Tech Support Cheat Sheet (Flowchart)

Yup, just about sums it up!

What It’s Like to Own an Apple Product (The Oatmeal)

Originally from http://theoatmeal.com/comics/apple, I did not make this or have anything to do with it, apart from appreciating and sharing it.

It’s so true. This is why I don’t own an iPad or iPod, touch or not. I don’t use iTunes and dislike using Macs.

A Warning, and a problem with Windows Live Essentials (particularly beta)

Hi all,

DON’T BOTHER TRYING THE NEW BETA OF WINDOWS LIVE ESSENTIALS…!

With that said, let’s carry on. It’s been a while since I blogged properly (aside from Plinky, of course) so here I am.

Recently, I wanted to synchronise my Personal Message in Windows Live Messenger with my Facebook status (MessengerDiscovery live says it does this by the way, but so far I can’t get it to work…) using the WLMessenger Facebook application. However, I couldn’t get it to work. Somebody from MS advised me to try the new beta, which has this function.

Of course, me being me I promptly tried it out and immediately regretted doing so. Within the space of the 5 minutes I gave it a go on my computer, the software hung and stopped responding I don’t know how many times, and it was generally slow and unresponsive, despite my CPU/RAM/temperature/Internet connection, etc being absolutely fine and normal. The status thing also didn’t happen by the way.

Deeply unimpressed, I decided to uninstall the new WLEssentials beta suite and reinstall the current versions I had before. Simple enough, I thought. I uninstalled them, using their own installer thing, and it said they were gone, so I fired up the current version’s installer. It said that Messenger, Writer, etc could not be installed because I already had more recent versions installed! LIES!

After a LOT of messing around for a couple of days with regedit, deleting folders and various uninstallers and registry cleaners, (speaking of which, I should probably do a Glary checkup about now…) someone helped me on Windows Live Help, and someone else on Byon’s Blog (links at the bottom) and eventually, using MyUninstaller, and everything else, I managed to get rid of it all, and all the rubbish it left behind, and installed a clean, fresh Messenger and Writer to my computer. I couldn’t thank these people enough; they’ve really helped a lot. It seems that the messed-up installations were not showing as they were filed under either windows updates or system components (or both) which MyUninstaller showed by default, but I hadn’t seen the option in Revo Uninstaller, which is my usual uninstaller. As a result of fiddling with it until 03:00 this morning, everything seems to be running ok, and I am writing this using Windows Live Writer once again!

Here is the thread on Windows Live Help, which I recommend if you’re having difficulty:

http://windowslivehelp.com/thread.aspx?postid=8b70be4f-0bb7-4317-ba49-eba1d8cd5ca6#8b70be4f-0bb7-4317-ba49-eba1d8cd5ca6

And here is the link to Byon’s Blog:

http://byon.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/windows-live-essential-beta-0×80280007-error/#comment-534

By the way, one of the many errors I had was the infamous 80040154 when trying to sign into messenger at one point. Comment here or on the links I gave if you’re having difficulty with WLEssentials, and I really recommend Windows Live Help (http://www.windowslivehelp.com/) for anything you’re struggling with because they were really very helpful.

Windows 8 Rumours!

Flicking through my usual read-through of Lifehacker, etc I came across some rumours about Windows 8 is indeed in development, and extensive plans are underway right now! The image to the right is apparently a prototype machine, sporting a 5+-point multitouch display, infrared proximity sensor (for proximity-based sleep/waking), ambient light screen dimming/brightening, omnidirectional microphone, etc. It actually sounds awesome, and I’d love to try one out. I’ve been thinking of getting myself a desktop in the near future, but I might hold out of this kind of thing is due to come out any time soon…!

Apparently, over the weekend an Italian site called Windowsette got hold of some secretive Microsoft presentations, all about the planning of Windows 8. There’s a lot of detail on this site, which is where I found out about it:

http://msftkitchen.com/2010/06/windows-8-plans-leaked-numerous-details-revealed.html

What do you think though? Do we really need another build of Windows, or should Microsoft pay more attention to providing Win7 users with updates to add functionality, stability etc that 7 is lacking? I can see the argument for both, but I hope Windows 7 doesn’t become too obsolete any time soon; I’m already thinking of upgrading my hardware, and another OS on top of that could start to eat into my student loan…

Facebook: Keyboard Shortcuts in Firefox?!?

Hey all,

Previously I mentioned that setting up global keyboard shortcuts for rating songs in Mediamonkey can help you keep focussed while doing repetitive things like revision, note-taking, essay-writing, etc.

The shortcut combinations I used were Alt+Shift+(whatever) to rate 1-5 (I ignore the half ratings, that’s just too far…) because they don’t seem to conflict with anything Firefox, Word, Windows Live Writer, etc uses (though it does conflict with OneNote actually, so I might change the combination if I find another good one).

Anyway, it seems I was mistaken! In Firefox, these shortcuts provide quick and easy access to key features within Facebook! Here they are, listed below:

Alt+Shift+1        Refresh Facebook
Alt+Shift+2        View Profile
Alt+Shift+3        Friend Requests
Alt+Shift+4        Messages
Alt+Shift+5        Notifications
Alt+Shift+6        Edit Profile
Alt+Shift+7        Privacy Settings
Alt+Shift+8        Facebook’s Facebook Page
Alt+Shift+9        Statement of Rights and Responsibilities
Alt+Shift+0        Help Centre

Does anyone else encounter this behaviour, or is it just me? I don’t currently have Greasemonkey installed, so it’s not a script.

Working LEGO Printer: “Hello World!”

Hey all,

I can guarantee that this is one of the best things you’ve ever seen. If not, there’s something seriously wrong with the world…

 

IT’S A FELT TIP! Yeah!

Just amazing. This would go so well with the previously mentioned LEGO Router and CPU from a while back.

Thoughts? Comment… :)

Mediamonkey: My solution to the “not adding tracks to library” problem…

Hey all,

A lot of people seem to be having a lot of trouble with this, so I thought I’d post the solution which worked for me, which I found by accident, incidentally.

1. Open up whatever folder your track is in.
2. Drag it to the “Library” section on the tree in Mediamonkey.
3. Restart Mediamonkey.

The track should be there, if your system works anything like mine. For the record, if it helps, I’m running Windows 7 Ultimate, on a Toshiba Satellite A300D-15B system. Administrator account, obviously, with UAC turned right off.

Hope it helps! Seems to be a fairly widespread problem that could, like it did for me, just fix itself…

How to get up to 10Gb of free space on Dropbox!

EDIT: I have now got a new Dropbox account which I will be using for work if I can get enough space from referrals. If not, then I’ll stick to USB! This new link works exactly the same as before. Many thanks to all those who signed up before, and thanks in advance to those who will! Free space for all! :)

Hey all,

I didn’t actually know this feature existed until yesterday. So far I have an extra 1Gb+250Mb from doing this, and hopefully soon I’ll have the full 10Gb of free space! What more can you ask for? This is so easy to do, and adds another dimension (literally) to an already indispensable piece of software. It works on PC, Mac, Linux, iPhone, etc too. That’s probably the best thing about Dropbox; it just works! That’s all there is to it!

Basically, all you have to do to start getting extra space is follow this link to sign up for Dropbox (all free) and download:

http://db.tt/ku2JooO

It’s a secure referral link rather than the standard signup page. Clicking will take you here:

Fill out the details on the right, and click the button. That will take you to the download page. If the download doesn’t start on its own then just click the link in the blue box at the top. Save the file (or run, or whatever), and you’re done!

When it asks you if you do or don’t have a Dropbox account, say you do, because you just made one on the first page! A lot of people make a second account, not knowing this.

That’s it! Once you start to use Dropbox, you will automatically get an extra 250Mb of space, just for signing up. You can also easily take this up further to 2 and a half Gb by completing the “Get Started” steps (go to the Get Started tab at the top of the Dropbox website after signing in).

Anyone who does this will have my eternal gratitude, because not only do you get an extra 250Mb, but so do I! (to a maximum of 8Gb). You can do the same thing after following my referral link by inviting other people yourself, thereby getting even more space (I won’t get space from that, but you will!)

(My old one)