Peter Vatistas

I’ve had Progressive Auto insurance for the last 3 years and have been really happy with the service and prices. Yesterday I received an email from Progressive stating that my policy is up for renewal in 2 weeks and to renew the policy I just need to continue to pay. I was excited to see Progressive lowered my monthly price by $15 but that also got me thinking what other companies will charge - so I started shopping.

After a few hours I had received quotes from 7 different auto insurance companies and all of them were right around the same price except for one, Electric Insurance. Electric Insurance quoted me more than 50% less than what I currently pay with Progressive and almost 45% lower than everyone else for the exact same coverage!!

The Electric Insurance Company is a national writer of personal insurance products including auto, homeowners, renters, condo and umbrella. They were established in 1966 to serve the needs of General Electric employees and have since expanded their offerings to the general public.

You all know my blog is about technology and internet marketing and I never post anything else but I just had to write about this; 50% savings on my auto insurance is HUGE and I definitely want to let everyone know.

Next time your shopping auto insurance you better make sure to check Electric Insurance, you won’t be sorry.

Click here to receive a quote from Electric Insurance

If you haven’t done so already, download and install the AdminPak specific to your domain controller:

Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1 Administration Tools Pack

Windows Server 2003 R2 Administration Tools Pack

Once installed you’ll need to register the DLLs for AdminPak to run properly; why Microsoft hasn’t written AdminPak for Windows Vista blows my mind but I digress. Here’s the play by play:

Start > All Programs > Accessories > Right-Click Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.

Copy the list below and paste it into the command prompt windows:

regsvr32 /s adprop.dll
regsvr32 /s azroles.dll
regsvr32 /s azroleui.dll
regsvr32 /s ccfg95.dll
regsvr32 /s certadm.dll
regsvr32 /s certmmc.dll
regsvr32 /s certpdef.dll
regsvr32 /s certtmpl.dll
regsvr32 /s certxds.dll
regsvr32 /s cladmwiz.dll
regsvr32 /s clcfgsrv.dll
regsvr32 /s clnetrex.dll
regsvr32 /s cluadmex.dll
regsvr32 /s cluadmmc.dll
regsvr32 /s cmproxy.dll
regsvr32 /s cmroute.dll
regsvr32 /s cmutoa.dll
regsvr32 /s cnet16.dll
regsvr32 /s debugex.dll
regsvr32 /s dfscore.dll
regsvr32 /s dfsgui.dll
regsvr32 /s dhcpsnap.dll
regsvr32 /s dnsmgr.dll
regsvr32 /s domadmin.dll
regsvr32 /s dsadmin.dll
regsvr32 /s dsuiwiz.dll
regsvr32 /s imadmui.dll
regsvr32 /s lrwizdll.dll
regsvr32 /s mprsnap.dll
regsvr32 /s msclus.dll
regsvr32 /s mstsmhst.dll
regsvr32 /s mstsmmc.dll
regsvr32 /s nntpadm.dll
regsvr32 /s nntpapi.dll
regsvr32 /s nntpsnap.dll
regsvr32 /s ntdsbsrv.dll
regsvr32 /s ntfrsapi.dll
regsvr32 /s rasuser.dll
regsvr32 /s rigpsnap.dll
regsvr32 /s rsadmin.dll
regsvr32 /s rscommon.dll
regsvr32 /s rsconn.dll
regsvr32 /s rsengps.dll
regsvr32 /s rsjob.dll
regsvr32 /s rsservps.dll
regsvr32 /s rsshell.dll
regsvr32 /s rssubps.dll
regsvr32 /s rtrfiltr.dll
regsvr32 /s schmmgmt.dll
regsvr32 /s tapisnap.dll
regsvr32 /s tsuserex.dll
regsvr32 /s uddi.mmc.dll
regsvr32 /s vsstskex.dll
regsvr32 /s w95inf16.dll
regsvr32 /s w95inf32.dll
regsvr32 /s winsevnt.dll
regsvr32 /s winsmon.dll
regsvr32 /s winsrpc.dll
regsvr32 /s winssnap.dll
regsvr32 /s ws03res.dll

Thats it! Just exit command prompt and AdminPak should now be fully operational within Windows Vista.

Just passing it on… :)

TuitionU is the 1^st web site that provides the chance to rate and review resources and products in higher education and financial aid. TuitionU’s position is neutral so all providers of content, resource, and tools are welcome to participate and help grow the site. This helps create a true “one stop shop” for higher ed. TuitionU provides immediate answers to questions and access to tools and resources through a wealth of content provided by industry professionals. At TuitionU.com you can find the following:

* Peer to peer ratings and reviews for schools, lenders and much more.
* Talk to students, teachers, parents and industry experts.
* Articles related to higher education and financial aid.
* Blogs, forums, videos galleries, image galleries and of course friends!

Lots of tools can be found at TuitionU like the following:

* Student Loan Comparison
* Private Student Loan Calculators
* Student Loan Calculators
* College Cost Estimator
* Private Student Loan Payment Calculator
* Expecting Family Contributing Estimator
* Planning and Budgeting for College Calculator

I am really fascinated by this higher ed community because you find real information and advice from all sides of the industry. Parents can talk to parents about their children’s school, loans, teachers or even get insight from other students and industry professionals. Students can talk to students, parents, even schools and lenders about their options and needs for higher education.

TuitionU is a win-win for anyone looking to learn more about all aspects of higher education and because TuitionU is non-bias, you’ll always get the best answer - not a sales pitch. Where else can you rate your lender or teacher and know for sure its not a marketing team boosting the numbers? No where!!

Check out TuitionU and see for yourself how this community is really making a difference for everyone.

Here is a quick and easy way to track page names in WebCEO’s HitLens analytics application by changing a couple variables in the tracking script. This works perfectly in Community Server 2008!

First let’s take the original code generated by HitLense:

<!–WEBSITECEO:BEGIN:{764EEF2E-BC11-45CF-8627-300CE1BA2219}–>

<!–
Do NOT modify this script to avoid traffic misrepresentation!
Web CEO 4 0300/1
Code initially inserted into: “index.aspx”.
–>
<script type=”text/javascript”><!–
// hitlens v1.2.7
function hitlens_embedded() {
var id = 123456;
var pc = 0;
var PAGENAME = escape(”);
var CONTENTGROUP = escape(”);
var TRANSACTION = escape(”);
var TRANSACTION_ID = 0;
var ORDER = escape(”);
return “id=”+id+”&pc=”+pc+”&p=”+PAGENAME+”&gr=”+CONTENTGROUP+”&tr=”
+TRANSACTION+”&trid=”+TRANSACTION_ID+”&ord=”+ORDER;
}
//–></script>
<script type=”text/javascript” src=”/webceo.js”></script>
<!–WEBSITECEO:END:{764EEF2E-BC11-45CF-8627-300CE1BA2219}–>

Now lets add a quick line of code to the var PAGENAME = variable:

var PAGENAME = document.title;

What this will do is pull the page’s title and post it in HitLense.

The default tracking code HitLense generates also throws in the following comment that needs to be removed completely:

<!–
Do NOT modify this script to avoid traffic misrepresentation!
Web CEO 4 0300/1
Code initially inserted into: “index.aspx”.
–>

Also make sure to leave the var pc = 0; at 0. The var pc is a unique page identifier, if you use specialized tracking (like above) instead of the wizard-driven setup then you’ll definitely need to keep it at 0 or your going to run into some problems.

Your final tracking code should look like this:

<!–WEBSITECEO:BEGIN:{764EEF2E-BC11-45CF-8627-300CE1BA2219}–>
<script type=”text/javascript”><!–
// hitlens v1.2.7
function hitlens_embedded() {
var id = 123456;
var pc = 0;
var PAGENAME = document.title;
var CONTENTGROUP = escape(”);
var TRANSACTION = escape(”);
var TRANSACTION_ID = 0;
var ORDER = escape(”);
return “id=”+id+”&pc=”+pc+”&p=”+PAGENAME+”&gr=”+CONTENTGROUP+”&tr=”
+TRANSACTION+”&trid=”+TRANSACTION_ID+”&ord=”+ORDER;
}
//–></script>
<script type=”text/javascript” src=”/webceo.js”></script>
<!–WEBSITECEO:END:{764EEF2E-BC11-45CF-8627-300CE1BA2219}–>

Good luck!

Trillian Astra build 75 was just released and there are a lot of great new features, read more here: Trillian Astra Build 75.

If your ready to play with Trillian Astra but don’t want to wait forever for Cerulean Studio’s to release it or approve you to become a beta tester then click here to download the torrent.

After install you’ll find that Trillian Astra won’t connect so here’s a quick and easy work around:

1.First of all you’ll need to create a username in trillian astra inside the client.

2.Now when you try to connect it won’t connect right? Exit out of trillian

3.Go to this directory: C:\Document and Settings\YourName\Application Data\Trillian\users\(your username)

4.Find the file ASTRA-(your username).ini and open it in notepad.

5. You’ll see a line that says prefsConnectionSettingsServerPort=3158

6. Change the number from 3158 to 4444

7.Now save the file and try logging on in trillian

Good luck!

All cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies tomorrow (02/29/2008) and you will start to receive sale calls.

…..YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS

To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone:

888-382-1222 - National DO NOT CALL list.

It will only take a minute of your time and it blocks your cell phone number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number.

Do it now and save yourself from annoying sales calls and paying for the minutes to listen to their sales pitch.

I am a huge fan of FreeBSD and use it religiously for my servers but for my normal day to day computer OS I have been using Ubuntu (as some of you already know). Well tonight my laptop is going to get a nice clean format and I’m installing PC-BSD - built off of FreeBSD 6.

PC-BSD is a complete desktop operating system, which has been designed with the “casual” computer user in mind. It offers the stability and security that only a BSD-based operating system can bring, while as the same time providing a comfortable user experience, allowing you to get the most out of your computing time. With PC-BSD you can spend less time working to fix viruses or spyware and instead have the computer work for you.

Installing the system is simply a matter of a few clicks and a few minutes for the installation process to finish. Hardware such as video, sound, network and other devices will be auto-detected and available at the first system startup. Home users will immediately feel comfortable with PC-BSD’s desktop interface, with KDE 3.5 running under the hood. Software installation has also been designed to be as painless as possible, simply double-click and software will be installed.

Get PC-BSD now and get with the program.

I just upgraded my servers from FreeBSD 6.2 to 6.3 (even though FreeBSD 7.0 will be here any day). Here are the steps to upgrade, make sure to backup!

# fetch http://people.freebsd.org/~cperciva/freebsd-update-upgrade.tgz

Downloading and verifying the digital signature for the tarball (signed by the FreeBSD Security Officer’s PGP key) is highly recommended.# fetch http://people.freebsd.org/~cperciva/freebsd-update-upgrade.tgz.asc

# gpg –verify freebsd-update-upgrade.tgz.asc freebsd-update-upgrade.tgz

The new freebsd-update(8) can then be extracted and run as follows:# tar -xf freebsd-update-upgrade.tgz

# sh freebsd-update.sh -f freebsd-update.conf -r 6.3-RELEASE upgrade

# sh freebsd-update.sh -f freebsd-update.conf install

The system must be rebooted with the newly installed kernel before continuing.# shutdown -r now

Finally, freebsd-update.sh needs to be run one more time to install the new userland components, and the system needs to be rebooted one last time:# sh freebsd-update.sh -f freebsd-update.conf install

# shutdown -r now

For more information, see:http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2007-11-10-freebsd-minor-version-upgrade.html

George W. Bush stated on record (twice) that he has nothing against dictatorship, as long as he is the dictator. The GOP has the power to cancel the 2008 presidential election for reasons of anti-terror, nuclear war, etc… Do you think it could happen?

With a mixture of disenfranchisement, intimidation, faulty ballots, electronic voting fraud, rigging vote counts, and aborting recounts (tools that Bush has been known to use: i.e. Florida 2000, Ohio 2004) I think there is more than a chance this could happen. The question is… could we stop it?

For you that know me - you know I am far from political. This has sparked my interest a little. I’d love to hear how more political people feel about this topic.