Twelve WIIs at Best Buy this Sunday?

For those of you still waiting to get your hands on Nintendo's little Wii, this coming Sunday may be the day you get lucky. According to an inside source at Best Buy - a surreptitious hero for nerds everywhere - the nationwide retailer will have no less than 12 Wii systems per store that day.

According to a videogame journalist at Gamernode.com, those units will sell out faster than Bruce Springsteen's last concert in New York City. I recommend getting to your local Best Buy EARLY. Bring a chair, some food, and a handheld gaming system, because you may have to wait for a while if you want to be among the first dozen at the door.

If you want to thank someone for this tip, well, you can't. He has chosen, in true superhero fashion, to fade away into the night after.

Category: Wii, Posted: 07/23/2007 by Eddie Inzauto, GN Writer

"long range wireless"

I received a call saying that Dell is advertising notebooks with "long range wireless", and he called Dell...and the representative had no clue as to what he was talking about.

When I did a search at dell.com, all I found was:
"...IOGEAR's Long Range Wireless Keyboard/Mouse Combo..."

On his second call to Dell, he (again) reached India, but this time was told that the Inspiron 1420 has the "long range wireless".

After reviewing the website, it looks like "regular old wi-fi" to me...

OEM versions of software

Tom has an "OEM" copy of Windows XP, but no product key...

Per the Windows Operating System Product Support Lifecycle FAQ:
"...Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)...contact your OEM for more information about the support offerings for Windows desktop operating systems..."

I can tell you from experience that retail product keys do not function on "other" version of Windows, and the same is true in reverse. If you have an OEM version (of Windows), you'll need the product key from whoever distributed that CD.

Tel-Biz

Their services can be used from any phone and can be used anywhere in the world...you do not need anything special in order to use it.

Among the services offered, they include:
Record phone calls
Conferencing calls
Click to Call-Me Button
Call-back Service
International phone calls
1-800 toll free Follow-me services.

tel-biz.com

routers with firewalls

Charlie wanted suggestions for a router with firewall. I found a few models:
Netgear WGT624 108 Mbps Wireless Firewall Router
TRENDNet 54Mbps Wireless Firewall Router, 802.11g, b
Netgear ProSafe FVG318 Wireless Router/Firewall/VPN
and Linksys Etherfast Cable/DSL Firewall Router BEFSX41, 4-port, VPN, DMZ, SPI

website, and page, design

We were discussing creating accessible websites and pages. Here are some links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_accessibility

http://www.w3.org/

http://www.anybrowser.org/

http://webxact.watchfire.com/

Windows startup issues

Stan was getting error messages when he tries to shutdown his computer.

My first idea is to disconnect all external devices (except for the mouse, keyboard, and monitor) and see if the messages continue to appear.

Then, check the "System Configuration Utility" to see if it's in Normal startup.

If it continues, try to boot into Safe mode...and then shutdown. If there are no error messages I suspect there's some software other than Windows causing problems. You may need to troubleshoot using the "System Configuration Utility".

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Terry was having similar issues with messages from software that load when he boots his computer. Here are some articles that may help:

System Configuration Utility overview

How to configure Windows XP to start in a "clean boot" state

How to troubleshoot by using the System Configuration utility in Windows XP

How to Modify the List of Programs that Run When You Start Windows XP

How to modify the list of programs that run when you start Windows

Here is an update for Windows XP that adds a Tools tab to the System Configuration Utility.

uninstalling programs

Paul has a computer that came with Norton 2005. He wants to uninstall it, and install a different (antivirus) product.

How to change or remove a program in Windows XP

install Windows into a new folder/directory

Tom called about installing Windows into a new directory...

For testing, as well as performing a clean installation, my preferred procedure is to:
boot to a diskette or CD...
create a folder called "boot"...
copy all files on the root of the hard drive to it...
rename the "progam file" folder/directory to "oldprog"...
rename the "windows" folder/directory to "oldwin"...
and delete all files on the root of the drive.

The Microsoft website has instructions on how to "Perform a clean install of Windows XP".

Best ISPs in America

PC Magazine

E3 press conferences

They're streamable and downloadable...

E3

During the beginning of the Nintendo presentation, G4 decided to cut to commercials...

GameSpot has live feeds.

UNLIMITED AOL/AIM MAIL!!!

Free IMAP AND POP3, too!

Live Earth concert(s)

Live Earth is a music event that begins July 7 to raise awareness about global warming with 24 hours of music across 7 continents, and performances by more than 150 of the world's top musicians...

It starts 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET, and wil be streamed

The Sundance Channel, NBC, CNBC, and BRAVO will also broadcast some of the shows.

world wide wait

Standard guidelines for ideal Web response times (Nielsen 1999, page 42):

0.1 second (one tenth of a second).
Ideal response time. The user doesn't sense any interruption.

1 second. Highest acceptable response time.
Download times above 1 second interrupt the user experience.

10 seconds. Unacceptable response time.
The user experience is interrupted and the user is likely to leave the site or system.
These numbers are useful for planning server capacity.

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one-second response times = five kilobytes at 56 Kbps

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Speedy downloads, speedy connections:
Minimize HTML, the number and size of graphics, and multimedia

Legibility
Use high contrast colors for optimum legibility (black text on white background best)

page width:
600 pixels and resizable [although 580 works best on Macs - ed.]

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Minimize the number of steps needed to accomplish tasks
Load in under 20 to 30 seconds

women in tech

...A report released May 14...tech workplaces may not be the most favorable environments for women to work in.

The vast majority of women working in the field of technology enjoy their jobs, finds the "Women in Technology 2007" report published by WITI (Women in Technology International), a trade association, and Compel, a management consulting and research firm. Of the survey's nearly 2,000 female respondents, 75 percent said that they would encourage other women to pursue similar interests.

...Patricia Schaefer, (president of Compel and) co-author of the report, told eWEEK.

"What was very intriguing was that such a large percentage of women said that they didn't find their organizational climates to be very inviting to women. They're saying that they don't feel that their voices are heard and it causes them to question whether this is an environment that they wish to stay in," said Shaefer.

software not supplied with hardware

Tim was having problems after installing an Original Equipment Manufacturers version of Windows...that he purchased from someone...that was not supplied with the hardware he was using.

From my experience, no matter what problem he has, I will not be surprised: OEM versions of...ANYTHING...CAN BE (and have been) MODIFIED FOR SPECIFIC CONFIGURATIONS (makes, models, and versions). Unless it is a retail ("generic") version of Windows, as it says on the CD: "...For product support, contact the manufacturer of your PC" (meaning the manufacturer of the PC the CD was supplied with).

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"...the warning signs that can help them identify counterfeit or illegal software...Products marked with a phrase, such as 'For distribution with a new PC only,' 'Special CD for licensed customers only,' 'Not for retail or OEM distribution' or 'Academic price - not for use in a commercial environment'..."