Obelisk

DownThemAll! download manager for Firefox

2009-11-11T13:16:00.002-05:00

I was having trouble downloading the ISO (disc image file) for Windows 7 Home Premium with Firefox. The 3.0 GB file always died around 200 MB, and I'd have to restart it. After this happened 4 times, I went in search of a better download manager. Google led me to the Firefox extension DownThemAll!

I installed the extension and restarted Firefox. I then right-clicked the ISO link in Firefox, and selected Save link with DownThemAll! I was able to pause and resume the download as necessary, and after a few hours (I have a slow DSL connection), the download finally completed!

Building blocks

2009-11-07T07:23:00.002-05:00

Didn't your parents teach you to share? It applies to Legos and your lifeless body!

Source: xkcd: Lego

Don't waste Anytime minutes to check your Verizon voicemail

2009-10-22T18:54:00.012-04:00

By default, Verizon Wireless phones are programmed to call *86 to check voicemail. This counts as a regular call, so if you call it during peak hours, you're using up your Anytime minutes.

Here's a screenshot from my current bill, where I'm using minutes to check voicemail:

To avoid using precious minutes to check your voicemail, change the voicemail number in your phone to your 10-digit phone number. This will appear as a Verizon mobile-to-mobile (M2M) call, which never counts against your minutes. To change the stored number:

Open Contacts
Highlight the Voicemail contact
Select Edit
Change the number from *86 to your 10-digit phone number
Save the contact
Test by calling the Voicemail contact. You should be prompted for your voicemail password.

From now on, the Usage Type should be M2MAllow, not PlanAllow. After I read about this online, I called Verizon Wireless Customer Service, who confirmed it.

Sources

Verizon Wireless Customer Service, via phone call, 10/22/2009
Independent Democracy: Cell phone voicemail – Don’t be tricked into using your anytime minutes
PDAPhoneHome: Verizon voicemail minutes changed
WirelessAdvisor: Accessing Voicemail with verizon?

Crossword puzzle help sites

2009-10-11T16:36:00.002-04:00

Need some help getting the last few words in a crossword puzzle?

First try One Across. You enter the clue and the word's pattern, and the site gives you a list of likely answers.

+

If none of those answers work, jump over to the Crossword Clue Solver. This solver isn't as smart as One Across', because it doesn't analyze the clue. However, it can be helpful when you know a few letters of the word and just need some help filling in the blanks.

Light bulbs ranked by energy efficiency

2009-09-18T12:26:00.010-04:00

I've often wondered how energy-efficient different types of light bulbs are. Here are some common bulb types, ranked by luminous efficacy. Luminous efficacy measures how much light the bulb produces for the electricity it takes in. The unit of measurement is lumens per watt (lm/W).

From most to least energy efficient:

LED (light-emitting diode)
10 - 150 lm/W

compact fluorescent (CFL)
46 - 72 lm/W

halogen
19.2 - 24 lm/W

incandescent (traditional tungsten)
5 - 17.5 lm/W

Images from Wikimedia Commons

Sources

Windows 7 for $30 for college students

2009-09-18T07:05:00.010-04:00

Images source: Microsoft

If you're a college student and there's even a chance you'll want to buy Windows 7, you need to check out Microsoft's special price offer:

$29.99 for Windows 7 Home Premium. Compare that price to $120 to pre-order Home Premium from the Microsoft Store or Amazon.
$29.99 for Windows 7 Professional. Compare that price to $200 to pre-order Professional from the Microsoft Store or Amazon.
Both the 32 and 64-bit versions are available.

Caveats:

You have to be a currently enrolled college student with a .edu email address.
This is a digital download, not a disc. The disc is an additional $13. You can burn the file to disc yourself, but that won't have any resale value like a boxed retail version will.
This is the Upgrade version of Windows 7 Home Premium, not the full version. You'll need a previous version of Windows on your PC to install this upgrade version.

Why you should care about your credit score

2009-09-13T15:23:00.006-04:00

I was at a bonfire this weekend, and the topic of credit history came up. Two views were presented:

debt is evil and credit scores don't matter
debt is a valuable financial tool if used properly, and credit scores are very important

I'm firmly in Camp 2. You should definitely care about your credit score. Here are a few things affected by your credit score (AKA credit history or credit rating):

mortgage rates
car loan rates
credit cards rates
small business loan rates
auto insurerance rates
home insurance rates
renting rates
employment options
cell phone service
utilities rates

The reason your credit score affects so many areas of your life is that it's used as a measure of how financially risky you are. Because of the tradeoff between risk and reward, if you have a low score, you're seen as high-risk, so institutions want a higher reward for dealing with you. So, your rates are higher, and your options are more limited than people with good credit.

Sources:

The difference between burritos, chimichangas, and enchiladas

2009-09-05T08:26:00.002-04:00

I love Mexican food, but I'm embarrassed to admit that I always get confused between burritos, wet burritos, chimichangas, and enchiladas. Here are the descriptions, with the differences in bold and pictures following each description.

burrito
A flour tortilla wrapped around a filling (meat, beans, vegetables, etc)

wet burrito
A burrito that's covered in red chili sauce and cheese. Because of the sauce covering, it looks like an enchilada, but it's made with a flour tortilla, whereas the enchilada is made with a corn tortilla.

chimichanga
A burrito that's deep-fried. Sometimes covered with cheese or another topping.

enchilada
A corn tortilla wrapped around a filling, covered with chili pepper sauce

Sources

Choose plasma over LCD for a large TV

2009-08-28T12:26:00.003-04:00

If you're shopping for a new TV over 50 inches, you'll have 2 main options for display technology: plasma and LCD (there are other options like OLED, but they still demand a price premium). I suggest that you choose plasma, for these reasons:

most home video experts recommend plasma over LCD for screens over 50 inches
plasmas aren't going out of style; sales have been increasing, not decreasing lately
plasmas aren't becoming obsolete; the technology has been improving, not stagnating over the years
plasmas have better color reproduction than LCD
plasmas produce darker blacks than LCD
plasmas have a lifespan of 20 years, the same as LCD
plasmas have wider viewing angles than LCD

Still, most sources say LCDs are very close in quality and improving with each new revision, so you're definitely not setting yourself up for buyer's remorse by choosing an LCD.

After comparing features and pricing, I recently helped someone buy a Samsung PN50B550 50” 1080p Plasma HDTV.

Image from Samsung

Sources

Become your own computer expert

2009-08-27T21:01:00.003-04:00

I'm really tempted to hand out copies of this when I do tech support, but I'm afraid of getting slapped or punched, and losing customers.

Source: xkcd: Tech Support Cheat Sheet

Artificial trees capture energy from sun and wind

2009-08-05T17:19:00.000-04:00

So you're not a fan of large, flat solar panels or towering windmills? SolarBotanic is working on artificial trees that use photovoltaic, thermovoltaic, and piezovoltaic technology to convert light, heat, and wind into electricity.

The Nanoleaves on SolarBotanic's trees generate power by converting a majority of the light that strikes them into electricity. They also convert thermal radiation, so heat is turned into electricity even if the sun isn't shining on the leaves. It's not just the leaves that produce electricity; the branches and twigs are wired to generate power as they sway in the wind.

Not only will the trees harness energy from the environment, they'll also have the advantages of natural trees: providing shade, dampening noise, lowering the ambient temperature, and adding a natural look to the concrete jungles we call cities. The company is planning consumer models as well, so you'll be able to set up renewable energy power "plant" (pun intended) - yes, right in your backyard.

Images from SolarBotanic

Vanguard Plain Talk on Investing podcast

2009-08-03T17:43:00.002-04:00

Vanguard produces a very good personal finance podcast called Plain Talk on Investing. Unsurprisingly, it's focused on investing, and covers topics like saving for college, rebalancing, retirement accounts, annuities, credit scores, health care, taxes, asset allocation, and diversification.

In the Plain Talk on Investing podcast episode archive, you'll find episodes going back 3 years (until August 2006, as of August 1, 2009). The RSS feed actually goes back a few episodes further, until June 2006. Click the episode link for a full text transcript of every episode except the earliest ones. New episodes are usually published every 2 weeks, although the last few have been weekly.

Since September 2007, Vanguard has published a video version of Plain Talk on Investing. I quickly skipped through one episode, and I can see how the video format works better than audio for topics that involve charts and other visual elements. Judging by the episode titles, the video version is similar, but not identical, to the audio version. I'll stick to the audio version for now since I mostly listen to in my car.

PDFtoWord.com: convert PDF to Word

2009-08-02T13:34:00.004-04:00

Have a PDF that you'd like to edit as a Microsoft Word document? Then run, don't walk, to PDFtoWord.com. Upload your PDF, and within minutes you'll be emailed a Word file. I found the service to accurately convert PDF to Word (2003 .doc file format). When I uploaded a PDF form, it looked much better using PDFtoWord than when I tried the PDFOnline PDF2Word converter; PDFOnline left formatting marks in the document.

Nitro PDF, the company that runs PDFtoWord.com, has other free PDF tools on their site: Nitro PDF Free Family.

Acting like an adult

2009-08-01T07:59:00.000-04:00

I've felt like this a lot lately, especially since graduating from college and doing more "grownup" things.

Sansa Fuze firmware 02.02.26 for faster deleting

2009-07-30T17:51:00.001-04:00

One of my top complaints about my SanDisk Sansa Fuze 4 GB MP3 player was how slow it was at deleting songs and podcasts. When I opened the menu on an audio file, then selected Delete, it would take several seconds to delete. I finally got around to installing the new firmware from April 2009 (version 02.02.26), and was surprised to find that deleting is much faster now - almost instant!

The new firmware also adds Track Info to the menu, which shows data like a file's size, codec, bit rate, and sample rate. Another added feature is the ability to navigate the folders on the player, in case you'd rather deal with folders and files than the built-in music library.

Firmware upgrades are quick and easy with the Sansa Firmware Updater. Instructions for using it: Updating the Sansa Fuze's firmware.

I'd rather not keep the Sansa Updater constantly running in the background just to watch for updates every few months, so I subscribed to the RSS feed for the Sansa Fuze Firmware Update thread on the SanDisk forums. I expect to see a flurry of posting for the next release.

Sources: SanDisk: Sansa Fuze firmware (01.02.26 and 02.02.26) release notes

Sensing motion and the passage of time

2009-07-29T18:14:00.003-04:00

When it comes to motion, we sense changes in acceleration, not constant speed. If you think about flying in a plane, this is obvious: it's during takeoff and landing that your body feels the sense of speed, but once you're in the sky (hopelessly trying to sleep in the cramped seat with some fat dude snoring next to you), you could be going 5 mph or 500,000 mph - the speed is constant, so your body doesn't sense it.

I think the same concept applies to aging. When we're "coasting" through life - in school, at work, in a relationship - we don't sense the time flying by. Everything's happening at a relatively constant speed, so we just go about our lives. It's what some people call being "in a rut". When life accelerates (graduating from school, getting a job promotion, starting a new relationship) and especially when it decelerates (failing to pass a grade, getting fired, or getting dumped), we're forced to pay attention and we gain a sudden awareness of the time that's passed. Life catches up with us.

The lucid moments that these life transitions cause can be unsettling, especially if it's been a long time since you've evaluated your life. You might suddenly realize that a career as a telephone switchboard operator may not be the best choice, or that your long-distance relationship with that girl in Mozambique just isn't working out. Despite the shock such realizations bring, they're great opportunities to figure out if you're moving in the right direction, so take advantage of them!

Source: Wikipedia: Vestibular system (Otolithic organs)

Sign up for the Microsoft Office 2010 Technical Preview

2009-07-27T18:53:00.004-04:00

Want to be one of the first to try Microsoft Office 2010? Sign up at the Microsoft Office 2010
Technical Preview Waitlist Registration.

Macrium Reflect: free hard disk imaging

2009-07-26T13:59:00.003-04:00

An important part of your disaster recovery plan for your computer is having a disk image. This is a snapshot of your entire hard drive, including the operating system, programs, and data. If Windows suddenly stops booting, or your hard drive dies, you'll be able to restore the snapshot - just like going back in time (which is why Apple calls their drive imaging product Time Capsule).

Certain editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7 include Backup and Restore in the Control Panel, which you can use to create disk images (called System Images by Windows). If you're using XP or an edition of Vista or 7 that doesn't include it, you're not out of luck. There are plenty of paid options for disk imaging, like Norton Ghost and Acronis True Image. However, you can get a great imaging program for free: Macrium Reflect Free Edition.

Download Macrium Reflect Free Edition.
Install on XP or Vista, 32- or 64-bit.
Copy your disk to a hard drive (internal, external, or network), to CD, or DVD.
Create a Rescue CD based on Linux or BartPE.

I chose to use Macrium Reflect rather than DriveImage XML because it looked more user-friendly. I successfully used Macrium Reflect to back up and restore an XP machine. One minor issue: the Linux Rescue CD wouldn't boot until I connected my USB mouse to a PS/2 adapter.

For more detailed instructions, see the Macrium Tutorials and this Tucows tutorial: How To Create a Disk Image with Macrium Reflect.

Coupon printer doesn't work in Windows 7 64-bit RC

2009-07-22T21:32:00.003-04:00

Many coupon sites use the coupon printer software from Coupons, Inc. When I tried printing to it from Firefox 3.5 or Internet Explorer 8 in the Windows 7 64-bit RC, I could see the print job appear in the print queue, but it never got further than spooling.

Here's how to fix the problem:

Right-click your Firefox shortcut, and select Properties.
On the Compatibility tab, select Run this program in compatibility mode for, and select Windows XP (Service Pack 3) from the dropdown. Click OK.
Start Firefox. You may have to click past a User Account Control (UAC) prompt.
Open your coupon site and print the coupons.
Change your Firefox shortcut back to normal mode by unchecking the box you checked earlier.

Source: Microsoft TechNet: Coupon Printer Issue

Verify a mailing address with the USPS

2009-07-14T21:27:00.002-04:00

Unsure if an address is on a street or an avenue? Want to correctly abbreviate boulevard? Wondering if it's a suite or an apartment? Questioning whether a street name is one word or two?

Use the US Postal Service's ZIP Code Lookup to verify mailing addresses.

The Ascent of Money on PBS

2009-07-11T11:10:00.005-04:00

Does the recession have you wondering about the global economic system, and how we got into this financial mess? Check out PBS' The Ascent of Money.

The 4-hour documentary covers the history of banks, credit, stocks, bonds, hedging, corporate corruption, the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the Great Depression, and many other economic topics. Watch it online:

My audio podcast subscriptions

2009-06-24T12:36:00.001-04:00

I've listened to podcasts for years as a way of keeping up with news, politics, finance, religion, and technology while working out or driving. Here are my current subscriptions, categorized by how frequently I listen to them.

I linked the name of each podcast its website, where you can find more information about the podcast's producer and content. Behind each podcast I've included a link to the podcast's RSS feed, which you can enter directly into your feedreader (I use Google Reader) or podcast aggregator (I use PodNova; see my post PodNova: the simple Windows podcast client).

Listen to every episode:

Grammar Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (RSS) Grammar Girl provides short, friendly tips to improve your writing.
NPR: 7AM ET News Summary Podcast (RSS) A five-minute NPR News summary you can take with you.
NPR: Economy Podcast (RSS) Insightful reporting that explores all aspects of the nation's vibrant economy
NPR: It's All Politics Podcast (RSS) NPR political analysts Ken Rudin and Ron Elving delve into the week's political news and analysis.
Security Now! (RSS) Steve Gibson, the man who coined the term spyware and created the first anti-spyware program, discusses the hot topics in security today with Leo Laporte.
The Bible Podcast (RSS) readings from the New English Translation of the Bible.
Windows Weekly (RSS) A weekly look at all things Microsoft including Windows Vista, Office 2007, and Xbox.

Listen to most episodes:

Classical Mythology Podcast (RSS) we will investigate the gods, heroes, and myths that formed bedrock of belief in the ancient Greek and Roman world.
Kiplinger's Personal Finance (RSS) audio versions of the top stories from the latest issue of the magazine.
NPR: Planet Money (RSS) you'll meet high rollers, brainy economists and regular folks -- all trying to make sense of our rapidly changing global economy.
The Founding Documents Podcast (RSS) listen to the declarations, speeches and essays that form the core principles of U.S. Government.
U.S. Presidents Podcast (RSS) a brief biographical portrait of each president, explore the eras in which they led the country, and access the historical significance they hold for us today.
Vanguard: Plain Talk on Investing (RSS) dedicated to helping you achieve financial success through practical, easy-to-follow steps.
The Winning Investor's Quick and Dirty Tips for Managing Your Money (RSS) Join Andrew Horowitz as he cuts through the sometimes confusing jargon of financial products and services to help you analyze investment opportunities and decide what's best for you.
Money Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips for a Richer Life (RSS) to help listeners understand complex personal finance issues and to preserve and grow their wealth.

Monitor just in case there's something interesting:

SmartMoney Hotline (RSS) SmartMoney magazine editors and reporters are available to answer as many questions as they can.
Futures in Biotech (RSS) Explore the world of genetics, cloning, protein folding, genome mapping, and more with the most important researchers in biotech.
IT Conversations (RSS) publishes a new audio program nearly every day, from the most important tech conferences to our unique programs. Not just IT, it's everything tech and beyond.
Modern Manners Guy 's Quick and Dirty Tips for a More Polite Life (RSS) Whether you want to impress guests, business colleagues, or close friends, the Modern Manners Guy has the tips to start you on your way.
NPR: Science Friday (RSS) a weekly discussion of the latest news in science, technology, health, and the environment.
TEDTalks (RSS) the best talks and performances from TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) and partners.
The Real Deal (RSS) gives you access to secrets and info that will help you master the confusing world of technology.
The Nutrition Diva's Quick and Dirty Tips for Eating Well and Feeling Fabulous (RSS) simple, painless ways to upgrade your eating habits.

Magazines: personal finance, investing, entrepreneurship

2009-06-19T14:08:00.005-04:00

I usually browse through the general-appeal magazines that friends and family receive, like National Geographic and Reader's Digest, but I'm not usually very interested in them. Because I've been trying to learn more about personal finance, investing, and entrepreneurship recently, I decided to check a few magazines out of the Herrick District Library.

Here are the magazines I sampled, listed from most-liked to least-liked. First I include the magazine's description, then my thoughts on it.

Kiplinger's Personal Finance

Description: investments, taxes, insurance, paying for college, planning for retirement, home ownership, major purchases such as cars and computers and other personal finance topics.
Filled with practical financial advice for the middle-class, like how to save money and how to choose mutual funds, index funds, and retirement accounts.
Rating: 5/5 stars; continue reading regularly

Money

Description: increasing the value of your home, financing vacations, planning for retirement, paying taxes, protecting finances, investment strategies for building wealth, remodeling and refinancing homes, life insurance, and tips on getting the best life at the best price.
Includes lots of personal finance (saving, investing, retirement), tips and opinions, market trends and explanations of financial concepts.
Rating: 4/5 stars; continue reading regularly

Entrepreneur

Description: for businesses owners, offering inspiration and information on marketing, management, technology, the latest trends and strategies.
Aimed at starting and growing a business. Tells where to find inspiration for business ideas, products, and services, where to get funding, and how to market and sell. Includes articles about startups and interviews with entrepreneurs. Also describes growing markets and franchise opportunities.
Rating: 4/5 stars; continue reading regularly

Inc .

Description: to guide CEOs and owners of small-to-midsize companies to success. Inc. provides fresh, insightful analyses to give the major players in the business world the tools they need to excel. Each issue uses real life examples of strategies, case studies, and successes and failures edited specifically to illuminate new ways in which its readers can benefit.
Good balance of information for new and existing businesses. Includes tips for improving your current company, or for up-and-coming entrepreneurs to build into their new ventures. Includes strategy (finance, marketing, etc.) for new and existing businesses. Contains lengthy, often interesting interviews with entrepreneurs and business leaders.
Rating: 4/5 stars; continue reading regularly

SmartMoney

Description: straight from the editors of the Wall Street Journal, the best financial reporters in the business. Every issue brings you the information you need to know to deal with markets and protecting your wealth. Turn to SmartMoney for no-nonsense advice you can put into action.
Too focused on stock picks and product recommendations. Not much personal finance. Aimed at people with money (feels a little elitist; not surprising, since it's from the Wall Street Journal)
Rating: 3/5 stars; read if there's a particularly interesting topic covered

Forbes

Description: top management and those aspiring to positions of corporate leadership in business. This insider publication features information on successful companies and individuals, industries, marketing, law, taxes, technology, computers, communications, investments, management performance.
Covers too broad a range of topics (tech, health, companies, marketing). Contains too many ads.
Rating: 2/5 stars; read only if there's nothing else available, or if there's a particularly interesting topic covered

Fortune

Description: filled with expert advice on winning in business and investing, every issue brings you closer to success. Offering practical strategies and direction.
Contains a few interesting short articles about the economy and business trends, but has mostly long articles about companies and executives. Not much personal finance.
Rating: 2/5 stars; read only if there's nothing else available, or if there's a particularly interesting topic covered

The Economist

Description: explores domestic and international issues, business, finance, current affairs, science, technology and the arts.
Covers too broad a range of topics (world news, business, science, arts). Way too much content for casual reading.
Rating: 0/5 stars; don't waste time reading

Personal finance and investing sites

2009-06-12T12:13:00.009-04:00

In my list of interests, personal finance and investing closely follow information technology. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of knowledge or experience in these money-focused topics. Here a few websites that have helped me, and might be useful to you:

Kiplinger: this site is a sister work to Kiplinger's Personal Finance magazine. See the Kiplinger Basics of Money section.

Investopedia: this site is owned by Forbes, and contains some good articles and tips. Start with Investopedia Investing Basics articles.

The Motley Fool: a financial site run by 2 brothers. It's heavily focused on stocks, but has some good basic investing info. Check out the Motley Fool Investing Basics category.

Make a simple diary out of a pen collection

2009-06-10T12:00:00.000-04:00

Want to keep a diary of tourist attractions you've visited, hotels you've stayed at, conferences or trade shows you've attended, and employers you've had? A simple way to do it is by collecting pens at each of these places.

Many businesses and organizations give away pens emblazoned with their logos. All you need to do is arrange the pens, then write a quick note about where you acquired the pen, along with any interesting stories that go with it. In a few years, you'll have a massive collection of pens that tell an easy-to-read, visually appealing story of where you've been and what you've been up to!