Give Blogger Play a try

Google has done it yet again. For those who have a few minutes to spare to stare at some images, or for those whose monitor is used for decoration purposes more than anything else, Google has come up with Blogger Play, a very simple, cool and functional slideshow that displays images just uploaded by bloggers worldwide, in no particular order, with no particular subject. I wonder how much monitoring goes into what Blogger Play actually shows.

So give it a try, you'll get the hang of it within a few seconds. Read more about it here.

Visit Blogger Play

Solution: iTunes doesn't detect iPhone in Vista

Do a google seach on "itunes iphone vista problems" and you'll have a good idea of how many people are having issues syncing their iPhone to iTunes in Vista. The kind of problems vary a lot, but one more so than the others: Vista detects iPhone just fine, as Apple iPhone, but iTunes knows nothing about it being connected to the computer.

Some of the suggested solutions are as follows:

- Try a high-powered USB port, one that is not on your keyboard or other device but rather directly on the computer itself.
- Uninstall Apple Software Update, Apple Mobile Device Support and iTunes , reboot and then reinstall iTunes.
- Disconnect any other USB devices that may be conflicting with the installation, like webcams and such and reinstall iTunes.

Many people reported having fixed the issues by simply reinstalling iTunes as described above, yet many others, including myself, still experience the same issues after reinstalling 20 times. So what to do? Well, that's where it becomes blury for most and tricky therefore to fix it.

I concluded that the problems must arise from certain software of services that are running and preventing iTunes to install properly. To isolate this problem, you must disable any non-essential services and programs that run at startup. Do that by running 'msconfig' from the start menu (open Start menu, type msconfig and press enter).

I won't go too in depth as to what you need to disable and what not, since services and software vary widely from computer to computer. Also, be aware that your computer may have problems loading Windows if you disable some service or software that you shouldn't disable, so you've been warned.

On the services tab, check Hide all Microsoft services and then click Disable All. This will disable, theoretically, all services that are not essential to the running of Windows. Now go to the Startup tab and go through the list and disable by removing the checkmark from the entries that may not be required for a one time clean boot. Software like antivirus, cd-burning, acrobat, printer drivers, webcam drivers and software, etc. Once you're done, click Ok, and reboot the computer.

I should specify again, that this step (of disabling services and startup items) should be done after you have uninstalled Apple Software Update, Apple Mobile Device Center and iTunes, thus allowing you to boot clean(er) and install iTunes without risking other software or drivers to interfere.

Assuming you booted clean as described above, install iTunes (latest version) and pray that it will detect your iPhone when you launch it. If it does, you're good to go and now you just need to restore and enable the services and startup items that you previously disabled and reboot your PC. The msconfig utility has a column that shows when an entry was disabled so that will make very easy for you to know exactly which ones you disabled a few minutes ago. After restoring the services and startup items, assuming iTunes installed correctly and detected your iPhone when you booted clean, iTunes should no longer have trouble detecting the iPhone afterwards.

If iTunes still doesn't detect your iPhone, well at least you tried. If you do find another fix, post a comment here and i will update this post. Good luck!

Quickcam software woes: Uninstall and Reinstall Procedures

I like Logitech products. My work area is filled with such hardware. But their software and drivers seriously lack. I dream of the day when they will get that part of the products right.

Until that magical day will come, we have to deal with the issues created by the drivers. So far, most problems were caused by the webcam drivers. What makes this even more frustrating is that due to Logitech's unified driver architecture, which means the same driver package is required for any and all (recent) webcams, whether you get the cheapest Quickcam or the most expensive, you are prone to be at some point affected by the driver issues.

What to do then? Uninstall and reinstall the quirky software. The problem? It's a longer process than it needs to be.

Logitech does provide fairly clear instructions on how this uninstall and reinstall of the Quickcam software should be execute, but these instructions are hidden deep into their user support forums. So to possibly make life simpler for some, i have dug up these instructions and posted them here for quicker access.

Link: How to uninstall and reinstall the Quickcam software

Link: Clean Boot procedures for Vista, XP, ME and 98. Click here for Windows 2000.

Quick Tip: Easily install fonts in Vista

This may seem trivial for some, but it may be revealing for many others. While in Windows XP, there was no easier or faster way to install fonts other than copying them to the Windows/Fonts folder or creating a customized SendTo menu entry, Vista makes it much easier.

In Windows Vista you can quickly install fonts simply by right clicking on the font file and clicking "Install". Vista will automatically copy the font file to the Windows Fonts Folder and thus install it. You even get an installation progress bar with that!

Update 10/09/2007: I have come across a situation where the Install feature described above was missing in Vista. When right clicking a .ttf font file, I simply didn't have the option of clicking on Install, as it was simply not there.

Knowing for a fact that the functionality should be there, as far as font files are concerned, i was set to find a solution as I had to restore many font files and this is the quickest method of installing fonts in Vista.

After a few minutes of googling and pondering, i realized what the problem was: the .ttf font files had been re-associated with another program, ACDSee. Usually, the font files are/should be associated with "Windows Font Viewer". So, to restore the aforementioned functionality, right click the font file in question, go to Open With... , Choose Default Program and choose Windows Font Viewer, click OK. Right click again and you should see the Install option. Problem solved.

How beautiful simple can be

Sometimes you come across a website that you just have to tell people about. The new microsite for Bentley, adverstising the 2008 Continental GT and Continental GT Speed models, is such a worthy site.

Why is it worth writing about it? The combination of refined simplicity, straightforwardness and eye ravishing photography make this website one to keep looking at. If you've ever been a fan of Bentley cars, especially the Continental models, you'll find best in class images and wallpapers to keep you happy for a good while. Make sure you go to Menu > Gallery & Wallpapers to savor and save them ALL.

Visit the website: www.continentalgt.com

Microsoft Professional Photography

Filling out a survey for SyncToy today, I was redirected to Microsoft's Professional Photography site, which I knew nothing of. There are some great resources there, good reads and even photo contests.

A particularly interesting article (actually series of articles as it is in two parts) is The Ultimate Setup in which you can read how professional Sports Illustrated photographers set up their equipment to capture magazine-quality shots at the NCAA Final Four games.

While you're on the site, don't miss a great how-to for my favourite digital image processing software, ACDSee Pro. Read it here.

Adobe CS3 Custom Icons

For those CS3 fans out there who may not be so crazy after the original CS3 icons, here are some which will hopefully make your day.


These icons were created by icon artist Adam Betts and they are for Mac users. For the Windows version, they were ported by Eli (the-ace) from DeviantArt with permission.

Mac OSX CS3 Icons: http://www.artofadambetts.com/weblog/?p=190

Windows CS3 Icons: http://the-ace.deviantart.com/art/Adobe-CS-3-Icons-Replacement-53728408


On a similar note, in case you've missed the Creative Suite 3 wallpapers by Adobe, here's a link.