Email Headers Not Printing in Outlook
August 8, 2008
I recently experienced a curious problem with printing emails. It seems that if you are running Outlook Express, Outlook XP (2002), or Outlook 2003, trouble may arise when you upgrade to Internet Explorer 7.
I can’t say that it happens every time and I don’t really know what causes the issue, but the right combination of Outlook and Internet Explorer 7 can cause the headers to not appear on printed emails.
Read more
Lightroom 2 - Better External Hard Drive Support
August 1, 2008
The release of Adobe Lightroom 2 is packed with tons of useful new features and capabilities. One note-worthy addition is the extended support for external hard drives.
If you’re like me, you probably have at least one external hard drive used as a back-up device or for additional photo storage. In Lightroom 1, all imported photos were visually clumped together in a often-confusing folder list. Version 2 of Lightroom gives us a much more meaningful and informative view of our photo folders and attached devices.
FTP - File Transfer Protocol
July 30, 2008
Just a few months ago, I was taking a short vacation down in Florida with my wife’s family. It was the first time our little nieces had ever been to the ocean, so I was sure to take lots and lots of pictures. Every evening, after we had gone out to one of the many great places to eat, I would dump all of my pictures from my compact flash card onto my laptop.
A lot of people would stop there, but I like to have several copies of all my important files. So, before turning in for the night, I would open up my favorite FTP program, connect to the FTP server running on my computer at home (600 miles away!), and transfer all of the precious photos I had taken that day. Indeed, FTP is a great tool that anyone with a broadband connection should use.
Read more
Windows Remote Desktop Connections
July 21, 2008
Recently, my wife has been considering doing a little computer work for her office from home. Since they don’t exactly have an IT department, I get to help them out from time to time. At first, the folks at her office believed that they needed to buy some specialized software to facilitate the remote connection. I was glad to tell them that they already had all they need: Windows XP Pro, and a static IP address.
Remote Desktop Connection is a utility that comes with Windows XP. It allows a user to connect to another computer remotely via a network connection or the Internet. When connecting from within a local network (like in an office environment), you can use the Computer Name to connect to another computer. If you are connecting to another computer via the Internet, you must know that computer’s public IP address.
Read more
Create Custom Ringtones for Verizon Phones
July 14, 2008
Almost all of my family and friends have cellphone plans with Verizon Wireless. Thanks to their In calling plan, I can talk to all of these folks for free. Which is great. What is not great is the lack of customization possible with their phones.
I recently got a new phone, the Motorola RIZR Z6tv. A co-worker of mine has the same phone model through T-Mobile and was able to easily connect his phone to his PC and move over MP3 files to be used as ringtones. However, when I tried to do this with my Verizon phone, I found it was impossible to set the MP3 files as ringtones. I eventually found a process which allowed me to add custom ringtones to my phone; the best part about this process is that you can use all free software to create your custom ringtones and add them to your phone.
5 Mac Programs Worth Buying
July 10, 2008
I’ve been a Mac user since May of 2006. That’s when I bought my very first Mac, the MacBook Pro laptop. Since then, I have come across a handful of programs that I simply love and, to this point, not found a better alternative elsewhere.
Here, I’ve compiled a list of 5 shareware Mac applications that are well worth the asking price. These are in no particular order, so I don’t intend to imply that one app is better than the other. Each of these apps do their designated tasks, do them well, and do them in style. And since they are all shareware apps, you’re free to download the demo to see what you think about them.
CSS Colors, Practices, and Theories
June 27, 2008
CSS is often thought of as a way to layout a website or position your page elements. However, CSS is just as useful in controlling the style or design of your site with the use of color. But before I get into the technicalities of it all, let’s use our imaginations for just a moment.
Read more
Open Programs Faster - Use Keyboard Shortcuts
June 23, 2008
When I working on my computer, I like to be as efficient as possible. In my quest for efficiency, I’ve found a few little tricks that speeds up my work flow. One of these tricks is defining keyboard shortcuts in Windows.
You can assign a keyboard shortcut to anything shortcut on your Desktop or Start Menu. Once you’ve assigned a shortcut, all you have to do is press the key combination you defined to open that particular shortcut. In this post, I’ll explain how to set up your own keyboard shortcuts and how they can be helpful.
Read more
Firefox 3 Download Day
June 17, 2008
Firefox users rejoice! Firefox 3 is being released across the world in a celebratory fashion. Today is Firefox Download Day 2008.
Not only are we about to get a upgrade to the best browser in the world, we can help set a record for the most downloaded software in a 24 hour period. You can go to the official Firefox Download Day website to join the other millions of users who have pledged to download Firefox 3.
Read more
CSS Basics - The First 5 Steps Towards Mastery
June 13, 2008
It was about four years ago when I began to study web design. I was taking a college course on the subject and it was nearing the end of the semester. A classmate and myself were partnered up to build a simple website about an imaginary company. After a bit of discussion, we decided that my classmate would handle the graphic side of the site, and I would tackle the HTML.
Later that evening I spent some time looking at different resources on the web. Almost all of them kept mentioning this CSS business. “What’s this?” I said. “Tables are bad?” It seemed to me that almost everything I had learned in class about building a website was wrong. Well, not quite wrong, just incomplete. It was like a missing detail in a story: the story as it was seemed great, but this new detail just added a surprising twist! That, my fellow web friends, is what CSS is. If HTML is the old story, then CSS is the new, exciting twist. If you will listen, I’ll tell you about the five first steps I took towards CSS mastery.
Read more



