The IT Room

Check out this preview page for The IT Room. Looks to be a new online company satire of the day-to-day operations of a standard IT department ... that is if 'standard' means having a midget, a monkey, and a leggy blond on the team.

Computer Support - Buyers Beware

I recently saw a CBC Marketplace episode exposing the bad side of computer support. Being in the industry, it kills me to see people being taken advantage of like this. This video is well worth the 30 minutes it takes to watch. Please also watch it with a grain of salt - the report is a bit biased but for the most part it's very revealing.

http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2007/10/03/geeks/

IMAP, Gmail, and Blackberry. One happy family.

Google finally release IMAP support for Gmail. Just go here so I don't have to explain it all again.

I'm just happy to consolidate my emails on my Blackberry. Here's a how-to link on setting it up. Very easy.

Now to just rid my world of Hotmail and I'll have total email consolidation!

The Switch from Outlook to Google

I have long been a fan and supporter of all things Google. I'm not necessarily a Microsoft-hater, but Outlook has been testing my patience as of late. I currently use Gmail to check 3 gmail accounts and my university alumni account through a POP3 server. In my perfect world it would also check my hotmail account, but Mr. Gates isn't letting that happen any time soon.

Outlook is used for my work email, work/personal calendar, work/personal contacts, Blackberry sync, and password storage. In an effort to simplify my life I decided to move my work email to Gmail, and these are some of the challenges I encountered along the way:

1. Email: Some email comes into my Inbox and gets sorted via Outlook Rules. I'm losing that in Gmail. But since the reason I sort is ultimately to organize my emails so I can find them in the future, I don't really need to do it anymore - Gmail has far superior searching capabilities than Outlook. I have a fancy signature for my work email, and I can't seem to replicate it in Gmail. Might have to cut'n'paste it...arg!
   
2. Calendar: Automatic birthdays,Colour coding items, Link to Blackberry
   
3. Contacts: Link to Blackberry, Easy export
   
4. Tasks: Used only in conjunction with my CRM; will be replaced within SalesForce
   
5. Passwords: Currently stored in "Notes" section;Not great for security but convenient because exported to Blackberry;Could store in Google Documents, but not encrypted. Looking at a few 3rd party systems like KeePass and RoboForm.
   
6. CRM: Was using Prophet, an add-in CRM to Outlook; It drags down Outlook to even a slower pace than before; Now switching to SalesForce.com
   
7. Mass emails add-in: Used SwiftPage for sending mass emails directly from Outlook; Will stop that, and employ a 3rd party add-in to SalesForce
   
8. Screen sharing add-in: Used GoToMeeting to do product demos; Will continue to use GoToMeeting but will be the stand alone software
   
9. Linked In add-in: Not really needed...just a nice-to-have; Will just access through the web now.

I will update on my progress as I move through this change. It'll feel really unnatural to not open Outlook first thing in the morning, but I think my RAM is going to thank me.

Let me know if you can think of any other pros/cons to switching, or share your experience switching. Thanks!

Wireless heat wave

I came across a unique situation the other day at a clients. She was complaining that her wireless connection was randomly disconnecting. After confirming that it wasn't her cable company, I had her reset all the devices. At first it worked, and then again a while later it was out.

After going on site, I discovered that the room where the modem and wireless router were installed was upstairs and very hot. Last week we had record heat in the around with temperatures reaching 39 degrees C in some areas!

First thing I did was get the router up off the carpet so air could flow underneath. Second, put a small fan blowing directly on the router. Voila! Now it's working again and she didn't have to buy a new router (and thankfully i didn't have to install it.) Sometimes it's the really obvious fixes that are the trickiest.

Setting default emailer in IE

Have you ever tried to email someone on a website by clicking on an email link? Does is load up the wrong email program or does it not have your correct address book? All you need to do is change your default email program.

1. Open "Internet Options"
2. Click on the "Programs" tab
3. Change the email section to your preferred email program.

This can be a pain if your using Outlook Express, because it can appear that your have the correct email editor open until you try to use you address book and it's not there. Follow these steps, put "outlook express" in the box, and you should have no problems.

A Classic Programmer Error

If anyone has ever had the 'pleasure' of programming in Visual Basic 6.0 then you share my frustration when receiving errors like this. Can they be any more vague?? Perhaps the ~ means something to someone somewhere - but not here and not me. It would have been just as useful if it had told me to go talk a walk, get some fresh air, and see if it's working when I return. *sigh* i feel like it's time for another Blue Screen of Death to happen soon...

Check SFU Alumni email in Gmail

Since I am a graduate of Simon Fraser University (SFU) in BC, I use their alumni email service. Aside from the copious amounts of spam that come through, it is useful to stay in touch with past professors, friends, and other networks. The worst part has to be the online interface used to check email...it's horrible.

If you're like me and would much rather check your SFU Alumni email in Gmail, then do the following:
1. Login to Gmail
2. Click on "Settings" at the top right side

3. Click on the "Accounts" tab
4. By 'Get Mail from Other Accounts' click on "Add another email Account"
5. Type in your SFU Alumni email address and click "Next"
6. In account enter your SFU username (without the @alumni.sfu.ca), and enter your password
7. POP Server = pop.alumni.sfu.ca
8. Click "Add Account". If it's setup correctly you'll get an email set to your alumni account. check it and either click on the link to verify, or copy the number and paste it back in the Gmail screen to verify. That's it...your SFU Alumni email should be flowing in at that point.

Fetch email in Gmail

Gmail now gives you the ability to download other email accounts into your Gmail dashboard. If you like the Gmail layout and are tired of checking your other accounts on other webmail locations, then consolidate them in Gmail with "Mail Fetcher".

This is just another great free service provided by Google to their Gmail users and can be found in your Google setting on the 'Account' tab. Your email provider has to be providing POP3 access, but as long as you have that then you are ready to go - all your email under one convenient online roof!

Click here to find more information on setup.

Easy file transfer in Windows Live Messenger

In the past I've always sent files by right-clicking on a Messenger contact and choosing "send other..." then "Send a single file". But no longer!!

If you want the easy way to do it, just drag and drop the file into the message typing box of the contact you wish to send to. Voila...done and done.

Add BCC field in Outlook email

I tend to use the BCC (Blank Carbon Copy) field quite often when sending emails. It's useful when you want to hide the identity of some or all of your recipients.

A fresh install of Outlook will not have the BCC showing by default, but it's quite simple for you to turn it on. Open a new email message and in the tool bar click the downward-facing triangle two the right of "Options...". Then click "Bcc" in the dropdown and you'll have the Bcc field in your emails from now on.

Note: this is done in Outlook 2003. Other versions of Outlook may vary slightly.

Settings in Windows Live Messenger

In order to find the "Settings" area in the new Windows Live Messenger, it's not as intiutive as before. As ashamed as I am to admit it, it took me minutes to find how to open them up! It was enough trouble for me to take a screenshot and let everyone know where it is.

Just click on your name at the top (there's a small triangle to the right) and at the bottom of the drop-down box is "Personal Settings..." Viola!

Feeling Too Dependant on Files?

If you're having troubles getting a program to work or an ActiveX control won't register, it may be because you don't have the correct dependency files on your computer.

Try a tool called Dependency Walker. You can run it on many different types of files including .exe and .ocx in order to find their dependencies. It's a great diagnosing tool when things just won't work.

Google Apps for Your Domain

If you own your own domain (ex. yourdomain.com) and wish you use gmail to check that email you can also sign up for Google Apps for Your Domain. It's geared more toward organizations who want to give multiple users a single interface for email, calendar, messaging, and web pages. It's a collaborative tool perfect for small - medium sized business. This will allow you to check an email like username@yourdomain.com.

I'm currently torn between using my regular gmail account and forwarding email to it, or using google apps for your domain. Google Apps does not yet integrate with all the other great aspects of Google Accounts (i.e. Picasa Web, Analytics, AdSense, etc), although it does provide an excellent way to collaborate effectively in a small company and manage some aspects of your domain from one online dashboard.

External Mail in Gmail

For anyone who wants to use Gmail as their central email program, there are some limitations when checking other email accounts.

As of now, Gmail has no functionality to check external email accounts easily. For example, in Outlook you can setup POP3 retrieval of email from other accounts. The only way for you to received email in gmail from other accounts is to forward them. (The only functionality Gmail provides is to send email out from multiple email addresses, and you can check your Gmail account from other email programs). Contact your email hosting company and ask them to forward all incoming email to your Gmail account. Sometimes you may have access to your MX records online, and you can setup the forwarding directly from there.

Also checkout my post regarding Google Apps for Your Domain to learn about additional options to check external email through Gmail.

Easily Backup Your Data Offsite 24/7

Q. Why do people put their belongings in safety deposit boxes?

A. Because they're secure, not very expensive, offsite from their home, and they feel the belongings have enough value to warrant the added inconvenience of going to the bank to make deposits or withdrawals.

If you have important data on your computer, why aren't you taking the same steps? You can securely store your data offsite for a low cost of $2/GB but never have to leave your home to do it. In fact you never have to do anything at all once it's setup! The service is called Data Deposit Box and I highly recommend it, especially for businesses.

Try its free trial and you'll see how easy it is. The best part is that instead of just backing up once a day, it actually backs up any changed files at any time your computer is idle. This makes it virtually impossible to lose data even if you just worked on it 30 minutes ago. I recommend a 2-level backup to my clients, where you backup nightly to an external harddrive and all the time to an offsite source like Data Deposit Box. The harddrive can be used when you have a computer problem, errors, reformat, etc, but in the case of theft, fire, or other disasters you'll be glad you had your data offsite. It can also act as a file sharing program since you can access your backed up files any time on the web.

Make your dynamic IP virtually static

If you want to setup a home web server, ftp server, remotely access your computers or a number of other functions without paying for a static IP, then this can help you out.

My client, who runs a warehouse, wanted to be able to remotely login to his server while he was out of the country. To do this he could access it with the dynamic IP, but if it changes while he's away his access will be denied. A better way to do this is to setup what's called a Dynamic DNS Service. There are a number of providers that can do this, but I'll be using DynDNS (www.dyndns.com) as an example. This enables you to alias a dynamic IP to a static hostname that you can get for free from DynDNS. Here are the steps:

1. Sign up for an account with DynDNS.
2. Under "services" select "dynamic DNS" on the left bar
3. Click "Create Host"
4. Pick any hostname you prefer (can be what you want)
5. Pick a corrosponding domain name (they have a dropdown box with a list)
6. Enter your current external IP address (if you don't know that go to www.whatismyip.com) and click "Add Host"

At this point the only thing left to do is either a) setup the dynamic DNS on your router, or b) install an IP updater program on your computer. If your computer is stationary then sometimes a) is easier. Just login to your router and enter the Host information you setup with DynDNS (most routers already have DynDNS listed). Otherwise you need to download a small program to update your IP ... get it here

Opening uTorrent Port

When you first install uTorrent (http://www.utorrent.com/) it will ask you to make sure your forwarding a certain port on your router. If you need more info on that go to http://www.portforward.com/ with your router model.

What I found is that the port forward test page will not give you a "successful" status until you set your router to allow pings. That's because the uTorrent server is sending requests to you computer and can't do it if it can't see your router.

If you're not finding what you need in torrents, try ShareZone

Picasa downside

Google is amazing - it seems like if they want to enter a market with a product they can blow anyone away. They're smart, very smart. Look at Picasa. They didn't try to create another Photoshop, but they realized that there was a large group of people out there that don't need or want the advanced features. They just want to easily organize and edit their pictures. Then they took it a step further and integrated Picasa with Blogger, and gave it other great features like a timeline viewer and movie maker.

That brings me to the one downside - the movie maker does not allow integration of sound. Very unfortunate. Here's a workaround:

1. Create your movie in Picasa ('Create' menu item --> 'Movie...')
2. Note where you save it (in My Pictures by default)
3. Import that movie into Windows Movie Maker
4. Import your chosen sound bite into Windows Movie Maker
5. Drag both onto a timeline and publish...voila!

It's a bit clunky, but at least you get some sound to those great shots.

Keyboard not working...

Once again, my "dear little" puppy got at my cables (I already cut the shredded bits before taking this pic) . This one was easier to diagnose than the network cable, but much more frustrating - i couldn't type!!

After some delicate cable stripping and splicing with the help of some electrical tape this keyboard was up and running again (I'm actually typing on it now). I'm not sure if all USB keyboards are the same, but this one had 4 cables within the main sheath and they were color-coded. The colors made them easy to match up.

Internet not working...

Sometimes computer problems are so simple you never think to look. Now that I have a puppy I will remember to check all cables before jumping to conclusions.

I was in the middle of setting up my new web server and things started to act wierd and most importantly I couldn't connect to it. After reading an endless amount of Linux discussion boards, text books, and self-help websites I was still stumped. When I looked behind my workstation to double-check cable connections I realized that my dog used the network cable as a chew toy *sigh*.

Moving ICQ 5.1 History

If you're like me and do most of your co-worker communication through ICQ 5.1 then you should find this information helpful if you plan to move computers. Even if your just reinstalling ICQ or reformatting your computer this is handy to know.

My computer is starting to get its annual lag so it calls for a reformat. I like to keep all my ICQ history since it is business related. Here are the steps I had to follow:

1. Shut down ICQ

2. The history is stored in the folder ICQ Lite under the Documents and Settings folder (Usually under: C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR NAME\Application Data\ICQLite).

3. Copy the folder to a disk or a temporary location that you can recover afterwards.

4. Once you reinstall ICQ on a new computer or perhaps after a reformat of your current computer, just replace the two folders in your application data\icqlite folder with the ones you backed up.

5. Restart ICQ and your history should be there.