I am not the kind of person that installs a whole lot of plugins on an Internet browser but I have found one that is a must for anyone running Internet Explorer 7. It is called ie7pro and puts several things into IE that should have been in there in the beginning. You can download it from http://www.ie7pro.com. It is free and quick to install.
It looks like this at the bottom of your IE7 browser window (the little ‘e’):
To change any of the features of ie7pro, you simply go into the tools menu of Internet Explorer 7 and choose “IE7Pro Preferences”. There you will be able to set and change any of the many features of ie7pro.
My first favorite feature is the “Crash Recovery” feature. I don’t know about you, but my Internet Explorer browser does crash from time to time. Either it dies on it’s own and closes or it freezes up and I have to force it to close. Well, ie7pro remembers all of the tabs that you had open before the crash. So, the next time you open Internet Explorer, it will ask you if you want to restore your previous session. I generally keep at least 10 to 20 tabs open all the time in Internet Explorer and it is a major pain to even remember what I had open let alone the time to go through and re-open them all up again. with ie7pro crash recovery turned on, I simply say “yes” after I re-open IE and all of my tabs open back up again right where I left off.
My second favorite feature is “refresh current tab”. It is pretty self explanatory but basically you choose a tab that you want to auto-refresh, go into the “refresh current tab”, and choose an interval from 5 seconds to 30 minutes. ie7pro will then refresh that particular tab according to the interval you set. This works great for sites that log you out after a certain amount of inactivity. I have several sites I use frequently that do this but with ie7pro, I never get logged out anymore. The refresh makes the site think that I am still actively using their site and keeps me logged in.
There is also an ad filter that will filter out a lot of the ads you see on different web sites. I have not turned this feature on simply because sometimes those ads are very worthwhile and actually help me save money on things I buy anyway. But for those that prefer fewer ads, you could turn it on and skip a lot of the advertisements.
Being a free product, I highly doubt there is any tech support for the product but I haven’t run into a need for it either. The software works as promised. So, if any of the features sound useful to you, check it out.
Posted in Computer Networking |
It just keeps getting better. I have now used the magicjack at a few locations to make support calls on my client’s behalf and it has worked great. I wanted to give a couple of updates regarding the feaures that impressed me. First of all, the voicemail. Yes, this cheap service even includes voicemail. You can either check it by dialing your number and hitting star or just listen to the attachment that gets e-mailed to you after someone leaves a message. Since I don’t ever plan on using my magicjack for incoming phone calls, I recorded a special message for my kids. My children are a little afraid of jolly old St. Nicholas. He freaks them out. The only time they have sat on his lap is before they knew any better (like maybe before they turned one). So, in order for my kids to tell Santa what they want for Christmas, they call and leave him a voicemail. Previously, I was using an old Vonage line for them to do this with but now that I found Magicjack, I cancelled that Vonage line and Magicjack will replace it. If you want to let your kids call Santa to let him know what they want for Christmas, my Magicjack number is 801-738-0668. I don’t sound a lot like Santa but it fools MY kids.
Another feature that improves the pricing for Magicjack even more (I didn’t think that was possible), is that you can prepay for future years of service at quite a discount. I logged into my Magicjack account and found that I could pay for the next 4 years of sevice for only $50. That’s a $30 savings. I now have unlimited phone service for the next 5 years for only about $90.
Posted in Computer Networking, VoIP |
I just can’t seem to test this out enough. I am writing this message from my Sprint Mogul cell phone. A really strange thing is happening. When I type, my text does not appear on screen but the curser moves along indicating that it really is typing. If I try to highlight the text to see if it is working, the text IS there. I just don’t get to see what I’m typing.
Tags: Sprint Mogul
Posted in Uncategorized |
I have been using Windows Vista for about a year now. I was due for a new laptop for work and decided to take the plunge into Vista more for support reasons. If I was going to be supporting Vista users, I figured I had better know a thing or two about it.
So, what do I think? I like it. I don’t LOVE it, but it’s not a BAD operating system. I think Microsoft went the wrong direction in prettying up their OS without adding any new useful features. In fact, I actually turned off the Aero features because they weren’t helpful enough to justify any additional strain on my computer. I don’t care how pretty my OS is, I care how useful it is. I have run into only minimal back compatibility issues but still, I think Microsoft should have spent more time in this area. Overall though, it is a good OS.
Now, should a person upgrade their current OS to Vista? NO! Why would you? As I said, they didn’t really add any new useful features. So, if you are already running Windows XP or even Windows 2000, I don’t really see any reason to upgrade that OS to Vista. Then again, I have never really been a big supporter of upgrading an OS on any computer. Typically a computer has the hardware to run a certain OS. It is designed for that OS. It has the horsepower to run that OS. Use that computer with it’s intended OS until the hardware starts becoming obsolete. Perhaps upgrade RAM to keep it running speedy but don’t upgrade the OS. When you are finally ready for a new computer, go ahead and buy one with the latest OS. So, all you Windows XP users (probably most of you), don’t install Vista on your existing hardware. Just get Vista by default when you buy your next computer. Computers are designed to last anywhere from 3 to 5 years. If you get more time out of yours than that before things start falling apart, great, but you should probably be on the lookout for a new one.
With all the negative feedback on Vista, will Windows continue to be the dominant player in the OS market? Probably. Should you avoid Vista because of the negative feedback? No. It really isn’t that bad once you’ve played with it for a while and gotten used to it.
Tags: Aero, upgrade, Vista
Posted in Computer Networking |
I am a long time VoIP user. I have been using Packet8 for almost 4 years now. It is inexpensive phone service that comes with all of the major features you generally pay extra for. I have a VoIP comparison of different providers at my business website Smart Technology if you want to check it out.
There is a new player in the VoIP market and it is called Magic Jack. I recently purchased one to test out and possibly use as my phone when I am at a client’s and don’t want to use up my cell phone minutes on a bunch of support calls. It can often take as much as a half hour or longer for a tech to finally get on the line to help troubleshoot a problem and then who knows how long after that. My cell phone bill ends up paying the price.
The device is about 3 inches by 1.25 inches by .25 inch in size. It plugs into any available USB port and has it’s own RJ11 phone jack on the back of it. You simply plug any standard phone into the RJ11 phone jack and start making phone calls. You buy the device for about $40 plus shipping which includes your first YEAR of unlimited calling within the US and Canada. Each year after that is currently priced at $20 per year. When you first plug in the device, you go through a quick setup which lets you pick a phone number for your device. You don’t have to pick a number in your current area code. You could pick a number in another state if you wanted to. Might make it easier and cheaper for grandma to call you if you pick a number in her area code.
The service only works if you have a high speed internet connection for the computer you plug the device into but high speed doesn’t have to be super fast, just faster than dial-up.
I tested it out yesterday as soon as mine arrived and must say that I was quite impressed with the sound quality. I had the device plugged into my laptop which is connected to my network via wireless and the calls sounded great. There were a couple of times that the call stuttered but other than that it was great. I don’t think I would replace my home phone with it or even my current Packet8 VoIP lines but for my purposes, I am glad I have it and am pretty sure it will come in quite handy at times. If nothing else, it provides you a great way to make super cheap long distance calls without having to watch the clock.
Tags: magicjack, VoIP
Posted in Computer Networking, VoIP |
Welcome to my new blog. I want to give a big thanks to the people at WordPress as they are the amazing minds and talent behind the inter-workings of this blog and are the reason it is possible. If you want to download their software free of charge and upload it to your host so that you can have your own blog, click on the WordPress logo and you’ll be able to read all about it and get things started. If you don’t already have a host and don’t want to get one, you can go to WordPress.com and they can host a blog for you (also for free). Pretty nice people huh?
I first came across WordPress because my wife wanted to start a blog to record some of our family’s events and basically keep a journal of some of the crazy things that happen in our house. Instead of sending out a mass e-mail, she can update one spot and people can check it out at their leisure. Her blog is found at http://jennymart.in if you wanted to check it out.
For my blog, I plan on writing up articles concerning technology and possibly some how-to articles about some of the things I face on a daily basis. I am an IT guy and take care of small and medium sized businesses with their computer networks and other technology. I very much enjoy my job. My company is Smart Technology and I have been in business about 4 years.
So, check back from time to time for more information about my life as an IT guy. Feel free to ask questions and give feedback. I am always interested in ways that I can improve my site, my business and my life.
Posted in Uncategorized |
