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Rick

iPhone cartoon – Yep, this about sums it up

I ran across this cartoon in a random site today. Mac folks are very excited about the iPhone that is due out later this summer. The iPhone is a device that does some things that smart phones have been doing for a long time. Most Treo and Blackberry users have had the features that the iPhone boasts of for almomst a decade.

The feature that makes the iPhone so high in demand is the little Apple logo that is found on the back.

Since this cartoon was found on a random site (a site that shows random pictures from all over the web) I don't have the authors name or the original site's address. I will be happy to post it and link to it if anyone finds it. 

Windows Vista makes networking maddening

I setup a new Windows Vista machine yesterday on a network with two Windows XP systems. My client wanted Vista to be the main computer that shared files and printers with the other two computers. It only took me 45 minutes to figure out how to set it all up. In Windows XP I can setup a network in less than 15 minutes – probably less than 10.

One of the first complaints I had early on with Windows XP was that it was loaded with too many wizards. This only bothered me until I started using the wizards. Now I depend on them.

A wizard is a feature that leads you step-by-step through the process of a complicated task such as setting up a network or burning to a CD. The Windows XP wizards turned out to be one of its biggest strengths. They made it easy for a friend, family member, or tech support person to walk you through setting things up.

Flower 1997-2007

FlowerToday, although I worked all day, technology took a back seat for me. Our female pygmy goat, Flower, died after a short illness. I discovered her this morning in her little barn. We knew that she wouldn't be with us much longer, but after the events in Virginia yesterday and day after day of headlines with the words murder, killings, dead, etc, I broke down when I found our little pet goat.

Listening to the news and reading the papers, I grew even more sad because of the sensational, irrational, and knee-jerk type society we have become. It doesn't matter if someone is white, black, purple, green, or polka dot or whether they are Catholic, Muslim, agnostic, or Methodist or whether they were born in Madagascar, Japan, Iceland, or North Dakota or if their political beliefs are left, right, circular, up or down, I truly believe that we all have a few simple goals in life: health, happiness, and the right to live an uncomplicated life.

I’m terrible at analogies

Analogies usually only make sense to the person who made them up. With computers, I find that I am constantly trying to come with an analogy to compare the often intangible function of computers to a real world common experience. Unfortunately, I think I fail with most of my analogies.

I did, however, come up with an analogy the other day that I think accurately describes web surfing. We hear some feedback about our web site that usually centers around some rendition of "I can't find what I'm looking for very easily." We have a little video in the upper left hand corner of every page that explains how the site is organized and how to best utilize the navigation tools on this page. We also have a fabulous built-in search engine to help you find information as quickly as possible.

Adjust font size in Firefox – Video Tip

I had a client today with a few vision problems. The small fonts and certain colors were difficult for him to see.

Hold CTRL+(+ key) to increase font size adn hold CTRL+(- key) to decrease the font size. However, this change is only temporary.

To make more permanent changes to the font size go into Tools->Options and select the Content tab. You can make changes on that main screen and under the Advanced button.

Oh heck – just watch the video below (click "read more if the video isn't already showing), it makes more sense that way.

“NEW” Google Feature – Pass it on….

Reader, Chuck, wrote in and asked our opinion about this "new" feature from Google, which isn't new and isn't limited to Google. In fact, the feature has been around since the phone book was invented. Here's how the too frequently forwarded email starts:

"Google has implemented a new feature which enables you to

Two guys can’t do it alone

I visited a new customer today that set the record for the most viruses and spyware on a single system. The computer had no anti-virus program of any sort on it, no anti-spyware system, was running the first version of XP, and on dial-up. Needless to say, the computer was hosed and it took more than six hours to clean-up (between what I did in two hours, and the four hours I let the user take care of in secondary scans and cleanup). 

The customer made a comment that I hear often in this situation, "This kind of thing makes work for you, huh?." My standard answer, "Yes, but it is the worst part of my job. Why? Because this is so preventable." 

Using Picasa to make a CD of your favorite pictures – Video Tip

Lately I have had several people ask me how to make a CD from only certain pictures from several folders. Here is a short video explaining how it's done.

The background music came out pretty bad, but the rest of the video should run OK. (click "read more if the video isn't already showing)