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Saturday, November 26, 2005
- How To Write Effective E-mail
- How to Read and Receive E-mail
- Tech News
- 11a-Noon
- Noon-1p
- 1-2p
- Carrie in Barstow - Explorer closes all the windows
- Kyle in Bakersfield - getting self-published book in stores
- Raymond in Lake Elsinore - mobile laptop and printer
- John in Diamond Bar - WMP opens Explorer
- … saving streaming video
- Stephanie in Laguna Nigel - Shredding a Mac OS 9 disk before donating the computer
- Chat Logs and Show Audio
- Listener Comments
Tips for Mastering Email Overload from Stever Robbins at the Harvard Business School. (Read the full article) for all the details.
How To Write Effective E-mail
- Use a subject line to summarize, not describe.
- Give your reader full context at the start of your message.
- When you copy lots of people (a heinous practice that should be used sparingly), mark out why each person should care.
- Use separate messages rather than bcc (blind carbon copy).
- Separate topics into separate e-mails … up to a point.
- Combine separate points into one message.
- Edit forwarded messages.
- When scheduling a call or conference, include the topic in the invitation. It helps people prioritize and manage their calendar more effectively.
- Understand how people prefer to be reached, and how quickly they respond.
How to Read and Receive E-mail
- Check e-mail at defined times each day.
- Use a paper “response list” to triage messages before you do any follow-up.
- Charge people for sending you messages.
- Train people to be relevant.
- Answer briefly.
- Send out delayed responses.
- Ignore it.
Tech News
There’s a new email virus going around claiming to be from the CIA or FBI. It contains the Sober virus. If you get the email, don’t open the attachment. Just delete it.
If you’ve already opened the attachment, Symantec offers a free removal tool here.
Also a major security hole has been discovered in Internet Explorer - even in XP Service Pack 2, Until Microsoft releases a patch turn off Javascript or use Firefox.
Be glad you couldn’t get that XBox 360 on Tuesday. Serious supply shortages left out many who had reserved units. But those who got them are complaining of crashes and over-heating.
Microsoft loses $126 on every XBox 360 system sold, according to iSuppli.
Browser designers from Microsoft, Mozilla, and Konquerer have agreed on a set of security standards for their next gen browsers. Apple’s Safari is the only notable exception, but Apple takes this week off so maybe they’ll join in next week.
Apple’s iTunes Music Store is now the number 7 music retailer in the US. It’s the first time Apple has broken into the top 10. Who’s bigger? Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, Amazon, FYE, and Circuit City in that order.
Bram Cohen, the creator of BitTorrent, says he’ll pull pirated movies from BitTorrent’s tracker listings. Of course, dozens of illegall tracker sites still exist.
Verizon Wireless has filed suit against an SMS spammer who sent 98,000 text messages about Bahamas cruises to Verizon Wireless cell phone customers.
Addictive Game of the Week (hey I have to do something now that I’ve erased World of Warcraft!)
From DeviantArt.com.
My current record is 1450.
Jacob Writes: I just got 1,990 on the above game.
Crimmie’s Caller Of The Week web site
11a-Noon
QFrank in Garden Grove - Colors on monitor are inaccurate
He has an old Sylvania monitor and the blues look wrong. Pros spend a lot of money getting this right. They often use hardware called colorimeters or spectrophotometers, but these are expensive. (Colorvision offers inexpensive colorimeters for monitors and TVs.)
You can also use online color adjustment programs. For example, Easy RGB’s monitor calibration wizard will help you pinpoint obvious issues. You should also make sure you’re using the proper color profile for your monitor. Open the Display control panel, click the Settings tab, press the Advanced… button, then click the Color Management tab. Press Add… to check for a list of possible choices (or look for a profile on the disc that came with your monitor).
QJohn in Rosemund - Gateway laptop crashes when it works hard
Normally I’d say the upgrade video drivers, but he can’t even go online to download. And here’s a clue - the fan comes on just before the crash. It sounds like it’s overheating. Motherboard Monitor is a free program that can monitor temperatures on your CPU, motherboard, and case for compatible systems.
Try a can of compressed air. It can often fix over heating problems. Even if it doesn’t, it won’t cost you much.
Just a thought - since the fan is coming on or speeding up just prior to the system crashing, there might be a power supply or electrical issue.
DP from San Diego: I’ve accomodated my occasionally overheating laptop with external fans. At home I use a lap cooler that sits under the computer. At work I use the fan only setting on a small area heater.
Q Steven in Melbourne, Australia - iTunes crashes my PC
Make sure you’re using the latest (6.01 at this writing). I think Quicktime for Windows, which is bundled with iTunes, is often a problem - you might try uninstalling that.
Agreed — I have noticed stability & performance problems with iTunes for Windows since version 5. I have seen improvement with each subsequent release, but it is still not as solid as iTunes for OS X. So the best advice for Windows users is be patient and make sure you get the latest version: Help-→Check for iTunes Updates.
Also check the series of articles in www.MacFixit.com, which discusses continuing problems in downloading podcasts with iTunes.
Noon-1p
QAmy in Los Angeles - Mac kernel panics
She bought an iMac in July and is getting continual kernel panics. Apple tech support is giving her the runaround. She brought it to a authorized repair facility, they reinstalled the OS and it’s still happening. It’s clearly a hardware problem. Bring it to the Apple Store where you bought it, make an appointment at the Genius Bar, and let him see the kernel panics. They should replace the computer. Period.
The usual suspects are: RAM and/or the Logic Board. Sometimes overheating might cause Kernel Panics.
Amy, the trick is getting the Apple or repair people to see the panic happen. My mom had this problem and as soon as they could reproduce it, they replaced the machine.
Ed from Poulsbo,Wa> If you can take a picture of the Kernel panic error with a digital camera to show the technician. There is some information in the error that gives hints on where the computer crash and what caused it. It’s also good to have photos of the errors in case the computer behaves itself while in the store and doesn’t crash.
QChuck in New York - file sharing one way only
Try the networking troubleshooter at Practically Networked.
Update from Chuck in NY: I have finally solved this problem. Two computers on a network, one worked fine and the other I kept getting an access denied error. The problem is in the registry. Run regedit and you want HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE - SYSTEM - CurrentControlSet - Local - LSA. Look for ‘restrictanonymous’ and make this 0.
QDavid in Riverside - Linux point of sale software
Check www.sourceforge.net and www.freshmeat.net for open source
A listener writes: also check out www.linux-pos.org
Q and… Pinnacle Studio 9 crashes all the time
It’s awful. Version 7 was very good, however, and you can still find it on Ebay and other places for $10 or less. I also recommend Adobe Premiere Elements for less than $100.
QHarry in Lancaster - wireless phone connection for modem
He wants to use his modem but the computer is nowhere near a phone jack. How can he connect? Here’s a directory of cordless phones with modem jacks .
QTracy in Dana Point - business in her purse
She’s a photographer who wants to handle credit card purchases wirelessly. There are many devices that do this like this . But I’d choose the device before choosing the PDA or phone. Follow the recommendations of the credit card scanner’s manufacturer. They have the most experience with getting this working.
also nextel has some phone solutions: http://www.nextel.com/en/solutions/special_devices/creditel.shtml
She also wants to show the photos to her clients on site. I like the Epson P-2000 (or the bigger P-4000) it has the best screen I’ve seen. It can read Compact Flash or SD, or add an adapter for other memory types.
1–2p
QCarrie in Barstow - Explorer closes all the windows
When she closes one Internet Explorer window they all close. There should be a Windows setting to control this, but why oh why are you still using Explorer? get Firefox! and install the Firefox IE Tab Extension if you really want to use IE on some sites (it’s more convenient, but not more secure.)
Monitor issues - she has to run her 19″ Dell CRT at 800×600 just to use it. It has gray streaks through it. Sounds like it’s worn out, but I’d have to see it to really know. If the convergence is misaligned you would see red, blue, or green ghosts on the letters. Convergence is something you can set with the controls on the front of the monitor. In this case I’d try the monitor on another computer to see if it’s a computer issue or a problem with the monitor.
From Garner Miller: Several models of Dell CRTs are known for this defect. A component on the board has blown (a capacitor, I believe), and you’ll get bright raster lines all across the monitor. Turning the contrast setting all the way down will make it somewhat usable, but the monitor definitely has a hardware problem. Probably not worth the money to fix unless you have a friend who can do component-level repair.
From Kio Dane: Trinitron monitors have what is called an “aperture grill” to seperate their red, blue, and green electron guns. This type of shadow mask looks like a bunch of very tiny wires running up and down, but to keep these wires from being affected by electro-magnetic feilds and physical shock, there are a few wires that run left to right to hold them in place. These wires produce a stuble yet noticalbe shadow that could be described as “grey streaks across the whole screen” especially against a white image. Trinitron tubes are not limited to just Sony branded monitors as Apple Computer, Dell, Digital Equipment Corporation, Gateway, IBM and Sun Microsystems have all produced monitors with the technology of Trinitron, although sometimes with a different name. Color CRTs - shadow masks and aperture grills.
QKyle in Bakersfield - getting self-published book in stores
His webmaster has written a book on Search Engine Optimization. It’s available on Amazon, but how does he get it out there. Forget getting it into the major bookstore chains - each store has one technology book buyer for the whole country and it’s unlikely any of them will talk to individual publishers. Market it just as you would market any web site. Sell it yourself - you’ll make more money - and market your web site.
QRaymond in Lake Elsinore - mobile laptop and printer
He wants to take a laptop and printer into the field for printing customer invoices, etc. Try the Panasonic Toughbooks. Recommendations from anyone doing this.
Brent from Ontario, CANADA writes> I was an IT manager in a pretty harsh environment, we made powder metal automotive parts. Dust was fine like flour but magnetic. We used to use cheap desktops on the shopfloor. Toughbooks were reserved for maintenance, where they needed to be drop rated. I am wondering if Raymonds truck is big enough as he said it was why does he want a laptop? He could get a cheap desktop place in somewhere safe in the truck andbuild a box around it, get an LCD monitor and a keyboard. Monitor could be mounted on an arm and if keyboard dies hey they are only 10 bucks. Laptops grow legs on job sites.. He could buy a power converter as leo sugested and volia.. also if you played around with WiFi you could drive your truck up to your shop and transfer all the information back to the shop.
QJohn in Diamond Bar - WMP opens Explorer
Windows Media Player should pay attention to what you’ve chosen as your default browser, but it’s so tightly integrated with Internet Explorer it almost always chooses to open sites in IE. I recommend not using WMP to search for music. Just do it in Firefox.
Here’s a good article on saving Windows streams.
A Listener writes: That website is a joke. All the “Editor’s Choice” programs are all from the same ‘freakin company. Sounds like somebody asking Leo what “fill-in-the-blank product in a category that Apple is in the market of selling” is best? The CBS video site is not sophisticated. When you open the video in Windows Media Player, right click on the video and select properties. The url will be plainly displayed. Then, go download the free WMRecorder 8 and paste the link. Direct the program to start and wait a few minutes for the video to finish playing. The stream is now saved on your drive and you are done.
MILI SAYS WMRECORDER IS WHAT SHOWN ON LEO’S LINKED ARTICAL OR YOU ARE REFFERING SOME THING DIFFRENT. IF YOU LINK WMRECORDER8 IT WOULD MAKE MORE SENCE.
Leo replies: Hunh? That’s the same program your “joke web site” recommends! Of course, if version 8 is free (and still available) go with that - free is always best! However, read on…
Woody? writes in the comments below:
Best software for stream capture/download is Net Transport. Works with WMA, RM, MP3, et al. It is freeware.
MichianaMCR writes: To save video from inside of Firefox when right-clicking and saving the link is disabled, right-click the page and select “View Page Info”. Select the “Media” tab at the top, scroll down and highlight the video content, and click on the “Save As” button.
QStephanie in Laguna Nigel - Shredding a Mac OS 9 disk before donating the computer
We covered this for Windows users in our October 8th show. And OS X users can use the built-in Secure Empty Trash command in the Finder or the Secure disk erasure in the Disk Utilities. But what do OS 9 users do? One choice is the shareware Mireth ShredIt.
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