How to Backup Your Data with jFileSync

Posted Aug.05, 2009 under Guides and Tips, Recommendations

Backing up data is something everyone knows should be done, but often don’t due to laziness. That is, until disaster strikes and important data is lost. Those who have experienced such a scenario quickly learn to make regular backups to prevent a re-occurrence in the future.

Even if you know you should, backing up data can be time consuming and inefficient. Many data backup programs compress archives, which both takes a long time (and much processing power) to create and also makes the data harder to retrieve at a later time should you just need a missing file or two.

This guide shows you a method to easily backup your important files using jFileSync, free software that synchronizes files between different locations. I also recommend an external hard drive. Should you happen to already have a hard drive or other place with which to perform the backup, skip down to step 2. Let’s get started!

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Scare Your Co-Workers with iPhone Air Raid Siren Ringtone

Posted Aug.04, 2009 under Everything Else

The other day, I was minding my own business when I heard what seemed to be a miniature fire alarm. I thought something was odd and went to check it out since the noise was softer than I thought it should be. I couldn’t find what it was, but shortly after it started, a co-worker came rushing out of his office saying it’s a fire alarm. We start leaving the area, but as we got further, it was obvious that the sound was only from that one area. Another co-worker went to investigate and determined it was coming from an unattended iPhone sitting on the desk.

It appears the sound that caused the commotion was the Air Raid Siren ringtone. Along with that, there are also several hundred other siren ringtones. I don’t know why it kept going off without ceasing; maybe it was an alarm or something. It certainly gave us a fright though. With the above links, you can now frighten your friends too!

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Where to Buy LCD Monitors with 0 Dead Pixels

Posted Aug.03, 2009 under Guides and Tips

Buying an LCD monitor these days is both easier and harder than ever before with much lower prices and wider selection. One thing that remains a mystery is how dead pixels are widely accepted as the norm by most manufacturer and retailer warranties. Some companies only accept exchanges or returns if the monitor has as many as 8 dead pixels, or some combination of dead and stuck pixels in certain formations. Apparently there is not enough consumer demand for perfect LCD monitors, allowing companies to get away with this for so long.

If you do demand a perfect LCD monitor with no dead pixels, there is hope. There are certain retailers that offer liberal return policies on monitors (and other items), allowing you to exchange if pixel problems should arise. Let’s take a look at some of them below.

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Firefox Downloaded Over 1 Billion Times

Posted Jul.31, 2009 under News

Mozilla’s Firefox, the world’s favorite alternative browser, has surpassed the 1 billion download mark. That’s over 1,000,000,000 times! To commemorate this achievements, Mozilla is launching a new web site called One Billion Plus You.

The download count is a cumulative total for all versions of Firefox since the beginning of time. The official download counter page writes:

We passed the 1,000,000,000 download mark for Firefox just in the past couple hours.  This number is cumulative across all of time and it includes actual user-initiated downloads (i.e., not automatic updates).

I wonder how many IE, Chrome, and Opera downloads there have been.

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Using WP Super Cache with WordPress.com Stats

Posted Jul.31, 2009 under Guides and Tips

WP Super Cache and WordPress.com Stats are two very useful WordPress plugins. WP Super Cache provides static and dynamic cache functionality to reduce the load on your blog’s server, allowing larger amounts of traffic to visit without slowing the site down. WordPress.com Stats tracks visitors and gives valuable information on how users utilize your blog. If you plan to use both of them together, you should be careful though.

The Problem

The problem arises due to WordPress.com Stats’ behavior of not recording statistics for logged-in users. This is usually desirable, since these users are most likely yourself and other blog authors. This means that when logged in, a visit to your blog does not invoke the necessary JavaScript code to update statistics.

What happens when you have WP Super Cache enabled? If you visit a page that is not cached, a cache will be generated. If you are logged in at that time, the cached page will not have the stat updating code. This page will then be served to future users, whether they are logged in or not, resulting in lost statistics. This is a problem for all statistics tracking that relies on checking if users are guests or not.

The Solution

The solution is to check the option in WP Super Cache called “Don’t cache pages for logged in users.” This will cause cached pages to always be for guests only, and thus contain the stat updating code. Be sure to clear the existing cache after enabling this option to make sure the wrongly cached pages are gone.

Of course, this is not ideal if the blog has a large user community. In such a case, a different stats package should be used anyway. Google Analytics, for example, should work just fine on cached pages as long as the JavaScript is always present.

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Prevent Firefox from Quitting When Closing Last Tab

Posted Jul.31, 2009 under Guides and Tips

Firefox 3.5 introduced a change in the way closing the last tab of a browser window is handled. Instead of turning into a blank tab, the window closes as well, much like it does in Google Chrome.

To return to the previous behavior of turning the last closed tab into a blank tab, follow these steps:

  1. Type about:config into the address bar.
  2. Accept the warning if it appears by clicking “I’ll be careful, I promise!”
  3. Find the setting for browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab. You can do this quickly by beginning to type any part of the term into the filter bar.
  4. Double-click on the browser.tabs.closeWindowWithLastTab preference to change it from true to false.
  5. Enjoy not closing the window when you close the last tab! (If it doesn’t work immediately, try restarting Firefox.)
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Building a Silent Yet Powerful PC: mATX Core i7 Edition

Posted Jul.29, 2009 under Guides and Tips

When building a computer, one often has to compromise on one of the three conflicting factors of power, noise, and price. Powerful machines are usually noisy due to the high heat output, and therefore required cooling. Advanced cooling solutions with low noise can be had, albeit at high price points. A cheaper computer tends to lack power and/or silence. These 3 tradeoffs are inherent in any computer build and is more of a problem today than ever as newer components produce more heat along with the increased power they bring.

I recently had the need to build a new computer from scratch as my main desktop PC. Finding the noise of most computers unbearable to use in a quite environment, I went through a thorough research process to select the most efficient components to balance the needs for power and silence at an affordable price point. As part of the efficiency, I also wanted to minimize the amount of physical space the computer would take up.

This guide shows you the computer parts I picked, along with alternatives I considered, with explanations on every component. Hopefully this will help you make your own choices for a silent computer to suit your needs.

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