EVER NEED TO pick a truly random number? Head on over to RANDOM.ORG! This mostly free website can help you pick lotto tickets, hold a sweepstakes, randomize a list of names and a whole lot more. The site is ideally suited as a professional third party draw service for a promotional sweepstakes (large and small). They even let the participants verify the results for five years. According to the site owners, the "true" randomness comes from atmospheric noise, which for many purposes is better than the pseudo-random number algorithms typically used in computer programs. Although it is new to me, the service has existed since 1998 and was built and is being operated by Mads Haahr of the School of Computer Science and Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin in Ireland.
WINDOWS 7 SERVICE PACK 1 (SP1) is now available via Windows Update in Control Panel. I upgraded my office laptop (recent model Gateway) last night and it seems to have gone smoothly. If you plan on upgrading, note that the process took about an hour. Most of it was automatic, but one reboot was required. For more install information, click here.
AT&T PLANS TO IMPLEMENT data caps on DSL and U-verse broadband cable subscribers. Yes, you read that right, if AT&T has their way you can kiss your "unlimited" high speed internet service goodbye. DSL customers will be capped at 150GB per month and U-verse customers 250GB. Exceed the limit three times and be prepared to fork over an additional $10 for every 50GB used. 150/250GB might sound like a lot, but it is easy to exceed that amount if one streams a lot of movies or music and/or downloads large files frequently. I imagine even my elderly Mother might go over the limit because she is fond of streaming movies from Netflix using a Roku box. To learn more about this issue and how to fight back visit Stop the Cap! Take a few minutes to get involved and tell your representatives in Congress that you oppose Internet data limits and unjustified over the limit fees and penalties. AT&T and other broadband providers enjoy massive profits under the current "all you can eat" pricing schemes. Netflix has now spoken out against the proposed caps as "anti-consumer" and the "absolute wrong direction of what consumers want." Democratic Representative Edward Markey has also expressed serious concern over the proposal and noted the lack of real competition in the broadband ISP market.
WHY BUY GRAPH paper at the store when you can print your own? Check out these PDFs created by Kevin MacLeod. "Downloadable and very printable." There are also some handy writing and note-taking styles on the page as well. Another page features PDF Calenders; both yearly and monthly can be created. And while you are there, don't miss Kevin's awesome free royalty-free music collection. Creative attorneys could use this quality music for advertisements, podcasts, presentations and the like! All you have to do is give the guy credit, but donations are appreciated.
IF YOU DIGITIZE your music collection, you may soon miss the covers and artwork from the CDs. It's possible to scan them, but that takes forever. Who has the time? An easier solution is to visit AllCDCovers.com. The interface sort of sucks and the site's own search button often returns an "Internal Server Error 500" message to me, but when you do find the CD you want, the payoff is worth it. Many of the CD scans here are beautifully done and many discs in the catalog have the back cover, CD and inlay! Check out this page for Carrie Underwood's Some HeartsCD as an example. Use Google to find the pages you need easily (e.g. search for "carrie underwood some hearts allcdcovers.com"). Another alternative is visiting Amazon and checking the customer uploaded images. For instance: Some Hearts Customer Image Gallery
.
.
WINRAR 4.0 HAS been released after a long beta cycle! WinRAR is my favorite archive manager. It can backup your data and greatly reduce the size of e-mail attachments. Plus it can create and decompress both RAR and ZIP archives. RAR shines when creating very large archives split into smaller chunks. It also has neat features like AES encryption and a protection feature to help recover corrupt archives. Version 4.0 is substantially faster than earlier versions. "RAR decompression speed is improved. Depending on data type, decompression can be up to 30% faster than in previous versions. Both the general RAR algorithm and most of special RAR multimedia methods benefit from this improvement. The only module of RAR algorithm, which is not affected, is "Text compression" method." A trial version is available before you buy it, but go ahead and buy it, you won't regret it and I've never been charged to upgrade!
MICROSOFT HAS UNLEASHED Internet Explorer 9 with the catchphrase "Fast is now beautiful." However, if you use XP, you will have to endure the same old ugly web; it's only available for Vista and Windows 7 users. With IE 9 the emphasis is on dramatically faster graphics rendering and a more streamlined look, similar to Google's Chrome. In addition, the integration with Windows 7 is much tighter and the browser now includes useful "pinning" features and Jump Lists. Less sexy enhancements include an enhanced download manager and improved security features to protect against malware. I just installed IE 9 last night and will report my impressions at a later date. The upgrade took about 30 minutes.
AS AN INCENTIVE to upgrade now and try out IE 9's new Pin and Jump List features, several popular websites are running cool promotions in the coming weeks in conjunction with Microsoft. Hulu will be giving away 1 free month of Hulu Plus for users who pin Hulu. Slacker is also giving away a free month of it's subscription internet radio service for users who pin the website to their taskbar. eBay will be giving away discount coupons or eBay bucks for users who use the Jump List and pin features and last but not least, Groupon is offering $5 in Groupon Bucks when making a first purchase using the IE 9 jump list.
I will end this post with an old Irish Blessing:
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
-- Michael
