Posts in Web
Defragment Windows Efficiently

Windows 7 and most modern versions of Windows have a built-in defragmenter tool to remove fragments from the hard drive. A good rule of thumb is that if you have many fragmented files, your computer will slow down because your hard drive is not seeking data efficiently. It turns out the hard drive is the slowest component in a computer, and the slowest sub-activity of any hard drive is seeking. It is the reason why SSD drives are "better"; they do not do any mechanical seeking. When a computer's hard drive is heavily fragmented, it will spend a long time "running around" like if it were a mailman going to random houses in given area instead of going door-to-door.

Now that you are convinced why you should defragment your computer once in a while, you may notice the built-in Windows tool does not have many options. Introduce Defraggler. Why do I prefer Defraggler?  Defraggler gives the option to defragment individual files, shows the size of the largest fragmented files and has an interface that shows the progress.

If you do not want a full system defragmentation, you get to pick which files can be defragmented or which ones are not worth defragmenting. Leading to my next point, if you have a large fragmented file, you might just want to delete it if it has little to no use for you. Finally, being able to see the work in progress reassures you the work is getting done.

System Maintenance, Web, WindowsJuan Zepedadefraggler, defragment windows efficiently, degramenting alternative Comment
New Computer? New Crap!?

This past Christmas, you may have received a new computer along with a bunch of pre-installed software. Unfortunately, the majority of the pre-installed software are simply trials and bloatware that slowdown your computer. The first thing I tell people to do usually when they get a new computer is uninstall all the trials and software they are not going to use. Lucky, for new computer users PC Decrapifier is a program that will search your new computer for common applications that are known to be bloatware as well as limiting your computer's performance.  Some users have even noted that the program help speed up some of their old computers. Results may vary. http://www.pcdecrapifier.com/download

WebJuan ZepedaComment
How Fast ARE Macs?

I ran into a nifty little tool called Xbench which measures the performance of your Mac OS X computer. Notice I  did not say Macbook, iMac or Mac Pro and that is because such statement would exclude Hackintosh computers! In the benchmark charts you might notice the Hackintosh computers have better scores; it is know fact a user will get less performance per dollar when they buy an Apple computer. Then again, not everyone is confident in investing in a Hackintosh.

Moving on, if you feel like your Macbook Pro is running slow, check it out to compare your computer to other Macbook Pro's, etc. It might help you decipher hardware problems too. For example, if your hard drive is underperforming, there is a chance it might fail soon.  I find it powerful, you might too!

Apple, System Maintenance, WebJuan Zepedahackintosh vs mac, how fast are macsComment
IM From Your Browser Not Your Desktop

Most users nowadays have two or more e-mails, how do they managed more than two. Typically by forwarding on e-mail to another e-mail address as a central hub of e-mails or using a e-mail client similar to Thunderbird or Microsoft Outlook. Subsequently, some users may have more than one screen name across different messenger programs. One way to manage being logged in to multiple screen names in different programs is to utilize a program that lets you chat on Facebook, AIM, Messenger, etc from one window instead of one for each.

Meebo enables the user to login to multiple accounts at once. Although there is an option to download a Meebo application for your desktop. I highly recommend using their web services  Meebo Messenger to chat from your browser. The reason being that you will be saving space on your hard drive as well as reducing your computer security risk. Each program your install could have an unknown security hole as well as over time an accumulation of programs may make your computer sluggish. In addition, you will reduce the number or likelihood of installing toolbars which is another security risk.

Meebo is not the only  program that allows you to chat from multiple accounts but the ability to use its services on web will add to convenience.

Meebo Messenger: http://www.meebo.com/messenger

Computer, Linux, Mac, technology, Web, WindowsJuan Zepedaaim, facebook chat, google talk, meebo, messenger, windows liveComment
Apple Refresh

Roaming through Best Buy (again), I came across some teenagers asking their mom for a Macbook. I could not resist; I approached them and informed them NOT to buy a Macbook, not because they are overpriced but because a new model is on the horizon. How do I know, am I secretly Steve Jobs? No, but even though I am not an Apple fanatic, I am aware of how often Apple releases products!  Why would someone want to buy a product if its about to be replaced with a newer, usually better model? If you are in the market for a new Apple product, make sure you check this site out.

Apple, WebJuan Zepedado not buy old mac, looking for a mac, when to buy a macComment
Have Santa Call a Friend or a Family Member

Have you ever wanted Santa to call you? Well now you can offer that which you could not hear to someone else, kids would really like this. There is a site set up by Google called Send A Call from Santa. The site enables the sender (you) to compile a personalized messaged using the template and options they provide. In addition they allow you to preview the message. You may send this message via e-mail, phone or Facebook. If you are using the phone option you must provide your number and the person whom you wish Santa to call. Although note there is a bit of advertising for Google Voice following the message.

http://www.sendacallfromsanta.com/

Cell Phones, Customization, technology, WebJuan Zepedagoogle, goolge voice, santaComment
Money, the True Holiday Spirit

In my opinion, I think Black Friday is a scam. I walked into my Best Buy with no intention of purchasing anything, and I almost walked away with an overpriced netbook. I mean the netbook price was fine, except it was not a "low" price considering the given day of the year! I kept walking around and all the Macbooks were on sale, except the sale price was actually higher than what  I can pay for with a student Apple discount! The point is not that Best Buy offers terrible prices, but get this, for the holidays they have eliminated their 15% restocking fee. In other words, if you buy something and don't like it, they will not charge you an amount for returning it. Don't go and barge in to buy/rent something, but I think Best Buy has taken a step closer to compete with e-retailers such as Newegg.com and Amazon.com. Just keep in mind everytime you want to buy something

  • put in a 30-day list so avoid impulse buying
  • go on USER-RUN deal sites if you remain in the market for a product
  • ALWAYS cross reference prices to get the best possible deal
  • ask for a price match if possible

We want to give out gifts right? Let's do it as cheaply as possible!

WebJuan ZepedaComment
Donate Google's Money

Tis' the season for charity. During this time many people are more charitable than usual. Subsequently, we may express charity a variety of different forms. One form, if your an internet user, is by installing the Chrome for a Cause extension Google will donate its money for every tab you open in Chrome for a charity of your choice from a given list. Unfortunately, this is only for this week which is ending tomorrow night. Yet, there is plenty of last minute shopping to do which require several tabs to open. If you do not have Chrome, here's an opportunity to try it out while supporting a good cause at not cost to you!  

WebJuan ZepedaComment
All for One, One Keyboard for All

Does your workspace involve managing more than one computer or perhaps you have a media center that does not have a dedicated keyboard?  Would it not be great if you had one keyboard and mouse to use for all your computers? The answer is Synergy. Synergy allows you to share a keyboard and mouse among multiple computers on the same network. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="454" caption="visualization from Synergy website"][/caption]

The process involves setting up a host which is the computer that physically has the keyboard/mouse attached.  To do so, you FIRST  have to specify the group of computers that will be involved.

IMPORTANT: the names of the computers on the list should match the names under the Windows computer system properties.

In my setup, Rudy-PC is the computer's monitor on the right and simon-PC is the computer that will be the host. You have to include the reflection. If Rudy-PC is right of simon-PC than, simon-PC is left of Rudy-PC!

Next, install Synergy on all the computers that will be using the keyboard. In this case, use the "use another computer's keyboard and mouse" option, verify the computer's name and you should be done with the setup process! Finally, go back to your host computer, either test your configuration, start the server or set it to autostart and you should be done. Once  started, you should see this on your guest computer's once you start the connection to the host.

You can get creative how you use Synergy; multiple hosts, using the laptop as host to create a sudo wireless keyboard, etc.

Web, WindowsJuan Zepedacontrol multiple computers with one keyboard, do not use KVM switch, synergy set-upComment
Google Chrome Cloud Print - Print from anywhere

Google recently released a sweet feature. This feature allows you to print to your home computer from anywhere.  Imagine being at school and sending documents to print on your home computer. Sweet!  In oder for this to work, you need a couple of things.

First, download the Chrome browser if you do not have it. You need the latest version.

Second, in your Chrome browser,  click the wrench icon, click options, click the tab "Under the hood" and click "Sign in to Google cloud print."

Once you do this, the Google service will try to establish the right settings with your printers. It might take a few minutes.  To print click the wrench icon and click "print." After everything has been set up,  you're ready to print. Right now Google supports Google Cloud Print through their own services only.  They claim to be working hard to spread the features around to make it easier to print.

Here is a link to frequently asked questions.

WebJuan Zepedagoogle, Google Chrome, Google Cloud Print, print, Print job, Printer, Printer driverComment
Don't Forget the Paste!

I have a new baby; I got some money to put together a new desktop computer, but through some misfortune, I ended switching motherboards and consequently my Intel i7 950 had to be relocated. Unfortunately, moving the processor around involves moving it's heat sink as well. Once I had everything reinstalled, I turned on my computer only to realize my processor was running HOT, 84C, 16C degrees away from being able to boil egg on water! Upon further inspection, the heat sink was cold yet the processor was hot to the touch. [caption id="attachment_2382" align="aligncenter" width="460" caption="Image by *Alejandro on Flickr"][/caption]

What’s the moral of the story? Don’t forget the thermal paste! Thermal paste is used to help the heat sink transfer heat away from the processor as quick as possible; no paste, no heat transfer! If you followed my post on Speedfan, your fans and airflow might be optimal, but often a little paste can provide more optimal heat removal. Also, if you plan on using a different paste than the one that comes with the retail CPU box, make sure you get some paste removal too!

WebJuan ZepedaHeat sink, Heat transfer, Motherboard, Thermal greaseComment
Ditch the Discs, the Dish, & the Coaxial

[caption id="attachment_2368" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Video on Demand"][/caption] To elaborate on an earlier post regarding hooking up your computer with the TV to watch several forms of media, there may be those whom do not always want to be connecting their computer to their TV to view media. There are solutions that offer several features that will convince you to ditch the discs (DVDs & Blu-Ray) , the satellite dish as well as cable TV (coaxial).

First, I will mention new software that enables the user to instantly discover something to watch online from their couch via a set-top box. Whom is making this software? Google. Yes, this year Google has introduced Google TV which is software that runs specifically on a set-top box (think cable box) but the media is streamed and found online, minimizing the amount of commercials. Let's be honest here, you probably watch more commercials during an entire month than an actual show.

Apple TV is another competitor looking to take a slice of the video on demand market with capabilities to rent and stream shows from iTunes. It will even allow you to use your iPhone or iPod Touch as a remote.

But what if you already have content on a hard drive that you just want to view without turning on your computer. There are several media players out specifically for this such as the Western Digital Media Player, Seagate Freeagent Theater, ASUS O!Play, etc. The aforementioned are probably the top 3 media players on market. Depending on the model you purchase, you could view almost any media format available. In addition, they have HDMI and wireless capabilities. Subsequently, you could just connect your external Harddrive or a regular flash drive and they will automatically identify compatible file formats. At the moment I have not delve into a specific player but I am looking into investing in one. Fortunately, if you get tired of the content that you have, you may connect them to the Internet via an ethernet cable or Wi-Fi and access content from Youtube, Netflix or even Hulu. Although it depends on which respective model you purchase, some have a regular model that plays content from an external HDD while the premium model will enable you to access to online video channels.

Why you should buy one other than the reasons above? The reason is saving money. In the longer term, you will be saving money from ditching services such as satellite TV and cable TV. Why pay for commercials when you could be paying for entertainment.

Because of the growing content available online you may want to ditch the discs and the cable all together. Currently, this is where the market is heading; some have even said Blu-ray may be the last physical media format to be popular amongst consumers as more of them are seeking video on demand services. Unfortunately, I have barely touched the surface, I have not discussed the X-Box 360 and Playstation 3!!

Computer, deals, Linux, technology, TV, WebJuan Zepedaasus, google, internet, media player, network streaming, seagate, Television, tv, video, video on demand, YouTubeComment
Apply to be a Test Pilot!

Google is ending 2010 with a BANG!!! This past week Google made several announcements regarding their upcoming Chrome OS, Notebooks, and Android software. The most talked about of these announcements is perhaps the Chrome OS which is an OS that relies heavily on the "cloud" also know as the internet. Utilizing the cloud entails almost being connected all the time to the internet in some form and where information is automatically synced with an online storage space as well as saved locally on your computer. The Chrome OS is meant to be efficient and quick to boot up. In particular, the OS targets consumers who mainly spend the majority of their time online. All certified Chrome OS notebooks come with free 100mb of internet 3g via Verizon wireless each month for the first two years.

The Chrome OS is not necessarily meant to completely replace your current laptop, at the moment, due to it being in development.  Currently, they are still BETA testing the OS before a full retail launch in the Spring. Although, you could be part of this Beta testing by applying via Pilot Program in which you will get a FREE notebook with Chrome OS. Apply because you may never know if you wake up the next day with a new notebook.

Computer, Linux, Printers, technology, WebJuan Zepedachrome, chrome os, cloud, google, internet, Linux, Web ApplicationsComment
Breathe New Life onto the Old

With services like Hulu, Justin.tv and the infamous Youtube, TV viewing has taken a shift or in other words, almost been completely replaced by computers.  Instead of going out and buying the priciest HD TV out there, why not take that old standard definition (SD) TV and combine it with your forgotten PC desktop or laptop to convert it a decent media server? I promise your grandma won’t differentiate between the two!  If interested, read on! The first order of business would be the computer. Depending on the TV, the computer will need the matching connector to hook up video to the TV. If the TV isn’t too old, it will have a VGA connection. If that is the case, you are in luck. A VGA connector is the same type of connector that monitors most frequently have if not always! Given that luck, it is just matter of connecting them together and you have video.

[caption id="attachment_2347" align="aligncenter" width="460" caption="VGA cable, Image by Josh Bancroft"][/caption]

If the TV is a little bit older or smaller, it will most likely have an S-video/ RCA (yellow) video input. Older PC’s might have S-video outputs. If not you will need a converter from VGA to S-video like this one.

Regardless, you now have video from your PC to your TV.

For audio, you have two options:

If you have some old speakers lying around, u can simply plug those in and you are set! If not, check to see if your TV has RCA audio inputs; if so, you can as well buy a mini-Stereo to RCA (red & white)  audio cable like this one

If your TV does not have the RCA audio inputs, you will need to purchase a set of small speakers. A 10$ pair will get the job done.

For cost analysis, in the worse case, you'll spend $5 on the adapters and maybe 15$ on a new set of stereo speakers. If the wires are too short, you will need to simply purchase additional adapters to extend the wires; of course, it is assumed the computer will be near in proximity to the TV.

[caption id="attachment_2353" align="aligncenter" width="460" caption="One way to extend the RCA audio cable, Image by CHCOOBOO"][/caption]

You can now watch Internet videos through your TV. The only downside is that the text will be blurry, unless you bump up the DPI. Once set up, browse to your preferred video provider, set to full screen and enjoy!

TV, Web, WindowsJuan ZepedaAudio and video connector, hulu, no hdmi, Television, use a standard tv sd as monitor, watch computer video on tvComment
A little about Wikileaks and what we should learn from it
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="202" caption="Image via Wikipedia"]Logo used by Wikileaks[/caption]

We are not a news site but an advice/tip technology site yet Wikileaks can share with us something very valuable. Yes, it has been in the news lately because of the controversal war documents it has released to the world. In my opinion, I favor this. Although the government may disagree. Various technology companies have put pressure on Wikileaks, like their DNS provider and Amazon with their hosting to shut down their service to Wikileaks. I believe  no criminal act has been done to leak these documents. They are just a journalistic company like The New York Times.  If you go to Wikileaks.com it might be blocked but there are many mirror sites, 507 sites to be exact.  Wikileaks still lives and will never end. It's on the internet. Where am I heading with this? Everything online lives. As a user on Facebook, I see things that you may not want to have online. Do you have embarrassing pictures on there? Think about your future. I see Wikileaks as a great example to the power of technology for the good and the bad. In the case of Wikileaks,

"Could become as important a journalistic tool as the Freedom of Information Act." - Time Magazine

I agree! This site will battle big corporations and governments to be transparent.

A shocking story that was leaked by Wikileaks:

(Read about the story then watch the videos)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kelmEZe8whI&feature=player_embedded]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rXPrfnU3G0&feature=player_embedded]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is9sxRfU-ik&feature=player_embedded]

More info about Wikileaks:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1pTl8KdREk&feature=player_embedded]

Related Articles
WebJuan ZepedaAmazon, Denial-of-service attack, Domain Name System, facebook, mirror, New York Times, PayPal, WikileakComment
Do you have a song stuck in your head? ♫♪
[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by doug88888 via Flickr"]Music[/caption]

Just today, I was studying for finals,for this upcoming week when I heard a couple of people humming a song over and over. I knew that song was stuck in their heads and I remembered how sometimes we just remember one or two lines and repeat it over and over again. It was funny to think about.Knowing it might be a distraction, I found a clever solution to get that song out of your head.  Have you heard of Unhearit.com? This is your solution. You can go to this site and it will play a random song that will use

the latest in reverse-auditory-melodic-unstickification technology

to remove the song out of your head. Yup, you heard it here first.  Give it a try. ♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪...♫♪....♫♪♫♪.....♫♪.....

WebJuan ZepedaArts, Lyrics, music, Recordings, Shopping, unhearitComment
Learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript,etc... From Home!!

[caption id="attachment_2295" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Image from W3 Schools"][/caption] A couple years ago when MySpace was the place to be, I taught HTML in a course at a youth center in which they created their own myspace profile from scratch. In order to prepare some lessons and teach the kids new codes,  I would reference w3schools, an online tutorial site, that provides the tools to create a website. One specific feature I enjoy is the try it out editor which enables you to view the code and the output on the same screen (as shown below). I recommend this site if your are interested in learning more about web design and creation.

[caption id="attachment_2296" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Insert Code on the Left see the output on the right"][/caption]

W3Schools: http://www.w3schools.com/

Computer, Customization, technology, WebJuan ZepedaHTML, MySpace, W3Schools, Web design, Web Design and DevelopmentComment
Find your iphone to itouch with iOS 4.2

Apple released iOS 4.2  for many Apple devices. With this update came one shocking feature, find my iphone. This feature was not free before. In the past,it was $99  with a Mobile Me account.  Apple now includes it with iOS 4.2.  In order for this to work, you must have iOS 4.2 and an iphone or itouch. Here is how to enable this feature.(You do not need a MobileMe account).

1)Tap over to Settings > Mail > Add Account >and tap MobileMe.

2)Now, enter your Apple ID and password.

3) Turn on "Find My iphone"

 

After this you should be all set. You can go to www.Me.com and log in. You should see the location of your iOS device.

WebJuan ZepedaComment
A browser within a browser

Today's tip focuses on your internet browser. If you are like me, you might use another browser other than Internet Explorer exclusively. Even though Explorer has come a long way with IE 9 showing promise, it will not replace Firefox or Chrome as my primary browser. On the other hand, there are times were  IE is required to view pages or utilize some functionality. Fortunately, there is an option which opens up IE via an add-on, IE Tab. Both add-ons enable you to view an IE page in a tab.

IE Tab for Chrome and Firefox

Get IE Tab 2 for Firefox Get IE Tab for Chrome
WebJuan Zepedabrowser, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Internet Explorer 9, Mozilla Firefox, Web browserComment