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Wireless N - slow internet connection

We just installed Rogers internet, which came with a SMC Wireless N router. We found that our Windows 7 laptops were getting turtle speed download times (1 Mbps - check out http://www.speedtest.net to check your speed), yet when connected by Ethernet the speed was 15 Mbps.

After perusing the Net and finding no answers - I had thought it might be the driver, tried to install a new one and the result indicated I had the latest alread - we called Rogers.

The solution was simple - change the Channel (in the Wireless Basic Settings of the SMC Gateway Setup). The technician advised to change the Channel to 6. 

The router IP is http://192.168.0.1 (you'll have to find out for yourself what the username and password are).

 

 

An Easy Salmon Recipe

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/grilled-salmon-i/Detail.aspx

 

I followed the advice of commenter Elizabeth, who wrote:

 

"I always make a little foil packet for each fillet and close it up, leaving a little room for air to circulate inside. If you bake the foil packets on a cookie sheet at 425 for about 15 minutes (slightly longer depending on number of fillets), the salmon cooks to perfection every time! This is a great recipe to use when preparing salmon in foil packets... it poaches gently in its on juices and always comes out so tender and delicious!"

 

I was a bit skeptical, but I didn't feel like frying, which always makes a fishy smell in the kitchen. To my surprise it turned out perfect, and the fish was not 'fishy' at all, and my husband loved it.

 

 

My Favourite Text Editor - EditPadPro

I often need to review very large logs for errors and anomolies. These logs often have repeating values, so every investigation is akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. Sometimes the files are too large and cannot be opened with Notepad. I had been using Baretail and BareGrep (see www.baremetalsoft.com) to open the large files, but did not find these text editors to be very helpful for my purposes at all.

I recently found this gem of a text editor called EditPadPro (www.editpadpro.com) and my world is now changed! This editor can open very large files. But what I absolutely love about this app is the 'fold' feature which essentially collapses the log to just the text you are searching for. After it is 'folded' you can expand back any of the 'folds' to view the data below it. You can also copy just the 'folded' parts into a new file.

There appear to be a ton more features for editing, which I haven't delved into as I don't require such features.

The best part of this application is that you only have to pay for it if you want to use the spell check feature - otherwise, the free version gives you access to every other feature!

 

 

 

 

Plot multiple addresses on a map

On occasion I need to plot latitude and longitudes on a map for troubleshooting purposes in my job.  It has been difficult finding the right FREE tool for the job.  But I DID find one, it's at http://www.multiplottr.com.

From the website:

Multiplottr allows you to map, save and share multiple addresses on Google Maps. Customization is easy! You have a wide variety of markers to choose from, and you can give your own alternative description rather then displaying the full address. Add markers, lines and polygons with ease!

 

I really like the ability to plot multiple lat/lons on the map, and that I can label each with a name and a marker. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bye-bye Yahoo Mail, I can't trust you anymore

I had been using Yahoo Mail for years now. But it's finally time to say "so long" to this free email appy.

The reason, of course, is that I've been hacked. Or rather, Yahoo's been hacked? A couple of months ago I started receiving an old 2007 email from just one person. It's always the same email. But oddly, this one email only appeared on my Blackberry (which I had set up to receive my Yahoo emails).  I would also see blank emails from the same person, also only on the BB. The other person is also receiving a blank email from me, and only me, as well.

We tried resetting our passwords, and it appeared to work. But now a few weeks later, they started up again. This time I decided to try researching possible viruses etc. related to Yahoo! Mail. I found posts about users getting their emails hacked an spamming all their contacts with Viagra emails. But there were no descriptions that sounded similar to what I was experiencing.

After reading this one Yahoo Mail user's experience, however, I decided it's time. Because if Yahoo cannot provide an answer about how it got hacked, and gives this big runaround about getting a court order to release your own information, to a paying (the writer said he pays them, for what it isn't clear) Yahoo customer, then obviously something is not right. And I had already tried changing my password, to boot, and the issue is still there.

So sorry Yahoo, bottom line is I cannot trust you with my mail. You gotta go.

My wrist hurts.

Carpal. Tunnel. Syndrome.

Not a condition I want to have. Caused by too much mouse and keyboard use at the computer, which I use daily for my job. My right (mouse hand) wrist is currently smarting when moved - it definitely feels "tight" in an area of about 3 inches on my inner wrist. And on my left wrist, it's a 1-inch area on the side of my wrist, right under my thumb.

I tried some exercises from the video below this morning and it did feel better. The video has some exercises that are different from others I've seen before. Here's a link to the original article I found, and another simpler article on exercises for the condition. 

I believe the video recommends doing the exercises once every hour. I think I will need to set an alarm for that, and I'll be lucky if I stick to it. But I do need to address this issue as it is getting worse.

http://boingboing.net/2009/03/31/carpal-tunnel-syndro.html

http://www.eatonhand.com/hw/ctexercise.htm