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Computer related web links

Microsoft related weblinks
Linux related websites

Games
Cool Programs
Password Help
Search Engines
Desktop Search Tools
Web Site Building sites
Useful sites for information

All things Google

Identity Theft Online Resources
Media related links

Music/MP3's

Links to Friends web pages
Cool stuff to check out on a rainy day
St. Louis Stuff

Computer related web links:

Recycle your old computer parts thru Earth911.org. See the E-Stewards list for a list of reputable recyclers so your old parts don't end up in some 3rd world country being taken apart by little kids... Also check out Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
TechSupportGuy "If you're looking for free technical support, you've found it! This site is run completely by volunteers and paid for completely by donations and sponsors. There is no charge to you." [better than paying $35 to Microsoft, cy]
Sharpmail is for sending anonymous email. " Send a anonymous email and you specify the "From :"field. What address they think the anonymous email is from is up to you! Now with anonymous SMS Text Message facility! Text your mates mobile/cell phone from any name or number!"
Andrew Malek "Offering free computer help, hints, and tips to the Internet populace."
Paul Thurrott's SuperSite for Windows This Web site provides continuous updates about these future Windows platform products and related technologies, while offering reviews and technology showcases, all designed to give you the information you need to decide which upcoming Windows version is for you. Check out his article on Slipstreaming. This is a way of combining SP2 with your original Windows XP cd. [I give this a 9 on the ubür-geek scale, cy]
WallWatcher WallWatcher runs under Microsoft Windows 98 and above. It collects, displays, and analyzes log information from Routers and firewalls
StLToday TechTalk Post-Dispatch writer David Sheets explores the high-tech trends, toys and talk making news around St. Louis.
BLKVIPER Is the definitive site for learning about Windows! The guy is a little creepy looking but he knows his stuff. This site is best for figuring what the heck is running in the background for Windows.
Get a new Web Browser already! I recommend FireFox or try Opera or try the "father" of 'FireFox' ... Mozilla. [Penn State University implored its 80,000-plus students and faculty to stop using IE purely for security's sake.]
Cool tech site http://www.speedguide.net/index.php ...also check out an analysis of your download speed here with the TCP/IP analyzer. This site is also good for tweaking and over clocking your internet connection
Also check out Bandwidth Place for a bandwidth speed test.
A good place to find old drivers Driverguide.com. (User name is " Drivers " and password is " All ".)
Ebay's PC (Computer) Selling center. pcsellingcenter.ebay.com Includes tools to delete your hard drive.
Go to pcpitstop to get a summary of what's in your computer before you get ready to sell it...and click this link to see a summary of my very own computer...as humble as it is.
Get your 'tech' news theinquirer.net
Hate Spy mail? It's e-mails that have special pictures that can trace who you are and when you opened the e-mail. If you have Outlook XP,2003, or 2000 you can get this plug in and get a handle on things! NoSpyMail
See what's moving thru Microsoft's product pipeline at WinBeta.org
Want to see what new programs are coming down the 'pike'? Goto this web site: BetaNews
Lost your "Show Desktop" icon thingy on your taskbar? Somebody actually made a little program to restore it. Find it HERE
I like the "UNIX Daemon" web site because it has this cool "plug-in" to IE. I can now "right-click" a weblink and have it open in another web browser (like FireFox) so go to UNIXdaemon now and free your mind! There are a bunch of other "plug-ins" to try out as well by the way.
Want to quickly know your "Internet Protocol" ( I. P.) address? SEE YOUR IP ADDRESS

Microsoft

Microsofts New Zealand Division has released a few desktop backgrounds and along with it they are releasing the cool Windows Media Edition Theme called "Royale". If you have ever seen a Media Edition of Windows you know what I mean. [This theme DOESN'T require you to have "WindowBlinds" program running, btw] Head on over to Microsoft to download it. Verification is required...
Microsoft is reviving the old C:\ prompt in Windows Vista (formerly Longhorn) the next version of Windows that will be available (hopefully) by XMAS 2006. You will be able to run scripts within Windows using a program called "Monad". Get an advanced copy to install on Windows XP SP2 by clicking on the Monad link. Registration with Microsoft is required and you need .Net 2.0 installed.
Annoyances.org is a good site for working out Windows little quirks. Go to the Annoyances page for some help. They also have a forum for posting questions.
Microsofts DLL Help Database [What the hell is a DLL?]
Microsoft Tours America!~ Find out if the Magic Microsoft Bus is coming to your neighborhood.
Paul Thurrotts SuperSite for Windows This is a great place to see upcoming stuff from the MS gang. Can't wait for that XBox Media Center Extender!
How to Use Windows XP Here's your one-stop shop for learning how to use the features and technologies that come with Windows XP.
Get the latest news alerts about Microsoft from KBAlerts
Microsoft Security Page is a good place to go for advice and updates for your computer.
Get Started with Home Networking from Microsoft. Whether you're streamlining the office, sharing music files, or putting an end to the argument over whose turn it is to go online, a home or small office network can do a lot for you. How to choose the right equipment and get it working isn't always clear, though. We'll take some of the mystery out of getting started.
Windows Support Center Supporting Microsoft desktop systems

Linux

Here

Ubunto Linix cd. I read a lot of good things about this Linux distro. Its free (you can even get the cd shipped to you for free) . [update: I installed this distro and I like it a lot, relatively easy to use and update]
LinuxISO.org A whole bunch of downloadable Linux ISO distro's
Damn Small Linux What is Damn Small Linux? Damn Small Linux is a business card size (50MB) bootable Live CD Linux distribution. Despite its minuscule size it strives to have a functional and easy to use desktop.
Wanna play PC games on your Linux??? Check out Cedega's TransGaming Technologies. You will need to pay for a subscription though : (

Games:

Rumblebox is a fast paced 3D action beat-em-up with a unique premise: all of the characters are made of simple objects which stay around in the level even after the character is defeated.

Cool Programs:

Web Browsers allow you to see and experience web pages. Here are a list of some cool ones. [there are MANY more out there, cy]

FireFox Maxthon. Opera. Netscape

NOTES: Firefox is the most popular of the alternative browsers and well is deserved, Opera is now free and comes with mouse gestures built in, Maxthon is a rebuild of IE but is very cool and Netscape has improved dramatically since its last version (it doesn't suck anymore). Choose what is best for you. There is a lot more out there than Internet Explorer [ IE ver 7 (beta) is starting to look pretty cool.]
Check out this web site for good add-ons to Internet Explorer: Browser Tools. I especially like Easy Go Back. It lets you use "mouse gestures" to navigate with Internet Explorer and IE clones.

Firefox Extensions:

Fasterfox. Tweaks Firefox to be faster.
IEView. Opens a page viewed in FireFox in Internet Explorer.
Answers.com Lets you lookup words right away while your surfing within FireFox just by right clicking them.
UndoCloseTab If you accidently close a tab in FireFox you can use this to reopen it. Click on the "undoclosetab.xpi" link to get it.
Leet Key. Translate text into into "L337" speak. Good for making passwords.
Gmail Manager Monitor your Gmail accounts with in Firefox.
These programs, Grouper and QNext , work as a file transfer program. I think I would say Qnext is the better program. Both these programs let you set up your own "Point to Point" file transfer service. That is to say you can transfer large file between 2 computers with little hassle (which kicks ass and can be a life saver). Qnext also works as an IM (instant messenger) and can connect to most IM services (MSN, ICQ, Yahoo!...)
I also like FolderShare for transfering files. You can simple log in on thier web page and connect to your shared folders. There is also a plug-in for Windows Desktop Search that lets you search folders on your network as if they were your own.
A new one to add to the list would be Avvenu "Avvenu is the FREE new service that allows you to remotely access your home or office PC, or as many computers as you wish, from around the corner or around the world." Works with mobile devices too.
DesktopSidebar "Desktop Sidebar provides you with instant access to the information you most desire by grabbing data from your PC and the internet. The result is a dynamic visual display you configure and control."
Konfabulator. Recently bought by Yahoo! [and now called "Yahoo! Gadgets] is a free "Widget" program. It is really kick ass too. It runs small programs on your desktop that do anything from show you the weather forecast or display a clock to ... well, just about anything! The look of the "gadgets" are really slick too. Definetly worth checking out.
Microsoft is now copying Konfabulator with thier own widgets. They don't have many yet but I'm sure it is only a matter of time. You can also add some "gadgets" to the new Windows Live web page. Which is a customizable web page much like Google's Start Page.
And since the thing to do these days is copy everyone else's idea, Google has added some to thier "Start Page" which work inside your browser when you load up your personalized Google Start Page.
Who copied who? It's anyones guess anymore....

Password Help:

Advanced Office Password Recovery is a program to recover the lost or forgotten passwords to the files/documents created in Microsoft Office applications (all versions up to Office 2003). But it will cost you ($49-$199 USD)
And this website PassWordNow.Com claims to be able to recover passwords ONLINE. Just click on a link, enter your credit card number and if it recovers your password you will be charged. If it can't crack your password you won't be charged...Supposedly in a few minutes. Haven't tried it myself but if you are in need it might be worth it.
ERD Commander Can reset "your" password to the default password. "When your server or workstation won't boot, you need ERD Commander 2005 ERD Commander 2005 boots dead systems directly from CD into a Windows-like environment. You'll have full access to the dead system's volumes, so you can diagnose and repair problems using tools located on the ERD Commander 2005 Start menu. And you'll have built-in network access to safely move data off of, or on to, the dead system. The Locksmith utility allows you to quickly reset the Administrator password on locked-out systems. With ERD Commander 2005 you can repair a system quickly and easily, saving you time and rescuing your critical data"

Search Engines:

Go to my "Portal" page to see more search engines.

http://www.icerocket.com/ This one is cool for the 'quick view' next to the link so you can sneak a peak at the web page.
A9 This uses google and other web search engines and searches them all at once. You can keep a history of your searches by signing in.
Google Still the King of search engines...They also have a kickass toolbar to add to your Internet Explorer. Google Toolbar
Yahoo Search...Search Yahoo!
Search "All The Web" or Alta Vista or AOL search or Ask Jeeves or Clusty or "Dogpile" or GigaBlast or HotBot or MSN Search or NetScape Search or Teoma or Search WiseNut.

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Desktop Search Tools:

Google Desktop Search (beta) Find your email, files, web history and chats instantly, view web pages you've seen, even when you're not online & search as easily as you do on Google.
Copernic Desktop Search Easily search your entire hard drive in less than a second to pinpoint the right file, e-mail, music or pictures.
AskJeeves Desktop Search I used this one for a while but found it to be lacking. Especially when trying to configure it.
HotBot Desktop Search Search for files on your computer, quickly find Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF files and more. Search your email, find Outlook/Outlook Express emails fast. Search the web, view results in a convenient side pane. Block intrusive pop-ups, one of the most intelligent pop-up blockers on the market. Highlight as you search, search terms can be highlighted to help you find what you want fast.
Yahoo! Desktop Search Yahoo!� joined the desktop search also with this entry from X1. Find it fast with the power of Yahoo! Search. Requires Windows XP or Windows 2000 SP 3+

Web Site Building sites:

Free Java Scripts at JavaScripts Source
WebMonkey "The Web Developers Resource." Want to learn the basics about HTML? This is a good site to begin with.
HTML Goodies This is a good web site to learn some basic HTML
Aumha.org's HTML help List of HTML sites.

Useful sites for information:

Blinkx Free-to-download, blinkx automatically and intelligently links to relevant information anywhere and in any format: on the Web, in the news or on the desktop.
Wikipedia, a free content encyclopedia that anyone can edit. Online Dictionary Webster Another Dictionary Hyperdictionary Every word is a hyperlink to a definition. This web site called Acronym Finder is just what you think it is. Handy little thing I.M.H.O
What version of my web browser do I Have? Is my "JAVA" enabled? Click on this link
Gas Price Watch!
Telemarketers bugging you??? Go to Federal Trade Commission.
Want to know how stuff works? There is no better place than How Stuff Works.Com. Sign up for the newsletter to stay on top of things. Also see the Question Library. Click on the "About" link on howstuffworks.com to get a cd-rom (ad-free) or even Magazines and coffee table books for teachers and students.
Online research for medical questions MedicineNet
The Wayback Machine "Browse through 40 billion web pages archived from 1996 to a few months ago."

All things Google:

Want a GMail account? Use your cell phone to send a text message to www.google.com/accounts/SmsMailSignup1. You can also email me thru the link at the bottom of this page also if you want me to send you an invite : )
Guess the Google Montage-a-google is a simple web app that uses Google's image search to generate a large gridded montage of images based on keywords (search terms) entered by the user. Guess-the-google reverses this process by picking the keywords for you, the player must then guess what keyword made up the image - it's surprisingly addictive.
Google Desktop 2 Searches your computer and indexes your files much the same way Google's search engines index the internet. Ever wonder how those results come back so fast on a Google search? Now you can have that on your computer for your own files including e-mails. They now have it set up as a side-bar on your desktop that displays photos, e-mails (including new ones), news etc etc etc... There is a to-do list plug-in also [they have a LOT of plug-ins....cy].
Google Desktop Sidebar Plug-ins
Google Blog Search " Find blogs on your favorite topics". So you like this blog craze, huh? Now it's easier than ever to search thru all the millions of "weblog" postings.
Google Start Page New trick from Google is to have a personalized start page. So you have Google News, Gmail, Google Search as well as weather, quote of the day... etc etc!
Google Talk. Is an IM (Instant Messenger) that can use VOIP for a cheap way to do long distance calls.
Google News A good place for regularly updated news stories.
Google Scholar Google Scholar enables you to search specifically for scholarly literature
Google Glossary Find definitions for words, phrases and acronyms
Google Earth combines satellite imagery, maps and the power of Google Search to put the world's geographic information at your fingertips.[it's a program you install, cy]
Google Suggest As you type, Google will offer suggestions
Labs.google.com Google's technology playground
Google Whack! Type 2 words into Google and if the search turns up just ONE result you got a GOOGLEWHACK!
Google Video searches closed-caption text and still images from selected TV programs. There is also a beta site for UPLOADING your own videos to google [here]
[Or try Blinkx.tv which uses voice recognition to let you search for spoken words from news sources.]
GoogleX This project page makes all of Googles "goodies" available and easy to access. Google originally posted these on thier "Labs" site but quickly took it down allegedly because of objections from Mac/Apple [ it sorta looks like apple's desktop GUI ]

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Identity Theft Online Resources:

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC) is a nonprofit consumer organization with a two-part mission -- consumer information and consumer advocacy. It was established in 1992 and is based in San Diego, California. It is primarily grant-supported and serves individuals nationwide.
Federal Trade Commission ID Theft Resource Identity theft is a serious crime. People whose identities have been stolen can spend months or years - and their hard-earned money - cleaning up the mess thieves have made of their good name and credit record. In the meantime, victims may lose job opportunities, be refused loans, education, housing or cars, or even get arrested for crimes they didn't commit.
Identity Theft Resource Center ITRC's mission is to research, analyze and distribute information about the growing crime of identity theft. It serves as a resource and advisory center of identity theft information for consumers, victims, law enforcement, the business and financial sectors, legislators, media and governmental agencies.
The Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) The Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C).

Media related links

Tunebite Simply import your protected WMA and M4P music files into Tunebite. Tunebite Premium then plays them with Windows MediaPlayer or Apple iTunes, records them lightening-fast using High-Speed Digital Dubbing and automatically saves them as unprotected MP3, WMA or OGG files. Try it now, free!
Deep Ripper "is freeware that can convert music files from AudioCDs into practically any format you'd like, including: MP3, WAV, OGG, and others. DeepRipper offers sophisticated encoding settings, but comes with ready made embedded sound quality presets". They
Check out TiVo Desktop to connect your TiVo to your computer thru a network and play recorded shows on your PC, or play your MP3's on your entertainment center thru your TiVo. [wish my Replay did that]
JHymn allows you to strip the DRM (digital rights management) restrictions from your iTunes downloaded songs. Allowing you to edit your songs you bought or play them on something other than an expensive iPod. It is rumored that this no longer works in the newer versions of iTunes but it is only a matter of time before JHymn updates thier own software...
G SPOT codec information appliance Analyses videos on your computer and tells you what you need to open them with as well as a whole bunch of other information about your file.
freeprogrammingresources.com is loaded with free media programs. Check it out!
#1 DVD Ripper Cost $34.95 but comes highly recommended from maximumpc They also make a program to rip DVD Audio
Synapse This is a cool sounding Music player. It uses AI to figure out the way you want to listen to music... they also have a plugin for Winamp
SageTV SageTV puts you in control of the first networked media center experience for your PC - and with the release of Version 2.1, you can have more control than ever before!. Now record your TV in either MPEG-2, MPEG-4 or DivX with the newly supported ConvertX hardware. And of course you can still Record and watch your favorite shows while playing games, listening to music, surfing the Web and more - all from your existing PC. Explore your options with the power of SageTV.
AllOfMP3 This Russian web site sells MP3's by the Megabyte for pennies! An "album" will cost less than $5 depending on the quality you select. I recommend 128kbps AAC tracks. Just drop them into your iTunes program and convert them into MP3's. Click on the ENGLISH hyperlink in the top left corner to get the non-ruskie translation... I understand its better to use thier "AllOFMP3 Explorer".
Audacity Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems
Myth TV is the next big thing. It is basically an alternative to Windows Media Center Edition. This year (2005) is going to be HUGE for PVR's and DVR's. Bye bye old TV...
ID3 Tagit ID3-TagIT is a programm for editing, adding, or deleting ID3 TAGs in MP3 files. Single file and batch editing are both supported. Edit one, ten or all your MP3 files at once!
Another MP3 tag editor... Mp3 Tag Tools v 1.2
and another MP3 tag tool...Mp3tag V.2.27 Mp3tag is a powerful and yet easy-to-use tool to edit metadata (ID3, Vorbis Comments and APE) of common audio formats. It can rename files based on the tag information, replace characters or words from tags and filenames, import/export tag information, create playlists and more.
I almost forgot to link DivX. DivX is a high-performance video plug-in that lets you create and watch high-quality movies and video. It is used a lot around the internet and the codec is free to download. A "codec" is the meat of the program that 'codes' and 'de-codes' the video.
Jon Johansen cracked the CSS encoding scheme for DVD's. Take a look at his 'blog' at Nanocrew. There is also a link there to get rid of iTunes protected AAC format from your downloaded music so you can play them on other players. I haven't tried it out yet but it sounds promising.
By the way here is a source for DVD player hacks http://www.videohelp.com/dvdhacks
Hack your TiVo! Check out http://www.tivocommunity.com/ or try the tivohelp.com knowledge base
I prefer Replay. You can use your computer as a ReplayTV by using this very cool program DVArchive. DVArchive allows your computer to act like a "Virtual ReplayTV". You can download shows from your ReplayTV to burn to DVD/VCD, play shows from your ReplayTV right on your desktop (without having to download them first) and play shows that are stored on your computer right from your ReplayTV/TV screen. You can also search TV listing, see what upcoming recordings on your ReplayTV's there may be and access those listings from a web browser or GUI.
Need to find shows you missed? Now you can find other ReplayTV users and download a show off of their ReplayTV thru the internet! Sign up at Poopli.com
Check out "Mercora"! Listen to streaming music from other Mercora clients. Kinda cool really. Check it out here...Mercora Check out this review.
Want a cool RSS feed? RSS supposedly stands for "really simple syndicate" (or "rich site summary"?...) anyway's it is a very cool way of getting the news you want delivered right to your desktop. It essentially finds the web content that you tell it your interested in and reports back to you what it found. Check out the free Pluck RSS feeder
Exact Audio Copy Is great for copying CD's to mp3 format perfectly.
BugMeNot This little gem lets you login quickly to web sites demanding your personal information in order to read their web site. Just use information someone else already set up! Awesome. There is also a sweet plug-in (a.k.a. "extension") for Firefox that will fill in the information automatically for you. Nice..
BroadBand Television Listen to Radio and TV from around the world

Music/MP3's

The Godfather is a pretty cool MP3 tag editor. It help you get a handle on all the meta information in your music collection.
Microsoft is offering Music for download now (more $$$!). Check out the music download site MSN Music

I also recommend iTunes Macintosh' spin on the music scene. They popularized the whole buying music online and the iTunes program is pretty cool. iTunes version 5 released intergrated with QuickTime (ver. 7).
I use to prefer NAPSTER! until they started this subscription bullshit, Now all my paid for song won't play. [So use iTunes]

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Links to Friends web pages:

'cerfing'

Check out the newly redesigned ColdThunder. This is my friend "IceHunters" web site. Great for gaming stuff, especially BF1942. Check it out HERE or click on the banner to the right >>>>
Ben.See my friend Ben Ash's Dixie Rhythm Kings Band! web site.
"We play the best in Traditional Jazz and Dixieland all around the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area. Our hope is to continue the great tradition of performing our American musical heritage."
Also check one of his other bands (I think he is in 3 bands) Whiskey Daydream. Also see thier MySpace.com page and listen to some music ("Been Down" rocks!) MySpace/Whiskeydaydream. Interesting note: there are 3 mandolin players in this band. Though I have yet to see them play one live...
BusinessNewsUpdate Business News Update regularly beats traditional media in covering dynamic small businesses -- particularly high-growth, technology-oriented companies -- in and around Missouri.

Cool stuff to check out on a rainy day.

Mensa Workout You have half an hour to answer 30 questions.
Guess the Google Montage-a-google is a simple web app that uses Google's image search to generate a large gridded montage of images based on keywords (search terms) entered by the user. Guess-the-google reverses this process by picking the keywords for you, the player must then guess what keyword made up the image - it's surprisingly addictive.
Amusing Facts
Rag doll Physics. This is awesome! Hours of fun!
Another cool website to see is Ta-da List which features simple sharable "to do" list [free]. Works great if your allways on your computer and connected to the web. VERY easy to use.
Reality Rift Software Has lots of cool programs. Like a Matrix screen saver that runs on multiple monitors and a fix for icon backgrounds to make the background clear.
Merijn.org has some cool programs for us geeks and also make products like "CWSshredder" and "hijack this".
Deathclock See when your gonna die! [read the email to the webmaster. Hilarious. I love reading stuff from self righteous idiots condeming someone else to hell. Personally I pray for a special place in hell for these people to stupid to learn how to spell correctly. cy]
SmartMonitor Notifies you when programs try to register itself to run at startup. Freeware.
Eudora All the tools you need to manage e-mail. Since most viruses target OutlookExpress this is a good way to avoid the biggest problem on the internet.
CutePDF writer Create PDF (Adobe) Files.
This day in history News of the Weird (Chuck Shepard)
T-Shirt Hell

Miscellaneous:

Try Teleflip for sending text messages to any text enabled cell phone. Enter a phone number@teleflip.com in the "to:" box of an email message to send a message to someones cell phone.