JeffHorneWeb Blog - Computers

At cfObjective

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:30:00 -0500

I flew into Minneapolis today to attend cfObjective, the annual ColdFusion Developer's conference. It started out auspiceously as the flight was delayed. This was because they put too much fuel into the right tank. Then they drained some into the left tank but too much so that had to put more into the right tank again. Then they had to make sure they were measuring it right. Ended up delayed about 45 minutes.

Upon arrival, I gathered my luggage and took the recommended hotel shuttle to the hotel. I met cfJedi Ray Camden, the author of the code that runs this here blog, BlogCFC. He was glad that I was one of the few who hadn't moved on to Mango. I was sad that he liked the 1998 Devlin/Emmerich Godzilla film. Oh well, I guess I should have told him I preferred the prequel trilogy, (jk).

I took advantage of the hotel's fitness room and kicked my butt. It is a nice facility. Now it's on to registration and then dinner, followed by the welcome session.

I am really looking forward to my first cfObjective. More updates as the conference progresses.

When Bad Upgrades Happen To Good People

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 20:15:00 -0500

So the most popular social network on the internet, Facebook celebrated their sixth anniversary by rolling out a layout upgrade. Unfortunately for the millions of users, the layout was not all that changed. I and many others have been having trouble with the Most Recent News Feed. It used to be called the Live Feed but all I see now is posts from no more recent than two hours ago.

Oddly enough, I sometimes do see current news but as soon as I refresh the page, bang, back to two hours old. Hopefully they will fix their bug soon. Recent polls show that 94% of Facebook users are not crazy about the changes.

How advantageous for Google to debut their Social Network Google Buzz, tied to G-Mail. It's not live for the masses yet, but once it is, it will be interesting to see how many defectors it will take with it.

Aside from the lost News Feed entries I don't care for the hidden logout link. After some searching, I found it. The icons next to the loo are fine, I can live with. I can live with most changes. I can not live with the flaky News Feed. That is the reason I use the site. I do not play Farmville, Mafiaville, Horoscopeville or any other game that requires access to my profile info and that of my friends.

I use the Facebook to reconnect and stay connected with friends, old and new. Without that, it is a worthless website. The Social part of the Network is missing.

So far, Facebook's new upgrade gets One Billy.

My Biggest Computer Pet Peeve Of The Moment

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:06:00 -0500

I generally enjoy computers. I enjoy building them, I enjoy upgrading them and I enjoy using them. I enjoy doing research on any topic on the Internets, Interwebs and Information Super Highway. I spend hours looking up mindless trivia as well as tips and pointers on anything from replacing the agitator on your washing machine to tiling a shower in your bathroom to replacing the door handle on your Toyota mini-van to playing the riff to Led Zeppelin's The Ocean.

All this is fine and good but I am starting to see a disturbing trend in doing harm to unsuspecting folks PCs in the form of the Fake Anti-Virus Scan Pop-up or as it is known in tech circles, Scareware. What these pop-ups really do to the unsuspecting user is install harmful programs on their PCs that disable legitimate security software and render the PC unusable, steal their personal info and other bad things.

My daughter was looking into the Paul is Dead rumor. As she looked it up, she hit a page that told her taht her PC was infected with a virus and should it scan her PC for free. She was stuck at that point because when she tried to get off the page, it popped up a dialog that gives a Yes, Scan or Cancel option. She couldn't get out of it and unknowingly installed Enterpise Suite of some crapware. I tried to run the Anti-Virus but it disabled it and caused an error when I tried to fix the problem. I couldn't run IE or Firefox without erroring out when I tried to download Revo Uninstaller. Revo will do a deep uninstall and remove any trace of a program from the registry.

So I was stuck. I decided to go into Windows Help and Support and revert back to teh last Restore point. Fortunately, the last restore point was last night at midnight. I was able to get the traces of this crapware out of teh registry. I then re-downloaded McAfee from AT&T and am in the process of a deep anti-virus scan.

And the occurrence of this Scareware is on the rise. So be careful. If one of these programs trys to get you, close the browser right way. Do not click on any buttons and by all means, do not run the scan. The sad thing is this happens to someone as technical as me. How does someone who doesn't know their GPU from their SATA survive?

The irony of this story is I have a copy of Windows 7 ready to install on their PC. Windows 7 has security setting that prevent users from installing anything on the PC. That would have avoided this mess. I guess I know what I'll be doing next weekend.

House Party Over And Out

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:57:00 -0500

So we had the Windows 7 House Party tonight. Unfortunatley, illness among the guests kept the attendance low. Those who attended had a great time and the tote bags made it worth while.

Thanks to Microsoft for giving us the chance. We'll try to have a do-over once people start to get better. I hope other House Parties had better luck.

A Worldwide House Party

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:25:00 -0500

Microsoft launches Windows 7 tonight at Midnight. There are a number of retailers who are holding special Midnight Madness sales. Why anyone would run out and pick up Windows 7 at Midnight is beyond me but I'm throwing a Windows 7 House Party so what do I know.

There has been a lot of hype around Windows 7. You can go to a tech blog or website without being inundated with articles about the new OS. Should you upgrade, how you should upgrade, the top 10 things that make Windows 7 great, the 10 worst things about Windows 7, 10 things it is missing and on it goes.

Speaking of my House Party, we're gearing up for a 10/24 launch of Fiesta Hornesta, a Wild Windows 7 Experience. I will do some tote bag stuffing in the coming days. The streamers and balloons will look great. And everyone will see what the fuss is all about.

So is Windows 7 all that and a can of beans? Yeah, probably so. I updated my PC early in the year getting ready for the Windows 7 launch. I updated the CPU to a Quad Core processor and upgraded the RAM to 8GB. I received my copy of Windows 7 on the 10th and installed it the same day. the entire OS install took about 20 minutes. Much shorter than XP and Vista. After that it was a matter or reinstalling applications. I had a list of the programs I needed to reinstall so it was just a matter of loading them from disc or downloaded file and applying teh registration keys.

Like I said, I really like this OS. It looks great and runs incredibly smooth. I have yet to experience a Blue Screen of Death. It used to happen like crazy with XP when I would go to a website that was loading a video or a lot of images and I would quickly try to surf to another website. This is yet to happen with Windows 7, knock on wood.

Each copy comes with 32 and 64 bit versions. I went with the 64 bit version so I could take full advantage of the RAM. So far, I have had only one problem and it is with a Casio label printer that is hooked up to my PC. Casio did not write 64 bit drivers so it is not recognized by the OS. I emailed their support team and was told that I should set up a dual boot so the 32 bit version would run the printer. Um, thanks but no.

All other programs and hardware runs fine. The 64 bit OS will load and run 32 bit programs so I haven't had an issue there. Why should I bother with 64 bit programs? Mostly for the extra memory they can use. 64 bit programs take full advantage of the power of the machine. Why would I want to step backwards?

So I wish everyone good luck. This is a real nice operating system that will run on most machines regardless of age. Microsoft really did a good job with it. I'm not sure it will make everyone forget about the nightmare that was Vista but it will go a long way towards that end.

Just Like Starting Over

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:02:00 -0500

I decided to load the release candidate of Windows 7 on my laptop so I can get in more practice on the new OS before my Windows 7 House Party. Wow, the install went fast.

I did a complete install and reformatted the hard drive. All told, the OS install took about 15 - 30 minutes. I am now in the process of reinstalling applications but it is not a real chore because I don't have a lot on this PC.

Maybe I will make a reinstall part of the House Party activities.

It Ain't Nothin' But A House Party

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:46:00 -0500

A few weeks ago Microsoft announced they would be sponsoring Windows 7 House Parties to celebrate the launch of the upcoming version of their Windows operating system. People were asked to submit their names and addresses in exchange for the opportunity to host parties to show their friends and families the new features of Windows 7. In exchange, Microsoft would supply hosts with copy of Windows 7 Ultimate Edition and party favors for their guests.

They sent out finalist emails last night and for the fortunate hosts, were accepted as House Party Hosts. The exciting news in my household is I will be hosting my very own Windows 7 House Party!!!!

That's right. I have decided to focus on the Family Friendly Fun. I've invited several friends and have told the kids to invite a few of their friends. Microsoft has provided videos and check lists on throwing a successful House Party.

My better half says all I need now is a different house. She fails tosee how much fun this is going to be. Maybe it's a guy thing.

Over One Billion Served

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:35:00 -0500

Firefox has recorded over one billion downloads. I use it and love it. It is more standards compliant than IE. That means a lot to me because I program my company's customer support website every day.

But more important to most people than that is the sheer volume of add-ons that the browser has. It's a fun tech toy to play with. Look up the cool add-on for cool things that you normally would have to do outside a browser like FireFTP, TwitterFox and WeatherBug to name a small number of what's available.

If you don't already use Firefox, what are you waiting for? If you do use it, it's good to be on the team.

PlayOn Goes On

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 21:56:00 -0500

PlayOn is a streaming media server software that allows you to stream internet video over compatible devices on your home network. It has been officially compatible with XBox 360s, PS3s and other devices. It is now quietly in beta release with the Wii.

Now your Wii can stream Netflix, Hulu, CBS and other internet video sources to your TV. I have installed it and it works very nicely. There are also other plugins available, too.

The software comes with a 14 day free trial. After that it's only $39.99.

The Journey Begins

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:40:00 -0500

Today I started a journey that will take me to an interesting place where I've never been before. I began a course to learn ASP.NET 2.0 Programming Using Visual Basic.NET. I am taking through a company called Hands On Technology Transfer, Inc.or HOTT for short. They have courses all over the country but I am lucky enough to be taking just over an hour from home.

The instructor is very knowledgeable and has a great style. He says he teaches it all across the US as well as in other countries. His teaching style is very helpful to neophytes such as myself. I expect to be well versed by weeks end.

Now this in now way effects my love of ColdFusion. I still deeply love my CF and don't want it to think otherwise. It just provides me another weapon for the arsenal.

I can't wait to code my first website with my new found knowledge.

Dual Personality

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:26:00 -0500

I have decided to install Windows 7 on my main PC but instead of wiping out my stable, fully setup XP machine, I have installed it on another partition in a Dual Boot setup. So far, it is pretty slick. I only have Firefox and a couple other applications set up on the Windows 7 install so the speed may be deceiving.

I have been hedging over picking up a copy of Vista and installing that with the expectation of upgrading to 7 in October. Now, with this solution, I will stick with the dual boot and pick up Windows 7 alone in October.

PC Goodtimes

Sat, 23 May 2009 20:25:00 -0500

The builds are going well. My main PC install went pretty well. The Phenom is lightning fast. I'm almost done reloading all the applications. That is fairly satisfying.

The G-FEST video room PC is not going as smoothly but the hardware is older. It will end up going fine but it is tougher.

Go Blackhawks!!!

Rebuilding Weekend

Fri, 22 May 2009 21:03:00 -0500

It looks like Memorial Day Weekend will be an interesting one for me. I am undertaking a major PC renovation project that will see the new Media PC inherit the Dual Core processor and motherboard from my main PC. Then my main PC will have a new Phenom II 940 Quad Core processor and new AM2+ Motherboard. To round things out, the processor and motherboard that were in the Media PC will now be held in a new PC that will be used for the Video Room at G-FEST.

If all goes well, and it rarely does with PCs, I should be smoking tomorrow. Hopefully, that smoking will not be burning plastic.

While I was performing the swap, we had the new Clapton/Winwood DVD on. It is a collection from their recent three night stand at Madison Square Garden in NYC. Fortunately. Clapton does what he does best when playing with other great talents. He removes himself from the spotlight and plays the capable side man. This DVD is a Winwood tour-de-force featuring mostly Traffic and other Winwood fronted material. Well worth picking up.

While working through this, the Blackhawks took a backseat. I just checked and found out they let a three goal lead slip away and it was tied at the end of three, again. On the up side, they won this time with Patrick Sharp scored 1:52 into overtime.

The weekend is already looking up.

Starting Over

Sat, 16 May 2009 11:28:00 -0500

Something happened to my Firefox this morning and after attempted reinstall and restore of backed up profiles, I was left with only one option. Doing a deep uninstall using Revo Uninstaller. This means doing a complete uninstall including registry and any directory with traces of Firefox data.

After restarting my PC, I then reinstalled Firefox. Success!!! My new Firefox install was now able to bring up all pages that didn't come up due to corruption. The downside is that restoring extensions with Mozbackup isn't always successful and today it was not. I was able to restore my bookmarks, however.

So that leaves me to go about reinstalling my essential add-ons. Themes are easy enough. Kempleton, myFirefox and Silvermel are good.

Now the extensions. His is my list of the must-have extensions.

There are a few others that I use at work such as FireBug and Web Developer. They are great.

Then there are the Search Engines. NewEgg, OfficeMax, BestBuy, IMDB, Tiger Direct, Websters, Netflix and many others are needed.

This is a big project but what are you going to do?

Windows 7

Thu, 07 May 2009 19:21:00 -0500

I have loaded Windows 7 Release Candidate 1 on my laptop. So far so good. The boot up is definitely slower than it was with Vista and the SD card I used for Ready Boost is not needed because Windows says it will not benefit my system. It's possible that the entire PC might be running a bit slower. I did an upgrade rather than a fresh install. I may try that, as well.

Like I said, so far, so good. Windows 7 RC is avaliable for anyone to download through June. If you have an extra, non-essential PC that you want to tool around with this new OS, I highly recommend it.