To solve it I went to start> programs > administrative tools > services.

Then restarted both automatic updates and background intelligent transfer service. (right click them and choose restart).

Here are some perks of this setup: no second line needed, no re-occuring monthly fees, the ability to send faxes from any computer in the world (as long as you have your documents with you), ability to view a fax from anywhere in the world as long as you have the software installed.

And the possible negative aspects: no real fax machine, may take a bit more time to use. Probably not the best solution if you send many faxes or have an office with more than a few people in it. You need a computer, scanner, and printer to use it.

Here is how it works:

1. Recieving Faxes – Sign up for Efax – www.efax.com they have different services available, but offer a free version that ONLY allows you to accept incoming faxes. This converts them to a electronic document, and allows you to print, or view them on the monitor. They will send you spam once a month begging you to sign up for their premium service, but their basic service is free, and you get some weird number out of the local area. I am in 630/773 and my fax is 435.xxx.8181, pretty awesome actually that my last number is the same as my home phone! Cost = Free

2. Sending faxes. I shopped around and found a great service to send faxes from. Efax wants 9.95 a month to be able to send faxes, I send maybe 1-2 a month which would be like $5 a fax…. I found a cheaper service that allows you to prepay at $10 and only use 11 cents of credit (or similar) per page that you send. No monthly fees, or other BS. You send my emailing the telephone number @ a certain domain and it will either send the body as the fax, or you can send attachments and it will make the body the cover letter and the attachments are the other pages. The place I use is called: Interfax. l again avoid anything other than the prepaid sending fax package…otherwise you are paying a monthly fee for recieving faxes. Cost = $10 per every 91 pages you send, and the credit stays good for a year.

3. Scanning a Document to Fax: I use an all in one printer and scan things in as full size jpg images. All in one printers are dirt cheap these days and they have numerous models available. I have a HP 3210 all in one, which is a higher end photo printer which prints great looking photos, it also allows me to scan slides or film. Cost = Free if you have it around $99+ if you don't.

A standard fax process would be like this:

1. A company either sends me a fax (to my efax number), or emails me a document that I need to fill out
2. I print the form out and sign it (printer/all in one)
3. I scan the form into my computer (scanner/all in one)
4. I use interfax to send the fax (interfax)
5. I go on with my day. (wooo wooo)

In summary I urge you to use technology and give the finger to your phone company and any company trying to charge you monthly fees for sending or recieving faxes. Again use the following:

Efax – free fax recieving
Interfax – 11 cents per page to send a fax, $10 prepaid card required.
Printer and Scanner or All-in-one – to do the printing and scanning

What fax solution do you use and how many faxes do you send per month?

Lately I have been using it one way or another for about 4-5 hours a day I will say and occasional get a "woodrow" when a new time saving feature pops up.

I have been having to prune large sets of lists and have been able to use excels remove duplicates feature, but found it lacking. After some research I did for a an easy solution / excel macro I found this excellent free / donation ware utility. It is pretty powerful stuff andI thought I would share:

It is called the duplicate master and can be found here:
http://members.iinet.net.au/~brettdj/

here are some features:
Works with cells or entire rows!
Runs over ranges, multiple sheets or the entire Workbook!
Highlight duplicate cells or rows
Delete duplicate cells or rows
Select duplicate cells or rows
Extract unique cells or rows to a master list
Extract and count the number of duplicate cells or rows to a master list

It is pretty awesome, and it is free! Just follow the install instruactions on that page and raise hell with removing duplicates or highlighting duplicates in excel, without using a macro.

Thanks BrettDj for the software!

This is a coupon to get som emoney off of your buy.com com order. Pretty cool stuff. I am going to be ordering a new flat panel LCD monitor because my CRT takes up tons of desk space, and does not look as clear as it should. I am currently using my laptop as a desktop and runnin gdual monitors, and it is amazing. I never want to go back to single monitors again.

Well one thing that was bugging me is how I could have like 30 windows open because my desktop is so freaking huge…and this would clog my taskbar. So I did some digging and found this really sweet app that will allow a task bar to be strectched across monitors. It is great. And it is free: Oscar's Multi-Monitor taskBar

The guy also has some other cool sounding free apps, check them out:
Oscar's free tools

Update: I have switched to using UltraMon, which has some awesome features when you run dual monitors.

Anyhow i searched google on "how to reset an ipod 40gb" and came up with nothing but crap answers, then finally found the apple manuals:

To reset iPod mini, iPod mini (Second Generation), iPod photo, and iPod (Click Wheel)

Toggle the Hold switch on and off. (Slide it to Hold, then turn it off again.)

Press and hold the Menu and Select(center button) buttons until the Apple logo appears, about 6 to 10 seconds. You may need to repeat this step.
Tip: If you are having difficulty resetting your iPod, set it on a flat surface. Make sure the finger pressing the Select button (center button) is not touching any part of the click wheel. Also make sure that you are pressing the Menu button toward the outside of the click wheel, and not near the center.

If the above steps did not work, try connecting iPod to a power adapter and plug the power adapter into an electrical outlet, or connect iPod to your computer. Make sure the computer is turned on and isn't set to go to sleep.

Reset Apple iPhone instructions
Turn iPhone off and turn it on again. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button on top of iPhone for a few seconds until a red slider appears, then slide the slider. Then press and hold the Sleep/Wake button until the Apple logo appears.

Reset iPod Touch Screen (instructions coming soon)

Reset Click Wheel Ipod (newer ipods including resetting an ipod video)
1. Flip the Hold switch on and off and make sure it ends up no longer on hold.
2. Press and hold the Menu and Select buttons (center Button) until the Apple logo appears (may take 5-11 seconds, and you may need to repeat this step)

If this not work for you try plugging your ipod into computer or wall power.

Resetting iPod (with dock connector)
Most problems with iPod can be solved by resetting it.
To reset iPod:
1 Connect iPod to a power outlet using the iPod Power Adapter.
2 Toggle the Hold switch on and off (set it to Hold, then turn it off again).
3 Press and hold the Play/Pause and Menu buttons for at least 5 seconds, until the
Apple logo appears.

If Your iPod Won't Turn On or Respond
* Make sure the Hold switch is off.
* If you're using the iPod Remote, make sure the remotes Hold switch is off.
* If that doesn't work, connect iPod to the iPod Power Adapter and connect the
adapter to a working electrical outlet. Your iPod battery may need to be recharged.
* If that doesn't work, your iPod may need to be reset (see above).

Resetting iPod (with out dock connector)
If that doesn't work, your iPod may need to be reset.While the iPod
is connected to power, press and hold the Play and Menu buttons
for at least 5 seconds, until the Apple logo appears.

Resetting iPod mini
Most problems with iPod mini can be solved by resetting iPod mini.
To reset iPod mini:
1 Connect iPod mini to a power outlet using the iPod Power Adapter.
2 Toggle the Hold switch on and off (set it to Hold, then turn it off again).
3 Press and hold the Menu and Select (center) buttons for at least 6 seconds, until the
Apple logo appears.
If Your iPod mini Won't Turn On or Respond
* Make sure the Hold switch is off.
* If you're using the iPod Remote, make sure the remote's Hold switch is off.
* If that doesn't work, connect iPod mini to the power adapter and connect the
adapter to a working electrical outlet. Your battery may need to be recharged.
* If that doesn't work, your iPod mini may need to be reset (see above).

Reset Ipod Shuffle
1. Unplug iPod shuffle if it is connected to your computer.
2. Switch the shuffle off (you cannot see the green stripe).
3. Wait 5 seconds.
4. Move the switch to either play or shuffle (green stripe would be visible)

Here is a link to the official apple website about resetting your ipod.

And to the people that report the following icons on your iPod screen:
* A sad looking ipod face with explamation
* an exclamation point on a folder
* an exclamation point on a battery
* a disk with a variety of icons, including magnifying glass, x, arrow and exclamation mark
* apple logo
* do not disconnect
* power adapter plugging into the wall

I have not seen many of these, but it may be due to me having a 3rd generation iPod, if you see any of these icons on your ipod check out this article from apple summarizing them.

I also have found a site that shows you some advanced (void the warranty) tricks to try and fixing your iPod problems, involving opening them up to fix the hard drive. Try these at your own risk.

Remember you are not alone when your ipod freezes. Best of luck resetting your ipod and thanks for leaving your comments!

internet order overpaying scam -pdf file

So the people at the internet fraud complaint center do not know how to market their site all that well, and I had to struggle to find this for a friend.

INTELLIGENCE NOTE
11/04/2003
Prepared by the Internet Fraud Complaint Center

The Internet Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC), a cooperative effort of the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center, is alerting citizens to scams involving the use of counterfeit cashier�s checks.

The scheme targets individuals that use Internet classified ads to sell merchandise. Typically, an interested party located outside the United States contacts a seller. The seller is told that the buyer has an associate in the United States that owes him money. As such, he will have the associate send the seller a cashier's check for the amount owed to the buyer. This amount will be thousands of dollars more than the price of the merchandise, and the seller is told the excess amount will be used to pay the shipping costs associated with getting the merchandise to his location. The seller is instructed to deposit the check, and as soon as it clears, to wire (Western Union) the excess funds back to the buyer, or to another associate identified as a shipping agent. In most instances, the money is sent to locations in West Africa (Nigeria). Because a cashier's check is used, a bank will typically release the funds immediately, or after a one or two day hold. Falsely believing the check has cleared, the seller wires the money as
instructed. In some cases, the buyer is able to convince the seller that some circumstance has arisen that necessitates the cancellation of the sale, and is successful in conning the victim into sending the remainder of the money. Shortly thereafter, their bank notifies the victim that the check was fraudulent, and the bank is holding the victim responsible for the full amount of the check.

The IFCC is cautioning citizens to be wary of any purchasers proposing to conduct transactions in this manner, and to take the steps necessary to ensure that a check has fully cleared before doing anything with those funds. Anyone who thinks they might have fallen victim to this or any other type of Internet scam can notify the IFCC through its web site at www.ifccfbi.gov.