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Known Issues: 239 – Microsoft “PRS”: 0

By on Jun 15, 2008 in Blog Posts, Software | 0 comments

One tool Windows Vista offers to help troubleshoot issues is Microsoft’s Problem Reports and Solutions (PRS). This tool diagnoses the issues tracked by Windows Error Reporting and goes online to find solutions.Today my Vista Ultimate machine reported that I had 239 problems and asked if I wanted to see solutions. Sure, I clicked. A few minutes later Microsoft came back with its findings. Zero solutions. Zero out of 239. Not surprised? Me neither.What did surprise me was the numerous items listed under “Information about other problems”. I saw a listing telling me to download the latest service pack, which I already have installed. Another item told me to update to the the latest version of Firefox, which I am already running. Microsoft told me to update Quicktime, Acrobat Reader, Skype and a half dozen other programs that I already have the latest versions of as well....

How to add a shortcut on your Samsung Blackjack

By on Jun 14, 2008 in Blog Posts, Software | 0 comments

Interested in adding a shortcut to an application on your Samsung Blackjack, but hitting brick walls with Windows Vista? Here is a step-by-step:My phone: Samsung Blackjack (original)OS: Vista Ultimate SP1WM: Windows Mobile 61-First, create a connection between your phone and Windows Mobile Device Center (WMDC). Usually just a matter of making sure WMDC is running in Vista and connecting the USB cable to your phone.2-Next you’ll need to unlock your phone. This is a multi-step process: A-Download and install Device Security Manager PowerToy for Windows Mobile 5.0. Yes, it works with Windows Mobile 6. No, there isn’t a 6.0 version of the program – as of now. B-Download and copy secpolicies.cab to your phone. After downloading, browse to your My Documents folder on your phone and copy the cab file there. Then, on your Blackjack, open Start>Applications>File Explorer and...

FilePlanet: Rip Off or Must Have?

By on Jun 9, 2008 in Blog Posts, Internet | 0 comments

Lately I’ve been seriously questioning my FilePlanet subscription. It costs $59.95 per year to be a “Founders’ Club” member. FilePlanet used to be the site to download PC game betas and demos, but lately they have less exclusives than they used to and are even beginning to fall behind the rest of the Internet in posting patches and other updates. They routinely give glowing recommendations of new games without any hint of their bugs or other gameplay issues. Everything has gone from feeling “by gamers, for gamers” to “by IGN Inc., for profit”.I recently sent an E-Mail to “Ferret” at FilePlanet but and – not surprisingly – have received no response. Here is what I sent Ferret:6/4/08 Ferret: Lately I’ve been very displeased with my Fileplanet Subscription, and especially Founder’s Club. I just don’t...

The Underground World of Shaving

By on Jun 7, 2008 in Blog Posts | 1 comment

I have pretty much always shaved with a cartridge razor system, namely the Mach3 Turbo. At times I have tried various electric razors, but I never felt that I was getting a close shave, not to mention the irritation they caused my skin. With the Mach3 I have tried a number of different shavings gels, then foams, and even a shaving soap and cheap boar hair brush. None of these significantly improved my shaving experience, and I have always felt that it could be better.Out of curiosity, a few weeks ago I Googled my way to some YouTube videos by mantic59. They have opened up a whole new world for me. I had no idea that there was an entire legion of dedicated old school shavers! They have their own jargon and secret understanding – that they known better than everyone else. They claim that shaving in the traditional manner, with a Double-Edge (DE) blade razor system is not only a...

One Step Closer for Obama

By on Jun 1, 2008 in Blog Posts | 0 comments

With today’s decision by the DNC’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, Barack Obama came one step closer to becoming the next President of The United States. I watched the events unfold throughout the entire day – for some strange reason I was riveted by the Rules & Bylaws committee meeting and couldn’t stop watching it – even during various pandering sessions by supporters of both candidates.In the end, I think the committee came to the only reasonable conclusion that was left to them: split the votes and allow Florida and Michigan to send their delegates to the convention. Anything else would have hurt the party in November, and we all know they couldn’t allow that. If one takes an unbiased look at the entire process the committee probably should have never punished the two states so severely in the first place, as it appears that the stipulated...

Firefox Add-ons I Can’t Live Without

By on May 19, 2008 in Blog Posts, Software | 0 comments

With the upcoming release of Mozilla Firefox 3 everyone is abuzz about new features and enhanced performance – but I won’t be ditching Firefox 2 until my favorite Add-ons are upgraded as well. Here they are, in alphabetical order:ColorZillaGreat for web and graphic developers, this tool lets you find the alphanumeric code for any color on a website.Cooliris PreviewsMouse over an image and a small icon appears. When clicked, you see the full sized image in a pop-up window. It’s a handy little time saver.Copernic Desktop Search 2 ToolbarOne of only two toolbars I use – it serves as a quick and easy way to search my computer from my browser window.del.icio.us BookmarksThis allows me to easily create and tag bookmarks directly to my del.icio.us account, so I have them wherever I go. Using tags means I can find that one in six hundred link I’m looking for much...

Age of Conan Sucks

By on May 8, 2008 in Blog Posts, Games | 0 comments

After years or hype and fan boy drooling over screen shots, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures is nearing launch. I have played in the Tech Test and several of the BETAs and I’m here to tell you it’s not worth playing.The game is slow, boring and unimaginative. The graphics are decent at higher levels, but when turned up that high the game slows to an unplayable crawl. Though my system far exceeds the requirements of the game, I can only play at the “Low” settings, which means textures that look like Quake 2 and boring effects. For a game that consumes 24GB of hard disk space you’d really expect more on the visual side. Even when set at “Low” I frequently have to stop moving to let things “catch up”.Even worse, I can never play for more than an hour before the game crashes. This is such a common issue that they even address it in a...

An Adobe Photoshop that doesn’t work with Photoshop documents?

By on Apr 1, 2008 in Blog Posts, Software | 0 comments

Adobe Photoshop Express blows. It doesn’t really allow you to do anything that Google’s Picasa doesn’t do better, and it won’t even allow you to upload PSD files (Photoshop Documents)! Way to go Adobe – any other good names you’d like to kill off? You’ve already buried Macromedia…P.S – You can’t edit GIF, PNG, or TIFF images either – only JPG’s are supported. Wow.