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Get 20GB Cloud for 89 Cents

How to Get 20GB of Amazon Cloud Storage for 89 Cents - How-To Geek

If you’re looking for cheap and reliable online storage—who isn’t?—you can score a year 20GB of online storage from Amazon for under a buck. How? Read on as we highlight the perks of Amazon’s Cloud Drive and how to get nearly-free storage.

Comments: This does work. Simply set up your free 5GB of cloud storage. Then buy the 89 cent album and select store in the cloud. Your 5GB will jump to 20GB. After the year you will be charged the standard rate and will need to discontinue if the 20GB is not wanted. I just couldn't pass up doing it and besides, I always liked the sound of rain.

To upload files it appears one needs some lame "helper" app that I have not yet tried. But this cloud storage of music should be a big deal for digital music junkies.

Another Virtual Drive Program

OSFMount allows you to mount local disk image files (bit-for-bit copies of a disk partition) in Windows with a drive letter. You can then analyze the disk image file with PassMark OSForensics™ by using the mounted volume's drive letter. By default, the image files are mounted as read only so that the original image files are not altered.

Comments: This virtual disk is unusual in that it can create a ram disk upon which data can be written. I'm not sure why I would want this but it may have an application. Now, if the ram disk would be seen as a writable CD, I know it would be useful. But it is seen as a hard drive. Anyway, I am marking it for future reference.

Google Voice - Why Are You Waiting?

Edit: If you dial a number by clicking a link and then answering from the Gmail page, the number 4 on your keypad will appear dead. On incoming calls the 4 is used to turn on recording the call. To have the 4 work in normal fashion you must initiate the call through the chat phone link on the Gmail page.

I use Google Voice more and more. Cell service in my winter home is miserable so for my calling out, Google Voice is the answer. The Gmail dialer is primitive and limited but interfaces with Google Contacts nicely. Now we no longer have to cut and paste phone numbers that are not in our contacts. Left click a phone number on a web page or email and Google's dialer pops up with the number entered. This is a welcome enhancement.

My non-geek friends don't use Google Voice for some reason. They have no motivation to set up a phone number. They are missing out on a great function. Why search a location, find the number and use a phone? Just left click and call free.

Things you need.

Google Voice phone number.

Google Talk installed.

Speakers (I assume everyone has them) (if not then Logitech S-220 2.1)

Microphone (Logitech USB if you don't have a mic)

Google Voice has sophisticated functions within it's settings for handling calls and messages and I use some of them but this computer as phone functionality would be enough reason to have a GV number even if it did nothing else.

IRC Chat

I almost never use IRC Chat anymore, never did much, but the easiest way is Mibbit. Create your own chat room if you want. I'm marking it here to find it again if I should want IRC Chat for some odd reason. Mibbit is browser run and not Java so no installing anything.

SSD Drive Project

As of yet I am holding out on buying an SSD but I don't know how much longer I can hang on. So far the price/size issue has held me at bay but one of these days I will cave and my impulse buying will get the best of me. So I am starting to gather information.

Ed Bott has some basic info here on step by step install.

Sandforce seems to be a big deal so look for it.

Moving the profile to another drive is wise. (It would seem one would want some programs on the ssd so they load faster) Why move? To preserve space (among other things) on the smaller SSD drive.

One problem I have is my first install will be on an envida chipset and they do not play well together. Using the drivers from Microsoft is probably the answer.

Still holding out. Prices are below $2 per GB but I want it closer to $1, then I will get 120GB.

How to Use a PS3 Controller as a Joystick for Your Windows PC

Do you find it hard to steer your mouse and hit the right keyboard key to play PC games? If you happen to have PS3 controllers, why not use them as Joysticks to play games? from Howtogeek

I'm not a big joystick game guy but the last time I did it, I struggled to find a "good" joystick. This would have done it.

Vizio Black Screen of Death

Call me lucky I guess but I seem to get them all. We are accustomed to the Window's "Blue Screen of Death" and then their is the old IBM/Hitachi hard drive "Click of Death" but now I have the Vizio "Black Screen of Death". Neil Cavuto was happily describing Japan's most recent tragedy of nuclear explosion and my Vizio went black. Neil still sounded fine but he was nowhere in sight.

Googling tells me this is common Vizio behavior. There is no way for me to tell how common. This TV is not yet three years old. I guess the replacement will not be Vizio. This makes me sad because the new Vizios have so many features at such a great price. I wonder what hidden pitfalls Samsung has to offer me ... the "Explosion of Death" perhaps.

In the meantime I will see what the heavily accented Hispanic repair shop has to say. I am not expecting good news. Hasta la vista. He ended up being Indian (dots not feathers).

Now call me crazy but I'm thinking of a Philips, yikes.

Reviewers on Amazon love it. I know, why so small? It needs to be physically no wider than 39 inches to avoid remodeling the room or we would be looking at 55 inch screens and Neil's head would be truly scary.

I would love the wireless model (40PFL7705DV/F7) but for the extra money I could use another wireless media provider so when the TV assumes room temperature I would not lose everything in an all-in-one meltdown. My Bluray already streams Netfix. I wonder if the wired net model can use a wifi NIC? I suppose but don't know compatibility. They don't brag much about what is available online so I still think I'll just save the hundred bucks. Here is the underwhelming list of net availability.

Philips

40PFL7505D/F7 no net $598 Sam's

40PFL7705D/F7 is wired net $699 BB

40PFL7705DV/F7 is wireless $749 BB

My wife has the van so I can't go get one and it won't fit in my old BMW. I've downloaded the firmware update, so I'm ready so get on over to Sam's. Pick up toilet paper, smoked salmon and salsa while you are there:)

Got the toilet paper and the Philips. Reviews were right, the picture is crazy sharp. The 2 year old Vizio was good but this Philips is ridiculously good. It might show a little more reflection of light on the screen but I am anxious to try a bluray on it. The "soap opera" look takes a little getting use to but the images are stunningly clear and I can now finally verify that Geraldo Rivera is truly a Muppet character.

Get ready to lust after a bigger screen but then it wouldn't be $598 would it.

Sound is fine at the upper levels and voice is clear. Unfortunately the lower levels create a speaker rattle. I don't know if there is a blown woofer or what. I thought it may be rattling something that the TV is sitting on so I picked up the TV and held it. The rattling continued. Battle Star Galactica drives it crazy. I called Philips and they are sending out another TV by UPS. Let's hope it is new and not a refurb. or I will get cranky. I throw this one in the box and return it. Case reference number is 471133 which I need to label on the return box. I had to give them a credit card number which is reasonable being they are sending me a TV. I had already prepared myself to add a surround system but I do want the thing to work right.

Bad news on the Philips replacement, well, good and bad. The speakers worked fine but it was refurbished and an earlier model. I'm sending the replacement back to Philips. I called Sam's and they explained their 90 day return policy. I'm heading to Sam's today and all should be good. Lesson learned, I should have called Sam's first but I was convinced Sam's would give me the run around. Gotta love Sam's.

So I now have the replacement new Philips from Sam's and it does the same thing. Final analysis? The speakers are complete junk. I will eventually want a surround sound system anyway - for when my wife gets her 55 inch (I hope you are laughing at some of these) - so I will consider buying a surround sound system not impulsive and lavish but planning ahead and prudent.

I have yet to try playing files from the USB except to flash the firmware. The colors are beautiful. Would I buy this again? Yes, yes, yes.

Now if my Spanish friends can fix the black screened Vizio, I will have a TV for the bedroom. I'll let you know.

Universal Remote Codes Maybe it is in this list. The one measly code Comcast provided did not work so I used the search function on my Comcast remote. Then using the read code function my result is 0690.

My se habla espanol repair guy had an interesting take on things ... "they are all junk". I tend to agree but then again what to do. He said to always buy the extended warranty, which I never do. I guess I could throw on a three year warranty from SquareTrade and call it the cost of doing business. Sam's extended warranty cost was similar but I'm not sure of the length. I should call SquareTrade and see how I would fix it under warranty if something went wrong.

Still no word on cost of repair on the Vizio. He might have a used board. This could be an adventure.

Got a call this morning from some guy looking for a "Stevie", an obvious wrong number, turned out to be my repair guy calling about the "TV" - oops, no used board, new main board is $169 and labor is $100. That extended warranty is looking better. I said go ahead and am clearing out a bedroom home for my repaired Vizio.

Called Square Trade and I have 90 days from purchase to buy the warranty on a new item (30 days on used eBay). If the TV is over 37 inch you send it to them (they send a prepaid shipping box). If 38 inch plus it qualifies for in home repair. Either way there is a 5 day turn around guaranty or the warranty cost is refunded and the item is repaired for free. The skeptic in me doubts this will all work seamlessly but it at least their intentions are good. And 38 inch plus is definitely the way to go. I do not want to be packing up and shipping a TV but prepaid box would relieve some of the pain. Here is SquareTrade's FAQ.

Why hesitate? It is insurance and they are still in business. Either people are buying and not claiming even though broken or most electronics last the three years. On the other hand certain electronics could be worse than others but if I had some way to determine that, I would not buy it in the first place. So the decision is not as straight forward as it may seem. The last time I was tempted to buy a warranty was on my laptop. It has gone the distance and is still kicking so not buying the warranty was a win. Should I maintain my self insure philosophy? Still thinking .....

Envelope Printing Without Microsoft Office

Envelope printing can be a challenge. Any free software I have tried is clutzy/clunky. If you simply want an easy way to throw in a quick cut and paste address, why not just use a nice .rtf envelope template from Jarte templates. Grab some lable templates while you are at it. Jarte is a great little stand alone word processor in it's own right so give it a try while you are at it.

In the printer settings chose layout as "landscape" and media as "envelope". LibreOffice does this fine on my Brother HL-5250. Of course all printers have their quirks and settings so some tweaking may be needed. The hard part is getting the printer, which needs to have the envelope fed vertically into the front, to format correctly.

All versions of Microsoft Word have a little envelope wizard which works like magic but we are trying to wean ourselves from MS Office are we not? And of course we can always print the address on a sheet of paper, cut out the address with a scissors and tape it to the envelope - anything to keep from hand writing the address, or am I the only one.

WD 500GB USB3

I just bought a My Passport WD refurbished 500GB USB3 from WD for $49 + small shipping cost. The speed is impressive. To bad my laptop does not have USB3. The next laptop will have it. Downward spike are probably due to something accessing the drive while the test was running.

Ask Toolbar Removal

Even though Ask is dead (I think) the tool bar installs live on and removal is welcome. Here is a rundown on how to do it.

Virus Scanning Without Installing

Get ready to spreken ze Deutsch but this is an option if you are caught without a virus scanner. Stand alone functionality. On line options and/or download.
Microsoft's removal tool is already on your system, just type "mrt" in the search box.

You might want to start with (and I hate to say it) Norton

KillEmAll kill all unessential processes

Norton Power Eraser

Kaspersky Virus Removal

Kaspersky ISO Drop on Ventoy

HitmanPro
CrowdInspect
Type "mrt" in run command
Dr. Web
Ultra Virus Killer

AntiBotnet
Credit gHacks
Other possibilities
rkill.exe
OTL.exe
TDSS Killer
ComboFix
Remove Fake Scan Popup
Remember that removing a virus can destroy the OS ability to run so copy the important stuff off first and be ready to do a fresh format and install. Actually the data can likely be copied later but your choice. I would like a fresh system if my machine had been compromised.

Recover Browser Passwords

Another handy little program from Nirsoft.

WebBrowserPassView is a password recovery tool that reveals the passwords stored by the following Web browsers: Internet Explorer (Version 4.0 - 8.0), Mozilla Firefox (All Versions), Google Chrome, and Opera. This tool can be used to recover your lost/forgotten password of any Website, including popular Web sites, like Facebook, Yahoo, Google, and GMail, as long as the password is stored by your Web Browser.

I don't allow my Browsers to save passwords but occassionally one slips through. This find them for me so I can eliminate the records from my system. Occasionally a friend will ask for assistance in "speeding up" their system. We can preserve their passwords before cleaning with this program.