27. December 2009 by admin.

I had a problem sending emails last night. I had to get one sent that was kind of important. I use Outlook Express because, well, I’ve always used Outlook Express. It’s simple to use and does One Thing Good (a Unix ideal: Make programs small and do One Thing Good, and allow them to “connect” with other programs in case you want to do More Things Good.) that is send and receive Emails. Anyway the problem resulted in emails getting an ERROR, a Blank Error to make things more confusing, upon sending messages. The message would get stuck in the Outbox. Recipients would tell me that they not only “got the message” but “got 20 copies of it”. So the email messages were getting sent, but OE was not registering that fact correctly. So off I went to find the un-technology or aged-old-technology that causes this phenomena. Here is the transcript of an email that I wrote to a friend and customer about my trouble-with-tribbles troubles with Microsoft Outlook Express:

> Hi Alan!  No Trouble Here!! John

That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Anyway I guess it’s a good time to “clean house” a bit - I had sent emails going back to the year 2005.

I’ve heard of that issue in PST mailbox files for Outlook, but not Outlook Express. But I’m sure it’s the same type of thing. And I’ve probably had this problem before … although it might be that Windows XP itself or a hard drive suffers a glitch or crash before OE gets to that point. I say that because I remember backing up OE files (and thus email) in the past … and re-importing them into a fresh Windows XP install.

Anyway, reference: http://help.wugnet.com/windows2/Blank-Error-Message-Emails-ftopict493707.html

There used to be hard drive size limitations, and no doubt file size limits in 16 bit FAT/FAT32 and NTFS as well. But I know these days I have much larger FILES such as DVD movies on NTFS in 4, 8, 54 (Blue Ray?) Gb Sizes without any problems.

See also: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/903095

I guess it’s a matter of “bandwidth” somewhere. Extra Class Ham Operators get more Bandwidth on HF. Newer compression technologies and communications transmission methods give more bandwidth for Television and Internet bandwidth situations. 64-bit IP Addressing Methods (e.g. IPv6 vs IPv4) give more bandwidth in IP Address “Space” and in Computer Operating Systems (e.g. 32-bit Windows vs 64-bit Windows.) In fact I’m running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit on a computer with 6 Gb or RAM memory and it can actually use it all. In a 32-bit Operating System it can not. 64-bit Operating Systems are starting to take over. It’s at the “Tipping Point” where you won’t be able to buy a new computer with a 32-bit OS, it will come out-of-the-box with a 64-bit OS.

—
Alan Spicer

Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom

http://www.marinetelecom.net and http://www.wifiyacht.net

+1 954-683-3426

communications (at) marinetelecom.net

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4. December 2009 by admin.

*I’m* an APP for that…

I’ve been working on a newer PC for a yacht. I’ve also been working on educating myself up-to-date with Windows 7 (32-bit and 64-bit) - and I already have had Vista for quite some time. And I also now have Vista 64-bit. 64-bit operating systems are starting to already appear on new PC’s in stores. Some people may be getting them and not even realizing they just got a 64-bit computer instead of a 32-bit one. 64-bit is, as Howard Hughes said (in the movie “Aviator”), The way of the future… The way of the future… Ask google.com why 64-bit is better. Check out: http://www.gadgetted.com/?p=2394 as well.

So why do you care? Well I wanted this particular yacht to have the capability to run the new Windows 7 because it’s very nice. In install tests on newer hardware that baby is finding 97% or better of the hardware out-of-the-box. Which means I’m installing it and I have to do very little - if any - chasing down of hardware driver software. I’m also finding that it runs a lot of things, that you wouldn’t think it would run.

But I’m on a yacht, you say… I’ve got to run certain stuff that will only run on Windows XP. Well, like I said … I’m an APP for that. That’s the whole point of this article. NOW I would NOT recommend that you do this with your Navigation PC. But for other entertainment and backup Nobeltec PC (or laptop) and such this is definately a viable option.

What’s that? Yes, you can run “dual boot” which means you get a choice of Windows XP or Windows 7 and boot time. One of them is the default and after the clock of around 30 seconds runs out, that one will boot anyway. On the PC I’m doing for a yacht I switched the default so that Windows XP normally boots by default. But there is that nice little choice of being able to boot into Windows 7 as well. Newer software, and even some older software will knock right into Windows 7 and run just fine.

So if anyone needs this kind of service… this kind of magic… on a yacht - then give me a call. I can also get very good pricing on Windows XP Pro, Vista, and Windows 7. I know not too many people are going to be fighting to get Windows Vista. But you really ought to have a look at the new Windows 7!!!!

Thanks!

—

Alan Spicer

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom

http://www.marinetelecom.net

communications (at) marinetelecom.net

+1 954-683-3426

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30. April 2009 by admin.

By now you may have read some of my articles on my blog and perhaps on my web site marinetelecom.net. In my articles, like my work, I try to go the extra mile … to get the background behind something. With my products I support them fully and try to remain knowledgeable at the “expert” or consultant level on them. That way you don’t just get a product or a service (in the cases of consulting and consulting + installation) but a value-added heads up on the industry or market behind that product. How it works, when and why it doesn’t work, and how to use it to your advantage to save money.

I try to not only sell and or install stuff … but to educate myself and my customers in the process. Someone said that an educated consumer is our best customer. If you’re not educated on something that I think you need to be educated on, I’ll get you there.

One of the most rewarding things in my business is to see a customers eyes light up … to see that “Ahah” moment when they “get” something. It’s important to not only sell products and services (to consult) but also to enhance peoples lives by delivering something that they may often not normally get - and understanding of the “how” and “why” of a thing or a particular equipment and why that product or technology can save them money or otherwise enhance their work and personal lives.

I enjoy making complex technology subjects more understandable for everyday people … who no doubt have enough complications in their lives already.

So, having said that, if I can be of help to anyone please let me know.

—

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom

+1 954 683 3426

http://www.marinetelecom.net

http://www.wifiyacht.net

http://blog.marinetelecom.net

http://internetforyachts.net

… and don’t forget to stop by http://riveroffers.com/?cogid=aspicer … Get what you need from business communications to consumer electronics and more. We’ve got your needs covered! Make sure you visit us real soon.

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18. March 2009 by admin.

Just like the old saying that “two wrongs don’t make a right” - Two Anti-Viruses Don’t Make a Right either!

I’ve been on two job sites in the past 30 days or so where someone had installed an ISP (Internet Service Provider) supplied Application Suite (software) that provides Anti-Virus and such protection, along with another commercial (free or pay) Anti-Virus software. In both cases it messed up the computer severely. Causing inability to boot or inability to use the system even if it gets to the Windows Desktop part of the boot up sequence.

So unless you really know what you’re doing … be very careful of installing multiple protection softwares from multiple authors or vendors onto your computer. Many recent anti-virus softwares are adding additonal functionality such as Anti-Spyware and Anti-Worm, and even Firewall protection to their software installations.

The way I described it here the other day was … You’ve now got 2 softwares that want to protect the “Core” of the Computer - The Core of the Operating System. In my thinking you’ve then got two softwares that can fight over the “core” of the OS of the computer. And I don’t know if this is a good description of what happens, but, what if they BOTH WIN? And YOU LOSE.

You would think that each software would report some kind of violation of priveledged “space” or priveledged parts of the Operating System. You would think that each software would pop up some kind of dialog box asking you to decide to allow the other software acess to “the core” of the Operating System. But it seems like they may not. They may just lock in a death grip on the core and cause bad things to happen such as Rebooting right after reaching the desktop or the system refusing to let you do anything at all.

So if you’ve got an ISP provided Anti-Virus Software or such Protection Suite … you might want to uninstall it before you download something else to battle that virus (or root kit, or trojan horse) infection that you think you have on your computer. Once you’ve uninstalled one software, and rebooted, then you will likely be safe to install another software and do battle with the beast (or beasts.)

—

Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom

http://www.marinetelecom.net

http://www.internetforyachts.net

http://www.wifiyacht.net

+1 954 683 3426

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25. February 2009 by admin.

http://www.maritime-executive.com/pressrelease/kvhs-new-tri-americas-lnb-offers-boaters-seamless-satellite-tv-among-americas/

KVH’s New Tri-Americas LNB Offers Boaters Seamless Satellite TV Among the Americas

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

Boaters who cruise from North America to Central or South America and back can now enjoy seamless satellite TV throughout the voyage, without changing hardware

For leisure boaters and commercial mariners alike, satellite TV provides a vital source of information and entertainment during long periods at sea. However, the transition from North American satellite TV services to DIRECTV® Latin America has always been a laborious one as satellite TV antenna hardware needed to be swapped out with each change of region. Well, that inconvenience is a thing of the past thanks to today’s introduction of the Tri-Americas™ LNB from KVH Industries (Nasdaq: KVHI) at the 2009 Miami International Boat Show in Miami, FL. This new option allows boaters using KVH’s TracVision M5, M7, and M9 satellite TV systems to travel from DIRECTV, DISH Network®, and Bell ExpressVu coverage areas in North America to DIRECTV Latin America coverage areas in Central and South America along with the Caribbean and back again, all without the inconvenience of LNB changes.

(more at the link … sounds like Press Release)

Alan’s Note: Of course the probably doesn’t mean that you don’t still have to carry different Satellite Receiver/Decoder boxes and have service with the various providers. But I’m sure it will be nice not having to climb up to the dome and swap out the LNB hardware.

—

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom

http://www.marinetelecom.net

http://www.wifiyacht.net

http://blog.marinetelecom.net

+1 954 683 3426

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8. February 2009 by admin.

I also thought that a primer on USB 2.0 (and the older USB 1.1) might be of interest to land and ship based customers (sail and motor yacht) of mine. Universal Serial Bus ( USB ) has become a very common connection both on devices such as Cameras, Printers, and Hard Disk drives - as well as on Laptop and Desktop computers. What gets yah on yachts a lot on your navigation computer is… the fact that most newer computers no longer have a Serial Port. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_port

[caption id=”" align=”aligncenter” width=”382″ caption=”9-Pin Serial Port Jack”][/caption]

Navigation computers often need a Serial Port to communicate with NMEA devices such as Radar and GPS … and Autopilot equipment. So on newer computers you often have to get a “USB to Serial” adaptor to allow these connections. There are such adaptors made for only one serial port, as well as ones made for high-end applications and for multiple serial ports, such as the ones made by Sea Level company:

http://www.sealevel.com/.

[caption id=”" align=”alignnone” width=”383″ caption=”Sealevel Model 2201 USB to Serial Port”][/caption]

So now on our way to check out the article - we see that it is very interesting to know about USB and its many applications on modern computers and in particular on sail and motor yachts. One thing that I’ve noticed is that older computers often have the older USB 1.1 connections on them. And I, like probaly other people, have a USB Hub from Belkin that is also USB 1.1. So when I plug in newer devices I get a warning message pop up telling me that this device would perform better/faster if it were on a newer USB 2.0 connection. Time to go buy hardware I guess. My newer computers have USB 2.0 and things seem to work great with that!

http://www.marinetelecom.net/usb_cactus_symbol_140_283.gif USB Logo

 

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/10

USB 2.0
Author: Gabriel Torres
Last Updated: August 22, 2004

Both the Firewire and the USB allow you to easily install external peripherals to the computer, such as digital cameras, keyboards, mouse, printers, Zip-drives, CD recorders, hard disks etc, through a standardized connector available in the computer’s motherboard ( in the case of USB ) or through an extra board added to the computer (in the case of the FireWire, if you don’t have a high-end motherboard with this kind of bus).

Firewire (also known as IEEE 1394) is an external bus to connect external peripherals to the computer, similar to USB, which has as great attractive a high transfer rate: 400 Mbps (that is approximately 50 MB/s).

The USB Implementers Forum (http://www.usb.org), that is the group of manufacturers that developed the USB, has already developed the USB second version, called USB 2.0 or High-speed USB. This new USB version has a maximum transfer rate of 480 Mbps (approximately 60 MB/s), that is, a higher rate than the FireWire and much higher than its previous version (called 1.1), that is the version we have today in our computers and that allows the connection of peripherals using transfer rates of 12 Mbps (approximately 1.5 MB/s) or 1.5 Mbps (approximately 192 KB/s), depending on the peripheral.

(more at the link above…)

—
Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom
http://www.marinetelecom.net
http://www.alanspicermarinetelecom.com
communications (at) marinetelecom.net
communications (at) alanspicermarinetelecom.com
a_spicer (at) bellsouth.net
+1 954-683-3426 +1 954-977-5245

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8. February 2009 by admin.

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18. January 2009 by admin.

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18. January 2009 by admin.

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