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		<title>How to Display Facebook Fan Count in Text</title>
		<link>http://erzwan.com/how-to-display-facebook-fan-count-in-text.html</link>
		<comments>http://erzwan.com/how-to-display-facebook-fan-count-in-text.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:26:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>hongkiat</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[How-To Guides]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[count]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[fan]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[text]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/?p=7695</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
Adding a Facebook Like Button on your website or blog is perhaps one of the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><!--INFOLINKS_OFF--></p>
<p>Adding a Facebook <a href="http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like">Like Button</a> on your website or blog is perhaps one of the easiest and most effective way to get more fans and earn more <em>likes</em>. If you have hundreds, thousand or perhaps tens of thousand of fans, it might be a good idea to publish a <strong>fan count</strong>. <strong>Fan count displays in numeric text total fans your Facebook page has</strong>, or rather, how many have <em>liked</em> your page.</p>
<p class="center"><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/facebook_fancount/preview.jpg" width="500" height="367" alt="facebook fancount" title="How to Display Facebook Fan Count in Text" /></p>
<p>The technique is simple and very similar to <a href="http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/display-google-feed-subscriber-count-in-text/">displaying Google feedcount in text</a>. The only difference is &#8211; we will be using <a href="http://developers.facebook.com/">Facebook&#8217;s API</a>. In this post, we want to show you how it can be done so you can add them into your <strong>Wordpress</strong> blog or <strong>PHP</strong> powered website. Load up your favorite code editor, here we go.</p>
<p><span id="more-7695"></span></p>
<h4>Step 1 &#8211; Get API Key, Application Secret &amp; Page ID</h4>
<p>These are the three mandatory information you&#8217;ll need to get things started.</p>
<p><strong><em>API Key and Application Secret</em></strong></p>
<ol>
<li>Sign in to your <a href="http://www.facebook.com">Facebook</a> and click on <a href="http://www.facebook.com/developers?ref=bookmarks">Developer</a>&#8217;s link on the site bar. (If you don&#8217;t have a Developer&#8217;s account, you will have to <a href="http://developers.facebook.com/">sign up</a> for one first)
<p class="center"><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/facebook_fancount/facebook-developer-link.jpg" width="176" height="154" alt="facebook developer link" title="How to Display Facebook Fan Count in Text" /></p>
</li>
<li>Click &quot;<strong>Set Up New Application</strong>&quot;. Enter any application name, agree to the Facebook terms and click <strong>&quot;Create Application</strong>&quot;. <strong>Note:</strong> We are not going to create a real application, but we&#8217;ll need to go through these processes to get a <strong>API Key</strong> and <strong>Application Secret</strong>.<br />
  <img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/facebook_fancount/create-application.jpg" width="500" height="146" alt="create application" title="How to Display Facebook Fan Count in Text" />  </li>
<li>On the next page, you should be able to see your personal <strong>API Key</strong> and <strong>Application Secret</strong>. Copy it down somewhere or leave the browser window open.<br />
  <img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/facebook_fancount/api-key.jpg" width="500" height="171" alt="api key" title="How to Display Facebook Fan Count in Text" />  </li>
</ol>
<p><strong><em>Page ID</em></strong></p>
<p><strong>Page ID is the ID of your Facebook Fan Page</strong>. If you don&#8217;t have a Facebook Fan page, you&#8217;ll have to first create one. To get the ID of your Fan page, click <em>edit page</em>, and look for your ID (numbers) at the end of the URL &#8211; <code>http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/?id=<strong>XXXXXXXXX</strong></code></p>
<h4>Step 2 &#8211; Get <code>Facebook.php</code></h4>
<p>You&#8217;ll also need the <strong>Facebook API PHP SDK</strong> file called <code><a href="http://github.com/facebook/php-sdk/blob/master/src/facebook.php">Facebook.php</a></code>. Download it, and place it in the root of your folder. <a href="http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/how-to-display-facebook-fan-count-in-text/Official%20PHP%20SDK"><em>Learn more</em></a><em> about <strong>Facebook PHP SDK</strong>.</em></p>
<p><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/facebook_fancount/php-sdk.jpg" width="500" height="216" alt="php sdk" title="How to Display Facebook Fan Count in Text" /></p>
<h4>Step 3 &#8211; Display Fancount</h4>
<p>To show off your fancount, place the following code in your php file,</p>
<pre name="code" class="php">
&lt;?php
require_once('facebook.php');
$facebook = new Facebook(array(
    'appId'  =&gt; 'app_id',
    'secret' =&gt; 'secret_key',
    'cookie' =&gt; true,
));
$result = $facebook-&gt;api(array(
    'method' =&gt; 'fql.query',
    'query' =&gt; 'select fan_count from page where page_id = page_id;'
));
$fb_fans = $result[0]['fan_count'];
?&gt;
</pre>
<p>And then you will want to edit the codes to change the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>Line 4 &#8211; Replace <span class="php"><code>app_id</code></span> with your <strong>Facebook Application ID</strong>.</li>
<li>Line 5 &#8211; Replace <span class="php"><code>secret_key</code></span> with <strong>Secret</strong>.</li>
<li>Line 10 &#8211; Replace the last <code>page_id</code> with your <strong>Facebook Fanpage ID</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<p>Please refer to <em><strong>Step 1</strong></em> on how to get <span class="php"><code>app_id</code></span>, <span class="php"><code>secret_key</code></span> and <code><span class="php">page_id</span></code>.</p>
<p>To display the fancount, insert this following code anywhere in the page:</p>
<pre name="code" class="php">
&lt;?php echo $fb_fans; ?&gt;
</pre>
<p>That&#8217;s all. Style your fancount and make it attractive. See a working example on <a href="http://www.psdeluxe.com/">Psdeluxe</a>&#8217;s top right corner.</p>
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		<title>9 Essential Tips To Speed Up Windows 7</title>
		<link>http://erzwan.com/9-essential-tips-to-speed-up-windows-7.html</link>
		<comments>http://erzwan.com/9-essential-tips-to-speed-up-windows-7.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Jun 2010 14:30:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>hongkiat</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[How-To]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/?p=7670</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
The Microsoft Windows 7 operating system has been designed for delivering better speeds than its [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><!--INFOLINKS_OFF--></p>
<p>The Microsoft Windows 7 handling complement has been written for delivering improved speeds than a predecessors. However, <strong>as time passes by, a laptop/PC competence lend towards to get slower</strong>. This is not just a error of a OS. As a have a disproportion of fact, it is a usual complaint faced by most handling systems.</p>
<p><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/windows_7_performance_tips/windows-7.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="windows 7 performances tips" title="9 Essential Tips To Speed Up Windows 7" /></p>
<p>The vital reasons for this have been accumulation of junk in a complement or a rarely pressed tough expostulate or regulating of as great most nonessential services as great as programs. Here we common a couple of compulsory tips which can assistance <strong>speed up Windows 7 opening upon laptops or computers.</strong> Hope it helps!</p>
<p><span id="more-7670"></span></p>
<h3>Visual as great as Sound Related</h3>
<h4>1. Using minimal Visual Effects</h4>
<p>Disabling sure (or all) visible goods can unequivocally raise performance. To invalidate visible effects, do a following:</p>
<ol>
<li>Press <strong>Windows</strong> pass as great as whilst land it down, press <strong>Pause</strong>/<strong>Break</strong> key.</li>
<li>In a window which appears, click upon <strong>Advanced</strong> complement settings in a left side pane.</li>
<li>In a <strong>Advanced</strong> tab, underneath <strong>Performance Section</strong>, click upon <strong>Settings</strong></li>
<li>In a <strong>Performance Options</strong> window (refer figure) which appears, underneath <strong>Visual Effects</strong> tab, invalidate a options which we do not need. Or simply selecting &#8216;<strong><em>Adjust for most appropriate performance</em></strong>&#8216; will invalidate all options.</li>
<li>After disabling a option, click <strong>Apply</strong> as great as afterwards <strong>OK</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<p>Doing a upon top of competence have a shade reduction attractive. But, a opening will certainly get a boost.</p>
<p class="center"><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/windows_7_performance_tips/performance-options.jpg" width="350" height="504" alt="performance options" title="9 Essential Tips To Speed Up Windows 7" /></p>
<h4>2. Using minimal Sound Effects</h4>
<p>For disabling receptive to advice effects, do a following:</p>
<ol>
<li>Click <strong>Start</strong>. In a poke box sort <em>mmsys.cpl</em> as great as press <strong>Enter</strong></li>
<li>In a <strong>Sound</strong> window (refer figure) which appears click upon <strong>Sounds</strong> tab</li>
<li>Set a <strong>Sounds</strong> intrigue to &#8216;<em><strong>No Sounds</strong></em>&#8216;</li>
<li>You could set usually a compulsory sounds if indispensable in a <strong>Program Events</strong>, by selecting a specific eventuality as great as afterwards selecting a receptive to advice from a <strong>Sounds</strong> drop-down menu below.</li>
<li>You can as great invalidate a &quot;<strong><em>Play Windows Startup sound</em></strong>&quot; option.</li>
<li>After a settings have been done, click <strong>Apply</strong> as great as <strong>OK</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<p class="center"><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/windows_7_performance_tips/sounds.jpg" width="320" height="355" alt="sounds 9 Essential Tips To Speed Up Windows 7"  title="9 Essential Tips To Speed Up Windows 7" /></p>
<h3>Software as great as Services related</h3>
<h4><strong>1. Run a devoted Anti-Virus program</strong></h4>
<p><strong>Ensure which we have a great anti-virus module commissioned upon your laptop/computer.</strong> This will safeguard which no malware or spyware gets planted in your system. Without such insurance software, there have been chances of third celebration malware as great as pathogen being commissioned or stored upon your system, causing damaging goods as great as additionally eating up altered space. </p>
<h4><strong>2. Install usually compulsory software</strong></h4>
<p><strong>Ensure which we implement usually which module which we need.</strong> If we implement any hearing module as great as find out which we don&#8217;t unequivocally need it, uninstall as great as undo it immediately. Else, they competence sow altered hoop space, RAM as great as processor cycles. If you&#8217;ve commissioned a software, which we have been incompetent to get absolved of, as great as which is hampering a normal functioning of your laptop, afterwards we competence have to format your tough drive. Be wakeful which formatting your tough expostulate competence clean out all your data. Therefore it is most appropriate we take a fill-in prior to starting forward with formatting. </p>
<h4><strong>3. Disable or have unneeded services Manual</strong></h4>
<p>Some processes as great as services, which competence not unequivocally be necessary, have been by default finished to begin automatically once a complement starts up. They will devour RAM as great as a processor&#8217;s attention, negligence down alternative critical tasks. It is most appropriate to invalidate them. For this, do a following:</p>
<ol>
<li>Click <strong>Start</strong>. In a poke box sort <em>services.msc</em> as great as press <strong>Enter</strong></li>
<li>Go to <strong>Services &amp; Applications</strong> &gt; <strong>Services</strong>. You&#8217;ll see a <strong>Services</strong> window (refer figure).</li>
<li>Right-click upon a operate which we instruct to set to primer or disable. If a operate is already started, <strong>Stop</strong> it first.</li>
<li>Once a operate is stopped, again right-click upon it as great as name <strong>Properties</strong>.</li>
<li>In a <strong>Startup</strong> type, we can possibly set a operate to <strong>Manual</strong>, if we would be regulating it later, or <strong>Disable</strong> it, if not needed.</li>
<li>Once done, we can tighten a window.</li>
</ol>
<p class="center"><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/windows_7_performance_tips/services.jpg" width="466" height="347" alt="services 9 Essential Tips To Speed Up Windows 7"  title="9 Essential Tips To Speed Up Windows 7" /></p>
<h4>4. Disabling Unwanted Start-up programs to speed up System Start-up</h4>
<p>Some programs have been set to begin during complement start-up. These competence delayed down a start-up process. Programs which have been not unequivocally indispensable during start-up can be disabled. For this, do a following:</p>
<ol>
<li>Click <strong>Start</strong>. In a poke box sort <em>msconfig</em> as great as press <strong>Enter</strong>.</li>
<li>In a <strong>System Configuration</strong> window (refer figure), go to <strong>Startup</strong>.</li>
<li>Uncheck a box subsequent to those processes which have been not critical for start-up. This will invalidate them.</li>
<li>Once you&#8217;ve infirm a processes, click <strong>Apply</strong> as great as <strong>OK</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<p class="center"><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/windows_7_performance_tips/system-configuration.jpg" width="447" height="230" alt="system configuration" title="9 Essential Tips To Speed Up Windows 7" /></p>
<h3>Hard Drive related</h3>
<h4>1. Clean up a tough drive</h4>
<p>Remove neglected files, similar to temp files, downloaded module files, recycle bin, etc. You could operate <strong>Disk Cleanup</strong> choice to do this, as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li>Click <strong>Start</strong> &gt; <strong>All Programs</strong> &gt; <strong>Accessories</strong> &gt; <strong>System Tools</strong> &gt; <strong>Disk Cleanup</strong></li>
<li>The complement will initial work out how most space can be liberated up this way. In a <strong>Disk Cleanup</strong> window (refer figure) which appears, name a files in  which need to be deleted underneath a <strong>Files</strong> to undo list.</li>
<li>For erasure &#8216;<strong>System Restore</strong>&#8216; as great as &#8216;<strong>Shadow copy</strong>&#8216; files, click &quot;<strong>Clean up complement files</strong>&quot; as great as afterwards upon &quot;<strong>More Options</strong>&quot; tab</li>
<li>Finally click <strong>OK</strong>. You&#8217;ll be stirred again prior to a deletion. Click <strong>Yes</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<p class="center"><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/windows_7_performance_tips/disk-cleanup.jpg" width="300" height="305" alt="disc cleanup" title="9 Essential Tips To Speed Up Windows 7" /></p>
<h4>2. Enable Write caching upon device</h4>
<p>This is an choice which allows a OS to wash out altered interpretation to a tough hoop when a complement is idle, so which opening is not influenced when in use. For enabling this, do a following:</p>
<ol>
<li>Press <strong>Windows</strong> pass as great as whilst land it down, press <strong>Pause</strong>/<strong>Break</strong> key.</li>
<li>In a window which appears, click upon <strong>Device Manager</strong> in a left palm pane.</li>
<li>In a subsequent window which appears, enhance <strong>Disk drives</strong>.</li>
<li>The drop-down list will uncover a tough drive. Right-click upon it as great as name <strong>Properties</strong>.</li>
<li>Click a <strong>Policies</strong> add-on in a <strong>Device Properties</strong> window (refer figure).</li>
<li>Check a box subsequent to &quot;<strong>Enable write caching upon a device</strong>&quot;</li>
<li>You can as great check a box subsequent to &quot;<strong>Turn off Windows write-cache aegis flushing upon a device</strong>&quot; as great as afterwards click <strong>OK</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<p class="center"><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/windows_7_performance_tips/virtual-hd.jpg" width="313" height="352" alt="virtual HD" title="9 Essential Tips To Speed Up Windows 7" /></p>
<p><strong>Note:</strong> However, there is a single waste in enabling these options – if there is a energy outage or a complement crash, interpretation competence be mislaid or corrupted. If we have a delegate energy supply, similar to a UPS, we could go forward with checking these options.</p>
<h4>3. Perform Disk Defragmentation</h4>
<p>When there is no enough space to store in a tough drive, a OS splits a record in to tools as great as stores it in opposite areas upon a tough drive. Defragmenting allows all these tools to be stored in constant mental recall locations. For defragmenting hoop do a following:</p>
<ol>
<li>Click <strong>Start</strong> &gt; <strong>All Programs</strong> &gt; <strong>Accessories</strong> &gt; <strong>System Tools</strong> &gt;<strong> Disk Defragmenter</strong></li>
<li>In a window (refer figure) which appears, click upon a expostulate which we wish to defragment as great as afterwards click <strong>Analyze disk</strong>.</li>
<li>This will guess a time compulsory for a process. When finished click upon <strong>Defragment disk</strong>.</li>
<li>Once finished we can possibly <strong>View Report</strong> or click <strong>Close</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<p class="center"><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/windows_7_performance_tips/disk-defragmenter.jpg" width="419" height="336" alt="disk defrag" title="9 Essential Tips To Speed Up Windows 7" /></p>
<p>These flattering most total up a tiny things which we can do, to have a large disproportion to your Windows 7&#8217;s performance. If we have a little personal tips you&#8217;ve finished yourself to urge a performances, we&#8217;d similar to to listen to from you.</p>
<p><!--INFOLINKS_ON--></p>
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		<title>Create HTML Signatures Right Inside Gmail</title>
		<link>http://erzwan.com/create-html-signatures-right-inside-gmail.html</link>
		<comments>http://erzwan.com/create-html-signatures-right-inside-gmail.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 06 Jun 2010 16:54:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amit</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Archives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[How-to Guides and Software Tutorials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gmail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[internet]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.labnol.org/?p=13727</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This tip describes how you can create rich HTML signatures with images in your outgoing Gmail messages. You can also have multiple signatures  per account.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This tip describes how you can create sleek and professional looking HTML signatures for your outgoing Gmail messages right inside Gmail itself without requiring any extensions or add-ons.</p>
<p><img src="http://img.labnol.org/files/gmail-html-signature.png" alt="HTML Signatures in Gmail" /></p>
<h2>HTML Signatures for your Google Email</h2>
<p>Gmail <a href="http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&amp;answer=8395" >does support</a> email signatures but the problem is that it limits you to plain text – you can’t add graphics (like your company’s logo) to the signature and there’s absolutely no support for HTML so you can’t use different font styles or colors for the signature text.</p>
<p>There are <a href="http://labnol.blogspot.com/2006/08/how-to-add-html-signatures-with-images.html">workarounds</a>. For instance, you can create an email signature in Outlook or some HTML editor and then copy-paste the whole thing to your Gmail message. Or you can get one of these <a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&amp;as_q=gmail+signatures&amp;as_epq=&amp;as_oq=&amp;as_eq=&amp;num=10&amp;lr=lang_en&amp;as_filetype=&amp;ft=i&amp;as_sitesearch=chrome.google.com/extensions/detail&amp;as_qdr=all&amp;as_rights=&amp;as_occt=any&amp;cr=&amp;as_nlo=&amp;as_nhi=&amp;safe=images" >browser add-ons</a> to create rich HTML signatures directly on the Gmail /Google Apps website.</p>
<p>There’s a third-option as well – it’s easy, it’s fun and doesn’t require extensions. Best of all, you can create multiple signatures for the same Gmail account and use them depending on who you are corresponding with.</p>
<p><span class="youtube">
<object width="540" height="330">
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pXh6sRRWbrw&amp;color1=d6d6d6&amp;color2=f0f0f0&amp;border=0&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;showsearch=0?rel=0" />
<param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" />
<embed wmode="transparent" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pXh6sRRWbrw&amp;color1=d6d6d6&amp;color2=f0f0f0&amp;border=0&amp;fs=1&amp;hl=en&amp;autoplay=0&amp;showinfo=0&amp;iv_load_policy=3&amp;showsearch=0?rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="540" height="330"></embed>
<param name="wmode" value="transparent" />
</object>
</span></p>
<p><a href="http://www.labnol.org/tech/bird-twitter-icons/13141/" ><img src="http://img.labnol.org/di/twitter_birds_icon17_thumb.png" alt="Social Icons" align="right" /></a><strong>Gmail Signatures Step-by-Step </strong></p>
<p><strong>Step 1:</strong> Go to Gmail Settings –&gt; Labs and enable “Canned Responses” as well as “Inserting Images.”</p>
<p><strong>Step 2:</strong> Compose a new message in Gmail and create a signature just like you would compose any other email message. Be creative!</p>
<p>You can either upload logos and icons* from the computer or use images that are already on the web. I suggest the former style as that will permanently embed the image into your email signature.</p>
<p>[*] You can find images of icons through Google Image Search. Go to Advanced options under image search and type 12 for height and width (use 16px if you are looking to add slightly bigger icons). While optional, you may also select the filetype as PNG or GIF for transparent backgrounds -- <a href="http://www.google.co.in/images?as_q=twitter&amp;hl=en&amp;btnG=Google+Search&amp;as_epq=&amp;as_oq=&amp;as_eq=&amp;as_sitesearch=&amp;safe=images&amp;as_st=y&amp;tbs=isch:1,isz:ex,iszw:12,iszh:12,ift:png">see example</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Step 3:</strong> Once your happy with the formatting and layout of your new “HTML signature,” go to the Canned Response menu and Save – give some logical name like “Personal” for a signature that you want to attach to your personal emails.</p>
<p>Now whenever you are composing a new message in Gmail or replying to an existing message, just select the relevant signature from the Canned Responses drop-down and it will be inserted inline as in <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/gmail-html-signatures/13727/#article">this screenshot</a>.</p>
<p>See <a href="http://www.labnol.org/tag/gmail/" >this page</a> for additional Gmail tips &amp; tricks. Thanks <a href="http://reenalmeida.wordpress.com/" >@Ree</a> and <a href="http://www.asfaq.com/" >@Asfaq</a>.</p>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/gmail-html-signatures/13727/">Create HTML Signatures Right Inside Gmail</a></strong></p><p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.labnol.org/internet/gmail-html-signatures/13727/" ><img src="http://img.labnol.org/files/fcbk.png" border="0" alt="Facebook" width="84" height="32" /></a> &nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://twitter.com/home?source=digitalinspiration&amp;status=Create%20HTML%20Signatures%20Right%20Inside%20Gmail%20http://labnol.org/?p=13727%20on%20@labnol"  border="0"><img border="0" src="http://img.labnol.org/files/twtr.png" alt="Twitter" width="81" height="32" /></a> &nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://www.labnol.org"><img border="0"  src="http://media.digitalinspiration.com/v1/di-mobile.png" vspace="5" width="161" height="23" alt="Digital Inspiration @labnol"/></a></p><p><small>Originally published at <a href="http://www.labnol.org/">Digital Inspiration</a> by <a href="http://www.labnol.org/about/">Amit Agarwal</a>.</small><br /><img src="http://c.statcounter.com/5876295/0/1a1c2123/1/" border="0" />]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>How Much Electricity Does Your Computer Use?</title>
		<link>http://erzwan.com/how-much-electricity-does-your-computer-use.html</link>
		<comments>http://erzwan.com/how-much-electricity-does-your-computer-use.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 28 May 2010 08:03:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amit</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[How-to Guides and Software Tutorials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[energy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[environment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[power]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[software]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.labnol.org/?p=13744</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Learn how you can calculate the exact electricity cost of running your laptop or desktop computer all day long with some free software that can automatically measure power consumption.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://img.labnol.org/di/computer_electricity_bill.jpg" alt="Computer Electricity Usage" width="540" height="263" /></p>
<p>If we have been extraordinary to know a expect physical phenomenon price of using your laptop or desktop mechanism all day long, here’s a discerning guide.</p>
<p><strong>Step 1:</strong> You initial need to work out a sum appetite (in kilowatt) that’s used up by your monitor, CPU, striking label as well as alternative components of a computer.</p>
<p>Don’t be concerned – we don’t have to do these calculations manually. <a href="http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/downloads/fe9e10c5-5c5b-450c-a674-daf55565f794/default.aspx">Joulemeter</a> is a giveaway program from Microsoft which can fast guess a appetite expenditure of your mechanism formed upon a screen’s brightness, a microprocessor, etc.</p>
<p><strong>Step 2:</strong> Now find a sell price of physical phenomenon (commonly well known as price per section or price per kWh) in your partial of a world. You can know a physical phenomenon price per section possibly from your final month’s physical phenomenon check or check a central website of your appetite placement association (search for physical phenomenon tariffs).</p>
<p>Once we have a dual numbers, only greaten them to get an estimate thought of your computer’s physical phenomenon bill. we contend estimate here since we have been ignoring a appetite used up by a modem, router as well as so on.</p>
<h2>The Total Electricity Cost of Running a Computer</h2>
<p>Let’s take a unsentimental example.</p>
<p>Assume which your mechanism guard has a appetite rating of 50W. It will thus devour 50×1/1000 or 0.05 kWh appetite if we operate a guard for a single hour. Now if a price of physical phenomenon in your segment is 10¢ per unit, a sum price of using which guard would be 8 x 10 x 0.05 or around 4¢ for an normal eight-hour workday.</p>
<p>The guard is only a single member of a mechanism – we can operate a above-mentioned Joulemeter program to work out a sum appetite used up by all a assorted components of a mechanism as well as afterwards greaten which series with a price of physical phenomenon to know a normal using price of a computer.</p>
<p>PS: The Joulementer focus might upload sure unknown report about your mechanism such as sort of CPU as well as utilization; applications running; tough hoop distance as well as type; mental recall distance as well as type; or a name of a Internet use provider as well as a IP residence of your computer.</p>
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		<title>Complete Guide to Live Blogging</title>
		<link>http://erzwan.com/complete-guide-to-live-blogging.html</link>
		<comments>http://erzwan.com/complete-guide-to-live-blogging.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 17 May 2010 14:29:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>hongkiat</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[How-To Guides]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[guide]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[live]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/?p=7333</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[
If you&#8217;re attending a conference or other event related to your blog&#8217;s niche, you might [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><!--INFOLINKS_OFF--></p>
<p>If you&#8217;re attending a conference or other event related to your blog&#8217;s niche, you might want to consider live blogging from the event. <strong>Live blogging is basically just posting regular updates to your blog as the event is taking place</strong>, rather than blogging about it after the fact.</p>
<p><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/guide_to_live_blogging/guide-to-live-blogging.jpg" width="600" height="452" alt="live blogging" title="Complete Guide to Live Blogging" /></p>
<p>Live blogging can be a very valuable resource to your readers if done right. If you take the time and keep focused throughout an event to provide useful information to your readers, they&#8217;ll often consider your blog the go-to place for event coverage in your industry. If it&#8217;s done poorly, though, all those blog posts will likely just be looked at as filler or fluff by your readers, and may even annoy some to the point they unsubscribe from your RSS feed.</p>
<p>Use the information below to guide you through the live blogging process.</p>
<p><span id="more-7333"></span></p>
<h3>Before the Event</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/asimulator/3996896951/"><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/guide_to_live_blogging/emptyconferencehall.jpg" title="Complete Guide to Live Blogging" alt="emptyconferencehall Complete Guide to Live Blogging" /></a></p>
<p><strong>Live blogging requires a bit of preparation</strong> that isn&#8217;t necessary for regular blogging. The most important thing, of course, is internet access from the event. If you&#8217;re a tech blogger, this almost certainly won&#8217;t be an issue. But for non-tech events, internet access may not be available, or you may be required to pay. Depending on where the event takes place, broadband wireless through your cell provider might not even be a reliable way to get online.</p>
<p>Check the event&#8217;s website or call the organizers to verify internet access. Also be sure to ask whether it&#8217;s free or paid, and whether you need to sign up ahead of time. If there&#8217;s no internet available, see if they can verify that broadband cell coverage is available. If they can&#8217;t, check the website of your provider to see if they have coverage maps available, or call their local sales office to find out.</p>
<p>Beyond internet access, you&#8217;ll need to decide whether you&#8217;re going to cart along your laptop for the event, or if you&#8217;re going to try live blogging from a netbook, tablet or cell phone. This is largely going to be dependent on what format your blog posts will be. If you plan to post tons of images, then a phone with a camera might be the best way to go. If your posts are going to be more text-heavy, though, you&#8217;ll probably want to opt for something with a keyboard. You can always try blogging from your phone and then switch to a tablet/netbook/laptop if you decide it&#8217;s necessary. And nothing says you can&#8217;t mix things up and use one gadget for certain parts, and another for other parts of the event.</p>
<p>Another thing to consider before the event is whether you want to live blog everything, or just certain parts. You may want to live blog during a keynote, for example, but otherwise you might just do more traditional blog posts. Look at the schedule for the event and decide which parts are likely to be of interest to your readers, and plan on live blogging those, but consider forgoing the rest.</p>
<h3>Choose Your Format</h3>
<p>If you&#8217;re considering live blogging an event, you probably already have a blog. But that doesn&#8217;t necessarily mean you have to use that blog for the event. There are tons of options available to potential live bloggers and choosing the right one can mean the difference between success and failure.</p>
<h4>Your Existing Blog</h4>
<p>Using your existing blog seems like the most obvious choice. If you plan on using a laptop, netbook, or tablet, it&#8217;s no different than blogging from your home or office. You&#8217;ll likely want to set up a specific category or tag for the event, to make it easy for people to follow. It&#8217;s also a good idea to set up an introductory post.</p>
<p>Alternatively, you can set up a single page or post on your blog for the event, and update that one post throughout a specific workshop, event, day, or other timeframe. For larger conferences, you may want to have posts for each day, or each event within the conference. You might also consider having multiple authors who can blog about simultaneous events.</p>
<h4>Microblogging</h4>
<p>Using a service like <a href="http://twitter.com">Twitter</a> to live-blog an event can work very well if all you want is a running commentary of the event. While these generally preclude longer posts, it is a good way to give short updates.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re going to use a microblogging service, there are a couple of things you should keep in mind. First, check to see if there are any hashtags already associated with the event and make use of them to get a wider audience. If not, create one and publicize it. Another idea is to integrate the microblogging feed with your existing blog. Devote a page to the event and have your feed display there. That way, if you have readers who don&#8217;t use the microblogging service you&#8217;ve chosen, they can still easily access your live-blogging feed.</p>
<h4>Free Blogging Services</h4>
<p>Using a free blogging service like <a href="http://www.tumblr.com">Tumblr</a> or <a href="http://www.posterous.com">Posterous</a> can also work well, especially if you want to blog from your phone. Posting to Posterous is done via email, and Tumblr posting can be done via apps for both the iPhone and Android, so if you use either type of phone you&#8217;ll be able to post easily. The Tumblr web interface also seems to work well on smartphones, so that&#8217;s also an option.</p>
<h3>Choose Your Technology</h3>
<p>Again, you&#8217;ll need to decide whether to use a phone, laptop, or something in between. The best choice is to use whatever is most comfortable for you. Consider the environment the conference or event is taking place in. Is seating going to be tight? If so, you&#8217;ll want to opt for the smallest option that works for your purposes. Consider battery life, too. If you won&#8217;t be able to charge during the day, battery life is going to be more important. For this reason, you might also want a backup plan in case your device of choice&#8217;s battery dies.</p>
<p>You may want to consider carrying extra batteries, too. If you&#8217;ll be staying in a hotel or away from home, make sure you remember all of your chargers, too. Rather than carrying a ton of adapters, consider using a powered USB hub for any of your devices that can charge via USB. This saves space in your luggage and is useful if you need the extra USB ports.</p>
<p>Decide whether you want to carry a camera or video camera ahead of time. If you&#8217;re buying new equipment, make sure you have a trial run before the event. There&#8217;s nothing worse than thinking you&#8217;ve been recording something for an hour and then when you go to upload to your computer you find either no recording or one that&#8217;s blurry or has no sound.</p>
<h3>At the Event</h3>
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/philliecasablanca/2104723635/"><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/guide_to_live_blogging/conferencehall.jpg" title="Complete Guide to Live Blogging" alt="conferencehall Complete Guide to Live Blogging" /></a></p>
<p>There are a number of things you want to keep in mind while actually at the event. First of all, be ready to make mistakes. Live blogging is bound to have some typos, grammatical errors, and sometimes bigger mistakes. It&#8217;s unavoidable if you&#8217;re trying to blog in as close to real-time as possible.</p>
<p>Be respectful of others around you. Keep whatever technology you&#8217;re using to live blog from bothering those near you. This means not taking up multiple chairs or commandeering dining tables with your equipment. If space is going to be tight, use your phone or a netbook/tablet instead of a full-size laptop.</p>
<p>Make sure if you&#8217;re using a camera that you&#8217;re not using a flash for photos of presenters or speakers. It&#8217;s rude and distracting, especially if they have a few dozen flashes going off constantly in the crowd. If the lighting is low, turn up the ISO setting on your camera to compensate, rather than using your flash.</p>
<p>If you&#8217;re using your phone, make sure your ringer is set to vibrate or silent before the start of any workshops or events. Having your phone ring in the middle of someone&#8217;s presentation is annoying to those around you and should be embarrassing to you. Also, if the lights are set low, make sure you turn the brightness on your phone/laptop/netbook/tablet&#8217;s screen down so that it&#8217;s not disturbing to others.</p>
<h3>Is Live Blogging the Best Idea?</h3>
<p>Depending on the event, you might want to reconsider live blogging all together. Some events just aren&#8217;t well-suited to it. If something is very in-depth or complicated, blogging it live might be difficult. And if accuracy is paramount to what you&#8217;re covering, then taking time to write proper blog posts after the fact is probably a better idea.</p>
<p>You could always take a hybrid approach. Live blog interesting tidbits from the events, or if something interesting or unexpected happens. But then write full blog post(s) covering the event afterward. These could be done immediately following the event, or a day or two later. Just realize that if you wait for a few days you may not have much new to say, and you may not remember everything accurately.</p>
<p>One time when live blogging is almost certainly not a good idea is during a film screening. Whether this is a documentary, a presentation, or an opening, any kind of device that lights up is going to be distracting to those around you. Blog away before and after the event, but refrain from posting updates during the film itself.</p>
<h3>Beyond Live Blogging</h3>
<p>Don&#8217;t just limit your live coverage of an event to your blog. Consider all the other ways you can reach out through social media to provide coverage. Set up a <a href="http://www.flickr.com">Flickr</a> pool of images just from the event, and allow others to post to it. Use sites like <a href="http://ustream.tv">Ustream.tv</a> for live video feeds. We&#8217;ve already touched on using sites like Twitter, Tumblr, or Posterous for alternatives to just posting on your primary blog.</p>
<h3>Live Blogging Tools</h3>
<p>There are a few tools out there available to help you with liveblogging an event. Some are stand-alone services, while others are plugins for existing blog platforms.</p>
<h4>Live Blogging for WordPress</h4>
<p><a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/live-blogging/">Live Blogging</a> is a great plugin that lets you create a single post that can then be updated live (without requiring users to refresh the page in their browser). Updates are automatically marked with the time, and display in reverse-chronological order (with the most recent posts on top).</p>
<p><a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/live-blogging/"><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/guide_to_live_blogging/live-blogging-with-wordpress.jpg" width="500" height="247" alt="live blogging with wordpress" title="Complete Guide to Live Blogging" /></a></p>
<h4>CoverItLive</h4>
<p><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/index.php">CoverItLive</a> is a live blogging service that can be integrated via an iFrame into another website or blog. In addition to text updates, CoverItLive also lets you post images, video and audio content. CoverItLive also has a number of other features, including commenting, polls, panelists, and RSS feeds.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/index.php"><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/guide_to_live_blogging/coveritlive.jpg" width="500" height="296" alt="coveritlive Complete Guide to Live Blogging"  title="Complete Guide to Live Blogging" /></a></p>
<h4>ScribbleLive</h4>
<p><a href="http://www.scribblelive.com/">ScribbleLive</a> is a platform specifically for collaborative liveblogging. It lets users embed images, video, and other multimedia content, as well as integrate your ScribbleLive feed with your existing website or blog.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.scribblelive.com/"><img src="http://media02.hongkiat.com/guide_to_live_blogging/scribblelive.jpg" width="500" height="320" alt="scribblelive Complete Guide to Live Blogging"  title="Complete Guide to Live Blogging" /></a></p>
<h3>More Resources</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.blogher.com/node/8166">The Art of Live Blogging</a> &#8211; From BlogHer</li>
<li><a href="http://mashable.com/2008/07/04/live-blog-conference/">How to Live Blog a Conference</a> &#8211; From Mashable</li>
<li><a href="http://webworkerdaily.com/2008/09/04/preparing-to-live-blog-an-event/">Preparing to Live Blog an Event</a> &#8211; From WebWorkerDaily</li>
<li><a href="http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/01/im-liveblogging-this/">I&#8217;m LiveBlogging This RIGHT NOW</a> &#8211; From WebdesignerDepot</li>
</ul>
<p><!--INFOLINKS_ON--></p>
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		<title>Backup your Gmail Inbox Online</title>
		<link>http://erzwan.com/backup-your-gmail-inbox-online.html</link>
		<comments>http://erzwan.com/backup-your-gmail-inbox-online.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Apr 2010 11:19:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Amit</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Archives]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Email]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[How-to Guides and Software Tutorials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[backup]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gmail]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[internet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[z]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.labnol.org/?p=13477</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[This tip describes how you can backup your Gmail mailbox online so that you have access to all your emails even if the main service is down.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a title="Gmail - Google Email" href="http://www.labnol.org/tag/gmail/"><img src="http://img.labnol.org/di/gmail_merge.png" alt="gmail logo" align="right" /></a>If you want to backup your emails from Gmail to the local computer, enable POP3 access in your Gmail settings and then use a desktop mail client to download a copy of all your messages from the Google cloud to the local disk. That’s easy!</p>
<p>Windows Live Mail, Outlook and Thunderbird are some nice email clients that can automatically and easily bring your entire archive of Gmail messages offline.</p>
<p><strong>Why you should backup Gmail to the cloud?</strong></p>
<p>If you are not a huge fan of desktop applications or if you think that setting up a Gmail backup plan involves way too much effort, you can consider creating a backup of your Gmail account in the cloud itself. Before we get into the details, here are three situations where an online backup of Gmail messages will come handy:</p>
<p><strong>Reason #1</strong> &#8211; If your main Gmail account gets hacked (<a title="Gmail and Google Apps Account Hacked!" href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/gmail-and-google-apps-hacked/11799/">it happened to me</a>), you will still have access to all your previous emails.</p>
<p><strong>Reason #2 </strong>– If you delete an important email from your Gmail Inbox by mistake, you can easily retrieve it from the online backup. Google Apps Premier has Postini to restore deleted emails, here you’re getting that facility for free.</p>
<p><strong>Reason #3</strong> &#8211; If the Gmail service goes down (<a href="http://www.google.com/appsstatus#rm=1&amp;di=1&amp;do=31&amp;ddo=33&amp;hl=en">yes, it happens</a>), you will still be able to read your older emails. Gmail outage won’t affect work.</p>
<h2>Backup your Gmail Messages Online</h2>
<p>There are three services that can help you automatically backup your Gmail (and Google Apps) email accounts online and luckily, they won’t cost you anything.</p>
<p><img style="display: inline; border-width: 0px;" title="gmail mail fetcher" src="http://img.labnol.org/di/gmail_mail_fetcher.png" border="0" alt="gmail mail fetcher" width="540" height="204" /></p>
<p>The first and most obvious choice is Gmail. Create a new Gmail account and under Settings –&gt; Accounts and Import –&gt; Check mail using POP3 –&gt; Add POP3 email account, enter the email address of your main Gmail account that you want to backup.</p>
<p>Within an hour or so, the online <a href="http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?answer=21288">mail fetcher program</a> will pull messages from your main Gmail account and will copy them to your new “backup” account. In my limited testing, I found that Gmail’s mail fetcher left all the messages that were either “read” or have been previously downloaded by another POP3 client so it&#8217;s not &#8220;true backup.&#8221;</p>
<p>That brings us to another alternative – copy your Gmail mailbox to Windows Live Hotmail. While you can add a Gmail account to Hotmail using POP3 (just like Gmail’s mail fetcher), there’s a much better and reliable option out there for copying emails from Gmail into Hotmail and it&#8217;s called <a href="https://secure5.trueswitch.com/winlive/">TrueSwitch</a>.</p>
<p><img style="display: inline; border-width: 0px;" title="Copy Gmail Messages to Hotmail" src="http://img.labnol.org/di/copy_gmail_to_hotmail.png" border="0" alt="Copy Gmail Messages to Hotmail" width="544" height="226" /></p>
<p>Setup a new Hotmail account and TrueSwitch, an awesome web-based email account migration service, will copy all your emails and attachments from Gmail to your new Hotmail address. If you have a relatively large Gmail Inbox, the backup process might take up to 24 hours but you’ll get an email as soon as the transfer is complete.</p>
<p>Like Gmail, Hotmail too offers “expanding” storage so it can possibly fit your large Google inbox as well. You can then add your Gmail address to Hotmail (click “<a title="Add Gmail Account to Hotmail" rel="lightbox" href="http://img.labnol.org/files/add_email.png" >Add an email account</a>” in the sidebar) and this will ensure that new messages that land in your Gmail inbox in the future are also saved in Hotmail.</p>
<p>That said, both the services discussed above have one common drawback – they’ll always backup your entire Gmail mailbox and you cannot limit the backup process to a specific set of folders (or labels in Gmail). So if you have a fairly large mailbox and don’t want to backup each and every Gmail folder (or label), try <a href="http://www.backupify.com/" >Backupify</a>.</p>
<p><img style="display: inline; border: 0px;" title="backup gmail folders" src="http://img.labnol.org/di/gmail_folders.png" border="0" alt="backup gmail folders" width="538" height="200" /></p>
<p>Backupify, as you know, can <a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/automatic-backups-of-online-accounts/12522/" >backup your online accounts</a> (including Gmail) to Amazon S3 and a unique point about Backupify is that it lets you specify labels that should be included in the backup process. The messages are stored in the cloud as EML files that you can view inside Outlook or, you can change the .eml extension to .mht, and read the file inside IE.</p>
<p>Backupify supports XOauth so you can add your Gmail account to the service without having to share your Google Account credentials. They are not using a very practical format for saving messages but the advantage is that Backupify will scan your selected mailbox folders every single day for new emails and will archive them automatically.</p>
<p>More stuff related to web email:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/email/check-yahoo-gmail-email-read-receipts/2150/">Get Read Receipts For Web Email</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/email/move-mails-across-email-accounts/8419/" >Transfer Emails across Accounts</a> </li>
<li><a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/email/export-outlook-email-to-gmail-pst-backup/1938/">Export Outlook email to your Gmail Account</a> </li>
</ul>
<p><strong><a href="http://www.labnol.org/internet/backup-gmail-emails-online/13477/">Backup your Gmail Inbox Online</a></strong></p><p><a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http://www.labnol.org/internet/backup-gmail-emails-online/13477/" ><img src="http://img.labnol.org/files/fcbk.png" border="0" alt="Facebook" width="84" height="32" /></a> &nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://twitter.com/home?source=digitalinspiration&amp;status=Backup%20your%20Gmail%20Inbox%20Online%20http://labnol.org/?p=13477%20on%20@labnol"  border="0"><img border="0" src="http://img.labnol.org/files/twtr.png" alt="Twitter" width="81" height="32" /></a> &nbsp;&nbsp; <a href="http://www.labnol.org"><img border="0"  src="http://media.digitalinspiration.com/v1/di-mobile.png" vspace="5" width="161" height="23" alt="Digital Inspiration @labnol"/></a></p><p><small>Originally published at <a href="http://www.labnol.org/">Digital Inspiration</a> by <a href="http://www.labnol.org/about/">Amit Agarwal</a>.</small><br /><img src="http://c.statcounter.com/5876295/0/1a1c2123/1/" border="0" />]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>HOWTO – iChat Extended</title>
		<link>http://erzwan.com/howto-%e2%80%93-ichat-extended.html</link>
		<comments>http://erzwan.com/howto-%e2%80%93-ichat-extended.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:17:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chaim Gartenberg</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Computers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HOWTO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[How-To]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aim]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[facebook]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[google talk]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ichat]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://teentechblog.com/?p=4595</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Go Beyond AIM&#8230; This one’s mainly for Mac users, but can be used for Windows as well. Last week, I wrote a review of Meebo, a multi-IM app for iPhone (also Beejive IM, a similar app). Meebo also has an online webapp component for PC use, but many (including myself), prefer full applications &#8211; such [...]<br /><div><img src="http://teentechblog.com/wp-content/plugins/gd-star-rating/gfx.php?value=0.0" /></div><div>Rating: 0.0/<strong>5</strong> (0 votes cast)</div><br />]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><img class="aligncenter size-medium wp-image-4596" title="ichat" src="http://teentechblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/ichat1-300x300.png" alt="" width="210" height="210" /></span></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Go Beyond AIM&#8230;</em></p>
<p>This one’s mainly for Mac users, but can be used for Windows as well. Last week, I wrote a review of Meebo, a multi-IM app for iPhone (also Beejive IM, a similar app). Meebo also has an online webapp component for PC use, but many (including myself), prefer full applications &#8211; such as iChat, Mac OS’s built in IM app.</p>
<p>Now, it’s easy to set up AIM with iChat &#8211; just type in screen name and password, and you’re good to go. But in recent years, new chat services have been cropping up &#8211; specifically, Google Talk and Facebook Chat &#8211; as part of accounts you already have. Now for me, I hate having multiple things open for what is essentially the same purpose. So, here’s a little help in setting up iChat with not only AIM, but Google Talk or Facebook Chat as well.</p>
<p><strong>Google Talk (Snow Leopard 10.6) -</strong></p>
<p>This one’s pretty easy &#8211; iChat 5 has the feature of adding a Google Account just as easily as an AIM account &#8211; just select the Google Account option when creating a new account in preferences.</p>
<p><strong>Google Talk (10.4 Tiger/10.5 Leopard) &#8211; </strong></p>
<p>A bit more difficult, but not by much. When creating a new account, select “Jabber Account” &#8211; as the ID, enter your Gmail account “<a href="mailto:______@gmail.com">______@gmail.com</a>”, your password as the password. The server is talk.google.com, and the port is 5223 &#8211; and check the Use SSL box. All set.</p>
<p><strong>Facebook Chat: (10.4-10.6) &#8211; </strong></p>
<p>Similar to Google Talk &#8211; but a few differences. First, you need your Facebook username &#8211; “<a href="mailto:______@chat.facebook.com">______@chat.facebook.com</a>” &#8211; which you can find by going to the “Account Settings” &#8211; where it lists your username (right after your name, 2nd from the top).  Going into iChat now &#8211; in Preferences, go to the “Add Account”, and again, select Jabber. Enter in the “<a href="mailto:_----@chat.facebook.com">______@chat.facebook.com</a>”, the _____ being your Facebook username from earlier, and the password, your regularly Facebook password. Server options are: server is “chat.facebook.com”, Port is 5222. Uncheck SSL for this one. And you’re good to go.</p>
<p>Personal tip &#8211; in General Preferences in iChat, enable “Use the same status for all accounts” &#8211; allowing you to log in and out of all 3 at once. Enjoy!</p>
<p>Now, for everyone else &#8211; those not using iChat. While not personally familiar with these programs, Google lists <a href="http://www.google.com/talk/otherclients.html">here</a> how to set up other clients, and Facebook is compatable with Pidgin, Adium, and anything else that can use Jabber using settings that they give <a href="http://facebook.com/sitetour/chat.php">here</a>. Enjoy!</p>
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		<item>
		<title>CD or DVD Drive Won&#8217;t Eject or Open?</title>
		<link>http://erzwan.com/cd-or-dvd-drive-won%e2%80%99t-eject-or-open.html</link>
		<comments>http://erzwan.com/cd-or-dvd-drive-won%e2%80%99t-eject-or-open.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Mar 2010 11:14:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aseem</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[How-To]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://helpdeskgeek.com/?p=5727</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[In the past, we have written several posts on how to burn DVDâ€™s, how to burn Windows 7 discs, and even some stuff on Blu-ray discs. However, we have yet to post about one of the most simple things. What to do if you get a CD or DVD stuck in your computers optical drive, [...]<p>Post from:<br /><br /><a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/cd-dvd-drive-wont-open-eject/">CD or DVD Drive Won&#8217;t Eject or Open?</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[In the past, we have written several posts on <a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/mac-os-x/burn-dvd-mac-os-x/">how to burn DVDâ€™s</a>, how to <a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/free-software-downloads/burn-windows-7-to-dvd-usb-flash-drive/">burn Windows 7 discs</a>, and even some stuff on <a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/bd-r-bd-re-bd-r-dl-and-bd-re-dl/">Blu-ray discs</a>. However, we have yet to post about one of the most simple things. What to do if you get a CD or DVD stuck in your computers optical drive, and it wonâ€™t eject. You can take several steps to troubleshoot stuck DVDs or CDs.

<a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/dvddrive.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/dvddrive_thumb.png" border="0" alt="dvd drive" width="524" height="262" /></a>

<span id="more-5727"> </span>

Computers are what they are, complex. Meaning, a stuck DVD could be one of several possible things. Sometimes it may be easy to fix. Sometimes, not so easy. The best thing to do is troubleshoot the problem.

<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Here is what you should not do</span>:

- Stick a screwdriver, pocket knife, credit card, or any other object into the DVD drive and try to pry it open or pull the disc out. When stuff doesnâ€™t work right, I feel like tossing my computer across the room just as much as the next guy. But just donâ€™t do it. Troubleshoot first.

<a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/screwdriver.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/screwdriver_thumb.png" border="0" alt="screwdriver" width="520" height="113" /></a>
<h4>Method 1 â€“ Try Ejecting from Within Windows</h4>
Navigate on over to <strong>Start &gt; Computer</strong>. Right-click on your CD/DVD drive choose eject from the drop down menu. Sometimes you can eject the stuck disc using Windows commands.

<a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/windowsvolumes.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/windowsvolumes_thumb.png" border="0" alt="windows volumes" width="520" height="230" /></a>
<h4>Method 2 â€“ Software and Drivers</h4>
The CD/DVD drive was working a week ago right? But all of a sudden it just stops. Chances are good, that you may have installed a program, application, update, driver, etc., that messed with the CD/DVD drive driver.

To troubleshoot this, try <a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/windows-7/create-a-show-desktop-icon-in-windows-7/">doing a system restore</a>. A system restore will uninstall several files and changes to your computer that were made within a certain time frame. If you have just recently upgraded your operating system, this often times cause some device drivers incompatibilities.

Another thing that you can try, is uninstalling the driver for your CD/DVD drive, and reinstalling it. To do this, you will need to make sure that you have a backup of your driver. You should be able to download it from your CD/DVD drive manufacturerâ€™s website.

<a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/systemrestore.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/systemrestore_thumb.png" border="0" alt="system restore" width="520" height="186" /></a>
<h4>Method 3 â€“ Force Eject</h4>
Next, you can try to to force eject the CD/DVD tray to open. Not all drives and burners have this feature. To check to see if yours does, look near the face of the CD/DVD drive and you should see a small hole.

Use a toothpick, bent paperclip, or needle to push the button. This may or may not pop open the drive. Many people have reported that this does not work. But some have reported that it does. May the force eject be with you.

<a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/forceeject.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/forceeject_thumb.png" border="0" alt="force eject" width="524" height="325" /></a>
<h4>Method 4 â€“ Some Weird Stuff That Works</h4>
Close out of all applications and make sure that you have saved anything that needs to be saved. Restart your computer. As soon as it starts loading back up, even before you see the Windows loading screen, start pressing the eject button on the drive.

If you are using a slot loading drive (MacBook), this would be the eject button on your keyboard. Donâ€™t hold the button down. Push it repeatedly and rapidly, like itâ€™s the A button and your on level 10 of Mario Bros trying to beat Bowser. Believe it or not, this works a lot of the time. If Windows loads to the login screen, and the tray isnâ€™t open, stop pressing.

<a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/nintendopad.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/nintendopad_thumb.png" border="0" alt="nintendo pad" width="524" height="249" /></a>

- Shut down your computer, disconnect the power cable, and wait a couple of minutes. Plug it back in, start it up, and try the step above. To learn more about that, check out this article on <a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/usb-device-not-recognized/">USB connection problems</a>.

- Give it a little tap. Donâ€™t use a lot of power, just a light tap. Sometimes, especially in slot loading drives, the disc may just jump out of place.

<a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/macbookpro.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/macbookpro_thumb.png" border="0" alt="macbook pro" width="524" height="296" /></a>
<h4>What You Can Do Now</h4>
Internal CD/DVD drives are fairly simple to swap out in desktop computers. You can find tutorials all over the internet. However, laptop drives are not as easy. If you donâ€™t feel comfortable trying to replace the internal CD/DVD drive, you can always get an external drive. They are pretty decently priced, under $100.

<img src="http://helpdeskgeek.com/?ak_action=api_record_view&amp;id=5727&amp;type=feed" alt="" /><!-- pingbacker_start --><h4>Related Blogs</h4><ul class='pc_pingback'><li><a href='http://www.snakebytez.com/2010/02/28/run-windows-commands-easily-with-commands-in-demand/' rel='nofollow'>Run Windows Commands Easily with Commands In Demand | Snakebytez</a></li><li><a href='http://www.pakspectator.com/national-internship-program-20102011-submit-your-application/' rel='nofollow'>National Internship Program 2010,2011 ; Submit Your Application | The Pakistani Spectator</a></li><li><a href='http://www.hugepedia.com/pictures-of-basic-computer-parts/' rel='nofollow'>Pictures Of Basic Computer Parts | Huge Pedia</a></li><li><a href='http://www.cybeing.net/the-over-done-pocket-knife/' rel='nofollow'>The Over-Done Pocket Knife | Post Articles Online</a></li><li><a href='http://www.article.me.uk/34788/several-steps-to-the-perfect-car-insurance-coverage/' rel='nofollow'>Blog IT</a></li></ul><!-- pingbacker_end -->]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Run VirtualBox from a USB Drive</title>
		<link>http://erzwan.com/run-virtualbox-from-a-usb-drive.html</link>
		<comments>http://erzwan.com/run-virtualbox-from-a-usb-drive.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:27:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>lkaufman</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[How-To]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://helpdeskgeek.com/?p=5657</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Running out of hard disk space for your virtual machines you created for running other operating systems? There is a solution that does not require increasing your internal hard disk space.
Previously, we have written about how to How to install Ubuntu in VirtualBox and How to install Windows 7 on a PC with VirtualBox. We [...]<p>Post from:<br/><br/><a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/run-virtualbox-from-a-usb-drive/">Run VirtualBox from a USB Drive</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[Running out of hard disk space for your virtual machines you created for running other operating systems? There is a solution that does not require increasing your internal hard disk space.

Previously, we have written about how to <a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/linux-tips/how-to-install-ubuntu-in-virtualbox/">How to install Ubuntu in VirtualBox</a> and <a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/virtualization/install-windows-7-guest-os-virtualbox/">How to install Windows 7 on a PC with VirtualBox</a>. We have now discovered that <strong>VirtualBox</strong> is available in a portable version you can install on a USB Drive.

Download Portable-VirtualBox from <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.vbox.me/?dir=./VirtualBox%20v3.1.4">http://www.vbox.me/?dir=./VirtualBox%20v3.1.4</a>. The file is a self-extracting .zip file.

<span id="more-5657"> </span>

Run the executable you downloaded and extract the contents of the file to your external USB drive.

<a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/01_extracting_portable_virtualbox.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/01_extracting_portable_virtualbox_thumb.png" border="0" alt="Extracting Portable-VirtualBox" width="364" height="175" /></a>

A Portable-VirtualBox folder is created on your USB drive. Navigate to the <strong>Portable-VirtualBox </strong>folder and double-click the <strong>Portable-VirtualBox.exe</strong> file.

<a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/02_extracted_files.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/02_extracted_files_thumb.png" border="0" alt="Portable-VirtualBox extracted files" width="350" height="210" /></a>

The Portable-VirtualBox dialog box displays. Select the options you want (the four check boxes) and click the <strong>Download installation file of VirtualBox</strong> button.

<a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/03_PortableVirtualBox_dialog.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/03_PortableVirtualBox_dialog_thumb.png" border="0" alt="Portable-VirtualBox dialog box" width="518" height="346" /></a>

A notification displays over the dialog boxâ€¦

<a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/04_downloading_file.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/04_downloading_file_thumb.png" border="0" alt="Downloading file notification" width="518" height="346" /></a>

as well as in the <strong>System Tray</strong> at the bottom of the screen.

<a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/05_downloading_caption.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/05_downloading_caption_thumb.png" border="0" alt="Downloading notification in the System Tray" width="305" height="122" /></a>

Once the download is finished, a dialog box displays informing you where the downloaded file is located.

<a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/06_ready_with_the_download_dialog.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/06_ready_with_the_download_dialog_thumb.png" border="0" alt="Download of VirtualBox finished" width="424" height="123" /></a>

In the<strong> </strong>Portable-VirtualBox folder, you will see a <strong>VirtualBox.exe</strong> file. However, do not run this file.

<a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/07_downloaded_file.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/07_downloaded_file_thumb.png" border="0" alt="Downloaded VirtualBox file" width="341" height="292" /></a>

Double-click on the <strong>Portable-VirtualBox.exe</strong> file again. The Portable-VirtualBox dialog box displays again. Select the desired options. However, this time, click the <strong>Search File </strong>button and select the <strong>VirtualBox.exe</strong> file. Click <strong>OK</strong>.

<a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/08_extracting_downloaded_file.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/08_extracting_downloaded_file_thumb.png" border="0" alt="Extracting downloaded file" width="518" height="346" /></a>

The program files and folders are extracted to the Portable-VirtualBox folder.

<a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/09_all_files_extracted.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/09_all_files_extracted_thumb.png" border="0" alt="Portable-VirtualBox ready to run" width="382" height="267" /></a>

Double-click on the <strong>Portable-VirtualBox.exe</strong> file again. The main <strong>VirtualBox</strong> window displays.

<a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/10_sun_virtualbox_program.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/10_sun_virtualbox_program_thumb.png" border="0" alt="The main VirtualBox window" width="517" height="450" /></a>

<strong>NOTE:</strong> You may see a registration screen first. You donâ€™t have to register, but the screen will display every time you open VirtualBox until you register. There does not seem to be an option to stop VirtualBox from asking you to register.

When you create new virtual machines they are automatically stored in the <strong>data</strong> folder in the Portable-VirtualBox folder on your USB drive.

<a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/11_data_folder.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://helpdeskgeek.com/wp-content/pictures/2010/02/11_data_folder_thumb.png" border="0" alt="Portable-VirtualBox data folder" width="247" height="203" /></a>

Now you can create virtual machines on your USB drive just like you would on your internal hard drive. You can refer to <a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/linux-tips/how-to-install-ubuntu-in-virtualbox/">How to install Ubuntu in VirtualBox</a> and <a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/virtualization/install-windows-7-guest-os-virtualbox/">How to install Windows 7 on a PC with VirtualBox</a> for information on installing a couple of different operating systems with VirtualBox.

<img src="http://helpdeskgeek.com/?ak_action=api_record_view&amp;id=5657&amp;type=feed" alt="" /><!-- pingbacker_start --><h4>Related Blogs</h4><ul class='pc_pingback'><li><a href='http://ornamentalists.co.uk/animal-ornaments/birds-ornaments/country-artists-birds-mistle-thrush-on-box-ornament.htm' rel='nofollow'>Country Artists Birds &#8220;mistle Thrush On Box&#8221; Ornament | cheap ornaments and displays from the Ornamentalists</a></li><li><a href='http://www.aypcservices.com/index.php/2010/03/enable-windows-7-check-boxes/' rel='nofollow'>@ Your Place Computer Services  &raquo; Blog Archive   &raquo; Enable Windows 7 Check Boxes</a></li><li><a href='http://the-gadgeteer.com/2010/03/03/popcorn-hour-c-200-review/' rel='nofollow'>Popcorn Hour C-200 Review â€” The Gadgeteer</a></li><li><a href='http://www.techexplorer.in/2010/03/windows-7-select-multiple-items-using-check-boxes.html#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed' rel='nofollow'>Windows 7: Select multiple items using check-boxes | TechExplorer</a></li><li><a href='http://www.intelliadmin.com/index.php/2010/02/add-checkboxes-for-file-selection-in-windows-7/' rel='nofollow'>Add checkboxes for file selection in Windows 7 :: IntelliAdmin - Remote Administration For Windows</a></li></ul><!-- pingbacker_end -->]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Disable First and Third Party Cookies in IE8</title>
		<link>http://erzwan.com/disable-first-and-third-party-cookies-in-ie8.html</link>
		<comments>http://erzwan.com/disable-first-and-third-party-cookies-in-ie8.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 21 Feb 2010 11:46:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Aseem</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[How-To]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://helpdeskgeek.com/?p=5583</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A lot of misinformation is floating around out there in cyberspace concerning the security threat of cookies. Truthfully, cookies are benign little nuggets that help make our browsing, shopping, and online research experiences much more convenient.
However, there is a simple way to disable cookies either permanently or temporarily in Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) in case [...]<p>Post from:<br/><br/><a href="http://helpdeskgeek.com/how-to/disable-first-and-third-party-cookies-in-ie8/">Disable First and Third Party Cookies in IE8</a></p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[A lot of misinformation is floating around out there in cyberspace concerning the security threat of cookies. Truthfully, cookies are benign little nuggets that help make our browsing, shopping, and online research experiences much more convenient.

However, there is a simple way to disable cookies either permanently or temporarily in Internet Explorer 8 (IE8) in case you feel the need. In order to do so, you will need to make two decisions because there are two types of cookies, first-party and third-party. Read on to learn about first-party and third-party cookies and how to disable them in IE8.
<h4>What are Cookies?</h4>
Before you disable any cookies in IE8, make sure you understand what cookies are and the security threat, if any, they pose. A cookie is a small text file that contains some pertinent information about you and the website you are viewing.

Most cookies help you keep track of usernames, passwords, and what you have in your shopping cart while shopping online. Cookies are not executable programs and cannot contain or spread viruses.

Some cookies are used to track advertisements that have been displayed in your browser. This is so that you donâ€™t see the same advertisement repeatedly. There are some cookies that keep track of your browsing habits but they do not identify you personally. Still, some people find this to be too intrusive and opt to disable cookies as a good measure.
<h4>First and Third-Party Cookies</h4>
Put simply, first-party cookies are those cookies that come from the site you have chosen to visit. When you visit Amazon.com and the company puts a cookie on your computer to track your shopping cart, this is a first-party cookie.

Third-party cookies are those that come from another source other than the website you are visiting. The majority of third-party cookies are used by advertising companies to serve up advertisements on the site you are viewing.

Just as a side note: There is no such thing as a second-party cookie. You, as the visitor of a website, are the second party.
<h4>How to Disable First and Third-Party Cookies in IE8</h4>
To disable cookies in IE8, begin by clicking on <strong>Tools</strong> and then <strong>Internet Options</strong>. You should now be looking at the Internet Options window.

<a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ToolsInternetOptionsinIE8.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ToolsInternetOptionsinIE8_thumb.png" border="0" alt="Tools Internet Options in IE8" width="524" height="504" /></a>

Click on the <strong>Privacy</strong> tab and then click on the <strong>Advanced</strong> button under <strong>Settings</strong>.

<a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ClicktheAdvancedButtononthePrivacyTab.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/ClicktheAdvancedButtononthePrivacyTab_thumb.png" border="0" alt="Click the Advanced Button on the Privacy Tab" width="425" height="543" /></a>

This will open the Advanced Privacy Settings window. Next, click the box next to the option titled <strong>Override Automatic Cookies Handling</strong> to unlock the first and third-party cookies options

<a href="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/OverrideAutomaticCookieHandlinginIE8.png"><img style="display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border-width: 0px;" src="http://www.online-tech-tips.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/OverrideAutomaticCookieHandlinginIE8_thumb.png" border="0" alt="Override Automatic Cookie Handling in IE8" width="390" height="310" /></a>

Here, you have a few decisions to make. Notice that each type of cookie has three settings. The first setting titled <strong>Accept</strong> will accept all cookies from either first or third-party sources. The <strong>Block</strong> setting will block all cookies.

The third setting is a good balance between accepting all cookies and blocking all cookies. By selecting <strong>Prompt</strong>, IE8 will notify you every time a website attempts to save either a first or third-party cookie to your computer.

Although this sounds like a nice option, be prepared to do a lot of clicking whenever you visit a website that uses either type of cookie. Also, keep in mind that some websitesâ€™ features will not work if you automatically block or choose to block cookies when prompted.

You may have noticed another option on the Advanced Privacy Settings window. You have the option to <strong>Always Allow Session Cookies</strong>. Session cookies are often used by a website to keep track of your immediate, but not long-term, website experience.

Some shopping carts use session cookies that are discarded once you leave the site. If you find that some website features are not working as expected, consider allowing session cookies to make those features work again.

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