2005 March

It never ceases to amaze me just how powerful video on the Web is becoming. Whether it is silly parodies of GTA Vice City or even goofball mini-flicks like The Repair Guy, the sheer interest that I have seen in this media has my full attention.

Welcome to Just Ask Matt! Today, (lost the name, sorry) writes:
I take about 100 pictures a day for my wife’s job. I download the pictures (usually 500-600k per picture) onto my laptop (P4 2.8, OS-xp home, Wireless G network [linksys]).
After examining the photos using either MS Photo viewer or Picture It, I [...]

Oh, no, the unthinkable is about to happen and you feel powerless to do a single thing about it. You just received word that a repair client is about to buy a Dell/Compaq/HP computer! This is terrible! I mean, come on, now. You offered to build them a unit yourself, but the cost of parts [...]

The last puzzle given involved the probability of getting a flush in poker: you want a flush (five cards of a single suit). The parameters to consider here are the value of the card and its suit. Normally these are considered independent variables. Consider the following situation when five people are playing poker. They are [...]

AWG stands for American Wire Gauge, and it is a standard used for denoting
wire conductor diameter. The system is counter-intuitive, so the lower the
AWG, the thicker the conductor.
Actually the system is even more counter-intuitive than that. Once you get
to wires thicker than 0 AWG, you do not use negative numbers. Instead you
just add more zeroes [...]

“Customers have few kind words for Microsoft’s Software Assurance, and even fewer good choices for upgrades.
In early 2001, Microsoft announced Software Assurance. Four years later, you can still hear the howls of angry customers.
Software Assurance replaces the old Upgrade Advantage, a maintenance program that was designed to keep updated products in users’ hands—a predecessor [...]

Sometimes, insufficient logic can lead to the wrong result. That is, either less or more analysis would derive the right answer, but with an intermediate level the wrong answer results. Occasionally the wrong answer gets enshrined in folklore. Often the wrong answer is deliberately induced by clever manipulation of the presentation.
One example that came up [...]

In a word: yes. CAT 5e cable is pretty tough stuff. You can yank it around,
lash it into tight bundles, and bend it pretty hard while throwing the
prescribed bend radius to the wind, and it will usually forgive you. (Note
that I would not actually recommend any of these practices. Better to just
do it right.)

Via The TechRepublic Downloads Team:
If you’re like most net admins and support pros, you’ve got a collection of favorite time-saving tools you routinely use to make your life on the job a little easier. Check out this admin’s 17 favorite utilities and applets and see how they compare with your favorites.
You can join the discussion [...]

Via TechRepublic:
Although Windows Server 2003 is an incremental upgrade from Windows 2000, there are some important new features and changes that an administrator well-versed in Windows 2000 needs to recognize before working with Windows Server 2003. This chapter from O’Reilly’s Windows Server 2003 in a Nutshell shows what has changed and provides an extensive look [...]

For those of you out there that also partake in the joys and frustrations that come from working with computers, you may find this article I am about to write of interest. As most of you already realize, getting into the PC repair field is not something that is likely to make you rich. Some [...]

Well, folks, I just got the official word from the folks at My RSS Creator that you can now use their RSS feed creation service to ‘Podcast’ data other than MP3s. Apparently, they have had success with a number of RSS aggregators and it is looking promising to be sure.

Welcome to Just Ask Matt! Today, Antoine writes:
I can’t go into the control panel and get the Internet connection wizard to work. It says it’s failing to load the Internet connection wizard helper component. Help, please! I can’t get Win 98 to connect to my wireless router or DSL modem.

In a previous article, I discussed Internet Authentication Services (IAS) as a solution for centralizing remote access authentication and accounting. Now that you are familiar with what IAS is designed for, let’s take a look at how you can install IAS in Windows Server 2003.
Internet Authentication Service can be installed using the Add or Remove [...]

Most of us are probably familiar with user accounts whether you’re in a business environment or working on a single computer in a home office. What do user accounts actually do? In simple terms, they provide individuals with the ability to log on to a network or computer. User accounts provide local computers or [...]

“A feature that’s been available for decades on NetWare, here’s a new Windows utility can be used to limit number of concurrent user logins.
Every week or so, I get an irate letter from an administrator who wants to limit the number of concurrent logons available to users. These administrators cite security concerns based on this [...]

The standards for CAT 5e and CAT 6 call for a maximum run length of 100
meters or 328 feet. While you may make a longer run and get it to work, this
is not recommended. Even if problems don’t show up immediately, they may
come up later as your computers are upgraded to transmit faster or your
network [...]

The Event ID descriptions in Windows XP’s Event Viewer are often very cryptic. Discover two methods for getting more detailed information about Event IDs.
If you’re troubleshooting a problem in Windows XP, you can turn to the Event Viewer to gather information about hardware, software, and system problems. By default, Event Viewer provides you with three [...]

In response to Diana Huggins’ Efficiency Vs. Human Contact, longtime Gnomie and occasional contributor Stu Kopelman writes:
Dear Diana,
One day I heard that one could finish his work in half the time using a
computer. For the most part, this is true; however, when one finishes his
work after four hours, is he allowed the leisure of going [...]

It is a rare moment in my life that I am asked to review software that truly amazes - no, blows me away completely. The developers at Moodysoft may have done just that with their graphic editing bundle. I have spent the better part of today getting to know this software designed to make working [...]