PaulMonaco.net

I’ve had a few clients ask me about blocking unwanted messages from specific senders in Outlook 2002, so I thought I’d post it here to benefit as many as possible.  As with many simple tasks in I.T., it’s much easier to show than to explain.

Highlight the offending message, right-click and choose "create rule"

Check the box that shows the senders name, click Next.

Now check the box next to "delete it", this will move messages from this sender to your Trash folder. Click Finish, and your done.

Note that this rule will run only for NEW MESSAGES.  You’ll have to manually delete any unwanted messages that are already in your inbox.

Something new is emerging, top level domains as a service and this appears to be the first.  Unlike a traditional domain name this one doesn’t point itself to your own webhost, but rather to a web database application run by Telnic.org.

The objective is replace the traditional telephone directory by providing a standardized place to find contact information based on name or keyword.  As today’s world is becoming increasingly mobile and portable this would seem to be a step in the right direction.

When you browse to a .TEL website (on ANY web enabled device) you are presented with a uniform structure that lets you hop to any number of other communication services.  Voice, SMS, email, website etc.  Provided the device you are using has matching communication abilities you are a click away from completing your call.

A very important aspect to the .TEL is that it can be used by anyone with a minimum of computer skills.  Purchase your domain name ($20-$40 /year) and by filling out a simple online form your site is up and running.  No HTML or coding to worry about and even more important… everyone is on a unified playing field.  Your small business site will look just like your corporate competitors with big IT staff.

More information on the .TEL domain can be found at: http://www.telnic.org

Please excuse the mess while we upgrade. Conversion to Wordpress 2.9 didn’t go so well with my webhost, had to upgrade the database which broke some other things.

Via Viddler

Check it out!  A portable powerhouse of a battery that charges any USB 5v device in the field!  But wait.. there’s more!  (I love saying that!) it also has an inverter onboard to supply up to 15 Watts of simulated 120 volts AC to charge your wall wart dependent devices as well.  This was a lifesaver at a recent Podcamp I attended.  Kept my Blackberry going all day long with full data use!

With the way the job market is I’m sure there are many young folks out there that are starting to think about what kind of career track they should follow.  So it occured to me that I should put together a post about a position I was familiar with.. or should I say, became familiar with.

You see back when I was in the position of choosing a path computer programming what exactly what I thought I could do.  After all, I had a TRS-80 Model I computer, learned to program it in BASIC and really became quite proficiant at it.  Little did I know at the time to world was programming in COBAL and PASCAL.  Long story short, I ended up on the hardware side of the business.  But.. this is about programmers…

What Do Computer Programmers Do?

The main functions of computer programmers are to develop instructions through various types of computer languages, decode these, test programs and develop programs. Mainly, these tasks are done to operate various things that have to be done within a company. With the technology industry getting more advanced by the minute, the roles of computer programmers are becoming more complex by the minute as more tasks would be added to their job. However, that can also be a door for ore opportunities.

Computer programmers commonly work with software engineers which would design a program that would be turned into a functioning software by the computer programmer. This process involves a lot of decoding with the use of various computer languages. Since that is so, it would be very advantageous if a computer programmer knows a good variety of languages.

Types Of Computer Programmers

There are two main types of computer programmers which are application programmers and system programmers. The main role of application programmers is to develop or enhance programs for a specific purpose which is given by a company such as handling financial data. Systems programmers on the other hand would cover a wider scope of tasks. Some of them would include developing computer networking systems. In order for systems programmers to be more effective, they must have good knowledge on computer networking and systems.

A software developer is another type of computer programmer. This type would often work with other specialists to create any program in general which would include games, educational programs and so much more.

Opportunities

Most of the people with computer programming jobs have received at least a bachelor’s degree and around 20% of all of them have completed graduate studies in the field of computer studies. Compared to other professions, computer programming is considered to be growing at a considerably slow pace and is expected to maintain that slow pace in the future. Competitive candidates for employment are also expected to have a lot of needed skills.

Job Qualifications

Since this job heavily requires skill, education is a growing need among those who plan to pursue a career in computer programming. The most qualified applicants would be holding a bachelor’s degree however; some who only hold two year degrees and associate degrees have been reported to enter the industry.

If there is lack of experience in a certain area, graduates of any course can enroll in some institutes that would offer special training on a lot of areas needed for these types of jobs. Although having a bachelor’s degree is basic, what employers actually look for is working experience or expertise.

Computer programming covers a very broad scope of jobs. With that, different skills are needed for different situations. Some of these could be mathematics, engineering, business finance, and a lot more. With more programs that are on the rise and are being used by a lot of different firms as well as the general public thanks to the boom of the Internet,  a larger demand for skillful applicants is created.

Okay, once again I’m baffled with an issue that I’m hoping one of you can help me solve.  Here’s the deal…

Configuration: Microsoft Office XP (Outlook 2003) on a Windows XP (SP3) system connected to a POP3 email host.

Sympton: Sending an email to anyone@mydomain.com works as expected.  Sending email to another domain (MSN, HOTMAIL, GMAIL etc.) never arrives at its destination.

Why I’m Stumped (workflow):

1. Email can be created with or without Word as my default email editor.
2. Clicking Send/Receive produces the familiar “1 of 1 email being sent” and the process completes 100% without any error message.
3. Prior to the Send/Receive process the email does sit in the outbound queue (Outbox)
4. After a Send/Receive the email is moved to the “sent mail” folder.



5. Removing the Office installation, deleting all Office registry entries and reinstalling allows it to work temporarily.
6. Starting Outlook in safe mode seems to always work (at this point) but obviously not the solution i’m looking for.
7. The only two addons listed in the Outlook settings dialog box are for Symantec Antivirus and Exchange.  I’ve disabled both with no effect.
8. I’ve searched the “addons” key in the registry and it shows no addons installed.
9. Since “safe mode” seems to work, I suspect there’s a rogue executable at play here.  Virus/Adware scans have not turned up any results.
10. Outlook Express can be configured with the users credentials and performs flawlessly.  This rules out any network / server / IP Block issues.
11. User can send email to self or other users sharing the same domain name.

So…  I’m baffled!  I suspect a full reformat and reinstallation will solve the problem.

Sprint Smartview Application

I own both a BlackBerry Pearl and Sierra Wireless 595U Aircard.  The Aircard installed flawless and worked great for a quick connection to the net.  The Pearl can also be used for thethered mobile broadband but the installation was cumbersome and since I already had that (superior performing) Sierra USB device I just didn’t have enough motivation to really make the BlackBerry work as it was more of a curiosity then a real need.

Recently, I began experiencing issues with my laptop which  warranted a nice clean windows install, so of course I wanted to make sure I had all the latest drivers for all my toys.  I had visited the Sprint Software Download site with every intention of installing the Sierra Connection Manager which I had used before when Smartview caught my eye. 

Being early enough in my laptop restore project I figured it would be a good time to experiment with something new so in goes Smartview.  WOW  it looks like Sprint packed the drivers for most of their mobile broadband devices into the install package because not only did the Aircard work but the Blackberry functioned as a modem as well with no installation hassles what so ever!  

And if that’s not enough, its a mighty fine WiFi manager as well, quickly allowing quick configuration of hotspots.  It has all the usual links to location based searching (yea, it reads the GPS) and can feed NMEA data to your maping software.

BREAKING NEWS: Not long ago my Blackberry suddenly stopped functioning as a teathered modem on Sprints Everything plan. When I called tech support it was suggested that I was a hacker and that my little security hole has been plugged and if I wished to use my device as a teathered modem that I would have to subscribe to the appropriate plan. I ultimately got resolution (after marching down to the local Sprint store armed with a camera) but this severely ruined my impression of Sprint as a brand. Video will soon be published after editing. (pssst. They just about gave me a Novatel MiFi to keep my quiet, but i’m just not the quiet type!)

Twitter. The universal social networking tool that let’s you do so much and so little now even can help you keep track of just how much time you spend doing it.. or not doing it.

As with most nifty websites I come upon this one was discovered while monitoring my twitter stream. @TheDailyBlonde posted a tweet stating that she’s spent over 80 hours posting over 9,600 tweets on the network. These stats were generated through a new website over at Tweetwasters.com that was created by @itcn, designed by @reese and based on a concept by @sugarrae she thought of during a lecture aimed at @streko.

@sugarrae also has made available a Tweetwasters Wordpress Plugin!

Oh and if you were wondering, as of the time of this posting I have done 7,999 total tweets and assuming they spent an average of 30 seconds per tweet they’ve spent 239,970 Seconds or 4,000 Minutes or 66.66 Hours or 2.78 Days using Twitter!

Oh, and don’t forget to check out the Tweetwasters Hall Of Fame page!

I couldn’t keep my hands out of podcasting for long and with my new found love of all things social networking along with years of experience being in the game long before it was called social networking (heck, long before the Internet was mainstream!)… what better topic put on a show about?

Already up to episode 2 (old episodes available) I present to you . . .

The World Is My Network!

A podcast covering all things social media and social networking from a “lifestyles” perspective. Enough geek-goodness to keep it real with enough music and beer to keep it fun.

Check out the TWIMN podcast today! Available via RSS or direct listening from the website.

T-Mobile Finds Some Customers Unprofitable

This video based on an actual event depicts a T-Mobile customer on a national calling plan being having their service terminated because they spend too much time roaming on a partner network. So much for national calling plans.

I used to be a T-Mobile customer and like the character in this video was very happy and enthusiastic. My reasons for leaving was different. (Caught in an endless loop of phone replacements instead of admitting that I simply exceeded the limitations of their network/devices).

Seeing this just makes me feel better about being a happy Sprint customer now!