BLOG ROVER
Well I've been using Blog Rover for more than a week now. I really wanted to "test drive" it really well before I recommended or panned it. What is Blog Rover? Think of it as a value added "side car" plug in for Firefox which helps deliver chosen related value added content from other blogs you like to read as you surf.
For instance, if I am reading a post on a digital scrapbook blog about using the pen tool, it will search all the other blogs I've chosen/read on digital scrapbooking (or any other blogs I've chosen) for similar topics and a small sliding pop out (which can be disabled at any time) will show me links to other related blog posts. You can add or delete blogs on the fly or import an OPML or XML file of all your current feeds from any reader. It will also allow you to select pre-packed suggested blogs based on topics and if you so chose, it will suggest blogs based on your reading habbits if you enable that option.
Don't worry, despite the functionality of it, it's not constantly "talking" while you surf every web page. Still, although it's easily slid back in or disabled, some might be annoyed by it. I personally think it's pretty sweet, although once or twice I was like, "not that again", even if it takes up minimal real estate. All in all, I'm keeping it enabled and I have to give it the javajane 4 stars out of 5 rating. The thing rocks!
Download the Blog Rovr Plug In for Firefox
Are you still not using CoolIris? I've previously reviewed this plug-in that I've been using since it debuted, but if you are not using it, you're missing out. It just keeps getting better with added functionality with each update. Need ringtones in a jiffy? Tired of using Audacity, to edit your MP3's into ringtones? Yeah, Audacity is a great freeware audio editing program, but you still have to labor to figure out which part of the song can be sliced down to make the best ringtone. CoolRinger uses an algorithm which calculates that for you, and it does so flawlessly. I use it to make tones for both my Moto RAZR V3m and my Moto Q. I just updated my Q with 4 ringtones today in less than 2 minutes. Now that is TOTALLY sweet!
Stay tuned for more secrets...
A few weeks ago, I went into a well known chain of office supply stores to pick up some printer ink and some odds and ends since I have a business account, and happened to see a "special" clearance item that caught my eye. I usually don't shop at office supply chains for the best price or for anything for my computer, but again, having business account there means is a convenience and it's not directly coming out of my pocket. Anyway, they were practically giving away a discontinued or to me a "throw away" external USB [Lite-On who rebadges for many companies, including SONY] DVD-RW with Dual Layer recording technology (I happened to want an external drive with LightScribe, but the price was right on this one) for $39, including tax, so I figured, "What the heck?" and went for it. I really only need it to burn an occasional DVD and to back up larger files from my back up drive (yeah, I'm paranoid, my good stuff goes in a fire safe box) and to archive older material for which a CD is too small. (Who would have thought an external DVD-RW would be cheaper than dirt, literally, a couple years ago?)
Well I unpacked it, hooked up the power and the USB cord. Then I fired it up and XP automatically assigned drivers and we were all good, right? Launched Nero and got ready to burn baby burn. No burned disc, but I was burning. Yeah, el cheapo drive-o couldn't work that easily or flawlessly, right? Right. So due to Murphy's Law, I kept getting error messages saying the drive couldn't handle the media, even though the media was correct and other such nonsense. It wasn't the price of the drive though, it was the fact that sometimes XP has problems with external USB drives when it assigns drive letters.
I had Alcohol 120% on my machine at one point, which had assigned several virtual drives, which may not have been recovered on removing it. I don't know if XP assigned/mapped it to one of those old drives, but the drive wasn't showing up anywhere except when I went into Control Panel>System>Device Manager>DVD/CD-ROM Drives. The only way to hopefully rectify the situation was to go into XP's Disk Management by typing diskmgmt.msc at the run command prompt. If the drive shows up there, as mine did, the fix is to rename it. Mine was originally drive L. I right clicked the drive letter and highlighted "change drive letter or path". From the drop down box of available drive letters, I took the easy road and chose Z, knowing for sure it had never been used. Then I right clicked "properties" and ticked the hardware tab. I highlighted the Lite On drive and right clicked "properties" once again and then went under the "Volumes" tab and clicked the "Populate" button. After saving out of all that, I was good to go. My drive was now showing up in Explorer. I dragged and dropped the drive shortcut onto my desktop (being a USB device, it doesn't show up under "My Computer") and this time, my throw away external drive worked "like butta" and I'm still in the process of slashin' and burning the excess fat from my internal hard drives...and except that I don't have my light scribe, I'm happy as a clam.
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