How to go straight to voice mail

If you watched Seinfeld (and who didn't), you might remember an episode where George was calling someone to leave them a message, and the person actually picked up the phone. George was flustered. "Oh...uh...I was going to just leave you a voice mail...uh...". Have you ever had that happen? You need to get a message to someone, but you either don't have time to actually have a conversation with that person (or you just don't want to). You just want the voice mail.

Now there's a service that will allow you to do that. It's called Slydial. Here's how easy it is:

1. Dial 267-SLYDIAL (267-759-3425) from any landline or mobile phone.

2. At the voice prompt, enter the U.S. mobile phone number of the person you want to slydial.

3. You will be directly connected to their voicemail. Leave them a voicemail, sit back and relax.

This service is completely free, if you don't mind listening to a short ad. Or you can pay 15 cents per call, or $4.95 per month, or $29.95 per year and not have any ads.

Would you ever use a service like this?

Search Craigslist worldwide, using Google

One of the great things about Craigslist (www.craigslist.org) is that it is very local. Just today I was looking for a specific piece of furniture - I found someone selling exactly what I needed, just a few miles away. We did the transaction and there were no seller fees or buyer fees of any kind.

But the locality of Craigslist can also be a disadvantage. What if you are looking for something specific, but you are willing to travel for it if the deal is right? Sure, you can just look at the various individual locations separately, but that would take forever.

A better way is to use a specialized Google search. This is easy, and very handy for this type of Craigslist search.

I will illustrate this by using an example. Let's say you're looking for a 1965 Mustang. It doesn't matter where it is for sale, you just want to see all of the 1965 Mustangs that are listed on Craigslist. Here's what you do:

1. Go to Google and click on the link that says "Advanced Search". You will be taken to a new page with lots of ways to customize your Google search.

2. In the first section, called "Find web pages that have..." enter this text in the "all these words" field:
1965 mustang

3. In the section that says "But don't show pages that have...any of these unwanted words:", enter this word:
directory

4. Near the bottom of the form, where it asks "Search within a site or domain:", type this:
craigslist.org (note: don't include the "www" in front of the domain)

I also filter for language because I only speak English, but that is up to you. So now your search form looks like this (click to see it full size):

Now click the button in the lower right that says "Advanced Search". You are going to like the results. When I did this search, I got 1790 results - 1965 Mustangs for sale in Boston, Hong Kong, Denver, etc.

Have fun with your new Craigslist search hack!

Software review: Perfect Uninstaller

I was asked recently to do a review for a program called Perfect Uninstaller. The idea behind an Uninstaller program is this: sometimes when you remove a program from your computer, it sometimes doesn't go away completely. It may leave behind bits and pieces of itself in the Registry and other virtual corners of your computer. An uninstaller removes a program, and at the same time looks for those little bits of data and gets rid of them also. At least that is what they are supposed to do.

The other reason for having an Uninstaller program is that some programs just don't like to leave at all. Norton is notorious for this; you uninstall Norton in order to install a different program. It seems to go okay, but the other program won't install because it thinks Norton is still there. If you try to uninstall Norton again, it says it is already uninstalled. So you are left in an "uninstall purgatory" with no apparent way out.

The program we are discussing today, Perfect Uninstaller, is available here. This is my experience with it.

I clicked the big green "Free Download" button and downloaded the installation file to my Download folder (the file is just a little over 2 mb). I double-clicked to run the installation, and the Uninstaller Setup Wizard guided me through the process of installing. Very much standard procedure if you have ever installed a program before.

I had a program I wanted to remove anyway, so I had it go through the uninstall process. Most of that was normal, just like what you would expect when you uninstall the normal way (Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs). However, there was an extra step involved - Perfect Uninstaller also scanned the Registry for any leftover entries, to make sure it was really all gone. It did give me the option to skip this, but this function is one of the primary reasons for using a program such as this, so I let it perform that function.

However...after about 30 minutes of searching the same folder, I did finally hit the Skip button.

This took it to the next step, which is to check the hard drive for any leftover files. That actually did take less than a minute. When that was done, I was presented with this screen:

I would have to say I at first found this to be a little confusing. Is it showing me this list of files so that I have the option of which ones I want to delete? Or is it just presenting me with the list of files that will be deleted when I hit Next? It is actually the latter, but an inexperienced user may not understand what to do at this point, or what the ramifications are if he/she clicks Next.

As you can see, the program found several Registry Keys but no actual files that would be left behind. I clicked Next. That's when I got this window:


Ah, so I need to register it before I can actually uninstall anything. Okay, what the heck. I clicked Yes.

That took me to a website where I was instructed to enter my name, email and zip code. I did that, and clicked on the "Register"button.

That's when I was given the wonderful opportunity to "pay" for the "Free Download".

I don't think so.

Nowhere on the front page of this program's website is there any mention of any charge. On the contrary, the big download button has the word FREE on it. What is the user supposed to assume? That the program is free, of course.

If the company is deceitful in the beginning just to get me to download the program, how do I even know that the program itself is going to do what they say it will do? The misleading advertising is a tipoff that total honesty is not exactly their company policy.

Please note, I am not saying that I am against shareware. In fact, I think it is a great thing to be able to try out some software before you actually pay for it. What I think is crummy is making people believe that your program is free, when it really isn't.

Now I need an uninstaller program to remove my uninstaller program. Hopefully Windows really does get rid of this one completely.


This week's video: what would you do if you thought you were about to be hit by a falling tree? Well, you would run of course.

Please don't type in all caps

Okay, I know that there is a chance that this blog post may offend some of you. That is not my intent. My message today is something that needs to be said, because there are some that still don't know.

When you are typing something that will be read by someone else, don't type in all caps. It is rude. It is the equivalent of yelling. It is not necessary (unless you actually ARE "yelling").


I recently saw this ad for a used computer on Craigslist:

THIS IS A 8 MONTH OLD MONITOR BARELY USED THE SELLING PRICE IS FIRM I WILL HAVE PIC UP IN A DAY OR 2 I AM ALSO SELLING A GATEWAY COMPUTER IT IS LABLED AS WINDOWS VISTA HOWEVER I HAD WINDOWS XP HOME EDITION PUT ON IT IT IS 3 MONTHS OLD SINCE I PUT EVERYTHING IN IT I AM ASKING 250.00 FIRM IF YOU ARE INTERSTED IN IT AND WOULD LIKE THE MONITOR ALSO THE TOTAL PRICE IS GOING TO BE 350.00 CASH PLEASE EMAIL ME AT *********@YAHOO.COM IN THE SUBJECT PUT CRAIGSLIST THANKS JIM OR YOU CAN CALL ME AT ********* LEAVE A MESSAGE IT IS MY GIRLFRIENDS PHONE SHE WILL LET ME KNOW I WILL HAVE PICS UP SUNDAY THE LAPTOP IS 5 MONTHS OLD I AM SELLING IT FOR 425.00 PAID 650.00 IT COMES WITH WINDOWS LIVE AND A CARRYING CASE IT IS A TOSHIBA A125 SATELLITE

Wow, it gives me a headache just trying to read that. Forget the fact that there is not a single sentence-ending period in that whole diatribe, forget the misspelled words, forget the bad grammar. The fact that it is typed in all caps is what gives it that Illiterate Loud Drill Sergeant effect. Is this really how you want your reader to perceive you? Of course not.

So, my dear friends to whom this may apply, please keep this in mind when you are typing your emails. It will make the internet a friendlier place.

Hurricane Fay

Here in the Tampa Bay area of Florida we have just experienced another hurricane. We were lucky though. Pictured below is some of the damage that Fay brought to this area.

PeoplePC...still figuring out this "email" thing

I recently got an email from someone who apparently had just changed their internet provider to PeoplePC. As an aside, if this person had asked my advice (which he/she didn't), I would have advised them to choose a different service. My observations from a few customers that use PeoplePC have led me to believe that it is not much better than AOL. But that's a side issue. Here is the email I received:

Hello!,
I have changed my Internet service provider to PeoplePC Online and have a new e-mail address. My new e-mail address is: ***********@peoplepc.com. Please use this e-mail address from now on. I’m getting great Internet access for a great price. If you’re interested in doing the same, you should visit www.peoplepc.com.

Do you find anything unusual about this email? Okay, it's obviously a pre-formatted, cookie-cutter form message that was sent out by PeoplePC on behalf of this user. The thing is, the only part that identifies this user is the new email address. I don't know what the old email address was, I don't know the person's name, I don't even know if it's a man or a woman. So how do I edit my email address book (or my newsletter subscription list)? You can't change a person's address in your list if you don't know who the person is.

But it doesn't stop there. As a courtesy, I clicked "reply" to the email and wrote a brief message explaining that in order to change the entry in my newsletter list from the old one to the new one, I would need to know a name, or at least what the former email address was. I sent that email, and a few minutes later, I receive a reply from "automated-response@peoplepc.com" that said the following:

This is an automatic reply to your email message to *********@peoplepc.com

This email address is protected by PeoplePC spaminator. Your email message has been redirected a "Suspect Email" folder for **********@peoplepc.com. In order for your message to be moved to this recipient's Inbox, he or she must add your email address to a list of allowed senders.

Click the link below to request that ********@peoplepc.com add you to this list.

Huh? Are the PeoplePC computers this stupid? They send me an email, and when I reply to that email, they don't know whether or not I am a spammer? I don't want to go too far here, but this is almost a Yahoo-level of incompetence.

I played along and clicked the link. I was then instructed to fill in my first and last name, write a brief sentence to identify myself to the recipient (hey, there's a novel idea!), and then pass the "are you a human" test by typing the characters I saw in the window. I am still waiting anxiously to see if I made the cut.

Ironically, the first email I received from them actually met the definition of spam (unsolicited commercial email). I did not request any email from them, and they sent me an email promoting their "service". That makes it spam.

I have always advised to not use the email account that comes with your internet service; PeoplePC just added to those reasons.

How to reduce Firefox memory usage

By now you are probably using Firefox, and if you are staying up to date, you are using Firefox version 3. It is far superior to Internet Explorer in many ways.

One downfall of Firefox is that it uses more than its fair share of memory. I don't know why Mozilla has not taken care of this, but they haven't. But you can solve this little problem on your own, by using the free program called Firefox Ultimate Optimizer, available here (just choose the free download - there is no need to pay for the faster download).

What does it actually do? I will show you by the numbers on my own computer.

With Firefox running, I hit Ctrl + Alt + Delete and open the Windows Task Manager. When you click on the "Processes" tab, it lists everything that is running on your computer and how much memory each process is using. Here is what mine looked like, before I installed the Optimizer:

As you can see, Firefox is hogging 161,116 k of memory.

Then I installed the Firefox Ultimate Optimizer and ran it. Of course, the Optimizer program itself will use some memory. But look at this difference:

Firefox is now using less than 2000k, and the other program is only using about 1000k. Overall, I have reduced Firefox memory usage by a whopping 98%. That's huge!

When you download the program from the link above, it will be in .zip format. Open the zipped folder, and drag the 3 items inside to some other folder (you might want to make an "Optimizer" folder in My Documents, and keep it there).

Once you have them moved, just double click on the file called "Firefox Ultimate Optimizer" and it is now running. When it is running, you will see a tiny orange icon down in your system tray. Right-click on that icon, and choose "Start with Windows" so that it runs all the time.


UPDATE: I have received several emails from readers who have tried to install this program, only to be confronted with an error message. The message tells them that they need to install Microsoft's .NET product. This is a foundation of class libraries and support files that enables programmers to make programs work. I did not realize this was required, because I already had it on my computer.

You can download the .NET framework free from Microsoft, here. Then go back and install the Firefox Optimizer.

This week's video is a typical summer scene - kids having fun swimming in a lake. They are also having some fun "blobbing". This is where one person sits on the end of a large inflatable object, and someone else jumps on the other end, launching the first person into the air. This time, I think she got a little more height than expected.

Windows XP extended to 2010 - for low-end PCs

For the majority of standard computer manufacturers, the operating system sold with new computers now is some version of Windows Vista. If you have not yet dealt with Vista, you probably will at some point (it's not as bad as you have probably heard). Yes, it is more of a memory hog than XP; that's why your new computer should have more memory. Vista's big advantage over XP is that it is more secure. But I will save that for another post.

There is a new class of computers now emerging: low-cost laptops and desktops. These are computers whose primary functions are to view websites and send email. They are becoming more common in developing countries where the average person cannot afford a full-featured computer.

For this class of computer, Windows Vista is just too resource-hungry. Therefore, Microsoft has extended the deadline for Windows XP, allowing manufacturers to still sell XP pre-installed on the limited-resource computers. Some of these machines may also be sold with Linux, which is a free, open-source operating system. Linux is generally considerd to be a more "geek-oriented" operating system and much more stable than any version of Windows.

These low-end laptops and desktops are generally priced under $300. The example pictured below is available here for $248 (click image for full size).

You would not want one of these as your primary computer, but they're cheap enough that you could get one for each of your kids, so that they could access the web and email (just make sure you add the safe-surfing protection I wrote about not long ago).

Your plant just called. It's thirsty.

For some time, we have heard that it is good to talk to your plants. It's supposed to keep them healthy when they hear your reassuring, loving voice. I don't know if I buy that stuff - sounds like it would pretty much be a one-way conversation.


Not any more. Now your plant can telephone you when it needs your attention. Just put it on the Botanicalls network, and when it is low on water it will call you and ask for exactly what it needs.

From the website:

Botanicalls was developed to provide a new way for plants and people to communicate in order to develop better, longer-lasting relationships between them...the Botanicalls team has created the means for a more personal relationship. Each plant has a unique voice based on its botanical characteristics, and each has the ability to tell people when they are in need of assistance. They're also polite: they make sure to call and say thank you when they get a good watering.

(That's one thing I insist on with my plants; they must be polite.)

I guess the next thing in technology is my dog sending me text messages.

5 fun things you can do with Picasa

If you have not used Picasa yet, you are really missing out on a fantastic, free program for organizing and editing your digital photographs. You actually had to buy it originally (that was a few years ago), then Google bought the company and made it free. If you ARE already using it, you might enjoy some of the fun things you can do with it, that perhaps you have not tried yet. I'll show you what I am talking about - let's go experiment and have some fun!

1. Lighten up the dark pictures
You're at your child's school play. You take a picture that you will never have a chance to take again, and...the flash doesn't go off. The moment is lost forever...or is it? Picasa to the rescue! When you are viewing the image in Picasa, look for the slide bar on the left side called "Fill Light":

Slide it to the right as far as is necessary, and see what happens with that dark picture! Below is an example of a picture before and after the Fill Light Slidebar is used (click on the images to see them full size).



2. Make a modern photo into an old-timey photo
This is done by using the "Sepia" function in Picasa. You can do it with any digital photograph. The end result is a photo that is made of just sepia tones, like pictures done a hundred or more years ago. To do this, double click on the image in Picasa, and then click on the "Effects" tab in the left column. If you don't like it, just click the Undo button.

Here is an example of a regular color photo on which I used the Sepia effect:



3. Put the focus on one person
In this example, you might have a group photo and you just want to identify one person in the photo. Or you just want to draw the viewer's attention to one person or one part of the photo. You can make the whole picture blurry except for that one area. You have control over what area to have in focus, how blurry the rest of the picture is, and how large of an area will be in focus. To do this, go back to the "Effects" tab and click on "Soft Focus", then just move the cursor to where you want it. Example below.



4. Colorize just part of the photo
This can be an interesting way to present a photo. Imagine a regular photo, full of vibrant images. Then, you make that photo a black and white - except for one area. Well, you don't have to imagine - just use the "Focal B&W" function in the Picasa Effects menu. Here's what it looks like:



5. Zoom in
This is a fun one. It works best on high-resolution pictures. When you are viewing a picture like that, look in the lower right area of the Picasa window, right above the "Collage" and "Export" links. You should see a slide bar there. It has no text label, but that is the Zoom tool. When you slide it to the right, it gets closer and closer to the image you are viewing.

The picture below is a large picture of an airplane cockpit (click on the image and you will see how big it is). The area that I have outlined in red is the spot that I zoomed in on in the second image.




As a kid, whenever I read my Spiderman comic books, I would always see those ads for the "X-ray Glasses". I never sent away for them because I knew it couldn't be true. But wouldn't it be cool to have that just for a day? This week's video says...maybe not.

Get a watchdog to protect your computer

By the way, Happy 08/08/08!

Sometimes you have to step away from your desk for a minute or two. Wouldn't it be great if you had a watchdog to protect your computer? Today we have a screen saver that is about as close to that as we can get. It's called the "DON'T TOUCH MY COMPUTER" screen saver.


You can get it here. Save that file to your desktop (or somewhere you can find it) and then run it from there.

Some things to keep in mind:

- The download says it's a "free trial", but it really is totally free.
- During the installation, you can UNcheck the option for desktop icons - they are just ads
- Also UNcheck "Review the current NCBuy Sweepstakes entry form" when you see it

Once they installation is done, it should be set as your default screensaver. You might want to turn off the "intro" sounds though (Right click on the desktop, choose Properties, choose Screen saver, click Settings, and uncheck "Intro sounds").

So what happens now? After your set period of time of inactivity, your screen saver will show up on your monitor. It's an office setting, and a dog is sitting there. If someone comes up to your computer and taps a key or moves the mouse, the dog springs up toward the person and starts barking. Because that's what a watchdog is supposed to do.


To use your computer again, hit the "Esc" key on your keyboard.

Secret features of Firefox 3

Firefox 3 has some interesting features that most people are not aware of. This week we will talk about a few of these "secret" functions, and hopefully you will find them useful.


1. You can drag a Firefox tab to a separate Firefox window.
If you have two Firefox browser windows open, and you want to move a tabbed window from one to the other, just drag it. It not only comes with the tab itself, it also brings the history of that tab; so you can click the "Back" button just as if that tab had always been in that window.

2. You can resize your search bar.
As you know, Firefox comes with the Google search bar installed in the top-right corner of the browser window. However, it is a pretty short space, so if you have long search phrases you might not be able to see the whole search phrase at once.

To fix this, just resize the search bar. Put your cursor in between the Google search bar and the Firefox address bar, and the cursor changes to a horizontal line with an arrow at each end. Then just drag it until you have the size you like.

Now, this:

becomes this:

3. You can get Firefox add-ons right from the browser.
As you probably know, Firefox has lots of options for add-on features that customize it and make it do all kinds of great things. It used to be that you had to go searching on the web for these wonderful toys. Not any more - you can browse for them without having to Google.

Click Tools - Add-ons and look for the option called "Get Add-ons". There will be a few there that are recommended, and there will also be a link that says "Browse all Add-ons". That will take you to a seemingly endless supply of bells and whistles that will make your Firefox the coolest one in the neighborhood!

As an aside, one of the Add-ons that is a must-have is Ad-Block Plus. Sometimes I will be working on a computer and access a website or two with Internet Explorer, and suddenly I see all these ads popping up and jumping around and blinking. I'm kind of surprised for a minute, then I think, "Oh yeah - this is Internet Explorer." You don't have the option of blocking out those stupid ads with Explorer, but you sure can with Firefox. For me, that add-on alone makes Firefox the hands-down choice.

How to EDIT your favorite website!

Today I'm going to teach you a cool trick that you can do with any website. You can make the website of your choice editable.

What does that mean, and how is it of any value? Well, I'll be the first to admit that the value is mostly in the novelty effect. By making a website editable, that means you can actually change the content that shows on your screen (and this is only your screen - anyone else that goes to that website will see it the normal way).

Here's an example. Let's go to the website for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and look at one of the articles (you can click on the image to see it full size):

Wow, what a boring article. We need to fix that. With our newly-found ability, we can change it to something crazy like this:


You can delete text, and type over it in exactly the same font that was already in use. You could put your friend's name on the cover of the New York Times if you wanted to.

In order to make a website editable, you first must go to that site. Then, up in the address bar (the place where the website address that starts with "http" is located), copy and paste the following, then hit Enter:

javascript:document.body.contentEditable='true'; document.designMode='on'; void 0

Now just edit as if you were working on a Word document. Once you have created "your" article, just save a screenshot of it and then you can email it to anyone interested.

This week's video features a very curious child, a parent that wasn't paying attention for a minute, and a machine full of stuffed animals. Good thing Walmarts have video cameras to provide the internet with some entertainment.

You downloaded a virus? Don't worry about it!

Most people try to live their lives pretty safely. They wear their seat belts, they lock the doors to their house, they don't run with scissors.

Yet sometimes these same people don't practice the same safe behaviors when using their computer. They open email attachments even though they don't know what the attachment is. They click on links when they don't know for sure where those links will take them. They search Google for free software and install it without question, even though it very likely contains spyware.


Wouldn't it be nice if we could do all that with our computers and not have to think twice about the consequences? Well, if you want to, now you can.

Microsoft has a free download called Steady State. Basically it creates a little "sandbox" for you to play in with your computer. Anything you do while inside Steady State is okay. You can install spyware, get some free waterfall screensavers, click on any link you like, even install viruses. Since all of this activity is happening inside a cache file, it all goes away when the cache file is emptied (simple as doing a restart).

The idea behind this is not to encourage irresponsible computing. One of the practical application is when you have computers that are used by the public, such as in a library or a computer lab. When you have dozens of different people using the same computer each day, there are bound to be some problems created. At the end of the day, you can put the system back to its original state like nothing happened.

You can watch a video demonstration of Steady State, and download it free, here.