satellite cellphone locator

This is kind of scary...plug in your cellphone number (including area code) and watch the satellite locate you in real time.

Try it out here

Get some new wallpaper

My guess is that many of you know how to do this already. I think I have mentioned it before. But, no matter how well-known a computer tip might be, there are always a few people that say, "Wow, I never knew that before!". And it is pretty handy.

If you want to change the background picture on your computer screen, it's very easy. That picture is actually called the "wallpaper" (some people call it the screen saver, but that is not correct). Just about any picture you see on the internet can be used as a wallpaper on your computer. Here is a great way to find wonderful wallpaper pictures.

Go to Google Images and type in the name of the kind of pictures you want to see, such as sunset, mountain, lake, whatever. It is also a good idea to select the "Large" option so that you only see higher resolution pictures.

When you see a thumbnail image you like, click on it. Then when the next page comes up, click the link that says "See image full size".

When it is full size on your screen, do a right-click on the image and choose "Set as wallpaper". If another window comes up asking for the formatting of the picture, choose "Stretch". Now you have a new wallpaper! You can do this for almost any picture you see on the web.

My nephew Adam has already seen this week's video, and he has suggested a title. So here it is - the Crazy Baby:

Latest terrorist just captured in US

Woot

I think I have mentioned this website before, but it is worth talking about it again. The website is www.woot.com.

At Woot, they offer one item for sale each day. When that item sells out, you're out of luck until the next day when a different item shows up. This is the type of site that you want to have as part of your home page tabs, because you need to check it each day to see if they are selling something you need.

A word of warning - a description is written about each item for sale. I find them difficult to read. They try so desperately to be clever, hip, witty...and I just want to get the details about the item for sale. I guess a lot of people consider the ad copy as part of the charm; I find it to be annoying. I just scroll down past the few paragraphs of text and read the list of features to get the information I need.

Sometimes the Woot is a great bargain, and sometimes it's not. Bargains usually sell out at some time during the day (the new daily item actually gets listed at 1 am eastern time, and some of the devoted Woot fans stay up to see what it is). If you are not sure if an item is a good value, click the link that says "Discuss this product" and read what some others are saying about it.


This week's video - there is a show in the UK that is roughly the British equivalent of American Idol. The show is called Britain's Got Talent. I am not really a fan of these types of shows, but I came across this clip that is worth watching.

Linkwad

One of the things I love about using the Firefox web browser is that there are hundreds of ways to customize it by using what are called Extensions. An extension is a small bit of software that makes Firefox do something interesting or handy - something that it originally was not designed to do. I have lots of extensions already installed, but I found a new one this week that is wonderful.

The new extension I just discovered is called Linkwad. If you use a lot of tabbed browser windows in Firefox, you might like it too.

If you use Firefox, you know that one of its great features is tabbed browsing. You can have 2 or 3 or 10 different websites open in one window, each one with its own tab. My problem is that I have too many tabs - I have a bunch of websites that open up automatically when I start Firefox, and even on high speed it can seem to drag a bit while all those sites are loading at the same time.

With Linkwad, you can have different groups of tabs. For example, you could have one group that opens automatically when Firefox starts. Then you could have another group of sites that are all political blogs. Then you could have a different set of tabs that are all news or entertainment sites. Another group could be a set of different pre-set eBay searches. There really is no limit! All you do is create a set of tabbed sites, then save that set (each set is called a "wad") by giving it a name.

Linkwad always resides at the top of the Firefox window, and you have the command to Open a set of tabs you have already saved, Save a set of tabs you just created, or Close the current set of tabs. And of course, it is completely free.

You can read about Linkwad and download it here.

By the way - I had a lot of people respond to last week's post about the early days of video games and the new program called Joost. I gave out about 70 or so free invitations. I am glad you are enjoying it. Here is what my 9 year old nephew had to say about that post:

I love this post! It's sorta like a History lesson on the internet. And you can actually imagine what happened at that time. I'd be excited too if I was around that time. I mean, the FIRST video game. How exciting was THAT! I give your latest post a A++ (aka 100 A+).

Thanks Adam! Glad you enjoyed that history lesson!

This week's video is a news reporter, doing a report on a new roller coaster ride somewhere over in Europe. I don't know why they chose her for this report - she doesn't seem to be a big fan of roller coasters.

Free invite to Joost

When I was a kid, the primary form of electronic entertainment was television. We didn't have computers, or even video games. I remember the excitement that was in the air when Pong was introduced - what an amazing invention! You may remember, Pong was the first "video game" that came out (it was introduced in 1972). It looked like this:

Each player controlled a paddle, and the white dot moved back and forth like a ball. All you had to do was keep the ball in play. What amazing technology! It sure seemed like it back then.

Fast forward to 2007...now everyone has a computer, most people have high speed internet access, and video games now have graphics that are virtually lifelike in quality. But things have come full circle - now you can watch TV on your computer! I am not talking about a TV card that you can install. I am talking about Joost.

Joost is a free service that delivers video content right to your computer screen from the internet. Here are some screenshots:

So how do you get Joost? It's free, but you can't just go there and sign up - you need to be invited by someone who is already a user. Lucky for you - that's me! If you want a free invite to Joost, just send me an email at the email address on the right side of the screen. The information I need is your first name, last name, and your email address.

This week's video shows a conflict between a snake and a rabbit. You might be surprised at which one comes out the winner!

I just had Lasik surgery!

I have thought for a long time about having vision-correcting surgery. I have had either glasses or contacts since third grade, so being glasses-free certainly sounded nice (those of you with glasses know what I am talking about!). My condition is nearsightedness - I can read fine without glasses at all, but I could not see things in the distance - so I have to wear glasses all the time. Of course, when I first heard of the procedure years ago, I was concerned because of how new it was. Back then, the procedure of choice was RK (Radial Karetotomy).

Today, the most popular procedure is called Lasik, and a more advanced variation of that is Lasik Custom Wavefront. I found an eye doctor here in Tampa that has done more than 30,000 of these procedures. Although there is a small risk involved (as with any surgery), the procedure is considered very safe and has an extremely high success rate.

I went in on Friday, May 25 for an initial consultation and multiple tests to see if I would be a good candidate for Lasik. The doctor told me that all indications were that it would work wonderfully for me.

(I also had a choice to make. When doing the surgery, they can correct for nearsightedness or farsightedness. If they fixed my nearsightedness, I would be able to see things at a distance, but would probably need reading glasses for up close. But there is also an option called Monovision - this is where one eye is corrected for nearsightedness, and one eye is corrected for farsightedness. So you would use one eye for viewing in the distance, and the other eye for up close. They let me "try out" what that would be like, and I did not like it - depth perception was different, and it just didn't "feel" right. I probably would have gotten used to it eventually, but I decided that reading glasses are not all that bad to deal with.)

I made the appointment to have the procedure done a week later, on June 1 (yesterday). All of the financial arrangements were taken care of, and I was brought into a pre-op room to ask the doctor any questions I may have thought of. Dr. Groden is excellent. He has a very good manner of dealing with people, and it is obvious that he knows that some people would be very nervous about having their eyes operated on (even though they have made the decision to have it done). He talked and "coached" me throughout the entire procedure to let me know that everything was going fine.

The procedure itself took about 20 minutes total. You are awake the whole time, but there is no pain involved at all. The first thing they do is put a couple of drops in your eye that numbs it. This works almost immediately, so you don't feel anything. The feeling I guess could be best described as brief "pressure", or "discomfort". On a pain scale of 1 to 10, I would rate it as a 1.

After it is completed, more drops were put in my eyes for lubrication, to prevent infection, and to insure a speedy healing process. I was also given some sunglasses with the instruction to wear them all day and even that night while sleeping. The purpose was not really for blocking light - it was to prevent me from accidentally rubbing my eyes, which could mess things up and delay healing. On the way home, my eyes were very watery and blurry, and it felt best just to keep them closed (this was all very normal).

The doctor recommended that after the procedure I go home and take a nap. This is mainly for the therapeutic effect of keeping my eyes closed and relaxing them for a while. When I woke up, the difference was amazing. Not nearly as watery or blurry, and best of all...I could see everything clearly, even at a distance. It was incredible! I didn't do too much the rest of the day. I wore the sunglasses all day and overnight.

This morning I went back for a follow-up visit, and everything is fine. In fact, I now have 20/15 vision! And I can read the computer screen without reading glasses. I can also read a printed page without reading glasses, but it is easier if I use them. I will continue to use two different eyedrops four times a day for the next week and I have one more follow-up visit, and that's it. I also have free enhancements for life, should I need any further correction.

As you can probably tell, I am very pleased with the outcome. If you are considering having Lasik done, do the research and if you feel it is right for you, go for it!

Did you know your mouse could do this?

Some of you already know this, and some of you may have discovered it by accident one time. It's a feature of the scroll button on your mouse.

Right now, try clicking on that scroller button - just push it down like a regular mouse button. Do you see something appear on the screen? Now move the cursor up, then back down. When that special icon is on the screen, you have enabled automatic scrolling. To scroll down a web page (or a text document), all you have to do is move the mouse down - no clicking required!

To go back to "normal" mode, just click the scroller button again and the scrolling icon disappears.

This week's video - an impressive stage performance by some Japanese actors. Probably like nothing you have seen before:

Intriguing photo

I came across this picture on the internet recently. So much could be written about it as far as commentary. Overall, however, it is just sad.

Stop that printer!

A couple of items this week...

Ever had this happen? You have a long text document on your computer - perhaps it is 20 pages, or even more. You send it to the printer, and just as you click "Print", you realize that there is an important change you need to make first. But it's already printing! Panic! How do you quickly stop the printer from printing all 20 or more pages?

This may seem like a rather primitive and non-technical way of solving this problem, but the quickest way is to just remove the paper from the printer. The printer will discover that it is out of paper, and will send an error message to your screen. That gives you time to go to the lower right corner of the screen and double-click on the printer icon. Find your document in the print queue, and cancel it. Then re-load the paper in the printer, and you can print whenever you are ready.

I found a website this week that I found interesting. It is a photography blog. Each blog entry shows a photograph from somewhere in the US in the last 100 years. From the site: "Shorpy is a photo blog about what life a hundred years ago was like: How people looked and what they did for a living, back when not having a job usually meant not eating". Check it here.

This week's video is some pretty amazing female gymnastics/acrobatics:

Take your phone number out of Google

Concerned about your privacy? One proactive step you can take is to remove your phone number from Google PhoneBook.

As you may know, typing a residential phone number into a Google Search bar (though not the Google Toolbar) performs a reverse lookup that lists your name, address and even a link to a Google Map of your address. Fortunately, Google gives you the option of removing all your residential listing information--all you have to do is fill out a short form and wait 48 hours. Granted, there are countless other services out there that offer reverse phone lookups, but Google is a household name and therefore a good place to start.

Some people are concerned about having their information available on the internet. Is this concern valid? To a degree, yes. Try this: type your full phone number in as a Google search (include the area code). For most people with a published phone number, Google will come back with your name, address, and even a link that will show a map of where you live. That link can even display a satellite image of your house.

If you don't like being that "exposed", there is a small step you can take. Just click on the link that says "Phonebook results for". On the next page you will see an option that says, "Request to have your name removed from this list". On the next page, here is what Google will tell you:

"To remove your residential listing information from the Google phonebook, please fill out the form below, entering all information exactly as it appears in your phonebook entry. Doing so will mean your residential listing does not appear in Google for any phonebook search, even searches conducted on your name instead of your phone number. Please note that this removal is permanent and that it's not possible to add your phone number again in the future."

Removal can take 48 hours. Of course, you should realize that this is not exactly the equivalent of the Witness Protection Program. There are multitudes of other ways that people can find you on the net. But it's a step in the right direction if you are concerned about too much information being made public.

This week's video clip - I want this door in my house!

Switch users more quickly in XP

Switch users fast. If you're working on a PC with multiple user accounts, you can bypass the welcome screen when you switch users. Open the Task Manager (click a blank spot in the taskbar and select Task Manager from the pop-up menu), click on the Users tab, right-click on a user name, and choose Connect.

Many families still have one computer that is used by several people. Each user can have his or her own desktop. When Windows XP starts up, you just click on the user name that applies, and you get all of your own "stuff" (icons, programs, wallpaper, etc.).

The normal procedure to switch users is to click Start - Log Off - and then either log off completely and log in as the other user, or you can click the "Switch Users" option. But there is even a quicker way.

Hit Ctrl - Alt - Delete. In the window that pops up, click on the Users tab. Right-click on a user name, and choose Connect. Now you are logged on as that user (although you might have to enter the password if the user account is configured that way).

I don't know why weathermen seem to be funny, but this week's video shows what happens when a cockroach happens to show up while a weatherman is trying to do his job. He doesn't like cockroaches. Not at all.

What is going on with our world?

I have come across some stories lately that I just cannot ignore. It makes me wonder where our country (and our world) is headed.

1. A group in Austria called the "Association Against Animal Factories" (I assume similar to the nutjobs at PETA) is actually pushing to have a 26 year old chimpanzee legally declared to be a "person". The lawyer representing the group said, "Our main argument is that Hiasl is a person and has basic legal rights."

2. We now have a deadline for the end of the world, thanks to the global warming "scientists". "World leaders will have to agree the shape of a "son of Kyoto" treaty before the end of the year if the most catastrophic effects of climate change are to be averted, UN officials said yesterday." That's right - if we all continue to use more than one square of toilet paper per bathroom visit, we are doomed...and it will happen in just 8 months.

3. The Florida Legislature has inspired new confidence among their constituents. What, you thought politicians were dishonest, and only concerned about promoting their own personal agenda regardless of the promises they made while campaigning? How dare you make such an unfounded accusation!

And the Florida Senate has just the answer to combat that public opinion: They recently voted on a bill that would actually require them to tell the truth. This bill would require them to take an oath any time they appear before a House or Senate committee, and if they lie they will be subject to charges of perjury.

Oh...the bill did pass, but only after it was debated vigorously for about 15 minutes. It's good to know that the officials we elected finally were able to resolve the tricky and confusing issues of honesty and integrity.

Oh yes, one other thing...three of them voted against it. Apparently these three don't quite see the value in telling the truth. Not hard to imagine:

- Senator Al Lawson called the bill a "big conspiracy". He said he didn't mind having such a rule that affected lobbyists. But applying it to lawmakers, such as himself, crossed the line.

- Senator Gary Siplin (Orlando) is currently appealing a grand theft conviction.

- Senator Mandy Dawson in 2002 admitted that she lied when she claimed she had a degree from Florida A&M University. Then in 2003 she entered a rehab program so she could avoid being charged with prescription drug fraud.

Clarify the text on your screen

This is for everyone who is still running Windows XP (which is most of us). It works best with an LCD monitor, but should help even with an old monitor as well.

This procedure adds clarity to the text on your screen. Do a right-click in a blank area on your desktop, and in the new menu that opens choose Properties. Click the Appearance tab, then click the Effects button. Look for the option that says "Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts" and check that box. In the drop-down menu just below that option, choose "ClearType". Click OK, and click Apply in the remaining window. You will see a noticeable difference in the text clarity.

If your screen already had that display property in place, UNcheck it and click OK and Apply in the remaining window so that you can see the difference it makes. Of course, you will want to set it back to the clearer display again. Pretty big difference! I am not sure why anyone would NOT want to take advantage of that clearer setting.

Okay - last week's video was rather serious, so this week it is back to the fun! I found some more clips of Bill Dance - he is the guy with the fishing show that seems to constantly attract bad luck. I also found out some more about this guy. He lives in Tennessee, and has been doing this fishing show since 1968. I guess with almost 40 years of being on camera, it makes sense that there are this many mishaps caught on tape. Here we go!

Just a nice story

I just read this on Craigslist, and thought it would be a nice thing for you all to read.

After becoming a recent single mom, that had no family within 2,000 miles, I found myself and my children with nowhere to spend last Thanksgiving. So I decided to make the best of it. My kids and I (they were 6 & 9) volunteered at the Salvation Army soup kitchen, handing out meals to the homeless (helped me be grateful that I have what I do). Then I splurged and the three of us went out to a very nice dinner downtown (even though I was behind on bills, and did not have the money for extra expenses).

My kids and I sat down and enjoyed a wonderful meal..they were impressed how nice it was (not our usual McDonalds). We had decided to eat dessert at home, but when the waiter came over he told me that another family in the dining room wanted to treat us to dessert. The kids were so excited and I was grateful.

When we were done (and stuffed) I asked our waiter for the bill (I was guessing it to be around $125). He came by handed me the bill holder and told me to read the card inside, and that our bill was taken care of. It had a business card that said "Please accept this random act of kindness in memory of our son ____________". I looked at the waiter, who was tearing up...and I started to cry. He was asked not to tell who had paid for our meal and the room was full of seemingly unaware people. I got myself together and the kids and I left.

I think of that moment often! I was very alone and depressed that day, and knowing that someone was wanting to help meant the world to me. I thought it was a wonderful thing to do to remember a loved one by during the holidays...and it is something that truly touched my heart. If you are a part of that family, I thank you, and your son's name will forever be engraved in my mind.

Screen saver - now you need one again

When the PC first started becoming commonly used at home, one of the most popular programs was the screen saver. It was new, many of them were entertaining to watch, and everyone wanted to save their monitor from phosphor burn. Having those images move all around the screen in random directions prevented the icons from searing themselves permanently into the screen.

Then, the newer monitors came out. Not the new LCD flat-panel screens; just newer versions of the big ones (also known as CRT, for Cathode Ray Tube). With those monitors, you didn't really need a screen saver because the phosphor burn-in problem had been fixed. Still, you get a selection of screen savers with every version of Windows, and people really liked watching those pipes getting connected and filling up the screen, so a lot of people continued to use them anyway.

Now, the LCD flat-panel monitors are commonplace. In fact, the old CRT monitors have virtually no value - they are just being discarded. Initially I thought that the LCD monitors would not require a screen saver. That is not correct. I got mine a couple of years ago, and I have noticed now that if I leave the icons on the screen with no change for a couple of days, their shadowed image stays there even after they are gone. The ghost images are not there permanently, however - once the icons are changed or moved, the shadows are completely gone after about a day.

So, in spite of telling people for some time that they no longer need to use a screen saver, I now need to change that advice. Use one. To activate your screen saver, or change it, just do a right-click on a blank area of the desktop and choose Properties. Then click the Screen Saver tab, and choose the one you like from the drop-down menu.

Important: Do NOT go looking for a cool screen saver by searching on Google. Most of the ones you see advertised (such as "get your FREE waterfall screensaver!") are spyware, and will install all kinds of garbage on your computer. Only get software from a reliable source that you know and trust.

This week's video...I have zero tolerance for drunk drivers. If it were up to me, the first time failing a sobriety test would mean mandatory ten years, with no chance of early release (and that's just for getting caught - if they caused an accident and killed someone, life sentence). Get caught a second time, spend the rest of your life in prison. Too bad I'm not in charge.

Your home network

These days it is quite common for one household to have several computers online, connecting to the internet via a wireless router. In our house, we have 4 computers. Mine is connected by cable to the router, and the others connect wirelessly. Of course, you want to make sure your network is secured with at least a password or passphrase - that keeps your neighbors (or anyone else nearby) from accessing your network.

There are a couple of advantages of this scenario, aside from everyone being able to connect to the high-speed internet signal.

We only use one printer. It is located in the office and connected by cable to my computer. I designated it as a "shared" printer, so that anyone on the network can use it. We might use more ink in that printer, but that's still cheaper than buying 4 printers. Also, if someone comes over with a wireless laptop and needs to print something, they can use the password to get on the network and use the same printer.

Another feature of this system is that it makes backups easier. I have an external hard drive connected to my computer, so I designate it as "shared", and then each person on the network can create their own folder on that drive. Everything important is sent to that drive on a regular basis, so the critical data is always in two places. Incidentally, having the data in two different places at all times is the critical rule of backup strategy. Sometimes people will tell me that they are going to put their valuable family pictures on a CD, so that they could delete them from the computer hard drive. What if the CD somehow gets damaged? Always keep the data in two places.

There are other advantages of having all computers on the same network (such as making it very easy to share files). If you don't already have your computers set up this way, I recommend doing it or having someone help you do it.

This week's video clip is a collection of bloopers from a fishing show. The show is hosted by a guy named Bill Dance, and I cannot imagine anyone being so accident-prone. I bet some people tune in just to see what this guy will do next.

Screenshots made easy

This is a topic I have covered in the past, but it has been a while so it is worth repeating here.

I have done a lot of tech support via telephone. Part of that process is trying to determine what is happening on the screen, when all I have to go by is what the other person is telling me. I have learned that there are potentially three different things that could be happening:

1. What the customer says is happening,
or
2. What I think is happening based on the verbal description and level of expertise of the customer,
or
3. What is actually happening.

Well, you know what they say - a picture is worth a thousand words. If I can see the screen, that often clears up exactly what is going on. That's the first step toward a solution.

There is an easy way for me to see the screen. It's called a screenshot, and it is just what it sounds like it is - a picture of the screen. It's quick and easy to send a screenshot by email.

First, when the screen is showing evidence of whatever the problem is (such as an error message), hit the "Print Screen" button on the keyboard. This does not mean anything is going to print.

Next, open a new email and enter the recipient's email address and a subject line. Then put the cursor in the body of the email, and click Edit - Paste. There it is - a picture of your screen, right there in the email! Send it to whomever is helping you, and you might be surprised at how quickly it sheds light on the problem. It's the next best thing to being there!

(had some trouble finding a good video this week - that feature should be back next week though)

Make a custom Google home page

Wouldn't it be great if you could have all of your vital information, news, email, etc all come up on your home page? It is possible - courtesy of Google. You wouldn't believe all that is available.

First, you need a Google account. If you already use Gmail for your email service, that account will work. Otherwise, go to www.gmail.com and create a free account.

Next, go to www.google.com and sign in if you are not already signed in. Then click on the "Get Started" link to personalize your home page (alternatively, you might see a link for "personalized home page which can also be used).

The first thing to customize is the theme (click on "Select Theme" in the top right). I like the sunrise/sunset theme.

Then, click on "Add stuff". What stuff is there to add, you ask? Almost anything you can think of. I have the weather conditions and forecast for Safety Harbor, Florida and Waldoboro, Maine. I also have news headlines, my Gmail inbox, Mortgage Rate watch, the "Interesting Thing of the Day" and a few other things. Be prepared to spend some time - there are many little widgets that you can add to this page. And you can move them around to where you like them just by dragging!

Once you have it the way you like it, set this to be your home page (under Tools - Options - click on Use Current Page).

Here is a wonderful video about a soldier coming back home from Iraq and surprising his 6-year old son:

How to make a music CD from MP3 files

A lot of people have a big collection of MP3 (music) files on their computer. Many people have hundreds of these files that have been downloaded through iTunes or elsewhere - you might even have thousands of them. These files can be played on your computer, or on your iPod or other MP3 device. But what if you want to play them on a regular CD player, such as in your car?

To do that, you need to do two things: convert them to CD format, and then burn them to a CD. Fortunately, you can do this in one easy procedure using software that you already have on your computer.

If you already know how to do this with a program such as Nero or Roxio, then there is no reason to change and do it a different way. The procedure that I will describe here uses Windows Media Player, only because virtually every Windows based computer already has it installed. You can open Media Player by going to Start - All programs - Accessories - Entertainment - Windows Media Player. Of course, you will also need a CD burner drive and some blank CD-R discs.

First, put a blank CD-R in the burner. Wait for the computer to recognize it, then close the window that automatically opens. Now, open Windows Media Player. You should see a tab somewhere called "Burn" - click that.

Now, open the folder where your music files are stored in MP3 format (just about any music file that you download will be an MP3). What you want to see are two windows open on the desktop - the folder that contains your music files, and the Media Player window. One at a time, drap the MP3 files to the "burn list" portion of the Media Player window.

When moving files over, remember that most CD-R discs can hold up to about 80 minutes of music (you should see a running total at the bottom of the window so you can tell when you are getting close to the maximum).

When you have the files moved over, you are ready to convert and burn. Click the link at the top of Media Player that says "Start Burn". I recommend that you not have any other windows or programs running during the burn process - if anything messes it up, you have wasted that CD-R and you have to start over again with a new one. You will see Media Player go through and analyze each file, convert it to CD format, and then burn it to the CD. When it is done, the CD drive should open, so you can just pick up the newly recorded CD and go try it in your CD player.

Happy listening!

Video clip - well, sort of a video. There is a group based in New York City called Improv Everywhere. Their motto is "causing scenes of chaos and joy in public places". What they do is create some great studies in human psychology. You can spend a lot of time on their site reading about what they have done. For today, here is the story of how one of them got lost at Yankee Stadium during a baseball game.