Words from Alejandro U. Alvarez
General talk
A place for all random thoughts and ideas that come across my mind and I can’t find the right “category” to put in…
Remote PC access software
0935 days
A couple days ago a friend of mine asked me to help him with his computer. Usually that is no problem, but he had really done something strange, and he lived too far for me to go there,
Surely there are several options out there when we are talking about remote access software, from the built-in technical assistance in windows to professional solutions, but there is one that I think stands out:
Proxy PRO 6:
The Proxy PRO 6 offers a lot of capabilities that standard software doesn't, first of all, security. You have 256-bit encryption – the highest in its class, which ensures the integrity of your data, along with strong authentication.
Along this, you can create rol-based groups, with different permissions or capabilities, making it a perfect solution for businesses and technicians.
As for the actual control, it offers a huge set of built-in stuff, like a chat, to talk with the client, bulk file transfer, multi-monitor... etc the list is so big I can't even remember all the items! But you can always go to their site to check the full list of features
So basically, if you are thinking about using some sort of remote control software, consider at least the Proxy PRO 6.
Event tracking – Google Analytics
0970 days
Hello everyone,
As most people do, I'm sure you use Google Analytics for the stat metrics for some of your sites, so you'll love this new feature:
If you use AJAX in your site, or if you want to track outbound links, or downloads... etc then this is really useful for you.
What is event tracking?
In simple terms, it logs events that happen on your site, for example rate a post (If you have post rating), download a file... or you do some sort of JavaScript processing that you want to measure.
So finally, we can keep track of AJAX interactions with the server, we can log also normal POST requests that do some php processing, like posting a comment, or editing some data in our database.
Using Event Tracking:
This step couldn't be possible easier. First of all make sure you have the new code installed. The new code looks like this:
<script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + gaJsHost + "google-analytics.com/ga.js' type='text/javascript'%3E%3C/script%3E")); </script> <script type="text/javascript"> try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-3181088-6"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}</script>
That var pageTracker is what holds the tracking object.
Example:
Imagine we have a site where we feature some sort of mp3 downloads. And we want to track those with Analytics. In the link to the file we would put:
<a href="song_file.mp3" title="Download file" onClick="pageTracker._trackEvent('Music', 'Download', 'Song number 4');">Download song</a>
As you can see we use the function _trackEvent, from the pageTracker object. This function takes 4 parameters, Category name, action name and a label and value:
_trackEvent(category, action, optional_label, optional_value)
The category can be used to store different events that are similar, for example in the category music we could use the actions Download, Listen, Rate... And finally the label, that is normally used to refer to which specific object in that category you are referring to, in this case which song.
From the Analytics panel
Wait for a day after you install this to see the data in Google Analytics, and then go to the stats panel, go to the Content tab, then you'll see at the bottom Event Tracking:
I've created a sample profile with some events and I clicked a couple times to show you how it looks like:
Screen capture of the Event Tracking page
Well I hope you found this useful, more information on the Google API
How do you use this?
Have you found any sort of smart uses for this? Please share with us 
Tired Of Your Slow PC? Here’s How To Speed It Up
0If you are tired with your slow computer, you may be considering calling a computer maintenance professional to help you speed it up. Such services will be commonly available in the proximity of your office or home. While these are great solutions for people who do not mind spending a lot of money, a common computer user may choose to evaluate other available options, before contacting a computer technician.
Listed below are a few of the secrets that computer professionals do not want you to know. Once you know these secrets, you will save money and can maintain the performance of your computer without any external help.
Secret 1: It may be the registry
Computer experts know that many of the computers become slow because a critical part of your operating system known as the Windows Registry needs to be cleaned up. The Windows registry is a data bank containing vital information about the day to day functioning of your computer. The registry may become slow due to several reasons ranging from installation of a large number of programs to not properly removing applications from a computer. This leads to bloating and corruption of the registry and its symptoms include slow down of your PC, registry errors or system crash.
These experts are wary of sharing this reason for slow down of a PC with the user as they don’t want the users to know that registry can be cleaned easily by anyone using a reliable third-party registry tool. This tool can be easily downloaded and installed on your computer.
It is possible that there could be other reasons for a slow down of your computer, but scanning and repairing your Windows registry can improve the speed of many systems.
Secret 2: It may be the Clutter in your Hard Disk
Your Hard disk is like a house and it needs regular housekeeping. Now, you may choose to appoint a housekeeper (a computer expert) to clean up your hard disk, every once in a while, or you can take things into your own hands. Performing regular cleaning of your hard disk is good housekeeping and will save you a lot of time and money. It is similar to preventive maintenance which reduces the chances of a slow-down of your computer.
There are two important tools that have been provided by your operating system manufacturer.
- Disk Cleanup: It is a maintenance tool provided by Microsoft to free hard disk space. It performs cleaning of the hard disk by searching, analyzing and then deleting unnecessary files.
- Disk Defragmenter: It is a program which has been created to help improve the speed of accessing files in a hard disk by rearranging them in a proper, contiguous manner.
If you use these two system tools on a regular basis, you may find that the speed of your computer is improved dramatically.
Secret 3: It may be a Virus
Many malicious software like virus, Trojans or spyware that manage to enter your system may be the reason behind the slowdown of your computer. Therefore, it is advisable that your computer must be equipped with a reliable anti-virus and anti-spyware tool. This will not only protect your computer from slowdown, but will also prevent any serious damage to your computer or the important data it contains.To get the best out of these tools, you must update them and run thorough scans on your computer on a regular basis.
The future of the web
01173 days
I like to think from time to time of the future of the web. Being a web developer/designer myself, and working on every-day basis many times I just sit back and try to see where all this is going.
We can all surely appreciate the evolution of the last years, first with an increase in the use of server side scripting like php, and lots of "interactive" sites being born, and probably the era of the forums, with that "mechanic", heavy-graphic designs that where everywhere.
And I am guessing people simply got bored of all that, after all, as perfect as a design might be, it will always grow old, new trends have to appear. So that heavy graphics trend, evolved into a minimalistic, "zen" trend that is what we now call either Web 2.0 or clean design, depending on the style.
I have to say that many trends have appeared, a very important one undoubtedly is the grunge, eroded style, the one this very blog has right now! Textures and colors in opposition to the clean "crisp" and rounded style of 2.0
There is surely one more aspect of this new era, AJAX and implicitly JavaScript. I remember back in the day when JavaScript was that annoying thing that resized the window, opened popus and on the worst sites put things like "snow" or "rain" on the website... Nowadays JavaScript is becoming thankfully a great resource for simplifying user interaction with the server, which is always good, but the question I pose is "What is going to happen after?"
Let's see, in the design field, I think that there are two main ways for evolution, the clean and rounded feel, with lot's of opacity blends, you know, more on today's line.
On the other hand there is the side of high contrast sites, dark styles with beautiful lighting effects, impressive use of background-color -> font-color, sharp palettes for nice designs, textures of course!
Lots of textures everywhere, they create that unique feeling of rough and at the same time greatly designed structures. Although it has the problem that with today's browser's support for PNG transparencies it is quite hard to do good overlays that can adapt to the screen and move without it being too obvious. That is where today we use big solid borders, that also look good when used wisely.
On the programming field I am sure that a more "module" oriented programming will be used, something more "plug&play" for php specially, like PEAR but more widely used.
As of client-side scripting there is not much room for new stuff, after all we only have JavaScript and there is not much more we can do with it... Probably a complete reliance on AJAX for our applications, nice easing animations, and that sort of things, but nothing too revolutionary.
I don't expect Flash to ever come back, it had its glory but the complete wrong use it was given made it completely hated. However Flash is a great and quite powerfull tool when mastered.
But well, that is my point of view of course,
What do you think the future of web development is?
How to Avoid Computer Freeze:
01187 days
Computers are perhaps one of the things people need most in the world. Almost majority depend on computers to carry out their work, homework and other online stuff. Some individuals even start an internet café business using computers. In this business, they need to have reliable internet speed, printing services and computer rentals. Surely, the computer industry inflated because of the constant demand for it. Nevertheless, computer owners need to take care of their computers to avoid computer freeze.
If you want to avoid this from happening, you need to consider some ways on how to avoid it. First is disabling unwanted or unnecessary start-up programs. This makes the computer slower and sometimes even makes it freeze. Some individuals try restarting the PC and check if it will work properly after. It is a recommendation that you open the programs or software when needed for the system to function smoothly. There is also a lesser chance that the PC will lag since it is not doing multiple tasks.
When you automatically let some programs start working while the computer is readying itself for use, it may make things slower. Instead of letting the computer warm up and do its thing, the other program loading makes the system ready in a more dawdling manner. So better, make the computer free from such to make you use it faster. After a few minutes, you can check if your PC is ready for use. When it is, this is the best time to start using the programs or software that you need. You will see that the system works faster because it is given time and space in doing its thing. It is free from computer freeze.
Another thing you might want to consider is doing a regular clean up for your computer. Removing or deleting files, program or software that you do not need is one way to make the system work faster. The lesser files it has, the better. It also makes the computer free from unwanted space. Instead of the computer having a larger free space, unnecessary files and software use this. There is no maximum utilization of the computer space and slows down the pace of the PC. This does not help your computer to function properly and smoothly.
Defragging the hard disk is also another way to avoid computer freeze. This process helps the computer clear up the files to make the system work faster. Although there are other things you can do to avoid computer freezing, still, these are the most basic things you can do. It may be simple yet very effective. Once you clear up your system, you will notice changes in the speed. The computer is able to react as soon as you perform the action that makes you perform the tasks easier and at a shorter time. You can search the internet for other tips on how to avoid the freeze in your computer if you want to learn more about it.