CHRISdotTODD

Seems once or more a week that I use Windows NetMeeting. When the participants look for NetMeeting, which Microsoft now hides, I hear them struggle to find it. For me, it is very easy -- go to Run... , type conf , and Enter . This is one of many shortcuts to launch applications that can save you time. For more of these shortcut, visit Another Home @ Sansor -- he has posted many such shortcuts . Now if you combine this with the shortcuts I posted on the 30th of August, here is what you get: type plus R , the filename from Sansor's list, and then Enter . Give it a try: + R , s-p-i-d-e-r , Enter

I cannot beleive that it is so difficult or I am so stupid, but I cannot seem to get Technorati to update (ping) my blog as being refreshed. I signed up about 12 days ago, yet it says that my blog has not been refreshed in about 95 days. Is this the day I first started my blog? I suppose it could be. I added their little promo on the right nav, but that did not help. I followed their instructions for Blogger, which I already had set, but that did not help either. And of course I have tried their manual process now about a dozen times. Of course I cannot find even an email address for support. I found something else in the FAQ section on tagging links, but I am not sure I understand how that would help either. Here's the format: <a href="http://apple.com/ipod" rel="tag">iPod</a>. I will try adding the rel="tag" to the link about, and I guess we will see. In the mean time, any help would be appreciated.

I seemed to have found several good resources related to speed and connectivity issues. My wife in particular has been frustrated that certain http connections seem slower than most – more specifically Yahoo! And Go Daddy . I decided to do some investigation, including whether I have other options besides Comcast (which I do not if I want broadband). I found a site called T1 Shopper , which provides tools and help, plus links to bandwidth testers. For example, here is their information on traceroute . They can even run a traceroute from their end to me, though Comcast seems to block the last hop. T1 Shopper also offers a download calculator . I cannot speak about the services they can hook you up with, but I believe the resources are great. Back to my connectivity issue. Here is what I sent to Comcast. Does this seem technically right? Any suggestions for better ways to troubleshoot and report connectivity issues? It seems we have problems connecting to websites reliably. My wife no

I found a great site in June, Public Knowledge , which "is a group of lawyers, technologists, lobbyists, academics, volunteers and activists dedicated to fortifying and defending a vibrant information commons." On the Public Knowledge site, Alex Curtis writes about Net Neutrality . August 30th he wrote about what it could be like if we did not have protection for a neutral Internet. In the future, we could be reading Consumer Reports for the ISP that provides interests that best match our needs. Curtis reminds us of the Prodigy, Compuserve, and (even) AOL days that did not stand the test of time. This looks like a good blog to follow.

Did you know that Firefox has a safe mode? I did not. If you find that Firefox crashes on you, perhaps after installing a new Extension, you can run Firefix in safe mode to correct the problem. Simply restart Firefox with the following switch: " -safe-mode ". Do this either through Run... , " firefox.exe -safe-mode ", or add it within the properties of your Firefox shortcut.

Jim Puzzanghera of the LA Times writes about how Olympia J. Snowe, Republican Senator from Maine actually understands the implications if we do not have a net neutraility bill. Some great insights are mentioned in this article: [New] lines won't be worth much if network operators can dictate whose data flows through them — and at what speed. [Snowe] fears that phone and cable executives would create an Internet class system. "The Googles and Yahoos will take care of themselves," Snowe said. But small entrepreneurs looking to launch innovative Web services, such as YouTube, would be at the mercy of phone and cable companies, who could charge "a mighty fee" for fast content delivery, she said. It looks like at least one more Senator is on board with Snowe, that is Byron L. Dorgan, a Democrat from North Dakota. Have you contacted your Senator and let him or her know how their vote will affect your vote? If you are in Washington , Senator Patty Murray is still un

I have documented all the keyboard shortcuts for Windows XP that I could come up with. Most of them I use on a regular basis -- it is so much quicker than using the mouse. Let me know if I have missed any of your favorites. ( Click on the image to get the full-size view. )

I recently started listening to Buzz Out Loud , a podcast from CNET. It is a daily podcast that reviews tech news -- I am going to replace Slashdot Review with this, as I am tired of the errors from Slashdot Review, and there are now too many commercials. Anyway, back to my original point... Buzz Out Loud, hoasted by Molly Wood, Tom Merritt, and Veronica Belmont is just one of many offerings from CNET. I discovered today that they introduced CNET TV a several months back, and there appears to be some good content to help beginner and intermediate Internet users. These are small in length too, 3 - 5 minutes in most cases. Here are some programs to view: How to stop spyware How to stop computer viruses Get your music off your iPod Digitize your old photos Fix your digital photos Don't get scammed by phishers And if that is not enough, CNET also offer free online course in subjects such as Home PC, Home Entertainment, and Digital Camera & Design. Now I have not taken any of the

Sony furthers its losses, this time with a battery recall 1.8 million Apple laptops , for a total of 4.8 million batteries. At a cost from $170 to $250 million for their battery problems, I do not think a 2% loss in shares is that much. Interestingly enough, if you look at Sony's stock over the last 12 months in comparison to the NYSE, they are not doing so bad. I plotted closing stock price and trade volume for some of more notable Sony announcements over since the Rootkit problem reported on October 31, 2005. I looked at the day before, the day of, and the day after each announcement. With all the bad things going for Sony, perhaps their recent $65 million purchase of Grouper is good news. Robert Cringely thinks so . Mr. Cringely, in his "i, cringely" column talks about how Sony can use this purchase to learn how to play in the new video era. At number 8 in volume, 1% of video traffic, I think this could be another loss for Sony. How many people have even heard of Gr

I think next time I take my car into the shop, I will watch much closer. See what can happen if you are not watching.