Reading blogs with an aggregator

The blogging experience has two parts. The first part is creating and maintaining a weblog. The second part is reading and keeping track of multiple weblogs using a dedicated program that works similar to a mail program.  Often referred to as RSS readers, feed readers, feed aggregators, news readers, or search aggregators,  these programs allows you to “subscribe” to various weblogs and not have to worry about whe new information has been posted to each blog. The information will be pulled down and ready to read in the Newsreader at regular intervals, just like a mail program.  A special program is not required to read a weblog.  A weblog is always available through a browser.  But a specialized program is highly recommended.

I  recommend:

FeedDemon for Windows
NetNewsWire for Mac
GoogleReader for a  web-based reader.

There are even Microsoft Outlook plugins that can download and place new posts in Outlook.   Newsgator,  owner of FeedDemon and NetNewsWire offers one, though it is not free.

The iPad is here

Yeah, I’m pretty sure I want one.   I did not run out and buy an iPhone.  I never thought it was worth the price of the monthly cell + data plan.  For sometime now, I have been watching TV shows and movies on my MacBook Pro; Cassidy has too.  She is always borrowing it on weekends to catch up on the network shows she doesn’t have time during the week to watch.  We settle in, in our favorite place on the coach, or in our bedroom, put on some headphones and have a close-up immersible experience on the laptop.  So the iPad is in effect, our second “laptop” but in a form factor that is better tailored to that personal intimate experience on the coach.  It’s not a small laptop, it’s a big iPod Touch (oh, we have 3 of those in the house).  It does not run Mac desktop software, but instead runs iPod apps plus the software that comes on it.

A pleasant surprise was the price!  I feared it would start at $1000 but the WiFi-only model starts at $500 for the 8gig model, $600 for 16gig and $700 for 32gig.  It will be available in March. In April the Wi-Fi + 3G version comes out and will be priced $629, $729, and $829.  Again there’s that data plan for 3G which I feel I can live without.

Gmail Tips

I have a Gmail account that I use to login to Google properties such as Google Docs.  Gmail  is not  my primary email  account.  I’ve started using it more;  for LBJ class reunion stuff for example.   I’ve used it quite a bit as a “throwaway” email when sites ask for an email address but I don’t want to give them my personal email.  I highly recommend it to anyone as either a primary or secondary address.  There are  two main things I like about  Gmail that I think everyone should take advantage of.

1.  Have Google forward all mail to your primary address.  That way you don’t ever have to login to Gmail and for all  practical purposes, you can use your primary mail to receive and reply to people using your Gmail account.  Of course if you  don’t want people knowing your primary account, they you would login to Gmail  and respond from there.  Setup forwarding by clicking Settings in the upper right corner…select the Forwarding and POP/IMAP  tab…Select forward a copy of incoming mail  to…enter your primary email address…choose what to do with the mail that arrives in your Gmail  account.

2. Take advantage of a little known feature that allows you to create NEW email addresses on the fly!  My email address is alankley@gmail.com.  I can give out alankley+facebook@gmail.com, alankley+anything@gmail.com and those email addresses will be delivered to my Gmail mailbox.  I’ve created quite a few like that when I’m asked for an email address. That way I can turn them off if I start receiving spam or I can setup filters to file them away or forward them.  Not all websites accept an email  with a ‘+’ in it but many do.  Here is the Google Help page on the subject:  Using an Address Alias

If you are concerned about the safety of your information using Google Gmail and Docs, I wrote this post on what I think of that.

How to backup your Google Docs

I’ve been using Google  Docs for sometime now.  Both at work and at home. Google didn’t initially make it easy to download or backup your docs but now they have.  Here’s what you do:

From the main screen,  select all…More Actions…Export.   See some screenshots here.

How to stop programs from auto-starting on Mac

Skype has no option to turn off auto starting on startup on the Mac.

There are two ways to remove auto-start options on the Mac:

System Preferences:
System Preferences -> System -> Accounts -> select your account -> select Login Items -> select Skype -> click the “-” box below to remove it from the list.

A quicker method:
Hold down the mouse button on the Skype icon in the dock. (Or right click on it).
Uncheck “Open at Login” from the menu that pops up.

“Cannot connect to itunes store” “Invalid argument”

Kristen’s iPod Touch started acting up when attempting to go to the iPod store.  The following message would appear:

“Cannot connect to itunes store” “Invalid argument”

Suggested actions from the Internet included rebooting the router or simply Renewing Lease in the iPod Wi-Fi settings (Settings…Wi-Fi…NetworkName…[Right Arrow button]…scroll down and select Renew Lease)

The IP address should begin with 192.168 but if it begins with 169.254 this indicates it doesn’t have a good IP address.

Finally, I did a cold boot (held down the power button for several seconds) . This seemed to help in reassigning a good IP address.  I’m guessing Renew Lease would normally work.

My new 24-inch LCD Widescreen monitor

At work  we have a high-end workstation that came with a very nice 22in monitor.  The monitor had VGA, DVI AND composite video input jacks!  I’ve borrowed it before for XBOX night.  This Christmas, at the top of my wish list is a new LCD monitor for me to use when I work at home sitting on the couch with my Dell notebook and MacBook Pro.   I’m currently using a 15in LCD  with the VGA jack for the laptop or the  DVI jack for the MacBook.   I’ve really wanted a bigger monitor and have kept my eyes open for  one under $200.  Stores don’t carry LCD monitors with a composite video jack so today I decided to call Dell and they were able to hook me up. They recommended  the E2210 22-inch Widescdreen for $199.  They are able to customize it and add a composite connection!  I let the sales guy upsale me a speaker bar for $35.   I told him it was $40 on the Dell site for small business.  Small business always gets you better prices then Home.  Doesn’t seem right.  Anyway monitor plus speakers plus tax came to $220.83 with free shipping.  I’m excited!
Update: In general I’ve had good experiences shopping at Dell.  Turns out this wasn’t one of them.  The monitor arrived today and it did NOT have the composite connection.  It also does not have a stand I can rotate into portrait mode, but then I don’t remember if I specified that.  It took almost 2.5 hours online holding and speaking with multiple people but I’m sending this monitor back and I’ve ordered the S2409W 24-inch Widescreen monitor with VGI, DVI, and HDMI.  It was on sale for $189.  The sound bar should fit on it.  The person I spoke with today said the monitor I ordered could not be altered to add a composite connection.  Arggggh!  We’ll see if round two works out.

Malware from MP3 files

The Microsoft antivirus software I installed yesterday detected some malware in some MP3 files that I had on my computer.  They came from a friend and were of spanish music.

Here is the warning I received:

Here are the details of the TrojanDownloader:ASX/Wimad.BD malware that was found.  In Summary:

TrojanDownloader:ASX/Wimad.BD is a detection for malicious Windows media files that are used in order to encourage users to download and execute arbitrary files on an affected machine. When opened with Windows Media Player, these malicious files open a particular URL in a web browser.  The sites contacted, and files downloaded by TrojanDownloader:ASX/Wimad are variable, and may change over time and from instance to instance of this trojan downloader.

It seems your computer can not be compromised unless you ignore warning messages that clearly state something is not right.

I use to use LimeWire but no longer do.  You  have to be very careful when you download MP3 files or anything else from untrusted sources.

Free antivirus software from Microsoft

I never understood why Microsoft would leave the job of securing their OS to 3rd parties.  They recently made available a free antivirus program called Security Essentials. Not to be confused with their Defender program that has been out a while, and that only dealt with malware.   I had been using and recommending the free and capable Avast program but I am now migrating to Microsoft’s offering.  Not that I know it is better but I am hoping it is good and it is more convenient and integrates better than Avast.

Windows 7

I updated my work laptop from Vista Ultra to Windows 7 Ultra.  I downloaded the install from MSDN.  I first downloaded and tried upgrading to Windows 7 Pro but that  didn’t work and I got some very unfriendly messages when I tried running the Setup program (something about a DLL not being made for this version of the OS). Trying to boot from the CD  was  simply ignored.  I then tried with the Windows  7 Ultra image and it booted fine.

It took about 4 hours to upgrade.   So  far I like the performance and the look and  feel.  I couldn’t wait to leave Vista.  The only gripe so far is that they turned off the Quick Launch toolbar where all my shortcuts were and which I depend on.  Not cool at all.  They’ve reworked the taskbar and the ability to “pin” any program to it.  All that is fine and good and I’m sure I’ll like the new functionality, but that was really rude to not have a migration path for my quick launch shortcuts.  They could have very easily created a new toolbar containing my quick  launch items.  As it were I had to search and find out how to get my quick launch shortcuts back.