Tavres

I suspect that most people, like myself, use spell-check for emails and documents. Obviously it's a great tool, but I find that about 50% of the time, I'm misspelling the same words! I'm a pretty good typist, so it's not misspelling due to speed, it's just that my brain is trained incorrectly.

So, Microsoft, here's a suggestion that you may add/include, FREE OF CHARGE OR CREDIT: the "Teaching spellchecker". It works pretty simply - whenever you run spell check, it keeps track of the words that are misspelled, and when you consistently type a word wrong, it shows you the suggested change BUT, the "change" button is disabled and you are required to RETYPE the word correctly.

And just like the "Check grammar" checkbox option, this could be easily disabled for those who just don't want to learn how to spell (or type) properly. There ya go.

1. Clear out the machine of filler
   I recommend installing CCLEANER.EXE from http://ccleaner.com which deletes all temporary files from the Windows installation, Internet Explorer cache, the Recycle Bin, and any number of other "garbage"/"temp" directories in the VPC.
   
2. Disable hibernation
   If you have hiberation turned on, there's a colossal sized file called hiberfil.sys in the root of the .VHD.  Go into Power options in Control Panel and disable hiberation to get rid of this file.
   
3. Capture the Virtual Disk Precompactor .ISO
   In the menu of Virtual PC windows for your machine, capture the Virtual Disk Precompactor .ISO file which is located at:
   c:\program files\microsoft virtual pc\virtual machine additions\virtual disk precompactor.iso
   
4. Run the Precompactor
   Go to My Computer and double click on the mounted disk.  It will begin to run the precompactor software which will essentially zero out all the free space on the disk, making it available for elimination from the file by the Virtual Disk Wizard, which we will use later.  This process may take upwards of 15 minutes
   
5. Shutdown the Virtual PC
   
6. Run the VPC2007 Virtual Disk Wizard
   From the Virtual PC console, click File-Virtual Disk Wizard and "Edit an existing virtual disk".  It will ask you to identify the .VHD file to reduce in size - select it.
   
7. Compact the .VHD
   Select the "Compact" option then select "Replacing the original file".  This will take a few minutes.

When this process finishes, you should have a .VHD file with a much smaller size.

I always like these tid-bits of information, but they aren’t often in small ‘chunks’ for easy consumption… So, here’s my quick-version of an MSN article, copied & pasted:

5 Foods That Help You Sleep

Should you let yourself have that midnight snack if you're having trouble sleeping and you think hunger might be part of the problem? Here are five foods that can actually help you drift off:

Cherries
Fresh and dried cherries are one of the only natural food sources of melatonin, the chemical that controls the body's internal clock to regulate sleep. Researchers who tested tart cherries and found high levels of melatonin recommend eating them an hour before bedtime or before a trip when you want to sleep on the plane.

Bananas
Potassium and magnesium are natural muscle relaxants, and bananas are a good source of both. They also contain the amino acid L-tryptophan, which gets converted to 5-HTP in the brain. The 5-HTP in turn is converted to serotonin (a relaxing neurotransmitter) and melatonin.

Toast
Carbohydrate-rich foods trigger insulin production, which induces sleep. Bring on sleepiness by speeding up the release of tryptophan and serotonin, two brain chemicals that relax you and send you to sleep.

Oatmeal
Like toast, a bowl of oatmeal will trigger insulin production, raising blood sugar naturally and making you feel sleepy. Oats are also rich in melatonin, which many people take as a sleep aid.

Warm milk
Like bananas, milk contains the amino acid L-tryptophan, which turns to 5-HTP and releases relaxing serotonin. It's also high in calcium, which promotes sleep.

MSN article - http://health.msn.com/health-topics/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=100245939

Around October 1, 2009, about 10,000 Microsoft Passport / Live ID / Hotmail username/passwords were posted to the web by a hacker who got the information from "phishing" emails.

"Phishing" is a VERY low-tech way of getting people's usernames and passwords - they ask you for it. Yeah - seriously. When you get an email from your bank or hotmail account (or just about any site that uses a username/password) that asks you to confirm your username and password via email, you can be SURE it is a "phishing" email. That is, they are fishing for information. Report it as spam and delete it.

This breach was NOT Microsoft's fault - this was the fault of innocent people who just follow instructions in email. And yes, it IS hard to tell if an email is legitimate or not. A good rule of thumb is to delete that email, then TYPE IN the address of the website you "just got the email from." If the email says it's from Hotmail - delete the mail and then go to your web browser and type in www.hotmail.com (or www.usbank.com or www.comcast.com, etc.)

If there really is a problem with your account, they will have some information on their website, or on your account. You can also just call the company who supposedly sent you the email.

In any case, if you have a Microsoft Passport, Windows Live ID, or Hotmail address - go change your password NOW!!

(If you need help managing your passwords, I've used KeePass for many years and LOVE IT! - www.KeePass.info)

After many years of dealing with viruses, spyware and ‘malware’, Microsoft has finally released “Microsoft Security Essentials” (MSE), a FREE antivirus/antispyware/antimalware software!

I ran the beta since the first day it was release on XP, Vista and Windows 7 machines, and it’s done a superb job. It even caught random trojan horse spyware on websites and files downloaded from the web.

I’ve pushed NOD32 for several years because I liked how thin/simple the software was when installed. Like MSE, NOD32 focused on JUST doing it’s job of watching for viruses and spyware. I became increasingly frustrated and bothered by Norton/Symantec antivirus software because they would force other “features” on you that just slowed down the machine and didn’t seem to give much more help. They effectively took over the system and caused far too many pop-ups and warnings, and hogged way too much memory and system resources. Thankfully, MSE seems to be perfect.

If you know me and trust me, do this:

1. UNINSTALL your other antivirus software from the “Control Panel –> Add/Remove Programs” menu.
2. Reboot your computer.
3. Download and run Microsoft Security Essentials (http://www.microsoft.com/Security_essentials/)
4. Reboot your computer.
5. Run a FULL scan just before you head to bed so it can run all night.

I’ll admit it – I’m a 100% Facebook addict. Well, okay, not 100% – but with regard to the overall system and features, I’m totally there. However, there are a few things that drive (or drove) me crazy.

First, I’ve got a few FB Groups and a few FB Fan Pages. A while back, FB development moved the links to get to these sections. Unless you admin these two area, you probably don’t care. But I did. And it was a pain to click click click trying to get to them. Finally, I noticed these little icons. They’re in the bottom-left corner of the page! Woo hoo!

Second, I’m not against anyone who loves the cutsie little games and quizzes, but there are several I just don’t want to see anymore. Well, you can hide them :) Just mouse-over the game/quiz/”news feed” item and a little box appears that says “Hide”. Click “Hide” and then click “Hide ____”. You won’t see that game/quiz/”news feed” item anymore. (You can always go to the bottom of the page and re-enable any of them by clicking the “Edit Options” link.)

I do love Adam Carolla! Even if he sometimes get too raunchy, it’s exciting to see such a popular personality using technology. The radio station Adam was most recently on for about 3 years changed format and ‘fired’ all their talk show hosts, leaving Adam with his millions of dollars and no outlet to evangelize. So he finally got his daily podcast going. And with such a big name, he gets some of the best guests talking for an hour and just being regular people. Listen. Subscribe. Enjoy!

www.AdamCarolla.com

In November 2008, Microsoft finally announced that they are going to release a FREE anti-virus scanner for Windows. Currently, it’s called ‘Morro’ (possibly after the Morro Castle - “El Morro Castle, or El Castillo Del Morro, is an old fort that lies on the northernmost point of San Juan, Puerto Rico. For many years, it guarded the entrance to San Juan bay, and defended the city from seaborne enemies.” –knowledgerush)

The new anti-virus software will replace the old ‘Windows Live OneCare’ product that seemed to sputter out. The few times I installed it on client’s machines, I wasn’t impressed. It seemed too… cute? That is, it just didn’t look tough enough to be a virus scanner/protector. Of course, the alternatives have been ‘Norton’, ‘McAfee’, ‘AVG’ or ‘NOD32’. All but the last one, NOD32, are big and clunky, and slows down the system A LOT. The biggest problem is that they try to do too many things at once - anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-malware and anti-trojan. I ONLY want an anti-virus software to do JUST that. (Of course, I’m not a fan of any “all-in-one” software or device – especially printers!)

Of the four I listed, I prefer NOD32’s Antivirus (NOT their “Smart Security” application) because it’s very thin and light and has done a great job on the 20+ machines I’ve installed it on. But now with Microsoft coming out with a freebie (which is actually the one freebie that they should have come out with, oh, about 10 YEARS ago) it’ll be hard not installing it on client’s machines.

And now, my ‘Windows Live Onecare’ subscription isn’t supported on my main machine running Windows 7. So, I’ll just have to be extra careful until Morro is released to Beta sometime in the next few months. Until then, I’m really liking Windows 7 and will definitely be recommending it to everyone.

For years, I've been bugged the the claim of a movie being the "top grossing film of all time". The problem is - ticket prices have changed through time, so it's not really about how much money was made, but more about how many tickets were sold. So, I built this spreadsheet using the "All-Time USA Box office" grosses from IMDB, and the average ticket prices (ATP) from the National Association of Theatre Owners website. Then, dividing the Gross by the ATP gives the number of tickets sold for that movie. Now, assuming that IMDB and NATO's numbers are correct, below is the list of the top 50 movies in order of tickets sold.

What I find most interesting, is that the only SIX of the top 20 movies are from the 1980s newer... Does that mean that the movies aren't as good, or that people just have more entertainment options? Hmmm....

Old Sacramento
California State Railroad Museum
In-N-Out Burger

Last day...

Okay, so I kind of got distracted and forgot to wrap up the trip - but the last day of the road trip was great.

We got into Sacramento on Friday night and stayed just a mile from Old Sacramento. I had stayed up WAAAY too late the night before, so I was feeling a bit off and just wasn't very excited about going out, but did anyway. We ended up at Round Table Pizza in Old Sac and had quite a good pizza, then headed back to the room.

In the morning, we got an early start and got to the California State Railroad Museum just as it opened. It was fantastic! There were hardly any visitors there yet, so I got some great pictures. There is so much history there! I could easily spend a few days there reading all the information photographing the locomotives and rolling stock!

North Pacific Coast Railroad No. 12 Sonoma

The CSRM is really beautiful inside.  Unlike the few other railroad museums I've been in, this one has the unique perspective of 'non-linear' layouts - and by that I mean that the train sets aren't just lined up side by side - they're on curved tracks, at different angles, and there's even an engine and consist on an overhead trestle INSIDE the building!

I bought a few small things from the museum store then we headed out to go back to Seattle. The drive was, again, beautiful. The mountains were green, Mt. Shasta was clear and amazing, and our final stop before leaving Northern California was In-N-Out Burger.

The trip was a wonderful success. Having a good friend to enjoy the trip with and engage in random conversation and debate really made the trip for me. The only thing that could have made the trip better, would have been an extra three weeks and about $3,000 of found money. Until then, I'll keep adding to the list of places or things I'd like to visit or explore or do.