Restore Missing Volume or Network Icons in the Windows System Tray

While Windows has come along way since the days of Windows 3.11 and Windows 95 it’s not completely impervious to strange errors and problems. Once such issue under Windows Vista and Windows 7 is when the volume or network activity icons disappear from the system tray or are replaced with blank spaces. Fortunately, there is a quick …

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Microsoft Security Essential Beta – Testing Underway

Just a short update tonight. I’ve installed the recent beta of the upcoming version of Microsoft Security Essentials (Version 4.0.1111.0) to see how it performs and how different it is to prior versions. The upgrade only took a minute and I am setting it off on a scan to assess its speed. No major red …

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Sometimes There’s Never Enough Signal to Go Around

Just wanted to share an observation I had tonight while attending a show Kathy Griffin was putting on this evening (and yes, she was hilariously inappropriate). In venues such as the Sydney Opera House which probably doesn’t have cell sites in the building you might find that as more people gather in the area the …

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How to Thoughtfully Dispose of Batteries

I’ve covered batteries a bit lately including how to look after lithium ion batteries as well as how to replace a battery in a MacBook Pro but I haven’t covered how to thoughtfully dispose of batteries. It can be tempting and convenient to throw batteries in the general garbage or try to rationalise that they …

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Google Analytics Now Featuring Real-Time Reporting

Google Analytics - Real-Time Beta

Here’s something interesting for those of you with your own websites that use Google Analytics to track visitors and content popularity. Having been rolled out recently, you can now track some basic information as people visit your site. In a nutshell, you can see where your visitors are from, what content they are viewing and, …

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Optus MeTV Unboxing

Took a little while to get around it due to other commitments but here is the unboxing video for the Optus MeTV. It is a rebranded Yuxing YX-6936U with access to online offerings from FetchTV as well as containing digital tuners to record content to the 1TB internal hard drive (so you can pause and rewind live …

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How to Guide – Replacing a Battery in a MacBook Pro Laptop

In some of the earlier models of the unibody MacBook Pro the battery was deemed to be a “non-user serviceable part” meaning that if something happened to the battery (its capacity deteriorated or stopped working) you would have to send it back to get the battery replaced or swing by an Apple store. This was …

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Upcoming Beta of Microsoft Security Essentials

Looks like Microsoft are prepping a new major release of the popular Security Essentials package by enlisting a stack of beta testers prior to the final version going out. Amongst existing features, it’s expected that new feature will include automatic malware removal (removing the requirement for user interaction) plus enhanced performance and protection capabilities. At …

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Steam Sale Now On

Hi folks. Another quick heads up for tonight. Steam is having a sale with reduced prices on standalone and bundled games including: Portal 2 (reduced from US$29.99 to US$10.19 – a 66% saving), Call of Duty: Black Ops (reduced from US$89.99 to US$44.99 – a 50% saving), Half-Life Complete pack (reduced from US$39.99 to US$19.99 …

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Find Better Auction Site Deals

Here’s quick tip for this evening. eBay used to be a good place to pick up a good bargain but these days bidders can get a bit trigger happy sending items beyond what some of us consider to be worthwhile. Admittedly, such is the nature of online auctions but there is something else you can …

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