Archive for August, 2004

Blogging Photos

Monday, August 30th, 2004

Post photos to just about any blog (LiveJournal, Blogger, Moveable Type, Typepad, Manila, etc).

When people look at your photos, not only can they leave comments on them, but they can add notes and tags.

Full RSS and Atom support.

Moblogging directly to any blog, via email.

Free basic account from flickr.

Recycling Electronics Free and Fee

Friday, August 27th, 2004

You might not realize that it costs city residents an $18.00 fee to recycle a single computer monitor at the Miramar Recycling Center (San Diego).

I’ve already made a couple of trips to Office Depot with an old scanner and some old tape back equipment. The Officer Depot free recycling event ends on Labor Day (Sept 6).

I’ve made an appointment for Sept 18 to get rid of a TV and maybe a couple of ancient monitors at the free Residential Electronics Recycling Event.

Best Buy has an event scheduled October 15-16 at 5151 Mission Center Road to dispose of old computers, TVs, and other electronics products, but there may be fees charged.

Buzznet Free Photoblog

Thursday, August 26th, 2004

Buzznet users can post up to 10 images per day and up to 200 images per month.

What does Syndicate My Images mean?
How do I add Buzznet to my blog?

Each and every gallery on buzznet, both individual and group galleries, can be syndicated (or distributed). Go to a specific gallery and look for the link to “syndicate my Buzznet images” — that page will give you specific javascript code which you can paste into your blog template, or any other web page. We currently offer 2 formats (horizontal and vertical). Vertical works best on blog sidebars while horizontal works best as a blog entry. Give it a try…

Email Safety & Spam, Fraud and Virus Resources

Wednesday, August 25th, 2004

Email Safety Tips:

1. Know how your on-line account information is updated. Do you usually receive an email with a link that takes you to the vendors site? Or do you receive an email telling to go to the vendors site and log in as your normally do? It�s a subtle but important difference with the latter being much safer.

2. To be really safe, never follow a link in an email to update account information.

3. Be wary of messages telling you that access to your account is expiring or about to be denied along with instructions that you have to update your information right now. If you have any questions at all contact your vendor through their normal support channels.

4. Do not download software an email tells you is to protect your computer, even if it appears to come from Microsoft. Microsoft, along with most other vendors will let you download patches and updates directly from their web site.

5. If you believe an update may be required, type the site URL directly into your browser and log into your account from there. If you want to be extra careful open a new browser and type in the URL there.

6. Do not open email attachments that you are not expecting, even if the attachment appears to be from a friend.

7. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Emails that promise you large amounts of money are most likely scams.

Email Safety & Spam, Fraud and Virus Resources

The cat’s pajamas redux

Tuesday, August 24th, 2004

A previous post here described an encounter with self-described Just A Geek author, Wil Wheaton in Las Vegas. Last Saturday he appeared for a book signing at a San Diego independent bookstore, Mysterious Galaxy. Here is an account with lots of pictures, from local (San Diego) blogger Brian Dear, that according to Wheaton, captures the essence of the whole thing.

Excel Tips

Tuesday, August 24th, 2004

From the author of Excel 2003 Bible

Printing Tips
Formatting Tips
Charts and Graphics Tips
Formula Tips
Miscellaneous Tips

PayPal Alternatives

Monday, August 23rd, 2004

I’ve used PayPal with no problems. An anti-PayPal site, NoPayPal recommends alternatives YowCow and Charge.com. YMMV.