Avoid Laptop Meltdowns

Laptops pack lots of processing and hard work into a small space. Keeping itself cool is of prime importance. That's why you should utilize your Power Management Options in Windows XP.

Even still, some people don't realize the other dangers of everyday laptop computing.

• Do not place your laptop on a soft surface (blanket, bed, soft chair, etc), specifically one that blocks the fan and ventilation.


• Shut down your laptop before putting it in a bag. When enclosed in a notebook bag there is no air circulation and the results can be worse than melting. This example should help you understand.

My Sox!

At the Game,
originally uploaded by kekil.

I was hoping my rare presence at the Cell would be an encouraging one, but no ... the Sox continued their slide today, losing against the Twins. The Indians have caught up from 15 games behind and are close on their tail. Maybe we should have another players' strike like in '94 when the season was cut short while they were on top.

I remember '93 and '94 when when I would listen to the Sox almost nightly on WMAQ 670. Joey Cora and Ozzie Guillen were ON the field, along with Carlton Fisk, Black Jack McDowell, Bobby Thigpen, Tim Raines, Robin Ventura and a 25 year old Frank Thomas (he's 37 now). Those were the days that kicked off my attachment to the Sox. I hope they pull through to give us some exciting playoffs this fall.

Send Large Files

Often webmail applications like Yahoo! Mail, Gmail, and Hotmail impose limitations on the size of an attachment that you can send to someone. And on the other end, receivers have limitations on what can be received, especially if you're not using an account like Gmail or Yahoo! that has at least 1GB of space. Here's where YouSendIt.com gets in the picture. Now instead of being upset about attachment size limitations or taking up unnecessary space in a recipient's inbox, you can send a large file like a Powerpoint presentation, a short video, a long song, and more.

All you do is go to the webpage, upload your file to their server (instructions are straightforward), and a link will be generated. The link will be sent automatically to your recipient, and the recipient can forward the link around if he/she wants others to have access to the file also. So you don't want to do this with highly confidential data since anyone who has access to the link can download your file. You can only send one file at a time, so it's not the best for sending multiple pictures. This is generally the best for files between larger than 5 megabytes, up to 1 GB (that's 1000 MB)! YouSendIt.com will generate a link for you. The file stays on the server for seven days.

Fraud Guides

For all you Craigslist-er's out there, beware of clicking links that are placed on random posts, especially the ones with alluring titles.

Most of these links can redirect you to undesirable websites, including sites that can install adware and spyware on your system.

Fraud Guide is a site about the different ways you can get fooled. Here's an excerpt from the phishing section:

Links within an email are deliberately disguised in another attempt to deceive the recipient. HTML emails may display a genuine URL but when clicked on the hyperlink will take the user to a different web site. For example: http://www.win-big-bucks.com? may actually take the user to the web site the scam artists wants you to go.

The consumer needs to be very careful with these hyperlinks. Even if the legitimate companies URL seems to be in the web address it may not go to that site. These new hi-tech outlaws are very manipulative and are experts at deception.

Did you watch JetBlue land?

To see this live was surreal. I can't imagine how much worse it was for the passengers and flight attendants on board who are watching the situation develop as they stare at the back of the headrest in front of them.

If you missed it, you can watch the video here.

As one passenger put it, "I thought how it must have been like on Sept. 11 watching on television and seeing the planes come toward the building."

I had just assumed that the captain would not show anything on the on-board screens. Without seeing themselves on TV, a calm captain and crew would have made the situation a lot less stressful and emotional.

Yes, the pilots should be commended on their skill of landing that aircraft. But there was definite lack of wisdom in deciding to keep their in-flight TVs on.

Do you think passengers should have been able to watch the situation unfold on their in-flight monitors? Share your comments.

Google Secure Access

Wireless networks, especially public/free ones, are not very secure. One can somewhat easily view the information you send over the internet if it's not encrypted or secure (https). This is where Google Secure Access comes in.

Google has come out with Google Secure Access. It's a Google engineer's side project (as most Google products are, because developers are given 20% of their time for side projects). After a free download, Google protects your network usage by sending all your traffic through Google's servers.

.. your internet traffic will be encrypted and sent through Google's servers to the Internet. The data that is received will then be encrypted and sent back through our servers to your computer.

It's still in beta. Seems like a good idea. Obviously there will be a lot of hoopla about privacy because Google's servers "see" your data. But there was similar hoopla about Gmail scanning emails, and it seems that hoopla has died down dramatically, though Gmail still scans emails religiously.

Born Into Brothels

The Born Into Brothels DVD is being released on Tuesday, September 20. Buy it or rent it. It's worth a watch. It gives a truer picture of children's life in the red light district than anything I've ever seen, including having friends who have been to Bombay and experienced the same things first hand. Make sure to set some time apart for afterwards to process what you've just seen.

The Levee in New Orleans, Falling Apart

It's been hard for me to grasp the enormity of what has happened in the Gulf Coast. I am such a visual person. But these have helped a lot: The Levee Break and Google Map of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina and the spot of the major levee break .

If you click on the Satellite view, you can see the "before" shot .. the Katrina button will show you an "after" shot.

I'm just being reminded more and more that the treasures of this world can be destroyed without even a hint of foreshadowing. Your heart will always be where your treasure is. If you're treasures are in the things of this world, when the world falls apart around you, you will fall apart just as easily.

Find Cheap Gas

I knew about Chicago Gas Prices before, but now the circumstances have reached preposterous proportions. I've been visiting it every day to catch the best price within a few miles from home. On an empty tank, my Pathfinder can cost me $60 easy. And that's once a week, if we're lucky. $240/month for gas!

This site takes visitor reports of gas prices in the area, and deletes it after 24 hours. Here are some standard tips for saving gas:

• Avoid High Speeds As your speed increases, your aerodynamic drag increases in an exponential fashion. Driving 62 mph (100 km/h) vs 75 mph (120 km/h) will reduce fuel consumption by about 15%.


• Do Not Accelerate or Brake Hard By anticipating the traffic and applying slow steady acceleration and braking, fuel economy may increase by as much as 20%.


• Keep Tires Properly Inflated Keep tire air pressure at the level recommended by your vehicle manufacturer. A single tire under inflated by 2 PSI, increases fuel consumption by 1%.


• Use A/C Sparingly When the air conditioner is on it puts extra load on the engine forcing more fuel to be used (by about 20%). The defrost position on most vehicles also uses the air conditioner.


• Keep Windows Closed Windows open, especially at highway speeds, increase drag and result in decreased fuel economy of up to 10%.


• Service Vehicle Regularly Proper maintenance avoids poor fuel economy related to dirty air filters, old spark plugs or low fluid levels.


• Use Cruise Control Maintaining a constant speed over long distances often saves gas.


• Avoid Long Idles If you anticipate being stopped for more than 1 minute, shut off the car. Restarting the car uses less fuel than letting it idle for this time.

Sprint's Text to Landline Service

Sprint is offering a new service called Text to Landline. I can send a text message to any home/business phone and it will get converted by those often funky text-to-voice readers.

From July 12, 2005 to October 12, 2005, Sprint PCS subscribers will be able to send a text message to a landline phone at standard domestic text messaging rates! Text messages, which are converted to voice, can be sent to any landline phone in the United States.

When the person answers his or her home phone, they will "hear" the text message you sent and can reply back to you with one of the available responses. You will also receive a text message on your Sprint PCS Phone when a response is sent back to you.

In addition, the recipient can reply with one of a few standard text messages (e.g "Yes", "No", "Thank You", "Where are you?") or can send a voice message back. If a voice message reply is sent, the Sprint PCS customer will get a text message saying "This is the reply to your Text to Landline message from [insert phone no here]. Press "Talk" to listen.

Good concept .. but there's still work to do before it catches on .. you can rarely ever understand the text readers! What do you think? If you don't have Sprint PCS, send me a text message with your office/home number so I can show you how it works.

It's a Boy!

It's a little more tangible now. Yesterday we had our final ultrasound. Within the first minute of the weird probe thing being rubbed over my wife's slippery belly, I saw it ... my son's manhood! I called it even before the radiology technician did. N and I smiled at each other and both of our minds started racing, as the technician went on to show us more of what our son is up to in the womb.

Each time I think about this pregnancy thing, it simply amazes me. N often feels like there's an alien inside her ... how would you feel if you had a two pound foreign living thing inside you? It cannot be described in words. Just ten weeks ago, he was the size of my big toe. Now he's the size of my hands (I got big ones) I know I'm going to be overwhelmed with emotion when, God-willing, our little one is in my arms. Reality is slowly setting in.

Soo .. we need to step up on finding a name! Any ideas?

Clipboard Security Flaw in IE : Lifehacker

LifeHacker pulls through again and reveals a Clipboard Security Flaw in IE. You should take a look at this!