Microsoft has a great article on how to conserve your laptops battery supply using hibernate features available in “most” windows installations. I really think this is an overlooked feature available to Microsoft customers. Read the full article

1. Open Power Options in Control Panel. (Click Start, click Control Panel, and then double-click Power Options.)
2. Click the Hibernate tab, select the Enable hibernate support check box, and then click Apply.
3. If the Hibernate tab is unavailable, your computer does not support this feature.

www.orb.com is a FREE piece of software that allows you to stream your desktop computers content to various web enabled devices such as cell phones, laptops, pdas and even other desktop computers remotely. I especially like the feature which allows you to stream video to your smartphone. While buffering can become excessive at times, the stream makes up for it in quality and the ability to encode virtually any media file you through at it avi, mpeg, mpeg4, mov, wmv etc. Orb is a must have for an on-the-go lifestyle. Get it FREE here

If you own a car you should also own an auto accident kit. An auto accident kit can mean the difference between getting you much deserved settlement and getting screwed by an insurance company. For the most part accident kits are easy to put together and you may already have some of the items around your home or office. I have put together a list of items you should have on hand in the invent of an accident.

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Entering your debit card pin number is a great security feature to prevent fraud. However it is not even required by most stores. This is useful and troubling at the same time. I have been in situations where someone is right behind me and I don’t want to enter it in front of them. The solution is simple choose the “credit” option when prompted by the magstripe terminal. When you’re using credit no pin is required and this will work at any self serve or swipe it yourself payment terminal. For other places where the merchant swipes the card simply answer credit when they ask “debit or credit?” and you wont need your pin number. This method also comes in handy when sending the kids out for some milk or any situation where they ask for a pin just say “run it as credit”.

If you are a gambler and frequent the local casinos or take an occasional trip to Las Vegas you may be missing out on the big pay out. (more…)

First off I would just like to appologize to my readers for my lack of fresh posts. I have been working on multiple projects. With that said here is a new tip for all you MSN messenger fans.

I have yet to try this method. It just sort of came to me the other day so i decided to write it down.

My cellphone has an email address and no I will not post it. But it looks something like this XXXXXXXXXX@email.uscc.net where the X represents the number. Now there are several different email domains for different providers and I have drummed up a list of them and provide it at the bottom of this post.

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Skype has turned out to be a pretty useful tool. With more and more uses becoming evident with each day. A friend of mine Nick Saramandich recently showed me how to easily check your cellular voice mail using skype. The advantage to this method as opposed to traditional methods is the comfort factor. Listening to your messages with skype allows you to relax in your favorite chair, sofa etc. and thoroughly absorb the real content contained within the messages. The latter method just leaves your ear ringing and sweaty and leaves much to be desired on the comfort side of things.

Effective Tuesday, September 26, 2006 TSA Is Adjusting The Ban On Liquids, Aerosols And Gels according to the TSA Website. The new restrictions will allow some items which were previously banned. TSA states that by allowing some items to board planes they can focus on real threats. There are detailed videos of people placing items into plastic bags and even include music lol.

From the TSA Website

1. Travelers may now carry through security checkpoints travel-size toiletries (3 ounces or less) that fit comfortably in ONE, QUART-SIZE, clear plastic, zip-top bag.
2. After clearing security, travelers can now bring beverages and other items purchased in the secure boarding area on-board aircraft.

If you ask me this is sort of a waste of time because you could just as easily buy these items when you land with less restrictions. The TSA has been very clear in reference to the guidelines of this and are available in full on the TSA website.

It started as a hi-tech relaxation technique for burnt-out executives. Now everyone from schoolchildren to sports stars are discovering the seemingly miraculous benefits of Heartmath. Jerome Burne investigates

I recently came across this article on alleviating stress.

A cure for stress? [via Independent Online Edition]

[TAGS] Stress, Relaxation, Cure for stress, Alleviating Stress[/TAGS]

Have you ever noticed the effect an array of coax can have on the look and feel of your living room? Well now you can minimize the cables with this handy gadget.

These units are designed to take an audio and video signal from an A/V device (like a VCR, DVD player, or some cable boxes with audio-video outputs) and send it to another part of the house. There are two parts to this system, a transmitter that is attached to the AV device and a receiver that goes next to the remote TV. The transmitter takes the signals from the Audio and Video jacks on the AV device and beams it over to the companion receiver next to the remote TV.

I found an interesting product over at SmartHome.com that is perfect for the job. The 2.4GHz Wireless Video Transmission System was just what the doctor ordered after deciding I wanted to run cable to my garage. I am working on having Windows Media Center up and running in my garage. With the weather getting warmer I wanted to spend more time outdoors while still maintaining my websites and emails. I wonder if this could be used to transmit cable internet from the main cable box to my cable modem ? I know you could just setup a wireless network to get internet to a garage or other part of your home. However that was not going to solve my no cable issue. This device is affordable and very well worth it I recommend it.

[TAGS] Home DIY, DIY, Wireless Cable TV, Home Theater, Garage Gadgets[/Tags]

OK, I did this a while back to have more control over my computer when I am not at home. Keep in mind this method will turn off a computer with an “constant” internet connection i.e.(cable,DSL).

Basically you setup a rule in outlook to look for say a keyword in the subject line of an email. Then you select run application as the action for when that keyword is found. Then all you have to do is write a simple dos batch file and use the shutdown command with the -fs parameter to ensure the shutdown is not aborted by any running applications. After that the rest is simple you simply send a sms text message from your cell phone or other source to your email address. You must have automatic send and receive tunned on for this to work.

Ok so let’s get started.

Create a file called shutdown.bat in notepad with the following code in it.


shutdown -s


Save it to your C:\ drive so the path to the shutdown batch file is something like C:\scripts\shutdown.bat (Important this is a must the path must be exact) or you can modify the rule once you import it to point to the new destination it’s your call.
Now open outlook and adjust your settings to send and receive email every minute on the minute (1 minute for testing time can be increased if a delayed shutdown is desired.) now in Outlook in the file menu click Tools and select Rules and Alerts with the Rules and Alerts dialog open click the options button on the far upper right portion of the dialog window. Choose import rules from the options dialog and browse to the file C:\sms_functions\rules\shutdown.rwz
(the file was included in the downloaded project files) and your done. Now send a text message from your cell phone to your email address and in the subject use the key phrase smsshutdown%% (or make your own! :) and send it. When the email is received and found with the smsshutdown%% in the subject Outlook runs the dos batch file containing the shutdown -f command and shuts down your computer. You could also accomplish other task’s using this method using more dos commands, php scripts, perl what ever. This will work on Linux using pine also.

I hope this will be as useful to someone else as it has been to me.

Bonus Tip
I have found that this article explaining the MS-DOS SHUTDOWN Command Syntax can answer most of your questions about the command.

Update: I recently updated the file so it works the way it should thanks to everyone who helped in the comments. If you re download the files it should work for those of you whom it did not.

More Windows Automation Tips, Tricks and Software Also see my automation category for more Windows automation tips, tricks and software.