Elmo Live

Time to stock up on this one for this Christmas. Let the hunting begin...

AT&T jacks up DSL price $5 per month

Looks like for California, they are raising the prices this month. For me, its Feb 15 (that's tomorrow!) Currently, Im paying $19.99 per month for DSL Express. So tomorrow they are raising it to $24.99.

So there are a couple of things you can do. Since you are going to pay $24.99 for DSL Express, you might as well upgrade now to DSL Pro for $24.99 and lock that price in for a year before they raise the price. Too bad they dont offer DSL Pro in my area :( But I found an even better deal that was mentioned in the forums. Go to the online ATT upgrade tool and it will offer you a yearly renewal of your current rate.

You can also try calling the retention department and see what they can offer you (1-877-722-3755). They offered me a credit for $10 per month for the next 6 months which was weak. But YMMV (Your mileage may vary). I just purchased the renewal using the online ATT upgrade tool and it looks like it worked. Good Luck!

Y! Live Webcam streaming

Yahoo came out with live webcam streaming and Im testing it out by streaming my webcam....

If Im online, click here to chat with me.

cornerstonetrinity.org launches!

My church has recently launched its new web site. There's not much there now, but we (web ministry group) plan to add lots of new content and exciting features throughout the year.

Disappearing Car Door

I need this installed on my car. More info.

Wishlistr

Wishlistr is a cool and easy way to create your wishlist. I love the simplicity, the design and the ajax goodness. Its a good way to keep track of what you want. Click on the MyWishlist button above to see mine. Feel free to buy me something ;)

American Express MyWishlist 2007

American Express Wishlist started today. They offer items that are like 75% off. The items change every couple of hours and some are really cool. You must have an American Express card in order to get any of the items. Its really fun trying to get stuff. I actually won the Restoration Hardware item today just to try it out. If you get through, you have to enter your American Express Card info within 2 minutes as there is a timer ticking down in real time on top of the page. Then you get another 2 minutes to fill out your billing address. Boy that was fun! So you better have your amex card in hand. Good Luck and let me know if you win anything.

UPDATE: 1/16/08
So I tried getting the 42 inch Panasonic HDTV 3 times that day. I clicked on the get it button about 1-2 seconds right before the available time and got a message saying that its already in other people's cart and that I can keep trying. So I kept clicking on that button for about 30 minutes before it finally said that it was all sold out. So in my experience, its really hard to get the good stuff on the AMEX wishlist. I guess because Im competing with thousands of other people who click on that same button all within the same second. At least AMEX handles it gracefully using Flash technology. I remember trying to get SF Giants playoff tickets online. I would get error messages or page time outs. Horrible user experience.

Black Friday 2007

Ready...set...shop!

1. Check out the Black Friday ad scans. Download the pdfs by right clicking and saving directly to your computer. I had problems opening up the pdf directly in my browser.

2. Some hardcore dude made this incredible excel sheet which all the Black Friday ads listed. Its awesome especially the use of the filters. Check out the forum for more info and the download link.

UPDATE:
11/22/07 Some Black Friday deals are already showing up online. You can use my site to track them. Good Luck!
www.fealdeals.com

Eye-Fi Wireless SD Card

I've told you before that I love anything wireless that makes life easier right? Well, here's a cool new product that will blow your mind. Okay, it might not blow your mind, but its still cool. I dont know why I never thought of it :) Currently, you download your pictures from your digital camera using a USB cable. Its not too hard, but does take time especially if you take a lot of pics. Anyways, if your digital camera uses an SD card, you're in luck. With the Eye-Fi Wireless SD Card, you can wirelessly transfer your pics to your computer. Of course you will need to have an existing wireless home network. But who doesnt? :) One thing that I try to do is use my wireless network for everything. Right now, I have my Tivo, Wii, and laptop connected. And later on Ill add on more wireless enabled electronics. Centralizing all of your wireless products to your computer home network makes things much easier. Not only can you control things via your computer, but it can also enable these products to be online which is really powerful. Whoa, how I digress. Anyways, back to the Eye-Fi. So from reading the reviews, it looks like it automatically syncs when the card is in range of your home network. Cool! In otherwords, you can transfer your pictures without even thinking about it. All you have to do is turn on your digital camera and be in range of your router. GENIUS!

More Info

Free Tech Support Question #1

Do you have questions about computers, software, networking, or the Internet?
Any problems or issues? Want some recommendations?

Let me see if I can help. Depending on how many responses I get, Ill choose one to answer.
You can ask a question by posting a comment to this posting. Try to be as SPECIFIC as possible. Ask away!

ANSWERED!
Since I only received 2 questions and they are quite similar I will answer them both.

Question #1:
John said...
How do I tell if any of my picture files has a virus in it? My computer is slow starting up but I didn't install programs to start immediately at boot-up. I notice that when I format my computer, it's fast again, but once I install the pictures it becomes slow.

Answer:
"How do I tell if any of my picture files has a virus in it?"
- Its hard to know if you've been infected with a virus unless something actually goes wrong with your computer. In otherwords, you could have a virus on your computer now and you wouldnt even know it. My suggestion is to install antivirus software and perform a scan. The scan will tell you whether or not you have been infected with a virus. I have listed 3 free and good antivirus software in a previous post - http://www.rogerchew.com/2007/04/my-favorite-free-software.htm

"My computer is slow starting up but I didn't install programs to start immediately at boot-up."
- Now let's not jump to conclusions about your computer being slow to boot up and having viruses. They could be totally separate issues. You might have thought that you didnt install programs to start immediately at startup, but think again. Many software programs have tiny little helper programs that run at start up. Quicktime, Real Player, iTunes, HP printer software are to name a few. I have some tips for getting rid of programs that run at startup but Ill save that for another post.

"I notice that when I format my computer, it's fast again, but once I install the pictures it becomes slow."
- Formatting your computer is of course last resort and probably will fix 99% of your problems. You dont install pictures. I think you meant that you download pictures on your computer hard drive. Having many pictures should not slow down your computer much. The only way it would slow it down is if you had so many pictures that it takes up most of the space on your hard drive. If you start getting warnings that you are running out of hard disk space, then you probably have too many pictures on the drive. The hard drive needs a good amount of free space. The more free space that you have, the better your hard drive will perform.

Question #2
Janine said...
My computer has picked up several viruses recently, and I've cleaned them off using various software programs. The pop-ups have stopped now, but how do I know that all the viruses are gone and not embedded somewhere else? Would you recommend that I reformat the entire hard drive to be safe?

Answer:
Let's not get confused between viruses and spyware. Usually, pop ups are most likely caused by spyware. Its much easier to get infected by spyware than viruses. For viruses, you pretty much have to do something intentional like open up some .exe attachment from your email. Spyware is a different story. You can get spyware from just visiting a bad web page. In some occasions, you can have both viruses and spyware. In otherwords, you can have viruses that install more spyware on your computer and vice versa. In any case, you should install the antivirus software to scan for viruses and install antispyware software to scan for spyware. I've listed recommendations of free software on both of these in my link above. I highly recommend Spy Sweeper for removing spyware as well as protecting your computer. Its not free (annual subscription fee), but if you are always having spyware issues, its well worth it. Again, reformatting your computer is the last resort. If you have thoroughly scanned your computers with all the software I recommended and nothing is found, then I wouldnt worry too much about it.