Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reviews. Show all posts
Monday, September 20, 2010
Saturday, August 28, 2010
WOW!!!... Google Voice Now Gives Us FREE Phone Service
Update - 09/27/2010 - Link added for Free International Calling
I've been using Google Voice http://www.Google.com/voice as a FREE voicemail and re-direct service for many years... mainly as a way of giving some companies a phone number that wouldn't bother me with telemarketing calls since they would always get a voicemail. I even used this type of service LONG before Google bought out the previous company I was using, GrandCentral. It was FREE for incoming phone calls that went straight to a voicemail or re-directing the call to another phone number, etc... but not for out-going phone calls. For those, I either used my cell phone or my MagicJack VOIP phone for $19.95 a year ($1.70 a month).
This morning, when I signed into my Gmail account, I noticed the little pop-up saying that Google Voice now allows calling to the USA and Canada for FREE!!!!
Technically, someone doesn't even have to have a home phone any longer as long as they have home internet service. In the past, Bellsouth aka AT&T made folks get a phone line before they could get DSL internet service but a couple of years ago, they dropped the requirement for having a home phone number so folks could just sign up for DSL service. BTW... there is a price war of sorts going on between Bellsouth DSL internet service and Cox Cable internet service.
LOL... while I was typing this, I had Fox News Channel on and they just announced this too... probably because Clayton Morris of the Fox And Friends Weekend Team is a computer geek... I almost said "too!" but then I remembered that I'm *not* a computer geek, mainly because I'm too old to be a computer geek... right??? LOL
I don't know if Google will keep the outgoing phone call service for free forever but their history certainly leads me to believe that they will. BTW... here's my Google Voice phone number... 504-410-5824... but I need to finish setting it up so call me at 504-667-5111, which is my Skype Phone Number but as soon as I set up my new Google Voice phone number that I recently set up for "Lenny The Computer Guy", I'll probably start phasing out my Skype number since it costs me a couple of dollars a month. I'll still have the Skype IM service where folks can Skype me at LennyTheComputerGuy for instant messaging purposes. Of course, Skype might have to follow suit and lower their costs or give their basic service away for free so we'll just have to wait and see.
I almost feel sorry for the *normal* phone companies out there... and their customers who still pay HIGH rates for phone service. There are SO MANY more affordable options out there... between MagicJack, Skype Phone and now Google Voice... and of course, cell phone service, I don't know how the regular phone companies even sell their land-line services any longer.
I'll update this blog as I fool around with the new Google Voice outgoing service this weekend.
1st Update - 08/28/2010 - 0945 CST:
I had to download an Active-X add-on to my IE8 browser to get it to work and the Google Voice calling and recieving calls applet only seems to work on the Gmail page, not on the Google Voice page. It's probably a glitch that Google will fix. While on the Google Voice page, I can dial out but when I tested incoming calls, the calls went to voicemail. On the Gmail page, I can dial out and when I tested an incoming call, a little pop-up gave me the option to answer the call. Call quality was good.
Probably due to the massive call volume they are having this morning, about 1 out of 5 times when I would test call my number, I would get a recording saying I have reached a non-working number... or something to that effect. Calling right back usually got me through. Hopefully, this is just a temporary glitch due to the massive call volume this morning... Google probably wasn't expecting Fox News Channel to feature this just yet. For every call that did connect properly, the call quality was good.
So far.. things look promising.
Edit - Updated 09/27/2010 - I had this link in my Favorites folder for FREE International Calling and thought it would be good to add it to this post. The website use to go to Talkster.com but it seems Rebtel.com has acquired Talkster.com. You can still get at least one FREE International call but I'm still poking around the new website for how much additional calls will cost. http://www.rebtel.com/en/Learn/Make-Free-Calls/
Here is Gmail's Help page for the Google Calling feature.
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=188269
Lenny Vasbinder aka Lenny The Computer Guy
(see my contact info near the top left)
I've been using Google Voice http://www.Google.com/voice as a FREE voicemail and re-direct service for many years... mainly as a way of giving some companies a phone number that wouldn't bother me with telemarketing calls since they would always get a voicemail. I even used this type of service LONG before Google bought out the previous company I was using, GrandCentral. It was FREE for incoming phone calls that went straight to a voicemail or re-directing the call to another phone number, etc... but not for out-going phone calls. For those, I either used my cell phone or my MagicJack VOIP phone for $19.95 a year ($1.70 a month).
This morning, when I signed into my Gmail account, I noticed the little pop-up saying that Google Voice now allows calling to the USA and Canada for FREE!!!!
Technically, someone doesn't even have to have a home phone any longer as long as they have home internet service. In the past, Bellsouth aka AT&T made folks get a phone line before they could get DSL internet service but a couple of years ago, they dropped the requirement for having a home phone number so folks could just sign up for DSL service. BTW... there is a price war of sorts going on between Bellsouth DSL internet service and Cox Cable internet service.
LOL... while I was typing this, I had Fox News Channel on and they just announced this too... probably because Clayton Morris of the Fox And Friends Weekend Team is a computer geek... I almost said "too!" but then I remembered that I'm *not* a computer geek, mainly because I'm too old to be a computer geek... right??? LOL
I don't know if Google will keep the outgoing phone call service for free forever but their history certainly leads me to believe that they will. BTW... here's my Google Voice phone number... 504-410-5824... but I need to finish setting it up so call me at 504-667-5111, which is my Skype Phone Number but as soon as I set up my new Google Voice phone number that I recently set up for "Lenny The Computer Guy", I'll probably start phasing out my Skype number since it costs me a couple of dollars a month. I'll still have the Skype IM service where folks can Skype me at LennyTheComputerGuy for instant messaging purposes. Of course, Skype might have to follow suit and lower their costs or give their basic service away for free so we'll just have to wait and see.
I almost feel sorry for the *normal* phone companies out there... and their customers who still pay HIGH rates for phone service. There are SO MANY more affordable options out there... between MagicJack, Skype Phone and now Google Voice... and of course, cell phone service, I don't know how the regular phone companies even sell their land-line services any longer.
I'll update this blog as I fool around with the new Google Voice outgoing service this weekend.
1st Update - 08/28/2010 - 0945 CST:
I had to download an Active-X add-on to my IE8 browser to get it to work and the Google Voice calling and recieving calls applet only seems to work on the Gmail page, not on the Google Voice page. It's probably a glitch that Google will fix. While on the Google Voice page, I can dial out but when I tested incoming calls, the calls went to voicemail. On the Gmail page, I can dial out and when I tested an incoming call, a little pop-up gave me the option to answer the call. Call quality was good.
Probably due to the massive call volume they are having this morning, about 1 out of 5 times when I would test call my number, I would get a recording saying I have reached a non-working number... or something to that effect. Calling right back usually got me through. Hopefully, this is just a temporary glitch due to the massive call volume this morning... Google probably wasn't expecting Fox News Channel to feature this just yet. For every call that did connect properly, the call quality was good.
So far.. things look promising.
Edit - Updated 09/27/2010 - I had this link in my Favorites folder for FREE International Calling and thought it would be good to add it to this post. The website use to go to Talkster.com but it seems Rebtel.com has acquired Talkster.com. You can still get at least one FREE International call but I'm still poking around the new website for how much additional calls will cost. http://www.rebtel.com/en/Learn/Make-Free-Calls/
Here is Gmail's Help page for the Google Calling feature.
http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=188269
Lenny Vasbinder aka Lenny The Computer Guy
(see my contact info near the top left)
Monday, August 16, 2010
Some Computer Security Programs That I Use And Recommend
http://tinyurl.com/Computer-Security-Programs
Updated - September 15, 2010 - F-Secure Online Scanner & TrendMicro Housecall Added and MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) removed since I've had two recent customers who had infected computers using MSE.
Updated - August 08, 2010 - a-Squared Free changed to a-Squared Anti-Malware and now to Emsisoft AntiMalware, which Emsisoft was always the main website and name of the software developer.
Updated - August 04, 2010 - Added info about VirusTotal.com since I forgot that info initially.
So... I just replied to a "Help" request in one of the Computer Tech forums that I participate in and decided to give them a long reply with lots of details about the computer security programs that I use and recommend. This isn't everything I use since I don't want to alert the cyber-criminals about some of my other defenses but this is a good list that most beginners should be able to use and utilize.
Here is a snip of my long reply...
BTW, there is no need to spend a single penny on security programs. ALL of the *good* companies make their programs available to home users at no charge, either by a fully or mostly functioning download or as an online scan.
I use and recommend:
Comodo Internet Security http://www.Comodo.com as a FREE and fully functioning security suite that has a professional featured, award winning firewall, good antivirus with real-time and scheduled scanner and good real-time antimalware protection. http://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/free-internet-security.php
NO SINGLE PROGRAM IS 100% EFFECTIVE. While Comodo Internet Security will keep most computer users malware free, for folks that do not practice safe surfing habits, it's a VERY GOOD idea to have multiple backup programs to also scan for things that CIS might miss from time to time. Here are the other programs that I use from time to time.... or all the time for a couple of them.
Also, remember that ALL programs will report false positives from time to time so check things out before deleting files if you are not sure of what you are about to delete. For those instances, I use Virus Total http://www.VirusTotal.com which will allow you to upload the suspicious file and then scan it against ALL of the major security programs to see if more than just your scan is showing it as an infected file. If only one or two show it to be infected, it could be a false positive and you should check it out with the security program's help section, tech support, online forums, etc., to see what they say... before deleting the file. If you find it to be a false positive, make sure you report this to the security program's tech support people so they can keep others from having a problem.... otherwise, someone might delete a file that causes their computer or one of their programs to no longer work. While s-Squared is one of the best free scanners available to us, it's also the most likely to find false positives... at least that's been my experience when using a-Squared Anti-Malware.
MalwareBytes http://www.MalwareBytes.org as a backup scanner for when needed or folks that surf the net wildly, they can do weekly scans just to make sure that their main security didn't miss anything.
SuperAntiSpyware http://www.superantispyware.com/ as another backup scanner for when needed as above.
Emsisoft AntiMalware, formerly a-Squared Free or a-Squared Anti-Malware, which can be a paid for full-time background scanner or the FREE as needed scanner which does not provide full-time scanning but can still be used as one of the backup scanners, which is what I suggest - http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/antimalware/
SpywareBlaster http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html - This doesn't do any scanning or use any system resources. You simply download the updated definitions on a weekly basis and enable them to protect your computer from LOTS of malicious websites, adding them to your Hosts file and registry... and it also block LOTS of malicious drive-by software.
Spybot Search & Destroy http://www.safer-networking.org/ - I really only use the Immunization feature on this program although it does have a scanner as well. The Immunization feature will build a nice Hosts file to supplement the one with SpywareBlaster. I do use the scanner from time to time to look for Flash Cookies that CCleaner might miss. I DO NOT recommend using the Tea-Timer real-time scanner from Spybot as it seems to cause more problems than it fixes.
You can get the FREE online scan from Microsoft, called Windows Live OneCare. http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm - When using the Windows Live OneCare Scanner, RUN the FULL SCAN once a month and it will check your system online for virus/malware and also do a cleanup and tune-up of your computer, repair your registry and also defrag your hard drive. The above link is for XP but the link for Vista and Windows 7 is listed in the introduction to this scan.
Here's another good and FREE online scan. http://www.f-secure.com/en_US/security/security-lab/tools-and-services/online-scanner/ While doing a FULL scan is always a good thing, heed the warning on the scanner that it will take several hours depending on the number of files on your computer. One of my computers has over a MILLION files and it too over six hours to scan each and every file. One of my other newer, faster computers only had around 400,000 files and it only took about two hours. F-Secure also has an anti-rootkit program called Black Light which is free to download and scan as well, as a backup to Comodo's rootkit scan.
TrendMicro's Housecall Online Scan - http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
There are many other online scanners from nearly ALL of the other computer security software makers so I will not go through that list. The above should be all that most folks need.
I hope this helps... and if you need any help with the above programs, feel free to leave me a comment below and I'll post a reply... or you can hunt me down in one of the many forums I'm in or go to your own favorite computer tech forum. Most of the above programs have their own respective specialty forums listed on the main website as well.
Lenny Vasbinder
-----------
You can click on the Comments link below to open the Comments section to leave your comments.
Updated - September 15, 2010 - F-Secure Online Scanner & TrendMicro Housecall Added and MSE (Microsoft Security Essentials) removed since I've had two recent customers who had infected computers using MSE.
Updated - August 08, 2010 - a-Squared Free changed to a-Squared Anti-Malware and now to Emsisoft AntiMalware, which Emsisoft was always the main website and name of the software developer.
Updated - August 04, 2010 - Added info about VirusTotal.com since I forgot that info initially.
So... I just replied to a "Help" request in one of the Computer Tech forums that I participate in and decided to give them a long reply with lots of details about the computer security programs that I use and recommend. This isn't everything I use since I don't want to alert the cyber-criminals about some of my other defenses but this is a good list that most beginners should be able to use and utilize.
Here is a snip of my long reply...
BTW, there is no need to spend a single penny on security programs. ALL of the *good* companies make their programs available to home users at no charge, either by a fully or mostly functioning download or as an online scan.
I use and recommend:
Comodo Internet Security http://www.Comodo.com as a FREE and fully functioning security suite that has a professional featured, award winning firewall, good antivirus with real-time and scheduled scanner and good real-time antimalware protection. http://www.comodo.com/home/internet-security/free-internet-security.php
NO SINGLE PROGRAM IS 100% EFFECTIVE. While Comodo Internet Security will keep most computer users malware free, for folks that do not practice safe surfing habits, it's a VERY GOOD idea to have multiple backup programs to also scan for things that CIS might miss from time to time. Here are the other programs that I use from time to time.... or all the time for a couple of them.
Also, remember that ALL programs will report false positives from time to time so check things out before deleting files if you are not sure of what you are about to delete. For those instances, I use Virus Total http://www.VirusTotal.com which will allow you to upload the suspicious file and then scan it against ALL of the major security programs to see if more than just your scan is showing it as an infected file. If only one or two show it to be infected, it could be a false positive and you should check it out with the security program's help section, tech support, online forums, etc., to see what they say... before deleting the file. If you find it to be a false positive, make sure you report this to the security program's tech support people so they can keep others from having a problem.... otherwise, someone might delete a file that causes their computer or one of their programs to no longer work. While s-Squared is one of the best free scanners available to us, it's also the most likely to find false positives... at least that's been my experience when using a-Squared Anti-Malware.
MalwareBytes http://www.MalwareBytes.org as a backup scanner for when needed or folks that surf the net wildly, they can do weekly scans just to make sure that their main security didn't miss anything.
SuperAntiSpyware http://www.superantispyware.com/ as another backup scanner for when needed as above.
Emsisoft AntiMalware, formerly a-Squared Free or a-Squared Anti-Malware, which can be a paid for full-time background scanner or the FREE as needed scanner which does not provide full-time scanning but can still be used as one of the backup scanners, which is what I suggest - http://www.emsisoft.com/en/software/antimalware/
SpywareBlaster http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html - This doesn't do any scanning or use any system resources. You simply download the updated definitions on a weekly basis and enable them to protect your computer from LOTS of malicious websites, adding them to your Hosts file and registry... and it also block LOTS of malicious drive-by software.
Spybot Search & Destroy http://www.safer-networking.org/ - I really only use the Immunization feature on this program although it does have a scanner as well. The Immunization feature will build a nice Hosts file to supplement the one with SpywareBlaster. I do use the scanner from time to time to look for Flash Cookies that CCleaner might miss. I DO NOT recommend using the Tea-Timer real-time scanner from Spybot as it seems to cause more problems than it fixes.
You can get the FREE online scan from Microsoft, called Windows Live OneCare. http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm - When using the Windows Live OneCare Scanner, RUN the FULL SCAN once a month and it will check your system online for virus/malware and also do a cleanup and tune-up of your computer, repair your registry and also defrag your hard drive. The above link is for XP but the link for Vista and Windows 7 is listed in the introduction to this scan.
Here's another good and FREE online scan. http://www.f-secure.com/en_US/security/security-lab/tools-and-services/online-scanner/ While doing a FULL scan is always a good thing, heed the warning on the scanner that it will take several hours depending on the number of files on your computer. One of my computers has over a MILLION files and it too over six hours to scan each and every file. One of my other newer, faster computers only had around 400,000 files and it only took about two hours. F-Secure also has an anti-rootkit program called Black Light which is free to download and scan as well, as a backup to Comodo's rootkit scan.
TrendMicro's Housecall Online Scan - http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
There are many other online scanners from nearly ALL of the other computer security software makers so I will not go through that list. The above should be all that most folks need.
I hope this helps... and if you need any help with the above programs, feel free to leave me a comment below and I'll post a reply... or you can hunt me down in one of the many forums I'm in or go to your own favorite computer tech forum. Most of the above programs have their own respective specialty forums listed on the main website as well.
Lenny Vasbinder
-----------
You can click on the Comments link below to open the Comments section to leave your comments.
My Review Of Mozy Home Online Computer Backup Program - Archived Blog - 2010-0509
Updated - August 26, 2010
(Update - August 28, 2010 - Coming Soon!!! My Review of the new and improved Mozy Version 2. I'll add a link here once I complete the review page... complete with LOTS of screen shots of every step involved in setting up Mozy and doing your first backup.)
Get Mozy Home for FREE here, with BONUS online backup storage. When you get to the main page, click on Products, then Mozy Home, then click Download button or on the left side, next to the FREE sign, click "Learn More" or the "Try It Free" button. Any of those steps will get you the FREE Mozy Home version with the BONUS 0.25 GB's of online backup storage. While the UNLIMITED online backup storage is only $4.95 a month, the FREE 2.0 GB's of online backup storage becomes 2.25 GB's by clicking this link... enough storage for thousands of pictures, music and other backup of your important files. If you have any trouble signing up for the FREE MozyHome version, just send me an email or IM me at my IM addresses to the left and I'll help walk you through thr process and getting you set up with your first backup. Mozy also has user forums if you'd rather go that route.
Based on an email from a fellow member of the Outlook-Users Yahoo Group, I replied with a rather long reply about Mozy and it ended up being more of a review so here it is...
-----Original Message-----
From: Steven T
Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 12:04 PM
To: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Subject: FW: Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager - email issue - OFFLIST
Lenny
I want to ask you about the "Mozy" add you have in your mails. I am not interested in how online backup works, only online restore ;>) What is your experience with restore from them? At what speed etc....
TIA
Steven T
AND MY LONG REPLY/REVIEW:
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 2:01 PM
To: 'Steven Teiger'
Subject: RE: Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager - email issue - OFFLIST
I've only had to use the restore a couple of times over the past several years that I've been using Mozy (I was involved in the initial Beta testing).
Most recently, I had to restore my Favorites folder in IE8 (currently 10.3MB, 2,662 files, 332 folders). I started using XMarks a few weeks ago, to synch my Favorites folder for IE8 and FF on my laptop and desktop so they would all have the same Favorites/Bookmarks and when I first did the XMarks synching, it (or rather I) completely messed them up... and I mean a major SNAFU, mostly due my not setting XMarks properly or rather not understanding the instructions properly.
Fortunately, I had my Mozy online backup of my Favorites folder on my desktop computer, which was done about an hour before I did the XMarks installation and fouled up the sync so bad. I uninstalled XMarks on both computers, emptied my Favorites folder on my desktop and then used Mozy to restore it. Mozy actually keeps several *copies* of backups... kind of like restore points... so you can choose which date/time you want to restore to. It didn't take long... maybe 10 minutes or so... I didn't time it but it wasn't long. I have over 2,500 URL's saved and well organized in my Favorites folder and all of it's sub and sub-sub folders.
As far as the speed, it depends on your own internet speed and what else you are running. If you shut down all other programs that might be using up internet bandwidth, then Mozy will be MUCH faster and I'm pretty sure it will download the restore as fast as your bandwidth and computer can handle. I've NEVER seen any slowdowns related to Mozy servers... only my own bandwidth limitations, especially if I have all three of my computers working on the internet on my DSL line.
Of course, uploading the initial backup and even my twice daily scheduled backups takes much longer than a restore since most internet access has much slower upload speed than download speed. My average online backup on my main computer takes about an hour or two, depending on how many new files I've added. I use the scheduled backup, rather than the constant backup, so I can have each of my computers backing up at different times so I do not see as much slow-down in my internet speed. If all three computers were backing up at the same time, I see a BIG slowdown in my internet service since Mozy would be using so much of my upload bandwidth.
Mozy also uses a moderate amount of system resources during the Backup process on my two oldest computers... one with only 384MB of RAM and the other with 768MB of RAM. I do not notice any slowdown on my newest Vista-HP laptop with 3Gigs of RAM.
Folks get 2Gigs of FREE backup if they sign up at Mozy.com or if someone signs up using my referral link, in my sig, they actually get an added .25Gigs (256MB). I know 2Gigs or 2.25Gigs isn't a lot of storage but it's usually more than enough for most of the people that I've helped install the free version, as long as they pick and choose which files/folders to back up. I actually only use up around 6Gigs of backup on my main computer, just to backup My Documents folder, my active PST file and certain other folders (like Favorites). I use an external HD to do weekly backups and clones of all three of my computers for major issues and just use Mozy for backing up my most active files/folders. Once you are a Mozy user, you can get your own referral code and get extra storage each time one of your friends or referrals sign up for the FREE MozyHome 2.25GB service... or if they decide to sign up for the $4.95/mo. unlimited service.
Sorry.. I didn't mean to write an entire review of the program but I really like it and think everyone should have at least the free version of Mozy to back up their most important files, photos, etc. I've read so many horror stories online and with helping my friends with their own computer problems.
I might have to use this for a blog article about Mozy. LOL
Lenny Vasbinder
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files...
https://mozy.com/?ref=46UUG1 Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
-----------
You can click on the Comments link below to open the Comments section to leave your comments.
(Update - August 28, 2010 - Coming Soon!!! My Review of the new and improved Mozy Version 2. I'll add a link here once I complete the review page... complete with LOTS of screen shots of every step involved in setting up Mozy and doing your first backup.)
Get Mozy Home for FREE here, with BONUS online backup storage. When you get to the main page, click on Products, then Mozy Home, then click Download button or on the left side, next to the FREE sign, click "Learn More" or the "Try It Free" button. Any of those steps will get you the FREE Mozy Home version with the BONUS 0.25 GB's of online backup storage. While the UNLIMITED online backup storage is only $4.95 a month, the FREE 2.0 GB's of online backup storage becomes 2.25 GB's by clicking this link... enough storage for thousands of pictures, music and other backup of your important files. If you have any trouble signing up for the FREE MozyHome version, just send me an email or IM me at my IM addresses to the left and I'll help walk you through thr process and getting you set up with your first backup. Mozy also has user forums if you'd rather go that route.
Based on an email from a fellow member of the Outlook-Users Yahoo Group, I replied with a rather long reply about Mozy and it ended up being more of a review so here it is...
-----Original Message-----
From: Steven T
Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 12:04 PM
To: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Subject: FW: Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager - email issue - OFFLIST
Lenny
I want to ask you about the "Mozy" add you have in your mails. I am not interested in how online backup works, only online restore ;>) What is your experience with restore from them? At what speed etc....
TIA
Steven T
AND MY LONG REPLY/REVIEW:
-----Original Message-----
From: LNVTM1 - Lenny Vasbinder
Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 2:01 PM
To: 'Steven Teiger'
Subject: RE: Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager - email issue - OFFLIST
I've only had to use the restore a couple of times over the past several years that I've been using Mozy (I was involved in the initial Beta testing).
Most recently, I had to restore my Favorites folder in IE8 (currently 10.3MB, 2,662 files, 332 folders). I started using XMarks a few weeks ago, to synch my Favorites folder for IE8 and FF on my laptop and desktop so they would all have the same Favorites/Bookmarks and when I first did the XMarks synching, it (or rather I) completely messed them up... and I mean a major SNAFU, mostly due my not setting XMarks properly or rather not understanding the instructions properly.
Fortunately, I had my Mozy online backup of my Favorites folder on my desktop computer, which was done about an hour before I did the XMarks installation and fouled up the sync so bad. I uninstalled XMarks on both computers, emptied my Favorites folder on my desktop and then used Mozy to restore it. Mozy actually keeps several *copies* of backups... kind of like restore points... so you can choose which date/time you want to restore to. It didn't take long... maybe 10 minutes or so... I didn't time it but it wasn't long. I have over 2,500 URL's saved and well organized in my Favorites folder and all of it's sub and sub-sub folders.
As far as the speed, it depends on your own internet speed and what else you are running. If you shut down all other programs that might be using up internet bandwidth, then Mozy will be MUCH faster and I'm pretty sure it will download the restore as fast as your bandwidth and computer can handle. I've NEVER seen any slowdowns related to Mozy servers... only my own bandwidth limitations, especially if I have all three of my computers working on the internet on my DSL line.
Of course, uploading the initial backup and even my twice daily scheduled backups takes much longer than a restore since most internet access has much slower upload speed than download speed. My average online backup on my main computer takes about an hour or two, depending on how many new files I've added. I use the scheduled backup, rather than the constant backup, so I can have each of my computers backing up at different times so I do not see as much slow-down in my internet speed. If all three computers were backing up at the same time, I see a BIG slowdown in my internet service since Mozy would be using so much of my upload bandwidth.
Mozy also uses a moderate amount of system resources during the Backup process on my two oldest computers... one with only 384MB of RAM and the other with 768MB of RAM. I do not notice any slowdown on my newest Vista-HP laptop with 3Gigs of RAM.
Folks get 2Gigs of FREE backup if they sign up at Mozy.com or if someone signs up using my referral link, in my sig, they actually get an added .25Gigs (256MB). I know 2Gigs or 2.25Gigs isn't a lot of storage but it's usually more than enough for most of the people that I've helped install the free version, as long as they pick and choose which files/folders to back up. I actually only use up around 6Gigs of backup on my main computer, just to backup My Documents folder, my active PST file and certain other folders (like Favorites). I use an external HD to do weekly backups and clones of all three of my computers for major issues and just use Mozy for backing up my most active files/folders. Once you are a Mozy user, you can get your own referral code and get extra storage each time one of your friends or referrals sign up for the FREE MozyHome 2.25GB service... or if they decide to sign up for the $4.95/mo. unlimited service.
Sorry.. I didn't mean to write an entire review of the program but I really like it and think everyone should have at least the free version of Mozy to back up their most important files, photos, etc. I've read so many horror stories online and with helping my friends with their own computer problems.
I might have to use this for a blog article about Mozy. LOL
Lenny Vasbinder
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files...
https://mozy.com/?ref=46UUG1 Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
-----------
You can click on the Comments link below to open the Comments section to leave your comments.
Toggle Flash - A very good and simple and FREE solution for Adobe Flash IE freeze-up problems - Archived Blog - 2009-0108
Recently, while helping someone in the PCPitstop.com forums, where they were having problems with IE (Internet Explorer) freezing up, I let them know that the likely cause was Adobe Flash 10, which came out late last year (2008) and has been causing IE freeze-ups to many users. I directed them to a few other threads in the MS forums and even the Adobe Flash forums. They reported back and thanked me for telling them about Toggle Flash... but unfortunately, up until they thanked me, I had never heard of Toggle Flash before. I went and read the threads that I had directed them to and further in the threads, another poster mentioned Toggle Flash as a simple solution to the Adobe Flash freeze up problems.
It's a simple add-on to IE and with the click of a button, you can turn off the Adobe Flash add-on and then surf to your heart's content without seeing any Flash advertisements or see your IE, possibly with many tabs open, freeze up and then you lose all of your open tabs before you had a chance to read or save those pages as favorites... this has happened to me many times and then I'd have to go into my IE History and recreate my searches.
Anyhow... I decided to read up on Toggle Flash a little and then I installed it a couple of days ago from the main site at http://flash.melameth.com/togflash.html.
Here is what I've had to say about it so far in forums and emails to the developer of Toggle Flash, Daniel Melameth. I should note that he was very quick to reply to my email inquiry also!!!
FIVE STARS for that!!!
----------------
"(rgsmile @ 8:39pm Mon Jan 5 2009)
Thanks. The link, in LennyVNOLA's previous response , (I am now using Toggle Flash (freeware add-on for IE7) quite successfully: http://flash.melameth.com/ might be worth a look for me and others. Thanks to all that responded.
rgsmile"
My reply to rgsmile....
Well... after IE froze up on me last night with a lot of tabs that I did a lot of work to find and hadn't saved yet... thank God for the History search.... but anyhow.. I went ahead and downloaded and installed Toggle Flash and haven't had an IE freeze up today and I've done some serious surfing today.
The only negative thing that I can say about Toggle Flash is that it doesn't tell you whether it's off or on so you have to go to your favorite YouTube or other known flash site to see if you left it off or on before you do your major surfing so you don't get surprised with a freeze up.
I'm going to email the author of Toggle Flash and see if there's a way for the icon to display whether Toggle Flash has it turned off or on.
I did have to go into my View Menu, then Toolbars and unlock the toolbars, then close and reopen IE to get the Toggle Flash Icon to show up which the main site explains about anyhow. You might also have to go into your Manage Add-ons and enable it if you have your settings to block add-ons.
Another thing that happens... at least with me.. is each time I do a Toggle Flash, I get a little black Command Prompt window that pops up and then disappears. I didn't check the Toggle Flash site but I guess this is normal.
It works for me so far after 18 hours of power surfing.
Lenny V.
------------------
Here are my emails to/from the creator of Toggle Flash...
January 7, 2009
Daniel@Melameth...
I just started Toggle Flash and I'm glad to be free of IE freeze ups caused by quirky Flash programming.
I have a couple of questions...
Is the Toggle Flash button on the IE toolbar supposed to indicate if TF has Flash turned on or off? Is there a way other than to test it to see which mode it is in? For now, I've been just going to YouTube to check and see which mode I left it in but it would be nice to know at a glance.
Thanks for a good product.
Lenny Vasbinder
------------------
His reply....
January 7, 2009
Hey Lenny,
Unfortunately, at this time, the toolbar button just activates the toggle feature--is it not an indicator of the status of Flash. This is on my list of things to do for a future version of Toggle Flash, but Toggle Flash is extremely simple right now and getting the toolbar button to change based on the status of Flash is, actually, far more complex. As for determining the status of Flash, if you go to a page with Flash content, but Flash is disabled, IE will notify you of this in the Status Bar on the bottom of the page with an image of a little red no sign on top of a little silver cog--which is made to represent an Add-On that the site is trying to use is disabled.
I tend to always browse with Flash disabled, and only enable it when I specifically want it, so determining the state of Flash is somewhat easier for me in this case, but this is, by far, the most requested feature of Toggle Flash and I'm definitely taking it into account.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on Toggle Flash.
Cheers,
Daniel
------------
In February, 2009, Daniel sent me an email notifying me of some upgrades that were made. Here is his email.
-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Melameth
Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 6:58 PM
To: 'NHSNOLA'
Subject: RE: Toggle Flash
Lenny,
I remembered your email and thought I'd drop you a little note to tell you I recently made a minor update to Toggle Flash to address a compatibility issue with IE8 and, while I was here, I also changed the executable so that it no longer opens a Command Prompt window when clicked. As such, feel free to download the updated installer from the site. In addition, it appears Microsoft has given IE8 the ability to control which sites can use a specific add-on and I'm considering leveraging this feature for a future version of Toggle Flash.
Sincerely,
Daniel
It's a simple add-on to IE and with the click of a button, you can turn off the Adobe Flash add-on and then surf to your heart's content without seeing any Flash advertisements or see your IE, possibly with many tabs open, freeze up and then you lose all of your open tabs before you had a chance to read or save those pages as favorites... this has happened to me many times and then I'd have to go into my IE History and recreate my searches.
Anyhow... I decided to read up on Toggle Flash a little and then I installed it a couple of days ago from the main site at http://flash.melameth.com/togflash.html.
Here is what I've had to say about it so far in forums and emails to the developer of Toggle Flash, Daniel Melameth. I should note that he was very quick to reply to my email inquiry also!!!
FIVE STARS for that!!!
----------------
"(rgsmile @ 8:39pm Mon Jan 5 2009)
Thanks. The link, in LennyVNOLA's previous response , (I am now using Toggle Flash (freeware add-on for IE7) quite successfully: http://flash.melameth.com/ might be worth a look for me and others. Thanks to all that responded.
rgsmile"
My reply to rgsmile....
Well... after IE froze up on me last night with a lot of tabs that I did a lot of work to find and hadn't saved yet... thank God for the History search.... but anyhow.. I went ahead and downloaded and installed Toggle Flash and haven't had an IE freeze up today and I've done some serious surfing today.
The only negative thing that I can say about Toggle Flash is that it doesn't tell you whether it's off or on so you have to go to your favorite YouTube or other known flash site to see if you left it off or on before you do your major surfing so you don't get surprised with a freeze up.
I'm going to email the author of Toggle Flash and see if there's a way for the icon to display whether Toggle Flash has it turned off or on.
I did have to go into my View Menu, then Toolbars and unlock the toolbars, then close and reopen IE to get the Toggle Flash Icon to show up which the main site explains about anyhow. You might also have to go into your Manage Add-ons and enable it if you have your settings to block add-ons.
Another thing that happens... at least with me.. is each time I do a Toggle Flash, I get a little black Command Prompt window that pops up and then disappears. I didn't check the Toggle Flash site but I guess this is normal.
It works for me so far after 18 hours of power surfing.
Lenny V.
------------------
Here are my emails to/from the creator of Toggle Flash...
January 7, 2009
Daniel@Melameth...
I just started Toggle Flash and I'm glad to be free of IE freeze ups caused by quirky Flash programming.
I have a couple of questions...
Is the Toggle Flash button on the IE toolbar supposed to indicate if TF has Flash turned on or off? Is there a way other than to test it to see which mode it is in? For now, I've been just going to YouTube to check and see which mode I left it in but it would be nice to know at a glance.
Thanks for a good product.
Lenny Vasbinder
------------------
His reply....
January 7, 2009
Hey Lenny,
Unfortunately, at this time, the toolbar button just activates the toggle feature--is it not an indicator of the status of Flash. This is on my list of things to do for a future version of Toggle Flash, but Toggle Flash is extremely simple right now and getting the toolbar button to change based on the status of Flash is, actually, far more complex. As for determining the status of Flash, if you go to a page with Flash content, but Flash is disabled, IE will notify you of this in the Status Bar on the bottom of the page with an image of a little red no sign on top of a little silver cog--which is made to represent an Add-On that the site is trying to use is disabled.
I tend to always browse with Flash disabled, and only enable it when I specifically want it, so determining the state of Flash is somewhat easier for me in this case, but this is, by far, the most requested feature of Toggle Flash and I'm definitely taking it into account.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on Toggle Flash.
Cheers,
Daniel
------------
In February, 2009, Daniel sent me an email notifying me of some upgrades that were made. Here is his email.
-----Original Message-----
From: Daniel Melameth
Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 6:58 PM
To: 'NHSNOLA'
Subject: RE: Toggle Flash
Lenny,
I remembered your email and thought I'd drop you a little note to tell you I recently made a minor update to Toggle Flash to address a compatibility issue with IE8 and, while I was here, I also changed the executable so that it no longer opens a Command Prompt window when clicked. As such, feel free to download the updated installer from the site. In addition, it appears Microsoft has given IE8 the ability to control which sites can use a specific add-on and I'm considering leveraging this feature for a future version of Toggle Flash.
Sincerely,
Daniel
Review of Sunbelt CounterSpy Anti-Spyware Program version 2.5.1040 - Archived 2007-1106
Review of CounterSpy (CS) from http://www.sunbelt-software.com/
Knowing my two year subscription to Spy Sweeper was expiring soon, I started searching to see if there was something better out there and decided to try out CounterSpy since it was getting rave reviews from many in the computer security industry.
I was able to purchase it at a special price of only $13.13 for their Halloween special through WXPNews newsletter. I also opted to purchase the 2nd year of the subscription at a special price of $9.98 so the two year subscription was only $23.11... a small price to pay for two years of spyware protection while surfing the net!!!
Prior to writing this review, I first uninstalled my previous anti-spyware, Spy Sweeper (SS) from http://www.webroot.com/, then I ran WinASO Registry Optimizer http://www.winaso.com to clean out any registry entries, rebooted the computer and started the installation of CS.
Even the FREE trial version of WinASO, http://www.winaso.com/ will do a full registry repair but you simply have to keep running it over and over since it will only fix 10 registry entries each time in the FREE trial mode. Once you have your computer cleaned the first time, then weekly WinASO scans will usually only result in 1-2 scans needed to fix things unless you are a heavy downloaded and uninstaller since those two things leave scattered registry entries. The first time you run WinASO, you may have to run it dozens of times to clean your registry properly.
Installation was simple enough and the program did not ask to try and install any 3rd party applications like search bars or tool bars which was a pleasant surprise. So many programs try to push other programs on people and if you click yes, you end up with a bunch of bloated non-essential programs hogging up your resources. It did take a little longer than expected to update the definitions from version 617 to version 667, even with a DSL connection. I had to allow three connections from CS.
According to Task Manager (Cntrl-Alt-Del on Win XP), there were two processes running during the initial scan. SBCSSvc.exe and CounterSpy.exe. During initial scan, highest CPU % noted was 47% by SBCSSvc.exe with the average amount being around 15-30% and 15% by CounterSpy.exe. However, while typing this post, I noticed the CPU usage jump to 99% but not the entire time I was typing so it may have been something it was scanning that caused it to jump up to 99%. It went back down to the 15-30% range after a few seconds at 99%. Peak Mem Usage for SBCSSvc.exe was 219,640K and Peak Mem Usage with the Mem Usage in the 16,000K range during most of the scan. For CounterSpy.exe, the Peak Mem Usage was 40,228K with the Mem Usage in the 20,000K range during most of the scan. I also noticed CounterSpy.exe CPU usage jumping up into the 80% range while it was scanning the registry keys while the SBCSSvc.exe stayed in single digits for CPU usage during the registry scan.
Compared to my previous anti-spyware, Spy Sweeper (SS) from Webroot, CounterSpy (CS) is using much less system resources when running a full system scan. SS would use up into the 80% range during a full system scan and stay at that level or up into the 90% range the entire time so at least with CS, while running a full system scan, you should be able to do other computing without too much hang time occurring.
During scan, CS scanned Memory Processes first and scanned a total of 2,202 with 0 Memory Processes detected with any spyware.
Then it started scanning files. After scanning 117,156 files, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
Then it started scanning registry keys. After scanning 251,553 registry keys, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
Then it scanned Cookies and after scanning 166 cookies, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
A Scan Results window popped up upon completion and it shows total scan time as 59 minutes 20 seconds with a clean bill of health on my computer... which I kind of already knew but I wanted to see what CS might say on it's first scan.
I then started poking around and ran the My PC Checkup which suggested five things that needed to be fixed and it said 77 others were OK. I ran the fix on the five it suggested. It also has a History Eraser and Secure File Eraser. I don't worry about the History Eraser stuff like some folks so I skipped that step but I did try out the Secure File Eraser on a rather persistent file that I've been trying to delete for a week or so but every time I try to delete it, even in safe mode, it shows the file is being used by another program and it won't let me delete the file. I created this video file (.wav) using my webcam with a security program where it would use my webcam to monitor my office to see if anyone came in while I was not around and it created this .wav file that was over 1GB in size and I haven't been able to delete the file because it says the file is being used by another program. I haven't been overly worried about the file but it is something I need to remove so I tried the Secure File Eraser to delete/shred this file but it caused the SFE to hang up and I had to end the SFE task using Task Manager. I'll notify CS tech support about this issue.
I then went through and set up the automatic download of definitions and scan schedules to when I prefer them.
Generally speaking, I like CounterSpy but I'll follow up with further posts as I learn more about it.
Lenny Vasbinder
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
Knowing my two year subscription to Spy Sweeper was expiring soon, I started searching to see if there was something better out there and decided to try out CounterSpy since it was getting rave reviews from many in the computer security industry.
I was able to purchase it at a special price of only $13.13 for their Halloween special through WXPNews newsletter. I also opted to purchase the 2nd year of the subscription at a special price of $9.98 so the two year subscription was only $23.11... a small price to pay for two years of spyware protection while surfing the net!!!
Prior to writing this review, I first uninstalled my previous anti-spyware, Spy Sweeper (SS) from http://www.webroot.com/, then I ran WinASO Registry Optimizer http://www.winaso.com to clean out any registry entries, rebooted the computer and started the installation of CS.
Even the FREE trial version of WinASO, http://www.winaso.com/ will do a full registry repair but you simply have to keep running it over and over since it will only fix 10 registry entries each time in the FREE trial mode. Once you have your computer cleaned the first time, then weekly WinASO scans will usually only result in 1-2 scans needed to fix things unless you are a heavy downloaded and uninstaller since those two things leave scattered registry entries. The first time you run WinASO, you may have to run it dozens of times to clean your registry properly.
Installation was simple enough and the program did not ask to try and install any 3rd party applications like search bars or tool bars which was a pleasant surprise. So many programs try to push other programs on people and if you click yes, you end up with a bunch of bloated non-essential programs hogging up your resources. It did take a little longer than expected to update the definitions from version 617 to version 667, even with a DSL connection. I had to allow three connections from CS.
According to Task Manager (Cntrl-Alt-Del on Win XP), there were two processes running during the initial scan. SBCSSvc.exe and CounterSpy.exe. During initial scan, highest CPU % noted was 47% by SBCSSvc.exe with the average amount being around 15-30% and 15% by CounterSpy.exe. However, while typing this post, I noticed the CPU usage jump to 99% but not the entire time I was typing so it may have been something it was scanning that caused it to jump up to 99%. It went back down to the 15-30% range after a few seconds at 99%. Peak Mem Usage for SBCSSvc.exe was 219,640K and Peak Mem Usage with the Mem Usage in the 16,000K range during most of the scan. For CounterSpy.exe, the Peak Mem Usage was 40,228K with the Mem Usage in the 20,000K range during most of the scan. I also noticed CounterSpy.exe CPU usage jumping up into the 80% range while it was scanning the registry keys while the SBCSSvc.exe stayed in single digits for CPU usage during the registry scan.
Compared to my previous anti-spyware, Spy Sweeper (SS) from Webroot, CounterSpy (CS) is using much less system resources when running a full system scan. SS would use up into the 80% range during a full system scan and stay at that level or up into the 90% range the entire time so at least with CS, while running a full system scan, you should be able to do other computing without too much hang time occurring.
During scan, CS scanned Memory Processes first and scanned a total of 2,202 with 0 Memory Processes detected with any spyware.
Then it started scanning files. After scanning 117,156 files, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
Then it started scanning registry keys. After scanning 251,553 registry keys, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
Then it scanned Cookies and after scanning 166 cookies, it showed 0 detected with spyware.
A Scan Results window popped up upon completion and it shows total scan time as 59 minutes 20 seconds with a clean bill of health on my computer... which I kind of already knew but I wanted to see what CS might say on it's first scan.
I then started poking around and ran the My PC Checkup which suggested five things that needed to be fixed and it said 77 others were OK. I ran the fix on the five it suggested. It also has a History Eraser and Secure File Eraser. I don't worry about the History Eraser stuff like some folks so I skipped that step but I did try out the Secure File Eraser on a rather persistent file that I've been trying to delete for a week or so but every time I try to delete it, even in safe mode, it shows the file is being used by another program and it won't let me delete the file. I created this video file (.wav) using my webcam with a security program where it would use my webcam to monitor my office to see if anyone came in while I was not around and it created this .wav file that was over 1GB in size and I haven't been able to delete the file because it says the file is being used by another program. I haven't been overly worried about the file but it is something I need to remove so I tried the Secure File Eraser to delete/shred this file but it caused the SFE to hang up and I had to end the SFE task using Task Manager. I'll notify CS tech support about this issue.
I then went through and set up the automatic download of definitions and scan schedules to when I prefer them.
Generally speaking, I like CounterSpy but I'll follow up with further posts as I learn more about it.
Lenny Vasbinder
FREE and automatic online remote backup of your documents, photos and files... https://mozy.com/?ref=SY4ZSI Check out how simple and secure it can be to use the Mozy remote backup system. Mozy will back up your most important files and folders every day/night while you aren't using your computer.
Satellite Imaging Software Comparison - Google's KeyholeLT ($29.95) vs. NASA's WorldWind (Free) - Archived Blog - 2005-04-30
NOTE - Please note that this is an old blog from 2005 and in computer time, that's like a lifetime. Since posting this back in 2005, Google has ppurchased Keyhole and has changed the name to Google Earth and the product has come a LONG way since 2005. I use Google Earth all the time!!!
Satellite Imaging Software Comparison - Google's KeyholeLT ($29.95) vs. NASA's WorldWind (Free)
I've been a long time user of Keyhole, even before Google purchased them. I saw a recent post by someone about using Google's address locator feature and then looking at the Satellite image option that comes up. This Google feature is not as "zoomable" or feature enabled as Keyhole but not bad for free.
I was reading a recent http://www.pcworld.com/ e-newsletter and they had the below snippet of information:
Dig This: NASA World Wind is similar to Google's KeyHole, but it's free. World Wind uses USGS data, satellite images, and other sources to give you some cool images of anywhere in the world. [Thanks to Mike D. for this gem.] http://snipurl.com/worldwind
Here's Keyhole:http://www.keyhole.com/
I have not downloaded the WorldWind program as of yet (see below where I detail the download) but it seems to be about 171Mb in size (actually ended up over 500Mb) and it requires a relatively newer PC with at least a 1Ghz processor and says most computers purchased in the past two years are compatible. The screenshots on the website seem impressive.
I know that with Keyhole (a much smaller and more efficient program), I can actually zoom into a single house and get pretty decent resolution for most major cities. I can't read a license plate like the CIA/FBI can probably do but it aids in looking over an unfamiliar area and street ingress/egress. I can also put in an address and zoom into that address however I have found a few errors over the years where it will go to an address as much as a block away so it is not infallible. Keyhole does have a FREE Trial edition (only 10 days) so if any of you want to compare the products more closely, please download both of them. I will be downloading WorldWind soon and will report back with more info (see below for my continuation of this report).
I know that Keyhole can get pretty high resolution images (where you can zoom into an actual building) of most of the metro New Orleans area and most of the westbank (but not all of Metairie nor any of Kenner). It also has high-resolution images of Baton Rouge and Shreveport/Bossier City. It has lower resolution images of the rest of the State where you can still look at streets but not zoom into actual clear images of a particular address. I recently emailed Keyhole support since the satellite image on the FREE Google Address page had a better image than my Keyhole program and they responded that they are updating the Keyhole database on a daily basis.
On a separate note, for those P.I.'s or other businesses who do not have a website as of yet, Yahoo is offering a FREE easy to build small business website with up to five pages and a FREE listing in their search engine and White/Yellow pages. Go to: http://listings.local.yahoo.com/ and you can have your own website up in about an hour's time. It may not have all of the bells and whistles of a website designer's multi-hundred dollar website but heck.. it's FREE and you can make changes whenever you like. If you have never utilized a FREE website service such as Geocities or if you are not very good with computers/websites, email me off list and I will be happy to help via email or over the phone, also FREE. I put my Yahoo.biz website together last night in about 45 minutes if you want to take a peek at my partially completed website at http://la.local.yahoo.biz/LennyVasbinderSalesAndMarketing. I only used three of the five pages available at this time but I will be adding more in the next few days.
*******************************************************************
Well, I just finished downloading WorldWind from NASA. Even with a DSL (Lite) connection, it took nearly 3 hours because you first have to download a small program called BitTorrent which is a download utility that also works as an upload utility. As you are downloading a program, using BitTorrent, it is also uploading the same file to another BitTorrent downloader so it uses your ISP upload bandwidth as a way of enabling more people to download the software. This is my first time using BitTorrent but it seems to be a pretty efficient way for people to download really big software programs like WorldWind which is 171Mb. (It actually ended up being 564Mb !!!!!) BitTorrent has a default setting to download the program to your Desktop. You can change the default setting by browsing to a particular folder of your choice if you do not want the program download created on your desktop.
And after you finish downloading WorldWind, BitTorrent keeps running, uploading the file to someone else who is downloading it until you close out BitTorrent, I think. I'll have to look into how long BitTorrent will continue to run. I'm just going to let it keep running while I finish installing World Wind. Does anyone else have any information about BitTorrent? Good, Bad or otherwise?
Next, you have to open the WorldWind.exe program which is identified by the NASA logo on your desktop. (There is also an update to WorldWind but you have to finish installing the downloaded version first, then go back to the WorldWind download site and download the upgrade.)
I have Windows XP-Pro with SP2 but I next had to install Microsoft's DirectX for Managed Code Update (December 2004) and the EULA requires you to have a legal copy of the Windows OS that you are using.
After completing the MS-DirectX download, the NASA World Wind 1.3 Setup Wizard opens. After accepting the EULA for World Wind, you get the option of which components that you want to install. I accepted all of the NASA original components and all of the NASA add-ons but I unchecked all of the Community Add-ons since I did not know what they were. Hopefully, as I learn more about this program, I can look into the Community Add-ons and maybe add some of them. Some of them looked interesting from an education standpoint.
Next, you choose where you want the program installed. I accepted the default Destination Folder - C:\Program Files\NASA\World Wind 1.3 (The final size of the program WITHOUT all of the Community Add-ons is 564.1 Mb) It still took about another 20 minutes to install this bad boy. This better be worth it! I don't remember Keyhole being nearly as lengthy of a download or install process. I would also recommend that you close any other programs while you are installing World Wind as it seems system intensive. Even typing this email causes glitches or slow-downs in my typing where it takes a few seconds for letters to appear after typing them. I have 512Mb of ram but it seems the install process utilizes quite a few of them Mb's.
O.K., The Wizard says the Setup is complete. When you click Finish, it gives you the option to view the release notes. I accepted just to see what they say and here is the beginning of the release notes:
*******************************************************************************
NASA
World Wind 1.3Release Notes
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS===================
* Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, or XP* 3D graphics card (http://wiki.worldwindcentral.com/Video_Card_Compatibility)* Internet connection* DirectX 9.0c and Managed DirectX 9.0c* .NET Framework 1.1 runtime libraries
Minimum configuration---------------------
With the minimum configuration, performance and functionality may be less than expected.
* 700 MHz or higher CPU* 128 MB RAM* 1 GB disk space (World Wind's cache size is 2 GB by default; you must reduce the size of your cache)
Recommended configuration-------------------------
* 1.4 GHz or higher CPU* 256 MB of RAM* DSL/cable connection or faster* 3 GB of disk space
******************************************************************************
O.K., back to my download of the upgrade.
I attempted to move the World Wind.exe file from my Desktop to the WorldWind folder that I created in MyDocuments but it would not allow me, saying another program is using the file.... I'm guessing the still open BitTorrent upload that I still have running.
O.K., I started the download of the upgrade, which is 6.3Mb, and upgrades World Wind 1.3.0 to version 1.3.1. I executed the upgrade and installed it via the Wizard but once again, I unchecked all of the Community Add-on components although some of them look intriguing.
I did not have to restart Windows like with some downloads so here goes!!!!
O.K., it opened up with the Earth visible from space with the continent of Africa showing. There are about a dozen icons across the top. Keyhole opens with the USA visible and there is a series of controls at the bottom including a place where you can just enter an address or city/state and it will zoom into that address. I don't see that feature on World Wind yet. I decided to just click on the western horizon of the Earth and it spun the image around. O.K., I'm beginning to see how this works. Keyhole has the same feature.
I had to experiment a little... I know I should just read the darn Help Manual but I'm hard-headed. I decided to hit Shift-+ and it started zooming into the good old USA. I kept pointing my mouse and clicked on the New Orleans area and then hitting Shift-+ and it zoomed in but then stopped zooming while I was still looking at the entire Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas.
Not sufficient!!!
I then clicked on different Icons but nothing was happening. I opened the "Place Finder" window and entered "New Orleans, LA" in the Search box and clicked Enter. A list of "Places" showed up (i.e. - Churches, Hospitals, Radio Stations, etc.) I clicked on the New Orleans Jazz Museum and some Lat/Long numbers showed up in the position box. I clicked "Go" and it started zooming in and the various "Places" names showed up on a blurry picture. The altitude was set at 9Km so I lowered it to 1Km. Still only the name in yellow on a dark gray image.
Nothing visible.
Doing some more experimenting, I clicked on the "WMS" Icon which opened up the "Web Mapping Server Browser" window. Hmmmm.. .nothing really user friendly in there.
O.K., some more experimenting and I finally have something showing up. I clicked the "USGS Urban Area Ortho" icon and it started bringing up some type of image. The first actual viewable image since I started trying to zoom in closer than the Gulf Coast area. A rather blurry B&W image of the "New Orleans Jazz Museum" came into view. I clicked the "USGS Digital Ortho" icon and lost the blurry B&W image, only to be replace by another blurry B&W image.
So far, Keyhole is far superior to World Wind as far as ease of use and learning curve goes.
I remember being able to jump right into Keyhole and start using it's basic features and functions.
I started Shift-- keying out of the close up of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. Keyhole has a simple game type control panel for moving around, zooming in and out, etc., where with this program, you just have to click on one of the edges of the map to pan the image that way.
I opened up the Place Finder icon/window again and tried putting my street address into the "Look for place named:" box but it said "Not found". I then just put "Veterans Blvd., Metairie, LA" into the box and clicked Search. It's taking a while in it's "Searching" mode. Keyhole is superior to World Wind in this function. I probably could have just kept clicking the edges of the map or zooming out and finding Veterans Blvd on my own and zooming back in but I'm waiting to see what the Search produces. The 5 minute search for Veterans Blvd. (a very large street if you are not familiar with Metairie, LA) produced no results.
Hmmmm.. not very good so far.
Using my own locate and zoom, I was able to bring up a better image of Veterans Blvd. and David Drive intersection than Keyhole has although Keyhole says they are upgrading their high resolution maps of metro areas. I could never find a way to bring up street names on the image which is very easy to do with Keyhole. Also, I do not see an easy way to email an image to someone. With Keyhole, you just click on the envelope icon.
I did find out that you do not have to use the shift key when using the + or - signs for zooming.
Also, you can just use the cursor up, down, left and right keys for panning around the image.
In conclusion, I LIKE KEYHOLE MUCH BETTER THAN NASA'S WORLD WIND PROGRAM FOR PRACTICAL USE BY P.I.'S, REAL ESTATE PEOPLE AND GENERAL MAP PRODUCING PURPOSES. World Wind looks like it would be good for world wide viewing but not as useful for mapping out streets and addresses with an overhead satellite image.
I hope this review wasn't too long but the NASA program is kind of complicated... maybe kids and astronauts will be able to jump right in but this old computer geek had a little trouble. I'll keep this program for a while since I have about 40Gigs of free HD space but at over a half a Gig in size, this isn't for everyone. As I play with the program and figure out how to use more of it's functions, I may write a follow up review. I hope I can figure out how to put a layout of Streets into the image.
I really like that feature on Keyhole.
For ease of use, size and functionality, Keyhole for $29.95, gets my vote, even though it's not free like World Wind.
After trying WorldWind for two weeks, I uninstalled it. I'll keep using KeyholeLT and Google.com Address Search for my Satellite Imagery.
Hope this helps some of you guys and gals.
Sincerely,
Lenny Vasbinder (Retired P.I.)
http://www.Geocities.com/LennyVasbinderPI
Yahoo! Groups Owner/Moderator:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ask_The_P_I
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GulfCoastVolleyball
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KingOfTheCue
EDIT ADDED 05/11/2005-
WWWWWWWWOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!
I just got a Keyhole email saying that they have updated the entire database and I checked it out and the images of my area are SOOOOOOO MUUUUCCCHHHHHH BETTTTTTTEEERRRR, I mean so much better than it was a few days ago!
And now when you sign in, you can choose from the Old Database, called the Legacy Database, or you can pick the New Database, called the Primary Database.
Now, without a double, Keyhole, now called Google Earth is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better than WorldWind, even though it costs 10 cents a day to use.... of course, now it's FREE!!!
Satellite Imaging Software Comparison - Google's KeyholeLT ($29.95) vs. NASA's WorldWind (Free)
I've been a long time user of Keyhole, even before Google purchased them. I saw a recent post by someone about using Google's address locator feature and then looking at the Satellite image option that comes up. This Google feature is not as "zoomable" or feature enabled as Keyhole but not bad for free.
I was reading a recent http://www.pcworld.com/ e-newsletter and they had the below snippet of information:
Dig This: NASA World Wind is similar to Google's KeyHole, but it's free. World Wind uses USGS data, satellite images, and other sources to give you some cool images of anywhere in the world. [Thanks to Mike D. for this gem.] http://snipurl.com/worldwind
Here's Keyhole:http://www.keyhole.com/
I have not downloaded the WorldWind program as of yet (see below where I detail the download) but it seems to be about 171Mb in size (actually ended up over 500Mb) and it requires a relatively newer PC with at least a 1Ghz processor and says most computers purchased in the past two years are compatible. The screenshots on the website seem impressive.
I know that with Keyhole (a much smaller and more efficient program), I can actually zoom into a single house and get pretty decent resolution for most major cities. I can't read a license plate like the CIA/FBI can probably do but it aids in looking over an unfamiliar area and street ingress/egress. I can also put in an address and zoom into that address however I have found a few errors over the years where it will go to an address as much as a block away so it is not infallible. Keyhole does have a FREE Trial edition (only 10 days) so if any of you want to compare the products more closely, please download both of them. I will be downloading WorldWind soon and will report back with more info (see below for my continuation of this report).
I know that Keyhole can get pretty high resolution images (where you can zoom into an actual building) of most of the metro New Orleans area and most of the westbank (but not all of Metairie nor any of Kenner). It also has high-resolution images of Baton Rouge and Shreveport/Bossier City. It has lower resolution images of the rest of the State where you can still look at streets but not zoom into actual clear images of a particular address. I recently emailed Keyhole support since the satellite image on the FREE Google Address page had a better image than my Keyhole program and they responded that they are updating the Keyhole database on a daily basis.
On a separate note, for those P.I.'s or other businesses who do not have a website as of yet, Yahoo is offering a FREE easy to build small business website with up to five pages and a FREE listing in their search engine and White/Yellow pages. Go to: http://listings.local.yahoo.com/ and you can have your own website up in about an hour's time. It may not have all of the bells and whistles of a website designer's multi-hundred dollar website but heck.. it's FREE and you can make changes whenever you like. If you have never utilized a FREE website service such as Geocities or if you are not very good with computers/websites, email me off list and I will be happy to help via email or over the phone, also FREE. I put my Yahoo.biz website together last night in about 45 minutes if you want to take a peek at my partially completed website at http://la.local.yahoo.biz/LennyVasbinderSalesAndMarketing. I only used three of the five pages available at this time but I will be adding more in the next few days.
*******************************************************************
Well, I just finished downloading WorldWind from NASA. Even with a DSL (Lite) connection, it took nearly 3 hours because you first have to download a small program called BitTorrent which is a download utility that also works as an upload utility. As you are downloading a program, using BitTorrent, it is also uploading the same file to another BitTorrent downloader so it uses your ISP upload bandwidth as a way of enabling more people to download the software. This is my first time using BitTorrent but it seems to be a pretty efficient way for people to download really big software programs like WorldWind which is 171Mb. (It actually ended up being 564Mb !!!!!) BitTorrent has a default setting to download the program to your Desktop. You can change the default setting by browsing to a particular folder of your choice if you do not want the program download created on your desktop.
And after you finish downloading WorldWind, BitTorrent keeps running, uploading the file to someone else who is downloading it until you close out BitTorrent, I think. I'll have to look into how long BitTorrent will continue to run. I'm just going to let it keep running while I finish installing World Wind. Does anyone else have any information about BitTorrent? Good, Bad or otherwise?
Next, you have to open the WorldWind.exe program which is identified by the NASA logo on your desktop. (There is also an update to WorldWind but you have to finish installing the downloaded version first, then go back to the WorldWind download site and download the upgrade.)
I have Windows XP-Pro with SP2 but I next had to install Microsoft's DirectX for Managed Code Update (December 2004) and the EULA requires you to have a legal copy of the Windows OS that you are using.
After completing the MS-DirectX download, the NASA World Wind 1.3 Setup Wizard opens. After accepting the EULA for World Wind, you get the option of which components that you want to install. I accepted all of the NASA original components and all of the NASA add-ons but I unchecked all of the Community Add-ons since I did not know what they were. Hopefully, as I learn more about this program, I can look into the Community Add-ons and maybe add some of them. Some of them looked interesting from an education standpoint.
Next, you choose where you want the program installed. I accepted the default Destination Folder - C:\Program Files\NASA\World Wind 1.3 (The final size of the program WITHOUT all of the Community Add-ons is 564.1 Mb) It still took about another 20 minutes to install this bad boy. This better be worth it! I don't remember Keyhole being nearly as lengthy of a download or install process. I would also recommend that you close any other programs while you are installing World Wind as it seems system intensive. Even typing this email causes glitches or slow-downs in my typing where it takes a few seconds for letters to appear after typing them. I have 512Mb of ram but it seems the install process utilizes quite a few of them Mb's.
O.K., The Wizard says the Setup is complete. When you click Finish, it gives you the option to view the release notes. I accepted just to see what they say and here is the beginning of the release notes:
*******************************************************************************
NASA
World Wind 1.3Release Notes
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS===================
* Windows 95, 98, 98SE, ME, 2000, or XP* 3D graphics card (http://wiki.worldwindcentral.com/Video_Card_Compatibility)* Internet connection* DirectX 9.0c and Managed DirectX 9.0c* .NET Framework 1.1 runtime libraries
Minimum configuration---------------------
With the minimum configuration, performance and functionality may be less than expected.
* 700 MHz or higher CPU* 128 MB RAM* 1 GB disk space (World Wind's cache size is 2 GB by default; you must reduce the size of your cache)
Recommended configuration-------------------------
* 1.4 GHz or higher CPU* 256 MB of RAM* DSL/cable connection or faster* 3 GB of disk space
******************************************************************************
O.K., back to my download of the upgrade.
I attempted to move the World Wind.exe file from my Desktop to the WorldWind folder that I created in MyDocuments but it would not allow me, saying another program is using the file.... I'm guessing the still open BitTorrent upload that I still have running.
O.K., I started the download of the upgrade, which is 6.3Mb, and upgrades World Wind 1.3.0 to version 1.3.1. I executed the upgrade and installed it via the Wizard but once again, I unchecked all of the Community Add-on components although some of them look intriguing.
I did not have to restart Windows like with some downloads so here goes!!!!
O.K., it opened up with the Earth visible from space with the continent of Africa showing. There are about a dozen icons across the top. Keyhole opens with the USA visible and there is a series of controls at the bottom including a place where you can just enter an address or city/state and it will zoom into that address. I don't see that feature on World Wind yet. I decided to just click on the western horizon of the Earth and it spun the image around. O.K., I'm beginning to see how this works. Keyhole has the same feature.
I had to experiment a little... I know I should just read the darn Help Manual but I'm hard-headed. I decided to hit Shift-+ and it started zooming into the good old USA. I kept pointing my mouse and clicked on the New Orleans area and then hitting Shift-+ and it zoomed in but then stopped zooming while I was still looking at the entire Gulf Coast from Florida to Texas.
Not sufficient!!!
I then clicked on different Icons but nothing was happening. I opened the "Place Finder" window and entered "New Orleans, LA" in the Search box and clicked Enter. A list of "Places" showed up (i.e. - Churches, Hospitals, Radio Stations, etc.) I clicked on the New Orleans Jazz Museum and some Lat/Long numbers showed up in the position box. I clicked "Go" and it started zooming in and the various "Places" names showed up on a blurry picture. The altitude was set at 9Km so I lowered it to 1Km. Still only the name in yellow on a dark gray image.
Nothing visible.
Doing some more experimenting, I clicked on the "WMS" Icon which opened up the "Web Mapping Server Browser" window. Hmmmm.. .nothing really user friendly in there.
O.K., some more experimenting and I finally have something showing up. I clicked the "USGS Urban Area Ortho" icon and it started bringing up some type of image. The first actual viewable image since I started trying to zoom in closer than the Gulf Coast area. A rather blurry B&W image of the "New Orleans Jazz Museum" came into view. I clicked the "USGS Digital Ortho" icon and lost the blurry B&W image, only to be replace by another blurry B&W image.
So far, Keyhole is far superior to World Wind as far as ease of use and learning curve goes.
I remember being able to jump right into Keyhole and start using it's basic features and functions.
I started Shift-- keying out of the close up of the New Orleans Jazz Museum. Keyhole has a simple game type control panel for moving around, zooming in and out, etc., where with this program, you just have to click on one of the edges of the map to pan the image that way.
I opened up the Place Finder icon/window again and tried putting my street address into the "Look for place named:" box but it said "Not found". I then just put "Veterans Blvd., Metairie, LA" into the box and clicked Search. It's taking a while in it's "Searching" mode. Keyhole is superior to World Wind in this function. I probably could have just kept clicking the edges of the map or zooming out and finding Veterans Blvd on my own and zooming back in but I'm waiting to see what the Search produces. The 5 minute search for Veterans Blvd. (a very large street if you are not familiar with Metairie, LA) produced no results.
Hmmmm.. not very good so far.
Using my own locate and zoom, I was able to bring up a better image of Veterans Blvd. and David Drive intersection than Keyhole has although Keyhole says they are upgrading their high resolution maps of metro areas. I could never find a way to bring up street names on the image which is very easy to do with Keyhole. Also, I do not see an easy way to email an image to someone. With Keyhole, you just click on the envelope icon.
I did find out that you do not have to use the shift key when using the + or - signs for zooming.
Also, you can just use the cursor up, down, left and right keys for panning around the image.
In conclusion, I LIKE KEYHOLE MUCH BETTER THAN NASA'S WORLD WIND PROGRAM FOR PRACTICAL USE BY P.I.'S, REAL ESTATE PEOPLE AND GENERAL MAP PRODUCING PURPOSES. World Wind looks like it would be good for world wide viewing but not as useful for mapping out streets and addresses with an overhead satellite image.
I hope this review wasn't too long but the NASA program is kind of complicated... maybe kids and astronauts will be able to jump right in but this old computer geek had a little trouble. I'll keep this program for a while since I have about 40Gigs of free HD space but at over a half a Gig in size, this isn't for everyone. As I play with the program and figure out how to use more of it's functions, I may write a follow up review. I hope I can figure out how to put a layout of Streets into the image.
I really like that feature on Keyhole.
For ease of use, size and functionality, Keyhole for $29.95, gets my vote, even though it's not free like World Wind.
After trying WorldWind for two weeks, I uninstalled it. I'll keep using KeyholeLT and Google.com Address Search for my Satellite Imagery.
Hope this helps some of you guys and gals.
Sincerely,
Lenny Vasbinder (Retired P.I.)
http://www.Geocities.com/LennyVasbinderPI
Yahoo! Groups Owner/Moderator:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Ask_The_P_I
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GulfCoastVolleyball
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KingOfTheCue
EDIT ADDED 05/11/2005-
WWWWWWWWOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!!!
I just got a Keyhole email saying that they have updated the entire database and I checked it out and the images of my area are SOOOOOOO MUUUUCCCHHHHHH BETTTTTTTEEERRRR, I mean so much better than it was a few days ago!
And now when you sign in, you can choose from the Old Database, called the Legacy Database, or you can pick the New Database, called the Primary Database.
Now, without a double, Keyhole, now called Google Earth is MUCH, MUCH, MUCH better than WorldWind, even though it costs 10 cents a day to use.... of course, now it's FREE!!!
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