Month: September 2006

The “Dr. Bill FEELS the Groove” Edition (Yes, He Finally Found It!)

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Dr. Bill Podcast – 53 – (09/09/06)
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A Dr. Bill Contest for you to enter! Win a 512 meg USB thumbdrive! This week Dr. Bill “feels the Groove!” We will ship it any on the planet… off planet is a problem… sigh! Mouse Potato, Ringtone, Spyware have been added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary! All of Dr. Bill’s Podcasts are now part of Blubrry, a community for podcasters. The Spirit of Faith Podcast, The Traditional Naturopath, and Dr. Bill – The Computer Curmudgeon, are all available at www.blubrry.com – check them out! Our Geek Software of the Week: The GIMP for Windows! Also, info on GIMPshop, the “Photoshop-y” version! Speed up your Windows boot time by tweaking the Windows Prefetch Cache! A “How To” Geek Project for you! Net Neutrality “Gets Religious?!?” Trekkers, rejoice and shout! Friday, September 8th was the 40th Anniversary of Star Trek! Live long and prosper my friends! And, a “Peace and Long Life!” The Dr. is out for now!

Net Neutrality “Gets Religious?!?”

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OK, this is weird. I am technically considered by most a “card carrying member” of the “Religious Right,” OK?!?! This is embarrassing! There are “religious dewds” that want to stop Net Neutrality from succeeding! Sigh. (Actually, I am a Christian… I don’t consider myself “religious”… “religion” is stifling, Christianity is a personal relationship. So, I am not “religious!” But I AM for Net Neutrality! So, I am weird… OK!)

Net Neutrality ‘Gets Religious!’

“A group of US religious and ethical organizations, including Morality in Media, the Institute on Religion and Democracy, and Faith 2 Action, has issued an open letter to the Senate Commerce Committee, expressing support for the current language of a key communications reform bill that has emerged from conference, and is soon to be introduced for debate on the Senate floor. It is the bill around which the current debate on ‘net neutrality’ — whether to prohibit broadband service providers from being able to offer premium carriage services to larger content providers — is centered. The letter begins by praising the Committee for having ‘recently resisted attempts by Senators who wanted to regulate the Internet, but rather, included language that would specifically protect our ability to communicate our message.'”

Well, that’s good, but we can have a free Internet, AND still preach the Gospel! (I do it all the time! Grin!) So… it is STILL embarrassing! Sigh.

Geek Project: Speed up Windows Boot Time by Tweaking the Windows Prefetch Cache!

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[NOTE: the tweak outlined in this post has been called into serious question. It seems that it has been circulating around geek sites for a LONG time, and that there is a question as to whether it is valid. There seem to be good arguments FOR and AGAINST… as with any recommendation, I tried it myself and reported my findings… which appeared to be that it worked for me… BUT, YMMV (Your Mileage My Vary)… and, it is very possible that there were other factors that caused my apparent boot time speedup (from a minute to 30 seconds.) Now, 50% better is pretty impressive… but it could have been the result of other factors rather than the registry setting itself. I suggest that you read all of Andrew’s comments following this post… check out the sites he points to… and make up your own mind, based on the points made. I DO try and keep this a “fair and balanced” guide to user helpful hints… and now back to your regular reading….]

Original Post Starts Here:
Everyone wants a faster Windows boot time, huh? Well, here’s a cool tip! Clean out your Windows Prefetch Cache! A Geek Project for you!

In Windows Explorer, navigate to C:\Windows\Prefetch

Once there, delete everything under the “Prefetch” directory. (DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK! I ain’t responsible! REALLY!)

Now, reboot your system. This reboot will be very slow, because it will be “rebuilding” the system’s prefetch cache again. This is because Windows needs to “relearn” the prefetch for it’s system files. Subsequent boots will be MUCH faster! However, the Winodws Prefetch cache will soon “fill up” again as you use the system and it’s applications. Sooooo… let’s keep that from happening!

We will need to edit a registry key to fix that. (If you aren’t comfortable editing the Windows Registry, don’t do it… call your friendly local geek and show him this article!) If you are “down wit'” doin’ it… go for it! Open Regedit and browse to this Registry Key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management\PrefetchParameters

Under this key you should see a value named: EnablePrefetcher

It has 4 possible values:

0 – Disabled : The prefetch system is turned off.

1 – Application : The prefetch only caches applications.

2 – Boot : The prefetch only caches boot system files.

3 – All : The prefetch caches boot, and application files.

Now, keep in mind, we don’t want to disable the prefetch entirely! This would actually make system boot times much longer! This is because this feature is used to speed up the loading of Windows boot files. So, let’s pick the number 2 option. It allows us to keep the advantage of caching Windows system files, without filling up the prefetch with application data.

Set the value to 2 and reboot your system. The next time that you boot it will be MUCH faster! Cool, huh? So, do this and, like me, you could do from over a minute in Windows boot time to 30 seconds! Very, very cool! You can also defrag your hard drive… that will help too!

Geek Software of the Week: The GIMP for Windows

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Dewd! If you have ever used (or wanted to use) Adobe Photoshop… but couldn’t afford the over $1000.00 price tag, then you NEED The GIMP! The GIMP stands for “GNU Image Manipulation Program” and it truly rocks! It is Open Source, free, and very cool! I was reminded by a listener to the podcast that I hadn’t spotlighted The GIMP yet as a Geek Software of the Week winner! As I told him, it is just that I use it all the time, and hadn’t really thought about the fact that it is VERY useful to anyone that needs to graphic editor… and doesn’t want to drop a grand!

The GIMP for Windows

The GIMP is available on nearly all Linux Distributions, and for Mac OS/X! The link above is for the Windows installer version. You will need to download and install the GTK+ envirnment first, then download and install The GIMP. It is slick, fast, and cool! And, if you need an interface that is more familiar to Photoshop-ers… try GIMPshop! Here’s that link:

GIMPshop, a GIMP Hack by Scott Mochella

Scott hacked the GIMP interface to “Photoshop-ize” it. Very cool, Scott!

Thanks, Joe, for the e-mail reminding me to feature The GIMP!

All Dr. Bill’s Podcasts are Now Part of “Blubrry!”

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Did you know that “Dr. Bill – The Computer Curmudgeon” is not my only podcast? Did you know that we have over 1,100 subscribers? Did you know that I am tired of saying, “Did you know…?” Anyway, we are now listed on Blubrry, a Podcasting Community! Cool, huh?

Here are links to my other podcasts:

The Traditional Naturopath

The Spirit of Faith Netcast

and, here is the link to Blubrry:

Blubrry

About Blubrry (What they say about themselves)

“Why the funny name?

We at RawVoice believe in creating Fresh Organic Media. In time with our mission we felt that nothing ‘says celebrate the fruits of your labor with the people who make your show sweet’ than Blubrry. It’s not Blubbery but a crisp, refreshing podcaster AND listener community called blubrry– where there is no ‘E’ in fruit and no ‘I’ in our philosophy.

Blubrry is not a directory, it’s a community.”

“Mouse Potato, Ringtone, Spyware” added to Dictionary!

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Here we go again! Added to the 2006 update of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate® Dictionary, Eleventh Edition… here’s the list:

Below you’ll find a sample of the nearly 100 new words and senses from the 2006 copyright version of the best-selling Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate® Dictionary, Eleventh Edition—available this fall in bookstores everywhere. How many of these words are already a part of your vocabulary?

Technology and Computers
mouse potato
ringtone
spyware

Science and Medicine
avian influenza
biodiesel
gastric bypass

Pop Culture
soul patch
supersize

Entertainment and Leisure
labelmate
ollie
wave pool

The Human Condition
drama queen
unibrow

International
manga
qigong

Business and Industry
agritourism
big-box

Nature
aquascape
coqui

Miscellaneous
polyamory
sandwich generation

2006 marks the bicentennial anniversary of America’s first dictionary—Noah Webster’s A Compendious Dictionary of the English Language. To see what words were “new” in 1806, check out A Glossary of New Words in the special anniversary section of Merriam-Webster Online.

Merriam-Webster – New Words

Cool! Our language grows and adapts… even for geeks!

The “Dr. Bill Tries to Get in the Groove” Edition of our Podcast #52!

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Dr. Bill Podcast – 52 – (09/02/06)
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Dr. Bill celebrates his 52nd Podcast by having to do it twice in a row (because he forgot to save the first one), but maybe it was a good thing because he was not “in the groove!” What IS the groove? We celebrate by having a cool contest, click on the “Click HERE to enter the Contest” link at the top of the right hand column! We play a NEW (to us) version of “Every OS Sucks” by Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie! Other Geek Culture classics, and a Net Neutrality refresher from the experts! Our Tech News of the week: Intel has a HOT New “Merom” Chip for Laptops… AOL is Dissed Again! They are now officially “Badware!” Ubuntu is voted the most popular Linux Desktop! And, our Geek Software of the Week: SpamBayes! Remember, “You can’t tell SPAM from HAM without a program!” And we have (the program, that is) SpamBayes! Also remember our contest… win a 512 meg thumbdrive! How cool is that??!?!!

Geek Software of the Week: SpamBayes

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You don’t REALLY still use Outlook, do you? Sigh. In spite of my pleadings you persist? Thunderbird is better than Outlook and has built-in Bayesian Spam filtering. OK, OK! So, you are going to use Outlook. I have to use it at work… BUT, at least I can ADD Bayesian filtering to it!

SpamBayes Outlook Plugin

Install it, and use it to “train” your mailbox to stop spam… remember, “You can’t tell spam from ham, without a program!” Well, this is that program! Enjoy!

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