The Next Window

Rather than focus on the standard features of SageTV, which have been covered in many reviews and on the SageTV site, I’ll show some of the modifications I like.

One features I really like about SageTV is the ability to use different menu layouts and even additional functions. Don’t get me wrong, the SageTV program is a fantastic program. The original menu layout is very intuitive and not cluttered. But, we all have a few things we’d like to see…. Some of these changes are implemented in the the recent version 2.1 of SageTV.

Frey Technologies has a program called SageTV Studio, which is currently still in limited beta status. Several of the folks who are using Studio have released some fantastic additions to the great base product. One of the more prominent ones today is that of Nielm, a SageTV enthusiast in Belgium.

The modified main menu screens that are part of Cayars’ “STV” package are good examples. In addition to his own improvements in his STV layout, Cayars has included many of the modifications of other gurus. (If you’re still running version 2.0, Nielm has a similar STV, on which Cayars’ is based). Cayars’ and Nielm’s setups actually have additional menus that are not part of the base SageTV product. This is how they get enough visible selections to allow the new features. Even better, the menu files that control these menus and functions is editable by the user — so we can change the labels, delete items, add more, or change them.

As you can see from these screens, some of the functions are moved from the original positions or screens. More importantly, there are new features. The “Information” link takes you to a page where you can see the local weather and weather forecast. “Stop Playback” is a function that lets you close a file that is playing — this is important because SageTV can show the current program in a window on the SageTV screen or as a background behind the window, in addition to showing it in the normal viewing window.

At the bottom of the screen, this screen shows the program currently being recorded. That display also scrolls to show those programs scheduled to be recorded in the near future. At the bottom right corner is a view of available hard disk space, showing available space and space to be taken in the next 48 hours schedule. Cayars’ STV allows this disk space display to be at the very top of the screen, allowing additional space and information.

UPDATE — October 3, 2008:

The coupon codes in the original posting are long expired.

Tired of old antivirus software that slows your PC to a crawl?
		VIPRE Antivirus + Antispyware Try High-Performance VIPRE Free for 15 days Multi-computer Discounts Multi-year Discounts Unlimited Home Site License available for all your home PC’s

Ever wonder where political candidates get your addresses? Or what they do with them?

I have received a couple pieces of political “spam” from one of our State’s politicos who is planning to run again for governor.

The name and email address in the “To” address, that he used for me, are what make this interesting.

I’ve long thought that political candidates got their mailing lists from their political parties offices, which would be ok assuming that we had provided those addresses to them.

I’ve also believed that they got them from voters registration and other public records.

Of course, those thoughts are about the physical addresses for real, put-your-hands-on it and it-costs-money-to-mail mail.

Now, though, one of our local gubernatorial candidates (unfortunately, the one for whom I would otherwise have voted), has sunk to a new low.

I’m getting unsolicited campaign email from Bobby Jindal. But, not on my regular email address that is fairly easy to obtain.

I’m getting emails on an email address at a domain name that I let my son use for spam control. In this case, he provided an email address to a web site about a computer game called Dante’s Awakening. Funny thing — I get a lot of spam on that address.

But, back to the case at hand…

While this political spam uses the email address that’s getting way too much commercial spam, his campaign workers took another step — one that was stupid.

They apparently matched the domain registration name to voter registration records.

That’s right, the “To:” name is my full name, complete with full middle name — which has never before been associated with that domain — and certainly was not the name provided to the Dante’s Awakening site, or all the other spam on that unique address would have that name, too.

Political candidates — be careful with your emails. Think twice about buying email address lists — even if the seller claims it is a “Safe List” — after all, the individuals did not agree to get spam from you.

Think again about deriving true names for the email “To:” fields.

Those of us who have domain names know exactly who you are — because we often register software and register at web sites with unique email addresses, just so we can see who is participating in spamming or selling our addresses.

By the way, I guess political spam must be exempted from the CAN-SPAM requirements, since this political spam had no provision for unsubscribing!

Thanks a lot, Bobby Jindal! Who’s running against you?

If you’re using Google’s Adwords pay-per-click ads to advertise products or services (or your web site!), there’s a great tool to help you in figuring out the right prices for your ads.

It’s AdwordAccelerator and I’m using it with my Adwords campaigns. It’s been closed to new memberships for a while, though.

This Wednesday, September 13th, they are opening the doors to allow 50 new members into AdwordAccelerator

Based on recent experience with its sister product AdsenseAccelerator, AdwordAccelerator should sell out on these memberships in a very few days (AdsenseAccelerator opened up for 75 mew members on a Friday and sold out on Monday).

I have found that Adwords is a very easy way to spend money on advertising. AdwordAccelerator helps me spend it more effectively!

AdwordAccelerator is a desktop program that runs on Windows and that has access to an online database of Adwords keywords, bids, and competing ads. Without signing up, you can watch the video tutorials on the website. You can also sign up for their free “AdWords Power User” tutorial.

AdwordAccelerator gives me a great keyword tool to find alternative keywords for your product — and to figure out which keywords are worth my time and money. I can see the numbers of clicks and prices for various keywords. Also, I can even see the ads from the competition and estimates of how much they’re paying per click.

Read my review of Adword Accelerator.

Then, if you’re advertising (or ready to advertise) with Google Adwords ads,
Sign Up Here.

Technorati Tags: Adword Accelerator, AdwordAccelerator, Adwords, Google, advertising

I got some exciting news from Sunbelt Software this week — Computer Shopper and Windows IP Pro magazine agree with me!

Sunbelt Software’s antispyware product CounterSpy won Computer Shopper magazine’s Best Buy award for antispyware this month. Not only that, but Sunbelt’s having a Labor Day sale to make it an even better deal!

To celebrate, they start a 4-day sale today, Friday, September 1st,2006.

The Labor Day sale runs from September 1 to September 4,2006 (Friday to Monday). Use the coupon code LABORDAY06 to get $5 off the regular price of $19.95. The coupon can also be used to get $5 off your order if you buy one of the discounted multi-computer licenses for CounterSpy.

As I’ve written a number of times, I believe that all computer users should have an anti-spyware/anti-adware program that runs all the time. Periodic scans are not a precaution — they are an attempt to identify a problem after it already exists and then to try to cure it!

Prevention is the key. Why let your computer get infected and then try to clean it? An always-running program can prevent many spyware/adware infections from occurring. CounterSpy also has a deep-scanning program to periodically scan your hard drive to see if anything got through. CounterSpy checks for program and signature updates every time you reboot, too.

CounterSpy is my #1 recommendation for anti-spyware. CounterSpy is also my personal choice for anti-spyware for my family’s computers and mine. We’ve been using CounterSpy since August 2005 and I have no intention of changing to something else.

Get CounterSpy Now – and save $5 with Coupon Code LABORDAY06

Technorati Tags: CounterSpy coupon, antispyware, spyware, CounterSpy, anti-spyware

I’ve updated my review of WinClear, which is a Windows / Internet history privacy tool.

WinClear erases Windows and web browser temporary files, cookies, history, viewing history, and a lot more to clean your tracks.

Read my updated WinClear review

Or, try the free download and scan by WinClear.

Technorati Tags: Winclear, privacy,delete temporary files, delete history

I answered a question from a new Firefox user about font sizes. She had just installed Firefox and noticed that the fonts were smaller than those that she was used to seeing in Internet Explorer.

The “problem” is that we, as users, can change our default fonts and font sizes in our web browsers. Firefox even offers more flexibility than does Internet Explorer.

In Internet Explorer, we can make a temporary change by clicking on View, Text Size, and then pick any of five different relative sizes. By relative, I mean…

Read more in Changing Your Web Browser Fonts and Font Size

Learn to make money– even big money– with a blog, even if you’ve never blogged before.

http://terryscomputertips.com/babybloggingbonanza

The writer of the Blogging to the Bank ebook has released a huge package today!

Called the Baby Blogging Bonanza, this package features the Blogging to the Bank ebook, video, WhiteHat and BlackHat blogging secrets, Blog Announcer Pro, and a lot more…

He’s posted a price schedule, too.

From launch today (August 15th) until August 22nd, it’s $97.

http://terryscomputertips.com/babybloggingbonanza

From August 23rd to August 29th, the package is $147.

And, after August 29th, the package is $197.

Get it quick — there’s a money-back satisfaction guarantee.

http://terryscomputertips.com/babybloggingbonanza

The Butterfly Manuscript Is All You Need

Butterfly Marketing proves to be just as powerful in strategies then in the software itself. Below you will find a student and customer of the course.

http://terryscomputertips.com/manuscript

Michael Cheney of “Adsense Videos” applied the the pre-launch strategies and affiliate tools and JV strategies outlined in Mike Filsaime’s Butterfly Marketing Manuscript to the his launch.

Here is what Michael Cheney had to say about what he learned in the Manuscript:

——————————————————

“Mike – first off I just want to say thank you so much! The techniques I learned from Butterfly Marketing played a BIG part in helping me make $63,249 in sales in 24 hours!!

As I write this I’m still finding it hard to believe. It seems a lifetime ago that the BFM package landed on my doorstep and I started poring over it with my smile getting larger and wider with each new insight as I realized that as long as I APPLIED what I was learning the principles were going to make something BIG happen!

Little did I know just HOW BIG it would be when I launched AdSense Videos…

AdSense Videos – 33 Hours After Launch..

The site went live. My life changed forever – seriously the results have been incredible Mike – we’ve grossed over $200,000 in 7 days!! The site got an Alexa ranking on Launch Day of 351!

AdSense Videos was ranked Number 1 on the ClickBank Marketplace in the Marketing category just 4 days after the Launch!

I’ve also been getting, on average, one new subscriber every minute of every hour for the past SIX AND A HALF DAYS!!!

So – What did I learn from you Mike and from Butterfly Marketing? Where to start! I think one of the biggest things was the step-by-step approach. Everything I created for Affiliates, Joint Venture partners and for people going through the videos themselves has been step-by-step. I made everything as easy as I could and ‘muppet-proof’ as I like to call it!

I also realized that it’s paying attention to the smaller details BEFORE launch that really pay dividends AFTER the Launch. And BOY am I seeing that!

You gave some absolute gems of advice in Butterfly Marketing which have, without a shadow of a doubt, contributed in a big way to the overall success of AdSense Videos.

Thanks again!

Michael Cheney”
———————————————————-

You too can have the same results as Michael Cheney by implementing the tactics and strategies outlined in Mike Filsaime’s Butterfly Marketing Manuscript.

Learn why people are saying that this report changed the way marketing is done on the internet for good!

http://terryscomputertips.com/manuscript

To your success,
Terry

Technorati Tags: butterflymarketing, butterfly marketing manuscript, butterfly manuscript, butterfly, marketing manuscript

How reliable is email in today’s Internet world? Perfect, isn’t it? You would think that it would be completely reliable — we use it all the time. All we’re doing is pushing around electrons and we’ve known how to do that, in one way or another, for an awfully long time.

Whether we are writing to friends, sending a joke, sending a picture, or sending a business message, email has become a part of our lives. We’ve come to rely on it for easy communications. We don’t even understand our friends that don’t “do” email.

Read more in my article Email Reliability in this Internet World
Technorati Tags: emailreliability, email, reliable, reliability, e-mail