Hi every one who reads this blog on a regular basis sorry for not posting for the last week or so

but I ended up in hosiptal last week with a major Heart attack and has been recouping,

Luckly I caught it in time for the doctors to treat me, but I have damaged the main muscle in the heart so

it’s take it very slowly over the next few weeks.

So I should be back very soon with more tips and tricks in the near future

I thank you all

regards  Andrew

Want to have some fun with U-Sing-Along karaoke? you don’t need to buy a fancy karaoke machine which, most likely, will disappoint you by the low audio quality but high… limitations.

I’ve seen many pricey karaoke machines out there that play thousands of songs, all from one single DVD disc. But the video scenes are boring since they’re shared within the song tracks. The Midi audio quality from these players is not what you want (that’s why such many songs can be stored in one single disc). And… it’s impossible to manage the list of song tracks on the disc, for example, when you want to add your favorite songs or remove ones that you dislike.

This Windows Karaoke is a free software for non-commercial uses, so help yourself and enjoy. Feel free to send me comments/suggestions, as well as any questions you may have. Thanks to TheComputerTricks.com for their sponsorship.

With Windows Karaoke, you can turn your desktop or laptop to a karaoke machine, or even connect it to your home theater system. I suggest that you connect your laptop/desktop audio (line-out) to a mixer, which allows you to plug in a microphone. Then feed the audio from this mixer to your home theater system.

You can also use this player to play other media types such as MP3, movies, etc…

Download a copy of Windows Karaoke here.

System Requirements:

• Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or newer.
• MS .NET Framework (recommend 3.5 or newer)
• Windows Media Player 9 or newer, which is available in most recent computers.

Installation:

• Installation is easy, just double-click on the Setup.exe and follow the instructions.

Configure Windows Karaoke:

1. Launch the Windows Karaoke after installation.
2. Press “Ctrl” Key for Configuration window.
3. Configure the keyboard keys. Some keys are fixed and cannot be changed (i.e. Stop, Play, etc…)
4. Manage your song list:
   • Select “Song List” tab, then either import a song list (in *.csv) format, or add song tracks manually. (Make sure you enter correct paths for the song tracks)
5. Set your language:
   • Select “Others” tab, then change your language.
6. Click “Save & Exit” to save you changes and exit.

Some Tips:

• To select a song track to play or sing:
  • Press the key that you assigned to “Play a select song”.
  • Enter the song number on the pop-up window and hit “Enter“
  • To cancel, hit “Escape“
• To select a song track to add to waitlist:
  • Press the key that you assigned to “Queue a select song”.
  • Enter the song number on the pop-up window and hit “Enter“
  • To cancel, hit “Escape“
• To play all the tracks from the beginning:
  • Press the key that you assigned to “Play All Songs”.
• To browse the list of all tracks for selection:
  • Press the key that you assigned to “Browse All Songs”.
  • Use arrow keys (Left/Right/Up/Down) to navigate to the song you like.
  • To select the song to play: Press the key that you assigned to “Play a select song”.
  • To select the song to add to waitlist Press the key that you assigned to “Queue a select song”.
• To stop while a track is playing:
  • Press “Escape“.
• To pause/resume while a track is playing/pausing:
  • Press “Pause/Break“.
• To exit the program:
  • Press “End“. (at any screen)

FAQ’s:

1. Q: What types of files does Windows Karaoke play?
   A: Windows Karaoke uses the Windows Media Player on your computer to play the video/audio, so it plays most of the video/audio file types such as AVI, MPG, MP3, WAV, etc..
2. Q: Where can I buy Windows Karaoke?
   A: Windows Karaoke is free, you can download a copy here.
   Windows Karaoke is sponsored by TheComputerTricks.com, you can provide support by clicking on any ad on the site. Your support is greatly appreciated.
3. Q: Where can I get the karaoke song tracks?
   A: There are many sources that you can get karaoke song tracks. You can either download them from the internet, or extract them from DVD/VCD discs.
   There are some software you can use to extract those tracks from a DVD to individual *.avi or *.mpg files. I personally use Handbrake.
   With many VCD karaoke discs, you can simply copy those *.DAT files from the disc and rename them to *.mpg.
   If you extract the tracks from a DVD, video codecs DivX or XviD could help reduce the size of your video files.
4. Q: Can I use a remote control?
   A: Sure you can. You can use any USB remote and map the buttons to the keyboard keys. Some Media Center Edition (MCE) remotes are available on ebay.
   You might need a keymap utility to map the remote buttons to keyboard keys. Some of them are also free.
   Check out “LM Remote Keymap”, “Intelliremote”, “HIP” (Human Interface Programmer)
5. Q: Can I use this on my home theater?
   A: Feed the audio from your desktop/laptop to your home theater, then you’re good to go. You’ll need a cable that goes from your PC line-out (or headset) to the RCA plugs on your receiver/mixer

What is USB?
I Know what you are going to say everybody knows what a usb is on a computer! wrong you’d be surprised to learn how many don’t know what is or what it does they plug in and it works so I thought I’d educate some of the simpleuser family

USB, which stands for Universal Serial Bus, has been quite successful in the computer market in the last couple of years. It started to show in PCs sometime in 1996 and started to really take off in 1998. USB is another way to connect external devices to your PC. Popular examples for USB devices are printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, joysticks, UPSs, speakers, monitors, network kits, Zip drives, digital cameras, modems, Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) and more.

Every PC comes already with at least one serial port and a parallel port to connect devices such as modems, mice, printers, etc. to your computer. The disadvantage of those two are speed as well as expandability: The serial port can only transfer one bit of data at a time, it transfers data as a series of bits, hence the name. The parallel port can only transfer 8 bits of data at a time. A PC comes only with a limited number of serial and parallel ports, therefore you’re out of luck once you used them all up. Another inconvenience of serial and parallel ports are the fact that in order to connect a device to them, you have to turn off your computer, connect the device, reboot, then manually install the driver. USB was designed to eliminate all those shortcomings.

Speed

USB has two data transfer modes: The low speed mode transfers data at a rate of 1.5 Mbps, and is used for slow devices like keyboards, mice and joysticks. The high speed mode, used for printers, scanners, etc. can transfer data at a maximum rate of 12 Mbps, making it a lot faster than serial and parallel ports. For some applications USB might not be the best solution though. For example, you would use SCSI to connect fast drives, and Ethernet for 100Mbps networking.

Expandability

All new ATX style motherboards now come with two USB ports right on the board, I have also seen some boards that come with 4 USB ports. But with USB you can chain many devices, theoretically up to 127. You’ll probably run out of desk space and power plugs long before you max this limit out. And you can mix and match devices of all types. The downside is that most older PCs do not have a USB port, but you can add them via a PCI expansion cards.

Plug and Play

One great thing about USB is that it is fully Plug and Play compatible. Installing a USB devices is extremely easy and the closest to Plug and Play as anything has ever come. Plug in the device, install the driver, and you’re ready to go. An even nicer feature is that USB is hot-swappable, meaning you don’t even have to turn your computer off to install a new USB device. Plug it in while Windows is running. As soon as the device is connected, Windows will detect it, prompt you for the driver, install the device and make it available to you to use. With USB, there are no jumpers to set, IDs to select, or IRQ conflicts to resolve. And after installing a USB driver for a USB device once, you normally won’t have to reinstall the driver, even if you disconnect and later reconnect the device.

To all the people who have made comments over the past few months I’d like
to send a big warm hearted Thank you as I have just cracked the 8,000 hits for two weeks all in just around
6 months.

So as you guessed it I will be continuing with more tips and tricks………….

Again Thank you and I am looking at expanding my blog roll so if you wish to exchange links please email me at andrew@rua-simpleuser.com

………………………………………………………………………………

Hi all just a note to let you know that I have got a new look I hope you like it
let me know what you think good or bad.

The content won’t change it will be the same as before. I’d like to thank you for the
comments over the past few months

regards Andrew

In this world of hi tech, we’re told that mobile phones and driving don’t mix to well,
well what about computers and driving  they must be ok?.

As our police cars are now becoming more hi tech with computers and various gadgets for them to play with
whilest driving, does this mean that they’re a better driver or multitasker than us mmm I wonder what would happen
it we pull over a police car and issued them with a ticket for using a gadet whilest driving.

This is a thought of a confused mobile caller texting and surfing the net whilst driving…………..

please leave your thoughts at the door  and come on in and comment

regards Admin

Hi all this is just footnote if you’d call it that Just to let you know the the following
has happened, Wilzen Computers has Just opened its doors to the public at
unit 1/172 Barrington Street, Bibra lake 6163 West Australia.

As a sponsor of this blog I hope all that visits this blog take a trip over the new
web page for a look see at the opening specials they’re
having.  http://wilzencomputers.com

Thank you

Andrew

December 30th 1999
Boris Yeltsin, Bill Clinton and Bill Gates were invited to have dinner with God. During dinner He told them:

“I need three important people to send my message out to all people – Tomorrow I will destroy the earth.”

Yeltsin immediately called together his cabinet and told them:
“I have two very bad news items for you:
1. God really exists, and
2. Tomorrow He will destroy the earth.”

Clinton called an Emergency meeting of the Senate and Congress and told them:

“I have Good news and Bad News:
1. The good news is: God really does exist, and
2. The bad news is: tomorrow He’s destroying the earth.”

Bill Gates went back to Microsoft and happily announced:
“I have two fantastic announcements:
1. I am one of three most important people on earth, and
2. The Year 2000 problem is solved.”
————————————————————————————————

This one deserves a metion
Computer Support Call
EMPLOYEE: Computer assistant, “may I help you?”
CUSTOMER: “Yes, well, I’m having trouble with my computer”

EMPLOYEE: “What sort of trouble?”
CUSTOMER: “Well, I was just typing along, and all of a sudden the words went away.”

EMPLOYEE: “Went away?”
CUSTOMER “They disappeared.”

EMPLOYEE “Hmmm – So what does your screen look like now?”
CUSTOMER “Nothing.”

EMPLOYEE “Nothing?”
CUSTOMER “It’s blank; It won’t accept anything when I type.”

EMPLOYEE “Are you still using the your word-processor, or did you get out?”
CUSTOMER “How do I tell?”

EMPLOYEE “Can you see the C: prompt on the screen?”
CUSTOMER “What’s a sea-prompt?”

EMPLOYEE “Never mind. Can you move the cursor around on the screen?”
CUSTOMER “There isn’t any cursor: I told you, it won’t accept anything when I type.”

EMPLOYEE “Does your monitor have a power indicator?”
CUSTOMER ” What’s a monitor?”

EMPLOYEE “It’s the thing with the screen on it that looks like a TV. Does it have a little light that tells you when it’s on?”
CUSTOMER “I don’t know.”

EMPLOYEE “Well, then look on the back of the monitor and find where the power cord goes into it. Can you see that?”
CUSTOMER “Yes, I think so.”

EMPLOYEE “Great. Follow the cord to the plug, and tell me if it’s plugged into the wall.”
CUSTOMER “Yes it is.”

EMPLOYEE “When you were behind the monitor, did you notice that there were two cables plugged into the back of it, not just one?”
CUSTOMER “No.”

EMPLOYEE “Well, there are. I need you to look back there again and find the other cable.”
CUSTOMER “Okay, here it is.”

EMPLOYEE “Follow it for me and tell me if it’s plugged securely into the back of your computer.”
CUSTOMER “I can’t reach.”

EMPLOYEE “”Uh huh. Well, can you see if it is?”
CUSTOMER “No.”

EMPLOYEE “Even if you maybe put your knee o something and lean way over?”
CUSTOMER “Oh, it’s not because I don’t have the right angle – it’s because it’s dark”

EMPLOYEE “Dark?”
CUSTOMER “Yes – the office light is off and the only light I have is coming in from the window.”

EMPLOYEE “Well, turn the lights on then.”
CUSTOMER “I can’t.”

EMPLOYEE “Why not?”
CUSTOMER ” Because there’s a power outage.”

EMPLOYEE “A power…A power outage? Ah, Okay, we’ve got it licked now.
Do you still have the boxes and manuals and packing stuff your computer came in?”
CUSTOMER “Yes”

EMPLOYEE “Cool. Go get them, and unplug your system and pack it up just like it was when you got it. Then take it back to the store you bought it from.”
Customer “Really, Is it that bad?”

EMPLOYEE “Yes, I’m afraid it is.”
CUSTOMER “Well, all right then, I suppose – What do I tell them?”

EMPLOYEE “Tell them you’re too stupid to own a computer.”

————————————————————————

yes I know these may be old or you have heard them before but never mind if this took a little time out of your day to relax and read them it’s done the job..