Ask a Monkey: E-mailing large video files
Submitted on December 16th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Ask a Monkey
No. of comments (3)
Dear TipMonkies,
I’d like to send some videos I’ve recorded on my camera to friends and family via e-mail, but even if I compress the files, they’re still too large to send. Is there a program that will turn these videos into 3 or 4MB files so I can e-mail them? -Andy
Dear Andy,
As far as I know, there really isn’t something like this, though you have a few options. The first option would be to use a file splitter application like FileSplitter or GSplit. Many of these tools will provide a script so that whoever is on the receiving end will simply run that script to reunite all the pieces. Another option would be to create a private P2P network with something like FolderShare so that whoever you want to e-mail the files to can just browse through your hard drive for them and download them automatically. Hope that helps a bit! -Martin
Don’t forget, if you have any questions, feel free to e-mail us. We’ll pick one or two every week to post on this column!
Ask A Monkey: The Two-in-One Edition
Submitted on December 2nd, 2005 by admin
Filed under Ask a Monkey
No. of comments (8)
Dear TipMonkies,
What’s the easiest way to transfer files from my old computer to my new computer? I want all my files, pictures, and just about everything. -Robex
Dear Robex,
The easiest thing to do would be to burn everything on CD or DVD. By everything, I mean anything you might have in your My Documents folder. Any applications you might have installed will simply have to be reinstalled, no way around it. If you have a little bit of computer expertise, I’d say the best thing to do would be to move the hard drive from your old PC to the new one and set it as your master drive. This way, you already have all your stuff, nothing new to install, and you get an extra hard drive to play around with for music, movies, or whatever. -Martin
Ask a Monkey: The evil rootkit
Submitted on November 11th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Ask a Monkey and Security
No. of comments (1)
Dear TipMonkies,
I’ve been hearing quite a bit about rootkits lately thanks to the recent news that Sony CDs were installing them on people’s computers. What exactly is a rootkit, why are they so bad, and how can I get rid of them? Thanks! -Melinda
Dear Melinda,
Rootkits can be bad, but are not necessarily so, though in the case of the Sony/BMG rootkits, they are indeed evil. Basically, a rootkit is a piece of software which a hacker can use to maintain open access to your computer after they hack into it. These rootkits will generally patch certain files (like the kernel) and run without the knowledge of any antivirus or antispyware tool since they remain hidden. Some legitimate applications use rootkits to keep your computer secure (I know there is at least one piece of antivirus software and some rootkit revealers which use rootkits, for example). My first recommendation is not to play Sony CDs on your system because it can cause some harm, like preventing you from playing other CDs. In order to get rid of most rootkits, try a tool like Rootkit Revealer from Systernals which works quite well. -Martin
Ask a Monkey: Keeping your computer secure
Submitted on October 21st, 2005 by admin
Filed under Ask a Monkey
No. of comments (6)
Dear TipMonkies,
I hear quite a bit about all the viruses and junk that are floating around the internet and I was wondering if you could recommend some firewall and antivirus software to use on my new computer. -Sue
Dear Sue,
Use Linux 
(ok, I’m half kidding). Everyone is concerned with the web nasties nowadays, so this is a good question which I get asked quite often. If you’re looking for a good firewall tool, my favorite is the Sygate Personal Firewall (Windows, free). I’ve used it extensively and while it may be a little more difficult to use than other products (not by much) it gets the job done. The free edition of ZoneAlarm is pretty good as well. As for an antivirus, Avast! Home Edition will do a great job at keeping your PC from becoming an infested zombie. I actually use a beta of an unreleased Microsoft product which is showing a great deal of promise (though I doubt it will be free). Your best bet is to set up your router as a firewall (see here and stay away from e-mails and websites which look suspicious. -Martin
Ask a Monkey: What is Web 2.0?
Submitted on October 14th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Ask a Monkey
No. of comments Comments Off
Hi guys!
Could explain a little bit what Web 2.0 is? What should we expect from this? Will it destroy the current version of the Web that we know? Will it be an extension of the current Web? Regards. -Mune
Dear Mune,
I wish it were so simple to explain. The easiest way I could explain it is that Web 1.0 (what everyone currently thinks of as “the Web”) was about creating the most efficient and best technologies for the sake of technology, while in Web 2.0, we’re seeing a move to making these technologies easier for people to use, better their lives, and interconnect.
Ask a Monkey: Our feed picks
Submitted on October 7th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Ask a Monkey
No. of comments (1)
Dear TipMonkies,
I’ve been a longtime reader, and for a long time I’ve been wondering, what are the favorite RSS feeds to read over at TipMonkies headquarters? -Don
Dear Don,
Since I generally post on the site from my balcony, I’m guessing when you refer to “headquarters”, that’s what you mean (unless you mean “the office” which is “the bathroom”). In all seriousness though, I’ve got quite a few favorites (picking a few is so hard though!) including digg, Read/Write Web, Kotaku, and TechDirt. Other favorites around the “office” include Engadget, Waxy, Preshrunk, Overheard in the Office, GameSpy and The Sneeze (those last two are classics). Mike also likes BMEZine.
Have a question? Don’t be shy! We’ll answer ANYTHING on this column, posted every Friday. If you have a question, feel free to drop us an e-mail. We’ll pick one or two every week.
Ask a Monkey: Tweaking Opera RSS
Submitted on September 30th, 2005 by admin
Filed under Ask a Monkey
No. of comments (1)
Dear TipMonkies,
Is there a way to customize Opera to treat RSS without stripping it to text-only content? I use Thunderbird for RSS since it shows the original post including all the relevant site’s layout, but Thunderbird is still too slow and that’s not very comfortable for browsing through multiple messages. -Guy
Dear Guy,
The Opera RSS aggregator does support HTML and it’s enabled by default. That’s why you can see formatting elements like headings and links. You won’t be able to see the full layout of the site though, probably to save resources on the RSS’ server. What you’re asking for isn’t implemented into Opera, at least not yet. You can view images in a post though by enabling that option. To enable it, open the feed, and click on the View button, then Display, then uncheck Suppress external embeds.
