Using clean manager on older versions of Windows (in particular) always requires setting the options, which isn’t hard, but makes it a little hard to automate as part of a larger process of cleaning up your drive.
I made my life a little easier to run clean manager by writing a batch file (and registry file) that you can downloads (in a 7z archive) via cleanup_disk.7z
I’ve already posted that I’ve moved my web hosting over to JustHost.com and that I’m happy with JustHost.com; but I decided it was well worth actually going through what makes JustHost.com a reasonably good choice for hosting.
UNLIMITED would have to start the list.
Web hosting with JustHost.com has unlimited storage, unlimited transfer, unlimited domain hosting, unlimited email accounts, unlimited email storage, unlimited MySQL databases, and unlimited database size.
MONEY BACK GUARANTEE would have to be the second item on the list.
Not a 30-day money back guarantee, but an any time money back guarantee. If you pre-pay for two or three or four years to get the best price, you can still get a pro-rated refund if they ever fail to meet your expectations; and within the first 30-days you get a full refund (I believe they will charge you for domain registration if they provided or extended your domain’s registration, but that’s reasonable).
COST would be the third item on the list.
And honestly I shouldn’t say cost, but rather value. After all, you’re not looking for a cheap web host, you’re looking for a reliable web hosting company that won’t break the bank.
FEATURES would be the forth item on the list.
Web hosting plans include one domain (they will pay the registration fee, but they don’t provide private registration — so you may well find that you can get a better deal using another service for domain registration).
They use a fairly standard cPanel for controlling web hosting, domain, and email features. Though, one thing to note is that just because you see something on their cPanel demo does not necessarily mean that it will be included with the hosting package you order (it may be an extra charge item — though realistically none of the “must have” features are extra charge items).
They have a fairly complete list of applications that can be installed directly from their control panel, and likely any LAMP based web application will run without issue (you may need to change some of the default Apache settings via .htaccess in order to make a LAMP application run optimally).
They support Server Side Include (SSI), PHP5, cron jobs, private/custom CGIs, SPF/DKIM, custom DNS records (you have to request customer service to add records for you on a shared hosting package; but they entered a CNAME for me in just a few minutes) and just about everything else other than Apache Tomcat (Java Servlet and JavaServer Pages framework isn’t include on shared hosting packages).
SUPPORT would also need to be on the list.
Their pre-sales support is great; they’ll answer any question you might have, and generally they’re right on the money (I always test pre-sales by asking them some moderately difficult questions that I already know the answers to along with any real questions I need the answers to).
Their technical support staff is good; I probably should rate them very good. They generally take care of any issue immediately; occasionally you’ll end up having to provide them a little more detail in a response to the original ticket in order to get a resolution, but even then I’ve yet to have any issue that took them more than a few hours to resolve (though keep in mind, when it involves DNS changes they don’t control how quickly that propagates through the net).
By default they organize your hosting account with a primary domain and all secondary and external domains are “under” that in the directory structure. To avoid this you can do what I did and register a fictitious domain as your primary domain <your name>.justhost.com works well since you can be sure there’s not likely to be any collision with a real domain / zone (it would be great if they would just give you this as an option).
RATING would also be on the list.
And by that I mean that you don’t have to blindly trust what I’m saying, JustHost.com consistently ranks high on comparisons with other hosting providers. While you might find some negative comments out there, overall the reviews are positive and when viewed side-by-side with their competitors (many charging far more for less) they get great marks.
One note, the price you see advertised on the web site isn’t the lowest price you can get… if you decide you are interested, when you attempt to navigate away an automated “bot” will offer you a lower price (potentially a very low price). There may be different restrictions with the promotional price than the normal packages (I could only get the price I paid per year for a maximum of three years, but it was substantially lower than their normal four year plan — in fact, three years ran me a little more than the published rate for 12 months and a little less than the published rate for 24 months).
When you decide to buy hosting from JustHost.com, please use the advertising panel on my site so that I get a referral credit (it won’t increase the price you pay in the least) or use this link: JustHost.com.
If you run an older version of Microsoft Windows (Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 for instance) and you don’t use Outlook Express, or you’ve replaced it with Live Mail (or another program), you can remove it by typing the following command (all on one line)
“%ProgramFiles%\Outlook Express\setup50.exe” /APP:OE UNINSTALL /PROMPT
Or download a batch file (in a 7z archive) via remove_outlookexpress.7z
Around the end of last November I ordered a Kingston DataTraveler 150 32 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive (DT150/32GB Orange/Black). When it came in it seemed to work, and I didn’t really think anything of it, but when I started to try and copy large files to it, or put a significant amount of information on it (which actually wasn’t until around the first of this year) I continually had issues with it.
I contacted Kingston the first week of March to try and get a handle on the problem or an RMA to return it for a replacement. Kingston then requested that I send them some identifying markings from the metal USB plug — well my unit didn’t have any of those identifying markings, and since those marking would have been covered by the cap I couldn’t have told whether a new product I was interested in purchasing had them or not without opening the package in the store and taking off the cap (and of course mail order there’s no way to do it).
What was really alarming is I had a few other Kingston USB flash drives, and I took a look at them — they also didn’t have any markings on them. So from that I would have to conclude either Kingston just implemented this and the units I have are from before that time, or all the units I have are counterfeit. The truly alarming thing is I’m 99.9% positive that all of these units came from Fry’s Electronics, Microcenter, and Amazon.
This indicates to me that there’s a severe problem with the distribution channel of Kingston products, and that the Kingston name brand (and the Kingston warranty) is worthless. Which means, the purchase of Kingston products should be avoided since they are frequently counterfeited and Kingston appears to be only interested in protecting themselves, not the consumers of their products (since consumers really have no way of knowing if a product is counterfeit).
As Nancy used to say “JUST SAY NO” to Kingston products.
If you run an older version of Microsoft Windows (Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 for instance) and you don’t use Net Meeting, you can remove it by typing the following command (all on one line)
%SystemRoot%\System32\rundll32.exe setupapi,InstallHinfSection NetMtg.Remove 132 msnetmtg.inf
Or download a batch file (in a 7z archive) via remove_netmeeting.7z
I’ve been using Microsoft MyPhone for several months now; and I switched over to it not because it’s something I felt I really needed, but because Windows 7 doesn’t synchronize with Windows Mobile 6.5 devices using the new Windows Sync Center; it requires that I install the Vista (abomination) Device Center which replaced Active-Sync.
Why do I hate Device Center? Well, I couldn’t really care whether I use the-man-in-the-moon or what ever to sync my phone, all I care is that I not have to use Outlook! And you guessed it, Device Center will only synchronize with Outlook, Windows Sync Center allows synchronization with a number of sources (including Outlook if you use that POS).
The options I had were use third party synchronization software (which I was forced to use back when I had a Motorola KRZR — and I really didn’t want software to limit what I could sync), use Google (I really don’t want Google to have more of my personal information than they already have, or try MyPhone (not that I’m wild about Microsoft having my personal information; but I know that they’re a clueless company who wouldn’t know what to do with the information even if they realized they had it).
There are many things that MyPhone won’t do, and we might as well get those listed first:
Things it will do:
If you’re willing to pay for enhanced services:
Presumably these last services are targeted at lost phone (so you might wait until you’ve lost your phone to pay for the service, and I guess if it can’t do it you might be able to get a refund).
Currently MyPhone only supports Windows Mobile devices (so you can consider it’s something you get when you purchase a Windows Mobile phone), and most current Mobile 6.1 and 6.5 phones already have it pre-installed (but you can easily download it and install it on any Windows Mobile 6, 6.1, or 6.5).
To effectively use MyPhone you should have an unlimited data plan (or it might end up costing you quite a bit of money to do the synchronizations).
I don’t want to give anyone the impression that I think MyPhone is the best thing since sliced white bread (who came up with that expression — white bread is horrible), but it works, and it works well — and it provides a service for owners of Windows Mobile 6.x that Windows 7 doesn’t (so much for Microsoft’s flagship products, makes you wonder why you have to pay the big bucks for things that don’t work well, and don’t work together).
One of the nice features of MyPhone is that you can use it to sync information to you phone regardless of what desktop operating system you run (I believe synchronizing to Windows Mobile devices still requires a third party [extra cost] product on OS-X; Sync Mate or Missing Sync).
NOTE: I believe Microsoft considers MyPhone to be part of the Windows Live offerings, but since it doesn’t inter-operate with Windows Live (at least in the current version) I don’t see how anyone can make that claim with a straight face (where do they get these programmers and program managers).
GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring.
It has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, etc.
GIMP is expandable and extensible. It is designed to be augmented with plug-ins and extensions to do just about anything. The advanced scripting interface allows everything from the simplest task to the most complex image manipulation procedures to be easily scripted.
That’s what the GIMP site says; but what GIMP is is a free Open Source alternative to programs like Adobe Photoshop and Corel Paint Shop Pro that runs on Linux, OS-X, and Windows.
GIMP is reasonably easy to use, powerful, and rock solid.
If you understand the principles of image/photo editing you’ll be a pro at using GIMP in no time — far easier to use than Photoshop, far more functional than Paint Shop Pro. And it’s free — totally free — just download it an install it. There’s lots of plug-ins for it as well (so make sure you take a look at some of those add ins). Be sure and review the online documentation, tutorials, and FAQ; plus there are a number of well written books on GIMP available for purchase.
Remember Apple suing Microsoft for “stealing” the Mac’s user interface? A user interface that Apple actually stole from Xerox?
On 4 March 2010 Apple filed suite against HTC for infringing on some twenty patents for iPhone technology they allegedly used in their Android handsets (but not their Windows Mobile handsets).
It’s pretty obvious to me that HTC manufactured Windows Mobile handsets long before the iPhone, and those handsets used many of the basics of the technology described in the twenty iPhone patents — so who’s stealing from whom?
It’s totally ironic that Steve Jobs is quoted as saying:
We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it. We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours.
When in 1996 in the PBS Documentary “Triumph of the Nerds” he said:
Picasso had a saying. He said that ‘Good artists copy; great artists steal.’ And we have always been shameless about stealing great ideas.
I think Eric Von Hipple of MIT’s Sloan School of Management may have hit the nail on the head:
The social value of patents was supposed to be to encourage innovation — that’s what society gets out of it. The net effect is that they decrease innovation, and in the end, the public loses out.
Those who can’t innovate, litigate.
Steve Jobs, 1996 “Triumph of the Nerds”
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) are two methods to help indentify email which is likely not SPAM. SPF was originally proposed in 2003 by Meng Weng Wong and Wayne Schlitt (SPFv1 RFC4408) as an open standard (SPF is backed by the Sender Policy Framework Council); DKIM originally merged and enhanced DomainKeys from Yahoo and Identified Internet Mail from Cisco (RFC4870 superseded by RFC4871) forming an open standard (DKIM is backed by an industry consortium).
Both SPF and DKIM attempt to provide information to receiving SMTP servers about whether or not a particular email message is authentic.
SPFv1 uses a very simple approach where a domain’s DNS server provides a root level TXT record that supplies information about SMTP mail servers that are permitted to originate domain email.
DKIM uses a more complex digital signature on each message (information about which is stored in a sub-domain in domains DNS containing self-signed keys).
You can read up on the specifics of each through the reference links provided below.
POP:
host: mail.<yourdomain>
host: <yourhost>.justhost.com
port: 110
port: 995, SSL
IMAP:
host: mail.<yourdomain>
host:<yourhost> .justhost.com
port: 143
port: 993, SSL
SMTP:
host: mail.<yourdomain> (requires authentication)
host: <yourhost>.justhost.com
port: 25
port: 2626
port: 465, SSL
WEB MAIL:
url: https://<yourdomain>:2096
url: https://<yourhost>.justhost.com:2096
