Convert, FREE, from one filetype to another, on line: http://www.youconvertit.com/

Advanced WindowsCare - This all-in-one tool combines anti-spyware, a Registry cleaner, a privacy sweep to delete your surfing traces, a system analysis tool, and more, combined into package. It's exceedingly simple to use; run the program, then choose which feature you want to use, and it goes about its work. There's too much here to go into detail about it all, but each module is surprisingly fully featured, something you wouldn't expect in an all-in-one tool. -- Preston Gralla Price: Free Operating Systems: Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file/fid,64954/description.html?tk=nl_ddxdwn

System Restore has saved me more than once: Getting XP Back to a Working Configuration. Every week we get a few questions from people who've noticed that something isn't working the way it used to. If you notice that something in your Windows XP setup isn't working right anymore, maybe what you need to do is "roll back" to a time when things did work. You can do this with the System Restore Tool. System Restore won't overwrite your data (as long as you keep it in the My Documents folder) and can bring your machine back to where it was when things worked. Try this: 1. 1. Click Start and point to All Programs. Point to Accessories and then point to System Tools. Click System Restore. 2. The first page is the Welcome to System Restore page. Read the info on this page. Make sure the Restore my computer to an earlier time option is selected and click Next. 3. On the Select a Restore Point page, pick the most recent date where things worked. This might take some guessing, but if you're wrong, you can always pick another date or even return to where you are. Click on a date and click Next. 4. On the Confirm Restore Point Selection page, read the dire warnings and description of what's going to happen. When you're ready, click Next. The computer configuration is restored. You might have to restart the computer. If you guess right about the date when things worked, then everything should work again. Note that if you installed any programs after the date of the restore point you used, you'll have to reinstall those programs.
 

Applications that have earned the "Certified for Windows Vista" logo
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/933305

Google's new STREETVIEW. http://maps.google.com/help/maps/streetview/index.html
--
A couple of recent articles discuss people's aggravation with the
masses of email that they receive and how they are curtailing or
eliminating it altogether:

"The supposed convenience of electronic mail, like so many other
innovations of technology, has become too much for some people. . . .
So some say they're moving back to the telephone as their preferred
means of communication." ("E-Mail Reply to All: 'Leave Me Alone'" by
Mike Musgrove, THE WASHINGTON POST, May 25, 2007, pg. A01;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/24/AR2007052402258.html  )

"More university professors are joining the ranks of those who have
given up or severely curtailed their use of e-mail as a medium for
personal -- and most of all -- private correspondence. They have had
enough with electronic spam, come-ons, nonsense and smut-vertisements"
(Paul McCloskey, "Academics Joining Ranks Declaring 'E-Mail
Bankruptcy'," CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY, May 29, 2007;
http://www.campustechnology.com/article.aspx?aid=48289  ).

Conversely, "Spam 2007," a Pew Internet & American Life Project paper
released this month, reports that "37% of email users said spam had
increased in their personal email accounts, up from 28% of email users
who said that two years ago. And 29% of work email users said spam had
increased in their work email accounts, up from 21% two years ago. Yet
fewer people say spam is 'a big problem' for them."

The report is available at
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Spam_May_2007.pdf
##
Verify email: http://www.email-unlimited.com/tools/verify-email.aspx

Hacking FireFox: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do? command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9020880

Washington Assistive Technology Act Program http://watap.org/
AT Forum: http://watap.org/resources/wash-at/index.htm WATAP works with several partners to provide services: * The University of Washington Center for Technology and Disability Studies (UWCTDS) is the lead agency for WATAP. UWCTDS provides hands-on demonstrations and short-term loans of assistive technology devices to help potential users make informed decisions about using such devices and related services. http://uwctds.washington.edu/ *The Washington Assistive Technology Foundation (WATF) provides low interest loans to help with purchase of assistive technology devices and services through the AT AccessFund and the Telework loan program. WATF also provides a low-cost rental program for closed circuit magnification systems (CCTVs). http://watf.org/ . *Easter Seals Washington offers long-term loans of recycled computers and related equipment for employment, education and independent living. Easter Seals Washington Computer Reutilization & Loan Program. WATAP brochure: WATAP_brochure.pdf [Thanks, Pete, for bringing up the topic.]

Batch Files - pdf cheat sheet: batchfiles.pdf

Lots of throw-away email services: email2.htm
Google Email tips page: gmailTipsPage.htm

The FLIP VIDEO - http://www.theflip.com/products.shtml  30 mi nutes of .avi video with sound. Features including embedded software and flip-out USB plug. You can play video by plugging in to your TV, or edit and view on your PC or MAC. Easy operation, fast, auto shut-off, small, uses two AA cells, nice image resolution. I will demo this at a future meeting.

Applications that have earned the "Certified for Windows Vista" logo
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/933305

--
A couple of recent articles discuss people's aggravation with the
masses of email that they receive and how they are curtailing or
eliminating it altogether:

"The supposed convenience of electronic mail, like so many other
innovations of technology, has become too much for some people. . . .
So some say they're moving back to the telephone as their preferred
means of communication." ("E-Mail Reply to All: 'Leave Me Alone'" by
Mike Musgrove, THE WASHINGTON POST, May 25, 2007, pg. A01;
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/24/AR2007052402258.html  )

"More university professors are joining the ranks of those who have
given up or severely curtailed their use of e-mail as a medium for
personal -- and most of all -- private correspondence. They have had
enough with electronic spam, come-ons, nonsense and smut-vertisements"
(Paul McCloskey, "Academics Joining Ranks Declaring 'E-Mail
Bankruptcy'," CAMPUS TECHNOLOGY, May 29, 2007;
http://www.campustechnology.com/article.aspx?aid=48289  ).

Conversely, "Spam 2007," a Pew Internet & American Life Project paper
released this month, reports that "37% of email users said spam had
increased in their personal email accounts, up from 28% of email users
who said that two years ago. And 29% of work email users said spam had
increased in their work email accounts, up from 21% two years ago. Yet
fewer people say spam is 'a big problem' for them."

The report is available at
http://www.pewinternet.org/pdfs/PIP_Spam_May_2007.pdf
##
Verify email: http://www.email-unlimited.com/tools/verify-email.aspx

Hacking FireFox: http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9020880

USBDeview is a small utility that lists all USB devices that currently connected to your computer, as well as all USB devices that you previously used. For each USB device, exteneded information is displayed: Device name/description, device type, serial number (for mass storage devices), the date/time that device was added, VendorID, ProductID, and more… USBDeview also allows you to uninstall USB devices that you previously used, and disconnect USB devices that are currently connected to your computer. You can also use USBDeview on a remote computer, as long as you login to that computer with admin user. http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usbdeview.zip
HELSINKI (Reuters) - Computer specialist Didier Stevens put up a simple text advertisement on the Internet offering downloads of a computer virus for people who did not have any. Surprisingly, he found as many as 409 people clicking on the ad saying "Is your PC virus-free? Get it infected here!" during a 6-month advertising campaign on Google's Adword, said the IT security expert.

"Some of them must have clicked on it by mistake. Some must have been curious or stupid," said Mikko Hypponen, head of research at data security firm F-Secure.

There was no virus involved, it was an experiment aiming to show these kind of advertising systems can be used for malicious intent, Stevens told Reuters. http://urltea.com/m5j - Stevens bought the domain, drive-by-download < http://drive-by-download.info/thanks.php >. What is a drive by? The expression drive-by download is used in three increasingly strict meanings: 1. Any download that happens without knowledge of the user. 2. Download of spyware, a computer virus or any kind of malware that happens without knowledge of the user. Drive-by downloads may happen by visiting a website, viewing an e-mail message or by clicking on a deceptive popup window: the user clicks on the window in the mistaken belief that, for instance, it is an error report from his own PC or that it is an innocuous advertisement popup; in such cases, the "supplier" may claim that the user "consented" to the download though he was completely unaware to have initiated a malicious software download. 3. Download of malware through exploitation of a web browser, e-mail client or operating system bug, without any user intervention whatsoever. Websites that exploit the Windows Metafile vulnerability may provide examples of "drive-by downloads" of this sort. The expression drive-by install (or installation) is completely analogous and refers to installation rather than download (though sometimes the two are used interchangeably).
[Source: WikipediA] ##

TIP: When choosing a bunch of files to erase, delete, rename, copy, etc., inside of Windows Explorer, pick the first one and the last one in the list and hold down the SHIFT key and left click to pick the first one you want in the list and the last one in the list (if they are consecutive) to mark them all. All files or rows between the first left-click and the second left-click are selected. Use Ctrl left click to pick ALL of the files in the directory list you are viewing. ##
========
The trick is to use Windows' dual-monitor mode. To set this up, connect your projector normally through your laptop's VGA port. Right click on the desktop and select "Properties," then the "Settings" tab. Configure this tab so your laptop screen is Display 1, and the projector is Display 2. Click OK.

Now, open your PowerPoint presentation, and choose "Set Up Show" from the "Slide Show" menu. In the "Multiple monitors" area, chose "Monitor 2" from the drop-down menu, then click OK.

Now run your presentation, and you'll see that your slides display normally, while your laptop is free to run anything you like, including a Word document with all the notes you want in giant type. [Source: http://itmanagement.earthweb.com/columns/executive_tech/article.php/3678036 ] ##
=============
I get very angry on the internet! I am an internet marketer and I use the net for work, for research and for shopping. This is an increasing trend in a modern world where we are often too busy to go to a library or supermarket.

Occasionally I contact other websites because I am interested in their business or want to know the status of an order I have placed. Usually there is no telephone number but there is an email address or email form to complete. Increasingly I send these email enquiries off and never get a reply!

1. You Don't Reply To Emails

Yes I think this is the top most common blunder made on the internet, not replying to emails. This annoys me more than anything and I think there is no excuse for it.

Don't say you are so overwhelmed by the volume of emails that you haven't got time to reply. Don't say your anti spam protection is stopping valid emails. Sending an email to any business and not getting a reply is totally unacceptable. The message it gives is that particular company is lazy and unavailable. Many people seem to set up websites then go away and forget about them, the content is old, the emails are not read, why bother?

2. Your Links Don't Work

I have occasionally set up affiliate arrangements with a company who then becomes completely unavailable. The links don't work, my login details are not recognised and hey presto the company is incommunicado. Those companies come off my website pretty quickly so you don't want to be one of them.

3. Your Customer Service is Non Existent

You want a problem solved, you have a query about a product or service, you want to complain or lavish praise. How do you do that? The customer service telephone line doesn't work, the customer service email elicits no response ( see number 1) and there is no postal address.

No matter how busy, popular, rich or famous you are it is never acceptable to not respond to genuine enquiries from customers or clients. Unfortunately there is an attitude among some businesses that to make money you have to short change the public and cut corners. This is nonsense.

Customer Service is everything so make sure you are available! You can make money AND offer excellent value at the same time. Why would you want to do anything else?

Copyright Janet Underwood - Janet Underwood is a full time internet marketer.
http://www.get-more-from-your-life.com ##

Go to TOP

Open Directory Project. Topic: Technology: http://dmoz.org/Science/Technology/ 
 
Getting an Education Online for Free - This article will teach you how to get a top notch education for free online. Ctrl+Click any link to open it in a new window. http://www.jimmyr.com/blog/Online_Education_Free_201_2006.php Webcasts and Podcasts from Berkeley: http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses/ #
 David Pogue is the personal technology columnist for The New York Times , an Emmy award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News, and one of the world's bestselling how-to authors. In this unconventional talk, he offers a sweeping (and unusual) view on the state of software, partially set to music. (Recorded February, 2006 in Monterey, CA.) http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=david_pogue #
 
 A wiki is an excellent tool for communication and collaboration in any organisation. But, as Leigh Dodds points out, creating successful social software system isn't an exact science. He uses his own experience at academic publisher Ingenta to explain efficient use and management of a corporate wiki. Read the full article (free) >> http://www.freepint.com/issues/270706.htm#issue #
 
 Download WinSnap - http://www.ntwind.com/download/WinSnap-current.exe I've tried many free image capture alternatives and I still come back to SnagIt as my ultimate screen capture solution. WinSnap is the latest in a long series of apps that has some of the features I love, but lacks a key ingredient here and there to really save me time. WinSnap does a great job with still image capture of everything from standard square windows, to the more unconventional skinned windows common to media player apps. Support for drop shadowing, watermarking, color alteration and background customization make WinSnap a useful solution for making screen captures look pretty. I'd like to see a few more editing options built in, because it's still easier to edit and output a screen capture in the same app, rather than launching an external editor to finish the job. Output formats include JPG, PNG, GIF, TIF and BMP. You'll also need a solution for recording movies of your desktop, like CamStudio, in addition to WinSnap. [Windows 2k/XP $0.00] #

 
Windows marks files for deletion and removes them from the file system database when you delete them. This doesn't mean they are immediately gone. In fact, all that initially happens when you delete a file is Windows makes note that the space occupied by the file is listed as available space for storing new information. Until something new is written to the part of the drive where that old file was stored, your file is still there. Depending on how many sectors that file occupies, pieces of the file could exist on your drive for a very long time. If you very recently deleted the file, there's an excellent chance you will recover it, especially if you haven't downloaded a bunch of new files or created several gigabytes of data. The trick is finding the right tool to get them back. For simple recovery of deleted files, one of the easiest solutions I've found is Restoration. The app works by scanning your hard drive for sectors containing files marked for deletion and then copying the files to space on your hard drive the operating system has marked as available disk space. In my tests with Restoration, most data recovery is successful. This is especially true when recovering small files like Word documents. When using the app to recover larger audio or video files, my success rate is a little lower because sectors of the file often get overwritten by something else. When you run a scan with Restoration, it will find thousands of files on your hard drive, most of which are temporary files deleted when your browser cache is emptied. A few sort options make it easy to identify files by either file size or alphabetically by filename if you already know what you're looking for. Restoration is free. http://www.topdrawerdownloads.com/files/rest2514.zip #
 
 [Left] CD storage/carousel: http://tinyurl.com/klwc4 Holds and retrieves via software/USB port, one-hundred CDs/DVDs, etc. Not a player. You can stack these and chain them together to hold thousands of CDs More: http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/04/21/imation_disc_stakka/
 See the carousel that holds 150: http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?ProductID=4667
 Another alternative: http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?productID=3949
 One more: http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?productID=10670
 TRACEROUTE (tras´rowt) (n.) A utility that traces a packet from your computer to an Internet host, showing how many hops the packet requires to reach the host and how long each hop takes. If you're visiting a Web site and pages are appearing slowly, you can use traceroute to figure out where the longest delays are occurring.
 
 Trace the route of your data from source to your "destination." For instance, I traced the route from my IP to my friend's web site in Arizona. I start with START | RUN | CMD and at the DOS prompt type: tracert mindymac.com -w 5000
 
 tracert is the Windows command, while mindymac.com is the destination, and -w 5000 is a five second wait between replies so I can read the information in the dos window. (5000 milliseconds, or 5 seconds) If you need help with tracert commands, type: tracert /? to get the commands. Here is the result [My comments in RED]:
 
 Tracing route to mindymac.com [66.235.193.155]
 over a maximum of 30 hops:
 
 1 6 ms 4 ms 4 ms my router [xxx.xxx.xxx.xx] {hidden deliberately}
 2 61 ms 4 ms 4 ms [xxx.xxx.xxx.xx] {hidden deliberately}
 3 57 ms 6 ms 4 ms gateway.nikola.com [64.146.180.225] <- This "gateway" allows my host to "talk" to NOA net.
 4 56 ms 7 ms 6 ms fa6-4.138.oly-cor0.noanet.net [66.119.205.245]
 5 68 ms 9 ms 8 ms srp2-0.wtn-cor0.noanet.net [66.119.192.17]
 6 61 ms 8 ms 9 ms six.above.net [198.32.180.19]
 7 77 ms 26 ms 26 ms so-3-2-0.mpr3.sjc2.us.above.net [64.125.28.182]
 8 34 ms 27 ms 27 ms so-0-0-0.mpr4.sjc2.us.above.net [64.125.30.2]
 9 34 ms 34 ms 35 ms so-5-1-0.mpr1.lax9.us.above.net [64.125.27.1]
 10 34 ms 34 ms 34 ms 216.200.249.141.available.ipowerweb.com [216.200.249.141]
 11 61 ms 38 ms 36 ms st14.startlogic.com [66.235.193.155 Startlogic.com is the hosting site of Mindy's domain.
 
 Trace complete.
 What do the numbers mean? For example, in the first line: 6 ms 4 ms 4 ms is the time in ms (milliseconds) of three round trip times in milliseconds. The round trip times (or RTTs) tell us how long it took a datpacket to get from me to that system and back again, called the latency between the two systems. By default, three packets are sent to each system along the route, so we get three RTTs.
 If you would like to know more about TRACEROUTE, see:
 http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/T/traceroute.html and
 If you want to know what/who the IP address is, use Karen Kenworthy's tool, WHOIS to Query the 200+ top-level domain registries and Regional Internet Registries around the world. The proggie returns information about Internet sites. Information available includes owner of domain name, and often owner's mailing address, email address, phone number, and fax number. Search by domain name or IP address. It's a nice little, FREE tool from Karen.
 
 (Above: Word Cloud for this site.) A Word Cloud is a grouping of words from a blog or site (usually tags) with the most-frequently-used words in the larger, bolder font. the visual effect of the grouping is that of a cloud.  Word Cloud Keyword Density Tool - View the keyword density of your web site using a word cloud. - FREE!
 FREE proggies from ANALOGX. I use the proggie, Script Defender from them. Check it out, as well as the other freebies at: http://www.analogx.com/CONTENTS/download/system.htm
 
 * Toool.de <http://toool.de/>, a German site, clearly groups search
 
 engines into categories, making it easy to find one that will give
 
 you the best results for your query.
 
 
 
 * Trexy <http://trexy.com/> is a new research tool that remembers your
 
 searches on more than 3000 search engines, including Google and
 
 Yahoo. It also allows users to follow in the footsteps of other
 
 searchers.
 
 
 
 * Universiteitsbibliotheek
 
 <http://www.leidenuniv.nl/ub/biv/specials.htm> is a collection of
 
 search engine links, specially designed to assist students in
 
 research on the Internet. The search engines listed is mostly
 
 subject- and discipline-specific.
 
 
 
 * Metacrawler <http://www.metacrawler.com/> allows you to query the
 
 top search engines at once. Results are shown on the same page,
 
 making it easy to find exactly what you're looking for.
 
 
 
 * Complete Planet <http://aip.completeplanet.com> is a listing of
 
 dynamic searchable databases. It allows you to search deeper than
 
 the surface to find web pages and documents that cannot be crawled
 
 or indexed. [source: FreePint -
 
 (c) Free Pint Limited 1997-2006 <http://www.freepint.com/>
 
 DISASTER RECOVERY USING A USB DRIVE
  Robert Vamosi Senior editor, CNET Reviews June 16, 2006
 
 
 Nobody likes to think about disaster, but as the resident security guy, I'm frequently involved with disaster planning around the home and the office. Preparedness is the key, so get ready now while the threat is still low. Obviously, tending to family and pets takes a higher priority than mere hardware, but as we found out after Katrina, sometimes you won't be able to get back home right away, yet you'll need certain critical data to move on with your life. Many Gulf Coast residents learned valuable lessons after last year; here are some of their suggestions with regard to computer data and personal information, as well as several steps you can take to make an emergency evacuation and recovery less painful.
 
 Online services
 Many of those relocated outside of the Gulf Coast last fall found themselves with the opportunity to use Internet-connected computers--but they had no idea how to get the information they needed. Those who had moved their banking and bill-paying online were able to quickly put back together their financial lives after Katrina. Now might be a good time for the rest of us to sign up for these online services.
 
 Paperwork
 Create a small Notepad file or a spreadsheet with all of your personal information on it--everything. Doctor information, prescription drugs, pharmacies, school information, e-mail addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers. The essence here is to have a backup of your banking information (include bank account numbers, stocks, and anything you access online), insurance (policy, agent, and such), and ISP (you might need to reestablish your account). If you run a small business, copy lists of your customers, vendors, account numbers, and payroll contact information (if you have a staff) into a separate folder. Later, burn the contents of that folder to a disc or a flash drive for safekeeping. Those who had moved their banking and bill-paying online were able to quickly put back together their financial lives after Katrina.
 
 Why not also make digital copies of important papers? If you have a scanner, scan important documents--birth certificates, mortgages (at least the first couple of pages), tax forms, anything you think will be important. Save them as PDF files and copy them to a folder on your hard drive. PDF readers are free to download, and accessing these documents after a disaster could speed the process of applying for aid.
 
 Photos
 While you're at it, take the time to make CD or DVD copies of all your digital photos and music. Because the file sizes are larger, you'll need to burn several discs. The personal text files, spreadsheets, and PDF files mentioned above should also be burned to a disc. Store these discs in a safety deposit box. Another option is to mail the photograph discs to relatives in another state (ideally, a state unlikely to suffer from the same natural disaster). Your relatives will not only enjoy the photos, but their home will provide a safe backup for the data.
 
 Hardware
 Before evacuating, copy any updated personal file data to a USB flash drive. These drives are handy and can be part of your evacuation kit. Then, whenever you next get computer access, you can plug in the USB drive and print out the info. I'd go the additional step of recommending that you encrypt this data. ZDNet has a blog about encrypted USB drives < http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=14 >; you can use WinZip and other common applications, such as PGP, to encrypt the data. When you need to extract the data, both WinZip and PGP have free downloads to install on the new computer. If you want, you can wear the USB drive with your personal files on your key ring. That way, in a moment's notice, you can dash off to the evacuation center.
 
 If you want, you can wear the USB drive with your personal files on your key ring. That way, in a moment's notice, you can dash off to the evacuation center; while you may have only the clothes on your back, you'll also have some of the data you'll need to reconstruct your life. [Source: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3513_7-6543361-1.html?tag=nl.e497 Last accessed, 28 June, 2006. ]
 
 I am a big fan and user of on line video and audio -- especially on line music sites and on line radio. If you are interested in capturing and recording music, you should grab a plug-in for WinAmp, or get a copy of Audacity. There are several on line music sources. Among them: Pandora is a music discovery service designed to help you find and enjoy music that you'll love. It's powered by the Music Genome Project, the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Just tell us one of your favorite songs or artists and we'll launch a streaming station to explore that part of the music universe. http://www.pandora.com Play music in your media player, track what you have been playing and generate your music charts automatically. Share your profile with your friends and get recommendations.
 
 Live 365 < http://www.live365.com > offers some 7,500 user-generated radio stations, and MusicStrands ( http://www.musicstrands.com/ ), a comprehensive music recommendation and community Web site. Live Plasma draws graphical maps that show the overlapping relationships between artists. http://www.liveplasma.com Grab a FREE copy of Audacity. Audacity is a fast multi-track audio editor and recorder for Linux, BSD, Mac OS, and Windows. Supports WAV, AIFF, Ogg, and MP3 formats. Save to MP3 with another FREE download. Features include envelope editing, mixing, built-in effects and plug-ins, all with unlimited undo. http://sourceforge.net/projects/audacity/ Audacity cannot encode MP3 files by itself, because the MP3 encoding algorithm is patented and cannot legally be used in free programs. However, Audacity has been programmed to recognize other existing MP3 encoders that you can download separately. All you have to do is obtain the appropriate MP3 encoder for your computer and then show Audacity where it is located. If you use Audacity, you will need a copy of LAME in order to save/export Audacity files as MP3s. Get a Windows Download of LAME at http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~raa110/audacity/lame.html Download it, unzip the file, then look for the file called lame_enc.dll. The first time you try to export an MP3 file, Audacity will ask you to locate your MP3 encoder. Locate the file indicated above. From then on, Audacity will not need to ask you again and you will be able to export MP3 files easily.  You can find LAME on the net by Google searching for "lame compile download binary" or visiting this list of mirrors. < Reference: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/manual-1.2/exportmp3.html > Alternatively, I will put a copy of LAME 3.96.1 on our password protected web page so you may download the ZIPPED file there.
 POSTURE AT THE COMPUTER: Use a good chair with a dynamic chair back and sit back in this. The top of monitor casing should be 2-3" above eye level. There should be no glare on screen, use an optical glass anti-glare filter where needed. Sit at arms length from monitor with feet on floor or stable footrest. Use a document holder, preferably in-line with the computer screen. Keep wrists flat and straight in relation to forearms to use keyboard/mouse/input device. The arms and elbows should be relaxed and close to body center. The monitor and keyboard should be directly in front of you. Use a negative tilt keyboard tray with an upper mouse platform or downward tilt table platform adjacent to keyboard. Use a stable work surface and stable (no bounce) keyboard tray. Take frequent short breaks (microbreaks). Lastly, far-focus your eyes every 15 minutes or so. Look across the room and focus on something else. Of course, take off those special "computer specs" first. I am lucky to have a pair of glasses ONLY for computer use. They are ground to my prescription, fitted very well, and are optimally focused on my eye to screen distance. They also have a non-glare coating, which helps. -tp ##
 
 Yesterday, a club officer and I met a gentleman that had impaired sight. He is a computer user, and he called our attention to these products: Jordy II
 http://www.eyeassociates.com/jordy2.htm
 
 Zoomtext: http://www.synapseadaptive.com/aisquared/zoomtext_9/zoomtext_9_home_page.htm
 With the new NeoSpeech synthesizers, ZoomText reads all of your applications, documents, email, and web pages with voices that are clear and enjoyable to listen to. The expressive, human-like quality of NeoSpeech allows you to effortlessly and accurately absorb what’s being spoken by ZoomText.
 NeoSpeech is currently available in male and female voices – Paul and Kate. Click the links below to hear a sample of each voice. Get a free trial on the site.
 #
 PROBLEM. YOUR ERROR MESSAGE SAYS: "Unmountable Boot Volume". This is due to your boot.ini file being corrupted. Solution: 1. Insert your Windows XP CD into your CD / DVD drive and restart the computer. 2. Type R to enter the Recovery Console. 3. If given an option "Which Windows Installation would you like to log on to" type 1 and hit enter. 4. At the prompt [C:\WINDOWS>] type chkdsk /r and hit enter. 5. Type fixboot and hit enter. 6. Type y and hit enter. 7. Type "exit" and hit enter 8. The system will now reboot into Windows
 # 
 Google Notebook * Clip useful information. You can add clippings of text, images and links from web pages to your Google Notebook without ever leaving your browser window. * Organize your notes. You can create multiple notebooks, divide them into sections, and drag-and-drop your notes to stay organized. * Get access from anywhere. You can access your Google Notebooks from any computer by using your Google Accounts login. * Publish your notebook. You can share your Google Notebook with the world by making it public. My public notebook: TinyUrl http://tinyurl.com/nmkpk
 Surf Anonymously. Substitute the site you want to visit with the URL, below.
 Example: http://anonymouse.org/cgi-bin/anon-www.cgi/http://sequim-web.net This URL will take you, anonymously to the Sequim Web site. Try it.
 
 Live WEB CAM, Spain: http://www.opentopia.com/showcam.php?camid=3869 or click-> Cuenca, Spain
 
 Set up a Proxy and cloak your IP:
 1. In IE -> Choose Tools -> Choose Internet Options -> Go to Connections (tab) -> Press LAN Settings (button) -> mark the “Use a proxy server for your LAN…” -> In the IP Address field, enter the IP (use 206.107.155.137 for US services, 62.171.219.179 for UK services) -> In the Port field, enter the port (US - 8080, UK - 80) -> Press OK (button) -> Press OK again (button). 207.29.224.155 Port 80
 
 Copy one of the IPs and remember the port. In Firefox open Tools –> Options. Select Connection Settings and select Manual Proxy Configuration. Add the IP to the HTTP Proxy Row and enter the Port in the field next to it. Click Use this proxy server for all protocols and test it by navigating to the whatismyproxy.com website
 2. You can set up a proxy in Firefox, too, and it works fine.
 Here is a big list of public proxies: < http://www.publicproxyservers.com/page1.html >
 
 The WhatIsMyProxy < http://whatismyproxy.com > List of Proxy Lists:
 The following websites all maintain lists of public proxy servers. Their security or legality is left as an exercise to the reader. Never trust an important password to any proxy that you find listed on any of these sites. This works with email, of course. When you are finished navigating, change things back to what they were.
 Go to TOP
 Verify by visiting < http://www.whatismyproxy.com >.
 < http://www.anonymitychecker.com/page1.html >
 < http://www.atomintersoft.com/products/alive-proxy/proxy-list/ >
 < http://www.bismark.it/proxylist/ >
 < http://www.checker.freeproxy.ru/checker/last_checked_proxies.php >
 < http://www.freeproxy.ru/download/lists/goodproxy.txt >
 < http://www.multiproxy.org/anon_proxy.htm >
 < http://www.proxy4free.com/page1.html >
 < http://www.proxz.com/ >
 < http://www.publicproxyservers.com/page1.html >
 < http://www.samair.ru/proxy/ >
 < http://tools.rosinstrument.com/proxy/ >
 < http://www.cybersyndrome.net/ >
 < http://www.searchlores.org/proxlist.htm >
 < http://home6.swipnet.se/~w-61609/Proxies.htm >
 < http://members.tripod.com/burn77/proxies.html >
 
 http://www.dummysoftware.com/gzapper.html Zap your GOOGLE searches cookie. FREEBIE.
 A Flash Player is required. Most browser's can handle this site. http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ Speakeasy Speed Test - Our internet connection at The Lucky Gentleman Nail Salon and Electric Bicycle Shop - download speed: 7620 kbps (952.5 KB/sec transfer rate) upload speed: 4894 kbps (611.8 KB/sec transfer rate)
 Search for BitTorrent Files - videos, iso's, programs, etc. I use Azureus as my BitTorrent client: http://azureus.sourceforge.net/
 Search for Torrent FilesOpen Directory Project. Topic: Technology: http://dmoz.org/Science/Technology/
 
 Getting an Education Online for Free - This article will teach you how to get a top notch education for free online. Ctrl+Click any link to open it in a new window. http://www.jimmyr.com/blog/Online_Education_Free_201_2006.php Webcasts and Podcasts from Berkeley: http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses/ #
 David Pogue is the personal technology columnist for The New York Times , an Emmy award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News, and one of the world's bestselling how-to authors. In this unconventional talk, he offers a sweeping (and unusual) view on the state of software, partially set to music. (Recorded February, 2006 in Monterey, CA.) http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=david_pogue #
 
 A wiki is an excellent tool for communication and collaboration in any organisation. But, as Leigh Dodds points out, creating successful social software system isn't an exact science. He uses his own experience at academic publisher Ingenta to explain efficient use and management of a corporate wiki. Read the full article (free) >> http://www.freepint.com/issues/270706.htm#issue #
 
 Download WinSnap - http://www.ntwind.com/download/WinSnap-current.exe I've tried many free image capture alternatives and I still come back to SnagIt as my ultimate screen capture solution. WinSnap is the latest in a long series of apps that has some of the features I love, but lacks a key ingredient here and there to really save me time. WinSnap does a great job with still image capture of everything from standard square windows, to the more unconventional skinned windows common to media player apps. Support for drop shadowing, watermarking, color alteration and background customization make WinSnap a useful solution for making screen captures look pretty. I'd like to see a few more editing options built in, because it's still easier to edit and output a screen capture in the same app, rather than launching an external editor to finish the job. Output formats include JPG, PNG, GIF, TIF and BMP. You'll also need a solution for recording movies of your desktop, like CamStudio, in addition to WinSnap. [Windows 2k/XP $0.00] #
 
 Windows marks files for deletion and removes them from the file system database when you delete them. This doesn't mean they are immediately gone. In fact, all that initially happens when you delete a file is Windows makes note that the space occupied by the file is listed as available space for storing new information. Until something new is written to the part of the drive where that old file was stored, your file is still there. Depending on how many sectors that file occupies, pieces of the file could exist on your drive for a very long time. If you very recently deleted the file, there's an excellent chance you will recover it, especially if you haven't downloaded a bunch of new files or created several gigabytes of data. The trick is finding the right tool to get them back. For simple recovery of deleted files, one of the easiest solutions I've found is Restoration. The app works by scanning your hard drive for sectors containing files marked for deletion and then copying the files to space on your hard drive the operating system has marked as available disk space. In my tests with Restoration, most data recovery is successful. This is especially true when recovering small files like Word documents. When using the app to recover larger audio or video files, my success rate is a little lower because sectors of the file often get overwritten by something else. When you run a scan with Restoration, it will find thousands of files on your hard drive, most of which are temporary files deleted when your browser cache is emptied. A few sort options make it easy to identify files by either file size or alphabetically by filename if you already know what you're looking for. Restoration is free. http://www.topdrawerdownloads.com/files/rest2514.zip #
 
 [Left] CD storage/carousel: http://tinyurl.com/klwc4 Holds and retrieves via software/USB port, one-hundred CDs/DVDs, etc. Not a player. You can stack these and chain them together to hold thousands of CDs More: http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/04/21/imation_disc_stakka/
 See the carousel that holds 150: http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?ProductID=4667
 Another alternative: http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?productID=3949
 One more: http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?productID=10670
 TRACEROUTE (tras´rowt) (n.) A utility that traces a packet from your computer to an Internet host, showing how many hops the packet requires to reach the host and how long each hop takes. If you're visiting a Web site and pages are appearing slowly, you can use traceroute to figure out where the longest delays are occurring.
 
 Trace the route of your data from source to your "destination." For instance, I traced the route from my IP to my friend's web site in Arizona. I start with START | RUN | CMD and at the DOS prompt type: tracert mindymac.com -w 5000
 
 tracert is the Windows command, while mindymac.com is the destination, and -w 5000 is a five second wait between replies so I can read the information in the dos window. (5000 milliseconds, or 5 seconds) If you need help with tracert commands, type: tracert /? to get the commands. Here is the result [My comments in RED]:
 
 Tracing route to mindymac.com [66.235.193.155]
 over a maximum of 30 hops:
 
 1 6 ms 4 ms 4 ms my router [xxx.xxx.xxx.xx] {hidden deliberately}
 2 61 ms 4 ms 4 ms [xxx.xxx.xxx.xx] {hidden deliberately}
 3 57 ms 6 ms 4 ms gateway.nikola.com [64.146.180.225] <- This "gateway" allows my host to "talk" to NOA net.
 4 56 ms 7 ms 6 ms fa6-4.138.oly-cor0.noanet.net [66.119.205.245]
 5 68 ms 9 ms 8 ms srp2-0.wtn-cor0.noanet.net [66.119.192.17]
 6 61 ms 8 ms 9 ms six.above.net [198.32.180.19]
 7 77 ms 26 ms 26 ms so-3-2-0.mpr3.sjc2.us.above.net [64.125.28.182]
 8 34 ms 27 ms 27 ms so-0-0-0.mpr4.sjc2.us.above.net [64.125.30.2]
 9 34 ms 34 ms 35 ms so-5-1-0.mpr1.lax9.us.above.net [64.125.27.1]
 10 34 ms 34 ms 34 ms 216.200.249.141.available.ipowerweb.com [216.200.249.141]
 11 61 ms 38 ms 36 ms st14.startlogic.com [66.235.193.155 Startlogic.com is the hosting site of Mindy's domain.
 
 Trace complete.
 What do the numbers mean? For example, in the first line: 6 ms 4 ms 4 ms is the time in ms (milliseconds) of three round trip times in milliseconds. The round trip times (or RTTs) tell us how long it took a datpacket to get from me to that system and back again, called the latency between the two systems. By default, three packets are sent to each system along the route, so we get three RTTs.
 If you would like to know more about TRACEROUTE, see:
 http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/T/traceroute.html and
 If you want to know what/who the IP address is, use Karen Kenworthy's tool, WHOIS to Query the 200+ top-level domain registries and Regional Internet Registries around the world. The proggie returns information about Internet sites. Information available includes owner of domain name, and often owner's mailing address, email address, phone number, and fax number. Search by domain name or IP address. It's a nice little, FREE tool from Karen.
 
 (Above: Word Cloud for this site.) A Word Cloud is a grouping of words from a blog or site (usually tags) with the most-frequently-used words in the larger, bolder font. the visual effect of the grouping is that of a cloud.  Word Cloud Keyword Density Tool - View the keyword density of your web site using a word cloud. - FREE!
 FREE proggies from ANALOGX. I use the proggie, Script Defender from them. Check it out, as well as the other freebies at: http://www.analogx.com/CONTENTS/download/system.htm
 
 * Toool.de <http://toool.de/>, a German site, clearly groups search
 
 engines into categories, making it easy to find one that will give
 
 you the best results for your query.
 
 
 
 * Trexy <http://trexy.com/> is a new research tool that remembers your
 
 searches on more than 3000 search engines, including Google and
 
 Yahoo. It also allows users to follow in the footsteps of other
 
 searchers.
 
 
 
 * Universiteitsbibliotheek
 
 <http://www.leidenuniv.nl/ub/biv/specials.htm> is a collection of
 
 search engine links, specially designed to assist students in
 
 research on the Internet. The search engines listed is mostly
 
 subject- and discipline-specific.
 
 
 
 * Metacrawler <http://www.metacrawler.com/> allows you to query the
 
 top search engines at once. Results are shown on the same page,
 
 making it easy to find exactly what you're looking for.
 
 
 
 * Complete Planet <http://aip.completeplanet.com> is a listing of
 
 dynamic searchable databases. It allows you to search deeper than
 
 the surface to find web pages and documents that cannot be crawled
 
 or indexed. [source: FreePint -
 
 (c) Free Pint Limited 1997-2006 <http://www.freepint.com/>
 
 DISASTER RECOVERY USING A USB DRIVE
  Robert Vamosi Senior editor, CNET Reviews June 16, 2006
 
 
 Nobody likes to think about disaster, but as the resident security guy, I'm frequently involved with disaster planning around the home and the office. Preparedness is the key, so get ready now while the threat is still low. Obviously, tending to family and pets takes a higher priority than mere hardware, but as we found out after Katrina, sometimes you won't be able to get back home right away, yet you'll need certain critical data to move on with your life. Many Gulf Coast residents learned valuable lessons after last year; here are some of their suggestions with regard to computer data and personal information, as well as several steps you can take to make an emergency evacuation and recovery less painful.
 
 Online services
 Many of those relocated outside of the Gulf Coast last fall found themselves with the opportunity to use Internet-connected computers--but they had no idea how to get the information they needed. Those who had moved their banking and bill-paying online were able to quickly put back together their financial lives after Katrina. Now might be a good time for the rest of us to sign up for these online services.
 
 Paperwork
 Create a small Notepad file or a spreadsheet with all of your personal information on it--everything. Doctor information, prescription drugs, pharmacies, school information, e-mail addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers. The essence here is to have a backup of your banking information (include bank account numbers, stocks, and anything you access online), insurance (policy, agent, and such), and ISP (you might need to reestablish your account). If you run a small business, copy lists of your customers, vendors, account numbers, and payroll contact information (if you have a staff) into a separate folder. Later, burn the contents of that folder to a disc or a flash drive for safekeeping. Those who had moved their banking and bill-paying online were able to quickly put back together their financial lives after Katrina.
 
 Why not also make digital copies of important papers? If you have a scanner, scan important documents--birth certificates, mortgages (at least the first couple of pages), tax forms, anything you think will be important. Save them as PDF files and copy them to a folder on your hard drive. PDF readers are free to download, and accessing these documents after a disaster could speed the process of applying for aid.
 
 Photos
 While you're at it, take the time to make CD or DVD copies of all your digital photos and music. Because the file sizes are larger, you'll need to burn several discs. The personal text files, spreadsheets, and PDF files mentioned above should also be burned to a disc. Store these discs in a safety deposit box. Another option is to mail the photograph discs to relatives in another state (ideally, a state unlikely to suffer from the same natural disaster). Your relatives will not only enjoy the photos, but their home will provide a safe backup for the data.
 
 Hardware
 Before evacuating, copy any updated personal file data to a USB flash drive. These drives are handy and can be part of your evacuation kit. Then, whenever you next get computer access, you can plug in the USB drive and print out the info. I'd go the additional step of recommending that you encrypt this data. ZDNet has a blog about encrypted USB drives < http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=14 >; you can use WinZip and other common applications, such as PGP, to encrypt the data. When you need to extract the data, both WinZip and PGP have free downloads to install on the new computer. If you want, you can wear the USB drive with your personal files on your key ring. That way, in a moment's notice, you can dash off to the evacuation center.
 
 If you want, you can wear the USB drive with your personal files on your key ring. That way, in a moment's notice, you can dash off to the evacuation center; while you may have only the clothes on your back, you'll also have some of the data you'll need to reconstruct your life. [Source: http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3513_7-6543361-1.html?tag=nl.e497 Last accessed, 28 June, 2006. ]
 
 I am a big fan and user of on line video and audio -- especially on line music sites and on line radio. If you are interested in capturing and recording music, you should grab a plug-in for WinAmp, or get a copy of Audacity. There are several on line music sources. Among them: Pandora is a music discovery service des