Zen Cart, GoDaddy, IPN or "ISSUE WITH GODADDY HOSTING CUSTOMERS VS PAYPAL"

I just did a Zen Cart for a very talented clothing designer Janese Maricelli.

Links: Web Site / Shopping Cart.

The project was going well until I installed the PayPal payment module and tested the payment process. The payment would clear through PayPal but the return token would not get back to the cart!

The error was, "-- IPN FATAL ERROR :: Could not establish fsockopen.
Host Details = http://proxy.shr.secureserver.net:80 (0) Success”

Both the GoDaddy and PayPal "(no) help" line did not help!

Well after 6 hours I found the fix on the Zen Cart forum! Link The Post is titled, "ISSUE WITH GODADDY HOSTING CUSTOMERS VS PAYPAL" The fix was easy and required changing 2 lines of code.

Much thanks to "DrByte" who posted the fix.

SHAME! on PayPal and GoDaddy for not having this information! (as well as all of the bad info they both gave me!).

I have posted and directed you to all of the info you need to fix this problem! But, if you still need help installing the patch, I would be happy to assist you with this issue and install the patch on your Zen Cart (billable via Paypal - LOL) I can do this for you regardless of your location!). Contact Me!

Google Adds "click-to-buy" Links for Sound Tracks of YouTube Partner Videos

Official Google Blog: I clicked to buy and I liked it

Google adds "click-to-buy" links for sound tracks of YouTube partner videos.

What this means is that for any YouTube content item, published by a YouTube partner, Google can add a link so if you wanted to buy the sound track or wanted to know "when the advertised game was being released" you could easily find out.

Another piece of advertising real estate has been created!

I am based in San Diego and I bet San Diego business owners are not the only ones overlooking potential advertising real estate.

Don't just think if you put your logo on "everything" you will increase sales! Today's customers are more sophisticated that! What Google is doing is creating a non intrusive way to offer a buying opportunity to a consumer.

Uncover the opportunities! If you have a web site you probably would benefit from my web site SEO Analysis (sm) service. I create a written actionable report about your site. The analysis will detail specific potential improvements to your site for SEO optimization. I use industry standard, proven, and accepted tools for the process. I use "best of breed' selection of tools that I feel will give a good insight to what is needed.

I take an 80/20 view toward SEO i.e. 20% of the investment will give 80% of the returns. No false promises regarding web ranking! I promise my recommendations are my best efforts to make concrete recommendations to increase the number of visitors and sales conversions to your site. I will install software to create a traffic baseline so we can measure improvements as they are made. The report will have several concrete and specific changes to be made. Usually several are easy and low cost items that you can do immediately.
Your SEO Analysis (sm) for a 1-10 page site (with a shopping cart) is as low as $250! Remember the "80-20" law when faced with SEO proposals of $1000-$3000 to start and as much as $500 per month "maintenance" for a medium size business. You will get 80% of the benefits with 20% of the expense by obtaining my SEO Analysis.

Considering how much time, money, and effort you have invested in your web efforts my SEO Analysis (sm) is a prudent investment. e-mail me at Stuart@911computer-rescue.com for more information.

This Post in a word cloud:

Official Google Blog: Ten years and counting

Official Google Blog: Ten years and counting

Happy Birthday Google!

Microsoft enabled the Desktop.
Google enabled the WORLD!

Lost or Stolen Laptop - San Diego Laptop Owners be Prepared!

If you are concerned about the possibility of your laptop being lost or stolen laptop - here is the software for you!

Adeona is a software package that will allow you to locate your laptop if lost or stolen!

It will report on the IP address the the laptop accessed the Internet. You then give this IP number to the police and they will be able to get the account information for the IP address. If you are fortunate you have a good chance to recover the laptop.

I loaded the software on my XP machine. It works as described by the developers. I was able to retrieve the last several IP address that my XP machine was used to access the Internet.

The software is "Open Source" (free) and should be on every machine you own.

If you need help to install this software, please go to my home page: Computer Repair and contact me.

You should also review how you are backing up you computers: Backup?

Google Chrome - New Browser!

From the Google Blog, (http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/09/fresh-take-on-browser.html)

"A fresh take on the browser
9/01/2008 02:10:00 PM At Google, we have a saying: “launch early and iterate.” While this approach is usually limited to our engineers, it apparently applies to our mailroom as well! As you may have read in the blogosphere, we hit "send" a bit early on a comic book introducing our new open source browser, Google Chrome. As we believe in access to information for everyone, we've now made the comic publicly available -- you can find it here. We will be launching the beta version of Google Chrome tomorrow in more than 100 countries..."

For all of you that for one reason or another don't like Internet Explorer (IE6, 7 or 8) this is the browser to watch and download.

This software is a result of the "war" between the old server/PC Centric Microsoft and the Internet focused Google. No entity has created a browser with as much technical resources invested, software and human interface design skills and Internet understanding than Google.

Remember:

Microsoft Excel is to Lotus 123

as

Google Chrome is to Microsoft Explorer

This is a strategic move by Google that was not made lightly!

Chrome will be available 9/2 - link.

#30#

Official Google Blog: A fresh take on the browser

Official Google Blog: A fresh take on the browser

Link for download (when available)

XP anti-virus 2008 IS THE VIRUS!

In a copyrighted article contained in "The register" there is a
detailed and accurate of a current virus / malware scam called "XP
anti-virus 2008". I have removed this three times from businesses and home offices in San Diego with-in the last month!

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/22/anatomy_of_a_hack/

This malware infection makes you PC useless as a result of the many pop ups and "warnings:" that it generates. Each malware / virus infection that of this type that I have seen has been slightly different that the article described. (Probably due to "improvements" by the authors / LOL.)

One client paid the "ransom" with his charge card to find that it did not stop the malware! The credit card charge was made to his account by a Russian company in Rubles (even the hackers don't take US dollars any more!).

If you are in SanDiego County, and are googling this post, and have his infection contact me for removal! (stuart@911computer-rescue.com, or click on the toll free "call me!" box on my home age 911computer-rescue.com.

Considering VOIP For Your Home, Home Office, or Business needs?

IF you are considering VOIP for voice I found an interesting tool to test your DSL or cable line. It is offered by VoIP Review. Link to the tool is: http://www.voipreview.org/voipspeedtester.aspx

This tool will test your DSL or cable line for speed, “Jitter”, and “packet loss”. Speed will indicate how many VoIP lines your current connection will support. Jitter is a measure if the steadiness of the line transmissions. Packet loss is the accuracy of the data transmissions. Below are the results from my home office:
The upload speed is 285 kbs which is within the spec for a VoIP line. Jitteriness and packet loss are not issues for my line. This result is no surprise as I enjoy; a DSL line that rarely is “down” and good voice quality using Vonage.

I doubt that I could support 4 VoIP lines effectively with a 285kbs download speed as indicated in the above "advanced results" (I have 1 Vonage and 1 analog in the office).
“DSL reports” http://www.dslreports.com/ is the gold standard for broadband Internet connectivity information. Among many information assets they have a comprehensive set of tools to test your Internet connection. They also have very good info on broadband line providers.

VoIP is a real effective and cost saving choice provided you find the right vendor that meets your expectations and specific line conditions. I use Vonage and was lucky that I have had only a few minor glitches in the last 4 years. The set-up for my office network is:
Note: I don’t use the routers capability to prioritize voice traffic over data traffic. To use this feature I would have to connect the Linksys router to the DSL modem, let the Linksys manage the PPOE authentication, and connect the Microsoft router to allow for wireless connectivity. When I got the Vonage service I already had the MN-700 hooked up and it was working well. I did not have the confidence that the Linksys would be trouble free providing the PPOE logons. If I am on a Vonage call, doing some sort of download, and get some voice distortion I just pause the network traffic this solves the issue. This is not a perfect solution, just a practical one! If I have more frequent voice quality issues I would bit the bullet and make the Linksys work as the gateway router.

So if you want to save some money, take advantage of VoIP features (many more than an analog phone line), don't want to install a PBX, and most of this post was "techno babble" contact me (stuart@911computer-rescue.com, or click on the toll free "call me!" box on my home page 911computer-rescue.com.

e-mail attachments in outlook cannot be opened

My client e-mailed me that the fix described in the last post fixed the problem!

Yea!

What is your list of the top computer irritants? “Forwarded email as attachment will not open”

When we use our computers it seems that we are often abused by bad computer behavior that is frustrating, reduces productivity, and or eliminates fun!

Often when on house or business calls for 911computer-rescue.com, I am presented with the original problem that caused the call to 911computer-rescue.com and then several other additional items that fit the description of computer irritants.

Just recently I was called to a business that needed file sharing activated between a Vista machine and a Windows XP laptop. While making the changes to the Vista machine and the XP laptop for the file sharing, I was presented with the business owner’s computer irritant, “e-mail attachments in outlook that cannot be opened”.

All of the attachments which could not be opened, have a yellow envelope as a icon, but will not open on click or “save as” in a readable manner.

First step was to determine if there was “content in the attachment”. I saved the attachment to a folder but it would not open in a readable manner. (Yup, you can use your Hex editor but the content is still unreadable! (LOL).

Then I forwarded the email to my Google account, and much to my pleasure the attachment was readable in Google as a txt file and clearly was a forwarded e-mail message with important information for my client. I now realize that ALL of the attachments were forwarded e-mails!

I was pleased that I had created a “work around” but it was not a real solution!

It is now early Saturday morning (O’Dawn O’clock) Instead of sleeping I am doing what any true Geek would do, Googling for the solution. The best search seems to be, “Forwarded email as attachment will not open”

My best guess is the following described in this Link, according to the Green Magician:

“Try the following and let me know if it worked:

Tools -> Options -> Other -> Advanced
Remove Google Toolbar Tick in Both Ad-In Manager and Com Ad-Ins. Once you are done, all should work fine again. “

My next step is to call the client (one of my favorite folks and see if this is the cause. If not back to more research for the cure! (I will update this post with the results!)

If you are tired of your “computer irritants” and want to remove them send e an e-mail Stuart@911computer-Rescue.com ! (I provide computer services for home, home office, or businesses.)

Blog Vacation!

I regret that I have not posted recently.

I really got pressed for time (several large projects for 911computer-rescue.com) and did not want to dilute the quality of the writing or the focus of the Blog.

I am back!

My last post was about the San Diego Chargers. Since then the Padres have taken over causing San Diego sports fans much unneeded aggravation.

“Trevor we love you, but - is it time for Trevor?”

More technology related posts in the works.

Maybe Next Year!

Go Chargers!

In preparation for watching the game you may want to visit one of many football oriented Web sites. My favorite is NFL.com . This Link will take you to the highlights of our victory over the Colts. For a very comprehensive listing of football related links is the Football Links directory Blog. No work all play on Sunday!

Microsoft VISTA For San Diego Businesses

One of the most import things for a business is its' information, customer, product, financial, etc... Vista (Ultimate and Business Edition) has the feature to create and save a complete disk image so you can use in case of a disk of other major failure.

It is an easy to use feature! The only hardware requirement is another hard disk (in your PC, external drive are OK but LESS reliable, or a networked drive is best) or enough DVD's to complete the backup.

The DVD alternative is not practicable! Do the math, if you have 100 gigabytes of data and each DVD holds 4.3 gig, it would take approximately 24 DVD's to do a backup. With the hard disk alternative it is fast and easy (a rarity in today's world!)

I just installed a RAID card in my prime PC. It is an I/O FLEX PSA150 (Dual channel SATA). (I will blog my opionion on the product in 2-4 weeks as it is a lower cost product versus other brands).

I have a Western Digital drive (My boot drive) that was reporting “drive errors” and I needed to make sure that I could keep this PC functioning with little hassle. I had already received an RMA from WDC for the failing drive and was awaiting the replacement. Much to my surprised a Vista window popped up saying that a disk drive failure was imminent and asked if I wanted to start a backup! You BET! I did the backup, and removed the failing drive from the mirrored set.
I felt that I was well prepared and had avoided a major hassle because I had the raid drives installed and a current backup.

If you would like a review of your backup procedures please contact me for a no obligation consultation (San Diego County businesses only).

A computer without your data is worthless!