Monthly Archives: July 2011

Web Traffic Control: a good way to monetise your blog?

Computer Aid Posted on by

I recently got an email about how to earn up to $750 per month via webtrafficcontrol.com

The email says it normally costs $50 to join, but they have reserved 250 “free” spots for blogorama users…

They offer to write targeted blog posts, and also pay you for each post… And it gets even better: they will place the articles directly into my wordpress blog.

It seemed like a great way to monetise my blog with a minimum of effort.

So I decided to create an account and get things started.

Everything went well until I got to the point where I needed to create a wordpress user for web traffic control…

Their website says the user I create must be an “editor” account.

Since I hardly ever create wordpress users, I decided to find out what an editor can do:

Editor: delete_others_pages, delete_others_posts, delete_pages, delete_posts, delete_private_pages, delete_private_posts, delete_published_pages, delete_published_posts, edit_others_pages, edit_others_posts, edit_pages, edit_posts, edit_private_pages, edit_private_posts, edit_published_pages, edit_published_posts, manage_categories, manage_links, moderate_comments, publish_pages, publish_posts, read, read_private_pages, read_private_posts, unfiltered_html, upload_files.

Now, thats just 1 step short of full administrator access.

As a comparison, the next step down (and my preferred option) is:

Author: delete_posts, delete_published_posts, edit_posts, edit_published_posts, publish_posts, read, upload_files

ie, an author can create blogs, alter them, and submit them to me for publishing… and cannot alter other posts, nor look at private posts and pages, nor alter comments.

Now, I have put a lot of my time and effort into my blog, and although others probably don’t mind giving editor access to an unknown company, I’m very reluctant to give that access to anyone I have not met (and know) personally.

So what do I do?

I send off a support ticket, hoping that they can still do what they need with an author account (I figure: why not? the interface should still work in a similar way).

They reply saying that they need editor access in order to create new categories.

They also say that I can trust them, and that I still have control over the content I receive.

 

So my decision is: No

If I still have control, then they can ask me to create the categories.

Or even better: just use one generic category that I create for them.

I just cannot hand over the keys to my entire blog… Its just not worth the kind of money that I’ll be earning via this method.

How to secure your WiFi wireless home network

Computer Aid Posted on by

It is crucial to secure your wireless network to ensure that your internet connection can be used only by yourself and people you authorise.  I have seen many occasions where clients have not secured their networks and wondered why their internet bill shot through the roof.  There is also a potential security risk if your wireless network is not secure and you have file sharing turned on – others will be able to access your files! Thankfully the procedure for enabling wireless security is relatively straight forward.

Note: This guide is written with Windows 7 in mind, although the procedure is quite similar for Windows XP and Windows Vista.

This is a guest post by JJ Fiasson from IT Support Sydney.

Step 1. Click the windows button in the bottom left hand corner of your task bar. In the search box type “cmd” and hit Enter. A black box will open up with the command prompt.

Step 2. Type in “ipconfig” and hit Enter. We want to know the address of your router, should show up under the entry for “Default Gateway”. The IP will be something like 192.168.1.1 or 10.1.1.1. Write this down.

Step 3. Open your favourite browser and type the number into the address bar that you just wrote down. E.g. http://192.168.1.1

Step 4. Assuming you completed steps 2 & 3 correctly, you will be prompted to enter in a username and password. If your router is a Netgear, the default login should be “admin” as the username and “password” as the password. For Linksys, try “admin” and “admin”. You can also try “admin” and leave the password box empty. If these don’t work, it might be worth Googling for your router make and model with the words “default login”, to try and find out what they are by default. If you can’t seem to track them down, you might need to contact whoever setup your router in the first place and ask them what they set it to. Otherwise, you’ll need to reset the modem/router (not recommended unless you know what you’re doing).

Step 5. Hopefully you figured out the correct login credentials for your router. You should now see a few menu items and a lot of other information. What we are looking for is a menu item labelled “Wireless”, “Wireless Settings” or similar. Click on it. Depending on what brand or make your router is, you may then need to click Security. If yours is a Netgear router, then you will just see an entry on the right labelled “Security options”. The best type of security to use for a home or small business wireless network is WPA2-PSK (AES). Select it from the list.

   

You will now need to pick a passphrase of 8-64 characters. Select something a little more complicated than the word “password”, write it down or memorise it, and enter it into the box. You will then need to apply these settings by clicking “Apply” or “Save” or “Save settings” or something similar.

 

Step 6. Your router will now restart. You will need to change your wireless credentials on any computer that was previously using the wireless connection in the house. This is thankfully quite simple. Click on the Windows (or Start) button, and go to Control Panel. In the top right hand corner select “View by, small icons”. Then go to the Network & Sharing Center. Click on “Manage Wireless Networks” on the left. It should come up with a list of wireless networks, including yours. Right-click on it and click “Properties”.  A small box will pop up. Click the tab at the top that says “Security”, select “WPA2-Personal” from the pulldown list, and then fill out your chosen passphrase in the bottom box. Click OK.

   

Congratulations, you’re done!

dynamicoxygen a variation on exitjunction?

Computer Aid Posted on by

I got an email from yet another company with a great advertising medium.

The company is DynamicOxygen, and they seem to have a good deal that allows for some extra advertising that is run together with existing advertising on my site.

It sounds interesting, but the name sounds familiar, after some thought and some looking around I finally found why the name sounded familiar.

I have previously wrote of my bad experience with using ExitJunction, and at the time, I made a note to myself that the ExitJunction website is copyright by (you guessed it): DynamicOxygen.

So now I’m a little skeptical about dynamic oxygen, and I don’t want to experience the same google problems I had with ExitJunction… So I’d like to know if anyone has tried DynamicOxygen, and can report any facts about what effect it has had on their existing internet traffic.

Note: it doesn’t count if you had no traffic to start with… you must have some measurable traffic before you started advertising with Dynamic Oxygen, and ideally, you would have also had some google adsense ads on your site as well.

Will google penalise you for using dynamic oxygen? Only time will tell.

The Best Way To protect Your Computer in 2011

Computer Aid Posted on by

Latest Antivirus Software

Go online to any antivirus software site or walk into a local computer store and you will see shelves loaded down with a bewildering selection of software. There will be spam filters for email, firewalls, antivirus scanners for the home computer, antivirus software packages for the home office, antivirus software for the Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android and other platforms. Confusing isn’t it?

Antivirus software changes so quickly. New types of software come out and quickly become outdated within a few months. It’s bewildering to say the least! How can you choose? What should you use? Free software? Commercial software? Customized software? Individual software programs or a software suite? Information overload… Well the answers are below!

The Best Antivirus Software Protection For Your Computer

A Home or Small Office PC running either Windows or Mac OSX needs the following software programs to protect it from viruses or malware. First, is a two-way firewall to watch for and prevent malware from entering your computer or, if already present, reporting home on a successful infiltration. Next, a good scanner to hunt down and kill those viruses and malware that are already on your system. Supporting the scanner, should be an updating service to find and download the latest information on viruses, how to eliminate them and list sites where they are coming from so you can avoid them in the future. And lastly, email, SMS, chat and IM software to scan and filter out spam, suspicious emails, dangerous attachments and malicious code.

By now you’re thinking, “How much is this all going to cost me?” “How will it affect my system?” and “Will everything play nice together?” Ok, this is where looking at an antivirus suite such as those made by McAfee is a good idea.

Why McAfee Is The Best Choice

As a reputable maker of Antivirus Protection Software, McAfee makes a number of good, reasonably priced software packages for Windows and Mac PC’s that are very effective at protecting your computer against viruses and malware. Antivirus Plus and its more capable upgrade, Internet Security for Windows are designed to provide you with essential protection and keep you worry free and out of trouble while you are surfing the net.

Antivirus Plus offers the basic functions of a two-way firewall, virus scanner, the McAfee Site Advisor service to keep you abreast of new threats online and off and a clean, easily understandable interface that lets you control the level of protection you need.

Internet Security for Windows offers all the basic features of Antivirus Plus and goes further by including email, SMS, chat and IM spam and content filters to keep you safe while surfing your favourite SNS site. The software also includes safe online backup support to protect files or documents you want to store online safe and secure.

And, for that growing segment of the market that are switching to Macs, McAfee Total Protection for Mac, like its Windows counterpart provides similar protection for Mac OSX computers whether they are on or off the net. By doing so, McAfee is making a safe platform even safer in a world where hackers are turning their attentions towards the potentially profitable and easy targets Macs make.

What services do you get from an ERP SaaS?

Computer Aid Posted on by

The short answer to this question is ‘a lot’. Not only do you get support, maintenance, updates, upgrades and access to the SaaS Providers applications, you also get the benefit of the Saas provider’s expertise within the specific area. SaaS (Software as a Service) is when a software provider licences a particular piece of business software to an organisation in exchange for a recurring annual fee. Here are some benefits of using an ERP SaaS:

Simplicity – The business alternative to using a SaaS for their ERP system is to build the system from the ground up themselves and for most small to mid-sized businesses; this is not a viable option as they simply do not have the time, expertise or revenue to be able to create such a complex system effectively.

Compliance issues – There are a number of compliance issues which each ERP system must satisfy and an outsourced ERP system will ensure that these requirements are met thus relieving this problem from the company intending the use the ERP system. That said all companies considering a Saas ERP system should ensure that the application that they are being offered is PS-DSS validated and that the infrastructure application is SAS70 Certified. In addition to this, those companies using the ERP system as part of their retail software to assist them in purchases of products therefore you should ensure that the application is also PCI-DSS certified (Payment Application data Security Standard) as this will allow you to make secure payments.

Power Issues – The cost of running an ERP system (or any system of this size) can be more than what most people expect since it requires an air condition system to be constantly running in the background as well as backup generators to ensure that the business can continue running smoothly in case a power failure takes place. Implementing this could prove costly for a business but with a SaaS ERP system, all this would be dealt with by Software Company providing the ERP system.

Automatic software updates – The organisation providing the ERP system would be responsible for providing all software updates which means that the organisation using the ERP system will benefit from updates as soon as they are released. This includes all software updates ranging from Microsoft Security upgrade/patches as well as Anti-virus dat updates.

Support – Even if an organisation was to successfully develop an ERP system themselves, the on-going maintenance of the system would prove very difficult if the organisation did not have access to ERP professionals. Fortunately when the organisation opts for a SaaS ERP system, it also receives the benefit of a helpdesk facility which is operated by experts within the ERP field. These people will be able to give informed and reliable recommendation when things go wrong.

 

Opting for a SaaS software model means you get much more than just an application, it provides you with a highly efficient application which is maintained by experts thus ensuring that you get the most from your investment. In addition to this, despite what most would believe, in most cases paying a SaaS ERP system can work out cheaper than if an organisation was to implement an ERP system itself.

Office bar (office XP) causes screen problems with Vista

Computer Aid Posted on by

A vista laptop started to behave very strangely.

The customer would try to maximise a word 2003 window, but the maximised window wouldn’t occupy the entire screen (there would be a vertical bar of windows desktop on the right hand side of the screen).

And to make things even stranger, I couldn’t move the mouse into this vertical bar… it became a sort of windows no-go zone.

The wort part about it was that the right side of the application would be missing, as if the right of the window had gone “under” the desktop… this makes minimising quite difficult (unless you know the keyboard shortcuts!).

I tried other applications (outlook express, firefox, ie8, etc), but they all behaved the same way.

I also noticed that once all windows had been taken out of “maximize” mode, the inaccessible part of the screen could suddenly be accessed again (by both the mouse and the windows).

I started shutting down background apps, until I got to the old microsoft office bar (the one that hangs around windows and lets you quickly start office apps with a single click).

So, it turns out that an aspect of Office is very incompatible with Vista,

Xp repair install problems. Copy error

Computer Aid Posted on by

I need to do a repair install of an XP system.

But partway through, I get an error message:

Copy error. Setup cannot copy the file aaclient.mu_
Ensure that the disk labeled ‘windows xp home edition service pack 3 cd’ is in the drive
I decide to tell it to ignore the file and continue anyway, and soon after I get another similar error:

cannot copy file tscdsbl.ba_

and then:

cannot copy Tscinst.vb_

This continues for a while, until I decide that there is no way XP will run properly with all these files missing.

I plug the drive into my workshop PC, and a scan picks up an infection… once I clean up the infection, I try again, but alas, I still get the same errors.

So I try new IDE cable… in case there is a cable fault, but that doesn’t help.

I do some more searching, and eventually find a possible cause (and solution):

The windows folder: “softwaredistribution” only had limited access rights for the System user… and no other user had any rights to the folder.

So, I once again put the disk into my workshop PC, and change the file permissions on the folder: softwaredistribution… so that anyone can have write access.

Another re-run of the XP repair install, but this time, no errors!

I find it strange that windows setup will not override the folder permissions of folders that it needs to write to… during setup, It should have the power to override any such obstacles.

Strage ADSL internet speeds

Computer Aid Posted on by

A few weeks ago a friend said he had bought a new toshiba laptop.  I suggested he should get a wireless router and he told me that a year ago when he changed his ISP, they gave him a wireless router (Thompson TG585V8 ) that was still in the original packing.  (Telecom/XTRA here now use Thompson exclusively.)

I offered to set it up and the swap went without a hitch.  I did a speed test and got 3/0.4 meg (common in most parts of NZ)

Then something he said made me ask if he had filters fitted and to my surprise it was no.  Had had installed his original DSE router and didnt know it was necessary.

He had 3 phones and the kit contained 2 so I fitted them and the speed jumped to 9/0.6

The following day he picked up one from me and rang later he rang and said it was now 14/0.7

Wow! This is the highest I have ever heard of.

We think that it because telecom here are involved in a Fibre rollout around the country and the fibre cable passes his street only  300 metres away.  As the largest High school in our area is near his house we suspect that there is a Roadside Dslam cabinet near the school which accounts for the speed.

There are some rather strange anomolies in speed.  I set up a standard (non wireless) connection in one street (also Telecom) and got 9/0.6     A few weeks later a neighbour directly over the road got the identical package and we got 3/0.4

Quite strange.  It can only be because of the condition of the copper part.

Best android apps

Computer Aid Posted on by

As promised, here is a list of great Android apps that I have on my HTC desire mobile phone (I won’t cover games, as everyone has different opinions on games):

Note: I’m not a big facebook or twitter user, so I won’t cover the built-in and downloadable apps for social networking, but I’m sure there are many to choose from.

  • Catch (catch.com). I started looking for a notes app on my iphone (before I got my Android), and eventually settled on catch. I was mainly after an app that would save notes to “the cloud”, in case my phone broke down… I would have preferred an app that saved the notes to my gmail account, but since Catch is easy, very quick, flexible (I can also save sound recordings and photos), and works on a PC, iphone, and Android, then its my best choice.
  • Firefox. I initially resisted putting Firefox on Android, but once I started using Firefox sync, I decided to try it. The biggest problem I find is that its much slower to load (compared to the built-in webkit browser). However, once you get used to it (it has slide-out bars on the right and left), its actually very powerful and flexible.
  • Barcode scanner. Although I don’t use it much, its great to be able to whip out my phone and scan a 1D or 2D (QR-code) barcode. Its simple, and it works.
  • Clinometer. This uses the accelerometer to measure the inclination of the phone in any direction. You can also change the skin to suit your needs.
  • Compass. Great for finding your cardinal directions. Like with any compass, it can get confused it you are in your car, or near most metals. But if you get lost in the South American rainforest, then you can be sure of heading in the right direction (at least for 2 hours, after which the phone batteries will run out!)
  • Elixir. This is great for tech-heads like me, where you can get all sorts of nitty-gritty information about your phone (free RAM, CPU speed, CPU usage, battery temperature, etc). But not very useful for average people.
  • Gmail (as well as Google contacts and Google calendar). This is probably my most useful set of applications (by far!). If you run a business and you deal with customers on a daily basis and you travel a bit, then this is essential for keeping your office with you at all times. Even if your phone gets destroyed, you can buy another Android or iphone, and check your mail, get customer details, and check your appointments, without missing a beat. Just make sure you use gmails imap feature, and you will never care about breaking your phone again.
  • Handycalc. Very powerful calculator, with extra add-ons for currency conversion, unit conversion, function graphing. Lots of nice functions in the one app.
  • Dropbox. This is in a similar category to the Google apps, in that you can choose what files to save to the “cloud”. So I use it for anything that I need to access from remote locations, or if I need to transfer data to someone else.
  • Keepassdroid. I have a huge number of passwords that I need to remember. Everyone has their own way of dealing with the internets password blowout. Some will try to use the same password everywhere (doesn’t always work, and you are putting all your eggs in one basket), others will write them down in a book. There might be better password safes out there, but I like keepass, as its open-source, seems to run on just about any device, and best of all, I put the database into dropbox, so I’ve always got the most recent set of passwords, without needing to copy the master password file around!
  • Sms backup+. After having lost all my saved SMS messages when my last smartphone suddenly broke down, I decided to look for something that would backup my SMS messages. Althought there is nothing like it on the iphone yet (!), I found SMS Backup+ will backup all SMS messages (incoming and outgoing), and also backup my call log (incoming, outgoing, missed calls, etc), and best of all: it saves the data to gmail, so I can read my sms messages from my PC!
  • SoundHound. To me, this is a novelty, but it has been nice to hear a song, find out what its called, get the lyrics, and then sing along (despite most people wishing I didn’t sing!). I also tried Shazam, but since it cannot be moved to the phones SD card … it then ends up using too much of my phones limited internal memory…
  • Where’s my droid. Thankfully I’ve never needed to use this for “real”, but it will allow you to send an SMS message to your phone, and it will report back either its GPS coordinates (assuming GPS is on, and the phone has a GPS lock… so that part won’t work indoors)… or it will report an approximate location based on the triangulation data from the phones cellular phone network (much more reliable, but much less accurate). Its good to keep this as a backup if you lose your phone (or it gets stolen).
  • WiFi Analyser. Its a great visual aid for diagnosing WiFi signal problems, as it shows any WiFi signals it can detect, and can do it in real-time in an easy to read graphical format… Its become an essential tool in my line of work!