In a Comment on there Hulu Blog,

August 16th, 2008 at 08:52 AM Umm, when exactly did Hulu decide to shut its doors to everyone outside of America? The site’s title is “Watch your Favorites. Anytime. For Free”. I’m sorry Hulu, this is a complete lie, as anyone viewing your site outside of the US is banned from viewing your videos. All the time. So that you know, I intend on writing a letter to Joss Whedon asking that he pull his Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog video from your network and redistribute it to a video site that isn’t run by people who embrace the philosophy “Defective By Design”. That way, the thousands of other people wanting to see this video, like me, don’t have to resort to downloading the thing via the piratebay.

Well, This is something I wanted to discuss for everyone who reads my blog why Hulu isn’t allowing anyone outside of America to see the videos.   It’s all have to do with there contracts they have with certain providers.

Let me explain it to you another way, Hulu is now being watch all over North America.  Hulu is obligated to make sure no one out side of the US can watch these movies because they have “NO RIGHTS” to share this with anyone out side of the US.  When Hulu makes deals with these major distributors, they sign a contract.  In the contract somewhere at sometime, they are explicitly forbidden to stream this material outside of the US.

Is there ways around this?

Having experience in the computer repair and understand of what is required for someone to get around this type of “Protection” is somewhat hard.  Here is the reason, when Hulu banned people from watching outside of the US they did so by banning a group of Internet Protocols.

Here are Three ways at which I know you can watch HULU programming.  Be advised that these are ways to get around the protection and by doing this, You hold me not responsible for any and all actions.  I talk about this because it would be unfair not to, I’ve got to have some responsibility to my readers.

• USE A PROXY Server in the United States –  Now this one is the hardest because I don’t know of any.  I am not going to do your homework for you, but I will say there has to be several in the US.  Be Warned that using this will greatly reduce quality and speed.  You will sooner or later be found out and blocked, so use this one is at your own risk.
• Ask Major Media Distributors to join HULU — Writing to them and asking them to join Hulu will increase the likely hood of them opening up the resources to let people view outside of HULU.  You see the other distributors have the rights to distribute outside of the US.  If you get them to come to Hulu, you will be giving them the power to allow certain content to be streamed outside of HULU.  If you want to contact the distributors and ask them to join Hulu, by all means go through the IMDB and look for the distributors you want on HULU and find out how to email them or Snail Mail them!!
• USE an VPN to Access HULU — This one is like Proxy Servers but this one is most often used by people who are traveling outside of the US.  That’s right if your company has a VPN inside of the US you can watch shows.  This too could get your IP banned from Hulu, although I tell you this for those business men and women who are traveling and live in the United States and Military people too.  Has all the same flaws as Proxy, will slow you down, and quality will take a hit also!!
  

These are just a few of the ways you could stream information from HULU but use at your own risk.  If you have any other comments to add just go ahead and add them.  I want to hear what people think or what they want me to talk about.

Having been using XP and Vista for the past few years, I’ve found that deleting all of the files in prefetch directory and letting them rebuild actually speeds up the system.  I got a feeling it has something to do with file corruptions.  After you go into the Prefetch directory and delete all the files.  You would then go into your Readyboost Directory if you are using Readyboost then there will be a Readyboost directory inside the Prefetch directory.  Deleting all the files in the Readyboost directory also will greatly improve performance of your system.  Don’t delete the Prefetch Directory or the Readyboost Directory, Vista won’t let you delete the Prefetch but will with Readyboost.  Deleting the Readyboost directory will prevent  Vista from using Readyboost and then you would have to restart the process of using Readyboost.

If you can come up with more ways to speed up Vista then by all means let me know!!

There it says you must go to the personalization menu to fix that.  Ok so I go there and then I would need to click this:

You would have to click on “Change Desktop Icons” and then you are almost home.  Here is where you have some choices.

You will need to put a check mark in the “Recycle Bin” box and you are set to go off and do other wonderful stuff.  if you are like me and you want to have network icons and computer icons on your desktop well check those off too.  The Computer icon is useful if you need to get to the hard drive.  The network is useful if you want to get out to your local network. I should also mention the control panel, that can be useful from time to time so it is all about what you want to make space be like.  You want to have it neat and spacious then you wouldn’t want to clutter your desktop if you want several programs at your fingertips then yes do what you want.  I’ve recently discovered how useful it is to have a clean desktop.  Don’t know why but I’ve begun to work on keep my screen desktop organized.

]]> http://www.tech-linkblog.com/2008/08/undeleting-the-recycle-bin-in-vista.html/feed/ http://www.tech-linkblog.com/2008/08/vista-and-bsod.html/ http://www.tech-linkblog.com/2008/08/vista-and-bsod.html/#comments Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:15:23 +0000 Laforge129 http://www.tech-linkblog.com/?p=1168 I wanted to talk about Vista and the terrible BSOD scenarios that I have found around the network.  I also want to talk about them to a point.  So I went through and look and here is what I found:

• NVidia Graphics Drivers — That should be well fixed by now.  I  don’t have an NVidia Computer with Vista on it and can’t say one way or the other.  I do know that recently they added new graphics drivers for Vista and are out.   That alone should fix most of the problems.

• Vista’s Blue Screen of Death — This little website has some great information on the causes and fix for them.

• Installing two Anti-virus Softwares in Vista –  it is a Kernel and Memory Protection that causes that.  I also think they are right about it.  You can’t have two programs try to use the kernel and the same memory spot. See Episode BOL Episode 793

Here are a few of them that I could find out lately.  Most of the Blue Screen of Deaths for VIsta should be over with.  Since the Release of Vista SP1, Microsoft has issued driver fixes and program compatibilities with that release.

• Run the program in compatibility mode – This is something Vista comes with now for running old programs in Vista. To do this you will have to do some minor things.  Go to where the program is and right click on the program.  Select properties>compatibility.  Select “Run this program in compatibility  mode for:” Select  windows Operating System that you think would work with the program.

• Run the program as Administrator –  This is a really good tip and trick to sometimes get programs to run with vista.  It goes hand in hand with the last one.  Right click on the program and select “Run as Administrator”.  I find some old programs don’t know about the kernel protection in Vista and you need to give them permission to use the kernel for the program to work.

• Give the program special access –  Yes this one takes a little skill but should fix some of the problems with vista and old programs.  Right click on program and select properties.  Select security, and then select the group you want to associate with it.  I always suggest putting it in the administrator group because of the problems with Vista and the kernel.

These few tips and tricks will greatly increease the likely hood of a old program to run in Vista.  Now remember if you have a Vist x64 Version you might need to do the Run as Administrator more than not.  I am not sure why I just know it is sometimes required.  Let me know what other tips and tricks you use with Vista and I’ll be sure to pass them along!!

• Paycheck – What seemed like a breezy idea for an engineer to net him millions of dollars, leaves him on the run for his life and piecing together why he’s being chased. full summary | full synopsis

• The Saint – Simon Templar has no real family, no real home and Simon Templar isn’t even his real name. Yet Simon Templar … more | full synopsis
  

• Forrest Gump – Forrest Gump, while not intelligent, has accidentally been present at many historic moments, but his true love, Jenny, eludes him. full summary | full synopsis

• Wayne’s World – Two slacker friends try to promote their public-access cable show. full summaryadd synopsis
  

• Ghost – After being killed during a botched mugging, a man’s love for his partner enables him to remain on earth as a ghost. full summary

So these are just a few that I looked up and can see them possibly coming to hulu in the next few weeks to months.  I am willing to bet most of the shows I’ve mention will come because they are the most adored by the public and others.  I will be doing even more searching later on!!!  I also think they will bring Star Trek : The Motion Picture but that is almost a given. I expect them to bring most of the Trek movies to Hulu being they have a lot of science fiction viewers.  If you have any ideas of what movies will come to Hulu by all means make a comment and talk about it.

• Boot into Safe Mode –  Yes booting into safe mode will fix the problem to a point.  Here is what you need to do at start up of computer.  Press F8 as soon as you see the screen flicker black and you will be given a choice.  Choose Safe Mode.  Once done booting into safe mode.  Log into you user name.  There you will want to check with Msconfig. Make sure you aren’t loading up anything that might stop shut down from happening.  Once done they do the shut down procedure.  By doing it in safe mode you have vista reset all procedures to shut down.  This sometimes resolves the issue.
  

• Don’t Shut down Vista improperly – having seen this from time to time.  If you do a hard shutdown, which you drop power or remove the battery.  This has been know to cause a issue with shutting Vista down properly.  There seems to be a correlation with vista and hard shutdowns.  I do not know how or why, I just seen that with my current Vista machine.
  

• Make sure you exit out of legacy programs before you shut down — legacy programs are programs that aren’t designed for vista but are designed for Windows XP, 2000, 3.1, 3.0.  I don’t recommend using programs that are designed for Windows NT and nothing else.  If it’s in the list when you buy a program.  NT and Vista are siblings, they both use the same kernel.  Microsoft has said that in the past and I believe it.  So it only comes with reason that NT programs can work with Vista.  I’ve not tried but I’d be willing to say it could be done.

• Let it think about shutting down — I find if I tell it to shut down and walk away it will eventually shut down.  I think it has a long wait time before shutting down.  Some program has to time out before it can shut down, or it has to tell vista that it needs to unload a program from memory.

• Try using the registry hack — I’ve not tried this one but some say they get Vista to shut down properly and quickly by cutting the wait time out protocol in the registry.  I’ve seen it done on some Windows XP, it will shut down almost instantly because it doesn’t wait for the program to say anything.  It forces the program to quit.  So it could very well help you with shutting down Vista if your in a hurry.  Also try this: Faster Shutdowns using the Run Dialog
  

• Don’t put the computer in sleep mode — This is only good for those who have laptops.  It seems putting the system in sleep mode slows down Vista when you are ready to shut down.  It seems to have a conflict in the system and has been know to cause interference with other shutdown procedures, so I recommend if you are done with your system to either leave it on, or shut it down but not to put your system into hibernation.

If you follow these steps you will find that Vista stops having this shutdown issue.  I had the same problems as others but after doing these steps myself, I’ve found Vista to shutdown faster and quicker and not hang during shutdown.  If you have any other ideas feel free to email me or make a comment on how to get Vista to shutdown quicker. If you like what you’ve seen by all means click on one of my ads to show support to my site.

Would that fix the problem?

Yes it probably would if it is a driver issue.  I say it isn’t because if it was a driver issue I could just downgrade to an earlier driver, which there is none.  I am going to guess that no one has done any new drivers for the IPv6 Since Vista came out.  I don’t know why but with my DSL it has been an issue when I was on my cable.  I recently switched, I had no problems.

Could it be my DSL Provider?

It is also a probability.  I do know like any DNS providers with the latest scare.  Is your DNS Safe?  I talked about DNS cache Poisoning and how to fix it. I talked about OpenDNS.  I have been using OpenDNS since I’ve gotten DSL and if it was an DNS issue, I’ve read reports that Open DNS has never had this type of issue.  So it can’t be my DNS although, there is always a chance the DSL provider could be having problems with the IPv6 Protocol.  Check out Failing to plan is planning to fail post about this same type of issue.

Could I have a bad DSL Modem?

Let’s just say this, If it is the modem then that would be a problem.  You try telling you provider that you are having problems with IPv6.  I am sure they would be scratching there heads like what is that and how do you know?  So I would love to flash the DSL modem with the latest software but for some reason I can’t find any updates.  It’s a Westell 325W and I looked and can’t find anything!!  I could see if I couldn’t find a Linux distro to flash into but I am not that good at this stuff.  So If you know how to fix that problem.  By all means tell me.

Could I use a AYIYA tunnel to fix this?

The only problem I see with this that it would slow me down even more.  I only have so much bandwitdth to worry about.   Having to Tunnel this through a service would hinder me.  So I can’t think of any reason why I would want to slow me down.  I am really not concerned with IPv6 because when they do go into being required, they should have this fixed.  Will they fix the problem soon, I hope but I hold no definite answers on that one!!

Having Google be part of your blog is essential to keeping people coming to your site. Google is kind, intelligent enough, forgiving, and nice to have on your site. Having Google juice helps you give your blog a chance to thrive. Making enemies is fine if you must, but don’t make enemies with Google. You need to understand that Google is right now the Alpha Dog. It can make or break your site. If you get removed from Google, guess what you will probably be removed from other search sites almost certainly because of Google.

Time is the essence of creating a good blog!

It takes time to get people to come to your blog and stay at your blog. It isn’t something that will come almost instantly. It has taken me a year now to start getting people a high volume of people coming to my site. Some people think blogging should bring people to there site almost instantly. I would say that is almost impossible unless you do some things that I will not go into but it will never keep people to come to your blog, it’s how you talk to your web users. I’ll talk more about that later. I hope this helps you figure out how to start yoru blog and understand the challenges of having a blog. If you want to comment about what I’ve said please go right ahead!!

This comes with some problems and some answers. Finding something that your passionate about is one way to get other people who are passionate about the same thing to come find your blog. The only problem is that you create a single group of people who are at your blog for a single reason. Having been doing the Hulu clues, I’ve seen that and understand that will happen. I am trying to get people to stay at my site is the hardest part of having what I call a point of entry campaign. I know most of them will see my site and go do something else. I almost expect that but I know I will keep a few people who like what they see and want to keep seeing this type of stuff. I never expect to keep everyone who comes to my blog. I expect I’ll probably keep around 10% or so from just doing the point of entry campaign.

Stats are always going to say something different with each site and owner, it is something that is going to be valuable to a degree.  It however doesn’t tell the full story, it only tells a part of the story.  People will always have opinions on stats and it will always be different from one person to the other.  I will never base my site on just stats alone.  I base it on the community.

Will these people stay after Hulu clues are over?

I’ll be truthful, I am not going to say one way or the other. It is like a wave of people and it will always be that way!! People are always going to come and go, it’s something you should never take personally like you’ve done something to get people to leave and others to come to your site. Some bloggers think it is bad to loose people, most of the time it is something that will eventually happen. It happens because people are human and like change. Change is something that will happen and most bloggers know this.

Does it depend on my site server?

Having a reliable server is something that helps get people to come to your site. I remember having a free blogger account and if I get hit with 100 people doing a search for something and them all trying to go to my site almost all at the same time, my site couldn’t handle it. Unlike who I have today. [insert ad] If you have a powerful server who can take the web hits and be reliable, that is how you succeed in having a blog.