Computers

Senators Desktop Calendar – November 2011

For your enjoyment, here is the November 2011 Ottawa Senators desktop calendar. The photo was kindly given to me by the Sens organization for use in this calendar.

Photo credit: Jana Chytilova/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images

Note: If you’re unsure what your screen resolution is, follow these steps to ensure you’re downloading the correct background:

Windows: Right click any blank area of your desktop and click on Properties. Go to the Settings tab. Screen Resolution is listed at the lower left.
Mac OSX: Click on the Apple logo in the top left corner of your menu bar and select “System Preferences”, and then select “Displays”
Linux w/ Gnome: Click on System, Preferences and select Display

Screen Resolution	Wallpaper size
1024 x 768	1280 x 960
1280 x 960	1280 x 960
1440 x 900	1680 x 1050
1680 x 1050	1680 x 1050
1360 x 768	1600 x 900
1366 x 768	1600 x 900
1600 x 900	1920 x 1080
1920 x 1080	1920 x 1080

Graphics and Wallpapers Hockey

Sens Desktop Calendar October 2011

The monthly Ottawa Senators desktop calendar is back! I didn’t make any of these last year due to lack of time and not going to as many games. Though I still might not go to as many games this season, I should have the time to product these on a monthly basis for the entire Senators season.

So enjoy these new desktop calendars, and if you like and/or use them, a quick hello as a comment would be greatly appreciated.

Note: If you’re unsure what your screen resolution is, follow these steps to ensure you’re downloading the correct background:

Windows: Right click any blank area of your desktop and click on Properties. Go to the Settings tab. Screen Resolution is listed at the lower left.
Mac OSX: Click on the Apple logo in the top left corner of your menu bar and select “System Preferences”, and then select “Displays”
Linux w/ Gnome: Click on System, Preferences and select Display

Screen Resolution	Wallpaper size
1024 x 768	1280 x 960
1280 x 960	1280 x 960
1440 x 900	1680 x 1050
1680 x 1050	1680 x 1050
1360 x 768	1600 x 900
1366 x 768	1600 x 900
1600 x 900	1980 x 1080
1920 x 1080	1920 x 1080

Luc "Sandman" G. September 22, 2011

Software

Firefox 4 with Delicious and Google Addons

Firefox 4 came out a few weeks ago, and with it introduced bugs to 2 of my favorite addons: delicious and google toolbar. The delicious addon won’t work at all, as it is incompatible with Firefox 4, and the google toolbar has a few bugs which makes using it a big headache. The biggest bug of all is the autocomplete not working properly, where clicking on the suggestion doesn’t fill out the search. But behold, there are fixes for these 2 issues which will allow you to upgrade to Firefox 4 and still use these 2 must-have addons!

For either fix, you’ll need to install the Firefox compatibility addon located here:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/add-on-compatibility-reporter/?src=api

Fix delicious addon for Firefox 4

– In Firefox, go to Help menu and click Troubleshooting Information
– Now click the Open Containing Folder button at the top in the Application Basics section
– Close all Firefox browser windows
– Next (in the containing folder) go inside “extensions” folder and then the{2fa4ed95-0317-4c6a-a74c-5f3e3912c1f9} folder
– Right click the install.rdf file, select Open, then choose “Select a program”. Then click on Notepad from the window that pops up.
– Change em:maxVersion=”4.0b3pre” to em:maxVersion=”5.0″
– Save the file, close Notepad and restart Firefox
– Once Firefox restarted, click on blank space before the URL bar and select customize
– Click and drag the Delicious icons that you wish to have between the left/right arrows and the URL bar
– Click “Done” in the Customize Toolbar window when you’re done.

Fix the Google Toolbar addon

-Click on Tools, then Addons
-click Extensions and then remove Google toolbar. This will uninstall the addon.

Go to http://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/toolbar/ff/index.html and re-install the google bar

-Restart Firefox

There you go! This will fix the 2 popular addons until Yahoo (Delicious) and Google put out proper addons to that address these bugs. Enjoy!

Luc "Sandman" G. April 19, 2011

Hardware Tips

How to Mute a GN Netcom 9120 Wireless Headset

I inherited a GN Netcom 9120 headset at work. This also meant that I didn’t get a manual so I had no idea on how to use it. With a lot of playing around and some long google searches, I was able to finally figure out how to mute the wireless headset. Hopefully this finding will help others out there.

To mute the 9120 wireless headset, you press the middle (on/off button) twice in under 1 seconds. This will mute the headset. To unmute it you do the same thing; hit the middle button twice in less than 1 second. Its that simple!

Luc "Sandman" G. November 24, 2010

Internet Software

iTunes Account Hacked

iTunes hacked A few weeks ago I was at my inlaws, enjoying a good game of football on tv when some commercial came on for a contest. My wife asked me to enter so I took out my laptop. In pops an email; it was an iTunes receipt for a bunch of iPhone & iPad apps that I hadn’t bought. I made sure that it wasn’t a phishing email, and pulled out my iPhone to see that my account credit in iTunes was nearly depleted. We headed back home where a second iTunes receipt waited for me.

I scoured the Apple website for some kind of iTunes contact number, but the only thing I could find was a number for general Apple support. They informed me that they didn’t support iTunes and pointed me to a web form as the sole possible support. I filled out the form stating that my account had been hacked and my credits had been used. I asked if they could reinstate my credits bug I was sure that they weren’t going to do that.

Imagine my surprise when I received an email the next day stating that they would reinstate my credits but it would take a few days. They also locked my account and forced me to change my password (which I already had done the night before). They stated that they normally do not reissue credits and that this would be the only time that they would do this for me. I also had them de-authorize all the computers on file as the numbers didn’t jive.

I asked if they could identify how I was hacked but received just a canned response that I would require a subpoena? I highly suspect that my account was compromised via a shady app. I scanned for viruses, trojans and keyloggers and everything came up clean. The original password that I used was unique to iTunes and was pretty secure.

iTunes support had claimed that it would take 4-5 days to get my credits back, but the credits were back into my account the following day. I have to admit that even though I couldn’t get an answer as to how I was hacked, the support for iTunes for this incident was top notch. The person I dealt with was courteous, friendly yet professional and the speed at which everything was dealt with was very quick.

I’ve learned a few lessons in all this:

#1) I’m glad I didn’t have a credit card or paypal tied to my iTunes account. I could have been robbed blind. Granted I could have disputed the charges with my credit card company, but that would have been a whole other headache.

#2) In the future, when getting/buying iTunes cards, I won’t enter the codes in right away. I’ll keep them unused until my credit runs low and just enter them as I need them.

#3) Not all customer support are incompetent and just read off a script or use canned responses. I received the kind of customer support one would only expect from a small mom & pop type operation, not a big company like Apple.

Luc "Sandman" G. November 2, 2010

Computers

Senators Desktop Calendar – November 2011

Sens Desktop Calendar October 2011

How to Mute a GN Netcom 9120 Wireless Headset

iTunes Account Hacked

You Missed

Has it been 12 years?

Star Wars The Force Awakens Wallpapers

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY!!!

Sens March 2012 Desktop Wallpaper