Free Antivirus And Anti-Spyware, Part 1

It used to be that savvy computer users didn't require antivirus and anti-spyware software because they could avoid viruses and spyware by never opening E-mail attachments from unknown senders and avoiding disreputable Web sites. But no more. Everyone needs antivirus and anti-spyware software to protect their computers. This doesn't have to be expensive. Some antivirus and anti-spyware vendors offer free versions of their products, and I'll cover some of the most notable or popular ones.

AVG Free Edition

According to Mary Landesman, About.com's guide to antivirus software, "AVG has been certified to remove 100% of in-the-wild viruses -- but results with zoo viruses are a low 81% and those same tests resulted in 11 false positives (detection of viruses in non-infected, legitimate files)." Even so, the AVG Free Edition is still fairly popular, since earlier tests may not reflect today's environment, and AVG Free Edition takes up few computer resources to do the job.

AVG Antivirus And Anti-Spyware for Windows XP, 2000, NT, ME, and 98 are available as free downloads from GRISOFT.

Optimize Your Windows Registry

Over time, Windows operating systems can become sluggish and slow to boot and load programs, even though the hard disk has plenty of disk space and has been defragged -- and there's plenty of memory. The culprit? A bloated Windows Registry, due to installs and uninstalls of software, hardware, and drivers, and repeated changes in Registry settings. A slow computer isn't the only symptom of a sick Windows Registry. Occasionally, something goes wrong and errors are saved in the Registry, which may result in applications to not responding, or the computer freezing, or even system crashes.

The old-fashioned remedy was to format the hard drive and reinstall the operating system and software applications, a time-consuming chore. A better method to is to clean up the Windows Registry by removing the unwanted junk and correcting any Registry errors. Many products that clean up and optimize the Windows Registry are on the market, and some are free, like RegCure, which is available for a free download for a limited time only.

Update (19 Feb. '07): The free download will scan your computer for all problems, but it only offers to fix two limited areas, fonts and file associations. For a price of US$29.95, the rest of the problems will be fixed. Therefore, for being so bogus in its meaning of the term "free download and scan," RegCure's link has been removed from this blog. There are other products out there that don't try to pull a "bait and switch" scam, so one would be better off spending money on those products, not RegCure's. Sorry for my misguidance.

Update (2 Mar. '07): It seems RegCure is a scam by many accounts and user reviews. People have reported RegCure finds as many as 1,100 errors, RegCure cleans them, yet subsequent RegCure scans still find errors! RegCure has picked up on its unpopularity and the power of search engines to draw its customers. If you Google for "RegCure scam," many of the links (and especially the sponsored links!) redirect you straight to RegCure's "free" download page!

If you've been scammed by RegCure, try contacting ClickBank customer service if you purchased the product online through them. If that doesn't work, ask your credit card company for a charge-back.

Opera 9.1 Web Browser Available

The free Opera 9.1 Web Browser is now available for download. The improved security of Opera supports SSL version 3 and 256-bit encryption, provides pop-up blocking and fraud protection against phishing sites, and it clears the history and cache when exiting, protecting your privacy. Version 9 has new features, such as BitTorrent download linkers, a content blocker (for unwanted ads and images), individual site preferences management, thumbnail previews, widget Web applications, and more.

Opera sports loads of features, such as the built-in POP/IMAP E-mail client is a combination E-mail program, news reader, mailing list organizer and RSS/Atom newsfeed reader. It also includes tabbed browsing, a file transfer manager, password manager, fast-forward, and "mouse gestures" (where certain mouse movements launch commonly used features). Opera even includes voice features, which allow you to talk to it to operate its features, or to have documents read aloud to you. How's that for automation?

Security At Public Wi-Fi Hot Spots

You're at an airport waiting for a connecting flight with an hour to kill before it arrives. You see a public Wi-Fi hot spot and decide to fire up your laptop. Why not? It's a free connection to the Internet. Right?

Wait! Public Wi-Fi hot spots are an invitation to "come hack me"! Public Wi-Fi hot spots are becoming more and more commonplace in airports, hotels, restaurants, and even public libraries. However, while public Wi-Fi hot spots are convenient, they are also unencrypted, unsecured networks waiting for hackers to come join the party. If you haven't taken steps to secure your laptop from intruders, your User ID's, passwords, and bank account numbers you transmit through that unsecured network -- and any other data on your hard drive -- could be at risk when you connect to those public networks. Read Preston Gralla's article, "How to protect yourself at wireless hot spots," to learn what steps to take to put up the barricades that hackers can't peek through.

Put Windows Vista Under Your Thumb

Don't have Windows Vista installed on your computer yet? You probably will -- sooner than you think. According to Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft, Windows Vista is expected to "be adopted five times faster than Windows 95 and twice as fast as Windows XP in the next three months." If you're a power user, you'll need to tweak the defaults and features to get it under your control. Read Preston Gralla's article, "Five Ways to Bend Windows Vista to Your Will," to learn the first things you need to do after installing Windows Vista or buying a new computer with Windows Vista already installed.

Customize The Office 2007 UI Ribbon, Part 4

Not too keen on writing code to customize the Microsoft Office 2007 UI Ribbon? Fear not. Microsoft Office OneNote MVP Patrick Schmid created a tool for the job, the RibbonCustomizer add-in for Microsoft® Access™, Excel®, Outlook®, PowerPoint®, and Word® 2007. Customize the UI Ribbon with but a few mouse clicks!

Easily customize the UI Ribbon dialog, add groups to the UI Ribbon, switch multiple customizations on and off, or reset tabs to the default with the Starter Edition of the RibbonCustomizer. It even includes pre-defined customizations to get started with.

The Starter Edition is free, and it includes a 30-day free trial of the Professional Edition, which possesses even more features. Requires Windows® XP SP-2, Windows® Server 2003, or Windows® Vista; Microsoft Office® 2007 (no betas); and .NET 2.0 Framework (if not already installed, the 20+ MB file will be downloaded automatically).

Patrick's Web site includes a very detailed tutorial on how to use the RibbonCustomizer, including part 1 and part 2.

Does That File Contain Malware?

Wondering if the free file you just downloaded has a virus or includes some other malware? VirusTotal offers a free scan of any suspicious files using several antivirus engines. Just upload your files using the SSL connection (or the regular connection if you're not worried about security), and VirusTotal will scan your files with multiple popular antivirus engines and display a report of the results. One may also E-mail multiple files to them and a report will be returned with the results.

The Most Popular Open Source Applications

Wondering what the most popular free Open Source applications are? With some help from OpenSourceWindows.org, a blogger named Carol compiled a list of the 20 most popular Windows Open Source applications for 2006, and listed the equivalent portable applications. She even has links to Open Source software for the Mac and for Linux. All of these applications are available as free downloads.

Customize The Office 2007 UI Ribbon, Part 3

Although it's often mentioned that the XML code needed to customize the Microsoft Office 2007 UI Ribbon can easily be written in any text editor, such as NotePad, one should use better software tools for programming. Microsoft Office Access MVP Gunter Avenius's Microsoft Office Access 2007 UI Ribbon tutorial includes links to the free tools needed to easily and quickly develop custom UI Ribbons.

His tutorial is well organized, and includes plenty of good examples which are available for download. It's so well organized that one may use it as a quick (and useful) reference. The examples include code and often show accompanying graphics to illustrate each concept. Includes troubleshooting tips in the FAQ section.

Customize The Office 2007 UI Ribbon, Part 2

Need to create a custom UI Ribbon for the new Microsoft Office Access 2007? Viki Selca and Clint Covington of Microsoft wrote a tutorial, "Ribbon Extensibility in Access 2007," that shows how to create a custom UI Ribbon using only Ribbon extensibility markup XML and macros.

I know what you're thinking. "Macros are for weenies." But it turns out that the VBA code won't run due to the new security model unless the user has certain settings set. However, macros can be deemed "safe," so that an application can have a guaranteed minimum functionality, even if the VBA code can't run. Microsoft put extra effort into the macros for Access 2007, so that developers can write as little code as possible (or no code) and still have a reasonably functional database application.

Customize The Office 2007 UI Ribbon, Part 1

Confused by the new UI Ribbons in Microsoft Office 2007, which have replaced the old familiar CommandBars (which were once called menu bars and tool bars)? (You may have noticed that there's no graphical editor to drag 'n drop items onto the UI Ribbons like we can with CommandBars in earlier versions of Office.) Don't know how to customize the UI Ribbon? Fear not. Free tutorials are available.

Frank Rice of Microsoft and Ken Getz of MCW Technologies, LLC, have written a series of three articles to help get you started programming custom UI Ribbons with XML. (No. I'm not kidding.) Those fancy UI Ribbons are done with XML code (at least the part we can customize). Neat, huh?

Frank's and Ken's first article is Customizing the Office (2007) Ribbon User Interface for Developers (Part 1 of 3). This tutorial shows how to customize the the Microsoft Office 2007 user interface (UI) Ribbon.

Frank's and Ken's second article is Customizing the Office (2007) Ribbon User Interface for Developers (Part 2 of 3). This article contains the details on reference material for the controls and method signatures of the UI Ribbon.

Frank's and Ken's third article is Customizing the Office (2007) Ribbon User Interface for Developers (Part 3 of 3). This article contains the UI Ribbon FAQ.

These articles and tutorial apply to the following software products:

• Microsoft Office Access 2007
• Microsoft Office Excel 2007
• Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007
• Microsoft Office Outlook 2007
• Microsoft Office Word 2007
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the 2007 Microsoft Office System
• Microsoft Visual Studio 2005

Save Office 2007 files in PDF or XPS Format

Need to save your Microsoft Office 2007 format files in PDF or XPS format? Get the free Office 2007 "Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS" add-in.

This add-in only works with the following Microsoft Office applications:

• Microsoft Office Access 2007
• Microsoft Office Excel 2007
• Microsoft Office InfoPath 2007
• Microsoft Office OneNote 2007
• Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007
• Microsoft Office Publisher 2007
• Microsoft Office Visio 2007
• Microsoft Office Word 2007

(Some of these applications also allow sending of PDF and XPS E-mail attachments.)

Requires Windows XP SP-2 or Windows 2003 Server for installation. Microsoft requires validation of a genuine Microsoft Office edition before download is allowed.

Access Developer Extensions 2007 Are Free

Microsoft Access developers have been complaining forever that the Access Runtime should be free to distribute. Microsoft has finally heard the pleas! When the Access Developer Extensions 2007 are released (scheduled for March 2007), they'll be free to download and redistribute.

That's a cost savings of US$549 (upgrade version) or US$799 (full version) for Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Tools for the Microsoft Office System (VSTO). Most editions of VSTO included the Access Developer Extentions (ADE), which includes the unlimited Access Runtime redistribution license.

In case you don't know what the Access Runtime is, the Runtime is a slightly cut-down version of Access installed on computers that don't have the retail version of Access, so that Access developers can distribute their database applications without the customer having to purchase a retail license for Access for every computer that the database application runs on. What is "slightly cut-down"? It's missing the design capabilities of the retail product, built-in menus, and graphics filters, but is otherwise fully functional for tables, queries, forms, reports, modules, and macros.

Connect To Access 2007 From Pre-2007 DB

Need to connect to an Access 2007 format database, but don't have Access 2007 installed yet? Or do you need to connect to any other Office 2007 formatted file or to Sharepoint Services and don't have them installed? Download the Data Connectivity Components of the 2007 Office System Driver, which includes the ODBC and OLEDB drivers for the ACE (accdb) and Jet (all versions of mdb) database engines, a driver for Microsoft Office Excel 2007 (xls, xlsx, and xlsb), and a driver for Sharepoint Services.

To connect to an Access 2007 database file without security using OLEDB, use this connection string (all one line):

"Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=C:\MyDir\MyDB.accdb;Persist Security Info=False;"

To connect to an Access 2007 database file with a database password using OLEDB, use this connection string (all one line):

"Provider=Microsoft.ACE.OLEDB.12.0;Data Source=C:\MyDir\MyDB.accdb;Jet OLEDB:Database Password=MyPswd;"

To connect to an Access 2007 database file without security using ODBC, use this connection string (all one line):

"Driver={Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb, *.accdb)};DBQ=C:\MyDir\MyDB.accdb"

To connect to an Excel 2007 file using ODBC, use this connection string (all one line):

"Driver={Microsoft Excel Driver (*.xls, *.xlsx, *.xlsm, *.xlsb)};DBQ=C:\MyDir\MyFile.xls"

Google Docs And Spreadsheets

Please note that Yahoo! is linking to this page from the search engine because it doesn't have most of the other 100+ pages of this blog in its index yet.

If you're looking for information on why BloggerBotIsDead and the best alternatives, then please follow my link to my blog post's page, because the recommended alternatives have problems you should know about and no one else is reporting on them.

If you're looking for information on the many ways to safeguard your data, computer, and network for free, then please start on the most recent page of my blog.


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Google Docs And Spreadsheets

Collaborate with your colleagues over the Internet using shared spreadsheets and word documents by using Google's free Docs and Spreadsheets (Beta) Web application. Only you and the folks you select can access these online documents. Upload existing documents or create new ones online, and then share them remotely with your colleagues. The documents are stored securely on Google's servers, so no need to worry about snoops.

Use a Web browser to edit your documents from anywhere: at the office, at home, at school, from a hotel while on travel, or anywhere else one may imagine. Best yet, you and your remote colleagues can share and edit the documents at the same time. Document revisions list who changed what and when to help keep track of multiple collaborators' edits.

Need your own copy? Export a copy of the document to your hard drive. Worried that your spreadsheets and documents on your hard drive may be lost during a data disaster? Store a copy of them online with Google's Docs And Spreadsheets. The convenient auto-save while working online with Google's Docs And Spreadsheets helps prevent data losses due to power outages or Internet disconnections.

This Web application has the look and feel of common Office programs, so they'll be familiar, and productivity won't drop while learning how to use the application. When finished with the document, publish it online as a Web page with a single mouse click. When it's published, choose whether the whole world may view it, or certain people you select may view it, or no one else at all may view it. These documents can even be posted to a blog if desired.

Be warned that the Web application is a bit slow, and of course it's still in beta, so don't expect too much.

Google Analytics

Wondering how to improve your Web site for your visitors and how to best target your ads? Get free Google Analytics to analyze traffic, such as how visitors weave through your Web site, where any navigational bottlenecks are, determine where your best customers are coming from, and determine which keyword advertising campaigns are the most profitable. It's even integrated with Google Adwords. A number of reports in multiple languages will reveal all of these important points and more to Web site owners.

Newest Version of IrfanView

The latest version (v3.99) of the widely used IrfanView graphics editor is now out. IrfanView can view, convert, optimize, scan and print graphics. It can create slide shows, play movies, and do much more. It's free for private, non-commercial use or for educational use.

Photo Editor

Need to fix your digital photos? Retouch photos with free Photobie imaging software. Photobie uses layers, just like PhotoShop, to help edit the photo. Photobie even accepts PhotoShop plug-ins. It also provides a screen capture tool, a simple GIF animator, and a photo framing tool.

The user interface is intuitive and easy to use, but there's also a help forum to get help. Check out the artists' galleries for examples. Photobie isn't a professional photo editing package yet, but its planned upgrades will probably make it one. Photobie has won several awards, including Editor's Picks for FreewareFiles.com and UpToDown.com, and five stars from Software Headlines.

Requires the .Net Framework.

Top 16 Vista Time-Saving Tips

Microsoft Windows Vista has some radical new features, but it will still be paramount to be as efficient as possible when working with the operating system. Robert Cowart and Brian Knittel wrote an article, "Top 16 Vista Time-Saving Tips," to help maintain productivity. They also work on most earlier versions of Windows, so it's worth a read, even if Vista isn't on the horizon in the near future.

Google Web Accelerator

Does your Internet connection seem slow? If one has broadband, one expects Web pages to load fairly fast. However, sometimes they don't due to various reasons. Google has a tool that may help alleviate some of those reasons. It's called the Google Web Accelerator. According to Google, "Google Web Accelerator uses various strategies to make your web pages load faster, including:

• Sending your page requests through Google machines dedicated to handling Google Web Accelerator traffic.
• Storing copies of frequently looked at pages to make them quickly accessible.
• Downloading only the updates if a web page has changed slightly since you last viewed it.
• Prefetching certain pages onto your computer in advance.
• Managing your Internet connection to reduce delays.
• Compressing data before sending it to your computer."

Will this speed up a dial-up connection? Probably not. It's a Google Labs project that is designed for broadband connections. It requires Windows XP or 2000 SP-3 operating systems and Internet Explorer 5.5+ or Firefox 1.0+ browsers (or change the proxy settings if using another browser).

Video Series: SQL Server 2005 Express

Want to learn how to use the free SQL Server 2005 Express Edition? Microsoft's MSDN has 13 free videos for beginners to learn SQL Server 2005 Express. It's not just short clips, either. It's a total of nearly nine hours of instruction to help you learn to build databases and manage them, and to connect to them from other applications. The tutorials are geared for beginner level database administrators, so don't worry if you don't already have some experience.

Google Pages, Part 3

As I reported in Part 1, Google's Google Page Creator is a free tool to build Web sites that are hosted for free on Google's servers. If you're still deciding whether or not to create a free Web site with Google Pages, please see the following Web pages to help you make your decision.

Help is available for those who need it:

Google pages help

Google pages discussion group

Tips for building your Google Pages Web site

To use Google Page Creator, just visit http://pages.google.com/ and sign in with your Gmail address and password.

Get your Google Pages Web site listed in any of the directories so that others can easily find you:

The unofficial Google Page Creator listings

Google pages links (with detailed descriptions)

LinksBucket

Google pages directory

Google pages search and directory

Need to generate some income? Place ads on your Web site or become an affiliate member and refer customers to businesses who will pay you:

Google pages affiliate programs

Wanna see what others have done with their Google Pages? Check out the reviews of some good sites and not so good sites.

Google Pages, Part 2

Please note that Google is linking to this page from the search engine because it deleted all other 100+ pages of this blog from its index.

If you're looking for information on why BloggerBotIsDead and the best alternatives, then please follow my link to my blog post's page, because the recommended alternatives have problems you should know about and no one else is reporting on them.

If you're looking for information on the many ways to safeguard your data, computer, and network for free, then please start on the most recent page of my blog.


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Google Pages, Part 2

As I reported in Part 1, Google's Google Page Creator is a free tool to build Web sites that are hosted for free on Google's servers. As a project from Google Labs, it's currently in its testing phase, and Google is inviting folks to try it out for free. So be advised that it's in beta and don't expect too much.

You may not get past first base

One first needs a Gmail Account to sign up for the free tool. If you don't already have one, create one. However, a mobile phone (most commonly called a cell phone) that handles text messaging is required to create a Gmail Account. Don't have one? Get a friend's help and his phone, because Google is only offering Gmail Accounts to mobile phone numbers with text messaging so that they can receive the Gmail invitation code. Don't have a mobile phone and your friends don't, either? Google isn't buying that. Once you have your mobile phone in hand, request a Gmail Account.

Our little secret

Google doesn't want everyone to know, so this will be our little secret -- just between you and me. ;-) There are alternatives to getting Gmail for those who are both friendless and without mobile phones:

1. Students and faculty of accredited U.S. institutions can submit a request for a Gmail invitation, as long as they have valid .edu E-mail addresses.
   
2. Get yourself invited by someone who already has a Gmail Account. Don't know anyone with a Gmail Account who has any invitations left? Here's how to get Gmail without a mobile phone, an invite, or an .edu domain E-mail address. Just remember to donate two or three or more of your invitations back into the pool after you receive your new Gmail Account, because too many other people are forgetting after they get theirs.

And don't ever ask me why I know this.


Update on Gmail (14 Feb. 2007): As I reported here, Gmail is now free to anyone, no strings attached.


Other gotchas

One problem that some users may have is screen resolution. Menu items and scrollbars may not be visible in the Google Page Creator if the resolution is set too low. What's too low? 800 x 600 and 1024 X 768 are both too low. Set your screen resolution to at least 1152 X 864 or higher.

After a preliminary investigation, I've found that Google's statement that your Google Pages "can be crawled by Google within a few hours of publication" seems to emphasize the word "can." Apparently, it takes a few weeks to show up in Google's search engine results according to reports by users.

Google Pages, Part 1

Need to publish your soccer league's schedule or your church bulletin online, but don't have a Web site? Google offers the free Google Page Creator to the public to create a free Web site. According to Google, "Google Page Creator is a free tool that lets you create web pages right in your browser and publish them to the web with one click." The Web sites created by the Google Page Creator will be hosted on Google's very own servers, so one doesn't need to worry about finding a Web host to host these marvelous creations. Google reports that they have no current plans to charge for the Google Page Creator, so don't worry that you'll be charged next week on your credit card if Google stops the free ride.

As free Web sites go, one is usually better off finding a cheap Web host, because the free ones tend to be unreliable, unresponsive to freeloading customers, and go out of business at the drop of a hat. But I suspect Google is going to be around for awhile, so one doesn't have to worry about one's Web site going offline with no customer service to contact because they're busy looking for new jobs.

Google doesn't skimp on the disk space for each Google Pages Web site. One is allowed up to 100 MB to upload images and other files, which includes the HTML Web pages created with the Google Page Creator.

If the idea of building a free Web site for your business with Google Pages sounds good, it would be better to head to another Web host so that your business will look professional to the potential customers that find your business via the Internet. However, if one just needs to post something on the Web for school or another activity, Google Pages just might do the trick.

I'll be doing some investigations on Google Pages, so expect some follow up blog posts.

Moore's Law Marches On

Both Intel and IBM announced they have made a major breakthrough in semiconductor technology that will bring new life to the computer chip industry in performance, power consumption, and transistor density. Both companies have replaced the materials that were formerly used as an insulator inside transistors. This material had been allowing current to seep through, since the material had been shaved so thin to accommodate more transistors per silicon chip. The wasted current meant that additional electricity was needed for normal operations, which generated additional heat.

Cheaper, better, faster, and smaller coming to a computer near you in the second half of 2007.

Google's Webmaster Central

Are you a Webmaster? Have you seen Google's Webmaster Central? It has links to free Webmaster tools, Google's Blog, and Google's Discussion Group for Webmasters. It even has links to Google Web pages that will check whether or not your Web site is being indexed by Google, submit your URL to Google, submit your site map to Google, or get help from Google's Webmaster FAQ.

Google Webmaster Tools

Wondering why search engines aren't indexing your Web site or aren't bringing search engine traffic to your Web site? Get free Google Webmaster Tools to diagnose potential problems by using the tools to see how Google crawls and indexes your Web site. Find out what queries visitors use to find your Web site, when the Googlebot last visited your site, and which pages are indexed by Google.

Host Your Files Online (Why BloggerBotIsDead)

Need to hotlink to images or other files on the Web for your blog, forum posts, MySpace profile, or your Web site? Hello.com is the recommended host for blog images at Blogger.com, but don't bother signing up for a new account if you're not already a registered member. Once upon a time their BloggerBot may have worked seemlessly with BlogSpot.com blogs, but no more. As soon as one signs up for an account, downloads and installs their software, and then logs in, the "BloggerBotIsDead" is listed as one of the default "friends" (use these named "friends" to upload your files to your friends' PC's). That probably used to be the "BloggerBot friend" before the new Blogger went online. (One cannot add the BloggerBot friend, either. This friend will be pending for a long, long time. Fuggetaboutit.) It turns out that BloggerBot's demise was announced in November 2006.

Instead, one can find other Internet file hosts to host images and other files. One reliable and free host I tried was SnapDrive.net. Register for an account and get 2 GB of free space to hotlink to. Maximum file size is 100 MB. There's no software to download and install. Most file types are accepted. No illegal files are allowed. That means no pirated software or copyrighted music, and no racy photos you wouldn't want your Mom to see, guys! If one wants to remain anonymous and not register, one can still upload image files for free (with the same restrictions), but only up to 20 MB -- and only images.

It's easy to use, but one thing that isn't as intuitive as I'm sure they think it is is how to get the HTML code for pointing to your file on the SnapDrive.net site. When one uploads a file, a set of three tabs shows the HTML text for different situations (such as an URL or an anchor link) that one may use on a Web site, blog, forum profile, or MySpace profile. Copy the one that's needed to the clipboard after selecting the correct tab. Paste this code wherever the HTML script is needed for linking to your file on the Internet. If one forgets to do this or needs to do it again later, all one need do is select the file on the list, then select "File Properties" (which is the "Plus" sign -- intuitive, huh?), then select "URL" or "BB Code" or "HTML code," whichever one is needed. The appropriate code will be displayed, which can then be copied and pasted elsewhere.

Other alternatives to the BloggerBotIsDead phenomenon are to use "Blog This!" in Picasa or to use the Blogger Dashboard. Keep in mind that Picasa requires a download and install of software, Picasa's "Blog This!" only allows up to four images per post, and it has known issues that haven't been fixed yet. And keep in mind that if the Blogger Dashboard is used to upload images, only up to 300 MB of disk space can be used for images. But they're hosted for free.

Didn't hear the news that BloggerBotIsDead until now? It was a very small announcement on 17 Jan. 2007 by the official Picasa Guide. No announcement yet when they'll remove all the Web pages that explain how BloggerBot works, implying that it's still alive.

Update on BloggerBotIsDead (12 Feb. 2007):

It's been more than three weeks and still no acknowledgement that BloggerBotIsDead on Hello.com. Come to think of it, Hello.com's home page shows the most recent news as "Picasa Brings Instant Photo Publishing to Blogger," which is dated 10 May 2004. Hmm. The next news item (that BloggerBot is no longer available for Blogger blogs) on that Web page may take a long time.

Update on BloggerBotIsDead (20 Feb. 2007):

It's been more than a month and Hello.com finally updated their Web site. Finally! When following a link to their "How BloggerBot Works" page, one is redirected to a secure server and is presented a sign-up page to create a new account for Picasa. As I mentioned above, their bloated software download isn't needed, and it has limitations and bugs when working with your Blogger.com blog. Skip it.

Host Your Files Online (And Why BloggerBotIsDead)

(Note: Google and Yahoo! are linking to this post, but you should be reading the one I renamed.)

Need to hotlink to images or other files on the Web for your blog, forum posts, MySpace profile, or your Web site? Hello.com is the recommended host for blog images at Blogger.com, but don't bother signing up for a new account if you're not already a registered member. Once upon a time their BloggerBot may have worked seemlessly with BlogSpot.com blogs, but no more. As soon as one signs up for an account, downloads and installs their software, and then logs in, the "BloggerBotIsDead" is listed as one of the default "friends" (use these named "friends" to upload your files to your friends' PC's). That probably used to be the "BloggerBot friend" before the new Blogger went online. (One cannot add the BloggerBot friend, either. This friend will be pending for a long, long time. Fuggetaboutit.) It turns out that BloggerBot's demise was announced in November 2006.

Instead, one can find other Internet file hosts to host images and other files. One reliable and free host I tried was SnapDrive.net. Register for an account and get 2 GB of free space to hotlink to. Maximum file size is 100 MB. There's no software to download and install. Most file types are accepted. No illegal files are allowed. That means no pirated software or copyrighted music, and no racy photos you wouldn't want your Mom to see, guys! If one wants to remain anonymous and not register, one can still upload image files for free (with the same restrictions), but only up to 20 MB -- and only images.

It's easy to use, but one thing that isn't as intuitive as I'm sure they think it is is how to get the HTML code for pointing to your file on the SnapDrive.net site. When one uploads a file, a set of three tabs shows the HTML text for different situations (such as an URL or an anchor link) that one may use on a Web site, blog, forum profile, or MySpace profile. Copy the one that's needed to the clipboard after selecting the correct tab. Paste this code wherever the HTML script is needed for linking to your file on the Internet. If one forgets to do this or needs to do it again later, all one need do is select the file on the list, then select "File Properties" (which is the "Plus" sign -- intuitive, huh?), then select "URL" or "BB Code" or "HTML code," whichever one is needed. The appropriate code will be displayed, which can then be copied and pasted elsewhere.

Other alternatives to the BloggerBotIsDead phenomenon are to use "Blog This!" in Picasa or to use the Blogger Dashboard. Keep in mind that Picasa requires a download and install of software, Picasa's "Blog This!" only allows up to four images per post, and it has known issues that haven't been fixed yet. And keep in mind that if the Blogger Dashboard is used to upload images, only up to 300 MB of disk space can be used for images. But they're hosted for free.

Didn't hear the news that BloggerBotIsDead until now? It was a very small announcement on 17 Jan. 2007 by the official Picasa Guide. No announcement yet when they'll remove all the Web pages that explain how BloggerBot works, implying that it's still alive.

That's Not Quite Right . . .

If you've ever been to a foreign country or purchased products made in foreign countries that come with instruction manuals, you've probably seen foreigners' attempts to communicate in English that don't quite overcome the language barrier. Some of the time, it just doesn't make any sense, but there are times when the English translation results in a chuckle (but only from the English-speakers).

Create A Logo

Need to create a logo for your company, Web site, or software application, but don't have a fancy graphics application to build it with? Create your free logo at CoolText.com. It's not for creating a complex, futuristic, or airbrushed design that would cost $10,000 if a professional created it for you, but these free logos will do for the rest of us non-graphic artists.

If you need to create custom buttons for your software application, you can create them for free at CoolText.com, too. And if you need a selection of fonts, you can download them for free there, too.

Build Your Own Graphic Images

Got time on your hands? Need some spiffy graphics for your Web page, blog, or software application? Design your own graphics with zillions of templates provided for free by Txt2pic.com and CustomSignGenerator.com, where you can create free personalized images and custom E-cards online. I built my license plate graphic that you see displayed at the top of this blog. You can even build your own animated GIF's.

Try not to get too carried away.

6 Tips For Increased Productivity

Worried that you and your co-workers will have to re-learn how to use the new Microsoft Office 2007 applications with so many menu and toolbar items having been replaced with buttons on the new UI Ribbon? Don't let the new changes slow down your productivity. Use the old shortcuts and learn some new tricks with Christopher Elliot's article, "6 tips for increased productivity."

A Better Clipboard

Need a better clipboard to paste your previous bits of text or URL's? Store up to 200 text and Rich Text items, 20 bitmaps, and 200 URL's in the buffer with YC3. With this freeware tool, you can print, drag 'n drop, and permanently store "boilerplate" items.

Watch TV on Your PC

Ever want to put a T.V. in the same room as your PC so you can surf the Internet . . . uh, work on your computer during commercial breaks? Now you don't have to, because the T.V. can come to your PC. Watch more than 300 live television channels on your PC. It requires a broadband Internet connection, but it works with any version of Windows from Windows 98 and newer, as long as your screen resolution is a minimum of 1024 X 768.

Or if you want to do something really useful, you can learn a foreign language by listening to people speak in their native tongues, whether it be Spanish, German, French, Portugese or Arabic, since these live channels are broadcast from countries around the world. Ausgezeichnet, dude.

This freeware application has far more awards than can be mentioned here. If you scroll down on their home page, you'll see what I mean.

Microsoft's "New Day Launch Tour 2007"

Ready for a New Day Launch Tour 2007

Receive a free copy of Microsoft Office Professional 2007 and Microsoft Office Groove 2007 when you attend a Windows Vista, 2007 Microsoft Office system, and Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 launch event. Events are scheduled for 16 Jan. '07 through 27 Feb. '07 in various U.S. cities.

Microsoft Office Access 2007 Inside Out

"Microsoft Office Access 2007 Inside Out" is scheduled to be released 9 May '07. Microsoft Access MVP's (Most Valuable Professionals) Jeff Conrad (AKA the Access Junkie) and John Viescas are the authors, and if history is any guide, it's going to be an outstanding book. You can pre-order a copy at Amazon.com now.

1 GB USB Flash Drive

Do you need a new 1 GB USB flash drive to carry your data around? It's not free, but at nine bucks after the rebate, this deal is hard to beat. The drive is pre-loaded with Computer Associates Anti-Virus 2007 Home Protection Pack, which includes one year of free virus definition updates. Rebate offer is good through 18 Jan. '07 only, so if you need one, get it now.

Update: Use Google Checkout and get $10 off your purchase. So, buy the flash drive with Google Checkout and receive the purchase price and $1.01 back with the rebate. Sweet.

SQL Server Development Team Blog

Find out the latest scoop on SQL Server from Dan Winn, the Microsoft SQL Server Senior Program Manager for Strategy, Infrastructure & Architecture.

Microsoft Access Development Team Blog

Get the scoop on Microsoft Office Access 2007 from the Group Program Manager for Microsoft Access, Erik Rucker.