December 2007 Archives

I used to do quite a bit of PC repair and home networking stuff, particularly when I was working in the IT department at our home office. People still want me to work on their computers but I really just don't have the time to devote to it anymore. I don't do custom-built computers any more and I very rarely even give any kind of tech advice.

That's one of the cool things about services like Fast-teks. They specialize in home computer repair and troubleshooting. In addition to troubleshooting and repair they also work on virus, worm and spyware removal, wireless networking, data backup and recovery, high speed Internet setup, software training and several other services as well.

Fast-Teks is partnered with CompUSA as well as Tiger Direct and Dr.Backup so you know you are getting technicians that know what they are doing when you call Fast-Teks.

I did a write-up on Avot mV and their official blog a couple of months ago and what they had to offer mobile users. Since then the site has really improved and now they also have the political debates that have taken place recently on Avot mV channels. There are channels for republican ads as well as another one for democratic candidates.

If you want to check it out from your PC prior to using it on your mobile phone they have a desktop PC widget on the website so you can see what kind of videos are available. What's cool is that you should be able to access the site not only from Pocket PC/SmartPhones and iPhones but regular mobile browsers as well, such as the one included with the Motorola Razr. I just tried it from my wife's Razr and it worked very well, particularly since Verizon has recently expanded their broadband area so that I can access it from my house. No more 2400 baud speeds when I am on the Internet from my phone. Very sweet.

I had a few issues connecting to the site tonight from my phone, apparently Verizon has a DNS server down or something, but I have been able to get to the site using both Pocket IE as well as Opera Mini. The nice thing about using the Samsung that I will most likely replace in the next two months is the slider QWERTY keyboard. It makes getting to the site even better because I can view it in landscape mode.

Anyway, Avot mV is for mobile users what Youtube is for PCs. It allows me to have unlimited access to any web based video. Supposedly I should be able to play videos from Youtube and MySpace on my phone but I always seem to have problems and until earlier this evening I have never had one accessing Avot mV. You can check out their product site to get more information about Avot mV and what they have to offer. Their corporate site offers more insight into the technology behind the streaming video services offered as well as news updates.

One of the cool things is that it's easy to search videos, just by typing a few characters to go on rather than full titles and words. You can also personalize the video listings based on your preferences, organize them into playlists and use Avot mV's integrated messaging features to share your videos with your friends and family members. Did I mention it's free? Yeah, that's right. Obviously it's going to use whatever air or data time you have set up for your plan, in my case I already pay for an unlimited data plan because of email so it really is free. It works on most carriers including support for 3G, EDGE, EV-DO, and WiFi.

I ran across PayLoadz earlier this afternoon from a link that showed up on one of the sites I frequent and thought it was pretty cool. With quite a few of the Movabletype plugins that I have purchased over the last couple of months, they normally use PayPal or Google checkout for payment and then the files themselves are stored locally on whatever server is handy. That can be an issue if you need for people to download a product at any time. Payloadz offers download storage room for just about anything that can be stored digitally and their system works with PayPal as well as Google Checkout. Here's a press release from PayLoadz Downloable Goods eCommerce:

I mentioned the other day that I have been looking for a new monitor that will fit in the rolltop desk that I have for my computer now. Believe it or not but I think I found the one I want at Wal-Mart. Resolution is 720p and I should be able to hook up the HDMI with the right cables and adapters. I'm looking forward to being able to close my desk when the PC is not in use. The 19" LCD I have been using is too big for it, and it is starting to go out. I can't turn the monitor off for fear of it not coming back on again now. It tool forever for me to get working again the last time it was turned off.

A couple of my blogs are located at an entirely different web host than most of my sites. I decided earlier in the year when I was having so many problems here that I didn't want to open a new web site at the same location, so I went looking for a new web hosting choice. I talked to several other people about why they choose to use their web hosts and I also looked through several different services such as Web Hosting Choice.

Right from the front page at Web Hosting Choice you can do a search based on monthly cost, setup fees, amount of disk space and bandwidth. They also have recommended hosts along with links and what is available, links to reseller web hosting, a full directory with information on the different plans that are available as well as other information.

It looks like they have quite a few web hosts listed but none of the ones that I use happen to be in the list. As the site grows and matures I am pretty sure they will continue to add to the list.

Each web host, beside the information provided above also allows for user ratings so that you can look with confidence at what people are using for their sites and what type of rating that they give their own host. That was important to me when I was searching simple because I wanted to make sure that people were happy with their web host prior to moving a couple of my domains.