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Page 1: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

141.

OCTOBER

2005

Page 2: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

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Page 3: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

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Page 5: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

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Page 6: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

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29

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285.

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5:

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264.

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Page 14: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

4:

May

2006

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25

203.

FEBRUARY/M

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keyb

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Page 15: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

243.

FEBRUARY/M

ARCH

2006

21

1.It

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anu

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syn

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row

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ath

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utt

onon

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11.

Ifyo

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pri

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Page 16: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

23

Hello,

my

name

is

James

Duran.

Ilive

in

Chicago,

Illinois.

Iwanted

to

know

on

ascale

of

one

to

ten,

one

being

the

worst,

what

you

would

rate

this

program.

Iwould

give

it

an

8.

James

Duran

How

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essagefor

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tfrau

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ould

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ent!

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,H

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Ifan

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letm

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!M

yad

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[email protected].

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clud

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this

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worth

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223.

FEBRUARY/M

ARCH

2006

12.G

etth

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iskIn

fo.It

takesab

out

20p

ixels,

and

clickin

git

tellsyou

allab

out

your

drives

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alsoh

owm

uch

your

mach

ine

and

allrem

ovable

drives

aretogeth

erab

leto

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dh

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uch

has

been

used

.

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ceyou

have

add

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ese,you

shou

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fig

switch

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nder

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ule

Selection

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oose

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enscreen

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rograms

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ata

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well

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bon

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he

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top

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as

ap

erfo

rman

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ad

ded

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rep

are

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ou

gh

,to

spen

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few

min

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it.If

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are

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ab

ou

tw

hat

ison

it,you

may

spen

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.)If

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Page 17: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

4610.

FEBRUARY

2008

http://www.seamonkey-project.org.

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ry,

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roso

ftW

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Rem

ove

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from

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tool

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hav

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unev

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too.

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ne?

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abou

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ase

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aph

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ich

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xt

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der

tore

ad?

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eso

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ple

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Page 18: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

10:

Febru

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Page 19: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

449.

JANUARY

2008

Inte

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l,sh

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tse

riou

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em

ayb

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pro

gram

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uw

ould

love

toh

ave

tip

sfo

r.S

end

me

anem

ailat

[email protected]

and

tell

me

wh

atp

rogr

amyo

uw

ant

incl

ud

ed.

Sor

ry,

bu

tth

ere

are

no

guar

ante

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atit

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lb

e.T

han

kyo

ufo

ryo

ur

sup

por

t.If

you

ever

wan

tto

un

sub

scri

be,

just

let

me

kn

ow.

7:

Oct

ob

er

2006

Mic

roso

ftW

ord

Use

mac

ros

toau

tom

ate

com

mon

task

s

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you

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33

Page 20: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

9:

January

2008

Note

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Th

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43

347.

OCTOBER

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Win

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Ren

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imp

ortant

tip.

(Cry

ptic

Cod

e#

24111)1

Cra

zyC

om

pu

ters

Com

puters

sayn

onsen

sicalthin

gs

Wh

enI

acciden

tallyleave

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oppy

disk

inth

ed

rivean

dI

shut

dow

n,

the

nex

tm

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gI

turn

onm

ycom

pu

ter.I

walk

offto

do

someth

ing

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hile

the

comp

uter

loads.

Five

min

utes

laterI

come

back

and

facea

black

screenw

ithth

ew

ords

Non

-System

Disk

Or

Disk

Error

/R

emove

and

Strike

Any

Key

Wh

enR

eady.

First

ofall,

wh

atis

aN

on-S

ystem

Disk

?A

nd

wh

atis

aD

iskE

rror?T

urn

sou

tth

eN

on-S

ystem

Disk

dates

back

toth

ed

ays

ofD

OS

1.0,w

hen

some

peop

lekep

tth

eirversion

son

afl

oppy

disk

and

used

itto

boot

their

comp

uter.

(Ap

ple

II,an

yone?)

Ifyou

had

the

wron

gd

isk,

the

comp

uter

wou

ldtell

you.

AD

iskE

rrorap

paren

tlym

eans

the

disk

iscorru

pted

.T

hen

Strike

Any

Key.

(Wan

tm

eto

destroy

your

keyb

oard,

anyon

e?)W

hy

can’t

itju

stsay

Press

Any

Key,

likean

yone

hu

man

?A

nd

why

can’t

the

comp

uter,

wh

enit

seesth

atth

efl

oppy

disk

drive

has

aN

on-S

ystem

Disk

InIt,

golo

okin

gin

the

CD

drive

and

hard

drive

foran

operatin

gsy

stem?

1Sorry,

Ihav

en

oclu

ew

hat

the

heck

this

was

sup

posed

tom

ean.

I’mcu

rious

too.

Page 21: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

8:

Dece

mb

er

2006

Ikn

owI

hav

eal

read

ysa

idth

ism

any

tim

es,

bu

tif

you

are

inth

eW

ind

ows

Tip

sC

lub

...

IW

AN

TY

OU

RT

IPS

!Y

oum

ight

say

you

hav

en

one,

bu

tev

eryo

ne

has

som

eth

ing

they

can

con

-tr

ibu

te.

Ifyo

uar

en

otin

the

clu

b,

you

can

foll

owth

est

eps

atb

otto

mto

join

.1

Mic

roso

ftW

ord

Sto

ppe

rson

aliz

edm

enu

s

Hav

eyo

ub

een

thin

kin

gab

out

up

grad

ing

toa

new

vers

ion

ofW

ord

?W

hat

’sh

eld

you

bac

k?

Cos

t...

oris

ith

avin

gto

lear

na

new

pro

duct

,re

con

-fi

gura

tion

,an

dan

noy

ing

“fea

ture

s”su

chas

“per

son

aliz

edm

enu

s”?

To

turn

offp

erso

nal

ized

men

us,

goto

Tool

s>C

ust

omiz

ean

dch

eck

Alw

ays

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owF

ull

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us.

Fir

efo

x

Sor

ryI

hav

en

ou

pd

ate.

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aven

’tin

stal

led

2.0

yet.

I’m

app

aren

tly

just

too

lazy

toD

OU

BL

E-C

LIC

KA

FIL

E!

It’s

even

sitt

ing

onm

yd

eskto

p.2

1In

the

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inal

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ese

lin

esap

pea

red

inm

assi

veb

old

font.

2D

idn

’tit

take

abou

tth

esa

me

amou

nt

ofti

me

tow

rite

this

colu

mn

?

35

Page 22: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

Part

II

Tech

nica

lG

eekery

Tip

s

41

368.

DECEMBER

2006

Win

dow

sE

xp

lore

r

Faster

use

ofD

etailsview

Details

view

isgreat,

bu

tw

hen

there’s

afi

lenam

eor

other

data

that

doesn

’tfi

tin

toa

colum

n,

itgets

ann

oyin

g.N

ext

time

youru

nin

toth

is,d

oub

le-clickth

erigh

tb

oun

dary

ofth

ecolu

mn

inqu

estion.

Itw

illau

tomatically

resize.F

YI:

Th

isalso

work

sw

ithE

xcel.

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era

lW

ind

ow

s

Lost

the

Sh

owD

esktop

icon?

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fortun

ately,it

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erd

ifficu

ltto

getb

ack.

Pu

llu

pN

otepad

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rograms>

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mm

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ren

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nu

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tare

handy

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the

time

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elpby

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his

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eactive

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youare

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rd

esktop

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gsu

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iskey

strokeu

sually

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program

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out

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geta

new

version.

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ord,

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brin

gsup

Fin

d/R

eplace/G

oT

o.

Page 23: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

408.

DECEMBER

2006

37

�F

7–

InW

ord,

F7

does

asp

ellch

eck.

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ssin

gA

lt-F

7ch

ecks

the

clos

est

wor

dan

dd

isp

lays

ap

opu

pm

enu

wit

hre

sult

s.

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12–

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l+S

inW

ord

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esin

real

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dy.

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atab

out

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ave

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shor

tcu

tke

y?

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does

just

that

.

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eE

scap

eK

ey-

On

eM

illi

on

Use

s

Ith

ink

the

Esc

ape

key

ison

eof

the

nea

test

keys

onth

eke

yb

oard

.N

obod

yu

ses

itb

ecau

sea)

itis

onth

eke

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oard

and

b)

nob

od

ykn

ows

abou

tit

su

ses

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eref

ore,

Iw

ill

tell

you

som

eu

ses,

one

am

onth

.I

don

’tkn

own

earl

yal

lof

them

,so

look

on!

Eac

hm

onth

’scu

rren

tti

pw

ill

bela

bele

din

bold

.T

heE

scap

eke

yis

ofte

nla

bele

dE

sc,

and

isALW

AYS

inth

eu

pper

-lef

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rner

ofth

eke

yboa

rd.

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ur

keyb

oard

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shor

tcu

tbu

tton

s,th

eE

scap

eke

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ill

bebe

low

them

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�T

oes

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efr

omM

enu

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Ifyo

ur

keyb

oard

does

n’t

seem

tow

ork,

you

may

be

cau

ght

inM

enu

lan

d.

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ssE

scto

leav

e.

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lose

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ante

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ress

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top

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nk,

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pre

ssE

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stop

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g.

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tto

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ur

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you

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ably

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owab

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l-A

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e.In

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ng

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l-S

hif

t-E

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sob

rin

gsu

pth

eW

ind

ows

Tas

kM

anag

er,

bu

tif

you

are

ona

larg

en

etw

ork

(dom

ain

),th

enyo

up

rob

ably

kn

owth

atyo

un

orm

ally

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eto

clic

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ask

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ager

afte

rp

ress

ing

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l-A

lt-D

elet

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ift-

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elim

inat

esth

isst

ep.

Page 24: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

39

Th

eC

lipp

itC

olu

mn

IsC

lipp

itstarin

gb

lankly

atyou

?R

ight-click

him

and

choose

An

imate.

You

’llh

aveto

do

ita

fewtim

es,b

ut

there’s

ab

un

chof

cool

ones.

388.

DECEMBER

2006

�If

youare

play

ing

one

ofth

eW

ind

ows

games

and

your

boss

walk

sin

:p

ressE

scto

min

imize

itin

stantly.

Note

that

this

doesn

’tw

orkon

allof

them

.

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un

nin

gan

ancien

tD

OS

program

with

DO

SB

oxor

someth

ing

similar

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run

sfu

llscreen.

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stuck

init?

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seeif

ith

elps.

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you

start

dra

ggin

ga

file

an

dth

en

chan

ge

you

rm

ind

,ju

stp

ress

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befo

reyou

let

go

of

the

mou

seb

utto

n.

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zyC

om

pu

ters

Crazy,

mean

s-nothin

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arnin

gs”in

Even

tV

iewer

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!H

owaw

ful!

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could

n’t

syn

chron

izeth

eclo

ckin

anastron

omically

long

13H

ours!

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Un

synch

ronized

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omp

uters

oftend

isplay

stup

idm

essageslike

this

wh

enyou

look

deep

er.U

nfortu

nately,

there’s

reallyn

ow

ayto

getrid

ofth

em.

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just

have

tod

ealw

ithit—

and

have

alittle

laugh

wh

ensom

ethin

glike

this

show

su

p.

OH

NO

!I’m

Un

syn

chron

izedab

out

aten

thof

am

illisecond

!!!

Page 25: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

6215.

JULY

2008

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.C

hoos

eO

Kan

dyo

ur

new

feed

shou

ldb

esh

own

asa

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eB

ook

mar

kon

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ks

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ks

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iew>

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ook

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Page 26: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

15:

July

2008

Micro

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Page 27: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

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Page 28: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

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5813.

MAY

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Page 30: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

13:

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Page 31: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

5612.

APRIL

2008

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roso

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55

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16:

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7620.

DECEMBER

2008

65

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Page 36: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

75

just

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6616.

AUGUST

2008

Page 37: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

7420.

DECEMBER

2008

you

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Page 38: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

20:

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mb

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Micro

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7219.

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Oct

ob

er

2008

Mic

roso

ftW

ord

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you

kn

owal

lth

eke

yco

mb

inat

ion

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rW

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o,yo

ud

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ord

has

man

ygr

eat

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tcu

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sin

gth

e“f

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ctio

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kn

ow,

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ossi

ble

tore

mem

ber

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arn

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the

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centu

ry?)

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elf

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can

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typ

ela

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chfo

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oos

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dow

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wh

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19:

Novem

ber

2008

Micro

soft

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ple

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at—you

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ortcut

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Page 41: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

9423.

INSTALLIN

GW

INDOW

S

des

kto

pan

dot

her

dat

afo

lder

son

toth

ed

ata

par

titi

onin

fold

ers

we

had

set

up

,fi

nis

hin

gth

ep

arti

tion

ing

arra

nge

men

t.(I

fyo

ud

on’t

get

that

,yo

ud

on’t

nee

dto

tou

nd

erst

and

the

rest

.)W

orke

dgr

eat.

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inst

alle

da

few

oth

erp

rogr

ams,

then

took

anim

age

bac

kup

ofth

eh

ard

dri

vein

case

we

had

tore

stor

eit

late

r.T

hen

,sa

tisfi

edth

atth

ein

stal

lati

onh

adfi

nis

hed

,an

dth

atth

eu

ser

cou

ldco

py

his

dat

afi

les

bac

kth

en

ext

day

,I

left

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he

nex

td

ay,

Ih

ead

edb

ack

over

tod

eal

wit

han

yp

rob

lem

s,an

dto

exp

lain

som

eof

the

new

feat

ure

s.W

hen

Iar

rive

d,

Ile

arn

edth

atth

ere

was

aso

un

dp

rob

lem

.U

h-o

h.

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had

inst

alle

da

new

sou

nd

card

fair

lyre

centl

y(a

nd

the

reas

onis

the

top

icof

anot

her

rant)

,w

hic

hw

asin

fam

ous

for

hav

ing

bad

sup

por

t.T

he

use

rd

emon

stra

ted

the

pro

ble

m,

and

Id

ida

litt

leth

inkin

g.A

ud

iop

laye

don

the

com

pu

ter

wor

ked

fin

e,b

ut

aud

ioin

web

vid

eow

ashor

rib

lyd

isto

rted

into

boom

ing

sou

nd

s(a

sif

itw

asw

ayto

osl

ow),

and

squ

eakin

gso

un

ds

(as

ifit

was

way

too

fast

).T

hat

led

me

tosu

spec

tF

lash

,th

ep

rogr

amth

atp

lays

mos

tof

thos

evid

eos,

asth

ecu

lpri

t.S

o,fi

rst

thin

gw

etr

ied

(aft

erre

boot

ing

and

usi

ng

ad

iffer

ent

bro

wse

r,of

cou

rse)

was

tore

inst

all

Fla

sh.

Th

atw

asea

sy,

bu

tth

ep

rob

lem

was

just

asb

adas

ever

.W

ed

ida

load

ofgo

ogli

ng

and

cam

eu

pw

ith

not

hin

g.(A

tth

isp

oint,

Ire

aliz

edth

attw

op

eop

lele

sste

chn

ical

than

us

mig

ht

hav

egi

ven

up

.)W

etr

ied

inst

alli

ng

seve

ral

dri

vers

and

pac

kage

sth

atot

her

peo

ple

said

wor

ked

,b

ut

they

refu

sed

toin

stal

lb

ecau

seth

ey“c

ould

n’t

fin

da

pro

du

ctin

stal

led

”,or

sim

ply

cras

hed

.(T

he

dri

ver

isso

ftw

are

nee

ded

toco

ntr

ola

har

dw

are

dev

ice,

and

pos

sib

lyth

ep

rob

lem

her

e.)

We

trie

din

stal

lin

gth

ed

rive

rfo

un

don

the

CD

that

had

ship

ped

wit

hit

,b

ut

itblu

e-sc

reen

ed.

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enI

had

tole

ave

and

pro

mis

edto

com

eb

ack

asso

onas

pos

sib

le.

Wh

ile

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asgo

ne,

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nsi

der

edsw

itch

ing

out

the

sou

nd

card

tose

eif

itw

asth

ep

rob

lem

,b

ut

wh

enI

cam

eb

ack,

the

use

rh

adan

oth

erid

ea.

Aft

ervis

itin

gth

eR

ock

etfi

shw

ebsi

te(t

he

peo

ple

wh

om

ade

the

sou

nd

card

),h

eh

adfo

un

da

dri

ver

list

edas

com

pat

ible

wit

hW

ind

ows

7.T

his

wou

ldn

’th

ave

bee

nod

dex

cep

tfo

rth

efa

ctth

atw

hen

we

had

look

edtw

od

ays

bef

ore,

ther

eh

adn

otb

een

any

dri

vers

orsu

pp

ort

orev

ena

men

tion

ofth

ep

rod

uct

onth

ew

ebsi

te.

We

dow

nlo

aded

and

inst

alle

dit

,an

d,

won

der

ofal

lw

ond

ers,

itw

orke

d.

Aw

eek

late

r(k

nock

onw

ood

),th

ere

hav

eb

een

no

mor

ep

rob

lem

s.B

ut

ifso

meo

ne

thin

ks

an

ovic

eu

ser

isca

pab

leof

doi

ng

som

eth

ing

like

that

un

as-

sist

ed,

Iw

ant

tota

lkto

them

.N

atu

rall

y,th

atw

ill

only

hap

pen

ona

smal

lp

erce

nta

geof

inst

alla

tion

s,b

ut

ifit

does

and

you

hav

en

obod

yto

hel

pyo

u,

you

’re

ina

majo

rja

m.

21:

Ten

Ways

toK

eep

Your

Pass

-w

ord

sSafe

We

all

kn

owth

atot

her

peo

ple

stea

lin

gyo

ur

pas

swor

ds

isb

ad,

bec

ause

then

they

can

get

into

you

rst

uff

and

do

all

sort

sof

bad

stu

ff.

Bu

tm

any

peo

ple

do

thin

gsth

atca

nge

tth

eir

pas

swor

ds

stol

enev

ery

day

,b

ecau

seth

eyd

on’t

bel

ieve

that

som

ethin

gb

adw

ill

hap

pen

toth

em,

bec

ause

they

’re

too

lazy

,or

bec

ause

they

don

’tre

aliz

ew

hat

they

’re

doi

ng.

(Iap

olog

ize

for

sou

nd

ing

like

a3-

year

-old

wh

ile

tryin

gto

gen

eral

ize.

)In

this

not

e,I

wil

lex

pla

inso

me

ofth

ew

ays

peo

ple

can

get

you

rp

assw

ord

asw

ell

asso

me

tip

sfo

rh

owto

pre

vent

it.

No

com

pu

ter

syst

em,

no

mat

ter

how

secu

re,

can

resi

stat

tack

ind

efin

itel

y.T

her

eis

alw

ays

som

ew

ayto

bre

akth

ese

curi

ty.

Th

ego

al,

then

,of

secu

rity

,is

sim

ply

tosl

owd

own

atta

cker

sso

mu

chth

atth

em

ethod

ofb

reak

-in

isim

pra

ctic

alor

they

give

up

and

mov

eon

toan

easi

erta

rget

.If

you

rco

mp

ute

rlo

oks

wel

l-se

cure

d,

un

less

crac

kers

hav

ea

very

good

reas

onto

targ

etyo

uin

par

ticu

lar,

they

’re

like

lyto

mov

eon

.F

irst

ofal

l,d

on’t

forg

etth

atyo

ur

pas

swor

ds

shou

ldid

eall

yal

lbe

diff

eren

t,or

atle

ast

som

eof

them

shou

ldb

ed

iffer

ent.

1.

Giv

ing

som

eon

eyou

rp

ass

word

Itse

ems

stu

pid

that

In

eed

toin

clu

de

this

,b

ut

peo

ple

do

itqu

ite

ab

it.

Are

you

shar

ing

any

kin

dof

acco

unt

wit

hso

meo

ne?

You

just

gave

them

you

rp

assw

ord

.S

aved

ap

assw

ord

inyo

ur

bro

wse

ron

ash

ared

com

pu

ter?

You

just

gave

them

you

rp

assw

ord

.(A

nd

not

only

can

they

log

onth

ere,

they

can

also

fin

dw

hat

pas

swor

dis

stor

edan

dw

rite

itd

own

for

use

late

r.)

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dp

lenty

ofp

eop

lesh

are

thei

rp

assw

ord

sw

ith

oth

ers

soth

eyca

nea

sily

log

on.

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I’m

not

sayin

gth

atsh

arin

gp

assw

ord

sis

inh

eren

tly

bad

,ju

stth

at

79

Page 42: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

23:

Insta

lling

Win

dow

s

Microsoft

and

man

yp

eople

onth

eW

ebare

claimin

gth

atW

ind

ows

cann

owb

ein

stalledby

an

ovice

comp

uter

user.

After

installin

gon

my

comp

uter,

Ith

ough

tth

atin

stallationh

adcertain

lycom

ea

long

way.

Bu

tafter

my

exp

erience

help

ing

anoth

eru

serin

stallon

his

comp

uter,

Ib

egto

diff

er.O

ur

plan

was

tob

acku

pevery

thin

g,take

some

Win

dow

ssettin

gsw

ithW

ind

ows

Easy

Tran

sfer(a

program

form

ovin

gsettin

gsan

dfi

lesto

an

ewor

freshly

installed

comp

uter),

wip

eth

ehard

drive,

and

createtw

op

artitions:

one

ford

ataan

don

efor

the

system

files.

Fairly

stand

ardp

roced

ure.

(For

those

ofyou

wh

od

on’t

kn

ow,a

partition

isju

sta

sectionon

ah

ardd

riveth

atap

pears

asa

separate

drive,

allowin

gyou

to,in

effect,

split

one

physical

drive

into

mu

ltiple

drives.)

So

we

backed

up

,p

ut

the

CD

inth

ed

rive,restarted

,an

dgot

into

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partition

er.W

eset

thin

gsu

pas

plan

ned

,th

enm

ovedon

with

the

installation

,w

hich

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glysim

ple,

elegant,

and

fast.T

hen

we

gotin

toW

ind

ows

forth

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rsttim

eafter

waitin

gab

out

20m

in-

utes

forcop

yin

gfi

les.It

looked

greatu

ntil

Irealized

that

we

had

selectedth

ed

atap

artitionas

the

system

partition

and

vice

versa(on

ew

assign

ifican

tlylarger

than

the

other).

Oh

,w

ell,h

aven’t

don

em

uch

yet,so

just

re-install.

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tit

wou

ldhave

been

nice

ifth

ein

stallerh

adb

eenclearer,

becau

seon

ceyou

’red

one

partition

ing,

youw

ould

natu

rallyh

it“N

ext”

inth

ein

staller.T

he

only

hin

tth

atit

wasn

’tqu

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simp

lew

asth

etitle,

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the

drive

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ant

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ind

ows

on,”

ind

icating

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the

entry

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adselected

wh

enyou

hit

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ould

selectth

esy

stemd

rive.It

wou

ldh

aveb

eenm

uch

better

toop

ena

second

dialog

box

ifyou

wan

tedto

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ifyth

ep

artitions,

and

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ide

aw

ayto

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artitions

fromth

eselection

win

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.M

i-n

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iceu

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ould

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gedth

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artitiontab

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ough

,an

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oth

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isas

part

ofm

yargu

men

t.O

nce

this

worked

,w

eop

ened

Registry

Ed

itoran

dtold

itto

pu

tth

e

93

8021.

TEN

WAYSTO

KEEPYOUR

PASSWORDSSAFE

youn

eedto

be

cautiou

s.E

veryp

ersonth

atkn

ows

ap

assword

mu

ltiplies

the

riskof

hav

ing

itstolen

orso

cial-engin

eered(m

oreon

that

later).Ju

stb

ecause

youtru

stsom

eone

comp

letelyd

oesn

’tm

eanth

atth

eyw

illkeep

your

passw

ordw

ithth

em

ostcare

possib

le.If

youn

eedto

share

your

passw

ordw

ithsom

eone,

make

sure

youkn

owfor

sure

that

they

will

not

write

itd

own

orsave

itan

dth

atth

eyare

smart

abou

tso

cialen

gineerin

g.If

forsom

ereason

youn

eedto

share

ap

assword

with

someon

eyou

don

’tkn

owm

uch

abou

t,you

canalw

ays

chan

geyou

rp

assword

temp

orarilyan

dth

ench

ange

itb

acklater.

2.

Sh

ou

lder

surfi

ng

Alth

ough

itsou

nd

slike

one

ofth

osestu

pid

thin

gsp

eople

tryto

do

atro

ckcon

certs,it’s

almost

un

dou

bted

lyth

eold

estan

dm

ostlow

-techw

ayto

steala

passw

ord.

All

youh

aveto

do

isget

beh

ind

someon

ean

dw

atchth

emen

terth

eirp

assword

.S

ince

passw

ords

were

develop

ed,

loginscreen

sh

aveh

idd

enth

ety

ped

characters

inp

assword

field

sfrom

view

tom

akesh

ould

ersu

rfin

gm

uch

more

diffi

cult.

How

ever,som

eone

wh

ogets

luck

y,h

assh

arpeyes,

ortries

mu

ltiple

times

will

have

afairly

good

chan

ceof

getting

your

passw

ordby

look

ing

atth

ekey

board

.S

ince

most

peop

leu

seth

esam

ep

assword

mu

ltiple

times

(hey,

evenm

e,an

dI’m

writin

gab

out

security

here),

stealing

one

passw

ordw

illallow

them

toget

into

mu

ltiple

accounts.

(An

dby

the

way,

this

prob

lemisn

’tlim

itedto

comp

uter

termin

als;you

shou

ldalw

ays

coverth

eP

INp

adw

ithyou

rh

and

wh

enen

tering

nu

mb

ersat

anA

TM

orstore

checkou

t.B

esides

the

chan

ceof

someon

ew

alkin

gb

ehin

dyou

and

spottin

gyou

rnu

mb

er,crackers

have

been

kn

own

top

lacecam

erasaim

edat

the

PIN

pad

sto

catchu

nw

aryu

sers.)O

bviou

sly,if

your

comp

uter

isp

lacedin

aclosed

room

,it’s

going

tob

ep

rettyh

ardfor

someon

eto

sneak

inb

ehin

dyou

and

shou

lder-su

rfyou

rp

assword

with

out

youn

oticing.

How

ever,b

ecarefu

lif

youin

vite

someon

eyou

don

’ttru

stin

toth

isarea;

shou

lder

surfi

ng

ison

eof

the

thin

gsp

eople

tend

not

toth

ink

abou

t.If

your

comp

uter

iseasily

visib

le,esp

eciallyin

acrow

ded

and

noisy

area,you

have

am

uch

bigger

prob

lem.

Not

only

areyou

lesslikely

ton

oticesom

eone

sneak

ing

up

beh

ind

you,

peop

lew

illalso

feelm

uch

more

confi

den

tan

dare

more

likelyto

tryto

stealyou

rp

assword

.T

here

area

fewth

ings

youcan

do

totry

top

revent

your

passw

ordfrom

bein

gsh

ould

er-surfed

.T

here

aretw

op

artsto

successfu

llystealin

ga

pass-

Page 43: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

9222.

INPUT

METHODS

81

wor

din

this

man

ner

,se

eing

the

pas

swor

dan

dre

mem

ber

ing

the

pas

swor

du

nti

lyo

uge

ta

chan

ceto

wri

teit

dow

n.

You

can

do

qu

ite

ab

itto

hel

pin

bot

har

eas.

Fir

stof

all,

the

mor

eco

mp

lica

ted

and

non

sen

sica

lth

ep

assw

ord

is,

the

less

like

lyso

meo

ne

isto

rem

emb

erit

.A

lso,

itw

ill

be

mu

chh

ard

erto

see

wh

atis

bei

ng

ente

red

.A

pas

swor

dli

ke“p

assw

ord

”h

asa

pat

tern

that

wil

lb

eea

sily

reco

gniz

ed,

bu

ta

pas

swor

dli

ke“e

58fl

c”is

very

un

like

lyto

be

“rea

d”

corr

ectl

y,an

dev

enm

ore

un

like

lyto

be

rem

emb

ered

.A

lso,

avoi

dlo

ng

stri

ngs

ofco

nti

guou

sor

rep

eati

ng

lett

ers,

like

“qw

erty

”or

“ad

adad

ad.”

Ev-

eryo

ne

can

easi

lysp

otth

ese.

Sec

ondly

,le

arn

toty

pe

you

rp

assw

ord

asfa

stas

pos

sib

le.

Ifyo

uh

itth

eke

ys

sofa

stth

atn

obod

yca

nse

ew

hat

you

’re

typ

-in

g,yo

u’r

eau

tom

atic

ally

safe

.T

hir

dly

,le

arn

toto

uch

-typ

e.It

wil

lim

pro

veyo

ur

over

all

com

pu

tin

gex

per

ien

cetr

emen

dou

sly,

and

itm

ight

take

aw

hil

eto

figu

reou

t,b

ut

it’s

tota

lly

wor

thit

.F

orse

curi

ty,

not

only

are

you

able

toty

pe

you

rp

assw

ord

mu

chfa

ster

,yo

ur

fin

gers

also

cove

rth

eke

yb

oard

wit

hou

tan

yeff

ort.

Fin

ally

,if

you

’re

ina

hig

h-r

isk

envir

onm

ent

(op

enar

ea,

crow

ded

,n

oisy

,p

ub

lic)

,lo

okb

ehin

dyo

ub

efor

eyo

uen

ter

imp

orta

nt

pas

swor

ds.

Al-

thou

ghit

seem

sp

aran

oid

,yo

um

ight

even

con

sider

gett

ing

am

onit

orm

irro

r,w

hic

hcl

ips

onto

you

rm

onit

oran

dsh

ows

you

wh

at’s

beh

ind

you

(see

http:

//www.thinkgeek.com/computing/accessories/2940/).

Not

only

wil

lit

allo

wyo

uto

catc

hsh

ould

ersu

rfer

sin

the

act

and

kn

oww

hen

som

eon

eh

asst

olen

you

rp

assw

ord

and

you

nee

dto

chan

geit

,cr

acke

rsar

eal

sofa

rm

ore

like

lyto

mov

eon

toan

easi

erta

rget

.

3.

Searc

han

dyou

wil

lfi

nd

...

Man

yp

eop

leh

ave

diffi

cult

yre

mem

ber

ing

pas

swor

ds,

soth

eyw

rite

them

dow

non

stic

ky

not

esan

dth

row

them

ind

esk

dra

wer

sor

stic

kth

emto

the

mon

itor

.E

nte

rpri

sin

gcr

acke

rsca

nea

sily

fin

dth

ese

not

esan

d..

.voi

la,

they

hav

ea

vali

dp

assw

ord

.T

his

one’

sea

syto

com

bat

—d

on’t

wri

teyo

ur

pas

swor

dd

own

.N

ever

wri

teyo

ur

pas

swor

dd

own

.N

ever

,ev

erw

rite

you

rp

assw

ord

dow

n.

Per

iod

.B

yw

riti

ng

dow

nyo

ur

pas

swor

d,

you

wor

kag

ain

stth

ew

hol

eid

eaof

ap

assw

ord

.If

you

mu

stsa

vep

assw

ord

sin

you

rb

row

ser,

mak

esu

reth

ey’r

en

otim

por

tant,

and

mak

esu

reyo

ur

com

pu

ter

requ

ires

alo

gin

pas

swor

dw

hil

eyo

u’r

eaw

ayfr

omit

(e.g

.lo

ckth

ew

orkst

atio

n,

mak

esc

reen

save

rre

qu

ire

pas

swor

daf

ter

itkic

ks

in,

log

off,

etc.

)If

you

hav

etr

oub

lere

mem

ber

ing

you

rp

assw

ord

s,co

nsi

der

usi

ng

ap

ass-

wor

dm

anag

er(s

eehttp://keepass.info/).

Ap

assw

ord

man

ager

stor

esal

l

Page 44: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

91

before

decid

ing

wh

atI’m

going

tow

rite,th

enin

pu

tit.

Ifth

ecom

pu

teris

just

tryin

gto

turn

my

thou

ghts

into

word

s,w

illit

just

place

rand

omw

ords

that

aregoin

gth

rough

my

min

don

the

screen?

Will

itkn

oww

hen

I’mju

stp

aused

tocollect

my

thou

ghts

and

enter

comp

letelyu

nrelated

thin

gs?A

lso,w

e’reu

sedto

hav

ing

tod

osom

ethin

gto

have

someth

ing

hap

pen

.It

wou

ldn

otb

ea

particu

larlyeasy

transition

.P

eople

migh

ttu

rnaw

ayto

do

someth

ing

elsean

dn

otrealize

that

they

had

n’t

turn

edit

offan

dstran

gestu

ffw

ould

be

hap

pen

ing

onth

ecom

pu

ter.P

erhap

sh

avin

gsom

esort

ofd

um

my

dev

icew

ould

be

help

ful

(say,a

mou

seth

atd

idn

’td

oan

yth

ing).

Wou

ldyou

be

able

toreliab

lyth

ink

abou

tw

here

youw

anted

the

mou

sep

ointer,

and

once

again,

wou

ldit

be

able

totell

the

diff

erence

betw

eencon

siderin

gan

dactu

allyw

antin

gto

clicksom

ewh

ere?

Con

clusio

n

I’msu

reth

ereare

man

yoth

erth

ings

youcan

thin

kof;

these

were

just

my

first

thou

ghts.

Feel

freeto

add

your

thou

ghts

by

clickin

gon

the

“Com

men

ts”lin

k;

ifth

ere’ssom

ethin

ggo

od

,I

may

add

itto

here.

An

dby

the

way,

Inoticed

that

Ih

aveoveru

sedsem

icolons

inth

iscon

clusion

;th

eyare

qu

iteu

seful,

thou

gh.

8221.

TEN

WAYSTO

KEEPYOUR

PASSWORDSSAFE

your

passw

ords

securely

soyou

only

have

torem

emb

eron

e(stron

g)m

asterp

assword

orp

lug

ina

flash

drive

and

un

lock

allyou

rp

assword

s.A

ftera

timeou

t,w

hen

youlog

out

orlo

ckth

efi

le(w

hen

youleave

the

comp

uter,

hop

efully

),or

wh

enyou

remove

your

flash

drive,

the

file

that

storesyou

rp

assword

isu

nload

edan

db

ecomes

inaccessib

le.T

his

will

alsoallow

youto

more

easilyu

sestron

geran

dd

ifferen

tp

assword

s.

4.

Secu

rityvu

lnera

bilitie

s

No

program

ofan

ysign

ifican

tsize

issafe

fromb

ugs.

Matter

offact,

no

pro-

gramis

safefrom

bu

gs.S

oit

follows

logicallyth

atm

ostm

ajor

program

sh

ave,at

some

poin

t,su

ffered

fromsecu

rityvu

lnerab

ilities.T

his

isn

ota

prob

lemin

itself;th

ep

roblem

isth

atp

eople

oftenfail

top

atchth

esevu

lnerab

ilitiesin

atim

elym

ann

er.N

earlyall

security

holes

arep

atched

well

before

they

aresu

ccessfully

exp

loited,

soas

long

asyou

pay

attention

,you

have

verylittle

tow

orryab

out.

Interm

sof

passw

ords,

there

arerelatively

fewex

ploits

ofth

issort,

bu

tit’s

alway

sa

good

idea

tokeep

everyth

ing

up

tod

ate.M

akesu

reau

tomatic

check

-for-u

pd

atesfeatu

resare

turn

edon

,u

pd

ateto

the

latestversion

sof

program

sp

eriod

ically,an

dkeep

alo

okout

foran

yp

ub

lished

security

advisories.

5.

Data

base

crack

ing

Datab

asecrack

ing

ison

eof

the

most

dan

gerous

threats

tod

ay.In

datab

asecrack

ing

(wh

ichisn

’tan

official

nam

e,b

ut

itw

orks,

and

Id

on’t

thin

kth

ereis

anoffi

cialn

ame),

acracker

orgrou

pof

crackersb

reaks

into

alarge

datab

asekep

tby

acom

pan

yon

asecu

reserver

and

stealsall

the

inform

ationon

it,w

hich

canb

ew

orthhu

geam

ounts

ofm

oney.

Datab

asecrack

ing

ism

orecom

mon

lytalked

abou

tin

terms

ofid

entity

theft,

bu

tit

isalso

aneasy

way

tosteal

emails,

passw

ords

(they

arepart

ofyou

rid

entity,

afterall),

and

more.

Un

fortun

ately,th

ere’svery

littleyou

cand

oab

out

datab

asecrack

ing;

youju

sth

aveto

trust

that

everyone

yougive

your

inform

ationto

will

do

their

best

tokeep

itsecu

re.

6.

Gu

ess

the

passw

ord

Sin

ceto

om

any

peop

leu

sesim

ple

passw

ords,

acracker

has

adecen

tch

ance

ofb

eing

able

tosit

dow

nin

front

ofa

comp

uter

orlogin

page

and

guess

the

Page 45: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

9022.

INPUT

METHODS

wor

dyo

uw

ant

tod

elet

eth

anto

des

crib

ew

her

eit

islo

cate

don

the

pag

e.R

evis

ing

lon

gd

ocu

men

tsco

uld

pot

enti

ally

take

hou

rsju

stb

ecau

sesi

mp

leta

sks

like

scro

llin

gan

dd

elet

ing

wor

ds

requ

ire

lon

g,m

ult

i-p

art

com

man

ds.

An

dfi

nal

ly,

our

voic

esd

on’t

like

talk

ing

for

lon

gp

erio

ds

ofti

me.

Ju

stas

peo

ple

tod

ayhu

rtth

eir

wri

sts

and

fin

gers

from

typ

ing

too

mu

ch,

wor

kers

wh

ota

lked

for

eigh

th

ours

ad

ayw

ith

out

stop

pin

gw

ould

n’t

be

very

hap

py

abou

th

owth

eyfe

ltaf

terw

ard

s.

Op

tion

3:

Tou

chp

ad

s/G

rap

hic

sT

ab

lets

Tou

chp

ads

are

thos

ean

noy

ing

tiny

litt

leth

ings

you

see

onla

pto

ps.

Gra

ph

ics

tab

lets

are

bas

ical

lyb

igto

uch

pad

sth

atyo

uu

sew

ith

ap

en.

Eit

her

way

,yo

up

oint

atan

abso

lute

loca

tion

onth

esc

reen

,ra

ther

than

mov

eth

ep

ointe

rre

lati

veto

its

curr

ent

pos

itio

nli

keyo

ud

oon

am

ouse

.If

you

’re

con

fuse

d,

thin

kab

out

how

you

can

pic

kth

em

ouse

up

and

mov

eit

toth

eot

her

sid

eof

the

keyb

oard

and

the

poi

nte

rw

ill

stay

inth

esa

me

spot

.T

hat

’sre

lati

ve,

bec

ause

you

rm

ovem

ent

ofth

em

ouse

mov

esth

ep

ointe

rre

lati

veto

its

orig

inal

loca

tion

.In

contr

ast,

inab

solu

telo

cati

on,

tap

pin

gin

the

up

per

-lef

tco

rner

ofth

ep

adw

ill

alw

ays

mov

eth

ep

ointe

rto

the

up

per

-lef

tco

rner

ofth

esc

reen

.H

itti

ng

inth

em

idd

lew

illal

way

sm

ove

toth

em

idd

leof

the

scre

en,

rega

rdle

ssof

wh

ere

the

poi

nte

rw

asb

efor

e.B

asic

ally

,to

uch

pad

soff

erm

any

mor

eop

tion

sth

ana

mou

se,

bec

ause

you

can

man

ipu

late

them

wit

hm

ore

than

one

fin

ger

ata

tim

e,p

rovid

edth

ep

adan

dso

ftw

are

sup

por

tsm

ult

i-to

uch

.S

ome

con

cep

tsh

ave

take

nth

isto

the

nex

tle

vel

(see

http://10gui.com/).

Th

eyal

som

ayoff

erb

ette

rer

gon

omic

s.

Op

tion

4:

Th

inkin

g

Itca

n’t

pos

sib

lygo

mai

nst

ream

anyti

me

soon

,b

ut

bei

ng

able

tom

anip

ula

teyo

ur

com

pute

rsi

mp

lyby

thin

kin

gce

rtai

nly

offer

sa

lot

ofp

ossi

bil

itie

s.F

irst

ofal

l,it

com

ple

tely

elim

inat

esth

eis

sue

we’

veal

way

sh

adb

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eets

all

ofth

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ined

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clu

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ion

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hav

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oste

don

the

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rnet

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not

ap

hra

seli

ke“p

assw

ord

”ty

ped

wit

hyo

ur

han

ds

shif

ted.

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not

any

ofth

ep

assw

ord

sor

sim

ilar

toan

yof

the

pas

swor

ds

onth

e“T

op50

0W

orst

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swor

ds

ofA

llT

ime”

list

athttp://www.whatsmypass.

com/the-top-500-worst-passwords-of-all-time.

�In

clu

des

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8ch

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ters

,th

em

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lso

see

the

“Dic

tion

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sect

ion

for

mor

egu

idel

ines

.

7.

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ary

att

ack

Ad

icti

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yat

tack

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asic

ally

ah

igh

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hve

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sin

gth

ep

assw

ord

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ad

icti

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tack

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crac

ker

run

sa

pro

gram

call

eda

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tion

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ker

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enth

eyw

ant

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ep

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esw

ith

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icti

onar

yfi

leco

nta

inin

gth

em

ost

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mon

pas

swor

ds.

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ecr

acke

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rogr

amw

ill

try

each

pas

swor

du

nti

lit

run

sou

tof

pas

swor

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itge

tslo

cked

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for

too

man

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corr

ect

pas

swor

dat

tem

pts

,or

itgu

esse

sth

ep

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ord

corr

ectl

y,in

wh

ich

case

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ill

stop

and

tell

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crac

ker

wh

atth

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was

.T

op

rote

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urs

elf

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op50

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llT

ime”

list

athttp://www.whatsmypass.

com/the-top-500-worst-passwords-of-all-time.

Page 46: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

89

neck

tolo

okd

own

.E

ither

way,

there’s

that

nasty

prob

lemof

blo

ckin

gyou

rview

ofth

escreen

with

your

fin

gers.

Op

tion

2:

Voice

Reco

gn

ition

Voice

recognition

seems

likea

greatid

eaon

the

surface.

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don

’th

aveto

learnto

typ

eor

use

am

ouse,

and

youcan

just

tellth

ecom

pu

terw

hat

tod

oin

stead.

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caneasily

dictate

docu

men

ts,to

o,an

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ostp

eople

cansp

eakfaster

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they

canty

pe,

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orks

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it’sn

otth

atgreat.

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ofall,

voicerecogn

itionon

lyh

asa

stated99%

accuracy,

and

inm

any

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ab

itless

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eerrors

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otin

tolerable,

bu

tth

eyare

certainly

ann

oyin

g.In

actuality,

the

nu

mb

erof

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lessth

anm

ostp

eople

make

wh

ilety

pin

g,b

ut

typ

ing

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lessth

ana

second

by

fastty

pists.

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errorstake

alon

gtim

eto

fix;

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erh

aveto

reachfor

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keyb

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throu

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ordan

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tto

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oesn

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atw

ord,

youm

ight

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ah

ardtim

eselectin

git)

and

then

hop

eth

atit

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the

word

the

second

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d.

Most

good

packages

can“learn

”an

dth

us

have

lesserrors

overtim

e,b

ut

our

voicesare

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plex

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acom

pu

terh

asa

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derstan

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hat

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ple

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ed

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asth

ew

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ecou

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orkh

ardon

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techn

ologyan

dgreatly

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roveth

eaccu

racy,w

hich

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gb

etterall

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time.

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fortun

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at’sn

otth

eex

tent

ofth

ep

roblem

s.F

irstof

all,th

ere’sth

eissu

eth

atsp

eakin

gm

akesn

oise.If

you’re

inan

office

environ

men

tw

ithou

tclosed

doors,

not

only

will

loads

ofp

eople

be

distracted

by

wh

atoth

erp

eople

ared

oing,

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ance

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software

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eople

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efact

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gvoice

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.N

ext,

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atit’s

mu

chh

arder

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sof

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senten

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atd

oesn

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ork,

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space

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ple

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ds

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inp

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sing

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arrowkey

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orrecting

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becau

seit’s

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easyto

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ces.I’m

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cea

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lym

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riteIt

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uild

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rd

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uess

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te-fo

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Ab

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assword

until

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right

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isfou

nd

.N

om

atterw

hat

security

measu

resare

used

,a

bru

te-forceattack

isgu

aranteed

toeven

tually

come

up

with

the

right

answ

er.H

owever,

ab

rute-

forceattack

takesa

reallylon

gtim

e(u

nless

itgets

luck

y);

ifyou

have

astron

gp

assword

,it

could

takecen

turies

tocrack

itu

sing

pow

erful

comp

uters.

To

comb

atb

rute-force

attacks,

make

sure

youh

avea

strong

passw

ord,

usin

gth

ep

assword

guid

elines

for#

6an

d#

7.

9.

Keylo

ggin

g

Akey

loggeris

ap

rogramor

hard

ware

dev

iceth

atstores

allth

ekey

strokesen

teredin

toa

comp

uter.

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eone

canin

stalla

keylogger,

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latercom

eb

ackto

retrieveth

ed

atacollected

,search

throu

ghit

forseq

uen

cesth

atlo

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passw

ords,

then

attemp

tth

osep

assword

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rotectyou

rselfagain

stsoftw

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akesu

reyou

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anan

ti-malw

arep

rogramth

atin

clud

essp

yw

arep

rotectionin

stalledan

dth

atit

scans

regularly.

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protect

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ardw

arekey

loggers,m

akesu

restran

gerscan

not

easilyaccess

wh

ereyou

rkey

board

plu

gsin

,an

dch

eckoc-

casionally

tom

akesu

reth

ereare

no

od

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evices

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esy

stem(key

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allyp

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etween

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oardan

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pu

ter).

10.

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len

gin

eerin

g

Social

engin

eering

(ina

security

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t)is

simp

lyth

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gcon

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ential

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ationor

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illcom

prom

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esecu

rityof

asy

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res).S

ocial

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eering

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person

,b

ut

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hy

itcan

not

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On

eof

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reasons

why

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ccessful

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at,in

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arrested.

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ep

ersonh

asch

osento

giveth

ein

formation

,after

all.

Page 47: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

8822.

INPUT

METHODS

ours

elve

sn

otto

not

ice.

Th

isp

rob

lem

isb

asic

ally

un

solv

able

,b

ut

it’s

one

ofth

eth

ings

toke

epin

min

dw

hen

talk

ing

abou

tin

pu

t;h

owcl

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can

you

get

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atli

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ome

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uh

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end

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dco

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art

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wan

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ale

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enty

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ould

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typ

ists

sim

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eth

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end

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chti

me

fixin

ger

rors

asth

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lyke

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gn

ewte

xt.

Ifyo

uh

adto

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ercl

ick

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wro

ng

bu

tton

,yo

uw

ould

hav

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hol

dyo

ur

han

dst

ead

yan

dtr

iple

-ch

eck

bef

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clic

kin

gev

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bu

tton

.O

bvio

usl

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’re

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tto

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som

eth

ing

that

can

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be

un

don

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arra

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fin

dth

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ance

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wee

nsp

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and

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and

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seto

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ith

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ter.

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ep

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ctly

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ent

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omic

pro

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Op

tion

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Tou

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Tou

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ake

ple

nty

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ls,

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gers

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and

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chit

bas

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way

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wan

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ssu

min

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ensu

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orts

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lti-

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ns

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use

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ayou

tin

fron

tof

you

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seth

em.

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uw

ere

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lve

that

by

pla

cin

gth

esc

reen

onyo

ur

des

k,

then

you

hav

eto

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inyo

ur

85

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tect

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ush

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ep

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atre

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git

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inal

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lls

you

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you

rin

for-

mat

ion

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’sb

est

not

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veit

.If

they

wan

tyo

uto

take

asu

rvey

,fi

ne,

bu

tth

eyd

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kn

owyo

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nam

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ep

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ord

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tem

pt

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rit

.G

etin

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chw

ith

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pan

yor

foll

owa

“My

pas

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dh

asb

een

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en”

pro

ce-

1I

rece

ntl

yre

ada

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ghte

nin

gb

ook

call

edTheArt

ofDeception:Controllingthe

HumanElemen

tofSecurity

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itnic

k(a

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eer)

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hic

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hat

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reve

nt

it.

Ifyo

u’r

eat

all

inte

rest

edin

this

top

ic,

Ih

igh

lyre

com

men

dit

.

Page 48: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

22:

Input

Meth

ods

Id

on’t

actually

remem

ber

learnin

gto

use

am

ouse.

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since

Ican

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er,I’ve

just

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hat

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ant

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move

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here

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tw

hen

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ink

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tit,

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mou

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td

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istance

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nd

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peop

leare

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fused

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enlearn

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ep

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ecause

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adalread

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gerscou

ldgo.

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isis

am

ajor

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out

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stillh

ascertain

features

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no

other

curren

ttech

nology

canoff

er.W

e(an

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uen

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eing

able

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pu

tor

write

someth

ing

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canth

ink.”

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dit’s

true

that

youcan

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thin

kso

fast.F

orin

stance,

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gth

issen

tence,

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ped

typ

ing

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ds

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ghts

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hen

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someth

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itedby

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eit.

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that

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the

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app

ens

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ensp

eakin

g.It’s

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itseem

sm

uch

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ralfor

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someh

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Page 49: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

110

28.

SIM

CIT

Y,RANDOM

FAILURES,AND

THECOREI7

test

),si

nce

itw

asn

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akin

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eu

sual

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ds

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idri

ght

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ore

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ent

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eb

oot

men

u.

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lyp

rob

lem

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uld

n’t

see

wh

ere

itfa

iled

,si

nce

the

mon

itor

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kin

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ter,

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us

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ight

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ever

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rate

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ount

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add

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rin

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mov

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omth

eW

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stin

g(f

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ofco

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on’t

feel

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ldb

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low

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eon

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rmat

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nn

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aw

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nat

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Page 50: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

28:

Sim

City

,R

andom

Failu

res,

and

the

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esed

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astcou

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enI

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ay,m

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up

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dfi

gured

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othin

gof

it,I

rebooted

.G

uess

wh

at?T

he

mon

itorstill

stayedin

pow

er-savem

od

e.O

kay,su

pp

oseth

em

onitor’s

bad

.O

rm

ayb

eth

ecab

le;th

elast

time

the

screenw

asall

green,

Iu

nration

allysu

spected

the

graph

icscard

and

bou

ght

an

ewon

eb

eforeI

realizedth

ecab

leh

add

ied.

Bu

tm

ysecon

dm

onitor

wasn

’tp

ickin

gth

esign

alu

peith

er.S

oI

walked

dow

nth

estairs,

grabb

edou

r21-in

chT

V,

wh

ichh

asa

stand

ardcom

puter

inp

ut,

lugged

itu

p,

and

plu

ggedit

in.

Pow

erb

ackon

.N

othin

g.I

startedth

inkin

g,“H

mm

,w

hat

have

Ich

anged

that

migh

th

avecau

sedth

is?”T

hin

gis,

Ih

adn

’tin

stalledor

chan

gedan

yth

ing.

Ih

adrecen

tlyin

-stalled

asou

nd

card,

bu

tth

atw

asab

out

aw

eekb

efore,an

dit

had

worked

flaw

lesslyu

pu

ntil

then

.N

o,it

seemed

top

oint

toward

some

sortof

rand

omh

ardw

arefailu

re.I

guess

the

graph

icscard

has

tob

eb

ad,

right?

Pu

llou

tth

egrap

hics

cardan

dp

lug

into

the

graph

icsb

uilt

into

the

moth

erboard

.N

olu

ckth

ereeith

er.M

ayb

eth

esettin

gsare

stillset

tou

seth

en

onex

istant

graph

icscard

?R

esetth

eB

IOS

settings.

No

luck

.T

he

comp

uter

did

n’t

seemto

be

PO

ST

ing

(passin

gth

ep

ower-on

self

109

9624.

PERSONALIN

FORMATIO

NON

THEIN

TERNET

more

specifi

cstu

ff,

bu

tn

olu

ck.

At

this

poin

t,th

ough

,I

have

man

yoth

ern

ames.

Ch

ances

areth

atif

Ilo

okth

emu

p,

I’llget

some

contact

inform

ation,

and

Ican

prob

ably

trickon

eof

them

into

givin

gm

e,say,

my

email

orp

hon

enu

mb

er(p

erhap

sI

have

anop

portu

nity

form

eto

play

violin

forsom

ethin

g,or

top

articipate

inS

cience

Oly

mp

iadcam

p).

(Id

idn

’ttry

that,

since

itw

ould

taketim

e,an

dI

did

n’t

feellike

pu

rposefu

llyfo

oling

peop

leI

kn

ew,

plu

sth

erew

ould

be

ap

rettygo

od

chan

ceth

eyw

ould

recognize

my

voice).L

et’stry

that.

With

my

ph

one

nu

mb

er(w

hich

won

’tb

eto

oh

ardto

get)I

typ

eit

into

Google,

and

—huh

,th

ere’sm

yad

dress

and

paren

ts’n

ames.

Ish

ould

alsom

ention

that,

not

hav

ing

any

major

legald

ocu

men

tationyet,

my

nam

ed

oesn

’tap

pear

inm

any

directories.

Try

searchin

gon

yourself.

Itm

ayb

erath

eren

lighten

ing.

Page 51: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

108

27.

CONCEPT

IDEA:THEPHONECONTROLSYSTEM

25:

Tech

Supp

ort

Let

’sfa

ceit

:W

eal

lkn

owth

atte

chsu

pp

ort

inth

isd

ayan

dag

eis

hor

rib

le.

You

hav

eto

wai

tfo

rag

esto

actu

ally

talk

toso

meo

ne,

only

tob

ep

ut

onh

old

agai

nb

ecau

seth

efi

rst

per

son

wh

oan

swer

sca

n’t

do

anyth

ing

mor

eth

ante

llyo

uto

rest

art

(eve

nif

the

pro

ble

mis

that

you

rco

mp

ute

rw

on’t

rest

art)

.Y

ouca

nof

ten

bar

ely

un

der

stan

dth

ep

erso

nw

ho’

ssu

pp

osed

tob

ehel

pin

gyo

u,

and

they

mos

tli

kely

hav

eh

adal

mos

tn

otr

ain

ing.

Aft

eran

hou

rof

this

,yo

uof

ten

get

told

toca

llso

meo

ne

else

.O

non

em

emor

able

occ

asio

n,

Iw

aite

don

hol

dfo

r45

min

ute

san

dth

enth

esy

stem

hu

ng

up

onm

e.W

hat

’sw

ith

this

?P

lenty

ofp

eop

leI’

veta

lked

tosa

yth

atye

ars

ago,

wh

enco

mp

ute

rsw

ere

stil

ln

otto

oco

mm

on,

you

cou

ldca

llte

chsu

pp

ort

and

imm

edia

tely

get

peo

ple

wh

okn

eww

hat

they

wer

eta

lkin

gab

out

and

exac

tly

wh

atn

eed

edto

be

don

e.In

real

ity,

Ith

ink

use

rsar

ep

artl

yto

bla

me

for

call

ing

abou

tis

sues

they

cou

ldre

solv

eth

emse

lves

,m

akin

gca

llce

nte

rsm

ore

read

yfo

rth

ose

typ

esof

call

s.M

ost

exp

erie

nce

du

sers

call

only

asa

last

reso

rt,

bec

ause

they

kn

owth

atth

ey’r

ego

ing

toh

ave

tod

eal

wit

hth

is,

only

tob

em

etw

ith

anh

our

ofre

doi

ng

stu

ffth

ey’v

eal

read

yd

one.

Mor

eto

bla

me,

thou

gh,

are

the

ven

dor

s,w

ho

can

save

mon

eyby

assi

gnin

gca

lls

top

eop

lew

ho

kn

own

oth

ing

abou

tth

ep

rod

uct

.In

fact

,I

dou

bt

that

itre

ally

hel

ps

mu

ch,

bec

ause

itju

stle

ads

tom

ore

un

sati

sfied

cust

omer

san

dm

ore

tim

esp

ent

onth

eca

lls.

Ina

cou

ntr

yw

her

ew

eca

ngo

bac

kto

the

stor

ean

dre

turn

alm

ost

anyth

ing

wit

hn

oqu

esti

ons

aske

d,

amI

the

only

one

wh

oth

inks

this

isab

surd

?I

don

’tev

enca

reto

cou

nt

how

man

yh

ours

I’ve

spen

tta

lkin

gon

the

ph

one

wit

hp

eop

lew

ho

ofte

nd

on’t

reso

lve

my

pro

ble

m,

bu

tit

mu

stb

eat

leas

tth

irty

.R

ecen

tly,

som

eon

eI

kn

owb

ough

ta

new

com

pu

ter,

only

tofi

nd

that

the

sou

nd

card

had

akn

own

pro

ble

m.

We

wer

etr

yin

gto

copy

aca

sset

teta

pe

toth

eco

mp

ute

r,an

dw

ew

eren

’tsu

reex

actl

yw

hat

we

cou

ldd

o,b

ut

dec

ided

toca

llsu

pp

ort

inth

eh

opes

ofh

avin

ga

wor

kin

gso

un

dca

rdse

nt

to

97

Page 52: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

107

already

exist.

Th

esim

plest

way,

therefore,

toget

any

such

system

tow

orkw

ould

be

tosim

ply

inclu

de

the

necessary

software

and

logicon

allnew

ph

ones,

and

aftersom

ep

eriod

oftim

e(say,

7years),

allp

hon

esth

atw

erep

urch

asedb

eforeth

attim

ew

ould

simp

lycease

tow

ork(after

suffi

cient

warn

ing

fromth

ep

rovid

er,of

course),

and

the

restof

the

system

could

be

imp

lemen

ted.

Poin

t7:

Con

clusio

n

Natu

rally,I

have

no

leveragew

hatso

everto

getsom

ethin

glike

this

work

ing.

It’sa

veryam

bitiou

scon

cept,

and

Ih

avesevere

dou

bts

that

our

society

will

welcom

ean

yth

ing

liketh

is.M

ayb

eyou

don

’tagree

with

me

onall

the

poin

ts;m

ayb

eyou

don

’teven

agreeth

atsom

ethin

glike

this

isn

ecessary.T

he

thin

gto

remem

ber

isth

ath

avin

gp

hon

esrin

ging

du

ring

perform

ances

and

atoth

erin

app

ropriate

times

isex

tremely

ann

oyin

g,an

dth

atp

eople

have

aten

den

cyto

tryto

use

ph

ones

wh

enit

isn

otreason

able

tod

oso.

Ifw

ecan

’ttru

stp

eople

totake

careof

this

them

selves(an

dit

seems

that

we

can’t,

fromth

ep

astfew

years),I

seen

ooth

erreal

solution

than

toim

plem

ent

some

kin

dof

control.

Id

on’t

eventru

stm

yself

toalw

ays

turn

offm

yp

hon

eat

the

right

times

(and

I’mw

riting

this)—

more

than

once,

I’ved

iscoveredI’ve

leftm

yp

hon

eon

du

ring

school,

oran

equ

allyb

adtim

e.

9825.

TECH

SUPPORT

us.

After

exp

lainin

gth

ep

roblem

,th

erep

had

us

dow

nload

software

that

leth

eraccess

the

comp

uter

remotely,

then

pro

ceeded

toch

eckth

atth

evolu

me

was

up

.A

fterth

is,w

egot

transferred

no

lessth

anfou

rtim

es,often

with

out

doin

gm

oreth

anex

plain

ing

the

issue.

Th

eb

estp

art,h

owever,

was

wh

enon

eof

the

reps

said,

“Well,

ifyou

wan

tto

hear

soun

dfrom

your

tape

recorder,

yoush

ould

just

hook

itu

pto

the

speakers.”

Th

en

ext

day,

we

gotb

ackon

the

ph

one,

and

afteran

other

two

hou

rsof

bein

gtran

sferred,

and

atim

ew

hen

we

were

onh

oldan

dth

eyw

ered

oing

thin

gsrem

otelyon

the

comp

uter

with

out

our

consen

t,w

efi

nally

gaveu

p,

wen

tto

Best

Bu

y,an

db

ough

ta

new

soun

dcard

,w

hich

worked

perfectly.

Bu

tafterw

ards,

Irealized

that

we

actually

kn

ewm

oreth

antech

sup

port,

afterju

sta

littleb

itof

exp

erimen

ting

and

searchin

gG

oogle.

It’sju

stp

athetic,

and

wh

ata

waste

offou

rh

ours.

An

other

time

that

was

evenw

orsew

asw

hen

Ib

ough

ta

new

comp

uter

in2005.

Itw

asan

HP

(ab

rand

which

Ih

avesin

ced

ecided

toavoid

ifth

ereis

aneasy

choice),

and

atfi

rst,it

feltgreat,

comin

gfrom

aW

ind

ows

ME

comp

uter

with

a900M

hz

Pen

tium

and

64MB

ofR

AM

.B

ut

afterab

out

am

onth

,I

startedto

notice

weird

thin

gs:th

ecom

pu

terreb

ooted

rand

omly

with

Blu

eS

creens

ofD

eath,

Igot

messages

(relatedto

that)

that

said“T

he

system

has

recoveredfrom

aseriou

serror”

onstartu

p,

the

Nu

mL

ock

keyw

asn’t

work

ing

right,

and

wh

enI

pu

tp

rograms

full-screen

,th

escreen

wou

ldgo

black

wh

enI

exited

,an

dI

wou

ldh

aveto

pu

tit

instan

dby

mod

ean

dcom

eou

tagain

tofi

xit.

Icalled

techsu

pp

orta

fewtim

esab

out

this,

and

non

eof

itactu

allyw

orked.

Fin

allyI

gotsick

ofth

efu

ll-screenp

roblem

,an

dafter

Ih

adcalled

abou

tsom

ethin

gelse,

wh

enth

erep

asked,

“Isth

erean

yth

ing

elsew

ecan

help

youw

ithto

day

?”,I

toldh

imab

out

that

prob

lem.

Iw

astold

that

it“w

asa

prob

lemw

ithth

eop

erating

system

”an

dth

atI

wou

ldh

aveto

reinstall

Win

dow

s.S

oI

did

.H

owever,

once

itw

asd

one,

the

prob

lems

were

worse

than

before.

Itried

comp

letelyreform

atting

the

hard

drive

and

reinstallin

gagain

,an

dh

adn

om

orelu

ck.

So

Icalled

again,

and

,after

abou

tan

hou

ran

da

half,

fin

allym

ade

itto

someon

ew

ho

agreedto

letm

esh

ipit

infor

repair.

Wh

enit

came

back

fromrep

air,I

was

toldth

atth

eyh

adfou

nd

ap

roblem

with

the

real-time

clock

and

that

ith

adb

eenfi

xed

.N

ope,

same

errors,an

dto

add

insu

ltto

inju

ry,th

esy

stemd

idn

’ttu

rnon

,an

dw

eh

adto

actually

tape

the

pow

erw

iressom

ewh

ereto

getit

totu

rnon

(Isu

spect

itw

asa

loose

conn

ection).

Ih

adit

sent

infor

repair

again,

and

they

replaced

the

hard

drive.

Sam

eerrors.

Fin

allyth

eysh

ipp

edou

ta

comp

letelyn

ewsy

stem.

It

Page 53: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

106

27.

CONCEPT

IDEA:THEPHONECONTROLSYSTEM

–T

he

mod

ew

ould

rem

ain

inu

nre

stri

cted

unti

lan

adm

inis

trat

orre

vie

wed

itan

dre

set

the

mod

e.

Poin

t4:

Contr

ol

Box

Th

eco

ntr

olb

oxw

ould

be

loca

ted

ina

pu

bli

c,ea

sily

acce

ssib

lep

lace

.O

na

dis

pla

yat

the

fron

tof

the

contr

olb

ox,

anyo

ne

wou

ldb

eab

leto

see

the

area

the

zon

eex

ten

ded

toan

dth

em

od

eth

ear

eaw

ascu

rren

tly

in.

An

adm

inis

trat

orco

uld

also

log

infr

omth

eco

ntr

olb

oxto

chan

gese

ttin

gs,

the

mod

e,an

dre

vie

wlo

gsan

dem

erge

ncy

even

ts.

Log

gin

gin

wou

ldre

qu

ire

ake

yan

da

pas

scode,

toav

oid

anyb

od

ym

essi

ng

wit

hit

.T

he

contr

olb

oxw

ould

also

log

any

fail

edlo

gin

s.

Poin

t5:

Tech

nic

al

Asp

ect

s

Set

tin

gu

pa

syst

emth

atco

uld

contr

olph

one

use

effec

tive

lyw

ould

be

fair

lyco

mp

lica

ted

,b

ut

could

be

acco

mp

lish

edby

hav

ing

ph

ones

list

enfo

rsi

gnal

sfr

omco

ntr

olb

oxes

.T

he

sign

alw

ould

stat

eth

ecu

rren

tzo

ne

the

syst

emw

asin

,an

dw

ould

imm

edia

tely

cau

seth

eir

resp

ecti

veeff

ects

onth

ep

hon

ew

hen

rece

ived

.A

lso,

all

com

mu

nic

atio

ns

wou

ldb

ein

terc

epte

dby

the

contr

olb

ox,

and

pro

vid

edth

atth

eyw

eren

’tfr

oma

ban

ned

ph

one,

sent

onto

the

tow

er.

To

low

erth

ech

ance

ofp

hon

es’re

stri

ctio

ns

bei

ng

crac

ked

and

bro

ken

,it

cou

ldb

em

ade

sim

ply

ille

gal

toow

nsu

cha

ph

one.

Th

eref

ore,

anyo

ne

cau

ght

usi

ng

ap

hon

eb

reak

ing

rest

rict

ion

sw

ould

be

auto

mat

ical

lyp

ointe

dou

tas

guil

ty.

Inad

dit

ion

,co

ntr

olb

oxes

cou

ldb

ese

tu

pto

blo

ckal

lco

mm

un

icat

ion

sfr

oma

ph

one

(ban

the

phon

e)th

ath

adb

een

cau

ght

bre

akin

gth

ere

stri

ctio

ns.

As

extr

ad

efen

seag

ain

stth

is,co

ntr

olb

oxes

cou

ldlo

gev

ents

that

occ

urr

edon

the

ph

one,

such

asa

rin

gton

eso

un

din

g.(P

erh

aps

that

’sa

litt

leb

itov

erb

oard

,as

itco

uld

be

seen

asan

inva

sion

ofp

riva

cy;

itco

uld

also

pos

sib

lyb

esp

oof

edby

hav

ing

one’

scr

acke

dp

hon

efi

rmw

are

sen

din

corr

ect

mes

sage

sto

the

log.

Ifth

esy

stem

real

lyw

orke

d,

anyo

ne

wh

ose

ph

one

wen

toff

invio

lati

onof

rest

rict

ion

sm

ight

be

soun

acce

pte

dby

soci

ety

that

som

eon

ew

ould

rep

ort

them

anyw

ay.)

Poin

t6:

Setu

p

Of

cou

rse,

ph

ones

can

’tb

em

ade

tore

spon

dto

thes

esi

gnal

sou

tof

the

blu

e,n

orca

nm

ysu

gges

ted

emer

gen

cysw

itch

be

reas

onab

lyad

ded

top

hon

esth

at

99

only

had

the

full

-scr

een

pro

ble

m,

soI

dec

ided

just

tod

eal

wit

hit

.It

wor

ked

fin

eaf

ter

that

unti

lab

out

aye

arla

ter,

wh

enit

com

ple

tely

cras

hed

.I

trie

dto

inst

all

Win

dow

san

d,

afte

ra

few

con

fusi

ng

dia

log

box

eson

firs

tst

artu

p,

end

edu

pat

asc

reen

tell

ing

me

toin

pu

ta

lice

nse

key,

wh

ich

Id

idn

’th

ave.

Th

esy

stem

was

out

ofw

arra

nty

,b

ut

Ica

lled

anyw

ayan

dth

eyag

reed

toh

elp

.W

ere

form

atte

dth

eh

ard

dri

veye

tag

ain

(th

efo

urt

hti

me

inth

eco

mp

ute

r’s

life

tim

e),

and

itw

orke

d,

alth

ough

the

full

-scr

een

erro

rw

asst

ill

ther

e.A

bou

ta

year

and

ah

alf

late

r,I

bou

ght

an

ewco

mp

ute

r(a

nH

P,

bec

ause

the

spec

sw

ere

too

good

top

ass

up

for

the

pri

ce).

On

lyre

centl

y,I

man

aged

toge

tri

dof

the

Vis

tain

stal

lati

onth

ath

adgo

tten

sosc

rew

edu

pth

atit

took

over

ten

min

ute

sto

boot

,tw

oto

shu

td

own

(so

that

Iu

sual

lyju

sth

itth

ere

set

bu

tton

),an

da

few

seco

nd

sto

swit

chp

rogr

ams.

Th

isin

stal

lati

onh

adon

lyb

een

onfo

ra

year

,an

dit

’sn

otli

keI

had

bee

nab

usi

ng

it.

Th

ere

was

also

the

tim

eth

ata

har

dd

rive

Ih

adb

ough

t(i

tw

asla

bel

ed“C

erti

fied

Rep

aire

d”,

wh

ich

mea

nt

ith

adb

roke

nin

the

pas

t,so

Iw

ason

lyu

sin

git

for

bac

ku

p)

com

ple

tely

bro

kew

ith

inth

est

ingy

180

day

war

ranty

per

iod

.I

call

edth

esu

pp

ort

nu

mb

er(w

hic

hby

the

way

,w

asa

lon

gd

ista

nce

call

for

me)

,w

aite

don

hol

db

urn

ing

mon

eyfo

rte

nm

inu

tes,

and

even

tual

lyw

asto

ldth

ata

retu

rnre

qu

est

had

bee

nap

pro

ved

alre

ady.

Tu

rns

out

Ih

adal

read

ysu

bm

itte

don

eso

me

mon

ths

pre

vio

usl

yfo

ran

issu

eth

ath

adb

een

my

fau

lt,

and

was

nev

ern

otifi

edth

atit

had

bee

nap

pro

ved

.W

hat

bad

serv

ice.

Th

ere

are,

fort

un

atel

y,a

few

succ

ess

stor

ies,

like

the

tim

eI

dea

ltw

ith

ab

ran

d-n

ewco

mp

ute

rth

ath

ada

CD

bu

rner

that

was

mak

ing

an

oise

like

aje

ten

gin

e.A

fter

abou

tfi

ftee

nm

inu

tes,

we

wer

eto

ldth

ata

tech

wou

ldb

eco

min

gto

the

hou

seth

en

ext

day

tore

pla

ceth

ed

rive

,w

hic

hw

orke

dp

erfe

ctly

.I

hav

ea

feel

ing

that

com

pu

ter

stor

esw

ith

sup

por

tse

rvic

esar

ego

ing

tob

ege

ttin

ga

lot

mor

eb

usi

nes

sif

this

keep

su

p.

Peo

ple

just

don

’th

ave

tim

eto

dea

lw

ith

this

sort

ofth

ing,

and

they

are

wil

lin

gto

pay

ifth

eir

com

pu

ter

wor

ks

agai

nin

aco

up

leof

hou

rsw

ith

out

any

mor

ew

ork

than

dri

vin

gth

eir

syst

ema

cou

ple

ofm

iles

.O

ne

stat

isti

cI

hav

ere

adst

ated

that

20%

ofal

lco

mp

ute

rsar

ere

turn

ed.

Now

wh

atd

oes

that

mea

n?

Wh

enyo

ure

turn

som

eth

ing,

you

eith

erd

isco

vere

dyo

ud

idn

’tw

ant

itor

nee

dit

,it

was

bro

ken

,or

you

cou

ldn

’tge

tit

tow

ork

and

gave

up

.P

eop

led

on’t

mak

ep

urc

has

esli

keco

mp

ute

rsw

ith

out

kn

owin

gth

atth

eyre

ally

wan

tth

em,

and

the

oth

ertw

ob

oth

mea

nb

adre

liab

ilit

yan

db

adte

chsu

pp

ort.

Aft

erm

yex

per

ien

ces,

I’ve

dec

ided

that

I’m

not

goin

gto

bu

yan

oth

erd

eskto

pfr

oma

man

ufa

ctu

rer

agai

n.

I’m

mor

eth

anw

illi

ng

top

ut

one

to-

Page 54: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

105

intestin

gen

viron

men

ts.F

orin

stance,

wh

enI

recently

wen

tto

taketh

eS

AT

,p

eople

were

discou

ragedfrom

brin

ging

ph

ones

in,

and

anyon

ew

hose

ph

one

wen

toff

du

ring

the

testw

ould

be

dism

issedan

dh

aveth

eirscores

canceled

.F

orm

e,I

need

edm

yp

hon

eto

callfor

arid

eh

ome

wh

enth

etest

was

don

e,so

Iresorted

torem

ovin

gth

eb

atteryan

dp

lacing

both

the

battery

and

the

ph

one

inm

yb

ag.H

avin

gth

ism

od

ew

ould

remove

the

prob

lemcom

pletely.

Poin

t3:

Em

erg

en

cyU

se

Ican

just

seeth

ep

eople

wh

oare

opp

osedto

this

sortof

control

going,

“Bu

tw

hat

ifth

ere’san

emergen

cy?”

�A

nem

ergency

switch

wou

ldb

elo

catedin

side

the

battery

comp

art-m

ent

ofeach

ph

one

(top

revent

acciden

tallytriggerin

git).

Tu

rnin

gth

esw

itchw

ould

allowth

ep

hon

eto

pass

throu

ghth

ecom

mu

nication

san

dp

hon

eb

locked

mod

es(after

answ

ering

aqu

estionon

the

screenas

extra

confi

rmation

).T

op

revent

abu

se,th

ep

hon

ew

ould

imm

ediately

and

autom

aticallycon

nect

youto

911.

�T

he

control

box

,w

hich

wou

ldb

elo

catedin

ap

ub

licp

lace,w

ould

have

anem

ergency

leverth

atw

ould

call911

and

activateem

ergency

mod

e.

�E

mergen

cym

od

ew

ould

be

triggeredby

turn

ing

the

switch

onon

e’sp

hon

eor

by

pu

lling

the

leverth

atw

ould

be

situated

onth

econ

trolb

ox.

Em

ergency

mod

ew

ould

have

the

followin

geff

ects:

–T

he

mod

ew

ould

imm

ediately

be

setto

un

restricted,allow

ing

any-

one

tom

akean

ycalls.

Ifth

em

od

ew

astriggered

froma

ph

one,

the

control

box

wou

ldalso

sub

mit

anem

ergency

call.

–W

hatever

dev

icetriggered

the

mod

ew

ould

be

conn

ectedto

911.

–A

neven

tw

ould

be

loggedon

the

control

box

stating

wh

atd

evice

triggeredit,

totrack

dow

np

eople

setting

offfalse

alarms.

–A

nalarm

wou

ldsou

nd

onan

yone’s

ph

one

wh

oh

adb

eenb

locked

fromsw

itchin

git

onw

ithin

the

past

fewm

inu

tes,allow

ing

them

tom

akean

yim

portan

tcalls

they

had

been

tryin

gto

make.

Am

essagestatin

gth

atan

emergen

cym

od

eh

adb

eentriggered

wou

ldalso

app

earon

the

control

box

.

10025.

TECH

SUPPORT

gether

myself

tosave

afew

dollars,

and

I’dm

uch

prefer

tokn

owth

atw

hat

doesn

’tw

orkis

my

fault

and

figu

reit

out

myself,

especially

since

I’mfairly

confi

den

tin

my

ability

tod

oit

right.

Page 55: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

104

27.

CONCEPT

IDEA:THEPHONECONTROLSYSTEM

Poin

t2:

Contr

ol

Levels

�L

evel

0:

Un

rest

rict

ed—

cell

ph

ones

wou

ldw

ork

nor

mal

lyas

ifth

eyw

ere

outs

ide

any

contr

olzo

ne.

�L

evel1

:S

ilen

ced

—If

sou

nd

leve

lwas

abov

evib

rate

,th

ele

velw

ould

au-

tom

atic

ally

be

low

ered

tovib

rate

onan

yp

hon

esth

atw

ere

on.

(Lea

vin

gth

ear

eaw

ould

rest

ore

the

pre

vio

us

sett

ing.

)In

com

ing

call

sco

uld

be

rece

ived

,b

ut

answ

erin

gth

eca

llan

dp

laci

ng

call

sw

ould

be

pro

hib

ited

.A

ttem

pti

ng

top

lace

oran

swer

aca

llw

ould

give

am

essa

gein

stru

ctin

gth

eu

ser

wh

ere

togo

inor

der

tota

lk.

Tex

tm

essa

gin

gan

din

tern

etu

sew

ould

be

allo

wed

,al

thou

ghth

eb

ackli

ght

leve

lw

ould

be

low

ered

tom

inim

ize

dis

trac

tion

tosu

rrou

nd

ing

peo

ple

inth

ed

ark.

Th

isw

ould

be

ago

od

mod

eto

use

inm

any

pu

bli

cp

lace

s,li

keco

nce

rts

and

mov

ieth

eate

rs,

bec

ause

itw

ould

allo

wp

eop

leto

be

not

ified

ofim

por

tant

call

san

dev

ents

(bec

ause

,le

t’s

face

it,

ther

ear

eso

me

tim

esw

hen

bei

ng

inco

nta

ctca

nac

tual

lyb

eim

por

tant)

,b

ut

not

dis

trac

tot

her

s.

�L

evel

2:

Com

mu

nic

atio

ns

Blo

cked

—C

alli

ng,

text

mes

sagi

ng,

inte

rnet

use

,an

dan

yot

her

acti

vit

ies

that

use

da

cell

ph

one

sign

alw

ould

be

blo

cked

,as

ifth

ere

was

no

sign

alav

aila

ble

.O

nce

agai

n,

atte

mp

tin

gto

do

one

ofth

ese

thin

gsw

ould

trig

ger

am

essa

gep

ointi

ng

the

use

rto

anu

nre

stri

cted

area

.T

he

cam

era,

cale

nd

ar,

calc

ula

tor,

som

eiP

hon

eap

ps,

etc.

,w

ould

be

un

affec

ted

.

�L

evel

3:

Com

mu

nic

atio

ns+

Cam

era

Blo

cked

—T

op

reve

nt

rem

oval

ofim

por

tant

info

rmat

ion

(lik

ep

ictu

res

ofte

sts)

from

the

area

,th

eca

mer

aw

ould

also

not

wor

k.

Att

emp

tin

gto

use

the

cam

era

wou

ldtr

igge

ra

mes

sage

stat

ing

that

no

ph

otog

rap

hy

was

per

mit

ted

inth

ear

ea.

(Al-

thou

ghon

eco

uld

bri

ng

ina

ded

icat

edca

mer

ato

byp

ass

this

rest

rict

ion

,so

meo

ne

usi

ng

anac

tual

cam

era

wou

ldb

eea

sily

spot

ted

.)T

his

wou

ldp

rob

ably

be

ago

od

leve

lfo

rsc

hool

s,so

that

stu

den

tsco

uld

use

tool

sth

atw

ould

be

app

rop

riat

efo

rac

adem

icu

se,

bu

tn

otb

eab

leto

use

ph

ones

toch

eat

orta

lkto

frie

nd

s.

�L

evel

4:

Cel

lP

hon

eB

lock

ed—

Any

cell

ph

ones

that

wer

eon

up

onen

teri

ng

the

area

wou

ldtu

rnoff

.A

ttem

pti

ng

totu

rnon

the

ph

one

wou

ldre

sult

ina

mes

sage

dir

ecti

ng

the

use

rto

mov

eto

anu

nre

stri

cted

area

tou

seh

isp

hon

e.T

his

wou

ldb

ea

good

mod

eto

use

,fo

rin

stan

ce,

26:

Com

ple

xte

chnolo

gy..

.bett

er?

At

my

old

sch

ool

,th

ead

min

istr

atio

non

ceh

ada

bri

llia

nt

idea

.A

llth

ecl

ock

sw

ere

freq

uen

tly

un

syn

chro

niz

ed,

and

sop

eop

led

idn

’tkn

oww

hat

tim

eth

eb

ell

was

actu

ally

goin

gto

rin

g.S

oth

eyd

ecid

edto

bu

yat

omic

clock

sfo

rev

ery

room

,n

atu

rall

yas

sum

ing

that

such

clock

sw

ould

alw

ays

be

righ

t.G

reat

idea

,yo

usa

y?

Not

qu

ite.

Th

eyb

ough

tal

lth

ecl

ock

s,p

ut

them

up

,an

dfo

llow

edth

ed

irec

tion

sto

syn

chro

niz

eth

em.

Un

fort

un

atel

y,th

eti

me

that

they

syn

chro

niz

edto

was

sim

ply

inco

rrec

t.T

hey

ult

imat

ely

had

top

ut

all

the

old

clock

sb

ack

up

and

wer

ele

ftw

ith

ahu

gest

ack

ofn

on-w

orkin

gat

omic

clock

sth

atth

eyap

par

entl

yco

uld

n’t

retu

rn.

Why

isit

that

com

ple

xte

chn

olog

yin

vari

ably

just

does

n’t

wor

kas

wel

l?O

fco

urs

e,th

eea

syan

swer

isth

atth

ere’

ssi

mp

lym

uch

mor

eto

gow

ron

g.B

ut,

even

ifyo

uas

sum

eth

atev

eryth

ing

wor

ks

per

fect

ly,

sim

ple

rst

uff

ten

ds

tow

ork

bet

ter

anyw

ay.

I’ve

trie

dnu

mer

ous

met

hod

sof

keep

ing

cale

nd

ars,

list

s,an

dre

min

din

gm

yse

lfto

do

vari

ous

thin

gs.

Ult

imat

ely,

Ial

way

sfi

nd

som

eth

ing

new

,th

ink

it’s

agr

eat

idea

,an

dth

enI

end

up

mis

sin

gth

ings

anyw

ay.

Th

eon

lym

eth

od

I’ve

fou

nd

that

actu

ally

wor

ks

nea

rly

ever

yti

me

isp

utt

ing

ast

icky

not

eon

my

mon

itor

.W

hy

does

this

wor

k?

Fir

stof

all,

Ilo

okat

the

mon

itor

wh

enev

erI

turn

onm

yco

mp

ute

ran

dw

hil

eI’

mw

orkin

gon

it,

wh

ich

isfa

irly

ofte

n.

Als

o,th

eco

mp

ute

ris

inth

em

idd

leof

my

room

and

ona

des

kw

her

eI

keep

oth

eras

sort

edob

ject

s,so

Ien

du

plo

okin

gat

itan

yw

ay.

Inco

ntr

ast

toa

com

pu

teri

zed

cale

nd

arli

keth

eon

ein

clu

ded

inM

icro

soft

Ou

tlook

,it

sim

ply

wor

ks

bet

ter.

Wit

hO

utl

ook

,m

yco

mp

ute

rm

aym

ake

an

oise

atth

eri

ght

tim

eor

sen

dm

ean

emai

l,b

ut

stic

ky

not

esca

n’t

acci

den

tall

yb

etu

rned

off,

nor

can

ab

ug

pre

vent

them

from

wor

kin

g.T

hey

may

fall

off,

bu

tth

at’s

asm

all

chan

ceco

mp

ared

toth

ep

ossi

bil

ity

ofm

eac

cid

enta

lly

del

etin

gth

eev

ent

orh

avin

gth

ep

rogr

amcl

osed

.B

esid

es,

it’s

mu

chh

ard

erto

mis

sa

stic

ky

not

eth

atis

inyo

ur

lin

eof

sigh

tth

ana

win

dow

bu

ried

und

eryo

ur

60

101

Page 56: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

27:

Conce

pt

Idea:

The

Phone

Contro

lSyste

m

Note:

theC

oncept

Ideais

an

ewseries

I’mhopin

gto

startdescribin

gtechn

ol-ogy

Ien

vision.

They

aren

otan

ything

thathas

happened,

nor

isn

ecessarily

going

tohappen

.W

e’veall

exp

erienced

someon

e’scell

ph

one

ringin

gat

anin

conven

ient

time.

Even

more

ann

oyin

gly,p

eople

have

develop

eda

nasty

tend

ency

toign

oreeveryon

earou

nd

them

attim

esw

hen

they

shou

ldb

ep

ayin

gatten

tionan

du

seth

eirp

hon

esin

stead.

Even

more

imp

ortantly,

there

arep

roblem

sw

ithp

eople

comm

un

icating

inform

ationth

atis

sup

posed

tob

ekep

tsecret.

Th

iscan

be

don

eby

text

message,

orby

takin

ga

pictu

re(for

instan

ce,a

stud

ent

send

ing

ap

icture

ofa

testto

his

friend

wh

ois

going

totake

the

testth

en

ext

perio

d).

Som

ep

eople

suggest

jamm

ing

signals

top

revent

peop

lefrom

usin

gth

eirp

hon

esin

certainp

laces,b

ut

this

hard

lyseem

slike

anid

ealsolu

tion.

Som

ethin

gb

etterw

ould

look

liketh

is.

Poin

t1:

Contro

lZ

on

es

Any

institu

tionth

atd

esiredto

pu

trestriction

son

cellp

hon

eu

secou

ldp

ur-

chase

acon

trolb

oxth

atallow

sth

emto

do

so.W

ithth

econ

trolb

ox,

three

other

nod

esw

ould

be

prov

ided

,w

hich

wou

lden

dth

econ

trolledzon

ean

dform

arestricted

-areatrian

gle.T

hese

nod

esw

ould

preven

tan

yrestriction

sb

eyond

the

location

ofth

etrian

gle.W

hen

setting

up

the

zone,

the

peop

leresp

onsib

lew

ould

have

tom

akesu

reth

atth

ezon

ed

idn

otex

tend

beyon

dth

eirow

np

roperty.

(Ifa

confl

ictw

ereto

occu

r,th

erecou

ldb

ean

insp

ectorto

make

peop

lead

just

the

controlled

area.)I

don

’tkn

owex

actlyh

owsu

cha

thin

gcou

ldb

eset

up

,b

ut

this

is,after

all,a

concep

t.

103

10226.

COMPLEX

TECHNOLOGY...B

ETTER?

tabs

ofin

ternet

work

oran

email

inyou

r150

un

readm

essages.I

have

eventried

my

cellp

hon

e.F

orsom

ep

eople,

this

work

sokay,

bu

tb

esides

the

hassle

ofin

pu

tting

aneven

tu

sing

your

ph

one

keyp

ad,

Id

on’t

alway

sh

avem

ine

with

me.

Wh

enI

goou

t,I

usu

allyd

o,b

ut

it’sfreq

uen

tlytu

rned

offb

ecause

I’min

school

orsom

ethin

gsim

ilar.In

the

rarein

stances

wh

enI

actually

getth

en

otice,I

do,

infact,

remem

ber,

bu

tth

ish

app

ens

sorarely

that

itd

oesn

’tactu

allyh

elp.

All

this

just

goes

tosh

owth

at,d

espite

the

factth

atth

ereare

plen

tyof

comp

lexorgan

izationsy

stems

that

work

,if

youd

osom

ethin

gex

tremely

simple

and

getin

the

hab

itof

look

ing

atit,

you’ll

be

veryw

elloff

.(I

once

reada

storyab

out

ap

rofessional

attend

ing

acon

ference

abou

tcu

tting-ed

gem

obile

techn

ologyw

ho

was

usin

ga

pap

erp

lann

er.)T

his

same

thin

gcam

ein

tom

yh

eadw

hen

we

recently

learned

abou

tth

eaccelerator

issue

incertain

Toyota

cars.If

you’re

readin

gth

isfar

inth

efu

ture

orn

everp

ickedu

pon

it,accelerator

ped

alsw

eresim

ply

getting

stuck

,w

hich

had

been

arecu

rring

issue

onth

osecars

(nob

od

yap

paren

tlysaw

fit

tofi

xth

ep

roblem

earlier).T

he

bigger

prob

lem,

how

ever,w

asth

atth

eb

rakep

edal

was

not

design

edto

override

the

accelerator,sin

ceit

was

comp

uter-

controlled

.(O

fcou

rse,h

ere,a

possib

lym

orerelevan

tqu

estionis

“Wh

atid

iotd

ecided

that

going

fasterw

asm

oreim

portan

tth

anstop

pin

g?”)In

fact,if

youh

eldd

own

the

brake

and

then

stepp

edon

the

acceleratorp

edal,

your

carw

ould

stillm

ove.In

certaincars

wh

ichrecover

pow

erw

hen

brak

ing,

hav

ing

the

brake

electronically

controlled

isa

necessity.

Bu

tin

most

ofth

em,

am

echan

icalb

rakew

ould

have

worked

just

asw

ell,an

dth

ep

roblem

wou

ldh

aveb

eensim

ply

ann

oyin

g,rath

erth

anlife-th

reatenin

g,w

hen

one

could

actually

stop.

Wh

at’sth

ep

oint

ofad

din

gan

other

un

necessary

layerof

comp

lexity

?I’ve

come

toth

econ

clusion

that

simp

lerth

ings

aren

earlyalw

ays

better.

Don

’tlet

the

crazym

arketing

fool

you.

Page 57: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

126

31.

FIN

DIN

GTEXT

ON

AW

EB

PAGEQUIC

KLY

diff

eren

tly

from

the

nor

mal

sear

chb

ox(f

orin

stan

ce,

ther

eis

no

“Fin

dN

ext”

bu

tton

).If

you

use

Fir

efox

,th

ere’

san

even

fast

erw

ayto

star

tse

arch

ing

ifyo

use

tan

opti

on.

Go

toE

dit→

Pre

fere

nce

s(o

rT

ool

s→

Op

tion

sd

epen

din

gon

the

vers

ion

ofF

iref

oxyo

uu

se),

sele

ctth

eA

dva

nce

dta

bat

the

top

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dch

eck

the

box

“Sea

rch

for

text

wh

enI

star

tty

pin

g”(s

cree

nsh

ot).

Now

wh

enyo

u’r

eou

tsid

eof

any

elem

ents

ona

web

pag

eth

atac

cep

tte

xt

(tex

tb

oxes

,se

arch

box

es,

dro

p-d

own

men

us,

etc.

),F

iref

oxw

ill

auto

mat

ical

lyst

art

aqu

ick

fin

d.

2.

Conti

nu

ing

AS

earc

h(a

nd

more

tric

ks)

Bec

ause

ofth

ed

iffer

ence

sb

etw

een

bro

wse

rs,

this

sect

ion

isre

ally

con

fusi

ng.

So

Im

ade

thre

eve

rsio

ns,

the

Ch

rom

eve

rsio

n,

the

Fir

efox

vers

ion

,an

dth

eb

oth

vers

ion

.P

ick

the

one

that

corr

esp

ond

sto

the

bro

wse

ryo

uu

se—

ifyo

uu

seb

oth

orn

eith

er,

you

pro

bab

lyw

ant

top

lod

thro

ugh

the

bot

hve

rsio

nso

that

you

kn

owth

ed

iffer

ence

s.(I

fyo

uu

seIn

tern

etE

xp

lore

ror

Saf

arior

som

eot

her

stra

nge

and

wei

rdb

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take

alo

okat

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tip

san

dex

per

imen

tto

see

wh

ich

ones

wor

kfo

ryo

u.)

CH

RO

ME

Beg

inn

ing

ase

arch

isal

lw

ell

and

good

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ut

ifth

efi

rst

resu

ltis

n’t

wh

atyo

uw

ante

d,

how

do

you

mov

eon

?W

hen

you

star

ta

sear

ch,

you

’ll

get

aco

up

leof

bu

tton

sth

atle

tyo

um

ove

toth

en

ext

orp

revio

us

resu

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Cli

ckin

gth

ese

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tton

sw

ith

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orks

just

fin

e,b

ut

ifyo

ud

on’t

hav

eyo

ur

han

ds

onth

em

ouse

oryo

u’r

ecl

ickin

got

her

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ces

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ew

ebsi

tew

ith

you

rm

ouse

,yo

um

ayfi

nd

that

rep

eate

dly

retu

rnin

gto

the

bu

tton

sis

ab

itin

effici

ent.

Inth

isca

se,

you

nee

dth

eF

3(F

ind

Nex

t)ke

y.P

ress

ing

F3

wil

lim

med

i-at

ely

jum

pyo

uto

the

nex

tre

sult

onth

ep

age.

(If

you

clos

eth

ese

arch

box

and

then

real

ize

you

nee

dto

keep

sear

chin

g,F

3w

ill

stil

lta

keyo

uto

the

nex

tre

sult

.)If

you

mis

sa

resu

ltan

dn

eed

togo

bac

k,

just

use

Sh

ift-

F3.

Bu

tF

3is

kin

dof

har

dto

reac

h,

isn

’tit

?Ju

stp

ress

ing

Ente

r(a

nd

Sh

ift-

Ente

r)d

oes

exac

tly

the

sam

eth

ing

wh

ile

you

’re

inth

ese

arch

box

.T

her

eis

only

one

smal

lli

mit

atio

n:

ifyo

ucl

ose

the

sear

chb

ox,

Ente

rw

on’t

reop

enit

—on

lyF

3w

ill.

Wh

enyo

up

ress

F3,

the

text

inth

ese

arch

box

ish

igh

ligh

ted

,al

low

ing

you

toea

sily

chan

geth

ew

ord

you

’re

sear

chin

gfo

rif

you

nee

dto

.

111

del

ays)

,th

esc

roll

ing

isto

tall

ysm

oot

h,

Id

on’t

hav

eto

wai

ton

dia

logs

,an

dit

load

sin

afr

acti

onof

the

tim

eit

use

dto

.I

shou

ldre

iter

ate

how

ann

oyin

gth

isw

hol

eth

ing

was

.T

oh

ave

don

en

oth

ing

atal

lw

ron

gan

dto

sud

den

lyh

ave

the

syst

emn

otw

ork

atal

lis

unb

elie

vab

lyfr

ust

rati

ng.

Inal

lou

rex

pec

tati

ons

ofre

liab

ilit

y,re

mem

ber

that

som

eday

you

rco

mp

ute

rco

uld

just

qu

itw

orkin

g—ye

tan

oth

erre

ason

toh

ave

bac

ku

ps

and

hav

eso

me

sort

ofp

lan

for

how

toke

epw

orkin

gif

you

rco

mp

ute

rsu

dd

enly

fail

s.I

up

load

edfo

ur

scre

ensh

ots

ofS

imC

ity

4(i

nth

eci

tyI

was

talk

ing

abou

t)so

you

can

see

how

the

grap

hic

sta

keso

me

oom

ph

tob

ed

isp

laye

dp

rop

erly

.N

ote

that

this

ison

lym

ediu

md

etai

l,to

o.http://snipurl.com/v1nmy

Page 58: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

31:

Fin

din

gT

ext

on

aW

eb

Page

Quick

ly

Ch

ances

aren’t

bad

youalread

ykn

owth

eb

asicsof

this

trick,b

ut

ifyou

don

’t,it

could

saveyou

ah

eckof

alot

oftim

e.If

youalread

ykn

owth

etrick

,I

have

acou

ple

ofw

ickedco

olsh

ortcuts

youp

robab

lyd

on’t

kn

ow.

(Disclaim

er:I

only

hadaccess

tothe

Chrom

ean

dF

irefoxbrow

sersw

hilew

riting

thistip.

Ifi

nd

thatthese

arethe

bestbrow

sersavailable

today;if

youdon’t

haveon

eof

them,

checkthem

out!

Ifyou

arestu

cku

sing

adiff

erent

browser,

thesetips

will

probablyw

orkan

yway,

but

Ican’t

guaran

teeit.)

Part

1:

Search

ing

for

Text

on

aP

age

Inevery

mod

ernbrow

ser,you

canqu

ickly

searchfor

any

text

onth

ecu

rrent

page

by

pressin

gC

trl-F(“fi

nd

”)an

dty

pin

ga

word

orw

ords

inth

esearch

box

.In

most

brow

sersyou

’llb

eb

rough

tto

the

first

result

and

allresu

ltsw

illb

eh

ighligh

tedas

youty

pe.

Part

2:

Cool

Trick

s

Now

here’s

the

stuff

youp

robab

lyd

idn

’tkn

ow:

1.

Alte

rnativ

eW

ays

toS

tart

Search

ing

Ifyou

don

’tlike

the

Ctrl-F

shortcu

t,in

most

brow

sersyou

canu

seF

3in

stead.

InF

irefox,

youcan

alsou

sea

slash(‘/’).

Note

that

this

searchw

orks

slightly

125

11228.

SIM

CIT

Y,RANDOM

FAILURES,AND

THECOREI7

Page 59: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

29:

Who

can

you

trust

on

the

Inte

rnet?

Intr

od

uct

ion

Wh

oca

nyo

utr

ust

onth

eIn

tern

et?

It’s

aqu

esti

onw

eh

ave

tofa

ceal

lth

eti

me.

Eve

ryon

ekn

ows

that

they

shou

ldn

’tem

ailth

eir

cred

itca

rdnu

mb

ers

toth

atgu

yin

Nig

eria

wh

ore

ally

nee

ds

thei

rh

elp

toke

eph

isri

ghtf

ulin

her

itan

ceof$1

,988

,356

.76

away

from

the

evil

gove

rnm

ent

(an

dw

ill

pay

you

anab

surd

amou

nt

ofm

oney

tod

oit

).B

ut

itge

tshar

der

than

that

.

Part

On

e:

Malw

are

Th

ere

are

lots

ofle

ss-t

han

-rep

uta

ble

web

site

sth

atw

ould

love

you

tod

own

-lo

advir

use

sfr

omth

em.

Th

ere

are

also

som

esi

tes

that

offer

“ad

-su

pp

orte

d”

soft

war

eth

atp

uts

som

any

ads

onyo

ur

PC

that

you

can

’td

oan

yth

ing

bu

tlo

okat

ads

(an

dit

ofte

nca

n’t

be

rem

oved

thro

ugh

nor

mal

met

hod

sei

ther

).M

ost

ofth

eti

me,

you

can

easi

lyte

llw

hen

you

’ve

vis

ited

one

ofth

ose

site

s.(O

fco

urs

e,th

ere

are

clea

rly

stil

len

ough

gull

ible

peo

ple

that

they

conti

nu

em

akin

gm

oney

,b

ut

Id

oub

tyo

u’r

eon

eof

them

ifyo

u’r

ere

ad-

ing

this

blo

g.)

Un

fort

un

atel

yfo

ru

s,th

ere

are

ple

nty

ofb

ord

erli

ne

web

site

s,w

her

eyo

uca

n’t

tell

ifth

esi

teis

rep

uta

ble

orn

ot.

I’ve

per

sonal

lyn

ever

bee

nb

urn

edby

one

ofth

ese

site

s(k

nock

onw

ood

),b

ut

you

shou

ldal

way

ssc

anev

ense

mi-

qu

esti

onab

led

own

load

edfi

les

wit

ha

good

anti

vir

us

pro

gram

,an

dd

on’t

run

any

Act

iveX

contr

ols

oral

low

oth

erse

curi

tyw

arn

ings

un

less

you

’re

sure

abou

tth

esi

te.

You

ran

tivir

us

soft

war

eis

not

invin

cib

le,

thou

gh,

and

ult

imat

ely

the

bes

td

efen

seag

ain

stm

alw

are

isto

exer

cise

com

mon

sen

se.

113

Page 60: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

Part

IV

Tech

nica

lG

eekery

Quick

Tip

s

123

11429.

WHO

CAN

YOU

TRUST

ON

THEIN

TERNET?

My

No-N

on

sen

seD

ow

nlo

ad

Ch

eck

list

1.D

oyou

reallyn

eedth

isp

rogram?

Ifyou

need

aw

ordp

rocessor

ora

vid

eoed

itorto

fin

isha

pro

ject,th

enth

at’sa

good

dow

nload

.If

youw

ereju

stb

rowsin

gth

eIn

ternet

and

said,

“Hu

h,

that

soun

ds

cool,”

thin

kfor

am

inu

teb

eforeyou

decid

eto

tryit.

Ifyou

install

itan

dd

on’t

need

it,n

oton

lydo

youraise

your

chan

cesof

getting

hit

by

malw

are,you

alsoclog

your

PC

with

un

necessary

garbage

and

waste

time

dow

nload

ing

and

installin

git.

2.D

oes

the

program

make

any

men

tionof

bein

gsu

pp

ortedby

ads

orreq

uirin

goth

er(q

uestion

able-sou

nd

ing)

program

s?If

so,p

assit

by

and

fin

dsom

ethin

gelse.

Alth

ough

itm

ayseem

likea

fairtrad

eoffat

the

time,

chan

cesare

verygo

od

you’ll

regretit

later—an

dsu

chd

own

loads

arefar

more

likelyto

contain

activelyd

estructive

ord

angerou

ssoftw

are.

3.D

oes

the

UR

Lcon

taina

loadof

un

iden

tifiab

lech

aracters?I

don

’tm

eanat

the

end

—th

at’sn

ormal.

Im

ean,

instead

of,say,

http://earth.

google.com/download

atth

eb

eginn

ing,http://6ths7.free67.info/

73nds.

Ju

nk

program

s,esp

eciallyon

esth

atw

illsteal

your

person

alin

-form

ationor

reformat

your

hard

drive,

frequ

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icrosoft.com,

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5.If

youreally

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own

-load

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ithyou

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back

up

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warn

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ble.

Page 61: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

122

30.

OSPOPULARIT

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dev

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pro

vid

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xd

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crea

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ly.

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uth

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ever

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ter

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You

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ead

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and

log

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rG

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Page 62: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

121

and

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ifican

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Page 63: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

120

30.

OSPOPULARIT

Y

peo

ple

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ent

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illof

ten

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op

rob

lem

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owev

er,

use

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pap

erar

equ

ite

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sum

mar

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lect

ric

blu

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pap

eris

very

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reli

able

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ages

you

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ogs

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equ

entl

y,an

dso

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imes

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lod

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cult

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alic

iou

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eop

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age

you

rto

ilet

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er.

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ever

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isve

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mm

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uw

ill

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ays

be

able

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nd

som

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gree

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eren

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pts

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per

ien

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slig

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lear

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gin

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oth

er.

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ever

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thro

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rch

ases

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aceb

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uch

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lic

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ep

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eed

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orry

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ith

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unts

isth

atn

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ep

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thin

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oos

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edia

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ifth

ere’

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else

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stol

enit

.S

eehttp://thetechnicalgeekery.blogspot.com/2009/10/

ten-ways-to-keep-your-passwords-safe-we.html

for

mor

ein

form

atio

non

the

way

sp

assw

ord

sge

tst

olen

and

how

top

rote

ctyo

urs

elf.

I’m

seri

ousl

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keep

ing

any

info

rmat

ion

I’m

even

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leas

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itco

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Fac

ebook

and

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offot

her

web

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my

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ead

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.

Page 64: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

30:

OS

Popula

rity

Ih

ada

qu

estionth

eoth

erd

ay:

Ifeveryon

eforgot

everyth

ing

they

kn

ewab

out

comp

uters,

how

man

yp

eople

wou

ldstill

be

usin

gW

ind

ows?

Imagin

eth

atyou

decid

edyou

were

going

tocom

pletely

remod

elyou

rb

athro

om.

Not

bein

gan

exp

erton

bath

room

s,you

don

’tkn

owm

uch

abou

tth

evariou

stoilets,

sinks,

and

bath

tub

savailab

le,so

youtalk

toa

salesman

,an

dh

eh

elps

youp

ickou

tsom

ethin

gth

atyou

thin

kw

illw

orkw

ell.T

hen

he

says

that

youh

avea

choice

betw

eenth

eelectric

blu

ean

dlim

egreen

varietiesof

toiletp

aper.

Let’s

assum

eth

atth

eylo

okeq

ually

absu

rd,

and

youd

on’t

prefer

one

forits

color.T

he

salesman

tellsyou

that

90%of

peop

leb

uy

the

electricb

lue

typ

e.N

aturally,

youch

oose

the

blu

e,b

ecause

youassu

me

that

ifall

those

peop

leuse

it,it

mu

stb

eth

eb

est.B

ut

wh

atyou

don

’tkn

owis

going

tohu

rtyou

.H

adyou

takenth

etim

eto

do

your

research,you

wou

ldh

avefou

nd

out

that

electricb

lue

toiletp

aper

dyes

your

toileta

fun

ny

color,clogs

the

drain

ona

regular

basis,

and

occasion

allyeven

spon

taneou

slyex

plo

des.

On

the

other

han

d,

the

greenkin

dalm

ostn

everclogs

the

toilet,con

tains

mu

chm

oretoilet

pap

eron

the

same

roll,an

dd

oesn

’tlose

itsd

ye.M

akin

gth

esitu

ationeven

more

comp

licatedis

the

existen

ceof

the

bu

rnt

orange

varietyof

toiletp

aper.

Itis

comp

letelyfree,

allows

youto

control

the

exact

amou

nt

oftoilet

pap

eryou

wan

tto

pu

ton

aroll

(allowin

gfor

disp

ensers

ofd

ifferen

tsizes),

letsyou

refill

your

toiletp

aper

rollan

ytim

eyou

wan

t,an

dclogs

your

toileton

lyin

veryex

ception

alcircu

mstan

ces.U

nfortu

nately,

youcan

’tb

uy

italon

gw

ithyou

rb

athro

om—

youh

aveto

install

ityou

rselflater.

You

alson

eedto

readth

esh

ortm

anu

alin

order

tolearn

how

tou

seit

correctly.A

nd

the

existen

ceof

this

toiletp

aper

isn

evereven

men

tioned

wh

enyou

bu

yyou

rtoilet.

Asm

allnu

mb

erof

peop

lefi

nd

out

abou

tan

dp

roperly

setu

pth

eiroran

getoilet

pap

eran

dare

veryh

appy

with

it,b

ut

wh

enth

eytry

totell

others

abou

tth

egreat

toiletp

aper

they

foun

d,

those

119

11829.

WHO

CAN

YOU

TRUST

ON

THEIN

TERNET?

Page 65: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

142

36.

WHAT

THEHECK

DOESTHAT

KEY

DO?

Th

eke

yd

oes

hav

eon

eu

sefu

lfu

nct

ion

onL

inu

xco

mp

ute

rs.

Th

ere’

sa

fun

ctio

nca

lled

the

“mag

icS

ysR

qke

y”

that

can

be

use

dto

term

inat

eth

een

tire

des

kto

pen

vir

onm

ent

(ess

enti

ally

logg

ing

you

out

imm

edia

tely

)or

per

-fo

rmva

riou

sot

her

deb

ugg

ing

fun

ctio

ns.

Th

eke

yh

asab

solu

tely

no

use

wh

at-

soev

erto

Win

dow

su

sers

.

127

FIR

EF

OX

Beg

inn

ing

ase

arch

isal

lw

ell

and

good

,b

ut

ifth

efi

rst

resu

ltis

n’t

wh

atyo

uw

ante

d,

how

do

you

mov

eon

?If

you

star

tyo

ur

sear

chby

pre

ssin

gC

trl-

For

F3,

rath

erth

an/,

you

’ll

get

aco

up

leof

bu

tton

sth

atle

tyo

um

ove

toth

en

ext

orp

revio

us

resu

lt.

Cli

ckin

gth

ese

bu

tton

sw

orks

just

fin

e,b

ut

ifyo

ud

on’t

hav

eyo

ur

han

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the

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seor

you

’re

clic

kin

gon

oth

erth

ings

wh

ile

sear

chin

g,yo

um

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that

rep

eate

dly

retu

rnin

gto

the

bu

tton

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ab

itin

effici

ent.

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dif

you

star

ted

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rse

arch

wit

h/,

you

app

aren

tly

can

’tgo

toth

en

ext

resu

ltat

all.

Inth

isca

se,

you

nee

dth

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3(F

ind

Nex

t)ke

y.P

ress

ing

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wil

lim

med

i-at

ely

bri

ng

you

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en

ext

resu

lton

the

pag

e.(I

fyo

ucl

ose

the

sear

chb

oxan

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enre

aliz

eyo

un

eed

toke

epse

arch

ing,

F3

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lst

ill

take

you

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en

ext

resu

lt.)

Ifyo

um

iss

are

sult

and

nee

dto

gob

ack,

just

use

Sh

ift-

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tF

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kin

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stp

ress

ing

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ift-

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eth

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ile

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arch

box

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owev

er,

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tric

kd

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ea

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ofli

mit

atio

ns:

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ense

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(bu

tn

otw

hen

usi

ng

Con

trol

-F),

pre

ssin

gE

nte

rw

ill

foll

owa

lin

kif

the

text

fou

nd

was

ina

lin

k.

Ifyo

ula

nd

ona

lin

kan

dw

ant

toke

epse

arch

ing,

you

nee

dto

pre

ssF

3in

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Ente

r.A

fter

clos

ing

the

sear

chb

ox,

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rd

oes

n’t

retu

rnto

ase

arch

,on

lyF

3d

oes

.If

you

don

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ink

you

can

rem

emb

erth

ed

iffer

ence

sb

etw

een

F3

and

Ente

r,yo

uca

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cien

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ut

sim

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Both

Beg

inn

ing

ase

arch

isal

lw

ell

and

good

,b

ut

ifth

efi

rst

resu

ltis

n’t

wh

atyo

uw

ante

d,

how

do

you

mov

eon

?If

you

star

tyo

ur

sear

chby

pre

ssin

gC

trl-

For

F3

inF

iref

ox,

oran

yti

me

inC

hro

me,

you

’ll

get

aco

up

leof

bu

tton

sth

atle

tyo

um

ove

toth

en

ext

orp

revio

us

resu

lt.

Cli

ckin

gth

ese

bu

tton

sw

ith

the

mou

sew

orks

just

fin

e,b

ut

ifyo

ud

on’t

hav

eyo

ur

han

ds

onth

em

ouse

oryo

u’r

ecl

ickin

got

her

pla

ces

onth

ew

ebsi

tew

ith

you

rm

ouse

,yo

um

ayfi

nd

rep

eate

dly

retu

rnin

gto

the

bu

tton

sis

ab

itin

effici

ent.

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isca

se,

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nee

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eF

3(F

ind

Nex

t)ke

y.P

ress

ing

F3

wil

lim

med

i-at

ely

bri

ng

you

toth

en

ext

resu

lton

the

pag

e.(I

fyo

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ose

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oxan

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enre

aliz

eyo

un

eed

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epse

arch

ing,

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ill

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en

ext

resu

lt.)

Ifyo

um

iss

are

sult

and

nee

dto

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ack,

just

use

Sh

ift-

F3.

Page 66: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

141

Pau

se/B

reak

Fortu

nately,

pressin

gth

iskey

does

not

break

your

comp

uter.

Infact,

chan

cesare

very,very

good

that

pressin

gth

ekey

will

do

noth

ing

atall.

Believe

itor

not,

the

originof

the

keyd

atesback

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ed

ays

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etelegrap

h.

Telegrap

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sh

ada

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that

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ldsh

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the

key,gen

erating

acon

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ssign

al.T

his

switch

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eth

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otin

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enth

eop

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send

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alertth

ereceiv

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tto

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ithth

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hen

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came

into

comm

onu

se(th

eyw

ereu

sedfor

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eto

control

earlym

ainfram

es),th

eB

reakkey

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createdto

emu

lateth

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nction

ality.P

ressing

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keyw

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the

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login,

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hen

controllin

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the

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instead

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uter,

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ous

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nch

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ois

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anyth

ing

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Break

key?

Well,

may

be.

Ifyou

everru

nM

S-D

OS

program

s,p

ressing

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reakm

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inate

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rogram.

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),you

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the

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Pau

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ut

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the

System

Prop

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ter,w

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Win

dow

skey

and

pressin

gB

reak.

SysR

q

I’mtem

pted

top

ronou

nce

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wreck

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dsay

that

itm

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Bu

tit

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sfor

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dgo

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inh

istoryas

someth

ing

that

was

comp

letelysu

persed

edan

dou

tdated

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ttw

enty

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sually

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ined

with

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tS

creenkey

and

accessedby

hold

ing

dow

nA

ltb

eforepressin

gth

ekey.

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ekey

was

originally

intro

du

cedby

IBM

asa

way

tosw

itchb

etween

operatin

gsy

stems.

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ceth

enit

has

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basically

no

use

atall.

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ynu

mb

erof

system

su

seit

asa

sortof

“pan

ic”sign

al,to

triggera

hard

reboot

orterm

inate

ap

rogram.

12831.

FIN

DIN

GTEXT

ON

AW

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PAGEQUIC

KLY

Bu

tF

3is

kin

dof

hard

toreach

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both

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rome

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stp

ressing

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ift-Enter)

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exactly

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thin

gw

hile

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owever,

this

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limitation

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(Note

that

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curren

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eof

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ationm

ight

poten

tiallyb

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en

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ut

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Page 67: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

140

36.

WHAT

THEHECK

DOESTHAT

KEY

DO?

edit

ing

pro

gram

,an

dsa

veit

.(N

ote:

Mos

tM

acs

don

’th

ave

ap

rint

scre

enke

y,b

ut

you

can

take

asc

reen

shot

by

pre

ssin

gC

omm

and

-Sh

ift-

3.)

Scr

oll

Lock

Ifyo

ukn

owan

yth

ing

abou

tth

esc

roll

lock

key,

it’s

pro

bab

lyth

atit

mak

eson

eof

thos

eli

ttle

ligh

tsin

the

up

per

-rig

ht-

han

dco

rner

ofth

eke

yb

oard

com

eon

.B

ut

chan

ces

are

good

that

you

hav

en

ever

kn

own

wh

atit

’sfo

r.If

you

’re

exce

edin

gly

(un

)lu

cky,

you

mig

ht

hav

eex

per

ien

ced

you

rcu

rsor

inE

xce

lre

fusi

ng

tom

ove

wh

enyo

upre

ssth

ear

row

keys.

An

dth

at,

ittu

rns

out,

isth

eso

luti

onto

the

myst

ery

ofS

crol

lL

ock

.T

he

scro

lllo

ckke

yw

asen

vis

ion

edb

ack

wh

enm

ost

com

pu

ters

did

n’t

hav

em

ice.

By

pre

ssin

gth

esc

roll

lock

key

and

then

the

arro

wke

ys,

you

cou

ldsc

roll

arou

nd

you

rd

ocu

men

tw

ith

out

mov

ing

the

curs

orw

ith

inth

ed

ocu

men

t.N

owad

ays,

wit

hth

ead

vent

ofm

ice

and

scro

llb

ars,

this

key

isal

mos

ten

tire

lyu

sele

ss(e

xce

pt

for

mak

ing

the

litt

leli

ght

ligh

tup

).A

few

pro

gram

sst

ill

pre

serv

eth

eol

db

ehav

ior

(lik

eE

xce

l),

bu

tby

and

larg

eal

mos

tn

op

rogr

ams

use

the

key,

and

you

hav

en

ore

alre

ason

tou

tili

zeit

.

Inse

rt

Th

ose

un

luck

yso

uls

wh

oh

ave

not

iced

thei

rco

mp

ute

rsu

dd

enly

star

tty

pin

gov

erte

xt

rath

erth

anin

sert

ing

itp

rob

ably

kn

owso

met

hin

gab

out

the

Inse

rtke

y—

nam

ely,

that

it’s

ann

oyin

gly

easy

top

ress

by

mis

take

.T

he

pu

rpos

eof

the

key

isto

togg

lein

sert

and

over

typ

em

od

e—th

atis

,w

hen

you

typ

em

ore,

wh

eth

erth

eco

mp

ute

rsh

ould

inse

rtit

bef

ore

text

that

com

esaf

ter,

orw

het

her

the

text

afte

rit

shou

ldb

ere

pla

ced

asyo

uty

pe.

(If

you

’re

con

fuse

d,

try

it:

fire

up

Wor

d,

typ

ea

few

wor

ds,

pre

ssIn

sert

,an

dtr

yin

sert

ing

text

bet

wee

nth

ew

ord

s.)

You

pro

bab

lyca

n’t

thin

kof

any

use

sfo

rov

erty

pin

gte

xt,

and

by

and

larg

eth

ere

aren

’tan

y,b

ut

Ica

nth

ink

ofa

few

.F

orin

stan

ce,

ifyo

uh

ave

som

ete

xt

inW

ord

that

wil

lw

rap

toth

en

ext

lin

ean

dto

tall

ym

ixu

pth

efo

rmat

tin

g,or

you

’re

fill

ing

out

afo

rmw

her

ead

din

gex

tra

spac

esco

uld

mes

sth

ings

up

very

qu

ickly

,tu

rnin

gon

Inse

rtw

ill

let

you

chan

geor

fill

inth

esp

ace

wit

hou

tad

din

gex

tra

char

acte

rs.

32:

IL

ost

My

Win

dow

!:P

ullin

ga

Mis

chie

vous

Win

dow

Back

On-S

creen

Hav

eyo

uev

erh

adth

eti

tle

bar

ofa

win

dow

get

stu

ckoff

the

scre

en,

soth

atyo

uca

n’t

mov

eit

anym

ore?

InW

ind

ows

7it

’sev

enp

ossi

ble

toge

ta

win

dow

stu

cku

nd

erth

eta

skb

ar,

whic

his

extr

emel

yag

grav

atin

g—yo

uca

nse

eit

,b

ut

you

can

’tcl

ick

onit

tom

ove

itb

ack

out!

Ifyo

ud

on’t

thin

kyo

u’l

lre

mem

ber

how

tod

eal

wit

hit

,p

rint

out

aco

py

ofth

ese

inst

ruct

ion

san

dyo

u’l

lkn

oww

hat

tod

on

ext

tim

eit

hap

pen

s.If

you

’re

not

sure

exac

tly

wh

atI

mea

n,

her

ear

etw

osc

reen

shot

s:n

earl

yst

uck

1an

dto

tall

yst

uck

2.

(For

this

exam

ple

,I

got

the

win

dow

stu

ckon

pu

rpos

eby

dra

ggin

git

enti

rely

beh

ind

ap

anel

,b

ut

itca

nh

app

enac

cid

enta

lly

wh

ile

mov

ing

win

dow

sor

even

som

etim

esw

hen

you

open

ap

rogr

am.

Inei

ther

case

,yo

use

eth

atth

ew

ind

owis

open

bu

tca

n’t

be

mov

edor

even

seen

exce

pt

onth

eta

skb

ar.)

Th

eb

rute

-for

ceso

luti

onis

tocl

ose

the

pro

gram

and

rest

art

it.

Un

fort

u-

nat

ely,

this

som

etim

esd

oes

n’t

wor

k,

bec

ause

pro

gram

sof

ten

rem

emb

erth

elo

cati

onth

eir

win

dow

sw

ere

atw

hen

they

wer

ecl

osed

,so

that

they

can

re-

open

wh

ere

you

wan

tth

emth

en

ext

tim

e.E

ven

ifth

isso

luti

onw

ould

wor

k,

you

mig

ht

pre

fer

not

tore

star

tth

ep

rogr

am.

For

tun

atel

y,th

ere’

san

eleg

ant

and

sim

ple

fix.

Th

isti

pw

orks

onW

ind

ows

and

Lin

ux;

Ihav

en’t

trie

dit

ona

Mac

,b

ut

itp

rob

ably

wor

ks.

(By

the

way

,if

you

are

usi

ng

anop

erat

ing

syst

em,

like

Mac

OS

X,

that

Isa

yI

hav

en’t

test

edth

eti

pon

,an

dyo

utr

yit

and

itw

orks,

ple

ase

leav

ea

com

men

t.)

Sw

itch

toth

ew

ind

oww

ith

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stu

ckti

tle

bar

.T

od

oth

is,

you

can

clic

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129

Page 68: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

36:

What

The

Heck

Does

That

Key

Do?

You

kn

oww

hat

keys

I’mtalk

ing

abou

t.T

he

ones

that

sayth

ings

likeS

crollL

ock

,B

reak,

and

SysR

q.

Wh

enw

asth

elast

time

youp

ressedon

eof

those

keys?

Here’s

how

they

gotto

be

there,

wh

atth

eyorigin

allyd

id,an

dif

there’s

stillan

yth

ing

youcan

use

them

forn

ow.

Prin

tS

creen

Th

eP

rint

Screen

keyb

arelyfi

tsin

this

category—

qu

itea

fewp

eople

kn

oww

hat

the

Prin

tS

creenkey

does,

and

it’sth

eon

lyon

eof

these

keys

that

Iu

seregu

larly.O

riginally,

asits

nam

esu

ggests,th

eP

rint

Screen

keyd

um

ped

the

conten

tsof

the

screento

the

prin

ter.S

ow

hy

doesn

’tit

perform

this

han

dy

fun

ctionto

day

?W

ell,qu

itesim

ply,

graph

icalu

seren

viron

men

ts.T

his

keyw

asen

vision

edw

hen

text-b

asedop

erating

system

slike

MS

-DO

Sw

ereth

en

orm,

and

prin

ting

text

was

qu

itesen

sible.

Bu

tw

hen

Win

dow

scam

ealon

g,th

eP

rint

Screen

keyh

adto

be

deactivated

inW

ind

ows—

dot-m

atrixp

rinters

and

graph

icsd

on’t

mix

,an

deven

ifyou

rp

rinter

prin

tedgrap

hics,

that

wou

ldh

aveb

eena

lotof

ink.

(Dot-m

atrixprin

tersare

the

reallyn

oisykin

dth

atop

erateby

pu

nch

ing

pin

sin

the

shap

eof

letters.If

yougo

toa

fewstores

with

oldcash

registereq

uip

men

tto

day,

youm

ight

stillen

counter

ad

ot-m

atrixreceip

tp

rinter.)

Bu

tn

otb

eing

able

toget

arecord

ofth

ecu

rrent

conten

tsof

the

screenw

asn’t

ago

od

solution

either,

soth

efu

nction

was

mod

ified

tocop

yan

image

ofth

escreen

toth

ecom

pu

ter’sclip

board

instead

.T

his

remain

sits

fun

ctionto

day.

Ifyou

’veb

eenread

ing

along

with

this

new

sletterevery

week

,you

’vep

robab

lyen

countered

afew

ofm

yscreen

shots—

ancom

mon

way

tocreate

ascreen

shot

isto

press

the

Prin

tS

creenkey,

paste

the

image

into

anim

age

139

13032.

ILOSTMYW

INDOW

!:PULLIN

GAMISCHIE

VOUSW

INDOW

BACKON-SCREEN

ona

part

ofth

ew

ind

owyou

cansee

(ifth

ereis

any),

oryou

canselect

itstask

bar

bu

tton(so

that

itlo

oks

high

lighted

,som

ethin

glike

wh

atscreen

shot

2lo

oks

like).H

oldd

own

the

Alt

keyan

dp

ressth

esp

acebar.

Am

enu

shou

ldap

pear

with

option

sfor

man

aging

the

win

dow

.C

hoose

Move.

Slid

eth

em

ouse

away

fromth

ep

artof

the

screenth

ew

ind

owis

stuck

in.

Th

ew

ind

owsh

ould

move

asif

youw

ered

ragging

and

drop

pin

gits

titleb

ar.W

hen

youget

itto

the

location

youw

ant,

clickon

ce.(A

lternatively,

youcan

use

the

arrowkey

sto

move

the

win

dow

.)T

hat’s

all.T

ime

toget

back

tow

ork!

Page 69: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

138

35.

ZOOMIN

GIN

AND

OUT

INA

ZOOM

33:

Big

,Im

port

ant

Keyb

oard

Short

-cu

ts

Th

isar

ticl

eis

n’t

just

abou

tb

ig,

imp

orta

nt

shor

tcu

ts;

it’s

abou

tB

ig,

Imp

or-

tant

ones

.U

nfo

rtu

nat

ely,

Ica

n’t

mak

eth

atcl

ear

inth

eti

tle.

Bu

tan

yw

ay,

ifyo

ud

on’t

kn

owth

ese

thre

esh

ortc

uts

you

’re

pro

bab

lyw

asti

ng

min

ute

sof

you

rli

feev

ery

day

.If

you

alre

ady

do,

Ih

ave

aco

up

lem

ore

that

mig

ht

be

new

. Th

ese

shor

tcu

tsw

ork

alm

ost

ever

yw

her

e—b

row

sers

,w

ord

pro

cess

ors,

im-

age

edit

ors,

fin

anci

alp

rogr

ams,

you

nam

eit

.If

you

’re

not

sure

ifa

pro

gram

sup

por

tsth

em,

try

itan

dse

e—so

met

imes

they

’re

not

list

edan

yw

her

eon

the

men

ub

ut

they

stil

lw

ork.

Part

1:

Easy

Stu

ff

�C

ontr

ol-

X:

Del

etes

the

curr

entl

yse

lect

edte

xt

and

pla

ces

iton

the

clip

boa

rd(k

now

nm

ore

conve

nti

onal

lyas

“cu

ttin

g”).

�C

ontr

ol-

C:

Cop

ies

the

curr

entl

yse

lect

edte

xt

onto

the

clip

boa

rd.

�C

ontr

ol-

V:

Pas

tes

the

conte

nts

ofth

ecl

ipb

oard

atth

ecu

rren

tcu

rsor

poi

nt.

�C

ontr

ol-

Z:

Un

does

the

last

acti

on.

(Not

e:Y

ouca

nal

socu

t,co

py,

and

pas

tefi

les

ina

file

man

agem

ent

pro

-gr

amsu

chas

Win

dow

sE

xp

lore

r,th

eF

ind

er,or

Nau

tilu

sin

the

sam

em

ann

er.

Inth

eca

seof

file

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file

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“cu

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on’t

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del

eted

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lit

’sb

een

safe

lyp

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the

des

tin

atio

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ifyo

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som

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igin

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ftu

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ange

d.)

131

Page 70: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

35:

Zoom

ing

Inand

Out

Ina

Zoom

Ever

triedto

make

ap

icture,

Word

docu

men

t,or

web

page

disp

layb

iggeror

smaller?

You

prob

ably

foun

dit

was

anex

ercisein

frustration

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seyou

kept

hav

ing

tofi

nd

the

zoom

option

sw

hen

youd

idn

’tget

the

amou

nt

qu

iterigh

t—b

ut

that’s

becau

seyou

did

n’t

kn

owab

out

this

tip.

Here

aretw

ow

ays

toqu

ickly

zoom

inan

dou

tth

atw

orkin

nearly

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rogramth

atsu

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ortszo

omin

g.

Meth

od

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gT

he

Mou

se

Hold

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nth

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then

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sew

heel

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ards

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Page 71: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

136

34.

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Page 72: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

135

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Page 73: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

158

43.

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Page 74: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

43:

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15642.ALIT

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Page 76: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

42:

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Page 77: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

154

41.

TWO

SHORTCUTSFOR

WORKIN

GW

ITH

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39:

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s&

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Page 78: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

41:

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Page 79: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

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170

APPENDIX

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Page 86: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

169

For

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efi

x:

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oogle

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168

APPENDIX

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not

tob

elie

veit

.(T

he

Goog

leh

elp

pag

esev

enad

mit

this

,w

ith

the

not

e“A

par

ticu

lar

wor

dm

ight

not

app

ear

ona

pag

ein

you

rre

sult

sif

ther

eis

suffi

cien

tot

her

evid

ence

that

the

pag

eis

rele

vant.

”A

pp

aren

tly,

my

defi

nit

ion

of“r

elev

ant”

isd

iffer

ent

than

Goog

le’s

.1

�T

erm

sd

on’t

nec

essa

rily

hav

eeq

ual

wei

ght,

alth

ough

they

ofte

nd

o.T

he

firs

tte

rms

are

som

etim

esem

ph

asiz

ed,

alth

ough

the

diff

eren

cem

ayw

ell

be

un

not

icea

ble

,si

nce

the

only

tim

esyo

uw

orry

abou

tit

are

wh

enal

lth

ep

ages

are

very

rele

vant

(or

all

the

pag

esar

en

otre

leva

nt

atal

l).

Ifyo

ud

on’t

fin

dw

hat

you

’re

look

ing

for,

mov

ing

the

term

sar

oun

dis

wor

tha

shot

,as

isre

wor

din

gso

me

ofth

em.

�T

erm

sd

on’t

hav

eto

be

inor

der

,an

dth

eyca

nb

ean

yw

her

eon

the

pag

e.T

his

mea

ns

that

wil

dly

irre

leva

nt

resu

lts

som

etim

esap

pea

r.

1Y

ou

use

dto

be

able

tou

sea

+in

front

ofth

ew

ord

for

this

,b

ut

Goog

lere

mov

edsu

pp

ort

for

this

synta

xre

centl

y.

App

endix

A:

Keyb

oard

Short

cuts

Use

ful

shor

tcu

tsh

ave

bee

na

stap

leof

all

thre

eof

my

tips

pu

bli

cati

ons,

soh

ere

isa

list

ofth

em

ost

use

ful

orim

por

tant

ones

(in

my

opin

ion

).M

ost

ofth

ese

hav

eb

een

refe

ren

ced

som

ewh

ere

inm

yti

ps.

Ifth

eyh

ave

bee

n,

ther

e’s

ap

age

nu

mb

erw

her

eyo

uca

ngo

tole

arn

mor

eab

out

it.

Ifyo

ud

on’t

kn

owth

ese

shor

tcu

ts,

you

real

lysh

ould

lear

nth

em.

165

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App

endix

B:

Search

ing

Google

Th

isw

asorigin

allyp

ub

lished

asa

special

edition

ofth

eT

echn

icalG

eekeryT

ips:

Jan

uary

/Feb

ruary

2010.(It

was

actually

not

pu

blish

edu

ntil

Sep

tem-

ber

19,b

ut

Iap

paren

tlystill

hop

edto

catchu

pat

that

poin

t.)H

owever,

Google

chan

gesrap

idly,

and

soth

isis

not

iden

ticalto

that—

it’san

up

dated

version.

Ab

out

95%of

the

time,

ifyou

have

just

abou

tan

yqu

estion,

youcan

goto

Google

and

typ

ein

the

first

coup

leof

word

sth

atyou

thin

kof,

and

ina

coup

leof

second

syou

have

your

answ

er.B

ut

sometim

esit

doesn

’tw

orkou

tqu

iteth

atw

ay.T

his

guid

etells

wh

atyou

shou

ldd

ow

hen

youd

on’t

getw

hat

youw

anted

,an

dsom

em

oretip

san

dth

ings

youd

idn

’teven

kn

owG

oogle

could

do.

Anote

on

synta

x

Becau

seof

allth

ed

ifferen

tsp

ecialch

aractersth

ath

avem

eanin

gin

searches,

I’mgoin

gto

setall

my

exam

ple

searches

inmonospace.

Any

special

charac-

terssh

ould

be

interp

retedas

anin

tention

alp

artof

the

search.

Also,

itsh

ould

be

noted

that

Google

isalw

ays

chan

ging,

and

some

ofth

isin

formation

may

be

incorrect

now

orin

the

futu

re.(T

his

isalread

ya

second

version.)

Ad

dition

ally,G

oogle

isso

comp

licatedth

atit

sometim

escon

fuses

everyone,

evenw

hen

they

have

allth

eru

lesd

own

and

thin

kth

eykn

owit

all.T

hin

gsyou

reallyd

idn

’tex

pect

orseem

ton

otfollow

the

rules

may

show

up

.

Basic

Tip

s

�If

youd

on’t

getw

hat

youw

ant

right

away,

startby

chan

ging

acou

-p

leof

word

sarou

nd

.If

your

initial

qu

eryw

asfind

Windows

desktop

167

166APPENDIX

A.KEYBOARD

SHORTCUTS

Keystro

ke

Eff

ect

See

page

Alt-T

abS

witch

betw

eenop

enp

rograms.

157A

lt-F4

Close

the

curren

tp

rogram.

20C

trl-Tab

Sw

itchb

etween

tabs

(inb

rowsers)

ord

ocu

men

ts(in

word

pro

cessors).C

trl-F4

Close

the

curren

ttab

(inb

rowsers)

orw

ind

ow(in

word

pro

cessors).C

trl-WC

loseth

ecu

rrent

win

dow

(sometim

es).

Ctrl-F

Fin

dsom

ethin

gon

the

curren

tp

age.125

Ctrl-A

High

light

the

entire

docu

men

tor

page.

132C

trl-SS

aveth

ecu

rrent

docu

men

t.W

orks

inb

othw

ordp

rocessors

and

brow

sers.F

12S

aveA

s.36

Ctrl-X

Cu

t.131

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Cop

y.131

Ctrl-V

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131

Ctrl-Z

Un

do.

131C

trl-YR

edo.

132

Ctrl-A

lt-Del

Th

ein

famou

s“th

ree-finger

salute.”

Op

ens

ascreen

ofop

tions

forloggin

goff

oren

din

gu

nre-

spon

sivep

rograms.

46

Ctrl-S

hift-E

scA

fasterw

ayto

getto

the

“end

ing

un

respon

sivep

rograms”

part

ofC

trl-Alt-D

el.46

F1

Get

help

.36

F5

Refresh

the

page.

155F

7D

oa

spell-ch

eck.

36F

11M

akeyou

rb

rowser

full-screen

.67

Tab

Move

betw

eenfi

elds

ina

form.

147E

scape

Get

out

ofd

ialogb

oxes,

stopd

ragging

stuff

youd

idn

’tm

eanto

startd

ragging,

and

more.

161

Prin

tS

creenT

akea

screensh

otan

dcop

yit

toth

eclip

board

.139

Page 89: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

App

endix

C:

Quota

tions

Iw

ante

dto

fill

up

ali

ttle

bit

ofsp

ace,

and

Ifi

nd

thes

equ

otes

amu

sin

g.I

hav

eth

emin

seve

ral

pla

ces:

som

ear

eta

ped

up

onth

eu

pp

erw

alls

ofm

yro

om,

som

em

ayra

nd

omly

app

ear

wh

enI

open

an

ewte

rmin

alw

ind

owon

my

com

pu

ter,

and

oth

ers

mig

ht

just

be

inm

yal

l-en

com

pas

sin

gR

and

omT

hou

ghts

docu

men

t,a

mas

sive

rep

osit

ory

ofcl

ipp

ings

.A

nu

mb

erof

them

orig

inal

lyca

me

from

Rin

kw

orks’

Com

pu

ter

Stu

pid

itie

s,an

awes

ome

web

site

:http://rinkworks.com/stupid.

�I

once

rece

ived

this

erro

ru

pon

boot

ing

Win

dow

s:“T

her

eis

no

dis

kin

the

dri

ve.

Ple

ase

inse

rta

dis

kin

to\D

evic

e\H

ard

dis

k4.

�I

also

got

this

erro

raf

ter

Win

dow

scr

ash

ed:

“Asy

stem

call

that

shou

ldn

ever

fail

has

fail

ed.”

�I

got

this

one

wh

encl

ickin

ga

men

uop

tion

inth

ega

me

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eCiv

:“E

rror

:N

oer

ror.

�A

nd

...“

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or:

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eop

erat

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ple

ted

succ

essf

ull

y.”

�T

his

isa

com

mon

fau

lton

man

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any

com

pu

ters

:“E

rror

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oke

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boa

rd.

Str

ike

F1

toco

nti

nu

e.”

�A

fter

anh

our

oftr

oub

lesh

oot

ing

onth

ep

hon

e:“O

h,

by

the

way

,li

ght-

nin

gh

itou

rh

otel

last

nig

ht.

Cou

ldth

atb

eth

ep

rob

lem

?”

�In

my

spee

chcl

ass

Ien

cou

nte

red

anu

mb

erof

inte

rest

ing

spee

ches

.T

his

qu

ote

take

sth

eca

ke,

thou

gh:

“US

B3.

0go

esat

3gi

gas.

Th

at’s

alm

ost

the

spee

dof

sou

nd

!”(I

hav

en

oid

eah

owh

eth

ough

ta

dat

atr

ansf

ersp

eed

cou

ldb

eco

mp

ared

toth

esp

eed

ofso

un

d,

ign

orin

gth

efa

ctth

atth

esp

eed

ofso

un

dis

rou

ghly

761

mil

esp

erh

our

inai

r.)

175

Page 90: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

176APPENDIX

C.QUOTATIO

NS

�A

fterb

eing

toldto

check

the

pattern

ofth

esw

itches

onth

esid

eof

acash

register:“Y

eah,

youkn

ow,

Irem

ovedth

em.

With

ach

isel.”

�M

yd

adon

cew

orkedw

itha

lady

wh

oth

ough

tsh

ekn

ewevery

thin

g.O

non

ep

articularly

mem

orable

occasion

,sh

esaid

,“I

kn

owM

ouse!”

�W

ant

ago

od

oxym

oron?

Microsoft

Work

s.

�E

vern

oticedth

atM

AC

Sb

ackw

ards

isS

CA

M?

�T

hey

sayth

atif

youp

layan

AO

LC

Db

ackw

ards,

youhear

Satan

icm

essages.B

ut

that’s

noth

ing.

Ifyou

play

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ards,

itin

stallsA

OL

!

�T

oerr

ishu

man

;to

reallyfou

lth

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up

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iresa

comp

uter.

�“D

oI

need

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pu

terto

run

this

software?”

�“D

oI

have

tob

eon

line

tob

acku

pon

line?”

�A

ftercop

yin

ga

file

and

receivin

gth

em

essageon

efi

lecopied

:“It

says

one

copy

filed

.”

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says

Ih

ave2

zillionbytes

available,

and

In

eed8

zillion.”

�“W

ell,w

eh

aveth

eC

D,

bu

tw

ecan

’tfi

nd

the

RO

M!”

�In

respon

seto

askin

ga

user

why

he

inclu

ded

the

linex

=x

mu

ltiple

times

inh

isp

rogramco

de:

“So

xd

oesn

’tlose

itsvalu

e.”

�“I

don

’th

avea

space

bar.”

�“O

hm

ygosh

!P

lug

itou

t!”

�In

respon

seto

askin

gif

the

caps

lock

light

was

on:

“I’mn

ota

comp

uter

person

.”

�“D

oyou

wan

ta

forward

back

slash?”

�“A

nd

youare

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ing

the

un

derscore

character?”

/“Y

es,I

callit

the

dash

.”

�“M

ym

od

emw

ash

itby

lightn

ing.

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youem

ailm

ean

other

one?”

(Th

isgu

yd

idn

’th

avean

yb

asiclogic,

besid

esn

otkn

owin

gth

atyou

cann

otem

ailh

ardw

are.)

Page 91: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

177

�“O

h,

Isp

ille

dso

up

onit

.D

oes

that

mak

ea

diff

eren

ce?”

�W

hil

eat

tem

pti

ng

top

roce

ssa

retu

rn:

“Yea

h,

the

mod

emd

idn

’tfi

tin

the

slot

,so

Ih

adto

file

itd

own

unti

lit

wou

ldfi

t.”

�“I

sth

eIn

tern

etd

own

?”

�T

he

firs

tw

ord

sou

tof

acu

stom

er’s

mou

thaf

ter

call

ing

tech

sup

por

t:“C

urs

or’s

bro

ke.”

�“I

don

’tth

ink

we

hav

ea

bac

ku

pta

pe.

�In

resp

onse

tob

ein

gas

ked

wh

atw

ason

his

scre

en:

“Hol

don

,I’

llca

llyo

ub

ack.”

�“I

get

this

erro

rw

hen

Ich

eck

my

mai

l.It

says,

‘Th

ere

are

no

new

mes

sage

s.’”

�“M

ysy

stem

’son

fire

.W

hat

do

Id

o?”

Page 92: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

178APPENDIX

C.QUOTATIO

NS

Page 93: 2005 - thetechnicalgeekery.com8 CONTENTS ymore.) opin- erlaps in rest order ted. started that omputers. et- that eren't though. is but horribly w t). ok, y read. CONTENTS 5 123 125

App

endix

D:

Ab

out

This

Book

Th

isb

ook

was

pre

par

edin

LATEX

,a

free

typ

eset

tin

gp

rogr

am.

Th

ere

are

two

edit

ion

sof

the

PD

Ffi

le,sixyears-ttg.pdf

andsixyears-ttg-book.pdf.

Th

efi

rst

isin

ten

ded

for

dis

pla

yon

aco

mp

ute

rsc

reen

.T

he

seco

nd

isin

ten

ded

for

pri

nti

ng

and

bin

din

g.It

pri

nts

ingr

oup

sof

16sh

eets

;to

bin

d,

sim

ply

take

each

grou

pof

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fold

atth

em

idd

le,

and

stap

le.

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ceyo

u’v

ed

one

that

,st

ick

them

all

toge

ther

,b

ind

er-c

lip

them

toge

ther

,an

du

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me

glu

ed

own

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bin

din

g.A

fter

itd

ries

,ta

keso

me

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ta

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iece

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old

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gto

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er,

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glu

eit

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erth

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,u

sean

oth

erp

iece

ofca

rdto

mak

ea

cove

r,an

dyo

u’r

ed

one.

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isP

DF

is:

sixyears-ttg.pdf

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u’v

eb

een

asu

bsc

rib

erto

the

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hn

ical

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kery

(an

d/o

rW

ind

ows

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s)in

the

pas

t,th

anks

for

all

you

rsu

pp

ort.

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u’r

en

ew,

wel

l,w

elco

me.

——

——

——

——

——

—–

Cop

yri

ght

2011

Sor

enB

jorn

stad

.T

his

docu

men

tw

asor

igin

ally

pu

bli

shed

at:

http://thetechnicalgeekery.com/tips/books/sixyears-ttg.pdf

Ver

bat

imre

dis

trib

uti

onof

par

tor

all

ofth

isb

ook

isp

erm

itte

d,

pro

vid

edth

isn

otic

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serv

ed.

179

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Index

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INDEX

181

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