Vista Networking in a Nutshell

January 28, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

Sometimes figuring out networks functionalities on ANY computer can drive you nutty. I still havem’t completely figured out XP’s, let alone Vista! And I’m tinkering with the Xandros and Ubuntu operating systems, too. I must be crazy!

Well, I found a great article and thought I’d pass it along (and oftentimes, I use this blog as my own personal resource guide. So many times I will need an article or some software and forget where I’ve placed it in my bookmarks- I conveniently store it here and blog about it so that I can find it again when I need it). The article is Windows Vista in a Nutshell. It’s a good one! Be sure to bookmark it or come back here should you need the information again.

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Posted in how to, networking, Windows. Tags: , , . Comments Off »

Liking LeapFish

January 27, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

I’ve been checking out a new search engine, called LeapFish. It’s really neat! There’s a very helpful video to show you how it works.

LeapFish is called a multi-dimensional search engine because it harnesses all kinds of media data for search results. For example, let’s say you do a search on “online games” (my son came up with that, lol), Leapfish delivers not just text results, but shopping results, video results, images results, blogs results, and loads more! It’s pretty amazing. And the folks who put it together did a good job (and have a great sense of humor. I love the “Its OK, you’re not cheating on Google” in the search address window, lol).

LeapFish also doesn’t require you to type in the entire search phrase and hit “Go” or “Enter” like the others. LeapFish is very intuitive. I had just typed “online” before a string of suggestions popped up, and the first suggestion was “online games.” The search is VERY FAST, incredibly fast.

I love LeapFish. I intend on using it more, especially because I do a lot of news and image searches, and LeapFish makes it fast and easy. They draw from the top search engine sites (Google, Yahoo, etc) so there’s a lot of variety and results. Check it out, I highly recommend it!

Post?slot_id=31329&url=http%3a%2f%2fsocialspark

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How To Prevent Your WordPress From Being Hacked

January 27, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

There’s a very good post I found by Ruhani Rabin about How To Prevent Your WordPress From Being Hacked. It’s got excellent information that every blog writer should know. Here are a few relevant things:

  • Rename the administrative account: You can do this in the MySQL command-line client with a command like

    View Code SQLupdate tableprefix_users
    set user_login=’anothername’
    where
    user_login=’admin’;

    or by using a MySQL frontend like phpMyAdmin.

  • Use strong password: Creating a strong password that is also memorable is one of the easiest defenses against being hacked. There are a lot of online password strength checker that you could check. Here is Lorelle’s article on blog herald called Protect Your Blog With a Solid Password, offering tips and tricks to help create a strong password that is also memorable.
  • Disable directory browsing: An attacker can reveal your files because they have been indexed by search engines, so you can use a simple one line code inside your .htaccess file

    also use a robots.txt file to disallow the search engine robots to index the subfolder contents. Here is an example of a robots.txt file
    View Code TEXT User-agent: *
    Disallow: /cgi-bin/
    Disallow: /wp-content/
    Disallow: /wp-admin/
    Disallow: /wp-includes/

A lot of the process involves changing the default settings and removing your directly files and such from search engines, bots, and curious nosy people. I wrote a post about hiding your plugins directory here. It’s another easy way to conceal your directory data but still enable your blog to function flawlessly.

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Posted in blogs, security how-to, Wordpress. Tags: , , . Comments Off »

Online Paintball Supplies

January 27, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

Need some paintball supplies or just like to window shop? Here’s a site with loads of cool (and discounted!) jt paintball gear and more. My kids love surfing the site. And someday, just someday, I may be brave enough to get them something. lol.

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Posted in chatty. Comments Off »

Windows XP for the Car?

January 26, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

Computers are in everything now, aren’t they? I was amazed when they started putting microchips in appliances like coffee makers and digital frames, where all you have to do is connect your appliance to the Internet. I am not particularly fond of the idea of networking my coffee maker to the web, mind you. I prefer to keep things as simple and in my control as much as possible.

Well, anyway, they are now putting computer operating systems into vehicles. The latest news is a touchscreen computer monitor in the vehicle (construction vehicles)–something akin to the Starship Enterprise or the Millenium Falcon, eh?

Vehicle PCs Run Windows XP

LXE has announced two vehicle-mount computers that sport touchscreen displays and run Windows XP Embedded. The VX8 and VX9 offer tough magnesium housings, feature integrated UPSes, accept 10 to 150 VDC power input, and use hard disk or CompactFlash storage, the company says.

According to LXE, its new vehicle-mount PCs are aimed at fork-lift trucks, container handling machinery, forestry and construction equipment, and emergency service vehicles. The company adds that its recent customer surveys show a preference for Windows XP over Windows CE; accordingly, the new VX8 and VX9 are offered with Windows XP Embedded (XPe) and Windows XP Professional.

It’s really just a matter of time until they put these things into your minivan and sedan. I don’t know. I really like having my laptop with me, but I think we can perhaps take technology a little too far. My kids would love to have a DVD player in the van for when we travel, but I am resisting it. I really like the quiet meditation of the ride, and the interaction with the kids. Plus, its one of the rare moments I have the whole clan secured in a small area, captive audience to my long speeches about this or that historical place or event. Hee hee.

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Posted in computers, technology. Tags: , , . Comments Off »

Easy Backup Software

January 26, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

I recently got a separate hard drive to backup my information. I LOVE it! I love knowing that my photos and important information is on something besides my main computer drive. The hardest thing that’s come up with backup in my data is the software. Actually, I don’t use any. I drag and drop everytime I make a change. :S It’s getting laborious.

There are some programs that will help sync your backups: EzBackup is one. This software program helps you to manage your data, and restore files if necessary. It also makes a copy of your hard drive onto another drive. Nice! The program is a little pricey, at $50, but you have the option to download free trial to give it a test run. They’re also having an EzBackup promotion, where you can get 51% off the software until February 9th. See the site for details.

Photobucket

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