Transferring music from your Ipod back to your computer.

I must admit two things right out of the gate here….one, I don’t own an Ipod (my hubs has a Nano that we share), and two, this is an article from eHow.  But, I thought it was worth blogging.

“Have you ever lost your digital music collection on your PC only to be left with what was on your iPod? Or maybe you just want to transfer the songs from your iPod back to your PC without having to download any tricky or expensive software. Well, you can by just changing a few options in Windows and on your iPod. There is no tricky software to use, just the iTunes software you are already using to load your iPod, and Windows Vista or any older version of Windows.

1.  Connect the iPod to the cable that you use to transfer music from your PC. Connect the cable to your PC as well and this should automatically launch iTunes if you have it installed. If not, make sure to install the free program, because it’s the only supported software for managing your iPod music. If it does not launch automatically when your iPod is plugged in, launch the iTunes software manually.
2. Cancel synchronization right away as it will erase the music files on your iPod. Click on the name of your iPod in the Devices section of the left panel. This will take you to a screen that contains the general information about your iPod, such as size, name and available options. Select the checkbox that allows you to manually manage music, as that will keep your iPod from attempting to sync again and potentially erase your music.
3. Check the option at the bottom called “Enable Disk Use.” This will allow you to browse your iPod as if it is a hard drive or jump drive attached to your computer. Now eject your iPod so these settings will take effect next time you connect your iPod to your PC.
4. Change the folder options on your PC to be able to view hidden files and folders. Double-click your “My Computer” folder and go to the Tools menu at the top. Select “Folder Options” and go to the View tab along the top. Check the “Show Hidden Files or Folders” checkbox and then click “Apply.”
5. Reconnect your iPod. In your My Computer folder there will be a removable storage device that was not there before. This is your iPod, and you can now browse it like a hard drive. Navigate to the folder named “iPod_Control” and inside of it will be a folder called Music. This is where your music is stored on your iPod. Copy this folder back to wherever you want on your PC and you are done. “

Top 10 Virtual April Fools

Ok, I’ll admit, I read the Google “Autopilot” and at first they almost had me.  Here’s an excerpt (from after I got the joke :

What happens if a sender and recipient both have Autopilot on?

Two Gmail accounts can happily converse with each other for up to three messages each. Beyond that, our experiments have shown a significant decline in the quality ranking of Autopilot’s responses and further messages may commit you to dinner parties or baby namings in which you have no interest.

Enjoy the rest of them…especially the Opera video from YouTube.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/162367/top_10_april_fools_day_fake_news_items.html

Happy April Fooling!

No Joking – April Fool’s Worm

I REALLY wish I could write more right now, but I can’t; however, I suggest going to this link and following the instructions to protect your computer from the Conflicker worm.  This could do some very nasty things to your computer, so please be sure you are protected.  Tonight!

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2344170,00.asp

Where are my favorites??

My friend Heidi has been telling me that she has not  been able to “get on the internet” for a week.  I’ve put that in quotes because I think that can have many different meanings.  For example, it could be a problem with:

• their wireless network
• their internet service provider
• their modem
• their web browser

After talking to her hubs, I realize that there are many things going on, one of which makes for a great post.  Geoff, Heidi’s hubs, can’t find his yahoo toolbar, music, and for our purposes, his favorites.  So, how do you find yours’ if they suddenly disappear?

You can look in your user profile:

1. Click on the “My Computer”  icon on your desktop
2. Click on the hard drive (C)
3. Click on the “Documents and Settings”
4. Your “Favorites” folder should be there
5. Click on the folder to make sure your favorite websites are really there

If, you can’t find them there, you can do a search

1. Click on the “My Computer” icon on your desktop
2. Click on the hard drive (c)
3. At the top of the page is a “Search” icon, click on it
4. Click on “All Files and Folders”
5. Type in “Favorites” under the file name and click search

I’m going to be heading over to do this and find the ellusive favorites that are causing angst for Geoff and Heidi.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

By the way, your favorites should be under your user profile in documents and settings (see first example).  If they are not in that folder, your favorites may not be accessible from your internet browser (just like Geoff).

Hello Ravelry

I was recently looking for a baby bootie pattern for my sisters  and sis-in-laws (Jenny, Dana and Korina) new babies coming soon so I went to ravelry.com to look. Lo and behold, there it was…a job posting that had my name written all over it.  So, here’s the cover letter I’m wrote.  I hope you all enjoy! 

BTW, if you like to knit or crochet and you haven’t checked this site out, it’s great.  Click on over.

 

I could tell you so many reasons why I want to work for Ravelry. Why this would be a great position for me as a stay at home Mom. How much I love your site, the patterns, the community and the design. But, it’s really about so much more then why it’s a great job for me. It’s about serving the community of designers, yarnies, advertisers, members and others not yet identified of a craft that is growing in popularity every day.

 

So you may be wondering, what qualifies me over the other many applicants you’ve received? I’m a list person, I like things that are linear (a great thing when reading patterns), so I’ll give you the bullet points:

 

• I think Ravelry is a fantastic site and I love to knit and crochet, so of course I want to spend the time I don’t have sticks in my hands helping others learn about its functionality.

• I have many (over 8 ) years of experience developing, designing and implementing Intranet and Internet sites both independently and on teams.

• In my previous jobs, I have supported many different applications, including: forums, web site launches and development, and product launches, via both email and phone support; in some cases, internationally.

• As you may be able to tell from my resume, I also am a bit of a techie and love to teach people how to make life easier on line and with their computer programs.

• I have worked in the resort industry (more specifically, Keystone Resort in Colorado ) as a Customer Service Agent, Concierge, Front Desk Agent, Golf Course Office Manager, Ski Instructor and even a Gondola Operator, all while getting my MBA, so, I’ve helped people from all over the world.

• Knitting and crocheting projects have refined my self-motivation and tenacity. I am not afraid to try new stitches or patterns and am completely self-taught.

 

You also asked what yarn-producing fiber would best represent me and why. I would have to say I would be a cotton/poly blend, because cotton is low maintenance and poly just blends well with lots of other fibers.

 

 

 

CONGRATULATIONS to the Bargain Shopper Lady

Way to go Lori – she won a YEAR’s worth of FREE GROCERIES for her video on saving money. 

I’m looking for ideas…your technology questions are what drive this blog.  I haven’t written much lately because time was stolen from me with – well – life’s happenings!  It seems that I just couldn’t get time in for writing.  Then, the holidays came and it got worse.

But, I just got a new computer with Vista on it, so I have a new operating system to learn.  This should lend to some tips for you, but I’d love to know what your questions are. 

Happy New Year to all and if your in the North East or anywhere like it — by this I mean — bitter cold…stay warm out there!

Nikki, The Techie Tutor.

New look….

Hooray for my friend Lori, www.thebargainshopperlady.com, for her new look.  It’s FANTASTIC – and I only wish I could be that talented. 

Check her out and her new button:

Installing a New Font

Did you see a font online somewhere and it made you think – “hmmmm, where did they get that font?”  Well, there are lots of FREE places to download new fonts.  If you are using them on a web site, your end user may not see the same thing you do, but it’s also fun to use fonts in word processing for creating invitations, thank you notes or anything else your imagination can drum up.  You can also download a font and install it on your machine so that you can create a cool graphic image (.gif or .jpg,etc.) for your web site that everyone can see.  It’s very easy to do. 

1. Search for “free font” on your favorite search engine.  I use Google, and here’s what came up (http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLJ,GGLJ:2006-14,GGLJ:en&q=fonts+free).
2. Choose a site that you would like to use.  I like http://www.1001freefonts.com/installingfonts.htm because they give very good examples and it’s very obvious how to download. 
3. Another site I like is: http://simplythebest.net/fonts/free_fonts.html.  You click on the font name (below example) and then scroll down to the download link.  A couple extra steps, but it’s worth it if you find the font you like.
4. Click download and then save the .zip file to your computer.  If you go to http://www.1001freefonts.com/installingfonts.htm , there is a fantastic explanation on how to install fonts.  I’m going to refer you to these instructions because they are very thorough.  And, since it’s on a site that is devoted to fonts I believe that they are much better at explaining how to load them on your computer then I am. 
5. Click away and get lots of FREE fonts!
6. Have fun…the fonts will show up in your listings on your applications. 

***A note of caution, one day I downloaded a bunch of fonts all at the same time and then forgot their names.  So, if you download a lot, I suggest you jot down the new ones.

TTT!

A new photo blog

Check out my new photo blog at http://creationwillsing.wordpress.com/ .  The color changes to match the picture.  The theme was designed specifically for photo blogging!

Is Your Computer Sick? – FREE Anti-Virus

Hello! I thought you might enjoy something free today!  And No, I don’t get any commission from writing reviews for any products as of now.  Maybe someday this blog will be so “hawt,” as WordPress calls it, that people with cool products will pay for my son’s education (ha!  LOL).  Until then, I just like to share some of the techno freebies out there.  Enjoy!

See that checkerboard up above with the arrow pointing to it?  Because it’s not grey, it means that my virus protection is up to date.  PHEW!  If it were grey, I would double click on it and would be guided by my AVG Free software to update my internal database.  Sort of like giving my computer an antibiotic.  Soooo easy. 

AVG Free by Grisoft is an anti-virus software that we have used for at least 3 years and since it’s FREE, that makes it even more wonderful. It lets you know when you need to update and is as easy as clicking “OK” when you want to make sure that your computer is not sick. 

The “not free” version is only $55 and buys you even more security from viruses, email scams, web surfing, etc.

Good luck keeping those viruses at bay!  If you don’t do anything to protect your computer and you surf the net, as you may be doing now, your computer most likely will get sick.  And that is a VERY bad, possibly catastrophic to your computer, event!