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Wordless Wednesday
Have you ever become so frustrated with your computer that you’ve thought of doing something like this? Or perhaps throwing your monitor to the ground?
I once lost the contents of my hard drive due to a power surge (and yes we had a surge protector on the computer, but it failed) and I felt like doing something like this!
I can’t imagine how much force you’d need to shove a keyboard through a monitor though. Wow.
Whether your an occasional at home computer user or someone who relies heavily on your computer for business there’s no denying how important it is to back up your vital files regularly. All it takes is a computer virus or a power failure and your data could be lost forever.
While there are many back up programs that you could use I think you might agree that Backup Platinum has quite a few useful features.
Backup Platinum allows you to back up your data to pretty much any type of storage medium meaning you could store your valuable backup data on another computer, a network, an external drive, an FTP server or even a CD or DVD.
Not only that, you can set up regular backups using the program wizard in order to define what is backed up, where it’s backup from, how to back up your data and when those backups should take place.
If you chose to backup your data onto a CD or DVD you can use a rewritable disk. The program can be set up so that any data on the disk is erased prior transferring new backup data. This means that you could set the Backup Platinum program to create a new backup each night and only the latest backup would be on your rewritable CD or DVD.
Backups can be kept small and secure thanks to the programs 128-bit encryption with Blowfish and multichoice ZIP. Also, if you happen to have a lot of data to backup the backup can be split into several parts which would make it easier to transfer your finished backup data elsewhere if needed.
One thing that I like about this program is that it creates detailed logs of all operations and if something goes wrong with your backup you can easily restore with a simple click of a button.
Backup Platinum has been specifically designed to work on Windows operating systems.
If you’d like to try Backup Platinum you can download a limited 30 day trial version. Then if you like the programs features you can purchase the license for a full copy.
I spend time on a variety of blogging and webmaster related forums and quite often, when someone switches from a free blogging platform such as blogger to hosting their own website they are confused by … well, a lot of things since everything is new to them, but FTP seems to one major source of confusion.
If you are new to using an FTP program in order to upload files to your server I would suggest that you use the free program FileZilla. While it’s true that some hosting programs have created a simplified version of FTP that is very easy to use directly from your hosting account (I believe) most do not provide this service and you must use external FTP programs to move large files.
You might be asking yourself “why would you need an FTP program in the first place?” Well, if you are a blogger you might want to find new themes or plugins to use on your blog. Most themes and plugins have a number of files packaged together in a folder. While it’s true that you could upload the zipped file into your WordPress -> Content -> themes or Plugin folder on your server using the c-panel File manage it is often much faster and easier to use an external FTP program.
As I said I would recommend download the easy to use FileZilla as your FTP progam.
Go to the site and click on “Download FileZilla Client – all programs” button.
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I’m having site problems yet again.
This is really starting to tick me off.
At about 9:30 pm last night the index.php file on my main blog domain Feverishthoughts.com was accessed repeatedly. I received a note from Hostgator shortly after this happened telling me about the problem and also saying that they’d shut down access to that directory.
At least this time round it’s a little better than when I was with Lunarpages. They’ve actually been able to tell me specifically what time the problem occurred and which domain was affected. They also only shut down that domain rather than my whole account. So at least I’ve got two blogs and two websites still functioning.
At this point – 3:30 a.m. I’ve been going back and forth with support. I think we’ve exchanged email three times now. The last one stated that they’d let me back into my directory to add the wp-cache plugin to my site and then monitor my directory after that.
The thing is that I’m already using wp-cache. So I just wrote back to them and told them that. I also told them that all my plugins and blogs are up to date.
Hopefully they’ll activate my directory again and monitor it as they said.
I have no idea what’s going on. I don’t know if the domain was under some kind of attack or if I just had too many visitors all at once. I really don’t know. I suspect a bot attack of some kind as I’ve been getting hit with a lot more spam across all my blogs lately and bad behavior and akismet just aren’t cutting it.
I know that I certainly don’t need to be having site troubles this weekend! It’s a long weekend and I’ve got a family reunion going on with my brothers and sisters. I won’t be home much and when I am home I’ll probably have guests so if my main blog domain isn’t back up soon and or if it runs into trouble over the next four days I just won’t be able to deal with it. Which sucks.
I keep flirting with the issue of possibly having to move my sites to VPS. Hostgator doesn’t offer VPS. They have Semi-dedicated which is still part of their shared account service and then they have dedicated servers. Their semi-dedicated package offers just about everything I have with my current account but I believe it has much higher CPU resource limits. That’s something I have to check on. Semi-dedicated costs $74.95 per month. Big jump from what I’m paying now.
So again. If anyone has any advice for me or can suggest a hosting company that offers VPS, hopefully at a reasonable price I’d appreciate it. I want to deal with this issue before my sites end up being totally shut down like they were in July with that other webhost I was using.
BTW 4 a.m. my feverishthoughts.com domain is back up and running. Fingers crossed that it behaves now.
Dell recently irritated a number of their customers who’d been waiting for the new Dell XPS M1330 notebook to ship. The shipments problem seems to be over, but Dell may need a period of recovery after this disaster.
Customers have been posting hundreds of messages on Dells Direct2Dell blog. Those post are not just upset over the delay, they feel that they’ve been mislead.
Dells blog is supposed to be a tool to communicate with customers, potential new clients and the media, but the blog has recently become an outlet for the multitude of complaints that have been pouring in over the XPS M1330 notebook.
The notebook was announced in late June and was expected to have delivery dates of up to four to six weeks for some customers. This is a much longer shipping time than had been anticipated.
Clients have been visiting the blog to post their complaints over customer service, and miscommunication during ordering.
Dell’s made a mission to move forward yet this product delay is a step backwards judging by the publics displeasure over shipping delays.
What do you think of this situation? Should they have delayed their announcement that the product was ready for sale if it really wasn’t? Did they under estimate the demand for this high end laptop?
Are you one of the impatient buyers?
If you’ve always wonder just how a computer virus works and or spreads you should take a look at this video.
Not surprisingly, computer virus work in a similar manner to that of human virus in that it just takes one virus to infect something and it spreads from there.
Check out this video from “How things Work”:
As the video says, if you don’t have anti-virus protection on your computer you are just asking for a big problem. I use Norton Anti-virus because it comes free with my ISP, but there are some very good free antivirus programs out there such as AVG.
I got a note yesterday evening from my webhost stating that my sites were using too much of their resources. Most of our sites are fairly well visited but I don’t believe they are so well visited that they would begin causing CPU problems on my web host just yet.
So, I’ve been going over all our sites for the last few hours turning off any plugins that aren’t vital and ones that I think might use CPU. For example I had viewcounter and postrater activated on two of our sites and since they store info in the database I thought that they might be using the hosts CPU so it was worth turning them off.
I’ve also downloaded a copy of WP-Cache that I’m going to be installing in a few minutes. This caches a page when it’s first viewed and then presents the cached copy the next time it’s viewed and doesn’t create a new cache copy of the page until data on the page changes or I think until a certain amount of time has passed. If this works properly it should cut down on the amount of resources that my sites are using.
I’m also going to update my Google Sitemaps plugin as the latest Beta version has been optimized to use fewer CPU resources.
I’m crossing my fingers that this works.
In the meantime my host has moved my sites to a different server on their network. I’m not sure the move went well because once I got to this blog I noticed that when I tried to click on the titles of the posts I got an error message. I hope they didn’t mess up my database!
That’s one reason why I’m writing a post now. I’m hoping the new post will update my database and fix whatever’s going on with the rest of the posts. I sure hope it does, and I also hope that this posts when I publish it!
If anyone has been put on notice by their webhost that their site is overusing CPU resources how did you resolve the problem? Any suggestions?
Do you love electronics, gadgets and all things computer related? If so, you might also like saving money on these products.
I’ll bet you’ve heard of couponchief.com? This is an online site listing over 1000 merchants promo codes. Visit the Coupon Chief before you purchase anything online in order to see if there’s a coupon or promo code for the item you’re interested in so that you can save some money or perhaps get free shipping.
Coupon Chief has listings for stores such as Dell, Office Depot, Staples, Comp USA, Circuit City and Best Buy just to name a few of the popular types of stores that sell computers, accessories and tech gadgets. I actually just found a great deal that might interest you. It’s for a Comp USA coupon code that will save you up to $400 on a notebook! Great deal eh? Be sure to check that out if you are in the market for a new laptop.
Now, if you visit the Coupon Chief and find that you’re a little bit confused as how to use the coupon codes or promos for the online stores that are listed there you can always take a look at their “how To” section for some of their top merchants such as Amazon, Best Buy and Overstock.com just to name a few.
Do you have some old computers sitting around your home or office that you’re not sure what to do with? Have you thought of recycling them or using them in a creative way?
They say that the average lifespan of a computer is 3 to 5 years. So that means that on average every four years those of us with computers are going to be looking for a way to get rid of ours.
I’ll bet that one of the ways you’ve gotten rid of old computers in the past was to give the computer to someone that didn’t have one or to a kid. Am I right? Don’t be ashamed. I’ve done it too. Of course all we’re doing is getting the next generation hooked on technology aren’t we?
Here in Canada almost two million computers end up in landfills each year. Isn’t that a shame?
I don’t know if other countries have really good recycling programs but we do recycle here in Canada which makes it so much sadder to hear that some many computers don’t end up getting recycled and are placed in landfills instead.
As I already mentioned computers can be donated. This is a great way to make room for your new computer yet do something good for someone else at the same time.
Here in Toronto Little Geeks, a non-profit organization that refurbishes unwanted computers and gives them to underprivileged children. Look for a company such as this in your area.
There’s also a program called Computers for Schools. They accept donations of computers at drop off centers throughout Canada. They then refurbish the machines and distribute them to needy schools. They’ll also accept old computer accessories. Check for a school computer donation program in your country.
Then there’s Reboot Canada. There are eight drop off locations in Canada. They’ll accept computers of any age or condition.
Charitable organizations such as The Salvation Army and Good will are always great places to donate computers and peripherals. Just be sure that these products actually work when you drop them off as they are usually sold in their stores as is.
Computer manufacturers such as Dell, HP and IBM have launched donation campaigns. Donate your old computer through the companies website. Your old computer is then donated to those in need.
HP apparently began it’s recycling program way back in 1987, long before household computers were as common as house phones. They’ve estimated that they have collected and recycled more than 600 million pounds of used computer products.
If you choose to go the recycling route because your computer is hopelessly old or damaged you can drop your computer and or monitor off at a recycling plant. The computer and monitor will be stripped of any hazardous materials, and reusable parts will also be removed. The computers and monitors or what’s left of them will then be shredded and sorted into base materials such as metal, plastic and glass.
Recycling trucks won’t pick up computers or monitors that are left by the side of the road. As I said they have hazardous, or potentially hazardous materials in them so they must be disposed of properly. So be sure to check on the hours of your local recycling plant so that you can drop off your old computers and peripherals.
Earlier I mentioned that you could also use your old computers for things they weren’t intended to be used for … I’ve seen photos of computer arches, computer planters in outdoor gardens and creative sculptures made of computers and or computer monitors. If you’re feeling creative and you have enough old machines on hand you can see what you can come up with.
Bill Gates demonstrates Microsoft’s Touch Screen
I know I’m a few days late with this news but I absolutely love the idea of Microsoft’s new touch screen product. You’ve seen the technology to some extent in restaurants where waiters and waitresses can simply touch a screen to select a menu item and place the customers order.
Now this type of technology, greatly enhanced, will be coming to our homes in the near future. I’m sure the touch screen will be out of many peoples budges in the beginning but as it grows more popular I’m certain that many people will want to have and use this new tech product.
