Wordpress : Embed YouTube movies

You've probably noticed that using YouTube or some other embedded video with a Wordpress blog doesn't work.

Even in HTML mode Wordpress messes up the code, here is a way to work around this.

How to fix the Wordpress YouTube embedded video problem

1. Login to the Wordpress Admin Menu


2. Click Users


3. Click Your Profile in the sub-menu


4. Uncheck "Use the visual editor when writing"


5. Click "Update Profile" to save your settings.

You are now ready to make a Wordpress post using embedded videos like YouTube.

Blogger : Flag a Blog

So you've found a blog you want to flag but alas, it has no Blogger toolbar or the Blogger flag button is missing.

There is an easy fix for this.

The command that flags the blog is this : javascript:toggleFlag();

If you copy -> paste that into the address bar and press enter once it will flag the blog. If you press it twice it will unflag the blog, three times reflags the blog and so on.

---

Make your own Blogger Flag Button

You can add a favorite to your browser tool bar
that can act as a flag button for any blog.

Remember only click the button once
if you click it twice it will un-flag the blog

---

Blogger Flag Button In Firefox

1. Right click next to the word Help at the top of the browser window, make sure Bookmark Toolbar has a check next to it.



2. Right click on the bar below the address bar, in the drop down menu the second option should be New Bookmark, click it



3. Type Flag for the name and put javascript:toggleFlag(); for the location.

You now have your own Blogger Flag button :)

---

Blogger Flag Button In Internet Explorer

1. Right click next to the word Help at the top of the browser window, make sure Links has a check next to it.



2. Click Favorites at the top, chose Add to Favorites.



3. Erase the current name and type Flag, click Create In and chose Links, press ok. You should now see a new button called Flag on the toolbar.



4. Right click the Flag button and chose Properties.
   



5. Change the location to javascript:toggleFlag(); and press ok. If it gives you an error message chose Yes.

You now have your own Blogger Flag button :)

Motorola V180 Hacking

With a little help from a USB data cable and P2kman you can easily add new pictures and ringtones to your Motorola V180.

You need the following things :

1. Motorola V180



2. Mini USB data cable - a lot of MP3 players and Digital cameras use these cables too



3. Drivers so the Motorola V180 can talk to Windows [ you must register - it's free ]


4. P2kman is the program you use to add and remove files from your V180 [ you must register - it's free ]

---

Adding Pictures

Note : You can not upload regular size pictures. The pictures must be small or the phone won't show them correctly.

You can use the web site like PXN8, Resize Pic or these others to resize your images easily online.

The size I use is something like this or smaller :



At this point you must have :

a) the drivers installed

b) p2kman installed

c) be able to see your phone and its files in p2kman ( try clicking Update List if your phone is listed )

1. Click pictures on the left side.



2. Click the button PC >>> Phone



3. Find the picture you want to add, click on them [ hold the CTRL key while you click to chose multiple pictures ] and click Open. P2kman may freeze for a few seconds when you add files, this is ok.



4. In the bottom of p2kman you will see a status message like :

File upload... /a/mobile/pictures/picture.jpg ok

Now in your My Media section you should see the new picture. The picture can now be used as the wallpaper for the main screen, a picture to for one of your contacts and whatever else.

---

Adding Ringtones

Use p2kman to add the small audio files (wav, midi, mp3, polyphonic) to the audio directory.

At this point you must have :

a) the drivers installed

b) p2kman installed

c) be able to see your phone and it's files in p2kman (try hitting update list if your phone is listed)

1. Click audio on the left side.



2. Click the button PC >>> Phone



3. Find the audio files you want to add, click on them [ hold the CTRL key while you click to chose multiple files ] and click Open. P2kman may freeze for a bit when you add files, this is ok.



4. In the bottom of p2kman you will see a status message like :
   

File upload... /a/mobile/audio/IheartYou.mp3 ok

It is very important that you do the following

If you do not do this your ring tones will not show up

1. Click the file TempToneDB.db - click the button Delete File(s)



2. Click the file MyToneDB.db - click the button Delete File(s)



3. Turn off your phone - then turn it back on.
   

Now your ring tones will show up in your phone. If the audio files was named , "Ringtone5.mp3" then the ring tone will show up as "Ringtone5" in your phone.

Secure Your PC aka Make Windows Suck Less

Updated : 3/25/2007

Popups ? Spyware ? Adware ? Viruses ?

If this is you then life probably sucks. But wait, there's good news !

There are a whole range of free software programs to help you rid Windows of these annoying things.

My personal favorites go like this :

Firewall
Keep the bad guys out & restrict internet access to bad programs

ZoneAlarm [ free version ]

Anti-Virus
Nuke most known viruses with no problems + free updates + email scanning

AVG Antivirus

SpyWare / AdWare removal
Detects and removes most known spyware / adware

AdAware [ free version ]

AVG Anti-Spyware [ free version ]

Web Browser
Helps keeps evil web pages from messing with your PC

Firefox - more secure than Internet Explorer

CustomizeGoogle - nice extension for Firefox with a lot of extra Google options !

Opera - an excellent web browser which has been around for a long time

Popup Blocker
Keeps most popups away

Yahoo Toolbar

Proxy Network
Your internet data is bounced anonymously around the world keeping your ID private (hopefully)

Tor

Media Player
Less is more.

VLC Media player

Secure WebMail
Web based email that's "totally secure".

HushMail

Secure Operating Systems
Windows really isn't that secure :-(

Puppy Linux Live CD

Does not need to be installed - runs from a CD.
Comes with lots of programs.
Very fast.

Ubuntu Linux

More secure than Windows and totally free.

OpenBSD

Often called the most secure OS also totally free.

Note : There are hundreds of other free versions of Linux and BSD. Including a lot of other live cds which don't need to be installed and run from a CD.

Cingular Sucks

The situation with Cingular is getting out of control. Their service is so bad I want to throw the phone through a window.

This isn't my first rant about Cingular and I'm sure it wont be my last. You may be thinking, "just change services". You better believe the moment I can afford to get a new cell phone service I'm switching.

I've come to realize something about advertising - if a company claims one thing then you can be fairly sure the opposite is true.

Case in point : Cingular Wireless - "More bars in more places" , "fewest dropped calls".

Oh my god how I wish this were true !

I currently use two phones with Cingular (both on the same number - I just swap the SIM card) a Motorola V180 and a Siemens C56. The V180 is about a $100 - $200 dollar phone depending on where you get it and the C56 is a little bit older but still goes for about $50 or so. Both phones are of decent quality and in the past have done a good job.

I used both of them with AT&T Wireless before they became "partners" with Cingular and life was just grand then. I had about 75% less problems with my service when it was just AT&T Wireless. Since then Cingular has "upgraded" my service to full blown sucking.

I live in the fourth largest city in America.

You'd think if there were anywhere in America you could get awesome cell phone coverage and reception it'd be in a major market like this. Surely a huge cell phone company would be dying to dump truck loads of money into their network to make sure their customers got quality coverage.

So what is my cell phone coverage like ?

• About 35% or more of my calls drop.
• About 95% of my calls break up and I miss a few words occasionally.
• About 65% of my calls break up so bad that occasionally I only hear every other syllable.

This of course includes calls made to land lines - so we know the problem isn't with the other persons cell phone or cell phone service.

I use to think the problem was my Motorola V180. But since then I've started using my Siemens C56 a lot more and it gets the exact same problem so we know the problem is not the phone.

Personally I hope the entire Cingular Wireless company goes bankrupt. I'm so sick of their service it is beyond belief. I literally feel like I'm talking over a can-and-string network or that I'm hiding in a hole somewhere in Iraq trying to make a call as F-16 fighter jets fly over head.

At least that would make sense.

If I lived in a 2nd or 3rd world country I'd totally expect my cell phone coverage to suck and I'd be OK with that. But to have the absolute worst cell phone coverage of my entire life while living in the fourth largest city in America ?

That makes no sense at all.

Technorati Tags  
[ Cingular ]
[ Cingular sucks ]

Windows Live Spaces

Watch out MySpace - here comes Microsoft and it looks like they aren't playing around.

Microsoft launched Windows Live Spaces recently and I must say I am impressed. And I'm not one of those die hard Microsoft fans, in fact for the most part I dislike them. However I give credit where it's due and Microsoft has earned it.

Microsoft has chosen to enter the "social networking site" game and they picked a great time. MySpace has really been dropping the ball as of late - most recently with their much complained about site failure due to a power outage.

So tonight I browsed on over to the Windows Live Spaces page and decided to make my own page since I already have a Hotmail account. It took me all of about 5 minutes to get my page exactly how I wanted it.

The process was quick, painless and included some nice features. Unlike MySpace where you are required to enter code on your own to change how your page looks Windows Live Spaces uses a drag and drop feature, simple theme switcher, easy list maker and a "smart" book list and a lot of other features. No geek knowledge required boys and girls , big thumbs up to Microsoft.

What do I mean by "smart" book list ? Well it goes like this :

You enter the book name, author name, ISBN and the Amazon link then Windows Live Spaces goes and fetches a thumbnail of the book to place in your page.

The drag and drop profile editor is especially nice. I can easily drag around content boxes to get the look I want - this is very hard to do on MySpace.

On to the themes - there are 11 theme categories to chose from which contain well over 50 themes you can easily select from.

Windows Live Spaces also includes a neat little gadget called "Updated Space". The updated spaces box shows a world map with little dots indicating where users are who are updating their Windows Space page. A simple click on the icon and you're instantly transported over to their Windows Spaces page to view their profile - very nice indeed.

If there was ever a time for MySpace to get serious this is it - no more playing around. Microsoft is a big hitter, they have the money, network, affiliates and know how to get the job done right. And given that social networking is the new sliced bread I bet Microsoft is going to take their Windows Live Spaces project very seriously.

Wake up MySpace - play time is over !

Personally I'd love to see Google enter the social networking site game. I think they could give Microsoft and MySpace a good run for their money which in the end leaves us with better, faster, cooler social networking sites to waste our time on.

Keep in mind this new Windows Live Spaces service offers a lot more features than I've listed here, this is just the general overview per my experience tonight.

Technorati Tags
[ Windows Live Spaces ]
[ MySpace ]

Cricket Cell Phone Service

Updated : Dec 28th 2006

Maybe you've heard of Cricket, they're the cell phone company with insane prices like $45 dollars a month for unlimited everything plus you don't need a contract.

So what's the catch ?

You pay full price for the cell phone.

Cricket currently offers 9 cell phones ranging in price from $100 to $300.

Note : Cricket changes their phone information often - please click the phone model to see their current phones and prices. Some phones are not listed until you enter your location !

• Phone Name -------- $Store Price / $Web Price
  

Kyocera models :

• KX9e ------------------- $120 / $100
• Slider Remix ------ $200 / $179
• Xcursion ------------- $180 / $160
• Candid II ------------- $140 / $120

Motorola models :

• w315 ---------------- $140 / $120
• RAZR V3C -------- $280 / $260

UTStarcom models :

• CDM7025 --------- $120 / $100

Nokia models :

• 6165i ---------------- $200 / $180
• 6256i ---------------- $300 / $280

Your plan only includes calls made from your "home calling area"

What does this mean to you ? Here's how Cricket explains it in their "Terms of Service" :

(e) Cricket Rate Plans, upgrades, and service enhancements require outgoing calls be made from within your home calling area. If calls are made outside your home calling area, the call may not go through and you may be charged additional fees, surcharges, regulatory charges, taxes, and other amounts.

Please read the Crickets Terms of Service carefully because there is A LOT of important stuff in there that will effect you and may end up costing you money.

Conclusions

The Cricket prices look too good to be true because they are too good to be true !

Yes there is no contract.
Yes the calling plan prices are great.
No you will not get a great deal on a phone.
No this will not work like a regular cell phone service.

So if you plan on using Cricket mobile be aware that when you go out of town things may get a bit tricky !

Technorati Tags
[ Cricket ]
[ Cricket Cell Phone Service ]

What's up with MySpace ?

Never in all of my web browsing experience have I come across a site with so many errors. It seems I can't go more than a few pages before encountering some form of a MySpace error. Most disturbingly I don't even use MySpace during peak hours - I use it from about 2am CST on. Right now it's about 6:30am CST and I'm watching MySpace spit out DLL errors and the infamous :

Sorry! an unexpected error has occurred.

This error has been forwarded to MySpace's technical group.

Well if that's the case the MySpace technical group must get 35 million emails everyday. Why is it MySpace can't get things working right ? Is it a lack of money (doubtful) ? A lack of desire ? A like of ability ?

Surely there are 10,000 technology companies who are dying to get part of the MySpace pie. So how is it that for months on end MySpace just can't seem to get the job done.

MySpace has turned into Microsoft

They think we need them more than they need us. MySpace has gotten so large that they think it's ok to just idle around and let these problems go on and on. However I'm not saying MySpace doesn't fix problems. I'm sure they fix a ton of problems.

MySpace's generic error message :

Sorry! an unexpected error has occurred.

This error has been forwarded to MySpace's technical group.

Has become the new blue screen of death for MySpace users. Everyone has seen it, it comes and goes mysteriously and most of the time you can just try again and the feature will work.

Are there not enough programmers in the world so MySpace can resolve these issues ? Right now MySpace is running two races :

1. Add new features
2. Fix broken features

MySpace needs to spend a lot more time on #1 or no one is going to be around to see #2.

The fact of the matter is that if MySpace does not even the balance out between adding new features and fixing broken features users will start migrating to their competitors.

Technorati Tags  
[ Myspace ]
[ Myspace sucks ]
[ Myspace errors ]
[ Sorry! an unexpected error has occurred ]
[ MySpace's technical group ]

So You Want a Whiz-Bang Looking Logo ?

If so you're part of a big club.

A good amount of web masters out there want a logo for their web site that looks like it was made with a SGI Prism cluster.

I can empathize with these web masters. You're merely trying to make sure your web site looks top of the line in a bid to attract and retain visitors. No harm no foul.

But let's take a look at something shall we ...

Let's take a little trip over to the Alexia Top 500 list. Now if you take a look at the current top 30 (see list below) you'll notice not a one of them has a Whiz-Bang cutting edge rendered with a SGI Prism cluster looking logo. In fact, most of the sites I go to have fairly plain looking logos.

What does it all mean ? I'll leave that one to you.

Taken @ July 14th 2006 @ 4:55 pm CST

1. Yahoo! @ http://www.yahoo.com
2. Microsoft Network (MSN) @ http://www.msn.com
3. Google @ http://www.google.com
4. Myspace @ http://www.myspace.com
5. EBay @ http://www.ebay.com
6. Microsoft Corporation @ http://www.microsoft.com
7. Live.com @ http://www.live.com
8. Amazon.com @ http://www.amazon.com
9. Passport.net @ http://www.passport.net
10. YouTube @ http://www.youtube.com
11. Blogger.com @ http://www.blogger.com
12. Google UK @ http://www.google.co.uk
13. BBC Newsline Ticker @ http://www.bbc.co.uk
14. Orkut.com @ http://www.orkut.com
15. Go @ http://www.go.com
16. Alibaba.com @ http://www.alibaba.com
17. Craigslist.org @ http://www.craigslist.org
18. CNN - Cable News Network @ http://www.cnn.com
19. The Internet Movie Database @ http://www.imdb.com
20. AOL @ http://www.aol.com
21. EBay UK @ http://www.ebay.co.uk
22. Xanga @ http://www.xanga.com
23. Flickr @ http://www.flickr.com
24. Google.ca @ http://www.google.ca
25. Friendster @ http://www.friendster.com
26.Megaupload @ http://www.megaupload.com
27. Adult Friendfinder @ http://www.adultfriendfinder.com
28. Geocities @ http://www.geocities.com
29. Hi5.com @ http://www.hi5.com
30. Comcast.net @ http://www.comcast.net

Cingular , More bars in more places

Some of you may remember this little event from recent history,

Cingular Wireless said Tuesday it would buy AT&T Wireless Services Inc. for about $41 billion, topping a rival bid from Vodafone of Britain in a deal that would create the nation's biggest mobile phone company.
...

The deal would make Cingular the largest wireless carrier, ahead of Verizon Wireless, with about 46 million subscribers.
...

The two companies said the merger will let them offer better service in 97 of the top 100 U.S. markets.

CNN

Ah the good old days when it was win win win. Here is my reality. I often spend time in and around one of the largest cities in America. How's my cell phone reception ? It sucks. More bars in more places ? I don't care how many freaking little bars I got on my cell phone , I need actual reception. Pretty little bars are doing nothing for me. I've dropped calls when my cell phone had bars.

So what's the deal ? Now Cingular and AT&T are a mega company but my cell phone service sucks. During conversations my phone cuts out entirely too much. Often times I can't go more than 5 minutes without having to ask the other person to repeat what they said. I've had calls drop while I was stationary supposedly because I lost my signal.

How ? Where did it go ? I didn't move, did the tower move ? Is the tower full ?

More bars in more places ?

Give me more and/or better cell phone towers.

Technorati Tags
[ Cingular ]
[ Cingular sucks ]
[ More bars in more places ]