I fail to understand how Herman Cain's whine-whine-whine proposal would hold much appeal. It diminishes the most progressive tax (i.e., the graduated income tax) and imposes yet another regressive tax (i.e., a national sales tax).
And for businesses, how many auto manufacturers and car dealers will be thrilled to see what was once a $20,000 automobile suddenly escalate to $21,800? That will certainly impact sales of price-sensitive goods, especially in an already struggling economy.
I normally applaud efforts to simplify the tax code. My parents lived in Pennsylvania, so when I was stationed overseas in the Navy, I claimed PA as my home state. I don't know how it is now, but back then the tax form was the size of an old IBM punch card. It took 10-15 minutes to complete, and only that long because I kept stopping in amazement. I strongly favor simplification of the federal tax code as well, but Cain's formula is horribly misguided: lopsided in favor of businesses while tilted heavily against ordinary wage-earners.
First and foremost, however, we must stop using tax policies for social engineering. For example, in the early 80's, Congress passed a tax law encouraging construction. Builders cranked out new buildings solely to capitalize on those tax breaks, not because there was any market for those building. Houston and other cities wound up with vast inventories of unoccupied office buildings all because of a misguided tax statute. The law of unintended consequences is one law Congress cannot repeal and too often promotes.
We should strive to create an environment where businesses pursue projects based entirely on their own merits, not skewed by the distorted lenses of tax inducements. I as a homeowner would willingly surrender my home mortgage tax deduction if it led to a simpler, more equitable tax structure with no business loopholes. Instead, every February-April we create a cottage industry of tax preparers. We need to stop this foolishness now.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Death Knell for Firefox
Has anybody else become as frustrated with Mozilla's Firefox web browser as I have?
What once distinguished Firefox from other browsers was the abundance of marvelous and powerful add-ons. Unfortunately, Mozilla's accelerated release schedule combined with its laggard approval system has rendered too many of my favorite add-ons totally inoperative.
With Firefox 3.6.18, I had 42 add-ons (excluding those having to do with Java). With Firefox 5.0, I was down to 29, a loss of 13, or 30%. A few of those lost add-ons were deadwood that I didn't really mind losing, but many others I considered essential. In any case, a 30% attrition rate is simply not sustainable. And without add-ons, Firefox becomes just another browser.
I had not even overcome the hurdles of going from version 3.6.18 to version 4.01 yet when Mozilla already released version 5.0. Not only has Mozilla outstripped its add-on developers ability to keep up, but it has left its users behind as well. Users value stability and continuity, not rapid-fire change just for the sake of change. Mozilla seems to have totally abandoned users in that regard.
Most of Mozilla's inconsequential, cosmetic changes are merely eye candy and/or otherwise irrelevant to the average user. Mozilla seems to have fallen prey to its own technical wizardry: making changes simply because they can, not because those changes add anything meaningful to the user's browsing experience.
I used to swear by Firefox, but now I find myself swearing at it. As a result, after using Firefox exclusively since 2005, my family and I have given up on Firefox entirely. Out of sheer frustration, we have instead switched to another browser. In our opinion, Mozilla has run a formerly great product right into the ground.
Can you say "Netscape?" For the opposite reason (too many changes in Firefox versus not enough changes in Netscape), the end result is likely to be the same: extinction.
As Buck Owens & His Buckaroos once sang, "Adios, farewell, goodbye, good luck, so long."
What once distinguished Firefox from other browsers was the abundance of marvelous and powerful add-ons. Unfortunately, Mozilla's accelerated release schedule combined with its laggard approval system has rendered too many of my favorite add-ons totally inoperative.
With Firefox 3.6.18, I had 42 add-ons (excluding those having to do with Java). With Firefox 5.0, I was down to 29, a loss of 13, or 30%. A few of those lost add-ons were deadwood that I didn't really mind losing, but many others I considered essential. In any case, a 30% attrition rate is simply not sustainable. And without add-ons, Firefox becomes just another browser.
I had not even overcome the hurdles of going from version 3.6.18 to version 4.01 yet when Mozilla already released version 5.0. Not only has Mozilla outstripped its add-on developers ability to keep up, but it has left its users behind as well. Users value stability and continuity, not rapid-fire change just for the sake of change. Mozilla seems to have totally abandoned users in that regard.
Most of Mozilla's inconsequential, cosmetic changes are merely eye candy and/or otherwise irrelevant to the average user. Mozilla seems to have fallen prey to its own technical wizardry: making changes simply because they can, not because those changes add anything meaningful to the user's browsing experience.
I used to swear by Firefox, but now I find myself swearing at it. As a result, after using Firefox exclusively since 2005, my family and I have given up on Firefox entirely. Out of sheer frustration, we have instead switched to another browser. In our opinion, Mozilla has run a formerly great product right into the ground.
Can you say "Netscape?" For the opposite reason (too many changes in Firefox versus not enough changes in Netscape), the end result is likely to be the same: extinction.
As Buck Owens & His Buckaroos once sang, "Adios, farewell, goodbye, good luck, so long."
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Google Neglects Its Own
In September 2009, I created my family web page on Google. Now, more than 18 months later, it still does not appear on Google's own search engine even though Google itself hosts the site.
In stark contrast, I posted the same content on my family web page on Comcast a full year later in September 2010, and yet Google's search engine displayed my Comcast site within a few short weeks.
This anomaly compelled me to research ways to create visibility for my Google-hosted web page on Google's own search engine. The following saga will outline the sequence of events that Google led me to take and that you presumably must take as well.
The first necessary step involved logging on to Google Webmaster Tools using a Gmail account. After signing in, execute the following steps:
By going through all of these contortions, I thought I had covered all of my bases. Boy, was I mistaken: I had no idea of what still lay ahead.
I had completed my web site verification process and submitted my url to Google on 9 April 2011. I had read that Google's web crawler operates early each month, so I was prepared to wait a few weeks for my site to appear in a Google search sometime in early May.
I waited patiently until 1 May, when I began to check almost daily. To my increasing chagrin, my site still failed to appear in any Google search over the next two full weeks. In frustration, I re-submitted my url to Google once again on 14 May, but another full week passed with no results.
In the course of researching these requirements, I was dimly aware of an additional process whereby users could also submit a site map of their web page to Google. Finally, out of sheer desperation, I undertook the following steps:
I was now at the end of my rope. I knew of no other measures to take. I had submitted 33 specific URLs that were all accepted and acknowledged. If that failed to work, then I was fully prepared to give up.
I completed this process on 24 May and initially expected to wait until the monthly web crawl in early June. However, after all this time and effort, I was beginning to feel anxious. I could not wait any longer, so I launched my inquiry on 26 May.
Eureka!
While I am pleased to finally have my web page finally listed in Google searches, I am not at all happy about the obstacles I had to overcome. I am both perplexed and somewhat dismayed that Google erects so many barriers in the path of its own customers while requiring no special action by the customers of its competitors (in my case, Comcast) to be included in a Google search.
Is it just me, or is there something wrong with this picture?
In stark contrast, I posted the same content on my family web page on Comcast a full year later in September 2010, and yet Google's search engine displayed my Comcast site within a few short weeks.
This anomaly compelled me to research ways to create visibility for my Google-hosted web page on Google's own search engine. The following saga will outline the sequence of events that Google led me to take and that you presumably must take as well.
The first necessary step involved logging on to Google Webmaster Tools using a Gmail account. After signing in, execute the following steps:
- In the "Verification home" window, click the button "Add a site..."
- In the next pop-up window, enter the applicable web site url in the field provided (in my case, http://sites.google.com/site/gumby32/)
- In the "Verify ownership" window, click on the second "Alternate methods" tab
- Select the first option of the three: "Add a meta tag to your site's home page." Indeed, Google's own help entry states: "This is the best option if you don't have access to your server." That is certainly true for those of us who are merely clients of Google sites. Meta tags will look something like this, only all on one single line:
<meta name="google-site-verification"
content="b0l0X5ZOJiT9kRSABjuXlE-
w3kkjL8zPTUJyMMOO6x0" />
- Copy the entire meta tag that appears in the window and save it somewhere convenient. You will soon need to paste this meta tag into a particular field in your web page header information.
- Click the "Verify" button to complete the verification process.
- Click "More actions | Manage site"
- From the menu at the left, click "Site setting - General"
- In the window to the right, paste your saved entry from Google Webmasters above into the field "Google Webmaster Tools verification"
- Click the "Save changes" button at the bottom to save your work
By going through all of these contortions, I thought I had covered all of my bases. Boy, was I mistaken: I had no idea of what still lay ahead.
I had completed my web site verification process and submitted my url to Google on 9 April 2011. I had read that Google's web crawler operates early each month, so I was prepared to wait a few weeks for my site to appear in a Google search sometime in early May.
I waited patiently until 1 May, when I began to check almost daily. To my increasing chagrin, my site still failed to appear in any Google search over the next two full weeks. In frustration, I re-submitted my url to Google once again on 14 May, but another full week passed with no results.
In the course of researching these requirements, I was dimly aware of an additional process whereby users could also submit a site map of their web page to Google. Finally, out of sheer desperation, I undertook the following steps:
- Create a plain text file with all of the links you want Google to crawl. Log on to your web site, navigate your way to the sitemap location, and click the "List" button. Then:
- highlight all links in the list
- right-click the selected links
- in the resulting menu, select "Copy Selected Links"
- paste all links to a file "sitemap.txt"
- Upload the newly-created file "sitemap.txt" anywhere onto your web site. "Web Site Overview" is always appropriate, but it really doesn't matter because the file is only a temporary device that you can eventually delete.
- Log on to Google Webmaster Tools once again
- In the Home window, click the site at issue (in my case, "sites.google.com/site/gumby32/")
- In the window at left, click on "Site Configuration"
- In the expanded menu, click "Sitemaps"
- Back in the window at the right, click the button "Submit a Sitemap"
- Copy the relevant portion of the link from the plain text file that you uploaded earlier and then paste that portion into the blank field. In my case, the correct entry was "home/sitemap.txt?attredirects=0&d=1" even though the complete link of the attached file was "https://sites.google.com/site/gumby32/home/sitemap.txt?attredirects=0&d=1"
- Click the "Submit Sitemap" button
- Once the URLs are accepted and acknowledged, you may delete the "sites.txt" file that you uploaded (and which will appear as an attachment) because it is no longer needed. You probably don't want an unsightly text file with no ostensible purpose littering your web site.
I was now at the end of my rope. I knew of no other measures to take. I had submitted 33 specific URLs that were all accepted and acknowledged. If that failed to work, then I was fully prepared to give up.
I completed this process on 24 May and initially expected to wait until the monthly web crawl in early June. However, after all this time and effort, I was beginning to feel anxious. I could not wait any longer, so I launched my inquiry on 26 May.
Eureka!
- My first Google search ("gumby32 site:sites.google.com") suddenly yielded all 33 of my web site links where it previously displayed only the message "Your search ... did not match any documents."
- A search for "gumby32 greiner" only showed seven items, but numbers six and seven were my résumé and main web page, respectively.
- A search for my full name "Robert Brian Greiner" produced 633,000 results, but my main web page was listed fourth on the first page!
While I am pleased to finally have my web page finally listed in Google searches, I am not at all happy about the obstacles I had to overcome. I am both perplexed and somewhat dismayed that Google erects so many barriers in the path of its own customers while requiring no special action by the customers of its competitors (in my case, Comcast) to be included in a Google search.
Is it just me, or is there something wrong with this picture?
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Windows 7: Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?
Windows 7 has again revealed its Dr.-Jekyll-and-Mr.-Hyde syndrome: namely, the fortuitous discovery of a useful feature leading to yet another intractable problem.
First, let's tackle the useful feature that is almost artfully concealed from users. Quite by accident, I found that there is more information available to users from the Control Panel than would appear at first blush. To see what I mean, try the following steps:
Of particular interest to me is the link "Performance Information and Tools." Clicking this link will open a window showing a Windows Experience Index for each of five categories. Below the main area is a link entitled "What do these numbers mean?" Read up on the index if you like, but that is not what is important.
Of greater value is an unobtrusive link to the right that reads "View and print detailed performance and system information." Clicking on that link displays expanded information about your computer system, including (but not limited to) processor speed, total memory, storage capacity of all attached hard drives, graphics memory and processing speed, and network adapters.
My teen-age son needs this information when he goes shopping for computer games to determine if his machine has the capacity for the particular computer game he intends to buy. Why Microsoft buries this system information so deeply is an irritating mystery.
But that is not the worst of it. We are now ready to address the intractable problem I mentioned at the start of this diatribe. At the top and bottom of the expanded system information window is a button that reads "Print this page." As you would expect, clicking on either of these links will open another window that lists all available printers. If you happen to be mobile with a laptop that is not connected to any printer, that window is not very helpful. You can, of course, select the option "Print to file," in which case your results will be saved to a .prn file that is illegible to anything other than printer software and is therefore equally useless.
In researching how to handle this .prn file, I stumbled across one nifty solution that involves an entirely different approach. This method entails downloading and installing two free software programs:
In this manner, CutePDF Writer and its silent partner Ghostwriter allow any application with a print button or print menu to save a file in .pdf format. Both programs are very easy to install and even easier to use, and they seem to work perfectly together.
Using these two marvelous programs, I was able to save the information from my computer's detailed performance and system information discussed above. Whereas I had been totally thwarted by Microsoft's lame "Print this page" button, I now have the data in a single .pdf file as a permanent electronic reference that is eminently readable and easily transferable to another computer for eventual printing. Sweet!
Maybe I should I instead say "Suite!"
First, let's tackle the useful feature that is almost artfully concealed from users. Quite by accident, I found that there is more information available to users from the Control Panel than would appear at first blush. To see what I mean, try the following steps:
- Click on the "Start" orb
- Click "Control Panel" menu item
- Do not click on any of the icons that appear in the window below. Instead, click directly on the the right arrow immediately following the words "Control Panel" in the field near the top of the page
- In the resulting menu, select the first menu entry: "All Control Panel Items"
Of particular interest to me is the link "Performance Information and Tools." Clicking this link will open a window showing a Windows Experience Index for each of five categories. Below the main area is a link entitled "What do these numbers mean?" Read up on the index if you like, but that is not what is important.
Of greater value is an unobtrusive link to the right that reads "View and print detailed performance and system information." Clicking on that link displays expanded information about your computer system, including (but not limited to) processor speed, total memory, storage capacity of all attached hard drives, graphics memory and processing speed, and network adapters.
My teen-age son needs this information when he goes shopping for computer games to determine if his machine has the capacity for the particular computer game he intends to buy. Why Microsoft buries this system information so deeply is an irritating mystery.
But that is not the worst of it. We are now ready to address the intractable problem I mentioned at the start of this diatribe. At the top and bottom of the expanded system information window is a button that reads "Print this page." As you would expect, clicking on either of these links will open another window that lists all available printers. If you happen to be mobile with a laptop that is not connected to any printer, that window is not very helpful. You can, of course, select the option "Print to file," in which case your results will be saved to a .prn file that is illegible to anything other than printer software and is therefore equally useless.
In researching how to handle this .prn file, I stumbled across one nifty solution that involves an entirely different approach. This method entails downloading and installing two free software programs:
- CutePDF Writer and...
- Ghostscript, an interpreter for the PostScript language and for PDF.
In this manner, CutePDF Writer and its silent partner Ghostwriter allow any application with a print button or print menu to save a file in .pdf format. Both programs are very easy to install and even easier to use, and they seem to work perfectly together.
Using these two marvelous programs, I was able to save the information from my computer's detailed performance and system information discussed above. Whereas I had been totally thwarted by Microsoft's lame "Print this page" button, I now have the data in a single .pdf file as a permanent electronic reference that is eminently readable and easily transferable to another computer for eventual printing. Sweet!
Maybe I should I instead say "Suite!"
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Web Site Traffic Monitors
Have you ever wondered about those counters that appear at the bottom of some web sites that display the number of visitors to the site? The subject has lingered in the back of my mind for several years, but I never pursued the matter until recently.
In the course of doing so, I found at least two separate and distinct ways to monitor traffic volume on web sites:
Visible odometer display
I was initially discouraged: almost all sites offering free counters required users to register with a userid and password and/or provide an e-mail address, which I view as an invitation for their spam to rain down upon me. I finally stumbled upon a reasonable site that met my requirements called HitWebCounter.
This site offers fifty odometer designs from which to choose, but none of them were very appealing visually. However, the service is free, requires no registration or e-mail address, and is very easy to use. Simply choose one of the odometers and fill in fields with the following information:
After you make all of your selections, click on the button labeled "GET YOUR COUNTER CODE." A window will then appear with the applicable HTML code snippet. Simply copy the code and paste it into your web site code in the appropriate place where you wish the odometer to appear.
Keep in mind that with this method, all counts are maintained on the vendor's servers. If those servers malfunction, at best your web site might display an ugly rectangle where the counter should be and at worst might slow down and/or lock up altogether.
On the plus side, this method works whether your site is hosted by Google sites or a more conventional vendor like Comcast or Verizon. On my family web page hosted by Comcast, I placed a counter not only on the parent home page but also on all of the sub-pages: my favorite free software, my children's favorite game sites, my resume, and a page featuring my high school teachers. That way, I can determine which specific page(s) out of the entire web site is/are attracting the most visitors—if any!
Furthermore, the counting process will begin immediately after you post the new code to your site. The visible counter will change as soon as you or any other person visit the site or simply click the refresh button. This instant feedback is in stark contrast to Google Analytics discussed in the following section.
Invisible behind-the scenes statistics:
Google Analytics also accumulates web site usage data albeit in a somewhat different manner. I does keep its statistics on its own set of servers much like HitWebCounter discussed above and many similar sites. However, it does not place an odometer or any other visible device onto your web page. It does offer a more comprehensive set of statistics, including not only the raw number of visitors but also the percentage of new visitors, number of page views, and average time spent on site per visitor.
In the absence of a visible counter, you must instead access web site usage data by logging on to Google Analytics at http://www.google.com/analytics/. If you do not have a Google account, you must first create one. However, if you already use Gmail, individualized Google search (iGoogle), Google's web site hosting, or any of the other Google services, then you already have an account that will provide you with access to Google Analytics.
Assuming that you have already established a Google account, go to the site http://www.google.com/analytics/
and click on the link "Access Analytics." In the next window, enter your Google e-mail address and password in the usual way.
To create a profile for your own specific web site,
When you return to the "Overview" page, your URL(s) will appear by default under the "Name" column. This is redundant because the URL also appears in the profile heading.
Fortunately, there is a way to assign a more descriptive profile name. In the far right column of each profile data row, you will see a link labeled "Edit." When you click this link, another window will appear that displays four sections, each of which has its own "Edit" button in the upper right corner.
The first section will be labeled "Main Website Profile Information." Click that section's "Edit" link to access the page entitled "Edit Profile Information." The first field is labeled "Profile Name." Type any meaningful name (e.g., "Family Web Page," Children's Favorite Game Sites," "Gateway to Heaven," etc.) Click the "Save Changes" button at the very bottom of the page.
Presto chango! Now when you return to the "Overview" section, your meaningful new description will appear in the "Name" column instead of the URL.
Be advised that Google's on-line instructions warns users that it might take as long as 24 hours before any data begins to appear in the Data Analytics reports. Well, it all depends. I created my profiles on a Monday and visited my sites at least once every day. I was dismayed that by Friday, all of my counts still showed a big, fat zero.
But then I am an idiot. By default, my children and I have JavaScript disabled as a security measure. We selectively activate JavaScript only on sites that we trust and only when we need it for the site to behave properly. Because my web pages heretofor have not needed JavaScript to function, JavaScript remained disabled in our browser when visiting our family web site. Well, guess what? The code that Google Analytics requires users to copy-and-paste into their web site's HTML code happens to be, of all things, JavaScript code.
With this in mind, it stands to reason that the statistics will not register with JavaScript disabled! When I finally came to this forehead-slapping realization, I again accessed my sites, only this time with JavaScript enabled. Sure enough, within just moments, the status in Google Analytics changed from "Waiting for Data" to "Receiving Data." And most importantly, meaningful non-zero statistics began to appear within the stipulated 24 hours. Life is good!
Finally, the steps I have described above are really not as difficult to implement as my ramblings might lead you to believe. Most of the processes involved will become abundantly clear when you actually visit the respective sites. Rest assured: if a simpleton like me can get these techniques to work, then none of you savvy readers out there will have any problems.
In the course of doing so, I found at least two separate and distinct ways to monitor traffic volume on web sites:
- Visible odometer display
- Invisible behind-the scenes statistics:
Google Analytics
Visible odometer display
I was initially discouraged: almost all sites offering free counters required users to register with a userid and password and/or provide an e-mail address, which I view as an invitation for their spam to rain down upon me. I finally stumbled upon a reasonable site that met my requirements called HitWebCounter.This site offers fifty odometer designs from which to choose, but none of them were very appealing visually. However, the service is free, requires no registration or e-mail address, and is very easy to use. Simply choose one of the odometers and fill in fields with the following information:
- web page name (i.e., your site's URL)
- starting count (typically zero)
- number of digits for the odometer to display (select a number from 1 to 9 from a pull-down menu complete with leading zeros)
- counter type: select "Page Views" or "Unique Visitors"
After you make all of your selections, click on the button labeled "GET YOUR COUNTER CODE." A window will then appear with the applicable HTML code snippet. Simply copy the code and paste it into your web site code in the appropriate place where you wish the odometer to appear.
Keep in mind that with this method, all counts are maintained on the vendor's servers. If those servers malfunction, at best your web site might display an ugly rectangle where the counter should be and at worst might slow down and/or lock up altogether.
On the plus side, this method works whether your site is hosted by Google sites or a more conventional vendor like Comcast or Verizon. On my family web page hosted by Comcast, I placed a counter not only on the parent home page but also on all of the sub-pages: my favorite free software, my children's favorite game sites, my resume, and a page featuring my high school teachers. That way, I can determine which specific page(s) out of the entire web site is/are attracting the most visitors—if any!
Furthermore, the counting process will begin immediately after you post the new code to your site. The visible counter will change as soon as you or any other person visit the site or simply click the refresh button. This instant feedback is in stark contrast to Google Analytics discussed in the following section.
Invisible behind-the scenes statistics:
Google Analytics
Google Analytics also accumulates web site usage data albeit in a somewhat different manner. I does keep its statistics on its own set of servers much like HitWebCounter discussed above and many similar sites. However, it does not place an odometer or any other visible device onto your web page. It does offer a more comprehensive set of statistics, including not only the raw number of visitors but also the percentage of new visitors, number of page views, and average time spent on site per visitor.In the absence of a visible counter, you must instead access web site usage data by logging on to Google Analytics at http://www.google.com/analytics/. If you do not have a Google account, you must first create one. However, if you already use Gmail, individualized Google search (iGoogle), Google's web site hosting, or any of the other Google services, then you already have an account that will provide you with access to Google Analytics.
Assuming that you have already established a Google account, go to the site http://www.google.com/analytics/
and click on the link "Access Analytics." In the next window, enter your Google e-mail address and password in the usual way.
To create a profile for your own specific web site,
- Click the link labeled "+ Add new profile"
- In the resulting window,
- insert your web site's URL (without the "http://") in the first field
- select your country in the second field ("United States" will already be the default entry
- select your time zone from the pull-down menu in the third field
- Click the "Finish" button to save your work
- Log on to your Google web site
- Click "More actions | Manage site"
- In the menu to the left, click "Site settings - General"
- In the window to the right, locate "Statistics"
- Check the box "Enable Google Analytics for this site"
- Now paste the account id into the field "Paste your Analytics Web Property ID here:"
- Click the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the page
When you return to the "Overview" page, your URL(s) will appear by default under the "Name" column. This is redundant because the URL also appears in the profile heading.
Fortunately, there is a way to assign a more descriptive profile name. In the far right column of each profile data row, you will see a link labeled "Edit." When you click this link, another window will appear that displays four sections, each of which has its own "Edit" button in the upper right corner.
The first section will be labeled "Main Website Profile Information." Click that section's "Edit" link to access the page entitled "Edit Profile Information." The first field is labeled "Profile Name." Type any meaningful name (e.g., "Family Web Page," Children's Favorite Game Sites," "Gateway to Heaven," etc.) Click the "Save Changes" button at the very bottom of the page.
Presto chango! Now when you return to the "Overview" section, your meaningful new description will appear in the "Name" column instead of the URL.
Be advised that Google's on-line instructions warns users that it might take as long as 24 hours before any data begins to appear in the Data Analytics reports. Well, it all depends. I created my profiles on a Monday and visited my sites at least once every day. I was dismayed that by Friday, all of my counts still showed a big, fat zero.
But then I am an idiot. By default, my children and I have JavaScript disabled as a security measure. We selectively activate JavaScript only on sites that we trust and only when we need it for the site to behave properly. Because my web pages heretofor have not needed JavaScript to function, JavaScript remained disabled in our browser when visiting our family web site. Well, guess what? The code that Google Analytics requires users to copy-and-paste into their web site's HTML code happens to be, of all things, JavaScript code.
With this in mind, it stands to reason that the statistics will not register with JavaScript disabled! When I finally came to this forehead-slapping realization, I again accessed my sites, only this time with JavaScript enabled. Sure enough, within just moments, the status in Google Analytics changed from "Waiting for Data" to "Receiving Data." And most importantly, meaningful non-zero statistics began to appear within the stipulated 24 hours. Life is good!
Comparison: Odometer Display vs. Google Analytics
Here is a quick summary of the differences between odometer measuring devices like HitWebCounter and behind-the-scenes statistical gathering devices like Google Analytics:- HitWebCounter provides a visible device in the form of an odometer/counter. Google Analytics has no device that is visible on the user's web page; users must instead log on to Google Analytics to view statistics
- HitWebCounter provides instant gratification by displaying counts almost immediately after installation. By contrast, Google Analytics involves a waiting period of up to 24 hours to view initial data.
- HitWebCounter records all visitors to a site, even those with JavaScript disabled. As I learned from bitter first-hand experience, Google Analytics does not record visitors unless their JavaScript is fully enabled.
- And now for the big trade-off: HitWebCounter odometers record only aggregate counts of one statistic, usually a simple visitor count. Google Analytics, on the other hand, provides a far more comprehensive set of statistics including but not limited to the total number of visitors, the number of unique visitors, the number of page views, and average time viewers spend on each site. Furthermore, Google Analytics data can be displayed in graphical format by day, month, or year.
Finally, the steps I have described above are really not as difficult to implement as my ramblings might lead you to believe. Most of the processes involved will become abundantly clear when you actually visit the respective sites. Rest assured: if a simpleton like me can get these techniques to work, then none of you savvy readers out there will have any problems.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Taxing My Patience
Republicans habitually moan and groan, then weep and wail about getting big (federal) government off our backs because small state and local governments can do things better. Apparently not in Virginia.
This year, Virginia has abandoned the previous single on-line tax filing system called iFile that worked splendidly. In its stead, Virginia has now adopted a hodgepodge of not one, not two, but six different systems, and all six have totally different eligibility requirements.
For example, users who have already filed their federal tax returns are prohibited from using three of the six options. And for the three that they are allowed to use, they have to enter their federal data all over again. Even worse, people between the ages of 58 and 65 with incomes over $58,000 do not qualify for any of the six options!
The Virginia Department of Taxation's web site has the audacity to exhort users: "Find out more about this exciting new program...." What hogwash! I called the Virginia Department of Taxation to find out the rationale behind this change. The representative could only spout the standard line that the legislature passed the bill and the governor signed it, adding only that it was an attempt to emulate the federal on-line filing system.
Unfortunately, Virginia seems to have overlooked one major element: the federal system includes a program called Free File Fillable Forms which allows everyone to file electronically with no restrictions on age, income, or anything else. Where is Virginia's equivalent? Missing in action. Oops!
I have been filing electronically for several years now, but no more. This year, I am no longer eligible for any of the free programs, and I refuse to pay a fee just for the "privilege" of filing electronically. Instead, I am now driven to revert to paper where the only "fee" is a 44-cent postage stamp. I guess that this is supposed to be someone's distorted idea of progress, but in reality it represents a huge step backwards.
Virginia's legislature has created a patchwork crazy-quilt "system" that lacks the redeeming feature of an all-inclusive option akin to the federal Free File Fillable Forms. It also excludes a substantial portion of the population and thus has the perverse effect of discouraging electronic filing for those people.
In short, Virginia has managed to incorporate the worst elements of the federal program while excluding the single best feature. So tell me again, Republicans, exactly how state governments are so much better?
[Postscript: I e-mailed the essential contents of this article to both my state senator and my representative to the House of Delegates asking them to please address the flaws in the system. Both legislators and their respective staffs declined even to reply. Apparently in the eyes of Republicans, if you are not a fat-cat businessman laden with cash contributions, you do not merit a response.
At the very least, this scenario provides just another example that belies the Republican shibboleth that small government is responsive government.]
[Post Postscript: Will wonders never cease! I just checked the Virginia Department of Taxation web site to download tax forms for 2011. In the instruction manual, on the first page after the title page, the third paragraph reads as follows:
Eureka! This year, it appears that Virginia will provide free file fillable forms just like the federal government has offered for years. It took Virginia at least a year longer than it should have, but better late than never, I guess.] [Added 8 January 2012]
This year, Virginia has abandoned the previous single on-line tax filing system called iFile that worked splendidly. In its stead, Virginia has now adopted a hodgepodge of not one, not two, but six different systems, and all six have totally different eligibility requirements.
For example, users who have already filed their federal tax returns are prohibited from using three of the six options. And for the three that they are allowed to use, they have to enter their federal data all over again. Even worse, people between the ages of 58 and 65 with incomes over $58,000 do not qualify for any of the six options!
The Virginia Department of Taxation's web site has the audacity to exhort users: "Find out more about this exciting new program...." What hogwash! I called the Virginia Department of Taxation to find out the rationale behind this change. The representative could only spout the standard line that the legislature passed the bill and the governor signed it, adding only that it was an attempt to emulate the federal on-line filing system.
Unfortunately, Virginia seems to have overlooked one major element: the federal system includes a program called Free File Fillable Forms which allows everyone to file electronically with no restrictions on age, income, or anything else. Where is Virginia's equivalent? Missing in action. Oops!
I have been filing electronically for several years now, but no more. This year, I am no longer eligible for any of the free programs, and I refuse to pay a fee just for the "privilege" of filing electronically. Instead, I am now driven to revert to paper where the only "fee" is a 44-cent postage stamp. I guess that this is supposed to be someone's distorted idea of progress, but in reality it represents a huge step backwards.
Virginia's legislature has created a patchwork crazy-quilt "system" that lacks the redeeming feature of an all-inclusive option akin to the federal Free File Fillable Forms. It also excludes a substantial portion of the population and thus has the perverse effect of discouraging electronic filing for those people.
In short, Virginia has managed to incorporate the worst elements of the federal program while excluding the single best feature. So tell me again, Republicans, exactly how state governments are so much better?
[Postscript: I e-mailed the essential contents of this article to both my state senator and my representative to the House of Delegates asking them to please address the flaws in the system. Both legislators and their respective staffs declined even to reply. Apparently in the eyes of Republicans, if you are not a fat-cat businessman laden with cash contributions, you do not merit a response.
At the very least, this scenario provides just another example that belies the Republican shibboleth that small government is responsive government.]
[Post Postscript: Will wonders never cease! I just checked the Virginia Department of Taxation web site to download tax forms for 2011. In the instruction manual, on the first page after the title page, the third paragraph reads as follows:
Free File Fillable Virginia Forms (New e-File option) - Online versions of the Virginia resident return and schedules that allow you to enter tax information just as you would if you were completing a paper form and then submit the return electronically through e-File.
Eureka! This year, it appears that Virginia will provide free file fillable forms just like the federal government has offered for years. It took Virginia at least a year longer than it should have, but better late than never, I guess.] [Added 8 January 2012]
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Google's Mental Block
Google just added a welcome new feature to its search engine that allows users to block unwanted sites from appearing on the search engine results page (SERP).
Allow me to cite one example. My pet peeve is a site called Experts Exchange. Whenever I do a Google search for a technical problem of any kind involving Microsoft Windows, that site is invariably among the listed choices offering a solution.
Unfortunately, in order to see the answer to that particular problem, you must first sign up for a free 30-day trial. To do so, you must provide not only an e-mail address but a credit card number that is required to "validate" your free trial. Riiight. Not to worry, though: they are quick to add that "You will never be charged during your free trial and you can cancel at any time." Whew; I am so relieved.
Sorry, folks; that is never going to happen. I do not want to encounter that nonsense ever again; with Google's new feature, now I don't have to.
Google's own web site describes how to block specific sites from search results. The steps to actually block a site seem to work just fine as long as you have a Google profile and are logged on to it.
My heartburn comes from Google's instruction that says "Whenever your search results would have included pages from that [blocked] domain, you'll see a message at the top or bottom of the page reminding you that the domain was blocked." I have yet to see any such message or notification.
Even more problematical is Google's statement that users can "[a]dd or remove blocked sites using the Blocked Sites page which is accessible via your Search Settings page when you're signed in." Hard as I looked, I could not find any reference to the Blocked Sites page anywhere in my Search Settings.
The only way I could find to navigate my way to the Blocked Pages site was to conduct a dummy search, visit any site shown in the results, and click on the link to block that site. That link then transformed into a link entitled Managed Blocked Sites. Clicking that link in turn finally threw me into the Manage Blocked Sites page. There I could freely add new sites to block and mark previously blocked sites to unblock, including the most recent blocked site that served only as a vehicle to access the settings.
However, that process struck me as a truly awkward and artificial contrivance. Why should users have to arbitrarily block any random site just to access the settings? As I am writing this masterpiece, today marks only the first or second day after Google's release of this new feature. Hopefully over the next few days, Google will smoothe out these rough edges.
Until then, I have discovered a very simple workaround: while in the Manage Blocked Sites page for the first time, simply bookmark that page as you would bookmark any other web site. For most people, the applicable url should be http://www.google.com/reviews/t or, if you are like me and use only encrypted Google searches, https://encrypted.google.com/reviews/t.
Bingo! Now we're cooking with gas. With that one bookmark, I now have total flexibility. Any time I want, I can simply click my new bookmark and then easily block any site or sites that might offend my delicate sensibilities.
As the old Alka-Seltzer commercial once said, "Try it; you'll like it."
Allow me to cite one example. My pet peeve is a site called Experts Exchange. Whenever I do a Google search for a technical problem of any kind involving Microsoft Windows, that site is invariably among the listed choices offering a solution.
Unfortunately, in order to see the answer to that particular problem, you must first sign up for a free 30-day trial. To do so, you must provide not only an e-mail address but a credit card number that is required to "validate" your free trial. Riiight. Not to worry, though: they are quick to add that "You will never be charged during your free trial and you can cancel at any time." Whew; I am so relieved.
Sorry, folks; that is never going to happen. I do not want to encounter that nonsense ever again; with Google's new feature, now I don't have to.
Google's own web site describes how to block specific sites from search results. The steps to actually block a site seem to work just fine as long as you have a Google profile and are logged on to it.
My heartburn comes from Google's instruction that says "Whenever your search results would have included pages from that [blocked] domain, you'll see a message at the top or bottom of the page reminding you that the domain was blocked." I have yet to see any such message or notification.
Even more problematical is Google's statement that users can "[a]dd or remove blocked sites using the Blocked Sites page which is accessible via your Search Settings page when you're signed in." Hard as I looked, I could not find any reference to the Blocked Sites page anywhere in my Search Settings.
The only way I could find to navigate my way to the Blocked Pages site was to conduct a dummy search, visit any site shown in the results, and click on the link to block that site. That link then transformed into a link entitled Managed Blocked Sites. Clicking that link in turn finally threw me into the Manage Blocked Sites page. There I could freely add new sites to block and mark previously blocked sites to unblock, including the most recent blocked site that served only as a vehicle to access the settings.
However, that process struck me as a truly awkward and artificial contrivance. Why should users have to arbitrarily block any random site just to access the settings? As I am writing this masterpiece, today marks only the first or second day after Google's release of this new feature. Hopefully over the next few days, Google will smoothe out these rough edges.
Until then, I have discovered a very simple workaround: while in the Manage Blocked Sites page for the first time, simply bookmark that page as you would bookmark any other web site. For most people, the applicable url should be http://www.google.com/reviews/t or, if you are like me and use only encrypted Google searches, https://encrypted.google.com/reviews/t.
Bingo! Now we're cooking with gas. With that one bookmark, I now have total flexibility. Any time I want, I can simply click my new bookmark and then easily block any site or sites that might offend my delicate sensibilities.
As the old Alka-Seltzer commercial once said, "Try it; you'll like it."
Microsoft Windows: Unfriendly Letters
As many years as I have been wrestling with Microsoft Windows, I have unwillingly accepted the operating system's default assignment of drive letters to USB devices. That's because I was totally unaware that users can themselves seize control over the drive letters assigned to USB external hard drives. I have only recently discovered this fact.
Why does this even matter? Well, our family has four computers: one laptop for each of my two children plus a desktop and a backup laptop for my own use. By default, two of the four machines assigned drive letter G to its associated external hard drive while the other two assigned drive letter E. And one of those changed to F when I affixed a USB thumb drive in addition.
This kind of inconsistency drives me nuts. When I want to manually copy files from the computer to its external hard drive, I am constantly challenged to remember which machine(s) uses E: or F: or G: as the drive letters. And when I write a batch program to automate that backup process, I have to employ multiple conditional "if" statements based on the respective machine names to account for the differences.
Enough is enough. In Windows 7, follow these steps to set the drive letter for external USB hard drives:
And it only took me 5+ years to stumble onto this technique!
Why does this even matter? Well, our family has four computers: one laptop for each of my two children plus a desktop and a backup laptop for my own use. By default, two of the four machines assigned drive letter G to its associated external hard drive while the other two assigned drive letter E. And one of those changed to F when I affixed a USB thumb drive in addition.
This kind of inconsistency drives me nuts. When I want to manually copy files from the computer to its external hard drive, I am constantly challenged to remember which machine(s) uses E: or F: or G: as the drive letters. And when I write a batch program to automate that backup process, I have to employ multiple conditional "if" statements based on the respective machine names to account for the differences.
Enough is enough. In Windows 7, follow these steps to set the drive letter for external USB hard drives:
- Click the "Start" orb in the lower left corner of the main window
- Right-click on "Computer"
- Select "Manage" from the resulting menu
- Select "Disk Management" from the left pane
- Right-click on the device of interest
- Select "Change Drive Letters and Paths..."
- Click on the "Change..." button
- Select the desired letter from the pull-down menu
- Click the "OK" button to save your work
- Click the "Start" orb in the lower left corner of the main window
- Click the "Settings | Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Computer Management" menu selections; alternatively, open Windows Explorer, right-click on "My Computer," then click on the "Manage" menu option
- Select "Disk Management" from the left pane
- Right-click on the device of interest
- Select "Change Drive Letters and Paths..."
- Click on the "Change..." button
- Select the desired letter from the pull-down menu
- Click the "OK" button to save your work
And it only took me 5+ years to stumble onto this technique!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Windows 7 Nuggets
In the past, I have been highly critical of Windows 7, but I have recently stumbled upon some handy features that are worth mentioning. For all I know, these features might also be present in Vista, but they are certainly new to all of us who are migrating from XP directly to Windows 7, thus bypassing Vista altogether.
- Calculator.
Windows 7's calculator goes beyond simple arithmetic calculations. It has a scientific mode with such features as trigonometric values, roots and exponents, logarithms and natural logarithms, and factorials. It also has a statistics mode that calculates such values as simple summations and sums of squares; simple means and means of squares; and standard deviations of both population and samples. The calculator also includes features for date calculation and perhaps best of all, an impressive ability to convert a wide range of units of measure.
- WordPad.
On the down side, WordPad now contains the same overblown, confusing "ribbon" menu system first encountered in Microsoft Office 2007. On the positive side, it does open Word's Open XML document (.docx) files as well as OpenOffice's OpenDocument text (.odt) files.
Be advised, however, that the format of complex files might not be preserved. For example, I wrote a newsletter in a 3-column newsprint format which was totally obliterated when I opened the document in WordPad. However, even with the format destroyed, I could still deciper the basic sentence content.
Aside from this shortcoming, WordPad now enables users to read Microsoft Word documents and OpenOffice text documents without having either Microsoft Office or OpenOffice installed. How unexpectedly considerate of Microsoft to add such a useful function, flawed though it might be.
- Windows Explorer.
In one sense, I consider the new Windows Explorer to be a step backwards because I miss the customizable icon bar at the top. Furthermore, the default settings fail to display all folders in the navigation pane to the left. Even worse, it also fails to display the full path of folders above the current folder, making navigation much more difficult.
I know of no way to fix the icon bar deficiency, but the other two problems are eminently correctable. Simply open Windows Explorer and click on the menu sequence "Tools | Folder Options." In the resulting window, click on the "General" tab if it is not already highlighted. About half-way down the page, in the "Navigation pane" section, place a check mark in both fields marked "Show all folders" and "Automatically expand to current folder." Click the OK button to save your settings; that will restore the missing functionality. You will now be able to see the system folders that previously were hidden, and you will be able to see the full path of folders above the current folder.
While you are still in the Folder Options window, you might also want to select the "View" tab. Then, in the "Advanced settings" field, scroll all the way to the bottom. Click the option "Use check boxes to select items" and click the OK button to finish. Now, whenever you hover your mouse over a file, a check box will appear to the left. You can simply select the check box to mark that and other files for subsequent action like copying, moving, deleting, etc.
Before Vista, users had to first hold the control key with one hand and then click the desired files with the other. In Vista and Windows 7, with this "Use check boxes" feature activated, you can select multiple files using mouse clicks only. Simultaneous keyboard actions (i.e., holding the control key) are no longer necessary. This provides a more convenient way to select multiple files.
Finally, there is one more Windows Explorer tweak you might find worthwhile. It irks me that Windows Explorer by default opens to the Libraries folder. If you do not use this Microsoft Libraries organization scheme, then being confronted with Libraries every time you open Windows Explorer quickly becomes a source of aggravation.
Instead, open Windows Explorer by clicking on the Start orb and selecting menus All Programs | Accessories. Right click on the Windows Explorer entry and select Properties. In the Properties window, select the Shortcut tab if it is not already highlighted. You will probably see the default entry
%windir%\explorer.exe
in the Target field. Simply append the full path and name of the folder you wish to open instead. For example, if you have all of your meaningful data in folder C:\MyData, then change the entry in the Target field to read
%windir%\explorer.exe C:\MyData
Now when you click on the Windows Explorer menu entry, it will open to the folder you have specified.You can even take this one step farther. Click on your newly modified Windows Explorer menu entry. After Windows Explorer opens, minimize it to the task bar. Right click on the task bar icon and select "Pin this program to taskbar." The icon will remain permanently in the task bar, or at least until you overtly close it. Not only will you not have to drill down through the menu system any more, but the newly "pinned" Windows Explorer icon will itself also open to the folder you previously specified.
- Clocks.
Users can add two additional clocks to the system tray. Simply click on the clock icon at the lower right corner of the screen and then click the "Change date and time settings..." link. Finally, click the the middle tab labeled "Additional Clocks." In the resulting window, check the appropriate "Show this clock" box, select a corresponding time zone from the pull-down menu, and enter a display name in the designated field. Click the OK button to save your choice(s).
To display the additional clock(s), simply hover the mouse over the clock icon or else click on that same icon. In the latter case, a window will appear where the additional clock(s) you created will be displayed as smaller clock(s) beside the larger main clock for your own time zone.
This method provides a fairly simple yet effective way to monitor the local time of friends or relatives located in distant parts of the world.
- Gadgets.
Windows 7 offers a variety of desktop gadgets to enhance your computing experience. I found no life-changing applications here. Instead, all of the gadgets I saw fell into the nice-to-have, just-for-fun category.
To access gadgets, click on the Start orb and select the menus Control Panel | Appearance and Personalization | Desktop Gadgets. You will probably see icons for a calendar, a clock, a picture puzzle game, and the weather, among others. You can download additional gadgets by clicking, of all things, the "Get more gadgets online" link at the bottom of the gadgets window.
I was mildly amused by the Slideshow gadget which cycles through images stored in a designated folder and displays them in a small desktop window at a specified interval. Unfortunately for me, the gadget's 4:3 display ratio is not especially suitable for my 16:9 wallpaper, but the idea remains moderately interesting nevertheless.
As Tom Zart famously wrote in the opening line of his "Garage Sale" poem, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." Maybe you can find one or two treasures amongst all of my trash.
I hope that at least some readers will find at least some of these tips at least somewhat useful. In my case, these discoveries help to partially ease my continuing disappointment with Microsoft operating sytems, of which Windows 7 is merely the most recent example.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
O Come, All Ye Faithful
As a militant agnostic (it must be true: it says so on my Facebook profile), I have always been wary of anyone who wears their religion on their sleeves. Allow me to quote one of my favorite writers (namely, myself) from a previous blog article that I wrote in April 2010:
In that spirit of religious tolerance, one final note to the apostates who worship any team with the audacity to defeat the Packers in the upcoming playoffs: you may take comfort in the fact that there will be no fatwa issued—at least, not until after the Super Bowl.
Ardent religionists have perpetrated as much evil as any other class of miscreant. From the Crusades to the Inquisition to the Protestant-Catholic strife in Northern Ireland to Al-Qaeda, religious extremism has wreaked havoc throughout history. We in the United States are certainly not exempt: the Ku Klux Klan, the Aryan Nation, and misguided individuals like Timothy McVeigh all claimed to be "doing God’s work."Upon further reflection, however, I have come to a painful realization: I, too, am a religionist. The Green Bay Packers are in fact my religion. Consider the following:
- We have a patron saint: St. Vincent, as in Vincent Thomas Lombardi.
- We have a sacred shrine: our Mecca, if you will, located at 1265 Lombardi Avenue in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Its Anglicized name is Lambeau Field. Just as with Muslims, all true fans must make a pilgrimage to that shrine least once in their lives.
- We have a doctrinal theology: namely, "Run to Daylight."
- We have 11 disciples of that doctrine, not Christianity's 12, but that's only because football rules allow only 11 offensive players on the field at any one time. Just think how the course of religious history might have changed if Judas Iscariot had been excluded from supper by a similar 11-man rule.
- We had a wayward prodigal son who was forgiven his sins and ultimately welcomed home: Paul Hornung, who was suspended for the 1963 season for gambling but resumed playing in 1964.
- We had our own traitorous Judas Iscariot aka Brett Favre, who betrayed Packer nation by cavorting with arch-rival satans, the Minnesota Vikings. Favre then descended into purgatory when his refusal to cooperate prolonged the league's investigation into his lustful misdeeds just long enough so that his eventual (supposed) retirement rendered a suspension moot.
- Like almost every religion, we dress in special garments on Sundays before visiting our places of worship. Unfortunately, blasphemous worshipers in several other major cities like Detroit, Minneapolis, and especially Chicago, are misguided heathens who worship false gods and idols in the form of Lions, Viking Norsemen, and Bears. And, of course, everyone would do well to heed Willie Nelson's fateful warning: "Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Cowboys."
Q: What separates the best team in the NFL from all of the other teams?So, there you have it: it turns out that I am a religionist after all. And though I and my fellow believers are as ardent as those of any other religion, my religion remains far more innocuous than most.
A: The Wisconsin border.
In that spirit of religious tolerance, one final note to the apostates who worship any team with the audacity to defeat the Packers in the upcoming playoffs: you may take comfort in the fact that there will be no fatwa issued—at least, not until after the Super Bowl.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Quick Take - Windows 7 (Revisited)
In my blog of 23 October 2010 entitled Quick Take - Windows 7, I ranted and railed against Microsoft's newest operating system for, among other things, not providing a mechanism for users to export their customized themes, especially cursors, sounds, and images.
Well, I was dead wrong. There is a way to export those settings to an external file and then subsequently import them into any another user account on any computer with Windows 7. Here's how:
You can also copy your new file to the appropriate folder on another computer. By this simple process, you can implement your customized theme on any other computer operating with Windows 7—assuming, of course, that all sounds, cursors, and images referenced all happen to reside in the same folders on the new pc. To complete the transaction, simply open the "Control Panel | Appearance and Personalization | Personalization" window on the second computer and actively select the theme you just added.
Piece of cake, right? I'm sure you are wondering how I ever could have missed it. Me, too.
Well, I was dead wrong. There is a way to export those settings to an external file and then subsequently import them into any another user account on any computer with Windows 7. Here's how:
- Open "Control Panel | Appearance and Personalization | Personalization"
- Pick an aero theme as a base
- Make any changes you want to the desktop background, window color, sounds, and/or screensaver by clicking the appropriate icon(s) at the bottom of the screen
- Make any changes you want to the desktop icons, mouse pointers, and/or screensaver by clicking the appropriate hyperlink(s) from the menu to the left of the screen
- Click the "Save theme" link in the middle of the screen and assign a meaningful name for the theme
C:\Users\[username]\AppData\Local\
Microsoft\Windows\Themes\
[themename].theme
To make subsequent changes to your theme, open this .theme file with any text editor. At that point, you can change any or all of the settings within that text editor as an alternative to the control panel process listed above.You can also copy your new file to the appropriate folder on another computer. By this simple process, you can implement your customized theme on any other computer operating with Windows 7—assuming, of course, that all sounds, cursors, and images referenced all happen to reside in the same folders on the new pc. To complete the transaction, simply open the "Control Panel | Appearance and Personalization | Personalization" window on the second computer and actively select the theme you just added.
Piece of cake, right? I'm sure you are wondering how I ever could have missed it. Me, too.
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