Need to test isp quality?

What is Pingtest.net?

Use Pingtest.net to determine the quality of your broadband Internet connection. Streaming media, voice, video communications, and online gaming require more than just raw speed. Test your connection now to get your Pingtest.net rating and share the result with others!

Online OCR

Did you ever get a document scan from someone but needed to change the text in it. This web site will take it and turn it in to editable text for you. Wish I had this years ago. I bought some software that did this for $200.

http://www.onlineocr.net/

Five Best Time-Tracking Applications

Where does the time go? Whether you need to know for billing purposes or just want a better idea of how your work day is split up, you can always answer that question with a good time-tracking application.

Click here to go to Lifehacker to see all the best programs for Time Managment.

Labor Day Sale at The Bright Spot

The Labor Day discount code was LAB20 - good for 20% any order over $100.
LAB20 discount code will be good through 11:59PM Tuesday 09-08-209

Just type LAB20 in the box on the Online Order Blank labeled: Gifts and Coupons.
(Call us at 1-800-736-0126 if you have a problem.)
• $100.00 Minimum Order
• Prior Sales Excluded
• Not valid with any other offer
• Not valid on Special Orders or items not on our website

www.thebrightspot.com

Great Price on a HP laptop

HP is offering the HP G70t Core 2 Duo 2.1GHz 17" Widescreen Laptop for only $569.99 with free shipping!

Specs: Core 2 Duo T6500 2.1GHz processor, 17" 1440x900 LCD, 3GB RAM, 250GB 5400 RPM Serial ATA HD, DVD burner (dual layer), 802.11g Wireless, built-in webcam, 6-cell battery, and Windows Vista Home Basic (upgrade to Windows Vista Premium for $30 to qualify for the free Windows 7 upgrade).

Follow these step:

1. Click here first, then select "Customize and Buy" option for $599.99
2. select "FREE Upgrade to 3GB DDR2 System Memory (2 Dimm) from 1GB DDR2 System Memory (1 Dimm) for $0"
3. select "FREE Upgrade to 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive from 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive for $0"
4. use coupon code "SV2132" to drop it to $569.99
5. Make sure you add the HP DeskJet D2680 for FREE after this $70 rebate in the printers section

Making Outlook Faster

Here is a great link from Lifehaker to speed up your Microsoft Outlook. I will be trying these ASAP. I will be putting this on my links page at www.indycomputerservice.com

lifehacker.com

Use Your I-Touch or I-Phone to measure distance

Here's a cool trick: the new Sonar Ruler app uses the iPhone's speaker to send out a short click and then measures how long it takes for the sound to bounce off a surface. It then tells you the distance. It's not perfectly accurate, however. It works best on large, flat surfaces that are perpendicular to the phone, which will provide measurements accurate within an inch. It won't work on smaller objects, however, and things like temperature and wind can affect the readings. So you won't want to use it to measure where to cut a piece of wood. But still, that's a damned neat trick for a phone to be able to do. I might have to get this for the .99 cents.

Wi-Fi Signal Status for You and the World!

I saw this shirt about a year ago and I really need it. I now have a I-Touch ipod and am always looking for hotspots now to surf the web. You can it at thinkgeek.com for $19.

AlternativeTo - Great site for free programs

I found this site about a year ago. Have you ever needed a full featured program like photoshop but did not want to pay or pirate the software. Alternativeto.net is your answer.
Here is the discription from the website.
"AlternativeTo is a new approach to finding good software. Tell us what application you want to replace and we give you suggestions on great alternatives! Instead of listing thousands of more or less crappy applications in a category, we make each application into a category. Think of it like forever evolving blog posts about good alternatives to the software that you're not satisfied with. And the "blog posts" are generated by you through suggestions, comments and votes. "
Ckeck out my links page at indycomputerservice.com for more great programs like this.

Great price on Samsung Monitor

Dell SB has the Samsung 2243SWX 22" 1920x1080 Widescreen LCD Monitor for $140 - 10% off coupon WKF35JP9FR9BLQ = $126 with free shipping. Add to cart to see lower price. Next lowest on Google Products is $192 including shipping. I have the 23" and it is a great monitor.

Specs

• Resolution: 1920x1080
• Response time: 5 ms
• Contrast ratio: 1,000:1 (Native), 15,000:1 (Dynamic)
• Viewing angles: 170H/160V
• Inputs
• VGA
• DVI

Need to enlarge a picture?

Did you ever have a small picture that you needed to make alot larger? When you made it larger it completely pixelated. SmillaEnlarger is a free program that will enlarge it but keep the quality. I just used it on an old photo my sister needed to enlarge to 8x10" and it worked perfectly. I have been looking for a program like this for a long time. I will be putting this on my links page at indycomputerservice.com

http://sourceforge.net/projects/imageenlarger/

Saturday Special at Dr Winslows

Slow news day for tech news so I will plug one of my clients.

Saturday Special at Winslow Facial Plastics
All day, Sat. Aug. 15th, we will be offering Botox at $10.00 per unit, Evolence at $400 per syringe and consults with Dr. Winslow at no charge! Call today to make your appointment as there are only a few left! (317) 814-1104 or go to Indyface.com

20% off - $100 minimum order at thebrightspot.com

Hope you had a good week end.

At TheBrightspot.com if you use the coupon code SAV20 you get 20% off the entire order if you spend $100 or more.

Also this is the reason Dell systems are so expensive. Its all in the shipping costs.

PDF-XChange is another Adobe PDF alternative

Why pay $299 for acrobat pro when you can get the same for $34. PDF-XChange is another Adobe-alternative that boasts snappy load times and basic functionality that outpaces the basic functionality of Adobe Reader. With PDF-XChange you can open and browse PDF documents, perform simple page annotations with drawings and text, and type outside of preset form boxes by using the PDF-XChange typewriter tool to place text wherever you want. Advanced features like reorganizing pages and text extraction are only available with the Pro upgrade. PDF-Xchange is available as a portable application.

This is another great app I will have soon on the links page at
www.indycomputerservice.com

Fake Microsoft patch malware

ZD net reports that during the last couple of hours, a fake Microsoft patch themed malware campaign was restarted by its botnet masters, once again spamming a non-existent Update for Microsoft Outlook / Outlook Express (KB910721) as officexp-KB910721-FullFile-ENU.exe detected as VirTool:Win32/Obfuscator.FO.

Some of the subjects used in the campaign include Microsoft has released an update for Microsoft Outlook; Install Critical Update for Microsoft Outlook; and Microsoft Outlook Critical Update.

Remember to keep your anti-virus and malware software UP-TO-DATE!!!!!

If your computer is running slow all of a sudden, you might have a virus. I can help. Call me at 317-753-0823

Wi-Fi Coverage Mapping

Here is a cool program I found the other day. It can map out an office and tell you where the wifi hot-spots in an office are. I have not tried it yet but I will soon.

http://www.ekahau.com/products/heatmapper/overview.html

I will be putting it on my website in the links page
www.indycomputerservice.com\links

Welcome

Welcome to the inaugural post of Indy computer service blog.
I created this blog and service to help:

• To give you IT news on what is happening in the central Indianapolis area.
• Giving information on new virus or ad-ware that I come across in my consulting travels and how I fix the problems.
• New links to programs that help keep your computer safe or just programs I think are cool.
• Info on any special deals I find in the Indy area or on the web.

Please check back here regularity because I will be updating regularly. If you find any interesting news or program, please email me a nelson@indycomputerservice.com . I will be putting all my links on my website www.indycomputerservice.com.

Have a nice day.