Computer Frustrations – Page 4

I Need A Graphic Designer, or Become One

I have made some strides in this new website development. However, there are some things that I still have problems figuring out.

I have figured out this Joomla CMS tool that I am now using, but I need a graphic designer to remove some “white space” from my tattoo picture. I would also like a version of it that is white, and one that is inverted from its current colors.

I also need to learn a little more about CSS and XHTML. I have found many templates for Joomla that I like, but none of them blow me away. If I could modify them or join 2 of them into one template, I would be halfway there.

I’m still adding content, and trying to figure out how to get PayPal to work with this in the grand scheme of things. I think the grand re-launch will be a few months away.

Check it out! I have the website online at www.lmlvideoservices.com/joomla

IU offers a Digital Design Certificate, I really want to do it. Depending on how things go I might in the fall. It focuses on design of brochures and such. It also teaches about the Adobe Creative Suite. I have a part of it, Photoshop CS3, but haven’t gotten my hands on the other programs thus far. Who knows, LML Video Services might start to offer Graphic Design services in the future.

Starting All Over

Over the past couple of weeks I have been attempting to revamp my website. I found a tool that in theory should help me do that. It’s called Joomla. It’s an open source database/document management/website tool.

There are many, and I do mean many great plug-ins and add-ins for this monster. From blogging to e-commerce, this ones got you covered.

However, there is one problem. I don’t have any extensive experience with these systems and way this product works. It relies heavily on server side scripting languages and protocols such as PHP. So I am starting from scratch with this one. The only way I learn something like this, is to dig my head into it and see what happens when I click this or delete that.

That has been easier said than done. Until this week, from what I knew it couldn’t be ran on a home computer. I thought it had to be used on a web server (at least a computer with a server OS). I found a program that emulates that your computer is indeed a server, it’s called WAMP5. With that installed I could play with Joomla to my heart’s content.

I’m starting to learn more and more about the software every day, and I think that within a few months, a new website for LML Video Services will be born.

I just need to figure out a few more problems first. It seems that my hosting service, Infosaic Technologies, has some strict guidelines for things such as these, many of the plug-ins and add-ins will not install correctly and it seems to be a permissions type error. The tech guys had to actually install the software for me. I keep prodding to see how I can get them to help me, but that’s an ongoing process. I don’t want to leave them, as they’ve been good (and cheap) to me over the past 2 years.

If I don’t get the hosting problems resolved, there must be another way. Hopefully I can find it.

End of Year Headache… I Mean Upgrade

After finishing my last slide transfer job, the client asked me if I could transfer 120mm negatives. My scanner had been good to me, but I needed an upgrade and a way to take some money off of the books so the tax man wouldn’t eat me alive. I told him that I would get back with him after the upgrade.

The CSR where I really work, just upgraded a scanner and I really liked the one they went to. It’s a HP ScanJet G4050. When I researched it, I loved it even more. With the ability to scan up to 16 35mm slides at a time, and also do medium format stuff such as 120mm, I went for it. Also since my previous scanner was an HP, I had some familiarity with how their software and systems work.

I always try to read reviews very carefully before purchasing such a product, and I should have listened.

Many of the reviewers just spoke about problems with Vista – I figured such a problem, and that’s why I don’t plan on upgrading for a long time. There were some though that should have brought up a red flag. They spoke of problems installing the software altogether. XP SP2 and IE 7 have thrown a wrench in HP’s software since they both came out. I had problems with my old scanner because of this, but I didn’t think it would affect a new one, with different software.

I installed the software and everything went fine. I scanned a few bank statements, but ran into a problem after the third, it would just freeze. Alas, a problem. So I tried the first thing to come to mind, uninstall and re-install. That’s when I came into a world of trouble. The software wouldn’t fully uninstall. So I had to manually delete everything (including registry entries), just to re-install. HP doesn’t support their products (except computers) on the weekends or past 6pm Mountain time, so I was SOL. I searched deep for solutions, but only found clues.

I even installed the Vista software that came with the scanner, and it worked the same way, perfect several times and then freezing. I gave up for the evening and decided to make a fresh start in the morning. I installed the full software suite that I downloaded from the HP website and ta-da, it works now!

I might go to Canon or Epson for my next scanner. Hopefully that will be several years down the road.

Sliding On

Recently I have been scanning slides for a new client. He worked with my father at Westinghouse/ABB back in the day. He has given me over 700 of these babies, and let me know via email last night that there are more.

With my single slide scanner I have been making headway, but it’s very time consuming. My slide scanning services have been utilized very much, so this is one area I will be improving on once I have the funds. An automatic slide scanner runs about a cool grand.

There’s only one trick to scanning slides. It’s not easy to find which side is the “correct” side. Most of the time, the only way to correctly distinguish the back from the front is if text of some type such as signs are reverse or not.

Starting To Enjoy the “i” Side of “Life”

After being a Windows Media Player freak since day one, I have finally switched to the “dark side” full time. That dark side being iTunes.

This is not a revolt against Microsoft by any means, just a change of venue so to speak. Since the file tags for digital media have changed allowing album covers to be associated with them, I have been all about it!

The only reason we have iTunes is for my wifes’ iPod, which she hasn’t used for well over a year. I stuck with Media Player until something changed………..like iTunes, Media Player has a “store” where you can purchase music, videos, etc. It’s called URGE, and it’s a Viacom/MTV/VH1/CMT thing.

Everytime I open up said Media Player it takes a few minutes for it to “download the URGE catalog.” I don’t even use it, so why do I need to download this catalog? I have tried constantly to remove it, with no luck.

If I could only use iTunes with my mp3 player. It has it’s own program.

The China Syndrome

Well………….not literally.

I came home from work today to discover my computer was shut-off. I like many others, leave my computer on all the time. Due to power saving features etc. it seems easier that way.

Ever since I built this computer I have only had one problem continuously, my power supply. For all of you non tech people the power supply is what splits the power to everything located in your computer.

The case to this computer is very cheap, and came with a cheap power supply. After about 6 months the original died. This is not an easy item to purchase online, much like a car.

There is only one computer shop on my side of town, so I went there to purchase another one. I was told they only carried one type of power supply. So I purchased one and was on my way. It fried the next day! So I brought my ‘puter in and was “mad as hell!” They happily replaced the defective unit and even installed it for me. Well this one died and I didn’t want to buy another POS model.

So after informing my wife of the issue, we went over to the olde’ east side of town and purchased a good quality 500w power supply. This should be enough for my 4 hard drives, dual core processor (thanks B!) and numerous cards.

Only time will tell how “good” this one is.

My next purchase will be a new case, as mine has almost bit the bullet.

Terabytes & Heat Pumps

Our household and my business recieved some nice upgrades this week.

Our new heat pump was installed Wednesday, and took all day. It was amazing to watch the guys rip the old POS out. What was even more amazing is the technology that goes into this piece of HVAC equipment.

The difference is amazing, as we can’t even tell when it turns on. The best part is that we are now saving a boatload on our home heating and cooling costs, thus saving the environment a little.

We will be receiving $650 in rebates, divided between a tax credit next year, and a rebate from our electric company.

I also purchased another hard drive to expand my capabilities for video transfers. This brings me close to having a terabyte of storage space. (For those of you who don’t know what a terabyte is, it’s 1,000 gigabytes, or 1,000,000 megabytes or 1,024,000,000 bytes.) I am now at 900 gigabytes, divided into 4 hard drives.

This new hard drive is a SATA (Serial ATA), which I have had no experience with. So far it seems to be much better, as the data transfer rates are almost double from the standard IDE connection. This makes editing video, rendering video and burning DVD’s that much faster.

My only problem with the SATA connection is more of a windows problem. When a “hot swappable” device is attached to a windows PC, an icon is automatically placed in your “tray.” I am very anal about my computer and this icon bothers me because I don’t need it, or want it!

I have done some searching on this subject, and found some clues, but nothing that has erased this icon from my desktop thus far.

Myspace

I have resisted to have anything to do with myspace. I have thought from the get-go that it was for teenagers and just plain sillyness.

For some strange reason, one of my good friends, Craig, started an account for moi. He could of just signed it up as a personal thing, but no, he used my business!

I have tried to make it a nice place to show off my skillz, but to my surprise I have pictures of cars, and comments that are crazy as can be on there.

So down this road I go, where I stop? I’ll never know.

I must have to say that myspace has many capabilities for networking. That is currently what I am working on with it. If I can get the word out regarding my business, the possibilities are endless!

Down, But Not Out

Another chapter in my ongoing computer problems. I was actually writing a post regarding this when I received the infamous “blue screen of death!”

I discovered what actually killed my power supply. Somehow (still a mystery to me) my power settings were disabled and deleted from my computer. This created a painful situation for it. Imagine if you had to run non stop 24/7 for months at a time, how would you feel?

In the end, I had to completely delete and reformat my C drive. This is a problem for the majority, but I actually used to do this for fun. Plus having 3 hard drives makes this task very easy, as I just move everything to the other drives, and back them up onto DVD just to make sure I don’t lose anything. I am almost up and running again, as I am still working on my big job.

I am working on building a new PC, it will just take time. I want this to be a pure “business” machine, which means I must use business funds.

Power Restored…For Now Anyway

I swapped my “new” POS power supply for another today.

After speaking with the tech, he informed me of what could have caused this little disaster. He informed me that the 12v section of the power supply went bad. He then went on to tell me that when the L2 cache of the processor goes bad, it tends to short out the 12v supply. He also told me that it generally takes a week. (This is one of the few situations where I don’t know a whole lot BTW.)

He recommended to run some benchmark software for 24 hours. When I first started running it, my CPU became hot, 95° C. So I adjusted some BIOS settings and re-ran the app. Now the temp is holding steady, in the mid 50’s range.

I hope this has solved my problem, but there is no real way to diagnose it (from what I know).

If it becomes the worse case scenario, my processor (an AMD Athlon X2 3800+, Toledo Core) is still under warrantee. I also have my “old” processor sitting around as a backup.

This situation has proven to me that I need, not want, a backup computer. I cannot run my business without it. That is my next step.