Geiger

Auditing Software

2008-12-01T19:27:06Z

I probably shouldn’t be taking about this yet, but I’m just got done creating an Alpha release of a new software service. It says Beta on the site because most people don’t know that Alpha releases come out before Beta releases and are a lot more rough than Beta’s.

Even though this is only an alpha, I will need data before I can release this to full Beta.

The Software/Service: The serivce is PC Auditing Software. The whole idea is to install a small service on each PC that audit’s the PC and sends the information to a database server hosted by me. There you can report and export the data into Excel / PDFs / Etc…

My server’s bandwidth is as close to unlimited as you’re going to get. I can download an entire DVD in 10 minutes.

The Reason: Most auditing software is expensive. Even the cheap no-client software isn’t very good. You need to be logged into a network/domain for it to successfully audit your machine. Also maintaining a server is always a headache. You constantly need to patch the server. Also most companies that have enough security/bandwidth to host their own server can’t easily setup web machines/databases. Licenses and hardware for a database and web server costs at least a few thousand $$$$dollars$$$$. Also, the power to run the server all year round plus troubleshoot it. For just a few dollars a year per PC, my software will allow you to audit ever PC with no updates/work on your part.

The website is www.DotDesk.com. DotDesk as in “Virtual Desk” or “Virtual Help Desk”.

After Beta, I will eventually run a PPC campaign on it to see how many initial subscribers I can get. After that I will probably open it up to affiliates giving out a few dollars for a signup and some incentives based on how many licenses are purchased.

Snuggie Gift

2008-12-01T18:14:02Z

Yeah, it’s simply a blanket with arm holes, but it’s still super sweet. Any woman, they’re usually always cold, would love one.

Here’s a Buy 1 get 1 Free Snuggie Coupon

9-11 Painted Truck

2008-11-21T14:14:57Z

Here is a popular email forward going around. Who knows the legitimacy of it. So since I get this kind of thing in my inbox, you now have to read it on the web. Karma!

Why is the Auto Industry Failing?

2008-11-17T14:50:09Z

Everybody should be asking “Why is the American Auto Industry Failing?”. It’s quite simply in the numbers.

# of Employees: 239,000
# of Retirees Being Paid Pensions: 775,000
# of People get Heathcare: 2,000,000+

This is a very touchy subject for America. It’s because retirement promises were made that can’t be kept. So should the government tax the rich more to pay for retirement or should the retirees get only a portion of what they are promised.

I for one am not expecting any help when I retire (19 more years, age 50). It would be in your best interest to plan for your own retirement as well.

Clickable Touch Phone?

2008-11-11T14:39:49Z

What is everbody’s one major issue with the iPhone? I mean other than having to use iTunes. I hate iTunes guts.

The problem is the lack of a tactile screen. Well, if you want something portable and not clunky, you don’t get a tactile screen right? Well some people, smarter than us came up with a way. Clickable Screen!

I still have a year contract on my shitty Sprint Treo 755 but might try to see if I can play around with one of these phones as well. Looking at the full specs I can see that it does not have WiFi but it does have a removable battery. It also has a 3.2 megapixel camera WITH flash.

Percentage Clicks by Position

2008-11-05T19:20:20Z

Everybody knows that the higher up in search engine rankings you are, the more clicks you get. How much though?

Let’s assume there are 10 results per page and 1,000,000 search per month.

Percentage of Clicks per Position

Position	Percent Clicks	Number of Clicks 1,000,000	If you Go up 1	If You Go Down 1
1	42.30%	423,000		28.18%
2	11.92%	119,200	355%	70.81%
3	8.44%	84,400	141%	71.45%
4	6.03%	60,300	140%	80.60%
5	4.86%	48,600	124%	82.10%
6	3.99%	39,900	122%	84.46%
7	3.37%	33,700	118%	88.43%
8	2.98%	29,800	113%	94.97%
9	2.83%	28,300	105%	104.95%
10	2.97%	29,700	95%	22.22%
11	0.66%	6,600	450%	84.85%
12	0.56%	5,600	118%	92.86%
13	0.52%	5,200	108%	92.31%
14	0.48%	4,800	108%	97.92%
15	0.47%	4,700	102%	82.98%
16	0.39%	3,900	121%	92.31%
17	0.36%	3,600	108%	94.44%
18	0.34%	3,400	106%	94.12%
19	0.32%	3,200	106%	96.88%
20	0.31%	3,100	103%	93.55%
21	0.29%	2,900	107%	41.38%
31	0.12%	1,200	242%	58.33%
41	0.07%	700	171%

This will tell you roughly what you can expect to get for each position for a specific key work.

Almost 90% of clicks are on the first page (first 10 results).
Lest than 4.5% of clicks are on the 2nd page.
About 5.5% are on pages 3 or higher.

Going from 2nd page to 1st page (11th position to 12th) get’s you the biggest increase of clicks. Your clicks go up 450%
Going from the 2nd position to 1st only gets you 355% more clicks.
However, you might want to be in position 10 versus 9. Position 10 gets almost 5 % more than clicks than 10. Because it is at the bottom of the page, it gets more attention than just above the bottom of the page.

Unable to load client print control

2008-11-07T18:29:02Z

From time to time I post fixes that I have found that aren’t on the net. It’s so others don’t have to go through the same aggravation as myself. This one relates to SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS). More precisely we have an ASP.Net application written in C# that uses the report viewer control to show reports. However, when you want to print the report you need to run an ActiveX print control. If you remove this from Internet Explorer, IE can’t load it any more.

FIRST CHECK TO MAKE SURE THESE 2 UPDATES ARE INSTALLED

Microsoft Report Viewer Redistributable 2005 Service Pack 1
Microsoft Report Viewer Redistributable 2008 Service Pack 1

You must restart IIS after installing these. There are older versions available so make certain you have Service Pack 1 editions.

If you are still having the issue, try the following fixes.

Fix #1 - Simplest

We are running the 3.5 Framework. I’m not certain that was a prerequisite though. We simply change the version of the component from 8 to version 9. Open all your ASPX pages and replace

Register Assembly=”Microsoft.ReportViewer.WebForms, Version=8.0.0.0

with

Register Assembly=”Microsoft.ReportViewer.WebForms, Version=9.0.0.0

Fix #2 - This fix simply got the 8.0 version of the control to re-download.

Part 1
Add you site to the trusted sites.

I ran the following parts as well. Each consists of a few steps. I’m not sure if Part 2 was needed.

Part 2
—————————————————————————————————–
Step 1:
Paste the following text in a text editor such as Notepad. Then, save the file by using the .reg file name extension. You can apply this .reg file to client system by double-clicking it.

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{FA91DF8D-53AB-455D-AB20-F2F023E498D3}]
“Compatibility Flags”=dword:00000400
Step 2:
On the client systems which face the issue, this could be tested out -
1. Unregister RSClientPrint.dll
2. Open Internet Explorer
3. Got to Tool - > Internet Options.
4. Click on ‘Programs’ tab
5. Click on ‘Manage add-ons’.
6. Select and Delete the ‘RSClientPrint Class’ ActiveX Control if it exists
7. Select ‘Security’ tab.
8. Select ‘Intranet Zone’ and click on ‘Custom Level’
9. Enable ‘Automatic prompting for ActiveX controls’
10. Select ‘Prompt’ for ‘Download signed ActiveXcontrols’ and ‘Run ActiveX
controls and plug-ins’
11. Restart the Internet Explorer
12. Try to print the report, this time it should prompt you to run the ActiveX
controls and plug-ins.
13. Click ‘Yes’
Part 3
—————————————————————————————————–
Step 1:
Paste the following text in a text editor such as Notepad. Then, save the file by using the .reg file name extension. You can apply this .reg file to client system by double-clicking it.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{FA91DF8D-53AB-455D-AB20-F2F023E498D3}]
“Compatibility Flags”=dword:00000400
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\ActiveX Compatibility\{FA91DF8D-53AB-455D-AB20-F2F023E498D3}]
“Compatibility Flags”=dword:00000400
Step 2:
On the client systems which face the issue, this could be tested out -
1. Unregister RSClientPrint.dll
2. Open Internet Explorer
3. Got to Tool - > Internet Options.
4. Click on ‘Programs’ tab
5. Click on ‘Manage add-ons’.
6. Select and Delete the ‘RSClientPrint Class’ ActiveX Control if it exists
7. Select ‘Security’ tab.
8. Select ‘Intranet Zone’ and click on ‘Custom Level’
9. Enable ‘Automatic prompting for ActiveX controls’
10. Select ‘Prompt’ for ‘Download signed ActiveXcontrols’ and ‘Run ActiveX
controls and plug-ins’
11. Restart the Internet Explorer
12. Try to print the report, this time it should prompt you to run the ActiveX
controls and plug-ins.
13. Click ‘Yes’

You’re voting for the wrong reason

2008-10-23T15:22:55Z

My favorite Republican was Dwight D Eisenhower. My favorite quote is “How far you can go without destroying from within what you are trying to defend from without?” What does this quote mean? Dear Ike was a brigadier general in the Army Reserve. He was charged with the responsibility for creating the major war plans to defeat Japan and Germany. He knew about war, and protection and he could see the future coming. Dwight knew how important military was. He also knew that military can easily be what destroys nations from within. Ike realized early that no county can have 100% security. However striving for 100% national security can be a nations downfall. Ike saw things like the “Patriot Act” coming. Ike saw an ever growing military nation. He also knew that people will give away their own rights in order to feel secure. This is much like the people today voting for the candidate that appears hardest on terrorism. So don’t vote your party line. Don’t vote based on fear. Don’t vote for the person that will take away your rights. Don’t vote for the candidate that will continue the tactics that have failed in the last 8 years. For America to stay the largest world power, vote for the person that makes America look the best. Show everybody that we can change and that we are strong while not being bull headed. If you haven’t questioned voting for the other guy at least once, you’re probably voting for the wrong reason.

How Far Can Sirius/XM Drop?

2008-10-20T13:27:24Z

I bought about $5,000 worth of Sirius (satellite radio) stock. The price was about $3.25 or so.

The price then slowly fell as the FCC gave them the run around about merging with XM. Last Friday I bought $750 more of Sirius at $0.377. At the price, the company is worth only $1.2 Billion.

Here’s why the price is so low.

1. FCC took so long to approve the merger. Now Sirius has a huge loan repayment coming up.
2. Conversion costs, nobody knows how much it’s going to cost to convert all the old receivers to the new ones.
3. Capital. Satellite radio has never been profitable. How are they going to get more money to pay their bills.
4. Less cars are getting bought so that means less units being bought.
5. Too many shares were issued. At best, the company should be worth 2-3 times what it currently is.

DirecTV and Dish Network have a total market cap of $30.1 billion. If Satellite radio has the same percentage of the market, their market cap roughly 40% that of the $30.1 billion (big assumption but also somewhat reasonable). This could make the satellite radio market around $12 billion or roughly 10 times what it currently is.

If Sirius can squeek out a 1 cent profit in any quarter their price will triple. Unfortunately, this might not happen until 2010.

This is just a custom field test.

2008-10-16T18:54:11Z

I am playing with custom fields hoping that I can find a way to integrate them into Windows Live Writer.