Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Stay away from imageshack.us

How many do you use imageshack.us for image storage and sharing? I'd started using it lately and thought it was a good one. It turns out that it is disappointing. It forces unregistered viewers to register with them before they can view the images.

For unknown reason, I have no problem to view the page in the US and I am not required to log in before I view the images either. For some people, especially the ones who are living out of the states, most likely what they see in the page is a frozen frog saying Domain Unregistered. To view, register at bit.ly/imageshack-domain. It looks to me that imageshack.us forces unregistered users to register with them before they display the images.

I don't see the frog so I won't know if my friends didn't tell me. From their PDF files, every image in my page becomes a frozen frog! Therefore, I have to upload the same set of images to photobucket.com and then updated all image links on the pages. It took me a few hours to fix this problem.

If you are using imageshack.us for image storage and sharing, you would better move your photos to some place else unless you can ensure all your audiences can see your pictures. Otherwise, all your images may become frozen frogs that confuses your users.

Updated on Aug 23, 2011
I am currently travelling in Hong Kong. The above finding is 100% confirmed. All pictures stored in imageshack.us will turn to be frogs when the page is accessed outside the USA. All images are viewable only when the viewer has an account with imageshack and the viewer must log onto the account.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

How to Disable Dell Mouse Stick Pointer on Windows 7

I personally find this Dell mouse stick pointer very annoying. It always messes up my typing. Thus I always had it disabled. All of a sudden, today it is enabled. It turns out that Dell Touchpad application no longer exists in my laptop. I don't understand how and why this could happen. It could be related to Windows update. In order to disable it, I have to re-install Dell Touchpad application. After the reboot, Dell Touchpad will show up in Mouse Properties so that I can configure it. The following is the procedure of how to disable this mouse stick pointer.
  • If you don't have Dell Touchpad application installed, go Dell Support site to download and install it. Most of time, a reboot is required after installation.
  • Go Control Panel.
  • Select All Control Panel Items.

    All Control Panel Items

    Or type mouse at the search box and then select Change mouse settings.

    Change mouse settings

  • If you have Dell Touchpad application installed, Dell Touchpad tab will show up. Click on the image inside the Dell Touchpad tab content.

    Dell Touchpad

  • Select Button Settings from Dell Touchpad window.

    Button Settings

  • Select Device Select tab and click Disable radio button of Pointing Stick and then click Apply.

    disable pointing stick
  • The mouse stick pointer will be disabled instantly. Click OK and then exit the Dell Touchpad application.

Note that the above procedure/pictures are captured from my Latitude E6510.