Wish Washy

Another week, another batch of good links. Enjoy...

Useful links

- 50 Directories to Submit your blog to - For free
- Tutorials for any topic, photoshop, software etc
- 35 things to avoid at an interview
- Guide to Installing Wordpress on a Windows machine
- Brain wave controlled gaming
- Mouldable / Moulded mouse
- Blue lounge space station - fix your cable mess for good
- Find your Windows XP CD key in 10 seconds
- Tabs generator


Time Wasters

- Worlds strangest clocks
- Cool Cloth physics page
- Endless / Senseless collaborative book
- Trees eat anything
- Funny pranks you can play on your workmates computer
- Introducing the Eyeclops!

Heres a wierd one for all you techies out there to answer. Have a look at the following image, taken from one of our Servers at work:






Anyone who can tell me how that message would end up on the desktop gets a shiny Cracker. (And no it is not a photoshopped image).

Although I wouldnt call my blog successful in any way, I have noticed an undeniable trend in regards to professional bloggers:

Background info:

Our company is owned by a Japanese company, and hence we have many Japanese visitors to our site. While on site, one Japanese man brought us some Japanese Crackers, all the way from Japan (funnily enough).



No worries, I thought, after lunch snack. That is, until I turned it over:

What the freak is that? A stay fresh packet? Jeebus, I hate to think how old that cracker is. Looks like it could be as old as me... Probably not a health risk, just turned me way off it.

Im not the only one, I see that every desk still has the cracker sitting on it. Im sure as hell not going to be the first to try it.

Its still sitting on my desk, ill eat it if I get 15 comments daring me to do so...

In my line of work there are hundreds of problems yearly with network connectivity losses. As such, I have developed an informal list of tools and tricks to diagnose and fix network problems. Until now, this list has been stored safely in my head, but I would like to share with you the steps I go through to diagnose network connectivity issues. I try to make the steps systematic, by testing for the most common problems first, and then moving on to more specific issues.
Although this list is both for home and business networks, note that some of the items in this list cant be done for a home network.

This is a multi part series of tips, with this first one being an overview and showing you how to make sure you really do have a problem, and maybe (if your lucky) know where that problem lie. Subsequent parts will go into much more detail on the nitty gritty of network management and troubleshooting.



Before we start, from experience I can tell you that most network connectivity issues wont be caused by faulty cables (but some will). This is a common misconception. Unless a cable has been moved or put under some sort of strain, it wont become faulty all by itself.


Another quick message before I begin. When searching for network problems, it helps to understand exactly what happened to make the network connection fail, because you can bet your bottom dollar a similar issue will occur again, either on the same station or a different one.



A sure-fire way to understand network issues is to only change one thing at a time. I repeat, Change one thing, then test. I cant make this clear enough. Network diagnostics is naturally a trial and error process, and therefore experience and understanding is necessary to diagnose a problem faster.



1. Try to ping another computer. Preferably a server on your network, or a computer that you know is on and connected to the network. This proves or disproves there is a problem with the network connectivity. Use the following procedure to ping a computer.



Open the start menu, and select Run.



type cmd into the text box.



This will open the Command window. Type ping [servername] and hit enter.



An example of a ping command on my network: ping home1, where home1 is the name of the server I am trying to reach.



A successful ping should return something similar to the following:



pinging home1 [200.20.200.200] with 32 bytes of data:



Reply from 200.20.200.200: bytes=32 time<1ms ttl="">
Reply from 200.20.200.200: bytes=32 time<1ms ttl="">
Reply from 200.20.200.200: bytes=32 time<1ms ttl="">


Ping statistics for 200.20.200.200:Packets: Sent = 4, Recieved = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss);
Approximate round trip time in Milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

The above step will prove or disprove that there is a problem on the network. If there is, then continue:



- Locate your current network connection, and see if it is connected. If there is a "network cable unplugged" error, then you have a problem somewhere with the cable.

There is a big difference between IM and email, but it seems to be shrinking for some reason. I cant count how many times I see "Hey wat up? Hows life wit U? Saw Jim the other day, and I was like WTF?!?" Thats IM talk, not email talk.


Email is now the prime medium for business communication. Nothing will beat a phone conversation for communicating effectively, but there are many more emails floating around than phone conversations.


However, this doesnt mean to structure your emails like a presentation, as they are in essence a communication and conversational tool. The key is knowing when to be formal, and when to be informal (but not too sloppy).


So the top tip today is to always type in correct language in email. It cant take that much more of your time or effort to do so, and those that dont know what WTF, GTG, ROFL, and LOL mean will thanks you for it.

Dont SHOUT!

In the computer world, using capitals in writing is considered shouting. Not only is it hard to read, it is also considered rude. The recipient gets the impression while reading that you are shouting at him or her for some reason.




One major problems with email is the lack of cues a person can use to determine the sender's intent. For example, in a phone conversation, the recipient can tell if a person is playing a joke by saying "you should tell the boss I said he is an ass" by the way they talk light heartedly and laugh, but in an email conversation, this may be interpreted as a seriou request or threat.


It is therefore imperative that you make your meaning and intent absolutely clear. If a message can be misunderstood, chances are it will, landing you in hot water.



This tip is not necessarily gospel, but in my personal opinion it is commonsense and courtesy to be wary of when to use formal signatures in email.

Formal signatures whould only be used in emails sent to external sources. Signatures are a handy way of conveying contact and qualification details. However, chances are one of your work collegues already knows everything about you, and doesnt give a rats about your qualifications.

So the best thing to do for internal emails is to leave the formal signatures out. Having a simple end to internal emails also gives the impression that it is a more personal message.


In regards to replying to emails, you should also never use formal signatures. This is common knowledge. If you sent the first message, your details will already be in the email, if you were sent the email first, they already have your details, dont spam them again.



I dont know why this is so hard for some people. The subject field is one of the most important pieces of information. Without it, a person does not know what the email contains. They can open it to see what it is about of course, but who wants more spammers knowing their email is active??


It also helps when categorising and sorting email. Those without a subject field can be hard to sort, or can take valuable time reading them again.



This is simply for the privacy of the recipients. If your email is to be sent to many people, you should use the Blind Carbon Copy field.


The BCC field is simpy a CC field, but is hidden from the view of the recipients. I, for one, dont want my email address to be spammed to however wants to see it, so use this courtesy tool well.




This is a big one for the email beginners out there; Dont forward your junk mail to us. There are many reasons why this is a bad idea:


- It lets spammers know that yours (and our) emails are active, opening the door for huge amounts of spam.
- It clogs our inboxes. We dont want your crap, keep it to yourself.
- It could contain viruses. A lot of junk emails contain hidden viruses, which are designed to be replicated to any email address it gets forwarded to.
- Above all; No, we dont want ink cartridges for half price, we dont want to know about the bad things that happens to us if we dont reply to that email, we dont want the latest in Viagra research...




This is an important point for me. Its fine to babble in your blog or on your website; people dont have to read it if they dont want. But dont babble in your emails. People are busy, and dont have time to read pages long emails. If you keep it short and sweet, you can get your message across a lot clearer, and you avoid the risk of someone not reading the email due to it being far too drawn out.


This last tip is both a security measure for you, and a common courtesy for others:



This helps to keep the junk email away, and also the viruses that accompany them. This is both for your benefit (less junk email, less risk of being infected) and for your recipients (less chance of second hand infection, less junk email to be forwarded).


I recommend using Spambayes for your junk email filtering. It uses a learning system for sorting junk email and legitimate email. You teach it what is good, and what is junk. Expect a few false positives, and a few false negatives at the start, but once you teach the program, it is a powerful tool.


For email virus scanning, I use CA Etrust Antivirus. It is not a free antivirus however. I recommend AVG Antivirus for those of the tight-wallet.

For those readers who are not from Australia, heres a quick overview of Underbelly:

Underbelly is a 14 part miniseries airing on free to air television. It is the story of the Melbourne Gangland wars, and the deaths and crimes during these times.

The show stars Vince Colosimo (who I must say plays and excellent role), A prominent Australian actor, playing Alphonse Gangitano, noted for his part in the underworld killings.

The show has a huge list of top Aussie actors, and promises to be compelling viewing.

The show hasnt been without controversy, however. Justice Betty King of the Supreme court banned Underbelly from being aired in Victoria, due to the belief that it could prejudice the trial of a Melbourne gangland figure currently being tried.

This proved unsuccessful, naturally, as within just half an hour of screening, Underbelly was available to download on Pirated websites.

Seriously, though, do these people want the public to turn to pirating to get the shows they want to watch?? I mean, im sure people can determine the difference between a television show and a real life trial! One of the biggest reasons people pirate television shows and movies is because of the fact that certain areas get to watch the shows before other areas. If worldwide releases were concurrent, the pirating issue would be far less critical as it is now...

As of this morning, over 600 people have downloaded the episode from Torrent websites.

Stumble upon this great cartoon, showing just how reliant we are on, and how dominant, email is in our world. Courtesy of WeBlogCartoons.

Im not huge on the contests running around blogs at the moment, but im going to get on this one. BloggingMix is holding a worthwhile contest, giving away:

Sorry had to delete this post due to violations of image copyright...

For those of you that have *ahem* sensitive apps installed on your computer that you want hidden from the inquisitive eye, this tip is just what you need.

Heres a collection of all sorts of comics and snippets I have found in my stumbling. Many more to come:


http://www.nataliedee.com/nd-archives/ndarchive-jan08.php

http://www.filibustercartoons.com/comics/20080111.gif

http://www.mine-dog.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2912

http://www.fiddyp.co.uk/the-binary-cake/

http://www.myconfinedspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/03/lame.gif

http://imagechan.com/img/img.php?id=3459

http://www.amazingsuperpowers.com/ComicArchive/032.htm

http://theflowfieldunity.com/?p=297

There are rules for golf, then there are Guys rules for playing golf. This is that list:

Heres a fresh batch of extremely helpful computer tips and tricks. Just something to pass the time...

Default Password list - A massive list of Default passwords for basically any device you can think of. A definate bookmark.
Clean out a new computer of all the bloatware - A list of things to do to get the most out of a new computer, from deleting unnecessary bloatware to keyboard shortcuts.
How to download anything - A basic guide aimed at beginners in the torrent download world.
Choose the best search method - An excellent list of different types of search engines, and which are the ideal to use for shich situation.
20 free downloads you shouldnt live without - 20 free tools that will make your computer life easier.
Video - Google is better than Limewire for downloading MP3's - A great video showing how to find downloadable MP3s on Google with ease.
List of tutorial sites - A list of sites that teach you how to do stuff.
cl1p.net - Securely copy and paste between computers in a couple of easy steps.
Temporary spam box - You can create a temporary email address for sites that require authenicated logins, but you dont want the spam that comes with it.
Photoshop photo edits - Instructions for making your photos come out better with photoshop.
Dropboks - Simple, Secure online file storage.
Filehoo - Download freeware and shareware programs - Huge list!
GuerillaMail - Temporary, Disposable email address.
Make your USB key into a Digital swiss army knife.
IamUnblocked - Unblock websites with this proxy.
LostPassword - Password recovery software.
Online FLV convertor - Use this site to download any embedded / streaming video on almost any website.

Although not part of my plan for this blog, I have recently become interested in making money from blogs. It would be a great life, becoming a professional blogger, working from home, making 6 figures etc etc.

A really good blog that has tweaked my interest is moneyblogger. Unlike many of the other money making blogs, most posts are highly informative, and dont simply repeat the same material with a slightly different twist. It is on my subscription list, for when I want to start monetising my blog.

While you are there, check out the iPod nano contest. It is aimed at other bloggers, who get to be in the running to win this amazing little gadget. Be sure to have a look. Its easy to enter, and you've got nothing to lose!

Here I am, sitting at work on Monday morning, not feeling at all like I had a weekend. But it was worth it, boy was it worth it!

You see, I had my Girlfriend's 21st birthday party on Saturday night, so it was a hectic weekend to say the least.

It all started on Friday night, we setup the club room exactly how the birthday girl wanted. And we all know how hard that can be! Finished up about 10pm that night, deciding to go home and have a decent nights sleep before the long night to follow.

Saturday morning, we setup the jukebox and finished the decorations, along with all the food, which there was, in bucketloads. Everything was turning out perfectly, everything was running like a well oiled machine. Famous last words...

The bday girl's hairdresser (family friend) decided she was only going to be able to do her hair after 4pm, for some unknown reason. Cue added stress for the already stressed out party girl.
All the while she was stressing, I sat down and watched the cricket :) Just kidding, I did everything I could to de-stress the situation...In between ads...

After the hair was done, it was down to the club room for me, to help with the food preparation. It was all going great, which I must thank the bday girl's parents, aunty and family friends, who all decided to pack into the kitchen, which left more chiefs than workers, but they all had their hearts in the right place.

Shoot back home, have a quick scrub, get dressed, and by that time my girlfriend was ready to go, looking stunning might I add ;) Black dress, long legs, beautiful hair, what more could you ask for.... .... .... *ahem* sorry, off on a tangent there.

Rock up to the party by 7, everyone starts to show up by 8, just the way it goes, fashoinably late, or something like that...

Fast forward to Speech time, and it was cue father-bear. A man of very few words, softly spoken, I think he showed just how much he appreciated his daughter, by overcoming his fear of speaking, and delivering a great speech, followed up by a heart warming story. Her friends had a special speech and funny gifts planned, which they delivered next. Before I knew it, 5 people had already had a speech. I, on the other hand, am really dreadful at public speaking, and would have only had a speech if her best friend didnt. You see, we had a sort-of combined speech, with much the same content, but im glad to say she done the job, and rather well at that.

The party went on thus, with many beers sunk, and lots of dancing. It was a great night, and the birthday girl couldnt have been happier.

In retrospect, I am really disappointed in myself for not having a speech, after all, I have been going out with my girlfriend for a few years now.. Im also a bit disappointed in myself for not mingling more; I stayed more in my group of friends, which I tend to do rather often. But that is the way I am. I have to find something to beat myself up over, it seems to be a family trait, but more about that later.

I finished off the weekend by watching a tragically predictable movie 'Evan Almighty' at home with my family, which, other than the movie, was all good times. I blame myself though, for even thinking about hiring it!

All in all, a great weekend, but one that I wouldnt soon do again!

While I am on the Aussie blogging topic (I am an aussie, so promoting it is my duty), I want to direct any readers to the Onblogging Australia Blog, perticularly the Aussie Bloggers on Entrecard post. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Entrecard, here is a great how-to to getting started with Entrecard courtesy of Sephyroth.

As I have made clear in previous posts, I believe that Australia is a very often overlooked country, and technology and the internet are no exception. In a world where everything is focused on the American way of life, alternatives are hard to come by. It is for this reason that the following blog post was written, and the reason for the ever increasing user base on the Aussie Bloggers Forum.

Some of you may think 'hey, blogging is really a 'non-country specific activity', but it is not. Many a blog I have read have tried to remain non-country specific to try to get more traffic and readers through their blogs. However many fall short by focusing on their country specific details, rather than the entire posts. For example, gaming blogs focus on games, which are non-country specific, but as you read the posts, you get such things as American release dates, American review sites etc, which turns some Aussies (and other nationalities for that matter) away from the blog.

I guess im trying to say that Australia-specific blogging has a real future, and seems to have a good user base to start with. Couple this with the lack of Aussie blogging topics, and you have a starting point for a really popular blog / website. Food for thought.

Be sure to have a look at both the Onblogging Aussie bloggers list, as well as the Aussie Blogging forum, irregardless of nationality. It may open your eyes to a world of possible opportunities...