More Good News For California – Amazon Drops Us

“To call it an ignorant and short-sighted move is an understatement so massive, it’s frightening.“

For you thinkers out there, a ‘must read’: Amazon Drops California In Growing E-Commerce Affiliate Tax Law War

“In the ongoing state-by-state battle over tax collection on affiliate website sales, this afternoon Amazon warned thousands of affiliates their revenue streams would be shut off if a tax bill would be signed into law. Mere hours later, Governor Jerry Brown signed ABx1 28 into law, signifying tough times ahead for many online business owners.” Read more..

This is just a symptom folks, the disease (bankruptcy) is much scarier. Please read the whole article.. and have your thinking caps on..

Today’s free download: If you are hooked on both your Outlook and Twitter accounts, you can use the two together to become more efficient with you communications. There is an TwInbox add-on for Outlook that allows you to send and receive messages, update your Twitter status, receive friend updates, check messages, assign categories to messages, shorten URLs with TinyURL and archive/search your messages.

Today’s quote: “Success will never be a big step in the future, success is a small step taken just now.”  ~ Jonatan Mårtensson

Making the world a better place department: If you believe all those speed limit signs are set just way too fast, and you are going to go a nice, safe, 10 miles per hour under what they say.. Or perhaps you retired and so every day is a Sunday to you (perpetual Sunday Driver).. Don’t ever drive again. You are causing accidents, I guaranty. (Show this to the guilty you know.)

How ’bout some fun – it’s Summertime:

Also: For those of you who remember me talking about Genie Timeline (backup software), you may want to be aware they are having a 4th of July sale.. 4th of July 2011 50% OFF everything.

Last day of June already…

Also #2: Expect more massively ignorant and short-sighted moves. It’s SOP/”Situation: Normal” on planet earth. (More so in CA.)

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Retrospective Wednesday

June is the month I started posting Tech – for Everyone articles. 2007 was the year. Today I am re-posting one of the articles from that first month.. four long years ago now. I hope you enjoy this ‘blast from the past’.

People Google The Darndest Things

I suppose I’m not alone in this, but I am a stat-watcher. It is a way for me to learn about you — the reader: about what topics you’re interested in and which ones you don’t bother to investigate (“you” in the broad sense). I love to get into all the statistical details, and sincerely believe that a fella cannot be presented with too many informational statistics — and I always want more. I hope Word Press brings back the Feed Stats, and does it soon.

I am fascinated by “keywords” that catch your eye: a great ‘for instance’ is that this blog is for the most part a ‘how to’ and is almost always posted in that “category”, and yet only one “view”, so far, has been linked from there. (What is that telling me???) It surprises me sometimes that my “catchiest” titles have the lowest number of views, and that I would get a lot more Google Search “hits” if I simply titled a post “System Restore”…as an example. [Now I don’t want you to think I’m ‘hit-desperate’, and would start resorting to such tricks. I’m not. Honest. But it does make one think…)

I am fascinated by which of my “Today’s free links” get used and which one’s don’t so much. It says nothing about which one is more useful than another, but it does tell me some things. For instance, apparently my readers already have anti-spyware tools or just aren’t concerned about malware, yet a large number just as apparently delete files they’ld like to get back. Curious. At least to me it is.

But the most interesting statistic is the Search Engine Links, which shows not only how many people found my article via a search on Google (Yes. I know. There are more engines than just Google.) but what words they used in their searches. These “search terms” have been the source of ideas for posts I’ve written, and will continue to be so. There is one inescapable factoid that becomes quickly obvious when reading these search terms, and that is: I am not as poor of a speller as I thought I was…by comparison. Of the many people who googled ‘system restore’, not one spelled it correctly. The folks at that outfit are doing a terrific job of not only deciphering our gibberish, but doing it in micro-seconds, and I for one am grateful for it. They sent me one spelled “sistim restro”…amazing!

Tip of the day: If you are like me and need a helping hand spelling a word every now and then you probably (like me) hailed the “built-in Spell Check utility” as the greatest thing since sliced bread. And you’ve probably learned over time (like me) that they miss far more than they catch, and cannot see the difference between they’re, there, and their, and generally aren’t much help at all. The one here on WordPress is terrible. You simply won’t be doing yourself any favors if you rely on spell-check, and I don’t care whose it is.

Instead, bookmark an online dictionary like Merriam-Webster and enter your word into their search box. Unlike a real dictionary, you don’t have to know how to spell the word to find out how to spell it. Enter “sistim” and the top choice of spellings/words is “system”. It gives definitions, so you can make sure it is the word you’re thinking of. And it has a thesaurus so you can find words with the same or similar meanings. Online dictionaries are great resources, and I hope you will find them as useful and handy as I have. I couldn’t write this post without one…

Let’s just have some fun with Today’s free link: Thinks.com offers free puzzles of all sorts (crosswords, soduku, jigsaw, etc.) and games like checkers and chess. Fit for the whole family.

Orig post: 6/24/07

Today’s quote: “If at first you don’t succeed, do it like your mother told you.”  ~ Unknown

Making the world a better place department: If you have ever driven more than 6 miles with your left turn blinker on? Don’t ever drive again. You are causing accidents, I guaranty. (Show this to the guilty you know.)

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Please Help Me Access My Hotmail – I’ve Been Hijacked

I receive frequent requests to recover hijacked email accounts or retrieve the information in them, and/or to reset lost passwords. Here’s my answer:

No.

There is nothing I can do.

But here is what you can do:

1) Contact your email service provider and tell them what has happened. They should have some way of identifying you, (usually a couple of ‘secret questions’ you pre-set up) after which they should be able to reset your password.

(Notice there is no Number 2?)

*     *     *

Unfortunately this (almost) never works for free accounts. Why? Because these accounts are free and there’s (almost) no customer support. They tell you that up front. You get what you pay for.

Let me be even clearer about that: if you are using a free webmail (online email) service such as Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, etc., and…

• you forgot or lost your password
• your password does not seem to work
• you forgot the answer to your secret question
• and you did not set up an alternate email address, or you lost access to the alternate email address
• your account has been hijacked by a hacker
• and Support is not responding to your request for help

You are out of luck. I cannot help you – even if you hired me to.

Your only shot at regaining access to your email is via the form the service provides. Which does not always work.

Hotmail: The Windows Live Help Solutions Center is currently your only official support resource for Windows Live Hotmail.
If you think you’ve been hijacked, you can use Windows Live’s own Windows LiveID Account Recovery Help Page. There you’ll be taken through a form where you can prove that you are the rightful owner, and may, hopefully, regain access to the account.

Gmail: try this Gmail Help page first.

Yahoo Mail: try the Sign-in Help Wizard first.

I am not going to bother writing out the instructions for setting up your account, now, so that recovery in the future will be easier, nor tell you to write down the answer to your secret question (your Account settings is where you start), as I may as well be saying “change your oil every 7,500 miles”, or “brush and floss three times a day.” Many are probably reading this because they were not the careful conscientious type, and they were hoping someone else would clean up their mess for them.. (the New American Way.)
All I can say is: use the “recovery form”; fill it out to the best of your ability; and I can wish you good luck.

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Special EASEUS Software giveaway promotion

Participation Gift

You can choose one of these three EASEUS product as a free gift as soon as taking part.

Partition Master Professional $39.95	Todo Backup Workstation $39.00	Data Recovery Wizard $69.95

Interested? (who doesn’t like free software?) Well, you do have to “take part”.. here’s the 4-1-1: http://www.easeus.com/special-offers/easeus-gift.htm.

It an easy, and fun, way to get some valuable software — check it out.

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Sunday Beauty 47

Today’s pretty picture:

“Paysage à Port-Goulphar”, by Oscar-Claude Monet. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Today’s quote: “If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves.”  ~ Thomas Edison

Sunday Ugly:

Attn Mr Walid Sami: please check your Inbox.

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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Mix and Match Saturday

aka Weekend Grab Bag

* For Facebook users: June 2011: The Definitive Facebook Lockdown Guide

“June 2011 edition of The Definitive Facebook Lockdown Guide. Helping you to protect your privacy, your social network security and to manage your network safely.“

* Better Late Than Never: I didn’t have time to post a Friday Fun video yesterday, so, here you go – Never Lose The Remote Again.

* Android smart phone: starter kit

“If you’re staring down at your shiny new Android phone wondering which apps to try first, hit up our list before you download anything else. Great applications proliferate on Google’s Android platform, and our Android Starter Kit is merely a sampling of the best software plucked from the Android Market.“

* Completely off-topic: I met a man who impressed me so much I would like to recommend him to anyone considering a fishing outing in California. John Walton has a bait and tackle store in San Leandro, and I came across him via the The Fish Sniffer Online website. He was so knowledgeable and helpful on the phone, I made a point of bringing my 30+ years out-of-date tackle box and my rods and reels to his shop, so he could advise me what I might need (or, need to replace). I drove out of my way to do that, but boy, am I glad I did.

John restrung one of my reels (said my others were fine), put on proper weights and hooks for the others, explained the proper way to set my drag (etc.) so I would stop getting ‘backlash’ snarls (which worked -YAY!), marked good spots on a map of the lake I was headed to, set me up with some bait, and got me thoroughly “good to go”. He spent a good 45 minutes with me. While I was there, he managed to keep up a running dialogue with several real fishermen, advising them on everything from current water conditions to fly fishing rods to tides in delta. His knowledge (and memory) was awesome to me… I picked up a new-fangled trout lure which was $5, and when it was time to go – what I mean is, John pronounced me ‘all set’ – John told me the total bill was $12. (And here I thought I was the last fella who ran his business with such generous integrity — that our breed had died out.) From what I could see my brief time there, John is known and sought ought by anglers, and I could sure understand why. If you are thinking about fishing in CA, I would give John a call: (510) 352-3932.

* In this economy, is a Google antitrust probe “un-American?”

“Is a probe of a leading tech company, at a time when the tech industry seems poised to buck the current economic trend, really the smartest move out of Washington?” READ FULL STORY

[I might phrase it, “should a Superpower get a ‘pass’ because the economy is shaky?”]

Today’s Quotable quote: “When the grass looks greener on the other side of the fence, it may be that they take better care of it there.”  ~ Cecil Selig

Today’s recommended reading: Trojans, viruses, worms: How does malware get on PCs and Macs?

“What’s the best way to deal with malicious software on PCs and Macs? You can’t answer that question until you know how malware gets installed in the first place. Here’s a reality check.” READ FULL STORY..

Rumor? Somebody told me that online poker has been removed from the Internet… Gambling Laws, or sumsuch. Guess it’s time for a new hobby/addiction for some folks…

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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A Friday In June

Folks, I mentioned back in January that I decided to make changes in my life this year (see, Goodbye 2010. I’ll Miss Ye Not.) So today I am doing something extraordinary (for me, anyway).

Here’s one of the reasons why..

.. stuff is getting .. old.

Friday is here! Have a super fantastical weekend everybody!

Mark Twain quote: “Thousands of geniuses live and die undiscovered – either by themselves or by others.”  ~ Mark Twain

Android: Top 11 essential Android apps

Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.

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