Print Google Calendar

Always useful at this time of the year, here is the link to my 2009 posting  - How to Print Off Google Calendar for the coming year - link  Tells you how to print off a month to a page for how ever many months you need, 12 in my case.

Klipsch S4i Headphone Problem

I purchased a set of Klipsch S4i head/earphones from Amazon December 2010 for use with my iPod Touch. Not cheap at nearly £90, but amazing performance compared with the crap Apple earphones that came with the iPod. Apart from losing the ear plugs on a regular basis I had no problem with the phones, I eventually replaced these with some cheapo ones from another set of earphones, have not lost one since. All went well until about 3 weeks ago when the volume started having a mind of it's own going up and down without any intervention from me. Also the On/Off button stopped working. Inspection showed a crack in the rubber at the neck of the jackplug, see the photograph.

In my opinion there is a design fault in the moulding of the plug at this point. As you can see there is a indentation in the moulding which goes all the way through to the inner wire. Flexing the cable here impinges directly on the wire almost acting like a guillotine. I am sure that many users wrap the wire around the iPod when not in use. This does put a particular strain on the wire at this vulnerable point. I believe the problem could be solved by eliminating this notch from the moulding at this point thus spreading any bending effect over a larger radius and avoiding the pinching of the wire that the current design imposes.

When I checked my Amazon invoice I had purchased the phones on 7 Dec 2010. I sent off an email to Klipsch via the Amazon website. on 5th Dec 2011.  No immediate response, sent a reminder on 8th Dec and received a reply by return from the offices in Ireland saying a reply had been sent but had obviously not reached me. They asked me to send the phones back. Which I did by registered post on 9th Dec. A replacement set of phones turned up on 22nd Dec. So thanks to Amazon and Klipsch.

I have modified my replacement phones by pushing a short length of heat shrink sleeving over the jackplug to protect this weak spot.  

Brother HL-2250DM Printer - Toner Light Stays On

When I changed the toner cartridge in my  Brother HL-2250DM printer the toner light stayed on and I could not print. I was not sure if  this was because I was trying a compatible toner cartridge for the first time or because I had taken the toner cartridge out without turning the printer off first or a combination of the two! This was the 3rd time I had changed the cartridge, previously I had used  Brother cartridges and not had a problem.

A Google search for an answer, found the following procedure suggested for different Brother printers but I thought I would give it a try and BINGO (Housey Housey) it seemed to work.

1. With the replacement cartridge installed. Turn power off

2. Open front cover ie access cover to toner cartidge

3. Hold GO button and turn power on

4. When all 3 lights are lit release and press GO twice

5. All lights should come on

6. With all lights on, press GO 5 times

7. Error light turns red and flashes

8. Close front cover


NOTE: In my case the toner light stayed on but the printer worked, however after a few minutes the toner light went out.*

You can also find instructions on the Ciberdirect website. **

PS. After I have installed a new cartridge I print off the "Printer Settings Page"  so I can check how many pages I printed from the previous cartridge. Press the Go button three times within 2 seconds. The printer will print the current printer settings page. The cartridges are supposed to be good for 2600 pages, I regularly get over 6000 pages by using "Toner Save Mode" setting and printing "Booklet" option for long documents.

Amended 7.2.12* and 2.2.14**

Print a Secure PDF File or Convert to PDF

Neevia Document Converter makes it possible for anyone to instantly convert many of the file formats (doc, docx, xls, ppt..) that are used daily to PDF or Image. No need to install anything on your computer. Simply upload the file and select your delivery method.

Click link to for more info or to convert file - link

Picture Hanging Jig - Updated

You have your photograph/painting carefully framed with the cord stretched across the back. How do you locate the hook/hanger at the correct hight to ensure all your frames line up?

 You need a picture hanging jig. To locate the exact spot for the nail to hang a frame find a strip of wood longer than the distance from the cord to the top of the frame. Drive a short brad or screw into the end of the strip so the point protrudes just a bit, hang the picture on the head of the brad/screw and holding the strip manoeuvre the picture to where you want to hang it, press the strip against the wall, the point makes a mark on the wall. Use the mark as the reference point for hanging your frame.

The beauty of this technique is if you are hanging multiple frames any variation in cord tension or position of hanger on the frame will be avoided. Just align to the top, bottom or centre line of the frame.

I now use this method of hanging, it avoids trial and error and is so much quicker than all the other methods I have tried.

I am grateful to www.sawdust.com for the original idea. Update: the link no longer works, similar info available on Homestoriesatoz.com

Snip Tool Missing in Windows 7

Having upgraded from Vista 64 bit to Windows 7 64 bit  I discovered the very useful Snip Tool had disappeared. A quick Google revealed a variety of suggestions. The simplest one was to click on the Start button, bottom left corner and in the Search box, type: - %SystemRoot%\system32\SnippingTool.exe or if you are lazy like me Copy "CtrlC" and Paste "CtrlV" . SnippingTool.exe will apear in the results, right click and select "Pin to Taskbar".

8 Cool Photoshop Tutorial Blogs

A selection of exciting tutorial blog sites for photographers and designers courtesy of the Lightstalking blog.

Worth1000

Psdtuts+

HV-Designs

Photoshop Tutorials

PS Deluxe

Tutzor

Tutorial King

Pixel77

Firefox 5.0 Page Scrolling Problem

Following an upgrade to Firefox 5.0 I found it difficult to scroll pages, particularly if they contained images. It was as if the page was taking a long time to load. A search of the forums suggested that this has been a problem with Firefox since v3 but not something I had previously experienced. However the solution for me was quite simple. Click on the menu toolbar: Tools>Options>Advanced>General>un-tick "use autoscrolling"! Bingo back to smooth scrolling.

Firefox 4 Tab Problem

A couple of days ago the facility to open a blank Tab in Firefox 4 stopped working. This particular problem related to the new tab button. Whenever I click on the plus (+) symbol to open a new tab window, nothing seems to be happening. Clicking on File and then on the New Tab option doesn’t opens the new tab. Neither do the Ctrl + T works.

A Google for "Firefox 4 tab problem" suggested that the problem was caused by "Ask Toolbar" being incompatible with Firefox 4! I was not even aware I had the "Ask Toolbar" loaded! A forum thread offered the following solution:-

These are the steps to uninstall the Ask Toolbar from Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7:-

For Windows XP:

• Make sure all the Web browsers or there processes are closed.
• Go to Start menu and Select “Control panel” and then select “Add/remove Programs”
• Search the Ask Toolbar from the list of programs installed (or the program with Ask logo)
• Click on Change/Remove to uninstall it.

Windows Vista:

• Always close all the instance of Web Browsers or related programs.
• Go to the following path Start > Control Panel.
• Under Programs icon select “uninstall a Program”
• Now Select the “Ask Toolbar” from the list and click on “Uninstall”

Windows 7:

• Go to the following path: Start > Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall a Program.
• Select the Ask Toolbar from the list of installed programs and right click to Uninstall.

I am pleased to report that the solution worked for me in Windows 7. I have to say when I first looked in the list of programmes I could not find Ask Toolbar. This is because it was listed as "Foxit PDF Creator Toolbar" but it was listed in the Publisher column under Ask.com.

Firefox 4 Google Toolbar Problem - Fix - Updated

UPDATE: 25th April 2011 - The problem seems to have been resolved by a recent software update.

Since I upgraded to Firefox 4 I have been unable to select from the search box drop-down list

When you attempt a search from the search box on your Google Toolbar it may not allow you to select items from your drop-down list of web history or search suggestions.

As a workaround, try using your keyboard up and down arrows to navigate the drop-down list to select your search history, press return to select.

See previous post link

Microsoft Program Stops Responding

The program stops responding when you try to open or to save a file in an Office 2002 program, in an Office 2003 program, in an Office 2007 program, or in an Office 2010 program.

You know the scenario, you are dashing to get off to college, the post is about to go or you have been typing for 2 hours and just remembered to save the doc for the first time. You open the save menu and click on a folder and the screen goes pale and you notice those dreaded words in the toolbar, (Not Responding), the program hangs. What do you do other than go and make a cup of tea? While you wait to see what happens!

I have Googled for a solution on a number of occasions but without luck. Today I found this Microsoft Support Article ID: 313937. It seems to have worked. The gist of the solution is making sure you have no "Mapped Network Drives" which are not connecting. See the article for the full story.

USB Drive Not Recognised: TestDisk

Awesome Utility: TestDisk

What do you do when your USB Memory Stick/Drive is not recognised when you try to read it. Well if it has the only copy of your dissertation the response probably lies somewhere between suicide and mucking your pants! That is what happened to a friend today, can I help, how can I not. Quick Google identified suggested the best option was a command line utility called TestDisk. Long time since I did DOS and stuff. The hard part was finding an idiot proof set of instructions how to use Testdisk! The nearest I ,managed was at SysAdminHell a post titled Awesome Utility: TestDisk. I suggest you download TestDisk and then go to the instructions at SysAdminHell.

I found placing TestDisk on another USB Drive worked best for me. After a bit of trial and nor too much error I managed to get the USB drive to boot. I looks as though the FAT32 Boot sector was corrupt. BEWARE of NOT EJECTING your USB Drives!

Photoshop CS5 - Importing Scanned Images

Following on from my previous post about image resolution. I came across this Adobe TV tutorial by Peachpit TV for Photographers, which complements that post.

The tutorial covers the basics of scanning images for retouching and then goes on to show some basic retouch techniques. One useful tip relates to the use of the History Brush, not something I have ever used but I may after watching this.

Not sure who the the young lady is who gives the tutorial be she is easy to listen to for a change.

The Myth of 72 dpi

If there is one thing guaranteed to start an argument among both computer types and photographers it is image resolution, particularly when it comes to uploading images to the web. Well rather than put my 2 penny worth into the pot I will refer you to an excellent site I came across on the web. Wayne Fulton's has a website that covers the whole subject of scanning and image resolution which he modestly calls "A Few Scanning Tips" it is a whole lot more than that.

There is so much fascinating information on this site I hardly knew where to start. So I chose the 72 dpi debate as this is the one that seems to crop up most frequently. The article you need to read is called "Say No to 72 dpi". Wayne not only talks a good talk he provides visual proof of his arguments as well.

Did you know why you should download images off the internet rather than cut and paste them? I suggest that you have a good look around Waynes site, it is a goldmine of fascinating information.

Other useful websites I came across whist looking for this information are included below.

Scanning and Printing Resolution Calculator
Image size Calculator
Fotosizer - Batch image resizing