news

Hosts file - read only in Vista/ Windows 7

Thu, 03 Jun 2010 12:32:36 +0100

For experienced users

Even as an Administrator it can sometimes be tricky to edit the Hosts file in Vista, or in any Windows 7 system that has been upgraded from Vista. Generally the workaround is to open Notepad by right clicking, selecting run as administrator, and then navigating to Windows/System32/ Drivers/ etc/ hosts - editing, and remembering to save as all files, not text (just click on existing Hosts file to replace.) The hosts file ought never to have a file type extension like .txt.

However, many Vista installs - and Windows 7 upgrades from Vista - will present an Administrator with a read only hosts file. Assign yourself full control and you'll still be unable to save amendments. This issue can be overcome by undoing the read only restriction using the command line editor.

C:\Users\Administrator>cd C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc
C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc> attrib -s -r -h hosts

NB "Administrator" in first line is your user name.

This will give you full control, and once you have edited you can always return the file to read only for security, just type:

C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc>attrib +s +r +h hosts

[In case you're wondering, the Hosts file can be used to record regularly used (desirable) IPs to speed connectivity,
and to start a block list of advertising (such as Google) or undesirable content - in the latter case, simply specify your computer's home address : 127.0.0.1 and the domain name e.g. pagead.googlesyndication.com. In your Hosts file the new entry would look like this:

127.0.0.1 pagead.googlesyndication.com this to stop your browser looking for ads from pagead.googlesyndication.com
208.75.208.172 myfavouritesite.com this to speed up your browser by doing away with the need for a DNS query via, say, your ISP]

Should you wish to view, or to use a comprehensive list of ad/spy/trojan domains in your Hosts file, you could try someonewhocares.org/hosts

Deleting a Service in Windows 7, XP & others

Sun, 30 May 2010 00:52:38 +0100

Recommended for advanced users:

You might wish to delete a service at some stage, perhaps one that remains after an uninstall (I've even seen a service remain in W7 after a system restore to a point prior to the installation!)

Go to your Registry Editor (windows+R and then type regedit > enter.)
Select HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > System > CurrentControlSet
Select Services folder
Examine the listed services (they're in alphabetical order)
Highlight/ select the service you wish to delete > right click > delete

One way to check all your services is by typing windows+R and then type msconfig > enter
Select services and view list of services and their status (e.g. running. stopped, etc.)

It's advisable to back up the registry prior to making any changes.

Delete ICQ Search & Toolbar (Firfefox 3.6)

Sun, 30 May 2010 00:55:36 +0100

{The easiest method is to do a system restore to a time before the installation but as you're here you probably cannot do that}

Should you wish to delete ICQ, first go to add/remove programs (where you'll need to delete both the toolbar and the application)
Restart Firefox and, should ICQ still remain:

Open a fresh Firefox tab, In the URL address bar type "about:config" (not the quote marks) > notice the warning message > do be careful
In the "Filter" box type : "keyword.URL" (without quotation marks)
Highlight the ICQ string > right click and choose reset
This ought to reset to Google, Bing, etc.

Then go to the Firefox view menu > Toolbars
Should ICQ still appear, make sure it is unchecked

Restart Firefox and the search box toolbar on the lower left of the toolbar section ought to be gone, your Search provider ought not to be ICQ.
Click on the down arrow of your search bar > manage search engines
Should ICQ persist in sitting there, highlight it and choose remove

NB Should this work but, upon opening a new blank tab you find the damned ICQ dialogue, go here in Firefox:

Tools > add ons > extensions > look for a Java Console for the ICQ toolbar > disable

Restart Firefox

It's a pesky thing but can be defeated.

Windows 7 - deleting Themes

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 15:52:43 +0100

It is simple but I see many "how-to" questions on the web, so thought to place an entry here.

>Right click on your desktop
>Select "Personalize"
>Right click on the Theme you wish to delete
>Delete, and then confirm deletion

NB You cannot delete the active theme in this window, i.e. you need to have more than one theme in order for the delete option to appear when right clicking.

Should you be looking for more desktop backgrounds, have a look at some of mine - high definition wallpaper available for free

Software Fraud on eBay (Adobe Photoshop)

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 02:10:54 +0100

In December 2009 I noticed Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended for auction on eBay. Many copies were on sale, and I followed a few auctions to discover they were trading for around $400 (usual retail is around $1000 - Australian.) Authenticity was guaranteed by the seller, and, though I had doubts as to the provenance of the software, I was new to eBay and decided that they would not permit the trade of any suspicious items on their site. Basically, in my view, eBay's name lent credence to the seller.

I won one of these auctions and the product duly arrived from Melbourne a week later. It was "Made in USA" and very professionally packaged - it looked like the real deal, replete with the training DVD. I installed it on a Windows 7 PC and, once I was happy it worked fine, I registered it - keyed in the serial number (got the usual green Adobe tick) and sent my details off to Adobe Systems in order to activate the product.

As it happens I am a member of Adobe dotcom; all registered Adobe products show in my webspace on their site. I noticed my new copy of Photoshop CS4 was not showing. Additionally, I tried to install PS on one of my personal laptops as the Adobe license permits a second installation on a home machine, provided one doesn't use the two installations simultaneously. I could not get the "green tick" for the second installation, basically the serial number (the same serial number) was deemed to be incorrect.

So I phoned Adobe Systems and quoted my serial number only to be told it was not one of theirs. I explained how it had installed fine, and worked just like the real thing : but they were adamant that I had been conned.

I have subsequently learned that software fraud on eBay is rife and feel rather silly that I - an avid Googler who checks almost everything before a purchase - had not simply Googled "software fraud on eBay" or "pirate software on eBay" prior to the purchase. Such a search gives thousands of unhappy returns; it irks me that I was taken in by eBay lending their name to the scam.

(Most people will be oblivious that they are running pirate software because the product will install with the keygen serial number - once. In the case of Photoshop, unless they have an Adobe user account, they would not be aware that Adobe Systems have no record of such a serial number. The programme will run indefinitely.)

I reported the matter to eBay and they urged me to deal with the seller. I tried contacting the seller without any luck (phone and email.) After some delay (because the seller was on holiday with my money and that of a hundred or more others) I went back to eBay and was then informed that my "45 day reporting window" had lapsed. They said I had to "file a complaint" within 45 days - I did report it 34 days after the purchase, they urged me to pursue it on my own, the magical 45 day mark was passed and they washed their hands of it.

So I was taken in by the seller, by eBay and by PayPal and I think it is an absolute disgrace. Later, while viewing the feedback comments of the seller, I notice at least 5 complaints about fraud, and in one case a complainant was refunded. This surely means eBay knew when I complained that I had a valid complaint and that dealing with the pirate was futile.

I will ultimately name and shame the seller, however the story is sub judice for now. So my message is to be very careful about buying software on auction sites like eBay. Always ask if the seller is an authorised agent/ distributor - and remember that if they are, the partnership logo will be proudly displayed along with their product.

John

Amber Sands Beach Resort, Koh Chang, Thailand

Fri, 02 Apr 2010 16:03:03 +0100

Koh Chang is Thai for “elephant island”, a real treasure situated on the quieter, Eastern, side of the island and has its own beach frontage of about 200 meters. After our vacation in South Africa, we flew in to Bangkok’s impressive new airport from where we took a leisurely 40 minute flight to Trat in the southern mainland. From Trat we headed for the ferry terminal, and it is a half hour crossing from there.

Our hosts, Julian and Cheryl, gave us a tour of the pool area, stunning and well-tended gardens, beach and restaurant. There is something about the restaurant that is difficult to reduce to words; it is a quietness ruffled only by the lapping of the wavelets on the shoreline a few meters from the thatched building. We decided that the most descriptive word might be “mellow” but it is also romantic, tranquil, comfortable, and filled with the heady scents of incense and Thai cooking. Soft music was just discernible above the gentle sighs of the calm ocean. At most meals the restaurant was almost full, however, the quietness remained, it was not drowned out by raised voices; people spoke softly and would sit for hours at their tables – perhaps just over a pot of coffee which was the best we tasted anywhere in Thailand.

There is plenty of Western food available too – and if it is not on the menu, just ask, because the staff at Amber Sands want only to please. Three personal recommendations are the Healthy Start Breakfast, Yellow Curry and Chicken Burger; and if you need a break from rice, just ask for fries.

Our hosts had owned the resort since late 2008, buying it under the old name Funky Hut; we understand they had just recently completed major renovations prior to our arrival (improved gardens, renovated swimming pool deck, roofs, linen, new wooden flooring/ decking, restaurant toilets, etc.) Furthermore, they had actually reduced their tariffs!

The service was faultless, in the room, the restaurant, and at the beach and pool. Having been to Thailand before we expected certain teething problems – like faulty showers or air conditioning – however, the hot water was plentiful and the air conditioner so good we (Australian residents accustomed to living in aircon) needed to turn it down on the first night.

There is much to see on the island of Koh Chang; gardens, elephants, tree top walkways, snorkelling, diving, waterfalls, beautiful beaches and much, much more. We did a fair bit of shopping in the friendly markets, lunched at a few restaurants, took a road tour of most of the Eastern side of the island plus White Sands on the busier West side. Motor bikes (automatic) are available for hire on the island, your hosts might be able to arrange the booking – as they do for activities like elephant rides or diving.

The resort provides free wireless email access, or one can use the desktop PC in the restaurant. There is no television and we hope it stays that way, we’re sure it means that only those capable of enjoying life in the here and now will decide to stay at Amber Sands – and that seems to foster a like-mindedness amongst guests.

We shall certainly return soon, and next time for longer than 4 days. This resort – which might even be called a retreat - will suit anyone who wants a quiet time while on holiday, especially those capable of entertaining themselves and enjoying the present moment. Be warned, you will be spoiled by your hosts and struggle to depart knowing that this type of hospitality and tranquillity cannot be bought for any price….at least until next time!

Enjoy yourselves,

John and Kerrie

Adelaide, Australia

Amber Sands Beach Resort

EMAIL Amber Sands

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New Thumbnail Gallery

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:14:06 +0100

It took a bit of work, however, my new thumbnail gallery is complete.

I hope you can find a few minutes to join me there :

John Cowburn Photography

Alexa Toolbar

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 14:32:01 +0100

Alexa dotcom provides a web information service on Internet traffic, specifically volume of traffic to a site during the preceding 3 month period.

Alexa ranks sites based on visits from users of its Alexa toolbar for certain browsers like Internet Explorer and Firefox; there is currently no download available for Safari.

It is unknown as to what proportion of all Internet users actually have the toolbar installed, and of those with it installed - just how many are representative of the everyday Internet user. Though Alexa (a subsidiary of amazon.com) claims millions of downloads and "one of the largest web crawls," many feel the rankings are skewed the way of the traffic volume initiated such as advertisers, webmasters and website developers, and I tend to agree with them; let's face it, who else would be interested in how much traffic a site receives?

It was only when I authored this site that I became aware of Alexa through the variety of SEO & website optimisation newsletters I would receive. I decided to install the toolbar, and found that my three sites were all unranked. Of course, a week later they had a ranking (of about 16 - 20 million) - at least partly due to my own visits; once I had visited, Alexa knew of the existence of my sites and so the tracking commenced.

The rankings are decided on number of visits and a page view factor. Of two sites with an identical number of Alexa toolbar visitors, the one receiving more page views will be the higher ranked. Only unique page views count; a site of 10 pages can therefore have a maximum page view figure of 10, regardless of the number of multiple views of the same page.

Spyware

The toolbar does track your movements across the Internet and is therefore regarded by most Spyware programmes as hazardous to your online security. When your Spyware software detects the Alexa files it will flag them and suggest they be deleted; one can add an "exception" to prevent this from happening - and stop those same files from continuously being reported as threats.

How to improve your Alexa ranking

Simple, get more people with the Alexa toolbar to visit your site. For starters, make your website your home page, as all your own visits will also be counted - I think to a maximum of 2 per day from the same IP.

Offer a link to the Toolbar download section of Alexa to enable more of your site users to install it (remember to warn them about the "spyware" aspect.)

Incidentally, any script from other sites running on your pages will count as an Alexa visit to that site; this has the interesting effect of placing my Ning community site (unadvertised, and used solely to store photos and music) within spitting distance rank-wise of this one, even though that site itself receives only about 5 direct visits a day (compared to the 300 - 500 visiting this site.)

Does your traffic rank matter?

Not nearly as much as your Page Rank from an advertising point of view, though it might matter if you were trying to sell your business and/ or dotcom. In that eventuality I suppose I would be more interested in log file records or Google Analytics statistics concerning all traffic rather than the Alexa rank derived from the toolbars of a self-selected few.

Still, I enjoy the Alexa ranking statistics and to find out which countries my viewers are visiting from. The figures are revised twice weekly (Wednesday & Saturday in my part of the world) and it's fun to receive some idea of where one stands in relation to the rest of the website world.

Not to be taken too seriously though.

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Download the Alexa Toolbar for IE or Firefox :

http://www.alexa.com/site/download

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Who.is offers even more traffic data than Alexa, I've included a screenshot.

http://www.who.is

Traffic Exchanges - my experience

Mon, 08 Dec 2008 13:57:54 +0100

Should you be a TE surfer or be considering this multiple click pastime, this article is sure to save you time, and might just spare you from the gnarled clutches of RSI.

I joined a few traffic exchanges when I started this website; I wanted to advertise the existence of my dotcom while simultaneously trying for a decent Alexa traffic ranking. I'm not sure what a decent Alexa ranking is, but I thought something in the top one million would be sufficient.

Please note, I did not join to make money from any of these TE's through referrals or even necessarily having the surfers buy from me; I merely wished to promote the existence of this site.

I started out with Traffic Swarm; they have a 20 second timer, but I could never figure out their click rate as they award free members anything from 1 to 5 "points" per click. Sometimes I received a 50 point bonus, another time 250 points. Rough calculations suggest that 8 points = 1 click to my site. Whilst their customer service is excellent, that was way too much clicking for my liking!

Next I registered with Traffic G, paid them about $50 for 5 000 points and they've been sending a steady stream of traffic to this site ever since. About 20 visitors per day - plus whatever return clicks for time I might spend surfing on their site. Their timer is 30 seconds and their ratio is 1:1 but the surf page has the infuriating habit of falling victim to frame breaking sites on a regular basis; their owner has emailed in response to one of my queries - and advises that he has new software in place to weed out these frame breakers upon registration. Already I sense it is a smoother surf.

But surfing for 90 minutes a day to get maybe 100 visitors was both boring & an economically senseless use of my time; then I had a brainwave. As I surf in Firefox, I could have multiple tabs with multiple TE's loaded simultaneously - to the point where I now need spend only about 25 minutes twice a day to earn over 400 visitors from up to 8 TE's. A point about Traffic Exchanges : they do have frequent technical glitches, so belonging to a few simultaneously ensures that when you are ready to have a surf there are enough sites capable of accepting your clicks.

And once the visitors climbed into the hundreds I started to receive an unexpected bonus : fellow Network Marketers began contacting me for details of my Personal Development products.

It is since easy to establish from Google Analytics who the top performing TE's are in my case. The graphic is a copy of GA's figure over a 5 day period in November/ December 2008. In each case each site was clicked on, the next tab opened and clicked on, and so on - so the time spent surfing each site is roughly identical. The average number of clicks per minute during the surf time was 14 - 18. The return per click (surf ratio) is part of the reason for the difference in visitors, but not the only reason as, for example, Easy Hits4U has the same surf ratio as Traffic G i.e. 1:1. One thing you'll note about the average TE visitor, they don't stay for very long!

The experience of others might differ (e.g. being a Premium member of some of these sites might well change the hit ratio; also, I do not have a downline at this point.)

Whilst StartXchange deserves special mention, I'm not sure how Easy Hits 4 U ends up being so much more generous in their return of clicks than the competition, but it's a great set up and one I recommend if ever you're looking for a rewarding TE. (I'm not acquainted with the management, am not a Premium member - and assure you that this is not a paid article.)

It's free to join : http://www.easyhits4u.com/?ref=johncc

So, was my objective met - did I rise in the Alexa rankings? Yes, for what it is worth. That eventually became of little importance as the opt-ins started finding my pages via the traffic exchanges I'd streamlined in Firefox.