Month: June 2010

Go to this link.. http://www.google.com/intl/en_us/help/maps/streetview/. Next, click on the “Try Street View on Google Maps”. Next, type your home address into the ‘search maps’ box. Can you see your house? Google have been very busy indeed building up the ’street view’ database. They use vehicles like the one of the right seen in Toronto. It is a regular compact sedan which at first sight looks to be set up for underwater duties. On the top is a housing which contains eight cameras, and there is a GPS box and a rangefinder just underneath. Inside the vehicle is touch screen attached … Continue reading Have you been Googled?

The latest unit added to the home network here is no longer a current model. The Toshiba L500 Satellite Pro has been replaced by the L650. This is Toshiba’s statement on the matter.. We’re sorry. The Satellite L500 Series is no longer available at most retail stores, online retailers, resellers, or ToshibaDirect.com. That’s nice. At first glance, the major difference is the processor. The new ones have T4500’s which suggests that the i3 is being pensioned off, but there is an i3 in the new product line too. This is why I was so against laptops. Nothing is replaceable. The … Continue reading I knew it would happen..

I had cause to require the services of a data recovery utility recently after having lost 2 x 100gb partitions on a SATA drive. My usual tool for this, Ontrack’s Easy Recovery Pro, does not sit well in Windows 7.   So I decided to try Data Recovery Wizard from the Easeus stable. I have used other Easeus products with great success. Todo cloned an entire installation from a failing laptop drive to a new one, recovery partition intact and working, and Partition Master is way better than struggling with Windows ‘Shrink’. This is the ‘welcome’ screen (to the right).  With … Continue reading Easeus Data Recovery Wizard

Re this article.. http://www.zdnet.com/blog/hardware/is-microsoft-pushing-stealth-updates-to-users-again-this-time-its-toolbars-/8590?tag=nl.e539 I have no toolbars running either before the last round of updates or after. The kb reference in the original article leads to this.. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/982217 “An update is available through Microsoft Update for Windows Live Toolbar, MSN Toolbar, and Bing Bar. This update fixes an issue in the homepage category functionality of these toolbars.” And this is a bad thing? Apparently, it was noticed by Firefox users who had the Bing, MSN or Windows Live toolbar running. Oh gosh, oh my.. 🙂 I don’t run toolbars because they cause more problems than they ever solve. Do … Continue reading What toolbar?

It’s ba-ack, but now exists only as a link in one of my Protopage bookmark sections, not as the default Start page.

I will start with something of a disclaimer. I use a printer which is seven years old, and a scanner of even older vintage. The printer is an aging HP DeskJet 5150, still supported even for Windows 7 64-bit, which at the time of purchase was a definite advancement over what I was using. It was/is quite fast and is economical in its use of ink, and it doesn’t dry out even though it is not used a great deal. The scanner is a Canon Lide 30  which I hardly ever use, but it is nice to have ‘just in … Continue reading Jumping through hoops..

The start page will not load and has been on and off for a few days. Normally, the Pageflakes forum is reachable but that is out too. I have bookmarks set up on it which are used daily, so its non-appearance is a pain. I have a Netvibes page set as backup but the bookmarks part has a severe error and they will not display. So now I have set up Protopage. Protopage came in third behind Pageflakes and Netvibes in a review a couple of years back. Well, it is now in 1st place by virtue of the fact … Continue reading Has Pageflakes gone for good?