Believe it or not, password safety is a big issue.  It has gotten to the point where, for certain websites, you can easily gain access to any password online.  If you use Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, have a blog, myspace, or any online account that requires a password, you may want to make sure YOUR password is strong and safe.

Today, using your last name followed by your favorite year just doesn’t always cut it.  So how does one stay safe?

(more…)

PLEASE NOTE – THIS FIX WILL NO LONGER BE AVAILABLE AT THIS URL AS WE ARE MOVING TO DAVIDCRANDALL.COM – HOWEVER, WE UNDERSTAND THIS PROBLEM HAS EFFECTED MANY PEOPLE AND WE WILL MAKE A PAGE DEDICATED TO THIS FIX

Hello everyone!  A common problem for Vista users with Dreamweaver MX is the “Insert>Tables” function; it simply will not work.  I have already posted two articles on this issue providing some fixes for the issue.  In the first article, I show how to make the “Insert Table” function actually do something and that is insert a table.  The only problem with THIS fix is that it doesn’t allow you to change the specs before the table is inserted into your Document.  The second fix is a tip given by a user, and another tip given by me which has worked for a decent ammount of people, but not all (for some it only worked temporarily, then the problem occured again.)  In this tutorial, I will be giving a new fix which will make the “Insert Tables” function work like a charm.

(more…)

These days, things are constantly changing – especially all things tech.  The way we use our computers, watch our TV programs and movies, advertise business, check our e-mail, and browse the internet constantly changes.  In my last article, I explained the reasons one may like to switch to Firefox from Internet Explorer 7, now I will explain the reasons you may want to stay with Internet Explorer.

Internet Explorer 7 is fast. Especially on the Vista machine as it was made to match and work with Vista.  Each and every feature, at least with my experience, has responded very quickly.  So its performance has been great.

Internet Explorer 7 is safe. By safe, I mean it does indeed help prevent you from spyware, adware, and phishing websites.  Built in to IE7 is a pop-up blocker and phishing filter.

Internet Explorer 7 now has tabbed browsing. I LOVE tabbed browsing – in fact, I love IE7’s tabbed browsing feature more than Firefox’s.  IE7’s “New Tab” button is already on the toolbar, while with Firefox (at least when I got it) you had to browse the menu’s or use a keyboard shortcut to create a new tab.  Now with Firefox, there IS a button you can add, but you have to do the work in finding it and adding it yourself.  Having the button there automatically, like IE7, is just common sense.

Internet Explorer 7 is stylish. If you want a taste of the way Windows Vista looks and feels, Internet Explorer 7 is a good start.  The design of this browser is beautiful and elegant.  The great thing is that the beautiful looks of IE7 does not inhibit IE7’s performance and speed.

Internet Explorer 7 is free….enough said about that.

So which is it?  IE7 or Firefox?

And the winner is……FIREFOX!  Firefox is safe, fast, customizable in appearance and functionality, and its security measures are NOT annoying!  Sorry, IE7 just doesn’t cut it for me anymore.  Getting IE7 to test websites with Flash documents was a difficult process.  It usually gives me some warning that the web page I’m trying to access is attempting to use some sort of ActiveX control that could harm my computer….IT’S JUST AN SWF FLASH DOCUMENT!  Anyways, besides that annoyance, the pop-up blocker can also be annoying – Firefox’s utilities are just much more functional and tolerable.

I love almost more than anything that you can literally change Firefox’s interface.  You can make it look like anything by downloading themes from Firefox’s website.

Firefox is undoubtabley the best web browser I use, and I MUST reccomend it to you.  If you’re afraid that it’s going to be too different than the Internet Explorer you’re used to – don’t worry about it.  Firefox is SUPER simple and has a similar layout to Internet Explorer.

So do yourself a favor and download Firefox.

What Do you Think?
What is your favorite web browser?  Send in all your thoughts to david@funkytower.com OR leave a comment below!

Take it easy,
David Crandall

There is an ongoing battle between FireFox and IExplorer users.  Much like the battle between Mac users and PC users – no one has substance to their argument, other than the fact they just like their operating system – no one has any substantial reason for switching to Firefox or staying with IExplorer.  I use both, so let me share with you the pros and cons of both.  This first article is all about firefox, so if you’re remotely curious as to why you should use Firefox, then please read this article.

(more…)

NOTE: NEW FIX AVAILABLE HERE: http://www.funkytower.com/2008/09/22/dreamweaver-mx-and-vista-fix-insert-tables-best-fix/

Recently, I have posted the article “Dreamweaver MX and Vista: Inserting Tables Fix” which has become one of the most popular recent posts I’ve written thus far.  This post shows how to get the Insert>Tables function in Dreamweaver MX to work in Vista – specifically Vista Premium (but should work with other versions.)  This has been a huge help to readers across the globe and I am thankful that I have been able to help so many people.

As you may know, FunkyTower.Com is not just about me helping you – the goal is to get you involved by offering ideas for content, solutions to problems, etc., that are all submitted or asked about by you.  This happened recently, thanks to Phil Chave.  Phil sent me this e-mail which may solve the ever so frustrating Inserting Tables problem in its entirety:

(more…)

Windows Vista looks cool – alot cooler than XP.  It’s sleek design is probably what attracts users the most.  I have to say, it is very pretty – but, I like things to be exactly how I want them.  I like to pick and choose my colors, and even the design and shape of my taskbar and start menu.  I like custom cursors, sounds, icons, backgrounds, etc.  I like everything on my computer to represent me and who I am, and I like to do it in style.  If you want custom EVERYTHING, like me, and you have Windows XP or Windows Vista, I have something to show you.

It’s a company called Stardock.  These people have come up with possibly the most wonderful programs I have ever used.  Using their products, you can change virtually anything on your XP/Vista machine.  Allow me to show you a few that I thoroughly enjoy.

(more…)

If you haven’t read it yet, go ahead and view my previous post about this Dangerous DNS Problem:

http://www.funkytower.com/2008/08/06/dangerous-dns-problem/

DNS is what has revolutionized and, in many ways, helped create the spectacular online environment we have today, know as the World Wide Web.  We use DNS for virtually everything, from e-mail, to myspace, to online banking, to having internet access itself.  DNS is what converts an ip address (a bunch of numbers that identify a system) to a name like www.funkytower.com, or pop.domain.com, etc.  The flaw which has been found is very scary, as it can potentially change the course of our entire life.  This flaw could allow malicious persons  to duplicate any domain name.

(more…)

If you’re like me, you want the look and feel of your computer to represent you.  So, in that, maybe you want your Internet Browser shortcut icon on your desktop to be something else – a picture that you made. Or, you have a website and you want to make a favicon.ico icon to display next to the URL of your website in a web browser’s taskbar (just like FunkyTower does!) You may also want a custom mouse cursor to replace that boring arrow. If you’re like me, you took a picture of your hand in a “finger pointing” position to be your mouse cursor…but how do we take our pictures and make them icons and mouse cursors? Well I have two free programs you HAVE to see to believe: PixelToolbox, and @icon suhi.

(more…)

I recently encountered a VERY random problem on my Vista machine.  I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, my Windows Update settings were modified to not download or install updates without me doing so manually – which I hadn’t done in a long time, and I haven’t installed or modified anything.  But, for some reason, IE7 just decided to freeze when I opened it.  I restarted my computer, it still froze; I ran IExplorer with no add-ons, and it still froze.  I used Firefox to do some research and found alot of people have had this problem but no one had a definitive answer.  If running IE7 without add-ons didn’t work, people just gave up.  Well, I have a solution.

(more…)

It’s true – to stay safe on the internet, it is always good to have protection from malware, adware, and spyware.  These are annoying, and, quite often, dangerous.  So what do we do to stay protected?  We get programs like SpyBot Search & Destroy, or protection from McAfee and Norton.  We do a scan, the program finds  some problems, you go through the process, and at the end – it shows a few things that couldn’t be fixed, but can be removed.  It warns us that removing that file could potentially make some programs on the computer run improperly.  Without thinking, we delete those files.  The next thing we know, we’re booting up to nothing but a mouse cursor and a black screen.  What happened?  If you’re a Windows user, and this has happened to you – you should read this.

(more…)

If you’re like me or anyone on the net, when you have a computer problem, you go to google and try to search for answers.  For some of us, this is an easy task – for others, not so much.  Here are a few tips to help you find your answers using Google alone.

Google is a great source for finding information, they are currently the number 1 search engine in the world.  “Google it” has even become a common slang in terms of searching for something online – from directions, to search-engine searches.  Google is popular for one good reason: they obtain content FAST.  Many of my articles here, on FunkyTower, wind up in Google’s database in less than 24 hours!  In fact, the majority of my website’s visitors are directed here by Google.  So, Google is definately a great source for finding information.

(more…)

Having been a webdesigner since the age of 10 (that was 9 years ago, folks) I have been in love with open source.  The fact that you have the the right given to you to modify and change the given program for commercial or personal use is WONDERFUL!!!  That’s why I tried out Wordpress.

I must admit, the first time I tried to run Wordpress, I was confused.  The directions, to me, were confusing at the time so I just gave up on it.  Having come back to it recently to give it’s latest version a shot, the process flew with the breeze.  It was so easy to set up, configure, and mess with – I felt like I was five years old walking around Toys R Us, just playing with all the goodies.

(more…)

Have you ever wanted to make fancey buttons that do stuff when you put your mouse over it, but don’t want to mess too much with javascript, and you just can’t afford flash?  Well, there’s an easier way to do it and it’s called CSS.  You may have noticed other articles pertaining to CSS here at FunkyTower, and if you’ve read them, you’ve realized how easy it is to use CSS.  All it takes is a little push into getting started.  So if you want to make fancy buttons for a navigation bar, well here’s the tutorial:

(more…)

CSS is such a useful tool in designing your website and adding some functionality to it.  One of the things that turns most “beginner web designers” on to CSS is the ability to customize the color of links.  This is great to avoid having unwanted underlines and the ugly blue default link color.  Well did you know you can create a very versitile navigation bar using CSS?  It’s really quite easy: instead of applying effects to a piece of text – apply effects to a table cell!  In this tutorial you will learn effects regaurding: hovering cell background effects, text effects, button effects, and more!

(more…)

Say you’re on the go, out of town, or just can’t get to your computer and access your local calendar app. Or, say you don’t have a calendar app but a datebook and you forgot to take it with you. By now, you’re probably thinking “If only I could be notified by a text message what I’m supposed to be doing!” Well, luckily, there’s a way to do that. It’s called Google Calendar and it’s got a load of features – and, like most of Google’s products, it’s free.

(more…)

NOTE: NEW FIX AVAILABLE HERE: http://www.funkytower.com/2008/09/22/dreamweaver-mx-and-vista-fix-insert-tables-best-fix/

If you’ve upgraded to Windows Vista and have installed your old Macromedia Dreamweaver MX, you are bound to  run into some compatibility issues.  For many web designers, using tables is a huge asset for designing a web page.  Though you can do many of the same things using <div>, tables is fairly easy to use.  The only problem is, Dreamweaver MX and Vista = no inserting tables.  Is there a fix to this problem?  Why, yes there is.

(more…)

If you have a blog, and you’re looking to share your thoughts with more people, and network with other bloggers, Technorati is supposed to be a good source – and I’m sure for many it is.  Unfortunately they have a horrible system for “claiming” a blog.

“Claiming” your blog is verifying that YOU are the owner of the blog.  It would be a good thing if you could actually claim your blog!

Many users try to claim their own blog, but Technorati’s system won’t let them.  They get an immediate error message for no real reason.  When users contact the customer service, they don’t respond with a solution or reason why the users can’t claim their own blog.  Some people made it public by posting threads on Technorati’s discussion boards mentioning Technorati’s inability to create a decent claiming system and their lack of responding to e-mails sent to customer support.  As it turns out, TONS of users are experiencing this problem.  There have been reply after reply to these thread topics.

Seems that once Technorati’s administration got word of it, they claimed their faulty customer service on a “backlog” that they’ve been experiencing - I didn’t even know this was word.  I think the only thing that would cause them to have a “backlog” is they just stopped responding to people’s e-mails.  NOW they want to go back and address the issue since it’s been made public.

The reason I say THAT is now those topics aren’t open for discussion anymore.  I guess Technorati is tired of being embarrassed on their own website.  I still see more people posting new topics about the problem though.

Technorati needs to do two things – stop disregaurding e-mails or expand your customer support so you can start responding to people’s requests, and develop a better system for claiming a blog.

I tried to submit a blog to network with other bloggers, and I can’t claim my own blog.  I sent Technorati an e-mail, but I don’t expect an e-mail back.

What Do You Think?
Do you have the same problem?  Perhapse you have a solution to this problem!  Whatever you have to say, let me know about it, I’ll be happy to respond to your e-mail   So go ahead and share your thoughts with me by leaving a comment or contacting me at david@funkytower.com

Take it easy,
David Crandall

Ever wanted to make your own animated cartoon?  Ever try softwares like Flash that can be too expensive or too time consuming, or sometimes too confusing?  Well there’s this really cool website I heard about that lets you make your own cartoon straight from your web browser, and its free.  This website is called GoAnimate.

(more…)

Search engines can be a great tool to help drive traffic to your website. Here are some ways to help get your website in search engines without having to spend any money.  Do all of these, and your website will be in search engines for sure. 

(more…)