Zoostorm

Got my new PC working fine, so far... but yesterday was an epic migraine by teatime.

New PC hardware

Windows 7 home premium (x64-bit system)

Bemused to note: a 32-bit system is called x86, but a 64-bit is x64. Such clever confusion! 

Intel i3 CPU @ 3.3GHz  

1 TB hard drive

8GB RAM

Blu-ray player + DVD RW

Everything runs through the HDMI cable from 1Gb NVIDIA graphics card to a new  Samsung 21.5 inch widescreen (1920 x 1080 p) monitor.

I'm still using M$ Office 2003 Pro.

All of my usual and old-favoutite software (like Paint Shop Pro 5) from previous desktop (Win XP) has installed without any problems.

The only thing I found was incompatible with x64 was a Casper 5 back-up maker, but I don't think it's necessary on this machine.

Anyway, this is very fast indeed, compared to the old XP desktop or my Vista laptop. If only my slow broadband connection had the speed to match this machine, I'd probably be doing the happy dance.

New printer

Following 'death' of my old Epson 660, its replacement is a HP DeskJet 1050 all-in-one (printer, scanner, copier) J410 series.

Setup is relatively easy, although I cannot figure out why the USB cable for connection to a desktop PC must be bought separately.   

Build quality seems a bit plasticky, and the machine is somewhat noisier than I had expected, but the very fast A4 printing speed is impressive, and it spits out address labels in a second.

Full-colour A5 printing is fine, but I haven't tried it with any photo-paper yet. 

Epson660

My venerably ancient Epson Stylus 660 printer has finally died... 

Habitually creaking and whirring, partly fossilised, always prone to ‘communication errors’, it’s now announced its own demise with a full set of flashing red warning lights, and a complete failure to even attempt cleaning its own thoroughly clogged print-heads.

Bit sad to see it go, after all this time, because this was the last piece of equipment still in use from my very first desktop PC system; bought when this century was still new and shiny, and everything was beige.

VideoVista changes

Working on a fresh page template for monthly webzine, VideoVista.

Here's a test image for the new logo...
A work of art or too hideous for words?

Favicons, or...

Yes, favicons...
Or, how I learned to stop writing and faff about (even more than usual) on the Internet

While making progress with re-designing The ZONE website for a 'new look' based on the page template created by Lawrence Dyer (Traffic Folder), I actually managed to learn something, including how to add favicons to my other websites.

A favicon is a tiny logo (B for blogger.com, F for facebook, etc) which appears in your browser's address bar, and in bookmarked lists of your favourite sites.

Already got a logo? Then it's simple to make a favicon.
Your image can be in any format, JPEG, GIFF, PNG, etc... but it must be a square and of a typical size: 16 x 16, 32 x 32 pixels, or larger.

I created my simple favicons in Paint Shop Pro 5, but any popular graphics program should be able to produce a suitable image.

Go to http://www.enetplace.com/create-favicon/ upload the image from your computer, and save the favicon.ico file that's generated.

If you haven't got a logo, or a suitable graphics program, you can draw one (16 x 16 pixels only) using this site -
http://www.favicon.cc/
- which displays a handy preview of your artistry before you download the completed favicon.ico file.

You then need to upload this icon (via FTP) to your website's root directory (not your graphics or images folder!).

Although some favicon-making guides sites do suggest adding a bit of code to the header tags of your web-pages, it does not seem to be necessary if you're using a recent or the latest version common browsers: Internet Explorer 8, or Firefox 3 (or later).

If the favicon does not appear, as expected, try refreshing your browser's cache (CTRL + F5).

Have a go...
It's fun, it's free, and it - usually - adds 'identity' and professionalism to your site's image.

New PC

My new desktop computer details...

AMD Athlon Dual Core 64-Bit AM2 5600+
2 GIG (2048MB) DDR2 Memory
Socket AM2 NForce PCIEX Motherboard
500GB 7200 RPM SATA Drive
20x DVDWriter / CDWriter Combo Drive 256MB
ATI Radeon 3450 PCI Express Video 10/100
Ethernet for Home Networking/Broadband
5.1 Dolby Digital Sound Onboard
USB2.0 ports x8 (2 on front)
Black and Silver case + matching drives

Also got Office 2003 Premium (free upgrade from 2000 edition)!

desktop dead again

It's heat-death-of-desktop-universe, again... as my PC keeps freezing and only works for 30 seconds. Windows starts up, okay, but system fails to operate. Hope this is just an easily-fixed power or cooling-fan problem (both of which I've had before on that machine), but - argh! - it would happen at Xmas, when repair shop's closed for the week.

Glad that I bought this laptop, so I'll be able to continue working on certain writing projects over silly season.

Vista

There seemed to be a lot of criticism aimed at M$ Vista o/s, with techie users saying they preferred XP (if they had to use Windoze!), but I have not found any problems with the system. From activation of pre-installed version on my laptop, it's been easy to make adjustment from XP, and the interface appears to work somewhat better than XP, certainly with its start-up cycle. Downloading service pack 1 - for my Vista laptop, was less troublesome and worrying than adding service pack 3 to my XP desktop.

Bells and whistles stuff that's new for Vista, include significant practical things like ReadyBoost, which uses plug-in flash drive (up to 4 GB) as extra memory for RAM or disk cache, and hard drive defrag that runs in the background when computer is idle. There's also fun items like a free chess program (yes, I beat the machine at its lowest setting!) in the games section.

Laptop

Latest item for current gadget-buying spree is an Acer Aspire 5920G (my first laptop) with: Intel T7300 dual core Centrino processor, 250 GB hard disk, 15.4-inch WXGA wide-screen, dedicated Nvidia graphics card, two GB memory, web-cam, built-in HD-DVD drive, and Vista home premium edition. It's last year's model (latest version has blu-ray drive, of course), but was praised by several computer magazines, when first reviewed by techie critics.

Bought a Logitech trackball mouse to overcome anticipated problems with the fiddly touch-pad, a four GB flash drive to transfer data from my laptop until home network is set-up, and then I installed some favourite stuff - like Firefox 3 browser, AVG free anti-virus, and decided to use Open Office for documents, and Thunderbird 2 for email (if only to avoid relying too much on various M$ programs). Managed to get online at my brother's place and I was pleased how easily wireless connections work, to quickly download Windows patches, and update AVG software, etc. Got linked up via HDMI cable to my Sony Bravia hi-def TV set, and happy with extending monitor view onto a 40-inch screen.

Having difficulty with email, as Thunderbird seems incompatible with Vista, although Windows mail (apparently a replacement for Outlook Express..?), works okay for POP3 downloads, if not sending of 'test' messages. Meanwhile, I upgraded my ISP account, switching package from a broadband 'plan' to a wireless 'bundle' (evening & weekend phone calls included so I get more for same monthly fee), but still waiting for delivery of a router kit ordered from Virgin media site.

Outlook

Just recovered from an Outlook 2000 inbox meltdown...

Although I managed to fix problems (got speedy and helpful advice from Mark Voss...) with that email program, I lost all messages from last month, and the folder-sorting rules turned up DOA (and will need writing again).

It could have been much worse if I had needed to un/ re-install Outlook from scratch! Who'd have thought M$ would stick a 2GB size limit (after which it simply corrupts!) on Outlook's PST file? Looks like I will have to get back into the auto-archiving habit, to prevent a repeat of this Outlook failure.

So... 10,000+ messages (many with xMB attachments). Where else to store them?
I just knew someone would suggest Gmail (and they did).
;D

Watching

Since my old Hitachi TV set had recently developed quite annoying faults, I decided it was overdue for a 21st century replacement. After failing to get a Toshiba special offer (which sold out, very quickly!), I eventually chose a Sony D3500 series 40-inch digital LCD panel (model # KDL40). Product reviews had nothing but praise for the Sony TV range's 'Bravia' engine, and its screen contrast ratio 16000:1 was greater than specs of several other brands and models I considered. Sony also offered more connections, including two HDMI sockets, two SCART, one for a PC, various amps, and other components.

This new high-definition widescreen television certainly looks impressive, as a piece of consumer tech (taking up much less space than old bulky CRT), and for watching movies on. Adding to my existing kit of Sanyo multi-region DVD player, Orion DVD recorder, and trusty old Hitachi VHS machine, I also bought a Samsung BDP1400 blu-ray player, which does a fantastic job of automatically upscaling standard DVDs (region 2 or region-free discs, only!), but really comes into its own when outputting the content of blu-ray discs (region B only) at full HD 1080p to Sony's TV.

Picture and sound quality is astounding, which takes some getting used to (having so many tiny details now clearly visible on a big-screen TV can be distracting). As others who've converted to blu-ray and HD TV have said, there's simply no going back to cathode-ray viewing after experiencing hi-def digital at home, and the differences in viewing quality are particularly notable when looking at the playback of old video for comparison. Even a first-generation VHS copy looks quite fuzzy.

scrabbled

There are red flags up about Facebook (FB), recently demonised by the likes of Tom Hodgkinson for no good reason (a moral panic amidst worries for FB users' social welfare?), other than the G2 journo being disgruntled with FB as timesink for users, and a big moneyspinner for the 'geeks' who created it. But who's exploiting who? Seems to me that FB is becoming a major player in the global village experiment (e.g. I can play umpteen simultaneous games of 'Scrabulous' - an online version of popular word game Scrabble - with other FB users from around the world), and - as with FB applications in general - all we really have to put up with is sundry targeted adverts (which, like the animated banners on many other commercial sites, are easy to ignore).

The virtual community of FB is a good thing, relatively, and I don't view it as some malevolent commercial entity undermining our personal freedoms. Other businesses have played the 'connecting people' card in promoting their products, before, but without offering so much potential for mindless, distracting fun. Okay, FB and Scrabulous are potentially addictive... but neither compare to the genuinely destructive power of drugs or even alcohol, right..?

Now, corporate johnnies at Hasbro and Mattel have called for Scrabulous to be removed from FB, and fans of the online game are fearing the worst. I wonder how the lawyers have regarded Scrabulous' creators (brothers, Rajat and Jayant Agarwalla, based in Calcutta)? On FB, fans of both Scrabble and Scrabulous are wondering if their fun is about to end, or whether a licensing deal can be worked out. I suspect there will have to be a close-down of the Scrab online servers, even if that's just for re-branding purposes.

on/offline

Had a lot of problems with broadband over the last fortnight, with only a couple of days Virgin.net service, that meant I struggled to cope with the slowness of a using - for the first time in years - a standard 56kbps (actually not more than 42) dial-up modem. Obviously, being accustomed to 10x that speed, it proved to be a lot of hassle just shifting and sorting through seasonal avalanche of spam emails, never mind essential FTP work for my publishing updates, or using various websites clearly designed for a minimum 1mbps download speeds.

At last, there's a solution in sight, but my online troubles probably won't be over until I can get the BT phone line moved around the house so the main socket is in the back room instead of the front hallway.

Spaced

After messing about, for a week or so, on 'social network' website FaceBook, it was time for Pigasus Press to launch into MySpace. Sad but true...

Wonder how long the latest website presence will stay clear of rubbishy adverts, idiotic comments, and nonsense postings from so-called 'friends' that I've never heard of before?

Facebook

Got my account on http://www.facebook.com/ set-up and working now. It seems easier to figure out than other social networks online. That's probably not surprising, though, as it's certainly much clearer in layouts & content than MySpazz (as it's been called).

No if only I could figure out how to feed my posts here into Facebook!

500gb

Bought an external 500 GB hard drive, made by Western Digital Elements (£78 from Amazon UK), to back-up all my desktop files and provide extra storage for photos, music, and movies. So easy to install, with fast USB 2.0 connection to back of the computer, and it works perfectly straight from the box. Very pleased with this purchase.

iGoogle

Recently set-up iGoogle as my IE7 homepage, added a local weather forecast (useful as I don't watch TV or listen to radio), and quotes/ words of the day have become favourites. I also put a horoscope on there, just for amusement. Yes, yes, yes - I know it's all absolute rubbish... but must confess, I've always had sneaking admiration for astrologers (as writers!), capable of feeding us personal forecasts with cunningly vague advice that could be interpreted a zillion ways. Here's one nugget of fool's gold: "Forget about trying to stay between the extremes of not enough and too much, for it may be more difficult than you expect." These neat little platitudes could apply to everyone, any time, really!

Fridge & PC woes

Got a new fridge. Well, the old one's been struggling for while, since repeated knockabout from neighbouring appliance (Hotpoint washer routinely throws a wobbly during spin-cycle start), so I wasn't surprised it died last weekend. Instruction book advice includes a page on "Getting to know your refrigerator". I tried, but it was a one-sided chat.

On Wednesday 4 April, my computer packed up. It just went off, suddenly (no warning blue-screen of death), then wouldn't start. Thankfully, staff in local shop weren't too busy yesterday to fix it (turned out to a simple job, something to do with power supply and a faulty cooling-fan), and it's still under warranty, so that was a great relief.

Xmas spam!

No broadband link for 30 hours (Sunday afternoon to Monday teatime).
Spam build-up reached new high (for me) with 1,055 messages sorted by Mailwasher.
What's your one-day spam record?

Oii!

'Web inventor fears for the future'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6108578.stm

"Sir Tim Berners-Lee told BBC News... he wants set up a research project to study the social implications of the web's development."


Hmm, anything like this one, Oxford Internet Institute
http://www.oii.ox.ac.uk/
I wonder..?