A cool notepad trick

A couple of days ago, I found a neat trick to do with notepad. At this point, I'm not sure if there's any purpose for it, other than to brag to your friends about it, or if you have some text to hide. This trick simply uses Notepad that is built into windows. Usually, in order to create a text file from the command prompt, or the run command, you type:

notepad myfile.txt

You would now have a normal text file. But if you want to hide some text within that text file, you can actually create a (hidden) file, within the visible file. How? you ask .. well, comin' right up. Simple open up a command prompt, by going to start / run... and type cmd. Then type the following:

notepad visiblefile.txt:hiddenfile.txt

This will open up the file that is hidden within visiblefile.txt. hiddenfile.txt will not show up if you browse to the directory, or look at it in explorer, it's embedded within the visible file. So now if you want to edit visiblefile.txt, you simple double click on it within explorer, and if you want to edit the hidden file you created, you just type the same command line above to open it. Note, that if you delete the visiblefile.txt file, your hiddenfile.txt will also be deleted with it.

Great Utilities and Sites

As I was looking at my list of utilities that I usually use with friends and clients, and I realized that I have quite a list that could be helpful to anyone that is looking for solutions in any of the following areas: Remote Control File Sharing/Syncing/Backup VPN Connectivity. File / Picture Sharing (Quick) Following, you will find a few sites and software that assist to accomplisht he above, and the best part is that they are all free: Remote Control and Remote Assistance:

1. PC/Mac: LogMeIn (http://www.logmein.com) This is one of my personal favorites. It has a clean interface, and works flawlessly. It runs as a windows service, which means that usually, when all else fails, it's still possible to connect to the computer and reboot it, or power cycle it. The free version of it only allows remote control, but that is usually enough for remote control and basic support. For additional functionality, you can always look at the other products from LogMeIn, (Pro, IT Reach, and Rescue, which come at a significantly higher price point, though depending on your purpose, it may be worth it for you.
2. PC/Mac: Teamviewer (http://www.teamviewer.com) I was introduced to TeamViewer when I was on a support call with Microsoft, and their Easy Assist server was not available, so that was their fallback method, little did I know that I would really love that solution. Unlike LogMeIn which requires quite a few steps to install the agent, TeamViewer is a painless installer, it's as simple as downloading a small plugin, and following the instructions to give remote access to your IT person. It also has functionality of File Transfer, Presentation mode, and VPN all bundled in. It also has the option to install an agent that will allow conecting to it without having the user download and run the plugin everytime. I find this one to be very slick!
3. PC/(Mac) : Remote Desktop deserves an honorable mention because it remains one of the IT professionals' main tools to access remote computers. It's free with the Windows OS, but of course, it not as easy to set, especially if the target computer i behind a firewall. The 2 pregious solutions do not require any modifications on the firewall to function correctly.
4. VNC (http://realvnc.com) This one has been around forever, and within a LAN environment, it's fairly easy to setup, but to support people outside of your own LAN, it has the same caveats as RDP, where you would need to open up ports on your firewall, and not as easy to instruct someone to install it.

File Sharing / Syncing / Backup There a lot of products out there that do the job, but here are my favorites, mostly because they're mostly very cheap or free

1. PC Only: GoodSync (http://www.goodsync.com) This is one of the first products that I had ever started using for syncing files. Given that I do a lot of scripting, even 10 minutes can make a difference in what I have backed up. Good sync is quite robust in the way it does syncing, and is very user friendly. You can use it as a backup also, by not allowing it to delete files that you delete on your source, but I rely on other software to do backups, this way I have synced data, AND backed up data to revert to previous dates. GoodSync, will run you $29.95, and the 2nd license, only $9.95, in my opinion, well worth the money.
2. PC Only: Cobian Backup (http://www.educ.umu.se/~cobian/cobianbackup.htm) I know, the site for this seems kind of obscure, I have gone through quite a few backup products, and Cobian seems to do the job best. it's very regularly updated, and best of all is 100% free! I use it at my work, because we're lacking an enterprise solution. Moreover, I recommend it to all my clients who don't have a budget to purchase a bigger product. It supports notifications, all the basic functionality of backups (Full, Differentials, Incrementals) , and central management! (this only showed up on in the last few versions)
3. PC/Mac: Foldershare (http://www.foldershare.com) This is part of the live package from Microsoft. it actually works really well... Once it's setup! However, if the folder is renamed and foldershare doesn't know about it, then you have to go through the setup again, which requires multiple steps. All in all though, it's a very good product, I actually use it with my girlfriend and my dad (who is in another country), to share files.
4. PC/Mac/Linux: DropBox (http://getdropbox.com) This one, I discovered only a couple of days ago. It's also free, and multiplatform. you have the ability to share files with people who don't have dropbox, however, the beauty of this is for use when you need to have some files synchronized at all times. In 3 words.... it just works! In my opinion, this one is more geared to sync your own files, rather than collaborate: The sharing is based on one email address login. So unless you create one common address between you and your collaborators, it's probably not a very handy solution for that.
5. Box.net (http://www.box.net) Box.net, on the other hand seems to allow collaboration. I personally have not really used it yet, so I'm not sure what features it has, but it looks promising, I may check it out sometime soon.
6. GBridge (http://www.gbridge.com) This one is more of a VPN/Filesharing product. it's made by google, and is actually very seamless as well. It has an IM interface, and it extends the GTalk service to provide VPN connectivity. Obviously, you need to have a google account in order to use this. But give it a shot. So far this is only for PC, but who knows maybe a Mac version is coming up.

VPN Connectivity

1. PC/Mac/Linux: Hamachi (http://hamachi.cc) A very user friendly VPN product, that is free for the basic version. It creates a secure tunnel, to your other networks, or clients, through which you can establish any number of connections. It is one of my personal favorites. The basic version has worked for me for years without the need to subscribe to the premium version. you would only need the premium version for these reasons:
• you have a large number of computers (more than 16) to connect to the hamachi network.
• you need Hamachi to run as a service, so that you can connect to even if the user logs off
• you have a mission critical operation that needs priority in logging in, in case the service goes down.
2. TeamViewer (http://www.teamviewer.com) This one, mentioned above, also allows for the establishing of a VPN tunnel. it works very nicely, though, the VPN functionality only works when connecting to a PC. The multiplatfrom bit only works for the remote control and file transfer. but not VPN
3. GBridge (http://www.gbridge.com) Also mentioned above, provides VPN connectivity.

File / Picture Sharing on the go

1. Web: Dropio (http://drop.io) A great filesharing website that allows you to share a big (or small) file with people. It quite robust actually, and allows faxing from there, and for a small fee, you can even receive faxes. The best part is that you can assign drops for each individual and give certain permissions to each of the boxes. I would check it out if you are looking for a convenient way to share files.
2. Web: FileShaker (http://www.fileshaker.com) Seems to be a new kid on the block, but allows up to 10Gb file uploads, so it makes things very convenient.
3. Web: YouSendIt - DropLoad (http://yousendit.com , http://dropload.com) These ones started as being good free products, but as soon as they got popular, they became payware, and since I always look for free products, these ones sort of fell off the list. they were good while they lasted though :)
4. Web: PipeBytes (http://www.pipebytes.com) This one has a slightly different concept than the rest of the file sharing sites, in that it allows for a "receiving code" that will show the sender when the receiver started downloading the file. it's a very good solution for when a video is being sent, as it treats a video as a streaming one, and the recipient can start watching before the full download is over. quite handy...
5. Web: rarhost (http://www.rarhost.com) This one sort of falls in a the "specialty" category. It only processes RAR files. Though it claims to do it quite well, and can even process split rars, etc ... I haven't played with this one yet, but it looks pretty cool, if you're dealing with rar files. Unfortunately, rar is not a very common compression format for the average user, hence it belonging to the "specialty" category.
6. Web: TinyPic (http://www.tinypic.com) That's a nice way to be able to quickly share a picture. it's simple: you upload a picture, and you give the URL to the recipient. The URLs (or code) that you get back after the upload actually work for a direct link, html, or embedded object, and a number of other formats, so it makes it convenient to share the picture wherever you are.
7. Web: Picoodle.com (http://www.picoodle.com) Picoodle is almost exactly like TinyPic, only, you're able to have an account and keep track of which pictures you uploaded and resend their links at a later time. With TinyPic, if you lost the link, then you'd better re-upload the picture

Online Video Downloading / File conversion

1. ZamZar (http://www.zamzar.com) One of my personal favorites, it pretty much can convert anything to anything, and even allows downloading an online video, convert it to any format you want, and send you the link to download it (good for YouTube downloads)
2. Media-Convert (http://media-convert.com) This one also works, and is very close in its functionality to ZamZar.
3. VidDownloader (http://www.viddownloader.com) This one is not as veratile, it's only for downloading online streaming videos to your computer. I haven't tried it many times, but the couple of times I did, it seemed to work good.

I hope you found this list beneficial. I use one or more of these tools at least once a day. Do you have any cool tools that you use that you'd like to share?

Better Gmail 2 v0.5.1 now supports HTML Signatures!!

I'm so excited! Finally, Better Gmail 2 support HTML Signatures. there's a couple steps to it, but once it's setup, it's beautiful, and gets seamlessly inserted in new messages. I can now send email from web-based gmail, as well as outlook/Mac Mail, and have my outgoing mail look the same! Yippeee!!

Also, as a side note, if you download this version of Better Gmail 2 (0.5.1) , check out the redesigned skin, it's on a black background, and it looks amazing!

iPhone 3G Pricing ... It's aggravating!

So, I was reading some information about the release of detailed pricing from AT&T today, and I found out some information that irritated me.

First off, if you're not too familiar with the pricing plan that AT&T has, here's the skinny: If you're a current AT&T customer, and eligible for an upgrade, you can get the 8GB iPhone 3G for $199, and the 16Gb for $299. However, if you are NOT eligible for an upgrade, and you are an existing AT&T customer, you would have to:
1- Pay $399 for the 8Gb, and $499 for the 16Gb
2- Reset your 2 year contract with AT&T.

As a side note, there also seems to be some rumors that there will be a no-contract option for the iPhone purchase, which will be $599 for the 8Gb and $699 for the 16Gb. This apparently, may not be available for a few months though.

Now, the reason as to why I'm aggravated. I used to be a happy Verizon customer, and had the XV6700 with which I was extremely happy for the most part. Due to Apple striking the deal with AT&T, and due to the fact that I really liked the iPhone, I decided to bite the bullet, and move to AT&T. This was before there were any rumors of the iPhone 3G roaming around. When I moved, I decided to get the Blackjack as a backup phone, while waiting to get my iPhone. During that time, I heard that a new version of the iPhone will be coming out, so I decided to lay low until the new one was out.

Well, for me, as a new AT&T customer, I had moved carriers just to get a handset that I really wanted, and now, I get stuck with, not only having to pay the full price of the handset of the first generation phone, but also an additional $10 / month for my data plan.

Even with the $299 price-point for the iPhone 3G, and the $10 increase in the data plan, I would still be short some $150 or so by the end of my 2 year contract. Now, I guess I have to do the math for what the iPhone would end up costing me by paying the full premium for it, as well as the added plan cost. Not to mention the additional, (optional... ridiculous! ) text plan, which will nicely tack on another $20 / month !

Hmm.. now I have to wonder whether the iPhone is a good investment? or would I be better off terminating early with AT&T and getting the Samsung Instinct from Sprint, at least, with that, I would get the new customer device discount..... plus, the Instinct is looking like a very sweet phone from the looks of it..

LogMeIn Setup Instructions

There are times when I'm working with friends/clients where I need to access their computers to assist them with a particular problem. In order to make the process simpler, I created some step by step instructions on installing the LogMeIn agent on their computer, with some friendly screenshots. The following screenshots apply to Windows XP. Windows Vista instructions will come later

Please follow these steps:

1-Go to Start/Run

2- Type http://logmein.com/logmein.msi

3- Click on "Run". Optionally, you can click on "Save" and save it to the desktop, in case you need to re-run it later

4- Click Run...

5- Click Next

6- Select "I Agree"

8- Select "Typical" (Default)

9- Leave the computer description as the default.

10- In this area, type in the email address and password that I give you. and make sure you choose "LogMeIn Free"

11- Click "Next"

The installer will start ... let the it finish. during that time, your screen may blink quickly a couple of times. this is normal. don't panic!

12- Click on "Finish"

Once the installer is done, if you look on the bottom right hand of your screen, you will find this the gray icon with 4 blue dots in it (highlighted in red). this is an indication that LogMeIn has been installed

If you right click on that icon, the below menu will pop up. the second option is: "Disable LogMeIn" . This means LogMeIn is enabled. if LogMeIn is disabled, this option will say "Enable LogMeIn

In some cases:

a- if you don't have a password on your computer (in which case, usually LogMeIn will ask to assign one upon installation, and you wouldn't have to follow the steps below)
b- If you don't want to share your password with me

You will need to create an account for me In order to do so, follow these steps:

1- On your desktop, right click on "My Computer" and choose Manage.

2- The below screen will open up: Expand Local Users and Groups, Right click on "Users", and select "New User..."

3- Fill in the fields exactly as you see them below. The password will be one that you wouldn't mind sharing with me.

4- In the same menu, right click on the "Groups" item, and select "Add to Group ... "

5- In the screen that pops up, type in: LogMeInRemoteUser (just like below). Then click on "Check Names". the name should resolve, and will become underlined. then click on Ok.

You should see a screen like the one below. then click Ok.

Now you should be ready for me to connect to your computer and help you with any issues that you may have.

Creating secure passwords... easy! memorable!

In my line of work, I have many passwords that I need to remember, and a lot of times I find myself juggling the passwords, typing and retyping to guess the correct password that I chose for the particular service/websites/ssh session, etc ....

So, as I thought about it, I figured that I should create some sort of algorithm that i could remember that would help in creating a secure password. As I looked up online, I found a couple of people that have created a similar system, but in this article I will share mine, as I think that it has nice variable to it that will eliminate the guess work from passwords. So, let's get started.

1- Choose any sentence that you find appealing, meaningful, or just plain fun that you can remember. Could be your life motto, could be the words of a song.. it doesn't really matter. As an example, I will use the sentence, "What Happens In Vegas Stays In Vegas"
This becomes: WHIVSIV.

2- Let's alternate the caps on that password:
WhIvSiV

3- Let's add a special character in the middle:
WhIv$SiV

At this point, you have created your base password. as it is right now, it's pretty secure. However, if this is all you use for all the websites you log in to, if this password happens to get compromised, the all the other websites are potentially compromised.
For this reason, we're going to add a variable that will completely protect you against this.

4- Every site that you access that has a password, has a name, of course, at this point, you take your base password, and you append the first and last letter of that site/service to the password.
For example: for your amazon.com site, the first and last letters are "a" and "n", now reverse them, and add them to your password. Now, your new password for Amazon.com will be:
nWhIV$SiVa
Similarly, for your paypal password, you'll get:
lWhIv$SiVp

At this point, it doesn't matter how many websites you've signed up for, and it doesn't matter if you remember the password, you'll be able to make it up, just as long as you remember your base password.

As a bonus/alternative, some sites do not allow you to have special characters in your password, so for these sites, you can have a different algorithm that you know to try: it's very simple.
First, remove the special character from the password:
For instance Amazon's password will now be:
nWhIvSiVa

Now add the last 2 digits of your birthday, REVERSED at the end of the password. So, if I'm born in 1976, the last 2 digits of my password will be 67, and therefore, my amazon password is now:
nWhIvSiVa67

I hope this small tutorial will help you try to stay on top of your passwords, and help you avoid writing them on a little sticky and slap them on the bottom of your keyboard in the office! :)

Twix attempting to sleep

weird... can't he find a flat surface ? lol

- Posted using MobyPicture.com