tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695Mon, 21 Dec 2009 15:49:53 +0000http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/default.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)Blogger107125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-3797558991805770019Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:40:00 +00002009-10-15T21:40:09.551-05:00google voiceiphoneOk - I'm on my way to integrating Google Voice into my "phone system" of my iPhone, RingCentral, and Google Voice. First, let me say that gVoice is pretty cool since it records all voicemails as mp3 files plus records all text messages. Being able to refer back to them at any time is very cool. The problem I've faced is how to use it effectively with my current mobile number (which everyone has) http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/10/google-voice-and-integrating-it.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-7657373562807482370Fri, 09 Oct 2009 12:56:00 +00002009-10-09T07:57:36.825-05:00As many of you know, I am a huge fan of the iPhone. It has transformed the way that I do business with tech support. One of the best features is the email client when paired Google Apps email. Using Google Apps (or Gmail) allows you to store a virtually unlimited amount of email online. This means you can access your email anywhere. It also means you have access to your email - anywhere - even http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/10/searching-all-your-email-with-iphone.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-46270557777251077Wed, 02 Sep 2009 14:41:00 +00002009-09-02T09:53:28.273-05:00Well it's official - eBay has sold Skype in a deal worth a couple of billion dollars. It also appears the Skype may be getting ready for an IPO and going public. http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=23623&tag=nl.e539 Why is this interesting? Many of you have asked me how the current lawsuit will affect Skype usage in the future. Many of you have loved ones overseas and depend on Skype for http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/09/skype-has-been-sold.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-1626235265288347421Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:58:00 +00002009-08-07T12:01:20.944-05:00Thanks for point this out to me Bill. It's a toss up on whether to post this here or on my political blog. I hate the Obama Administration and Congress (both sides of the aisle) - and people were worried about NSA wiretaps? Right. Here is the summary: If you are dumb enough to agree to cars.gov, then you agree to let them do anything they want. This application provides access to the [http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/08/carsgov-you-or-dealer-can-agree-to-let.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-2405099851185623667Thu, 06 Aug 2009 02:53:00 +00002009-08-05T21:53:55.644-05:00------------ It infects Windows machines via fake codec and fake Flash Player update packages planted on malicious Web sites.------------http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=3912&tag=nl.e550I've been preaching about this for some time now - one of the worst things about sites such as MySpace is when users are prompted to download and install something to watch a video. It happens far too often-and http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/08/fake-bsod-blue-screen-of-death.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-4473964410237325632Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:20:00 +00002009-08-05T08:20:03.567-05:00yahoogmailbellsouthATT did a stupid partnership deal with Yahoo a couple of years ago to provide email services through Yahoo, and they have done it without proper warning to customers. That means that some of you using services such as Gmail to pop3 your Bellsouth email in - suddenly find it not working. I've also had customers who try to login to webmail.bellsouth.net and get redirected to the Yahoo portal - and http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/08/trouble-with-bellsouth-and-yahoo-email.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-8727374083752397231Sun, 02 Aug 2009 15:12:00 +00002009-08-02T10:12:58.393-05:00truecryptlojacencryptionAs usual, something has been designed without a good forethought on security ramifications. Recovering your computer from thieves sounds great in marketing materials - but it comes with a price. If you have purchased a computer with the ability to contact Lojac, then you are at risk. No you don't have to subscribe to CompuTrace LoJac - you just have to have a computer with the code embedded in http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/08/want-lojac-for-your-laptop-think-again.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-4502229261396226830Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:54:00 +00002009-08-02T09:57:25.181-05:00codeiphoneWell I've been wanting to do this for a while so I finally sat down, googled around, looked at code, and figured out an easy way to embed iPhone video in html. First we need to detect the iPhone's userAgent string and redirect to another page where we will embed the video.This script should go in the area"" area of your code. You can redirect to any page. Next we need to embed the video alonghttp://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/08/embedding-iphone-video.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-4800867693006081596Wed, 29 Jul 2009 15:56:00 +00002009-07-29T11:03:10.120-05:00Initially I thought there may be some issues with the Farm games on Facebook as I had several customers experience malware issues (pop-ups, Antivirus 2009, etc) all within a short timeframe. The common denominator seemed to be the "farm" games on Facebook. After reading up on the recently revealed zero-day exploit in Flash, I now know that I was close to correct. It is related to a similar http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/07/reasons-for-recent-issues-on-computers.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-3230432598214979038Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:07:00 +00002009-07-26T18:07:59.507-05:00It's no secret that I really love (in a tech sense) my iPhone and iPod. I'm not a Mac user, but I have always respected Steve Jobs. He seems to have an insight into things that is not perfect - but very very good. Here is a speech he gave at Stanford University in 2005. It's worth listening to. http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/07/steve-jobs-commencement-speech-at.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-1995653459152977740Sun, 05 Jul 2009 13:43:00 +00002009-07-13T15:16:17.884-05:00gatewayxp installationdriversI've just installed Windows XP on a Gateway GT5694 and finding the drivers wasn't the easiest thing in the world. I'm posting the drivers that I used to install, including the SMBus, Wireless, Video, etc. Be aware that some of these were direct from Gateway and are the Vista drivers which contain the XP drivers as well. A couple were direct from RealTek and from ATI. If you have any trouble http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/07/gateway-gt5694-with-windows-xp.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-3534225259241743532Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:38:00 +00002009-06-27T08:38:55.354-05:00Just got my emailed invite from Google Voice! It looks like they might be rolling it out to the full public soon. What is cool about a Google number? It gives you one central number that can ring mulitple devices (cell phone, home phone, office phone, etc). Think about the power of that for a minute. There are also features like SMS, voice mail transcription to SMS, and more. http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/06/got-my-google-voice-number.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-4091536382553517462Thu, 18 Jun 2009 03:26:00 +00002009-06-17T22:26:12.784-05:00My first attempt to update to the iPhone 3.0 software on Windows XP resulted in a "Hardware Not Found" message when the Windows Hardware Wizard attempted to install the new drivers. Unplugging the phone and plugging back in didn't help. Pointing the Hardware Wizard to the default driver location didn't help. Apparently the driver was corrupted? I even tried downloading an alternate copy, but http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/06/updating-iphone-3g-to-30-software-issue.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-5332896734293454481Wed, 06 May 2009 13:22:00 +00002009-05-06T08:22:01.094-05:00vimeoriaaAs usual, not a day goes by that the RIAA (Recording Industry A--hole Association) doesn't prove themselves to be greedy incompetent bastages (reference to Johnny Dangerously). I've warned a lot of clients and friends about using caution when posting content online that is not 100% original. Here is a good case for that warning. Warner Music Group: All your memories belong to us http://http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/05/be-careful-posting-home-movies.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-2414505050519231488Wed, 06 May 2009 12:40:00 +00002009-05-06T07:40:19.163-05:00blogpressringcentralkindleiphoneAs most of you know, I am absolutely thrilled with my iPhone. It has been the one device that has truly begun to transform how I do things. Here is a quick list: Accepting credit card payments via CC Terminal by Innerfence Time tracking / invoicing via Timewerks Synchronized contacts and calendar by Google Twitter posting via Tweetie Blogging with BlogPress e-Books via Stanza and the Amazon http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/05/iphone-personal-and-business.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-913355440332481751Wed, 06 May 2009 04:20:00 +00002009-05-05T23:20:20.469-05:00At the suggestion of one of my blog readers (from this post), I have added some donation buttons to the right side of the blog. There are two choices: (1) Using secure PayPal and (2) using my secure Authorize.net payment form. Donations are requested but not required. I post information here for the benefit of everyone, and because I love sharing information. If you do find that some of my http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/05/donation-buttons.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-5932346906319679302Fri, 24 Apr 2009 12:27:00 +00002009-04-24T07:27:36.260-05:00firefoxblogThis was just funny - I've been using a cool Firefox extension (ScribeFire) to blog. One of the cool things about it is that you can pull up the blog window in your browser and click through to pages. Plus the editor tool works great.Anyway, they just updated the extension. On first launch you get redirected to www.scribefire.com/make_money which gives a 404 error - Not Found. Well darn - that http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/04/scribefire-making-money-not-found_24.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-4825717671973036716Sun, 19 Apr 2009 15:39:00 +00002009-04-19T10:39:15.208-05:00In doing some research for a couple of web projects, I came across How to Nail an Interview - with 22 tips for getting hired. Since I've been on the interviewer side of things and and can relate to some of these, I thought I'd share the site with you. How To Nail An Interview (Tip 11)http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/04/interesting-interviews.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-3612447862033957628Thu, 16 Apr 2009 22:42:00 +00002009-04-17T08:15:36.206-05:00Well I've always maintained that Mac's were safer that Windows boxes - not just because Apple had minor market share, but OSX was based on a BSD (Unix) variant and thus had security in the core design. However, this news should rattle a few of the Mac users. Researchers have found signs of a Mac botnet that apparently can get access to the root password. If you own a Mac - you might want to readhttp://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/04/mac-zombies-uh-oh.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-3254667557109913491Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:19:00 +00002009-04-06T08:19:06.237-05:00spyware and malwaresecurityconfickerLast week was fun in the IT (information technology) world. Not because of any real damage by conficker - but because of the absolute media over-hype of something they don't have a clue about. I had a couple of customers call me - and the conversations were short: "Rex, do we need to worry?" - "No Bob you don't." - "Ok - thanks Rex." absolute media over-hype of something they don't have a clue http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/04/conficker-what-you-should-really-know.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-1693378609703283673Thu, 19 Mar 2009 22:08:00 +00002009-03-19T17:08:47.907-05:00urban legendssmsThis is nearly as bad as forwarding emails for urban legends. For the past 2 days a text - sms - message was circulating around the Shreveport / Bossier City area claiming a gang initiation at Wal-Mart was going to take place. Supposedly, 3 women would be shot. FWD: Police r askn all women do not go to walmart 2nite there is a gang initiation n 3 women will be shot. This is not a prank this is http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/03/stupid-text-is-as-stupid-does.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-623228387135870400Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:28:00 +00002009-03-18T07:28:13.192-05:00erasing dataencryptionWhen you put a file in your "recycle bin" or "trash can" on your computer, it is not really gone - not even after you empty the recycle bin. The information can be recovered with freely available software. Granted, over time the file becomes harder and harder to recover, but it can be recovered. You can permanently erase a file though. Free programs such as Eraser allow you do erase single fileshttp://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/03/erasing-your-data.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-4187493554852270592Sat, 14 Mar 2009 02:46:00 +00002009-03-13T21:46:06.425-05:00I've found a new best friend as a parent - Hulu. My twin boys have been watching movies all afternoon. That was a welcome rescue since they've been trapped inside all day.-- Post From My iPhonehttp://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/03/hulu-saves-rainy-day.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-4268613529925201702Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:43:00 +00002009-03-05T12:51:00.771-06:00iphonechaseSo far I've been pretty pleased with Chase bank. The tellers are generally friendly and the online banking site is pretty good - so far. About 2 weeks ago, when I ported my Verizon number over to AT&T for my new iPhone, I noticed that I stopped receiving text alerts from my Chase account for transactions. I logged into my Chase account and decided to delete my text alert profile and then re-add http://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/03/chase-bank-error-code-1300.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8247312106088449695.post-8410828129616892068Wed, 04 Mar 2009 15:31:00 +00002009-03-04T09:33:34.895-06:00As most of you are aware, I switched over to an iPhone a couple of weeks ago. I've got to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed it. Just the Google Sync (calendar and contacts) feature alone is worth the money spent. Then there is the Apps Store - this is arguably one of the most addictive things for the iPhone. I seem to have fallen into the Apple realm of throwing money - albeit $.99 and $3.99 ishttp://www.smartergeek.com/blog/2009/03/blogpress-review_9254.aspnoreply@blogger.com (Rex Moncrief)0