FOO IT

Contest - Pimp Your Cubicle

2012-01-27T13:01:00.001-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Contest Factory for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I don't know about you, but I am not one to turn down a cubicle makeover.

Pimp My Cubicle is looking for the worst, messiest, dirtiest, darkest, oldtech cubicle they can find. They want people to upload videos of bad cubicles and the winner will win one of three prize packages.

A New High End Computer System
A New Desk, Chair, & Decorations
A New Entertainment Package with High End Stereo, Espresso Machine, ETC

Right now not a single video has been uploaded so your chances of winning are very high. You can easily upload a video from your phone to the website so there is no excuse not to share your embarrassing workspace with the world.

Your video should be fun and creative - there are no rules. The more interested we are the better chance you have of winning. There is an additional sweepstakes prize of a $200 gift card that will be given to a random registered user. You only have until 12pm on 1/31 to get your entries in. So visit the PMC site and register and upload videos to enter the Pimp My Cube Contest. Once your video is approved encourage your friends and family to vote on your video to increase your chances of winning.

2012-01-18T08:28:00.001-08:00

Express Scripts and Walgreens Negotiations

2012-01-12T13:01:00.001-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Walgreens for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Have you heard about the situation with Walgreens and Express Scripts? On December 31 the contract expired between Walgreens and the the insurance middle-man Express Scripts. This means that those who have insurance that deals with Express Scripts will no longer be able to use Walgreens to fill their scripts. So if you currently pick up your scripts at Walgreens, you may want to confirm that your insurance has not removed their coverage of Walgreen's services. This is enraging customers because they will not have to possibly drive further and use pharmacies with less convenient hours, and certainly without the Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens.

Walgreen's attempts to renegotiate this contract involved an attempt to help support military and military families by negotiating a better contract for Tricare, which serves the military. This was a failed attempt on Walgreen's part as Express Script would not allow WG to put a lock on rates so prescription rates could not increase further.

In the meantime, Walgreen's is trying to help the affected customers by offering a special discount on annual membership for its Prescription Savings Club at Walgreens. If you are effected or enraged by the situation feel free to contact your local media to let them know what is going on and that you aren't happy about it. Support Walgreens in their fight against riding medical costs by following Walgreens on Twitter or by liking Walgreens on Facebook.

Contact Plus Pro - Letter Templates Hidden From Some Users

2012-01-06T08:24:00.000-08:00

Fix :: log into those user accounts and under global settings select word processor. Change it from internal word processor to your Windows 2000/XP etc

You should now be able to click f6 and see all of the letter templates.

CSS Gradient

2012-01-03T18:35:00.000-08:00

background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, from(#ccc), to(#000));

Snap! Its Snapdragon Stadium!

2011-12-22T02:16:00.001-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Snapdragon by Qualcomm for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

Some exciting news came out today. The Qualcomm stadium is being temporarily renamed the Snapdragon Stadium for 11 days beginning on December 18. They are doing this to promote the Snapdragon processors by Qualcomm are the digital brains inside mobile devices made by top manufacturers like Samsung, LG, Nokia, and HTC.

This is pretty exciting because of how rarely this is allowed to happen. But also because of the sweet events that will happen at Snapdragon Stadium.

The Chargers will play Baltimore on Sunday night.
The San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
The Bridgepoint Education Holiday Bowl

Don't forget the renaming will happen on December 18, and stay that way until the 29th of December.

While I, personally, have never been ot the Qualcomm stadium, I think this is a pretty sweet event going on. If there were to temporarily rename our Tropicana Field (where the tampa bay rays play) to something else that would be pretty neat. For instance, if we were the Tropicana Gold or Tropicana No Pulp... That would be pretty funny. I wonder how much of this is just an additional sponsorship during those events, and how many people may actually call the stadium the Snapdragon Stadium. Personally, Snapdragon sounds cool to me... I am pretty sure if I lived there I would continue calling it Snapdragon after the 29th.

Pimp My Cubicle!

2011-12-21T23:00:00.001-08:00

This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Contest Factory for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine.

I don't know about you, but I am not one to turn down a cubicle makeover.

A New High End Computer System
A New Desk, Chair, & Decorations
A New Entertainment Package with High End Stereo, Espresso Machine, ETC

How to Reset Voicemail Password for your AT&T IPhone

2011-12-19T20:45:00.000-08:00

Dial 611
Press 1 to approve its the phone you are calling with
Press 3 to get tech support
Press 2 to get help with voicemail
Press 1 to reset your voicemail pin
The password will be texted to you

History of Google Search

2011-12-01T11:53:00.001-08:00

How to Stop/Block Spam on Wordpress Blogs

2011-11-12T06:06:00.000-08:00

Akismet is installed by default on your wordpress installs. It, however, is not activated by default. You will need to first go to plugins and activate Akismet. Then you will need to go to Akismet and sign up for an API key. It is free if you select the free option. Then go to your blog settings under Plugins then Akismet configuration and insert your key and save. Voila!
Require Login is another way to block spam on wordpress installs. This will definitely block spam but will also de-sway one-time users from commenting on your blog. Go to settings, discussion and click the tick under requiring login for commenting.
Recaptcha is the most common of the spam blockers these days. However sometimes they are people blockers too when the text is hard to discern for the average person. Search plugins from your install by typing in "WP-reCAPTCHA". Then install. You will need an api key for this too which you can obtain here.
Trackback Validation is a plugin that blocks trackback pings that are created by bots. You can download it here
Referrer Bouncer is great as it requires no configuration so is a really quick install. It bounces refferer spammer bots and you can download it here.
Antispam Image Plugin is easier for the user than recaptcha and just requires them to identify an image rather than mixed up letters on top of each other. You can get it here.

How to only select fields in one sql table that exist in another sql table

2011-11-11T06:31:00.000-08:00

Use the following sql statement to compare tables:

SELECT * FROM table1 WHERE EXISTS (SELECT * FROM table2 WHERE table2.commonvariable = table1.commonvariable)

How to make default text disappear when you click in an html form text input field

2011-11-10T10:31:00.001-08:00

how to limit characters in a variable

2011-10-28T12:54:00.000-07:00

$variablef= substr($variable,0,21);

21 being the number of characters you want to shorten it to

How To Truly Allow Backorders on Magento

2011-10-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

Despite the easypeasy button that says "allow backorders" on Magento's backend there are a couple problems when you do this.

1) For instance if the product says out of stock the checkout button won't show up. So here is a fix for that...
Around line 62 on view.phtml under app/design/frontend/base/default/template/catalog/product remove the if saleable lines surrounding this
<?php echo $this->getChildHtml('addtocart') ?>
<?php if( $this->helper('wishlist')->isAllow() || $_compareUrl=$this->helper('catalog/product_compare')->getAddUrl($_product)): ?>
<span class="or"><?php echo $this->__('OR') ?></span>
<?php endif; ?>

2) The next problem you will find is after clicking checkout there is a red box that pops at the top saying that the product is out of stock - stopping you from moving further to actually put the items in the cart. Here is the fix for that...

Under code/core/mage/cataloginventory/model/stock/item.php comment out the following items

if (!$this->getIsInStock()) {
$result->setHasError(true)
->setMessage(Mage::helper('cataloginventory')->__('This product is currently out of stock.'))
->setQuoteMessage(Mage::helper('cataloginventory')->__('Some of the products are currently out of stock'))
->setQuoteMessageIndex('stock');
$result->setItemUseOldQty(true);
return $result;
}

Thats all there is to it. You should now be able to check out products listed as out of stock.

How to confirm before submitting a form with popup box

2011-10-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

This will come in handy if you want to confirm before deletion. Modify your submit button to this:

<input type="Submit" name="Delete" value="Delete"
onClick="return confirmSubmit()">

The important part here is the onClick attribute.
And then add this somewhere on your page on top of the form:

<script LANGUAGE="JavaScript">
<!--
function confirmSubmit()
{
var agree=confirm("Are you sure you wish to continue?");
if (agree)
 return true ;
else
 return false ;
}
// -->
</script>

That should do the trick :)

HOW TO convert date from a form post to another format in php for mysql use

2011-10-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

One problem I have come across many times is accepting dates into a form field (perhaps on a cms backend) and needing to format it to another order or date layout to enter into mysql. Commonly since mysql accepts yyyy-mm-dd and I accept dates as mm-dd-yyyy the format needs to be changed from mm-dd-yyyy to yyyy-mm-dd in order for mysql to take it properly. Simply take $yourdate and convert it to $fdate with the php code below. You can change the array number order if you wanted to do something different.

To modify this for your purposes you will need to know what it is doing. First it is taking your dates and removing the pieces between the - in the explode function and then placing them into an array, reordering the array and imploding it (replacing it into a string) into the $fdate variable. Make sense? Any questions you have you can leave in the comments.

$date = explode("-",$yourdate);
if ($date[0]<=9) { $date[0]="0".$date[0]; }
if ($date[1]<=9) { $date[1]="0".$date[1]; }
$date = array($date[2], $date[1], $date[0]);
$fdate=implode("-", $date);

Dell Tech Support Tip

2011-10-10T11:49:00.000-07:00

If you are calling small business tech support for any reason I highly recommend calling between the hours of 9-5. After hours support is outsourced and business hours support is highly knowledgeable and helpful techs who speak english and are located in the states.

#thingsyoulearnwhenyoucalldelltechsupportat10pmandspendhoursgettinghunguponandthesamethingsrepeatedgrrrr

Dell Laptop Function Keys - Switching default

2011-09-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

I have a tendency to be annoyed by tiny things that effect efficiency. However, sometimes I have a tendency to ignore an easy fix in favor of bigger problems. One of these such things is on my Dell XPS laptop that I bought earlier this year. Since I bought it I have been annoyed that the function keys default to multimedia settings and I have to click the Fn button to access the f keys. As a keyboard-heavy user this drives me nuts. I am constantly using fkey shortcuts, such as f2 to rename files or directories. Unfortunately everytime I try to rename a file on my Dell XPS I end up cutting off my wireless connection. You can understand why this has been frustrating. Here is a fix that I finally got around to implementing:

Reboot your computer
Hit F2 at boot to bring you into setup
Under the advances screen locate Keyboard Function settings down the page, and select function behavior instead of multimedia behavior
save and exit

man i sure do wish i looked for the fix months ago. :)

Google+ - How to Use Google+

2011-09-21T11:22:00.000-07:00

Basic Features and Terminology

Circles - A group of people you associate with a word such as "family" "friends" "coworkers" "besties" "stalkers" etc. You can put people in more than one circle. You can even create a circle for bookmarks for you to save links for yourself. You do not need someone's permission to add them to your circle but they will be notified when you add them. The circlee will not know what circle you put them in, so you can feel comfortable your "labels" are private. Adding someone to a circle is as easy as dragging their picture to the circle you want them in.

Games - Doesn't really need explanation. However, if you like Angry Birds you should definitely check out G+'s games section.

Sparks - This feature has not yet been developed to a point where it is very useful, however the point behind it is a quicksearch, or something like google alerts. It allows you to select a topic or term to allow you to jump to search results and recent related articles for it.

Photos - The photos section syncs with your Picasa Web Albums so you will likely already find pictures in yours if it is associate with a current Google/Picasa account. The neat thing here is that the web apps will automatically sync new pics to this section.

Hangouts - Google+ Hangouts are the Google+'s answer to skype chats. Except they are way more useful and fun. You can screen share, watch youtube videos together, join a public hangout perhaps by someone you follow, and as of now even Google Docs Collaboration. The perfect project management tool.

How To

Import facebook friends to G+ - There are a number of ways to bring your facebook friends to G+ here are two of them:

Use the Friends to Gmail App

Download the app Friends to Gmail - http://www.friendstogmail.com/
Use the app to download your friends to gmail from facebook
Go into g+ and add your contacts from gmail to the circles you would like them in

Use Yahoo

Log into your (or a new) yahoo account and use facebook connect to connect it to your fb account
Go to contacts and import your facebook friends (more info here)
Go to your G+ contacts page and use find and invite to connect to your yahoo account

Import facebook pics to G+ - There are also a number of ways to bring your facebook pics to G+ here are two of them:

Use Chrome Extension

Go to https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/idiebfmmkhaffedkhjhapmagabcadjhc and install the app
After installed click the move photos button at the top of chrome and login with your facebook credentials
Click cancel at the delete screen if you want to keep them on facebook too
Make sure you are logged into picasa webs
Click upload
Now you can go to G+ and see your photos from picasa available to share

Download from Facebook

log into your facebook account, go to account settings, and download your information
click the download button
await the email with your download link
click link on email and type in your fb password
once the file is downloaded unzip it and open the file that says photos
upload photos from this file to g+

How to Post on G+ - Just like on facebook type your status, picture, whatever at the top and where it says circles click the ones (or type the circles or names) that you want to share it with. Super easy peasy.

Then all thats left to do is delete your facebook account.

How to Make a Footer Stick to the bottom of your browser

2011-09-20T10:21:00.000-07:00

use the following code in your css:

#footer{

position: fixed;
bottom: 0px;

}

10 Things Your Small Business Website Needs

2011-09-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

Logical Navigation
Perhaps the most important aspect of a website is the movement of traffic through it. If a website visitor does not know where to click to get to the most important information on the site, they are most likely to click the back button and look for the next option on the search results. And if you aren't concerned about how your visitors travel through your site, consider how the google robots will find the other pages on your site if the navigation is not clear and logical.
Clean & Simple Design
One of the things I have always been a proponent for is a clean web design. Back when the thing to do was animated details filling all the white space, I was fighting for clean designs and adequate whitespace. Fortunately, the world of the web has turned around and whitespace is all the rage now. But beyond the current trend, you need to be able to draw attention to the important focal points of the site and without a clean design this becomes difficult.
Branding
I once had a client that had a number of different domains that were keyword rich but none contained the name of the company. When you got to the site it was not clear what the name of the company was. While this is just the beginning of branding, it is very important that when a visitor gets to your website they know exactly who you are. they should be able to look at any quadrant of your website blindly and know what company they are looking at. From your logo, to your colors, images, and wording, this is your opportunity to define your brand.
Analytics
Google Analytics takes what used to cost a good chunk of change and made it free. Kind of an ongoing theme for Google. If you have a website then there is no reason not to set up a free Google Analytics account, insert the code into your website, and have a good picture of your website traffic. With this in place you can track ROI for all of your marketing ventures, whether it be adwords, mailers, newsletters, coupons, etc.
Social Media Links
Though there is something to be said for keeping it simple, one thing that certainly brings some free marketing in is social media links. As Marketing Pilgrim shows, Share buttons increase link mentions by a multitude of 7. So make sure you include them, but make them unobtrusive.
Call To Action
Your small business website has a purpose. Whether you are selling widgets, your accounting services, or promoting a musician, you are trying to coerce your site visitor into doing something. One of the critical things many sites fail to successfully implement is a clear call to action. If I am buying your widget, I do not want to hunt around for an "add to cart" button. If I am interested in you becoming my accountant, I do not want to spend my precious time looking for your phone number or I might as well do my own taxes in that time. If I want to buy tickets to your concert, I don't want to follow a series of navigations and links before I get to the point of seeing where I can purchase them. If the entire point of your website is to sell your widget, make the purchase of the widget as simple and obvious as possible. Big bright buttons that draw attention, while keeping branding, simplicity, and whitespace in mind, are key.
Testimonials
Everyone has been taken at some point in time. Whether you have been conned into paying more for less, or paid someone to do something they never did, we have all been a victim in some form. Knowing that your website visitors are skeptical, hurt, cautious people is key to understanding the trust you must gain before they do what you want. Particularly older generations are skeptical of purchasing online or who the people behind the website they are visiting really are. Keep this in mind and ask your existing customers to write some notes about what it is like to work with you. Then post it on your website somewhere. You need to earn your website visitor's trust, they aren't going to just open their purse for anyone. Giving them a taste of other's opinions of you is critical in helping to gain that trust.
Examples of Your Work
If you are able, in any way, to share examples of your work and accomplishments then you should take heed to do that on your website. If you make widgets, there should be pictures of your widgets on your website, highlighting what makes your widgets better than Joe's Gidgets. If your product is not an item but a service, then perhaps you can highlight companies that you sell to, with their permission. If your website visitor does not know you from the next guy, you need to give them something that they can be familiar with and hang on to for trust purposes, and chances are you have a client or piece of work that they may be familiar with in some way.
Contact Information
While this may be obvious, I can't begin to tell you how many websites I have visited that did not have any contact information on them. While this may be by design, a contact form alone, with no address, phone number, or even an email (HELLO PEOPLE THEY COME FREE WITH YOUR HOSTING) is a red flag to most people that you do not want to be contacted, or that communication with you will be difficult. While this may open you to a certain level of spam, it will also open you to more potential clients.
Content
While it has been said over and over, it truly is the most important aspect to SEO, content truly is king. You can backlink til your eyes bleed, but if all the links are going to a bland website with no original content, you are working against yourself. A blog that is regularly updated is a good way to keep fresh content flowing to the site, but you truly need to make sure that both your customers and google see your website as a value to the internet, and without text-rich keyword-rich content, that is hopeless.

While we are happy to provide you with advice when we can, if you would like for someone to handle your website development needs for your business, give us a call today at 813-406-0366 or email us at info at foowebs.com so that we can give you a quote for getting the website off your back and onto our appreciative and hard working hands.

Large Background CSS Code to cover proper size screen

2011-09-06T16:17:00.000-07:00

I was working with an image for a background and trying to make it the right perfect size to fit a variety of screen sizes while still showing the important pieces in all sizes. The following fix did exactly what I was looking for in css. Props to http://css-tricks.com/3458-perfect-full-page-background-image/ for the awesome fix :)

html {
background: url(images/bg.jpg) no-repeat center center fixed;
-webkit-background-size: cover;
-moz-background-size: cover;
-o-background-size: cover;
background-size: cover;
}

Changing Wordpress to a new database or server

2011-08-31T17:31:00.000-07:00

you will need to edit the wp-config.php file in the html root in order to point the website at the new database connection.

Top 10 Things Small Businesses Do to Mess Up Their Website

2011-08-31T12:57:00.000-07:00

10) Failure to highlight a call to action - What is the purpose of your website? To get phone calls, emails, or online sales? Regardless of the reason behind your website if your website intends to promote your business, you should probably make it easy for the end user to perform whatever end result you desire.

If your website sells widgets through a store on your website, it is important to make big bright/dark buttons on your website allowing the end user to check out or add to cart. If your website promotes your medical practice, then you will want to make sure there is an easy and obvious way for the end user to call or make an appointment online. If your website promotes your real estate listings, then it would clearly be advantageous to have a clear button for your listings, and then an obvious way to contact you on each page of the listings. All to often, while surfing the website of someone I am considering buying from, I really have to hunt to find out how to complete the end result. Your phone number should not be buried deep in the website if you want me to call you.

The most important thing you can do on your website is make it very clear and easy for the end user to do what you want them to.

9) Irrelevant Data - While researching for a client last night, I was reviewing some of their competitor's websites. One such competitor was a realtor and if I didn't push through on the website I would have thought it was a website for a musician. There was all kinds of information about how she liked to play guitar and her other hobbies. Pictures on the site of her playing guitar. While there is something to be said by showing a human side to a business, she was wasting valuable seo space with irrelevant content. If I was looking to buy a piece of real estate I wouldn't have even let the page fully load before clicking the back button.

Content is king. You definitely want as much good, keyword rich, quality content as you can on your website. However, irrelevant data will be confusing and distracting from your target audience. The gimmick of being a guitar player dressed in hippy gear does not convey the confidence of being a professional business woman. Perhaps I will hire her to play for my next party, but she will not be receiving my next house commission. I have also seen websites that list content on alternate pages that have nothing to do with their website for the purpose of advertising commissions, or seo kickbacks. As a consumer, this is distracting and confusing, and takes away some of the trust I would have otherwise invested into my relationship with you as a seller.

8) Moving Parts - Remember in the 90's when all the cool websites had little animals running across the screen and flashing happy faces? How about scrolling text running across the top of the website? Well, the 90s were 20 years ago and the internet has progressed past the dancing banana. If you want to convey a professional and current image, then you definitely want to avoid the animated gifs and even to a certain extent flash. With the use of css and jquery, there are better ways to make the website interactive and tactile than flash and animated gifs (that are terrible for your seo and incompatible with some browsers).

Flash is a proprietary (Adobe) non open source software, that is not going to be viewable by a good portion of your potential clients, especially mobile ones. If you are taking up precious space on your website with flash, you had better have a good reason for it, and it better be fluent with the rest of your website.

7) Use Images Instead of Text - Think of Google as the supreme court judge of the internets. They pass judgement on every site. You want them to pass a positive judgement on your website. Google, the supreme court judge, is getting up there in years and has trouble seeing images very clearly. But the text, man, text is super easy for google to read because it goes through a translator that picks up every syllable. So, if you put your site together with pictures of text copy, the judge aint gonna see that too well. He is just going to move on to the next website and kind of forget that you are still sitting there holding your site up with a sort of embarrassed look on your face.

There are ways to associate text with your images, and you certainly don't want to get rid of the pictures from your site, because the images are often what makes the look and feel of your site pleasing to a potential customer. However, if you have an image where you could easily be placing text, replace it with text to allow the judge to get a bigger picture of who you are and what you do.

6) Treat Website Design like a Flyer - Considering the weight consumers today put on a company's website and online presence it is amazing to me when I see a website that looks like a flyer stuck to my door by a local landscaper. The truth of the matter is that if you are going to have an online presence (and you should) - if your website looks like it was designed by an amateur, that lack of professionalism will surely be portrayed as your level of professionalism in what you do.

While it may not make sense to expect a physician to have a beautifully designed website, or that it has anything to do with how good of a doctor you may be, it is how the world works these days. If I see a doctor's website that I feel was designed with a lack of attention, I am immediately thinking that they probably don't put attention on anything they do... Thus I am on to another website. Your website should not look like a flyer. Your website is an opportunity to capture your potential clients/patients/customers and give them a sense of who you are. A beautiful website may not mean that you are an amazing doctor, however I will be more likely to give you a chance to be my doctor if you prove that you care about what the internet world thinks of you.

5) Links that are as dead as a door knob - More often than not websites will contain a dead link. Either there was a page that has been removed, or a mistyped url in a link. In fact, I dont believe I have had a single client wanting a website redesign that I didnt find at least a couple dead links on. There are a problem with dead links. First of all, especially if you don't have a proper 401 page, your visitor may leave you in that moment having found them self bumped off your beautiful website. Second of all, if they aren't finding what they are clearly looking for they may decide your website isnt where they will find their answers. Third of all, in the mysterious google algorythm there is a place in the calculation for dead links. Google, the supreme court justice does not like dead links. So you no longer like dead links.

4) Heck No! We dont have time for SEO! - SEO. Search Engine Optimization. If you are building your own website, then I implore you to not just know that SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization but to really do your best to design with SEO in mind and take some simple steps for increasing your seo. While there are easy ways to get on the first page of google (adwords), the only free way is by investing time into seo.

In order to properly design for SEO you need to know what meta tags, content, backlinks, and directory submissions you need to be working on. You need to perform keyword research in order to determine the best tactic for wording things right to reach your target audience. While SEO takes time, and can be daunting in many aspects, it is not hard to do. I definitely recommend checking out some SEO websites like Search Engine Guide and Marketing Pilgrim. If you would rather let someone else handle your SEO, so you can stick to running your business, then give us a call.

3) Failure to monitor the analytics of your website - While I can understand you may be busy, I dont know, performing heart surgery... It is of the utmost importance to not just make a website and leave it there, but to monitor the traffic sources, the visitors, and your performance overall. I have often learned more about my website by looking at traffic routes than by looking right at the website. You will discover dead links, sometimes undesired backlinks, popular pages, where your traffic is coming from, and even figure out where your visitors are performing the call to action and where they are falling off the map. Seeing where your sales are coming from, and what traffic is bringing you the biggest bucks, will help you determine where to invest your money.

Google has a free service called Google Analytics. You can sign up for this service and insert a little code on your website and it will do all the monitoring for you. If you don't have time to login and check the health of your website, then you can always have it email you periodic reports. You can also use Webmaster.google.com for additional tools and sitemap uploaders so that you can get the most bang for your google free buck. If you truly don't have time for this additional work load, then hire someone to handle it for you. Foo Webs has a number of reasonably priced SEO packages and would be glad to take you on as our next client.

2) Hire a Cheap Web Developer - While you certainly want to spend your small business money wisely in this economy, you don't want to go for the cheapest bidder. You may want to find a web developer who is less expensive, but you don't want cheap. If someone is offering to build you a website for $99, then they are probably not going to do much of a better job than you or your 12 year old son. Take your time selecting a web developer. Make sure that the person you hire is knowledgeable, experienced, and can handle not just your design but the full development, seo, sem, hosting, and registration in case you have a need in the future. Ask for references.

While you want to make a wise choice and not overspend, remember that web developers are highly skilled professionals. The standard industry hourly rate of a web developer is $85, some are higher and some are lower. If you want a decent website take that into consideration so you don't walk in with expectations of someone to spend 40 hours on your website and charge you $50 total. The best options are among the freelancers who have skill but not the overhead of charging you for their big office and employee. Hey, FooWebs is a home based web development company that would be glad to not overcharge you for an amazing website. :) But seriously, take your time and select the right company. I have had many clients come to me after spending money with someone else and told me later that they wished they had spent more time selecting a web developer from the get go so that I wouldn't have been their second choice after they have already dropped a lot of cash.

1) Build their Own Website - Since the beginning of Microsoft Frontpage, small business owners have been making their own web pages. While I certainly try to DIY as much as possible to save a buck (pats self on back for fixing shower plumbing issue a couple months ago), there are some things that are better left to the professionals. It doesn't mean that you aren't capable of learning things such as php, css, sql, or photoshop... it just means that your time would be better spent doing what you do for a living. As a small business owner your time is valuable. You are not just running the business, managing employees, networking, but often also shouldering a load of the work yourself. Do you really have time to learn programming and waste your precious time trying to figure out what ftp program you need to upload your files?

Consider this. Even if I charged you $85 for an hours of work. What I can get done on your website in one hour is probably tenfold what you can accomplish, if you are not an experienced web developer. If it took you just 3 hours to accomplish what I could in one hour that means you are spending $85 for 3 hours of your time. While that may be underestimating, I have been coding for 13 years so I can probably get done in an hour what a beginner would accomplish after a day or two. But lets just say 3 hours. That is about $28 per hour. You pay more for a car wash and i would venture to guess in those 3 hours you could make a lot more than $28 per hour for your business. So really, the way to save money and make money is to hire someone to build your website for you.

However, if you are interested in learning programming and how to build a professional website, then I encourage you to pick some some books and really enjoy the field. If you have an eye for design and detail than you will certainly be able to build a beautiful website for your company by just investing time into the learning and developing process. Though, I beg you, don't let your company website be reflected by a wysiwyg or a website that you build in Word and just throw up hoping it helps your business. My clients have told me over and over that the website that I have built for them have brought them so much business they would not have a big portion of their clients without it. So, can you really afford not to hire someone to build you a professional website for your small business?

Regardless of the decisions that you make as a small business owner - I wish you success. :)

SBS 2011 :: Intranet Not Working

2011-08-19T10:16:00.000-07:00

When Intranet page does not open and internet is functional it is possible that the sharepoint service has stopped. In order to resolve this...

Open IIS Manager
Open server
Open Application Pools
On the tab on the right, rightclick and press start on sharepoint apps
Test your page, should be working now

Small Business Server 2011 Hangs on "Applying Computer Settings" on boot

2011-08-18T06:50:00.000-07:00

If it is possible someone has disabled IPV6 on your network adapter this can cause "applying computer settings" to make your server stick on boot.

Resolution:

Reboot computer into SAFE MODE WITH NETWORKING
Rightclick NETWORK in your start menu and click properties
Select the link for adapter settings on the left menu
Right click your network adapter and select properties
Make sure IPV6 is checked and if not check it
Click OK
Reboot your computer into normal mode

It may take even up to two hours before your computer passes the applying computer settings after making this change but if IPV6 was unchecked and you now have it checked it should pass and eventually boot

Relaxing Your Mind on the Beach with these windows wallpapers

2011-08-17T09:09:00.001-07:00

Algeeba

http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/details/2031/ageeba.html

Hilton Bora Bora

http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/details/2599/hilton_bora_bora.html

Croation Boat

http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/details/2178/croatian_boat.html

A Place in the Sun

http://interfacelift.com/wallpaper/details/2489/a_place_in_the_sun.html

How To Solder - Soldering Tutorial

2011-08-10T07:25:00.000-07:00

If you were sitting there thinking... man I wish I could learn how to solder, but I don't want to do anything but sit here and read my comic books. WABAM! A comic book to teach you how to solder. Schweet!

http://mightyohm.com/blog/2011/04/soldering-is-easy-comic-book/

Download it. Pass it along!

TeraCopy :: File Transfer Application for Windows

2011-08-05T11:46:00.000-07:00

Recently, I had read an article on LifeHacker about a software called TeraCopy. Lifehacker was listing their top Windows Download recommendations and TeraCopy was a runner up. They mentioned the software could move large amounts of data without crashing like Explorer does sometimes when trying to do the same. Just this week, I have been redesigning the directory structure for files on the server and found that I indeed had explorer crash here and there and that this sounded like a good solution for me. Best yet - its freeware. So I downloaded it.

It was a small program, easy to download, easy to install, didnt use much system resources. The only problem, is that when using it to move files, it crashes more often than explorer. I am running a 64bit 4GB Win7 system connecting via the network to a very powerful 1 month old IBM server with 16GB of ram.... So unless I am the exception... seems to be a useless software other than being able to pause and resume downloads. Just wanted to throw that out there since most of what I read on the net is super positive on this software. I will certainly update back if I find otherwise on another system, though I already uninstalled it because it was also doing quirky things with my files.

Shortcut to Search Boxes on the Web

2011-08-05T08:11:00.001-07:00

/ click the forward slash, thats the one leaning forward /

Thats it. just click the / button on your keyboard to jump to a searchbox on many web applications/pages. Try it on your gmail. click / and it will put your cursor ready in the search box at the top.

Happy Searching.

Shortcut in Windows to Create a new folder in Windows Explorer

2011-08-02T07:50:00.001-07:00

Alt+F
W
F

Contact Plus Pro :: Fix for unable to load Quote Template

2011-08-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

This morning I had a problem with CPPRO where when I tried to create a quote in MSWord from a template created for Contact Plus Pro it would freeze everytime I tried to open the template in Word. I found an error saying unable to find file "c:\program files\cppro\...\86733somerandomnumber.dbf"

I tried opening the file in Word and it worked just fine. This has been dysfunctional since I recently installed CPPRO on this replacement computer. I decided to uninstall and reinstall the CPPRO software. This did not resolve my issue. However, I did not delete a shared file. So I tried uninstalling again this time selecting to delete the shared files. I reinstalled the Contact Plus Pro software and the problem was resolved.

Contact Plus Pro :: Connecting CPPRO to Outlook 2010 64bit

2011-08-01T10:11:00.000-07:00

We are running CPPRO 3.9.7.9 on a Windows 7 64bit system. We found that the 32bit connector for Office 2010 64bit does not play nicely with Contact Plus Pro 3.9.7.9. We have the option of paying a small fortune for the support package which will let us update, though the notes for the newer versions do not mention any changes made to accommodate for Outlook 2010 64bit.

For the meantime we found this workaround:

Downgrade Outlook 2010 64bit to Outlook 2010 32bit.

Until the 32 bit plugin adapters are working better or we decide to lay out the money for an upgraded version of CPPRO, this is the only option. (A shame considering how nicely 64bit Outlook handles large amounts of email files).

Microsoft Access :: Speed up your Frontend Database

2011-08-01T10:06:00.000-07:00

If you have two databases (frontend and backend) running on your network from your server you can speed up the database processes by loading a copy of the frontend database on your computer. Here are the steps:

Create a folder called Access (or anything you like) under "MY DOCUMENTS"
Copy the frontend database file to your Access folder in my documents from the server
Create a shortcut to this file from your desktop
Open the database file from your desktop
Click External data
Click Linked Table manager
Click Select All, OK, and Close

Should be hunky dory at this point to access your Microsoft Office Access file from the desktop icon which will use your local file to connect to the remote backend on your server.

Microsoft Access 2010 :: Related Databases Moving

2011-08-01T09:53:00.000-07:00

Recently I had to move and convert some Access database files to newer versions. I have a database with backend data and a database with frontend queries tasks. So After I individually saved the files as Office 7 compliant I had to go back in and reconnect them. Here were the steps in case this is something you are working on in Access 2010 or Access 2007.

Click External Data
Click Linked Tables Manager
Click Select All, OK, and Close

If this does not immediately find the related file you may have to click the checkbox for "always prompt for new location" and then it will allow you to browse to and select the proper database. This is necessary if you rename or convert the file instead of just moving it.

Fix Your Windows Files

2011-07-24T20:59:00.000-07:00

Quick fix I found recently...

Click Windows Start Button
Click Run
Type: "sfc /Scannow"

Let it run

Google + G+ Map Run

2011-07-16T10:10:00.000-07:00

wanting an extra kickstart to get out on the pavement this morning I decided to recreate some rad dude who ran a G+ on his streets. Obvi - the street names are blurred out.

challenge you to do the same. You can use an app like runkeeper or Nike+ to map your runs.

Google Plus +1 "gang" sign

2011-07-16T09:26:00.000-07:00

my hands look big close up - not to mention the exagerated bent fingers from my 21st birthday when i slammed my hand inside a van door. Don't be fooled, these twisted fingers can type faster than most people think. Word!

Google Chrome :: How to Pin a Tab

2011-07-13T12:10:00.000-07:00

If you would like to pin a tab in Google Chrome, similar to pinning app tabs in Windows 7, you can right click the tab in question and select "pin tab". Though an avid user of Chrome for a long time now, I didn't pick up this tidbit until recently.

Also note that the tab will get smaller and will now glow lights when there is activity on the page. I have made use of this feature for my gmail and google+

Guest Blogger - App Review - 9 Innings Baseball by Com2us

2011-07-13T10:23:00.000-07:00

I want to thank Mr Awesome, for his guest post today. I hope to post more of his reviews here in the future.

9 Innings Baseball by Com2us

Price-- $0.99 (on sale because of the All Star Game)

My Rating 6 out of 10 Stars

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/9-innings-pro-baseball-2011/id373290787?mt=8

So I am a big baseball fan, and I have been wanting a full 9 innings baseball game with real players, not made up ones. Low and behold here comes 9 Innings baseball, which I got on sale due to the all star game. The first time I played the game I noticed that the players are real but the teams are not. The teams are just the name of the city (Tampa Bay Rays--just Tampa Bay, etc..) with a made up logo. Which was a bit disappointing but the players were all listed with the correct city. Com2us contracted with the Major League Baseball Player Association in order to get the real player listed for this game.

The game play is easy to learn. To throw the ball as a pitcher you just click on the type of throw you want (fast ball, slider, curve..). Then use your finger to tell it were you want the ball to be thrown. The defense of catching balls that are hit is automated, once the ball is caught by your defense you select where you want the ball to be thrown. Playing offense is just as easy, all you have to do is press on the screen when you want to swing, when you get a hit you can keep the player running the bases (going to 2nd base, third, and home) by selecting the next base.

The things I don't like are you cannot change your starting lineup. You can replace players (such as the pitcher when he is getting tired, or a hitter if he is not hitting well.) but that's it. I would enjoy switching players who start some times if a guy that does not start is a good player but that's a minor complaint.

Over all this is a fun game for baseball fans and I recommend it.

What APPS are on my iphone right now?

2011-07-12T08:35:00.000-07:00

I admit it. I am an app-addict. I have pages of folders of apps. I try them all. Would that be an app-whore? Regardless, after years of installing, deleting, purchasing, reviewing, testing.... here is the list of apps on my iphone at this moment:

Shazam
Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock
Lose It
Bible
Google+ bookmark (come on apple - let me delete that by giving me the app)
Facebook
Twitter
DocScanner
MindMeister
Wunderlist
Dragon Dictation
SketchBook
GoogleVoice
Dropbox
Capture
Fios Remote
Fios DVR Manager
RDesktop
Just Light
RDP
WifiFinder
Flashlight
Pano
PS Express
Pro HDR
Photosynth
Photo Rotate
QuickPix
Instagram
Tango
Diptic
Ebay
Paypal
Amazon
Field Agent
Target
Scan
Plain Text
Tally Things
TV Guide
Kindle
Bookmark to Music Beta (come on give me an app)
Radio
TuneinRadio
Flixster
Netflix
Redbox
Blockbuster Express
Nike+ GPS
Runkeeper
Mealsnap
Bible.is
Flights
Accuweather
GPS Drive
Latitude
Places
MobileRSS
Monopoly
Risk
Red Alert
Bejewled 2
Scrabble
DoodleJump
FMX Riders
Line Birds
Angry Birds
Angry Birds Seasons
Angry Birds Rio
The Sims3 Ambition

There is definitely some duplication. But these are the ones I haven't been able to bring myself to delete. Comment below and tell me what apps are on your iphone.

Top 20 Android Apps

2011-07-12T08:19:00.000-07:00

Google+ - googles new facebook replacement - good stuff, i think i already sent you an invite but if you need another one let me know
Mint - its an app that manages your money and hooks to all your accounts. i dont handle our finances, bryan does, but he has this and loves it. it allows him to set budgets and categorize spending and get an alert if hes gone over a particular category budget, etc. good stuff.
Kindle App - if you use amazon or have a kindle or even if you don't this is a great ebook reader and if you like to read saves space time and money in acquiring and reading books. if you get this and need some good reads, tell me what type of books you like and ill send you some ;)
Dropbox - this has rocked my world this app. basically you install it on all your computers and your phone and any file you put in the dropbox folder on your desktop will become accessible anywhere you have installed this app. for instance, you have a picture on your computer at work, drop it in the folder and if dropbox is on your phone you can look at it on your phone without having to email it or anything.
Google Voice - this basically puts another phone on your phone... i use this for my business phone (foowebs)
Facebook - in case you still want to contact lame people who havent switched to google+ yet ;)
Angry Birds - costs 99cents but sooo worth it - everyone needs angry birds game LOLOL
Twitter - if you twitter
Gasbuddy - uses your gps to find the closest and cheapest gas prices to you at any given point in time
Shazam - open it when a song is playing and it will listen to the song and tell you the name, artist, album, etc
Adobe Photoshop Express/Picsay - photo editing programs for pictures you take on your droid
Open Table - make a dinner reservation without making a phone call, uses gps to find restaurants around you, check reviews, tap to make a reservation
Klondike Solitaire - old skool
Ringdroid - make ringtones on your phone from sound clips or music on your phone
Movies by Flixter - look up movie times, reviews, trailers
Barcode Scanner - youll start noticing barcodes around you in restaurants, starbucks, subway, stores... if you have a scanner like the barcode scanner you can get more information about things hidden about you
Urban Spoon - can't decide where to go for dinner/lunch? Put in your preferences, spin the wheel and it will pick for you
Goggles - search by taking a picture
Taskos - a way to manage your todo lists
Words Free - a fun scrabble-ish game to play with anyone on iphones/androids/facebook etc

Fast Access to File Properties

2011-07-11T08:28:00.000-07:00

You probably normally access properties by right clicking and selecting the properties link on Windows OS. If you would like to speed up your actions.....

Hold down alt key
Doubleclick the icon

Voila - fast access to properties screen

Contact Plus Pro - Searching Tool

2011-07-11T06:39:00.000-07:00

Just an idea for an enhancement for Contact Plus Pro software. When searching your contacts, it would be nice to be able to search or order by timezone. This would allow you to prioritize certain timezones for certain parts of the day.

Maybe this will one day be part of the program.

:)

How to align an image inside of a P to allow text to flow around it

2011-07-10T11:10:00.001-07:00

<p><img src="imagename.gif" align="position" hspace="pixels" vspace="pixels">Put your text here

Add Google +1 Buttons to your website

2011-07-09T12:57:00.000-07:00

For a tall Google Plus One button


<script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"></script>


<g:plusone size="tall"></g:plusone>

For a standard Google Plus One button


<script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"></script>


<g:plusone></g:plusone>

For a small Google Plus One button


<script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"></script>


<g:plusone size="small"></g:plusone>

Options

If you want to add a url other than the canonical or DOM, you can add attributes like the following:


<script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"></script>

<g:plusone size="small" href="http://www.yoursite.com"></g:plusone>

If you want to remove the count from the button you can add an attribute like the following:


<script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"></script>

<g:plusone size="small" count="false"></g:plusone>

Magento - Google Base Connection Stops Working (read timed out)

2011-07-08T21:38:00.000-07:00

Been getting error "read timed out" in magento admin panel when trying to upload products this week. Turns out they deprecated the api that runs it in Magento 1.4.1.1 so - for now you will want to use this extension to connect magento and google shopping.

Hope that helps. I have been trying to find the cause for a couple days now and it took quite a bit of snooping before I found what was going on.

Google Plus Line under name in search results

2011-07-08T19:09:00.000-07:00

I was wondering why some people had locations and some people had blurbs of where they were from under their names in Google+. Mine showed one of the cities I listed as a place I lived. I removed that city (which was colored green implying i live there now) and clicked save in my profile. Now it shows the line or blurb that I edited under my name. Good stuff.

How to add Google Plus1 ( +1 ) to your Blogger blog posts

2011-06-24T10:20:00.000-07:00

Click Design at the top of your blogspot blog
Click edit html
Create a backup just in case
Put the following code immediately after <data:post.body/>

<!-- Google +1 button Start -->
<b:if cond='data:blog.pageType != &quot;static_page&quot;'>
<p></p>
<div style='float:left;padding:10px;'>
<script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js"></script>
<g:plusone expr:href="data:post.url" size="standard" count="true"></g:plusone>
</div>
</b:if>
<!-- Google +1 button End -->

How to enable inbound remote desktop exceptions for Windows Firewall in Group Policy

2011-06-24T06:04:00.000-07:00

Open Group Policy Management

Expand Forest, Domains, Domain name, mybusiness, computers, sbscomputers, windowsbs client
Open Policies, admin templates, network, network connections, domain profile
Rightclick Windows Firewall: Allow inbound remote desktop exceptions and click edit
Open Computer config - policies - administrative templates - network - network connections - windowsfirewall - domain profile - windowsfirewall: allow inbound remote desktop exceptions
right click edit, change your setting to enable, disable, or lock down ips/net

Magento - How to add a static link to the menu

2011-05-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

Go to app/design/frontend/base/default/template/catalog/nav and open top.phtml

you will find this:

<div class="nav-container">
<ul id="nav">
<?php echo $_menu ?>
</ul>
</div>

Go ahead and add your link before the </ul> making it:

<div class="nav-container">

<ul id="nav">

<?php echo $_menu ?>

<li class="level0 nav-5 level-top last"><a href='mylinkhere' target='_blank' class='level-top'><span>Link Title Here</span></a></li>

</ul>

</div>

How to Remove "recently viewed products" from Magento Store

2011-05-20T08:13:00.000-07:00

If you happen to need to remove the "recently viewed" products callout box from Magento you can easily do it by commenting out some code in the app/design directory....

Comment out the following line in layout/reports.xml (line 27)

<block type="reports/product_viewed" before="right.permanent.callout" name="right.reports.product.viewed" template="reports/product_viewed.phtml" />

Gmail Hacked? Perhaps by SK Telecom in Ch!na?

2011-05-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

If your account has been compromised/hacked/stolen you will need to check at least all of the following things:

Account Security:
Settings -> Accounts and Import -> Google Account Settings -> Change Password [pick a new secure password]
Settings -> Accounts and Import -> Google Account Settings -> Change Password Recovery Options [verify secret question, SMS and secondary e-mail address]

Potential Spam:
Settings -> General -> Signature [make sure nothing as been added]
Settings -> General -> Vacation Responder [make sure it's disabled and empty]

E-mail Theft
Settings -> Accounts and Import -> Send Mail As [make sure it is using your correct e-mail address]
Settings -> Filters [no filters that forward or delete e-mail]
Settings -> Forwarding and POP/IMAP -> Forwarding [disabled or correct address]
Settings -> Forwarding and POP/IMAP -> POP Download [disabled]
Settings -> Forwarding and POP/IMAP -> IMAP Access [disabled]

note: a number of gmail users have found unauthorized access to their accounts by SK telec0m particulary ip address 42.49.41.141

Fix :: Magento :: Unable to Select Credit Card in Checkout - Internet Explorer 9

2011-05-09T15:20:00.000-07:00

Internet Explorer 9, touted as the greatest thing since sliced cheese, is not cutting it with Magento Shopping Cart. Currently the only fix is really just a hack to work around the problem by forcing the client browser to use Internet Explorer 8 in compatability mode. You can force this by inserting the following code at the bottom of your .htaccess file:

BrowserMatch MSIE best-standards-support
Header set X-UA-Compatible IE=8 env=best-standards-support

Proper SLR Camera Lens Cleaning Tutorial

2011-05-09T12:11:00.000-07:00

Click play on the video below to see a proper demonstration of how to safely clean the lens of your Digital SLR Camera.

Editing vTiger Header - Add link to logo

2011-05-03T14:44:00.001-07:00

I've always thought vTiger should default to that clicking the top left logo brings you to the homepage. Since it doesn't, I decided to make it happen. Here is how you can too:

Open smarty/templates/header.tpl
Around line 83 add your ahref tag around your image insertion code.
Save your file and reload vtiger and you will see your logo now brings you to the homepage

Whew - now I can stop clicking on it relentlessly wondering why I havent learned it doesnt bring me home... :)

Editing vTiger Invoice PDF

2011-04-25T19:11:00.000-07:00

REMOVE SHIPPING ADDRESS
Locate in \modules\Invoice directory the file InvoicePDFController.php
comment out the following:
$shippingAddressLabel = getTranslatedString('Shipping Address', $this->moduleName);
and
$shippingAddressLabel => $this->buildHeaderShippingAddress()

Remove Blurriness of Logo
Take a 149x60 logo, change resolution of 300 and upload as company details in settings
Locate in /vtlib/Vtiger/PDF/inventory the file HeaderViewer.php
See the code below where weve commented out their setting and added our own below
//$pdf->Image($modelColumn0['logo'], $headerFrame->x, $headerFrame->y);
$pdf->Image($modelColumn0['logo'], $headerFrame->x, $headerFrame->y, '', '20');
list($imageWidth, $imageHeight, $imageType, $imageAttr) = getimagesize($modelColumn0['logo']);
//$imageHeightInMM = ceil($imageHeight * 0.2645);
$imageHeightInMM = 20;

Remove Discount Column
Locate in /vtlib/vtiger/pdf/inventory/ file contentviewer.php
around line number 26 comment out discount line, and add width to another column listed

How to increase maximum acceptable message size in Exchange 2008

2011-04-25T07:29:00.000-07:00

Open Exchange Management Shell
Type get-receiveconnector | select identity,maxmessagesize
You should now see a list of servers and set maximums
Increase maximum per server with following command:
set-receiveconnector "Connector Name" -maxmessagesize 30MB

Fix :: Setting up backup for new hard drive and get "The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect" error

2011-04-19T07:17:00.000-07:00

I had this problem today as I was swapping to another external hard drive. I tried reformatting, renaming, re- lettering, and deleting the volume of the drive to get it to work properly. In the end I found this article on microsoft support.

I fixed my problem simply by reattaching the old hard drive and letting it run through the wizard. At which point it would allow the reformat and rescheduling to complete successfully. After a successful complete I was able to disconnect the old hard drive.

WIN SVR :: How to add a user to your terminal server using the GUI

2011-04-15T12:24:00.000-07:00

Open Terminal Services Configuration.
Open the Connections folder
Right-click on the RDP-Tcp object.
Click Properties.
On the Permissions tab, click Add, and then add the desired users and groups.

How to open a .vhd file in windows

2011-04-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

Click start,
Rightclick computer
Click manage
Expand storage
Click Disk Management (or type disk management in the start field and click enter)
Click actions
Click attach vhd
Click browse
Locate your vhd file and click ok
Click ok
Open explorer/mycomputer to see the new drive created to view your vhd
Open the new drive and browse your vhd file as if it were a logical disk.

Welcome to the Chamber :)

2011-04-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

How to Disable Microsoft Security Essentials

2011-04-14T07:26:00.000-07:00

Though disabling your security isn't something that you want to do all the time, you certainly need to know how to do it on the off-chance something you are installing is failing and you need to turn off all potential barriers.

Most security applications have an easy to see disable button from the toolbar rightclick menu or certainly when you open it up. I took me a few to find it on Microsoft Security Essentials, so I figured I would share it with you.

Open the application
Click Settings tab at top
Click Real Time Protection
Uncheck the top box "turn on real time protection"
Click save

Just make sure when you are done that you go back in and turn it back in or your computer will be open to threats.

Fix for Unable to Install KB2417472 on Windows Update

2011-04-14T07:14:00.000-07:00

This update is a security patch for SQL Server for Windows XP or Windows Vista. I had tried a zillion different fixes in order to get it installed, and this is what finally did i:

1. Run the FixIt in KB 971187 - How to fix MSI software update registration corruption issues by clicking the link below:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/971187
2. Retry the Update.
3. If the Update fails, proceed to Step 4.
4. Download .Net Cleanup Utility from the link below:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/astebner/archive/2008/08/28/8904493.aspx
Look for (http://blogs.msdn.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/CommunityServer-Components-PostAttachments/00-08-90-44-93/dotnetfx_5F00_cleanup_5F00_tool.zip)
5. Run Cleanup Tool
6. Restart the computer.
7. Try the Update again and restart the computer (this is where it worked for me but if it doesnt for you then move to step 8)
8. Uninstall .net framework and reinstall the most recent version from windows update / microsoft.com
9. Restart and try again

If these steps hadn't have worked I would have backed up my data and reinstalled sql server 2005.

Fix for Unable to Update/Install SQL 2005 :: Failed to compile the Managed Object Format (MOF) file

2011-04-13T12:16:00.000-07:00

I resolved this problem on a Vista Business machine by rebuilding the repositories as follows

Open a Command Prompt and type:
net stop winmgmt
ren C:\windows\System32\Wbem\Repository C:\windows\System32\Wbem\Repository.old
net start winmgmt

If using Windows Vista - this command will check for inconsistances, and make repairs as needed.
winmgmt /salvagerepository

If using Windows XP - this command will detect, and repair inconsistancies.
rundll32 wbemupgd, UpgradeRepository

Next you will need to register the .DLL files associated with WMI Repository.
cd /d C:\windows\system32\wbemfor %i in (*.dll) do RegSvr32 -s %i

Once these commands ran successfully, I rebooted the pc, and then reinstalled the update successfully. :)

For Web Design Assistance

MAGENTO :: How to insert contact form on CMS page

2011-04-10T11:38:00.001-07:00

Insert this into your CMS page

<!– CONTACT FORM –>
{{block type="core/template" name="contactForm" form_action="/contacts/index/post" template="contacts/form.phtml"}}
<!– END OF CONTACT FORM –>

Fix for Droid Error Syncing to Exchange with Active Sync :: http://www.droidforums.net/forum/rescue-squad-help/80451-update-security-settings-2.html

2011-04-08T07:13:00.000-07:00

Open your 2007/2010 Exchange Management Shell and type:

Set-ActiveSyncMailboxPolicy “Default” -IsDefaultPolicy $False

close, and remove and re-add exchange account. should work

Quickbooks MultiUser Environment not working with Server

2011-04-07T12:56:00.000-07:00

Make sure you have both installed the QB Database Server application on the server, restarted, that the services are running... and then if you are still having problems make sure:

Allowed applications allows this c:\program files(x86)\common files\intuit\quickbooks\qbcfmse.exe
Ports are open for inbound and outbound 8019 and 56719 and 10180

If you are having trouble connecting to a hosted file on another computer/server download this quickbooks connection test app to locate your problem.

How to change the default address book in Outlook 2003 2007 or 2010

2011-04-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

Outlook 2010

From the Find group on the Home tab, select Address Book.
In the Address Book window that appears, from the Tools menu, select Options... .
Under "When opening the address book, show this address list first:", use the scroll-down menu to select the appropriate listing (i.e.,Global Address Book, or Outlook Address Book).
To save the changes, click OK.
To close the Address Book, click the X in the top right corner.

Outlook 2007 and 2003

From the Tools menu, select Address Book... .
In the Address Book window that appears, from the Tools menu, select Options... .
Under "Show this address list first:", use the scroll-down menu to select the appropriate listing (i.e., Personal Address Book, Global Address Book, or Outlook Address Book).
To save the changes, click Apply.
To exit, click OK.

How to Backup to Network Share in Small Business Server 2008/2011

2011-04-07T12:01:00.001-07:00

http://www.netometer.com/video/tutorials/backup-to-network-share-sbs-2008/

How to create a blogger widget from an rss feed

2011-04-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

look for green for where to change things for you

1. First you need to create an rss reading feed on your website (turning your rss into html) You can use this template for yours:

<script src="http://www.google.com/jsapi/?key=ABQIAAAAipyd5uzN4L8Ll3brmslpHxTWFx-CZ4AxZW7rx1DUx0aOrJgFkRS3qP-l2zSyJkgRxvoesjcyE3ez7g"
type="text/javascript"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
google.load("feeds", "1") //Load Google Ajax Feed API (version 1)
</script>

<div id="feeddiv">Loading...</div>
<script type="text/javascript">

var feedcontainer=document.getElementById("feeddiv")
var feedurl="http://www.yourdomain.com/rss.php"
var feedlimit=1
var rssoutput=""

function rssfeedsetup(){
var feedpointer=new google.feeds.Feed(feedurl) //Google Feed API method
feedpointer.setNumEntries(feedlimit) //Google Feed API method
feedpointer.load(displayfeed) //Google Feed API method
}

function displayfeed(result){
if (!result.error){
var thefeeds=result.feed.entries
for (var i=0; i<thefeeds.length; i++)
rssoutput+="<p>" + thefeeds[i].content + "<br> -<a href='http://" + thefeeds[i].link + "'>" + thefeeds[i].title + "</a></p>"
rssoutput+="<a href='http://www.yoururl.com'>brought to you by yourname</a>"
feedcontainer.innerHTML=rssoutput
}
else
alert("Error fetching feeds!")
}

window.onload=function(){
rssfeedsetup()
}

</script>

2. Next you will need to turn that script into escaped code - copy it into this page http://javascript.about.com/library/blscr01.htm and click to turn html to txt

3. Then you will need to create a form on your webpage with a button to allow someone to click to add the widget to their blog - plug your info into a form like this and stick it on your index.php or wherever you want the button to add the widget:

<input type="hidden" name="widget.title"

value="Title for your widget"/>

insert the output from step 2 here - this will be the code that makes the widget - it should be converted from the html into txt by escaping the characters

</textarea>

<input type="hidden" name="infoUrl"

value="http://www.yoururl.com"/>

</form>

4. Thats really all there is to it - test it to make sure it works.

How to create an rss feed with php

2011-04-02T09:44:00.000-07:00

In order to create an rss feed with a php page on your site you will need to use the following template - and save it as rss.php or feed.php or something similar.

<?php
   header("Content-Type: application/rss+xml; charset=ISO-8859-1");

$dbh=mysql_connect ("localhost", "insertusernamehere", "insertpasswordhere") or die ('I cannot connect to the database because: ' . mysql_error());
mysql_select_db ("insertdbnamehere");

   $rssfeed = '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?>';
   $rssfeed .= '<rss version="2.0">';
   $rssfeed .= '<channel>';
   $rssfeed .= '<title>Insert Title of Feed Here</title>';
   $rssfeed .= '<link>http://www.yoururl.com</link>';
   $rssfeed .= '<description>Insert description here</description>';
   $rssfeed .= '<language>en-us</language>';
   $rssfeed .= '<copyright>Copyright (C) 2011 you</copyright>';

//query query insert query here for your data

not going to put my queries in but do yours here

   //get all the details
$quote_details = mysql_fetch_array($result);

$rssfeed .= '<item>';
   $rssfeed .= '<title>' . $quote_details["yourtitlevariable"] . '</title>';
   $rssfeed .= '<description>' . $quote_details["yourdescriptionvariable"] . '</description>';
   $rssfeed .= '<link>www.yoururl.com</link>';
   $rssfeed .= '</item>';


   $rssfeed .= '</channel>';
   $rssfeed .= '</rss>';

   echo $rssfeed;
?>

And then what you want to do is link your main page to your rss.php page like here:
<link rel="alternate" href="rss.php" title="title" type="application/rss+xml" />

Thats all! Enjoy!

How to use an image for a submit button on an html form

2011-04-02T08:38:00.001-07:00

replace the submit input tag with this

<input type="image" src="butup.gif" alt="Submit button">

How to post "tweet this" or "post this link on twitter" links on your blog/website

2011-04-01T09:50:00.001-07:00

Use this code

<a href="http://twitter.com/home/?status=your message here">Click here to tweet this</a>

Foowebs Workspace Rebuild

2011-03-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately I did not grab any before pictures [fail] But here are the afters.

Cable Management with a rain gutter:

Get rain gutter from home depot and get them to cut it into a 3 foot piece (desk is 4 feet but space I wanted to put rain gutter would be more like 3ft)
My desk has a back piece so I used a drill to make 6 holes a proper screw would fit through. Used snippers and screwdriver to rip hole into metal and round it out matching them up to holes in desk.
Push screws through back metal piece and bolt on the back of the desk
Fit cables and ups in rain gutter. Use caution around sharp edges.
I think I need an endcap to keep the metal from bending over time but for now it works.

Bi-level Desk with a shelf and door stoppers:

Screw door stoppers into the bottom side of the shelf
Set this up under your monitors

Day 1

So Day 2

Last night I completed some more steps in my workspace transformation.

I painted the logo on a canvas and hung it on the door to the office.
I put together the cabinet I bought at Ikea friday ($9 down from $70) and hung it, and placed router inside
Moved filling cabinet next to desk, added wood piece to raise height to desk

See some pictures after day 2

Day 3

set up standing workstation
move furniture around to make room for standing workstation

to be continued...

Cable Management with Binder Clips

2011-03-28T07:04:00.000-07:00

On the off chance your ipod or other usb plug slips behind your desk regularly and you are continuously getting down on all fours under the desk this ones for you :)

And yes - I can't wait to get home and try it out

And if you are sick of the dust bunnies in your mess of cables... this one is for you... Rain Gutters as Cable management

I am going home tonight to build one of these stands:

How to Fix when Intuit Quickbooks Wont Print Certain Templates

2011-03-24T06:32:00.000-07:00

We had this problem today. We took the following steps to fix it.

Restart software - no fix
Restart computer - no fix
Create new template - no fix
Tried on a different computer with same user - worked fine
Tried on same computer with different user - did not work (resolved problem with a corrupted file on this computer)
Un-installed software and rebooted and reinstalled software and rebooted - no fix
Updated software - no fix
Renamed qbprint.qbp - fix

Turned Quickbooks off
Located qbprint file in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Intuit
Renamed file to qbprint.old
Restarted Quickbooks and printed a previously unprinting template
FIX

Intuit Response here http://support.quickbooks.intuit.com/support/Articles/HOW12275

more quickbooks fixes here http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10things/10-quickbooks-issues-and-how-to-resolve-them/1569

How to Mask a Photograph in Photoshop into a rounded rectangle

2011-03-23T18:51:00.000-07:00

Open Photograph in Photoshop
Create a new layer and create a rounded rectangle with the shape tool
Select the pixels of the rectangle by Ctrl+the thumbnail in the layers box
Select the photograph layer you want to mask
Click the "quick mask" button at the bottom of the layers box
Hide or delete the shape layer

Magento - Enable or Disable Coupon Code Form in Shopping Cart

2011-03-22T17:35:00.000-07:00

If you would like to disable the coupon codes from the shopping cart in Magento perform the following steps:

go to /app/design/frontend/base/default/layout/checkout.xml

and comment out the following line:
<block type="checkout/cart_coupon" name="checkout.cart.coupon" as="coupon" template="checkout/cart/coupon.phtml"/>

You can also comment out the line below it if you would like to remove shipping calculations from the shopping cart. Use 

For example:


If you would like to enable them remove the comment tags!

How to Open ODT (open office odf) files in Word

2011-03-22T05:10:00.000-07:00

Has a client sent you a file to open and the extension is odsomething like .odt and you have no programs to open it? If so - the file was likely created using Open Office and the author failed to convert/save in a friendly file type. You can always ask them to resend in a doc, or see below for handling it yourself.

Download this plugin to open odt / odf / odp / ods files in Microsoft Office
http://sourceforge.net/projects/odf-converter/

Open the file with this plugin - and then you can edit/view/save into .doc or .docx

SCSI Cables

2011-03-21T12:39:00.000-07:00

The Three Types of SCSI - SE, LVD, HVD

SE SCSI Includes all SCSI devices that do not say "LVD" or "HVD" or "Differential". SE SCSI must be terminated with an SE terminator which includes passive (old), active (very common), FPT (a deluxe active), active negation (uncommon) or LVD/SE (best), and each is backwards compatible to work with the one listed before it. When in doubt, buy an LVD/SE terminator and save yourself headaches. The maximum speed on an SE SCSI chain is 40MB/second, and cable quality (such as "LVD" grade) will NOT change this.

LVD SCSI The latest and greatest in SCSI connectivity. HOWEVER, your entire SCSI chain (controller, terminators & devices) must be LVD or LVD/SE to achieve LVD benefits of speed, length and number of devices. If just one device is not LVD the entire chain will default to SE SCSI limitations (see above). The same goes for Ultra160 LVD or Ultra320 LVD - all devices on the chain must be Ultra160 LVD or Ultra320 LVD respectively.

HVD SCSI Also known as "Differential" SCSI, this is the least common SCSI type but allows longer cabling distances. HVD SCSI requires that the entire chain (controller, devices and terminators) be HVD (Differential). HVD cannot mix with SE or LVD SCSI.

http://store.a2zcable.com/sccahetofscc.html

How to Build A Treadmill Workspace - Exercise While you Work

2011-03-18T12:58:00.001-07:00

This is something that I have always wanted to do because I feel with the free time that I have I either have the choice of getting things done on my computer or working out. Unfortunately working on my computer often wins out and the treadmill sits unused. I am going to build one of these asap! Get out the drills Bry!

Here is another option

How to Make Anything in Windows a Keyboard Shortcut

2011-03-18T09:22:00.000-07:00

Locate the file or application you want to launch and right click it and select create shortcut
Copy the shortcut to anywhere on your computer, perhaps in a folder in your documents
RightClick the shortcut you have just created, click Properties option. Click the Short Cut Tab and select the shortcut button you want to use. Click OK and Done.

Google Chrome :: How To Open a Link In A New Tab

2011-03-16T06:48:00.000-07:00

Method A - right click and select open in new tab

Method B - drag the link to your tab bar (you can even drag a set of words to run a search in a new tab)

Apache Server :: How to create a custom 404 page

2011-03-15T07:30:00.000-07:00

Create your 404 page not found custom html page

should include acknowledgement that the page doesnt exist
should include a way to get back on track

Upload your 404 page to the server
Configure your server to point to the proper 404 page

Connect to your site via FTP. Do you already have a file named .htaccess? If so, skip to step 3
Create a new file. Name it .htaccess - use that exact name!
Add the following line of text to the file:
ErrorDocument 404 /404.html
Save the file and upload it to your web site, if you have’t already.

For the record the reason this is important is if your default 404 is shown to a potential site visitor - chances are they simply mistyped something and will now abandon your site rather than continue looking

Google Chrome :: How to Make It Faster - turn on Hardware Acceleration

2011-03-15T06:53:00.001-07:00

Here are step to turn on Hardware Acceleration in Google Chrome:

First you need to ensure that you are running Google Chrome version 9 or above. For that, just click on Wrench icon in the top right corner of Google Chrome, then click on “About Google Chrome” in bottom of that menu. It will open a pop-up window that will show you the version of Google Chrome that you are using.
Then, go to the address bar of Chrome, and type exactly this (without quotes): “about:flags”. Then press Enter.
This will show all the experimental features of Google Chrome that are available in your version of browser. Scroll down in this list, and click on Enable for following 3 items:
- GPU Accelerated Compositing
- GPU Accelerated Canvas 2D
- Web Page Prerendering
That’s it. Just restart your browser, and then you’ll be able to experience faster web page loading.

How to Redirect Visitors to new Blog in Blogger (Blogspot)

2011-03-15T06:20:00.000-07:00

From your blog go to: Click Layout and then click EditHtml
Search for the following tag: </head>
Now place the following code above with:

<meta http-equiv="refresh" content="0;url=http://MyNewBlog.com"/>
Save it and done

Magento - How to track conversions from Google Adwords

2011-03-14T06:37:00.000-07:00

Include the code below in app/design/frontent/default/your_template/template/checkout/success.phtml

Below:

<?php echo $this->__('Your order # is: %s', $this->getViewOrderUrl(), $this->getOrderId()) ?>.<?php else :?>
<?php echo $this->__('Your order # is: %s', $this->getOrderId()) ?>.<?php endif;?>

<?php //-------------------------------------------
// START ADWORDS CONVERSION VALUE TRACKING CODE
//-------------------------------------------$order_details = Mage::getModel('sales/order')->loadByIncrementId(Mage::getSingleton('checkout/session')->getLastRealOrderId());$adwords_saleamt = $order_details->subtotal; ?>
<!-- Google Code for Purchase/Sale Conversion Page -->
<script language="JavaScript" type="text/javascript">
<!--
var google_conversion_id = XXXXXXXX---YOURIDHERE---XXXXXX;
var google_conversion_language = "en";
var google_conversion_format = "1";
var google_conversion_color = "ffffff";
var google_conversion_label = "purchase";
var google_conversion_value = "<?php echo $adwords_saleamt; ?>";//--></script><script language="JavaScript" src="http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion.js"></script><noscript>
<img height="1" width="1" border="0" src="http://www.googleadservices.com/pagead/conversion/XXXXXXXX---YOURIDHERE---XXXXXX/?label=purchase&amp;guid=ON&amp;script=0"/>
</noscript>
<?php//-------------------------------------------
// END ADWORDS CONVERSION VALUE TRACKING CODE
//-------------------------------------------?>

From http://www.magentocommerce.com/boards/viewthread/22973/P0/

Adwords Certification

2011-03-12T20:45:00.001-08:00

Magento - Disappearing CheckOut Button

2011-03-11T05:52:00.000-08:00

For a while now I have had a phantom problem with the Check Out button disappearing in the final step of the Magento purchase process. This is a huge problem. Over the past six months I have had only two or three people call me with this problem and once I had them hover they saw the button and jumped off the phone like it was on fire. So unable to gather data on the problem, and unable to see it myself on any of the browsers on multiple computers. My concern is how many others may be having the problem that I am not catching and then they just go buy elsewhere.

Today I finally found a fix. Apparently the problem only occurs in Internet Explorer 8, but not consistently. If you are also having this problem on your Magento install the fix I found from Saruqui is:

to add this code:

<block type="core/template" name="checkout.onepage.review.button" as="button" template="checkout/onepage/review/button.phtml"/>

to this page /app/design/frontend/base/default/layout/checkout.xml

AND the block of code would then look like this:



    <checkout_onepage_review>
        
        <remove name="right"/>
        <remove name="left"/>

        <block type="checkout/onepage_review_info" name="root" output="toHtml" template="checkout/onepage/review/info.phtml">
            <action method="addItemRender"><type>default</type><block>checkout/cart_item_renderer</block><template>checkout/onepage/review/item.phtml</template></action>
            <action method="addItemRender"><type>grouped</type><block>checkout/cart_item_renderer_grouped</block><template>checkout/onepage/review/item.phtml</template></action>
            <action method="addItemRender"><type>configurable</type><block>checkout/cart_item_renderer_configurable</block><template>checkout/onepage/review/item.phtml</template></action>
            <block type="checkout/cart_totals" name="checkout.onepage.review.info.totals" as="totals" template="checkout/onepage/review/totals.phtml"/>
            <block type="core/text_list" name="checkout.onepage.review.info.items.before" as="items_before"/>
            <block type="core/template" name="checkout.onepage.review.button" as="button" template="checkout/onepage/review/button.phtml"/>
        </block>
    </checkout_onepage_review>

I hope this helps someone else having the same problem :)

How do I change/edit the name of a label in Blogger (blogspot)

2011-03-10T06:52:00.000-08:00

hack around it ;)

go to edit posts
click the label on the left you want to change to select all posts under that label
make sure all are in the view (show 100/page or whatever) and click select all
apply new label to it
select all
remove old label

Thats all :)

Discovery's Last Shuttle Landing

2011-03-09T11:16:00.000-08:00

Space - the final frontier - here are some screenshots i compiled from discovery's perfect touchdown this morning. I am pretty sure these NASA pilots landed it better than any Delta pilot I have ever seen. Just beautiful.

Fonts

2011-03-09T10:59:00.001-08:00

No place better than http://www.dafont.com/ for free fonts

NexusFont Font Manager

2011-03-09T10:57:00.000-08:00

This sweet app is making me drool as we speak. As a web programmer by nature design is more learned than natural for me. So scrolling through zillions of fonts to find the right one for a project is one of my least favorite tasks. This app makes it so much easier - plus i can swap it between my laptop and desktop on my thumbdrive and really get my moneys worth. Did i mention its free? Download it now!

http://xiles.net/downloads/#NexusFont

NOTE :: if you want the portable version - make sure you download the portable zip file not the installer ;)

Web Developers V. Web Developers

2011-03-09T07:01:00.001-08:00

Web Developers vs Web Developers from Cassie McDaniel on Vimeo.

How to automate anything in Photoshop

2011-03-04T12:42:00.000-08:00

Go to the Window menu and choose Actions.
A little palette will pop up with Photoshop actions already predefined. To use any predefined action, just select it and press the play button at the bottom. If you want to make your own, click the menu button in the upper righthand corner and choose New Action.
Name your action, click OK, and then you'll automatically be in record mode. Anything you do in Photoshop will now be recorded, so perform any actions you want to automate and then click the stop button at the bottom of the actions palette.

Text won't justify in Photoshop

2011-03-04T07:02:00.000-08:00

I was working on an old psd today in Photoshop and could not figure out why there was no option to justify my text. Turns out I had hit enter at the end of each line to put it in the right place I wanted and just never fixed it. Once I made it one solid paragraph the justify option became available.

Gimp startup too slow for you? Here are 10 Tips to speed it up!

2011-03-03T12:10:00.000-08:00

Install Linux and run it there - told to run much smoother there
Install more RAM on your machine
Delete c:\Documents and Settings\\.fonts.cache-1 file - it causes another slow start when Gimp recreated it, then everything is faster.
Uninstall un-needed brushes/fonts/etc
Put gimp in your trusted applications under your virus scanner
Change the short cut to ...gimp.exe -d -s [s does not load the splash screen - d does not load 'data' : font]
Store brushes and such in a user folder rather than the programs folder
Change the cache config option here: Toolbox> / Preferences / Environment / Resource Consumption
Rename the plugins folder
Access the space time continuum and hold it hostage

How to delete background color in GIMP

2011-03-02T19:29:00.000-08:00

open image
click menu/layer/transparency/add alpha channel
select fuzzy selector
click to select the area you want to transparencefy
click delete

Top 10 Internet Crazes - You havent lived until you have seen these.... What?

2011-03-01T12:47:00.000-08:00

10. The Hamster Dance

9. All Your Base are Belong To Us

http://www.planettribes.com/allyourbase/video1_view.shtml

6. Numa Numa

7. Evolution of Dance

6. Christian the Lion

5. Sh!t My Dad Says
http://twitter.com/#!/shitmydadsays

4. Peanut butter Jelly Time

3. Chocolate Rain

2. Charlie Bit Me

1. lolcats / cuteoverload
http://icanhascheezburger.com/ / http://cuteoverload.com/

0. Ask a Ninja
http://www.askaninja.com/