Merry Hackmas (not really)

While most technologists were busy yesterday drinking eggnog and trying out their new gadgets, others were busy hacking Stratfor, an intelligence news organization.  All the news outlets reported it was 'Anonymous', but now people are saying it was (apparently) Sabu from LulzSec.

(Frankly, I can't blame the news outlets for the error - I can't keep up with the drama of who's who any more. It's like a soap opera, really.)

Anyway, whomever it was, they hack into Stratfor, steal a bunch of credit card numbers of people who subscribe to the company's intelligence briefings, then a) post them on the internet and b) use the credit cards to make donations to charitable organizations.

I'm not really sure what the point of this is. Any of these donations will be returned, and all the credit card numbers will be canceled. Really this will just cost the credit card companies lots of money, which will just result in the average Joe/Joann having to pay higher fees. Exactly what people need in this economy.

I wish these hackers would do something useful with their time. Solve some problems on challenge.gov. Teach math and computer science to children. Help local governments have more up to date computer systems in order to help empower communities.

Anything, really. This is just a sad waste of tech brains.

Thank you, thank you

One of the best things you can do as a student or employee is write someone a thank you note after they've done something helpful for you.

I was pleasantly surprised to find a hand written note from a student thanking me for a reference letter I wrote for them. This was immediately followed by a thoughtful note from an editor thanking me for a review.

These two things made my day.

Kudos, student and editor!

NRC Computer Science Rankings Reprise

There's an article in CACM this month by Computer Scientists Andrew Bernat and Eric Grimson, Doctoral Program Rankings for U.S. Computing Programs: The National Research Council Strikes Out. It talks about the ways in which NRC rankings are broken for CS (we have heard this before), but it details ways in which it could be fixed, which we hadn't heard before, and I like.

Two suggestions I thought were good:

• "Explore making the rankings subdiscipline-dependent. It is clear that different departments have different strengths. Thus, enabling a finer-grained assessment would allow a department with strength in a sub-field, but perhaps not the same across-the-board strength, to gain appropriate visibility. This may be particularly valuable for students deciding where to apply."

• "Use data mining to generate scholarly productivity data to replace commercially collected citation data that is incomplete and expensive."

The first is a nice idea; for example, you might be interested in a top ranked department, but it turns out 19/20 faculty focus on Theory and you actually want to do Systems. Or there might be some school with three top faculty exactly in your subspecialty, but you don't see them because they're 93rd in the rankings. 

The second is nice as well; I think with Google Scholar Citations data available this turns out to be a trivially easy problem to solve. 

Maybe CRA can do their own rankings; they collect a lot of their own data anyway, and it avoids needing to rely on the NRC. 

How to clear stored CREDENTIALS for User Name and passwords

You saved your network log in information and changed your login info or password but you can't access with new info or get it to save the new information. Or you setup an exchange account in outlook and the info has changed for that account but it won't let you change it. You have to clear the old credentials for that account and re-enter them.

In XP & Vista
You have to clear the saved credentials through a command.

Go to START, RUN & TYPE 
rundll32.exe keymgr.dll, KRShowKeyMgr
Select your account and remove.  Now got back and enter your new info and save it.


In Windows 7
Go to START and type in the word CREDENTIAL MANAGER. 
Find the account and remove all instances of it and go back and enter your correct info and save.

Computer Repair Lakeland, FL

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863-521-1079

      

Having trouble with Adobe reader crashing or freezing?

Try FoxIt Reader
http://www.foxitsoftware.com/Secure_PDF_Reader/

It is fast and light weight and is just as good as Adobe if not better(if it fixes your pdf issues).

There are many pdf readers out there besides Adobe so if your having issues opening, or it freezes up on you often or won't show you a preview in Outlook then give Foxit Reader a try.

Computer Repair Lakeland, FL

www.MyComputerGirl.com

863-521-1079

      

New adventures in publishing metrics

In case you haven't heard, Google Scholar Citations recently opened its doors, allowing academics to set up Google Scholar profiles, track their citations, h-index and i10-index, and see pretty graphs.

At first I thought: Yay! Especially since, for Computer Science, this was right on the heels of Cite Scholar's beta release, which is all about highlighting the fact that in CS we're all about the top tier conferences and journals don't matter much for us.

Then I thought: Boo! Now it's easier for the bean counters to count beans. Also, I sense there's this "who's searched for me" button coming, which creeps me out. This is actually why I don't ever click on academia.edu pages.

After a few weeks of reflection I am still on the fence. While I can't speak for other fields, in CS number of citations doesn't necessarily mean anything about quality or impact of work. I can think of several lackluster papers that have hundreds of citations, whereas others are incredible and barely hardly any. Also, sometimes an insane number of citations simply means you forced encouraged people to cite you by releasing some software or data.

On the other hand, I find these new graphs seem to ignite my "MUST WRITE MORE" instinct, just as the darling tune my new washing machine plays encourages me to do more laundry.

How come My personal Pc Operate Sluggish As well as How do i Repair it

Probably the most irritating stuff that individuals request on their own while using the some type of computer is actually, "why will my personal pc operate sluggish? inch. Regardless of whether you're actively playing a game title or even attempting to e-mail essential paperwork, it may truly wreck your own encounter. Fortunately, you will find methods for repairing this. Obtaining a high quality registry solution software program might help accelerate your computer rapidly.

There are numerous associated with options. The first is you have experienced several anti computer virus answer set up. This could imply that each of these conflict and may trigger the machine to operate reduced. In the event that this is actually the situation, you ought to have one of these un-installed. This could after that assist the machine to operate quicker and much more effectively.

You may even experience your online link. The majority of cable connections ought to include difficulty capturing to help you check to determine exactly what actions have to be come to proper this particular. This will after that imply that any kind of difficulties tend to be remedied which your online entry is actually renewed.

For those who have attempted these types of as well as you may still find difficulties, the other feasible answer is actually registry solution software program. Lots of difficulties could be tracked to the actual registry. They are frequently exactly what trigger reduced overall performance as well as obtaining all of them cleaned out upward might help make certain your pc is actually operating more proficiently. Just like lots of items there are many different alternatives as well as it may be difficult to understand exactly what fits your requirements.

Before you decide to select 1, a person need to ensure it's suitable. A person will be able to examine the actual specs of the program to ensure it's appropriate. If you're unsure, you need to get in touch with the actual tech support team from the producer to get much more particular details about your unique design as well as exactly what registry software program is actually most suitable for this.

The very best types can check out the body within a couple of minutes. In addition to cleansing the machine, it will additionally have the ability to supply support as well as make sure that any kind of documents you have already been focusing on could be renewed. If you're concerned about this particular, then you definitely ought to make sure that any kind of essential documents tend to be supported with an exterior hard disk or even storage stay to make certain that they're not really dropped within the cleansing procedure.

Along with any kind of item, there are several manufacturers which are much more trustworthy compared to other people. You might have to pay for much more on their behalf however frequently they'll provide much more dependability. It's really worth heading on the internet as well as talking about this particular along with additional customers. Frequently, they'll be pleased to assist and really should provide recommendations which are ideal for the body.

In a nutshell, next time you're wondering "why will my personal pc operate sluggish? inch, you need to after that be sure you took the actual actions mentioned previously, particularly regarding obtaining registry solution software program to create this operate more proficiently. There are numerous associated with discussion boards as well as client evaluations on the web that will help you find the correct one which works with together with your program. Having a wise strategy and also the correct info, you will discover the correct one for you personally. Personally, i were able to cleanup my personal pc through downloading it top quality registry solution software program as well as might recommend this.

Computer Science Education Week

I forgot to mention this before, but this week is Computer Science Education Week. The website has some pretty great resources for helping encourage you, your students, your kids, etc for getting started in CS, including links to Alice and Scratch (fun starter languages I've always loved), Computational Fairy Tales (which I'd never seen before but really love now!), Computer Science Unplugged (from our friends over at NCWIT), and a wealth of other things.

I really like their Which Computer Scientist Are You page, because it contains women and people of color.  You can guess who I'd pick...

Unsolicited Advice, While Pregnant or Professor

When I was pregnant, a ton of random people used to come up to me at the grocery store, movie theater, walmart - everywhere - giving me unsolicited advice. It was like I was wearing a sign. A few times it was a birth horror story of someone they knew, sometimes it was asking me if I was having twins, and once it was a waitress telling me to not drink decaf coffee because it would give my unborn child pink eye. (I wish I were joking).

All of my friends seem to have experienced this bizarre phenomenon as well, so I guess there must be some sort of Protect The Children collective group thing going on.

In any case, I find this strange phenomenon happening again as a new professor. I get unsolicited advice early and often from others. It's often pre-packaged tidbits, like, "Teaching is like a gas - it consumes all space available". Sometimes it's strange things, like the more senior assistant professor who put a hand on my arm, looks me in the eye and says, "It gets better." (like I was grieving the death of a loved one).

I know this is all well intentioned, but sometimes when I get unsolicited professorial advice I desperately want to say back, "YES. I AM HAVING TWINS.", just to see the look on their face.

NSF Fastlane: Party like it's 1999

I know the government is a monolith.

I know the government does not have any in-house software developers anymore to write and maintain software.

I know these are Troubled Economic Times.

But, still, what's up with Fastlane? This system is a dinosaur snail. I've had simple figureless PDFs take a century to distill.

NSF, if you fund me, in addition to doing amazing research I'll stick a few of my a-ma-zing undergrads on revamping Fastlane. Actually, I'll make it a class project and stick a gazillion undergrads on it. Give us a semester, that puppy will zip.

Science literacy fail

Image description: Google News headline "Study warns of  chemicals in canned foods"

Oh noes! There are chemicals in our food!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. Good luck avoiding chemicals tomorrow as you feast, breathe, and digest. :-)

Signal Boost: Stand With Science

Junior PI Scientist-Mom-Wife wrote to ask me to signal boost Stand With Science, and I am more than happy to oblige. I'm actually going to repost her words here, to tell you about this effort.

Next week the Congress Joint Select 'super' Committee on Deficit Reduction will decide where to make the next big cuts. If they do not agree or find a plan to reduce spending, sweeping cuts will be put into effect that will likely affect everyone in science and academia.

A group of MIT students have started a letter urging Congress not to cut science funding and they are amassing signatures. They include an amazing video that describes the importance of science, engineering and technology to our daily lives and to American jobs. It's a positive message, and really accessible to the public.

There are now about 7000 signatories on this letter, including Nobel Prize winners and numerous well known scientists (you can view signatories Bob Horvitz #6854, Philip Sharp #6866, Bob Weinberg #6846, Susan Lindquist #6727, Doug Melton #6994, Ray MacDonald#3652, Gary Ruvkun #3712, Didier Stainier #4064, Richard Hynes, Luisa Iruela-Arispe #5087, Andrew Ewald #6899, etc...) and the number keeps growing.

The video and petition have clearly gone viral, which is great. The main message is that the future of science is at stake.

This video and letter have been covered by the NY Times, Science (AAAS) and many other news organizations and blogs. We need faculty and respected scientists to help further this worthy request to Congress.

If you have time, please view the MIT student video and consider signing the letter.

Here's the video:

Readers, please sign this letter. Bloggers, please blog about this. Make some noise. The last thing we want to do in this economy is cut STEM research funding - let's send a strong message to Congress.

How do i Accelerate My personal Pc And never have to Invest A lot of time as well as Cash

Have you been some of those 1000's taking a chance "Can WE accelerate my personal computer"? There are many explanations why some type of computer works from under specified rates of speed. Simply because the actual pc offers slowed up doesn't imply it's period for any more recent, much better settings program. You will find methods to conquer pace difficulties within computer systems as well as keep the pc's overall performance top quality -- this simply requires a small understanding as well as self-discipline to create this particular right into a actuality.

Temperature listing must be purged frequently. The reason being anytime Home windows lots upward, the actual temperature listing is actually scanned with regard to documents. Whenever there are many documents, this certainly uses additional time. Draining the actual short-term web documents can help within accelerating internet browser programs. Throughout launch, a number of applications may begin within the history, the majority of that are unnecessary. Keep in mind, determining as well as getting rid of individuals may accelerate my personal pc.

The actual pc's hard disk drive might be getting bodily damage or even field damage. THE check out operate on the actual hard disk drive will determine this issue. After that a choice to correct could be selected to repair the problem. Fragmenting hard disk drive will even accelerate my personal pc.

You will find 3rd party resources readily available for enhancing the actual pc rates of speed through determining drive harm as well as repairing this; tweaking computer programs with regard to ideal overall performance as well as controlling the actual operating-system with regard to perfect working -- generally good tuning the whole program.

Switching away visible results as well as modifying storage utilization as well as processor chip arranging will enhance general pace of the program. These types of choices can be found below 'My Computer' and may end up being arranged with regard to optimum software pace. Energetic Desktop computer choice is really a issue region so far as program pace can be involved. It's certainly really appealing as well as real-time to possess energetic desktop computer switched on -- to exhibit real-time stock/weather information and so on. However usually, individuals don't have period to check out this also it functions because a significant distraction through function. Changing the actual energetic desktop computer choice away provides large increase in order to accelerate my personal pc.

Cleansing as well as Stopping the machine through abandoned as well as repetitive records is actually the most crucial element to maintain it's accelerate. Purchasing great registry cleansers software program as well as setting it up up-to-date regularly can pay away. This particular registry solution software program can perform all of the functions for you personally that you simply usually need to do this your self such as cleansing the actual short-term documents, defragmenting, drive cleanup, optimizing the body and much more. It will likely be very helpful to set up registry solution that will help you determine all of the unneeded documents which are left as well as remove this.

An excessive amount of abandoned records within the registry which are gathered progressively can result in the azure display that may seem at any time at any time, the actual most detrimental period is actually when you're doing all of your work. You can shed all the unsaved duties when the azure display seems.

Reformatting as well as reinstalling the machine will certainly accelerate my personal pc however it's not the very first thing for you to do since it requires considerable time not to mention incorrect method of format can result in an additional issue, you need to consider your pc towards the specialists as well as spend $50 for his or her providers.

When the query is actually, "How Can one Accelerate My personal Pc And never have to Invest A lot of time as well as Cash? inch, the very best solution is actually, inch Indeed, registry solution is going to do everything instantly with regard to you".

Seeing Color, Seeing Smart

A reader recently sent this article to me, describing the recent firestorm surrounding CNN's new documentary "The New Promised Land: Silicon Valley" in its "Black in America" series. Although the documentary has not yet been released, a variety of soundbites from it have made their way into the limelight, which is causing the controversy.

Generally I really dislike when people take soundbites out of context. I'm sure Mike Arrington's remark that started all this ("I don’t know a single black entrepreneur.") had more context surrounding it. However, something struck me in his blog rebuttal to the world. (From NYT article):

On Oct. 28, Mr. Arrington took to his blog to accuse CNN of ambushing him. He asserted that he said he knew no black entrepreneurs because he doesn’t “categorize people as black or white or gay or straight in my head.” 

He wrote, “They’re just smart or not smart.”

The problem is, how he thin slices "smart" is almost certainly based on someone's appearance, accent, vocabulary, phrasings, and body language. And in technology, those in Silicon Valley who are not in the "White, American Male" category almost certainly have to work harder to earn a "smart" label.

I could cite compelling scientific evidence to support my claim (pick up just about any issue of the Journal of Experimental Psychology, the Harvard race project, or even just Google Scholar for "seeing race"), but for the purpose of brevity I will (just once) argue by anecdote: I am often told, "but you don't look like a Computer Scientist!". Why? Because the image burned in our brains of a smart computer scientist is: young, white, American male. Used to be a man with dark greasy hair and glasses, now it is a blunt, sneaky, snappy Jesse Eisenburg type man. But, still man, still white, still American.

"Seeing Smart" still means seeing color, seeing gender, seeing ethnicity. It just means you might cut someone a break if they can manage to work past those initial, societal-given barriers of What a Smart Person Looks Like.

This will eventually change, but Hollywood needs to step up and quit playing to tropes. Quit casting people of color and women as tokens/BBFs while the young white men do all the science and inventing. *This* is where kids get their role models from. This is where society gets its ideas of what Smart looks like.

Huh. I think I have the start of a STEM education grant here...

How to make your YAHOO email the default emailer, mailto program

Yahoo is not set to your default mail handler or Yahoo Mail is missing in the Internet explorer, Internet properties, programs, mail section.

To find Internet Explorer Programs settings

1. Open Internet Explorer by clicking the Start button , and then clicking Internet Explorer.
2. Click the Tools button, and then click Internet Options.
3. Click the Programs tab.
   
   

There are several fixes for this.

1st 
Check your mailto settings in Internet Explorer 8.




2nd
Install the latest Yahoo Messenger and make sure you check Yahoo! Browser Services.

Still no luck?

This is what I had to do.

3rdAdd Yahoo mail to Internet Options so you can choose it to be your default email program.

Download this file
http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?ymmapi 

COPY FILE TO

Copy yammapi.dll to

C:\Program Files\Yahoo!\Common   (If this folder does not exist you will have to create it)
C:\Windows

Go to "programs", "accessories" and open "notepad". Then copy and paste the information below starting at "Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00" to notepad and save it as a .reg file, such as yahoo.reg

Then double click on the .reg file you saved to add it to your registry. Click ok to add it.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail]
@="Yahoo! Mail"
"DLLPath"="C:\\PROGRA~1\\Yahoo!\\Common\\YMMAPI.dll"
"LocalizedString"="Yahoo! Mail"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\PROGRA~1\\Yahoo!\\Common\\YMMAPI.dll,-201"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\InstallInfo]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\Protocols]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\Protocols\mailto]
@="URL:MailTo Protocol"
"EditFlags"=hex:02,00,00,00
"URL Protocol"=""

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\Protocols\mailto\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\PROGRA~1\\Yahoo!\\Common\\YMMAPI.dll,-201"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\Protocols\mailto\shell]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\Protocols\mailto\shell\open]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\Protocols\mailto\shell\open\command]
@="rundll32.exe \"C:\\PROGRA~1\\Yahoo!\\Common\\YMMAPI.dll\",MailT oProtocolHandler %1"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\shell]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\shell\open]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\shell\open\command] 
@="rundll32.exe \"C:\\PROGRA~1\\Yahoo!\\Common\\YMMAPI.dll\",OpenI nboxHandler"

IF THAT ONE DOESN'T WORK THEN TRY THIS ONE AND JUST OVERWRITE IT.


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail]
@="Yahoo! Mail"
"DLLPath"="C:\\PROGRA~1\\Yahoo!\\Common\\YMMAPI.dl l"
"LocalizedString"="Yahoo! Mail"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\PROGRA~1\\Yahoo!\\Common\\YMMAPI.dll,-201"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\InstallInfo]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\Protocols]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\Protocols\mailto]
@="URL:MailTo Protocol"
"EditFlags"=hex:02,00,00,00
"URL Protocol"=""

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\Protocols\mailto\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\PROGRA~1\\Yahoo!\\Common\\YMMAPI.dll,-201"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\Protocols\mailto\shell]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\Protocols\mailto\shell\open]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\Protocols\mailto\shell\open\command]
@="rundll32.exe \"C:\\PROGRA~1\\Yahoo!\\Common\\YMMAPI.dll\",MailT oProtocolHandler %1"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\shell]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\shell\open]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Clients\Mail\Yahoo! Mail\shell\open\command] 
@="rundll32.exe \"C:\\PROGRA~1\\Yahoo!\\Common\\YMMAPI.dll\",OpenI nboxHandler"



Computer Repair Lakeland, FL

www.MyComputerGirl.com

863-521-1079

      

If politicians had to undergo an NSF review process...

Lately I've been hearing a lot of local election ads on the radio and television, and I find it fascinating how it's often acceptable for politicians to be exceptionally vague and hand-wavy in their rhetoric.

"Our town lost a lot of jobs last year. If you elect me, I will create more jobs! Vote for Bob Smith."

(How will you create more jobs? What is your methodology? Which sector will you create jobs in? Will you do the job creation, or will it be your staff? Where's your 4-year project plan?)

I think it's only fair. Given how harsh many of these politicians are on science funding, it should be reasonable to turn the tables.

Don't Stop B-cell-ievin'

On the topic of "teaching as performance", this video making the rounds is by Richard Bungiro, Immunology lecturer at Brown. He calls this "immunolo-glee", "Don't Stop B-cell-ievin'".

Kudos to Richard -- it takes guts to sing in front of students, and I think anything to make science lectures exciting is a great idea. (You know, give them some pep -tides*)

Here's the clip:

(*) Sorry, couldn't resist.

Turn your iPad™ into your newest TV with the Bright House TV app

			Turn your iPad™ into your newest TV with the Bright House TV app The Bright House TV app allows you to access dozens of cable networks on your iPad anywhere in and around your home, at no extra charge. It’s a whole new way to watch the live TV shows you love. And now, you can move from room-to-room in your home, and still not miss a minute. You get an easy-to-use channel guide that that lets you browse through “What’s On Now” and “What’s On Next” channel listings, find a show, and instantly start watching. Access the guide and change channels by simply tapping the screen and scrolling up/down to view more. Plus, if you have more than one iPad at home, you can watch TV on all of them, at the same time. To watch TV on your iPad you’ll need: An iPad Bright House Networks Digital TV Bright House Networks My Services account A WiFi connection Then, simply download the app from the App Store. Once downloaded, tap the icon and type in your My Services username and password. You’ll have immediate access to your Bright House TV directly on your iPad. Note: The channels available to you on your iPad are based on the channel lineup you currently have with your Bright House TV package. View available channels. Computer Repair Lakeland, FL www.MyComputerGirl.com 863-521-1079

SOLVED!!! Virus set all my files to hidden

ENTIRE DRIVE

1. Go to Start, Run, type cmd

2. Dos command prompt will open, type cd\

3. Now type the drive letter in which you want to Unhide the files lets suppose in my case its C: this will open the C: drive

4. If you want to see all hidden files and folders  ~  type C:\>dir/ah

5. Now type attrib *. -h -s /s /d

6. Now close cmd using exit command


FOLDER BY FOLDER

1. Go to Start, Run, type cmd

2. Dos command prompt will open type cd\

3. Now type the drive letter in which you want to Unhide the files lets suppose in my case its C: this will open the C: drive

4. If you want to see all hidden files and folders  ~  type C:\>dir/ah (*you will now see the files/folders with hidden attributes )

5. Type “attrib [name of file/folder] -r -a -s -h” if you’re going to unhide files, you should type the whole name plus the extension (example: attrib banner.psd -r -a -s -h)

6. Now check you  drive.. it should be there

Now stay away from those free things and sites.  It is not really free when you have to fix your PC or your data or identity is stolen.

FREE IS THE MOST EXPENSIVE WORD IN THE DICTIONARY.



Computer Repair Lakeland, FL

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863-521-1079

      

Find your best deals at AMAZON

Computer Repair Lakeland, FL

www.MyComputerGirl.com

863-521-1079

      

How to make sure you have the latest drivers

What could happen if you don't check AND update your drivers? Your machine could face the following consequences:

• Devices become less functional or stop functioning
• Conflicts with new software and/or hardware
• PC crashes in extreme cases
• Reduced system stability

Try drive scanner

I have not yet tested this but will update this when I have given it a whirl.  As always, use at your own risk and read my opening header.


Computer Repair Lakeland, FL

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863-521-1079

      

PDF-Xchange Viewer, Free & Easy to Use

License: Free

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7,Microsoft Windows Vista,Microsoft Windows XP,Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional

In addition to letting you mark up view and mark up PDFs, the well-designed and easy-to-use PDF Xchange creates PDFs from text, RTF, image files, and scanned materials--something that you just can't do with Adobe Reader. - Kim Saccio-Kent

Computer Repair Lakeland, FL

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863-521-1079

      

PrimoPDF, free PDF maker

PrimoPDF is a printer driver that creates PDF files from your documents. It's extremely easy to use and produces excellent PDFs--without the watermarks that some programs add. - PCWorld Staff

Download Page

Computer Repair Lakeland, FL

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The User Profile Service failed the logon. User profile cannot be loaded”, when logging on to Windows 7 or Windows Vista

I have had this happen to a couple computers so I uninstalled and disabled all Google updater and followed these instructions.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/947215


Computer Repair Lakeland, FL

www.MyComputerGirl.com

863-521-1079

      

Even your mom can write this blog post

For those of you who subscribe to IEEE Spectrum email alerts, you may have seen today's snafu where there was an oopsie headline for one of their articles - "With the Arduino, Now Even Your Mom Can Program."

The article and headline were quickly revised post-publication, though I noticed in google's cache that the original article contained the following quote, "'Now, even my mom can program,' Banzi says."

The editor of the journal, who is a female engineer, was Not Amused, nor were the dozens of commenters on the article. I'm glad they fixed it.

But I think this journalistic error raises a larger societal issue when discussing ability and technology. We seem to more quickly ascribe technological inability to female elders, and technological ability to male youths.

For example, I tend to hear, "Even my grandma could use it." far more often than, "Even my grandpa could use it". And I recently saw a comic in a magazine where mother calls technical support and says, "Normally my toddler son would help me fix the computer, but he's in time out." Why wasn't that a female toddler in the cartoon?  Why in movies is the clever geek / scientist who saves the day always a man?

I really would like the media to make greater strides in not playing to tropes, because it tends to reinforce these tired ideas that women are unable to be technologically savvy.

Remote Desktop Printing

Not sure how well this tool works but found it on Downloads.com
http://download.cnet.com/Print2RDP/3000-7240_4-10434514.html

Computer Repair Lakeland, FL

www.MyComputerGirl.com

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Advice for new professors

A summary of advice I have for new professors.*

1) Delegate

Graduate students were invented for a reason. Delegate everything. Data analysis. Literature reviews. Writing. Teaching prep. If you don't have any graduate students, find some undergrads. A task you might find mundane can actually be "research experience". 

One of my colleagues laments that their students often mess things up, causing even more work than just doing it themselves. For some things this may be true, but thus far I've been pleasantly surprised with what happens when I challenge my students. Even if they don't do a perfect job they are still doing useful work for both of us.

For CS-type folks -- get someone else to manage your machines. I know it's tempting to spend hours and hours tweaking your linux box to play fur elise backwards every other Tuesday at 2:22pm and building That Perfect Windows Manager config file and whatever other fun hacky things you do, but try to resist the urge. Shell scripts won't get you tenure (damnit). 

2) Ask

I read Boice's advice for new faculty, and he implied "quick starters" ask everyone for help on everything - research, teaching, grant writing, etc. This is helpful to remember. Spending three hours trying to find an arcane policy statement on NSF's website isn't worth the time when a quick email to your university's research support office will suffice. 

3) Network

Don't forget to water your social networks, both in your department, at your university, in your town, and in your professional community. This is something you shouldn't delegate or put off. 

Of course you don't want to spend all of your time networking; I think Boice suggests about 2-5 hours a week. YMMV.

4) Dry Clean

Best. Thing. Ever. Absolutely worth every penny. To just wake up in the morning, go to your closet, have cleaned and pressed professional clothes ready to go is just about the best thing since fur elise.

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(*)  To be honest I just had one piece of advice ("Dry cleaning FTW!"), but I thought I'd throw the other ones in too while I was here. 

Ada Lovelace Day 2011

I just realized I nearly missed Ada Lovelace Day (ALD) which is today. (I'm bad with dates, so thanks to Beki for reminding me.)

The person I'd like to honor for ALD is my best friend, who I'll call Sarah. Sarah is actually the person who got me into computers when we were kids. She was always tinkering with electronics in her basement, taking her computer apart, and writing programs. She took all the advanced level science and math classes our school offered, and got top grades. And she was also "cool" - into underground bands, fashion, etc. I tried my best to copy her, though I must admit I got a C in Physics and still don't know how the hell eyelash curlers work.

Sarah was my first female technical role model, and I'm happy to say we're still close friends, and both still working in technology. If this blog wasn't pseudo-anonymous I would brag about what she's currently doing. Suffice to say it is *fabulous*!

Scary Professors

When I first started graduate school, I was sometimes scared to talk to my advisor. It wasn't anything in particular about him, it was the role he was in. In pretty much every job I've ever had I've always felt a little weird around my "boss". It's just not someone I tend to feel chummy around. Maybe it's just how I was raised, I don't know.

But toward the middle / end of my PhD, our relationship shifted to being more peer -like instead of student/teacher -like, and I felt much more comfortable with him.

It's been very interesting shifting to the other side of the desk. I met with a graduate student recently, and during our meeting I noticed their hands were shaking. I tried everything I could to put them at ease, but no matter what I tried they still seemed terrified.

Now, it's true I'm mean and uber-scary looking (like Miss Viola Swamp), but I wonder if there's anything I can do to make students feel less scared when they come visit. Maybe I need a gigantic stuffed animal in my office. ("Hug me if you're scared!").

Heck, some days I need one of those...

Brickfish Social Media: Once you go Red...

Brickfish Social Media: Once you go Red...

Please vote for me daily until Oct 9th if you could.


Computer Repair Lakeland, FL

www.MyComputerGirl.com

863-521-1079

      

How to make your journal editor happy

And in today's Hints from Heloise...

If you want to make your journal editor / reviewers happy when submitting a revision for review, use colorful highlighting annotations in your PDF document to show what's new. This makes skimming a 48 page manuscript so much more pleasant, and as an editor I am far more likely to click, "Hoo-rah, accept!" than I otherwise would.

Recently I read one manuscript where the authors put their new text in yellow and their revised text in blue. Just this simple gesture made it so easy for me to check if they'd made the required changes.

You'd like to think your reviewers are not this easily manipulated, but I can tell you at least one of them is. :)

Dear Software Designers Near And Far

Dear Software Designers Near And Far:

*


Because frankly I can't figure out a damn thing on any of your new fancy, textless toolbars. Yes I know the magnifying glass icon means zoom. I know the printer-looking icon means print (if I can see it). I know "X" means "close". But that's it. I should not have to go through 18 menus to say "turn text labels on". I should not have to hover over every single picture to figure out what they mean. Just tell me, with words. 

Many people cannot read, and I respect that you want to make these interfaces accessible to them. But please make them accessible to me too.

Love,
FCS

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(*) Since I actually do care about any readers who use screen reading software, these labels are meant to say: "Please, please, please put labels on buttons."