There will not be a show February 1, 2009. The next show will be February 8, 2009.
ReadyNAS (By Netgear)
- Gives you Central storage for your entire home network.
- Have all the members of your family store their files
- Stream your Music/Videos/Pictures to your home theater systems.
Features
File Protocols:
- CIFS: Common Internet File System. Mostly used by Windows operating systems. MAC OS X also supports this protocol, but may be called SMB.
- NFS: Network File System. Widely used in Unix or Linux environments. MAX OS X also supports NFS.
- AFP: Apple Filing Protocol. Popular in MAC environments. AFP provides better support for a larger range of characters in filenames and is preferred where this is important.
- FTP: File Transfer Protocol. Used for basic file upload and downloads.
- HTTP/S (HyperText Transfer Protocol): Used by web browsers. You will be able to access shares that were created on the ReadyNAS
Streaming Services:
- SqueezeCenter: Enables streaming of music to SqueezeBox digital music Players
- Itunes Streaming Server. Enables ITunes client to stream media from the ReadyNAS
- UPnP AV: Enables playback of videos, music and pictures from UPnP AV network players
- Home Media Streaming Server: Enables playback of videos, music and picture from Network DVD and media players.
Installed Addons
- BitTorrent: Enables peer-to-peer file sharing and allows the ReadyNAS to queue file downloads.
- ReadyNAS Photos: Allows sharing of photos from the ReadyNAS to your family and friends on the internet.
Volumes:
- RAID: Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks
- X-Raid is Expandable RAID.
- Add disks as you need them and the ReadyNAS will expand the volume and keep it redundant.
Backup
- Allows you to back the readyNAS to a remote machine or backup a remote machine to the readynas.
- Support RSYNC, Windows, FTP, and many others.
PrintServer:
How do I use the ReadyNAS
- I have changed the my documents folder for each users in my house to point to the ReadyNAS. So no matter which computer someone logs in to, they always get their correct documents folder.
- I also use the Readynas to backup all my websites and databases for those sites.
- All user data on the Readynas gets pushed to a computer that is running Mozy offsite backup software. This allows me to backup everyones data with only purchasing one accoutn for $4.95/month from Mozy.com.
- Itunes: My wife uses Itunes with her IPOD, all her music is on the readynas but can be streamed to Itunes software so that she can manage her music.
- I plan on getting a TVIXBOX media player and have it stream from the readynas.
Windows 7 Public Beta
- Looks solid
- Dumbed down with not much you can do without downloading Windows Live Esentials.
- No email programs, no movie maker and no photo prgram.
- Visually looks the same except the task bar.
- Start Menu looks and acts the same as vista
- Show desktop button is to the right of the clock and is not obvious
- Quicklaunch replaced by the ability to pin applications to the TASK BAR
- User Account Control (UAC) changed
- You can now change the way UAC works with differnt levels of alerts
- Always notify me
- Notify me only when programs try to make changes to my computer (DEFAULT)
- Don’t notify me hwne Imake changes to windows settings
- Programs try to install software or make changes to my computer or when I make changes to windows settings.
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- Action Center: Shows up as a little Flag with a red a white X on the task bar.
- Similar to the Security Alerts, but allows you to take action on isssues like Virus or spyware protection.
- Restore your computer to an earlier time. (System Restore)
- Credentials manager – Like RoboForm
by mike on January 25, 2009
Software Picks
- Create, clip and share notes on the web.
- With your mobile phone you can take snapshots, read to-do lists, record audio whenever and where you like and send them to your notebook on evernote.com
- Search through all your notes, even find text within images. Do this online or off with the Desktop software
Logmein Hamachi 
Free for personal use): This will allow you to create a network of computers all over the internet and share files.
- Access files on your home computer over the internet securley.
- Create a network of computers that can be accessed from anywhere.
PDFCreator: This is an easy and free way to be able to create PDF files. Simply install and print from any windows application to a PDF file. Do it the same way as you would print to a printer and select PDFCreator as the printer.
Computer Tips:
Internet Explorer:
Back Space Key: The backspace button is your friend, at least while browsing the internet. Use the back space key on your keyboard to go to the previous web page.
Tabbed Browsing:
- Clicking on any link with your middle mouse button or wheel will open that link in a new tab. Alternatively you can hold down your CTRL key in IE and Firefox and click a link to open that link in a new tab.
- Clicking on an open tab with your middle mouse button will close that tab.
- Mozilla Firefox users can middle-click the back button to open a previous page in a new tab.
- Pressing CTRL + T will open a new tab in IE, Firefox, and Opera.
- Firefox and IE users can hold down CTRL and press 1 through 0 on their keyboard to open that respected tab.
- Right-clicking the active tab will give you an option to close all other non-active tabs.
ShortCut Keys
Create a PC shortcut key to a favorite web page by creating a shortcut to the web page or URL. Users using Internet Explorer can quickly do this by right-clicking on an empty spot of a web page and click ‘Create Shortcut’.
Once the shortcut has been created locate the shortcut and right-click or view the properties of that shortcut.
In the shortcut properties assign a new shortcut key and click OK. Now when the shortcut key is pressed the web page will be automatically loaded.
Long URLs
Long URL’s can be difficut to tell someone or to send in an email.
Googling
- Group your search query to find better results. For example, if you’re searching for computer help, you’ll find better results if you search for an exact phrase by surrounding it in quotes: “computer help”.
- If a lot of your results have keywords you’re not search for use a minus sign. For example, if you’re looking for computer help but don’t want pages containing Windows type: “computer help” -windows
- Google supports number ranges, for example, if you’re searching for computer help between the year 2000 to 2005 you can type: “Computer help” 2000..2005
- See the Google operators page, which lists dozens of the available operators Google allows. For example, the below search would search for URL that contains the word computer: allinurl: computer
- Visit the Google Features page, which lists hundreds of different examples of the type of things you can find through Google and how to find them.
- See Show 6: http://www.techwithmike.com/?p=33 for more google tips
Windows Key Shortcut Combinations:
Windows Key + E Opens Windows Explorer.
Windows Key + Pause/Break Opens System Properties dialog box
Windows Key + F Opens Find Files dialog box
Windows Key + Control + F Opens Find Computer dialog box
Windows Key + R Opens Run command line interface
Windows Key + M Minimize all open windows
Windows Key + Shift Key + M Maximize all open windows
Windows Key + F1 Displays Windows Help
Windows Key + Tab Moves through task bar buttons. Press (Enter) to open the
Cleaning tips:
You can save on computer maintenance by cleaning it on a regular basis.
This will improve the cooling which will improve performance and longevity of your comptuer components.
Dust can prevent air flow which is required to keep your computer running.
NOTE: shut off and unplug your computers power before doing this. Also removec all cables and connectors form the back side of the computer.
- Remove case (see your manufactures manual on how to do that).
- Can of compressed air
- Blow the dust off of components.
- Clean casing with a damp cloth.Dry with paper towel. NEVER WIPE COMPONENTS LIKE CARDS, or the System board with anything wet. Blow with air for those types of parts.
DaveAC talked about the following links:
by mike on January 19, 2009
Windows 7 Public Beta
I finally got a hold of the Windows 7 Public Beta. I have installed it on a Virtual Machine and will be testing it out over the next couple of weeks.
Picking Up The Breadcrumbs
When you surf the internet, your web browser may be storing personal or other information you do not want others to find. Most web browsers give you the option to remove this data. Here is what you need to look for.
Temporary Internet Files (or cache): Browsers save information like images and graphics to speed up the display of the page the next time you visit.
Cookies: These are settings for web pages, like the ‘Remember Me’ feature of login pages.
History: This is the list of webpages that you have visited.
Form Data: Data for online forms like your Name, email address, phone number etc.
Passwords: Passwords for webpages are saved, however, I receommend using a third party solution like RoboForm.
Where to do this in your browser:
- Internet Explorer 7: Go to the Tools menu and select ‘Delete Browsing History’
- Firefox 3: Go tot he Tools menu and select ‘Clear Private Data’
- Chrome: Click on the Wrench icon and select ‘Clear Browsing Data’
Selling your computer?
If you plan on selling your computer, you need to ensure that you wipe your hard drive if you ever had data on it that you do not want others to see. The reason is, even if you delete data, it still remains in the file system, it is just removed from the index of the file table. You can use Eraser that does a good job at wiping data several times which is recommended. It also uses Darik’s Boot and Nuke (DBAN) to wipe the hard drive completely.
Anonymous Web Surfing
Torpark will help with this.
DaveAC’s Recommendations:
http://flock.com : Social Web Browser
http://www.acesoft.net : Erases all tracks of your internet activity
http://www.avforums.com/tv Clips of CES 2009
by mike on January 11, 2009
All digital cameras come with software that can help you to transfer your images to your computer. However, windows by itself does a good job.
Types of memory cards for your camera, please check your user manual for what type your camera supports.
- Secure Digital or SD: Also come in Mini and Micro versions. SDHC are high capacity cards over 4GB. Will not work with older devices.
- Compact Flash: Type I (up to 16GB) and Type II (up to 8GB)
- xD-Picutre Card: Developed by Olympus and Fujifilm for their cameras. Up to 8GB
- Sony Memory stick: MS, MS Pro, MS Pro High Speed, MS Duo 1/2 the size of the regular card.
Warning: Camera cards or any other type of flash memory do have a limit on how many times you can write to them. This limit is in the 10′s of thousands or even 100′s of thousands writes. Ensure you copy your new images to your computer frequently and ensure you have a backup of your computer.
Memory cards can be very useful. Here is a link where you can purchase Card readers.
Transferring Your Images To Your Computer (Windows Vista)
- Connect the camera to your computer using the camera’s USB Cable
- Turn on the camera
- A window will appear. Click ‘Import using Windows”. and follow the onscreen instructions.
NOTE: If step 3 above doesn’t happen, this usually means your windows autoplay feature isn’t enabled. Here is a google search result that might help you.
I didn’t forget about you Wndows XP users out there! This link will show you how to transfer images in Windows XP.
Caller questions:
Koolguy just got a new Ipod and wants to put movies onto it. I suggested Handbrake. It will handle H.264 video.
DaveAC agrees not to use the camera software. Did show concern about the contacts on the SD card from being damaged after removing and inserting it from the camera and reader. He also goes on saying some cameras charge while you have it connected to the computer so this can lower the life of the battery if you keep on plugging it in and unplugging it.
by mike on January 4, 2009
