Author: Rick

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Manage License Keys for Windows and Office

Find Product Keys

Most businesses have trouble keeping track of their license keys. A tool to see what keys you are using for Windows and Microsoft Office is:

LicenseCrawler by Klinzmann

It’s free software. The author jokingly requests that users send him a picture of their hometown instead of payment. Must be funny in German.

Still, it’s simple and streightforward software to help you find the product keys.

Change Microsoft Office Key

If you install Microsoft Office and find that the key is already in use, there is a quicker way to try another key instead of performing a full uninstall and reinstall of Office.

  • Click, Start – Run
  • Type Regedit
  • Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\”version”\Registration
  • Click the plus (+) sign and you should find a couple of items that you need to delete: DigitalProductID and ProductID. One or both of these should contain a 32-character {GUID} (globally unique identifier).
  • Save and close the registry, reboot, and start MS Office again. It should ask you to enter another product ID and attempt registration.
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Move OSX Home Folder to Another Drive

Why Change Your Home Folder

Due to the speed advantages of an SSD (solid state drive), many people are installing them. But because SSDs are expensive, you might consider having two drives: 1) an SSD for the OS and programs and 2) a standard hard drive for your data and files in your home directory. Included in the Home directory are the files that take up most of the room on a computer, such as photos, music, and videos. By having two drives, you can get some of the speed advantages of an SSD but still keep your 500GB of files on a HD.

A second drive can be added internally (actually 4 drives total) on a Mac Pro. A Mac Mini could use an external firewire drive for a secondary drive. And on certain model Macbooks, you can find drive enclosures that replace the optical bay.

How to Move the Home Folder

Here are the steps:

  • From Finder, move the home folder to your second drive. For consistency with arrangement on the main drive, I put my home folder in /Users/”home folder name” on the secondary drive.
  • Open System Preferences – Accounts
  • Click on the lock to make changes. Enter authentication password.
  • Control-Click or Right Click on the Account. Click Advances Options.
  • Chose the new Home directory location. Click OK.
  • Reboot for the settings to take effect.

After this, the default location for all User data will go to the new location when in that account.

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Google TV Worst Product Ever

I like Google and knew that they were attempting something new and audacious with their Google TV. I knew that it had been horribly reviewed and that all the major networks blocked their content from the device. But it wasn’t until I opened my review unit of the Google TV Revue by Logitech that I fully appreciated what a disaster this product was.

It’s “Open”

Yes, Google TV is open, which I now see means that there is no consistency in App design and interface. There are no standards for layouts or buttons. Do I use a mouse or click buttons? Use whatever you want.. it’s different in every app and very confusing.

It Feels Like A Computer

At a few points, I got the message that an application was not responsive and asking if I wanted to force-kill it. That’s not something most people want to deal with on a TV.

It’s Low Quality

The Logitech Revue takes in the video feed from your cable box or DVR and then overlays its content on top of it. This way you can put the live TV feed in a corner box while browsing the web. The downside? The video is re-encoded and therefore degraded in this process. I wasn’t even looking for it, but noticed that the colors and shadows were far more muddy than they should be. I then switched back and forth on the same content and could easily see the problems introduced to the video feed. Audio? Your 5.1 surround sound is converted to stereo.

DVR Integration Fails

The whole idea of Google TV sitting on top of my TiVo DVR doesn’t work for me. If I search for content and the Google TV thinks it’s on live, it will attempt to change the TiVo channel for me. But if my TiVo responds, “Currently recording something else. Do you want me to cancel that other recording?” the Google TV doesn’t know it. It’s clunky and confusing. Just keep my boxes separate or fully integrated (Google TV built into my DVR).

No Content

There is remarkably little content for the Google TV. Most of the content felt like shells for the web pages. I had to click on the option to expand the video to full screen.

Google TV does have Netflix (what box doesn’t today?), Amazon, and Pandora, but many of the other applications either didn’t work or worked sporadically. This is on the latest firmware as of Christmas 2010.

Conclusion

Google TV might be an upgrade if you’re running a Web TV 2.0 box from 2004. But with Apple TV, Roku, Windows Media Center, and a host of “hacker” systems from Boxee, XBMC, and Plex, there are many alternatives now that do far more for less money.

I applaud Google for trying to move into the living room, but this box needs to be redesigned to be user friendly for non-engineers. It needs a consistent user interface and more content.

Google says that they’re continuing to develop Google TV, but Logitech has stopped making this Revue unit and the products planned for CES have been cancelled. Lets hope that Google takes this break in product development as an opportunity to rethink their approach to entering the living room.

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LastPass Acquires Xmarks

My favorite cross-platform password manager, LastPass, just acquired my favorite cross-platform bookmark sync tool, Xmarks, thereby saving Xmarks from death. Back in September, Xmarks had announced that it would cease operations because it could not find a way to pay for the services it provided. With LastPass now taking over, they are moving to a “freemium” model, still offering Xmarks for free but having paid options as well. It’s great to see that Xmarks will stay around and to have two products that I trust and rely upon working together.

See the press release from Xmarks:

Today we’re excited to announce that Xmarks has been acquired by LastPass, makers of a leading cross-platform password manager. It’s a great opportunity that ensures the survival of Xmarks as the same service that you know and love.

In the last few years, we’ve attracted over 4.5 million users syncing more than 1 billion bookmarks across 5 million computers. Most importantly, we’ve provided a simple solution to help people easily access their bookmarks, wherever and whenever they needed to. We’ve had thousands of users tell us that Xmarks has become an integral part of their browsing experience. You can rest assured that LastPass will continue to build upon the service in the coming months.

We’re also committed to keeping Xmarks free while implementing a viable long-term plan. Xmarks is transitioning to a “freemium” business model, the same model that allowed LastPass to grow into a thriving, profitable business. The browser add-on and the vast majority of what users have enjoyed remains free. Users can then opt to purchase Xmarks Premium for $12 per year, which includes new enhanced features like Android and iPhone mobile phone apps, priority support, and more. The Xmarks and LastPass Premium offerings are also available bundled together at a reduced subscription rate of $20 per year. For those of you who pledged your financial support, you can make good on your pledge today and upgrade.

The restructuring of the Xmarks offerings will accelerate the introduction of new features and service improvements. The two services will continue to require separate downloads and will be administered through two distinct extensions and websites, although there are plans to integrate them in the future.

We believe the acquisition will prove to be a success because of the common mission shared by LastPass and Xmarks. Xmarks complements LastPass’ vision of secure, universal access to the information that gives you entry to your digital life. By joining LastPass, Xmarks will also be able to accelerate the introduction of new features and developments. As the ultimate cross-browser, cross-platform team, Xmarks and LastPass will work together to help more people simplify their digital lives and access their data from anywhere, at any time.

We’re excited to join forces with LastPass and be a part of a team that will continue to provide the best data-syncing tools out there! We hope you will support both of these great services through your business and your Premium subscription. For more information, please see the FAQs.

The Xmarks & LastPass Teams

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Beware Phishing Scams

Wikipedia describes computer phishing scams:

Phishing is the criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as usernames, passwords and credit card details by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Communications purporting to be from popular social web sites, auction sites, online payment processors or IT administrators are commonly used to lure the unsuspecting public. Phishing is typically carried out by e-mail or instant messaging, and it often directs users to enter details at a fake website whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one. Phishing is an example of social engineering techniques used to fool users, and exploits the poor usability of current web security technologies.

Remember to avoid these scams by going directly to the site instead of clicking on a link sent to you in an email.

Here’s an email I just got. It’s either a classic phishing email, an attempt to infect your computer with a virus, or both.

From: Paypal <Services@support.com>

Subject: Your account has been temporarily limited

Date: November 12, 2010 1:26:37 PM EST

Dear customer,

Your account has been temporarily limited

Click here to resolve the problem

Thank You.

* Please do not reply to this email, as your reply will not be received. This is an automatic notification of new security messages.

Sincerely,

PayPal Security Department Team.