Merry Christmas (Eve) to all, and to all a good night!

While using Google Maps this morning, I noticed a new feature: multiple destinations. You can now use your (read: mine) favorite online mapping application to plan your road trip, run errands, or some other multi-destination trip you have in mind.

Not only can you have multiple destinations in one itinerary, but you can drag the address up and down in the list to dynamically redraw the map and reorder the directions.

Just another sneaky little enhancement from those fine folks at Google.

I received an e-mail from the wonderful promotions department at Amazon.com this morning with some good news:

Finding Amazon Prime-eligible gifts is even easier. Sign in to Amazon.com, search, and look for “Prime” in your results.

I very much appreciate that some much needed help as arrived for making the most out of my Amazon Prime membership. It can be difficult to find which items are eligible without clicking on individual items in your search results. However, what if you want to limit your searches to just Prime-eligible items? Amazon has left us in a conundrum.

In comes a handy-dandy implementation of Amazon Web Services. The ability to Search Amazon.com for Amazon Prime Eligible Items. While this little tool does not offer a great deal of eye-candy, it does what it advertises. Give it a try and find your Free Two-Day Shipping-eligible items a bit easier.

I was scanning the Web for information on how to add a Google AdSense block under only the first post on a Wordpress installation. While I found a good deal of information, I couldn’t find very much of anything that applied specifically to the popular K2 theme.

I’ve included a short tutorial below for adding an AdSense block under just the first post on your Wordpress K2 installation.

1. Open theloop.php in your Theme Editor
2. Find the following section of code:

   <?php } ?>
   
   <?php /*
   	The 'next page' and 'previous page' navigation for permalinks have to be inside the loop.
   	The exact opposite is true for the same navigation links on all other pages.
   	Also, we don't want them at the top of the frontpage: */
   

3. In the gap between the php’s add the following line of code so that the section now looks like this:

   <?php } ?>
   <?php $showAdSense = True; ?>
   <?php /*
   	The 'next page' and 'previous page' navigation for permalinks have to be inside the loop.
   	The exact opposite is true for the same navigation links on all other pages.
   	Also, we don't want them at the top of the frontpage: */

4. Now find the following section of code:

   <div class="itemtext">
   	<?php if (is_archive() or is_search()) {
   		the_excerpt();
   	} else {
   		the_content("Continue reading '" . the_title('', '', false) . "'");
   	} ?>
   <?php link_pages('<p><strong>Pages:</strong> ', '</p>', 'number'); ?>
   </div>
   
   <!--
   <?php trackback_rdf(); ?>
   -->

5. Modify the code section above to look like this:

   <div class="itemtext">
   	<?php if (is_archive() or is_search()) {
   		the_excerpt();
   	} else {
   		the_content("Continue reading '" . the_title('', '', false) . "'");
   	} ?>
   <?php link_pages('<p><strong>Pages:</strong> ', '</p>', 'number'); ?>
   </div>
   <?If ($showAdSense) { ?>
   <div style="float:right;padding:3px;">
   	AdSense block as provided by Google
   <br /><br /><br /><br />
   </div>
   <?php $showAdSense = False;} ?>
   <!--
   <?php trackback_rdf(); ?>
   -->

Now you can enjoy abiding by Google’s TOS rather than grossly abusing them.

For those of you who just started a new job (read: me), you were probably presented with a great deal of information about your new benefits package. From health insurance to retirement accounts, one word sums it up: unfamiliar. Sure, your employer provides a great deal of information about your available choices, but it can be difficult to sort through all the information to just get to an answer before your enrollment period comes to an end. I was able to pretty easily work through health and dental insurance and after a bit of research I felt comfortable with my 401k. The most confusing part for me? Health Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FCA).

An FCA essentially allows you to set aside pre-tax dollars to be used for qualified health care expenses throughout the year. As with your medical/dental/retirement benefits, your FCA contribution also neatly comes out of your paycheck each period. Here’s the kicker: if you don’t use it all by year-end, you lose it.

In comes the Flexible Spending Account Calculator. This handy-dandy tool helps to simplify your decision on whether to opt-in to this type of program, and even more importantly, how much to deposit. As a 22 year old with no dependents, I’ve decided it’s probably not for me; though YMMV.

Personal property insurance because you own a video game console? I can see it now.

1. Start up Windows Server 2003
2. Open the Manage Your Server wizard

   

3. Add or remove a role

   

4. Follow the prompts.
5. Select “Domain controller for a new domain”
6. Select “Domain in a new forest”
7. Enter a DNS name (e.g. test.local)
8. Enter a NetBIOS name (e.g. TEST)
9. Accept the default settings for “Database and Log Folders” and “Shared System Volume”
10. Select the second DNS option

    

11. Select “Permissions compatible only with Windows 2000 or Windows Server 2003 operating systems”
12. Select a Restore Mode Password
13. Follow the remaining prompt(s) and let Active Directory install (this may take a while)

    

14. Click Finish and Restart

You now have a working Active Directory. Joy!

Back to How To: Blackberry Bluetooth Synchronization without BES

1. Download the Microsoft Windows Server 2003 *.iso images (x11-03905.iso & srv03_r2_2075_usa_x86fre_adsr2.iso)
2. If installing using VMWare Workstation you will want to mount the first image within your virtual operating system.
   

   

3. Follow the prompts to complete your installation of Windows. When prompted for the second CD, return to the above screens and mount the second (srv03_r2_2075_usa_x86fre_adsr2.iso) image.

Back to How To: Blackberry Bluetooth Synchronization without BES

Passive income.