My sister is a major pain and I have this feeling that she might be accessing my Facebook account. Is there any way I can track if that might be happening?

Interesting question. I’ve never had this asked before, but I can understand where you’re coming from. I have a five year old kids who keeps wanting to play Facebook games, and it’s only a matter of time before he’ll figure out how to impersonate me.

So, how can you keep an eye on your account. Well, if you click on Account in the top right-hand corner and pick Account Settings you’ll find a section where you can configure your account. Click on the Security menu and you’ll see a section like this:

Under Login Notifications you can tick a box and Facebook will send you an email every time someone logs into your account. If you’ve just logged in, you can ignore the email, but if it wasn’t you, then you’ll know something’s up. Much better than sticking waterproof metal detectors all around your computer desk, huh?

I have an old computer I’ve been using for a number of years now. Recently, when I switch it on, the date seems to be return to December 2003 and I have to keep changing it to today’s date and time. It goes back to this date next time I turn it on again. How can I make it remember the date?

This is a common problem with old PCs. Computers have a battery that keeps an internal clock running when they are switched off. Like any battery these run down over time and need to be replaced. What you need to do is open up your PC and look around the motherboard for what looks like a silver coin. Most computers use a battery called CR2032, but you’ll find the exact type of the battery by checking out the number on the back of the battery. Once you figure out what it is, you can normally buy a spare from a jeweller’s store or computer outlet. Here’s what it looks like:

This tends to be a specific PC problem, you probably won’t find the same issue on Apple computers or on a PS3. But if you know where to look, it’s not a hard problem to fix.

A few years ago I had a computer running Windows 98 and I remember using my CD drive as a floppy disk, adding and removing files as I wanted. I now have Windows XP and I don’t seem to be able to do this. I’ve used a number of programs but they only let me write files to the CD, not remove or edit them. Any ideas?

This problem is here is that you don’t seem to be using the right media for the job. CDs aren’t really meant to be read/write media, but rather write once and store forever. The system you’re talking about is called “track at once” that writes the information to disk one track at a time, rather than burning the whole CD in one go. The problem with this technique, if my memory serves me well, is that if you delete or edit a file, the old storage space is not reclaimed, so eventually you can fill the disk up with old copies of your data.

What you should be using for what you’re trying to do is some sort of USB memory stick. There are loads of these around and they only cost a few pounds. They are designed to let you read and write your data easily, and are much more suited for the scenario you describe than CDs. They are also quicker to read and write from than CDs as they have no moving parts.

Your problem is that you’re using the wrong tool for the job, a bit like getting low cost health insurance when what you need is travel insurance. Try using one of these USB sticks and see how you get on.

I love browsing through books, but I know I can always buy them cheaper online. The problem there is that you can really browse as well as in a bookshop. Is there any way I can check prices online while in the store?

You’re right, books tend to be cheaper online then in the stores, though you can always come across bargains that cannot be had online. The best of both worlds would be if you can browse through a store and check prices online immediately. Luckily there are a couple of programs out there that let you do this right off your phone. It’s only technology right?

One such system is BookScoutPRO which is available to any device that has an internet connection. It works via your phone’s web browser or even a WAP browser. Once you’re logged in you can specify the book’s ISBN number and the website will search across a selection of online book providers and tell you what prices you can get online. This helps you make an informed decision whether to buy the book sfrom that store or not.

It’s a great service and if your device has a barcode scanner you can just scan in the barcode and get the results you want straight away. What a great example of an application that gives you power at your fingertips.

I’d like to give my website that little extra oomph to make it stand out from other websites. I’ve been playing with video recently and was wondering if I can use this to help enhance my website?

The simple answer is yes, video is a pretty powerful mechanism you can use to bolster the experience your user gets while using your website. The caveat here is that it needs to be done properly and tastefully. There’s nothing worse than jamming an unrelated video that is poorly made onto a website. Spending some time making sure you have a professional product can allow you to reap substantial rewards. Always keep your user in mind and what they are going to be using your website for.

One great example is Baby Earth a website that sells a variety of baby products, including clothing, nursery items and strollers. If you look at the strollers section and pick one of their products, for example, the Maclaren strollers you’ll see information about that particular product. Notice there’s a Video tab as part of the product description. Clicking on this brings up a video where Baby Earth staff talk through the different models available and what the differences between them are. As you can see, a video can be an extremely powerful tool for conveying a message and adds a certain amount of credibility to the website. A shopper may not be able to feel and test a product, but they can relate to people on the screen demonstrating what the product can do.

Another example is Lets Book Hotel, a website that lets you book hotels around Europe. Zooming into one of the hotels on offer, for example, the Preluna Hotel in Malta, you’ll see a video that gives you a tour of the hotel and the amenities it offers. Again, this is much more powerful than text or even pictures as it helps give you a feel of the location as well as telling you about it.

So, to recap: Go ahead, produce videos for your website, but make sure the quality is up to scratch and the videos are used where they can product maximum benefit, right at the point where you want to impress a visitor to your website.

My website has a favicon that shows up in my browser, but when I look at my feed it doesn’t seem to get picked up. How do I reuse it?

I came across this question on Twitter asked by WolfieB from The Wolf’s Howl. A favicon is a great way to add a touch of branding to your website which shows up when people look at your URL or even at their bookmarks. For example, here’s one I use on Cruelcard (which I haven’t updated in years!)

It’s a little icon that can be created quite easily and uploaded to your website and browsers will automatically pick it up. And it can make a difference to your site in the same way the best acne treatment in the world can help a teenager. But using it in your RSS feed is not as simple unfortunately. First of all, not all blog readers will actually acknowledge or use your feed icon, and then, to compound matters, RSS feeds and Atom feeds; the two methods for broadcasting RSS feeds, use different mechanisms.

RSS Feeds

The RSS specification doesn’t actually specify that you can include an icon for your field. However, it does allow you to add a feed image which some readers will parse correctly. You need to specify the image to use, as well as the dimensions of the image to make sure it’s displayed correctly. Here’s an example of one I’ve just added to Ugh!!’s Greymatter Honeypot:

<channel>
...
<image>
<link>http://www.u-g-h.com</link>
<url>http://www.u-g-h.com/webcam.jpg</url>
<title>Owen Cutajar's blog</title>
<width>80</width>
<height>60</height>
</image>
...
</channel>


Atom Feeds

Atom Feeds are slightly easier in that there are specific elements that can be used for the icon and logo of a feed. Here’s what they would looks like:

<feed>
...
<icon>http://www.u-g-h.com/webcam_small.jpg</icon>
<logo>http://www.u-g-h.com/logo.jpg</logo>
...
</feed>


Tools you can use

One extra pointer I’d like to finish with. If you’re using FeedBurner for your feed, then you can add your feed by going to “Optimize Feed” and “Feed Image Burner”. Here’s a screenshot of what this looks like:

There you go, everything you ever wanted to know about logos/icons in your blog feed.

I’d like my blog readers to by notified by email whenever there’s a new post on my blog. Is there an easy way to do this?

I answered this question a couple of days ago, but have come across another option which sounds a lot better than my previous answer. It’s a service called Zookoda which is designed specifically for bloggers. It offers a range of different services you can choose to use to keep your users and readers informed of what’s going on. Here are some great features that might tempt you to give it a try:

• You get tools to manage email newsletter subscribers. They can sign themselves up and opt out of the list, but you can also decide who gets the list.
• You can design your own subscription forms.
• You can design your own newsletter that matches your blog design.
• You can schedule recurring broadcasts on a daily, weekly or monthly basis.
• A comprehensive range of reports. You get to view real-time open, bounce, click and unsubscribe data.
• Reach mobile and offline users by emailing blog content in text format.

So .. how does it work. The first step is to register with the website, supply your details and have a look around. Once you decide to go ahead, the first thing to do is to Create a New Mailing List.

All you need to do is supply a name and description and you’re set. The next step is to create a subscription form for your mailing list. This is what the form looks like:

If you click on the image you’ll see all the fields in greater detail. There are quite a few fields there, but the ones that look complicated have a default value. For your initial try, just keep all the defaults in place, just to see how it works. Once you have filled in the form, you get to choose the look and feel for your form. You will be presented with a screen like this:

Pick the one that matches your blog most closely. Once this is done, you’ll be shown back to the Subscription Form screen. Just click on the Scripts button and the site will show you the code you need to add the mailing list to your website.

Just copy out the code you need and paste it into your blog. I’ve just added one to the sidebar on the right. Give it a try!

I’d like to sell things on eBay, but I don’t have a PayPal account, is it possible?

It certainly is possible. PayPal is always eBay’s preferred payment method, particularly as eBay bought PayPal in 2002 and therefore like to push customers down that route. It is however, not a prerequisite for you to use eBay’s services.

There are two places where you would typically make use of PayPal’s services when selling things on eBay. The first is when you are collecting money from the buyer. PayPal is pretty convenient as it can be done online, quickly and quite securely; however you can still use other methods. When you create an auction you’re asked how you would like to be paid and there are variety of options available: you may be able to accept credit cards if you have the facilities, or you may ask that people send you a cheque in the post. Other money services, like Western Union etc are also available.

The other place you need access to cash is when you pay eBay for their auction services. There are a variety of fee that eBay charge you, ranging from listing fees, to fees for hosting photos for you and final fees based on the price the auction ends at. Typically these are collected together and you are invoiced at the end of the month. Once again, eBay is geared to try and encourage you to use PayPal, however you can also pay by credit card, direct from your checking account or even by cheque if you are a business.

Even though eBay has a vested interest in your using PayPal, it does provide a variety of other mechanisms to encourage business. PayPal though, still remains the most efficient way to do business at eBay, so if you can , try and get yourself an account.

Hello everyone! I thought I’d take a few minutes to explain what this blog is all about, what I have in mind for it’s future and how everyone can contribute.

So, let’s start at the beginning. How was this website conceived? Well, people ask me questions all the time, and one thing I noticed is that the same questions keep popping up over and over. So I thought I’d use this blog to post definite answers to questions people pose. The main aim is to answer a question once, and also keep adding more and more information to the previous questions as I discover more things. It should be fun!

So, how can you help? Well, in a number of ways. First of all, feel free to comment on any of the posts here. I’ll be researching each answer, but I’m sure there’s things out there that people know that can help make an answer more complete. Feel free to post it in. Next, I have a page for questions. If there’s anything that bugs you, just post the question up. I can answer most technical geeky questions, but if you post about other categories, I have friends who can help, each experts in their own subject-matter. Together we should be able to field most questions. Finally, tell all your friends about us. If you find interesting information, feel free to share it out, but we always appreciate if you can send traffic our way, it helps make the website better for everyone.