Too Busy Being Geeky to Actually Design this site.
I was thinking about compiling a list of Google’s services for reference, thinking there were maybe a couple dozen that I would have to hunt down.
I ran into someone who already compiled the list of Google’s products and services here.
269 Products and Services… dang.
Right now I am sitting up in bed with laptop in lap while leaning against the hard cold outer wall of my house. I’ve tried lying down with the laptop before but I usually end up shifting positions a dozen times, finally giving up and then I’m back to leaning against that hard cold wall. There’s just no easy way to do it. So, tonight I decided to find some options. Here they be:
1. The Laptop Laidback – The Laptop Laidback looks like what I’m after. They even have pictures of people lying down using it. The Laidback is lightweight at 3lbs, and is portable folding down to only 2″ thick bundle with a handle. I can easily fold it up and slide it under the bed. The price is $99.99 + $14.95 Shipping and Handling.
2. The Lapdawg – The LapDawg looks like it would let you lie down on the job too! The LapDawg weighs in at nearly 6lbs, and also folds into a small size which can be toted around. It comes with a carrying box with a handle. I pretty much know that if I get one, it will never find it’s way into the box. Might as well just throw it out. The nice thing about the Lapdawg is that it looks like it can be folded into other applications like a laptray, tv tray, bed and breakfast tray, or bookholder. My primary use is for lying down and working, but if I’m dropping some coin, some flexibility would be nice to I suppose. The price is $89.99 + Shipping and Handling.
3. The Wizard from LapWorks – The Wizard would work too! The Wizard is just under 5lbs, and looks like it is also very portable. The Wizard claims to be the largest platform available. The Wizard will also fold into other uses like a tv tray, bed and breakfast tray and more. The Wizard’s website pretty much screams “we’re better than the LapDawg.” They sell for $99.95 and offer a lifetime warranty.
4. The Lappyvator – This is the “Do It Yourself (DIY) approach to a lapdesk to work from a lying down position. It’s definitely not as portable or easy to put away as the other options and it’s not very pretty, but it looks like it would get the job done. The obvious advantage is the it’s cheap. All you have is the cost of some PVC pipes and some glue, and don’t forget a little time with a hacksaw.
5. The Acrobat from LapWorks – The Acrobat is another option. It is also lightweight at under 2lbs. It comes in different colors. I doesn’t look very easy to fold down or store., according to the site it folds down, but I didn’t see any pictures showing it. According to the site, a new model is coming that is wider and also has a mouse pad. This isn’t may favorite choice for a pay model. It costs $69.95 plus Shipping and Handling.
6. The Swing-Away Laptop Desk / Stand from AirDesk – The Airdesk Swing-Away is a little bit of a different solution to the problem. Instead of a lapdesk, it’s a stand with a shelf that swings back and forth. It’’s not a lightweight or portable solution, but seems like it would be very user friendly. Just sit or lie down and swing the shelf over you. When you’re done, swing it back. This would be more like buying a permanent piece of bedroom furniture. It also has the option of adding additional shelves for other uses (mouse, reference, etc.) It’s a little more expensive, ranging from $165 – $195 depending on the configuration plus shipping and handling.
7. Loungebook – The Loungebook is a nicer more polished swingaway. Again, it’s more like buying a piece of furniture. This is not a lightweight portable item. There are several different models, so if you are into something a little nicer and more permanent, take some time to do a little browsing. The price range is from $125 – $300 plus shipping and handling.
There are a few other models out there that didn’t really fit my purpose of being able to actually LIE down and use the laptop. I don’t need a fancy over the lap style tray. I’m looking for the ultimate lazy laptop holder! 
Now it’s time to make a choice and make the investment.
I decided to start playing around with some in text or in line advertising on some of the sites I manage. So I did a couple of quick searches to see what exists. There are actually several different options out there, so I am going to have to start digging through them one at a time.
If you are looking for a list of in-text advertising options or a list of in-line advertising options, here you go.
Triggit - In-text ads that work.
Miva – Inline ads within your content.
Adbrite – Embed interactive text ads in your site content.
Vibrant – The in-text advertising leaders.
Infolinks – Linking text to Revenue.
Kontera – Creating in-text relevance.
Chitka – Turning Page views into profits – Search Targeted Advertising.
Jargonfish – Your Words. Deeper Meaning.
As I go through them, I’ll try and throw out some reviews and feature lists.
If you want to get the official word from Google about any of it’s offerings just check out the list of Google Blogs. They have a blog for all of their products, and several others.
Click here to check them out.
Maybe you remember the days of the “Overture Keyword Suggestion Tool.” It was a slick little tool that you could enter a keyword into and get a list of other keyword variations. It also gave you an estimated number of searches for each keyword. It wasn’t perfect, but it definitely pointed the way to your strongest keyword options.
Well, Yahoo shut the tool down sometime over a year ago, and I miss it.
A couple weeks ago I was searching for information to see if maybe they had started it back up (I check every so often) and of course, it’s still down, but I did find a decent replacement, the “Free keyword suggestion tool from WordTracker.“
You can check it out here.
USB 3.0 will be unveiled next Monday, and so far the new specs for the protocol look incredible, promising 25GB transfers in a mere 70 seconds. To put that in perspective, the same transfer would take 13.9 minutes with the current USB 2.0 protocol and 9.3 hours on USB 1.0. Looks like the future of wired syncs and backups is bright and blazing.
It looks like moving my movies from my computer to my movie drive just got quicker.
Sweet…
Looking for a good SEO software?
I dabbled a little bit with Internet Business Promoter, in the past, but I just discovered a pretty nice SEO software with a FREE entry level version. Check them out.
It’s called WEBCEO, and I just dloaded it last night, so I haven’t done alot with it yet, but it looks like a pretty nice FREE start to a decent SEO software.
IBM has a great article about writing secure PHP applications titled “Seven habits for writing secure PHP applications.” The seven habits include 19 different “lessons.”
Go read the article for the details, but here is a quick outline:
Habit 1: Validate input
Habit 2: Guard your file system
- Downloading a file
- Checking for valid file name characters
Habit 3: Guard your database
- Executing an SQL statement
- Guarding with validation and mysql_real_escape_string()
Habit 4: Guard your session
- Storing data in session
- The session files in the /tmp directory
- The contents of a session file
- session_set_save_handler() function example
Habit 5: Guard against XSS vulnerabilities
- Form for inputting text
- showResults.php
- Malicious input text sample
- A more secure form
Habit 6: Guard against invalid posts
- A form for processing text
- A form for collecting your data
- A form with invalid data
- Using a one-time form token
Habit 7: Protect against Cross-Site Request Forgeries (CSRF attacks)
- A CSRF example
- Getting the data from $_REQUEST
- Getting the data only from $_POST
Do you have inane or private chats that you’d rather not leave sitting around your Gmail account?
First off, change your Gmail settings to not save your chat sessions. After logging in to Gmail, go to your “Settings” menu, and under the “Chat” menu, choose the option to “Don’t save chat history in my Gmail account”. Click here for more detailed instructions on this step.
Second, what about the person you are chatting with saving the chat session? Go “Off the Record”. There is an “Options” link at the bottom of your chat window in Gmail. Click that and choose to take your chat off the record. The chat session will not be allowed to be saved by your chat partner either. If your chat partner decides to change the setting, it will show up in your chat that they did so. Click here for more detailed information on going off the record.
Note one – If your chat partner is using a third-party chat client, it may be keeping it’s own record of the chat and there is nothing you can do about that.
Note two – Your chat partner can always cut and paste the contents of your chat window into another file.
LASTLY, don’t freak out if you’ve turned off saving chats and gone off the record and then when you open a chat to one of your friends, EVERYTHING you said last chat session is still there! This is because you havn’t logged out of Gmail since you chatted. Log out and log back in again and when you open the chat window for your friend again, it will be brand spanking new AND empty.
I have a SanDisk Cruzer Micro USB Flash Drive 2GB.
Btw, mine doesn’t look as good as this one anymore – I carry it in my pocket with my keys everywhere I go!
Earlier this week I went to copy a large file to it and it told me it was out of space.
After deleting pretty much everything from the drive I still did not have all of my space back!
Highlighting the files on the drive, I right-clicked and chose “Properties” and was shown a little over 6mb in file – the correct amount. However…
When I highlighted the drive under “My Computer” and right-clicked and chose “Properties” the drive was still reporting an excessive amount of space used! 678mb! WTF?
I searched the ‘net for an answer and many folks with similar problems advocated formatting the drive. Umm… Drastic.
The NON-DRASTIC fix follows!
Go to your “My Computer” and under the “Tools” menu choose “Folder Options”. Under the “View” tab uncheck the box for “Hide protected operating system files”. Don’t forget to reselect this when you’re all done.
Now when you look at the files on your flash drive, you will see a “Recycled” trash-bin icon.
Right-click on the trash-bin icon and choose “Delete”.
Yes. Yes, you do want to delete this pesky little critter.
Don’t worry, it’s not going to hurt anything. I did this on mine and all is well.
Checking the space on the flash drive again, all of my drive space was back!
Far as I can tell… not disconnecting your flash drive correctly before removing it could cause this. Or using it between a PC and a MAC was a theory on the ‘net. Or just gremlins. You fed them after midnight didn’t you? 