OK, there are a lot of services out there to 'speed test' your Internet connection, but this one is pretty fun to do...

You get to watch a speedometer as it tunes in your connection speed. 

Several years ago, I bought a Red Hat Linux CD at a local retail store.  I never figured it out...I couldn't get it to install, and didn't really 'get' the whole Linux thing anyway.  Recently, I gave Linux another look, after reading an article about how a bootable Live Linux CD might be useful in rescuing a Windows system that can't boot. 

Since then (just a couple weeks), I've tried both Knoppix and Ubuntu flavors of Linux.  I've booted both from Live CD versions, which is sweet for Windows users that just want to check it out without losing their Windows systems.  Essentially, Linux loads from your CD drive, and once it's loaded it acts like it would if it were the only operating system on the computer. 

Of the two, I like Ubuntu a little better, I think...for two reasons.  It comes in 3 different flavors (desktop, server, and alternative install), and if you boot from a Live CD and decide you love it, you just click a shortcut to completely switch over and ditch Windows. 

Anyway, I've decided I definitely 'like' Linux now...for several reasons. 

1. It works.  You just run the installer, and Linux figures out how to use the hardware you've got.  Printers are easy too...you add them much like you do in a Windows system (wizard style).  
2. It's intuitive.  Well, it's as intuitive for the casual user as is Windows.  You have nice, pretty UI's with meaningful buttons and labels...you can find what you want at least as well as on a Windows machine.  You can surf the Internet, check email, and type documents largely like you do in Windows. 
3. It's free...as in no money.  Even better, it lets you turn that old junk PC into a really nice server or extra computer for the kids. 
4. Related to #3.  It doesn't demand great hardware to install and run.  I have an Ubuntu file server runnning (amazingly well) with 128MB of RAM, a 6GB hard drive, and a 733Mhz processor.  
5. With Ubuntu at least, adding and removing programs is a breeze.  Much like the add/remove programs applet in Windows, you can easily see a list of programs installed on your computer.  The big difference is that Ubuntu lets you see a list of all the (free) software available for your computer.  If you want it, just check the box, and it installs. 
6. Updates don't force a reboot.  I'm only a beginner here, but Ubuntu has downloaded and installed hundreds of updates, never once complaining that it has to restart to apply the changes. 
7. Community support - It does feel strange for a Windows guy to be typing on the Linux command line (shell) all the time (sudo this, grep that, nano this, etc.).  The best part of that, though, is when you're stuck, you can Google the error you're seeing, and a half dozen forums and articles show up to guide you through.  To be fair, I'm comfortable with the Windows (DOS) command line because I've been using it for 12 or so years...I'm confident the Linux shell is just 'hard' for me because it's 'new' to me. 

I can see tremendous potential for many of my clients here.  Linux plays nice with Windows computers on Windows networks, can act as a file/print server, and a dozen other useful things.  The potential is that the price point is low, the reliability is high, and the price point is low (oops, did I already mention that?) 

As I get further into this, I want to post more about my experiences with Linux.  So far, though, what I've seen is very exciting and promises to help with a number of problems I've seen in the past. 

Wow.  This is one of the driest, funniest sites I've ever seen...

http://www.dullmen.com

Hours of 'entertainment' in there...

It seems logical...an MSN Radio premium subscription should be accessible from a Windows Mobile 5 smart phone, using the phone's data service.  Speed and bandwidth certainly aren't an issue, since I can use the phone as a wireless modem for a laptop, then stream MSN Radio from the laptop. 

I tried pasting the URL from media player (in Windows XP) to the location in Windows Media on he mobile device, but that doesn't work either. 

Someone has to have written about it somewhere, but I can't find it...

I've found the Windows XP Files and Settings Transfer Wizard (FAST) to be a great tool...you just run it on your 'old' computer, run it again on your 'new' computer, and voila!...your old desktop, files and network connection settings all appear like magic. 

I just had a problem, though, that caused a little panic.  The situation was that the 'old' computer and the 'new' computer are the same machine.  I ran the wizard to an external (USB) drive, formatted drive C: and reinstalled Windows.  When I re-ran the wizard, I got a message that apparently means the FAST backup is corrupted:

"The location that you specified does not contain any stored information."

The solution (for me, at least) was to run Windows Update until there were no more updates to be had...install everything.  After that, I re-ran the wizard, and the files restored beautifully.  Bottom line...the data wasn't corrupted at all, but for some reason Windows couldn't see it. 

A few extra minutes of preparation would have prevented the panic.  One good suggestion is to run the wizard on the 'old' computer right after you do the FAST backup.  If it starts to restore your data, you're in good shape.  If you get the above error, delete the backup and try again.  Thanks to aumha.org for the tip (though I didn't find it until after I was dead in the water). 

Since Wende's giving me a hard time, I took a minute to put up more pics on our Flickr account. 

Samples:

Finally, a solution.  I must have right-clicked an de-selected the language toolbar 50 times.  You'd think I'd lose patience waaaay before this and look for an actual answer. 

http://www.computing.net/windowsxp/wwwboard/forum/144689.html

In case that link becomes unavailable, the answer is in Control Panel>Languages and Regional Settings.  Look around in there for the 'load language bar on startup' checkbox (that's paraphrased)...

A few weeks ago, I traded in my (practically new) Dell Axim x51v for a new UTStarCom 6700, mostly because it would incorporate a wireless data package and cell phone in the same device with Windows Mobile 5.  Actually, I sold the x51v on eBay, but that's another story. 

The 6700 is bigger than a cell phone, so it looks a little...bigger...on a belt, but it's better than carrying a PPC and a cell phone separately. 

It turns out it's WAY more useful than I expected.  I've found a handful of my already-favorite sites have PocketPC versions (Gmail and The Weather Underground for example), and being able to synch with my Exchange server remotely is very, very handy. 

Also, a recent flash update for the 6700 lets me enable DirectPush technology with the Exchange Server, so I'm seeing noticeably longer battery life, but getting email delivered within a minutes of the server receiving it. 

The only down-side (so far) is a complaint that I saw elsewhere on the Internet...the 6700 doesn't hold on to its stylus very well...I've already lost one of the two they sent with it. 

According to this post on the MSDN blog, it looks like we might finally have a chance at synchronizing Windows Mobile 5 devices with Outlook's Business Contact Manager update. 

It seems (to me) like Microsoft sort of ignored this issue for this entire version of Outlook, since most of the post's focus is on Outlook 12.  It's too bad, I bet there are a number of customers turned off enough that they won't come back...

It says development for Outlook 2003 is 'currently under development', but I can't imagine it will get much priority since a whole new version of Office will be released...they'd be retro-fitting to Outlook 2003 when the marketing guys are pushing Outlook 12??

It seems like this rumor has existed in some form for the past couple of years, but maybe there's a little truth to it this time?? 

Apparently, Axiom Entertainment has plans/hopes to build an 1,800 acre waterpark just south of Grayling MI (near the 4 Mile Rd exit). 

News sources:

• http://tinyurl.com/m7bpc
• http://tinyurl.com/psnlc
• http://tinyurl.com/qd8ty

Sheesh.  This thing is impressive.  Looks like all the kids that grew up watching Transformers have gone to college and come back...I can't wait 'til there's a pill to give you spider-sense. 

For some reason, my Windows Mobile 5 device (a Dell Axim x51v) recently stopped sunchronizing completely with Windows XP.  I started seeing the following error whenever I'd try to sync:

"Synchronization cannot be started because you are not able to log on to the network and access information. Restart your desktop computer and synchronize again. If the problem persists, contact your network administrator."

It appeared that everything synchronized except for Notes, which would be left with the 'Attention Required' comment next to it.  On closer inspection, though, there were a number of tasks that I'd created on the device that weren't making it back to the PC's task list. 

I found a suggestion on the Internet that I should use 'scanpst.exe' to repair the Personal Folders file.  That didn't really apply to me, since my Outlook 2003 installation is synchronized with an Exchange Server, but I thought I'd try it anyway.  Once I got to the folder where 'scanpst.exe' is located, I saw that there is a 'scanost.exe' program too.  It turns out that an OST file is the local cache of the Exchange Server data. 

I ran 'scanost.exe' and let it repair all folders...and it worked! 

By the way, both scanpst.exe and scanost.exe can be found here by default:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\System\MSMAPI\1033

After updating Small Business Accounting to SP2, I found that I could no longer export an invoice to my custom template as I did before.  I would just get this error message in a dialog:

OLE received a packet with an invalid extension

To resolve the problem, I (eventually) opened my custom invoice template for editing, then closed it without making any real changes.  When the dialog asked if I wanted to save changes, I clicked 'Yes'.  After that, exporting to my template works just like before. 

I'm assuming the template had to be updated with the new fields that SP2 allows in templates...the memo field is the only one I can recall reading about at the moment. 

Aagh!  I bought a Dell Axim x51v (with Windows Mobile 2005), and only THEN did I see the fine print on this page..."NOTE: This version does not currently support Windows Mobile 5.0 devices."

Apparently, you can safely extend that message to mean "there is no version that currently supports Windows Mobile 5.0 devices". 

Great.

I haven't bothered to look, but I bet this is documented somewhere in a 'worst practices' list...

I recently logged in to my PC (on a SBS domain) and found that I was not connected to the server (or anything else, for that matter).  I tried troubleshooting the PC's connections, rebooting, etc., but got nowhere. 

I ended up logging on to the server itself to see what was up, and found the old "Invalid System disk or disk error..." message on the screen.  It turns out that Windows (SBS 2003) had updated itself and forced a reboot, but couldn't finish the process because a floppy disk was in the server's drive.  Removing the disk was all that had to be done to fix the problem. 

I'm assuming they didn't come up with this on their own, but I have to give credit for this one to the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police (MACP), from their January 2006 publication. 

The tribal wisdom of the Dakota Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says......

"When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount."

However, in government, education, and corporate America, more advanced strategies are often employed, such as:

• Buying a stronger whip.
• Changing riders.
• Appointing a committee to study the horse.
• Arranging to visit other countries to see how other cultures ride dead horses.
• Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.
• Reclassifying the dead horse as living-impaired.
• Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.
• Harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed.
• Providing additional funding and/or training to increase dead horse's performance.
• Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse's performance.
• Declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the economy than do some other horses.
• Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses. And of course....
• Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.

I've been struggling with a seemingly simple problem in Microsoft Small Business Accounting 2006...how to document a refund from a vendor where the money went from the vendor straight back into a checking account.  I can't find documentation of it anywhere...everything stops just after explaining how to create the 'vendor credit memo'. 

After a brutal stretch of trial-and-error (that will probably make my accountant stroke out), I think I have finally figured it out. 

1. Create the 'vendor credit memo' following the normal procedure
2. Go to 'Banking'
3. Choose 'Make Deposit'
4. Change the deposit date to match the original refund date
5. Select the financial account (i.e. checking) where the money was refunded
6. Enter something useful in the 'Memo' field (i.e. 'Refund from return of XYZ product')
7. Click 'New Deposit Line' in the title bar
8. Change the date to match the refund date
9. Under 'Deposit money from', choose, 'Vendor', then select your vendor from the list
10. Enter the amount of the refund (deposit) in the 'amount' field
11. Click 'Record'
12. Click 'Save and Close'

I hope this helps someone else out.