MakeTechEasier Forum

The forum is powered by bbPress, which in my opinion, the best software to integrate with a WordPress blog. It does not come with some of the bulky features found in most established forum software, but it is definitely fully functional and you won’t have to waste your time and bandwidth loading those stuffs that you likely don’t have any use for. One thing for sure, it is light on the server and loads very fast.

The aim of this forum is to provide a resource hub for anyone to ask questions and receive answers for their technical woes. Our moderators will be there to provide the technical support. It also serves as a place for us to provide technical support to our tutorials that were published in the blog. I have already ported some of our popular articles over for further discussion. You can find them at:

Turn your Ubuntu Intrepid into Mac OS X

Turn your Ubuntu Hardy into Mac OS X

As an unregistered visitors, you can view any of the topics or threads, but if you want to post a problem, you’ll need to register a free MTE account. This account is integrated with the blog, which means you can use this account to post comment on the blog too.

Be sure to read the Forum FAQs and Rules. We want to provide a conducive environment for everyone to participate, and we certainly need your help in achieving that.

The forums itself is still far from perfect. I will be doing some tweaking here and there. If you see any odd behavior here and there, it’s probably me making some changes in the backend.

Also, we are always doing our best to improve the forums. If you have any constructive suggestion to improve the forums, feel free to contact me at forums-moderators [at] maketecheasier.com or contact me via the Contact form.

Have fun!

Take me to the forum now.

MakeTechEasier Forum Launched! originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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As all of you know, the event did not turn out well. Due to some server issue, many of you were not able to download the software.

EASEUS has published a apology regarding this:

Apology from EASEUS to the Public for Online Giveaway Failure on Feb.27, 2009 since Hosting Crash.

EASEUS, a leading hard disk management solution provider, today announced public apology for online EASEUS Partition Master Professional Edition giveaway failure on Feb. 27, 2009 since hosting crash.

Last Friday, EASEUS established free giveaway cooperation with MakeTechEasier.com, allowing 24-hour unlimited free download of EASEUS Partition Master Professional Edition full version. MakeTechEasier.com posted an announcement of this activity on their homepage and many other big sites like LifeHacker, DownloadSquad, DSLReports, eeeuser, etc. reshipped this giveaway event.

During the first two hours of this event, there came hundreds of thousands downloads of the full version of EASEUS Partition Master Professional Edition. There were 38,000 clicks on MakeTechEasier and more than 50,000 on LifeHacker. Too many downloads caused host crash of EASEUS website. Then the giveaway activity was forced to stop and users from various sites cannot download EASEUS Partition Master Professional Edition any more. 24-hour unlimited downloads only kept 2 hours.

Below is the original email from hosting:

“The server has crashed as a result of this morning’s high volume of traffic that is coming into your Web site. It looks like over 50,000 downloads have been made.”

And now, we are trying to solve this kind of issue to ensure that there will be no such problems for the next giveaway activity. We are extremely sorry for the giveaway failure this time. Here, EASEUS may provide another 24-hour free download of EASEUS Partition Master Professional Edition full version once we solve this problem.

If you are still interested in downloading EASEUS Partition Master, please visit http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htm to download the Home Edition which is free to home users. This product has just a little difference with EASEUS Partition Master Professional Edition. You may check the differences at http://www.partition-tool.com/easeus-partition-manager/comparison.html.

Full article can be found at send2press.com

Here at MakeTechEasier, I hope to take the opportunity to explain what really happened behind the scene.

- The free download news was first released last Friday, 27th Feb 2008, 12am (Eastern Time).

- All went well for the first half of the day. At about 11am, major sites like DownloadSquad and Lifehacker started to pick up the news and sent tons of traffice to MTE. The download site at EASEUS couldn’t take the load and went down. Soon after, MTE’s server also went down due to the tons of response and comments.

- After  three hours (about 2pm, Eastern time) and countless of email exchange with the web host, MTE was reinstated and the download page was up and running again. However, EASEUS never recovered.

- Plenty of comments started to flood the download page. I tried to contact the developer, but to no avail. It seems that they were busy fighting the fire on their end.

- At 9pm (Eastern time), I received the reply from the developer that the site (and the link) was down, but they have fixed it and everything is back to normal. They also said that the download will be extended for another 24 hours. Upon receiving this news, I announced through the comments that the download will be extended. My first mistake – I should have checked the link before posting the comments. The link was not working as promised, and this resulted in another floodgate of comments.

- I removed the link from the download page at 10pm. I emailed the developer again, requesting them to fix the link.

- Once again, there was no response from them.

- The next day, I took the liberty to host the file on a private server and provide free download for a short limited period of time (something I shouldn’t have done due to rights infringement). The download was make available for another 15 hours, but only to those who left a comment or have contacted me via the contact form.

- Two days later, I received an email from the developer explaining the story on their side. They also informed me that they will be releasing a public apology, and that is what you see at Send2press.com now.

This was the whole incident.

We didn’t plan to fail, but sometimes, things just doesn’t turn out the way you want it to be.

For those who have spend countless of hours trying to download the file and ended up with nothing, we would like to apologize for this unhappy event. On the other hand, I would also like to express my appreciation to those who have shown support to this event and stood by us all the way. We would not be what we are today if not for your support.

At the moment, I am still in discussion with the EASEUS developers to provide another round of free download for MTE readers. Nothing is confirmed yet, at least until both MTE and EASEUS have sufficiently prepared our server for the traffic spike. Rest assure we won’t make the same mistake again.

Meanwhile, do check back often for the latest update.

For those who have missed the free download, you can still obtain the Home edition for free at http://www.partition-tool.com/personal.htm. This product has just a little difference with EASEUS Partition Master Professional Edition. You may check the differences at http://www.partition-tool.com/easeus-partition-manager/comparison.html.

Image credit: dullhunk

What Really Went Wrong With The Free Easeus Partition Master Download Event? originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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For those of you who have been with us and giving us your support all the while, we’d like to take the opportunity to say THANKS to all of you. MTE won’t be what it is today without all your support. You are awesome.

A year ago, I started this blog as a personal passion and as a way to document all the hacks that I have done to my computer. Never did I thought that maintaining and updating this blog has now become my full time job. It is really great to do something you really like and make a living out of it. I can only say that it’s been a wonderful journey for me.

Here’s a quick review of the statistics for the past 1 year:

• Total posts: 235
• Total comments: 1365

we have a group of awesome writers that just joined the MTE team, so you will be expecting more quality posts/tutorials/tips/tricks/reviews in the future. At the same time, MTE is always on the lookout for good writers to join us. If you have what it takes to become a tech blogger, don’t hesitate, join us now!

The 5 most popular posts are as follow:

• Turn Your Ubuntu Hardy to Mac OSX Leopard
• 28 Coolest Firefox About:Config Tricks
• Best 101 Free Computer Software For Your Daily Use
• Installing VMware Server in Hardy Heron
• Ubuntu Tutorial: How To Redesign Your Desktop The ‘WOW’ Way

Traffic

• In the first month of blogging, we already have more than 30,000 visitors to our site.
• As of today, MTE is seeing more than 120,000 visitors per month and over 250,000 monthly page views.
• It took 9 months to reach the top 100,000 in Alexa ranking. Now it is standing at a rank of 76,772
• The three main sources of traffic are from Google, StumbleUpon and Digg

Google Pagerank has always been a constant 4 until recently that it dropped to 2, possibly because of selling of text link in the content. I have stopped the text link ad since then and hopefully we will see the pagerank back to 4 or higher in the next PR update.

Things that are happening in MTE

• A total theme changeover in the upcoming weeks

A new theme that is cleaner, neater and better is on the way. It is under heavy development now. We should be able to get it up in the next 2 weeks.

• New advertisement slot

We will be rolling out the feed advertising as new advertising options for our advertisers. Interested advertisers can get more detail on the Advertise page or simply contact us for more query.

Note: As part of our birthday celebration, we are giving away a 50% discount for all our advertisement options. There are only few slots left. Promotion valid till end of this week  (22nd Nov 2008), or when all slots are filled, whichever come first.

Happy Birthday, Make Tech Easier originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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Make Tech Easier is a tech blog that covers tutorials for various operating system, cool software reviews and plenty of tips and tricks for the popular Web apps. We are in the process of expansion and are looking for writers to help us turn this site into something bigger and better.

Requirement

Here is what we are looking for:

1. Someone who is proficient with either Windows, Linux or Mac OS X
2. Someone who is able to write good reviews, detail tutorials and get the point across in a neutral unbiased way.
3. Someone who is willing to commit to produce at least one article per week and participate actively to the reader’s comments to your published post.
4. Someone who has a good working knowledge of WordPress

If you are interested in writing for us, just send an email to writers[at]maketecheasier.com. Include the following in your email:

• Your name, email, IM and any other info that we can contact you
• Links to your website/blog
• Your experience in writing for other blogs. It doesn’t matter if you don’t have one.
• A short paragraph of why you would be a good fit for the Make Tech Easier team
• If you have a list of topics that you want to cover on, include that as well.

If you do not have your own website/blog and have no experience in writing for other blogs, we require you to submit two freshly written sample articles (one on app review and another on tutorial) for our assessment. If we like the articles, we will hire you, publish the article and pay you. If we don’t like it, we won’t hire you, won’t publish the piece and never to publish it behind your back.

Write for Make Tech Easier originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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WordPress Theme

Are you getting tired of your Wordpress theme? SmashingMagazine has, once again, compiled a great list of free wordpress theme. And if that is not enough, Mashable lists out some unusual wordpress themes to get your theme designing mood going.

Linux

After the long debate of whether Windows, Mac OSX or Linux is better, here finally comes the sale result. It seems that Windows has been sandwiched in between Mac and Linux. In addition, the latest Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron included a wubi installer that make it much easier for Windows user to use Linux, we will definitely see the trend where more and more Windows users migrating to Linux (Ubuntu, to be more specific).

If you has chosen Mac over Linux, just because Mac OSX has a beautiful dock, then this list of Linux dock might make you rethink your decision.

Flashing of motherboard BIOS used to be a task achievable only in Windows. This is no longer the case as Steven teaches you how to flash motherboard bios from Linux.

Browser

In my previous review of Safari for Windows, I pointed out all the flaws in Safari that make it a bad release. With the launch of Safari 3.1, it seems that there are plenty of improvement that makes it more usable and possibly, mount a challenge to Windows IE and Firefox.

Lastly, here is a quick laugh for the day: (Vista likes Linux)

source from http://schestowitz.com/Amusement/images/vista_likes_linux.jpg

[Links] Interesting News Online originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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Out of a total of 92 votes,

• 79.5% like Firefox
• 6.5% like IE
• 6.5% like Safari
• 6.5% like Opera
• 1% like other browser

This result seems a bit of a surprise when the statistics taken from W3C shows that (in Dec 2007) Firefox users only account for 36.3% while IE users (inclusive of IE5, IE6 and IE7) take up 55.9% of the market share.

Sources taken from W3C

To investigate the statistics further, I look at the analytical statistics for few of my sites.

For MakeTechEasier, 81.83% of the visitors are Firefox users while 14.5% use IE. This result matches that from the poll.

For my other non-tech sites, the result is similar to the W3C statistics, with 60% of IE users and 32% of Firefox users.

So, can I conclude that geeks (or people with technical knowledge) use Firefox while the rest use IE and other browsers?

What do you think?

[Poll Result]: What Is Your Favorite Browser? originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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While trying to download an application from Google Code, I was shown the unfriendly 403 forbidden page that totally shut down the download.

The page suggested that my computer was infected with virus and wanted me to install a virus scanner and check for virus. The fact is, I am using Ubuntu and there’s is definitely no virus on my machine (there is also no virus for Linux OS at this moment).

I guess it could be my network problem, so I switched my DHCP to manual IP configuration. Yup, that didn’t work as well.

I have enough of that. Just want to thank Google for giving me such a ‘deliberate surprise’ on Christmas.

God bless you, Google!

Google 403 Forbidden Error? A Pain In The Neck originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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I want you to tell me what is the best technology that you have discovered in 2007.

I am sure all of you have benefited from some of the wonderful technology in 2007. Now it is time for you to show your appreciation. Blog about the best technology that you have discovered in year 2007.

It is very easy, here is how it works:

1. First write a post on your blog about the best technology (based on any of the following topic) you discovered/liked/benefited/contributed in the year 2007.
2. Send a pingback to this post (by including this link in your post).
3. I will compile a list of the best technology in 2007 (with a link back to your blog) and announce it in this blog.

You can choose any of the following categories to blog on:

Gadgets

What is the best gadget that you discovered in year 2007? Why do you think is the best and how has it benefited you?

Computer software

What is the best computer software that you have used in year 2007? Is it Windows Vista, Ubuntu Gutsy, or Mac OSX Leopard?

Web technology

How has the evolution of web technology affected you and which particular one benefited you the most? Is it social networking (such as Facebook), social bookmark (such as StumbleUpon, del-icio.us or digg), Youtube, Gmail 2.0 or whatever? Share it with us.

Social media Site

What is the best social media site that you have come across in 2007 and changed your way of living?

Life hacking tip

What is the best life hacking tip you received in 2007 that helped you, or even saved your business from crumbling? Share it with us.

Some guidelines

1. Please blog on only one topic that you really think is the best.
2. You don’t have to follow the crowd. If you don’t like Digg, you can always write a post on why you feel that Mixx should be the best website in 2007, even though no one in the World seems to do that, except for Tad.
3. Please remember to send a pingback to this post; else I won’t be able to compile the list. If you don’t understand what a pingback is, it simply means putting a link back to this url in your post.
4. The closing date is 22nd Dec 2007. I will compile the list after the closing date and announce it around Christmas.

Why should I participate?

Participating in this project is purely voluntary; however, this is a good chance for you to express your appreciation to the technology that you have benefited from. What’s more?

1. You have the opportunity to discover other technologies that you have missed out for the whole of year 2007.
2. There will be a link back to your blog, which mean more exposure and traffic for your blog.
3. Make new friends in the process.
4. This is a chance for you to step outside of your niche and reach new readers and potential customers.

Once again, this project will end at midnight 22nd Dec 2007. I will waiting for the pingback.

What Is The Best Technology You Have Discovered in 2007? originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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Windows: We suck more! and that’s guaranteed

Never ending crash…

Windows…Beware your back

When there’s nothing else to burn…

Even FreeBSD join in the campfire…

Even Mac are not spared…

The Ultimatium

Great Evidences That Linux Users Don’t Like Windows (and maybe Mac) originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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1. Funny Tech: What Would A Computer Tech Support Do?

In the coming 1st quarter 2008, Microsoft is releasing Vista service pack 1 and service pack 3 for Win XP. The fact is, Vista SP1 barely improved the operating system’s performance while Win XP SP3 increase the XP performance by 10 percents.

What this means is that Vista is getting slower while XP is becoming faster.

Which one will you choose? Source

Faster XP vs Slower Vista: Which One Will You Choose? originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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1. Fancy An Online Desktop?
2. Speed Up Your Web Search With Inquisitor

As this is not the first time Paypal emailed me for security issue, not to mention that I was nearly banned by Paypal for a suspected security breach of my account, and countless heated discussion with their customer support over the phone, this email doesn’t come as a surprise to me.

However, a close investigation of the email sends horror to my spine.

THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT BY PAYPAL…

In actual fact, the hacker did a very bad job in concealing the email identity:

1. The email was not from paypal.com, it was actually from service.com
2. Placing cursor over the link show the “Bank of America” tooltips instead of Paypal
3. The url links to online – secure – service . com

Out of curiosity, I clicked on the link. This is the fake Paypal website:

and this is the real

Can you see how alike they are? If I have not done a close investigation of the email, I would have keyed in my login information and give my credit card number.

For everyone who used Paypal, watch out!

Beware Of PayPal Phising originally published on Make Tech Easier (RSS)

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