I got this question from a friend who was pointing out a photo he saw on his screen. The image had a reflection at the bottom and she wanted to know how it could be replicated. Well, there are some techniques you can use involving layering and different effects. But, there’s also a really simple tool you can use that can make the process easier than making tea.

So, let’s say we have this image we want to create a reflection of:

Now, head down to this ReflectionMaker.com. It’s a website that lets you specify an image and will automatically generate a copy with a reflection. It’s a simple as that. Select your image, specify the amount of reflection you want (or use the default of 50%) and click Generate. Here’s what we get:

Pretty simple huh? And you don’t have to use it just for furniture, any image would do. Try it with a photo of your cat, yourself or your boss. Enjoy!

I got this question from a company that specialises in selling NFL Jerseys online from their Yahoo store. Well, while the answer to the question is relatively simple there’s a twist that you need to know about.

First of all, how do you find out what other websites you are sharing your server with? I like using a service by YouGetSignal that does a Reverse IP domain check to find out who’s living on the same server you are. Just type in your URL and click Check. Here’s how the tool describes itself:

A reverse IP domain check takes a domain name or IP address pointing to a web server and searches for other sites known to be hosted on that same web server. Data is gathered from search engine results, which are not guaranteed to be complete. Knowing the other web sites hosted on a web server is important from both an SEO and web filtering perspective, particularly for those on shared web hosting plans

Now, here comes the rub. If you run the tool on your domain you’ll see there are around 3000 websites hosted with you selling everything from dance accessories to the best diet pills around. And you don’t really have a choice in this matter. The reason is down to the way Yahoo shops operate. Your domain name points at a service that Yahoo hosts and you can’t move away from them and retain the functionality.

So, I’ve answered your question, but I’m not quite sure that’s the answer you were after. Good luck!

I came across this question in a photography forum recently and it seems to be a common question. As camera quality keeps improving and photos get larger and larger, you start hitting limits on conventional techniques for storing and transmitting photos It doesn’t matter if it’s a scan of your business qualifications or a photo of vintage sunglasses. In this case, email is really not the best mechanism for sending large files, especially as a number of mail servers actually implement a mail size quota to stop themselves from getting overwhelmed by large quantities of data.

Luckily there are a number of services on the Internet that can help you out in this case. I like using one called YouSendIt. YouSendIt is a file transmission service that starts with a free offering (which is perfect for this case), but also offers a number of options for larger companies and regular users of large files. Sending the file is as simple as filling in a small form and clicking the Send It button. Here’s an example of what the form can look like:

That was quite easy now wasn’t it. Now the form above starts giving you some idea into the premium services that the company offeres. Besides the free option (where you can send files up to 100Mb in size), they also have 3 tiers of premium services where you can send files up to 2Gb in size, password protect your files, have an area where people can send YOU files and a whole host of other options that can really streamline the way you send and receive large files.

I got this question from a friend of mine who needed to change the BIOS settings on his machine, but had absolutely no idea what it was. Luckily there are a couple of options he could go with, one using a software solution and the other using a possible backdoor to the BIOS.

The software option involes one of a couple of packages (depending on the BIOS manufacturer). One of these is called CmosPwd and works with the following BIOSes:

• ACER/IBM BIOS
• AMI BIOS
• AMI WinBIOS 2.5
• Award 4.5x/4.6x/6.0
• Compaq (1992)
• Compaq (New version)
• IBM (PS/2, Activa, Thinkpad)
• Packard Bell
• Phoenix 1.00.09.AC0 (1994), a486 1.03, 1.04, 1.10 A03, 4.05 rev 1.02.943, 4.06 rev 1.13.1107
• Phoenix 4 release 6 (User)
• Gateway Solo – Phoenix 4.0 release 6
• Toshiba
• Zenith AMI

The other option is !BIOS which can decrypt the passwords used in some most common BIOS (including various bioses/versions by IBM, American Megatrends Inc, Award and Phoenix).

The option option available is to try and find a backdoor for the BIOS that you’re using. A backdoor is a spare login left in the BIOS to enable testers and engineers to be able to get in. Using these is a matter of luck and trial and error and may vary depending on the BIOS your computer uses. Here are some options:

AMI Backdoor BIOS Passwords

Try one of the following: A.M.I., AAAMMMIII, AMI?SW , AMI_SW, BIOS, CONDO, HEWITT RAND, LKWPETER, MI, and PASSWORD.

Award Backdoor BIOS Passwords

Try eight spaces. You can also try 01322222, 589589, 589721, 595595, 598598 , ALFAROME, ALLY, ALLy, aLLY, aLLy, aPAf, award, AWARD PW, AWARD SW, AWARD?SW, AWARD_PW, AWARD_SW, AWKWARD, awkward, BIOSTAR, CONCAT, CONDO, Condo, condo, d8on, djonet, HLT, J256, J262, j262, j322, j332, J64, KDD, LKWPETER, Lkwpeter, PINT, pint, SER, SKY_FOX, SYXZ, syxz, TTPTHA, ZAAAADA, ZAAADA, ZBAAACA, and ZJAAADC.

Phoenix Backdoor BIOS Passwords

Try BIOS, CMOS, phoenix, and PHOENIX.

Here are some other backdoor password you can try for the following BIOS manufacturers

• VOBIS & IBM - merlin
• Dell - Dell
• Biostar - Biostar
• Compaq - Compaq
• Enox - xo11nE
• Epox - central
• Freetech - Posterie
• IWill - iwill
• Jetway - spooml
• Packard Bell - bell9
• QDI - QDI
• Siemens - SKY_FOX
• SOYO - SY_MB
• TMC - BIGO
• Toshiba - Toshiba

As you can see there are quite a few options, but there is a certain amount of luck. It’s like using exercise equipment at a gym. It doesn’t matter which you use first, eventually you may have to try them all!

I got this question from someone who was writing an Anoretix review as part of an assignment and was desperate to get their document back in Microsoft Word format.

Well, there are a couple of options for this. There are some packages you can buy or download that will do the trick for you. Amongst others I found Able2Doc (which has a free trial) and HelloPDF (which is free). However, as this is a one-off occurrence, I would go for a web based solution which will do the job quickly and cleanly. The service I’m going to use is FreePDFConvert.com, which has a free service which will convert documents up to 2 pages long.

Converting the document is as easy as filling in the following form:

Fill in the form by browsing to the document, specify a few options and supply your email address. Click Convert, give it a few minuts and you’ll have your new Word document in your mailbox. Pretty nifty huh?

Camille from Cupidopolis asked me this question when she wanted to print a screenshot from her website. Unfortunately this scrolled down for quite a few screenfulls, so taking individual screenshots and gluing them all together just wasn’t an option.

To solve the problem, I found a great Addon for Firefox called Page Saver that lets you capture complete images of web pages and do whatever you want with them. The plugin comes in two variants, a free one with basic functionality and a “Pro” one that has some extra features. The free one was adequate for what we needed so I proceeded to download it. Once activated, the plugin adds some options to your menus and a handy camera icon to your toolbar:

The toolbar icon is the simplest way to use the plugin. To test it out, I visited a website that sold dog supplies and clicked the button:

Mission accomplished, the entire page was now in a single image on my hard disk. Hope you find this useful too.

This was an interesting question I got from Aaron, someone I met online. Well, Aaron, file formats are a bit like wine racks. There are lots to choose from, but only one will fit perfectly into that corner you have in mind. In this case you need to know that the iPhone uses a format called MPEG-4 (H264) which is still a development standard. There are a number of products that can do the conversion for you, but I’ll be using a free online tool called ZamZar today (which Ms. Kat had recommended to me some time back).

Zamzar is a website that will convert a myriad of file format from one type to another. The great thing about it is that as it’s online, you don’t need to install anything on your machine and you can access your file from anywhere you like. When you go to ZamZar, you’ll immediately see a 4 step wizard that enables you to perform the conversion. Here’s what you do:

• Step 1: Specify the file or URL you would like to convert – You can either click Browse here and look in your computer to find the file you’d like to convert, or specify a URL where this can be obtained online.
• Step 2: Choose the format you want to convert to – Once you specify a file, this dropdown will change to show the possible formats you can convert to. This will depend on whether you’ve specified a video, document, image etc.
• Step 3: Specify the email address where you’d like to be notified when the conversion is complete – Some files take longer to convert than others. For example, converting a video will take some time. ZamZar will send you an email to let you know when the conversion is done.
• Step 4: Click Convert – This starts the process.

Here’s what the screen looks like as you’re going through the process:

ZamZar will convert a number of file formats and you can see a complete list here. It’s simple and quick to try so go ahead and give it a try.

This question was asked to me by Marcus Troy, who runs a blog focusing on fashion and gadgets. Quite interestingly, he popped in to have a chat using the Google Talkback feature I had added to another blog. Worked quite well too.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. It’s actually quite easy to do, using a website that is now part of Google arsenal, called Feedburner. If you go to the website, the first thing it will prompt you for is your website URL. It will then figure out the RSS feed for the website and offer you a host of functionality you can add on easily to your website. You can then replace your feeds with the Feedburner ones so you can track and control your subscribers. There’s even a WordPress plugin to make things even easier for WordPress users.

Once you’re all set up there are a myriad of functions you can add to your blog including:

• Feed Stats – showing you how many subscribers you have to your feed
• Optimise your feed – by making it more readable, adding pictures or Geotags
• Feed Widgets – Show how many readers you have straight on your blog
• Headine Animator – Get an image for your website or email showing your latest posts
• Monitise – Add adverts to your RSS feed to earn some money from it

And, as per the question, you can also set up an email subscription service for your readers. If you click Email Subscriptions under Publicize, you will be given some HTML code to add to your blog that will allow users to subscribe to your feed. You will end up with this section on your blog:

 

Users can now key in their email address, after which they will be prompted for confirmation before they are added to the list. They can also remove themselves at any time through Feedburner’s website. It’s a free service that is run transparently for you and the great thing is .. it just works! It doesn’t matter if your website is all about chimps, about Leptovox or about job listings, if it’s got an RSS feed, you can use this service.

I do get this question from time to time, though I can’t actually put a finger on who asked me last. Actually, the person who sticks in mind is Lenny, who I know if a big fan of buying used computers and used cisco equipment on eBay. But this is really a generic question and I’m sure lots of you will be interested in an answer.

Winning an auction on eBay can be exhilarating, yet it can also be pretty frustrating when someone outbids you at the last minute. Sure, you can always win by bidding really high, but that can also mean that you pay over the odds for a particular item. It’s always good to know what sort of prices previous items went for so that you can make sure you’re getting a good price.

One popular technique is sniping an auction. Sniping involves placing a bid in the last few seconds of the auction. This means, you get to place the highest bid and other bidders have little chance to outbid you. You can also get automated tools to do this for you that place a bid at precisely the last second. Obviously, if you maximum bid is less that that of other bidders, you will be automatically outbid*, but I feel that sniping really helps you get a better deal on winning the auction at a great price.

I use a website called JustSnipe for this. It has both a free and a paid-for more. They are both identical except for the fact that the free service only gives you a maximum of 5 snipes a week per account. I tend to bid infrequently, so the free service works fine for me. It also gives you an opportunity to try it out before you decide to shell out for the free service. Much recommended.

* While working on WpAuctions I did get a good insight into how the whole bidding process worked.

I came across this question asked by Alice (who blog on Born2Cree8) on one of the message boards I frequent. This question is actually more more common than you may think. It’s one of those things that’s easy when you know about it, but insurmountable when you don’t!

Here’s the bit you’re missing. Your Print Screen (Prt Sc) button on your keyboard IS actually taking a picture of what’s on your screen at the moment. However, it doesn’t actually print it out. The screen image is actually being saved to your Clipboard and you need to specify what you want to do with this. The easiest thing to do is to open your favourite graphics package (ex Paint, Photoshop, Paint.Net) and paste the image in. Once it’s there, you can manipulate it, save it or print it out.

So the steps you need are:

• Prepare your screen so that eveything you want to print is visible
• Hit Prt Sc (this copies your screen to the clipboard)
• Open Paint
• Press Ctrl-V to paste your clipboard into your graphics package
• Print at will

Now, if you’re using Vista there’s an even better way (Vista is the best buy in my opinion if you’re after a new computer). Vista comes with a small tool called the Snipping Tool, that you can find under Accessories in All Programs. Once you click on this, the Tool will appear and shade out your screen. You’re then free to select any part of the screen you want and as soon as you’ve done this, it appears in the Snipping Tool, ready to the printing, saved or email to someone else. To make things even easier, the Snipping Tool even has a pen and highlighter function if you want to draw someone’s attention to a particular spot on the screen.

Hope this helps!