This is a very aggravating post to write. It’s a wonder I am sitting here and not in a mental hospital right now. Let me offer some background. For the past few weeks, Laura’s computer has been showing the signs of hard drive failure. The computer is about 6 years old and has a 30Gb […]
Technology & Internet
I'm pretty much like everyone else when it comes to technology and the internet. I like to look for the latest gadgets and learn new things about the online universe. Sometimes, I even dabble in setting up new websites and making them search engine friendly. In this category, you're sure to find much of what has gone on inside my head regarding home audio, computer hardware and software, energy efficiency in the home and beyond, online music services, photography tips and tricks, opinion on social media and blogging, as well as how to make money working online. I run the gamut with these posts, so get ready.
My New Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300 13.6-Megapixel Digital Camera
A few days ago, I noticed something strange happening to my Sony Cyber-shot 4.1 mega pixel camera. It was kind of the same thing that happens to all my Sony digital cameras after a few years…I had to start smacking the side of it to make the display correct itself. Before I smacked it, I […]
Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300 Sample Photos
Ok, I just took a few quick sample photos with my new Sony Cyber-shot DSC-W300 digital camera. The first one I am going to show you was taken on one of the lowest settings. Basically, you can take poster-sized (print quality) photos with this camera. I set it to the 3MB setting, which is one […]
New Bose Companion 2 Series II Multimedia Computer Speakers
Boy, that title is pretty long. Yesterday, Laura and I went shopping. We first went up to Home Depot in Enfield, CT. I got a bunch of stuff, most of which I can hardly remember right now. I am sure I’ll write about it when I start using it. Then, we went to Circuit City […]
Power Surge Blocks Access To Server?
Last night around 8PM, I heard the surge protectors/battery backups that we have for the computers beep. It’s the first time I heard that since we have been here. I am pretty used to it because they are rather sensitive. Any power fluctuation causes them to beep. It is comforting. I didn’t think anything of […]
Cable vs. DSL
Back in the old house, we had DSL for about 2 1/2 years. It worked well with only a few minor issues. Towards the end, I did begin inquiring about more upload and download speed. I called Frontier and they said I was maxed out…that’s all they had. The reason I needed more speed is […]
Upgrading RAM – Kingston
Boy, what a past couple of days. I have been getting some additional hardware installed on my servers and it has been keeping me very busy with support tickets and phone calls. Let’s just say that once you make the jump to the real deal, things require more attention. There are some clear benefits that […]
Buying and Selling Domain Names
The more I look around, the more I learn that the domain name business is big business. As I told you yesterday, I am trying to scoop up a bunch of different extensions for the domains I already have. It’s working out pretty well, but I have hit a little bump. I already bought up […]
What Do These Top Level Domains Mean? List of TLDs
I have been purchasing quite a few domain names lately. At last glance, I own 78 of them. Over time, I am taking any confusion out of who owns the real domain by scooping up as many different extensions as I can. I have noticed a disturbing trend of domains being bought and sat on…or […]
Second Life
I have been introduced to Second Life. I would like to say thank you very much. I can feel an addiction coming on. A few day ago, my Uncle Bob suggested that I give Second Life a try. We could hang out and have a few drinks. It took me a few days to give […]
We’re On Skype
This is pretty neat. The other day, I was fooling around with my laptop. I noticed that it had a built in webcam, but had no idea how to use it. There didn’t seem to be any program associated with it. I emailed my sister, Stephanie, and asked her to look into this because she […]
Magellan Maestro 4000 GPS Navigation
If anyone remembers what I said back a few months ago about getting a new car, it was that I really wanted GPS navigation. Well, with the car I got, if I had added the GPS navigation, it would’ve raised the price around $5000. Now, I wanted the GPS, but I’m no fool. Since I […]
latin1_bin VS. latin1_general_ci – MySQL Database Collation – Case Sensitive
As you may already know, for the past few weeks or months, I have been in the process of migrating all my websites over to a new hosting company. All the sites are now over and running smoothly. Among others, I have five websites that are almost identical…only the content and look is different. The […]
Managed Server Update
So I broke through to support today. After days and says of no response, I actually got through to an American who knew what to do. If you aren’t familiar with what I am talking about, please read about it. I first called Sales. I thought that if anyone would answer the phone at a […]
Business Hosting and Beyond – Website Migration
If there is one thing I have learned from doing this business thing all these years, it is to work with the best companies out there. The problem is, they are kind of a pain in the tush to find. You are bound to get involved with the wrong companies here and there. I sure […]
Alternative To Cron – Windows Scheduler
I run a bunch of servers for my business. One server, in particular, is better and more advanced than the others. Well, the server isn’t more advanced, the software installed on it is. On that server, I am running Plesk, which I have learned is fantastic. I recently began automating many of my more boring […]
Received – Sony Handycam DCR-SR42 Hard Disk Camcorder
I was doing some work this morning when I noticed the FedEx truck backing into the driveway. I said to myself, “Ooh, my Sony Handycam Camcorder is here.” I got up and met the guy at the door. So yes, as I mentioned before, I ordered a Sony Handycam Camcorder from Circuit City because Laura […]
WordPress vs. Drupal
I have a domain name and hosting account sitting there just burning to be used. I purchased a script a few days ago that looked like it had lots of promise. After installing it, I learned that it was nothing but full of bugs. Since I didn’t have the time or patience to fix someone […]
Setting Up a Cron Job in Plesk – Part 2
My cron jobs have been running as scheduled, but the strange part is I have been getting status emails…with errors in them. I am using the cron jobs (Scheduled Tasks) in Plesk to run my sitemap generators. Every time the generator runs, it deletes the old generated files and creates new ones. I was wondering […]
Setting Up a Cron Job in Plesk
I have been putting this off for a while. For some time, I have had the need to set up a cron job to run my website sitemap generators. Currently, I do them by hand. Every few days, I log in to each one and run the generator. This gets a little tedious, because I […]
Social Networking / Virtual Community Scripts
I have been thinking of next year’s projects lately. Some thoughts that have crossed my mind have been an employment site, a real estate listing site and a social networking site. I did quite a bit of research tonight on the last one…the social networking thing. I came across a bunch of them… – phpFox […]
Installing Dreamweaver CS3
I went to Staples today to get the latest version of Adobe Dreamweaver, which is Dreamweaver CS3. Just to let you know, I only bought this software after I searched online for open source alternatives to Dreamweaver. I think I came across the top alternatives, but each one had a fault that I didn’t really […]
Boy, I’m Tired
I am absolutely exhausted. I have been working at home for most of the week. A few weeks ago, one of my servers went down. It was down for about 60 hours, which means three of my classifieds websites were down as well. I couldn’t wait for the lousy support (more about that later) to […]
Switching From Adobe GoLive to Dreamweaver
I have been through it before…when Adobe discontinues a certain piece of software. The first one I lost was Adobe ImageStyler. That was back in 1999, when I was in college. The second one was Adobe LiveMotion. By this time, I can pretty much read the writing on the wall. Recently, Adobe purchased Macromedia. I […]
HP Laserjet 1018 – Vertical Black Lines – Windows Vista
I was showing off last night while trying to print out some nice letterhead that I made. I printed the envelope with no problem, but when I printed out the full 8 1/2″x11″ piece of paper, I got this annoying vertical black line on the right side of the paper. It seems to be a […]
Overall Internet Traffic Statistics
I look at my website performance pretty closely. I think last count (which was this weekend) was 34 websites that I own and operate. I used to say that I was diversifying my portfolio. Now, I don’t know what to call it. I still have a few ideas on the back burner, but I would […]
What is Web 2.0?
Sometimes people name things and think they are very very cool for doing so. People hear these cool new names and start using them in everyday conversation. I bet you know what I am talking about. Let’s say…”24/7″ for example. I for one, think this is a very stupid little saying, but it seems as […]
Seasonal Web Traffic
If you own and run a website or websites, like I do, you are probably pretty concerned with what’s around the corner. Back in business school, we learned about something call a “SWOT analysis.” I remember, during the time I was copying homework assignments straight from the textbook, I thought to myself that this was […]
Plugged In, Not Charging – Windows Vista and Laptop
I noticed a while ago that whenever I turn on my BRAND NEW HP laptop, the battery indicator say something like, 83%. I say to myself, “What the heck is that about? This laptop is brand new and the battery was charged to 100% when I used it last.” Today, when I turned the laptop […]
Creating Links – MediaWiki – Wiki Tutorial
I came across this very important discovery this morning. I was attempting to edit the “About DotWiki.US” page of my Wiki when I thought a link would be nice. Wiki syntax, Wikitext language or wiki markup is a bit different than regular HTML. I am not sure why they did it this way…perhaps because the […]
The Geek Squad Ain’t Coming
I was working on setting up a new website last night on my home desktop when things on the computer started acting a little quirky. I decided to restart the computer to clear out any problems it may be having. Well, upon restart, I was greeted by what is known as the blue screen of […]
Changing the Logo – MediaWiki – Version 1.10.0
After I got the MediaWiki software all installed on the DotWiki.US domain and looking semi-like Wikipedia, my first task was to change the logo in the upper left hand corner. I didn’t think this was going to be much of a challenge for a seasoned web developer, such as myself. Well, I must say that […]
Creating Short URLs – MediaWiki – Version 1.10.0
Yeah, this took me a little while to figure out. I started last night and noticed that the clock was ticking rather quickly. I had to move away from the computer…MOVE AWAY FROM THE COMPUTER. One of the most important things you can do for any website is to create pretty URLs for your pages, […]
Wiki Installation – MediaWiki – Version 1.10.0
The other day, I was cruising about Wikipedia.org. As you may have noticed, that website is growing quite rapidly and I use many references to its various pages in my posts. Well, I just happened to be at the bottom of one of its pages when I noticed a link to MediaWiki. That’s the free […]
Do W3C Compliant Web Pages Affect SEO?
I suppose this is the question of the day. I am currently working on some of my websites’ HTML code…trying to clean it up. The code itself is about three years old and a bit bulky. I am noticing a lot that doesn’t need to be there. The main thing I am coming across has […]
Thanks to FeedBurner and StumbleUpon
This post may seem a little fragmented towards the beginning, but keep reading. It will all come together…trust me. Have you ever had a conversation with someone about the internet and about half way through, you noticed them mentioning websites and services they just assumed you knew about? I have. It’s a real personality trait […]
SEO and Your Google PR
This post may ruffle some feathers. I will try to keep it short. I had a conversation with a friend this morning about SEO. I started thinking. Now, you may not know, but one of my favorite pastimes is managing my websites (of which I mentioned in an earlier post). There are many parts to […]