It’s been a while since I’ve posted about anything nerdy. Time to end the streak!

My Web Host Turned NetDrive
I have 100 GB of storage with my new web host, more than I think I could ever possibly use on websites. So, with the help of Novell’s free utility, NetDrive, I set up a folder on my web host and mapped it via FTP as X: drive to my computer. Saving documents and files to this drive works exactly the same way as saving to my local hard drive except files are saved securely to my web folder online. After setting up PHP File Navigator 2.0 on my web host, I have easy access to my files from any computer connected to the Internet. Works great for sharing files between my church computer and home computer.

SyncBack Backup
I really don’t wanna wait until after my data is destroyed to wish I had backed it up, so I finally have a backup system in place. Using the freeware version of SyncBack, my system now automatically backs up the important files I need to a folder on my home-made TiVo. Once I build Dana a computer with something other than Windows 98 our “TiVo” will double as a file server, giving us shared access to all our music and digital pictures. (Man, ya gotta love Linux.)

Firefox 2.0 Beta 1
After reading some great reviews of all the new features in Firefox 2.0 Beta 1 I decided to proceed with the upgrade and try it out. With the help of an extension, Nightly Tester Tools, all my previous extensions and themes work perfectly with the new version of Firefox. The new features are all very nice: integrated spell checker, controls for individual tabs, better RSS options, options to re-open accidentally closed tabs, protection against phishing sites, and more.

Google’s Firefox Synchronization
With the help of this handy extension from Google, my Firefox browsers on both Windows at home and on Ubuntu Linux at church are always in sync. All my bookmarks, history, cookies, passwords, etc., sync to each other with no effort on my part.

New RSS Reader
I previously was using a free PHP aggregator I set up on my web host called Feed On Feeds. It served me very well until I decided I needed to organize my 50-some feeds to make for more selective reading at times. Now everything is switched over to the free version of NewsGator and so far I’m very happy with the decision.

Higher PC Security
There’s too much junk online not to be too careful about your system’s security. So, I’m now running multiple firewalls at home, the newest being the free version of ZoneAlarm. And, after reading this article from PC World, I scanned my Windows system for rootkits with the free program RootkitRevealer. Unfortunately it picked up some suspicious activity. Before I remove RootkitRevealer’s findings, though, I think I need to learn a little more about what it found.

Okay, that’s enough nerdy stuff for now. :) Back to my youth pastor face…

Posted on August 14, 2006