Useful Internet Based Tools

Custom Error Messages & Dialog Boxes @ http://faded.havocaos.com/error/default.aspx

• This site allows you to create custom error messages and dialog boxes for your website, blogs or just for fun. You can use the generator to create messages with custom text and icons for all Windows operating systems, Linux, & Mac.

Free Dealer Locator @ http://www.zipwise.com/weblocator/

• This site will do all the cumbersome programming for your website if you would like to implement a dealer locator feature. It is very easy to use. Just upload your dealer data and the site will generate a code for you to paste on your site.

Voice To Text Notes @ http://www.jott.com/

• Set up an accout with jott.com and you call a telephone number when you are on the run and need to remember something. The service turns your voice message into text and sends you an email.

EXTENSIVE Person Search/Finder @ http://pipl.com/

• This online search engine allows you to search for people, telephone numbers, and email accounts all from one page. It will find stuff you never knew existed! Just type your name in and click search. I never knew there was so much information about me on the web! If you are looking for someone chances are you will find something about them here.

Test Your Internet Connection @ http://www.speedtest.net/

• Test your broadband Internet connection with cool graphics and numbers.

Sea Gate's Replica Drive

This will be my last post. I would like to thank everyone in this class for the informative updates throughout the semester. I have learned a great deal about new technologies.

One of the most important tasks any PC owner should perform is the regular act of backing up their files. Backing up our computers will save our data in the case of a hard drive failure or other technological glitch. Believe me, these "glitches" WILL eventually happen as I know from experience. The sad truth is that the majority of us, and I do mean the VAST majority, do not back up our data. After losing around 2,000 digital pictures and tons of other important data back in 2001 thanks to a hard drive crash, I still do not take the time to perform backups on my computers. Of course, if I worked in a profession where I maintained computers I would perform the backups, probably because it was not my data. But, for the most part, we personal PC owners do not protect our data. Why are we so stubborn?

One issue is the amount of time that performing a backup consumes. I believe another reason is that most of us do not believe anything will ever happen to our PC's. We are too reliable on them. A final reason that most of us do not perform backups is that we are just plain lazy.

Well, we may no longer have to worry about backing up our machines as Sea Gate has released a device called "Replica Drive". This device, an external hard dive, will backup everything, yes EVERYTHING, on your PC. This action can be performed when prompted or at scheduled times throughout the day or month.

The drive comes in two versions, 250 and 500 GB.The mainstream 5400 rpm drives connect to a PC via a 480 Mb/s USB 2.0 port.

Now we have no excuses, not that we ever REALLY did.

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/42185/135/

Virtual Border Patrol

Now, anyone with an Internet connection (and a lot of free time on their hands) can take part in patrolling our nation's border with Mexico. BlueServo.net is a new website being run by the Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition that features numerous live video feeds of the Lone Star State's border with Mexico.

The site, launched back in November, has already received over 20 million visitors and allows registered users to examine 15 different camera feeds of the dessert, the Rio Grande, and the mountains that make up the border. If a user spots something suspicious, they can email the local law enforcement who will then determine whether or not to act. The cameras are placed in areas a long the border where there is no fencing system and places where guards do not patrol as often. Most of the cameras are hidden from view.

Supporters of the site see the cameras as an effort to halt illegal immigration as our border with Mexico is not completely barricaded yet. On the other hand, critics claim the site is a breeding ground for extremists and that border patrol should be left up to professionals.

Since the site was launched, only four arrests have been made that can be attributed to the cameras. The site was paid for by a $2 million grant from the state of Texas.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/03/12/border.security.cameras.immigration/index.html

Goodbye Encarta

I remember as if it was yesterday: I was around 13 years old sitting in front my IBM Aptiva home computer (complete with gigantic energy hungry CRT monitor) surfing the web via a dial up connection on AOL. Green Day was playing through the computer's speakers at levels probably louder than allowed in our house as I flipped back and forth from Encarta to an AOL instant message with some high school girl I was chasing at the time. It was the night before a big research assignment was due for school....

Some of you may remeber the days described above. These were the days long before Google, Wikipedia, and DSL connections when most of us were using Microsoft's Encart Encyclodpedia to find information. We used the mapping features of Encarta like we use Google Earth today. Of course, we didn't have satelite images but no one even knew what they were back then. Those days are long gone and now, we must also say goodbye to Encarta.

Microsoft reports that Encarta will shut down globally on December 31, 2009. By June, Encarta will have vanished from store shelves. Nevertheless, Microsoft promises to provide support for the product for another three years.

So what has caused the death of Encarta? Microsoft credits Wikipedia, Google, and other free premium research providers. Software users are already struggling in a deepening recession and fees for research software are no longer a priority, espcially since they can get the same information for free.

Microsoft tried to compete with these giant entities but failed miserably. They offered two free hours of search results with their online Encarta service and even integrated the software in to their Live search feature.

So, in the end, we must say goodbye to Encarta. It was fun while it lasted......maybe we will see you again someday on "I Love The 90's".

http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/41900/141/

Final Version Of IE8 FINALLY Released

Microsoft released the final version of Internet Explorer 8 last Thursday at noon. This comes after criticism from the industry towards Microsoft for being behind in browser updates. Internet Explorer 7 was released way back in 2006. Since then, we have seem the birth of Google Chrome, Firefox 3, and Opera 9.6. So why did it take Microsoft so long to develop IE7's successor?

Microsoft released its beta version of IE8 last year and the first RC to the Internet world in January. During this time, I downloaded IE8. I cannot remember which one I downloaded, beta or RC, but what I do remember is how poorly the browser performed. I have ALWAYS stood by Microsoft products and used Internet Explorer since I knew what a computer was. Nevertheless, I was very unsatisfied with my test of IE8. I know, I know, I should not complain about a beta version but give me a break. The browser would not load some sites at all and other sites caused the browser to crash. I had to keep pressing the button that activated "Compatibility Mode" as well. Within a week, I had rolled back to IE7.

I have yet to download the final release candidate of IE8. I hope Microsoft has fixed all the problems I encountered in my test run. I plan to give it another try in the coming weeks.

I understand that everyone else in the world is eating, sleeping, and breathing Firefox but I do not like Mozilla's browser. I never have and I guess I never will. I believe it to be a very reliable and stable browser but I prefer Internet Explorer. I guess I am not use to Firefox and stuck in my ways.

Here is what Microsoft is saying about Internet Explorer 8:

• blocks two to four times the malware of rival browsers
• holds the speed record browsing 15 to 20 of the top worldwide sites
• pages with JavaScript load much faster
• pages with heavy CSS coding load much faster
• feature web slices and accelerators
• available in 25 different languages
• faster page load times than any other browser on the market
• improved Live Search with visual search suggestions

If anyone has any opinions about IE8 or IE in general I would like to hear them!

http://www.dailytech.com/Microsoft+Internet+Explorer+8+Launches+at+Noon/article14620.htm

Microsoft Surface

Microsoft Surface, initially released in early 2008, is gaining more popularity as it becomes available to more individuals. You may remember seeing Microsoft Surface's technology in the hit TV program CSI as well as during the 2008 presidential elections on MSNBC.

Microsoft Surface, code named Milan, is a surface computing platform that responds to a user's hand gestures and real world objects such as cell phone and digital cameras. Surface is similar to a very large touch-screen computer that you can interact with. Most models that have been used for TV shows and news casts have been placed up-right similar to a TV screen but Microsoft Surface is actually manufactured to set horizontally in a coffee table or other flat desk top surface. There has even been talk about placing Microsoft Surface inside kitchen counters of high-tech homes.

Users can interact with Surface by dragging/re-sizing pictures, videos, and programs around the screen and from one device to another without even plugging the devices into the platform. Microsoft Surface theoretically takes digital data and makes it physical again for us to move and manipulate.

Of course, this device is rather expensive and currently available only for use in high-end applications such as TV, hospitals, hotels, and casinos. The going price for a Microsoft Surface platform is between $2,000 and $5,000.

Check out this video of Surface in action! Completely mind-blowing!

http://video.popularmechanics.com/services/link/bcpid932579976/bclid932553050/bctid933742930

The day I get my hands on one of these is the day I never leave home again!!!!

Microsoft Surface Website: http://www.microsoft.com/surface/Default.aspx

Water World Reality

As if exploring other planets and planning to possibly live on them one day is a little too far from civilization for you then maybe this idea will do.

Engineers are planning to build an entire city on the open seas of the Pacific. Although Atlantis type cities have been pondered in the past, recent advances in architectural technology have allowed researchers to develop plans for a floating city off the coast of San Fransisco, CA.

The Seasteading Institute has already assembled a group of architects that have drawn this city complete with homes, factories/workplaces, stores and common areas. The initial city would be a prototype or "test" city that would pave the way for others. The city will be composed of "modular" type building that can be detached from the main city and moved around!

Of course researchers are still trying to develop ways around those pesky open sea storms and the salt water that would nearly destroy everything after years of exposure.

And here is the really interesting news: Seasteading Institute elaborates on the stating, "The new city will sport unique architecture and possibly its own unique government, which could serve as a test bed for social theories. " "The idea isn't just about getting away from rules or getting rid of rules. It's about a system that encourages experimentation with different political systems." "The sea society might offer such changes as the legalization of marijuana, communal IP, and effectively legalizing file sharing." (Notice how it says they ELABORATE on that topic!)

A city filled with people that stay high all day and share Bob Marley songs on Limewire with absolutely no government!

This I HAVE to see.

http://www.dailytech.com/Engineers+Planning+Waterworldesque+Floating+City+at+Sea/article14539.htm