How do you turn off comments on a particular blog post?

I’ve noticed this before, and I noticed it today on the VE Team’s blog:

I’m really curious, cause I’d love to do this too. I checked my blog settings, and it isn’t available. Which leads me to believe that someone on the Virtual Earth team blog did this manually, probably through connections with the Windows Live team?

If that’s true, I wish they’d extend that feature to users, if it’s not already available. Anyone know how to turn off comments (not disable completely) on a particular blog post, whenever you want to?

Microsoft setting up Xbox kiosks for arcades and public places?

Everyone loves playing games, right? Well based on this snapshot, it definitely does look like an Xbox kiosk.

This would seem like a good idea for arcades – They can provide Xbox use for maybe those who can’t afford an Xbox or for people who happen to have an Xbox addiction right nearby.

It would also seem like a good idea for public terminals and waiting rooms – Waiting can be boring, and instead of playing with your mobile phone, you could just walk over to one of these units and start playing. Maybe even connect to Xbox Live or something. It also seems you could have two players at the same time.

Perhaps these are the next-gen Xbox gaming units? Who knows? It’s up to you to interpret this photo.

Automatically add your Live Messenger status to Facebook status

This is really handy if you are both a Windows Live Messenger user and a Facebook user. One of the first things I do when I login to my computer is to run WLM, and I often update my status too. This tool, created by Microsoft, will allow automatically add that status to your Facebook status. Handy, eh?

 

http://apps.facebook.com/windowslivemessenger/ [by Microsoft Corporation]

 

Thanks to Windows Live Chronicles for the information.

Abisko washbasin is truly futuristic

I caught sight of this sink, and I think it’s pretty neat. It’s called the Abikso washbasin made by the Eumar Washbasin Factory:

It is named after a Swedish national park called Abisko National Park, and the design concept was to make something very minimalistic that would allow a free flow and moderate treatment of water without unnecessary details such as drain pipes and whatnot.

While it does look rather cool, I find it more interesting that this could be utilized as a sink/urinal combo. Now the company didn’t promote the washbasin as a sink/urinal combo, but it’s not a bad idea, right?

A guy could pee in the lower part of the basin, wash his hands at the top where the faucet is, and the runoff water will wash away the urine into the drain. This would be pretty eco-friendly as it conserves water and serve a dual function. I’m surprised this isn’t in Ikea.

Of course it’s not going to replace a regular toilet, but the Abikso wouldn’t be a bad idea for public restrooms in fancy/upscale places or maybe even in a personal home. It also makes a nice art piece.

Any thoughts?

‘Spring clean’ your PC

Here are some of my tips for doing some spring cleaning work on your PC.

Hardware:

• Get a duster, and dust around the screen, keys, external speakers, printer, and any type of hardware you’ve got. Don’t forget the desk too!
• If you have a desktop with a separate hard drive unit, clean the dusty areas around the air vents. There’s tons of dust that accumulates there.

Software:

• Delete old files and programs that are not needed – Just trash personal files and programs that really aren’t necessary, and files you won’t regret destroying. Takes away some of the clutter, and allows more room for other files and programs.
• Delete browsing history – This is pretty important, if you don’t already do so. It’s a good idea to do this, maybe even monthly, to ensure security from all the nasty viruses and malware on the web. Cookies and temporary internet files can contain malware, your history may allow someone to know what sites you’ve been on, and saved passwords and form data can allow someone to access using your identity. If you use Internet Explorer 7, go to Tools > Delete Browsing History… > Delete All – NOTE: This will refresh your browser as if you never used it, but you’re favorites, toolbars, and whatnot will still be there.
• Delete old toolbars – Perhaps you have mistakenly installed a toolbar, or you just really don’t use it anymore. Wouldn’t hurt to just do away with it, by either checking the toolbar’s settings, or just going to Add and Remove programs or in Windows Vista, Programs and Features.
• Defragment your hard drive – This will free up space and makes files run more contiguously as possible. For XP, go to Start > All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > Disk Defragmenter. It will take maybe an hour or more, depending on your computer. It is suggested you don’t run anything else while it is defragmenting.
• Take time to reorganize media – Often times, I find really neat photos and videos on the web, and just download it quickly into my system without placing it in a specific place. You should make time to reorganize your media to make it easier to find and access. Create folders you find necessary to make, and drag and drop items into it. Add tags to media in Windows Live Photo Gallery for easier discoverability.
• Run your AV program or a free online scan – If you don’t run your AV program all the time (I have no idea why), then make a scan and see what it comes up with. If you don’t have an AV program, Microsoft has a free Online Safety Scanner with OneCare (not sure how long this will last) and Windows Defender for Windows XP. The free online scan checks for routine things, and while it will fix up some problems, it will not fix everything. Windows Defender looks out for spyware and pop-ups.

So these are some simple stuff to help spruce up your computer and the area around it. Good luck. Any other tips I should add? Leave a comment.

Windows Live team listens to my feedback on Report Abuse!

Well, maybe it is not specifically my feedback, maybe others as well, but they at least updated part of their policy that I’ve been pushing for.

I noticed as I was reporting this person, you do not have to link to the person’s Windows Live Space URL; you can now link to the person’s Windows Live Profile URL. Which of course makes more sense nowadays.

Using the person’s Windows Live Profile URL makes much more sense than using a person’s Windows Live Space URL, because it is quite common to find a lot of users have not signed up for a Windows Live Space, so it makes it quite irrelevant to have to report with a URL that does not exist. It just makes better sense to go with the Profile URL.

However, I still think a better and hassle-free way of containing the situation, would be for Windows Live to automatically know some of the data without the user having to provide it.

Like for instance, if a person posts a comment containing spam, then all you should have to do is click a report abuse button right next to the user’s name (or from the list of options when you click on his/her display picture) and Windows Live should know instantly who is being report, and where exactly where they are being reported from (based on the source of the report abuse click) making it a much easier process.

The smarter ‘report abuse’ button would knock out the need to enter a person’s Windows Live Profile URL and label the exact location of the abuse. All the person would need to do is just explain what the abuser did, and that’s about it. No more having to go through the process of copy and pasting URLs, the exact content of the message and then digging through a list to go through specifics. A more speedy reporting process would be a life saver.

Other sites can do this, so why can’t Windows Live? Anyway, I’m at least happy there is some progress happening, even though it is kind of slow.

Windows Live Tags: Windows Live, clubhouse, Report Abuse, Spaces, feedback, Profile

When will you people understand? Invite overflow reaches epic proportions

I don’t think I’ve checked my inbox for just a few days, and imagine my surprise when I get 99+ e-mails after signing in to Messenger.

So I have 126 new e-mails, 40 invites to Messenger and possibly Profiles, 38 private messages, and honestly: MOST of these are pretty STUPID. It’s ridiculous all this mountain load of spam I’m getting. Microsoft may be trying to make Windows Live more sociable, but instead, it’s just making it easier for spammers and the “I-gotta-add-more-people” types in full force and bugging the heck out of me. Windows Live just doesn’t have enough “normal” users, like actual teenagers and young adults that actively use it, so instead, you just get mostly riff-raff. Sorry to be so blunt, but it’s kinda true. Not that everyone is this negative type, but it’s hard to miss.

If you read my blog, or kept up with my updates, you know I complain about this a lot. But maybe if the Windows Live team notices this, they’re going to get with the program, and do much more to make Windows Live a better service network.