Is it real?

I stumbled upon this picture and found myself asking, is this real? I studied the picture for a period of time and did not any discrepancies. Post your opinion: is it real?

Staying Green

While I'm not sure this qualifies as a tech story, I have to imagine a lot of technology was used to create this home. www.treehugger.com has a story about someone in the Netherlands who converted a water tower into their residence - now that is recycling!

Recycle your water

Speaking of saving the planet, check out this short article and video clip from lifehacker.com. While the video certainly brings recycling to a new level, I'm not sure it will catch on real quick.

Global Warming

I saw the movie, An Inconvenient Truth the other night. While this movie does not have the latest in special effects, I found myself asking, "are we really doing this to ourselves"? As much as I wanted to accept the movie as 100 % true, I was skeptical about how much of the "Truth" was distorted. After all, this is a movie, and movies are made to make money, right?

As I was skimming through the news headlines yesterday, I came across an article titled, "Arctic Sea Ice Shrinks to Record Low". After reading the article, I was struck with the harsh reality of An Inconvenient Truth! The facts and predictions in the movie was now appearing as headline news. While a great movie blurs the lines between cinema and reality, this is not the kind of reality any of us wants to see. Do what you can today to make a change!

Fire Fox Tips, Pownce, and We Need Girlfriends

Is Fire Fox your web browser? If not, there is another discussion that needs to take place regarding why you should be using Fire Fox. However, if you are still reading, I assume you are using Fire Fox!

The following link from lifehack.org will show you 15 tips and tricks you can use to make Fire Fox faster, and easier to use .

On another subject, I found this awesome "internet only" show called We Need Girlfriends. Last night I watched episode #8 on my ipod as I was laying in bed. CAUTION: watching We Need Girlfriends before falling asleep can cause involuntary wetting of the bed from sporadic laughter in your dreams - I'm NOT writing from experience or anything, just a word to the wise: empty your bladder before falling asleep!

While I could fill a bunch of space giving my interpretation of We Need Girlfriends, the best thing for you to do is check it out for your self at http://weneedgirlfriends.tv/

Finally, I received my Pownce invite. Pownce is the latest and greatest social networking site! Hop on over to http://www.pownce.com/ and see it for yourself. Membership to Pownce is by invitation only, and I just happen to have a few invites left. So, if you want to be my friend, and are interested in pownce, send me an e-mail.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot... Did you hear about the paper battery? http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6945732.stm

Our world is changing all around us, and you found the place to stay connected, abreast, and hip with the latest gadgets and gizmos.

I want your feedback!

Troy the Tech Guy

Universal Service Fund

Have you looked at your phone bill lately? If you look at the line items, you'll notice a little charge for the Universal Service Fund. The amount charged is not a large amount, and according the the FCC's web site the Universal Service Fund was established to help the poor and children - a noble cause. However, if you are like me and actually pay attention to your phone bill, you'll notice the USF (Universal Service Fund) adds up over the course of a year, and the shocking truth is the telephone companies are required to pay the USF fee, but choose to pass the cost along to the consumer. Why you ask? The political correct answer is that each telephone company makes a business decision on how they will handle the USF fee, the blunt reality is because they can!

I encourage you to take a quick look at this article and commentary I found regarding the USF fee. The article does a nice job of explaining the details of the USF fund, and the commentary does a good job of putting the USF into perspective. Keep in mind, many of us pay the USF fee twice, once for our land line provider, and once for our cellular provider. Maybe we can deduct the amount we contribute to the USF fund from our taxes at the end of the year - a charitable contribution?

If you have a thought about the USF fund, post it in the comments.

Peace

Although the topic of peace is technically not a tech topic, I did find the Tips For Keeping the Peace on the internet at http://lifehacker.com. My thoughts for adding this is that we can all use a little more peace, and a little less conflict in our lives.

Keep the peace,

Troy the Tech Guy

Linux on the move

After Dell started selling machines with Linux installed, it was only a matter of time before other big computer manufactures followed Dell's lead. According to Reuters, Lenovo, the world's # 3 PC maker will start selling laptop computers with Linux later this year! Say hello to a new world of FREE and Open Source Software.
http://www.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUSWNAS010720070806

Google searches cell phone industry for growth

Here is an interesting article discussing the possibility of Google creating it's own cell phone network, and providing service for FREE! No more roaming charges.


http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/213328/Report_Google_Working_on_Cellphone_to_Compete_in_Mobile_Market

How to get your computer back in shape

If your computer is slow and cluttered with programs you never use, you can get your computer back in shape by doing a fresh install of Windows. This first thing you want to do is back up your data files (pictures, word documents, music, etc). Before you actually do the back up, I recommend installing AVG anti virus and running a virus scan to make sure you're not copying a virus.

After you back up all data files, it's time to reformat the drive. Reformatting the drive removes, deletes, and destroys any and all files on the drive. The reason you want to reformat is because your system may have spyware and or a virus, and the only sure way to remove spyware and any viruses is to totally wipe the drive clean by reformatting. I use a program called Darik's Boot and Nuke to wipe my hard drive. I also found a program called Ultimate Boot CD which appears to include Darik's Boot and Nuke plus other utilities.

After you reformatted the hard drive, then you simply put your W indows XP disc in the CD ROM drive, it will ask you a few questions, then start installing. AS SOON AS THE INSTALL IS COMPLETE YOU MUST TELL WINDOWS TO CHECK FOR NEW UPDATES. More than likely, the Windows XP disc you have does not contain the many updates Microsoft released to patch security holes (i.e. Service Pack 2). After installing updates, you'll have to reboot your machine, and then tell windows to check for updates again. I recommend you continue to check for updates until Windows says there are no more updates (sometimes you have to check for updates 3-4 times before you get them all).

After you have all updates installed, the next step is to install an anti virus, I recommend AVG. Personally, I don't install a firewall because Windows XP has a built-in firewall, and I am behind a router - which is a firewall. At this point if you want to install any anti spyware program, now is the time to do so.

The final step is to copy your data files back to your desktop, and install any programs you use (i.e. MS Word, Excel, etc). Here are some of my favorite programs:

Web browser - Fire Fox
E-mail - Thunderbird
PDF viewer - Foxit
Office Package (Word processor, Spread sheet, etc) - Open Office

Money saving idea

This week's entry comes from my PDA since time is limited. I have always liked Linux because it is a secure operating system, but did you know how much money you can save by using Linux? Here is a real example from a company you may have heard of, IBM. http://slashdot.org/palm/19/07/07/31/238219_1.shtml (this is a very short read)

Some food for thought: if one company can save millions by switching to Linux, how much can our schools and government save? Maybe instead of implementing another tax increase or cutting another vital program, our government leaders should consider a FREE alternative to the cost burden , vulnerable, filled with problems (Okay, I'm a little bias) Microsoft operating system currently in place. The alternative is Linux!

Maybe a tax refund is in our future. :)