Friday Fun #46 (Jurrasic Park’s Raptors)
(Did you know there’s an actor inside?)
On youtube there are many “behind the scenes” and “how we made the T-rex” video posted. They’re very cool if you are the type who wonders “how did they do that?!” This one surprised me. (And I’m pretty good at solving special effects..)
and if you didn’t get enough music videos from my recent postings, here’s another..
The weekend’s almost here – yay!
Today’s quote: “A problem is a chance for you to do your best.” ~ Duke Ellington
Copyright 2007-2013 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.
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All we really have, in the end, are our stories.
Make yours great ones. Ones to be proud of.
IE, Firefox, or Chrome – Which is best?* | Consumer as beta tester
I am frequently asked my opinion about web browsers: mainly, “which is best – Firefox or Chrome?” Yes, sometimes I am asked about IE or Opera too. Well.. what do you mean by “best”? And is your definition of “best” the same as mine? Fortunately, I don’t have to think too hard when I am asked, as web browsers all basically do the same thing –> show you websites.
I use Firefox as my “alternative” browser. And I have chosen it simply because of the many Add-ons available. If these “Add ons” were not available, I would not use Firefox. It’s that simple.
So, what Firefox Add-ons do I use? I’ll show you:
[addenda: I have recently added OptimizeGoogle (specifically to strip out the ads in Gmail) to my suite of defenses.]
With the exception of the Vimeo video capture-to-blog plug in, I would recommend this configuration. Why? Well, what do these things do? Look at them, and you’ll see that they are defenses – typically, blocking elements I do not want. And yes folks, your machine needs defenses on the Internet. (OK. The Java is not a defense. It’s a vulnerability.. see, Java, the new Adobe (+How To Protect Yourself).)
Adding Add-ons to Firefox is easy: click on the Tools menu, and then Add-ons. A window like the one pictured will open. In the upper left is the Get Add-ons button. Click it.
(If that seems like too many to you, I would say at a minimum you want NoScript, WOT, and Flashblock.)
* * *
Do you have a favorite TV show? Do you ever record movies?
I thought so. So I have a reading reco for you, a tutorial: How To Burn A Recorded TV Show in Windows Media Center
“Many people out there that have Windows Vista and Windows 7 based computers have never tapped into the Windows Media Center component that is right under their noses.”
* Orig post: 11/12/2010
Today’s reco’d read: Should we now expect to pay $500+ to be tablet beta-testers?
“Tablet makers continue to fall short of the Apple iPad and roll out buggy and incomplete tablet devices, at prices of $500 or more, and I am getting tired of it. Aren’t you?” Read More…
Today’s quote: “Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure.” ~ Earl Wilson
Copyright 2007-2011 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved.
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Strange Case Of PC Slowness…*
Someone called my biz asking for my help with a very slow computer, that was also “acting odd”. Nothing unusual there; a lot of my calls start that way. What was unusual was that my investigation revealed that all the usual suspects were not at fault, and I really couldn’t detect anything “wrong” with the machine. That was unusual.
So I looked further and I found a possible culprit (ahem) — their rather large hard drive was totally, absolutely, and completely full. Oops. Not good. I won’t bore you with the geek, but I will tell you that Windows needs “free space” in order to function properly.
My caller had none. Zip. Zero. Nada.
My questioning, and looking at the file system, revealed that the caller had set their computer to record their favorite television programs – much like a TiVo or DVR does – and had not really been too good about actually watching the recordings, or deleting them when finished with them. And Windows Media Center had just kept recording and recording…
Tip of the day: Limit the amount of space Windows Media Center can use for recordings, and prevent hard drive fill-up syndrome.
1) Open WMC and scroll the menu down to Tasks, and then left to Settings, as shown below.
2) Scroll down to Recorder and then over to Recorder Storage.
3) Use the – (minus) sign to reduce the Maximum TV limit number to a reasonable fraction of your available space. And then click Save.
To finish my caller’s story.. I deleted nearly 100 Gigabytes of recordings (some the caller couldn’t even remember setting the schedule for..) which gave Windows the free space it needed, and the machine started behaving like normal again. I then did the above steps so that it would not happen to them again.
Related links: Your hard drive, and the “file system” it contains, needs some routine maintenance to keep performing in tip-top form (often called “optimization”) and your computer comes with the tools (called “utilities”) you need to perform those maintenance tasks. I demonstrate those in this article: Revitalize Your PC With Windows’ Utilities*
Today’s free download: The tool I used to quickly analyze my client’s file system was WinDirStat (Windows Directory Statistics) which provides a graphical image of what size your files and folders are.. so you can quickly find the ginormous ones.
* Orig post: 11/24/09
Copyright 2007-2010 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved. 
post to jaanix.
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It’s Your Media, View It Anywhere*
Free Program Turns Your PC Into An Internet Media Server
I came across an program that you can download and install on your PC which allows you to “serve” (aka “stream”) your stored media (recorded shows and movies, music, jpegs, etc.) over the Internet.
All you need is a XP, Vista, or Win7 computer (to be the “server”) and a broadband Internet connection.
Then, when you are out-and-about (“mobile”) you can ‘log in’ to your “server” (your PC) and access your stuff – from your phone, laptop, etc., and/or you can share it with others.
It is called Orb, and it is feature packed and very simple to use.
“Orb MyCasting is a free service from Orb Networks that makes it easy for consumers to remotely view and share their live and recorded home and Internet TV, music, videos, photos, podcasts, and other digital media stored on their PC, from any Internet-connected device, be it a mobile phone, PDA or laptop. MyCasting is the opposite of broadcasting, allowing you to stream your digital media when (time), where (place), and how (device) you want it.
Orb Networks is the first company to offer a single solution for enjoying virtually all of your digital media remotely, using the devices you already own. There is no need to choose which technology path to go down to access your media remotely; other options are cumbersome and require an additional investment in yet another “cool” technology. Orb is free and begins with one easy download: there is no hardware or software required, and no additional time needed to catalog and categorize your digital media. You get instant access to the digital media that’s already on your PC. Just download Orb and start MyCasting.”
I can see lots of uses for this technology whether or not you are a “road warrior” and often away from your PC. And it’s free. The folks there at Orb Networks get a big tip of my geek hat, and I encourage you to click here and visit their website. There is a short animation which demonstrates how it works, and screenshots of the many features.
(Also, you can view their Orb FAQ.)
* Orig post: 9/22/09
Copyright 2007-2010 © “Tech Paul” (Paul Eckstrom). All Rights Reserved. post to jaanix.
>> Folks, don’t miss an article! To get Tech – for Everyone articles delivered to your e-mail Inbox, click here, or to subscribe in your RSS reader, click here. <<
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Stream All Your Media – Free!
Turn Your PC Into An Internet Media Server
I came across an program that you can download and install on your PC which allows you to “serve” (aka “stream”) your stored media (recorded shows and movies, music, jpegs, etc.) over the Internet. Thus, when you are out-and-about (“mobile”) you can ‘log in’ to your “server” (your PC) and access your stuff; and/or you can share it with others.
It is called Orb, and it is feature packed and very simple to use.
“Orb MyCasting is a free service from Orb Networks that makes it easy for consumers to remotely view and share their live and recorded home and Internet TV, music, videos, photos, podcasts, and other digital media stored on their PC, from any Internet-connected device, be it a mobile phone, PDA or laptop. MyCasting is the opposite of broadcasting, allowing you to stream your digital media when (time), where (place), and how (device) you want it.
Orb Networks is the first company to offer a single solution for enjoying virtually all of your digital media remotely, using the devices you already own. There is no need to choose which technology path to go down to access your media remotely; other options are cumbersome and require an additional investment in yet another “cool” technology. Orb is free and begins with one easy download: there is no hardware or software required, and no additional time needed to catalog and categorize your digital media. You get instant access to the digital media that’s already on your PC. Just download Orb and start MyCasting.”
I can see lots of uses for this technology whether or not you are a “road warrior” and often away from your PC. And it’s free. The folks there at Orb Networks get a big tip of my geek hat, and I encourage you to click here and visit their website. There is a short animation which demonstrates how it works, and screenshots of the many features.
(Also, you can view their Orb FAQ.)
All you need is a XP or Vista computer (to be the “server”) and a broadband Internet connection.
Copyright 2007-9 © Tech Paul. All rights reserved. post to jaanix
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• About Tech Paul
I am a Retired computer & network technician. I used to think the machines were pretty cool. Now I don’t.
They’re anything but.
I regularly posted how-to’s and tricks & tips and general computing advice here starting in 2007. (Use the Search tool to find answers. But be aware, many are rather dated.) Sometimes I answered (your) specific questions in an article if I believed the answer was generally helpful to “everyone”. All the writing you see was my own, typos and all. There always is/was an implied “IMHO” in what you see here.
Note: You are responsible for using this blog and its content. I am in no way liable for any losses caused by user error, viruses and/or other malware, hardware or software failure, or any other conceivable reason.
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