Go to Start >> type in a search of “firewall”

Choose Windows Firewall with Advanced Security.

Click on Outbound Rules.

Actions >> New Rule  >> Program >> Next >>

This Program Path:  C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Update\GoogleUpdate.exe

>> Next >> Block the connection >> Next >> Next >>

Give this firewall entry a personal note so you remember what it is if you ever come across it in the future.  Press Finish.  Google is now blocked from running its “updater” code and connecting my computer to the internet without my consent.

Google has installed its code in many places on my computer and I don’t want it.  I just found more Google code as a Firefox add-on, calling itself “Google Updater”.  I don’t want an updater for Google so I am removing this.  Here’s how:

Open Firefox.

Tools >> Add-ons

Click on the Plug-ins tab.

Click on the Disable button next to Google Update.

If you want to see what Google is doing on your computer, and if you are running Vista…

Go to Start >> Type into your search box “task scheduler” and run that program.

Disable Google Updater

In Task Scheduler, I disabled all the Google Updater programs once I realized they were there.

To do this, click on “Task Scheduler Library” to display the tasks.  Then, click on the GoogleUpdateTaskMachine entries and click Disable.  This should stop the Google tasks from running automatically.

Related Posts:

Block Google Updater with Vista’s Firewall

Uninstall Google Add-on from Firefox

Why is GoogleToolbarNotifier.exe on my computer?

I have been watching my computer lately to see what it’s doing on the internet.  I want to make sure I haven’t been hacked.  I’m surprised how many different IP addresses my computer connects to without my consent.  GoogleToolbarNotifier.exe is one of them.

Using TCPView, a free program by Microsoft, I watched what internet connections were made when I opened my Firefox browser.  As far as I know, I have no other applications open that should be connecting to the internet.  So, just now as a test, I go to the Cuil search engine.   And to my surprise, I see that my computer connects to a Google server and a Facebook server!

Google server:  74.125.0.148

Facebook server:  www-12-02.snc4.facebook.com

I see the Cuil website has a big link on the top of the page for Facebook, so that explains why my computer is connecting to Facebook, probably running a little Facebook code through Cuil’s home page.

I did not want to connect to Google or to Facebook, so this irriates me that my machine is connecting to the web like this.  So what about this Google server?  What information is my computer sending to Google?  Keep in mind, I did not go Google’s website… I went to Cuil’s website.

Looking at the running processes on my machine, I see GoogleToolbarNotifier.exe is always running. And why is that?

“GoogleToolbarNotifier.exe is a background process…” “…used to notify you when some program is attempting to change IE default search engine to those other than Google.”  source

I’m going to remove the Google Toolbar Notifier.  I don’t need a program running on my computer and connecting to the internet all the time to keep track of which search engine I’m using.  Sounds absurd, really, to think people need help keeping their search engine to one source.  If I want Google, I’ll be sure to use Google.  But I enjoy searching the web from many different perspectives.  There are so many search engines.  Today I’m using Cuil but I switch around all the time.

One comment on ready2beat.com claims that the Google Toolbar Notifier “sends user entered Keywords and Phrases to Google”.  Does my computer send my keywords even if I am not using the Google search engine?  Oh, by the way… I don’t remember installing the Google Toolbar and don’t want it.  So why is it on my computer?  Maybe my wife let it get installed…. sometimes these toolbars are bundled with other programs, like games for the kids, and Java updates.

How I removed GoogleToolbarNotifier.exe

Open up IE.

1.  Click on Tools >> Internet Options

2.  Click on the Programs tab.

3.  Manage add-ons.

4.  Disable.

While I was at it, I disabled all the other stuff, too, just to see if I notice any differences.  I don’t use IE much, anyway.  I primarily use Firefox.

OK, now it’s disabled in the IE browser.  Now it’s time to uninstall it.  However, when I went to the control panel to uninstall it, Google Toolbar is not shown.  Hmm, it appears I can’t uninstall it like a normal program.

These are the programs installed on my machine with the word “Google” in them:

Google Earth, Google Updater, and Google Sketchup

I chose to uninstall Google Updater.  Now GoogleToolbarNotifier.exe is not showing up as a running process connected to the internet.

Conclusion

If I had to repeat this process, and what I would recommend to you, is first try to go to the Control Panel and uninstall Google Updater.  It might not be necessary to remove it from IE… I’m not sure.  Let me know if you find out.   Give us a comment below.  Following the steps above did stop GoogleToolbarNotifier.exe from making an unwanted internet connection from my computer.

Related posts:

Uninstall Google Add-on from Firefox

Google is Clogging Up My Task Scheduler

What is IP 198.63.194.98? (Sun’s Java Automatic Updater)

198.63.194.98

I’m running Vista.  I went to Start > CMD > netstat -o

Netstat shows a foreign address of 198.63.194.98 connecting to my machine.  I wanted to know what program on my machine was connecting to that foreign address.

Went to Microsoft’s site and installed the helpful utility, TCPView.  TCPView gives more details than netstat.  It gives the name of the PID (Process ID) that is accessing the web.  For example, netstat tells me only that PID 4728 is accessing the web while TCPView tells me it’s Firefox accessing the web.

Using TCPView, I see what process is accessing this mysterious IP.

jusched.exe?  This program is Sun’s Java Automatic Updater.   Apparently this program is taking up memory in thousands, perhaps millions of machines across the world.

What is Java used for?

Java is a programming language and a platform.  Examples of its use:

OpenOffice - the free office suite (like Microsoft Office – but free)

Web applications, applets, internet chat rooms…

But is it really necessary for the Java automatic update to run on our computers 24/7?  Do you want this program constantly running on your machine?

Here is what I did on my Vista machine.

Control Panel >>  Additional Options >> View 32-bit Control Panel Items

Double-clicked on the Java icon.  Clicked on the Update tab.

Uncheck the box to update automatically.

OK, now that the Java updater is disabled, I wanted to have Vista itself perform the monthly Java update.  To do this:

Go to the search bar and type “Task Scheduler”.

Click “Create Basic Task”.  Give it a schedule of once a month to select a program.

Now my computer will automatically check for Java updates once per month without the need for jusched.exe to be running at all times.  I set the scheduler to run 5 minutes later for its first run so I could see what happened.

Like clockwork, Vista ran the program and asked my permission if the Java updater could get online.  That’s what I’m talking about.  I allowed the program to run and a new update was in fact available.

Amazing… when I run the update program on a schedule, there is an update.  Why didn’t the program that was running 24/7 on my computer already find this update?  jusched.exe seems like a useless program when this is handled so much more efficiently with a Vista scheduled task.

Not Done Yet

OK, now after the Java update, I get a message saying that they are going to automatically look for updates again.  Hey, I just went through a bunch of steps to prevent that.

Luckily, it took only about 30 seconds to repeat the steps above to uncheck the automatic updates from the Java control panel.  The task is still programmed in Vista so my machine should be good to go and say goodbye to jusched.exe.

Information was on how to disable this program was found at this helpful site:  vista.blorge.com

I downloaded and installed RSSOwl as a “Portableapp” (a portable application) on my thumb drive.  And I am really happy I did.  It works great and has more functionality than Microsoft’s Live product.  It’s free and available at AfterDawn.

As long as I have my thumb drive with me, I’ve got my RSS reader with me, which I can access from any Windows machine connected to the internet.

Using Wolfram Alpha, you can find your longitude and latitude coordinates on Earth. Wolfram Alpha also has average wind speed data for your location. You can get weather forecast data to help determine when the best times might be for your wind turbine.

How do I find my latitude on Earth?  See the video below to see:

Lock up your solar panels to prevent theft

These panels cost a lot of money and they would make an easy target for a thief to steal for some quick cash.  An article at insidebayarea.com documents how a guy climbed up on the roof of a school at night and stole $70,000 worth of solar panels and then attempted to sell them on Craigslist.  We need to make more of an effort to protect our investments in off-the-grid power.

Here is one idea for securing panels that I am implementing using locks.

Drill a hole in the solar panel frame to attach a lock.  Then drill holes in a pole concreted to the ground.  Attach locks with a chain to make it harder for theives to take the panel.

The drill bits are titanium coated.

Drill press was used to drill holes into a steel pipe.

Peltier Cooler (also called TEC or Thermo Electric Cooler) - resting against a hot brick

Video of experiment…

The fuel for the fire was just fallen tree branches that I found on the ground.  The portable battery was charged up by a solar panel.

The Peltier cooler rested against one of the bricks.  The brick got up to 210 degrees F while the aluminum heat sink was about 70 degrees F.  At this temperature difference (140F), the Peltier cooler produced:

• 70mW
• 1.05V
• 67mA

The power generated by this Peltier cooler is comparable to the power generated by a small solar panel on a solar landscaping light.

Related Posts:

Solar Light Maintenance

Peltier Cooler as Dehumidifier Grows Ice Crystals

I am documenting the construction of my first wind turbine. I am not an expert, just learning as I go. I am not building a turbine from scratch, but instead trying to first succeed in mounting one to a tower and wiring it up to power small devices inside my house. I want to document the process so that it would be easier for me to duplicate this a second time, as I would like to build more than one turbine. Also, if the instructions are of any benefit to others doing a similar construction, I would be happy to know that. Let me know if you have tips to share or would like to show off your own DIY wind turbine.

Buy Wind Turbine

After I raise my first turbine, I would like to attempt building the turbine itself from scratch. But for my introduction and education, I decided to buy a pre-made wind turbine I found on eBay. I found a small turbine from eBay seller blairusa. Butch (the eBay seller) builds turbines and sells them on eBay. The particular turbine I bought is small and according to Butch has the following spec’s:

• 12V
• 140 Watts
• Starts spinning in winds of around 4 MPH
• Can withstand winds over 40 MPH but not recommended
• weighs about 22lbs
• Made of aluminum and steel
• Propeller diameter: 36 inches
  
• Length of generator: 42inches

I paid $305 total (including shipping).

Dig hole

I don’t have the windiest location but want to give this a try anyhow.

I picked a location in my backyard. My primary consideration for picking this spot was that it will be out of view for most of my neighbors. I don’t want to make enemies. The turbine will make a little noise when spinning which might bother my neighbors if I put it right on the property line. Some people, for whatever reason, do not like the way wind turbines look. I haven’t talked with all of my neighbors about it, so to be safe, I’m keeping this one tucked away to eliminate any trouble with the neighbors. Also, the location I chose is fairly close to the house, meaning the wiring will be fairly short, making it easier for me to run wiring to get the power into the house.

The turbine will be mounted to a steel pipe. The pipe will be secured in the ground with concrete and guy wires.

At the target site, I dug a hole 1 ft wide and 2 ft deep.

I used a pick and mattock with a shovel to dig the hole.

I had to get on my hands and knees to dig the last several inches using trowels and the shovel.

Assemble Pole

Now we need a pole to mount the wind turbine onto.  I did some reading online and found a helpful site:  mdpub.com.  That site got me started making a pole out of  steel pipes commonly found at home improvement stores.  Below I’ll show you how I assmembled the pieces.

Above you can see a hinge joint so that the wind turbine can be lowered and raised from the ground whenever maintenance is needed. Most of the pieces for my tower came from my local Sutherlands store.

Note that the tee above is a bigger diameter than the rest of the pieces, so that the threads are unused on the tee, allowing the tee to function as a hinge joint. Most of the pipe pieces have a diameter of 1 ¼”. The tee above is bigger, though, with a diameter of 1 ½”.

A tee was chosen above to allow the electrical cables to exit from the pipe. Later, you will see how the wires come out of this hole.

Concrete

Insert the pipe into the hole.

Mix concrete and pour into the hole. Used about (4) 60-pound bags of mix. The mix itself then was about 240 pounds but water was added as well, adding to the weight of the base of this mount.

Dig a second hole and place a stationary pipe in it. The second pipe has an arm that latches onto the first pipe. The arm can be detached at any time. I’m surprised how sturdy this connection is.  The arm can hold the pole up with wind turbine mounted to the top without any guy wires.  However, for safety and extra stability, guy wires are a must.  The guy wire installation is detailed lower down on this page.

Apply Plumber’s Grease

I want to be able to detach the steel pipes at any time for maintenance, re-wiring, or other future modifications. Since the steel pipes are outside and exposed to rain, condensation, and humidity, the pipe threads will rust and fuse the pipes together. Already in the short time I have had them outside, they have already developed rust. I picked up some Plumber’s Grease from Sutherlands.

I used an old toothbrush to apply the grease to all the pipe threads.

I put most of the pieces together, minus the turbine itself, to see how it fit together.

With the setup above, the wind turbine blades will be 16 feet above the ground.

Attach guy wires

When the turbine is up on the pole and the wind starts blowing, we need a way to keep the pole from falling down.  I attached (4) guy wires to secure the pole and prevent it from falling down in high winds.

But how should the guy wires connect to the metal pole?  Another site [jerryriverguy.com] showed how eye bolts could be attached to a pole.  That encouraged me to try the same.

Another site showed how a hole was drilled into steel to make a tripod.  That gave me an idea of how to go about drilling holes into the wind turbine pole.

The video above shows how to drill and tap a steel pipe coupling. Eye bolts are attached to the coupling. The guy wires will connect to the eye bolts.

Attach guy wires to pole.

Video above shows how to assemble guy wires for a wind turbine.  I learned most of the details from a PDF:   windenergy.com and from a web page at otherpower.com.

Raise pole

One thing I like about this setup is that the pole is raised and lowered by one person and requires no fancy equipment.

The next video below shows the typical power output of this little turbine on a windy day. It’s not as nearly impressive as I had hoped, but I was still very excited to see “free” power going into my battery.

Typical Power Output on Windy Day

The wind turbine was advertised to produce up to 140 W. So far I have witnessed a more typical output of around 33 W (about 2.5 A at 13.1 V).  I now see that it is common for wind turbine sellers to overstate the power output of the units they sell.

Add Anemometer to Measure Wind Speed

I wanted to measure the wind speed required to spin the blades and begin producing enough power to push current into my 12V battery. I added an anemometer to the wind turbine pole.

The anemometer is part of a weather station kit, the La Crosse WS-2316U Wireless Weather Station.

Before you consider buying this, you might want to read my unbiased review of the La Crosse WS-2316U Wireless Weather Station.

Will be continued…Next steps:

Add fuse and blocking diodes for electrical safety.
Install solar panels into the same circuit for a hybrid system.
Install a bearing system to allow the turbine to turn into the wind more easily with less friction than the current steel pipe on steel pipe setup.
Install heavier gauge wire to see if that allows more current to freely move from the turbine to the battery.
Put wraps around guy wires for safety to make them more visible so people (like my kids) don’t walk into the wires.
Use deeper stakes in the ground to keep guy wires safely anchored.
Install new blades?
Install another turbine in series or parallel with this one for greater volts or amps.