2MCP72CW4-6GDM-CXNPN6-M7FB-284J42B49MEB-NCJR-
M8FPPE-EBYY-EFM9M9VC8H9X-2NHZ-PGV62K-FD8J-P46Z68

Age of Mythology

2006-05-29T20:23:00.000-06:00

P3HM4-WDM27-662XW-9BPTV-CFVMQ

OR

QVW83-4MC67-FDPTH-49PT8-6HGRD

Command and Conquer Red Alert 2

2006-05-29T20:20:00.000-06:00

026934-529398-805865-3147

Photoshop Elements 4

2006-05-29T20:14:00.000-06:00

1057-1216-0461-4400-0979-1595

or

1057-1213-2730-1611-6360-6332

Don't register the software when using this serial number!!

Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4

2006-05-29T20:07:00.000-06:00

P4EPBTIQDAIH7WXM

Don't register the game if you use this serial number.

Photoshop 4

2006-05-29T12:48:00.000-06:00

WW250R3107069-312

Don't register if you use this serial number!

Enter any name, preferably a joke name, and not your real name.

Dreamweaver 8

2006-05-29T12:23:00.000-06:00

WPD800-58436-27232-80204

If you use this serial number, don' register the software.

Nero 6.3

2006-05-29T11:45:00.000-06:00

Nero Edition 6.3
1A23-0009-5030-2246-6907-8435

You can download Nero version 6.3 from OldVersion.com's Nero Page

(Don't register the software if you use this serial number.)

Link in New Window

2006-05-23T23:52:00.000-06:00

Shift-click on a link in Internet Explorer to open it in a new window.

Acid Pro 6

2006-05-20T12:59:00.000-06:00

Here's the serial number for Acid Pro 6.

7TVFNQXTNDPECF3MPPDX

Remember, don't register the program if you use this, or other serials numbers that you've found on the web.

Office 2003

2006-05-15T02:49:00.000-06:00

2003 Professional:
GWH28-DGCMP-P6RC4-6J4MT-3HFDY

ky7h8-cw4qb-w4392-4xjq9-xxhjm

KWHMK-Q639R-D4H3T-4BPH4-RWX3B

(three different serial numbers are listed above.)

Remember: don't register the software, if you use any of these serial numbers / CD keys!!!

Microsoft Word 2002 / Office 2002

2006-05-14T20:27:00.000-06:00

Use this serial number. . .and remember NEVER register if you've found a serial number on the internet.

FM9FY-TMF7Q-KCKCT-V9T29-TBBBG

Ipod Rip

2006-05-13T13:15:00.000-06:00

iPodRip is a program to copy songs from an iPod onto another computer.

iPod Rip Download Page (trial version)
ipod Rip on Download.com (trial)

Mac Right Click

2006-05-13T00:13:00.000-06:00

Control-Click for mac is the same as right-clicking on a PC.

Excel - Show Time in Decimal Format

2006-05-09T17:24:00.000-06:00

To have excel show time in decimal format, multiply by 24 and show in General Format.

To test this, put 1:30 in a cell and when you finish it should be 1.5

Show Full Menus in Microsoft Office

2006-05-06T20:09:00.000-06:00

PC World October 2004 - Annoyances Issue

In Word, Excel, and other office programs--to show the full menus and turn off the feature that shows "personalized menus", do the following

Tools > Customize > Options > Always show full menus (check box)

Installing Printers and Printer Drivers

2006-04-21T23:33:00.000-06:00

(The drivers for the printer were already copied to a folder on the Hard Drive of the PC.)

- Hook up the printer to the computer.
- When the add printer wizard comes up, let it go through the screens until it gets to a dialog asking where to look for the drivers. Check to browse on the Hard Drive and navigate to the folder where the drivers were copied.
- Go through the next screens.
- If the printer drivers installed successfully, there will be a balloon window saying so.
- It should also prompt you to print a test page.
- Print the test page, and then you know that you're good to go.

Site - date updated

2006-02-19T01:57:00.000-07:00

Know when the webpage you are visiting was last updated
type in the address field: javascript:alert(document.lastModified)
Time and date will appear in a pop-up window.

iexpress tool

2006-02-19T01:43:00.000-07:00

A sweet feature in windows is the ability to create a self-extracting package with the iexpress program.

iexpress creates an executable (.exe) file that allows the person to extract the contained files without having Winzip or other unzipping software.

- Great for transfering several files and bundling them into one
- The user is able to select where to extract the files
- can include a license or description of what is in the package

To start the iexpress program go to:
Start > Run > iexpress

Guide to WASTE

2006-02-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

In this guide:

Searching and Browsing for Files (also sorting search results)
Sharing your files on Waste
Seeing the files that you're sharing on WASTE
Downloading entire CDs automatically
Easier Movie searches
Speeding downloads even more > downloading multiple files at a time
Watching AVI movies from WASTE
What's available on WASTE

FAQS

Why are the files downloading slow?
"Error Opening Output File" ??
When should I close WASTE?

Searching and Browsing for Files

To search and browse for files, click on the magnifying glass icon in the main WASTE window.

You can make your searches have lots of music/other files display depending on how many words you include in your search and if you spell the words correctly.

You can use combinations of a band name & CD title to find exactly the files you want, or simply the name of the artist/band to find everything.

Note: you can sort search results by name, file size, or file type/format by clicking on the respective column name.

Sharing your files on Waste

1) In the main Waste window, click File > Preferences
2) On the bottom of the list on the left, Click on Sending
3) Click the Add button to choose a folder that you'd like to share.
4) After you've selected the folder, click the Rescan button.
5) Before closing, check the box by 'Rescan directories' and change the number in the box to like 25 or 30 minutes.
6) Hit close.

Seeing the Files that you're sharing on Waste

To see the files that you're sharing on Waste, open the file browser.

Type /yourname in the search bar and hit Enter on the keyboard.
note: use spaces where appropriate, and don't worry about capitalizing the name.

Download an entire CD automatically

1) Open up the file Browser
2) Search for the artist (you can also search for the title of the album)
3) scroll down the list of files until you see songs that have a common folder name.

ie: as shown below, the user has organized his Enya songs into folders with the title of the album.
Ever time you see a forward slash, that means it's a new folder.

4) So to download the entire Enya CD Memory of Trees, right click on one of the songs that has a /Memory of Trees and select Download Parent.

Now all of the songs in the CD will automatically download into a folder with the title of the album. This is a nice alternative to clicking on each song, dowloading it, and then organizing it into a folder. It's also much easier to share your music with others when it's organized into folders.

Easier Movie Search

Note: most movies on waste are approx 600-800 MB, if they're larger than that they may not play correctly, or could skip a lot.

If you're having a hard time finding movies, or if you simply want to narrow down the search results, type the name of the movie and then avi in the search box. About 70-90% of the movies currently shared on Waste are in avi format.

Here's an example:

indiana jones avi
american pie avi
matrix avi

you get the idea. . .

However, if you had only searched for indiana jones, a bunch of other files that are not movies, would have come up in the search results and you might have downloaded the wrong file, if you weren't paying attention to the filesize.

How to Download more than 1 file at a time (Recommended for Music/Software only)

If you'd like to download music faster, you can change WASTE's default setting of only allowing 1 file to be downloaded at a time.

To change this, go to:

File > Peferences > Receving

Change the number in box from 1 to either 2 or 3.
I recommend 2 files at time. Here's why:
Normally when you're downloading files, it completes one file and then starts the download of the next. However, when you allow 2 files to be downloaded at a time, you don't have to wait for one file to be downloaded until the next starts.

See it here:

Watching AVI movies from Waste:

If you're having problems playing movies from waste in Windows Media Player (which sucks at playing new video files), get either VLC, or Mplayer. Both can play just about any video file. VLC has menus, whereas Mplayer runs only on keyboard shortcuts, so try both and see which is easier.

To download/use VLC:

1. Do a search for vlc in WASTE
2. Download the VLC exe file.
3. Install VLC
4. Open the program
5. File > Open File

To get Mplayer:

1. Do a search for mplayer zip
2. Now download the mplayer zip file that ends in pre7.zip
3. Unzip the file in a convenient location (best to store it in the program files folder)
4. open up the new folder and now right click on mplayer.exe and select Create shortcut.
5. drag the shortcut to your desktop

Opening the Mplayer program won't do anything, so you have to drag the movie you want to play onto the shortcut.

Mplayer keyboard shortcuts:

Basic keys: (complete list in the man page, also check input.conf)
<- or ->
seek backward/forward 10 seconds

up or down
seek backward/forward 1 minute

pgup or pgdown
seek backward/forward 10 minutes

<>
step backward/forward in playlist

p or SPACE
pause movie (press any key to continue)

f
Full Screen

q or ESC
stop playing and quit program

+ or -
adjust audio delay by +/- 0.1 second

o
cycle OSD mode: none / seekbar / seekbar + timer

* or /
increase or decrease PCM volume

z or x
adjust subtitle delay by +/- 0.1 second

r or t
adjust subtitle position up/down

FAQS

Why are the files downloading slow?

Answer:
Files can download slower if you're trying to download too many files at once, or if the person you're downloading from also has several others downloading from him at the same time.
It's recommended that you download from the fastest user, so after you have done a search and found the file(s) that you want, click on the Speed column to sort the files by the user's speed. These speeds are listed in Milliseconds, so you'll want the lowest number.
ie: 46ms is much better than 200ms, etc.

If no other user has the same file, then you're stuck downloading it a little bit slower. (Sometimes the download speed picks up after a few minutes.)

How can I fix "error opening output file"?

Answer:
This simply means that you've tried to download the same file twice without first clearing the original one. Before starting the download again, open the transfer window and right click on the file with the error message and select 'Cleanup Selected File(s)'. Now you find the file again and restart the download.

When should I close WASTE?

Answer:
It's a good idea to close WASTE when you're burning a CD/DVD on your computer. Why? Because WASTE is constantly using bandwith and memory when it's running. If you experience a lag or problems smoothly playing video, you could also try close WASTE in that situation.

What's Available on WASTE?

All kinds of files are available on Waste.

Some examples:

Family Guy episodes (every single one!!)
Simpsons Episodes
Stargate episodes
All the Greenday CDs
Harry Potter Audiobooks
All the Harry Potter movies
All the Star Wars movies
About 700 different movies (usually)
Nintendo 64 & Super Nintendo Games (ROMS/Emulation)
Adobe Photoshop
Dreamweaver MX (website creation)
Video Editing software (Adobe Premiere)
DVD Burning Software
Call of Duty 1 and 2
Age of Empires 3
Star Wars Battlefront 2
Star Wars Games
Worms World Party
Worms 3D
Doom 3
Unreal Tournament
And much much MORE!!

Please remember to share your music, movies, and games!!

If you can't find something try Bittorrent with torrentspy.com to find tons of TV shows, music and other stuff if you can't find it on Waste.

However, Bittorrent does not work very well on campus, so you'll have to use it at a friend's house or on a DSL or Cable internet connection.

TV Display for IBM Laptop

2006-02-02T23:12:00.000-07:00

Right click on the desktop

Graphics Options > Output > Intel Dual Display Clone > Television + Notebook

This is how to display the laptop on a TV through an S-Video cable.

Fixing Firefox Profile Problem

2006-01-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

Fixing Firefox Profile Problem

Help: Firefox Lost My Profile

When I tried to open Firefox yesterday, I was greeted with a dialog box requesting that I choose a profile. When I tried to select the one and only default profile, Firefox wouldn't or couldn't open it. I created a second profile and Firefox opened, but of course without all of the customization I had done to it. Not wanting to reinvent my personal Firefox, I decided to poke around in the Profile directory and I came up with a simple way to restore my old profile, which I will share with you now.

Follow these steps to restore your profile:

When you encounter the dialog box requesting a profile, create your second profile and give it any name. Click OK and a plain vanilla version of Firefox opens.
Make sure you close Firefox and Thunderbird.
Navigate to your Firefox profiles folder. This is buried in your profile folder in Windows XP. My path looks as follows:
C:\Documents and Settings\UserName\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles
You should see two profile folders. Right-click each one and select Properties and determine which one was created today (the plain vanilla version) and which is your old, trusty profile. The profile you want should have an older Created date.
Double-click the older folder to open it. This is important. Make sure it's the older folder.
Press Ctrl-A to select all of the content in your old folder and Ctrl-C to copy all of it.
Navigate to the new profile. When the folder is open, press Ctrl-V to paste the contents of your old profile into your new one.
Note that if Firefox or Thunderbird is open, you will get an error message before all the files are copied. Close both programs. If you continue to get an error message claiming one is still open, press Ctrl-Alt-Del to access the Windows Task Manager. Click the Processes tab. Click the Image Name column to sort alphabetically by name, then scroll down and see if Firefox or or Thunderbird are in the list. If either one is, select it and click End Process. You should now be able to paste the entire contents of your old folder into your new profile.
When you are done, open Firefox and your old settings should be restored.

Setting up Private Network (Waste)

2006-01-25T15:52:00.000-07:00

How to setup WASTE

First download the setup file here:
WASTE setup Download

Run the setup program that you downloaded.

For the first few steps, click next until you get to the following step.

Put in a nickname or screename and put the real name just whatever you'd like.

Select T3/LAN for the connection speed.

Leave the Network name/ID blank.

Click next.

On the following step, click on "Run key generator"

You'll also make a password, which you can save later, but use a password you won't forget.

After you've generated your key click on "Copy my public key to the clipboard". Now open up notepad (Start > All Programs > Accessories) or another text editor and paste your key. Save the text file and email/IM it to the person that is connecting you to the network.

The person connecting you to WASTE needs to add your key that you just sent them. That can be done by opening the main WASTE window and going to File > Preferences > Public Keys
1) Click on the add button and import the text file containing the key.
(See image below)

Now click on "Import public keys" and import the text file that either myself or a friend has given you to connect to the network.

For the person already on WASTE to give you their key, they should:

1) Open the main WASTE Window and go to File > Preferences > Private Key
2) Click on copy my public key to the clipboard.
3) either save the key in notepad (Start > Accessories > Notepad) or they can email you the text of the key (it's better NOT to instant message the key because it can get cut off.)
(See image below)

Now the new person connecting to WASTE can either paste in the key or import the text file containing the key.

After you've received the confirmation that the key was imported, click next.

Now to choose the folder for your downloads.

I recommend using the My Music folder on your PC, unless you'd like a different folder for your music/movie/software downloads to go into.

It's up to you whether or not you share your music and other stuff, but if you've got something really rare, or an eclectic collection of music it would be sweet to share. Again, it's up to you.

Now click run.

Ok, we're almost done!!!

In the little window that comes up, click on the icon with the arrow pointing to it.

When the following window comes up, change the Maintain "0" connections box to the number 4. Then, type in the IP address of the person connecting you to the network. (If you need to know how to get the IP address read below.)

Once you have the person's IP address type, or paste it, and hit enter.

How to find the person's IP address who is already on WASTE.

1) In the little WASTE window with all of the user names, click on File > Preferences. Then click on Your IP Addr. on the left hand menu. (See the image below.)

Within a few seconds a window should pop-up asking you if you would like to accept a key from a user's name.

Click yes, and keep clicking yes (or use the y key on your keyboard) until it doesn't ask you anymore. You'll probably have to accept about 40-60 keys. Every time you click yes, this is connecting you to a new person.

After that's done, in the same window change the number of connections to 10.

You can close this window now.

Now you should be setup on the network, and there shouldn't be anymore setup required each time you want to connect.

There are two settings you should adjust before using WASTE.

Click on File > Preferences.

Click on "Receving" and make sure the box is checked to "Prompt before accepting"

Now click on "Pending Keys" and check the box for "Auto-accept broadcasted public keys"

This will prevent the key prompts from coming up while you are doing other work. On several occassions, I was playing a multiplayer first person shooter and the key box pop-up in front of my screen, pausing the game. It will also prevent you from being annoyed by having to accept new ones while you're working on other stuff.

NOW YOU'RE READY TO EXPERIENCE THE GLORY OF WASTE.

To search for files, click on the magnifying glass icon in the main window.

Minitab 13 s/n serial

2006-01-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

Minitab keys, serials

MiniTab 13.0
WIN1310.00689

Minitab 10.0 statistical software
WC1020775

Minitab 9.2
W92006400

OurTunes

2006-01-20T11:57:00.000-07:00

Connect and download music from all the shared iTunes music on Campus!!

Photoshop CS & CS2 Features

2006-01-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

Photoshop CS

Top Features for Photographers:

Professional toolset: create original images or modify photos using a full assortment of painting, drawing, and retouching tools.
Color correction: improve the color, contrast, and dynamic range of any image with a comprehensive set of professional color-correction tools.
Improved File Browser: quickly preview, tag, and sort images; search and edit metadata and keywords; and automatically share batches of files from the improved File Browser.
Comprehensive 16-bit support: perform more precise editing and retouching with expanded support for 16-bit images in core features, including layers, brushes, text, shapes, and more.
Healing Brush: effortlessly remove dust, scratches, blemishes, wrinkles, and other flaws with the Healing Brush.
Integrated digital camera raw file support: get truer, higher-quality output by working with the complete raw data files from most major digital camera models.
Match Color command: achieve a consistent look between package shots, fashion photos, and more by instantly matching the color scheme of one image to another.
Histogram palette: monitor changes to your image in the Histogram palette, which dynamically updates as you make adjustments.
Shadow/Highlight correction: quickly improve the contrast of over- or under-exposed areas of an image while preserving the overall balance of the photo.
Crop and Straighten command: Scan multiple images at once and let Photoshop automatically straighten and save each image as an individual file.

Top Features for Web Designers:

Enhanced ImageReady user interface: create and modify Web designs faster with multiple object selection, object grouping, and smart guides.
Improved Photoshop integration: enjoy quicker, more seamless integration between Photoshop and ImageReady, plus automated file saving and common commands, tools, and shortcuts.
Image slicing: slice complex, layered images and apply appropriate format and compression settings to each area before exporting as an HTML table.
Variable data support: easily import database and spreadsheet information to automate the production of Web graphics.
Macromedia Flash (SWF) file export: use ImageReady CS to create Macromedia Flash (SWF) animations, complete with vector artwork and variable text.
Animated GIF creation: turn layered Photoshop or Illustrator files into compact GIF animations in a few short steps.
Web Content palette: create and edit rollovers and other interactive Web elements more easily using the new Web Content palette.
Layers-as-files export: optimize and export individual layers as separate files for use in Macromedia Flash (SWF) animations and dynamic HTML.
Weighted optimization: smoothly vary compression settings using channels to display higher-quality results in critical image areas.
Streamlined HTML output: create leaner, more easily edited HTML with new controls for nested tables, XHTML, and more.

Photoshop CS2

Smooth File Handling with Adobe Bridge
Simplify file handling with Adobe Bridge, the next-generation file browser. Students can process multiple camera raw images at once; resize, rate, and label thumbnails; quickly review images in Slideshow mode; search metadata; and more.

Vanishing Point
This revolutionary technology lets you produce amazing results in a faction of the time. You can confidently clone, brush, and paste elements that automatically match the perspective of any image area.

Image Warp
Students can easily create packaging mock-ups or other dimensional effects by wrapping an image around any shape or stretching, curling, and bending an image using the Image Warp tool. Faculty
and students will embrace this new feature, which lets them add dimensionality to their creations without using complex 3D software.

Advanced Noise Reduction
Give your work a professional look by polishing digital photos and removing JPEG artifacts with advanced noise reduction. Now you can produce images that look great for advertisements, brochures, posters, magazines, newspapers, Web sites, presentations, and much more.

Multiple Layer Control
Select and move, group, align, transform, and warp objects more intuitively by clicking and dragging directly on the canvas. Now it's easier for students to work with complex, layered images.

Tile Selected Windows

2006-01-15T00:00:00.000-07:00

To tile just a subset of your open programs (at least in Windows XP), click on the taskbar button for the first program you want to tile, then Ctrl-click on the button for the second program you want to be able to see. Both taskbar buttons should remain selected. Right-click on the second taskbar button and select Tile Windows Horizontally or Tile Windows Vertically.

Edit the SendTo Menu

2006-01-14T23:41:00.000-07:00

Open:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\SendTo\ (it is hidden)

Copy shortcuts to folders and programs you would like to add to the menu.

Rename the Recycle Bin

2006-01-14T23:39:00.000-07:00

If you (like me) would like to be able to rename the Recycle Bin to something else (Trash, Waste, Shredder, etc) then this tweak will make it easy to do so.

Open up your favorite plain text editor (notepad, for example) and copy the following text into a new file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=hex:50,01,00,20
"CallForAttributes"=dword:00000000

Now save this text file as a .reg file, such as "Rename Recycle Bin.reg" and put it wherever you like. Double click on the file, and when it asks you if you want to import it into the registry, choose Yes. You'll notice a new option in the right-click menu to Rename the Recycle Bin. You can also rename it by highlighing the Bin and hitting F2, or by highlighting it and clicking on the file name (just like renaming any other file.

If you want to turn off this new feature, make another .reg file with the same content as above, but change the first number in the "Attributes"=hex: line from 50 to 40 and import that file into the registry.

Turn off clicking tick sound in explorer

2006-01-14T23:30:00.000-07:00

Here's how to turn off the annoying sound that plays in windows explorer and internet explorer.

Open the Control Panel
Click on Sounds and Audio Devices
Open the Sounds Tab
Scroll down the list of sounds until you see Windows Explorer
Click on Start Navigation
Change the sound to None

Display a message on Startup

2006-01-14T23:13:00.000-07:00

If you would like to display a legal message or any other message in a pop-up window when windows starts read below:

Start regedit, if you are unfamiliar with regedit please see our FAQ.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
Modify the key legalnoticecaption with what you want to name the window.
Modify the key legalnoticetext with what you want the window to say.
Restart.

Turn off system beeps

2006-01-14T23:11:00.000-07:00

Start Regedit. If you are unfamiliar with regedit please refer to our FAQ on how to get started.
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Sound
Once there, locate Beep on the list on the right.
Right click on it and select Modify
Change the value equal to no
Reboot your computer and the beeps will be gone!

Firefox Extensions

2006-01-13T11:28:00.000-07:00

Aardvark
AdBlock
ColorZilla
FlashBlock
GooglePreview
No Script
PDF Download
Web Developer (Toolbar)
Yahoo Mail Preview

Paste Special macro in Word

2006-01-13T00:16:00.000-07:00

Control formatting of pasted text
PC Magazine
05.06.03

When you paste text that you copied from most other applications into Word, the text retains the font size and formatting it had in the original application. To avoid this in Word 2000 and earlier, you had to paste the text by choosing Edit | Paste Special and then selecting Unformatted Text. Word 2002 has a paste pop-up that makes it even easier to paste unformatted text.

You can create a macro to perform this action for you. Start by creating a macro with a name like PasteUnformatted, which records the steps you just performed. You must then edit the macro by hand, because Word's macro recorder does not correctly record your choice of Unformatted Text. In the macro editor, replace the line Selection .PasteAndFormat (wdPasteDefault) with Selection.PasteSpecial DataType:=wdPasteText, Link:=False.

Enabling an Ethernet Network Connection

2006-01-13T00:09:00.000-07:00

To enable an Ethernet/LAN connection:

Start > Control Panel > Network Connections > Right click
on Local Area connection > Disable > Right click on it again > Enable

Use this when switching locations (ie: office to home) and the connection should be online
within seconds of re-enabling it.

Winzip v9 s/n serial

2006-01-12T21:41:00.000-07:00

name: www.piaodown.com
s/n: EC982F16

Final Draft 6 serial s/n

2006-01-12T11:25:00.000-07:00

Final Draft 6
FD6-820-274-384-666