BWebCentral.com

WWW.BWEBCENTRAL.COM

HOME MEDIA BUSINESS SCIENCE LIFE TECH HEALTH TRAVEL CLASSIFIEDS CAREERS

Welcome Computer Tips from Tiger Direct Daily Quote: When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car. Related Links Seanology Make Money Video Blogging	Using your Yahoo Avatars on other webpages ! Like using Yahoo Avatars and customizing them regularily?, Here's a cool wa Read More...
UML Tutorial - Activity Diagrams Activity diagrams describe the workflow behavior of a system. Activity diagrams are similar to state diagrams because activities are the state of doing something. The diagrams describe the state of activities by showing the sequence of activities performed. Activity diagrams can show activities that are conditional or parallel. Read More...	Wallet made from a computer keyboard In all likelihood there is a keyboard within a few feet of you. Inside that keyboard there probably is a circuit sheet that makes for a surprisingly durable and thin material for making a wallet. Read More...	Unfortunate Domain Names From DreamHost Blog, check out these folks who didn't give enough thought to their domain name..which had rather unfortunate circumstances... Read More...
Opening a Document as Read-Only in Windows Explorer Subscriber John Jordan asked how it was possible to open a Word document from the Windows Explorer in a manner similar to the Open Read-Only option that appears in Word's Open dialog box. Such an option is not available when right-clicking on a document in Windows Explorer. Read More...	Hiding files in Jpg images (jpeg) Here is a tutorial on how to hide files in Jpg's. Please note it isn't the most secure method, because the information is stored in plain text but it's still cool to play with. A simple solution to make this more secure, is to use encryption on the RAR file when your create it, but thats not the point of this tutorial :) The idea is to show how files can be 'slammed' together, to stop the average PC user from finding them. Read More...	TrueCrypt : Disk/File Encryption Software TrueCrypt is a free and secure file encryption program that lets you create virutal 'encrypted' volumes using a wide variety of encryption algorithms. It can easily encrypt files on your USB drives too and will work on Windows and Linux files systems. Read More...
Cool harddisk management with Drobo This is a really cool (if geeky) video of a hotswappable RAID system. Watch as this guy changes disks around while watching movies and copying files. Read More...	Microsoft Surface Video. A whole new desktop experience I've heard of this type of desktop interative interface before, but this video really shows some cool things that can be done with it. I don't expect to see one under my Christmas tree anytime soon though :-( Read More...	Happy SysAdmin Day Every last Friday in July is System Administrator Day..I used to be a SysAdmin, and it's hard work, so give a thanks to your sysadmin, and send them this funny video link.... Read More...
Ayola.net Web Hosting \| Website Review Who we are? Ayola.net is a project of company that offer free services in the web for the last 5 years. For example take a look at our online blogs. And now we offer quaity free hosting. Free? Yes, hosting is free. We dont need your credit cards of checks. And we really dont limit your bandwidth. Disk space is practically unlimited too. PHP & MySQL have no cost for you as well. Read More...	Widgetizing the web with WidgetBox Here are some easy to use, cool, and best of all FREE tools you can use on your facebook or blog. Read More...	Earn money referring business with Google Maps Here's an interesting money making oppertunity from Google. They pay you to take pictures of buisness's in your area and submit it to google maps. However, so far you must be a US resident to participate. Read More...
An Open Letter to Anyone Asking For Computer Help From: PetTheory blog, by Ben. I thought this was a really well thought out letter for people asking Ben for computer help all the time. Some excellelent ideas and suggestions are inside. Hope you enjoy Read More...	Browser Bookmarlets Bookmarkets (aka favelets) are awesome little tools you can add to your browser. I love using them. They are small pieces of code that you add to your links toolbar. Here are some examples Read More...	What is a podlet? Ever wake up in the middle of the night with a "brilliant" idea if inspiration. You then spend the next 12 hours working it out, fine tuning it, and decide you want to 'get it out for the public to see, but you don't have a popular blog, or podcast. Then podlets might be just the thing your looking for. Read More...
Google Google Mail Video The folks at google asked people to make small video clips of a mail icon moving across the world to symbolize the movement of email across the internet. It's pretty cool what they came up with. Check it out Read More...	Computer Stupidities Operating Systems From the support desk: One user -- a regular caller of ours -- got herself into some serious computer trouble when she set about cleaning up her system. She had been exploring the hard drive in the file manager and discovered hundreds of files in the Windows directory with all different file extensions. Being of an orderly mind, and with several hours of free time, she had created a TXT folder, a COM folder, a DLL folder, and so forth, and moved all the files into these subdirectories. Read More...	Web Crash 2007 Have you heard? The Web has crashed, well it's been fixed now, but check out this report from the leader of news..onion news.. Read More...
Is this the future of Technology (Really?) This video is an except from the movie "Freedom to Facism" by Aaron Russo. You can watch the full movie (about 1.5hrs) from Google Video or buy it on DVD at this website. This video (and others like it). Often get me thinking about our technology, and where it is headed. We currently live in a world where are informaion flows everywhere. Some of this information is actual money ($). Credit and Debit cards are accepted through wireless devices. Money is literally floating above you in radio like waves. Information (personal or not) is being constantly collected and in some cases centrally distributed. What does all this mean to us as a society? Is this a blessing or a curse? It is often promoted that technology will make or lives simplier, easier and give us more free time..but has this really happened? Imagine what life would be like if all the information "floating out there in cyberspace" was made centrally available to anyone and everyone. People are volenteering for this ! Would you? Sound like a pretty picture? Read More...	Wifi T-Shirt Detector for all occasions Okay, so your in a new area, you crack open your laptop turn it on, turn on your wifi, and are sadly disappointed to see there is no Wifi access. Of course you could have one of those keychain wifi detectors, but who remembers where you left your keys anyway? Read More...	Pando Sending Large files by email In my old life as a System Administrator, one of the problems I frequenly encountered was email messages bouncing around and failing to be delivered. This was usually because of folks trying to email huge attachments around. I recently across this program called Pando which makes sending large files a breeze. Read More...
Fun Computer Magic Although these are not really easter eggs, they are mostly bugs they are pretty interesting. CON is a device from way back in the old dos days COPY CON FILE.DAT means copy form CONSOLE which is why you can't create a CON file Read More...	What do you do when your computer breaks? I'm still getting used to not being the go to person whenever a computer breaks down. I remember the days well, and how reliant we are on these little pieces of silicon. Rumor has it that NASA spent millions of dollars trying to invent a pen that could write upside down to be used in Space. Though in Russia they had a much cheaper and easier solution..they used a pencil I found this funny cartoon and wanted to share it. Read More...	15 Online Tools That You Will Come To Love As A Tech \| EmergingTechs.com This is a really nice list of several great online tech tools. Especially BugMeNot and 10 Minute mail for quick sign ups to online stuff without having to worry about spam. Read More...
usb msn missile launcher Sometimes I secretly wish I had a button on your phone that zapped the other caller with a small electric shock? You know what I mean, when you get those telemarketers or other annoying callers, or maybe you just want to mess with your friends? Well this USB missle launcher kinda works like that, it hooks up to your computer so your friends can randomly shoot at you. Not sure why you'd subject yourself to this, but I thought it was funny just the same. Maybe good for an electronic game of tag? Read More...	Star Wars Asciimation With Sound From Bullfrog117. Imagine all the work that must have went into making this star wars ascii video. I might not have that much spare time on my hands but the geek in me appreciates whoever did ! Read More...	Social Bookmarking in Plain English Here's a great video from CommonCraft to understand the basics of social bookmarking. Although he talks about del.iciou.us. You can also use ArticleSwap.biz to submit your articles and bookmarking links, and automatically have your submissions sent to several other social bookmarking locations Read More...
Trying to understand SPAM Back in the "old days". It was easy to recognize SPAM. Now it seems to be getting harder to identify. Here's a post from Digital point forums trying to figure out what SPAM is today and how to identify it and deal with it properly. Where I used to work, they often sent out "Marketing DM Campaigns". Product advertising send out to a massive directory of contacts with a grey area of whether or not they requested to recieve such information. SPAM doesn't seem easy to identify these days or seems subjective, I think we need to form some consensus we can all agree on. All opinions welcome. Read More...	Microsoft unveils WSYP system Microsoft unveils their latest WYSP system. As can be seen from this video, this is an excellent pilot project release a few weeks ago directly connecting customers with Microsoft employees. With such terrific response from this pilot project, work is already underway to resell this technology to call centers and similar telemarkting systems. I've been just itching for a breakthrough like this one, and I'm glad Microsoft is leading the challenge, Go M$ ! Read More...	Backing up your computer verses archiving I often find people get confused with the idea of backups vs archives. Both are very important ways to keep information, yet each has it's own unique characteristics and purpose. I found this article on multiply.com that helps clear up the mystery. To summarize, if a record is copied for protection, we can probably call it a backup. If the same record is stored on some media with particular concern with immediate access, it is probably safe to call it an archive. Read More...
Top 12 Random Website Bordom List Ever have one of those moments when you sitting in front of your browser, wondering what to do next. Here's a list of 12 random page viewers you can bookmark or add to you home page. Get a different [interesting?] page every time. Read More...	Urban Legend emails I used to get these all the time in my life as a system administrator. People forwarding me emails because they thought they had a virus, or people emailing me (and everyone in there address book) to watch out about some guy selling perfume in a parking lot. In addition to typing snopes in google You can also type hoax and then the email subject, BEFORE emailing everyone in your address book. Sometimes it gets even worse, when two or more people start arguing about whether the content of the email is real or not, and they keep replying to all each time.. Big waste of resources, and clutters my inbox. That being said, some of them can be kinda funny ;-) Read More...	A letter from XYZ to the Microsoft When I first came across this article, it immedialty reminded me of Dad. He was just getting into sending emails and he asked some humorous questions. I don't remember them all, but i remember one of them was How come there are no capitol numbers ?????? He was also telling me how he was going to start his own dictionary, because none of the words he wanted to use were ever in it :-) Read More...
The secret to blending your IT infrastructure together This maybe just for network administrators. I know I can surely relate to being asked to make all kinds of wierd (and often ancient) computer networking protocols,databases and operating systems all talk together smoothly. Well the folks at BlendTech have done it again, watch this awesome demonstration video gaurteened to get all of your IT Infrastructure operating smoothly. Read More...	Catching a Virus from a photo frame I don't normally send out virus warning notices, there are so many it would take all of my time. I found this one of particular interest as it affects owners of the new digital picture frames. In particular if you have purchased a frame mfg by Best Buy (Insignia Brand). If you have one of these and have connected it your windows PC's you might want to have a look at this. ..The joys of new technology ! Read More...	Lessons learned from my first E-Bay sale (Now trying IPAQ 3100rx PDA) EBay Lessons Learned Well, the good news is, I sold my first item on E-Bay, yes the N64 I offered on E-Bay went for about $20 The bad news, it doesn't look like I will be paid for it, and may have to relist it. Fortunatly, it looks like the relisting fee will be free, and I am hoping to be able modifiy it slightly based on the lessons I have learned so far. In the meantime, I'm doing it again this time trying to sell a slightly broken iPAQ. The touch portion of the display is not working so if you like to take apart things and see how they work, this might be a good deal for you. I am also including all the accessories, 2 batteries, USB Cables, power cables and manual. So if you have an iPAQ already this might be a good deal on extra accessories. E-Bay Lessons Learned It's worth the extra $ to post into 2 categories The title of your item is VERY important and needs to use lots of KEYWORDS (eg: Not using the word nintendo) Use images in earch results Default search results are time ending soonest It's all about people finding it in a search Way to ge around mulitpe images (host the file yourself !) Well written descriptions Do a search ourself to get an idea where it fits into things Include Business Card, related marketing material inside the packagte Pack everything first, invest in a scale and measure tape for shipping costs List all items in a package in the description Quickly and easily sign up for E-bay at http://www.bwebcentral.com/ebay Read More...
Understanding Wiki's and Wikipedia What is a Wiki? In general, a Wiki is web software, that allows people to easily create, and edit webpages by multiple people (or volunteers) in a collaborative way. The word Wiki itself, comes from the Hawaiian word meaning "fast". If you run a Wiki software on your website, it can be a very fast way to create and edit pages to share with others. Why are Wiki's Useful? The full power of a Wiki can be seen by one of the post popular Wiki's called Wikipedia. This free encyclopedia has grown to well over 2 million articles on a wide variety of subjects. Perhaps you remember, when you were young, and you parents had that encyclopedia set of 20 or so books on a bookshelf. Or perhaps, you went to the library to research information for you school project? Maybe you were even one of the lucky ones who had a CD-ROM with the encyclopedia on it. Now, thanks to the power of the internet and Wiki's. You can research all kinds of information quickly and easily. What are Wiki Problems? For the most part, Wiki's can be edited by anyone, anonymously. Depending upon the wiki quality guidelines and how well they are enforced, can greatly affect the accuracy of the information presented. Wikipedia is very good at enforcing quality guidelines and a new scan tool (see link below) allows you to somewhat see what persons/companies are editing Wikipedia entries, possibly in a biased way. So when researching information from a Wiki (or even the internet in general) it is important to have several sources to backup your findings. From the link below you can see a list of Wikipedia edits from the IP Address block 198.81.129.0-255. A quick Whois on this IP Address block reveals these IP addresses are owned by, and administrated from the Central Intelligence Agency. In reality, this only tells us that there are people using computers on the CIA network making some very inteesting wiki edits We can only surmise the specific reasons why. It could just be employees having fun, or part of a some bigger conspiracy theory. Either way, it's kinda of interesting don't you think? Read More...	Firefox..You web browser of choice? There has been large debate on the web, a fight over which is better Mozilla Firefox or Microsoft Internet Explorer? Most people who use Internet Explorer, do not do so as a "choice". It is shipped automatically with most computers, and most computers shp with Windows. People get on, can do there web browsing, it functions, and they never try anythinng different. Some people like to switch things around and try new things while others will maintain the status quo until there is a 'pain' to change. If you are still using Internet Explorer, and have never tried Firefox. Might i suggest giving it a try? Read More...	Controlling second life with just a thought A very cool video on controlling the Second Life video game with just a thought! Read More...
A tool is only as good as the person who weilds it I'm pretty much all thumbs when it comes to using any tool. Even a hammer, I hit my fingers, but I'm a pretty good programmer, and I think I write pretty good applications. Here is an interesting article from secretgeek.net about Workflow software. This is the kind of software that lets the business analyst, designer understand process flows within an organization. It allows us technical folks the ability to design or customize a software solution to meet a particular set of business needs. Just like a hammer, if used properly, workflow software can be a very valuable tool. Combined with good knowledge and training it can help a business be more efficient and effective. To often, however, the software may get billed as a magical solution. At the bottom of this article is a funny parady . The 'IF' server, an excellent example of how a sales pitch can potentially sell thousands of copies of a software product, to the 'wrong' individuals and end up causing more problems then it is worth. Read More...	How social are you? "The needs of the many, outweigh the needs of the few..or the one" - Spock (Star Trek II) Do you consider yourself a social person? Today we have social networking tools, blogging, instant messaging, emails, cell phones. Everyone no matter where in the world is literally a click away. We are social beings, we enjoy the comfort of others. But what does it mean to be 'social'. Is it simply being friendly?. Does he/she with the most friends on facebook win?..I don't think so. Consider the case of my aunt Mary, who is using attempting to raise $5,000 to fight cancer. Here we have, I believe, what it truly means to be social. It is the power of society, to use social networking, and related tools to spread a message, a message to help others, to understand that we live within a complex structure of people. People, who are just as deserving as you or I, but, who have been dealt a different set of cards in life. When we take time to consider the needs of others, yes that is a start to being social..and when we take action to help others, to help society. When we realize that we are all individuals interdependent upon one another..the world we live within, and the creatures we live with...it is only then that we can truly consider our selves "social". So my challenge is this, instead of trying to have more friends then your neighbor on facebook, or more people in your 'group'. Take a lesson from my aunt, find a way to use the technology we have today to help fulfill the needs of the many. Please give, we are all social beings, in a social world, and thus the benefits of giving will return to you tenfold. - The law of Tenfold return Spread the Message -> Join Mary's facebook group Read More...	Funny Computer Virus Names If you are receiving this message, please be advised that you have just been infected with the "Lazy Programmer Virus" The Lazy Programmer virus, will delete all of the files on your C:\ drive and then forward itself to everyone in your address book. Please Note: As the programmer is too apathetic to create the code necessary to execute this virus, this works on the honor system. If you've received this, please delete all of your files, and forward this message to everyone you know. Tks. "The Lazy Programmer" Here's some more funny virus infections to watch out for... Read More...
Protect Your Wi-Fi Connection Many people don’t know how easy it is for people to connect to their wifi and steal their internet and bandwidth. Why sharing your home internet with everyone that is near your house if you don’t want them to? Now, don't get me wrong, it is nice to want to be able to share your Wifi, or perhaps you and a few of your neighbours want to get together and share your high speed bill. Wifi can be an excellent way to makes this happen. But even in this case, it might not be advisible to just let anyone come in, snoop your traffic, steal your information and move on. This is the risk you present yourself with if you are not using proper Wifi security. Well it is quite easy to prevent this from happening and this article from TheComputerMaster walks you through the necessary steps. The basic idea is you define a wirless key using a security known as WPA-PSK. Then only give the key to those you trust to access your machine. Choose a long key to prevent brute force attacks. Don't think you are safe using the old, outdated WAP security, or trying to configure mac address filtering. Neither of these give you any real security. Always go WPA-PSK as a minimum for your WiFi needs. Read More...	Hidden Video Courses in Math, Science, and Engineering DataWrangling.com has put together an awesome collection of university level free coursewhere from all around the web. So if you are looking to brush up on your ecomonics, engineering, or physics, this is the article to check out. Unlike, other sites, all of these videos are free [while available]. Many of which seem to go over my head, but nonetheless, if you are looking for online training and have the right discipline you may find these very usefull. Read More...	Bigger Computer Monitors = More Productivity I have been using a dual monitor setup for several years now, so it comes as no surprise to me at all that multiple monitors or different screens sizes improve productivity. Here is an article from the Wall Street journal that helps validate what many of us have already felt for a long time. Once you get into a dual monitor setup it is VERY hard to move back. Read More...
Google and Salesforce Join to Fight Microsoft I've had the oppertuninty to use both Salesforce.com and Google Apps. In this new york times article, you can read more about google and salesforce joining forces to implement customer relationship managment software linked to existing google applications. From a programmers perspective, Both Google apps and salesforce, have nice, easy to use API's, so I see a lot of promise here. No word that this will be free though, but someday maybe. Salesforce.com licenses can be a bit pricey. Read More...	Password Safe How many user name and password combinations to you have to keep track of? Password Safe is a nice small utility for windows that lets you easily store and save common password information. Keep all your passwords safe, in one encrypted file and master password. Some users at companies are forced to change there password every 30 or 45 days, so this will help keep all your passwords organized. Plus the autotype feature can automatically enter your credentials for you..and best of all it's completely free. So if your tight on security (or your organization). This might be the perfect tool for you. Read More...	Mobile phone tracking This is a bit scarry. Most cell phones today have built in GPS tracking. This is for E911 services. If you are lost with your cell phone, search and rescue can find you. SunSite satellite has GPS tracking software that allows you to find the location of any phone in the world that is equiped with a GPS reciever. Just enter your number and wham. Should this really be allowed? Give it a try and see what happens :-) Read More...
The Five Stages Of Windows Acceptance From the OSNN Forums. Are you still running one of the M$ OS. Now with Vista and all it's problems, will you upgrade? If you haven't you probably will, the link below will take you through each of the grief stages you will pass through to get to the next "Great" update Read More...	If browsers were women Too Funny :-) What is your browser of choice? If you meet Firefox, it's all you can think about. She just puts to much stuff in your memory! Even though she may drive you crazy, men find it hard to dump Mrs. Firefox. It's not because of herself, it's more because of the stuff she gets from that huge bunch of her admirers. All those gadgets you can use anytime while dating her makes your life so much easier. Oh, if only other women were so open for gifts ... Read More...	R2-D2 DVD Projector This is awesome. If you like Star Wars at all. You know you want one of these R2D2 projectors. What a really cool idea ! I only wish I thought of it first. This is a rendered video by Nikko and I'm not sure that you can actually buy them. It shows "limited edition" Check out more at the Star Wars Shop Read More...
Funny Out-Of-Office E-Mail Auto-Reply Out of Office auto-replies can be great when you are on vacation, and you want to let others know you won't be checking your email. Here 10 great Out of Office autoreplies you should consider the next time you are heading out on vacation (If you have the guts that is) 1. I am currently out at a job interview and will reply to you if I fail to get the position. Be prepared for my mood. 2. You are receiving this automatic notification because I am out of the office. If I was in, chances are you wouldn't have received anything at all. 3. Sorry to have missed you but I am at the doctors having my brain removed so that I may be promoted to management 4. I will be unable to delete all the unread, worthless emails you send me until I return from vacation on 4/18. Please be patient and your mail will be deleted in the order it was received. Read More...	How It Works \| The PC Decrapifier Have you recently purchase a new computer? If so you may have noticed a wide variety of junk that is pre-installed. Toolbars you don't need, software you don't want. Trials of programs that expire in 30 days and keep nagging your end after end. Why does all this junk even come preloaded on your machine? It's simple really. This distributor makes money for each piece of software they pre-install. Since the markup on the hardware usually isn't very high, the distributor/retailer can make a few bucks installing a lot of useless software and trialware and calling it a "value add" or 'bundle package. Then you need the PC Decrapifier. This litle FREE program scans your computer for the common bloatware that comes initially installed with your computer, and will ask you what items you want to remove and what to leave alone. Quick, easy, and just the tool for newly purchase computers, to make them run like they should Read More...	Get the Office 2007 Compability Pack If you haven't upgraded to Office 2007 yet (and it really odd new interface). You might be confused about these new file extensions like .docx, .doxm, .xlsx. Perhaps you've recieved it in an email and cannot seem to figure out how to open it. What is this all about? Unlike previous versions of Office. Office 2007 uses new file names and formats that are not recognized on older versions. These new extensions are used to differentiate between macro enabled documents and regular (non macro documents) for various secuirty reasons. The donwload at the link below is a free update to your older Office 2000 or Office 2003 applications to be able to view these new extensions Read More...
Going GaGa over JaJah The other day while listening to one of my favorite podcasts, they happened to mention a service called JaJah so I decided to check it out. JaJah is a long distance service provider that offers cheap calling ll around the world. Plus, calls are free between JaJah users up to 150 minutes per week! Calls are usually made using Voice over IP or (VOIP) technology, but in a differnt way then other services such as Skype or Vonage. With Skype, calls are made through your computer, and not through your normal phone. Vonage calls do use a normal phone, but you need to buy a special adapter and sign-up for their monthly service plan. JaJah calls work simply by logging into the JaJah website, and entering the number you want to dial. The system then calls your local phone (or cell phone!), and then calls your long distance number and connects the 2 phones together. I don't have to stay on the JaJah site. Once connected, the call does not use my internet connection so I can shut down my computer and still continue my call Plus I can use my JaJah account anywhere. So let's say I'm travelling and in a hotel I can call home from my JaJah account and give the local number of the hotel. Sometimes, I want to be able to make a long distance call from my cell, but cell company long distance charges are crazy!. So I can use JaJah on my cell as well. So currently, I'm paying about $0.03/minute to make long distance calls, but I can make these calls free if others are also using JaJah. So why not sign-up and try a few calls and maybe tell a few friends so that everyone can benefit. One word of caution though calls are only free to other JaJah users that have been iniated on the JaJah website. If you start the call from your cell phone it still costs money, but it's stil really cheap. Also be careful if you are roaming with your cell phone, as the cell phone company may charge your extra $ in addition to JahJah. So there are a few times, like cell phone roaming, where it might still be a good idea to just use a long distance pay card, but your can't beat free calling with no extra equipment or plans right? Read More...	Tiger DIrect in Canada is giving away a Wii Tigerdirect.ca is giving a way 2 Wii's each Wednesday. Entry is free and easy. Bookmark this page and enter every date to increase your odds of winning ! Read More...	Try our new toolbar BWebCentral and have Alexa.com come together to provide you with a custom toolbar for your Internet explorer and firefox (Sparky) browsing experience. This Dynamic Toolbar updates in real-time to offer you information about the sites you visit. This can be used to protect against phishing and similar Scamm attempts. Don't be fooled ever again! Smarter Surfing Get traffic ranking, related sites, and tell a friend links, as well as use the "Way Back Machine" to see how a website has looked in the past. Alexa is a community based system providing useful information about site statistics and traffic. Help support BWebCentral.com and Alexa and give this free no spyware tool a try today ! Read More...
Real Time Satellite Tracking Here's an interesting site if your into Satellites. It appears to track in real time various satellites and positions them on a google map. You can actually see the little satellite icon moving across the earth. I'm not sure how there getting the data to do this, but you can check several items over the earth including the international space station. So next time you see one of those fast moving stars in the sky, you can check this site out and see which satellite is passing over your area. Read More...	Privnote - send notes that will self-destruct after being read Here is an interesting idea. Every watch Mission Impossible..This note will self destruct in 10 seconds? Want to send self destructing notes to others over the web. It's a pretty simple concept, go to the site and enter your note, it will give you back a link to send to your friend (one time only). When they view it, it will be destroyed and will be unreadable by anyone else. Maybe not perfect security but I think it's an interesting idea. Read More...	Internet from old days Here is a great CBC news video from early back in the days when the internet was just in its beginning. A great bit of nostalgia. I remember my first experiance with the internet. I wrote a report about emoticons in school, before that it was all bulliten board systems (BBS). I once did an interview myself for a class report as well. I can't wait until my kids are older and I can say things like, "Back in my day, we were excited to have 14.4k modems" Read More...
A robot with a biological brain Came accross this article; which I found particularily interesting. Researchers at the University of Reading (is that where the reading railroad is?) are learning to create brains in their lab and teach them to control robots! How much more like Frankenstein can you get? The brains are grown from neurological cells, like you would find in your own brain, and are placed on a pad that can recieve signals from the cell culture as well as stimulate the cells with small electronic impulses. When the brain sends messages to the electrodes, the electrodes drive the robot around in left/right directions, when the robot approaches an object it sends a a message to the cells, which then in turn learn from these messages. Here's a a video explaining all about it. This seems to have some far reaching ideas about how our brains actually work. Read More...	Network Magic - Set up and Manage Your Home Network with One Easy Application Network Magic is a free tool from Pure Networks (they also have a paid Pro version for as little as $40) This software allows you to quickly and easily configure multiple computers on a home or small biz network to share files and printers in minutes. Network Magic takes most (if not all) of the hassle of setting up your own secure network and even allows you to connect your windows PC to mac machines. The free version has no limitations, however if you get the Pro version you also get a network monitor, remote access to your files and folders, and 6 months of online backup for up to 8 machines of your choice. Read More...