Today I was wondering how I could just disable one of my Microsoft Outlook e-mail accounts without explicitly deleting it.  The reason I had to do this is because I’m beta testing a new webmail program through my University, so the email account settings will work again later.  And if I delete it, I will lose those settings and other emails along with it.

So, after I did some playing around in Outlook, I figured out how to do this.  This steps below will show you how.

Note: This doesn’t fully disable the account, but it does keep outlook from popping up an error message during Send/Receive since it will not send/receive that email account anymore.

These steps are for Outlook 2007 and has not been tested with any previous versions

1. Click on Tools –> Options…
2. Click the Mail Setup tab
3. Click on the Send/Receive… button
4. Click on a desired Send/Receive group.  By default there is only 1: ‘All Accounts’.
   1. Click the Edit… button
5. Highlight the desired email account with which you would like to disable
6. Uncheck the Include the selected account in this group box.
7. That’s it!  Whenever you send/receive, the account you just disabled will not be included.  You will still have access to your emails/folders though.

Earlier today I was using Vuze to download some new clips and all the sudden it just exited.  Not sure what happened, I did some digging.

After restarting Vuze, you get this error message:

Alert:1:Azureus has detected the presence of 'vlsp.dll'. This is part of 'Venturi Firewall ' and has been known to cause severe problems such as application crashes and high CPU usage. If you encounter these then please uninstall the software or configure it to not affect Azureus.

The problem here is that after searching my system for this DLL file, I did not have it, or the proposed “Venturi Firewall” program.  I have never heard of these and never downloaded/installed it. But after a single Live search, I came across a forum post that linked this Vuze crash to nVidia’s Network Access Manager.  When I installed a new update for my motherboard, I saw that nVidia finally released NAM for Vista, so I installed it.  After installing it, I noticed it would not come up, but I didn’t think much of it, until now.  So I uninstalled nVidia’s Network Access Manager and it fixed the problem; Vuze crashes/exits no more!

So, if you are having this problem and have a nVidia motherboard chipset with NAM installed, this is how you fix it.

When I installed IE8 Beta, RC1 and RC2, everything in regards to speed was working top notch.  But once I loaded up IE8 Final Release, it all went downhill and just about had it until I found this fix.  I was having problems with Internet Explorer 8 loading really slow.  It would take anywhere from 5-30 seconds to load up the program, then from there it would take a while to actually load my homepage.  It would sit at a blank page with the tab saying Connecting… for a while.  Well, I have found a fix that will make it load very very fast again!

The problem is that IE8 has it’s own restricted sites and enhanced security configuration zones with sites already in place.  So when you combine that with other programs like Spybot Search & Destroy, it can make those lists very very long and in turn make IE load slower.  Since you may get a lot of duplicates, the fix below will delete IE’s websites already in place and your program, Spybot for instance, will overwrite it with it’s sites and you will be good to go!

Fix: http://windowsfixup.com/2009/03/speeding-up-internet-explorer-8/

I went to the AT&T Wireless store over my spring break to get a new phone since my 2-year contract was finally up!  My previous phone was a Samsung A707 (I forget the name they used for it though).  The Eternity is a new phone from AT&T that’s suppose to be a lot like the Apple iPhone without it being classified as a “PDA” phone.  It has a lot of good features, but a lot that are just annoying too.  I find with Samsung phones, they last and are good phones, but they don’t seem to go through with some of the programming.

For example, the Eternity has a widget screen where you can put movable objects like Time, Sound Profile, Calendar, Alarms, etc. on it.  But you can’t add any new programs from it.  Kind of funny and I hope they update that in an update.  Another is the vibration.  The vibrate feature is very weak and even on full vibrate I hardly feel it in my pocket when a call or message comes in.

Overall, it has not been too bad for the length of time I’ve had it, 3 days.  I hope I start to enjoy it more and more though.

So, something quirky happened this morning with my old phone.  First of all, you need to know I use my phone as my alarm in the morning to get up.  I have 2 alarms 15 minutes apart from each other.  1 as a warning to get up and a final alarm.  So, the phone is off since I don’t use it anymore without a SIM card in it as well (since it’s in my Eternity now).  Well the alarms were still set to Active.  So, this morning I got a nice double alarm.  Apparently the alarms still come on even though the phone is off.  What a nice feature!  Too bad you never think about that.

Last week, I learned about half-adders and full-adders.  Now, in a computer, this is basically a circuit that adds up binary numbers.  Addition in binary is a little different from regular decimal arithmetic though.  In binary, in order to add up numbers with a circuit, you have to do it with 2-bit adders, 2 bits at a time until you are done, so depending on how big your numbers are, you could end up having a large circuit.  My diagrams are only 8-bit adders, but your processors now a days are either 32-bit or 64-bit adders (and the PS3 has a 128-bit processor I believe).

Below are the schematics for a half-adder and a full-adder, then an 8-bit adder carry-on with both a half-adder and 7 full adders.  My 8-bit adder also has overflow protection.  In binary addition, sometimes when you add up numbers you can get the wrong number because of the carry-outs.  But I will talk about that some other time.

Half-Adder

Full-Adder

8-bit Carry-over adder with Overflow protection

I have developed an easy to use PHP class for shopping carts.  This class is session-based, so that means if you want to save the cart, you will have to integrate your own COOKIE system to retrieve it and put it back into the cart, which isn’t hard at all.

When I mean easy to use, I mean easy to use!  All you have to do is know basic PHP in order to integrate this.  From there, you just initiate the class and use the methods as needed.

Check it out: http://www.coderprofile.com/networks/source-codes/578/php-shopping-cart-class-session-based

I browsing the internet today and somehow I managed to land on Vista themes from Deviant Art.  There were many that looked good, so I downloaded them all!  Although, there are two different kinds of themes that you see and can download.  1) Themes that look good in their screenshots but end up being a mess or just not great at all when put to use and 2) the ones that don’t look to great in their screenshot but you thought you would give it a shot and download it anyway and it ends up being great.

Well, one of which I downloaded today was both great looking in the screenshot and also great when applied.  It is called SteelFlash 100k.  From the screenshot, you could tell the author spent a long time perfecting it to make sure everything was good.  When I finished applying all the theme hacks that go with adding a theme to Vista, it was just amazing!  I would really suggest downloading it.  It reminds me on Windows 7.

One problem that a lot of themes face are the font/text colors.  When you download and install them, they look great, but when you have a dark theme with dark fonts, it’s a massive turn off, and if you are like me, you just end up uninstalling them.  What’s great about a theme if you can’t even read the text on the screen?  Nothing.  Unfortunately, I wish Microsoft would make it easier to colorize text in software, menus and windows.  I have a dark theme, and when that happens, the title text is also black, it doesn’t work very well.

Now my next endeavor: login screen modification.

My roommate and I were watching The Happening tonight on his XBOX 360.  During the movie, it had a little trouble reading the DVD.  It was rented, so you almost have to expect a little trouble watching a movie.  But the XBOX never faltered while trying to regain its footsteps.  It would always get back on track in a timely manner, sometimes just a few milliseconds after it was having trouble.  I've never had this kind of success in any other DVD or Blu-Ray players.  They usually can't read the disk and then quit playback altogether, while the 360 sometimes might shift a few frames forward for the sake of progress, which is good.

Can't wait to see what Microsoft comes out with next after the 360!  Blu-ray is a must.

I am enrolled in a Computer Information Systems class at Kansas State University this semester.  This class involves developing programs with the programming language Java.  Our first project is due this week and I needed to start working on it, but by the time I needed to make my first compile, the commands were nonexistent in the Windows Vista command prompt.  After doing some searches on http://www.Live.com, I came up with this result.  If you are finding yourself in the same situation as this, follows these steps and it should do the trick.

1. Download and install the latest version of Java SE Development Kit (JDK) at
1. http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp
2. Find the directory it installed to, most likely C:\Program Files\Java
3. Open Control Panel -> System -> Advanced system settings.
4. Click on the "Environmental Variables..." button at the bottom.
5. Under 'System Variables', find and select the Path variable and then click the 'Edit...' button.
6. At the end of the string, add this:
1. ;C:\Program Files\Java\(your version number)\bin
2. Replace "(your version number)" with the install version.
1. Mine was jdk1.6.0_11
3. You need to have the semicolon present if and only if there is no a semicolon already present on the end.
7. Click "OK"
8. If you are already in command prompt, close and restart it.
9. Now you should be able to run the "java" and "javac" commands to compile and run your Java scripts.

Let me know if this doesn't work for you!

Well, it's been a while since I've posted.  I have been meaning to post, but every time I want to do it, something else pops up!  Some things have happened since my last post, so I will update you all on those.

I have a new transmission!  My old transmission did not fully crap out on me, but I decided that I might as well replace it now, since I knew it was going to go out and not have to deal with waiting until it going out.  If I waited, then there would have been that chance it would have gone out somewhere in the middle of no where, possibly on the way back to Manhattan, KS (Kansas State University).

With that, I am back at college for my second semester.  Unfortunately, my first semester did not go as good as I hoped it would.  I received 2 D's, a C and a B.  The 2 D's were negotiable as I missed the C grade with Chemistry by less than a percentage point, 0.24% to be exact.  But you know colleges, they don't care about you, they just want your money.  So, I am retaking Chemistry 1, and hopefully I will get a B or better this time.  I also have to retake Calculus 1.  The reason I failed this class was strictly because of the recitation portion of the class.  If I would have got at least a B in recitation, I would have got a 75% exactly.  But, enough of the ranting, I have to retake them and that's all there is to it!

I will be posting new things hopefully all this semester about what I am learning in CIS 200 and EECE 241, Computer Information Systems (Java and C# programming of Software applications) and Computer Engineering (Digital Electronics), respectively.

This semester, I hope, proves to be fun and interesting with the classes I actually want to take.  Plus, I can get the classes out of the way that I have to retake since I already know the content!

I just hopped on here to post a quick article.  Just wanted to tell everyone Happy New Year and I hope they had a good time celebrating last night, or for those who waited, to have a good one today!

I have to take my car into the body shop tomorrow to get painted!  Yes!  Sucks I have to get up at 6:00am though to bring it in.  But hey, looking on the bright side my car will be looking brand new!  (Well, the bumpers anyway).

Happy 2009!

I got a little bored yesterday, so I decided to finally paint the appearance cover of my 1997 SHO engine.  I painted it with high heat ceramic paint.  Looks great and it added a new look to it!  But I need to repaint it I fear because when I installed it, it chipped easily.  Possibly clear coat next time?  Who knows.

I bought red ceramic paint as well, but didn't want to take the time to cut out the letting of '3.2 32 Valve'.  Check below for pictures.

Yesterday was Christmas.  As a child it was one of the best day's of the year, besides my birthday of course.  Why?  Because you get presents and you get 3 weeks off of school.  But for me, I think that ship has sailed.  Now that I'm in college and doing my own thing, I don't get hardly any presents, if any at all on Christmas day.  My parents said this year that my present was college.  I didn't argue much as college is getting exceedingly difficult to finance, with it being almost $10,000 a semester these days.  But most of all, I like buying gifts for myself instead of having someone give them to me.  It makes them more valuable to me if I just buy them myself.

So why is Christmas Day one of the worst days of the year?  Well, if you get in your car and go anywhere, you have about 2 choices: a gas station or the movie theatre.  Some gas stations aren't open on Christmas day though, so you have to choose wisely.  But the movie theatre, well that's where everyone else that is as bored as you are goes because there is nothing else to do.  Some families even make it a tradition.  But for the regular people who've only done it maybe, once like me, get very annoyed.

My brother and I were pretty bored in the afternoon yesterday because there was simply nothing to do.  So we decided to go to AMC 30 in Olathe and watch a movie.  There were several movies out, one of which was Yes Man with Jim Carrey starring.  When we got to the movie theatre at around 4:30pm, we were thinking it wasn't going to be too bad, since it was Christmas Day and all.  We were utterly and completely wrong.  Before we could even see the movie theatre, as we creeped up on the edge of the parking lots, the back one was almost full.  Our worse nightmare came true.  Luckily, we found a parking space pretty close to the entrance though.  As we purchased our tickets from the automated teller, we found out the 5:10pm showing was sold out, great.  So we went for the 6:05pm showing.  Purchased the tickets and we were back to my car.

As we sat down in my car, we realized we had a little over an hour to waste before the movie.  What could we do?  As we looked around, nothing was open, not even McDonald's.  We ended up wanting to get something to eat.  We went around to all the fast food joints in the area: Taco Bell, Burger King, Wendy's, and finally McDonald's, but they were all closed.  We ate up about 45 minutes, so we decided just to head home and get something to eat really quick.  It's amazing though, that no fast food joints are open on Christmas, yes the street cleaners are still out cleaning the streets.  Amazing...

As we pulled back up to the movie theatre to see Yes Man, I think more were even more cars than before.  So, we walked in and went into the movie theatre.  We were there almost 25 minutes early and the whole theatre was filled up with the only available seats for us two were in the front two rows.  Ridiculous!  So, we decided to get a refund as sitting 10 feet away from a 3 story movie screen is not very fun.

So, I've came to a realization: people are just as bored as I am on Christmas day and there is only one place to go: the movie theatre.

Note to self: never go to see a movie on Christmas day again.

1. Open up the Options dialogue, Tools -> Options
2. Go to the 'Mail Setup' tab
3. Click the 'Send/Receive...' button
4. Select the send/receive group you want to update.
   1. Depending on the Send/Receive groups you have setup, you might have to look at each one to see which account you want to update.
5. Click on the 'Edit...' button
6. You will see your email account, or accounts, listed on the left menu.  Click each IMAP account you would like to setup automatic downloading on and follow the proceding steps.
7. If not checked already, check the 'Receive mail items' box
8. Under that, make sure to check 'Download complete items including attachments for subscribed folders'
9. Save

You are done.  On your next update of your IMAP folders, Outlook should download all the messages it recieves instead of just the header information.

I just reformatted my computer yesterday, and oh man was it nice.. at least after I got all the kinks out.  Now my computer actually starts up without a problem and can go into Vista setup without a blue screen.  It's a miracle! (Or maybe just a faulty hard drive, who knows.)

I had to reinstall all of my programs, including Microsoft Outlook 2007.  When I reinstalled it and added all my accounts, which is a whopping 12 e-mail accounts, I know, ridiculous, I saw I left one out.  On one of my websites, I have a root e-mail address that I forgot to add before.  So, I added it back on, and behold a flood of almost 10,000 emails! (9,141 emails) at a total of 161 megabytes.  That's a lot of e-mails and a lot of space eaten up.

I can't believe I didn't notice it before.  Now I have to sift through all these e-mails and see if I missed anything that was important.  Great.

I just finished watching the movie Street Kings.  Great movie!  I heard a lot of people on my dormitory floor say it was bad.  But I saw other reviews for 7/10, which is very good.

The movie has a great plot about Los Angeles Police Officers and a crime ring a unit created.  One of the officers, Keanu Reeves, was never in on the storyline that the unit was in, so he was the outcast at the end who eventually either turned in his fellow mates or killed them.

But I don't want to spoil it, watch it for yourself!

By the way, Keanu Reeves still has that "no emotion" kind of thing going on, but if you can get passed that, then you will really like the movie.

Over the weekend when I went home for my birthday, my Dad and I went out TV shopping.  He has been wanting a new TV in our basement for a while now; I would say about 2 years!  But he finally decided to actually go looking instead of reading magazines about the reviews of good TV's.  The local Circuit City went out of business and was selling everything 30-50% off, so we went there first.  I was amazed when I first entered the store, almost the whole back and left shelves were empty and the only items left were home entertainment, wires and cables, and TV's.  Lucky for us, that is what we were looking for!  The best TV shown with the best picture and brightness was the Samsung 50" PDP (Plasma).  They wanted $1,300 for it.  It was originally about $2,000 if I recall.

From there, we decided to cross the street to Best Buy and see if they had any better deals.  Our, or should I really say my, first thoughts were 'no' sense Black Friday and even Cyber Monday were past and gone.  But lone and behold, Best Buy had a great deal going for the same TV!  For about $1,500 you could get the Samsung PDP TV, a Blu-Ray player and standard Geek Squad installation service.  What a deal!  We took it.  So, we also needed:

• HDMI Cables
• HDTV/DVR Box from Cable Company
• 2 front speakers and a subwoofer
• Receiver
• Speaker stands
• surge protector

Best Buy with the Mongolia set-up in their stores offers a great selection of home audio systems.  From there, the Best Buy rep found us another great deal.  It was a Panasonic receiver with a Klipsch 5.1 surround sound system.  This was being offered to us for about $1,500.  The only problem was we really wanted the Denon receiver, which had great reviews and is said to be one of the best on the market.  Best Buy was offering this receiver for about $500 on sale.  After talking to the rep a little more, and since we were spending a good chunk of change with them, he decided to let us switch out the receivers, yes!

All said and done, we spent about $3,200 on equipment and an additional $400 on HDMI cables, speaker wire and a Monster Stage 2 Surge Protector with noise-filtering.

I got the whole system setup that night, and wow, was it amazing!  You might say a 50-inch on cable standing up close looks bad, but this TV made me cry it was so good looking.  When I tried out Ironman on Blu-Ray with the system, not only did the video look amazing, but the sound quality was unheard of!  It literally sounded like I was in a movie theatre it was so good.

I can't wait to go home again and watch some more movies.

My time spent at Kansas State University has been awesome, except for one thing: Parking Tickets. KSU has an army of wolves waiting for someone to step away from their car without putting in a few quarters at the meter.  So, this is basically a rant, but I will make it as logical as I can.

I was just parking my car outside of my dormitory hall for a couple minutes while I ran in to get my bag of clothes before I left for the weekend.  I would say it took me about 5 to 10 minutes.  I got a nice surprise when I came back down and jumped into my car, a $10 ticket.  So, being me, I waiting 15 days before paying it.  Well, they say on the ticket to pay it in 10 days or you will get a late fee on top of the ticket.  Well, the late fee is $10.  How stupid is this?  You're saying I have to pay $10 and then pay 100% of the $10 on top of that for being late?  I don't think so.  For those of you who didn't get that math, 100% of $10 is $10, so it would be a grand total of $20.  For parking in the wrong area without meters is a $25 ticket and for parking in that same lot without a parking pass at all is $50.  The same late fee applies.  Pretty ridiculous and might I say the University makes a nice wad of cash of us poor college students.

Of course, I had to pay the late fee because of my laziness to not walk down the street to the on-campus police department and pay it, but I still think a 100% increase in a ticket for it because a couple (well.. 5 actually) days late is horrible.  I should petition this, but, I'm too lazy.  The irony never stops.