curated news for friends & family ™ 
SYNDICHAIN LAUNCHES FIRST VERSION OF ITS OPEN, CENSORSHIP-RESISTANT NEWS AGGREGATOR( education / tech / computers / internet )
We've got your censorship-resistant news aggregator right here at //friendsnews /news. We've got your censorship-resistant news aggregator right here at FriendsNews! Since Syndichain is built on a public blockchain, its data is also open and pub... read more
FACEBOOK ADMITTED IN COURT ITS FACT-CHECKS ARE JUST THIRD-PARTY OPINIONS( education / tech / internet / social )
Facebook (a.k.a. Meta) has admitted in court that the fact-checks used by the site to blacklist non-corporate media content are actually opinion-based labels which do not conduct any real fact-checking of information posted to the site. The evidence was revealed during the court proceeding for a de... read more
HOW TO SECURE YOUR WATER SUPPLY FOR EMERGENCIES( life / health / water / tech )
Treat the water with bleach once a month. This will help prevent algae growth. All you need is 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of water, or 2 to 4 tablespoons for a 55-gallon barrel. Beneficial microbes can also be used in lieu of bleach. One such product is Nutri-Life BAM3
Test the pH of your water once ... read more
TUNISIANS MAKE GENERATOR THAT PRODUCES DRINKING WATER FROM THIN AIR...25 LITERS PER DAY( life / health / water / tech )
A tech start-up has developed a product that allows safe drinking water to be refined from vapor in the air. Kumulus has designed and produced a product that is able to produce 20 to 30 liters of healthy drinking water per day. It is able to refine the water vapor in the air and...... read more
ANTIVIRUS SCAM( education / tech / computers / software )
Don't fall for this. It's a SCAM, not a scan. Ha! See what I did there? I crack me up!
But, seriously, I have perfectly good antivirus software (Kaspersky) on my PC which already routinely catches and prevents virus/dangerous downloads. That's how I know that while browsing a legitimat... read more
DOWNLOAD OLD (I MEAN REALLY OLD) SOFTWARE HERE( education / tech / computers / software )
At winworldpc
WinWorld from the past, to the present, for the future
WinWorld is an online museum dedicated to the preservation and sharing of vintage, abandoned, and pre-release software. We offer information, media and downloads for a wide variety of computers and operat... read more
APPLE, GOOGLE, AND MICROSOFT WANT TO KILL THE PASSWORD WITH PASSKEY STANDARD( education / news / tech )
It's hard to argue with this. I hate passwords. In an attempt to go passwordless, Apple, Google, and Microsoft have decided to kill the password using the Passkey standard, also called multi-device FIDO credential.
...... read more
REMOVE ADDRESSES FROM WINDOWS 10( education / tech / computers / software )
1) EXHAUSTIVELY search all your e-mail folders - ALL OF THEM, TRASH, SPAM, INBOX, ARCHIVES, everything - for e-mails that contain the bad address. Remember that if the bad address was one of several in a message, even if it bounced the address is still part of that message. And it might be in a repl... read more
WHAT ARE THOSE SOLITARY, BLACK UTILITY POLES?( education / tech / phones )
Bad news, they are 5G cellphone towers. You know, the same 5G suspected of -- slowly, over time -- causing cancer. Yeah. See links below.
For the full story, read this: what-are-all-those-black-poles-popping-u... read more
IS 5G WI-FI THE SAME AS 5G CELLULAR?( education / tech )
Not at all. Many Wi-Fi names include 5G to refer to the 5GHz band, while cell phone networks refer to the fifth generation of broadband cellular networks.
See androidcentral /5g-wi-fi-same-5g-cellula... read more
HOW TO ASSOCIATE A FILE EXTENSION IN WINDOWS 10( education / tech / computers / software )
QUESTION:
I installed a program called Audacious which I want to be the default for .wav files. When I go in Settings and try to change it from the current default my only choice is to get a program from the Microsoft Store. When I try to do that, Audacious doesn't come up as any kind of option... read more
GIVING MACHINES ARE ALL THE RAGE( life / help / charity / tech )
We bought the "Lumber" item just the other day at the Giving Machine in front of Nashville's Bridgestone Arena as my wife's friend Andrea Ballard sang Christmas carols nearby. See more here: ... read more
CHECK OUT A SUSPICIOUS IP ADDRESS HERE( education / tech / internet / spam )
Check out an IP address here: abuseipdb /check. Just FYI if you're not sure a visitor or emailer is legitimate.
AbuseIPDB is a project dedicated to helping combat the spread of hackers, spammers, and abusive activity on the internet. ... read more
SOME USEFUL, FREE WINDOWS 10 APPS( education / tech / computers / software )
List of freeware tools and other releases from The Windows Club
This page list down all the Freeware, Tools, eBook, Themes, Screensavers, Wallpaper and other releases from The Windows Club. Maybe you have landed here out of choice, or maybe you clicked on a direct .zip link on another website and ... read more
VINCE COYNER QUOTE( culture / quotes / tech / people )
Unlike Skynet, which gained self-awareness, Silicon Valley is full of people who seem to have no self-awareness at all. -- Vince Coyner, here... read more
MY EMAIL SIGNATURE LINE( culture / tech / internet )
This is how I sign my emails these days to gently educate whoever I happen to be emailing. Just thought I'd mention it in case you like the idea. -- BillA mask might be appropriate if you're actively sneezing, coughing and infected but, otherwise, no. See ... read more
POSSIBLY USEFUL "STRIP TAGS" TOOL( education / tech / computers / internet )
Like, maybe you saved an email as HTML but want to remove most of the code/gobble-de-gook.
Click here: Strip Tags Tool or use the form inserted below (assuming it shows up for you).
Sorry your browser does n... read more
BREAKTHROUGH TECH TO STORE FOOD UNREFRIGERATED FOR WEEKS( education / tech / food / storage )
Wow, this is huge! The solution has emerged in Farther Farms, a food tech startup co-founded by Saran (MPS '17) and Mike Annunziata ('11, MBA '17), with technology developed at Cornell. Its innovative sterilization technology produces shelf-stable foods that don't need freezing or re... read more
JUST TO DEMONSTRATE HOW TINY ELECTRONICS HAVE GOTTEN( education / tech / research )
Medicine. Sure. :) But, please, feel free to ridicule those who think there might be something similar in this covid vaccine.
Electronics are getting imperceptibly small, opening new avenues for medical technology to place advanced monitoring and treatment devices insi... read more
A GUIDE TO UTF-8 ENCODING IN PHP AND MYSQL( education / tech / computers / internet )
UTF-8 is a variable-width encoding that can represent every character in the Unicode character set. It was designed for backward compatibility with ASCII and to avoid the complications of endianness and byte order marks in UTF-16 and UTF-32. UTF-8 has become the dominant character encoding for the ... read more
THIS SORT OF THING IS WHY I QUIT FACEBOOK AND TWITTER( culture / tech / internet / social )
The tech giant continues to police discussions about the coronavirus.
Facebook removes covid 19 vaccine victims group
And they have VERY USEFUL links t... read more
INTERNET SEARCHING 101( education / tech / computers / internet )
Editor's note: I believe Bing has caught up with Google on all of these features, if you prefer Microsoft over Google...
There are two pages every one of you might consider bookmarking:Google Advanced Search: //google /advancedsearch;Googl... read more
ROW-N-GO BICYCLE( life / health / fitness / tech )
I dreamed I was riding one like this last night.
See youtube.... read more
RAPID VIRUS RECOVERY( life / health / tech / covid )
Frightened with which way to turn? Heard about all the deaths from patients who went to the hospital and died of ventilator-induced lung trauma? During the early part of the pandemic , mortality rates were as high as 97% for Covid-19 infected patients placed on a... ... read more
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE... ISN'T( education / tech / computers / ai )
Just wanted to put that out there. Just like anything with "smart" in it, isn't.
Think about all the times you wished you could talk to an actual human instead of a stupid voicemail system, or have seen an automatic sprinkler system running in the rain. Those are just a couple example... read more
STAND AGAINST TYRANNY( education / tech / internet / politics )
It worked against apartheid South Africa. Let's hope it works against other tyrants, in this case tech tyrants Take a Stand Against Big Tech: Facebook, Google, Twitter. These tech titans seek to silence us from public discourse...and they're doing it with our tax dollars. Each state governme... read more
TIME TO SWITCH FROM FIREFOX TO ANOTHER BROWSER( education / tech / computers / internet )
If this is true, it looks like a good time to get rid of that pesky control freak of a browser, Mozilla Firefox in favor of the Brave, Edge, Opera, Safari or Chrome browsers. Of course, three of those browsers (Ed... read more
YOU CANNOT SIMPLY BUILD YOUR OWN FREE-SPEECH VERSION OF TWITTER( culture / tech / internet / social )
To build an alternate social media website with a dissenting moderation policy, you must first invent the universe. Good luck. theamericanconservative ... read more
USEFUL MYSQL QUERIES( education / tech / computers / internet )
Common MySQL Queries. Extending Chapter 9 of Get it Done with MySQL 5 Up
Here's an example: Compute date from year, week number and weekday:
SET yr 2012, wk 26, day 0;SELECT StrToDate( Concat( yr,'-', wk,'-',If( day 7,0, day) ), '%Y-%U-%w' ) AS Date;
Read, listen... read more
RUNNING A WEBSERVER ON A THUMB/FLASH DRIVE( education / tech / computers )
Of all the good things we can do with a USB (Universal Serial Bus) flash drive, I think running a website is one of them. This is a perfect solution for web designers who need to cart along a whole bunch of designs to show potential clients. ... read more
FIX THOSE FACEBOOK-MANGLED LINKS TO YOUR SITE( education / tech / computers / internet )
I was unaware Facebook recently added a unique click identifier to all outbound links on facebook . Coincidentally, one of the security measures of this server is to disallow query strings as part of the URL. Thus, any visitors coming over from Facebook were suddenly blocked and banned on sight.
R... read more
DESLIDE THAT WEBSITE( education / tech / computers / internet )
To remove that annoying slideshow so popular on click-bait sites, try one of the following:cluster fakedesli.deprint-friendly... read more
THE QUEST FOR A FACEBOOK REPLACEMENT CONTINUES( culture / tech / internet / social )
I keep joining these other social networking sites, only to be disappointed. The main problem is that they insist that I upload my contact list, which I refuse to do. Maybe this one -- Parler -- will work out. UPDATE: Not so much!Here are a few other place... read more
ALTCENSORED VIDEO STREAMING( education / tech / computers / internet )
Here's an article about them.AltCensored is at altcensored /Other articles on censorship: ... read more
NEW DIAMOND PROCESS( education / tech / geology )
The man who says he can make diamonds out of thin air: Eco-tycoon claims top-secret process can 'grow' gems in furnace as hot as the sun. Eco energy tycoon Dale Vince makes diamonds out of thin air in secret process. He has likened the concept behind his so-called 'Sky Diamonds' to ... read more
ALTERNATIVES TO YOUTUBE( education / tech / computers / movies-tv-video )
I just thought I would remind you there are alternatives to YouTube. See below:
Air.tv
Banned
BitChute... read more
WHAT IS THAT PORT ON MY PC?( education / tech / computers )
Very helpful website with images and explanations here. A computer port is an interface or point of connection between the computer and its peripheral devices. Some common peripherals are the mouse, keyboard, monitor (dis... read more
CLUTTERED WEB PAGES( education / tech / computers / internet )
This, below, is what happens when you let greed (or desperation) rule over your sense of aesthetics. All I wanted to do was click the link and read the article. smh Good luck finding the actual article! :)... read more
HOW EMFS DISTURB YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM( education / health / tech )
We are living in an unprecedented time, one in which electromagnetic fields (EMFs) from cellphones and cellphone base stations, Wi-Fi devices, power lines, electrical wiring and even computers, televisions and microwave o... read more
THIS MONETIZATION SERVICE LOOKS PROMISING( education / tech / computers / internet )
This looks promising: SubscribeStar . Their tagline is Create. Monetize. Prosper. I created a page for myself there...UPDATE: Denied! Never mind. You have to already be well-established before they waste their time with you. Bast... I mean, bless their heart... read more
MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL( education / tech / computers / internet )
You will need the password for most of these.Cracking up over Lottery President (Jun 28, 2013). No password required.Dad's birthday, (Apr 15, 2012)... read more
FREEWRITE, THE DEVICE FOR DISTRACTION-FREE WRITING( culture / writing / tech )
Article about it here, and the manufacturer's website here.
And one of their founders has an ... read more
BUILDING YOUR OWN WEBSITE( education / tech / computers / internet )
Question: I need my own domain name and monetization, plus things like ability to pay and schedule and stuff.
Answer:
Any Wordpress installation should allow plug-ins for polling, scheduling and other types of forms, in addition to blogging.
Go here to create a Goo... read more
EARBUD-LIKE DEVICE CLAIMS TO BOOST LINGUISTIC SKILLS( education / tech / language )
The simple gadget dramatically improves the wearer's ability to learn new words, say the University of Pittsburgh team behind the research new... ... read more
COMPUTER SCREEN CLEANER( education / tech / computers / humor )
No computer can do without this: screen cleaner. Converted free by cloudconvert ... read more
BRAND SUICIDE OR SAVVY PR MOVE? CEO OF FOOD GIANT GOYA PRAISES TRUMP( culture / tech / internet / social )
After the CEO of Hispanic food megabrand Goya spoke at the White House, demands to cancel the popular brand on social media have arisen met by equally furious pushback from the corporations defenders....
... read more
CONVERTING COLORS( education / tech / computers / internet )
Here you see your color converted to 17 different color formats like RGB, CMYK, HSV, HSL, CIELab, Android, Decimal, and YUV.
Convert multiple colors at once or get Conversions and Harmonies via the REST API.
con... read more
CASSETTE TAPE CONVERTED TO MP3( culture / music / tech )
Cool! I am getting one of these. I am including an affiliate link here. This sounds like a scam post, but I really am going to buy thi... read more
COUNTERTOP DISHWASHER( education / tech / home-garden / appliances )
Cool! Tetra countertop dishwasher "made for small spaces." The only dishwasher that doesn't require plumbing. Engineered for small spaces. And now a CES 2019 Best Of Innovation Award Honoree." ... read more
NETGEAR R6120 ROUTER SCHEDULED ON-OFF NOT WORKING( education / tech / computers )
Well, after going round and round with firmware updates, rebooting and factory resetting, the "Scheduled Off" feature on the R6120 Router (Firmware Version V1.0.0.66) simply DOES NOT work. And that was the only reason we bought this rather than use the WiFi function that came with our AT T... read more
COMPUTER USERS CREATE WORLD'S FASTEST SUPERCOMPUTER BY DONATING PROCESSING POWER( education / tech / computers )
Known as Folding Home, the technology uses thousands of computers around the world to work through large sets of numbers and complicated problems....
... read more
SOLAR-PAVEMENT DRIVEWAYS MADE OF PLASTIC BOTTLES CAN POWER THE AVERAGE HOUSEHOLD( education / research / tech / solar )
You've already heard about solar-paneled rooftops, but now, a company from Hungary is powering residential homes with solar driveways.
solar-dr... read more
ENGINEER MAKES A DIY CELL PHONE WITH ROTARY DIAL SO SHE DOESN'T HAVE TO USE A SMARTPHONE( education / tech / phones )
My hero!
Rather than learn to live with a smartphone, this engineer designed her own cell phone with a rotary dial--and she is helping others to make their...
r... read more
BE READY FOR THE NEXT POWER FAILURE( education / tech / energy / advice )
A cousin just installed a 16kW generator to power the whole house. It goes on and off automatically, triggered by power failure and restoration, and runs on natural gas. See video here.It costs about $4K plus installation. Various models on ... read more
USEFUL WEBSITES( education / tech / computers / internet )
Just thought I would start a running list of internet/web technologies websites I have found useful, below...
image align center... read more
FREE VECTOR GRAPHICS EDITOR( education / tech / computers / internet )
Could be useful. Go to inkscape . Or, click on the following direct link to the Windows 64-bit download: inkscape for Windows... read more
WE HAVE NO REASON TO BELIEVE 5G IS SAFE( education / tech / phones )
The technology is coming, but contrary to what some people say, there could be health risks Scientific AmericanSee also ... read more
USING SHUNGITE FOR HEALTH( life / health / tech / treatment )
Did you know about this rock from Russia? It's supposed to neutralize wireless signals. I perceive a difference when I put it on my wifi-rout... read more
STOP 5G ON EARTH AND IN SPACE( education / tech / phones )
We the undersigned scientists, doctors, environmental organizations and citizens from (-) countries, urgently call for a halt to the deployment of the 5G (fifth generation) wireless network, including 5G from space satellites. 5G will massively increase exposure to radio frequency (RF) radiation on... read more
REQUIRING (OR NOT) A PASSWORD IN WINDOWS( education / tech / computers / software )
In Windows 7 (and possibly earlier and later versions), use NETPLWIZ and check (or uncheck) the box that says something to the effect of "require users to enter passwords." Make sure that your own username is highlighted before you check/uncheck that box.... read more
TURN YOUR COMPUTER INTO A CHROME DEVICE( education / tech / computers )
From NeverWare at neverware Ready to turn your computer into a Chrome device? You're in the right spot. The Home edition is our free version of CloudReady, intended only for per... read more
OPEN DNS( education / tech / computers / internet )
Just thought we'd mention OpenDNS (or ) which we use here at FriendsNews . It's a good parental control as well as an easy way to filter your Internet traffic.... read more
SO, YOU DROPPED YOUR PHONE INTO THE TOILET?( education / tech / phones )
Yep, that is what just happened to me. Here is some advice on what to do: wikihow /Dry-Out-a-Wet-iPhone. Luckily, the toilet had already been flushed and the phone was too big to go down the hole. Still... remind me to spray it with Lysol when I get home!Speaking of... read more
BOGUS RANSOM EMAILS( education / tech / computers )
Just because the From is spoofed, it doesn't mean your email account is compromised. See: Ask LeoAnd here's a complete example, though they vary slightly: Hi, your account was recently hac... read more
E-RECYCLING SERVICES IN NASHVILLE( education / tech / computers / hardware )
Electronic Waste-Recyclingelectronic recycling nashville area... read more
URL EXPANDER( education / tech / computers / internet )
You might find this as useful as I just did: expandurl ... read more
OPTING OUT OF ADS( education / tech / computers / internet )
Useful site here to opt out of various online ads: yourchoices . Some of the biggest name brands always seem to be conveniently unavailable.... read more
USB TURNTABLE( culture / music / tech )
I'm buying one of these: USB turntable. I've been wanting to convert my old vinyl records to MP3 for quite a while now. I hope it wor... read more
LINGMO LANGUAGE TRANSLATOR( education / language / tech )
Wow, I want one of these! Real-time language translation device whispers into your ear in real time as it's listening to the person speaking.... read more
IS IT DOWN RIGHT NOW?( education / tech / computers / internet )
Useful site to see if it's your connection (or firewall) or the site itself that's having a problem: Is It Down Right Now?Someone emailed us about their tool here: ... read more
HOW YOUR CELL PHONE MIGHT DETECT A CREDIT CARD SKIMMER( education / tech / phones / fraud )
When you're next to the pump, try connecting to Bluetooth, and if you see "a long string of numbers trying to connect... that's probably not good," says Sid Miller. ... read more
BATTERY-FREE CELL PHONE( education / tech / phones )
Cool! This would (eventually) remove the need for environment-destroying battery factories We've built what we believe is the first functioning cellphone that consumes almost zero power," said co-author Shyam Gollakota, an associate professor in the Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science ... read more
RUNNING WINDOWS IN A LINUX VIRTUAL MACHINE( education / tech / computers / software )
I'm going to try running Windows in a virtual machine after installing Linux on my PC, as per these instructions: superuser . It'll probably suck (because Linux sucks), but after all of NSA's Windows backdoors were published online (somewhere, look it up), I'm almost... read more
BEING HUMAN( education / tech / computers / internet )
Makes me laugh when Facebook asks why I think something is funny or amazing. I'm thinking Bite me. I don't have the time or inclination to teach your artificial 'intelligence' algorithms what it means to be human. Not that it could ever understand it, anyway.... read more
SALT WATER FILTER INVENTED( education / research / tech / water )
A UK-based team of researchers has created a graphene-based sieve capable of removing salt from seawater. The sought-after development could aid the millions of people without ready access to clean drinking water. See salt water f... read more
LINUX ON CHROMEBOOK( education / tech / computers / software )
Installing Ubuntu Linux on my Chromebook as per these instructions: lifehacker. I hope it works! And I hope I like i... read more
FACEBOOK CREEPS ME OUT( culture / tech / internet / social )
Note: I am no longer on Twitter or Facebook, but here's what I've managed to salvage from back then.
Every time Facebook shows me one of those notices saying something like Hey there, we've been going through all of your posts and thought you might like to share this compilation, I feel... read more
COOL WEBSITE( education / tech / computers / internet )
Here's a cool website I just learned of:atlasobscura In an age where everything seems to have been explored and there is nothing new to be found, we celebrate a different way of looking at the world. If you're searching for miniature cities, glass flow... read more
HORSE VERSUS GOOGLE STREET VIEW( education / tech / computers / animals )
I like horses. I like Google maps street view. The two don't like each other. See Google Street View car... read more
ALTERNATIVES TO AMAZON AND ETSY( education / tech / internet / shopping )
If you're looking for an alternative to Amazon or ... read more
KEYWORD, COOKIE, BROWSER ANALYTICS FAILURE( education / tech / computers / internet )
Some headlines Google News mistakenly thought I'd be interested in ...Is Jeb Bush Right About Barack Obama and Donald Trump? - The mainstream (pro-Bush/Clinton) media keep pretending Jeb is relevant.Kanye West named GQ's Most Stylish Man once again - I'm all about Kanye! Not.50 Cent'... read more
WILL GRAPHENE SUPERCAPACITORS MAKE BATTERIES OBSOLETE( education / tech / energy )
Cool! ... someday. From Will Graphene Supercapacitors Make Batteries Obsolete? Researchers with the California NanoSystems Institute recently developed a new battery-like supercapacitor, a device t... read more
SOLAR FREAKIN" ROADWAYS( education / research / tech / solar )
Amazing! I love this!
This video, Solar Freakin Roadways, was created in 2014 by a wonderful volunteer. It's had over 22 million views! The images are now out of date and it doesn't mention things like how Solar Roadways can provide a convenient delivery system for dynamic charging of E... read more
MY TWITTER FEED( culture / tech / internet / social )
Note: I am no longer on Twitter or Facebook, but here's what I've managed to salvage from back then.... read more
45 PERCENT OF AMERICAN JOBS WILL BE DONE BY COMPUTERS IN 20 YEARS( education / tech / computers )
And then the "third stage" my words, not theirs will be when people realize how irritating and stupid these computers are. Consumers, otherwise known as "people," will stop using services that are overly-computerized, and bosses everywhere will be forced to trash their computer... read more
COURT TO FEDS: EXPLAIN MARINE'S FACEBOOK POSTINGS ARREST( culture / tech / internet / social )
Brandon Raub's case exposes the seedy underbelly of a governmental system that continues to target military veterans for expressing their discontent over America's rapid transition to a police state," said John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute.
Read, listen to or w... read more
LAWMAKERS WHO ALLOWED NSA PHONE SPYING RECEIVED DOUBLE THE CASH( education / tech / politics )
... those 217 "no" voters received twice as much campaign financing from the defense and intelligence industry as the 205 "yes" voters. Lawmakers Who Upheld NSA Phone Spying Received Double the Defen... read more
COOL, NOT COOL( education / tech / internet )
Cool! But bad news for locksmiths?"keyme" stores a copy of your house key in the cloud... read more
MY PHONES( education / tech / phones )
In the process of upgrading to a new Samsung Galaxy Note II today (which should arrive in a few days), Sprint at one point showed me all of the devices I've had with them over the years (in case I wanted to trade any of them in). It was fun... read more
BEST SMARTPHONE (2013)( education / tech / phones )
I've got an iPhone 4 now, which I've never been crazy about. I used to have a Blackberry Curve, which I was also never crazy about. If I could combine the best features from both, that'd be nice, but probably still not good e... read more
UPGRADING TO WINDOWS 7( education / tech / computers / software )
Yes, I know Windows 8... read more
SPRINT NOW ALLOWS EDITING HOW YOU APPEAR IN CALLER ID( education / tech / phones )
This is great. I think I blogged once (here), complaining that I couldn't change how my name appears on the receiving end's caller ID. It showed my legal name, William, but I wanted it to say Bill. The foreign girl in ... read more
PATENT CLAIMS SOLAR ENERGY "BREAKTHROUGH'( education / tech / energy )
I hope this is for real: Patent Filing Claims Solar Energy Breakthrough In a U.S. patent application, a little-known Maryland inventor claims a stunning solar energy breakthrough that promises to end the planet ... read more
NAME GENERATOR( education / tech / computers / internet )
Name Generator - Cool Name ideas at the click of a button!I thought this, above, was kinda cool for generating a pseudonym. You can also generate a Medieval name, a Twitter name, whatever. On that page, the actual "generator" buttons are on the right. It took me a second to tune out a... read more
THE GRAVITYLIGHT: LIGHTING FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES( education / tech / help / charity )
GravityLight: lighting for the developing countries on Vimeo. This is so cool! GravityLight is a revolutionary new approach to storing energy and creating illumination. It takes onl... read more
LIT MOTORS BUILDS A CAR THAT BREAKS THE RULES( education / research / transportation / tech )
Right now, electric cars are not sustainable, he says. The average electric car battery pack is four times larger than ours, with one-third the range. If every ca... read more
FORD'S HEMP-POWERED, HEMP-MADE CAR( education / research / transportation / tech )
I just thought this was interesting: v 54vDcPCQM8And here's another article on the same subject: 10 X Stronger Than St... read more
SOME FACEBOOK USERS DISLIKE BEING USED IN ONLINE ADVERTISING( culture / tech / internet / social )
Some Facebook users 'dislike' being used in online advertising.
See online advertising for Mitt Romney... read more
300,000 MILES, AND NOT ONE ACCIDENT( education / research / transportation / tech )
Ever since Google began designing its self-driving cars, they've wanted to build cars that go beyond the capabilities of human-piloted vehicles, cars that are much, much safer. When Sebastian Thrun announced the project in 2010, he wrote, "According to the World Health Organization, more t... read more
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO WORDSTAR( education / tech / computers / software )
I barely used it, but I found this interesting because I was once a "word processor" (human, not program) back in the mid-80s to early 90s. Whatever happened to WordStar
One of the most interesting... read more
MIT CREATES SOLAR CELL FROM GRASS CLIPPINGS( education / tech / energy / solar )
MIT creates solar cell from grass clippings A researcher at MIT, Andreas Mershin, has created solar panels from agricultural waste such as cut grass and dead leaves. In a few years, Mershin says it'll be p... read more
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU SAY, YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING( education / tech / computers / internet )
Just the other day I had bought a second wi-fi router from a seller on Craigslist to daisy-chain the two together (somehow) to improve the wireless signal throughout my house. No, it's not a big house. Anyway, last night our power went out for about a minute. No big deal, I thought, other than h... read more
TECHNOLOGY THAT COULD SAVE THE WORLD( life / health / tech )
This is Emma. She's going to save the world (and cure cancer). No, not the engineer in the lab coat. Rather, the Electron Model of Many Applications in which she's standing - a remarkable new technology which could change everything about the way we live. And which, splendidly, is based not... read more
SOLAR POWER WITHOUT SOLAR CELLS( education / research / tech / solar )
Cool!
You could stare at the equations of motion all day and you will not see this possibility. We've all been taught that this doesn't happen,
Solar po... read more
HOW SIMPLY UPPER-CASING YOUR PASSWORD CAN FRUSTRATE A HACKER( education / tech / computers / internet )
Simply upper-casing your password can frustrate a hacker's attempts
A six-letter password in lower-case text takes a hacker's computer just ten minutes to crack, according to statistics collated by Bloomberg Businessweek. But make those letters upper-case and it takes ten hours for it to r... read more
PLLEEAASSEE REEAADD IT WAS ON GOODMORNING AMERICA( education / tech / computers / internet )
It's a very old hoax. Anything with a headline like "Plleeaassee reeaadd! It was on Good Morning America!" and mentioning Microsoft, AOL and Good Morning America in the same email almost HAS to be a hoax these days, and this one is. On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 8:05 PM, wrote:This is probab... read more
POSSIBLY USEFUL SITE( education / tech / computers / internet )
For those old gadgets you'd just as soon get rid of:gazelle My old Dell laptop is apparently worth $38!I guess they really want newer stuff.... read more
NEW ANTENNA( culture / movies-tv-video / tech )
Got the new tv antenna... read more
STUPID ONLINE CHAT WITH SPRINT SUPPORT( education / tech / phones )
12:32:39 PM : Bill: Initial Question/Comment: Your online form won't let me change my contact info. It keeps saying Oops, something's broken or whatever, never telling me what I've done wrong. I filled out all the required fields.12:34:14 PM : Vicki: Hi Bill. I am sorry for th... read more
HOW TO ANONYMIZE YOUR BROWSING( education / tech / computers / advice )
To anonymize your browsing, use one of these "anonymizer" sites and/or programs:SitesAnonymouse ConnectInPrivate ... read more
COOL FEATURE JUST DISCOVERED ON GOOGLE TRANSLATE( education / tech / computers / internet )
I got an error in a program that was in some foreign language I didn't even recognize, let alone understand. I went to translate.Google and typed in one of the words and chose "Detect language" in the "Translate from..." box. It told me the word was Danish. Look here: ... read more
MCDONALDS WI-FI( education / tech / computers / internet )
In Nashville, anyway, it seems you can get around their proxy system (those outlets that use it), simply by using Google Chrome and maybe Firefox. It might be as simple as using any browser other than Internet Explorer.Using Internet Explorer, I tried to be a good boy and sign up for a "free&qu... read more
NEW CELL PHONE( education / tech / phones )
Sprint called the other day and offered me a free new phone. The woman, sounding like she was from Indonesia or something, went on and on and on for twenty minutes. Luckily, the call did not count against my minutes. Just last month I had to increase my allowed minutes from 300 to 450 because ... read more
NEW MP3 PLAYER FOR MY CAR( culture / music / tech / auto )
I am now the proud owner of this very cool device, here. Thanks to Heather and Brady for the suggestion!You might also like All-Time Favorite Songs, Current Favorite Song... read more
SAVE YOURSELF A LOT OF TROUBLE( education / tech / computers / repair )
If you get a pop up on your computer saying, "You're infected! Download Antivirus 2010 or something similar to fix it!", DOn't DO IT! It's a trick. As soon as you click on it, you're infected. ... read more
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE( education / tech / computers / software )
Open Source Human Resource Management Software. FYI in case you're looking for such, even though we hate the term "human resource." Ironically, it's dehumanizing. :) Human Resource Management Software (HRMS) - OrangeHRM.... read more
NEW GERMAN LAPTOP( education / tech / computers / hardware )
One year has gone, since we've presented the Rolltop concept for the first time. Many thanks for all your emails and feedbacks! Now we are really going to bring this high innovative product on the marke and we are already working on it! Please visit our new page myrolltop to get more informatio... read more
SPECIAL CHARACTERS IN WORD PERFECT FOR DOS( education / tech / computers / software )
It all starts with Ctrl-V, followed by the number combinations shown on the screen that comes up. For example, the tilde is Ctrl-V 002, although it doesn't show up on my screen, but maybe it'll work on yours. The accent grave is 047, the accent acute is 041 if I'm reading their chart cor... read more
TRANSFERRING ITUNES TO NEW COMPUTER( education / tech / computers / advice )
QUESTION: How do I transfer iTunes to my new computer? ANSWER: I have copied your iTunes from the old computer to the new. If you haven't already "authorized" your current computer, here's how. If you subscribe to Apple Music, you... read more
HOW TO MAKE OUTLOOK 2003 OPEN TO YOUR CALENDAR BY DEFAULT( education / tech / computers / advice )
copied from helpdesk.ilstu.edu/kb/index.phtml?kbid 1326By default, when you launch Outlook it opens to your Inbox. You can create a shortcut to Outlook so it opens to your calendar instead. To force Outlook to open your calendar as your default view, do th... read more
HOW TO RESTORE CONTACTS IN WINDOWS LIVE MAIL( education / tech / computers / advice )
Q: I had some problems with this program. I fixed the POP and SMTP server designations, and it works now. However, I've lost my contacts - the folder is blank. The funny thing is, when I type some letters in the "to" box, names come up. Do you have any idea how I can restore my contact... read more
WATCHING THE WATCHERS( education / tech / computers / internet )
WE MAKE PRIVACY EASY. Browse the web safer, faster with less annoying ads. Keep an eye on who's keeping an eye on you at ghostery ... read more
HACKERS LEAK 6.5 MLN LINKEDIN PASSWORDS( education / tech / computers / internet )
Hackers leak 6.5 mln LinkedIn passwordsTime to change your LinkedIn password. eHarmony, too, apparently.... read more
FAKE ANTIVIRUS MAKES UP 15 PERCENT OF ALL MALWARE( education / tech / computers / internet )
Google: Fake antivirus makes up 15 percent of all malware Tech News on ZDNet... read more
ENVIRONMENTALLY-RESPONSIBLE INK( education / tech / computers / hardware )
This looks promising, "environmentally-responsible" ink from Dell. Ihave no idea if it's any good. Leave a comment below and let us know:accessories.us.dell /sna/sna.aspx?... read more
INSTALL MULTIPLE APPS AT ONCE WITHOUT TOOLBARS, AND CLICKING NEXT, NEXT, NEXT( education / tech / computers / software )
Fantastic online app here. It does what I've done before, but they do it better. I'm not jealous. I'm not a programmer, really, I'm an "implementer/integrator." Yeah, that's it. :) Oh yeah, here's the link: ninite /... read more
OPEN DIALOG DEFAULT SORT ORDER( education / tech / computers / software )
Mine got messed up somehow, and it drove me nuts until I found this: jevon /wiki/Changing-Open-Dialog-Default-Sort-Order-in-Windows UPDATE: "Only" problem is ... the above didn't work! :... read more
REMOVING WINDOWS DESKTOP SEARCH( education / tech / computers / software )
Well, I thought I liked this version 4 better than version 3. I hated version 3. But, it turns out, version 4 is no better. It starts and finds things quicker (for me, anyway), but it ruins the computer's performance the rest of the time! Remove it from your Startup group (Start, All Programs, S... read more
A NOTE ABOUT SCREENSAVERS( education / tech / computers / software )
Avoid any toolbars that don't come with Windows from Microsoft. I just had a customer whose Internet Explorer wouldn't close after they installed "My.Freeze " screensaver. Luckily, it uninstalled properly when using its uninstall program this time. These things just cause problems ... read more
SHOW DESKTOP ICON MISSING( education / tech / computers / software )
QUESTION: My "Show Desktop" icon just disappeared from my Quick Start menu. How do I restore that? ANSWER: Simplest answer: Just right-click on the desktop from now on and choose Show Desktop from that little menu that pops up; or, It probably got "bumped" aside by something ... read more
TEN MORE WAYS TO DETECT COMPUTER MALWARE( education / tech / computers )
blogs.techrepublic /10things/?p 1069 tag nl.e101... read more
LOUD "BEEP" SOUND( education / tech / computers / software )
QUESTION: Is there any way to turn off the loud "BEEP" sound that occurs when Intel Proset detects a wireless network? I've tried going to control panel and muting all the sounds, but that doesn't seem to work. ANSWER: Try going into Intel ProSet Wireless, Tools, Application Settin... read more
CAN'T PASTE ANYTHING INTO OUTLOOK( education / tech / computers / software )
QUESTION: I can't paste anything into Outlook, but I can into Word, etc. ANSWER: Open Microsoft Word, go to TOOLS OPTIONS Select the SAVE tab and uncheck Embed smart tags.Also, there's a security feature in Outlook that, in certain situations requires that you have a New Mail window open fir... read more
CAN'T SEE SENT ITEMS IN OUTLOOK( education / tech / computers / software )
QUESTION: I can't see any of my Sent Items in Outlook () anymoreANSWER: Try the following:Click ViewArrange ByCurrent ViewCustomize Current ViewFilter OFF... read more
GO GREEN & SAVE THE ENVIRONMENT WITH 4 ALL MEMORY( education / news / tech / computers )
Welcome to 4AllMemory , trusted since 2001. We now have upgrades for 111,914 models (and counting). We guarantee your computer performance will be increased. Go Green Save the Environment with 4 All Memory... read more
DO NOT VISIT THESE SITES (UNPROTECTED, ANYWAY)( education / tech / computers / internet )
Just visited these sites, and my antivirus popped-up saying it had blocked a Trojan Horse coming from there (or one of their links): //thefrist //fixit.in I'll add to this list whenever it happens again.... read more
CDS/DVDS NOT WHAT THEY'RE CRACKED UP TO BE( education / tech / computers / hardware )
Probably ought to save things to other computers and/or external hard drives and/or sign up for an online storage account.
Preserving precious data, such as pictures and home videos, on CDs and DVDs could do more damage than good in the end... read more
HACK ATTACK?( education / tech / computers / internet )
Question There was a couple parked on the curb on Wed from 8am to 12pm on Wed. The girl was like a look-out, it seemed. When I was going to work she gave me a suspicious look, so I drove around in a circle and drove by them getting their license plate. When I came back at around noon, they were stil... read more
GMAIL'S UNSUBSCRIBE FEATURE( education / tech / computers / internet )
I hate to promote Google since they already rule the online world, but they do some things very well, e.g., their "unsubscribe" feature in Gmail. In a message, click on Show Details and you should see the option to "Unsubscribe from this sender." T... read more
VIDEO DOWNLOAD SITES( education / tech / computers / internet )
None of these links work anymore. A couple of useful sites here for downloading videos for later viewing. I know I often want to watch a video later, not right then and there. Anyway, here are a couple of links: splandoo / vide... read more
MAN LOSES $20 MILLION AFTER TAKING LAPTOP FOR REPAIR( education / tech / computers )
We promise to never do anything even remotely similar to this! Man loses $20 million after taking laptop for repair.... read more
FIX FOR "YTIMG" BROWSER HANG( education / tech / computers / internet )
Got a tip, thought I'd share it here. Add the following to your HOSTS file ("C:WindowsSystem32driversetchosts"):
fix for ytimg.exe browser hang problem
74.125.162.39 static.cache.l.google s.ytimg
Then from a Windows command prompt ("DOS box"), run:
ipconfig /flu... read more
YES, THAT PC CLEANUP APP YOU SAW ON TV AT 3AM IS A WASTE( education / tech / computers / software )
Their next play is to make it seem like everything is wrong with your PC
Yes, that PC cleanup app you saw on TV at 3am is a waste.... read more
HARD DRIVE MANUFACTURERS SLASH WARRANTY PERIODS( education / tech / computers / hardware )
That's on new drives. So, from now on, more than ever, always have an external drive (or two) for backups.
Hard Drive Manufacturers Slash Warr... read more
KASPERSKY FREE VIRUS SCAN( education / tech / computers / internet )
FAST FREE security scan for your PC Kaspersky Security Scan.... read more
MAILBOX OVER THE LIMIT( education / tech / computers / advice )
QUESTION: I started getting notices that my mailbox is over its limit. I have archived items over 90 days. What else can I do to stop these messages?Isn't this pretty much the same as archiving to my hard drive?I use three months. ANSWER: You can create an Outlook Personal Folder (PST file) wher... read more
MISSED APPOINTMENT( education / tech / computers / advice )
Well, it's happened again, luckily for only the second time in my career. A customer called me to their house, only to not be home or pretend to not be home when I got there. People, if you change your mind, just call and cancel! There is no cancellation fee! In this case, I had called her about... read more
ONLINE BACKUP( education / tech / computers / internet )
I'm trying out this online backup system called Nordic Backup. So far, so good. Click here to try it yourself free for 30 days.... read more
A HEADS-UP ON RANSOMWARE( education / tech / computers / internet )
Still a huge problem
Beware of this scam. Don't bother trying to get them to help you unlock your pc: hackers-gang-russian-bust. The fix is to download, UPDATE, and run Malwarebytes.... read more
AOL THROUGH OUTLOOK USING IMAP FOLDERS( education / tech / computers )
PROBLEM:Can you tell me again how to move deleted emails to a "deleted email" folder? The AOL Imap folder just crosses them out but leaves them visible there. SOLUTION:It's under Edit, Purge Deleted Messages.... read more
DATA RECOVERY( education / tech / computers )
QUESTION: My hard drive has died, and I've lost valuable data. If you can't recover it for me, is there a service who can?ANSWER: Here's the best one I've found: Gillware Inc. - gillware gillware Estimated ChargesStandard fee for Microsoft Windows: $378.99... read more
DOWN FOR EVERYONE, OR JUST ME?( education / tech / computers / internet )
I LOVE this service! Down for everyone, or just me?... read more
DUPLEX PRINTING( education / tech / computers )
QUESTION: isn't working, but it worked before. ANSWER: Click Start, Control Panel, Printers and Faxes, right click and choose Properties on that printer. Click Device Settings tab, choose Duplex toward the bottom, change it from Unavailable to Available or something similar on other printers.... read more
EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE GONE BAD( education / tech / computers / hardware )
PROBLEM: I haven't totally written it off as dead, but my back-up external drive that holds 500gigs won't power on now. I made a back-up of all the data maybe a month ago, but there are some things I must have missed. In case I can't power it on, is there a way to read it if I take it ap... read more
FIXING PROFILE PROBLEMS IN OUTLOOK 2003( education / tech / computers / advice )
To recreate/fix your Outlook 2003 profile, do the following:Click on Start, Settings, Control Panel, Mailclick on Show ProfilesAdd a new profilegive it any NEW name you wantclick OKAdd your same old account back as a "new" account, click NextAdd it as a POP3 account, click Next... read more
FREE REMOTE CONTROL SOFTWARE( education / tech / computers / software )
This looks really good: teamviewer. Of course, I've already been using the one from Zoho, too, here: zoho ... read more
SAVING WORD DOCUMENTS( education / tech / computers / software )
In Word 2003 (and possibly older versions), go to Tools, Options, Save and check (if not already) the following settings:Always create backup copyAllow background savesMake local copy of files stored on network...Save AutoRecover info ...Save smart tags as XMLIn Word 2007, go to Wo... read more
SET EMAIL TO FORWARD TO SOMEONE ELSE( education / tech / computers / internet )
QUESTION: How do I set email (Outlook 2003) to forward to someone else while I'm out?ANSWER: In Outlook, click on Tools, Out of Office AssistantClick "I am currently out of the office 8230;" and type your outgoing message, if any.Click "Add Rule" at the bottom left.Check the ... read more
SOFTWARE UPDATER( education / tech / computers / software )
CNET has created a fantastic new service called Tech Tracker that I wish I'd come up with. It tracks and keeps up to date all of the software on your computer! Mac or Windows! The only catch is that you have to create an account on their site and give them your email address. Hopefully it's ... read more
WEBSITE VISIBILITY TOOL( education / tech / computers / internet )
Thanks to GoDaddy phone support, I discovered this very useful site: megaproxy. One of my domain names was not resolving correctly from home. I went to the website above and checked it, and everything was resolving correctly from there. I had tested it from home with four differen... read more
WIRELESS NOT WORKING( education / tech / computers )
QUESTION: No matter where I go, the wireless is not working. ANSWER: I just had to "enable wireless" by right-clicking on the icon at the bottom-right of the task bar and choose Enable Radio. I could then connect right into the wireless network. Sometimes when a wireless network has no sec... read more
YOUR OUTGOING MAIL SERVER( education / tech / computers / software )
Hopefully yours is listed here, anyway. :) amailsender /support/smtpserver/... read more
CONVERTING IP V4 TO IP V6( education / tech / computers )
This should be useful now that the world is converting to IP v6: emailtalk /IPV4ToIPV6.aspx... read more
HOW TO GET PEOPLE TO STOP FORWARDING STUFF TO YOU( education / tech / computers / internet )
stopforwarding.us/... read more