Mrs. Mecombers Scrapbook A blog about computers, sofware, programs, downloads, tips, and tweaks-- for the average user. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 0 0 84 3834

Articles from Mrs. Mecombers Scrapbook

A Little DSL Modem Tip 2008-02-07 16:39:00 I've had trouble for the past two or three weeks with my DSL router/modem. It's a combination router and modem, and allows us to connect via ethernet and wireless. However, for some inexplicable reason, the wireless wouldn't work. We couldn't connect the laptops to the network or to the Internet. I did all sorts of troubleshooting, and finally came to the conclusion that it was the modem and not anything else (like the PC cards or the telephone service). Usually, I unplug the modem from the telephone jack and the power source. I do this with our cordless telephone, too. Sometimes these devices just need a refresh to get back to business. But not even these techniques worked. I was surfing around, and found a person or two who had the same problem. One response was to update the software for the modem. Hm. I had never updated the software since I got DSL service, about two years ago!I went to my ISP's home page and looked around for software update notifications. Amazingly, I found ...

How To Create Your Own Page Template for Wordpress 2008-02-06 15:12:00 I have a Wordpress-based travel blog, New York Traveler.net, and I utilize Google Maps as an interactive method of mapping my travels and for easy reference. Google Maps are great because you can do so much with them, and you can customize the size you want to put the map on your blog. So I put my New York Travel map on a separate page on the blog. Yet I was only able to put a small portion of my map on the page, because all my blog's pages have the basic blog's template header, footer, and sidebars. I wanted to keep the header and footer, but I didn't want the sidebars and I wanted the map to expand the entire width of the page.I only wanted to have this style for just that one map page-- all my other pages I still wanted the sidebars. There was nothing in the Wordpress options that enabled me to change the page's style for only this one page.I am pleased to say that I figured it out! It wasn't terribly difficult (trial and error). It helped immensely to do a little research. I' ...

Internet Explorer STINKS, People! 2008-02-05 20:42:00 I was recently informed that this blog was not showing up as it should for users still using the Internet Explorer browser. I have tested this blog on IE before, and it worked fine... the blog looks GREAT in Firefox, so I've been ignorant of the recent problems. I haven't changed anything with the html for this blog, so I have NO IDEA why today it looks so terrible in IE. I use Firefox and never touch IE if I have to, so I had no idea of the problems until late tonight. I think this is a good time for me to go on another anti-IE rant. If you folks are still using the defunct and banal Internet Explorer, this is a good example of why you should switch to Firefox! :DYou can download the great Firefox browser here. Unfortunately, I don't have any time to fix my blog tonight... sorry about that. ... Internet

Pull the Plug 2008-02-02 15:29:00 This news story made me laugh.STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) — Criminals were seconds away from robbing a bank by remote control when an alert employee literally pulled the plug on their brazen scam, Swedish investigators said Wednesday.The would-be robbers had placed "advanced technical equipment" under the employee's desk that allowed them to take control of his computer remotely, prosecutor Thomas Balter Nordenman said in a statement.The employee discovered the device shortly after he realized his computer had started an operation to transfer "millions" from the bank into another account, Nordenman said."By pulling out the cable to the device, the employee managed to stop the intended transfer at the last second," he said.Talk about a low-tech way of foiling crooks! Hurray for this quick-thinking Swede! The bank is eerily quiet on how the "advanced technical equipment" was installed under the desk, or what kind of equipment it was. Hmm ...

A Review of Kiviniar.com 2008-02-01 20:15:00 Taking a look at Kiviniar.com, I was impressed at once with the clean, sleek look of the blog design. The flashy widget ads are neatly tucked into a teal box in the sidebar. No clutter here! I love the web design.The header at the very top says "kiviniar" and "simple webmaster advise." I think the word advise is spelled wrong, if Kiviniar intends a sentence there. It should be "advice." The navigation bar beneath the header is very classy. The date of the blog post is tucked neatly within a box beside the post title. Overall, I just love the blog design! I want one!The content is a little sparse on personality, but the content is quite good. A blog should ooze with the writer's personality, IMHO. A blog is an extremely personal form of writing, and should be peppered with humor, sass, or schtick. Of course, the topics one blogs about aren't all going to be Abbott and Costello quality (and webmaster chat is a bit dry); yet the author's personality should come through. Relax a little ...

How To Put Blogrolls in a Scrolling Box 2008-01-29 10:05:00 I have a few blogrolls, and some are extraneously long. One way to harness long blogrolls is to insert the code into a "scrolling box." The scrolling box is merely some html code that tells the computer how to show the text.ALL YOUR WONDERFUL BLOGROLL INFORMATION WILL GO RIGHT HEREThe code for this is actually looks like this:<center><div>ALL YOUR WONDERFUL BLOGROLL INFORMATION WILL GO RIGHT HERE</div></center>You can change anything you want to customize the scroll box. Here, I tinkered with a little of the code:ALL YOUR WONDERFUL BLOGROLL INFORMATION WILL GO RIGHT HERE ALL YOUR WONDERFUL BLOGROLL INFORMATION WILL GO RIGHT HERE ALL YOUR WONDERFUL BLOGROLL INFORMATION WILL GO RIGHT HERE ALL YOUR WONDERFUL BLOGROLL INFORMATION WILL GO RIGHT HERE ALL YOUR WONDERFUL BLOGROLL INFORMATION WILL GO RIGHT HERE ALL YOUR WONDERFUL BLOGROLL INFORMATION WILL GO RIGHT HERE ALL YOUR WONDERFUL BLOGROLL INFORMATION WILL GO RIGHT HERE ALL YOUR WONDERFUL BLOGROLL INFORMATION WILL GO ...

Review of Ideal Absolutes Blog 2008-01-28 18:47:00 Wow, um, what can I say about Ideal Absolutes. It's creativity in hyper-drive. The author comes at ya, blasting bullets of humor, geekery, and current events in staccato machine-gun rapid fire. It's fun, if a bit risque, in content. This post made me literally laugh out loud--- but it's a little too mature for the kids, in my opinion (but older computer geeks can giggle privately). And I've never known anyone to dare mix Hegel and Southern Yard Art before. Eclectic, eccentric, and energetic-- that's the content of this blog.The blog design is minimal with a twist here and there. I like it; it's clean and perfunctory. I failed to see the meaning of the tattooed dude in the sidebar... besides that odd photo, the rest of the blog blends nicely with the content. Everything (archives, contact, about, etc) is very handy and easy to navigate. I like that. I must say that the content was so minimal that I kept expecting more. For example, there's so much information in the sidebars, but ...

Reviewing Allan's World Music 2008-01-27 18:45:00 My husband is a musician. He listens to everything. Believe me, I've heard it all! Country, metal, grunge, gospel, funk, pop, disco, and indie. Indie is short for "independent" and is the musical branch of the "do it yourself" culture. Technology and education has really contributed to its rise. There is a ton of great talent out there. Rather than wait for the recording industry to "discover" them, musicians are just playing their own songs, making their own CDs, and distributing their stuff thanks to the Internet. One of my favorite bands, Third Day, started out independent (but were "discovered" and later went mainstream). When I was younger, we called them "garage bands." Indie music usually has its own subculture built around it, too.Allan's World Music is a multi-authored blog highlighting different indie groups and music, and offers reviews of indie albums. Allan seems to be the master of ceremonies at the blog. He and the other authors are media-minded and include short audi ...

The Beandom Pages 2008-01-27 15:43:00 I recently reviewed a page from the Beandom website, The Space Turtle. This is part two of reviewing more pages within the site.The Beandom is a fanciful and fun collection of websites done by Justin Lowmaster (aka, Chivalrybean). I love the entre page: there's a classy clipper ship (or is it a schooner?), a banner, and a selection of links to take you on your journey. It's very professional-looking and quite elegant.I visited The Blogdom, a suburb of the Beandom (who knew?) and Beanspiration. I also checked out the other two links, Games (which took me to a beta testing website for what looks to be a promising computer game) and the Beandom Forum (also under construction). Since there is some activity going on at the first two, I'll address those.Beanspiration is new. It has a few posts. The template is the default "Kubrick" theme by Wordpress (yuk). Seeing how classy the rest of the Beandom is, I strongly suspect this blog to get some new clothes when things get rolling. Right now ...

Review of The Space Turtle 2008-01-27 15:02:00 Mrs. Mecomber (uh, that's me. I sometimes speak about myself in the third person) has the pleasant opportunity to review blogs for those who request a review. It's a free review, I ask nothing in return except a visit to my humble blog to read the review.I'm fresh from checking out an entertaining blog called The Space Turtle: odd news that never happened, stories that entertain. The stories certainly do entertain. The post titled "Russian Subs Seen at Los Angeles Coast" caught my attention. When I read that sandwich mogul Crazy Ivan has just opened up a submarine sandwich shop in California, I had a good laugh. The Space Turtle reminds me of Scrappleface with the good humor and entertaining stories-- very "punny," as my husband calls them.The design of the blog is clean and very simple. I usually dislike dark backgrounds with light-colored font, but the color scheme complements the style of the blog's content. There are few diversions in the sidebars, supposedly, I assume, to keep ...

Multi-User Computing 2008-01-26 17:10:00 I'm checking out something new I've just heard of-- multi-user computing. Apparently, a little device enables you to split up your computer into partitions that can be shared across multiple monitors and peripherals. Basically-- one computer can be used to have multiple users. This is not about those multiple monitors that's becoming the new rage-- this is one computer, many users. My curiosity is piqued! Check this place out for more information. ...

It's a Google World 2008-01-26 08:11:00 I really don't keep up with the Search Engine Optimization end of the news or developments. I prefer to stick to simple, basic computing news for average computer users. But I did find a very interesting interview with Matt Cutts from Google. I guess the Internet is at the point where "When Google talk, even E.F. Hutton listens." It's a shame that, all so often, a good thing comes under so much control by one company.I like Google, I think they have earned their success, and are a great benefit to the Internet world. But I am uncomfortable with seeing their tentacles into everything. It's good reading to see what they are up to and how they "rule" the Internet. As one blogger put it, "it's a Google world."If you are interesting in optimizing your website or blog, or discovering the likes and dislikes of the Googlebot, read the article. It's here. ... Google

Identity Crisis 2008-01-23 20:05:00 Wanna know what really irks me? The latest public radio ads I keep hearing on TV. They are set to corny country music, trying to be humorous about something that is not humorous at all. In the ad, a guy sings a song, telling why he is now working at a cheap diner trying to scrape by-- because he didn't protect his identity and it was stolen... and he was robbed out of his skin. So, he works three lousy jobs trying to build his life back again.Hardy har har! So funny! The ad ends with the government telling you how you really should protect your identity more.Then I read stories like this one:Personal information on about 650,000 customers of J.C. Penney and up to 100 other retailers could be compromised after a computer tape went missing. GE Money, which handles credit card operations for Penney and many other retailers, said Thursday night that the missing information includes Social Security numbers for about 150,000 people.The information was on a backup computer tape that was disc ...

Security News 2008-01-23 19:40:00 Well, I'm ignoring my own technical problems with my stupid printer to let you know about some important developments in the computer world. One has to do with an important security breach on home routers. It's important because more and more people are using routers to connect to the Internet via broadband or cable.In this particular attack, an email is infected with malware. if you open the email, malicious code takes over.According to Symantec researcher Zulfikar Ramzan, the attack changes a router's settings controlling the domain name system server that translates domain names like theregister.co.uk into numerical IP address.Malicious javascript code embedded into one email message he uncovered caused the URL for a popular Mexico-based bank to map to a fraudulent website controlled by the attackers. Anyone who tried to do business on the rogue site would have their banking credentials lifted.If you have changed the default administration name and password (most routers use "adm ...

Busy Busy 2008-01-23 18:17:00 I haven't had any time to devote to this blog lately. I'm actually avoiding technical news right now... because I have HAD IT with technical things these days. I've been in the midst of a major printing problem (my stupid laser printer won't print via my home network, and I've tried everything!), and have had a few new problems compound on top of it. And there are some other tecchie issues I'm working on that are absorbing all my attention. Soon I'll be writing about more cool gadgets and blogging more information.But right now... well, what I always say, "Technology is a great convenience, until something goes wrong!" ...