Where I store my tech stuff

My domain registration expires tomorrow, and I’ve been working on transferring my domain to a new registrar. The process is more stressful than it should be. I needed to transfer my domain and find a new place to host my Web site. Of course, e-mail is wrapped up in those services, too, so I had to make sure the transition was as seemless as possible. Needless to say, I got absolutely no support from my current service provider, Network Solutions.

I moved away from Network Solutions for two reasons: They’re too expensive, and their Web hosting packages don’t support ASP.NET 2.0. The last time I checked with them, they couldn’t give me any time frame as to when they’d support 2.0. So I decided to find a cheaper registrar (GoDaddy), and host who supports ASP.NET 2.0 (DiscountASP.net).

So here’s the basic process for transferring my domain and setting up a new hosting account:

• Open new accounts with the registrar (GoDaddy) and the hosting service (DiscountASP.net)
• Unlock my domain with Network Solutions and verify my contact information
• Enter e-mailed confirmation numbers in GoDaddy’s Web site to confirm that I do, indeed, wish to transfer my domains
• Receive e-mail notification from Network Solutions.
• Wait, wait, and wait. In the meantime, I moved my Web site files to the new host and tested everything. I’m just waiting on Network Solutions.
• Phone Network Solutions to make sure we’re good to go. They tell me they have no record of my transfer request. Panic slightly.
• Phone Network Solutions again after remembering that they sent me an email to confirm the transfer. Oh, suddenly they found the request. The rep informs that I need to click the link in the email to confirm the transfer request. Huh? The email states that I should click the link if I wish to cancel the request. The rep assures me that if I click the link that I can confirm the request, which speeds everything up.
• I click the link. Sure enough. The request goes through immediately. But wait, I’m not ready for the request to go through immediately. Had I known what would happen, I would’ve clicked the link at night after business hours.
• Scramble to update the nameservers with my new registrar and set up new email accounts.
• Test the Web site. It’s up!
• Wait for the changes to propagate throughout the DNS system.
• Test email. Doesn’t work. Wait. Test email. Doesn’t work. Wait. Test email. Works with Gmail, but not Yahoo. Wait. Test. Wait. After about an hour, I seemed to have fully functional email.

I’m up and running after many hours of fretting and testing. All this could’ve been much less stressful had Network Solution been more forthcoming about how the process works in their email. No, instead their email was all about how they don’t want to lose me as a customer – not giving me the information that I need to manage this process. They already lost me as a customer when they told me they had no idea why version 2.0 of ASP.NET was important. Now they’ve lost any chance that I would ever return.

I’ve been having trouble using XP’s remote administration features with my new computer. I checked and double checked all my settings and permissions, but I could never get a remote desktop connection or remote shutdown to work. I could make a remote desktop connection using my admin account, but not with the account I use on a regular basis. It didn’t make sense because the account is a member of the admin group. Remote shutdown never worked regardless of the account. I always received an access denied message.

After checking in Microsoft’s knowledge base, I discovered that the likely culprit was fast user switching. It’s a feature in XP where you can switch between users without logging off. It’s mostly used by home users. I never bothered to disable it because I figured it was no big deal. All my accounts were password-protected. After I disabled fast user switching, all my remote features magically worked.

Well, not exactly. I can’t use remote shutdown via Computer Management. I receive an RPC error. But I can use the shutdown command, which is what I really want to do anyway. Now I have a batch file that I can execute in the evening to shut down my machines.

I save all my manuscript-related files to a share on a file server. Everytime I needed to open a document, I had to browse to the network share. Instead of browsing each time, I added a shortcut to the network share in the My Places bar in Word 2003.

My Places is the bar that you see on the left side of the Open screen when you open a file. By default, it includes shortcuts to Desktop, My Documents, and other commonly used items. To add a shortcut to the My Places bar in Word 2003:

1. Press Ctrl+O in Word 2003 to open the Open dialog box.
2. Browse to the location you want to create a shortcut to.
3. Click the Tools drop-down list.
4. Click Add to “My Places” from the Tools drop-down list. The shortcut appears in My Places.

For more details on customizing the My Places bar, see this article on Microsoft’s Web site. The My Places bar was called the Places bar in Office 2000. You must edit the registry to add or remove items from the Places bar. See this knowledge base article for details.

I ordered a new laptop from newegg.com on 12/15/2005. About two weeks ago, I finally received my $200 rebate. Somewhere in that six month time span I decided that rebates are a rip. I know I’m not only one who feels this way. It’s my understanding that certain vendors, like newegg.com, are especially bad. Costco, on the other hand, isn’t too bad. You can file your rebates online, and your check comes along a few weeks afterwards.

Over the weekend, I found the 160GB Seagate drive that I saw on newegg.com for $67 (OEM) at CompUSA in a retail box for $59.99. Good deal, right? Oh, wait. That’s after the $40.00 eRebate. With a name like eRebate, you might think you could file the rebate online. No, it’s a mail-in rebate. I have to admit that I was tempted by the seductive and deceptively low price. Not only is it less expensive than newegg, it’s a retail box. (Not to mention the instant gratification of having the drive in my hot little hands.) I snapped to my senses after I thought about how long it took me to get my last rebate. As it turns out, CompUSA says you’ll have your money in 10 to 12 weeks. That’s still a long time. Plus, there’s only rebate per household, and I want two drives. Hello RAID0, but I’ll save that post for another day.

So I ordered the OEM drives from newegg. I’m optimistic they’ll ship today, but they probably won’t. Which means that even though my order is supposed to ship with two day delivery, I won’t see it until Monday afternoon.

Medical Excess, an insurer and member company of AIG, had a file server stolen in March. The file server contained the names and social security numbers of almost one million people. In late May, the company started notifying its insurance brokers of the data loss. In mid-June, a handful of the folks whose information was comprised started receiving letters in the mail from Medical Excess.

Rest assured, Medical Express tells us the data is password protected and the thieves were only interested in the hardware. Several articles mention that the server was stolen from ME’s Midwest office. I’m guessing they mean the office in Indianapolis, since that’s the only Midwest location listed on their Web site.

According to AIG’s Identify Theft and Fraud Division, “Personal information such as a social security number or credit card number can be compromised in seconds”. The site goes on to say “Regardless of how cautious or prudent you may be, the threat to your assts has never been greater. ” I concur.