Zen Magnets

Posted on April 5, 2010 by Gesire

We’ve been lots of fun with Zen Magnets.  First a few pictures:

Zen Magnets Mega pack - gesire.com

One of our first creations from the Zen Magnets Mega pack

Zen Magnets Mega pack - 1728 magnets

Zen Magnets - Balancing Act - Hollow

Solid Cube of Zen Magnets

Solid Cube of Zen Magnets

The Zen Magnet Mega pack contains 1728 magnets or 12 cubed. (You get eight spares when you order the pack too.)

Shipping from Zen Magnets is incredibly fast. They received my order, send me a confirmation, and shipped the product in a few hours. I had the product the next day. The confirmation email was filled with humor that I enjoyed and wish more companies would do. (I won’t tell you what it said, but I enjoyed it.)

Warning – Keep the magnets away from all the computing gear with hard drives etc. I guess keep them away from small children and unicorns also.

My dream is to more than double the size of the cube or 17,576 magnets which works out to be 26 magnets to a side. (About 10 times the Zen Magnet Mega pack )

Get your Zen Magnet fix at: http://zenmagnets.com

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Microsoft Word Mail Merge Error – Update All Labels

Posted on November 8, 2009 by Gesire

I encountered a strange error today while helping someone create a Christmas card mailing list.  My friend is using a 4 month old HP Touchscreen PC running Vista. (Doesn’t matter what version, but it’s completely up to date on Microsoft updates.) Additionally, they are running Microsoft Word 2007. He updated all of his contacts in Outlook, and then we ATTEMPTED to use the Mail Merge Wizard from Word 2007.

What happened? Only the top three labels and two bottom labels were updated when we selected “Update All Labels”.

Strange behavior. I tried recreating the error on one of my machines, but the merge worked fine. It turns out there’s a bug in Microsoft’s tablet PC code that keeps the fields from updating. The error has been around for years and it is still not fixed. It took a bunch of searching on the web, but here’s the Microsoft article about it:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/898630

Update All Fields will fail if you have a tablet PC and are running Vista or Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 and any version of Microsoft Word.

Here’s Microsoft’s workaround:

To work around this issue, follow these steps:

  1. When you are on step 4 of 6 in the Mail Merge wizard, tap the Tablet PC Input Panel icon on the Taskbar to open the Tablet PC Input Panel.

    Note If you are running Windows Vista on a Tablet PC, select the keyboard icon at the upper left of the Tablet PC Input Panel.

  2. Tap Func to display the function keys on the upper row of the keyboard.
  3. Tap inside the first label of the mail merge document.
  4. Tap F6. This sets the focus from the mail merge document to the Mail Merge task pane.
  5. Tap the arrow key until you select Update all labels.
  6. Tap the Spacebar to enable Update all labels.

All labels on the page are updated with both the Next Record field and the AddressBlock field.

Good luck with your mail merges. Additionally, I wonder if this is still an issue in Windows 7. My guess is that it’s a bug that still isn’t fixed…

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Phoenix Wordcamp 2009

Posted on October 23, 2009 by Gesire
Godaddy logo

Godaddy logo

Got this email from Godaddy this morning:

As a valued Go Daddy WordPress® customer, we want you to get the most out of your Web experience. That’s why we’re proud to sponsor this year’s Phoenix WordCamp, scheduled for November 13, 2009, at the beautiful Arizona Grand Resort.

A $30 entry fee gets you breakfast, lunch and informative sessions on WordPress and multimedia, SEO, video marketing and more. There will also be a roundtable with WordPress Creator Matt Mullenweg plus an on-site Expert Desk, staffed all day by WordPress specialists. The event will end with a mixer where you can schmooze with other area bloggers, geeks and enthusiasts. Register NOW.

Don’t miss your chance to take your WordPress blog or vlog to new heights. Join us on November 13, 2009, for the Phoenix WordCamp. To find out more about Go Daddy products, visit GoDaddy.com or call us at 480-505-8877.

Thanks as always for being a Go Daddy customer.

Great news for Phoenix WordPress users. Sounds like a fun event. For more information go to:

http://phxwordcamp.com/about/

Just installed WordPress from www.fidomains.com (Our GoDaddy reseller) and it went very smoothly. Up and running with the current version of WordPress instantly!

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Microsoft Security Essentials – Free Virus Checker

Posted on September 29, 2009 by Gesire

Are you one of those people not running an up to date virus checker? Do virus checkers cost too much? Use too much of your resources?

Well, Microsoft has released their free virus checker to the public. Here’s what Microsoft says about it:

About Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft Security Essentials provides real-time protection for your home PC that guards against viruses, spyware, and other malicious software.

Microsoft Security Essentials is a free* download from Microsoft that is simple to install, easy to use, and always kept up to date so you can be assured your PC is protected by the latest technology. It’s easy to tell if your PC is secure — when you’re green, you’re good. It’s that simple.

Microsoft Security Essentials runs quietly and efficiently in the background so that you are free to use your Windows-based PC the way you want—without interruptions or long computer wait times.

I’ve installed it on a five year old XP machine that was dropped off yesterday. Microsoft Security Essentials, MSE, did a fantastic job of removing the viruses and malware off of it. The installation started at:

http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

MSE is a small download of approximately 8 meg and installs quickly after checking to make sure you have a valid copy of XP (service pack 2 or 3), Vista, or Windows 7.  MSE updates itself, and runs a quick scan.

Microsoft Security Essentials is the perfect free virus checker for all of those people who are currently not running a virus checker. Did I say it was FREE? ;-)

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MMS on iPhone

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Gesire

I’m finally receiving pictures on my iPhone. On September 25, ATT enabled MMS for iPhones. It’s easy to get it enabled. Simply, plug your iPhone into your computer and check for updates. A tiny update will allow you to send and receive MMS messages.

Fowler

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Google Sync on iPhone – PUSH email, contacts, calendar!

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Gesire

Google Sync will now push emails to your iPhone, Blackberry, Nokia, etc. Here’s some information on Google Sync:

Features

Gmail sync. Get your Gmail pushed directly to your iPhone. Your inbox is always up to date no matter where you are, or what you’re doing.

Synchronize your contacts. Get your Google contacts quickly and easily to your iPhone. With Sync, you can have access to your address book at anytime and place that you need it.

Get calendar alerts. Using your iPhone’s native calendar, you can now access multiple Google calendars, and be alerted for upcoming appointments with sound or vibration.

Important! Google Sync uses the Microsoft® Exchange ActiveSync® protocol. When setting up a new Exchange ActiveSync account on your iPhone, existing data may be removed from your phone. Please make sure to back up before you set up Google Sync.

http://m.google.com/sync

I’m testing Google Sync right now, so more information to follow.

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Domain Masking and Redirecting

Posted on September 18, 2009 by Gesire

What is domain masking and redirection? Here’s how fidomains and GoDaddy define masking and redirection:

“When someone types your domain name into a browser, they will automatically be forwarded/redirected to whatever URL you choose. And with masking, users don’t see the underlying address; only what they type.”

Why would you use masking and redirection?

  1. Do you get free hosting on your ISP? For example, I get free hosting from Cox Communications for purchasing broadband service. I could redirect and mask a domain that I own to that website. (It’s free, but not really full function with addon applications like WordPress, etc…)
  2. If you purchase domains, you can forward and mask all of them to one of your hosting sites.
  3. You can even forward and mask your domain to a domain you do not own! You could forward and mask your domain to Google.com or gmail.com.

Best news? It’s included for free when you purchase a domain from us at: www.fidomains.com . Here’s the help file on how to mask your domain on our service:

http://help.securepaynet.net/article/424?prog_id=hotzonadomains

Fowler

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Domains, Domains, Domains – Why?

Posted on September 14, 2009 by Gesire

Why do you need a personal domain? (All businesses need their own domains, but I’ll cover that later.)

  • Email address for LIFE! – For example, our geographic area is covered by Cox Communications so email addresses are in the format of username@cox.net. If you move to an area without Cox, you need to get all of your email contacts to update your email address. If you have your own domain, you can move anywhere and still have the same email address.
  • SPAM reduction – Spam reduction is the greatest benefit from my point of view. Minimize giving out your real email address. Setup a “catch-all” email account. When a company requests your email, you can create one on the spot for them. For example, if I go setup an account at ebay, then I may use the address ebay@myowndomain.com. If I start seeing lots of spam from that email address, I can direct it to the trash.
  • Family Friendly! – I setup a domain and email account for my nephew. He’s under 10 years of age and only receives email from family. ONLY his parents, and grandparents are able to send him email. ALL other email immediately is deleted. I’ll post how to do this another day.
  • Easy to remember – If your domain is your name, then it cannot be easier to remember! Your relatives will always remember your email address too.
  • Did you know that you don’t need hosting for a domain? You can use your personal domain for exclusively email if you desire.
  • Blogs – You can forward your domain to any address on the Internet. (Masking and Forwarding in a future post.)
  • Fun – Owning your spot on the web is fun.

Domains are inexpensive and allow you to reserve your spot on the Internet.

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Fidomains.com / GoDaddy Email Issues – SMTP and Port Blocking

Posted on September 11, 2009 by Gesire

We use Cox Communications for Internet access. (Currently getting: 32.18Mbps downloads, and 1.81Mbps uploads from http://speedtest.net ) On the residential side, Cox blocks some ports. What does this mean? It means that if you try to send an email using the default SMTP ports on Cox from Outlook or almost any other email client, it will fail. You can receive email just fine, but try to send… NO WAY…

There’s a way around that issue by changing your outgoing SMTP port. If you are using Microsoft Outlook, go to Tools, Account settings, select your account, more settings, advanced, and change OUTGOING SERVER (SMTP) to either port 3535, or 80.

Try sending the test email. It should work now!

Here are specific instructions on how to make those changes in Outlook and on the iPhone:

Many Internet providers block ports, so keep this in mind if you cannot send email. This happens a lot at hotspots and the solution above will fix it. Another easy way around this issue is to use webmail!

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