This research from Google on hard disk failure rates really surprised me:

> The report said that there was a clear trend showing “that lower temperatures are associated with higher failure rates”.

a few people have mentioned recently that they can’t play certain video’s or audio files on their computer. (mpeg4 video files and certain avi files seem to be a problem for people using windows media player.)

if you need a multi purpose player for virtually any platform that will play most file types, then get the excellent free open source vlc player. there’s a portable version too.

(or Command + F for Mac users).

Many years of daily computer use often makes one forget that other’s don’t necessarily make the most of the electronic paradigm. Recently I’ve sat looking over the shoulders of friends and family as they slowly scroll through a long Word document or web page trying to find the bit of text they want to show me or edit. This makes sense in a paper world - you scan through the pages, hoping your eye lands on the words you’re after. It seems it’s a well ingrained habit!

If you’re looking for a word of phrase on your computer **you don’t need to do this!**. Get into the habit of holding down Ctrl and pressing F (for ‘Find’). This works in most programs.

Go on - make a new habit before New Year.

The UN recently [warned about the risk of identity theft](http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/99411/un-calls-for-action-on-privacy-and-id-risks-to-net-users.html) for people who enter similar usernames and passwords across many websites.

Many people I know have no idea how to create, store and reuse passwords. If you use Windows I highly recommend paying for [Roboform](http://www.roboform.com/) which remembers your passwords, fills forms when you arrive at a site and also generates strong passwords for you. It adds a toolbar to your web browser (IE or Firefox). It is available as a [portable version](http://www.roboform.com/pass2go.html) for [Portable Firefox](http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable) so now there’s no excuse to be without your essential passwords wherever you go. It also has a useful post-it notes type feature and a new excellent [customisable search box](http://www.roboform.com/search-box.html).

So, with this and the spell-checking in Firefox 2, it’s bye bye to Google toolbar.

Roboform encrypts all of your data behind a master password. Sure, it gives a single point of attack for hackers, but I reckon it’s still pretty secure with a strong password. I’ve been running Roboform for 3 years now and their support and updates have been excellent. If you’re struggling to remember lots of passwords I highly recommend it.

(Mac Users can try [1Passwd](http://1passwd.com/), Linux users probably have their own favorite - I like [Revelation for Gnome](http://oss.codepoet.no/revelation/).

The excellent [PHP Markdown](http://www.michelf.com/projects/php-markdown/) (especially the [Extra version](http://www.michelf.com/projects/php-markdown/extra/)) has just had a new release with some enhancements and many bug-fixes. I use this exclusively in [Moodle](http://moodle.org/) and [Wordpress](http://wordpress.org/) and try to encourage all clients and friends to use it too. *So* much better than ‘rich text’ editors (IMO). Writing Markdown can become second nature very quickly - and in combination with [SmartyPants](http://www.michelf.com/projects/php-smartypants/) you can create accurate documents very quickly.

(Update: read [Michel's blog post on the updates](http://www.michelf.com/weblog/2006/state-of-markdown/))

(And with the great spell-checking in Firefox 2, writing into the browser is becoming quite enjoyable.)

If you’re running Firefox 2 you might want to [do this](http://www.elharo.com/blog/privacy/2006/11/03/block-third-party-cookies-in-firefox-2/)…

I’d been wondering why there’s so much pointless spam lately. Pointlees, not just for me, but also for the sender as lot’s of it doesn’t even try to sell you anything. Fortunately the Guardian explains. It’ls all those bloody infected Windoze XP home computers…. one giant botnet. (botnet - what a great word.)

In 4 weeks I’ll have a lot more time to write interesting things as I’ll once again be outside having a real life. Until then I’m chained to the computer completing the final aspects of the Distance Learning courses I run.

As my world is basically looking at a screen for 6 days a week, here’s another Firefox screen grab (click the picture for full-size). These are the extensions I have - they make browsing and web development a joy. If you’re new to Firefox you might see some that will help you. If you’re an old hand - anything crucial I’m missing?

I’m quite pleased as I’m only using 13 extensions. there are over [1,100 to choose from](https://addons.mozilla.org/extensions/?application=firefox “ffx extensions”) and [this guy](http://splasho.com/blog/2006/02/26/the-superbrowser/ “100 xtensions installed”) (thanks simon and bon) chose to install the 100 most popular ones at the same time!

i’m still finding useful things in firefox.

1. do you hate websites that resize your browser to fit their ‘design’?

tools > options > content > javascript > advanced > untick 'Move or resize existing windows'.

2. want a quick way into your favorite bookmarks?

Ctrl + L (puts cursor in location bar) and then type a letter combination that you’ve put in the ‘Keyword’ field of your favorite bookmarks.

(with thanks to simon for the ‘keyword’ tip)

As part of the ‘amaze non techies about computery things’ campaign this week, I’m pleased to add some information that Simon B alerted me to. There is a website called [istock photo](http://www.istockphoto.com “istockphoto”) which most of us have never heard of and is certainly not as big as some websites. It allows designers to buy royalty free stock photography. Now here’s the amazing bit: They’re upgrading their servers…

> With 15,000 servers deployed in over 1,100 networks across 65 countries, everyone from Tahoma to Tokyo should find up to 10x speed in page loads on localized servers.

Yes that’s 15,000 high spec. computers for one website! Anyone know how many Google have?