12.05.2007

New Features:

• Code snippets: The new code snippets allow you to post monospaced code, with the insertion of line numbers and color coding. More than 6,700 code snippets have been added to the knowledgebase already! Members have asked if we can include the code snippets in the Open For Discussion comments, and we're working to have that added sometime in the next few weeks. Ask your question today and test drive the new code snippets!
  
  


• Wallpapers: Our superb designers mocked up some flashy desktop wallpapers for the winners' new laptops, but in the end we decided it would be a crime to hold out on the rest of the community, so be sure to spice up your desktop by downloading some art from the 2 Million Limited Edition Wallpapers page.


• Solution surveys: We also mentioned last issue the survey you can take that will help promote the best solutions to the top of the search results; Experts Exchange has also implemented a similar survey that appears when you are closing a question, and allows you to post a note to the people who helped out. Even if it is just a "thank you", we encourage you to use it. The comment you post is visible to you and the Expert(s) you address it to.


• Email addresses: You can now set up more than one email address in your profile (although it must still be a unique and valid one), meaning that if you want to receive notifications during the workday at one address and at home the rest of the time, you can easily switch back and forth. You can also set up an email group to have the notifications sent to two addresses at the same time. Just edit your profile to set up your second addresses and your personal email group.


• Search within results: The Engineering staff at Experts Exchange knows we'll never be completely happy, but this new little feature is pretty slick. We did a simple search over the weekend, and got about 2,000 results, including around 600 in the zone we wanted, so we filtered for that zone, and then added a word to find within those results. The list wound up being an exceedingly manageable 54 solutions. Nice work, guys!

New Geniuses: Three members of Experts Exchange have joined the list of Geniuses. Leading the parade is GrahamSkan, whose second Genius certificate is in Visual Basic. He is joined by and235100, who earned his 1,000,000 points in Windows XP, and keith_alabaster, who picked up his Genius certificate in Software Firewalls.

New Zone Advisor: Robbie_Leggett is the new Zone Advisor for Sharepoint. Welcome aboard!

Milestones:

• angelIII went over the 18,000,000 point level.
• jkr has earned 10,000,000 points overall. He is the fourth EE member to reach that level.
• objects went over the 9,000,000 point level in the Java zone.
• TechSoEasy has earned 4,000,000 points in Microsoft SQL.

Emails: We had an item last issue about how Windows updates, along with the comments from a variety of the Zone Advisors. Late to the party was keith_alabaster, who had a good reason: he wrote to the lead Microsoft MVP, Akim Boukhelif, about it, who responded with a link to a TechNet blog on the subject. The comments from some Microsoft users make for some entertaining reading, too.

Kudos: bigmoxy posted a note in the Community Advisor zone about GreenGhost: "GreenGhost has become my expert CSS advisor. I want to let you know that I greatly appreciate the expert level assistance provided to me by GreenGhost. Not only does he give the solution but he accompanies them with a detailed explanation whenever possible. Thanks to him I no longer feel like a complete novice when it comes to CSS!"

New things take time to catch on. In 1977, Ken Olsen, founder and CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation, said, "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his home." By 1983, the Apple II personal computer had enticed more than 700,000 buyers and proven how wrong Ken Olsen was. Nowadays, faculty members of the MIT Media Lab are pushing for "One Laptop per Child." There is a time, a tipping point, in the life of all new ideas where the idea transitions from its introductory period, when only a handful understand the idea's potential, to a stage of growth, characterized by widespread adoption.

For Experts Exchange Corporate Accounts, that time is now.

Experts Exchange welcomes Ticomix, a product and service provider for customer relationship management, IT service management and computer networking, to our growing list of corporate clientele. Ticomix is the 100th Corporate Account, marking a major milestone for Corporate Accounts. With clients like eBay, Ericsson and Lockheed Martin recognizing the value of total technology insurance, Experts Exchange is confident Corporate Accounts will experience continued success in the coming months!

Corporate Accounts offer all the benefits of a Premium Service Membership, including access to more than 2 million proven technology solutions and the ability to ask Experts unlimited questions, at a discounted rate. Corporate Account users also enjoy license management and convenient corporate billing.

Empower your IT team!

We promised interviews, and the three winners of Dell Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz processor, 17-inch wide screen display, 2GB of memory, dual 120GB hard drives laptops were kind enough to send us responses to our questions. The winners also have nice fancy certificate symbols on their profiles (use the Premium skin to see them).

steelseth12 was credited with providing Experts Exchange's 2,000,000th solution. Here's what he has to say:

Who are you?

I have been working as a webdeveloper for the past 6 years now. I have a wife and 2 sons. The oldest one is 4 and the youngest 9 months old.

Where are you from?

I'm from Cyprus. A small island in the Mediterranean sea. Its 9 months summer time over here and I can leave my car unlocked at night :)

Describe yourself using three words.

I think I am: Generous, creative and enthusiastic. My wife says: Bossy, patronizing and intolerant (among other things).

How did you discover Experts Exchange?

For the past couple of years every problem I had and searched for a solution I always ended up at Experts Exchange for the answer. The irony is that once I became a qualified expert I only had to ask a question once. Experts Exchange apart from a great recourse to find answers is also a great learning tool. The best way to learn something is to see how people with experience do it.

How long have you been a member of the Experts Exchange community?

I have been a member for 8 months now.

How long have you been answering questions as an Expert?

I answered my first question on the first day I signed up as a member.

What do you like about Experts Exchange?

Experts Exchange keeps me practicing things that I would had otherwise forgot by now. It doesn't matter how many books you have read, if you don't practice something you are going to forget it eventually.

Tell us everything about how you came to create the 2,000,000th solution on Experts Exchange, starting from the twinkle in your parents' eyes.

It was pretty late here around 1 AM and as usual I couldn't sleep, I saw the question but it seemed too long for me to read at that time. About an hour later when I finished watching the latest bleach episode I got back and it was still unanswered so I took the time to read through it, saw what the problem was and proposed an answer. The rest you know :)

What is your favorite Zone on Experts Exchange?

PHP Scripting Language.

What solution on Experts Exchange is your favorite, or has been the most helpful to you? Why?

Q_22489222. When things stop working people tend to get impatient. That question saved me a lot of time and a lot of hassle.

Expert Skin or Premium Skin, why?

Premium Skin. I got used to it, tried to change to Expert skin once but everything seemed out of place so I changed back.

What do you like about sharing your expertise with others?

I kind of like the idea of helping others, mostly because I have been in situations when the deadline of a project is close and you can't solve a particular problem.

How hard is it to become a Qualified Expert?

Not hard at all. It only takes 10000 points to become a qualified expert which translates to 5-6 questions. At the beginning it may seem hard, mostly because an asker can take some time to close a question and you can become inpatient. All it takes is patience to get through the first 2 days, after that you are on your way for your first certificate.

How much time does it take in a month to earn 3,000 points and maintain your Qualified Expert status?

Doesn't take much time, it can take from 5 minutes to 1 hour depending on the experience of the asker and the level of difficulty of the question but essentially you just have to answer 2 questions.

What is your favorite number or mathematical equation? Why?

It used to be 6, the first perfect number. Now 2000000 seems pretty perfect.

Give a shout out to some of your fellow Experts.

Special thanks to Roonaan, hernst42 and angelIII. For me you are the most valuable resources at the TA's of my interest. I have learned a lot from watching how you guys do things.

There have been rumors circulating about you and your relationship with a certain Hollywood celebrity. Do you have anything to say about this?

No comment.

If you were stuck on a desert island and could pick just one fellow Expert to be there with you, who would it be and why?

I think I'll take that certain celebrity with me. Sorry guys.

Symantec Firewall Courtesy of our good friend PeteLong, you can probably find one of these somewhere. He is good enough to include instructions, but he isn't selling them himself. At press time, there was one on eBay for about 12 Euros.

Horntones Ever been at a stop light when some idiot pulls up next to you with his 18-speaker stereo thumping so loud that it rattles your car door? We're thinking Manilow. About 200 Euros.

Datamancer Keyboard Originally the brainchild of the Steampunk Workshop, these are available for both the PC and the Mac. 550-700 Euros. Next up: laptops.

satmanuk acknowledges that he didn't intend to ask the question that became EE's 2,000,000th solution, but he doesn't seem to mind.

Who are you?

My name is Paul Cross, or the IT guy :-). I'm the IT Manager for Iansyst Ltd. (www.dyslexic.com and www.iansyst.co.uk); we provide software, hardware and solutions for people with disabilities.

Where are you from?

Silicon Fen, *LOL*, Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom.

Describe yourself using three words.

Three words, no chance :-) Other people would describe me in two, "cheeky sod"... honestly... can never answer questions like this... Practical, Inventive, Cheeky.

How did you discover Experts Exchange?

Had a serious exchange server problem I think, needed good help, ended up on EE.

How long have you been a member of the Experts Exchange community?

Several years now I think.

What do you like about Experts Exchange?

The level of expertise, and response times, also trusted reliable posters.

Make a really big deal about how you've come to ask the question resulting in the 2,000,000th solution on Experts Exchange.

Voices in my head told me I needed a new laptop, no wait, that was just my wife :-)... Seriously, the people who I work for, that's the MI5, told me it was a matter of national security that I ask that question, the fate of the world was at stake... or maybe I just needed a new laptop, oh wait I already said that :-)

What is your favorite Zone on Experts Exchange?

Big jugs... oops wrong site... Networking, Exchange, Windows server.

What solution on Experts Exchange is your favorite, or has been the most helpful to you? Why?

All of them :-)

Do you use the Expert Skin or the Premium Skin? Why?

Don't really have a preference, both run slow when the Americans wake up and come online :-)

How often do you search for solutions on Experts Exchange?

Daily.

How often do you ask a new question?

Several a week sometimes.

Do you use Experts Exchange for technology support at work or at home?

Work and Home, they are one in the same thing for IT people anyway aren't they :-)

Are there any Experts that you would like to thank for help that they have given you?

Big shout out to all of them.

Which episode of Star Wars is your favorite? Why?

LOL... really on topic there I see... Episode 6.

What do you think the greatest benefit of being a member of Experts Exchange is?

Isn't this the same as Q6? Basically its not full of crap like many other forums; it's clean and reliable.

Tell us about some of the gadgets you've got in your home for which you hope never to have to ask a question on Experts Exchange.

Bit of a gadget man, recently got one of the new Intel MacBooks to replace my work laptop. Fairly sad actually, only got it because of the Mag power connector and slot load CD tray. First thing i did was slap Vista on it :-)... can't stand Mac OSX. Got the usual stuff, HD plasma, Media PC... the coolest gadget is my 7 km WiFi link to a neighbouring village. The only ADSL provider I can get is Trilogy/Edge Telecom, and they are crap, so I grab my Internet from another village via WiFi.

Remember when you were a child and used to tease "I know something you don't know"? Well, now's the time to tell us. Go ahead now.

Can't remember that far back... maybe I was cloned, or maybe I had a bad childhood. There's just a blank space in ye old memories.

Eyeclops Why in the world one would want to look at something and magnify it 200 times on a television screen is beyond us... although, it would make getting splinters out of fingers entertaining -- especially in HDTV. 27-35 Euros, depending.

Virtual Laser Keyboard These things have even been featured in an episode of CSI:Miami and have more moving parts than David Caruso's face. About 170 Euros.

NBA Basketball Floor Mark Twain Elementary School in Angels Camp, CA, is selling the floor and baskets once used by the NBA's Golden State Warriors. 13,600 Euros.

FernandoSoto acknowledges that he got a little lucky in guessing when the 2,000,000th solution would be accepted, but sometimes it's better to be lucky than good.

Who are you?

I started out fixing computers many years ago then made a move into networking went back to school some years later and received my degree in computer science from the University of Central Florida. I have worked in many different kinds of jobs but always with computers.

Where are you from?

My parents are from Puerto Rico but I was born and raised in Brooklyn New York. I currently live in Orlando Florida.

Describe yourself using three words.

Dedicated, Caring and Service.

How did you discover Experts Exchange?

A coworker told me about the site when I was having a little problem with some code I was writing.

How long have you been a member of the Experts Exchange community?

Just about four years.

How long have you been answering questions as an Expert?

Almost two years now.

What do you like about Experts Exchange?

That it gives me a place to share with others in my profession some of the knowledge I have with others.

Tell us everything about how you came to guess when the 2,000,000th solution on Experts Exchange would be posted, starting from the twinkle in your parents' eyes.

Pure luck. I would like to say that I performed some fancy analysis and came up with a educated answer based on that analysis but that was not the case. I looked at some of the other guesses that were posted and picked a day and time out of the air.

What is your favorite Zone on Experts Exchange?

I would have to say Visual Basic .Net and Regular Expressions.

What solution on Experts Exchange is your favorite, or has been the most helpful to you? Why?

My favorite was the question I had posted, http://www.experts-exchange.com/Q_22814884.html in which I was unable to solve for myself but with the solution that was posted by Fardev who was right on the money the problem was solved. Funny how my headache from banging my head agents the wall suddenly was gone.

Expert Skin or Premium Skin, why?

I use Expert Skin because It seems to load faster on my machine and in a day of looking for questions to answer and refreshing the screen before I post it just works better for me. Although I think that the Premium Skin looks very cool and well done.

What do you like about sharing your expertise with others?

I just find it very gratifying to be able to help other and especially those who are new to programming and need a little help or to guide a student to a solution.

How hard is it to become a Qualified Expert?

Well, it is not hard at all. You go to a zone that you have some knowledge in read a question that you know the answer to. Then the hard part is you work that gray matter between your ears formulate the answer while you type away the solution in that part of the page called Post Comment / Solution and then do not forget to click on that Submit button. Can't get any easier then that.

How much time does it take in a month to earn 3,000 points and maintain your Qualified Expert status?

Well, to get 3000 point does not take very long. Some of us can do that in less than 30 minutes and most of that time is spent looking for questions to answer. But when you first start out it could take a little longer.

What is your favorite number or mathematical equation? Why?

My new favorite number is 633305703000000000 because it represents the number of ticks for November 13, 2007 @ 5:05 PM which is the winning guess.

Give a shout out to some of your fellow Experts.

Idle_Mind, whose mind is not Idle at all. TheLearnedOne who truly is learned and all you other experts out there who make this a great site to be part of.

There have been rumors circulating about you and your relationship with a certain Hollywood celebrity. Do you have anything to say about this?

Well I am not the type of person to kiss and tell so I have no comment on this.

If you were stuck on a desert island and could pick just one fellow Expert to be there with you, who would it be and why?

Well, maybe we need to have a Experts Exchange conference so that we all can meet. Then maybe I could give an answer to this question.

It's been a while, but last week we had one of those instances where someone posts a bunch of questions that are nonsense just so he can also answer them and pick up a lot of points in a hurry. Thanks to all of you who let us know; this isn't the first time, and probably isn't the last, but one of the things we like most about the regular Experts Exchange members is that they do what they can to protect the community. We really do appreciate the help.

Q: I made a mistake when I accepted an answer. Can I get that fixed?

Absolutely. If you meant to split the points, or gave a grade that you didn't intend, or just plain accepted the wrong comment, just post a request in the Community Support zone and we'll be happy to take care of you.

The folks in the Community Advisor zone have asked us to pass along a few notes that would help them out. First, please don't ask them to do something with your question; those kinds of requests should be posted in the Community Support zone. The Community Advisors move them, but that does result in a delay in processing your request. Second, if you are responding to the 12-hour email (the one that says you haven't received any responses), it helps them tremendously if you post the URL to your question. Otherwise, they have to dig through your history to figure out which question you're asking about.

Which brings up the question: what's the difference between the Community Advisor zone and Community Support? It really isn't that difficult. The Community Advisors can do a few things with regard to your question (like find you some help), but they don't actually do anything to it. If your question needs some kind of action, then you go to the Moderators. The two teams work together, but if you remember the difference, you will make everyone's job a lot easier.

Veteran's Administration falls into second place: The Revenue and Customs office in Great Britain managed to lose a couple of CDs containing the records of 25 million people six weeks ago, and has now had a second set disappear. The number of records stolen from the VA is higher, but the HMRC loss represents about 40 per cent of the country's population. And while we're on the subject of data breaches, TJMaxx is going to pay out $40.9 million to banks to cover costs associated with the problem.

We know this will come as a great shock to everyone: A software evaluation company has come to the conclusion that Windows XP outperforms Vista. Oh... and Microsoft is being sued because Halo 3 crashes XBoxes. And just because we can... the iZune and Live GMail.

Oh, Canada... Oh, Caaaa-na-da... : The folks in the US aren't the only people who have to worry that information they thought was private can get turned over to the government. Hushmail, its promise of encryption notwithstanding, gave up 12 CDs worth of emails to US prosecutors in a steroid drug case.

One less thing for Europeans to worry about: The EU has unveiled a proposal that will ban European websites from posting anything related to inciting terrorism or making bombs, which will do wonders for the AdSense revenue of sites hosted outside the EU. Where's that Any key...

Now you know why Computer101 is the senior site administrator: He's an Expert (thanks, Greg!).

Clash of the Titans: Google, which has recently been vying with Apple to take over from Microsoft as the new "company everyone loves to hate", has figured out that there is one more company with even fewer fans: AT&T. That being the case, the trades and blogs have all been welcome to see that Google will participate in the FCC's auction of wireless spectrums in January. What makes this all the more interesting is Google's call for an alliance between hardware manufacturers and developers that lets customers choose which phone they want to use, regardless of the carrier.

The gift that keeps on giving: If you're in the donating mood this season, consider sending $188 to One Laptop Per Child.

Hey, George... that contract for the new bridge you sent me? What's with the ad for Simon and Garfunkle?: People who publish newsletters using the PDF format will soon be able to include advertising supplied by Yahoo into their documents.

Unfortunately, most of what gets copied isn't worth two cents: A law professor wrote a paper about copyright infringement in which his fictional law professor racked up an average of $4.5 billion in potential liabilities each year... without a single P2P download.

We know this will come as a great shock, too: McAfee published a report last week that said two things: first, that there have been more attacks against network infrastructures than ever before; and second, that the biggest offender is China. Needless to say, the Chinese were offended. There goes the antivirus contract for the Beijing Olympics.

Signs of the Apocalypse: SpiderMan is on the web, the world's saddest cubicles, and WalMart -- not content with just one Black Friday -- wanted two.

The Thanksgiving holiday was a couple of weeks ago, which means that in the US, Christmas shopping is in full swing. But before you go buying toys for all of the children on your list, you might want to take a look at all the toys that have been recalled for various reasons, usually because the paint on them contains lead. The folks at c|net also have a list of hi-tech gifts you shouldn't give someone. My favorite is number nine.

And speaking of toxic and dangerous, I came across a really interesting article about how thieves stole the credit card data of millions of TJMaxx and Marshall's customers. It's not just how easy it is, but I know we have been able to wander around just about any town and find unsecured wireless hotspots, so it might not be a bad idea to do all that shopping from home. It might also be a good idea if you check your home wireless configuration and security, because you probably have some personal information stored somewhere on your computer.

There is a very serious QuickTime bug that has not been patched, and while Vista and Windows XP users are the most vulnerable, it is possible that Mac OS X users are not safe either. Apple is pretty good about patching things like this quickly, but since it just released a set of patches a few weeks ago, it might take a little while.

Finally, you might remember that I wrote about my new laptop -- a Toshiba -- a few months ago, and how I was frustrated with Vista. My other half decided that for a Christmas present, he was going to "downgrade" to Windows XP, only to find out that you have to have one of the higher versions of Vista in order to do the deed from the manufacturer, and also that Toshiba doesn't offer the option anyway. A little looking around found a very nice guide to installing an operating system you can live with on your computer. Personally, I think Windows 98SE was still the best OS they've ever done, but I can live with XP, I guess.