Intel Looks To Blanket The World With Self-Powered Sensors -- Intel -- InformationWeek

Intel Looks To Blanket The World With Self-Powered Sensors -- Intel -- InformationWeek
The wireless identification and sensing platform, or WISP, could be used for measuring the environment or inserted into the human body to detect medical problems.

The Mutopia Project

The Mutopia Project
This should accompany the posting directly BELOW. TP.

Lilypond | MUSIC SCORE Publishing

Lilypond

Free DVD Burning Software

Free DVD Burning Software
Older post, but worth looking at some of these proggies if you need one or two.

Old Computers - rare, vintage, and obsolete computers

Old Computers - rare, vintage, and obsolete computers

Hide physical drives in Windows Explorer

Hide physical drives in Windows Explorer

Google Maps http://maps.google.com

Map an Exact Intersection -

Should you choose to map a specific intersection without street numbers, simply type “STREET1 at STREET2, CITY, STATE” for a map of that intersection.

For example:  go to Google Maps and type this in the search maps box:
West Spruce at Fifth Street, Sequim, WA

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Digital camera specs made easy - USATODAY.com

Digital camera specs made easy - USATODAY.com

New Web Crawler Allows For Searching, An...

Silobreaker: Zoetrope: New Web Crawler Allows For Searching, An...
Coming by next summer, and it is likely to be FREE from Adobe.

BofA SafePass CARD

Bank of America | Newsroom - Press Releases

Autorun Program.

Windows software installation - Tarma Installer, Tarma ExpertInstall, Tarma QuickInstall
Screen shots...using Autorun.exe Get the proggie, here, FREE.

How do I … create the autorun.inf file for my CDs and DVDs? | Microsoft Windows | TechRepublic.com

How do I … create the autorun.inf file for my CDs and DVDs? | Microsoft Windows | TechRepublic.com

Apple removes anti-virus advice

BBC NEWS | Technology | Apple removes anti-virus advice: "Apple removes anti-virus advice"

AntiFreeze | Utilities Download | PC World

AntiFreeze | Utilities Download | PC World
Will it work if your system freezes? Don't know, but it's worth a try. FREE.

Songbeat. The music is mine!

Songbeat. The music is mine!
Search, play, download music or get desktop version of Songbeat.

Monograms : JournalEngraver, Personally Engraved Notebooks and Pens

Monograms : JournalEngraver, Personally Engraved Notebooks and Pens
Personalized presents??

40+ Useful Cheat Sheets for Designers - Six Revisions

40+ Useful Cheat Sheets for Designers - Six Revisions

Send messages, and get notification if a site is down.

Send message, free, of your text.  200 word limit.  A link is mailed to your recipient: http://say.expressivo.com/

Site down.  Be notified when it's back up: http://notifymewhenitsup.com/

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CD DVD Burning Programs FREE

CDBurnerXP is a free application to burn CDs and DVDs, including Blu-Ray and HD-DVDs. It also includes the feature to burn and create ISOs, as well as a multilanguage interface. Everyone, even companies, can use it for free. It does not include adware or similar malicious components.
http://cdburnerxp.se/en/download
This is still my favorite burner and I've used a lot of the commercial ones.

BurnAware Free 2.1.7
http://www.freewarefiles.com/BurnAware-Free_program_37802.html
BurnAware Free is a free CD, DVD, Blu-ray Disc burning software. It is ideal for users with basic disc burning needs as backup, creating data, audio, video discs and burning disc images. Free, easy to set up and maintain, it enables you to save your files to disc quickly and provides a more flexible interface to help you complete your burning tasks much faster.

DP CD DVD Burner 1.2 Beta 2
http://www.freewarefiles.com/DP-CD-DVD-Burner-Beta_program_23365.html
DP CD DVD Burner is a very small and easy to use free CD/DVD burner.

Folder SimpBurn 1.0 Beta 3
http://www.freewarefiles.com/Folder-SimpBurn_program_41939.html
Folder SimpBurn is a standalone burning program.

StarBurn 10.5
http://www.rocketdivision.com/download_starburn.html
StarBurn is a powerful tool for grabbing, burning and mastering CD, DVD, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD media. StarBurn supports all types of optical storage media (including CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW, BD-R/RE, HD-DVD-R/RW and DVD-RAM) as well as a wide variety of burning hardware.

Lots of good free programs available

3 alternative ways to get Windows updates - Download Squad

3 alternative ways to get Windows updates - Download Squad

InfraRecorder » Welcome

InfraRecorder » Welcome
Burner software. Free. Make data, audio, mixed mode discs. Burn iso, etc.

1-800-GOOG-411

Edited. Too much noise.

Change Internet Time Sync Interval v2.0 (5/24/2008)

Change Internet Time Sync Interval v2.0 (5/24/2008)

Copyright 2002-2008 - Doug Knox

By default, Windows XP and Vista will try to synchronize your computer's time with an Internet Time Server on a weekly basis. This utility will allow you to change the interval (frequency) between Internet Time Updates. You can choose from weekly, daily, hourly or "custom" settings. Download the ZIP file and extract the contents to your hard drive. The EXE file you extracted is the program. There is no install/uninstall.

I tried it and set my clock once a day. (SS)

This site also has lots of other good information.

You MUST have Administrator level privileges to use this utility.

.Net Framework v2.00 is required to run this utility.

Operating System(s): Windows XP. Requires the VB 6 runtime library (included with Windows XP), Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003.

Version 2.0 - Completely re-written to work with Windows Vista, as well as Windows XP. Intervals changed to Hourly, Daily and Weekly. No custom intervals are available.

Version 1.2 - was a re-write of the Registry code that works much better.

Version 1.1 - fixes a bug when more than 9 hours were selected for the update interval.

Download Internet Time Update.zip here.

This page last updated 06/24/2008 06:40
All material © Doug Knox

http://www.dougknox.com/index.html

is it going to rain?

is it going to rain?
click on the link. Going to rain knows where you are when you ask. Clever. You get a ONE word answer. -tp

Exclusive Lifehacker Download: Belvedere Automates Your Self-Cleaning PC

Exclusive Lifehacker Download: Belvedere Automates Your Self-Cleaning PC
Based on file, it moves it, deletes it, copies it, etc.

Spam Arrest - Try Spam Arrest

Spam Arrest - Try Spam Arrest
Protect your in box. Easy to set up and pre-approve senders, etc. Buy two years for 45/yr. Is it worth it? Check out the site. -tp

More Freeware stops for proggie junkies...

Freeware by Dario Volaric: http://cyber-d.blogspot.com/search/label/Freeware
 
Freeware by Ur I.T. Mate Group: http://support.it-mate.co.uk/?mode=Home

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Combo Fix A good Malware Remover

Introduction

ComboFix is a program, created by sUBs, that scans your computer for known malware, and when found, attempts to clean these infections automatically. In addition to being able to remove a large amount of the most common and current malware, ComboFix also displays a log when it is finished that contains a great deal of information that an experienced helper can use to diagnose, retrieve samples of, and remove infections that are not automatically removed.

Due to the power of this tool it is strongly advised that you do not attempt to act upon any of the information displayed by ComboFix without supervision from someone who has been properly trained. If you do so, it may lead to problems with the normal functionality of your computer.

Please note that this guide is the only authorized guide for the use of ComboFix and cannot be copied without permissions from BleepingComputer.com and sUBs. It is also understood that the use of ComboFix is done at your own risk.

http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/combofix/how-to-use-combofix#intro

Bright Hub - Contributions about Windows

http://www.brighthub.com/computing/windows-platform.aspx

Ubuntu Kung Fu

http://lifehacker.com/5098369/more-ubuntu-kung-fu

Thomas Pitre

[Sent from MAC]

Temporary email forwarding

Temporary email forwarding.  http://meltmail.com/ 

You are given an address after you enter an address your temporary email is forwarded to.  Use this for ads, freebies, etc.

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drop.io

drop.io

Share files. Send link by email, etc. FREE.

Clipdiary | Utilities Download | PC World

Clipdiary | Utilities Download | PC World
Save your clips while your work and/or browse.

Lifehacker Top 10: Top 10 Things You Can Do with a DVD

Lifehacker Top 10: Top 10 Things You Can Do with a DVD

MPlayer for Windows

The award-winning OpenSource media player available for Windows now!

This package contains the latest builds of MPlayer for the Windows platform as well as SMPlayer and MPUI.
Thanks to the award-winning MPlayer engine, more than 192 Video- and 85 Audiocodecs are supported natively!
For maximum performance the package includes optimized MPlayer binaries for various CPU types.
Furthermore the Full-Package includes the Binary Codec Package to enable even more audio/video formats.
Everything in one self-contained download :-)

The Light-Package is a stripped-down version of this package, that includes MPUI and the MPlayer binaries only.

Last Update: 2008-11-13
http://mulder.dummwiedeutsch.de/home/?page=projects#mplayer

Firewall for Vista 64bit, Manual Updates for Vista 64bit

Comodo is a good, free firewall for Vista, 64bit O/S
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/download_firewall.html
Both 32 bit and 64 bit are available in the drop down menu box.

 

MANUAL Updates for Vista 64 bit, DEFENDER software.  Go to:
http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/ADL.aspx#defend64bit

oblong industries, inc.

oblong industries, inc.
Computing with gesture, and real-time, real-world images. An interface that you and I might see in the years to come.

Dell recycling FREE at Staples

Dell and Staples are making it free to recycle any Dell computer product at Staples stores nationwide, according to a Nov. 12 press release. Customers can now responsibly recycle any amount of Dell branded computers, printers, monitors, or peripheral items for free at Staples' 1,500 U.S. store locations, without having to make a purchase.
http://www.eponline.com/articles/69307/

Tweaks. Save You Tube files, ISOdisk creator, Radio 4 in the Netherlands, Old versions of programs, streaming readio,

-FireFox tweaks, using About:config - http://kb.mozillazine.org/Firefox_:_FAQs_:_About:config_Entries

-TubeMe Version: 1.5.2 File Size: 545 KB Price: Free Operating Systems: Windows XP, Vista How many times have you wanted to save a YouTube video to your hard disk for future viewing? This free piece of software does it for you. You'll be able to save YouTube videos as .flv files, then watch those videos with any multimedia software that supports the .flv format. Before downloading the videos, you also get a full description of them, as well.  --Preston Gralla Read more and download this software: TubeMe.
http://www.pcworld.com/downloads/file_download/fid,64509-order,4-page,1-c,video/download.html

OR
-Super Free Youtube Video Downloader is a tool to download YouTube video and save YouTube video to your pc. It allows you to download multiple videos from YouTube with ease. Using Super Free Youtube Video Downloader , You can easily download YouTube video and save them as flv (for Standard Quality) or mp4 (for High Quality) format. http://www.minidvdsoft.com/youtubedownloader/

-ISODisk, free software for mounting and create ISO disk image. http://www.isodisk.com/

-Radio 4 Live: http://www.radio4.nl/page/live/breedband

-Old Versions, REDUX: http://www.oldversion.com/   Older versions of software.

-Streaming Radio: http://www.iradeo.com/

-Clusty Blogs combines Vivísimo's federated search and clustering capabilities to bring you the best blog search on the web. With one search box you can search and cluster these top blog search engines:
    * Blogdigger
    * Blogpulse
    * Feedster
    * Technorati
You may also search by URL to see which blogs are linking to a particular site and Clusty will automatically send your query to each search engine's link search. http://blogs.clusty.com/

-Troublesome words: http://www.wordhustler.com/

-Convert PDFs on line: http://convertpdftoword.net/

-Poetry Radio: http://www.poetrypoetry.com/

-Search for movies, books, music, digital files, etc.: http://anytitle.com/

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Are Our Brains Becoming “Googlized?”

Just Behave - A Column From Search Engine LandAre our brains being rewired by using the Internet? The evidence tends to be pointing that way.

As somebody interested in how the mind works, I read with interest the results of a recent study at UCLA that used the sexiest research tool around today, fMRI scanning. fMRI allows researchers to see which parts of the brain are active when participants are exposed to different stimuli. And for the first time I’m aware of, this was used to track brain activity while people engaged in various online tasks, including searching.

First of all, the “official” story of the study. Then I’ll launch off into my own personal speculation, as the study raises some mind altering implications, and I use that term “mind altering” in it’s literal sense.

The internet: Keeping aging brains limber

The objective of the study was to see if regular internet usage was more effective than other intellectually stimulating tasks in keep the brain limber in aging test subjects. Gary Small, a professor the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, along with Teena D. Moody and Susan Y. Bookheimer, will be publishing the study in an upcoming issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychology. By the way, Small also has a book out which has just been added to my reading list: iBrain, Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind (after reading the book, I might have to rethink the opinion which follows).

In a nutshell, the findings were that “emerging computerized technologies may have physiological effects and potential benefits for middle aged and older adults,” and that “internet searching engages complicated brain activity, which may help exercise and improve brain function.” This is a long way of saying that being online helps keep those little gray cells busy. The level of brain activity was compared to that of reading a book. With internet usage, a significantly bigger piece of neural real estate lit up on the fMRI indicating that more parts of the brain were engaged.

I was particularly interested in the comments on Internet searching, as it seems to line up with my beliefs on the subject. Recently I tried to walk through the cortical and subcortical interplay that happens when we do a search. I have also mused that online activity might be remapping our cortical networks. It appears that this might be the case.

There was one particularly interesting finding in the study. Not all brains fired up at the same level of activity. In those without previous Internet experience, the variance between the level of activity reading and that while online searching wasn’t significantly different, but in those with prior experience, activity was found in the frontal, temporal and cingulated areas of the brain, areas associated with complex reasoning. The brain in these participants was getting a much more thorough workout.

The purpose of the study was to measure the effectiveness of online activity in slowing geriatric cognitive loss. But for me, the more interesting implications come in understanding that the brain of Internet users may be remapping itself.

Or is Google making us stupid?

Earlier this summer, the Atlantic’s technology writer, Nicholas Carr, wrote an article entitled “Is Google Making Us Stupid?”

“Over the past few years I’ve had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain, remapping the neural circuitry, reprogramming the memory. My mind isn’t going - so far as I can tell - but it’s changing.”

Now, the way Carr puts it, it sounds pretty ominous. Remapping neural circuitry? Reprogramming the memory! One gets the picture of a gremlin armed with wire cutters and a chain saw, having their way with our cortex. But the fact is, “remapping” and “reprogramming” happens every day. If it didn’t, you’d never remember your phone number or where you lived. The forging of new neural connections and the pruning of old ones are the basic functions of our brains. It’s how our brain works.

But the UCLA findings might indicate something more permanent, something related to the recent discovery that neuroplasticity, once thought to only be present in the very young, is now known to be a property of our brains throughout our lives. By the way, Small’s other work does show a significant divide between the online skills of the young (Digital Natives) and older generations (Digital Immigrants).

First of all, let’s understand how we learn. Learning involves creating new neuronal firing paths. Basically, as we learn we increase the potential of neurons responsible for storing the new knowledge to fire together. Donald Hebbs called it “fire together, wire together”. Each time the network of neurons fires, the potential to fire again is increased. That’s why things get easier, the more we do them.

In my cognitive walk through of searching explanation, I hypothesized about how the act of searching might pull concepts from various storage modules in the brain (mental images, memories, brand associations, concepts, experiences, sounds, etc) and bring them into the prefrontal cortex, enabling the synthesis required to make a click decision. I’ve said a number of times before that the act of searching is a complex cognitive ballet. Looking at the fMRI image, it appears I was right.

But here’s the thing. In somebody with little or no previous experience with the Internet, the neuronal paths required to pull the information forward might not have been forged. No neurons have been “wired together”. This could explain the discrepancy in the UCLA study between Internet experts and neophytes.

There’s nothing particularly amazing about this. This is simple learning. It is interesting to see how online activity engages multiple parts of the brain, but there’s nothing earth shaking here. But here is what is interesting, and I think it might go to what Nicholas Carr is alluding too.

Our neural plasticity

Studies have shown that our brain has amazing plasticity. We can literally remap entire sections of our cortex to take on new functions. In his book, The Mind and the Brain: Neuroplasticity and the Power of Mental Force, Jeffrey Schwartz recounts how stroke patients have been able remap other parts of the brain to take over motor skills and sense from the striken part of the brain. Blind people use their visual cortex to enhance the sense of touch needed to read Braille. This is not just a synaptic strengthening typical in learning. This is wholesale remapping of the brain, creating enduring pathways for recurring functionality.

So, if the brain has this ability to remap new functions into low traffic areas of our cortex, are we in fact remapping our brains to be more adept in navigating online spaces? Carr contends that our attention spans are getting shorter and he worries that soon we’ll be unable to make our way through a book or even a moderately long magazine article. Or, if we take the alternate point of view that seems to emerge in the UCLA study, is regular use of Google keeping our mind more limber, regularly exercising the synaptic connections between cortical areas? The fact is, the flexibility of our cortex evolved to enable humans to better adapt to dynamic environments. As our world got more complex, we needed to move beyond the programmed responses of the limbic system to something that gave us a little more latitude to respond appropriately to situations. Yes, if we use the Internet frequently, our minds will accommodate by building skills in this area. But this doesn’t imply that we’re getting the virtual version of a frontal lobotomy or, conversely, supercharging our intellect. It just means that we’re using our inherent hardware for new purposes so that we can better keep up with our world. It’s the same flexibility we all come born with, and it’s what makes humans rather remarkable.

Google makes access to information easier and I myself have wondered what this will do to our learning habits. But the fact is that the information revolution is just the latest in numerous changes in how we perceive and cognitize the world around us. Our cortical remapping allows us to adapt to these changes and utilize them effectively. It may not be a question of smart or stupid. It might just be a different way of doing things.

Gord Hotchkiss is CEO of Enquiro, a search marketing firm that produces search engine user eye tracking studies and other research.

The View from 90

The View from 90
A 90 year old blogger. She affirms her age.

95-Year-Old Granny Blogger Reminisces For All to See - Switched

95-Year-Old Granny Blogger Reminisces For All to See - Switched

Obama White House to Broadcast Weekly Radio Address on YouTube

Obama White House to Broadcast Weekly Radio Address on YouTube

Belkin Switch-to-Mac Cable automatically switches you to Mac, gives you a high-five - Engadget

Belkin Switch-to-Mac Cable automatically switches you to Mac, gives you a high-five - Engadget Yea for Mac users.

Google tracking

Collective Intelligence...as this is called:  Google is using its search engine to assemble real-time data related to flu onset in the U.S.  Anyone searching for terms related to flu, symptoms, care, remedies, etc., are tracked by their IP address.  In this way Google can plot where the inquiries originate.  See google.org/flutrends for graphs, etc.  What's next, STDs?  

Tests last year show that google was two weeks faster tracking flu than the Center For Diseases.

-tp.

How to Fix Ion Turntable Problems Recording with Windows Vista

"I love my Ion USB turntable, but I only get one track of audio. What am I doing wrong that it only records one channel? It has never worked properly so I have converted many LPs with only one track of stereo working. I have Windows Vista. Please help!"

Windows Vista detects USB audio devices differently than Windows XP, which means Vista improperly detects the Ion USB Turntable as a mono device instead of stereo. To fix the problem, you need to make an adjustment in the Windows Vista Control Panel.

To correctly configure your computer for recording in stereo, you need to open the Sound option from Start > Control Panel > Hardware and Sound. Click the Manage audio devices link, then click the Recording tab, select the Microphone USB Audio CODEC from the list of recording options and click properties.

From the Advanced tab select 2 channel, 16 bit, 44100 Hz (CD Quality). After clicking OK on all open screens, you're ready to record in stereo.

http://www.jakeludington.com/ask_jake/20081102_how_to_fix_ion_turntable_problems_recording_with_windows_vista.html

Free firewall proggie

Comodo is a good, free firewall for Vista, 64bit O/S
http://www.personalfirewall.comodo.com/download_firewall.html
Both 32 bit and 64 bit are available in the drop down menu box.

Peninsula college is teaching about podcasts and new media.

Click on the image for the full size. This appeared in the Winter catalog of the college.

Computer in the head, FREE DVD creator, and search books

-Yea.  I know.  It's not about technology or computers, but it's USING THE COMPUTER IN OUR HEAD TO SOLVE A PROBLEM -tp. Prevent Flat Bike/Motorcycle Tires. Here's an easier way to flat-proof your bicycle: make a flap of stiff plastic that extends in front of the back wheel until it nearly touches the pavement. Then glue or rivet a rubber flap to the lower edge that brushes against the pavement. A bleach bottle is a particularly good source of plastic since you can gain some stiffness from curve to the neck, and depending on your bicycle design, you might even profit from the neck itself. I learned this many years ago when I was a motorcycle mechanic and discovered that perhaps 90 percent of all flats are on the back wheel. The reason: the front wheel stands the object up, the back wheel runs into it. All the flap does is knock the object back down, and that's all that's necessary. I put one these on my motorcycles and have never again had a flat in more than thirty years and hundreds of thousands of miles of riding. I put them on my bicycles too, and never have flats. -- Bill Babcock

-Free DVD Creator provides you a handy tool to convert and burn DVD movies from video files. It can create DVD from all video formats such as AVI to DVD, DivX to DVD, Xvid to DVD, MPEG to DVD, WMV to DVD, MP4 to DVD, MOV to DVD, RM to DVD...Then you can play the DVDs on portable or home DVD player. With Free DVD Creator, you can create DVD movies with NTSC or PAL video standard, 4:3 or 16:9 video aspect, 720x480/720x576 or 352x240/352x288 video resolution. Create DVD menus with built-in DVD menu maker. And burn DVD movie disc or just create DVD files (.ifo, .vob) on your hard drive. With Free DVD Creator, you can easily turn the vacation, wedding and family movies into DVDs that you can burn and share with your friends and family. And it's completely FREE! Have fun~ :-)Also like DVD Flick, the Free DVD Creator wizard is dead simple to use. First select the movies you want to burn and arrange them in the order you'd like them to playback and appear on the DVD menu. On the next screen, you can completely customize your DVD menu screen. Once you've made it that far, just start burning. Free DVD Creator (like DVD Flick) will handle all of the file conversions necessary, then write the DVD-ready video to a DVD complete with your custom menu. If you have trouble with the one step convert-and-burn (when I tested it, Free DVD Creator created the DVD but didn't immediately burn), just re-open Free DVD Creator and this time select Video DVD Burner instead of Create Video DVD. Then just point the Burner at the VIDEO_TS folder that Free DVD Creator made the first time around (by default it's located at C:\DVDTemp\ and hit Burn. That worked for me without a hitch.  http://www.minidvdsoft.com/dvdcreator/download_free_dvd_creator.html

-SEARCH BOOKS.  Great tool.  See the book: http://bigbooksearch.com/books/oreilly+programming  Try your own searches.

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Gmail Backup

I used this today and it was sweet. I backed up over 60 megs of email that was stored at gMail. It made a folder for me on my local hard drive, automatically, and put all my mail in the folder as .eml type files, readable with Wordpad. Great, free proggie. -tp.


Gmail Backup Software: "Gmail Backup is a freeware that allows you to backup and restore your Gmail email account. It backups all the emails in your account along with the attachments and also preserves the labels.

Download the application and install it, you just need to enter your gmail username and password for it to recover all the emails. You need to enable IMAP access in your gmail account to backup emails using Gmail Backup. To do so, go to settings > Forwarding and POP/IMAP and enable IMAP access. After entering the username and password specify the directory to store the backed up emails. Then click backup.

Gmail Backup

Optionally one can use date range for taking backup. It stores all the emails in .eml files, so you can access these emails using other programs like MS Outlook Express and Mozilla Thunderbird. You can also restore the gmail emails to another account or the same account using the recover function of gmail backup. This works with Google Apps domains also, so if you want to migrate all your regular gmail account to Google Apps domain this is a good tool to do that.

This is a useful tool to backup Gmail regularly to avoid any unexpected surprises. Gmail backup is a freeware for Windows, Linux. Windows version has a GUI but Linux (also works with Mac) version is command-line only.

Download Gmail Backup, [Via Lifehacker]"
http://www.teknobites.com/2008/11/05/gmail-backup-software

Miscellany...Lots of new links

-Send a file: http://www.usend.io/

-Search for color palette, based on existing image: http://www.colorhunter.com/

-Website patterns: http://www.bgpatterns.com/

-Back ... at the Washington Post.  The FED page: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/politics/fedpage/

-Tired of Windows nagging you to restart.  Stop it with: Start, run, type: net stop "automatic updates"  - Quotation marks are required.  Another way to do this:
Modify Group Policy settings.

    Start, Run "gpedit.msc" to bring up the group policy editor. Then navigate to the folder

    Local Computer Policy
      Computer Configuration
        Administrative Templates
          Windows Components
            Windows Update

There are two settings and both will work, so it's your choice. Either enable No auto-restart for schedule Automatic Updates installations or set Re-prompt for restart with scheduled installations to a long time interval, like 1440 minutes.
-----------------------------------------------------------

-Picture site: http://pixdaus.com/

-Pres. Elect Obama's new site: http://www.change.gov/ Submit YOUR ideas with a from via email: http://www.change.gov/page/s/ofthepeople

-Real Time STATS for the World: http://www.worldometers.info/

-SINGLE CLICK SHUTDOWN FOR XP. Here's the updated version of the popular shutdown shortcut for Windows XP. Just right-click onto an empty area of the desktop then select New then Shortcut from the menu that appears. Click the Browse button and navigate your way to: C:\Windows\System32\Shutdown.exe.
Click Next, give the shortcut a name and click Finish. Now right-click the new shortcut, select Properties and in the Target box, add the command line ‘switch’ -l (to log off), -s (to shut down) or -r (to reboot). A basic shutdown shortcut command line should look like this:

    C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe -s

-Drivers: http://www.drivermax.com/

-The SITES listed in this BLOG have been gleaned from:
http://www.lockergnome.com   http://www.don-guitar.com   http://www.langa.com  www.techsupportalert.com   http://www.komando.com    http://www.us-cert.gov   http://WindowsSecrets.com   http://www.infopackets.com   http://www.jakeludington.com   http://www.junkscience.com   http://www.consumerworld.org   http://www.straightdope.com   http://spaceweather.com   http://www.scotsnewsletter.com  http://www.tricksandtrinkets.com   http://www.spywareinfo.net   http://www.InternetTourbus.com  http://www.betterbudgeting.com   http://Vmyths.com   http://www.websensesecuritylabs.com   http://marylaine.com   http://www.thisistrue.com   http://www.StellaAwards.com
www.HeroicStories.com   http://www.linkydinky.com/

-Current http://current.com/ Includes current tv schedules and shows.

-ArtPromote – art and culture online http://www.artpromote.com/  A searchable directory with thousands of annotated listings in over 200 categories of visual art, music, and literature.

-Scour http://www.scour.com/  “Scour's purpose is to bridge the gap between searchers and relevant results. By providing a platform for the user to vote and comment on relevancy, searchers connect with one another creating a true social search community, attained through innovative solutions to meet the needs of today's web searchers.”

-Search.  MSE  http://mse360.com   Returnd text AND images on same page, along with Wikipedia Rtulst and BLOG results on the same page.  Try it.  tp.

-BeyondExec - Spawn Processes and/or Shutdown Remote Windows NT/2000/XP WorkStations. Have you ever wanted to run a process such as an application installer/setup, service pack, virus definition update etc on a group of target computers without having the burden of installing any remote client on your target computers? Perhaps you have needed to Shutdown, Powerdown, Reboot, Suspend, Hibernate, LogOff or Lock a large number of workstations at the one time or at certain times from a scheduler and give the user notice and the ability to cancel the operation beforehand? http://www.beyondlogic.org/solutions/remoteprocess/BeyondExec.htm

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Are you a GEEK?

In order for you to prove where you stand, I've compiled a handy list of 50 key geek skills. Many of them are straightforward, some are tough as hell. Only the most dedicated shut-in basement dwellers will score a perfect 50. How do you stack up? Hit the jump to find out, and be sure to keep a tally as you read—there's a poll at the end to see how you measure up to your fellow Giz readers.

1. Install a hard drive in a laptop
2. Perform a clean OS install on a machine with two OSes
3. Swap out the battery on your iPod/iPhone
4. Jailbreak an iPhone
5. Wire your house for Ethernet and Coax cable
6. Use BitTorrent and RSS to automatically download new shows from trackers
7. Use an A/V receiver to its fullest capability (every port is taken)
8. Calibrate an HDTV without the manual
9. Use a DSLR in full manual mode
10. Hack the encryption and mooch your neighbor's Wi-Fi
11. Solder cleanly enough to get around a circuit board
12. Use your 3G phone as a Wi-Fi access point
13. Shove the guts of a modern game console into a retro game console
14. Design a webpage in HTML by hand that features a picture of your cat
15. Use Photoshop to imperceptibly doctor a photo
16. Abstain from buying extended warranties
17. Know where to buy cheap cables and accessories
18. Fix your parents' computer over the phone without looking at a computer
19. Enter the Konami code
20. Comment on Gizmodo from your phone
21. Type quickly using T9 texting
22. Program a universal remote
23. Contribute code to the Linux kernel
24. Hide porn from your significant other
25. Avoid DRM on everything
26. Know how to back up your data to networked storage—and actually do it
27. Watch TV shows on the internet for free
28. Edit together digital video ripped from YouTube
29. Play any SNES game on your computer through an emulator
30. Reset expired trial software by messing with the registry
31. Hackintosh your PC
32. Download pre-release movies from Usenet
33. Hack the Wii to play homebrew games
34. Get around web content filters on public computers
35. Get into a Windows computer if you forgot your password
36. Securely erase your data so it can't be recovered
37. Share a printer between a Mac and a PC on a network
38. Build a fighting robot
39. Write your own Firefox plugins
40. Navigate and reorganize the files on your computer in DOS
41. Get something on the front page of Digg
42. Get through to executive customer service
43. Rip a CD to V0 quality MP3s
44. Rip a DVD to DivX
45. Build your own computer from parts
46. Swap out the hard drive in your DVR for a bigger one
47. Get an NES cartridge working again by blowing in it
48. Calibrate a 7.1 surround-sound system
49. Play downloaded games on a Nintendo DS
50. Talk about things that aren't tech related

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WPA security on your wireless router...

WEP Wi-Fi security has been known as an easy-to-crack security protocol for a while now, which is why it was superseded by the more secure Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA) standard. But now a PhD candidate studying encryption has found an exploit in the WPA standard that would allow a hacker to "send bogus data to an unsuspecting WiFi client," completely compromising your Wi-Fi security and opening your network to all sorts of hacking. Lucky for you, it's not terribly difficult to protect yourself against the new exploit.

The key: Just log into your router, switch off Temporal Key Integrity Protocol (TKIP) as an encryption mode, and use Advanced Encryption System (AES) only. TKIP is the only protocol that the hack applies to, so switching to AES-only will ensure that your Wi-Fi network is safe again. It's quick and easy, so do yourself a favor and make the adjustment now so you don't run into any problems in the future.

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How Much Ink Is Left in That Dead Cartridge?

We ran printers until they said it was time to change the cartridge--and found that some left more than 40 percent of their ink unused.

PC World's Tips for Saving Money on Printing

For additional advice on reducing the cost of running your inkjet printer, see "The Cheapskate's Guide to Printing," "Save Money on Inkjet Printer Ink," and "How to Spend Less on Printing and Get Better Results."

Jeff Bertolucci, PC World

Nov 2, 2008
http://www.pcworld.com/article/152953/article.html?tk=nl_bexrvw

SOCIAL MEDIA in the next few years.

Defined here, folks: Social media are primarily Internet-based tools for sharing and discussing information among human beings.^[1][2] The term most often refers to activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. This interaction, and the manner in which information is presented, depends on the varied perspectives and "building" of shared meaning among communities, as people share their stories and experiences. [Source: Wikipedia]

With the shift of both The White House and Congress to a Democratic majority, you can expect to see lots of new legislation over the next four years. Obama’s social media platform offers an amazing opportunity to get people more involved in their government, by keeping them abreast of issues and urging them to contact their representatives to push policy forward.

After all – this is what representative government is supposed to be about – but, think about it, when was the last time you talked to your Congressman (or at least one of their handlers)? Obama can leverage social media to make people much more involved in the process of bills becoming laws, and encourage his supporters to pressure their representatives into supporting his policies.

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Net Neutrality

We often banter about terms, or read them in the newspaper, but what do certain, popular phrases mean? For example, Net Neutrality. I found a good explanation and definition, here: http://www.savetheinternet.com/=faq

tp

What does Obama’s election mean for science and technology?

What does Obama’s election mean for science and technology?

FCC Expands Use of Airwaves - washingtonpost.com

FCC Expands Use of Airwaves - washingtonpost.com: "FCC Expands Use of Airwaves
'White Space' to Be Opened to Devices Connected to Web"

Surf, but surf SMART

Surf the Net:  Net-addicts unite! We’ve known it all along, and now we’ve been proven right. A recent study at the University of California Los Angeles found that searching the web stimulated centers in the brain that controlled decision-making and complex reasoning. A simple task like searching the web appears to enhance brain circuitry. Brain scans showed that much more of the brain was activated by internet use than by simply reading a book. Not to mention, there are all sorts of lovely online brain teasers and games on the web, just waiting to make you smarter. And here’s the clincher: the more you surf, the more your brain works.

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Movies on line, and Stuff for the Head..........

-Watch free movies on line: http://thepiratecity.org/search.htm
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Got your thinking cap on?  Want to move away from the boob tube?
I compiled this list a few moments ago.  It's a good one. -tp.

-Just what it sounds like.  Great video interviews, lectures and opinions. This is a digital age, one in which a wealth of accessible information empowers you, the citizen-consumer. But where is the information coming from? How accurate and unprocessed is it, really? Ask yourself this: how empowered do you feel debating a television screen or a newspaper?  http://www.bigthink.com/

-The mandate of Edge Foundation is to promote inquiry into and discussion of intellectual, philosophical, artistic, and literary issues, as well as to work for the intellectual and social achievement of society. http://edge.org/

-We pride ourselves on having a diversity of views in our dialogs and an accordingly diverse comments section, where thoughtful disagreement is expressed in civil terms.  http://bloggingheads.tv/

-JOIN the BRILLIANT IDEAS NETWORK for DISCOURSE and DEBATE Amassing video from public events and colloquia around the world, the online video storehouse Fora.tv is the wide angle lens to TED's close-up. Giving up a TED-like uniform polish for the capaciousness of its collection, Fora.tv is quickly expanding its inventory through a deep roster of partners: a number of schools, the New Republic, Brookings Institution, the Oxonian Society, the Long Now Foundation, the Hoover Foundation, and the Aspen Institute.  http://fora.tv/

-Open Culture BLOG..A guide to SMART media: http://www.oculture.com/

-ScholarSpot.com at http://scholarspot.com  is a aggregate of all educational videos across the web.

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Faxing, sending messages, list all files, calibrate monitor, speech recognition, Photoshop plubin, Medical antiques, Jukebox, Productivity tools, and is the site down, or is it ME?

-Internet Faxing: http://askbobrankin.com/free_internet_faxing.html

-Send message to a group: http://notifu.com/

-Instantly Create A List Of All Files In Windows XP.: http://www.internetfixes.com/readers_questions/IF01987_C.htm

-New. Calibrize is free software that helps you to calibrate the colors of your monitor in three simple steps: http://www.calibrize.com/
Download at: http://www.calibrize.com/thankyou.html
 
-Shoot 1.6.4  Shoot is a speech recognition program that translates your voice commands into arbitrary keystrokes: http://clans.gameclubcentral.com/shoot/
 
-Photoshop compatible plugins by MV: http://www.vicanek.de/plugins.htm
 
-Speed up Open Office: http://www.ghacks.net/2007/08/18/speed-up-open-office

-Medical Antiques: http://www.phisick.com/index.htm

-Tom's (NUNZIO'S) Jukebox of tunes...http://nunzioweb.com/misc/song16.html#16

-Productivity toolbox: http://lateralaction.com/articles/personal-productivity-toolbox/

-Is the site down or is it just me? http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/

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Any Video Converter Free Version

Any Video Converter Free version is an All-in-One video converting tool with easy-to-use graphical interface, fast converting speed and excellent video quality. It allows you to effortlessly convert video files between every format! This free version supports DVD NTSC, DVD PAL, MPEG-I, MPEG-II, MPEG-4 and Flash FLV video profiles.


http://www.any-video-converter.com/products/for_video_free/#

Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop (the latest version)

Version 8.10 (October 2008)

Ubuntu 8.10 Desktop Edition delivers the features you need for an increasingly mobile digital life, including 3G wireless support and guest sessions that lets users temporarily share computers without compromising security. Ubuntu 8.10 Server Edition consolidates its support for virtualization with an integrated Virtual Machine builder, and brings with it a fully-supported Java stack and support for per-user directory encryption. More »

Includes the latest enhancements and is maintained until 2010

What does Ubuntu mean?

Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'Humanity to others', or 'I am what I am because of who we all are'. The Ubuntu distribution brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the software world.

http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download

Font program, eating more cheaply, Video downloader and player, and get the LATEST hosts file.

-CFONT PRO FEATURES Supported Fonts Built in support for TrueType, OpenType, Bitmap, and Postscript Type 1 fonts Preview Fonts Preview fonts from any folder, CD, disk, or network drive. See what the fonts are before you install them Font Engine Extremely powerfull font engine provides a detailed view of your installed fonts with a complete property listing of each. Proof Sheets See all the fonts on your system in one convenient view. Control the color, text and style of what is displayed. Complete Find Dialog
Our find dialog will not only search through installed fonts but will also search your computer for fonts. Supports file filter masks (i.e. Ari*.ttf or *.ttf)
Many more features: FREE, of course. http://www.cfontpro.com/

-As the financial crisis deepens, more Americans are cutting back on eating out and staying home to cook their own meals. According to the NPD Group, a market research company, restaurant meals now cost on average about three times what it takes to make a similar meal at home. While fast-food restaurants are maintaining a relatively steady customer flow, sit-down restaurants are seeing sales plummet. According to Edward E. Leamer, director of the UCLA Anderson Forecast, "There has been so much of a focus on Wall Street and the credit problem, but the real source of the problem in the fourth quarter is going to be consumer spending, and restaurants are one of the canaries in this coal mine."

-BearFlix Basic Version: 1.1.6.1 File Size: 6875k License Type: Free Operating Systems: Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 98 Looking to not only find videos online, but download and play them, and share them with others--all in the same software? Then you'll appreciate this simple-to-use file sharing client that uses the Gnutella file-sharing network. Searching for a video is simple. Type in your search term or terms, see the results, then decide which you want to download. You can manage and queue downloads, pause them, resume them, and so on. It looks and works much like many other file-sharing clients. --Preston Gralla Go to the download page now: http://www.download.com/BearFlix/3000-2017_4-10590188.html?part=dl-BearFlix&subj=dl&tag=button&cdlPid=10590189

-Get latest HOSTS file to block hijackers, parasites and unwanted adware and spyware at: http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hosts.zip
The site at: http://www.mvps.org/winhelp2002/hostsfaq.htm is a FAQ page for installing and using the FREE hosts file. -tp

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You tube features; new - Wired Gadget BLOG

It’s not a big new feature but it’s certainly one that will come in handy: YouTube will now allow you to send users to a specific point in a video by appending a short tag to the end of a video’s URL. It’s pretty surprising that this functionality wasn’t available earlier, as Google Video introduced the same feature over two years ago. YouTube users have been forced to rely on third party services like Splicd to do the same thing. To specify a point, append a tag to the end of your video link with the following syntax: “#t=1m45s” (you can change the numbers before the ‘m’ and ’s’ to edit the minutes and seconds, respectively. Here’s an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfOptgMPE0M#t=58s
As another nice touch, YouTube will also automatically detect when someone mentions a time in a video comment and add a hyperlink to that point in the video.
The feature just went live and there isn’t any easy way to do this though the YouTube UI without manually adding the tag (YouTube hasn’t mentioned it on its official blog yet, either). The YouTube team also has a great sense of humor. As was covered earlier this month,YouTube commentors are now presented with a button asking if they’d like to hear their comments read aloud before they are posted, in the hopes of preventing instances of accidental stupidity (the feature is a response to this now-famous comic).

Wired Magazine Gadget Lab BLOG: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/gadget_lab_videoblog/index.html

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Temporary email address and Obama plans to have a Chief Technology Officer in his cabinet !!

Temporary email address.  Receive only.  http://makemetheking.com

Obama’s CTO: Line Up Tech Nerds - Barack Obama’s run for the White House set new standards in effectively utilizing internet resources and social networking to garner votes, so it comes as no surprise that the Illinois Democrat plans on creating a Chief Technology Officer cabinet-level position should he defeat John McCain November 4. Speculation has already started brewing over who could land that important job with D.C. insiders pointing to candidates like Google “chief internet evangelist” Vint Cerf, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Princeton professor Ed Felten.

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More OO tools, PDF to Word Conversion, Converting Word DOCX files...all FREEBIES

-Open Office Writer's Tools: http://extensions.services.openoffice.org/project/writertools

-Free Online PDF to Word Conversions - PDFUNdo.net is a free online PDF to Word converter. It's real simple to use and doesn't require your email address or registration. You just upload your PDF document and when the conversion is complete, download your Word document. Download the desktop version of PDF UNdo for Free.
http://pdfundo.net/convert/Default.aspx

-Convert docx to other formats, free, or download proggie: http://www.docx-converter.com/conv_formats.php

-Download coverter for docx to RTF at: http://www.nativewinds.montana.com/downloads/Docx2Rtf.zip

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Go GREEN and get Google ALERTS by email.

The last time I was at my bank, I was asked if I want my statements, etc., sent by email rather than regular mail.  I said yes,of course, and I "went green"...just as I did a few moments ago when I gave my OK to AARP to send me email rather than a hard copy of their monthly publication by postal mail.  I suspect you will see a lot more institutions doing this in the weeks to come.  -tp.

Google Alerts: Google Alerts are emails automatically sent to you when there are new Google results for your search terms. We currently offer alerts with results from News, Web, Blogs, Video and Groups. http://www.google.com/alerts?hl=en&gl=
I use alerts when I'm gathering data on a topic or monitoring current news.  FREE, fast, easy.

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Open Office Templates, High School Courses on line and SequimPC News site (NOT SPCUG related)

-Open Office Extras; Templates: http://smalldataproblem.org/ooextras/downloads/labels/index.php?tab=All

-On line high school courses: http://www.brightstorm.com/course/all

-Miscellany from SequimPC News: http://news.sequimpc.com/  (This is NOT a SPCUG site.)

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Making democratic "use" of government statistics, etc.

This is in line with our MISSION statement.
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Government 2.0: Ask What You Can Hack for Your Country
Posted: 20 Oct 2008 11:52 AM PDT

 “The new law of evolution in corporate America seems to be survival of the unfittest. Well, in my book, you either do it right or you get eliminated.”
    - Gordon Gecko, Wall Street

Corporations exist in a continuously changing ecosystem, with behavior strategies, evolution, cooperation, competition, camouflage, mimicry, and yes, extinction. The environment is constantly changing; disequilibrium is the norm.

Similarly, the governments of countries exist in a complex global ecosystem of competition, trade, and war. Some countries are up, some are down, and many are in the middle – and these ranks evolve due to many factors. Even Gecko himself compares the fictional Teldar Paper to “that other malfunctioning corporation, the U.S. of A.”

If the federal government doesn’t want our country to go the way of the dodo, it needs to adapt to changing times – and changing technology, including the many emerging Web 2.0 tools. One Gecko-ish malfunction of government is that it collects a huge amount of data with which it does hardly anything truly useful. Crime statistics, labor trends, pothole locations and many other interesting bits haven’t often been easily accessible, and that strategy doesn’t serve the public well.

Information Innovation

No longer. Innovative people are finding interesting uses for government data. Witness just one example, SpotCrime, a comprehensive private sector mashup of crime reports and real-time interactive maps for not just every state in the U.S., but also many countries around the world.

Using SpotCrime-DC for about 5 minutes, I quickly learned of three recent robberies occurring very close to my home – all between 7:00 and 7:30 am. (Note to self, no morning jogs around the neighborhood.) No one is uninterested in this topic, whether you are protecting your family or just scoping out the competition – but without this simple to use mashup, the information would be overwhelming, confusing, and inaccessible (although technically it is “publicly available.”)

The U.S. government has more than just crime data, though. They have massive storehouses of geographic data, labor statistics, transportation information, census data, genealogies, environmental and ecological trends, economic indicators, and statistics on aging, to name a few. There is literally something for everyone.

Now, a lot of this data is already publicly available; but in what formats? Take this example of the top 100 growing counties in the U.S.. However, you have to download the data in an Excel spreadsheet or as a .CSV file – how many people even know what to do with a .CSV file? And what if you can’t afford Excel, or don’t have it handy when you want to use the public data?

Finally, a good reason to hack the country.

Dr. Mark Drapeau is an Associate Research Fellow studying Social Software for Security (S3) at the Center for Technology and National Security Policy of the National Defense University in Washington DC. These views are his own and not the official policy or position of any part of the U.S. Government.
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NEW UBUNTU INSTALL AND REVIEW

http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/ubuntu-8-10-review.html

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On line health and medical

I am trying to line up a health worker to deliver a presentation on health/medical sites and resources, but if I am NOT successful, I will do one as best I can, making sure the sites are reliable and up to date.  -tp.

http://www.dmoz.org/Health/

http://www.dmoz.org/Health/Senior_Health/

http://www.dmoz.org/Health/Aging/

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/

Medical Dictionary: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/mplusdictionary.html

Medical Encylopedia: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclopedia.html

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LOTS OF SITES FOR CAR OWNERS: [See Oct. 15 posting for REPAIR PAL, too.]

-DriverSide.com - DriverSide can help you find a car and maintain it once it’s yours. The site provides news about recalls, when to get your car serviced, helps you find out how much parts cost, and they will even help you sell it.  Covers pretty much the entire life cycle of an automobile.

-GarageSeek.com - Finding a reliable and honest auto repair garage can be tough, but GarageSeek attempts to provide you with reviews of garages throughout all of North America.

-Ownersite.com - Ownersite is a subscription plan service that helps you keep track of your car’s maintenance, costs and reminders of when you next need service.

-ServiceBeacon.com - Keep track of your car’s maintenance schedule, receive email reminders and schedule appointments with your dealer online.

-TheAutoLog.com - Set up a profile for your car, track its maintenance history and display it for others to see.

-TheCarTracker.com - Track your car’s maintenance, as well as modifications and costs that you have incurred.

-YourGarageOnline.com - Keep track of your car’s information, repair history and easily see when you need to go in for your next check up.

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Tech support, music, radio, visual searching, auto repair costs and file sharing

Tech support, manuals and trouble shooting: http://www.fixya.com/

Music search engine and jukebox: http://songza.com/

Area radio stations.  Listen on line: http://radiotime.com/search/98382/Sequim_WA.aspx

Search Me.  Visual searches: http://www.searchme.com

Estimate costs for auto repairs: http://repairpal.com/estimator  Can be localized by zip code, too.

Drop io .   Private file sharing: http://drop.io/

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Interesting site, watch video on line, and Internet GOOD for the brain...

-Interesting site: http://www.hyperexperience.com/

-Watch movies on line: http://www.thepiratecity.org

-Internet use 'good for the brain' Brain activity in an experienced internet user when carrying out simple reading task. Areas activated by reading a book in the brain of an experienced web user. For middle aged and older people at least, using the internet helps boost brain power, research suggests.It has long been thought that activities which keep the brain active, such as crossword puzzles, may help minimize the impact - and the latest study suggests that surfing the web can be added to the list.  Lead researcher Professor Gary Small said: "The study results are encouraging, that emerging computerized technologies may have physiological effects and potential benefits for middle-aged and older adults.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7667610.stm

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Artificial Intelligence BOT

Interact with AI...Elbot at: http://www.elbot.com/
Winner of Turing Test in the 18th
Loebner Prize.  If you are interested in AI, see full article from Science Daily at:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/10/081013112148.htm

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Opera Browser Ver: 9.60

Opera 9.6 is designed with your life in mind. The day is short and productivity is essential, so let the Opera Web browser help you tackle your ‘to do’ list.

What's New?

Opera Link: Now lets you synchronize custom Search engines and typed History too. So any website address you typed in one computer will be available in all your other computers.

Feed Preview: Click on the feed icon and you will see it in a clean and efficient layout especially formated for your window size. This makes it easier to see the feeds content before subscribing to it or even bookmarking it for quickly viewing what's new in a page without distractions.

Speed Enhancement: Go on, surf around, you'll notice the Web is snappier in Opera 9.6 with faster page loading than previous versions.

Opera Mail (We haven't seen mail since the old version of Netscape)

Low Bandwidth Mode: Now the mail client reduces data downloads as much as possible so you can check your mail faster when you are on the move. Enable it in your account properties and enjoy a faster email experience.

Follow Threads: Keep your eye on important discussions by right-clicking on one of the emails and selecting Follow Thread. All related emails will now appear under the Followed Thread view in your Mail panel.

Ignore Threads: Not really interested in the American Idol discussion your co-workers have going on? Just right-click on the email and select Ignore Thread. Past and future emails from this thread will now skip your unread view.

http://www.opera.com/products/desktop/new/

The File Cluster more Free software, Drivers & Reviews

http://www.filecluster.com/

Startup Delayer and Secure NotePad

Startup Delayer v2.3.130

Released: 14th December 2007

The power to speed up your computer's startup process!

Can you learn another language in the time it takes for your machine to boot? Do you turn on your PC when you go to bed, so it's finished booting by the time you get home from work the next day?

When Windows loads it's Startup file, it attempts to load every program in there at the same time. Therefore if you have quite a lot of programs starting when Windows starts, each program will try and grab CPU time so that it can load.

If each program tries to do this at the same time, you soon notice the slow down that occurs, due to your CPU trying to help all the programs to load, and your hard disk accessing multiple files.

Startup Delayer allows you to setup how many seconds after Windows has started, to load each program.

For Example:
If you have your mail program and a special clock starting up, then you can make your mail start say 10 seconds after Windows has loaded, and then the special clock start 20 seconds after Windows Starts.

Compatible with Windows 98/ME/2000/XP/Vista

http://www.r2.com.au/software.php?page=2&show=startdelay

My Secure Notepad

Very tiny (40KB using LVCL) secure notepad: it's a Safe/StrongBox/Coffer notepad and file cipher utility. Uses AES-256 and SHA-256 encryption from my fast and open-source Crypto library: with such a level of key size, your data are top-secret protected!

Free Download (current version is 1.00):

• as a single executable
• as a full installer (padlock library dll included)
• Delphi 7 source code

The installer creates a shortcut on your bottom screen bar: just click, enter your secret code, press OK, and you will have all your passwords/serials at hand! You can modify the text, update your private data, and the modifications will be automatically saved after confirmation. Thanks to my Crypto library, the software can use padlock engine on via C3/C7.

To encrypt / decrypt some files, just drag and drop files to the “password” window. They’ll be renamed .crypt. Then decryption is available by double-clicking them.

Never forget your secret password: no one could ever get your files/data back - that’s about security... :)

To backup your private notepad, just backup the MySecNotepad.crypt file, stored in the installation directory on Windows 95-XP, or in C:\Users\{UserName}\ AppData\ Local\ VirtualStore\ Program Files\ My Secure Notepad on Windows Vista.

http://bouchez.info/delphi-securenotepad.html

Temp. phone number and Terminology

Get a temporary phone number in Portland for one hour, day, week or month:
http://www.inumbr.com/  Your calls will be forwarded to your cell.

TIGER TEAM: The term is still used to refer to any official inspection team or special "fire fighting" group called in to look at a problem from outside the box. Referring to a team set up solely in response to a specific situation or problem, without considering any wider or longer-term issues. The team typically operates (at least partially) outside the normal chain of command, and reports directly to a higher company officer. Particularly in aerospace engineering, tiger teams would often attack thorny technical problems that appeared late in the design phase.

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Clean LCD display, Freeware, Photo calculator, FILMS, Wireless failures, and Update to Norton Removal Tool

-How do you clean an LCD display?
QUESTION:
Have you ever covered the best way of cleaning an LCD display? My LCD manufacture (ACER) includes no recommendations. It's fairly dirty with some crusty spots (kids sneeze, spill stuff, etc.). What's a safe way of cleaning the older styles that do not have a glassy covering (I hate the glassy ones - especially when using laptops in open places)? Thanks - Sam M.
ANSWER:
I love the glossy displays for just this reason, but I still have plenty of the older style LCDs around and cleaning them can indeed be a challenge. First, turn the monitor off. You can clean it by wiping very gently with a soft, lint-free cloth that's slightly dampened with distilled water. You should not use tap water because the chlorine and other chemicals can damage the more delicate screens. And never spray water or any other liquid onto the screen. You may also use one of the products sold in office supply stores specifically for this purpose. Make sure it does not contain alcohol or ammonia. Commercially available LCD cleaning kits are relatively inexpensive. With anything new, I would try it out on a very small area in one corner of the screen first. Don't apply hard pressure, and let the screen dry completely before you turn it back on. Since all LCDs are not alike, check the owner's manual or the manufacturer's web site for any special recommendations or precautions.

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