Here’s a quick tutorial for those who use Windows Movie Maker:

Import at 640×480

If you are importing from a camcorder, you can skip this step as you are already importing at 640×480 or more.

If you are capturing from a webcam, check your capture settings. It’s most likely set to 320×240. See if you have the option to bump that up to 640×480. (Note: Some webcams don’t have this option but yours might.)

If you are using screen capture software such as CamStudio, make sure you are capturing an area that is at least 640×480 in size.

Export at 640×480

When exporting your movie to WMV format, you will first see this screen:

(click for full size)

Click the link for Show more choices…

(click for full size)

Select Other settings and choose Video for LAN (768 Kbps). This will render a 640×480 video at 30 frames per second. The resulting WMV file will look better when uploaded to YouTube.

1. Go to www.weather.com.

2. Right-click inside the “Local weather” field and select “Add a keyword for this search”

3. Enter the name as “weather.com search” and keyword as “w”, then click the “Add” button.

4. Type “w” followed by your ZIP code in the location bar then press Enter.

Ta-da! Fast weather.com report.

Using Weather Underground:

1. Go to www.wunderground.com.

2. Right-click inside the “Find” field at the top and select “Add a keyword for this search”

3. Enter the name as “wunderground.com search” and keyword as “wu”, then click the “Add” button.

4. Type “wu” followed by your ZIP code in the location bar then press Enter.

Ta-da! Fast wunderground.com report.

If that is your conundrum then take a look at this page titled “GNU Cash Business Quick Start Guide“. The name is pretty self explanatory of the content. Topics covered include:

• Setup
• Invoicing
• Receiving payments
• Moving money
• Paying bills, salaries and youself

As I stated in the my original post about GnuCash, it is an adequate replacement for QuickBooks. By no means does GnuCash do as much or have all the available add-on’s, but if number crunching an reporting is all you need, it fits the bill perfectly.

How to create a scheduled task in:

• Windows XP (this information is virtually the same in Windows 2000)
• Windows Vista
• Mac OS X Panther
• Linux (using crontab)

In addition, I found this comparison of scheduled task between Windows XP and OS X to be interesting.

Happy automating.

Well, we’ll look at some options for you.

Use It For Parts

Sometimes when you’re troubleshooting a PC, there is no better friend to have than an old PC you don’t care about too much. You can scrounge it for parts as needed. For example:

• Need to rule out whether that new video card is fried or not? Throw in your old video card from your old PC and see if you get a picture.
• Need to move/copy some data from your hard drive? You can attach your old hard drive as a slave and move data onto it.
• Did your CD drive just die? Why not take the one from your old computer?

Donate It

Just because you have no use for an old PC doesn’t mean somebody else can’t use it. Check with your local school district or local charity groups. If you’re considering something like GoodWill, make sure you call them first to see what they will accept. Sometimes they will not take old computers due to the hassle factor.

Others to check would be the National Cristina Foundation, Gifts in Kind International, or the Make a Wish Foundation.

FreeCycle It

Another option is simply to give it away. If you don’t know anybody around you who can use it, you might want to check out Freecycle.org. As their site puts it:

It’s a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (& getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It’s all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills. Each local group is moderated by a local volunteer (them’s good people). Membership is free.

You can list your computer on the site and give it to somebody in your community.

Recycle It

A much better option for disposing of an old computer than throwing it in the trash is to recycle it. Some PC vendors are actually offering to give a discount on a new purchase if you bring in your old computer for recycling. Otherwise, you might check out Earth911 and look for a local place who recycles old computers. Techsoup provides information about computer recycling as well.

If you’re going to give the computer away, you’ll want to make sure you completely clear everything off the computer for security reasons. Simply deleting files isn’t enough. Somebody who is dedicated enough can recover deleted files from the drive. You’ll want something that can wipe the files from the drive. One such option is BCWipe, from Jetico. You can also make use of set of commands on most ATA hard drives called Secure Erase.

Sell It

Lastly, you can always try to sell the computer. It is always an option, but I can’t help but wonder if it is worth the hassle. Most PCs have a horrible resale value because they go out of date and nobody wants them. However, if you offer them super cheap, you just might find a taker.

If you want to give it a try, you might check out your local newspaper, Ebay or CraigsList.

Here are a few ideas.

Learn Something New

A spare computer is an ideal toy for playing around with software that you might not want to install to your primary computer. For example, been wanting to play around with some of the various Linux operating systems? Want to give Ubuntu a try but don’t have the cahones to set up a dual boot setup on your perfectly working system?

Linux runs pretty well on older hardware, and your old PC is a perfect setup for playing around with Linux. In fact, your old computer might even run better than it ever has while running Linux. You might be surprised.

Cure a Disease

You can put your old PC onto a worldwide network by joining a distributed computing organization. What these guys do is, via the internet, connect a whole bunch of computers together and use spare CPU power to form a big supercomputer. That supercomputer could then be used toward all kinds of things such as finding a cure to Alzheimer’s and other diseases or searching for extraterrestrial life.

Options here include Folding@Home, Boinc or SETI, among others.

To get started, you’ll download their client application, install it, and designate how much of your CPU you’re willing to donate to their effort. Once in full swing, you won’t even need a monitor attached to the machine. It will need to be connected to the internet, and you can just remotely access it if necessary.

Hand It Down

One commonly done thing to do with old hardware is to spruce it up and hand it down to other members of your family, a church or any other group you’re affiliated with. Many times the person you’re giving it to doesn’t need that much horsepower to do what they need. Word processing and surfing the internet doesn’t require much of a computer.

Before you give the computer away, you’ll want to clear out your old data, clean up the drive with something like CCleaner, execute a defrag, and more or less ensure that the computer is running OK without too much excess baggage.

Create a Backup Server

If you want to safely backup your data, a good option has always been network-attached storage. You can buy network storage drives, of course. But, if you have an old PC laying around, you have what you need to create your own. It doesn’t take much of a computer to create a backup server. After all, it isn’t going to be doing much but writing to the hard drive.

To get started, just make sure the PC has a big enough hard drive to be useful as well as a network card connected to your network. Put the computer onto your network as accessible from the rest of the machines on the LAN. Then, install a backup program such as Backup Server 6.2 (freeware). There are many others available, but be sure you pick one that allows you to schedule full or incremental backups over the network.

Once its all set up, just back the computer away somewhere out of the way and let her rip.

Build a DVR (Who Needs Tivo?)

Without too much trouble, you can turn your unneeded PC into a digital video recorder. Using a PC as a DVR provides a lot more flexibility than one provided by your cable company. You also avoid the monthly fees associated with the cable company’s DVR.

To get started, you first want to clear out the old computer. Your best bet is to format it and re-install Windows XP. If the hard drive is small, go get a bigger one. The more storage you have, the better. You’re also going to need a TV tuner card. You can get an internal model or, if you’re uncomfortable installing hardware inside the box, an external model that connects via USB.

For software, you’re going to want something that is easy to use and allows you to skip commercials, pause live TV, and all the other things enjoyed by DVR users. Something like Snapstream’s Beyond TV works well. SageTV also provides a nice option. If you want to go the free route, you might want to check out Yahoo! Go.

One of the issues when moving to a new Firefox installation is how to get your saved passwords over to the new installation. These are the passwords that are saved in the browser when you hit “Remember” when Firefox asks you if you want to remember it. This is a real time saver, and it would suck to have to formulate the entire list again just because you are using a new installation of Firefox.

A few other tutorials I’ve seen on this talk about how you need to manually copy the user profile for Firefox and move it over to the new location. This is a pain in the butt.

There is an easier way.

A Free Firefox Add-On: Password Exporter

There is a free add-on available for Firefox called Password Exporter. Taken right from site:

This extension allows you to export and import your saved passwords and rejected sites between computers. Your passwords will be exported to an XML or CSV file and can be encrypted.

It works super well, too. You install it just like any other add-on. You can then use it to export your password list from the old browser installation and then import it into the new one.

The only catch I found was that where the site SAYS you can access it is not exactly where I found it. The site says “Tools -> Options -> Privacy (or Security) pane -> Import/Export Password button”. After installing this add-on, I did not have any button in that location. Now, I am using a Mac here and it is unknown whether that has something to do with it. Either way, you can still get to the same window by pulling up your add-ons list, highlighting Password Exporter and choosing “Preferences”.

Thanks go out to the add-on’s author, Justin Scott, for this fantastic time saver.

How to Do It

The easiest and most common sense way of going green is by saving energy. Obviously, all of our computing equipment requires energy. So, what things can you do to minimize your energy consumption:

• Shut down your PC when you are not using it. Obviously, there is a debate on whether this is good for your hardware or not, but speaking strictly from the viewpoint of saving energy, it is obvious that a computer that is off requires less energy than one that is running. Duh.
• Use an LCD monitor rather than a CRT. Most of us are probably using LCDs today anyway, but if you are using a CRT, consider switching. LCDs use less energy than CRTs. You can easily tell simply from the amount of heat a CRT produces.
• Use computer hardware that is Energy Star 4.0 compliant. The 4.0 standard is current as of July and places new limits on the amount of energy the hardware can use when asleep. It also requires 80% efficiency in the internal power supply.
• Use the power management settings on your computer to shut hardware down when not in use. For example, have it put your monitor to sleep when not in use. A monitor which is asleep (but still on) uses much less energy than one displaying a picture. Screen savers make absolutely no difference.
• You can buy computers built from recycled components. This doesn’t mean you’re using old hardware - just that they used the material of old hardware to make brand new stuff. Cans and bottles aren’t the only thing that is recyclable.
• Likewise, buy computers that are devoid of toxic materials such as lead and mercury.
• Rather than throwing away old computer equipment, recycle it.
• Use refillable inkjet cartridges on your printer.
• Use a "smart" power strip which detects whether the computer is running and, if not, will shut down all other peripherals attached to the strip.
• Use a pre-built computer. Most computers built by vendors run cooler and quieter than custom built PCs. Many custom built PCs, for example, use fans that are not exactly matched to the processor and/or run at full speed all the time. This makes the custom built PC typically louder than normal. A PC manufacturer, on the other hand, usually couples parts quite well and their computers usually run quite well.  It is a matter of preference, of course. There are benefits to building your own PC, however just realize that it isn’t exactly the "green" way to go.
• If building your own, don’t overclock. I know this goes up against the usual gamer mentality to seek as much speed as possible. But, overclocked processors require more energy and produce more heat.

Your computer can also help you safeguard the environment in other ways:

• Get your news online. If you are a news junkie, you can get your news faster and easier online anyway. But, by not getting your local newspaper, you are saving a tree somewhere.
• Pay your bills online. Less paper.
• Buy gifts online. Not only is it convenient, but it saves the energy of driving your car all over town.
• Promote stay-at-home, virtual employees and virtual assistants. Not only is it very often a workable business model to allow employees to work from home, but it saves all the gas of driving to work.

Is This All Necessary?

Personally, I am not your classic tree hugger. I do think there is global warming, however I most certainly question the fact that human beings are the cause of it. I think the core of the environmental movement is made up of people who, consciencely or unconsciously, think human beings are the scourge of the earth and that we should all just die and go away. They say enough that makes sense that it gets a lot of good, honest people onboard. So, facts are not always facts when it comes to "going green". There is an awful lot of falsehood paraded around as facts, all with an air of inevitability.

That said, let’s just use common sense. I know nobody who is anti-environment. I like to breathe. I like the fact that the sky is blue. So, simply coming from the world of technology, I see the above items as things that can be done in our own lives to help out. Its easy and, in our own personal ways, it is a way to help take responsibility for an important issue. While you’re at it, you’ll likely save some money.

For example, do you have an old Windows XP installation CD? How could you somehow combine Service Pack 2 in with your original installation disc to create a hybrid Windows XP SP2 installation CD? Or perhaps you want to combine several drivers, patches and other updates into a single installation procedure.

This is slipstreaming.

How To Slipstream an XP SP2 Installation Disc

Creating a slipstream is a little bit more involved than some things, but it isn’t too bad. If you are creating a Windows XP SP2 slipstream, there is actually a free tool that can help you out. It is called Autostreamer. You’ll need to find it on various third party download sites, but here are a few links for you to get it:

• Softpedia.com - Autostreamer
• FileForum - Autostreamer
• Major Geeks - Autostreamer

The program will give you a wizard to automate the slipstream. You tell it whether you want to use a Windows CD or the i386 folder on your hard drive. You then point it to the Service Pack 2 file (you will need to download this separately as a single install file). It will then create the slipstream and output an ISO file which you can then burn to a CD.

If you want to get an idea for what is actually happening here, here is the rough outline of how you would do it manually:

1. Copy the entire contents of your Windows XP installation CD to a folder on your hard drive. For sake of demonstration, make this folder name “xp” on your C drive. Note that your installation CD must be either a retail or upgrade version of the OS. You cannot make this work with an OEM version.
2. Download the Service Pack 2 installation package.
3. Create another folder on your hard drive called “sp2″. Put the file you just downloaded into this folder.
4. Open up the command prompt and navigate to the “sp2″ folder. Extract the SP2 installation file using the following command: “xpsp2.exe -x:C:\sp2″. You will see a dialog box while it extracts. When done, you will see a new folder in the “sp2″ folder called “i386″. This contains the extracted files for SP2.
5. Combine the two folders. In the command prompt, navigate to the “i386/update” folder just extracted. Then, run the command: “update -s:c:\xp”. This will slipstream the SP2 files into the XP installation files.
6. Next, you need to make a bootable CD. Generally, people use an ISO program like ISO Buster to do this. While this is trialware, you can use the free features to do what you need. In ISOBuster, select the “folder” called “Bootable CD” with the XP installation disc in your CD drive still. You will see a file called “Microsoft Corporation.img”. From the menu, choose “Extract Microsoft Corporation.img” and extract it to “C:\xp”.
7. Next, eject the XP installation CD and put in a blank, recordable CD. Use a CD burning program of your choice to burn the entire contents of the “XP” folder to the CD. It is important that you have the program specifically create a bootable CD. You will probably need to specifically select the above referenced IMG file as the bootable file. Now all CD burning programs are capable of doing this. The latest version of Nero Burning ROM can do it for you.
8. You’re done!

What, You Want More?

You can do a lot more with slipstreaming than just integrating a service pack. You can also integrate your own custom drivers as well as applications into the installation process, thereby creating one install CD that does it all for you. However, it goes get more involved than above do do this. In fact, it gets so involved that I just assume throw some links at you to get you going rather than type it myself.

• Unattended Windows - a great and very detailed tutorial on create some very fancy slipstreams.
• nLite - An application that helps automate the creation of more advanced slipstream CDs.
• InstallRite - allows “application cloning” to make it easy to re-distribute full applications. Will make it easier to slipstream apps into your installation CD.

Slipstreaming is likely not going to be your everyday computing task, but it can come in handy sometimes.

By default, Windows Vista is going to interrupt you whenever you try to do almost ANY system change. This is called User Account Control, or UAC.

It is going to fade out the screen and ask you to confirm your wish to proceed. And in almost all cases, OF COURSE you want to proceed. So, very quickly, this becomes nothing but a sheer annoyance.

Windows XP does not do this. Other operating systems like OS X and Ubuntu are much smarter about this and only ask you for an account password at times when you are changing a core setting in some way. In my opinion, Microsoft simply overdoes it. And they do not require a password, so it begs the question: “Just how secure is this anyway?”. But, I’m not going to try to answer that. I’m just going to tell you how to make it stop.

1. Open up the Vista control panel
2. Search for “User Account”.
3. You’ll see the link for “Turn User Account Control (UAC) on or off”. Click that.
4. Uncheck the box that says “Use User Account Control *UAC) to help protect your computer.
5. Click OK.
6. Reboot.

When you’re done, Windows Vista will be much less annoying.

It goes without saying that Microsoft doesn’t want you to do this. This annoyance is part of their security strategy. They’ll drive the point home to you by showing a big red X in your taskbar. It may even bug you from time to time with balloon popups. You can stop that, too, by doing the following:

1. In the Control Panel, go to Security Center.
2. On the left side, go to “Change the way Security Center alerts me”.
3. Choose “Don’t notify me and don’t display the icon (not recommended).

And there you go. If you are computer literate, then these popups are just annoying. Now, if you are helping out with the PC of somebody who is NOT computer literate, perhaps you may want to leave this in place. While it is annoying, it can help keep the computer newbie out of trouble at times.