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Internet Explorer prints only HTML

Today I ran into a problem that I hadn’t seen before. A customer’s MSN and Internet Explorer browser (including MSN email and web mail) would only print the HTML coding of a web page or email.

HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language and is the programming that is used to present web pages to us and the coding behind text color, bold, etc. in email. We had cleaned some spyware from this users computer earlier in the day, and even printed out some pictures, but a few hours later I received a call about this strange symptom. At first, I thought it was just a forwarded email gone awry, but after arriving on the scene and seeing that word processing documents, test pages, pictures, and spreadsheets all printed fine, the culprit was definitely in Internet Explorer 7.

How to Remove the Greeting Card Virus

Adam and I first mentioned this nasty little virus earlier this spring on our radio show. The email that spreads it poses as an electronic greeting card from your friend or relative. Because the email is so poorly constructed, is never from a known address, and the link it displays in the body of the message is a number (NEVER, EVER Click a link that is constructed of a number, ex: http://91.188.176.15/) we didn’t put much credence in how much damage it could do.

Fun with Cameroon Pet Scams

I really love English Bulldogs. Recently I became aware of a common pet scam that is based on every other over seas Internet scam. Someone from Cameroon posts a desired breed up for a ridiculously low price. He/she asks for money plus shipping. You never get the dog. Here is my recent correspondence with one such scammer. I have resorted… Read More »Fun with Cameroon Pet Scams

Skype – Better than the phone?

Skype Tonight my brother and I talked again using what is becoming our regular medium…Skype. We both of have inexpensive web cams and a basic microphone and call and talk to each other for an unlimited amount of time for absolutely no cost. Video calls are fun because not only can we see each other, but we can show each other items that we might be talking about and also let other family members (including pets) get involved in the conversation.

Ubuntu – Day 14 – Final Report

 
Ubuntu Header graphic

I can’t believe it has been two weeks already that I’ve used Ubuntu Linux exclusively. If I had to sum up the experience in one word, that word would be “satisfying.” And my regular readers/listeners know that I can’t sum anything up in one word, so I will use this format to provide a complete synopsis of my Ubuntu thoughts.

Ubuntu – Day 7

Today marks the one week mark that I quit using my Windows Vista machine and started using Ubuntu exclusively. I pledged to use Ubuntu only for two straight weeks to really put the operating system through the paces of daily use. After a rough start with email and fighting spam, I am almost in a groove of using this free and robust operating system. I think that Microsoft has the work cut out for themselves over the next few years to maintain their huge share of the operating system pie.

Ubuntu – Day 6

I didn’t use the computer much today, but I need to write a quick blog while I’m working on my Compaq as I sit here and watch my DVR’d “Daily Show” and “Colbert Report” episodes from last week. So, that brings me to tonights word: battery life.

Ubuntu – Day 5

I haven’t ported much of my data to this computer from my Windows’ computer, but haven’t missed any of it yet either. I do have this system hooked into my home network so I can access shared folders on the Windows’ machine if I need those files. I mentioned on the show today that one of the huge reasons I like Mozilla Firefox is the availability of “extensions”. Extensions are little add-ons that allow anyone to customize and enhance their browser to do things that are important to them. One of my favorites is Google Sync.

Sadly, dial-up Internet is still alive and well

The majority of people I have seen this week have been dial-up Internet users. In every case the appointment lasted longer and cost more money than if they would have been on broadband. In other words, the appointment could have taken only a few minutes. Instead the appointment took so long that it cost as much as three month’s worth of broadband service.

I carry most of the tools for fixing computers on my flash drive but two of the computers were Windows 98 and several of the computers needed updates or other downloads that can only be acquired online.