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Google Voice gives you one number for all your phones — a phone number that is tied to you, not to a device or a location. Use Google Voice to simplify the way you use phones, make using voicemail as easy as email, customize your callers’ experience, and more.

Google Voice isn’t a phone service, but it lets you manage all of your phones. Google Voice works with mobile phones, desk phones, work phones, and VoIP lines. There’s nothing to download, upload, or install, and you don’t have to make or take calls using a computer.

Google Voice will let you define which phones ring, based on who’s calling, and even let you ListenIn^TM on voicemail before answering the call. We use smart technology to route your calls. So, if you’re already on a Google Voice call, we’ll recognize it and use call waiting to reach you on the phone you’re on.

Google Voice will let you setup customized voicemails for multiple groups, based on who’s calling, the caller will hear a customized voicemail specifically for them or their group. Groups can easily be defined by adding contacts to a specified group such as Work, Friends or Family.

What Google Analytics is to Google: Google Analytics is the enterprise-class web analytics solution that gives you rich insights into your website traffic and marketing effectiveness. Powerful, flexible and easy-to-use features now let you see and analyze your traffic data in an entirely new way. With Google Analytics, you’re more prepared to write better-targeted ads, strengthen your marketing initiatives and create higher converting websites.

Now….what Google Analytics is to me: a free statistics service for my websites that is 10x better than most stats provided by website hosting sites such as godaddy, generaldots, etc..!

The service is easy to use, just add a snipet of code, called a tracking code, to the pages you want to track. If you are using wordpress, this can easily be added to 1 location in most theme settings. Analytics tracks several segments like site usage, visitor overview, map overlay, traffic sources and content overview, just to name a few. Reports can easily be exported to various formats or simply emailed to a specified email address.

Recently I received a Copyright Violation Allegation Notice from my isp that went something like the following:

(My ISP) has received a notice alleging that your (My ISP) account was used for illegal sharing of copyright protected work(s) without the copyright owner’s permission. A copy of the notice is attached, along with a schedule detailing our records that correlates your high speed internet account with the time and date of the notice.

Anyway……

If you take a look at the image below you will notice that the letter is from:
BayTSP inc. NBC Universal Anti-Piracy Technical Operations

There happens to be a great utility out there called PeerBlock which allows you to control who your machine talks to on the internet. Whats even better is that it actually comes packaged with a very large compilation of known P2P, Spyware, Advertising, Education, etc. servers which you can completely block with ease. The list is updated daily as new servers become known.

If you take a look again at the pic above you will notice that in the PeerBlock program window (bottom right), the anti-piracy company (BayTSP) that sent me the notice is already included in the P2P list along with 100′s of other known anti-piracy servers.

You can get PeerBlock at
http://www.peerblock.com/

While creating a batch script to help automate the restore process I go through fairly often, I somehow created a folder that had around 30 something subdirectories and then a file embedded within that last subdirectory…, OOPS! I could only browse so far, then nothing, I figure probably to the point of 255 characters in the path name (I think the windows os file name limit is 255, not sure, somewhere around there) and then windows (7) would just stop, no error, nothing. Found the error when I tried to delete the folder:

So what do you do? I tried Shift Delete (bypass recycle bin), CMD Prompt: RMDIR /S /Q, with no luck and finally tried Total Commander but still nothing. Finally came across DelinvFile (Delete Invalid Files and Folders). Worked great, google it if you need it, it’s free for 30 days.

If anyone knows how to achieve the same thing without using a 3rd party program, please share, I looked everywhere with no luck. I hate installing a program to do something that should be so simple.

Found this neat little trick to change the size of your desktop icons. Hold the Ctrl button on your keyboard and then using the scroll wheel on your mouse, scroll in and out to either make the icons larger or smaller.

Found a cool website that allows you to create your own custom comic strips.

http://www.bitstrips.com/landing

So I installed a vpn tool the other day for work related reasons and yes, I am slowly learning to keep work crap at work and my personal stuff at home. Anyway, after using it temporarily I uninstalled it, continued working for a while and then went to switch to a different account……… Where did Switch User go, it’s now grayed out.

Quick Fix:
Start
Type gpedit.msc in the run box
Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Logon
Disable Hide entry points for Fast User Switching

Now, update your group policy by:
Open cmd prompt
Type gpupdate and hit enter

Now check your start menu and Switch User is now enabled.

Small crap like that just bugs me!

Colecovision
Intellivision
Game Boy Advanced
Nintendo
Super Nintendo
Nintendo 64

Gameboy Advance

Army Men Advance
Bomberman Tournament
Breath of Fire
Castlevania Circle of the Moon
ChuChu Rocket
Doom
F-Zero Maximum Velocity
Hot Potato
Iridion 3D
Jurassic Park 3 DNA Factor
Krazy Racers
Mario Kart Super Circuit
Namco Museum
Pinobee Wings of Adventure
Pitfall The Mayan Adventure
Rayman Advance
Super Dodgeball Advance
Super Mario Advance
Tony Hawks Pro Skater 2

Nintendo 64

007 Goldeneye
1080 Snowboarding
Castlevania Legacy of Darkness
Cruisn USA
Doom
Excitebike
Harvest Moon
Legend of Zelda
Legend of Zelda 2 Majoras Mask
Mario Kart
Megaman
Mortal Kombat 4
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
NBA Jam 2000
Pilot Wings
Spiderman
Super Mario
Tom Clancys Rainbow Six
Tony Hawks Pro Skater

NES

Blades Of Steel
Blaster Master
Donkey Kong 1
Donkey Kong 2
Excite Bike
James Bond
Jurassic Park
Mike Tysons Punch Out
Paperboy 1
Paperboy 2
Punch Out 1
Punch Out 2
Skate Or Die 1
Skate Or Die 2
Super Mario Brothers 1
Super Mario Brothers 2
Super Mario Brothers 3
Tecmo Super Bowl
Zelda 1
Zelda 2

SNES

Batman & Robin
Battle Toads DD
Clay Fighter 1
Clay Fighter 2
Contra 3
Desert Strike
Donkey Kong Country 1
Donkey Kong Country 2
Donkey Kong Country 3
Double Dragon 5
Double Dragon Returns
F-Zero
Illusion of Gaia
Killer Instinct
Mario Kart
Mortal Kombat 1
Mortal Kombat 2
Paper Boy 2
Punch Out
Zelda 3

Troubleshooting a network app can be troublesome, especially if you don’t know what port to use, what port the app uses, etc.. Below is a failrly simple way to figure out what application is using what port.

Open a cmd prompt and type netstat -ano
Or use netstat -ano | findstr TCP.*80 if you know what port you are looking for. Replace TCP with UDP if necessary and 80 with the port you are looking for.

Get the PID for the application that is using the port you are looking for and then use the task manager to identify that application. Open the task manager. You will most likely need to enable the PID column, to do so, select View > Select Columns > and check PID (Process Identifier).

Bought a netgear entertainer live eva2000 the other day for about $90. It’s a HD stand alone media player that will play all types of media on your tv via usb, network, etc.. I connected mine to my hd tv via a hdmi cable. Played a few videos via usb external hdd with great quality. Then I played a few videos via the network and was very unhappy, quality is terrible, the streaming is just sad. Also did not like the little remote and that there had to be a direct line of sight between it and the receiver in order for it to work. Taking it back today, will look for a better quality player! It’s decent if your not wanting to stream video.

Normal Format -
When you choose to run a regular format on a volume, files are removed from the volume that you are formatting and the hard disk is scanned and cleared of bad sectors. The scan for bad sectors is responsible for the majority of the time that it takes to format a volume.

Quick Format -
If you choose the Quick format option, format removes files from the partition, but does not scan the disk for bad sectors. Only use this option if your hard disk has been previously formatted and you are sure that your hard disk is not damaged.

Note: I use the windows xp install format as an example but it is the same concept when formatting a flash drive, external, etc..

Ran into a situation recently where I needed to run a few applications as a service in the background. You can always put the application in the “Startup” folder but then they don’t execute until you login and then the apps start in the foreground and not in the background. Came across a great program called Fire Daemon:

Runs any (32-bit or 64-bit) Windows 7 / 2008 / Vista / 2003 / XP executable, batch file, or shortcut as a Windows Service .
Starts your applications before you log in, without any user intervention.
Keeps them running in the background interactively or non-interactively.
Automatically restarts if they crash, hang or shutdown.
Advanced scheduling, eventing and alerting.

http://www.firedaemon.com/

RAID stands for redundant array of inexpensive disks and is a technology that allows computer users to achieve high levels of storage reliability from low-cost and less reliable PC-class disk-drive components, via the technique of arranging the devices into arrays for redundancy. Below is a list of common RAID configurations.

• RAID0: also known as data striping, is used when you want to improve your disk performance. It works by dividing the files to be written on disk into several chunks (called stripes) and saving each chunk on a different drive. For example, if you have a 200 KB file and two hard disk drives, it will be cut into two 100 KB chunks and each chunk will be saved on a different hard disk drive.
• RAID1: also known as mirroring, is used to improve the data reliability of your PC. It works by copying everything that is sent to the first hard disk drive to the second. Consider RAID1 as a hardware-based backup system. If the first hard disk drive fails, the second one takes its place immediately.
• RAID0+1: is a system using RAID0 and RAID1 at the same time. It needs four identical hard disk drives. If one of the hard disk drive fails, the system becomes a RAID0 system (data striping).
• RAID10: is a system using RAID0 and RAID1 at the same time. It needs four identical hard disk drives. If one of the hard disk drive fails, the system becomes a RAID1 system (mirroring).
• RAID5: is a RAID0 system storing parity information for better reliability. It needs at least three identical hard disk drives. On a three-drive system the total capacity will be the size of each hard disk drive times two (and not three) – for example, if three 80 GB drives are used, the total disk capacity will be of 160 GB, as the rest of disk space is used to store parity information.
• JBOD: stands for “Just a Bunch of Disks” and isn’t a RAID system, as it doesn’t improve disk performance or disk reliability. It is used to join two drives with different capacities as if they were a single drive. For example, you can use JBOD to add a 40 GB hard disk drive to an 80 GB hard disk drive to appear as a single 120 GB to the system.

RAID0

RAID1

Using the Print Screen key is a great way to capture a screen shot of your entire desktop but say you just need a screenshot of a single window that is open, this is where the Alt key is very handy. Using the Alt + Print Screen keys, you can capture a screen shot of a single window, which ever window is selected.

System Repair Disc
The Vista Service Pack 1 betas included a new feature that let you easily create a system repair disc with a friendly graphical interface, but it was removed in the final release of SP1. Windows 7 restores this functionality. Just click Start and type System Repair in the Search box. Click on Create A System Repair Disc.

PowerShell v2
Windows PowerShell is a command-line shell interface and scripting tool that makes it easier for Windows administrators to automate tasks using cmdlets, which are commands that perform single tasks, and scripts, which are made up of multiple cmdlets to perform more complex, multi-step tasks.

Text Tuning and Color Calibration
Your computer does the work, but your monitor is what you look at all day. If it doesn’t look good, you don’t get the most out of your computing experience, and you can even strain your eyes. Windows 7 includes two great tools for adjusting your display to fit your preferences.

Biometric Device Management
In earlier versions of Windows, biometric authentication and management of biometric devices (fingerprint sensors) required third-party software that might or might not integrate well with the OS. Now it’s built in. Windows 7 includes the Windows Biometric Framework, which gives developers an API they can use to build biometrics into applications. Makers of fingerprint sensor hardware, such as UPEK and AuthenTec, worked with Microsoft on the development of the Framework.

ISO Burner
An ISO image is a type of archive file that is often used to distribute software. In Windows 7, Microsoft addressed something that’s been on the wish list of many users for a long time: Now you don’t have to download and install a third-party program to burn an ISO file to disc. You can also click Start and type isoburn in the Search box.

Problem Steps Recorder
One of the coolest new tools in Windows 7 is the Problem Steps Recorder (PSR). No matter how hard they try, users often have problems accurately describing the problem they’re experiencing or the steps they took before or after experiencing it. Sure, Remote Assistance can be a godsend in those situations but you can’t always connect to the user’s computer in real time. That’s when the PSR comes in handy. It creates a nice zipped file containing images and steps to recreate the users problem in mht format, easily viewable in a web browser.

Action Center
Centralized management is the name of the game today, and Windows 7 gives you a one-stop shopping location where you can go to deal with security issues, troubleshooting, and recovery, instead of searching out separate applets for each. It’s all combined in an easy-to-use Control Panel applet, where you get maintenance and security messages and can view performance information, change UAC settings, and more.

Homegroup
HomeGroup makes it easy to share your libraries and printers on a home network. You can share pictures, music, videos, documents, and printers with other people in your homegroup. The homegroup is protected with a password, and you’ll always be able to choose what you share with the group.

Aero Shake:
Take any window, grab the task bar, shake it using the mouse and any other open windows minimize. Shake it again to bring the windows back up.

Areo Snap:
Move a window to the left – window occupies the left half of the screen.
Move a window to the right – window occupies the right half of the screen.
Move a window to the top – window maximizes.

Taskbar Grouped Icons
Opening a program twice groups the programs under a single icon on the taskbar.

Taskbar Peek
Hover over grouped taskbar icons to view all grouped windows

Desktop Peek
Hover over the Desktop Peek button to show the desktop, click to minimize all windows.

Start Orb Glows When You Hover Over It
Not a big deal but now the orb reacts.

Gadgets Without The Sidebar
Still the same cool gadgest as in vista, just no unnecessary sidebar.

Windows Media Player Peek Controls
Hover over the WMP taskbar icon to reveal the controls.

Ribbon added to Paint and Wordpad
The Ribbon style toolbar like in Microsoft Office 2007 has been added to Paint and Wordpad.

I recently discovered that firefox does not understand a relative path using back slashes to embed content such as pictures and files.

For example,
\images\picture.jpg
picture.jpg will not display in firefox.

You must use the forward slash:
/images/picture.jpg

Within firefox, a backslash is a valid character that can be used in URLs but it is not meant to delineate the barrier between directories.

Wasn’t to happy with Windows 7 RC but the actual release is great, goodbye vista!