Turn Your Computer Into a Web Server

September 20, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

I found this post at Digital Inspiration about turning your home computer into a web server, and it just BLOWS MY MIND. The possibilities are endless! No longer would I need to pay for a web host for my blogs! No longer would I need to pay Flickr to host my web photos! All my videos and music would be accessible to whomever I wanted! Wow, I would LOVE to be an independent web host!!

It’s through something called Opera Unite. I’ve given glowing reviews of the Opera browser before– I think this company is on the cutting edge, and their Opera Unite proves it. This is from their site:

Opera Unite is a collaborative technology that allows you to share data, such as files or photos, directly from your computer with others, without uploading and sharing them through a central, third-party server. The technology behind Opera Unite uses a compact server inside the Opera desktop browser to share data and services on your computer. There is no need to upload files that you want to share; you remain in control.

With more traditional content sharing, you need to upload the content you want to share, and this is shared through a central, third-party server, out of your control. Opera Unite enables your browser to act as a server, and you can choose what content you share and with whom.

Opera Unite uses, as its base, collaborative technology that acts like a compact server on your browser. Rather than store the content on a third-party server, as in the traditional data-sharing model, the content remains on your computer; your friends communicate with your computer using local connections, or, if this is not available, some server-side Opera technology will aid in establishing a connection. Access to your content is provided and controlled by the Opera Unite services that you select. These services are small, Web-service programs running inside your browser. There are different Opera Unite services for sharing different types of content on your computer or for collaborating. These services give you full control over what you share and with whom, without the need to upload.

I am definitely looking into this; this is just AMAZING. my only concern is bandwidth usage. I mean, hosting one’s own blogs on a web server eats up a good chunk of bandwidth and CPU, doesn’t it? I don’t think my ISP would be too happy to suddenly see my connection usage increase 2000%, would they? But I could perhaps get a dedicated Internet line that could handle that kind of traffic. I pay upwards of $300 a year for all sorts of web hosting, photo and video accounts, etc etc…. I could save all that money by hosting my stuff myself and use that money to pay for the new Internet connection (I think). I’m going to have to do more research into this. It’s pretty exciting!

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Posted in blogs, business services, computers, desktop publishing, Internet, technology. Tags: , , . 3 Comments »

Win an LG Bliss Phone

September 18, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

There are a lot of contests running around the Internet these days. Here’s a good one– win a fashionable and cool-looking LG Bliss phone! It’s very easy to enter, but it does require some social networking (which is painless and free!). Basically, you enter a photo or video of something ugly, anything you think is ugly! Entering the contest puts you in the pot for a $50 gift card toward a Bliss phone purchase; the grand prize is a gorgeous LG Bliss Phone!

Here’s the scoop:

  • Check out the LG Bliss Facebook Fan Page for all the details. There are some pretty UGALEE photos there in the Gallery of the Utterly Ugly! Some look to be real “winners,” if you know what I mean!
  • There will be five LG Bliss phones given away; there will be fifty $50 gift cards given away.
  • The contest began September 11, 2009, and runs until November 11, 2009. You must be 18 or over to enter.
  • Only one entry per Facebook account. The entry page is here: www.Facebook.com/LGBliss

Think of the possibilities! You can post an ugly trend, and ugly toy, an ugly phone, an ugly anything! It’s a funny contest, and it’s very, uh, interesting to browse everyone else’s “uglies.” Check out LG Bliss Facebook Fan Page to see for yourself and to get inspired. Or repulsed. ;) You can get a sneak peek if you look at my sidebar– I have a widget featuring the contest!

Post?slot_id=50912&url=http%3a%2f%2fsocialspark

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Posted in free stuff, Internet. Tags: , . Comments Off »

Know What’s Running on Your Computer

September 18, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

One of the best resources I have for my Windows computer is the “Task Manager.” (Right click on your sidebar, and in the menu that appears, choose “Task Manager.” A new window will appear with several tabs. The Task manager shows what is currently running on your computer at the moment. The “Processes” tab has a “Processes Library.” This shows the individual file running.

Some of those names can be a little confusing or misleading. BEFORE you decide to “End Process” (killing the application), be sure to find out if it is an important program. You can do this by searching online for the application name. For example, do a search for “explorer.exe” and you will discover that this is a critical file. You can also bookmark a few reliable process library sites for future reference. The few I have found to be most reliable with concise information are:

ProcessLibrary
TaskList.org
Bleeping Computer

Be sure you know what a file is doing and know of its importance before you end the process, or you could cause your computer to crash. Searching for various processes also helps to determine and discover any malicious files or extra files that may not be necessary to run in the background (such as the Quicktime updater).

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Posted in computers, desktop utilities, how to, security how-to. 2 Comments »

My Review of Roxio Creator 2010

September 17, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

I’ve been in search of some video editing software that could manage my .MOV files that my Kodak camera creates. It’s been a very loooong search, almost a year now! I’ve tried all sorts of free (and purchased) video software and video converters– about a dozen, total. I was just about ready to buy a used Apple Mac so I could edit these videos– I was at wit’s end and could find nothing for my PC that could handle the .MOV files with ease.

Until now.

I have found the software of my dreams. It’s Roxio Creator 2010. (Lisa, thanks for mentioning it to me– Roxio totally rocks!!) The astute folks at Roxio had noticed my blogging lamentations about video editing software, and said they had what I needed. Honestly, I kind of doubted it at first- I’d tried so many other programs with no results. So Roxio sent me their product for a review. It was a bold move on their part, I believe. I’m pretty fussy and nothing had worked up to this point. I was shopping for used Mini Macs on eBay…. but I installed Roxio Creator on my PC, and….

:jeeters: HOLY COW!! I am very, very impressed with the software. It works it works!!

Roxio Box

OK, now for the details.

Roxio Creator 2010 is a hefty chunk of software. It installed well on my Acer Aspire X3200 (AMD Phenom X3 at 2.1 GHz, 4 GB RAM) and my HP Pavilion a6720y (AMD Phenom X4 at 2.2 GHz, 6GB RAM), but it would not install on my Toshiba Satellite notebook (AMD Athlon X2 at 1.7 GHz, 2 GB RAM). I didn’t even try it on my computers with Celeron processor cheapies. So be watchful of your PC specs when getting the software. It requires a hefty machine.

Roxio Creator is touted as a “multimedia software suite.” Among its many capabilities, it can:

  • Burn CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs. It has a cute desktop widget where you can drag and drop your files for burning right on your desktop. It’s a very nice feature for someone like me, who already has a dozen applications open…
  • Copy and convert video files, and data, audio, photo files. The conversion process is a breeze. I love this feature because so many recording gadgets record in native Apple formats (AVI, MOV, etc) and Windows seems to have a hard time managing them.

    • (more…)

Posted in conversion programs, desktop publishing, educational programs, image editing, photo editing. Tags: , , , . 4 Comments »

Computer + TV = Happy Together?

September 16, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

I love technology. I’ve been surfing the specs on various computer hot-rods these days, and am mightily impressed with the leaps and bounds of computer technology these days. And thanks to 64-bit machines (which are rapidly populating the market), you have 6GB, 8GB, 25GB or RAM and multiple processors! Talk about speed! I am trying out the Roxio Creator 2010 software (more on that to come!) and I am IMPRESSED with the way my “hot-rod” unit is able to handle the hefty software program.

The downside to all of this is that there is now entering a “technology glut”: too much stuff added on to the basic computer. I think computer manufacturers are attempting to make the computer an “all in one” machine– word processing/data fax/Internet/telephony/gaming station/audio and video kiosk/television unit. I personally think it’s too much. Too much can go wrong, too much is incompatible (even with my hot-rod, the cheapo power supply stutters when I push the graphics card too far), and I just don’t like the “one size fits all” mentality.

For example– new computers are now being equipped with television capabilities. Sure, it’s rather nice to watch free movies on the computer, or rig up that streaming movie from Netflix onto your widescreen Samsung TV, but… I still see the inconveniences of it all. Call me old-fashioned, I guess. But I am the daughter of an electronics/TV repairman… I know how things can go wrong especially with “all in one” units. Plus, it’s rather uncomfortable, watching TV on your computer. I like the cushy comfortable family room, without the interruption of all the computer activities, to enjoy a good movie on the Philips TV with the kids. I consider the computer to be something for “work” or, at best, temporary amusement (like viral videos or LOLCats!). But to sit there and tolerate a two-hour feature while sitting in desk chairs around the computer screen… yuk. I like my TV and computer separate. There is an abundance of TV deals anyway, so it’s not like we HAVE to have the computer to watch something.

What do you think? Do you think the computer will eventually eliminate the need for a television or other electronic devices? Do you like watching movies at your computer? Do you find it a hassle to connect TV and computer for movie viewing? As for me, I don’t think it’s worth it. So I’m hoping computer manufacturers shy away from adding all the bells and whistles to computers, and go back to… building better power supplies and graphics cards. Because THAT’S what we really need for speedy and efficient computing, don’t you think?

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Posted in computers, electronics, networking, technology. Tags: , , . 2 Comments »

How Are Your Passwords?

September 15, 2009 — Mrs. Mecomber

Clark Howard had an interesting post about the 10 Most Common Passwords. The results gave me the heebie-jeebies! I cannot believe that people have such lame passwords! I am a password FIEND. I am always preaching the need for stronger and better passwords. Here are the top ten most common passwords. Please tell me yours is not among them:

    1. password
    2. 123456
    3. qwerty
    4. abc123
    5. letmein
    6. monkey
    7. myspace 1
    8. password 1
    9. blink182
    10. (your first name)

I know that creating, keeping, and typing passwords all day is such a chore. I work on the computer, so it is an ALL DAY drudgery for me. There are a few password-management programs that help make password-making and storing a little easier:

LastPass
KeePass
KeePass Portable (you can install the program on a flash drive and take it with you)
RoboForm
There’s a review here of the Top Ten Password Management programs (all of them cost money)

I wish banks and online credit-card companies had better encryption, though. Oftentimes, they only allow 6-10 characters with only upper- and lower-case letter and numbers. This is very unacceptable– a simple password-cracking program can crack these passwords very easily. My account at Photobucket has a better password than my credit-card account. :-p That really stinks.

Passwords should be very lengthy, up to 20 characters, and preferably should have lots of hexidecimal symbols like @ $ & ^ and so on. You can check the strength of your password with Microsoft’s Password Checker.

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Posted in crime, desktop utilities, free programs, security how-to. Tags: , . Comments Off »
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