I just wanted to throw this up here.  My partner blog is looking to raise enough funds to purchase an Apple iPad.  They plan on making some iPad cases with the funds as well.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tmu/ipadapalooza-ipad-and-iphone-cases-plus-sweet-apps

On my way to northern Indianapolis the other day I passed by a billboard that had a surprising image plastered on it. I was driving so it was rather difficult to get a picture at the same time, but I managed.  The billboard belongs to none other than our webhost. Hostgator. I thought this was pretty crazy!

Hostgator is expanding big time, so it’s no surprise they have to advertise. I really didn’t expect to see anything like this around here in Indianapolis.  Hooray for green hosting!

If they pique your interest, definitely grab a cheap hosting plan. Hostgator has been great to us over the last couple years, so I definitely recommend them to anyone looking for affordable webhosting.

Signup for an account

Microsoft will be partnering with SanDisk for a branded drive in May that will come preconfigured for the Xbox 360.

More images can be found at Major Nelsons Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/majornelson/sets/72157623576662307/

Check it out.

So today as the title states I have taken a step back from everything, put on some of my all time favorite songs, such as hurt – johnny cash; god’s gonna cut you down – johnny cash; personal jesus – johnny cash. Like I said it’s a johnny cash type of day so take a moment breathe in some fresh air and enjoy life even for few minutes it will be the best few minutes of your day.

Nothing is more aggravating than recording a video and then finding out later that your video is ruined due to an overly bright recording light. With the Kodak Zi8 pocket HD camera, this problem seems to happen quite often.  You cannot record in low light or record any glossy type surfaces due to the record light being so bright. All of the videos have a red tint or a red dot right in the center of them.

Fed up with the red cast and red dots in my videos, I decided to do something about it. I was going to put tape over the light but then I realized, tape would eventually come off and then it’d leave a sticky residue on the camera. So the next best thing to do was to paint the darn thing! I didn’t want to paint the outside because I figured it’d be more work than what it is and it’d also take away from the over all appearance of the device.  I found out you can remove the lens cover and gain access to the light post from within the lens cover.

Video after the jump.

]]> http://www.knoxware.org/how-to-hide-zi8-record-light/feed/ 6 http://www.knoxware.org/quick-tip-remove-firefox-3-new-tab-button/ http://www.knoxware.org/quick-tip-remove-firefox-3-new-tab-button/#comments Thu, 24 Dec 2009 05:29:51 +0000 ghostshadow http://www.knoxware.org/?p=1188 Nothing annoys me more than having new features added to applications and not having the ability to optionally control said “feature”. In my opinion Firefox 3 is guilty of this.  I do not enjoy the new tab button that is placed next to the browser tabs in Firefox 3.  There is no good way to disable the button from the preferences or even through the about:config panel.

There is however a simple plugin that allows you to disable the new tab button with ease.

The plugin is called, “Remove New Tab Button”.  The plugin removes the new tab button, that’s all. Nothing more, nothing less.  Here are the results.

Before

After

Click add to Firefox, install, restart, enjoy. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/10535

Hah, I’ll have a lot of fans of this post. Is your computer SLOW? Did it run hella fast when you bought it, but now you’ve had it for a year or two and now it runs so slow you can turn it on, go have breakfast and come back and it’s ALMOST done loading? If so, I can help.

Again, I say if it was hella fast when you bought it, there is hope. If it’s just slow because you have 10 year old hardware, go get a new computer.

There are 2 main reasons why your computer is slow.

(1) You have too much shit on it.
(2) You have too much shit on it.

Okay, okay. Mayyybe a hardware problem could be causing your slowness. Technically. But my answer to that is to replace whatever is failing. I’m not going to get into every single possible reason, because that would take forever, and that would be a million tips in one. Uhm, that and it’s late. What I want to do is to give you the easiest things you can fix yourself. There are three tools you need for this, and they’re already on your computer:

(1) Add/Remove Programs
(2) A Delete key on your keyboard
(3) A tool called: msconfig.exe

Ok, the first two are pretty self-explanatory, but I’ll brief ‘em.

(1) Add/Remove Programs, located here: Start > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs, then let the list loads. First part of my tip: Go in there and remove any programs that you know you don’t use anymore. Yep, just click Remove. If you don’t know what it is, don’t remove it… because I’m sure the minute you do, something will get screwed up and you’ll really have to call a tech (I take personal checks, BTW LOL).

(2) Delete key… this may not be an issue if you just don’t have that much stuff. Or if you just have a lotta files like music and such that takes up a lot of space. However, in general, it’s a good idea to keep at least 15-20% free space on your hard drive, no matter how large it is. The main reason why is once you start trying to store stuff in that last 15-20%, you may get some… “erratic” issues. I’ll just leave it at that. Oh, that and after you dip below 15% free space, Windows XP will no longer let you Defragment (that’s another daily tip probably coming soon). So delete things you don’t use any more.

(3) msconfig.exe–Ok, don’t freak out. To get there in Windows XP, just click on Start > Run. Type in msconfig.exe and click OK. To get there in Vista or Windows 7, just click Start, type in msconfig.exe and press Enter.

This opens the System Configuration Utility. Click on the “Startup” tab at the top. You’ll see a long list of checkboxes. I will give you a list of things you can uncheck, things that usually help to slow your computer down when it starts up.

jusched <– This is Java. Not necessary to start your computer.
Reader_sl <– This is Adobe Reader. Not necessary to start your computer.
quicktime All Programs > Startup and right-click and delete the stuff that’s in there.

That’s all for today, I know, it’s kind of a lot to throw, but hey, it really helps with performance issues. If you still have issues after doing this, it’s probably something else causing the issue.

Until next time, be safe!

One of the biggest (and time-consuming) challenges I face at work quite often is when a computer gets infected with a virus, adware, or spyware. We’ll call all of the above, collectively, “malware”.

This is a always a huge inconvenience for me primarily because of the time it takes to resolve the issues. 2 things being able to resolve the issue depends on: (1) how long the malware has been on the computer. Yes, people wait until they simply CANNOT WORK ANY MORE to tell me about a virus message that has been popping up for the past 2 weeks. Usually, by that time, the malware has basically done all the damage it intended to do. (2) How much damage the malware actually intended to do.

Some malware just makes things incredibly inconvenient for you. For instance, some may reset your settings every time you close Internet Explorer (IE). Some may infect your IE by not allowing you to go to any websites. Or, only allow you to go to websites that don’t threaten the malware–such as sites to go to to download antivirus software! They can get pretty nasty.

So, my computer tip of the day, is not for you to call me any time you need computer help. I want to empower you to be equipped to handle it yourself. And this is how I do it.

Do you like to pay for software? I don’t. I use 2 tools. AVG Free Antivirus and Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware. Both free. Because AVG is free, I don’t trust it completely. It gives you BASIC real-time antivirus protection. Realtime meaning it constantly monitors what you’re doing to PREVENT a virus infection. My point is, it’s free. It doesn’t protect you from EVERYTHING. So, what AVG DOESN’T do, Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware, does.

I use Malwarebytes’ Anti-Malware to get rid of the malware that AVG doesn’t catch. It’s just a scan and removal tool–it does NOT PREVENT malware from infecting your computer. So, I use the 2 tools in conjunction with each other so that I don’t have to reformat and reinstall Windows every time I get a virus. And YOU don’t have to call a tech every time YOU get a virus!

Until next time, be safe!

And give me feedback, please!! Comment here or send me a message!

PS.  This is going to be my last post for quite sometime.  I am giving up all things computer related until atleast new years after today.  I am turning off the data connection on my phone, unhooking the desktop, taking the laptop apart, and putting the eeepc in the safe.  The ipod touch is included as well, if you need to get a hold of me send me an email as I will still check these from work but I will be off the grid everyday until atleast January. I am doing this for personal reasons as well as social, we got along for several years without all these things and we may soon have to do so again.  When the digital age fails and it will, we will be cast essentially back to the dark ages.  We can all do things to prevent it but society is too screwed up to give a damn.

over and out

-snowman

Many websites that we go to and create logins for… banks, e-mail accounts, etc. And we must create “security questions” to confirm that we are indeed the owner of the account. Common security questions are “What was the name of your elementary school?” or “What is your mother’s maiden name?”

In my opinion, these security questions are, at most, easily guessable… Most of this information can be obtained online! If someone was really head-set on breaking into your account by guessing your security questions, they could go to a “background information” site that has information about you… former addresses, relatives, and so on and so forth.

Due to this security flaw, I don’t like putting legitimate answers as my security answers. My tip? Think of the answers to your security questions as PASSWORDS. The answers need to be as secure as passwords.

Example: “What is your mother’s maiden name?” Answer: “1234abcd”
Example: “What was the name of your first elementary school?” Answer: “1234abcd”

The answers don’t have to make sense. Actually, the less sense they make, the better and more secure they are. Think about it, if all I needed to know to get access to (and hack) your account is your e-mail address (most people use the same e-mail address for all accounts, to make it ‘easier’–I say, easier for who? You or the hacker?) and what your mother’s maiden name is, I could use the “Forgot Password” feature to crack open your e-mail account to GET the new password they reset, AND change the password so YOU can’t get in it. Oh, I could also go and change your security questions and answers, too, once I got in there, so that when you call the company to get into your OWN account, you can’t verify that you’re the owner. How about that.

So treat your Security Questions and Answers just like your passwords–make them hard to guess, but easy for you to remember. The more symbols and numbers, the better.

Until next time, be safe!