We've all heard there is no such thing as a free lunch. If its free your really can't afford it. We've found those sayings generally true. There are some free things for PCs that we use every day. There are also items that are supposedly free that are really spyware.. Buyer beware so to speak. All of the programs mentioned here can be downloaded safely at www.download.com Here are some of our favorites:
For handling pictures we use Picasa from Google. It does a very nice job of photo organization and basic editing. For more advanced editing we use the Paint program built into windows (Start, All Programs, Accessories, Paint) or the great photo editing program GIMP. GIMP is more complex to use then Photoshop, but hey the price is right!
Managing music is more problematic. We use iTunes (free from Apple) to handle our music (we do confess that this is on our Apple Mini, but it works the same on a PC). We love how it displays and sorts our music. We aren't so thrilled about how it organizes the music on a hard disk (it doesn't and that can be a problem). Microsoft's Windows Media Player has so many issues that being free isn't a plus.
The best program to find out information about your PC is the Belarc Advisor. It does a thorough job of letting you know what hardware and software is in your system. Belarc will give you a nice print out that you should keep around. No shortage of good information here.
Browsers are free and there are no shortage of them out there. Our favorites are Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. They both are quick and have extra protection features for searching the Internet. Speaking of protection, You know we use AVG antivirus in both its free and paid versions. The paid version just has better real time protection. For removing spyware/malware on an infected system Malware bytes is the leader by far.
And last for this blog, but certainly not least is Open Office. This Microsoft Office Clone has programs that read and write Word/Excel/PowerPoint files and lots more. Beware that this is a huge download (not for dialup users).
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
#156 - Watching TV on the Net
Its rerun season. For whatever reason - you know it has to be money - The major networks close out their prime time season in May and send us the reruns or the Class B shows for the summer. It used to be if you missed an episode (or even a series) you had to have recorded it or wait for the rerun. That's no longer the case. The networks own sites have full episodes of programs available for view (with commercials). There are also sites that allow you watch whole seasons of prime time content at your convenience. Hulu, and Joost let you pick which program you want to watch and then it comes up with reduced (but still there) commercials. NBC & ABC support Hulu and Joost has a selection of all network shows. There are live TV feeds on the Internet so if you have Internet, but no TV you can watch programs.
All this brought to mind where the future of TV is heading. We are so busy, that it is tough for us to commit to watching a program at the same time every week. The advent of the VCR broke that chain, but the actual implementation of taping shows wasn't so hot (who hasn't had to read the manual 3 times to make sure a VCR would record). Next came TIVO(DVR technology) - the Hard Drive that would record your programs automatically and keep them until you could watch them. Of course that technology was space limited and could screw up if a program came on late or lasted too long (think football games). After owning a DVR for a year, you find yourself constantly erasing old programs. It seems to me that keeping the programs on the web, where you could watch them and see the ads when you want is a better technology.
I see the networks not losing this valuable revenue stream and all will have "watch me later" options for all their prime time shows. They may even get smart and store old seasons of popular shows so that consumer can load the shows on the Internet and the networks can insert up to date ads. You know how popular DVDs of TV shows are. But who really wants to dust DVD cases? Its just better when someone else keeps the clutter!
Just hit the comment button if you would like to post your thoughts!
All this brought to mind where the future of TV is heading. We are so busy, that it is tough for us to commit to watching a program at the same time every week. The advent of the VCR broke that chain, but the actual implementation of taping shows wasn't so hot (who hasn't had to read the manual 3 times to make sure a VCR would record). Next came TIVO(DVR technology) - the Hard Drive that would record your programs automatically and keep them until you could watch them. Of course that technology was space limited and could screw up if a program came on late or lasted too long (think football games). After owning a DVR for a year, you find yourself constantly erasing old programs. It seems to me that keeping the programs on the web, where you could watch them and see the ads when you want is a better technology.
I see the networks not losing this valuable revenue stream and all will have "watch me later" options for all their prime time shows. They may even get smart and store old seasons of popular shows so that consumer can load the shows on the Internet and the networks can insert up to date ads. You know how popular DVDs of TV shows are. But who really wants to dust DVD cases? Its just better when someone else keeps the clutter!
Just hit the comment button if you would like to post your thoughts!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
#155 - The mini notebook computers
I'm in Denver airport today filling out this blog on the FREE wifi. Yeah Denver airport! I only had to watch a 30 second commercial to get to the Internet. Not a bad deal! In Atlanta it costs $7.99 for 24 hours of access.
Anyway, I'm using a new HP 2140 mini notebook computer that I acquired last week. So what does a "mini notebook" mean? It has a 10" diagonal screen (only 4" tall, more on that later). The keyboard is 92% of full size. That is about as small as I can use and still touch type. Every now and then I'll slip on a key. It only weighs 2.6 pounds. The case is made of aluminum and appears durable. The screen is scratch resistant and very bright. There is a touch pad built in, but the buttons are on the side of the touch pad instead of top/bottom that is normal on most laptops.
The mini 2140 I have has 1GB of memory, 160GB hard disk drive and runs Windows XP Home. There are 2 USB ports, an external VGA display port (for a projector), an Ethernet RJ45 port, an SD memory card slot and an Express 54 expansion slot (the new version of the pcmcia slot). It has wireless and bluetooth built in. (I'm on wireless now and using a bluetooth mouse). The processor is a special Intel ATOM 1.6GHz model that was specifically designed for the mini notebook market. It has a web camera built in with microphone and headphone ports. The only thing missing is a DVD/CD burner player. It's just too small to have one.
I've been using it for a couple of weeks with pretty good success. I love the size and the portability. It fits in everywhere. The screen is bright enough. The only issue so far is that the screen is short. In some programs you don't get enough information on the screen. In AOL I get about 3 lines of a message on the screen with the rest filled up with ads. The speed is great with the 1GB of memory and XP. It is as fast as my other HP notebook and faster then my Lenovo with Vista (it has 2GB of memory!). I got the expanded 6 cell battery so it will run to a max of 8 hours on one charge! That is remarkable. Cost for this model is $499.00. Acer (that makes the mini's for HP) makes a plastic case version with a 3 cell battery for $299.00! PCSS sells them both.
Here is a link to the Specs: HP MINI 2140
Anyway, I'm using a new HP 2140 mini notebook computer that I acquired last week. So what does a "mini notebook" mean? It has a 10" diagonal screen (only 4" tall, more on that later). The keyboard is 92% of full size. That is about as small as I can use and still touch type. Every now and then I'll slip on a key. It only weighs 2.6 pounds. The case is made of aluminum and appears durable. The screen is scratch resistant and very bright. There is a touch pad built in, but the buttons are on the side of the touch pad instead of top/bottom that is normal on most laptops.
The mini 2140 I have has 1GB of memory, 160GB hard disk drive and runs Windows XP Home. There are 2 USB ports, an external VGA display port (for a projector), an Ethernet RJ45 port, an SD memory card slot and an Express 54 expansion slot (the new version of the pcmcia slot). It has wireless and bluetooth built in. (I'm on wireless now and using a bluetooth mouse). The processor is a special Intel ATOM 1.6GHz model that was specifically designed for the mini notebook market. It has a web camera built in with microphone and headphone ports. The only thing missing is a DVD/CD burner player. It's just too small to have one.
I've been using it for a couple of weeks with pretty good success. I love the size and the portability. It fits in everywhere. The screen is bright enough. The only issue so far is that the screen is short. In some programs you don't get enough information on the screen. In AOL I get about 3 lines of a message on the screen with the rest filled up with ads. The speed is great with the 1GB of memory and XP. It is as fast as my other HP notebook and faster then my Lenovo with Vista (it has 2GB of memory!). I got the expanded 6 cell battery so it will run to a max of 8 hours on one charge! That is remarkable. Cost for this model is $499.00. Acer (that makes the mini's for HP) makes a plastic case version with a 3 cell battery for $299.00! PCSS sells them both.
Here is a link to the Specs: HP MINI 2140
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