Flash Website Capture

I have been struggling for a few days trying to find a product that will allow for full downloads of flash content. So far most products have provided good results for static content, but choke on flash content. The open source viewer that works the best for non flash based content is HTTrack -- and for those willing to go commercial try MetaProducts Offline Explorer

Yet still the search for a solution for flash content continues. Post a comment if you have any suggestions.

Exchange Event ID 9646

Possible Causes
Prevents client from overloading Exchange Server 2003.
Default limit is 100 attachments or 250 messages
Article ID: 830836

Tivo Phone system can't tell time

Tivo Support Hours

TiVo Customer Support
Live agent support available: Monday - Sunday
7:00 AM - 8:00 PM Pacific
Phone number: 877-367-8486

It is now 9:14 Eastern and the phones say customer service is closed. Some of the call center agents are probably enjoying the light call volume right now :)

Western Digital 320 Gig Laptop drive

Western Digital has released a massive 320 GB 2.5" SATA drive. The drive features a relatively low 12 ms access time. This is definitely going on my laptop upgrade wish list. Link

Gmail Gets IMAP Support

Good news for iPhone junkies and others. Gmail IMAP

Lower your TV Bills

Take 15 minutes out of your day and review your cable or satellite bill. By dropping several channels, that we never watch anyways, will save us about 20 dollars a month.

Structured Programming

The idea that programs should have a well thought out and document structure. Advocates of structured stressed the use of "if-then-else" logic in place of "Goto" statements and the modularization of the code. modularization increases the codes readability, memory management, reuse.

Pandora - the Music Genome Project

Pandora is quickly becoming a full-time website on my desktop wherever I go. For those few that have not heard of it - Pandora is a customizable stream of music that you listen to from the convenience of your web browser. Even the mandatory ads that are displayed do not interrupt the audio!

School - It better be worth it :)

I know it's been a while since posting any miscellaneous tech articles or links. I have recently changed jobs and started a Masters Degree program. Shockingly it's a MSIT program (insert duh here). Once things settle in I hope to start posting updates with a little more frequency. Until then you three readers out there will have to wait :)

AMD To Intel - It's On

On Monday AMD announce that it's new quad-core processors will be released in the "mid-2007" time frame. AMD has always been my lower cost alternative in regards to desktops. If these quad-core processors hold up to the benchmarks, I might be looking for the AMD inside sticker.

BlackBerry Curve

The BlackBerry Curve is slated to be available this spring from carriers (AT&T is the only named carrier so far). The Curve is the smallest BlackBerry to date that features a full QWERTY keyboard. The curve also features media goodies such as a 2 MP camera, media player, and a microSD expansion slot. I can't wait to check this one out "hands on"

Google - Heading for Online Domination

Google has recently announced plans add presentation software to its' growing list of online applications. Additionally, Google has just acquired Marratech - a video conferencing software company. The terms of the acquisition are not being disclosed.
As more people consider hosted apps - on demand video conferencing would certainly sweeten the pot.

Updated - BlackBerry Outage (somewhat) Explained.

We now have a (somewhat limited) explanation to the cause of the outage on RIM's network that lasted from Tuesday night into Wednesday morning According to statements the outage was caused by "the introduction of a new, non-critical system routine" In the long run this will probably not damage RIM's standing as the "must have" email communication device. Microsoft and others have made some progress in challenging RIM's dominance. Some companies will probably consider different solutions - if not just for backup purposes.

Updated - BlackBerry Outage

Have not heard anything officail yet, but it appears that RIM's network is back online. At least in Washington DC.

BlackBerry Outage

Rim is reporting an outage that is affecting pretty much everyone. What will people do? have conversations? Guess regular old corporate email will rule for the day. Article

Phote Viewing Options - BlackBerry 8700c

I have recently discovered two methods for photo viewing on a BlackBerry 8700c

First, The free method, is to open a Flickr account and use Jive Slide to view photos. This appears to work great, my only concern other than privacy would be connectivity issues on either Flicker's side or my cell carrier.

Second is to use BlackBerry Pix to sync photos from your desktop to your BlackBerry. The positives are that you are not dependent on connectivity and ease of use. The small drawback is the cost is $19.95

Comment on your method for syncing photos and win bragging rights.

SugarCRM for BlackBerry

IEnterprises has announced a BlackBerry friendly extension for SugarCRM. This allows mobile users of IEnterprises' "Mobile Edge for SugarCRM" always on connectivity to their CRM solution.

Yahoo To Offer Infinite Storage!

In May Yahoo will begin to offer unlimited storage to it's Yahoo Mail users. Of course, they state that they will have safeguards in place to keep users from abusing the new "infinite storage. Yahoo is already the web's largest provider of web based email. I'm not sure the promise of "infinite" storage is enough to lure me away from my Gmail addiction, only time will tell.

Confirmed - BlackBerry Pearl Going Red

The BlackBerry Pearl is officially available in red. Previously available in only black or white, the red Pearl adds more consumer flash to the lineup. Available now from the new AT&T (or is it the Old AT&T that split off Cingular and then brought it back in years later?)
The Pearl weighs in at 3.1 ounces and sports a 1.3 mexapixel camera, memory card slot, media playback capabilities.

BlackBerry Pearl Going Red?

RIM's first consumer targeted BlackBerry - The Pearl - may be shedding it's "corporate" standard black or white case for a more vibrant red. The graphic is a concept of what the device may look like - there are no official pics yet. Graphic source - gizmodo.com

Daylight Saving Time - Tips

Gatner Research is estimating that it may cost between 500 million and 1 billion to accommodate the change in daylight saving time. Two very important tips:

Add the time of the meeting to the subject of your meeting invitations for the 3 weeks starting March 11.

Test your system by manually changing your systems date to March 12th. When you look at your clock it should read "Daylight" instead of "Standard"

CRM for Google

Etelos CRM for Google Looks very promising for those who have already embraced some of Google's other online applications. I have just signed up for the free personal account so I can not give you any usability details yet. This may be a CRM tool that will be valuable to the individual as well as SMBs.

Daylight Saving - Update

After about 8 hours of work I think I am well on the way to having the situation under control. One piece of advice, definitely plan out the process for installation and BACKUP, BACKUP, and BACKUP.
The server updates can be easily found on Microsoft's site and pay close attention to the update order for both Exchange and BlackBerry Servers. A WSUS push of the XP updates should be easily accomplished (or script it if you don't have any centralized update process).
Make a list of servers, workstations, and updates first; and follow your checklist - this will help you keep track during your caffeine powered update session

Daylight Saving Prep

If you have not started patching machines in your enviornment (assuming your are a sys admin or someone with IT responsibilities) the clock is now working against you. As you read this I'm spending my Saturday running through my patch checklist. For Windows admins use Microsoft's "Daylight Saving Time Help and Support Center" immediately! I am going to continue my Red Bull induced patching session and update you later on.

Ad-Aware beats McAfee?

Just today I had a workstation with a trojan. It did set off the McAfee port blocking, but a full system scan showed nothing. Running Ad-Aware in safe mode took care of it with no problems. I guess sometimes free software is better than the one's that cost you the big bucks.

Exchange 2003 Storage Groups

In Exchange 2003 you are allowed to create 20 mailbox or public folder stores divided evenly between 4 storage groups. Indexing and circular logging can be enabled on a per storage group basis. Exchange aware backups can be run on multiple storage groups simultaneously.
Some caution should be taken when deciding to use multiple message stores. Drawbacks include: more complicated backups and loss of single instance storage.

BlackBerry 8800

RIM is making it's way towards integrating extra features in to it's once "strictly business" handhelds. The new 8800 now sports push-to-talk, a media player, GPS, and qwerty keyboard

Selecting Your Vista Version

It doesn't get much easier than this chart from Microsoft to select the correct Vista version.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 - Released for Free

No surprise Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 is available as a free download. You still need to license each instance of a guest operating system running within Virtual PC 2007. With VMware and others offering their products for free will probably keep pressure on MS to keep most of their VM product as cheap/free. Download Virtual PC 2007 from MS

Back To School ?!

After several years of dragging my feet I have decided that I need to go back to school. Since I have an BA I am finding it hard to justify my education to my employers. Even though I'm coming up on 10 years of work experience. What remains to be seen is if I can qualify for a Masters in IT Program or (cringe to think of it) go back for a BS first.

Browser Shortcuts and Tips

Some Helpful tips that will help save time in Firefox and IE. Browser Tricks For Faster, Smarter Web Surfing.

Circle Humping USB Dogs

Not really educational - but still funny.

Gmail: Now it's for everyone

After a few years of being invite only, Gmail is now open to all comers. I've been using Gmail for over a year now and find it an extremely useful tool. Gmail can be used as an aggregate reader for several email accounts. Also, there are several productivity plug-ins available for Gmail.

Google News Bar

Google has recently released it's AJAX news bar. To see an example of the code in action check out the sidebar on this page. The news bar allows webmasters/newbies to easily add customized news searches to their page. The layout is also customizable to pretty much any size or orientation you can think of. Google AJAX Search API Page.
Sound off Would you incorporate this feature in to your blog or website?

Vista Outbound Firewall - Does it do Anything?

A recent Computerworld article calls questions the effectiveness of Vista's outbound firewall. It appears that the outbound filtering may be limited to a few Windows services. The firewall may not provide any protection against spreading malware. Full Article

VMware releases new bundle for SMBs

VMware has released a bundle targeting SMBs in particular. VMware server has been a free download since July 2006. The bundle includes 30 days of support and VMware VirtualCenter for VMware. VirtualCenter provides for centralized management, server provisioning, etc. for your business virtual server environment. Check the Full Release

Readyboost Tested

Tom's Hardware Guide has a technical breakdown and test results of Vista's readyboost feature. Full Article

Vista First Impressions

It's been a few days since I installed Vista Premium and I must say that it is starting to grow on me. At first I was a little put off that the location of some common tools have changed, but after two days everything became pretty automatic.
Good Things
Readyboost - working with a 1GB usb drive. Can't tell you for sure if it making a difference, but it does seem to help when loaded down with several apps running at one time.
Aero and Flip 3d - If you ready any tech news sites you probably have already seen a demo of both of these. It does look a lot better in person than when seen on the web.
Potential bad things
Hardware Reqs - Only fairly recent hardware will run Vista in full graphics mode without apparent lag.
There's like 5 different versions which could make it difficult for your average user to make a choice. Before purchasing make sure to browse the different versions
Application Compatibility - Have seen some reports of games not working correctly, personally everything I've loaded has worked in some capacity (Office 2007, Firefox, Money, VMware, Clamwin).