Denver Colorado Blog

USBank: Prevent Over Drafting Charges with New Alerts
by FrosT

Introduction
Recently I was over drafting on an account due to insufficient funds. Well I was quite mad that a week later USBank finally sent me a letter stating this and was upset that they could not email. Before I went on a wild rampage on the phone with a customer service representative I decided to check USBank's website to make sure this option was not available.

New Alert Feature to USBank Online Banking
What I found was that sometime between this year and last year USBank added a great feature, without notifying you of this feature of course, that you can now get an email and even a text message upto 3 different addresses for a Negative Balance, when your Account's balance reaches a certain amount or when items have been posted or withdrawn. This new alert feature from USBank is a great and appreciate feature by me.

The Negative Balance
How USBank works is if you over draft from an account you are charged $31, plus $7 for every day after that which your USBank account is under $1. If not taken care of in 14 days you are charged another $31 fee etc. USBank does inform you via a postcard within 3-4 business days, but buy that time you are already out money and chances are you probably made more than one purchase recently. With the new feature you can prevent banks getting a ton of money from you! Here is how to set up the alert.

USBank Alert Setup
Start off login to USBank Internet Banking. Once you are in the Internet banking you should see a menu on the left hand side with a Text Link called "Alerts." When you over over this link it should take you to Security or Account. Click on Account.

Once you are here select and account to setup the alert on. Yes you can even set one up on your USBank credit cards. After you select the account, the next step is to choose the type of alert. Choose your alert and follow the instructions, enter your EMail or phone number for text messages. Once done click Save and you have succesfully helped prevent yourself from being screwed out of a lot of money by USBank.

Ending Notes
I remember seeing a TV Story on this exact topic, how banks do not offer sufficient means of notifying you when you have over drafted on your account because they like that money. Well maybe USBank listend to that article and decided they needed to try and help their customers keep their money and not lose it. Either way I am very pleased with this new Alert feature that USBank so kindly offered me.

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KTorrent, Linux's uTorrent Alternative
by FrosT

Introduction
Recently converting over to Linux I have found that my favorite torrent program, uTorrent, is not supported by the Linux OS. This boggled my mind, and instead of using Wine for Linux, I went hunting for a new program that can be comparable to uTorrent for the Linux operating system and well I found one. KTorrent was the exact program I was looking for. Plain and simple plus very easy to configure! Honestly, if I had to choose between uTorrent and KTorrent, I would definitely choose KTorrent over uTorrent and here's why.

KTorrent's Ease of Use
KTorrent was very easy to use and configure. It gave you just the right amount of options to have total control of your torrents. uTorrent was also very easy to use and configure except it gave you a little too much options, and at times it seemed that some options did not work the way you wanted them to. Now it could just be the user, but with KTorrent when I set the Seeding ratio, I expect the torrent to stop seeding when this ratio is reached. I could never get uTorrent to stop seeding once that ratio was reached. But with KTorrent, I set that ratio to 1.5 and once it the 1.5 ratio, what did you know? KTorrent automatically marked the torrent as finished and stopped seeding! The other options are which ports to use for transfer and where to download files etc. which uTorrent does give you access to, but the way KTorrent has the options laid out make KTorrent remarkably easier and simpler to use than uTorrent.

Transfer Speeds of Torrents
When using uTorrent I would always wonder if I was getting the best speed out of that torrent and if my settings were a little bit off that would slow the torrent down. Not with KTorrent! Since I started using KTorrent I found that my speeds remain very high all the time without doing any special configuration. I have not even installed Peer Guardian on my new Linux system yet and KTorrent still works like a champ. I download everything a lot faster than I ever did because of the way KTorrent laid out the options and gave me the way to configure each port. Basically in every comparison KTorrent runs faster, and smoother with easy configurations than uTorrent ever would.

Ending Notes
When using Linux, I would highly suggest KTorrent over uTorrent with WINE. Due to the fact that KTorrent will provide you everything uTorrent does and than some, it should be an easily selection. No use in battling with WINE when you do not have to. As for windows users, uTorrent is probably your best bet of Bit Torrent software as I do not think KTorrent runs under Windows.

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Converting from Windows to Linux Tips and Tricks
by FrosT

Introduction
Recently I undertaken the task to convert over to the Linux Operating System. After searching the Internet and reading through many tutorials it became clear that the NTFS File-System is not compatible with Linux other than being Read from. At least not with Ubuntu 6.10 Edgy Release. There in created another task for me, converting all of my hard drives from Windows NTFS to Linux Ext3. Here is how it all came out.

Programs Required
There are a few programs that are required in order to convert from an NTFS file system to a Ext3. The first is Partition Magic 8.0. Very handy program for any task. Remember if you are using 64 Bit Windows, Partition Magic 8.0 may not work. So do a Google search to locate a program that will work.
The next program needed is Ext2IFS, click here to get Ext2IFS. Ext2IFS allows you to mount an Ext3 or Ext2 partition in Windows and be able to write files to that partition/hard drive. Once you have a partitioning program and Ext2IFS we are ready to get started with converting your Windows formatted NTFS hard drives to Linux formatted Ext2/3 hard drive.

Converting NTFS to Ext3
The logic behind switching from NTFS to Ext2/3 is not really complex, but requires a few items, such as free space and multiple hard drives. Starting out lets realize that one way or the other you have to copy all files that you want to keep off the hard drive and store them on a separate hard drive, or else they will get lost. There is no way to do a straight convert and save all your files from NTFS to Ext3. For me this was not too challenging of a task. I currently have 2 Western Digital Hard drives. One is a 120 gig hard drive and the other is a 160 gig hard drive. I also have a Maxtor 500 gig external hard drive and an 80 gig internal hard drive. All the drives were NTFS formated. What I did, since my 500 gig Maxtor is my static drive was copied all files I would not need to manipulate to that drive, such as music, videos and applications. Now I still had files that I needed to modify, I stored those on the main partition with Windows XP installed. As I know I will not convert that hard drive as I will use that same drive for my main Linux drive.

After copying the files from my 120 gig to either my 160 gig or my 500 gig hard drive depending on the files I started up the Partitioning program. I deleted the current partition on the 120 gig hard drive and created a new Linux Logical Ext3 partition. The next step was to hit "Apply" to make the changes. After a reboot the changes were made and I could no longer see my 120 gig hard drive in Windows. Now here is where the Ext2IFS comes into play. After installing Ext2IFS I loaded the program and mounted my 120 gig hard drive to an un-used drive letter. Now running Windows Explorer I can magically see my 120 gig ext3 hard drive and I can copy files from my 160 gig hard drive to the newly created 120 gig ext 3 hard drive. I repeated the process for creating the 160 gig to an Ext3 Linux hard drive. Make sure you copy the files that you need from your main drive to a Linux one, before moving onto the installation of Linux, or else you will lose the files.

Ending Notes
After the process above has been complete it is now time to locate a Linux distribution that is correct for you. The next tutorial will be available within the next week for installing Ubuntu Edgy 6.10 with a few tips and tricks to help making the transition from Windows to Linux a fairly easy switch.

Disclaimer
I take no responsibility for lost data. Remember to always backup data especially when trying to switch operating system as unknown obstacles can appear. Data lost as a result to following this guide is not my fault, use this guide at your own discretion, as I will not take blame for anything that you do to screw up yours or someone else's computer.

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Isagenix is a Complete Waste of Time and Money
by FrosT

Introduction
If you have not been keeping up with my Isagenix project please read the following blogs:

Life Re-Charged Isagenix: Finaly Day

Questions EMail me at frost110 [-at-] gmail [-dot-] com or simply comment on any of my Isagenix Life Re-Charged Blogs.

My Isagenix Experience
As you can read from the blogs listed above I did go through the whole Isagenix process. To be honest I would have been better off drinking water on my own with a healthy shake each day. Or even going to a Head shop and buying their detoxification kits. Isagenix may work for some people; it did not work for me at all. For the price of $160 for just 1 9-day cleanse (They recommend you do 2-3 a year) I could of easily bought 2 weeks worth of health groceries. Heck on that note for the price it would cost me to do Isagenix for the whole year I could buy myself an annual Gym membership, and feed myself for the whole year and have money still left over. Let's move onto a more in-depth look at my expierence with Isagenix.

Isagenix Caused My Sickness?
The Pre-Cleanse days were horrible. They were just like the shake days, and all it really did was make the cleanse 11 days, which is an insanely long time to go with little food. As I stated on my last day I was completely drained of all energy and ended up getting very sick. The sickness lasted for 2 full weeks. Not as severe as I explained in the blog, but it was still there 2 weeks later. I do feel that the sickness came from the Isagenix Cleanse. Some people might say that it was the toxins coming out and it just did not come out all the way. I think that because I let my body be mal-nourished, which Isagenix claims it keep you fully nourished, and at that low point the cold kicked into high gear and hit me very hard.

If anyone knows me, they know that I only get sick once a year for about 2 days with a cold. I do not get sick in April, it is always October. The symptoms I experienced are left on the previous post. I do know I was coughing for 2 weeks straight with a sore throat after the Cleanse.

My Final Thoughts on Isagenix
Well after everything I did not lose any significant weight, maybe 5 lb's but what else would you expect from not eating for a week? That and my weight usually varies 5-10 lbs any given week. No I was not perfect in following the Cleanse exactly, but I followed it pretty damn close to receive no results like I did. I will not forgo another cleanse, my wife is thinking about it but very hesitant after my results.

Isagenix conned me out of $400 easily with their whole elaborate pyramid scheme. I am just sad I believed in Isagenix so blindly. I now realize that the only way to truly lose weight is to eat better and exercise. There is no quick fix solution like everyone wants. I know I want a quick fix bad, which it could be seen or else I would not have spent $400 on this product that did not work for me.

One good thing did come out of Isagenix, I realized that I am in control of my body and that all I have to do is put my mind to anything and I can do it. I hope to use that as a huge motivator to get healthy and fit for the Summer of 2007 with real exercise and smart eating habits. I am going to be trying out a site called Sparkspeople.com I do not link to them only because I just started on it. Give me a month to post information and how the Sparks Diet is coming along.

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Toledo, Ohio Neighborhood and Community Trash Problem
by FrosT

Introduction
A fellow member of Aeonity titled Neighbor Toledo, Ohio Blog as sparked this article entry. After viewing weeks and weeks worth of posts, it seems that no one is listening. Well I am going to help the cause by summarizing everything I have read on their blog and promote the city of Toledo, Ohio to clean up an obvious trash problem.

Toledo, Ohio's Bus Stop Problem
Currently in Toledo, Ohio there are many bus stops without trash cans. In return this causes many people to just throw their trash on the ground next to the bus stops in Toledo, Ohio. What are visitors suppose to think when they are touring the city of Toledo, Ohio and see trash everywhere? A simple trash can at the bus stop would clean up the surrounding bus area dramatically and make the city of Toledo, Ohio more presentable. As stated in the Bus stop trash spot light on these stops this week, Toledo Ohio, " I have written to the Solid Waste Department about most of these sites and it is really frustrating to report them time and time again. Sure, I could just forget about it, but this is where I live…" Obviously they care about the city of Toledo, Ohio where they reside. Why is the city of Toledo, Ohio not taking any actions to help their city become cleaner?

Toledo, Ohio's Alley Way Problems
In Toledo, Ohio Alley way's are becoming filled with people's trash, which just like the bust stop issue, does not help the morale of the city of Toledo, Ohio. Without stricter rules and consequences in place people will continue to be lazy and make the city of Toledo, Ohio look like a trash dump. After reading the Toledo, Ohio Blog titled What is the use of the trash rules, In Toledo Ohio, when they are not enforced? personally I would not want to visit a city, like Toledo, Ohio, that cannot control their own trash problem. When will the city of Toledo, Ohio take the matters away from the concerned citizens and start to clean up their city?

Toledo, Ohio's Park Problems
In the Polonia Park off of Dexter in Toledo, Ohio, as reported by Neighbor of the Toledo, Ohio Blog, the park as seen in the entry titled More spotlight images of trash and alley messes in the Pride Filled City of Toledo, Ohio is obviously very trashy which in return makes members of the community not want to go outside and play with their children at the park for the fear of what they may come across. Why does the city not enforce an Anti-Littering law with a fine attached to anyone caught throwing trash? Why not provide the residents of the community of Toledo, Ohio with trash cans to help prevent such catastrophes from happening?

Ending Notes
As a final note this blog is to help a concerned community member of Toledo, Ohio, who obviously is trying as hard as they can to bring a clean city to the dirty city of Toledo, Ohio. If you are concerned about current status of the city of Toledo, Ohio, help out Neighbor of the Toledo, Ohio Blog, and write an email of concern, linking to this blog if you must, to mayor.toledo@toledo.oh.gov regarding the un-clean status of the city. And ask the Mayor of Toledo, Ohio, why does he not help the community by helping making the city of Toledo, Ohio a clean and enjoyable city?

Resources
mayor.toledo@toledo.oh.gov - Mayor of Toledo, Ohio's Email.
Toledo, Ohio Blog

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