Digg Hack: Making your site look bigger than it is with DiggClick June 26, 2007
Posted by Bryan in : Hacks, Tips , 3 commentsHere’s a simple trick that will amuse your friends and make it look like your site has gone from a few readers a month to a web sensation overnight. (more…)
The Second Life generation June 25, 2007
Posted by Bryan in : Opinion, Other Stuff , 2 commentsMy wife and I were discussing Second Life yesterday (as I’m sure all geek couples do), and she noted that unless you have a certain level of programming ability there’s not much you can do in SL besides walk around and chat.
If you’ve visited Second Life you’ve probably experienced this, too. Second Life is a pretty intimidating (and boring) place when you don’t know what’s going on. When everyone around you knows how to manipulate the environment and you don’t, you’re at a significant functional disadvantage. (more…)
Back up that hard drive, Part 2 June 22, 2007
Posted by Beth in : How-to, Tips , add a commentThese are statements I’ve heard on the job that I never want any of you to have to utter:
“I thought I was backing up regularly, but when my computer crashed and we tried to upload the backup files, nothing was there!!”
“Yeah, I back up. How often? Every 6 months or so.”
“I sent my computer to [insert computer company name] for a keyboard fix and they had to replace my motherboard and OMG WHERE ARE MY FILES???”
“Back up? What does that mean, back up?”
You shouldn’t be thinking about backing up for the first time when your computer crashes. By then, it may be too late. Get in the habit of regularly backing up while your computer is still in good health, and you’ll be glad you did if it ever fails. (more…)
Back up that hard drive, Part 1 June 21, 2007
Posted by Tara in : Tips , add a commentI was sitting at my desk yesterday, typing away, when I heard a shriek from the cube next to me. My co-worker had been experiencing a problems with her computer all morning long; it was performing much slower than normal. She said she had thought about backing up her hard drive and then BAM! Her computer crashed and everything was lost. She said it was the closest she had come to crying at work, EVER, and I understand where she is coming from. Many of the resources that I use to do my job on a daily basis are on my hard drive. Templates, reports, important contact information (this is why I am a strong supporter of web-basted contact managers). (more…)
Hardware Cooling’s Supra Notebook Cooler June 20, 2007
Posted by Bryan in : Reviews , add a comment
Have you ever had your laptop get so hot that it’s uncomfortable to type on? Ever had that happen when it was actually on your lap? This happens to me quite a bit and I know it can’t be a good thing. Fortunately I’ve got a solution to offer you: the Supra Notebook Cooler from HardwareCooling.com. (more…)
Fix your database CSV report woes using Excel June 19, 2007
Posted by Beth in : How-to, Microsoft, Tips , add a commentThis article refers to Excel 2003, but should apply to most other versions as well.
I work for a large company that uses a vast mainframe system to track data. We’ve got programmers who’ve written fabulous scripts, so that we can just go click a button, make a couple of choices, and BAM - there’s a CSV file with the data we need to analyze. Problem is, the data is often not in a very useful format. The names are all upper case, first name and last name are in the same cell, phone numbers are regarded as generic numbers and are dropping zeros, etc. What a lot of people at my company don’t know, and that I try to help them learn, is that Excel has functionality specifically to help you work around these problems. (more…)
Why Pandora.com rocks June 17, 2007
Posted by Bryan in : Opinion, Reviews , 1 comment so farIf Texxors.com seems schizophrenic at times, it’s because we’ve got several different author’s writing for the site. As you might expect, these authors don’t always agree on the best products or approaches. You saw this a little bit in Jeff and Liz’s different takes on how to stay virus free online and you’re going to see it again in this response to Tara’s recent article on Pandora.com. In the interest of presenting multiple opinions and giving our readers as much information as possible, these are the reasons I and a few others affiliated with the site think that Pandora rocks.
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Last minute Father’s Day gift: Make magazine June 16, 2007
Posted by Bryan in : Other Stuff, Reviews, Tips , add a commentYou can’t say we haven’t helped you out this Father’s Day. We arranged for huge discounts on the MySoldius solar charger, gave you a list of cool but inexpensive tech gifts, and we’ve even got a suggestion for you last minute shoppers: Make: magazine. (more…)
Ning Social Networking: Wordpress meets MySpace June 15, 2007
Posted by Bryan in : New Products, Reviews , 1 comment so far
In a recent post in the forums reader olhaok mentioned the Ning social networking site. My first thought was, “That thing’s still around?” When I first came across Ning several months ago it was very rough around the edges. The concept was interesting but the implementation was very poor. I expected it would soon get lost in the flood of new social networking sites that were emerging at the time.
The idea behind the service was good enough: to offer a full-featured, free, online content management system and social networking service (think Wordpress meets MySpace or MyBlogLog), but it just didn’t seem like it could recover from some serious design flaws. (more…)
5 gifts for Dad under $60 June 13, 2007
Posted by Tara in : New Products, Other Stuff, Reviews, Tips , add a comment
1. The Humminbird SmartCast RF30 Wireless Remote Fish Finder
Retails for $59.99, designed as a wrist mount, this little gadget has a 75-foot remote operating range and 100-foot depth capability. It has a 1.25-inch high-visibility display with 48 x 32 pixels of resolution. It is obviously waterproof and has one touch menu navigation for ease of use. (more…)
