tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77821193301085837692024-03-19T06:04:40.913-07:00Amber's Technological RantingsThis is the place where I like to jabber about the stuff that really excites me...mostly gadgets, internet stuff, computer jargon and other geeky hobbies.Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-91804317903019279232010-05-25T09:31:00.000-07:002010-05-25T09:52:08.712-07:00But I Don't HAVE an iPod!!!I was excited to get a Yukon Denali XL this year because, well, it's cool. Hindsight's 20/20 of course, the $100/week in fuel. Well, I just don't go anywhere. I can only afford to sit and marvel at the sleek lines of the vehicle.That aside, when you open the glovebox in this lovely vehicle you find a little iPod connector. Cool, right? Well, insanely cool...if you have an iPod. I, however, Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-35726712946871532032010-04-26T21:45:00.000-07:002010-04-26T21:46:11.050-07:00Parsing php as htm on GoDaddy HostingNOT my area of expertise, but I tried every stinking line I could muster. If I wanted to take the time and read up on Apache and MIME types and mod_rewrites....this may have gone faster. But, what fun is that? I may have even said this wrong...parsing what as what??I have files that contain php but I want to render them as htm. On GoDaddy (always the fun part -- cue eye roll). This is Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-44726323741070213542009-11-03T20:56:00.000-08:002009-11-03T21:10:40.853-08:00iStock Weekly & Monthly Freebieshttp://www.istockphoto.com/It's nice when you design for other people, to have a few extras - just in case. iStockPhoto offers weekly freebies. Some of them are really good images too, so be sure to check them out. You'll need an account to download.Quick Tip ~ Use GoogleChrome or Firefox because Internet Explorer has issues with this site.This week:Freebie Photo of the WeekFree Vectors of the Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-91933410971321067492009-11-02T12:16:00.000-08:002009-11-02T12:21:34.760-08:00Registry Cleaner & More!Everyone has unwanted garbage in the registry, left over by old programs and who knows what. So part of maintenance is cleaning out your registry. Anyone who is anyone will tell you to BE CAREFUL and back up your registry first. Screwing up your registry is probably one of the least fun things you can do to your computer.I found a really good gratis registry cleaner. It's very well written andAmberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-63445035517121181872009-10-10T17:58:00.000-07:002009-10-10T18:14:43.090-07:00Free Help Desk & Knowledgebase SolutionIt's all about the gratis with me. I'm not a total tightwad, but WHY pay when you don't have to? Shelling out money just for show, not my gig! I happened to download this particular software when it was free, but now I see there's a small fee attached. $40 - totally worth the dough for what you're getting.If you have a business that could benefit from having a Help Desk and/or Knowledgbase, then Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-13145088941873834642009-10-09T11:35:00.000-07:002009-10-09T11:46:44.336-07:00What to do with the Big Flash?There is definitely a benefit to using Flash (swf) files on your web page. You can create some neat transitional effects, but mostly I use it because it consolidates several images into one spot. I don't recommend using flash for the majority of your site, or embedding too much text in your flash files. Reason being, you want to rank with with search engines and search engines can't extract text Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-87557634644379343042009-09-28T07:51:00.000-07:002009-09-28T08:03:57.979-07:00Rave: Quick Text T-Bird Add-OnEveryone who is anyone has heard of Mozilla, specifically Firefox the alternate (and swiftly popular) browser. Mozilla of course offers a gratis email client, Thunderbird. I have been using Thunderbird for years. It has crashed a few times, but overall a great experience. And I LOVE having software that I can install add-ons and tweaks, Thunderbird is open source so the possibilities are Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-88322613560619031182009-09-20T19:22:00.000-07:002009-09-20T19:42:55.025-07:00Cheap or Free Royalty Free Clipart - No Credit Required?Since I'm on the topic of graphic design, I'm posting Meljen's Designs' link on the left. She does great work, her site is still in the works but will be fabulous!Someone today asked, in a group setting, the best place to get graphics that don't require credits. I offered up my suggestion - iStockPhoto - that's where I get a lot of my royalty-free images that don't require credits.The response ofAmberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-41448426016340027262009-09-10T13:44:00.000-07:002009-09-10T13:59:28.297-07:00Moving Email from an Old Server to a New ServerRecently I ran into this problem. Today actually, that's really very recent I suppose. Client had transferred her websites to Hostgator. Hostgator did the transfer of the SITE, but not her email. Yipes! We need those emails. Her domain had already propped to the new hosting account. You can do a full backup through cPanel and restore it to your new webhost, and that will do the trick. BUT what ifAmberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-44876488859960461142009-06-17T09:35:00.000-07:002009-06-17T09:38:18.651-07:00Mozy Gets the Score!Offsite Online Backup that Supports External Hard DrivesTelling it like it is really. Short post. Carbonite doesn't support external hard drives. Mozy does. Google for Mozy promo codes and get 20% off of a one year subscription. ($45ish total).With all the hype about Carbonite, and all of the celebrity (paid) endorsements you'd think they'd be top of the game...but no go. So Mozy has my Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-49313719319043516832009-06-17T09:29:00.000-07:002009-06-17T09:35:33.303-07:00Oh HD....wherefore art thou?Lame, I know, but I was feeling really emotional at the time.I bought a WD External Hard drive from Overstock - refurbished, but I'm frugal. My husband calls me cheap. Toe-MAE-toes....toe-MAW-toes.I put EVERYTHING on this drive, all working files, graphics, you name it. I've been meaning to buy offsite backup for it, but haven't had a lot of luck finding something that supports external HDs. (Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-48714109442258084942009-06-03T10:19:00.001-07:002009-06-03T10:32:02.744-07:00Dear Pearl, What do you mean, "Unable to reconnect to the device during a multi-stage load operation" ??It's rare that I have something new and useful to say. Useful, yes, but new...not so much.My husband got a new Blackberry and his software was better than mine. So I decided to upgrade my software from the BB site in a feelbe attempt to keep up with the Jones' (or my husband). I've never done this before, I've never really cared because I'm not one of those "must have my cell phone at all times" Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-20119788398985219132008-07-21T20:45:00.000-07:002008-07-21T20:48:03.878-07:00Low-Cost Marketing Secrets"One of largest expenses of runningyour business is promotion and advertising, especially for a new or small business. Making your business known in a community at he lowest possible cost can be tricky and time consuming.""However, there are many ways a business can do this. A pet breeder in a large city was struggling for several years-until he came up with a novel idea. He started giving away Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-7274898633006262362008-07-01T10:56:00.000-07:002008-07-01T11:11:21.050-07:00Charging Hourly? Getting interrupted by kids? Yup...I know.When I started doing web maintenance I charged by the hour. Quickly I realized that having three kids makes hourly charges impossible - for ME, not to mention that some jobs took me 5 minutes. So I now charge by the minute (with minimums...in case any of you were wondering).At first I tried using a Wiki to keep track of minutes. No go.Then I tried Project Pier. AWESOME program, I'll use it forAmberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-61081462504640404622008-06-30T19:40:00.000-07:002008-06-30T19:43:49.867-07:00Free Marketing eZineBrought to you by Seymour products - as per the last post, I think all online businesses can use as much help as they can get in the marketing area.Visit Seymour Products and sign up for their free Business marketing Bulletin Newsletter. They offer a lot of great tips, and some are new and ingenious which is what we love!Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-88320344881263043872008-06-30T19:38:00.001-07:002008-06-30T19:39:42.067-07:00I'm no marketing guru......but I DO know that being indexed on Google is key to internet success. It's not the ONLY key, just one of many. I happened upon this video, I think it's a smart watch for anyone wondering how to rank higher on Google, or any engine for that matter:Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-39891308652628245142008-03-06T15:49:00.000-08:002008-03-06T16:07:40.310-08:00Get Your Movies for Nothin', and Your Books for Free!Oooh, all of you old-schoolers are humming ZZ Top right now. I'm sorry, it could be worse. Like the stupid Chia Pet theme song. (ch-ch-ch-CHIA) Again. I apologize.Oookay, you might notice the banners slathered all over my screen here. I just simply adore these three sites:Paperback Swap -Nope, not just paperbacks. You can list the books you no longer need on this site. When a member wants Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-575814110804242382008-02-25T19:45:00.001-08:002008-02-25T19:56:09.551-08:00ICK on toolbars...except this one!I hate hate HATE specialized "toolbars" -- like the one from Yahoo!, or those random ones you see when you try and download something. They want you to install their "toolbar". I think eBay has one. Actually that one isn't too bad if you're an avid eBayer, as I once was. Well...I'm softening a bit, I like the Google toolbar because it gives PageRank.So I don't hate toolbars THAT much, but I doAmberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-57346360057402984912008-02-24T21:30:00.000-08:002008-02-24T21:38:39.144-08:00Something for the worried moms...A few years back my friend Laura and I started a safety products business...from SCRATCH mind you. We worked SO hard. Then I took it over, then she took it over. So now ball is her court...and just this month she was featured in Parents Magazine!! (March 2008 Issue, pg. 65ish). How exciting is that??? So, in honor of Witty Mom Safety Products being in the limelight, I'm going to feature a Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-30981082894424242322008-02-20T22:22:00.001-08:002008-02-20T22:27:48.733-08:00Speaking of penguins...Oh...weren't we? Regardless, I want to share this program that my kids just love. My 3yo loves it, my 6yo loves it. If they can use a mouse, they'll be mesmerized with Tux Paint.An open source project, this program is like MS Paint on....umm...an energy inducing drug of some sort. A colorful one with sound effects.You can download the software free at SourceForge, and don't forget to downloadAmberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-43340782454499302982008-02-20T22:10:00.000-08:002008-02-20T22:19:45.278-08:00My Latest LoveDon't worry...my husband allows this one. As long as my new heart throb looks nothing like Matthew McConaughey, we're in accord.Lucky for him, my latest love resembles a website. A little fancy schmancy URL I like to call http://www.everythingoutlet.com/ -- The EVERYTHING outlet.Really there could be no greater name for a store. The Everything outlet. Well, it leads one to believe that it has.Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-8296757561621317112008-02-18T20:53:00.000-08:002008-02-18T21:07:30.842-08:00Like we don't have enough to worry about!!You've heard of computer viruses.You've probably heard of spyware.You should have heard the terms malware and adware by now.What about "rootkits" -- have you heard that new sweetheart?Agghhh!! LEAVE US ALONE BASEMENT DWELLERS! (That's my slang for people who write pc viruses...I imagine them with greasy hair in their grandma's basement with a single lightbulb swaying back & forth typing Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-39413810633791171702008-02-18T10:26:00.001-08:002008-02-18T10:34:42.317-08:00Blogging Made EasyOkay, as if blogging isn't easy enough, right? I know...but still.If you're someone who likes to add a lot of photos or images to your blog, then check out Picasa. In an old, old post I had posted instructions on using Hello, which is now gone. In one of my usual mad-panic episodes, I searched for the reason they killed Hello, only to find that they actually altered Picasa (Hello's sister) to Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-4848647263070589682008-02-17T22:53:00.000-08:002008-02-17T23:08:56.937-08:00My Impulse Buy...BYE!Well, if you've been following you may remember my comment about being overzealous in heading to ebay to purchase the first item the looked remotely like what I needed....yes?I got the 2.5 HDD Enclosure on Saturday. I was really excited, even drove to the hardware store (without kids!) to get a set of those itty bitty screwdrivers that are so elusive when you need them most.Apparently Sony has Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7782119330108583769.post-80689641359239589912008-02-17T21:59:00.000-08:002008-02-17T22:21:00.869-08:00Cool Gadget Alert! Swanky 4-Port USB HubThis has got to be one of the coolest USB hubs I've seen, and the price isn't bad!If you read my previous post you'll notice that I just bought myself an HDD enclosure...(another long story)...but that enclosure needs 2 USB slots. I only have 2 in the front, one of which is home to my K: drive (aka Flash drive) so I hate to boot the old gal for the other model. I suppose I could just slide the Amberhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14539430691511141291noreply@blogger.com0