August 22nd, 2009
It has come to our attention, and has been confirmed, that eBay has a new policy whereby they may add your photos to a ‘catalog’ for other users to use in their listings (but will attribute the photos to you with a link to your user page).
PC-Mole thinks this policy will ultimately hurt eBay, depending on which photos they choose to share. If they take ‘home taken’ photos, then people may assume that the photos are of the actual item they are bidding on, and be dissapointed when the item arrives. However, if eBay is judicious in which photos they decide to open up to other eBay-ers, the policy will actually make eBay easier to use, providing photos for those who either don’t have a camera, or are just too lazy to upload their own photos.
eBay mentioned this policy change briefly in an email on July 27th. The new policy officially goes into effect on August 31st. The small notice is a little unfortunate, but PC-Mole still thinks eBay is cool, “We forgive you eBay!”. If you aren’t a professional photographer who sells his/her photos, you don’t need to be concerned. You’ll even get a little free advertising! However, if you want to keep your photos to yourself, here’s how to opt-out of the new program:
1. Log into your eBay account and go to ‘My eBay‘ via the ‘My eBay’ tab in the upper-right corner of the page.
2. Move your mouse cursor over to the account button, but don’t click it. A menu of options appears.
3. Click the ‘Site Preferences’ option.
Move your mouse cursor over the 'Account' button, then click 'Site Preferences'
4. You’ll see a list of settings. Find the one that says ‘Share your photos’ and click the corresponding ‘Show’ button on the right side of the page.
5. You should now see the text ‘Consider photos I upload in the listing process for inclusion in the eBay product catalog and other product offerings. 
Yes’ in the ‘Share your photos’ box.
6. If there is a ‘No’ where the ‘Yes’ should be in the
text, then you’re good to go, and eBay won’t share your photos with others; if not, proceed to step 7
7. Click the ‘Edit’ button directly under the ‘Show’ button you clicked earlier (it should be on the right side of the page).
8. Check the little box with your mouse, and then click ‘Submit’.
You’re done!
Tags: auction, confirmed, eBay, internet, new, online, policy, report, sale, seller, selling, tip, trick, web, website
Posted in Blog Announcements, Tips & Tricks, Website Reviews | No Comments »
August 6th, 2009
If you’re tired of listening to an outdated weather source forecasting rainy and 60 while you’re looking out the window at sunny and 80, it may be time to check out weather.gov, the National Weather Service’s weather forecast
Enter your city/state or zip code to get detailed weather information for your area
site. Weather.gov has a history of being more accurate than most forecasts, and provides more details than broadcasted weather such as TV and radio updates. You can find the current, and forecasted temperature, precipitation type, chance percentage, humidity, barometric pressure, and more at weather.gov. Just enter your zip code or city and state and you’ll get results tailored to your specific location, as well as local weather alerts and warnings.
Weather.gov's weather forcast shows thumbnails representing an overview of the next few days so you can tell at a glance.
Tags: detailed, forecast, free, national, noaa, Service, weather, web, website
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July 10th, 2009
Magic M4a to Mp3 Converter's simple interface allows for a quick transition from m4a to mp3
Apple’s program ‘iTunes’ is a tool for managing music on your computer. Every day, thousands of people download songs and podcasts from the iTunes Music Store, available only from the iTunes Program. iTunes is provided free with iPods and is also freely available on Apple’s website. There is only one hitch to the low-priced variety of music on iTunes, and that is compatibility. When you download a music file on iTunes, it downloads in the Mpeg-4 (.m4a) format. This poses a problem to everyone who wants to use iTunes music on a non-Apple mp3 player. However, thanks to the ‘Magic M4a to Mp3 Converter’ you can now easily make an mp3 copy of all of your iTunes music in one fell swoop. To convert all of your iTunes files: First, download and install the converter using the link at the end of the article. Second, run the program and click on the ‘add folder’ button and choose your ‘My Music/iTunes/iTunes Music’ folder, and then it will find all of your iTunes music automatically from there. Third, select the ‘Mp3′ option near the ‘Convert’ button. Fourth, in the ‘Save target as’ field, click ‘Change’ and choose a folder to put all of the new mp3 files in (remember, you get to keep your old music, the converter will make a new mp3 file for every m4a file you add). It’s a good idea to keep all of your music folders under the ‘My Music’ folder (or just ‘Music’ if you have Windows Vista), that way, Windows Media Player will be able to find your music. Fifth, click that big ‘Convert’ button and watch the fun. Depending on the size of your music collection, the conversion process may take a while. After it’s done, you can put the new mp3 files on any mp3 player (including iPods), and run them in any music program.
If you want to add your new music to Windows Media Player, then open it and click on the ‘Library’ button near the top, and click ‘Add to Library’ and then click ‘Ok’.
You can download iTunes here
You can download the ‘Magic M4a to Mp3 Converter’ here or you can download it from Cnet
Tags: Apple, convert, converter, free, Ipod, m4a, Media, microsoft, mp3, mpeg, mpeg-4, MS, player, program, software, Vista, web, Windows, XP
Posted in Tools & Programs for PC | No Comments »
July 8th, 2009
Bump Top allows you to manage your desktop as you would a 3D storage room, you can even decorate the walls.
Bump-Top is a free program that essentially takes over your desk top and allows you to organize it in 3d. Don’t worry, you can still exit Bump Top and resume your old, reliable 2D way of life at any time. You can drag items around in Bump Top, the same way you do on your desktop. you can also delete and add items in basically the same format as your desktop with a few added features. In Bump Top, you can make ‘piles’ of icons which function like folders and can be expanded, or fanned out to view the contents.
In Bump Top, you can change your folders into 'Piles' that allow you to quickly view the contents by fanning the items out (like the Mac Dock) or in a grid.
For those who like to customize every aspect of your computer’s interface, Bump Top is not dissapointing. You add sticky notes and photos to the walls, as well as your favorite background photo. You can also enlarge the icons you use the most and rotate the view for a direct look at each wall.
Overall, Bump Top adds a revolutionary new type of interface to the history of graphical user interface (GUI). However, advanced users who are used to the standard 2D desktop will balk at Bump Top in several respects. First of all, Bump Top edits your underlying 2D desktop along with the 3D one. For example, if you create a folder or pile in Bump Top, the folder or pile will also appear as a folder on your 2D desktop. Deleting items in Bump Top, will also delete the items on your desktop. Bump Top’s interface also aims at the new and inexperienced user and is meant more at organizeation and structure than streamlined quick access. The system resources demanded by Bump Top’s 3D look are enormous and will slow down your computer’s performance, even when it’s running in the background, unless you have lots of RAM and a gung-ho processor. However, many who recently bought a new computer and don’t regularly use it for video editing or graphics design will find Bump Top just the thing to make their day.
Bump Top is currently only available for Windows users. You can download the free version, or if you’re a serious Bump Top fan, buy the premium version here.
-Robby
Tags: 3D, customize, Desktop, download, free, GUI, interface, microsoft, MS, Organize, program, software, UI, user
Posted in Blog Announcements | No Comments »
June 29th, 2009
As of today, PC-Mole is now on twitter at www.twitter.com/pcmole. For those of you who don’t know what Twitter is, it’s a ‘micro blogging’ site which means that you have to get your point across to your audience in only 140 characters (or you can just type up multiple posts). Twitter is incredibly easy to use, you can use it to keep up with current events, and/or share your life and opinions with the rest of the world. Unlike Facebook, Twitter doesn’t require any sensitive information to join. You can join Twitter at www.twitter.com.
Posted in Blog Announcements | 1 Comment »
