Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Friday, February 23, 2007
Cell Phone Tips Email ???
I can't tell you all of the below statements work,
Snopes Dot Com says most are limited or do not work at
all. Check these hints out before you need to use them.
I do know the second one works on my 2004 Chevrolet
Cavalier. I read over and over that it will not open
your door, but it works on my car. Try it on your car to
see before you are locked out.
Jack
Below is the email that is being sent all over the net:
THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW YOUR CELL PHONE COULD DO.
There are a few things that can be done in times of
grave emergencies. Your mobile phone can actually be
a life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Check
out the things that you can do with it:
FIRST
Subject: Emergency
The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112.
If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your
mobile; network and there is an emergency, dial 112
and the mobile will search any existing network to
establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly
this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked.
Try it out. (I have entered in my cell phone number directory.)
SECOND
Subject: Have you locked your keys in the car?
Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come
in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone: If
you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at
home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your
cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your
car door and have the person at your home press the unlock
button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end.
Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive
your keys to you.
Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away,
and if you can reach someone who has the other "remote"
for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk).
Editor's Note: It works fine! We tried it out and it
unlocked our car over a cell phone!"
THIRD
Subject: Hidden Battery Power
Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press
the keys *3370# Your cell will restart with this reserve
and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery.
This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell
next time. (I have entered the access # in cell phone directory.)
FOURTH
How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone?
To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the
following digits on your phone: * # 0 6 #
A 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number
is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it
somewhere safe. When your phone get stolen, you can
phone your service provider and give them this code.
They will then be able to block your handset so even
if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless.
You probably won't get your phone back, but at least
you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either.
If everybody does this, there would be no point in people
stealing mobile phones.
And Finally....(I have made note of my phone's serial number.
FIFTH
Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or
more for 411 information calls when they don't have to.
Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our
vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a
problem. When you need to use
the 411 information option,
simply dial: (800) FREE 411, or (800) 373-3411 without
incurring any charge at all. Program this into your cell
phone now. (I have entered this # in my cell phone directory.)
This is the kind of information people don't
mind receiving, so pass it on to your family and friends.
Snopes Dot Com says most are limited or do not work at
all. Check these hints out before you need to use them.
I do know the second one works on my 2004 Chevrolet
Cavalier. I read over and over that it will not open
your door, but it works on my car. Try it on your car to
see before you are locked out.
Jack
Below is the email that is being sent all over the net:
THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW YOUR CELL PHONE COULD DO.
There are a few things that can be done in times of
grave emergencies. Your mobile phone can actually be
a life saver or an emergency tool for survival. Check
out the things that you can do with it:
FIRST
Subject: Emergency
The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112.
If you find yourself out of the coverage area of your
mobile; network and there is an emergency, dial 112
and the mobile will search any existing network to
establish the emergency number for you, and interestingly
this number 112 can be dialed even if the keypad is locked.
Try it out. (I have entered in my cell phone number directory.)
SECOND
Subject: Have you locked your keys in the car?
Does your car have remote keyless entry? This may come
in handy someday. Good reason to own a cell phone: If
you lock your keys in the car and the spare keys are at
home, call someone at home on their cell phone from your
cell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your
car door and have the person at your home press the unlock
button, holding it near the mobile phone on their end.
Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having to drive
your keys to you.
Distance is no object. You could be hundreds of miles away,
and if you can reach someone who has the other "remote"
for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk).
Editor's Note: It works fine! We tried it out and it
unlocked our car over a cell phone!"
THIRD
Subject: Hidden Battery Power
Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press
the keys *3370# Your cell will restart with this reserve
and the instrument will show a 50% increase in battery.
This reserve will get charged when you charge your cell
next time. (I have entered the access # in cell phone directory.)
FOURTH
How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone?
To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the
following digits on your phone: * # 0 6 #
A 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number
is unique to your handset. Write it down and keep it
somewhere safe. When your phone get stolen, you can
phone your service provider and give them this code.
They will then be able to block your handset so even
if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone will be totally useless.
You probably won't get your phone back, but at least
you know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either.
If everybody does this, there would be no point in people
stealing mobile phones.
And Finally....(I have made note of my phone's serial number.
FIFTH
Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or
more for 411 information calls when they don't have to.
Most of us do not carry a telephone directory in our
vehicle, which makes this situation even more of a
problem. When you need to use
the 411 information option,
simply dial: (800) FREE 411, or (800) 373-3411 without
incurring any charge at all. Program this into your cell
phone now. (I have entered this # in my cell phone directory.)
This is the kind of information people don't
mind receiving, so pass it on to your family and friends.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Please support my sponcers
http://skfuneralhome.com/ Stratton - Karsteter Funeral Home
http://filtersfuneralhome.com Filter's Funeral Home
http://frenchsurvey.com/ French & Associates Land Surveying
http://boschlights.com/ Bosch Lights
http://turnoverballhitch.com/ Turnover Ball Hitch
http://betty.wb9otx.com/ The Master's Message
http://ripleycounty.net/ Ripley County Dot Net
http://wb9otx.com/ My personal Page
http://ripleycounty.net/cube/3dcube.htm Your Business online
Need a Web Host ? I host mine here
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Valentine ice storm 5th day
This is the 5th day of the great Valentine ice storm. Still many homes are without electric power. There still remains a snow cover with a thick cover of ice then another 3 inches of fine snow. The ice covered snow allows you to walk on top without touching the grown. Today, possibly the temperature will climb to just above freezing melting some of the ice from wires and tree limbs. Iice covered limbs broken by their weight cover the yards and streets. TV antennas are bent double from the weight also. My Ham Radio antennas are down also. Many homes have frozen and damaged plumbing to repair when the temperatures rise. As near as I can tell people are coping with this freak of nature very well. The last disaster of this magnitude was the great blizzard of 77, when sub-zero temperatures, high winds, and deep snow plegged this area of Indiana. Home owners did not learn too well, Neither did the emergency services, as I see the same fixiable things that went unfixed. Lets hope the next weather dilemma be it earthquake, blizzard, ice storm, or the dreaded tornatos, all will be better prepaired in the future. Lets work on it !
Friday, February 16, 2007
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
The great Valentine Ice storm
Here are a few views that may make life somewhat better for the next ice storm. Everyone should have a radio that will pick up the local radio station. Here in Ripley County that would be WRBI FM located in Batesville. You may want to put a mark on the tuning dial with a sharpy or some white-out. I observed very little information was passed from EMA, Sheriff, or State to the radio station and this needs to be corrected. The radio station should be equipped with VHF radio so if phone service is disrupted the information can get through. You the listener should have extra batteries on hand, but I know you won't, so a better idea is to buy a wind-up powered radio. Radio Shack and other stores carry these. Now if you want to here the total big picture, buy a scanner for public service frequencies. Listen to EMA, Sheriff, and State Police. Listen to it before you need to. Get compatible with the unit numbers so you know the calls are intended for your county and not the next county to the East or West. You may want to also buy a Weather Radio. These are good for severe weather and will keep you up on day to day forecasts. About everyone these days has a cell phone, but keep the battery charged as with ice storms the power goes off. Get a cord that will let you use it from your car. Keep enough gasoline in your car to reach the nearest hospital as the rescue unit may be too overloaded with calls. Turn your car facing the road so you don't have to turn around to get out to the main road. Put the keys in your pocket so you won't have to look for them when its time to go. Have some sort of lights when the power goes out. The new LED flash lights are great as the batteries will last almost forever. Oil lamps should be kept full of oil and ready to light. Women always seem to have candles, know where she keeps them. Sense no one smokes these days, keep matches and know where they are. A Bic lighter is a good investment. I am not going to tell you how to keep warm in your house when the power goes out, but you should think of a way. Most heating devices will not work with no AC power. If you have no way to get heat find out where a shelter is and go there, don't wait. You should know where and how to shut off the water before you abandon your house. Turn off electrical appliances so if the power comes back on before you return there will be no harm to them. Turn off your electric water heater to save the heating elements in case a pipe breaks. I found that no one knows what is meant by the Emergency snow levels 1, 2, 3. I don't know at this time either, but I and you should find out before they put them out again. There are very few buildings here in Ripley county that can be heated without AC power. No heat - no shelter. This is something for EMA to investigate and preparer for before the next ice storm. To end, just plan ahead for the next ice storm or blizzard. Its not if, its when.
Jack Demaree (just a concerned citizen)
Jack Demaree (just a concerned citizen)
Monday, February 12, 2007
The Twilight Zone
If you loved the Twilight Zone like I did you are in for a treat. All five seasons can be viewed on line. You had better have broadband to see them.
http://www.yourtvlinks.com/the-twilight-zone.html
http://www.yourtvlinks.com/the-twilight-zone.html
Saturday, February 10, 2007
NIKE base
Did you know there were atomic weapons ready to be fired at only 10 miles from Versailles. Yes I was only a kid at the time but remember the location very well. Where was it you ask ? Dillsboro, Indiana. I knew there was a NIKE base built there but had no idea the missles were armed with atomic (nuclear) war heads. The deserted base still remains but the missiles are gone. If you want to know more about the NIKE missiles, here is a short film that you may find informitive.
NIKE HERCULES Story - 30-minute public affairs film produced by the Army in 1960 to educate the public on the NIKE HERCULES air defense system.
MS Media Player format
This is a large file, You should have broadband to view it.
Friday, February 02, 2007
Programs to avoid
We hammer readers with the importance of keeping their PCs up to date with Windows critical patches as well as reputable spyware scanners, antivirus programs and other security software. Harangue, scold, lecture or preach… you pick the term but the admonishments are all but constant.
Something that dawns on me is that through the unending badgering, we’ve never pointed out what security programs to avoid. That’s a glaring oversight given that there are more misleading and downright evil programs out there that purport to keep you safe than there are legitimate security tools.
First, let’s hit on some of the basics of keeping this crap far away from your PC, as well as your wallet.
Antivirus programs will generally warn that they’ve found or blocked something with a pop-up in the lower right corner of the screen. If the program needs input the options are usually along the lines of “Delete”, “Quarantine”, “Block” or “Ignore”. It might ask you to do a full system scan but never will you see the phrase “click here for a free scan”.
That “free scan” is the key to identifying bogus malware scanners exploiting pop-ups in the center of the screen telling you that you’re infected with something specific, and that you can click a hyper link for a free scan. Some pop-ups are more generic and say something akin to “Your computer may be infected, click here for a free scan”.
This warning applies to antivirus programs as well as spyware scanners. The free scanners we recommend, like Ad-Aware and Spybot, are passive programs and will never automatically detect anything anyway. If something pops up that clams to be a warning from one of those programs, I can assure you it isn’t.
Many of these pop-ups appear to be warnings from XP Security Center offering a link to a list of spyware scanners recommended by Microsoft (they aren’t), while other masquerade as HTML “Page not found” type messages claiming that your IP address is under investigation due to material you’ve been viewing.
That last one is especially nefarious because it uses information commonly sent by your system to list your IP address, ISP and browser version, making it seem that much more legitimate.
These security scams generally depend on scare tactics to lure unsuspecting users to their websites, where they appear to be offering perfectly legitimate malware scans for free. Once you start scanning the sites will either start finding what they claim are dangerous files on your PC, which are usually just innocent first party cookies or non-existent registry entries, or they will actually plant spyware on your PC.
Once the scan is finished, you’ll be offered a chance to clean the “offensive files” for a price, usually $39-49 dollars.
Some companies pushing bogus programs like Spyware Assassin, SpyKiller and SpyBlast (note the similarity to the legitimate program Spyware Blaster) have recently suffered the wrath of the FTC, but many others are still out there with names like SpySheriff, WinAntivirus and PurityScan.
Basically, never purchase anything from a message that just appears on your screen and, before buying something you’ve never heard of, it’s best to check it out. Ask your IT department at work if you have one, ask us through our webform at www.thepcgurus.com or check it for yourself at http://spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm#products.
Written by:
Kevin Mefford
pcguru@microdome.net
Something that dawns on me is that through the unending badgering, we’ve never pointed out what security programs to avoid. That’s a glaring oversight given that there are more misleading and downright evil programs out there that purport to keep you safe than there are legitimate security tools.
First, let’s hit on some of the basics of keeping this crap far away from your PC, as well as your wallet.
Antivirus programs will generally warn that they’ve found or blocked something with a pop-up in the lower right corner of the screen. If the program needs input the options are usually along the lines of “Delete”, “Quarantine”, “Block” or “Ignore”. It might ask you to do a full system scan but never will you see the phrase “click here for a free scan”.
That “free scan” is the key to identifying bogus malware scanners exploiting pop-ups in the center of the screen telling you that you’re infected with something specific, and that you can click a hyper link for a free scan. Some pop-ups are more generic and say something akin to “Your computer may be infected, click here for a free scan”.
This warning applies to antivirus programs as well as spyware scanners. The free scanners we recommend, like Ad-Aware and Spybot, are passive programs and will never automatically detect anything anyway. If something pops up that clams to be a warning from one of those programs, I can assure you it isn’t.
Many of these pop-ups appear to be warnings from XP Security Center offering a link to a list of spyware scanners recommended by Microsoft (they aren’t), while other masquerade as HTML “Page not found” type messages claiming that your IP address is under investigation due to material you’ve been viewing.
That last one is especially nefarious because it uses information commonly sent by your system to list your IP address, ISP and browser version, making it seem that much more legitimate.
These security scams generally depend on scare tactics to lure unsuspecting users to their websites, where they appear to be offering perfectly legitimate malware scans for free. Once you start scanning the sites will either start finding what they claim are dangerous files on your PC, which are usually just innocent first party cookies or non-existent registry entries, or they will actually plant spyware on your PC.
Once the scan is finished, you’ll be offered a chance to clean the “offensive files” for a price, usually $39-49 dollars.
Some companies pushing bogus programs like Spyware Assassin, SpyKiller and SpyBlast (note the similarity to the legitimate program Spyware Blaster) have recently suffered the wrath of the FTC, but many others are still out there with names like SpySheriff, WinAntivirus and PurityScan.
Basically, never purchase anything from a message that just appears on your screen and, before buying something you’ve never heard of, it’s best to check it out. Ask your IT department at work if you have one, ask us through our webform at www.thepcgurus.com or check it for yourself at http://spywarewarrior.com/rogue_anti-spyware.htm#products.
Written by:
Kevin Mefford
pcguru@microdome.net
Thursday, February 01, 2007
FastStone Image Viewer
If you want your images to look the best they can--but you don't have a professional photographer's budget--check out FastStone Image Viewer. This FREE program lets you browse and view your images in a Windows-Explorer-like interface. FastStone image viewer supports all major image formats, including BMP, GIF, ICO, JPEG, JPEG2000, PCX, PNG, PSD, TAF, TIF and WMF. It includes EXIF metadata support as well (whatever that is). You can crop, resize, flip, rotate and adjust colors on your images and compare them side-by-side.
You can also convert your images from one format to another; in fact, you can even convert or resize your photos in batches. If you need to take a closer look without resizing, use the Full Screen image viewer to zoom in and size things up with the clear magnifier. Once you're done you can apply over 150 transitional effects in a slideshow.
While FastStone is free for personal and educational use, commercial users MUST register the software. Get it here:
http://www.faststone.org/
Comment:
After using this program for a few days I find that it is going to replace the program I normally use and that was ASeeDC. FastStone is free on top of all the great things it will do. This is a must have image viewer for the geek or novice. Go get it !
Jack
You can also convert your images from one format to another; in fact, you can even convert or resize your photos in batches. If you need to take a closer look without resizing, use the Full Screen image viewer to zoom in and size things up with the clear magnifier. Once you're done you can apply over 150 transitional effects in a slideshow.
While FastStone is free for personal and educational use, commercial users MUST register the software. Get it here:
http://www.faststone.org/
Comment:
After using this program for a few days I find that it is going to replace the program I normally use and that was ASeeDC. FastStone is free on top of all the great things it will do. This is a must have image viewer for the geek or novice. Go get it !
Jack