If you get the following error while exporting to a Quicktime file from Final Cut Pro:
"Codec not found. You maybe using a compression type without the corresponding hardware card,"
check to see if you have an image file in your timeline that is using CMYK mode rather than RGB. CMYK will throw this error and possibly cause you a lot of headache wondering why.

If you find that you have a CMYK image in there. To find out just select the image in the timeline, right click (or option click) and choose "show in finder." Then right click (or option click) on the file and choose get info. The color mode should be shown in there. Then you'll have to open the image in Photoshop or Pixelmator, or some other photo editor and change the mode to RGB. Save it and put it back in the timeline. This should solve your problem.

If you are having problem finding out what image in the timeline is causing the problem, just export small bits by changing the in and out points until you get the error and then investigate between the in and out points.

I just had an experience with a Dell Vostro 1500 laptop that I would like to relate in case there are people out there having trouble with it connecting to wireless networks. We have had one traveling the world with a business man and he ends up calling in with reports from Hawaii, Dubai, a cruise ship, and many other places saying that he can't get it on their wireless network. There is usually an IT person there that can't help him get on either.

Turns out, after trying to work with IT guys in far off lands, and fighting through the Dell phone support maze, it's apparently the Dell Wireless LAN Utility that is not functional with all wireless setups. I didn't get any information as to why, but the fix is just to disable it and use Windows XP's built in WLAN system. Why does Dell put this software on there to manage the WLAN? I do not know. The Windows Wireless management seems to be enough. It is so confusing to the user (not to mention the technician who is trying to help them).

So the Dell WLAN Utility appears in the system tray and it looks like some green bars, like the bars on a cell phone. What you want to do is just double-click on those bars. and you'll get a window like the one below. Uncheck the top two boxes - "Let this tool manage your wireless networks" and "Show utility icon." Leave the "Enable Radio" Box checked.

For more info check out the manual at : http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/network/p70008/en/utility.htm

This also looks like an easy way to fix it too, although I haven't tried it:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/968682

Dear Clients:

I have been seeing a lot of pretty tough viruses lately. They are getting more and more clever and the anti-virus software seems to be losing the battle at this moment in time. The clever thing about the viruses I've encountered recently is that they are designed so that it is very difficult for you to use the tools to eliminate them or prevent more from coming in.

Here are some tips about how to defend yourself against viruses.

1. Install some kind of virus protection on your computer or on your network. - Whether you have a Macintosh or a PC computer, you are vulnerable to viruses. If you have a Windows computer, you are definitely much more likely to get a virus, or some kind of spyware. Using some type of antivirus is a must. It is true Apple computers have much less market share than Windows computers, so they haven't had much trouble with viruses, but it is probably only a matter of time, as they become more and more popular, that they too will have to contend with viruses. Why not be ahead of the game and have some antivirus already installed when that day comes?

2. Have a router or firewall installed on your network. - Even if you have only one computer on your network, you should have some kind of hardware firewall that keeps your computer safe from hacking. The best way to do this is just to get a simple router. I recommend Linksys Routers, but there are many other kinds that can be obtained cheaply. If you have a wireless network, chances are you have one of these routers already, but if your computer is plugged directly into a modem, your computer may be sitting directly on the internet waiting to be attacked.

3. Keep all of your installation disks and licenses for everything. - If your computer is compromised by some kind of malicious attack, you can never be sure that it is completely out of your system, unless you do a complete clean install of your entire operating system and software. This can be time consuming, but it is much more time consuming and costly, if you don't have your software licenses and original software. The most important of these is the original disk that comes with your computer.

4. Back up your important data. - The most important, irreplaceable data on your computer are the things that you create, whether they be documents, photos, artwork, emails, music, financial records or whatever you have generated. Make sure you have a backup of this data. Onsite backups and offsite backups can be critical to keep this important, irreplaceable information. The next important items are the things you've bought or collected. This is everything from bookmarks, to software licenses to music.

5. Be careful where you surf and what you click on. - This applies to emails as well as surfing on the web. Don't click on anything unless you are absolutely sure of the source. If it sounds like a scam, it probably is. Know the difference between a pop-up window on the internet and one on your computer. Often times websites will try to imitate the error messages on your computer to trick you into downloading something destructive to your computer. Also emails will arrive in your inbox with either a malicious attachment or a link asking you to log into your account or download something. The scams are too numerous to mention here, but when in doubt, don't click. Investigate first and be absolutely sure.

These are a few things you can do to protect yourself. If you have any questions, you need one-one-one training, anti-virus or backup, feel free to call me or email me.

Best,
Joel Marshall
www.supportusmaximus.com
310-592-5848

Remote Support Anywhere in the World:
http://www.crossloop.com/supportus

Please take a moment look at whether you have a backup of your computer data, and if so, ask yourself how solid this backup is. If your computer died today, what would you lose? Chances are you have important documents, your family pictures, your writings, your correspondence and many other valuable things on your computer.

I have seen a lot of hard drives die lately. I suspect that this is because they are getting to be larger and larger capacity and tend to have more moving parts that can go bad. Hard drives as we know them are not a stable technology and soon will be replaced with solid state drives, which are much more reliable because they don't have moving parts. All hard drives fail, it's just a matter of when.

Please take a moment to see what your situation is with your backup. Ideally you should have two backups. There should be a drive attached to your computer, or on your network where you backup your data. This should backup as much as possible and should continue to backup on a daily or weekly basis.

Then there should be some kind of off-site backup. This can either be another external hard drive that you backup data on and then take to a relative's house or it can be one of the many online backup systems. This is in case you (God forbid) have a fire, flood, earthquake or theft that leaves you without your computer and your backup hard drive, or if your main hard drive fails and your onsite backup fails too.

Supportus Maximus can design a solid backup system for you and implement it. If you need us to check to see if yours is up to snuff, we would love to do so. It's much more pleasant than trying to recover data once it's lost.

Best,

Joel Marshall
Supportus Maximus, Inc.
www.supportusmaximus.com
323-634-9098

What is a content management system?

A Content Management system or CMS, is a tool to use on a website that enables you to quickly and easily store and display information. On websites, this information could be blog posts like this one here, it could be products, it could be photographs, and any other bits of information you can dream up. Common open-source content management systems include Drupal (used here), Wordpress, and Joomla!. When we say "open-source" we mean that the system is freely available and the code that makes up the program is maintained and improved by a community.

The benefit to using a content management system on your website is that you can build in a lot of functionality to your site without having to build the structure yourself. The management of the data is usually done through an online database, and the presentation of the data and the manipulation of the data is done through programming code languages such as php and asp. These are just languages that enable the content management system to get data from the databases that are attached to it. The databases of open-source content management systems are MySQL.

Many times the common content management systems can be installed from the control panel of your managed hosting plan.