Thursday, December 3, 2009

My Favorite Web Products

Hits2U.com - An amazing site!!! Free Internet Advertising. No more paying Google.

Computer Secrets Unleashed! 2009 - A Top I.t. Pro Breaks His Silence & Reveals The Secret
Techniques To Keep Your Home/office Computer Screaming Fast, Free Of Spyware, Viruses & Hackers, And 100% Backed Up!

Registry Cleaner - Try this wonderful Registry Cleaner RegZooka. Your computer will run like new.

AdwareBot - Remove Adware And Spyware Now! AdwareBot Was Created By The Developers For Internet Users Suffering From Adware Infestations. The Software Also Includes Spyware, Malware, Keylogger And Virus Removal Engines. A True Quality Product.

Free Energy Product - Huge Savings on Electricity with this Magnetic Energy Product!

Green DIY energy - (New) Solar & Wind Energy Do-it-Yourself Guide.

Make Insane $$$ Brokering Carbon Credits - This Is The Fastest-growing Financial Specialty In The World!! New York Times. This Is A Unique Program In Very High Demand. Cash In On
The Green Movement.

How To Sell Your Home In 21 Days Or Less - With Or Without A Realtor. The Secret To Selling Your Home In Just 3 Weeks Or Less In A Down Market. Easy Step-by-Step Real Estate Program Is The Perfect Solution For Hard-To-Sell Homes. Used By Both Realtors & Fsbo Homesellers.

Home Made Energy - The Best Do-It-Yourself Offer! Home-Made Renewable Solar And Wind Energy.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Can one sheet of paper be worth $15,000?

A $15,000 sheet of paper?

Hi,

This might sound completely crazy...

Fact is I'd probably never put such an inflated
price tag on a single sheet of paper but after checking
this out I've changed my tune.

You've Gotta See This Offer

Here's the story...

You see, last January, Yanik Silver led a 6-day Epic
business adventure in Baja, Mexico. You had to qualify to
attend (meaning: be ultra successful and have the right
adventurous attitude).

He was out to combine business building sessions while
creating lifetime memories blasting 80mph through the
Baja peninsula in Porsche-powered Dune buggies. And on
the 3rd day of their trek - they came to "Scorpion Bay".
Pretty much in the middle of nowhere but most famous for
the world's second longest surf break.

It was here that Yanik had to give, quite possibly, the
presentation of his life...

What's more, he had to do it with no PowerPoint, no mic,
no workbooks...pretty much nothing but one single sheet of
paper stuffed deep into his backpack at the beginning of
the trip.

Looking out into the audience he had everyone from one-
man Internet superstars raking in multiple 7-figures in
their flip flops to $900M International Resort developers
and $100M Manufacturing conglomerates. These 26 top-gun
entrepreneurs and business leaders had each paid about
$15,000.00 between membership fees and trip costs to be
here (if they met the strict criteria to attend).

Yanik's problem?

What could he say to such a wide ranging group that would
create more profits for each of them no matter what
business or product they sold?

The answer: That single, 8.5" x 11" sheet of paper.

That page held Yanik's MindMap detailing all the little
tweaks, hacks and immediate profit opportunities in any
business...that are pretty much being overlooked 98% of
time. (Or, if you don't have a business already - this
was a blueprint for wringing the most revenue out of one
when you do start it.)

Want to see what he covered?

You can check it out here - Just Click Here

Not only will you be able to get your hands on the single
sheet of paper but also get Yanik's entire closed-door
presentation. Plus, an entirely lopsided deal in your
favor...when you tell him "Maybe".

Trust me, check this out before he decides it's almost
too good. (Though there are 2 qualifications to make sure
- not just anyone has this info.)
Just Click Here To See It

Sincerely,
Ed Smit
Questions@JustAskEd.net

P.S. In case you're thinking this is another one of those
HUGE $2000 'big ticket' boxes - you couldn't be more
wrong. You've got to see this deal for yourself.
Just Click Here

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

My Mac Won't Play Video

Cheryl Asked:
First - I don't know what OS means so I couldn't answer. My Mac is 3 years old and I've never figured out how to get the Safari news video clips to start. I get to the site but there aren't start buttons. What do I do?

Ed Answered:
Unfortunately it sounds like you suffer from a case of my OSX is too old to download flash and play video. The earlier version of OSX isn't supported by the latest Flash players. You should try upgrading to Tiger or later to get video working online.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Computer Secrets Unleashed!

(JUST RELEASED - ALL NEW & EXPANDED 2009 VERSION!!)


Top Information Technology Consultant
spills the beans and reveals his secret techniques...


“Who Else Wants Access to
Exactly the Same Information
My Clients Routinely Shell Out HUNDREDS
...even THOUSANDS of dollars for!”


Hi, my name is Rich Pryor. After 20+ years in the IT industry, I'm coming clean - I can only help a few people a day one-on-one, but now....I'm sharing my knowledge with the world! For years I've kept these closely held secrets to myself and made big bucks doing so. But that is all changing as of right now!


Two years ago, I released Computer Secrets Unleashed! to rave reviews...
NOW I'm pleased to announce the long-awaited, massively expanded...
ALL NEW and COMPLETELY UPDATED...


Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Hyperlinks In Word

On Wed, Sep 2, 2009 at 12:06 PM, Claire wrote:
Hi Ed,

My name is Claire. Sorry I'm messaging you prior to us meeting in person. I received your email from Claudia when she cc'd me on a blog question to you. She is out of town until tomorrow and I was wondering if you could help answer a problem I've been having. Basically I've been writing a "news flash" blog for Claudia in Word. In the news flash I am to include a link to her website and a link to video footage.

For some reason when I paste the links in my Word they don't open up as direct links. You instead have to copy and paste them into a browser in order for them to open up. Is there something I need to change on my computer to allow me to create direct links? I want to figure out this issue asap so I can finish my work. Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

I'm attaching my news flash so you can see what I'm talking about.

Thank you so much Ed! I hope to meet you soon

Best wishes,

Claire

Hi Claire, you need to use the hyperlink option to make the links work. On most versions of Word it looks like a globe with a chain link beneath it. You first highlight the text you want to turn into a link. Then click on the hyperlink tool button. Then make sure the text you want to display is correct (you can change the display text without affecting the link). Click OK. I've attached your previous document with the hyperlinks created.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Computer Recycling?

Angela Asks:

What is the best way to erase a computer before recycling?

Ed Answered:

Take out the Hard Drive and store it in the back of your closet in a shoebox for 40 years. Then take the drive and bury it in the backyard. If you don't have a backyard, drop it in the middle of the ocean or into a deep river. It contains all of the old data that could be used for identity theft (if there's any data of value on there). If you have an original Windows XP disk or Mac OS disk you could boot up from the disk and remove the partition and reformat the drive (in Mac lingo it's reinitialize it). This clears out the drive but it can still be rebuilt if someone is persistent enough. If you're ultra-paranoid you could hire a geek to come to your home and wipe it using one of several utilities that scramble all the data so that the drive won't ever be able to be recovered. How much valuable data do most people have on their computers anyways? A few passwords which you should change anyways. A few account number cookies that should be changed as well.

Most companies will charge a fee for recycling now unless there is an organization that is doing a fund raiser (the city of New York has electronic recycling days from time to time, when they feel like it in different locations). They give you an order number to place on your UPS shipping label for your old equipment and all you have to do is box it and get it to UPS (they might even pick it up, I have a UPS store downstairs from me so I just hall it downstairs). They recycle phones and other electronic items too. Type Computer Recycling and your area for companies. Oh yes, and if they deem that your equipment has value they give you credits and rewards for it sometimes.

Happy recycling,
Ed Smit
Questions@JustAskEd.net

Monday, July 13, 2009

Can't put up the blog!


Question:
On Mon, Jul 13, 2009 at 8:39 PM, Deanne wrote:

This is the message I get when I try to put it up

ERROR

Your HTML cannot be accepted: Tag is not allowed: <meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">

Answer:

Are you typing on the Blog interface or are you cutting and pasting? If you are cutting and pasting you need to use basic text instead of pre-formatted text. To do this copy your text from word and paste it into Notepad (you'll find it under Start/Accessories/Notepad). This makes all the funky formatting that causes these errors go away. After you've pasted into Notepad you can copy and paste from notepad directly into the blog and it shouldn't come up with any errors. You can also try selecting all in Word (Ctrl+A) and choosing Edit/Clear/Formats from the menu. Then try copying and pasting. This gets rid of a lot of junk formatting that Word embeds in your docs but sometimes you have to go back to raw text to make it work. The easiest thing is to type it on the blogger interface and save it as a draft until you're finished creating (Save often or you could lose data). This avoids all outside formatting from creeping in.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

external drive problem

Question submitted by Loree on Wednesday, July 9, 2009 at 07:45:48
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: All of my photos from iphoto have been sent to my Digital Western External drive, along with itunes and a few other files. All of a sudden my photos are not loading when I click on iphoto even though the external drive shows that that there are 29GB of info on those files. What happened to my photos? Yesterday they were there.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------


Answer: When you move files from one drive to another your managing program needs to rediscover the files in the new location. Usually this is done from the File menu of the program. In that menu choose Add Folder to Library. Then you need to choose your external drive to tell it to look at your external drive for pictures and it will create a library of the contents.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Buying A New Computer

It always feels like an apples and oranges comparison. When buying a computer I always ask myself:
What is it going to be used for?
What's the price range?
What to look for in comparing one to another:
Size
Weight (for laptops)
Processor type
Processor speed
Memory RAM (Max it out if you can afford it 4GB minimum currently)
Hard Drive Capacity
Always check the chatter about the specific model and brand (only current chatter) if there is any.

And always remember, they are obsolete before you buy it so don't get stuck on latest and greatest thinking (unless price is no object). If you're a real variety junkie than buy a Costoco computer replacement deal. Then you can get a new one every 6 months.

Hope this answers the majority of buying questions.

Ed Smit
Questions@JustAskEd.net

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Memory Installation

Question submitted by Eston on Friday, June 20, 2009 at 16:05:27
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: How to install 1 mg chip of memory into a dell D520 laptop

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Answer: There is usually a little flap on the underside of laptops
that have a screw holding them in place. Remove the screw and you can
open the flap and you will see a place to insert the memory (or there
may be a memory card in there already). If you already have a memory
upgrade in the laptop you will have to remove it to put in the new
chip (sorry laptops can usually only accomodate one memory chip). To
find out the specific location of the flap you can check support on
the dell.com website for a diagram of the laptop using the service tag
number on the bottom of the laptop to identify the correct make and
model.

Before touching any part of your laptop insides make sure that you
have discharged any static electricity from yourself. I usually do
this by touching something metal. This will make sure you don't fry
the inside of your computer or your new chip. If you feel a shock you
did the right thing. No shock just means that you're not overly
electrified :o)

Friday, June 12, 2009

time and date correction and printing?!?

isaac asked on Monday, June 9, 2008 at 03:14:09
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: i suspect that the computer does not print and makes errors due to error in date and time

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Answer: What would lead you to that conclusion. Date and time don't usually influence printing. If you are having date and time issues you should check your settings for your time zone and the automatic time check. For printing I would try uninstalling and reinstalling the printer drivers.

Also, check the website of the printer manufacturer to see if they have an updated driver from the one you originally installed. Bad printer drivers usually cause printing errors not the system date and time.

Ed Smit
Questions@JustAskEd.net
For more answers to questions
you can check my blog at http://www.dearedblog.com/

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

replace video card in my laptop

Question from Terry on Sunday, May 25, 2008 at 10:50:23
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Question: Where can I find a replacement video card for wm 3077 laptopthat will run windows vista aero.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Answer: Unfortunately, a laptop is not so easily altered. To run
Windows Vista you will probably need a new laptop. My question
is...why would you want to change to Windows Vista. It's a lousy
operating system. Full of problems and security annoyances.

Friday, May 22, 2009

System Error Problem

Question:

Hi Ed,
everytime i open IE or click on anything using IE i get an error message that says SYSTEM ERROR your system is infected with a dangerous virus, ive done scans with avast and avg and there are no problems or virus, the messgae wants me to download an antispyware product, how do i get rid of this error message, its a real pain in the neck

Sincerely, Joe


Answer:
I usually use Spybot - Search and Destroy or Ad-Aware to get rid of these pests। They can be downloaded at download।com। Usually they get into your system disguised as a helpful utility। Once you click on the link to download the helpful utility they take over your system and start annoying you with popups। Try running those two utitilities and hopefully they will eliminate the problem.

Ed Smit
Questions@JustAskEd.net

Friday, April 24, 2009

help line

Question: On 4/24/08, Dana wrote:
Hi Ed - I know you set up a list serv or something for common problems. Could you remind me of url? I think I have a trojan virus - I keep getting all these "dlivery system failed" messages. They seem to be coming from our info@ address.
Thx Dana

Answer: They might just be spoof spam emails. Check the McAfee site for the message subject and see if it's a common spam that is trying to spread a virus using your info account. Also, contact Earthlink if they are still your email host and they can exclude these annoyances. They don't usually mean your systems are infected but they do usually carry viruses so don't click on their attachments. I'm currently doing a blog for questions JustAskEd.Blogspot.com.

Ed Smit
Questions@JustAskEd.net
646-373-8640

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Upgrade options for G4 (Mirrored door)

On 3/11/08, dave wrote:

Question: I have a mirrored door Power Mac G4 Model PowerMac 3.6 CPU PowerPC G4 (3.2) with 2 CPUs at 1.25 L2 cache (per CPU) 256 KB, L3 Cache (per CPU) 1MB and 2 GB of memory bus at 167 MHz Boot ROM V 4.5.7f1

I am out of room on my original hard drive and want to install Leopard (which I have just installed on my other newer machines.)

Can I install a new larger internal drive on this machine and re-assign this drive as the start up drive?

What kind of drive should I use (largest possible?) Can this be done without a major reinstall of software etc.?

I never use OS 9. Even if I install a new larger (and quicker?) drive in one of the open bays should I delete this software? Is it easy to remove? Does it matter if I install another new drive?

Other upgrade possibilities and Costs?


Answer: G4's usual used IDE hard drives. They are getting harder to find and I would recommend at least a 250GB drive but perhaps you could start by archiving some data off your current drive before going through the pain of a drive exchange. If your drive is mirrored then you will need two of the same drives that are identical. There isn't a lot of space inside of the G4 for extra drives so I would also recommend getting an external drive case to house your current drive that connects with USB or firewire to do the transfer of data and programs.

As for OS9 that was a remnant of the upgrade to the first OSX that doesn't need to be installed on your new drive. As far as a major reinstall of the system you can try using a Ghosting software to save an image of the drive and restore it onto the new drive but this doesn't work all of the time.

Any change over of hard drives usually works best with a fresh install of the operating system and the programs. Then transfer the data onto the new drive. If you are missing original software CDs this can be a problem so that's why I recommend the external drive chassis that hooks up to a USB port or firewire.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Blackberry time wrong! What to do?

Deanne Asks,

The time change for Daylight Savings Time isn't happening on my Blackberry. What can I do?

Ed Answered,

Here is the Blackberry Patch page for the DST change...
http://www.blackberry.com/DST2007/patch/index2.shtml#users

There is a manual option as well if this seems to overwhelming to try on your own...
http://www.blackberry.com/select/dst2007/resolutions/internetservice/index.shtml

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Adobe Isn't Printing All Of My Document

Hi Ed,

Maybe you can help me out, when I use Adobe 6.0 and try to print a drawing, the drawing prints but none of the sizes, do you know why that might happen?

Thanks,
Joe

Dear Joe,

You might have the sizes in as comments and you have to choose the option under "Print What:" to print Comments on the printer screen to see them on the final printout.  also if the sizes are in color and you are printing on a black and white printer you might want to check the checkbox that says "Print color as black".  Last tip would be to shutdown any other programs that might be open when you're printing because some larger adobe acrobat files have trouble printing if your working memory is not mainly empty.

The are some other Adobe Acrobat tips and tricks at JustAskEd.blogspot.com


Sunday, February 22, 2009

The Audacity!

Here is a place for SourceCoded Software that works...
http://sourceforge.net/softwaremap/

This is the site I use to download my favorite audio recorder Audacity. Real easy to use and works.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

I have also become a big fan of OpenOffice.org for my word processing.
http://www.openoffice.org/

they have a version of each for PC, Mac, and Linux.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Pulling Addresses Out of Mobile Me

Give These Steps A Try
  • Click on the @ symbol on the left side of the top of the Mobile Me Screen
  • Click on the Gear symbol in the middle of the top of the Mobile Me Screen
  • Choose Select All (this highlights all of the contacts in your list)
  • Click on the Gear symbol in the middle of the top of the Mobile Me Screen
  • Choose Export vCard (this starts downloading the contacts into a file on your Mac)
  • Choose your Desktop as the Destination
  • Open the Address Book
  • Delete any Contacts in the Address Book
  • Click on File
  • Click on Import
  • Choose vCards
  • Go to your Desktop and Open the vCards.vcf file that was saved onto your desktop.
  • All of your contacts should now be in the Addressbook.
I've also recorded it as a video to make it easier to follow.
http://computerguysecrets.com/macutilities/ForMobileMeAddressExport.avi

Thursday, January 29, 2009

BREATH from techlineStudio

I am always proud to promote clients who are taking green actions. I've worked with this company for over 10 years providing their computer support and they do great work and they stand behind their products and installation. If you need any built-in furniture or storage solutions they have a very flexible and stylish product line. If you know of anyone who is doing any re-modeling or renovation forward this email and they will receive the same discount.

Bamboo In The Wildtape measure
"To help us celebrate all the exciting changes described below, bring a printout of this email with you and enjoy a special 20% discount on any new order over $5000*"
Dear Ed,

Hello from techlineStudio. We have lots of news for you.
Our store hours have been expanded so that we are open from 10 to 6 every weekday and stay open until 8 on Thursdays. We are now open from 12 to 5 on both Saturday and Sunday.

We are also delighted to let you know that our entire modular system is now available as a greener product that we call BREATH. This means that our entire offering for home and for business can now feature a renewable bamboo veneer finish on a formaldehyde free substrate. The veneer is adhered with a soy-based, formaldehyde free glue. The finish is specially formulated to feature very low levels of volatile organic compounds.

Bamboo Media Center Perhaps best of all, the natural bamboo finish is beautiful. The flat grain veneer shows the structural "knuckles" of the bamboo plant in a decorative pattern that is never the same on any two surfaces.

Over the next few weeks, we are installing
showroom displays of the BREATH product in both home and business settings. In addition, we are showing a number Bamboo File Cabinetsof other exciting additions to our product line. These include thermofoil fronts, which offer a low luster equivalent of the seamless effect of lacquer finishes. In addition, we are greatly expanding our offering of metal frame door styles and adding insert options like decorative patterned glass, opaque colored acrylic and colored glass.

Please come by to see these new offerings!

Bamboo Sample
Sincerely,
Gavin Bromell
gavin@techlinestudio.com
212 674 0551 x203

Our showroom is at 35 East 19th Street,
between Park Avenue South and Broadway
We are open from 10 to 6 on weekdays
and stay open until 8 on Thursdays
We are open from 12 to 5 on both Saturday and Sunday
call us at 212.674.1813


* discount offer is good through the end of February 09



Thursday, January 22, 2009

Your Hacker Question

Questions:
I have been hacked into by someone i know, what can i do about this????

Who do i contact about this????

Rome

Answer:
Sorry to hear about your situation. It's always painful to feel attacked, especially painful when it's someone you know. Hacking is a crime and depending on if it crosses state lines it can be a federal offense. Here is a website that gives resources for reporting a hacking crime to the authorities.

http://www.kowboy.com/computer/security/index.htm

If you have any further questions you can get further help by commenting on this entry in my blog at justasked.blogspot.com

Monday, January 5, 2009

Mac Mail to Outlook

This is the best way I've found so far.

Here's some instructions on how to make it work (note: you will also need Eudora + free edition installed on the PC):

Starting in Mac Mail do the following for each mailbox you wish to transfer (In, Sent, Deleted, etc.):

Select all messages and choose File -> Save As from the main menu. Choose "Raw Message Source" as the format and a name for the group of messages and click the "Save" button. Even though there are no obvious "export" commands from Mac Mail, this will effectively create a file in standard mbox format. However, Outlook Express will not directly import this file type so we'll have to play with it a bit.

Transfer the file you just created to the PC.

Open the directory C:\Documents and Settings\[Account Name]\Application Data\Qualcomm\Eudora (you will need to go to the View tab under the Tools -> Folder Options menu and select "Show Hidden Files and Folders" to be able to view this folder).
If appropriate, rename the file you created in step 1 to match one of the mailboxes in this folder (In, Out, Junk, Trash, etc). Assign this file a .mbx extension.

Copy the file from the previous step into the folder you opened in step 3. (Important! Only do this if you don't mind overwriting the email in your Eudora application).

Open Eudora and view the mailbox you just copied. This will firmly establish your .mbx file as a Eurdora mailbox. Don't worry if the text in your messages doesn't look quite right - this will soon be remedied.

Open Outlook Express. Select File -> Import -> Messages from the main menu. Choose "Eudora Pro or Light" and go through the rest of the wizard. This should properly import all your messages from the selected mailbox into Outlook Express.

Once it's in Outlook Express it's an easy import into Outlook.