Just in case I am not the only one to run into this, I thought I would post the answer to a problem that vexed me for a while.  I run avast! Internet Security for my software host based firewall and anti-virus on my Windows boxes.  On some of those I also have VMware Workstation installed.  I noticed that when all of the protection settings or “shields” as they are called were turned on, my virtual machines couldn’t talk to anything else on the network when in bridged mode.  If I went to NAT mode or turned the avast! shields off, it would work, but neither of these solutions was satisfactory to me.  So, I kept on digging, even checked in with tech support to no avail.  Finally I found it, something so simple and trivial I wanted to scream, but my family is asleep right now so I didn’t.  In avast! Internet Security, there is an option to tell the firewall to allow Internet Sharing.  I guess multiple computers communicating in a shared manner like that looks bad if you didn’t plan it that way.  Well, when your virtual machines are running, it looks just like Internet Sharing, at least it does to avast! anyway.  Simply open up the main window, go to the firewall section and hit the “Expert Settings” button.  On the dialog that pops up there is a check box about in the middle (maybe a little lower) of the page to enable Internet Sharing.  Turn that on and your virtual machines will be talking like teenage girls with unlimited text plans.  Hope that helps someone out there, enjoy!

I was working on a spreadsheet where I had a range of cells I wanted a drop down date picker/calendar for.  Now, I could have just added a bazillion calendar controls (one to each cell) but I knew that was cheesy and that there had to be a better way.  Well now, I found an awesome tutorial on adding just the thing and I had to share.  One control and a little bit of VBA code and you are all set working like a pro.  Check it out, the info at the end of this link rocks!  Enjoy!!

http://www.rondebruin.nl/calendar.htm

This is just a heads up to everyone out there to be extra careful when handling email.  We have seen an explosive increase in the number of attacks brought about to every day citizens through email.  From SPAM with fake links, to Internet Scams that these fraudsters want you to invest your time and money in, to Viruses/Trojans/Back doors, and of course Phishing attacks where someone pretends to be from some place familiar to you like your bank, eBay or PayPal in an attempt to get your account information.

There are some basic steps to take like using good anti-virus software, and making sure it is kept up to date, that can help you stay safe.  We posted an article a while back with these explained, and I believe we should take a look at updating it since it’s been a year or two.  The basic principals stay the same, and there is still lots of good info there, we will most likely just be adding more stuff to deal with new threats.  Take a look at it here, it’s called Web Surfing Safety, and we hope you find it useful.  In addition to that, be sure to check out the Library, since we have lots of other good information and tidbits in there too!  Thanks.

That means we can stop the speculation and start the salivation over what Valve has in store for us this time. The original Portal is a single player first person puzzle game with some action elements as well, developed by Valve Corporation, the same folks that brought us other greats like Half-Life, Counter Strike, Team Fortress, Day Of Defeat, Left 4 Dead and more. The game came out in 2007 as part of the Orange Box, or was available seperately from Steam (for the PC that is).  Portal is all about puzzles, and consists mainly of a series of puzzles that must be solved by teleporting the main character and simple objects using the Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device (ASHPD for short, but was also called simply, the portal gun), a device that can create open portals between flat planes.  The game is all about the physics attained and manipulated by the portal gun.  Portal has been acclaimed as one of the most original games of 2007, and went on to win 70 industry achievement awards. Portal 2, the sequel, is set for release during the 2010 holiday season.

One note of trivia, the final credits song “Still Alive” was written by Jonathan Coulton for the game. Coulton is a wonderful musician who has garnered quite a bit of Internet fame.

Check out the Portal 2 announcement here …

Here you go folks!  There is an interesting program called USB Safely Remove, a self proclaimed must have if you frequently use such hotplug devices as: flash drives, USB\SATA drives, card readers and the like. Read more about it at:

http://safelyremove.com/

Download the program here:

http://safelyremove.com/usbsafelyremovesetup.exe

If you hurry, you can get a free license for version 4.1 of this software. Go to:

http://safelyremove.com/giveaway10K.htm

They are giving away 10,000 license keys and as of 10/2/2009 at 1740 hours, they still had some to give away, so get on over there and check it out.  I haven’t use it yet, but I just now downloaded it and got my key.  I’ll put up a review when I have played with it some.  Enjoy!