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Two years of Ask Leo!

Some thoughts on the second anniversary of Ask Leo!

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Transcript

This is Leo Notenboom with news, commentary and answers to some of the many questions I get at askleo.info.

On August the 10th, 2003 I posted the first Ask Leo! answer – How do I keep the status bar from disappearing in Internet Explorer 6? In the last year alone I’ve been asked 7500 questions, and fielded 5300 comments on my articles. The article count on Ask Leo! is approaching 600, not counting the already over 600 quick responses posted at mailbag.askleo.info.

And yes, it’s all just me. Part time, at that. I have no ghost writers or research staff.

In the past year the topic that shows up the most frequently is Hotmail. The number one question remains: can you get my Hotmail password back?

No, I cannot.

There’s a lot of frustration around connectivity issues with both Hotmail and MSN Instant Messenger. And there’s a bunch of bored kids trying to work around their school’s attempts to block instant messaging.

Sasser and related viruses remain a hot topic, mostly because even after all this time, many people are still not taking the simple steps to protect themselves.

I get a steady stream of people attempting to recover instant messaging conversations – particularly from suspicious spouses or partners concerned that their significant other might have an other “other” on the side.

The majority of the questions I get are fairly basic. They reinforce what I said last year that while it’s wonderful how ubiquitous computers and the internet have become, we still have a long, long way to go to make things easy enough for the barely computer tolerant to really be able to use the technology, or know what to do when things go wrong.

I’ve posted a longer written article for this second anniversary – that’s article number 8997 at askleo.info. It also includes a longer, less formal, podcast where I muse a bit about the topics I’ve just discussed, as well as some other related items. I’ve also posted my annual compilation of some of the oddest questions I’ve received in the last year, and the answers I wish I could have given, out on my personal blog: leo.notenboom.org.

All those are linked in the show notes for this podcast – visit askleo.info, and enter 8998 in the go to article number box. Leave a comment – let me know what you think, I’d love to hear from you.

This is a presentation of askleo.info, a free on-line technical question and answer service. Hundreds of questions and answers are online and ready to help solve your computer problems. New questions and answers are added daily.

That’s askleo.info.

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1 thought on “Two years of Ask Leo!”

  1. Dear Ask Leo !
    You have been doing and are still ofcourse doing, a wonderful job of giving away most precious and valuable information on various aspects to people, young and old, irrespective of caste, creed or colour for the last two years.
    ‘Two years of Ask Leo’ can be written in golden colours in the annals of the history of computer information etc. My humble congratulations and all well wishes for you and I pray to God Almighty to shower His Blessings on you to continue the service for many more years to come with all resplendant glory.
    Regards,
    mprnair.

    Reply

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