The Zune Bug

Is your 30 GB Zune still working? Or did it stop working some hours ago? You are not alone, owners of 30 GB Zunes all over the world have the same problem, it seemed that the problem is that people could not get a single thing to come up on the screen and the speakers. Only the Zune logo appears. Some people complain that the Zune 30s reset on their own and doesn’t fully reboot. What is odd is that it happened at the same time all over the world. This affected only the Zune 30's. If you visit Zune support forums you'll notice the number of threads about the Zune failure.  

  

Lift it Up!

Some women, especially those who are not endowed with it, think that having well-shaped and proud bust is a plus. Men see it as a double plus for the woman if she has that extra size and lift in there. Yes, having less of something is not good. Women who have smaller or sagging bosom feel some discomfiture because they think that they do not have that extra pert that would make them look sexy and amazing. Women know how the shape of their breasts could lose its good shape through weight loss. Child birth and ageing could also cause the the breast to sag and of course along with it the sexiness and confidence would also sag. Well, technology is here to help make things become better. Cosmetic surgery can help make the human body more proportioned and more beautiful. With breast uplift surgery the correct proportion of a woman's body can be achieved.

Breast uplift surgery is the process of removing excess skin so that the bust will have a great new shape, a shape that is more beautiful. The surgeon will also correct the position of some parts of the breast to achieve the ideal shape and form. The surgical procedure will require the patient to stay in the hospital for two nights. The recovery after breast uplift surgerycould take two week.

Breast reduction surgery is only performed by experienced cosmetic surgeons who are trained to do it the proper way. If you want to go through it, you need to go to a trusted name like MYA (Make Yourself Amazing) which is backed by 25 years of experience in cosmetic surgery and over 100,000 surgeries performed. The surgeons at MYA are among the best and the most skilled in the world.

Happy New Year To All

The year 2008 has been good to me and my family. It has been good to my blogs also. The year 2009 is coming in with signs of brighter days ahead. Never mind the recession, the internet is in full bloom and bloggers are feeling it. Happy new year to all, may the coming year bring us more good things. Let us make each of the coming 365 days of 2009 fruitful for all of us. 

Holiday Frames at Zenni

Now is your chance to grab a new pair of prescription glasses that would make you look your best this season. Zenni Optical has a wonderful collection of Holiday frames available; from acetate full-rim frames with design on temples to stainless steel full-rim frames with pattern on temples. Yes, any of these wonderful Holiday collection can be yours with low low prices. Zenni Optical is the online store that sells the best prescription glasses in fashionable frames. Zenni is known for having very affordable but high-quality frames. Do you know that you can have a very good eyeglasses for as low as $8 from them? Yes, low-priced but very fashionable and of good quality frames. You might be wondering why Zenni is able to give us this kind of very good deal. The answer lies in the fact that they use the latest manufacturing and marketing systems that allow them to bring their product direct to the customers. They do not pass their products to middlemen that only bloat the price like what is the case with other stores and manufacturers. They also do not have retail overhead, and spends very little on advertising.

Why not check out Zenni optical now and grab one of those beautiful Holiday frames. Visit their site now.

Techno Techniques Got PR 3 in Google's Latest PR Update

The last day of 2008 has brought good news to me, I found out that this blog, TechnoTechniques.com, is now PR3. I am very happy of course because this is my main blog.

My other blog, MyFreedomWall.blogspot.com retained its PR3.

My other blogs also performed good even if I failed to keep an eye on them like the way I did with this blog and MyFreedomWall.

My OnlineMoneyMatters.net is now PR1. Woohooo!!! there are only two posts in there. But long and useful posts, they are.

I am also happy for my wife, her Wow-Legs.blogspot.com blog is now PR3, it has improved from its PR2.

Her other blog, Pinay-Chicken-Heart.com, is now PR1.

Her other blog, Cheesy-Cake.blogspot.com is now PR2.

I am also happy for some of my friends' blogs. TheLadyProgrammer.com got PR3,

TheSingleParentTalks.com is now PR2, an improvement from PR1.

Pchi's OpinionPinoy.Blogspot.com retained its PR3.

Calvinshub.com and PinoyWebSurfer.com both has PR3.

I am not totally happy because Berry's blog did not get the rank. I wonder why, her blog is very good, it deserves to be ranked. I learned a lot from her blog when I was just starting out.


If you want to check your PageRank you can do so by entering your blog's URL below.

Check Page Rank of any web site pages instantly:

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My New Blog for the New Year

I have a new blog, Gumer Recommends, it is just another WordPress blog. I love Blogger but WordPress is sexy so it won't hurt to have my own self-hosted WordPress blog. 

So what's the big deal with my new blog? Not much, it will contain "suggestions" that could be of help to some people facing some little obstacles. It could be suggestions on what to do when your Windows gives you the blue screen to what to do when your girlfriend dumps you or how to hack your sex life.  Every day we come face to face with simple obstacles that could frustrate us if we do not know how to jump over them. This Blog is intended to assist and at the same time entertain people who, like me, has the need to know how to tweak everyday snags so that they become advantages. And who the hell is me to recommend solutions to some people's problems? I am just a regular guy who loves learning regular things that most regular guys do not really care learning about until they are face to face with the problem. I am not an expert on anything but I could tweak almost anything. 

The Future of Internet Video is Very Bright

The way we use the internet changes with how internet connections become faster and faster each day. Internet advertising is inevitably rolling towards being video-based. It will not take more than five years from now before video ads become the backbone of internet advertising, reaching a billion consumers who will be spending more and more time watching video clips online. Internet advertising is growing very fast, in fact it is predicted to grow eight times faster than all other mediums. In four years' time, online video advertising will be the name of the game. So where do producers, corporate sponsors, and publishers stand in this? If you are a producer, or a corporate sponsor, or publisher, would you allow your self to be left behind while others cash in on the great potential of video advertising in the internet? I came upon a website that is heading the pack, MeHype.com. This revolutionary advertising network has a very good approach to online video marketing. They make it possible to allow corporate sponsors, video producers, and third-party website publishers to come together to create and view branded user-generated content in a fun, creative,and informative way. This is how it works in MeHype : corporate sponsors post at MeHype.com creative brief like new product introduction or the like. Video producers can then create short (15-30 seconds) video clips based on the briefs. Website publisher can then display the video in their site. Each time the video is viewed in its entirety the video producer and website publisher earns money.

So where are you in this? Check out MeHype.com now and become a part of the hype.

You are More Vulnerable to attack with Internet Explorer

I never use Internet Explorer. I have it in my PC but I never use it. The reason why i never use it is because it is very slow. Aside from that I also know that I will be more vulnerable to attacks if I use this browser, IE is not really secure. I wonder why many people are still using it. Microsoft lately has acknowledged the fact that Internet Explorer 8, like IE 5, IE6, and IE7, is vulnerable to attacks. Read their advisory here.

Microsoft recommends that users use Protected Mode in IE7 or IE8 and enable firewall and anti-virus software to minimize risk. I recommend using Firefox or Chrome , they are many times faster than IE and many time better in many ways.

Make Money Blogging

I started earning from my blogs a few months ago. At first it was just a trickle but it made me happy to actually see money coming into my bank account via my blogs. Now, after months of blogging I earn quite a good amount of money each month, and it keeps on getting bigger and bigger every time I withdraw money from the ATM. Money comes into my blogs through many different ways but the biggest income generator for my blogs are paid posts. I keep on telling my office mates that I make money blogging but most of them could not believe it and think that I am just making up stories about it. But those who believed me also started their own blogs and are now also earning money like me. We developed some sort of camaraderie and share with each other every new discoveries we make about how to earn more and more money online. One of the latest things about blog marketing that I have shared to them is Payingpost.com. I told them that with Payingpost.com they could earn more with their blogs while doing what they love doing best--writing. I told them that a couple of days after joining, I earned my first $10 from Payingpost.com by reviewing a service that I would have written about anyway without being paid. Of course my two ofice mates immediately joined Payingpost.com and I know that they are now also earning additional income through it.

If you enjoy writing and blogging, probably you will also enjoy more if you get paid doing it. The internet is a gold mine for those who know how to use its potential. If you think that there is a recession, your are probably wrong because in the internet there is no recession, business is blooming. Here's a fact : 47 % or nearly half of all marketing money are now spent online. I know that next year it would be bigger than that. This is the best time to invest in the internet whether you are an advertiser or a blogger. Blogs are powerful means of reaching potential customers so a wise advertiser knows that using services like the kind being offered by Payingpost.com is a good move for a company selling a service or product. Likewise, bloggers who understand advertising and blogs know that sites like Payingpost.com are gold mines. If you are a blogger, the best move that you can do now is joining Payingpost.com if you haven't done it already. Don't you know that blog advertising has become the most popular form of advertising? . If you own a business or company, probably this is the time to tap the blogging world to help your business get a boost. Check out Payingpost.com now.

Free Magazine and White Paper Subscriptions

Here are some free magazines and white papers for you:

1. Oracle Magazine

Oracle Magazine contains technology strategy articles, sample code, tips, Oracle and partner news, how to articles for developers and DBAs, and more. Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) is the world's largest enterprise software company. Get your free subscription here.


2. Maximizing Site Visitor Trust Using Extended Validation SSL

Explore the benefits of Extended Validation SSL, so you can show your customers that they can trust your site. Trust in site security is declining and consumers are scaling back their online transactions – or opting out entirely. Now, you can definitively demonstrate your identity to customers, and customers will be able to confirm this identity before trusting sites – all thanks to Extended Validation (EV) SSL Certificates. Get your free subscription here.


3. IP Networking Fact Sheet

Learn how IP Networking solution allows organizations to connect your business with voice, video, and data services over a single wireless or wireline connection.

IP Networking solutions based on Sprint Global MPLS VPN(sm) provides real-time application support, access options for fixed and mobile devices, flexible routing protocol and value-added services. Get your free copy here.


4. Vulnerability Management for Dummies

Get all the Facts and See How to Implement a Successful Vulnerability Management Program.

As a business owner, or someone responsible for network security within your organization, you need to understand how to prevent attacks and eliminate network weaknesses that leave your business exposed and at risk.

Vulnerability Management for Dummies arms you with the facts and shows you how to implement a successful Vulnerability Management program. Whether your network consists of just a handful of computers or thousands of servers distributed around the world, this 5-part book will help:

• Explain the critical need for Vulnerability Management (VM)
• Detail the essential best-practice steps of a successful VM Program
• Outline the various VM Solutions - including the pros & cons of each
• Highlight the award-winning QualysGuard VM solution
• Provide a 10-point checklist for removing vulnerabilities from your key resources

Get your free copy here.


5. When Content Is King

Learn how CDNs satisfy the demands of consumers growing accustomed to streaming video, live Webcasts and individual features.

Consumers now expect to see rich media on corporate websites. This article explains how and why some businesses are turning to vendors for Content Delivery Networks (CDNs). These providers have their own widely dispersed data centers, which often store mirror images of corporate websites. Since these data centers are geographically spread out—and thus closer to website visitors—they're able to more swiftly deliver bandwidth-heavy rich content. Get you free copy here.

Chrome Will Soon be Out of the Beta Stage

We all know that most of Google's products stay in the beta stage for centuries but Chrome is an exception to the rule. Now the buzz that it is coming out of the beta stage is being confirmed. Google vice president Marissa Mayer announced Google Chrome is coming out of beta. Let's watch out for January which is barely three weeks away.

Ingenious

It's amazing how technology has changed many of our ways of doing things. The way we buy items today is quite different from how it was done ten or fifteen years ago. I came upon an online store for eyeglasses yesterday and the first thing that came into my mind was the concern about the necessary fitting of the eyeglasses before one buys it. It is important that the customer is sure that it would fit him well before buying it. But how would one try on eyeglasses that is not physically in his hands? This website I came upon, Optical4Less.com, has an answer : their virtual try-on system. Yes, with Optical4less.com you may try on eyeglasses online. Their way of making it possible to virtually try on eyeglasses is simple ingenious. All you need to do is upload your photo to Optical4Less.com's online fitting room. Once uploaded to the fitting room, you can then proceed to the "fitting" of the eyeglasses of your choice, all it requires is a little dragging and clicking and with the help of the system you will see how individual eyeglasses would look on you. This is great, it is like actually facing a mirror while trying on the eyeglasses.


But it is not only the virtual try-on system of Optical4Less.com that impressed me. The quality of their products and the low low prices made me say Wow! They have many kinds of eyeglasses; from complete prescription eyeglasses and bifocal reading glasses , to tinted sunglasses and photochromic sunglasses. On top of the low-priced but good quality trendy, fashion, stylish frames , Optical4Less.com also ships worldwide for free if you buy more than one pair of eyeglasses from them. For as low as $15 you can have good quality eyeglasses. Why not check them out now.

A Look Into Google's Web Security

Relying on web filtering alone is an outdated way of protecting your network from the latest threats. See this video and learn how Google Web Security uses the power of the cloud to proactively protect your network. You can also visit Google Web Security for more info.

Cool Beats From a Cool Music Website

I know that part of what makes making hiphop music difficult is finding beats that are "good enough". I ran into JeeJuh.com a while ago, it is a site that provides the best instrumental music available on the web for rappers and singers ready to make it big in the music industry. I see that this site would really be helpful to hiphop artists who want only the best quality beats for their music. Jeejuh.com's beats are made with the best DAWs (digital audio workstation) around. But despite the very good quality, they are able to give it at low price. I also checked out the site's rap forums and there I found that members can engage in text battle. This rap forums is a good place to hone your hiphop artistry so that you will be ready to take on the world with your cool words riding your cool beats. Check out the site now!

Google Friend Connect Now available in Beta

Google Friend Connect is now available in beta. With this service, you now have another way of making your site more social. Friend Connect will makes it easy for you to instantly interact with others on the sites that you frequent. With friend Connect, your site will become OpenSocial container that is capable of running applications created by the OpenSocial developer community. The beauty of this is that it is very easy to set up, all you have to do is just paste a code in your site and you're done.

With member gadget, you can allow visitors to join your site, sign in and out, see other members, and use other social features. Just install this in your site and visitors can start joining in your site.

There are also social gadgets that will allow you to populate your Friend Connected site with as many gadgets as you'd like. There's the Wall gadget that allows viewers to post comments, or links to videos on your site. There is also the Rate and Review gadget that allows viewers to rate a page, or a section of a page. Viewers can use this to rate videos, articles, books, photos, songs, or anything else you can imagine. You can put multiple Review/Rate gadgets on one page, one for each item you want viewers to review. And there is also an available demo of the OpenSocial application that demonstrates the basic concepts that an OpenSocial developer can use in their application. Check out Google Friend Connect now, it's cool.

Yahoo Adds a Nifty New Feature to its Image search

Yahoo has added a somewhat attractively stylish feature in its image search. If you have used Yahoo you probably are familiar with Yahoo Search Assist, which suggests search terms as you type in your query. Well, they added this feature to their image search. When you type in your image query, samples of image results with text query result will come up (see image above). I tried it with the term "van gogh" and what came up are some thumbnails of some of Van Gogh's popular paintings. I tried it with other search terms but it seemed to get muddled a bit sometimes. I guess this additional new feature would not make people shift to Yahoo as thier default search engine even if it has the potential of becoming "cool".

Looking For Some Cool Gifts to Give this Christmas?

The holiday season is here again and Christmas parties are just a few days away. One thing that is always part of office or school Christmas parties is the exchanging of gifts. In my office we have set the Christmas party on December 18th so as early as now everyone is busy thinking up of the coolest gifts to give. Why is it not that easy to choose the best gift to give? It is because the gift you give is a reflection of who you are. I was having a hard time deciding on the kind of gift I should give to my kringgle until I stumbled upon Pexagontech.com. There I found the coolest personalized holiday gifts one could give to an office mate. What's great about this is that Pexagontech is now having a 20% off 4 these great personalized holiday gift ideas!

They have personalized thumb drives that come in 14 different colors and 32 different themes and up to 16 GB in capacity that you can buy for as low as $7.99 after discount. I had a real fun time choosing the color and theme and the custom laser engraving that would best fit the personality of the person I'd give the thumb drive to. And it's not only personalized thumb drives that they have, they also have personalized pens that come in 3 unique styles, multiple colors and a free line of personalized laser engraved text! Psst... and it is as low as $1.59 after discount.They also have wooden flash drives for the environmentally friendly kringgle. And if you mean to give your boss or administrator the perfect simple but elegant gift, you can opt for the Business Card Flash Drives that looks like a business card. Actually the back side of this card hides a small USB cable (with huge 2GB capacity) and the front side can be engraved for free with 3 lines of personalization text, for as low as $15.99.

What could be more cool than these gift ideas? Head now to Pexagontech.com and see for your self what I am talking about :)

Hulu, Getting Better Each Day

Would you consider Hulu a threat to Youtube? It seems like every more often this online video site adds more features that enhance user experience. Yesterday it introduced two new features: a recommendation section for users with accounts, and a filter that allows you to quickly find closed captioned videos. And if you have been following Hulu's progress, you can say that there are too many times that it is ahead of Youtube in innovation. But Youtube is Youtube and Hulu is, well, Hulu. Let's keep a close watch of the two and see how they make our online video experience more and more beautiful each day.

Have You Experienced Sitting on Santa's Lap?

Have you experienced sitting on Santa's lap? We'll I've tried it today. I went to the CEIVA website and had great fun time with uploading my favorite picture and seeing it with a wonderful digital frame. I chose the image I uploaded because it shows how my small family is full of love. Sometimes pictures speak more than words can describe. With CEIVA digital photo frame, the beauty of that image I uploaded was highlighted, it is really amazing! I did not realize how beautiful the picture was until it got its digital frame. I'm in love with CEIVA digital photo frame, very unique and elegant. How I wish to have it as a gift for my wife this Christmas. Well, that one of my Christmas wishes, to be a able to have such a wonderful gift for the woman I love this Christmas.

CIEVA is having a Got a Wish Sweeepstakes for the holidays. You can join this contest and get the chance of making some of your wishes come true this Christmas. There will be 29 winners in this contest who will be randomly selected from the daily entries. There would be one winner per day. Join the contest now for your chance to win $500, a good enough amount to make some of your wishes come true this holiday season. So what are you waiting for? Head now to CEIVA and experience sitting on Santa's lap.

The Top 10 Most Searched Terms in 2008

Do you know the top ten most searched terms in Google in 2008? If you do not know, can you guess some of these most searched terms? Well, let's see if you guessed some of the terms. Google actually provided the "fastest rising search terms for 2008 (U.S.A)", here they are:

1. obama
2. facebook
3. att
4. iphone
5. youtube
6. fox news
7. palin
8. beijing 2008
9. david cook
10. surf the channel

I know that you did not guess the top term but you are now slapping you forehead and telling your self that of course it is only natural for "obama" to be the most searched term in the US in 2008. Last year the most searched term (globally) was "iphone".

Avoid Malware And Keep Your Computer Safe

Malware is defined as any type of undesirable software that has been created to attack a PC and cause damage without the knowledge of the owner of the system. The term malware is used by computer users to describe different types of hostile programs such as virus, worms, spyware, and Trojans.

Initially, designed as pranks, over a period of time, malware programs have evolved into very sophisticated codes with huge potential to damage a computer as well as steal confidential information of the computer owner. Broadband internet access and email are one of the main reasons of this widespread problem.

Today, there are some good anti-malware programs available that can help you in keeping your computer safe. Moreover, following the tips given below will help you keep these problems at bay.

1. Keep Your Operating System Updated
   
   When you download Windows Updates, you perform one of the most important tasks to keep your computer safe from malware. Regular system updates not only help you in keeping your operating system current, but also take care of any security holes that may act as entry doors for malicious software.
   
   
2. Install a Firewall
   
   The internet not only opens opportunities for sharing information, but also opens the doors of your computer to criminals. Firewall is a critical application that shields your system from any potential threats from the outside world. These intruders can be in the form of virus, spyware or hackers.
   
   
3. Install an Anti-virus software
   
   There is no alternative to a good anti-virus software. The absence of an anti-virus software will make your PC vulnerable to viruses which, in turn, will assist malware in attacking your system. For example, errors such as the OPXPApp.exe error may generate if your PC is infected with viruses. To prevent such errors, you should ensure that your anti-virus program is scheduled to run regular full system scans to weed out these malicious infestations. You must also keep your anti-virus updated with the latest virus definitions to protect your PC against the latest threats.
   
   
4. Install an Anti-spyware
   
   While an anti-virus tool may protect a PC from viruses, your system is still susceptible to malware which may include spyware and adware programs. For example, while browsing the Internet, you may accidently download the mirar Internet toolbar, which is a troublesome spyware program. Installing a reliable anti-spyware that monitors for these malicious programs in the real-time will help you prevent them from infecting your system.
   
   
5. Remove Unwanted Programs
   
   Many malware programs exploit software you no longer use to gain access to your computer. For example, you may not be using the Nero CD burning software but may still have it on your computer. Now, if you do not update this tool, a virus written to exploit a vulnerability in the old version of the program may easily gain access to your computer. This is the reason why, you must remove nero and other programs you no longer need to keep your PC safe from malware.
   
   
6. Avoid opening Email attachments from unknown sources
   
   You can avoid potential malware infections if you are careful in opening your email attachments. Even if you know the sender, you should avoid opening emails with suspicious names or extensions, as it is possible that the sender’s system is infected and is sending emails to all the email contacts in the address book.
   
   
7. Avoid visiting dubious websites
   
   Websites with doubtful integrity or fake websites are a major cause of malware infections. According to a survey more than 5,000 new malware websites are created every day. You should try to identify whether the website could be infected and stay away if you have the slightest doubt.

Spyware Could Send You to Prison

A not so tech-savvy 41-year-old former substitute teacher was convicted of four felony counts of endangering minors last year because she failed to stop pop-up images from appearing in her classroom computer. According to the procecutors the substitute teacher exposed her students to pornography and failed "to shield them from the pop-up images after they appeared on her classroom computer". The substitute teacher, Julie Amero, was four months pregnant at that time and has just learned how to e-mail and she is hardly your typical porn surfer. Those pop-up images that caused her conviction were mostly spyware that are not that easy to control or stop especially if you are not that good at using the computer. I think she was wrongly judged. Alex Eckelberry, the CEO of Sunbelt Software, also thinks that the conviction was not just, so he contacted Amero and helped her turn around the case and get the guilty verdict overturned later. This is a sad story of a not so tech-savvy teacher who became the victim of the bad that technology could sometimes bring. For the more detailed story, you can read it here.

I Googled for Footwear

I don't know why, but to family and friends, I am the person to call when there is something that they need to know about-- be it a short definition of a term, the name of the director of a good film, how to get a credit card, how to start a blog or change a blog's template, where to find what, and anything that needs an answer under the sun-- they call me because they think I have all the ready answers to all their questions. They do not know that the answer to almost anything is just a google away. That's my secret. So when an older cousin who is now a fire marshal in a neighboring town called me to ask where to find foot wear for his team of firemen, I was not surprised. I did not tell him that I know nothing about fireman's footwear and that he is supposed to know where to get it because he is the fireman. I told him that I'd call him back in a few minutes while I googled about fireman's footwear. I came upon 5.11 Tactical Boots. So after learning about this company, I called back my cousin and told him about how 5.11 Tactical covers Fire and EMS professionals from head to toe. This company offers top quality footwear at affordable prices. I also told my cousin that all of the company's new boot offerings feature the same Shock Mitigation System that has made 5.11 Tactical Footwear an overnight success. All of Tactical 511 boots are guaranteed against defects in workmanship and materials so it is guaranteed that anyone can count on these 5.11 products performing up to standards.

My cousin asked me how I know about this things. I did not tell him that i just Googled it, but I gave him the url to 5.11 Tactical and told him to check it out.

How To Hide Audio Files in Image Files

Okay, this trick is quiet old, I have posted this in one of my blogs more than a year ago and I have shared it as a thread in one of the forums I frequent. But I have received an email from a follower of this blog asking me if I know how to hide audio files in image files and if I could make a tutorial for it here. So here it is a little trick that would enable you to "hide" an audio file in an image file. This stuff is just for fun, this is child's play, this is not true steganography (the process of hiding a secret message or file within a larger one in such a way that others can not discern the presence or contents of the hidden message). This might not be even good enough for your little sister. Good steganography makes it very difficult to detect that information is there at all.

But anyway, big things start with with little things. So on with the little tut.

The right to keep secrets is a privilege that every human being should enjoy. Our secrets are who we are and in this age and time the name of the game is distrust. We keep our dark secrets to ourselves for fear of rejection by others, we only reveal them to a very trusted few.

We all know (consciously or unconsciously) that the shape of one's character is revealed by the kind of clutter one makes in one's life. Let me see the contents of your hard drive and i will tell you who you are. We all know that the kinds of files you download help reveal your soul's shape that is why you would like to know how to hide your "dark' files so that your nosy officemates won't see them. Here's a method of hiding files in other files. In this tutorial we will hide an mp3 file in an image file (.jpg) so that when an unsuspecting intruder to your PC double-clicks the image file all he sees is the image, he won't hear the music hidden in the image file.

How to do it:
Put in a folder the file you want to hide and the image where you will hide it. Example, I want to hide Paranoid.mp3 in an image file named Rocker.jpg so I will put the two files in a folder of my choice see image below:


In this example, I placed the two files in C:\Users\Administrator\Documents\Downloads. After this the next step is for us to open the command prompt.

To open the command prompt just do Start>Run then type "cmd" (without the quotes). At command prompt go to the folder where your files are by using the cd command (in my case I typed "cd Documents\Downloads" because my files are in that folder. After entering the folder you are ready to create a new file called Rock.jpg (or whatever name you prefer), this is the file where you will hide the Paranoid.mp3. To do it (you're still in command prompt) type 'copy /b Roccker.jpg + Paranoid.mp3 Rock.jpg' without the quotes then hit enter.

Common sense would tell you that in the above line Rocker.jpg is the file where you will be hiding Paranoid.mp3 and Rock.jpg is the file that will contain both the mp3 and the image. This is how it would look like in the command prompt:



Now, after we did it with the cmd we go to the "Dowloads" folder and we will see something like this:


Now you are free to change the extension of Rock.jpg to .mp3 and play it with VLC Media player or WinAmp or whatever player you have as long as it's not Windows Media Player because it sucks a lot. Notice also that the size of the new file is as big as the Paranoid.mp3+Rocker.jpg.

That's it you may apply the same process with other files with some modifications in the process, and if you are creative enough you may also use Winrar to help along the way if you want your file to be encrypted for further protection. But that's another story :)

Eset Smart Security 4 Beta Now Available

The first public beta for Eset Smart Security is now available for download. It is available for both 32-bit and 64-bit Windows systems. Eset Smart Security is one of the best protections you can have today against malware and virus. This release incorporates many new features and improvements, including:

• support for Microsoft Windows Live Mail and Mozilla Thunderbird mail user agents
• scanning of SSL-encrypted HTTPS and POP3S traffic
• integrated SysRescue module for creating bootable discs and USB flash drives
• integrated SysInspector module for analyzing runnings processes on computer
• device driver-based cleaning module to remove malware which runs at boot time
• Watch Activity pane graphs File and Network Activity with second, minute or hour precision
• text mode interface for compatibility with screen-readers and other assistive technologies

Monitor Pages Without RSS feed with Newzie

Yes, you can monitor pages without RSS feed with this cool app, Newzie. This app can be used to monitor RSS and ATOM formatted feeds, as well as normal webpages. It is so simple to monitor a page without RSS feed, just hit the add button and then choose the page you want to monitor, then decide what knid of changes in that page you want to monitor. Cool ha, check it out, it's free.

Do You Have What it Takes to be an XML Superstar?

Are you familiar with XQuery, XML and DB? are you good at it? Do you want to know how you fare with other developers and aspiring programmers in this area? Now is your chance to see if you can be an XML superstar envied by other developers. IDUG is sponsoring a contest, the IDUG contest which is open to developers (students, hobbyists, and professionals). This awesome developer contest is aimed at increasing the awareness and familiarity with XQuery, XML and DB2. There are five different tracks for individuals of different skill levels, so you can choose the track or category that you think you could excel on. If you believe that you can handle all the five categories you can join in all the five tracks and prove to the world how good you are at XQuery, XML and DB. But you can only have one entry per track.

Join now and send an entry for any or each of the following tracks :

Video Contest: Upload a video, judged by the community, prizes awarded monthly

Gadget Contest: Create a small widget or gadget, judged by the community, prizes awarded monthly

XQuery Challenge: Answer a series of questions by developing queries in XQuery. All correct answers (answer and query structure) entered to win larger prizes

Port an Application: Port an existing application to use XML, XQuery or DB2. Judged by a panel of judges

Develop an application: Develop a brand new application using XML and/or XQuery. Judged by a panel of judges

Now, do you have what it takes to shine in the IDUG contest? Join now!

Check Out FoxGlove

What happens when a Firefox addict who uses a lot of Google applications decides to mix Google and Firefox? FoxGlove, an alternate browser which is a standalone Google apps portal. Yeah, this thingy is worth checking out. Why not download it now and see it in action? You can also read more about it from Lifehacker.

Wonderful Selection of Holiday Frames at Zenni

Need a new pair of frames for your eyeglasses that would match the holiday feel? Or need to buy one of your loved ones a new set of frames as a holiday gift? Well, grab them from the popular online eyeglasses shop Zenni Optical. When you buy online holiday glass frames from Zenni Optical, you'll get more out of what you pay for. From them you can buy affordable but quality and stylish eyeglasses, there are $ 8 complete Rx eyeglasses at Zenni!

Goodbye SearchMash, Hello SearchWiki

Google drops SearchMash (Google's experimental non-branded search interface) in favor of SearchWiki, a new functionality that allows those with Google account to customize their search results. With SearchWiki you can move specific results up or down in rankings so that they will appear in the preferred order when you do the same search in the future. You can also post comments on the results of your searches. Not only that, you can also see what other people have said on them also. The comments and notes that you add will only affect your own search.

According to a post in the official Google blog : "This new feature is an example of how search is becoming increasingly dynamic, giving people tools that make search even more useful to them in their daily lives. We have been testing bits and pieces of SearchWiki for some time through live experiments, and we incorporated much of our learnings into this release. We are constantly striving to improve our users' search experience, and this is yet another step along the way."

Bounce Rate is Really a Factor in Search Engine Ranking

There is a post at SEO Blackhat that shows that bounce rate is really a factor in search engine ranking. In the post there are screen shots of Google analytics data from a site. If you study the screen shots you will see that there is a "pattern you would expect from a program designed to flush out terms with higher bounce rates and test them across other sites", according to that poster in SEO Blackhat.

What exactly is bounce rate and how does it figure in ranking? Well, in Google analytics support page it says that bounce rate "is the percentage of single-page visits (i.e. visits in which the person left your site from the entrance page. Bounce rate is a measure of visit quality and a high bounce rate generally indicates that site entrance (landing) pages aren’t relevant to your visitors. You can minimize Bounce Rates by tailoring landing pages to each keyword and ad that you run. Landing pages should provide the information and services that were promised in the ad copy."

Now, is it time to worry about bounce rate? I think we've been worrying about it long enough. If this is the first time for you to hear about this term, don't mind because all you have to do is to find the best way to keep visitors stay longer in your site. If you have good content then you need not worry about things like this.

Soon You'll be Googling Never Seen Before LIFE Magazine Photos

More than 10 million never before seen LIFE magazine photographs will soon be available online through Google Image Search. Andy Blau, LIFE's President said, "LIFE will now reach a broader audience and engage them online with the incredible depth and breadth of the LIFE Photo Archive from serious world events, to Hollywood celebrities to whimsical photographs."

Serious About Your Online Presence? Know the Best and the Worst Web Hosts

Taking your online presence seriously means having the best professional web hosting service that your pocket can afford. Those who are new to having a website or blog are often clueless about basic things like where to get affordable web hosting services and how to set things up. Doing the trial and error method in finding the best professional web hosting service is hazardous to your your online presence. Things like finding the best web host and domain name registrar for you should be right the first time you do it. But how would a newbie know which is the best and which is the worst? You need to know what other more experienced webmasters and site owners have to say. WebHostingGeeks.com is the place to go because they provide independent reviews of the best web hosting providers. This site has been doing this for years. At WebHostingGeeks web host providers are ranked according to best price-value ratio. Host reliability, uptime, key features, bonus features, customer support, past and current user feedbacks, user-friendliness and hosting awards also come into the equation. With the the above mentioned factors as bases for the ranking, you would surely find the best professional web hosting provider for your website or blog. If you are maintaining a blog, it would be good to check out WebHostingGeeks' page for Best Blog Hosting Award of the year, you will be guided by this page in deciding which service to choose.

If you are on the process of taking your online presence seriously, it is time to get yourself a web hosting but before you do it, drop by at WebHostingGeeks.com and be guided by their independent reviews of web hosting providers.

Ranking, Not as Important as it Used to Be.

In a recent interview with WebProNews' Mike McDonald, Google's Matt Cutts implied that in 2009 ranking is "not as important as it used to be". There are other more important factors to be considered other than ranking, like traffic and conversions. SEO's should focus on these things. Matt said that SEO's must embrace universal search and integrate videos, images, books, and many other formats in their pages.

Ranking is Dead,Traffic is All that Matters

Every webmaster wants to see the future of SEO. What if you have the power to see the future and sees that in the next few months ranking would be dead and all that would matter is traffic? Probably you will change your SEO habits and start on something that would keep you in the race. The future of SEO depends on how search engines evolve into more modern ranking methods. Bruce Clay, president of Bruce Clay, Inc. revealed in a one-on-one interview with WebProNews' Michael McDonald some insights about the future of SEO. Bruce talked about many things, one of those is "behavior based search", which means that personalization is going to be "web-wide" using third party cookies and things. Bruce says that your prior search history will affect your search. This means that if 100 people will do a search at the same time for the same term, the result each one will get would be unique because their prior search history affected their search. Bruce gave an illustration, an example search term: "java". Some people doing the searh may be looking for something related to programming and others are looking for the beverage and another group may be looking for the tourist destination. Theoritecally the search engine will know that and will provide each user tha appropriate list of search results. "We can't search for any term and look at rankings because I can get different results than you for exactly the same query. So that's going to change a lot," Bruce says. It doesn't matter if you're logged into Google or not. Bruce believes that personalized results will be coming out within the first quarter of next year.

How about "intent-based search"? Your search engine is looking up your IP and revises your search result based on where you are and your search engine can make assumptions about the intent of your search and give you the most appropriate result of your search. "The page that ranks for a shopping query is an entirely different architecture than the page that ranks for a research query," Bruce explains,

Bruce Clay believes that in the first six months of 2009, we will be seeing a lot more implementation of behavior and intent-based search leading to a mindset of "ranking is dead, and traffic is all that matters."

Bruce suggested that SEO’s should focus closely on analytics, bounce rate, traffic. He also advised SEO's to make use of video, images, audio, maps, etc in their pages. This will help engage the viewers of your page, and it will also engage Google.

So it all boils down to this : If your site has something new to show or tell, if it is unique, if it stands out in the crowd, Google will surely notice it.

Update:
To make things clearer and more complete, I have added the video of the interview of Bruce Clay. this video is courtesy of WebProNews.

New Tab Functions Added to Firefox 3.1 Beta

Tab tearing. Okay, okay, Opera and the new macho on the block Chrome has this function, in fact Opera has been doing this stunt for ages. So what if Mozilla adds a feature to Firefox that's already in other competing browsers? This only shows that the makers of Firefox are really bent on giving us the best. It is not always about who gets there first, it's is about making a good browser. To be the best one needs to see the good in the competition and take and improve from it. Mozilla really knows how to play the game.

Locate Flaws and Vulnerabilities in Your System with Secunia PSI

Want to be sure that your system is free from flaws and vulnerabilities? Well, there's a free security software that scans your computer for installed software and determine if any applications lack security updates. This tool is Secunia Personal Software Inspector (PSI). What's good about this tool is that it not only provides an exhaustive list of possible threats to your system but also the links to the downloads needed to correct the security flaws.

Looking for Cheap But Quality Eyeglasses

I have been meaning to give my younger sister a gift this Christmas that would make her remember me every single day--stylish eyeglasses. My sister started wearing eyeglasses when she was in sixth grade, she is now 34. I know that classy eyeglasses are expensive but of course I know where to get a good prescription eyeglasses that would match my sister's fashion style. At Zenni Optical I could get affordable eyeglasses that are of high quality. Yes, stylish prescription eyeglasses can be bought online from Zenni with prices as low as $8. You may be wondering why Zenni could offer such low price for their quality eyeglasses. The reason for this is because Zenni Optical sells only their own manufactured frames direct to the customer, without using any middlemen and with almost no advertising budget. The Chicago Tribune even has an article about how price ranges of prescription eyeglasses at Zenni proves to be a real eye-opener. Prescription eyeglasses are medical products and at the same time fashion accessory. Zenni Optical understands this that is why they are able to deliver a wide variety really stylish eyeglasses that would surely suit almost every taste in fashion.

My sister would surely be pleased with my Christmas gift for her. I know her taste, I know her style, and I know the perfect eyeglasses frame that would enhance the beauty of her face can only be found at Zenni.

Video and Audio Chat Available Soon to Gmail Web Interface

Very soon you will be able to chat more ways than ever before from within Gmail. You will soon look and sound better with high quality audio and video because Google will soon be adding video and audio chats to the Gmail web interface. Google has announced it on the Gmail blog. To be able to enjoy this feature you need to download and install the voice and video plugin. Gmail will take care of the rest. What's good about this feature is that it is designed using Internet standards such as XMPP, RTP, and H.264. What does it mean? It means that "that third-party applications and networks can choose to interoperate with Gmail voice and video chat." This feature will be available for both PC and Mac.


Now, would this kill Yahoo! chat? It remains to be seen.

Google Answers Your Burning Questions

Lately The Lady Programmer has posted a series of articles about SEO. Many comments from fellow bloggers interested in SEO were made on these articles. I read all the comments and it became obvious to me that many bloggers do not really know how to optimize their blogs so that Google will easily see them. I also found out through the comments that many bloggers are aware about how important it is to do SEO but they have no idea how to do it. Despite the many books I've read about SEO, it still remains as some sort of mystery to me, I know some things about it but there are many things that are cloaked with mystery. I know that it is also the same case with other bloggers and webmasters. I see many blogs posing as SEO expert's blogs but these blogs do not even have PR and when I do some tests on them they do not make it to the first page of Google search, so how could I take their advice on SEO when they could not even apply SEO on their own blogs? The reason why SEO is a mystery is because Google moves in mysterious ways. If we know exactly how Google thinks and moves then SEO would be very easy. Lately Google answered many of the burning questions in bloggers' and webmasters' minds about PR and SEO and stuff like that. In a live chat Q&A, Google's Matt Cutts and Maile Ohye with other Google engineers, answered straight many of the questions webmasters around the world had been begging to be answered straight. The Google people, according to Jason Lee Miller of WebProNews, "put to rest some fears and myths, and confirmed some speculations".

Here are some of the questions answered by Google:

Do 301 redirects carry over PageRank?

Where appropriate, ranking signals will be transferred across 301 redirects (if the same page has moved from one URL to another). This may take some time, so you should probably leave the redirect in place as long as you have control over the URL.

Do backlinks from bad sites negatively affect my PageRank?

Those links might be positively affecting your PageRank (PageRank does not go down from "bad" links like those from adult sites). In general, you don't have to worry about bad links like that which point to your site that aren't under your control.

I have reported sites that clearly have paid links (e.g. the backlink page says "Advertising" above the link), but Google does not seem to take action. Why would that be the case? These are .orgs who are clearly selling their .org juice.

While paid links and spam reports are being taken very seriously by Google, the results may not be seen immediately for users or even not at all. This does not mean no action is being taken on the offending sites. Also, the TLD of the sites should not be a factor being taken into account. For this reason reporting both, web spam and PageRank passing link selling makes sense and contributes in an important way to the quality of Google's index.

Is it true that the fewer the links FROM your website, the more influence they have on the sites receiving those links?

PageRank is split up over the links from a page, but I would recommend not concentrating on this (as you won't be able to "measure" and act upon it anyway) and instead making your site as usable as possible for your visitors.

Does getting a lot of comments in a blog help in being well indexed/ranked by Google?

Having a lot of enthusiastic users commenting on your posts and doing so generating content on your site, certainly does not harm your rankings :-) Furthermore, a large fan base gives the webmaster a bit of independence from search engine traffic, which is the reason why generating original and compelling content in order to nurture a group of committed users is something I would highly recommend to any blogger.


How often does your search algorithm change?

We change the algorithms all the time - last year we had over 450 changes.

Does Google have a problem with rank-checking software?

Rank-checking software is against Google’s Terms of Service and could result in blocking your IP address, and it doesn’t really help, especially when it comes to personalized or geotargeted results.

Is there PageRank boost from .edu or .gov links?

Google’s Answer: You don't get any PageRank boost from having an .edu link or .gov link automatically. If you get an .edu link and no one is linking to that .edu page, you're not going to get any PageRank at all because that .edu page doesn't have any PageRank.

Does a page load time play a crucial role in Google Page Ranking? If yes how important is it?

I think the more important issue here is user experience. If your site loads fast, your users will be happy; if it loads slow, users will be less happy. Make your users happy, right?

Does the age of a website/domain affect its ranking?

Ohye answered this way: a site's reputation can be a indicator to search engines, but of course, it's not everything. Having a site for a long period of time can establish credibility with users, and as a search engine we also want to reflect this type of credibility. Of course, newer domains can also gain users and credibility. It seems like running a good site is a bit like running a reputable business. So yes, if your domain has been credible for years it can help. If you buy an old domain and put all your content on it in hopes of getting instant rankings, that's not the best idea.

But, when the question was rephrased from another webmaster, Cutts answered: In the majority of cases, it actually doesn't matter--we want to return the best information, not just the oldest information. Especially if you're a mom/pop site, we try to find ways to rank your site even if your site is newer or doesn't have many links. I think it is fair for Google to use that as a signal in some circumstances, and I try never to rule a signal out completely, but I wouldn't obsess about it.

For more of the Questions and answers from the third online Webmaster Chat from October 22, 2008 Click Here.

Virtual Estate

How do you see your blog? Perhaps you see it as nothing more than just a diary that is open to the public, your freedom wall, your vanity mirror, your mixed bag of rants and raves. Perhaps you see it as a canvas on which you can paint the colors of your soul for others to appreciate. Is that the way you see your blog? I am not saying that there is something wrong with that. But has it occured to you that your blog could be some piece of real estate? Or should I say virtual estate. If you are maintaining a niche blog probably it has ocured to you that it is possible to sell your blog. I have posted here last month something about a blogger selling his PR5 blog for $15 million. A while ago I have stumbled upon an article written by woman who has sold one of her blogs for $95,000. This woman has been blogging for years and maintained some niche blogs. It did not occur to her to see her blogs as real estate but when some unfortunate events placed her and her family in dire straits, she stumbled upon the idea of selling one of her niche blogs. Actually it was not really her idea, the idea was inspired by a book she was reading.

Now, if you are maintaining more than one blogs, start seeing your blogs as real estate, like a piece of land that you can sell when the need for a big amount of money presents itself. But of course, like a piece of land, a blog should be developed into something attractive to buyers.

Are You Ready for the SongBird?

Have you heard about Songbird? It's a Mozilla-based media player that uses GStreamer to handle media playback. As of now it is still in active development but the first release candidate of Sonbird 1.0 is now available. There are versions pf the program for Linux, Mac, and of course Windows. Would this new media player compete with VLC Player? We have yet to see. Check it out here.

Buy Prescription Glasses Online

Thinking about changing you eyeglasses with something that is classy? Why not buy it online from Zenni Optical, you can get great eyeglasses for less from this website. They have a wide variety of frames to choose from and the prices are affordable, starting from $8. You can get variable dimension frames from Zenni which would surely fit your fashion and style. Lower price doesn't always means lower quality because at Zenni Optical you get low-priced high quality prescription glasses. The Secret to Zenni’s Low Prices is that they sell only their own manufactured frames direct to the customer, with no middlemen and virtually no advertising budget. And don't you know that Zenni Optical was on FOX news! Check it out.

Have a Taste of Firefox's Private Browsing

Many internet users (especially those who surf the web with their office computers) do not want to leave traces of where they had been in the net. We all know that office mates are naturally nosy and they want to know what p0rn sites you visit during office hours and if your taste is as good as theirs. They also would love to have the chance to tell your boss about your browsing activities during office hours. But if your browser allows you the have "private browsing" your nosy officemates would not have any room for their nose to stick to in your browsing activities. With this feature, your search, browsing, form, and download history will not be saved. Cookies or temporary files are also not saved. Back in September, Mozilla dropped some hints that a feature that allows "private browsing" would be available in Firefox 3.1. But yesterday, a major feature was added to the pre-release versions of Firefox 3.1 which will give you a taste of Private Browsing. If you want to try this new feature, just get Mozilla's Minefield browser and install it. By the way, Minefield Browser is an experimental browser from the makers of Firefox.

Let's Play the Crowns of Power

I love freebies, that is why I love to play free online games. Yesterday I stumbled upon Crowns of Power, a 3D graphical online MMO for the PC from Rampid Interactive that is for free. Yes, you've read it right, it is free. This great game features an amazing 3D world with impressive landscape and environment that would really put you into another world and into the game. The game world is being designed to support hundreds of players simultaneously, with the network capacity to support many game servers. Players from all over the world can meet up in this fantasy world to fight in the battlefield side by side or opposite one another. As a player you can have the power to govern yourself in a PvP world where combat could happen anywhere, anytime. What I really like about this game is that there is a sense of community with smaller world population. A player earns his reputation and role on the server, and be held accountable for his actions. Your character evolves through adventures and quests where you can get to collect powers and spells. This game really hooked me so I am sure that it will also hook you. Download it from www.crownsofpower.com and play with me. Crowns of Power will have no monthly fee, or charges of any kind. Players will have access to a point store where they can purchase account upgrades, or exclusive access to future content, but no credit card or payment will be necessary to participate in the game.

So, what are you waiting for, download the game now and meet me at the battlefield.

Chromify Your Firefox

Yeah, Google's Chrome browser created a storm when it was released some weeks ago but Firefox is still Firefox and it is still the best browser in the world. Many people are sticking with Firefox (I'm one of them, though I was infatuated with Chrome when it first came out) even if they like Chrome's sleek look. If you are among those who want Firefox's features and Chrome's look, you'll be happy to know that you can actually have the best of both: by Chromifying the look of your Firefox. All you need to do is let Firefox wear the coat of Chrome by using Chromifox 2, an experimental Firefox add-on. It is a theme for Firefox that will make the browser look like Chrome. But of course, do not think that after installing Chromifox, your tabs will have a new position because they will remain in the default position of Firefox.

Free Images For Bloggers From Acobox

Bloggers like me who maintain multiple blogs know that adding content in blogs is not as easy as a walk in the park because it is not merely adding words in posts but adding images too. To make a blog more appealing we add images. Images can paint a thousand words. Images hook the readers. Images make the readers read your words. But adding images could sometimes be a problem. I often find it difficult to locate the best images for some articles I write. But now I found a site that gives free blog images to bloggers like me. I signed up at acobox.com after stumbling upon them and exploring their site and learning that they provide free images for bloggers. The site is not like other sites that provide images to users because it also hosts the images it gives. By registering an account with acobox.com a blogger could have the luxury of hotlinking images by using click and Ctrl-v. All images at Acobox are properly licensed, optimized for blog, and free so there is no worrying about rights and stuff, all you have to worry about is choosing the best image for your post. Acobox's gallery covers a wide range: from landscape, architechture, culture and entertainment, down to drawings and maps. There are fourteen categories in their gallery as of now. Members can add their own imags to the gallery so the gallery is actually growing, it grows as the community grows.

So you're a blogger? Then stop seeking images from all over the web and copying, resizing, uploading, and inserting these images, it's too time consuming. Start Hotlinking to acobox now.

Numbskull for Halloween

Numbskull Solve the puzzles to get the skull safely back to his body.

Play this free game now!!

If you have nothing to do tonight, why not waste your time with this game, I made it to level 18 so it means that the game is interesting because I made it that far without getting bored. Try it, it is free.

Warning : this game would really numb your skull, it will give your brain a real workout.