TIPS & TRICKS: Firefox, Bouncing Web Pages

I came across an odd phenomenon today. Everything else on the computer being normal, web pages in Firefox would bounce up and down, much like if I were moving the scroll wheel up and down rapidly. The user came in and said that it started happening when he made adjustments to toolbars. Thus, I went in and adjusted settings for toolbars and found that the built-in Firefox Bookmark Toolbar, at least on that machine, required at least one bookmark in it or it would show the bouncing behavior. The other alternative is to hide the Bookmark Toolbar altogether.

RAVES: Fixit Guide Series - DIY Mac & iPod Repair

Great site for do-it-yourself repairs for Macs. I've used this site quite a few times. The guides they offer are full color, quite descriptive, and easy to follow. Highly recommended.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/

RAVES: Immersive Media Streaming Immersive Demos

At the risk of sounding like a biased Googlite, this is a great "behind-the-scenes" look at the raw recording of Google Maps Street View. Some of the on-board components are merely off-the-shelf pieces. Amazing.

http://demos.immersivemedia.com/fvdemo_1/data/CylindricalFlashPlayerDemoSite/PopularMechanicsNYCDriveAlong/PopularMechanicsNYCDriveAlong.php

TIPS & TRICKS: Optical drives not recognizing in Windows XP

This has been a fix that's been around for some time, but I hadn't documented here until now. The optical drive(s) do not show up in either My Computer or Disk Management. In Device Manager, the drive(s) show up with yellow exclamation points. There is also and error message that says the following: "Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19)"

1. Click Start.
2. Click Run.
3. In the "Open" field type REGEDIT.
4. Click OK.
5. Click "File" in the menu bar.
6. Click "Export" from the drop down menu this will open a new box.
7. Click the down arrow beside "Save In" and select "Local Disk (C".
8. In the File Name field type BACKUP.REG.
9. Verify that under the “Export Range”, that the radio button is beside "All".
10. Click Save.
11. Click the plus sign (+) beside HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
12. Click the plus sign (+) beside System.
13. Click the plus sign (+) beside CurrentControlSet.
14. Click the plus sign (+) beside Control.
15. Click the plus sign (+) beside Class.
16. In the left hand window pane click on {4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} to select that key.
17. In the right hand window pane select the UpperFilters registry key and press the delete key on the keyboard.
18. Confirm with an OK.
19. In the right hand window pane select the LowerFilters registry key and press the delete key on the keyboard.
20. Confirm with an OK.
21. Click the "X" in the upper right hand corner of the Registry Editor window to close it.

Restart your Computer in order for the registry - fix to work.

RAVES: A First Look at the Google Phone

This looks quite promising for the future of cell phones. With a software platform that works well, we could definitely see "phones" take off with much more user-friendly features than what we have today. Personally, I have found that most multimedia features on today's phones are a bit cumbersome. They work for the most part, but they definitely have a long way to go before they can be considered ready for the masses. This may be the catalyst to get this progress moving in the right direction.

Make sure to take a look at the videos here:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/a-first-look-at-the-google-phone/?ref=technology

RANTS: Techdirt: Verizon Wireless Apparently Still Can't Train Its Sales People In Basic Math

I'm not completely convinced this is a Verizon problem. I vaguely recall that I was taught basic math in grade school. Last time I checked, I'm pretty sure that Verizon wasn't administering grade-school classes. Thank goodness because they might try to sign me up for a long-term contract that I would have to pay to cancel early.

http://techdirt.com/articles/20071114/115632.shtml

RANTS: Bureau warns on tainted discs

This is unbelievable. I'd say that I'm more paranoid that most and I take good precautions to protect myself from those who would do me harm. But, I do recognize that some precautions are unnecessary, until you find out something like this. When will this madness end?

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2007/11/11/2003387202