Sans Pantalones

I just got the iPad 3!!

Don Pedro — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 20:10:35 +0000

I said I wasn’t going to get one, but somehow I managed to end up with an iPad 3. So far it’s been pretty cool, I like the voice dictation the speed is impressive and the graphics are pretty cool. In fact I’m writing this blog post without touching the keyboard. The only thing that annoys me is the fact that nobody makes a decent case for it. I bought two cases from Amazon and I don’t like either one of them. Why doesn’t anybody make the original iPad case in an iPad 3 format?

I also bought the Apple TV so that I can play games on the big screen. Airplay is a little finicky at times but overall I think it’s pretty neat. I wanted to play Need for Speed but the connection speed was a little choppy. Apparently I need to check my network and stop people from downloading all sorts of crap. Oh wait, maybe that was me.

Did I need a new iPad? No. Do I like the new iPad? Yes!

Seriously, this voice recognition is kick ass! Ha ha I made the computer write ass.

VirtualBox Cannot register the image because UUID already exists

Don Pedro — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 23:19:16 +0000

I’ve ran into a snag with VirtualBox. I made some images on my work laptop and when I try to load them on my home desktop machine I run into the following error:

Cannot register the image ‘C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxGuestAdditions.iso’ with UUID ‘{4a16c3ed-691e-4878-9576-d1113bc5a699}’
because a ‘C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxGuestAdditions.iso’ with UUID {…} already exists

It turns out the Guest Additions ISO is loaded for one of the images, but I have no idea which one since UUIDs mean nothing to me. Basically, the Virtual Machine won’t load and there doesn’t seem to be a whole you can do about it from the UI.

After doing some digging I believe I have a way to get around the problem quite easily.

Go into the directory where the Virtual Machine file is located and open the .VBOX file. It’s an XML and is easily read by an editor such as Notepad++.

Look for the line: as in this example:

Remove the whole HardDisk uuid= entry so that there is no entry between the two HardDisk tags.

Save the file and double-click the .VBOX filename again. It should load correctly and the image should appear in the list of machines. You can add the Guest Additions back in once the machine starts up again.

You may also see this error when trying to clone the drive:

"Failed to clone the virtual machine .
Cannot register the image ‘C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxGuestAdditions.iso’
with UUID { } because a CD/DVD image ‘C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VBoxGuestAdditions.iso’
with UUID { } already exists.

What do you get when you blend a typewriter and the iPad?

Don Pedro — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:25:30 +0000

I find this to be incredibly cool and downright sexy in it’s own little way. I don’t know that I would use it, I don’t that I could use it, but I sure as hell would love to have one! Check out the blending of old style typewriter and USB connections. That thing just screams for lashings of leather and brass!

Typewriter obsolete? USB Technology allows vintage models to be used in the modern era

25% off Norton Internet Security 2012 or Norton 360 v6.0

Don Pedro — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 20:22:00 +0000

I don’t know why Norton/Symantec does it this way, but it’s always cheaper to buy a new version of their app rather go through the renewal process. Norton Internet Security 2012 costs nearly $50, but you can buy a new copy from Amazon for $27. How does that make sense? In reality, I’m not buying a new version, I’m just extending the amount of time I can download virus definitions. It’s not like they’re actually "giving" me anything when I renew. But oh well, their choice. If it’s cheaper to buy the program again then so be it.

And that’s where we are, renewal time again. It’s time to keep the anti-virus apps up to date and keep the flaming toilet papers rolls of the Internet away from my machine. The Internet is not a Superhighway. It’s a pothole ridden backroad with ruts and ill-tempered dogs that want to eat you. It can be an ugly place. Prevention is the best medicine!

So, where to get a cheap copy of NIS 2012? That’s easy actually. You have two major choices, the Norton website itself, or Amazon. There’s really only a dollar difference. Strangely, if you go to the Norton site you can Norton Internet Security 2012 or Norton 360 v6.0 for the same price. They both come out to $29 and change with a coupon code.

Go to Norton site and use:

CPNPAL25NORTON – 25% Discount

CSHARESYM20 – 20% Discount

They both should work, but there’s two of them just in case.

You can also go to Amazon and get either the 3PC version ($27) or the Single PC version for $18. The 3PC version is a Digital Download while the other is an actual box. Again, kinda strange. But cheap prices no matter how you look at it.

I’ve been extremely pleased with Norton the past couple of year. It’s jumped in to intervene to keep me from making a mess of things. There are some ugly little programs out there. A couple of naughty sites too.

Seriously though, for less than $30 you will get some big league protection. You can go with free AV software if you want, but you get what you pay for.

As a side note, if you don’t already have a copy I would HIGHLY recommend getting SuperAntiSpyware to compliment your system protection. It has an odd name, but the software is extremely powerful. It stops undesirable programs from launching, stops toolbars and other useless web trinkets from loading and you can get a LIFETIME license for $20. For the price of a couple of those damn coffees you could completely protect your system for life. Nice deal.

Norton Internet Security from Norton.com

Norton Internet Security from Amazon.com

SusperAntiSpyware with Lifetime Updates

Update:

I found another link that truly offers Norton Internet Security 2012 for $34.99. When you add the 25% off coupon of CPNPAL25NORTON the total drops to $26.24. That’s a pretty sweet discount. So there you go, another avenue to get Norton Internet Security for a hefty discount.

Norton Internet Security 2012 – $26.24

Salvation from Viruses, Rootkits, Malware and Spyware. How to protect yourself.

Don Pedro — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 16:24:50 +0000

A friend of mine at work has found himself battling some serious computer demons. "A friend of his wife’s", (the story always starts that way) has a laptop that is running slow and causing problems. It took only a couple of minutes to determine it was the victim of some malware, probably had a virus and some spyware seeping through.

Oh course the machine has an OEM copy of Windows, no recovery disks and as for anti-virus, I’m not sure it even had any. If it did, it sure as hell wasn’t working. Anyway, the battle began on Monday night. I met back up with him on Thursday and he looked to be a defeated man. He told stories of at least 10 viruses on the system, quite possibly a rootkit, definitely Malware and Spyware and since he didn’t have any disks, getting to scan the machine before Windows loaded was proving to be problematic.

I’ve been there. I’ve been given this laptop before. I’ve had that "friend". After much discussion and gnashing of teeth I offered my suggestions on how to get around this mess. I have a few tricks up my sleeve, but who knows if he can resurrect this machine. We all agreed the best thing to do is reformat the beast, but they don’t have the Windows disks.

So here are my suggestions:

Go to Amazon and buy a copy of Norton Internet Security 2012. You can buy a single PC license for $18 or a 3 PC license for $27. Let me just say this and cut through the haze, free anti-virus is bullshit! There are times when you get what you pay for and if you’re going to hang your ass out on the Internet all day, every day, you better protect it. Do you trust free condoms from strangers? Really? Pay the $30 and get some real protection in there.

Next, go to Norton and download the Norton Bootable Recovery Tool. This is the Boot CD or Boot Disk so you can get right at the machine before it starts. You may also need to download Norton Power Eraser which is specially designed to aggressively target scamware. That sounds wickedly powerful, so yes, give it a go. But seriously, download the Boot Disk and scan your machine with that if it’s infected.

Next, download SuperAntiSpyware. It does indeed have a silly name, but it’s damn powerful software. It’s stops Malware, Spyware and Viruses from getting onto your system. It does a lot more than just clean up some tracking cookies. If you try and click on something evil, it will pull you out of the fire. For system that have more bugs than a Thai Bath House, there is portable version so you can boot it off a USB key. You can get a LIFETIME license to the full version for $20.

There is also MalwareBytes. Like SuperAntiSpyware it will get onto your machine looking for all sorts of ill. They have a free version so you can run it against your infected machine and yourself out of the soup.

But seriously, before you start calling up your local tech guy, who obviously has nothing better to do than mess with your laptop, spend the $50 to protect yourself. Get a copy of NIS 2012 so that when you click on the things you shouldn’t it will stop programs from sucking the life out of your machine. Spend the $20 for a good Malware, Spyware app so that when sites try to attack you, there’s a barrier. You don’t go swimming naked in shark infested waters covered in bacon grease do you? Why do you jeopardize your machine so?

Just remember, don’t be cheap. So far, my friend has invested 4 hours in this problem and has made no advances yet. There’s at least another 4-6 hours of work ahead. Considering the technical depth of his knowledge, you wouldn’t even get him to look a machine for less than $50 an hour. This project will waste over $500 by the time it’s done and more than likely will get this person shunned from his house and not invited over to the next party. And I tell you what, if I were doing this work, you for damn sure would be buying me a bottle of top shelf Vodka or Whiskey and we know $50 isn’t gonna cut it there. AND you’ll be buying the AV and Malware apps anyway, because I’m not going through this crap again.

As the saying goes, pay a little now, save a lot later.

Think about it, what the right choice here?

Write errors with Google XML Sitemap Generator and WordPress

Don Pedro — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 15:35:01 +0000

I’ve run into a problem where my Google Sitemap Generator plugin for WordPress keeps generating an error that there’s been a problem and it can’t write to either sitemap.xml or sitemap.xml.gz.

The error I get is:

"There was a problem writing your sitemap file. Make sure the file exists and is writable. Learn more
There was a problem writing your zipped sitemap file. Make sure the file exists and is writable. Learn more"

This seems to have started since I upgraded to Google XML Sitemaps 3.2.6. If I rebuild the sitemap manually, everything works fine, the file is written and I don’t get any errors. But left to it’s own devices, things don’t go so well.

I haven’t really solved the problem, but I believe I’ve managed to work around it. First, I downgraded back to Google XML Sitemaps 3.1.6. Since I have a blog running under IIS, there might be another change to make. If you go to Settings – XML Sitemap, Under the Location of your sitemap file:

I selected Custom Location and then put in the full pathname to the file such as C:\Inetpub\blog directory\wordpress\sitemap.xml

With those changes in place, the plugin seems to be working again. After a post, the sitemap.xml file is updated and I don’t get the write protection error. I’m not sure if it was one change or the other, but it’s fixed and I’m not messing with it.

Father of Commodore 64 Passes Away at Age 83

Don Pedro — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 16:11:41 +0000

Another computer great passes on.

What a wonderful machine and so many memories. It really was the heady days of the computer revolution.

Ultima III on the C64?

RIP

Father of Commodore 64 Passes Away at Age 83

Cradle of Rome – Free for a limited time

Don Pedro — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 03:17:06 +0000

I picked this up as a free download and have been quite impressed. It’s a pretty nice Match-3 game like 10 Talismans, but with a city building element. Earn gold and resources by the tiles you match then use that to buy buildings for your city. Start as a peasant in a hut and work your way up. It’s a pretty ice variation and you can’t beat free. I’m sure it’s only free for the Easter weekend so you better hurry.

Cradle of Rome 2 HD

AirDisk Pro – Wireless Flash Drive – Free for Easter!

Don Pedro — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 10:16:56 +0000

This is one of my favorite utilities right now, and not only did it get an update, they’ve dropped the price to FREE for Easter! Now that’s a heck of a gift! If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to transfer files to the iPad this is the way to go. This app is a fantastic buy at $0.99, so getting it for free is one hell of a thing! If you haven’t download a copy, you best get a move on.

AirDisk Pro – Wireless Flash Drive

Free Copy of O&O DriveLED for Easter, plus a coupon

Don Pedro — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 11:10:59 +0000

O&O Software has an Easter Egg on their site that gives you a free license to O&O DriveLED v4.0. Since it’s an Easter Egg you have to go searching for it. But where to start? Actually, it’s not that hard. Let your fingers do the walking and let the site help you out. Maybe you could do a search for "Easter Egg" and see what comes back.

While you’re out there you can use the coupon code "EASTER2012" to save 30% off anything in the online store. Not a bad deal.

Shop the O&O Online Store