Kathy’s Tech Blog

Have you ever had trouble accessing a web site and thought “Web site X must be down”?  But then another computer user tells you their using Site X just fine.  To find out whether the problem is the web site or just your computer, go to downforeveryoneorjustme.com and type in the domain name.

Note: I tried to enter the web site of my business, www.LTFtech.com, and the web site reported it down even though it wasn’t.  Using just the domain alone (LTFtech.com) yielded appropriate results, so you may have to do the same.

This isn’t about hardware, software, the Internet, or hardly anything having to do with technology. However, the “Dilbert” comic strip holds wide appeal for geeks and non-geeks alike. I’m a big fan myself, having discovered Dilbert during my days in a cubicle. (On my first read I thought someone had been very creative to put a documentary in cartoon form. )
Until I saw the story below, I didn’t realize that author Scott Adams has suffered for 18 months with a condition called spasmodic dysphonia, which rendered him unable to engage in normal speech. More fascinating than the dysfunction itself is that Adams came up with an amazing way to “trick” (some might say “hack”) his brain into speaking again.

At the end of this post, Adams requested that readers comment on the happiest moment of their lives, so there are hundreds of contributions guaranteed to give even the most hard-nosed hacker the warm fuzzies. If you want to feel good, follow the link below.

“Dilbert” author gets voice back

IDo you find yourself clicking wildly on icons and options in order to get them to work, not knowing which click will do the trick? In this episode you’ll learn the difference between clicks, double-clicks, and right-clicks, and what each is used for.

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As if there’s not enough junk mail. Aside from the standard spam about prescription drugs and Nigerian money-making schemes, there is another more insidious genre of junk mail making the inbox rounds. What makes this category so bad is that many people who would thumb their noses at normal spam are willing parties to this more heinous type of mass e-mail, zapping hundreds of messages with impunity to new victims. Are you a spammer?

If you haven’t guessed it, the “spam” I’m talking about is rumors, hoaxes, and urban legends. Despite the adage, “Don’t believe everything you read,” many people readily believe what their friends send them by e-mail. Popular topics vary according to the ebb and flow of current events, but perhaps these sound familiar: AOL/Microsoft giveaways, gas boycotts, various alleged computer viruses. They seem believable, and sometimes contain a grain of truth, but are misleading if not altogether false. Have you received a message like this? Worse, have you “forwarded it to everyone you know?”

If you’ve been an unwitting hoax “spammer,” there’s hope. Next time you receive a suspicious e-mail message, check it out at one of the following reliable hoax-debunking web sites.

Snopes.com
TruthOrFiction.com
TruthMiners.com
Say no to spam in all its forms!