This week in Tweets

  • is not in a good mood this morning. #
  • Only a few hours left for @mommasreviews cupcake giveaway: http://tinyurl.com/bydj97 #
  • Verizon Wireless wants to sell your technical, billing & location info to 3rd parties. Call 800โ€“333โ€“9956 to opt out. http://is.gd/mwsT #
  • Interesting. Reading something that states that incandescent bulbs are prohibited on Shabbat due to heating the filament until it gloes. #
  • Non-incandescent bulbs (e.g. florescent) aren’t prohibited because you aren’t heating a strip of metal. It’s not considered “creating fire.” #
  • RT @PopJudaica: I know it’s Purim, but the moment you’ve all been waiting for is here. The Passover products are in! http://twurl.nl/btd5be #
  • Got one section of my Twitter App to run in under 80 seconds. Down from 4 minutes or more. #
  • Second part of my app takes about 3 seconds. If I can tie these parts together, I might be able to launch a beta tonight! ๐Ÿ™‚ #
  • Apparently, ASP has a length limit on strings. So a string of more than 65,535 characters is chopped. Need to find a workaround. #
  • Not ASP string length limit, but a database problem. DB is returning truncated string instead of full string. This should be easier to fix. #
  • Got it fixed. mySQL’s Text field was too limited. Changed to LongText and it can now accommodate strings of up to 4 billion characters. #
  • DVRing Heroes. I usually do it anyway, but this time I’m DVRing it so I can watch Wozniak on #DancingWithTheStars. #
  • WOZNIAK! #
  • RT @wiifitgirl: British ban kissing at train station http://tinyurl.com/cf9rmt #
  • RT @HisBoysCanSwim: We did it! Weโ€™re able to pay all pregnancy and baby doctor billsโ€ฆ and we saved our house! http://tinyurl.com/b343sy #
  • I squished the last bug in my Twitter App last night & added a “save your report” feature. #
  • Going to type up a blog post about it later then will post the link to my new Twitter App (in beta.) #
  • Asked why it went down, got “my shift just started” answer. Uh, maybe you could go *ASK* someone? #
  • Bug in my Twitter App means I’ll need to delay release. I think. Or maybe bug was 1st signs of my site going down. #
  • In either case, I need to wait until the server comes back up before I can test it, fix the bug (if it exists), & release the beta. #
  • Arvixe can’t give reason why sites are down or an ETA on when they’ll return. Not good, Arvixe. If not back soon, I might move hosts (again) #
  • An hour and a half and my sites are still down. *GRRRRR* What’s going on Arvixe??!!! #
  • Contacted Arvixe support. They’ve escalated the problem with their data center. Gave me the server admin’s number. #
  • Server admin: it’s likely a hardware issue (data’s fine, server can’t connect to internet). He took my # to call me when sites are back up. #
  • Wonder why all of my Tweets say “via Tweet Search” instead of “via Twhirl” #
  • … and of course that tweet has to prove me wrong by saying “via Twhirl”! #
  • Sites are still down. Arvixe support admin responded to my post at WebHostingTalk.com giving more info. http://is.gd/mNtf #
  • Feeling more generous about the downtime since I’ve learned more. Hardware issues happen. Their support’s been as good as can be expected. #
  • TechyDad.com and TheAngelForever.com are still down. This is going on 9 hours. #
  • TechyDad and TheAngelForever sites still down. Going on 20 hours now. Windows 2003 HD corruption to blame. Arvixe says data is safe. #
  • Arvixe said they hoped to get everything back “before the morning light.” They’re in CA, so this is in about 1hr. #
  • If sites aren’t back in 2 hours, I’ll ask for another status update. #
  • Yay! Sites are back up! Total downtime: 20 hours. #
  • RT @LanceUlanoff: Why Girl Scouts Can’t Sell Cookies Online http://bit.ly/lKCvd <= A web site is less safe than knocking on strangers doors? #
  • Websites are back up, but my admin panel and FTP don’t seem to work. Time for another Arvixe support contact. #
  • Admin control panel is back up (came back as I was on with support rep of course). FTP is still down. #
  • Knitted Mythbusters dolls! http://www.paperheroes.net/?p=92 #
  • Worked on my Twitter App last night. Got it working, but there’s one “minor” flaw. #
  • When dealing w/ a user following 1,000+ people, Windows goes low on Virtual Memory. Going to need to fix that. #
  • So much work… so little motivation. #
  • RT @BrettTrout: What chu talkin’ ’bout – Sears Tower to be renamed Willis Tower http://tinyurl.com/bafub5 #
  • RT @LanceUlanoff: RT @nizzer: The World Wide Web Is 20 Years Old Today http://ow.ly/T0i <= 1 more year & the World Wide Web can buy a drink. #
  • First day of spring is next week. This would be a fun way to celebrate: http://is.gd/ndkk (Diet Coke &Mentos Geyser Tube) #
  • RT @mike_elgan: Will Twitter replace Monster.com as the best place to find a job? http://bit.ly/C5go0 <= 140 char resumes seems pretty short #

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Skipping a Freeware Friday beat issue

I’m skipping today’s Freeware Friday. It’s not that I’m lacking in freeware. It’s just that I’m busy with other things (more on that later). I don’t want the constant pressure of needing to review a whole new app every week hanging over my head. Since this Freeware Friday thing is quite new, I’m changing it to be once per month instead of every week. This will also let me make the reviews more in-depth instead of a rushed out paragraph describing an application that requires three pages (and accompanying screen shots).

Now onto those other things I spoke of. I don’t want to reveal too much, but I have a Twitter Application that I’ve been working on for a couple of months now. Every time I get close to beta testing it, a new wrinkle appears making the app unsuitable for release. However, I think I’ll finally have all the kinks worked out next week. (*crosses fingers*) When I’m done, I’ll post a link here and I’ll also tweet about it. I might also turn it into something of a contest because, while my app idea is pretty good, my working name for it is bad. So I might run a "Name My Twitter App" contest. (I’m not sure what the prize would be.)

This week in Tweets

  • Wondering how much snow we have. Here in The Cave (aka my windowless office) I can’t tell if we have a dusting, 1 inch, 6 inches, or a foot. #
  • RT @HighTechDad: I love the Dr. Seuss Google image! – http://www.google.com <= I *LIKE* this logo in a box. I *LIKE* this logo w/ a fox. ๐Ÿ˜‰ #
  • I’m doing three different things at once right now. Ok, I have 2 different scripts running & a log analyzer program doing all the work. #
  • Of course, all of these automated scripts/programs are slowing my computer so that *I* can’t personally do any work right now. #
  • Bank declined my car loan because of fraud alert on my credit. Need to call them to clear it. Ah the fun of being an identity theft victim. #
  • Being transferred to Dealer Services. Hopefully this is just a small bump & not a sign of a frell-up w/ my credit that I didn’t know about. #
  • Ok, everything set. What happened was I had gotten 1 free year of Debix ID theft protection after my ID theft incident. #
  • They keep placing 90 day fraud alerts on your credit. Good, but after 1yr, I decided to freeze my credit instead. #
  • So my Debix account wasn’t active, but the fraud alert still was. After answering some questions (e.g. who’s my mortgage with) all’s well. #
  • John McCain twitters a Star Wars joke! What’s the world coming to? http://twitter.com/SenJohnMcCain/status/1270749895 #
  • Dream.In.Code is giving away 5 Asus Eee PC 1000 Netbooks for their 8th Birthday Bash! http://www.dreamincode.net/ #
  • Moved the DB for TheAngelForever. Set up the domain. Switched it over. Not working. DUH! Forgot to upload the files. Brain need sleep! #
  • I’m all in favor of breastfeeding in public, but this is too far: http://is.gd/lxaR Come on! If your baby’s that hungry, pull over first! #
  • Got my domain moved to Arvixe now. TheAngelForever.com is next. #
  • Yikes. Over 3,200 files to copy. On file #360 now. #
  • So tired from 2 nights of staying up till 1am. Need sleep, but my To Do list is overflowing. Need to somehow motivate myself to do work. #
  • Site I’m working on looks fine in FireFox… Looks fine in IE6… Looks fine in IE8… Looks messed up in IE7! #
  • Really want to get a webcam for chatting with family but don’t want to spend a lot. Any suggestions? (Please RT) #
  • Laptop is locking up. Combination of monthly report and McAfee. And (of course) just when I was feeling productive too! #
  • Yay! Report that’s freezing my PC up is almost done. #
  • Why do people leave VM messages nice & slow & then rattle off their phone # rapidly forcing me to listen to the message 3x to get it right? #
  • is thinking that my office needs a sign on the wall: “I’d rather be Busting Myths.” #
  • Wow. Lunchtime already. Where’s this day going to so quickly? #
  • RT @allenmireles New social networking computer worm. http://is.gd/lOil <= If an unsolicited link ever asks you to install something, DON’T! #
  • Our 1st support issue w/ Arvixe web hosting. Server gave “Service Unavailable” message. Tech restarted service & all was well. #
  • I was impressed when he said he’d look through the logs so he could see what happened & figure out how to keep it from happening again. #
  • RT @TheAngelForever: Win a Natureโ€™s Source Cleaner from @TheAngelForever http://tinyurl.com/ba55jg – Please RT #
  • RT @HighTechDad: Funny pictures that are NOT photoshopped! – http://tinyurl.com/432rkh #
  • Just used Advanced Category Excluder to push all my This Week in Tweets posts off the front page of my blog. They were getting too annoying. #
  • RT @phdinparenting: Please read “Shaking the Bush out of America”. Sheriffs violating rights of women and children. http://bit.ly/KPavR #
  • RT @typeamom: Geography of a recession. Check out your county (NYTimes): http://is.gd/lHvE #
  • RT @HisBoysCanSwim: Pregnancy hormones nearly makes husband stab himself with a spoon: http://tinyurl.com/dgnvc3 WARNING: True story! #
  • RT @TheAngelForever: Enter my giveawway for a Natureโ€™s Source Cleaner http://tinyurl.com/ba55jg – Please RT #
  • Win Family Game Night for the Nintendo #Wii from @mommasreview http://tinyurl.com/aopvmz #
  • Can’t get my Twitter App working. mySQL seems to choke on the massive amount of data I’m shifting through. Any #mySQL experts out there? #
  • #Kashi Tuscan Veggie Bake for lunch. *Yum!* Yellow squash, eggplant, red onion & sweet potato inside 2 lasagna noodles w/ tomato sauce. #
  • ARGH! WordPress just ate a post I was making. #
  • RT @TwitPic: We are back up! Please retweet #
  • Heading out now. Probably won’t be on Twitter again until tomorrow night. Goodnight all! #
  • Got my Twitter app working finally! Unfortunately, it takes about 8 mins to run & there’s no way to tell how if it’s working or freezing. #
  • Going to need to rewrite some portions of it. People prob won’t mind the long wait so long as there’s some progress indication. #

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Freeware Friday: Password Safe

Security is important in today’s online world.  A big part of that security is what password you use for the various websites you frequent.  It is not uncommon for a person to have dozens of different sites, each with their own username and password.  But how to you manage them all?  Setting all of your passwords to be the same (e.g. "12345") isn’t safe.  (I have the same combination on my luggage!)  After all, if someone guesses *one* of your passwords, *all* of your accounts will be compromised.  Writing them on paper and sticking it to your monitor isn’t very safe either.  Anyone passing by your office/cubicle could see the list and gain access to your accounts.  So what should the security conscious web surfer do?  Why, put them in a safe of course!  No, not a fire-proof safe (though that might be a good hard-copy backup method), but inside an application called (appropriately enough) Password Safe.

Using Password Safe is quite easy.  First, you set up a master password.  Make sure you remember this.  It’s very important.  Next, you add passwords to your list in Password Safe.  You can even group them together to make them easy to find.  When you’re done and you save the list, Password Safe encrypts it.  The only way to decrypt it and to get at the passwords again is to enter in your master password.  It is much easier to remember *one* password than it is to remember *one hundred* passwords.

In addition, Password Safe can help you come up with secure passwords.  In the Add Entry screen is a button labeled "Generate."  Click that button and you get a password like "3mGrsgfXEN" (an actual generated password).  This is much more secure than "fluffy7".  You can even store notes about the website in the (where else) Notes section.

There’s even a Portable version of Password Safe.  Stick this on a USB key along with your encrypted password list and you can view your passwords on any computer, no further software required.  I recently used this on a trip to Long Island to see my parents so I wouldn’t need to remember the passwords to my various accounts.  It worked beautifully and now I carry the USB key along with me every day.  You never know when you’ll need to check on someone online and will need to retrieve that password that you just can’t remember at the moment.

Password Safe has become a must-have application on any PC that I use.  I can’t recall how I kept track of all of my passwords before I discovered it.

This week in Tweets

  • Got some info on my grandma today. She fell & broke 2 ribs. Her pulse has been dropping to 30 which causes her to pass out. #
  • She needs a pacemaker, but she has to wait until after rehab at a nursing home. #
  • My dad’s convinced that will kill her, but my mom can’t take care of her like this. (She really couldn’t take care of her before.) #
  • Hope for parents with children allergic to peanuts: http://is.gd/kxqx #
  • RT @wiifitgirl: Older Cookbooks Offer Fewer Calories http://tinyurl.com/dzmbfd #
  • Yikes. No wonder my computer is slowing down. FireFox is eating over 500MB of memory!!!! #
  • Brought Firefox down from 28 tabs to 3 tabs. Memory dropped from over 500MB to 223MB. in reply to kileigh7 #
  • Read an article about how people are not ditching cable TV even during the economic crisis. http://is.gd/kyZp #
  • What channels (not local/broadcast) are musts in your house? Ours: Noggin, Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, Food Network & Discovery Channel #
  • Bye Bye Flu? New discovery could lead to universal vaccine for all types of flu (including Bird): http://is.gd/kz9Z #
  • Think my blog is down now. *grrrr* #
  • Quick site-check: Who can get to http://www.TechyDad.com/ ? How about http://www.TheAngelForever.com/ ? (Wife’s site hosted on same server.) #
  • Confirmed. My sites are down. Was thinking earlier today that perhaps I’d stick with Sectorlink after all. Not good timing on their part. #
  • Now all my sites are coming up blank. Host’s support phone number keeps cutting in and out. #
  • They’re looking at the server now. Not sure if it’s a HDD issue or what. *grrrrr* #
  • Finally got off hold to be told it’d be “a few minutes” before it’s fixed. We shall see. #
  • My blog’s back up. Down time was “only” 40 minutes this time. #
  • Got my database backups. File copies are already kept locally, so I’m good to go if need be. #
  • If it wasn’t for my need to run ASP scripts, I’d switch to Hostgator. Unfortunately, I need ASP. Not sure how good Chilisoft ASP is. #
  • Any (classic) ASP developers out there who’ve used Chilosoft ASP? How good is it? How well do your ASP pages run under Chilisoft ASP? #
  • You’ve *GOT* to be kidding me! My sites are down AGAIN?!!! #
  • Looks like sites aren’t “down.” They’re just so insanely slow that they might as well be down. *grrrr* #
  • Called Sectorlink. Told them that it’s down again. They’re going to look into it & call me back in 30 minutes. #
  • The tech didn’t really reply to my complaint about this happening pretty frequently over the past month or so. #
  • Sorry, Sectorlink. You’ve been a great host for many years, but I’m going to have to look elsewhere for hosting. It’s not me, it’s you. ๐Ÿ˜‰ #
  • Websites back. For now. #
  • 1oz raw tilapia has 27 calories & no fat ( http://tinyurl.com/by75fl ) #
  • Oops. That should’ve been @Lynnae #
  • Seriously considering HostGator for my new host. #
  • What do people out there think of HostGator? Good? Bad? #
  • Oh, and Sectorlink’s promise to e-mail me within 30 minutes? It’s been 1 hour and no e-mail yet. #
  • To everyone who’s followed me in the last 2wks. I look at each new follower to decide whether or not to follow back. #
  • I’ve been backlogged, though. I’ll get around to looking at each of you. Just because I’m not following back now doesn’t mean I won’t. #
  • My requirement for following someone back: Their past tweets look interesting enough to me that I’d want to read them every day. #
  • Heading home now. I…. AM…. OUTTA HERE! #
  • My grandmother’s not doing well. Hallucinating & serious mood swings. She even threw my dad out of the room for not bringing her walker. #
  • She’s being transferred to another hospital tomorrow to have a pacemaker installed tomorrow. #
  • I both love and hate how #Heroes drops those last second surprises on us that transforms everything we thought we knew. #
  • Anyone out there ever worked with ChiliSoft ASP? How does it work with classic ASP scripts? #
  • Got API white listing approval for my Twitter application. Making some good progress on it too. #
  • Looking at AllReseller.com for hosting now. #
  • Good morning tweets. Two hours until my grandmother is transferred to the hospital that will put in her pacemaker. #
  • RT @elijahmanor: “5 CSS3 Techniques For Major Browsers using the Power of jQuery” #tech #jquery http://bit.ly/XOpFS #
  • Has anyone ever used AllReseller.com for web hosting? If so, how were they? (RT, please.) #
  • RT @tombeardshaw: dads shut out of US parenting law – ‘only mums can be nurturers’: http://is.gd/kFLa <= More here too: http://is.gd/kG2H #
  • Almost 20 minutes past when my grandmother was being transferred. Wonder what’s happening. My parents are prob in the hospital & can’t call. #
  • RT @stargardener: Consumers Reach for Small Luxuries in Sour Economy: http://tinyurl.com/aea45h <=I ate a Ghirardelli choc as I read this ๐Ÿ™‚ #
  • The few responses I’ve gotten say Chilisoft ASP isn’t a that good. Taking Hostgator off my short list until they get Windows hosting up. #
  • Shortlist: AllReseller (50GB, unlimited domains, ASP/PHP/mySQL/MS SQL) $11.95/mo &, Aspnix (10GB, 7 domains, ASP/PHP/mySQL/MS SQL) $7.77/mo. #
  • AllReseller supports curl (good) but doesn’t support ImageMagick or *ANY* ASP and/or PHP components. Not good. They’re off my list. #
  • Liking the quick responses I got from Arvixe web hosting. Unlimited space and domains, ASP/PHP/mySQL/MS SQL support & 60 day trial. $8/mo. #
  • Correction: It’s $8/mo if you pay for 2 yrs. Paying by the month it’s $11/mo. Still a good price. #
  • Another possibility: MochaHost. Unlimited space and 5,000 domains (virtually unlimited). PHP/ASP/mySQL/MS SQL. $7.95 per month. #
  • Grandma is out of surgery and resting. *breathes a sigh of relief* #
  • Asked MochaHost LiveChat a question. They didn’t have the answer & I had to go into the ticket system. Not huge, but Arvixe takes the lead. #
  • My websites are down…. AGAIN!!! #
  • RT @mike_elgan: What did people do online in 1996? “Not very much.” http://hellotxt.com/l/mT9f <= Nice trip down eMemory lane. ๐Ÿ˜‰ #
  • RT @tombeardshaw: Rep Cynthia Davis says ‘only mums are nurturers’, denies she said that, but heres proof http://is.gd/kQ4D #
  • Author’s Guild pres says Kindle TTS is audio book copyright infringement & users who paid for text should pay for audio: http://is.gd/kNJq #
  • (TTS = Text-To-Speech) #
  • RT @donttrythis: This just in Mythbuster fans: Kari Byron is pregnant! Congrats Kari, I can’t wait to meet the new mythbuster! #
  • Author’s Guild Pres not after bedtime stories but if the stories are read by a Kindle 2, “it’s another matter.” #
  • Shirking parental duty aside, how is reading to your kid different than having a computer read to your kid? #
  • RT @elijahmanor: “Xenocode Browser Sandbox – Run any browser from the web” #tech #web http://bit.ly/iIp9L #
  • This Twitter App is getting the better of me. All the pieces work on their own, but apparently the whole is too much for my server. #
  • Too tired to keep working on it. Headed to bed. Night all. #
  • So, who wants to play a game of #Calvinball on twitter? ๐Ÿ˜‰ #
  • RT @wiifitgirl: The Magic of Makeup: One Model Age 10-60 http://tinyurl.com/bwkj28 <= Amazing what a little makeup can do. #
  • RT @donttrythis: Here’s the official announcement of Kari’s bun in the oven: http://tinyurl.com/d5ngdm (includes funny video!) #
  • Just checked my car. It was acting up this morn. Transmission’s going. Car’s 11yrs old w/ 104Kmi. Prob cheaper to get a new car than fix it. #
  • Wife just called. She’s trying to get NHL to go into the doc’s office to get a shot. NHL is throwing a temper tantrum & refuses to go in. #
  • Twitter is brevity. #twitterdefined #
  • NHL got out of the shot. Receptionist comes over, apologizes to my wife & says they don’t have any more of the shots left. #
  • #twitterdefined Twitter is attempting to contain a long letter’s worth of conversation into a short message comprised of a mere 140 characte #
  • This Twitter app is driving me crazy! The script keeps timing out. I guess I’m pulling too much data for it. #
  • Not liking new Audi ads. They say “Identity Theft can happen to anyone.” By “identity theft”, they mean everyone’s car looks the same. #
  • Then the Audi drives in & everything’s ok. The commercials make light of identity theft. #
  • Who wants to play some #calvinball? #
  • My friend @gdifalco is just getting into Twitter & doesn’t quite get it. Let’s show him the power of Twitter. Everyone @ him & say hi. ๐Ÿ™‚ #
  • Shoot. Just clicked the “Clear All Tweets” button in Twhirl. How do I reverse that?!! #
  • Twhirl should have some kind of prompt before wiping the slate clean like that! #
  • Anyone else want to play #CalvinBall? There’s only 2 of us now. Plenty of room for more. Grab your mask, time-fracture wicket, & join in! #
  • RT @SenJohnMcCain: $650K for beaver management in N.C. & Mississippi – how does one manage a beaver? <= Boy did he open a can of worms! #
  • Have you tried KIDO’Z the free, children’s web browser? I have an I’ve reviewed it for Freeware Friday: http://www.techydad.com/?p=314 #
  • Everyone say hi to @gdifalco. He’s new to Twitter and I’m trying to convince him to tweet more often. #
  • Looks like we’re going to buy a new Nissan Sentra. I should have a new car by Monday. (If credit freeze-thawing goes smoothly.) #
  • It’ll be sad to say goodbye to my 1998 Toyota Corolla. It was a good car. Took me on many roadtrips to see my wife (then girlfriend). #
  • RT @redwhiteandnews: @SenJohnMcCain edited his tweet to remove “How do you manage a beaver”question: http://is.gd/l8pC&lt;=Tweets are editable? #
  • RT @levarburton: Hey Everybody! Captain Planet is back! http://www.mnn.com/mnntv/captain-planet Let Our Powers Combine… #Captain Planet #
  • Headed out of here to show my old car to the dealer before I trade it in. #
  • Buying a new car. Paid off the loan on my old car so long ago, I don’t know where my lien release is anymore. Need to call the bank on Mon. #
  • Working on my upcoming Twitter app. It was timing out. Now it’s running in under 2 minutes. #
  • Now to stress test it by running it against @guykawasaki’s twitter stream. #

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