Sneak Preview of Whole New MidChix.com

Haven't been on the MidChix.com site in a while? We're really hoping you come back to check out our brand new site when it launches in a day or so.

It's a whole lot easier to find articles and simply communicate and interact with each other - what a social networking site should be.

Our new site is powered by BuddyPress, a spin-off of the WordPress blogging platform. It is miles beyond the Elgg platform (what we're currently using) in terms of ease of use, both from front-end and back-end users' perspectives. If you have had problems with logging in - or simply confirming your registration - we feel confident this issue has been resolved with the new system.

Take a look:

Be Your Own Computer Nerd

Wouldn't it be nice to live in a perfect computing world where all your computer applications and Windows played nice together and lived in harmony?

Oops, sorry; there I go daydreaming again, after helping my husband once again resolve another conflict on his laptop.

Do you blame me for daydreaming? Even with 29 years of experience with computers, I still can't figure out why my Firefox browser continually crashes or locks up on me. Or avoid getting the Blue Screen of Death (shudder).

But what I do know that helps me maintain my sanity and keeps my computer in almost perfect working order is how to use Google to its fullest when I do have problems.

When something goes wrong, you almost always get an error/alert message pop up on your screen. Most people just click "OK" in the message window in disgust and wonder what to do next. Next time this happens - heaven forbid - you can follow these steps.

1. Write down the error message word for word.
2. Bring up the Google search engine (Bing probably works well for this type of search, also).
3. Enter the error message in the search box and hit Enter.
4. You'll see a link near the end of each result called "cache." This is Google's copy of the web page that it saves to its own server. The benefit of clicking on the "cache" link is when you open the page and scroll down, you'll see your search words highlighted in different colors. This makes it super-easy to find what you need on the page, especially for super-long pages.

When doing this type of search, you'll most likely bring up web pages from tech forums in which someone asks a technical question and other people respond with their solutions. A lot of times I'll find the answer in the first forum page I look, but sometimes it takes going through several pages of Google results before I finally find the most workable solution. I recommend reading through several web pages before trying any of the suggested troubleshooting steps, because I often get a more comprehensive picture of the issue after reading bits and pieces in various forums.

For Windows users, if you don't find the solution you're looking for, you might need to resort to performing a System Restore. If the problem has happened several times before, try to remember when it first started, and restore your computer to a date right before the problem began.

When you finally get resolution of the problem, make sure your PC is tuned up.

And then you and your computer should be good buddies for awhile. Uh...unless you just happen to get one of these error messages:

Quick Computer Tips for the Week, 10/4 - 10

To scroll quickly down a browser page without using your mouse, hit the space bar.

To open a new tab in your browser, press ctrl+T (for Macs, command+T).

To refresh the web page you are viewing, press F5 (Mac: command+R); to refresh the images on a web page, press ctrl+F5 (Mac: command+shift+R).

New Home Page, But More to Come...

It finally happened. We've been waiting a long time...actually, months. But it's here!

On Monday we revealed our new home/login page: www.midchix.com (launching this page will open in a new window). If you log in with Firefox, the browser I recommend for surfing the web, you'll see the boxes have rounded corners, a cool feature you can only view in that browser. You can download Firefox here: www.mozilla.com.

If you can't see our new page because you are taken to the MidChix Wire activity, that means you are still logged in. Which is not a bad thing. But if you want to take a look, go ahead and log out (click on the link in the upper right-hand corner) and you'll see it. Hopefully you won't have any difficulty logging back in, but if you do, send me an email (webbird-at-midchix.com) and I'll get your login straightened out right away.

But this is just the start of a new beginning. You won't be seeing the new home page for long - maybe only for a couple more months - because we've got a whole new impressive system in development as I type. The staff at MidChix can't wait because we'll have a whole new level of functionality, ease in logging in and getting around, and just connecting with each other.

Check back here for future news and updates about the launching of our new site!

Use Care When Downloading PDFs

Portable document files, or PDFs, are convenient for web publishers because they can take an existing document, print it as a PDF, and upload it to a website - no converting to browser code necessary.

As a web surfer, you're going to have to access a PDF file on the web sooner or later. And to do that, you'll most likely use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader already installed on your computer.

But hackers have started exploiting this software by inserting malicious code into PDFs, which - once they are downloaded - allow the hacker to take control of your computer.

You can read more about this security issue on the web:

• "Dangerous Adobe Reader zero-day raises the bar" (http://www.infoworld.com/print/136883)
• "Adobe patches PDF bugs hackers already exploiting" (http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9178740/Adobe_patches_PDF_bugs_hackers_already_exploiting)

While Adobe continually scrabbles to release security patches for the Reader, in the meanwhile you can use the more-secure free version of the Foxit Reader for Windows operating systems. (Warning: when loading the Foxit program, you'll probably want to uncheck the box where it says to "Make Ask my browser default search provider," and also uncheck the option directly below that which says, "Set Ask.com as my home page." These options - already conveniently checked! - are hidden within a block of small text and are difficult to spot.)

You can download the Foxit Reader from this page: http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader/addons.php

Additional alternatives for PDF readers are listed here: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-non-adobe-pdf-reader.htm

To print PDFs of any document on your computer, try the free CutePDF Writer. Once installed, you can find it within the "Print" window in any program that has a print function. For Windows systems, download CutePDF Writer here: http://www.cutepdf.com/products/cutepdf/writer.asp

More options for PDF printers are listed here: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-pdf-writer.htm

Mac owners need not worry about downloading alternative software, since they already have their own built-in PDF software for viewing or printing. However, make sure you have downloaded the latest Mac OS X updates to shore up security holes in its operating system, which include PDF vulnerabilities.

"Apple issues PDF security patch and other Mac OS X updates": http://www.sophos.com/blogs/gc/g/2010/08/25/apple-issues-pdf-security-patch-mac-os-updates/"

Update on MidChix.com's Home Page

On July 22nd I announced our plan to give our home page a facelift which will include features that display fresh content pulled from the most current activity within the site.

With any data-driven and intricately coded website such as MidChix.com, it is almost inevitable there can be changes and delays in publishing a finished product; however, our wonderful web developer, Steve Walton, continues to make progress ensuring workability and proper display of all the important features and unique MidChix content.

In the meantime, you can check out two new pages I've added to our site: Latest Announcements, which can be accessed via The Wire, and In the Media, for which the link can be found in the footer of any MidChix page.

Check back soon for more news on our new site updates!

MidChix Home Page Gets a New Look

The MidChix Team is excited to announce our home page will be undergoing renovation starting Friday, July 23, 2010. During this switch, our site may be temporarily unavailable for a few hours at a time.

Instead of just our MidChix graphic, log-in field, and registration and help links, visitors and members will also be able to see the most current activity happening within the site - all displayed on one page.

This will include the Wire activity, the latest discussion from our Flocks (groups), and the newest content from our regular features and columns.

Here's a sneak peek at how it will look (click thumbnail to see larger image):

(Please note that even though your MidChix display name - which links to your profile - may appear in these new home page sections, only MidChix members who are logged in may click on them. Your MidChix profile is never viewable by the general public.)

Stay tuned to find out when our new home page will go live!

Linda Anderson, MidChix Webmaster (Webbird)