The general trend in web-based video is to have the video play in a Flash player (you probably already have Flash installed so that it plays in your web browser). Flash is just a programming language. If you can see the video I have posted below, you are viewing it in Flash.
However, some sites display videos in Windows Media Player format. If you use Firefox (as I know many of you do), and you have trouble viewing Windows Media videos, you may just need to install the Windows Media Firefox plug-in. This is very simple to do. Just open Firefox, then download the plug-in from here. When you see the "Install" button, click it. You will probably have to restart Firefox.
Now you are ready to view Windows Media videos from Firefox.
This week's video is a compilation of various people having a really bad day at the office:
Monday, November 26, 2007
Monday, November 19, 2007
How to safely recycle your old computer
The days of one computer per family are long gone. The prices have come down so much that a large number of households now have several computers. In our house, we have 4 people, so we have 4 computers.
That just means that when a computer becomes obsolete (or just stops working and is no longer repairable), there are more computers being disposed of each day. In most communities, it is not acceptable to just throw your old computer in the garbage (and you definitely can't just toss that old CRT monitor). You generally have to contact a computer recycling/disposal organization and have them pick it up (or take it to them). In our area, there are scheduled "computer collection" days where everyone can bring their old computers to one location (such as a school parking lot), and a company collects them all for proper processing.
However - before you recycle or dispose of your old computer, you need to make sure you have not left any of your data on there. Even if you think the data is not very important, delete it. Maybe there is a cookie on there storing the password for an email account that you no longer use - what harm could that do? Here are a couple of ideas:
1. Someone could get onto that old email account, and send emails that appear to be "from" you. They could perhaps send an email "from" you, to everyone in your old Yahoo contact list, telling all your friends "hey, I am broke and stranded in New York, could you just send me $100 by Western Union today?" If that email went out to 50 people, some of them would wire the money without even verifying any details - because it came from you, someone they trust.
2. Even if a scammer didn't get into that email account, they would have knowledge of at least one password that you used. Do you use a different password every time you create an account online? Didn't think so. Now all the scammer has to do is find out what websites you may have registered with, and he has your password for those sites.
How to wipe out all of the data on your hard drive? There are products designed to do just that.
There is a product called BCWipe that is supposed to work pretty well. There is another one called SureDelete, that I believe is free. I have not had personal experience with either of these. Or, for $100 you can go the hardware route. The Drive Eraser actually plugs into your old hard drive and wipes it clean of data.
If nothing else, you can bring it to me and I will destroy the data on the hard drive (and recycle the computer for parts). Whatever your preference, make sure the data is destroyed before you get rid of that old computer.
This week's video is a funny prank done with a bathroom mirror. Or, at least it's supposed to be a bathroom mirror. In fact, it's just a clear glass window with an identical room on the other side. The girl standing there (who is in on the joke) is "mirrored" by her twin sister on the other side of the glass. But everyone else that comes in finds that the mirror just doesn't work. It has some of them questioning their sanity.
That just means that when a computer becomes obsolete (or just stops working and is no longer repairable), there are more computers being disposed of each day. In most communities, it is not acceptable to just throw your old computer in the garbage (and you definitely can't just toss that old CRT monitor). You generally have to contact a computer recycling/disposal organization and have them pick it up (or take it to them). In our area, there are scheduled "computer collection" days where everyone can bring their old computers to one location (such as a school parking lot), and a company collects them all for proper processing.
However - before you recycle or dispose of your old computer, you need to make sure you have not left any of your data on there. Even if you think the data is not very important, delete it. Maybe there is a cookie on there storing the password for an email account that you no longer use - what harm could that do? Here are a couple of ideas:
1. Someone could get onto that old email account, and send emails that appear to be "from" you. They could perhaps send an email "from" you, to everyone in your old Yahoo contact list, telling all your friends "hey, I am broke and stranded in New York, could you just send me $100 by Western Union today?" If that email went out to 50 people, some of them would wire the money without even verifying any details - because it came from you, someone they trust.
2. Even if a scammer didn't get into that email account, they would have knowledge of at least one password that you used. Do you use a different password every time you create an account online? Didn't think so. Now all the scammer has to do is find out what websites you may have registered with, and he has your password for those sites.
How to wipe out all of the data on your hard drive? There are products designed to do just that.
There is a product called BCWipe that is supposed to work pretty well. There is another one called SureDelete, that I believe is free. I have not had personal experience with either of these. Or, for $100 you can go the hardware route. The Drive Eraser actually plugs into your old hard drive and wipes it clean of data.
If nothing else, you can bring it to me and I will destroy the data on the hard drive (and recycle the computer for parts). Whatever your preference, make sure the data is destroyed before you get rid of that old computer.
This week's video is a funny prank done with a bathroom mirror. Or, at least it's supposed to be a bathroom mirror. In fact, it's just a clear glass window with an identical room on the other side. The girl standing there (who is in on the joke) is "mirrored" by her twin sister on the other side of the glass. But everyone else that comes in finds that the mirror just doesn't work. It has some of them questioning their sanity.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Find the cheapest gas in your area
It looks like gasoline prices are going up again. And what can we do about it? We can't just stop driving. But at least we can use the internet to find the cheapest gas in town.
That's what Gas Buddy does for you. Just go to the site and enter your city or zip code, and it will give you a nice list of the current gas prices. Now you know where to go for the best value on gasoline.
This week's video - an amazing hammer juggler
That's what Gas Buddy does for you. Just go to the site and enter your city or zip code, and it will give you a nice list of the current gas prices. Now you know where to go for the best value on gasoline.
This week's video - an amazing hammer juggler
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
AOL loses one third of its subscribers in a year
In other news: there are people that actually still use AOL.
Details
Details
Monday, November 5, 2007
Get back the RUN command in Vista
For those of you that are using Microsoft's newest operating system (Vista), you might notice a small difference when you click the Start button. In Windows XP, you could click Start, then Run. In Vista, the Run command is gone. This command is handy sometimes, so it is nice to have it back.
To bring back Run to the Start button menu, do a right-click on an empty area of the Task bar (that is the bar running along the bottom of your screen). Choose Properties, then click the Start Menu tab. Click the Customize button. Now, scroll through the list and check the box that says "Run command". Click OK to close the open windows, and there's your Run command, right where it should be.
Of course, you could also just type the name of the command you want to run in the text box that is already there, but that is not quite as obvious.
In this week's video, politicians show once again why the American public trusts them so much...
To bring back Run to the Start button menu, do a right-click on an empty area of the Task bar (that is the bar running along the bottom of your screen). Choose Properties, then click the Start Menu tab. Click the Customize button. Now, scroll through the list and check the box that says "Run command". Click OK to close the open windows, and there's your Run command, right where it should be.
Of course, you could also just type the name of the command you want to run in the text box that is already there, but that is not quite as obvious.
In this week's video, politicians show once again why the American public trusts them so much...
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Ordering a cake from Walmart
Customer: I would like to order a special cake
Walmart: And what would you like for the cake to say?
Customer: I want it to say Best Wishes Suzanne, and underneath that, We Will Miss You
Walmart: You got it
Here's how it turned out:
Walmart: And what would you like for the cake to say?
Customer: I want it to say Best Wishes Suzanne, and underneath that, We Will Miss You
Walmart: You got it
Here's how it turned out:
