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Dear blog friends. Thank you for reading my blog this past year. I am trying for 2 posts per month in 2013 so if you don't see one for a while please send me a reminder. This blog let's talk about the latest in Technology and what it could mean for you!
We are still getting used to our new Motorola Droid RAZR cell phones. Today we investigated the voice recognition capabilities. We have Android Jelly Bean (the latest) operating system. It has two apps that provide voice support. Voice Command lets you use the phone functions. You start the Voice Command app then can say things like Call Home and it will! I have found it to be pretty accurate as long as the name you want to call isn't very ethnic or complicated. You can also ask it to dial a number and it will. Both are very handy for in the car dialing. The negative is that you have to start the app by hand. The other app is Voice Search. Think of this as Google Search by voice. The results vary depending on what question word you use (Where - gets google Maps, Who and What get Google search results, Temperature questions gets the Weather App, and Why questions are a mixed bag). Voice Search takes some getting used to, but is quicker then typing in a search.
You never know where you will learn about new technologies. I had breakfast this morning with a childhood friend. She is a retired librarian and enjoys technology, but certainly not a geek. She asked me if I had heard of Raspberry Pi. After the yes I love all kinds of pies comment, she let me know that this was a credit card size computer (bare bones) that runs Linux. Cost is $25 or $35 depending on memory and ports. You provide the TV (one with HDMI or composite input), Keyboard, Mouse, Operating System (Linux Debian recommended, though others will work), and power supply are extra. You actually load the Linux on an SD card that can provide storage and other program files. The company making this product is a charity based in the UK and did this to encourage students to learn about computers. Here is a link to their site: http://www.raspberrypi.org/
I saw the Apple iPad mini up close and have several thoughts. It is nicely designed and may be a great tablet for kids. Its a bit small for the browsing I like to do. I was constantly increasing the size of type and that got to be aggravating. Angry Birds played great on it (as did many other game apps). Reading a book on it worked fine. This will probably be a pretty good sales item for Apple due to price and opening up the child owning an iPad market. For $329 (similar to the gaming systems out there) you can keep a child actively entertained. The dangers of the Internet remain and I have NOT seen a good parental control app for the iPad. Let me know if you see one!
Merry Christmas to all and to all a Very Happy New Year.
The Moga family now have new phones. We chose the Motorola Droid Razr M phone for both Mr. and Mrs. Moga. The spousal unit has a white phone while the artistically conservative Nick chose Henry Ford Black. Our 2 year plan with Verizon was up and our phones had admirably supported us with only one small issue. We took a look at our favorite online wireless site, Wirefly, and found a deal that was tough to turn down. The phones cost $0.99 each with an updated contract. We moved to one of Verizons Share anything plan. We get unlimited minutes, text and 2 GB of shared data for about $9 more per month. The spousal unit has never had a "smart phone" so there is a learning curve experience going on now. I'm upgrading from a Motorola Droid Pro so this shouldn't be hard, but the old Pro had Android version 2.3 (code name Gingerbread) while the new phone has the latest Android 4.1.1 (code named JellyBean) operating system. They are not anything alike so I'm having some upgrade issues also.
Why this Phone? Besides the good price, the Razer M has some very good features (and a couple of clunkers, but nothing is perfect). Here are the specs: It weighs in at an impressive 4.44 ounces, is water (splash) proof, has a 4.3" edge to edge screen with 540x960 pixels. It uses the latest Super AMOLED advanced graphics on the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 plus 1.5MHz Dual Core processor. It has scratch resistant Gorrilla glass screen with a back made of Kevlar fiber. The Razr M gets a great 20 hours of talk time (you don't have to charge it every night!) It has 1GB System memory and 8GB of storage for your pictures, apps, music, video etc. It has a micro SD card slot so you can store up to an additional 32GB (we put a 8GB card in ours - dirt cheap at $10). The camera is an 8 Megapixal autofocus with LED flash (the least impressive item). It has a small 0.3 Megapixel front facing camera (real poor resolution!) It came out in September so it is a relatively new phone that won't be outdated as fast. The size is also very nice. We looked at the Razr HD and Razer Maxx, but honestly they were too big for the pocket. They did have great screens.
Testing it out we've found the voice quality to be excellent and the battery as good as advertised. There are aspects of the Jelly Bean operating system that are infuriating, but that's not Motorola's (or Verizon's) fault. For some reason Google got rid of the speed dialing feature in the default dialer app. Easily taken care of by downloading a free dialer app (we use Dialer One). That's the great thing about smart android phones: Don't like something I'm absolutely sure that there is an app for that! The screen is very nice looking and doesn't bleed out in sunlight as bad as my old PRO, but it still a bit hard to read in direct sun situations. I do like the new 3 circle system info (see it in the picture above) that lets you know the time, any voicemail, emails, temperature and battery life at a glance. I moved all my apps from my Droid Pro to the new phone using the MyBackup Pro app ($2.99). It works slick and saved me tons of time. I also now have a backup of all my apps and data on my SD card.
We briefly thought about iPhones, but my invested time in droids (and gmail stuff) made that a non starter. Like most apple products they are pricey and not very flexible (the opposite of what we purchased). I have my outlook calendar/contacts/tasks going to my gmail stuff and thus to my phone. That is VERY important to my business. This can be done on an iPhone, but it would require more work and some expense. Set up on the Razer M was a breeze. I put in my account info for email and then used MyBackup Pro for apps. It took less then an hour and was fairly painless. The phone's camera is just as bad as that in my Droid Pro. I'm not sure why Motorola doesn't make a good camera, but they don't. iPhones certainly win that contest. On every other front, I've found the Droids from Motorola to be as good as, or even superior to the iPhone.
As we learn more and try out more items on our phones we'll keep you up to date!
Its here, its here, oh my god it is here.... Windows 8 arrived this past week to a flurry of media events, but a big ho hum from consumers and dealers. This is the biggest change that Microsoft has ever attempted in its Windows operating system. Microsoft finally believes the future is in the tablet pc with touch capability. Windows 8 is designed for touch screen pcs and tablets. If you don't have either then you'll feel like you have been left behind. Working in Windows 8 with a mouse and keyboard is very non intuitive. Plan on lots more clicks to do a simple task like changing a setting. Lets take a quick look at the specifics of the release.
There are 3 versions of Windows 8. The home
version is called Windows 8 (those Microsoft guys are just so creative). It has
all the basic features and is missing the following: disk encryption, media
center, domain membership and remote desktop connection. Need those features?
Then get Windows 8 Pro. Both version REQUIRE a 64bit processor. That would
exclude PCs and laptops over 4 years old. Here are the other needs: The minimum hardware
requirements for running Windows 8 include a processor with a clock speed of
1GHz or more; at least 2GB of RAM, 20GB of hard Drive space (WOW!) and DirectX 9-capable graphics. Most manufacturers are providing drivers for PCs made in the last year to run Windows 8. Most are also providing $15 upgrade packages if you wish to upgrade (note that PCSS is NOT recommending you upgrade). The third version is Windows 8 RT which is designed for tablets, phones and other limited size devices. You can't buy RT so we won't talk about its features. We will mention that the new Microsoft Surface tablet ($499) uses the Windows 8 RT version.
The desktop screen that we are familiar with is gone. We now have the Start Screen that has tiles you can click to start an app (yes they are now called apps not programs). You can customize the Start Screen so that you have your most frequent apps there. There are some size constraints if you use many different apps. On the positive side Windows 8 loads fast, on the negative side there are two seperate control panels and browsers that will cause confusion. The new Internet Explorer 10 looks faster then Internet Explorer 9 and has some unique (We are talking about Microsoft uniqueness!) features.
The question for customers is should I upgrade from Windows 7? The answer is not as black and white as you might think. It appears that upgrading to Windows 8 actually can be done. The question becomes Should it be done? Unless you have a touch screen, PCSS is saying No you should not upgrade. If you get a new PC/tablet with Windows 8 then you should be OK. We haven't seen a list of what printers/scanners/special hardware will be supported by Windows 8. It doesn't do you much good to upgrade or buy a new PC and not have your existing printer/scanner work. The other issue is that if you do not have a touch device Windows 8 just seems hard to use.
The electronic gizmos that we have become addicted to have a nasty down side. How do you get rid of them when they break or just get old? The average US consumer keeps their laptop for only 3 years and their cell phone for only 2 years. This means there are literally tons of electronics being discarded, many of them still have useful life.
Electronic devices are a complex mixture of several hundred materials. A mobile
phone, for example, contains 500 to 1000 components. Many of these contain toxic
heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium and beryllium and hazardous
chemicals, such as brominated flame retardants. Polluting PVC plastic is also
frequently used. Putting them in a landfill is not a good idea.
There are several ways to recycle. If the product has useful life there are organizations that will clean them and offer them for resale. The Salvation Army does this in Covington for PCs. There are also many organization that will take your old usable cell phone. You need to ensure that your personal data has been cleaned from the item. Many electronic items can be restored to their original state without any stored information. Check with the manufacturers web site about restoring to original state.
If the item is broken there are recyclers that will disassemble the device and recover the valuable minerals and properly dispose of the hazardous ones. Up to 99% of the materials in electronics can be recycled. Gold, copper and even circuit boards can be melted and then reused in new electronics. Metals like aluminum and steel can be sent to their own recycling industries. Most of this recycling produces product that is indiscernible from virgin materials. Its a win/win process that we should all embrace.
So where can you e-recycle? Many computer companies, phone companies and many retail stores will take back what you bought from them to recycle. You just need to ask them about it. In the Highlands our local recycler, Jackson River Enterprises, has contracted with an e-recycler to come in twice a year to take your electronics. Still looking for a place to take your stuff? Try this link: E-Recyclers!
Just say NO to putting your old electronics into the trash. The damage to the environment and your health could be serious!
Within the last week two of the heavy hitters in cell phones have introduced new flagship phones. Today Apple unveiled their much anticipated iphone5. A week ago Motorola Mobility (now owned by Google) introduced 3 new Droid Razr cell phones. Lets take a look at these new phones and what new technologies they show off.
The new iPhone 5 was probably the worst kept Apple introduction. Just about every new feature was known before the actual release. Yes it has a bigger screen, yes it will run on the Sprint & Verizon 4GLTE network (faster Internet), Yes it has a different connector and yes it is made of different material then the other iPhones. Nicely it will cost the same as the iPhone 4s. It is thinner and with a new A6 processor it is much faster then the iPhone 4s. The battery life is 10% better and that is very welcome. So its an all round better phone. Is it breakout new? No, everything changed is evolutionary, not revolutionary. I'm sure the iPhone users out there will soon put this model in short supply
Motorola Mobility introduced it's first new Droid phones since Google bought the company in May 2012. The new Razr's are in 3 different price ranges and have a common theme - They are bigger, faster and have the best battery life of any cell phones. The entry level Droid Razr M has a 4.3 inch (0.3 inches larger then the iPhone5) edge to edge screen. It is the smallest, in size and weight, 4.3 inch cell phone made today. Motorola uses their kevlar skin technology to make it the lightest also. Battery life is rated at 20 hours, which is more then most Android Cell phones (iPhone 5 rated at 8 hours). The other two Razrs introduced are the Razr HD and the Razr HD Maxx. They both share a 4.7 inch screen (these are BIG phones) with HD (high def 1080p) resolution. They both have the kevlar skins and superior 4G LTE Internet capabilities. The claim to fame of the HD series is battery life. The HD is rated at 24 hours talk time while the Maxx is rated at 32 hours. Note the iPhone rating above. People hate to have to recharge their phones or to have a phone die in the middle of a call. They don't like leaving them plugged in when not in use. These bigger batteries are a new thin technology. If you are not into the iPhone type phones then I believe these new Droids will be winners.
My Verizon cell phone contract is up in November. I think I'll take a real close look at the new phones and make a choice from the ones I've discussed today. Size does matter and I'm not sure I want to wield around a BIG phone no matter what battery life it gets. If you get one of these phones let me know what you think!
I got to get on the Internet at 35,000 feet last week. Our Delta Airlines flight from San Francisco to Atlanta was outfitted with GoGo in flight Internet. I had a complimentary code to get free Internet for the flight for one device. Usually the cost is around $12 for a days use. You can always get free Delta airline info and GoGo is always having some free Internet shopping use. For example on my flight you could shop Amazon at no charge.
So how does this work?
There are two technologies available - Satellite and cell tower. GoGo mainly uses cell tower technology. They have over 100 cell towers that point upward in the US. A receiver on the plane picks up the signal and then sends out a wifi signal on the plane. Speed of this technology is comparable to 3G cell phone speed (that is better then dialup, but not much). I've checked the speed on board several planes and its never faster then 0.9 mbps (for example I have 6 mbps through Shentel cable at home). It's good for reading email, simple surfing and playing online games. Don't even think about video, though I did get tunein radio to work on a recent flight.
The other technology uses rented space on geosynchronous satellites. Row 44 is the seller of this Internet (and more) service. Southwest Airlines is the main user of Row 44 and charges $5 per flight for the service. The satellite technology has more bandwidth then the cell technology and is markedly faster. You can watch videos and live TV content on Row 44 flights. The receivers (there are 4) on the plane are more expensive then Gogo and have had some maintenance issues. Overall the Row 44 service provides what we all want - faster Internet!
While on vacation, the bed & breakfast inn where we stayed had fairly good wifi service, but spotty cell phone service. The b&b owner used two routers to cover the big house. However he had used different type routers and had left the SSID (wifi name) as the generic "linksys" and "belkin". I told the owner he needed to change the SSID name to that of his B&B. Why? Because he used security! An average user will come to his B&B and have problems logging on because most users will have previously memorized "linksys" and "belkin" sites on their pc/ipad and will have different security settings. That is why I recommend keeping those strange named SSIDs that now come with new routers (like: A09R5863Q). Once you memorize a wifi security setting its hard to change it for a particular SSID.
Also if you haven't changed your router in a while, you really need to move up to a n-band router. They are 3 times faster and cover a larger area of your business/home.
The June 29th Derecho hit PCSS with a vengeance. We were without power for 5 days and Internet for 7 days. Talk about your business crushing event. Fortunately, we had just a big mess an no real damage. Our customers suffered worse and we hope everyone is back to normal. We used our laptops and found Internet at customer sites (THANKS) So this blog will be about Power. The good, the bad and the ugly!
Your friendly power provider (Dominion Power, BARC, American Electric) is supposed to provide your residence or business with alternating current power at nominally 120 volts at 60 cycles per second (Herz). When stress hits your power provider (think storms, Hot Weather, Cold Weather, etc) one of the methods of keeping power flowing is to slightly decrease the voltage you receive. Under these conditions (a brown out) you get less then 120 volts and your computer equipment gets less DC power from their power supplies.
A way to prevent brown outs from negatively affecting your computer equipment is to use an Uninterpretable Power Supply (UPS). These batter back up systems not only give you power when the power is down, they AUGMENT the power when a brown out occurs. PCSS recommends you use a UPS with all your valuable electronics.
On the other side of the power supply equations is the Surge. When lightning strikes wires a surge is transmitted through the wires and can damage your electronics. Surge Suppressors will protect you for ONE surge. The way surge suppressors work causes them to no longer provide protection after a surge hits the wire. If you have an UPS, they will likely provide protection for more then one surge. Although a severe surge can take out even the best UPS. Most of these devices have LED indicators when they are no longer providing protection.
"You get what you pay for" is very true when it comes to power protection. Cheap (less then $15) surge suppressors provide very minimal protection. When it comes to UPS, PCSS only likes Tripp-Lite and APC brands. These are large companies, with great engineers, behind their products. They meet all US Underwriter specifications and they even help write the IEEE specifications to protect the consumer.
The best thing about power being back on? Hot water? Air Conditioning? Internet? Refrigeration? Any and all of those certainly make life more enjoyable. We are a society based on Power as we were reminded in late June.
I've had my Asus eeePad for over a year now. The spousal unit has had her iPad for about the same period of time. We are both addicted to our tablets. Actually the basic reasons we like our tablets are the same. We love the size, the form, the ease of use and the touch screen interface. What we do on the tablets is a bit different. The spousal unit's iPad has several very significant work related apps that make her job easier. Other then checking the Internet and email, I don't really use my tablet for work.
Tablets don't do hard core office activities very well. Word Processing, Spreadsheets and Presentations are very hard to edit on a tablet. They can be seen, just not changed. Surprisingly the Android tablets (like the eeepad) do a much better job of viewing and attempting changes on those type of files then the ipad. iPads also still don't do Adobe Flash software (legacy Steve Jobs war with Adobe still keeps running!) so many Internet sites don't work right on the iPad. Now those sites using Flash are decreasing every day, but they still are out there.
So here are the functions I use every day on my tablet: 1. Keep up with my calendar. It's easy to change, add, delete appointments. Since I use Google Calendar (Android!) any changes I make are immediately changed on all my devices (phone and several PCs, even my Mac mini). 2. Email. I check my email from multiple sources (AOL, GMAIL, Customer email). I can respond, forward and delete emails. 3. Reading books. I check out library books and enjoy reading them everywhere on my eeePad. The back lighting is very good so I can read on the beach as well as in bed at night. Biggest disadvantages is the time lag to get popular titles ( you have to get in line and wait). 4. Information: Weather, News, Stocke Market info, Maps, Directions - Normal Internet stuff that are very convenient on the tablet size. 5. Last and least I do play a few games on the eeePad. Better yet, I have games that our neighbor kids and my great nieces think are cool (and entertaining!)
I have over 50 apps on my eeePad and haven't paid for any of them. I follow the Amazon Free Android app of the day site and every now and then pick up something that looks interesting. Keeping up with updates on these 50 apps takes some time. I have recently pruned about 10 apps from my tablet that I downloaded, but never used. I still keep a few apps that show off what the tablet can do. The Scanner App and the Camera App are great to show people, but I never use them for my self. Most useful apps? WDBJ7 Weather app, USATODAY app, Overdrive library app, aCalendar app.
Thinking about a tablet? PCSS can help in your decision making.
Sprint is the only provider left providing unlimited Internet plans for Cell phone users. The two big boys, AT&T and Verizon have moved to plans that limit the amount of Internet to a download amount. Usually the download limit is measured in Gigabytes(GB).
So how much do you use? Right now I have an unlimited grandfathered plan from Verizion. Looking at my usage over the last year sees I've never gone over 0.5 GB in any given month. I don't stream anything on my phone since the screen is so small. I look up the weather, a sports score and keep track of the stock market. The new limit from both AT&T and Verizon is 2GB download per month for $30.00 (the same cost as the unlimited plan I have now). That shouldn't be a problem for me if I keep a small screen phone. However if you stream a Netflix movie you will use 1GB per hour of stream. One movie essentially wipes out your month.
Now not many people are streaming movies on their phones. However these $30 plans are the same that the phone companies are selling with tablet pcs. A tablet user is much more likely to use lots of data download then a phone. Verizion understands this and has begun bundling phone & tablet plans. A 2GB plan shared between a phone & tablet will also not last long. Verizon also has 5GB & 10GB plans for $50 and $80 per month respectfully. Those are the plans that Verizon wants you to buy.
I looked closely at my PCSS Verizon cell phone bill this past month and it was an incredible $142.00. That includes 2 phones, 700 minutes, 1 unlimited Internet data package and unlimited texts. Who would have thought 5 years ago that we would spend that much on cell phones? Close scrutiny of the bill finds a very confusing listing of charges. I believe the phone companies intentionally make the bills confusing to get away with extra charges. Yes you signed the 2 year agreement, but it should be easier to understand your bill.
If you have a young person in your life, you better have unlimited text messaging. Its the ONLY way they communicate. All around you see young people texting their lives on their phones. Young girls in particular are very adept at putting every angst filled moment into multiple texts. Heaven forbid if they don't have unlimited texting. There is another $30 per month. The model for phone companies to make money is very good. Also a reason I own Verizon stock.
Window 8 should be released in the late fall of this year. Microsoft has a preview version available for anyone wishing to torture themselves early. I won't even link it, because I like my customers. You can find it from Microsoft.com if you are so inclined.
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| Windows 8 Preview |
So lets start this blog with a listing of the good and bad Windows operating system releases recently.
- Windows 3.1 - The first real graphical Windows that worked
- Windows XP (actually Windows 5) - The most used Windows for almost a decade
- Windows 7 - today's version that is decent. No major complaints.
Lets also look at the Windows DOGS that we have suffered through:
- Windows ME (Windows 4) Absolutely the worst Windows ever . hardly anyone bought it and those that did suffered till they upgraded.
- Window Vista (Window 6) A total travesty. I weep for any of my customers that have this slow bloated loser
Note that the good versions are odd numbered and the DOGS are even numbered. It doesn't bode well for Windows 8. We also see that in Windows ME & Windows Vista Microsoft attempted to change the Windows user interface - supposedly to make it easier to use. Guess what? Windows 8 promises a totally new user interface! Think putting your phone on your PC and that's the vision from Microsoft. I think this will be a HUGE failure. Here is a video preview of Microsoft's Windows 8. Take a peek and see if you agree this has BAD written all over it: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-8/consumer-preview
Windows 8 will have 4 different versions. There will be a version of Windows just for tablets. Let's see the iPad was released in 2010, with Android tablets out also that year. In late 2012 Microsoft has finally decided to come up with an operating system for tablets. Talk about being late to the tablet! The interface for all Windows 8 versions (including PCs) will move from a mouse based interface to a touch based focused interface. Your mouse will still work, but when the interface is designed for touch you know mousing will get the short stick and will be painful to use.
The old start button/ball will get a new cutesy name: Charms. Actually I don't see the cutesy part. Charms will be the way to set up your user interface and make it "easier" to run you programs (now called apps - wonder where they got that from?). Windows 8 will make it easier to run 2 apps side by side on the screen, but I've been doing that since I got a wide screen monitor.
Also added in Windows 8 is Internet Explorer 10. Still trying to catch up to Firefox 12 and Google Chrome, Microsoft "borrows" many of their innovations in IE 10. You have to give it to those Microsoft engineers, why not steal rather then innovate.
One decent feature in Windows 8 is the inclusion of an antivirus in the operating system. They can then try to put Symantec, McAffee and AVG out of business. Which seems to be more important to Microsoft then just developing a fast efficient operating system. Doubt that happens.
There are many many other enhancements, but the ones I listed are the most highly touted by Microsoft. Maybe we will all have Macs before the end of the year.
Computer safety has been in the news the past couple of weeks. The first BIG Mac virus has hit and it is a doozy. Infecting over 600,000 MACs with a robot virus that takes control of your PC and lets other (evil others) do what they want with your MAC. It is being distributed via infected websites as a Java program that pretends to be an update for the Adobe Flash Player. Very nasty. Apple had an update out to plug the hole within a week.
Interestingly, infections like the Mac one I talk about above, are an every day occurrence in the PC world. And sure enough this weeks panic was the press release by the FBI. The FBI says that over 300,000 PCs will lose Internet access come July 9, 2012. Now the FBI isn't pulling the plug on those PCs What is happening is the infamous "DNS Changer" virus will finally be able to do its worst. The FBI (and others) have been giving PC owners times to identify that they have this virus and remove it by providing a solution on the Internet. The cost of providing that solution is at the point where the cost to benefit are to just turn off the protection. If you are concerned that you might have this virus just click on this link: http://dns-ok.us/ If the background is Green, you are safe. If red you need to give PCSS or another Computer Repair person a call pretty soon.
So how does one stay safe from all these perils in the world of computing. Short of staying off the Internet there is not sure way to protect yourself 100%. You should have a good Antivirus/Antimalware product on your PC. We like AVG, and we like the pay version of AVG much better. (we don't make much on the pay version for what its worth). We also recommend that you NEVER download anything without knowing 100% that is is not infected. Also you need to be careful where you surf on the web. I can guarantee if you go to risky sites, you will get your PC infected no matter the protection you have. You should also use a search protection tool such as AVG safe search or Web of Trust to let you know if a site is infected after you do a search.
Its an unsafe world on the Internet. Yes there is unlimited amounts of information. But getting to that information can compromise your PC and the valuable information on your PC. We've see a new virus that HIDES all your information on the PC and its a real bear to recover that information. Being conservative in you browsing is the best defense.
Every April on the blog we have an article on spring cleaning your tech equipment. For some strange reason people don't associate cleanliness with their electronics. Just buy it, use it and it will be OK is the attitude. Cleaning your tech stuff will prolong their life, prevent the spreading of, ahem germs(disease), and will make them just work better. You've been warned!
Lets start with tablet PCs. The ease of use in a tablet goes back to us using fingers on the screen. Think about that for a while. Yes you should regularly clean your tablet class. NO you should not use Windex or any other liquid spray on cleaner. You definitely don't need an iclean or iwash product. A simple microfiber cloth will work. Just dampen the cloth (wring out all the water) and wipe across your screen. Microfiber cloths can be washed and used for years. They cost under $2 per cloth and you can get them by the dozen if you don't like to wash. Google Microfiber cloth for some online purchase option.
Once you have your microfiber cloth you can also use it on your PC monitor or LCD/LED display of your laptop. Just do the cleaning with the unit turned off for safety. You can also see the smudges better when everything is turned off.
Your keyboard is your next keeper of vast amounts of dirt. With the PC turned off, unplug your keyboard, take it outside and gently turn it upside down and shake it. Lots of stuff (cheeze-it crumbs???) will move on out. You can then use a can of compressed air (available at Wallyworld or any dollar store) to get the hard to reach gunk. After the shake and spray you can use alcohol wipes or a q-tip dipped in rubbing alcohol to disinfect the keys themselves. Make sure its dry before plugging it back in.
Mice get alot of hand play so clean them regularly. With the PC turned off, unplug the mouse, and wipe it with Alcohol wipes or a paper towel with rubbing alcohol on it. DO NOT DIRECTLY SPRAY your mouse. Again let dry before plugging back in.
You can use your compressed air spray to also spray around your CPU box to get the dust bunnies out of the way. If you are real ambitious you can open your PC case and get the bunnies out of their also. Very gently please. You don't want to get ANYTHING WET in your PC Case.
For Laptops you can clean the keyboard similarly as the PC keyboard. Just make sure the Laptop is off and you don't get ANY moisture in between the keys.
Printers need to have the paper dust and ink/toner debris cleaned out of them periodically. Compressed air is your friend. Just open where ever you put the ink/toner in, remove the toner/ink and gently spray. Wipe down the exterior of the printer with your microfiber cloth or an alcohol wipe to keep it looking new.
Happy Cleaning!
More and more we aren't using cash to pay for our purchases. Buying gasoline, groceries, clothes, utility payments or any other purchase can be done by credit card and increasingly, by debiting our bank account. Don't buy stock in check printing companies! They too will soon be just like typewriter, vinyl record and buggy whip producers. As with most advances, allowing the ease of purchase brings its own share of problems. People have no clue whether they have enough money to pay for the purchases they made. The AVERAGE credit card debt in the US (as of January 2012) is just shy of $16,000! Seems like debiting your bank account may be the better way to go.
There are lots of new ways to pay for things. We have an EZ pass box that lets us zip through toll booths in the Eastern United States. Our checking account is debited every time we don't stop. Another new technology that is about to revolutionize payments is near-field communication (NFC). With a NFC set up on your cell phone you just have to pass the phone near a check out system and your payment is made. Don't have to get that pesky card out of your wallet any more. This technology actually sounds very scary to me. You could be buying up everything in sight just by walking by a store! Good news is that this new Digital Wallet isn't catching on too fast because it really doesn't help the merchant much. They have much less control over the actual purchase verification and though it might speed up the check out, it may lead to credit issues down the road. Lets see how this one plays out.
Every transaction that isn't cash has a fee associated with it. Credit card fees are usually charged to the merchant. Same with debit card fees. I wonder how soon until you end up paying a fee for every transaction? You know the credit card companies would love to do that. You actually are paying for the fees even if you don't see them. Merchants know what percentage of their sales are credit card (going up every day) and just add the 1-3% Credit card fee to the purchase price. The average American spend $429 each year in hidden credit card fees. Unfortunately even if you go back to cash, you will still be paying that same hidden fee. Paying in cash does help the merchant though! They get the same amount of money and DON'T have to pay the Credit Card company. Thus why many small stores offer a cash discount.
I think I'll miss my check book and having to balance it.....
Thursday, March 1, 2012, Google will implement a far reaching change to its privacy policy. Google will now default its gmail and search engine users into a policy that allows Google to track your moves on the Internet and sell that information to Google advertisers. This new single point information will let advertisers target their ads and pitch to your patterns online.
So what can one do to protect your privacy? Several items are available to help out. What we do is use the Firefox Browser (not Google Chrome) as our main browser. We have the Privacy settings in Firfox set for "Tell Websites I don't want to be Tracked". If you have a gmail account do the following today!
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/how-remove-your-google-search-history-googles-new-privacy-policy-takes-effect
If you do use Chrome there is a plug in that can stop all the Google data gathering: https://www.google.com/ads/preferences/plugin/
Also always remember that if you login to Gmail, then Sign out when you are done. That also minimizes what can be tracked. Here is an article on more ideas including the above: http://www.kplu.org/post/protecting-your-privacy-amid-google-policy-changes
It really doesn't matter which search engine you are using, they all track your searches. So be careful out there and remember big brother is watching.
As we all get older, how and what technology we use is important to those making technology products. The "boomer" still outnumber most generations. Now I'm not talking about those big number phones and remote controls you see advertised (death to the first person that gets me one!). I'm talking about how being older influences what technology you buy.
Tablet PCs are incredibly popular by the elders. I would say 1/2 of my tablet sales have gone to the over 50 population. Why? Hmm, Well they are very easy to use. They are essentially simple Internet devices and for many people that is all they need. No mouse, no cords, no reboots. Surprising Microsoft has NO CLUE when it comes to tablets.
Large screen monitors also are big sales items. The eyes go first is the saying. Surprisingly we haven't see an uptick in big speaker sales. The other reason for this is the price is still dropping on large (22"+) displays. Why not buy the bigger monitor.
Boomers love their laptops. They like them lightweight, but with bright large displays. Many who have laptops also have a desktop at home. The younger generations just live with a laptop, no desktop necessary.
For some reason EVERYONE hates cords. So wireless mice and keyboards are also popular.
Webcams to Skype with the Grandkids are also popular. What could be better to just add a webcam to your PC and for FREE you can talk 3,000 miles away and SEE your progeny. My wife found an iPad app that will let her make FREE phone calls. Another big winner combining tablets and FREE calls!
I'm not sure how we older Americans feel about cell phones. I like the latest and best, but many friends just want a simple phone. They aren't much into texting and that is a huge difference with the young. I don't mind turning mine off for hours at a time, and that would threaten the lives of most 20 somethings.
Technology companies are heeding the call of the older American market. The latest Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas had enhanced products for each of the categories I mentioned above. Larger, thinner displays, lighter laptops and better tablets. I'm not sure Tech companies will ever say in public that a particular product is focused on the elderly, but behind the corporate doors, I'm sure they do.
You never know where you will learn about new technologies. I had breakfast this morning with a childhood friend. She is a retired librarian and enjoys technology, but certainly not a geek. She asked me if I had heard of Raspberry Pi. After the yes I love all kinds of pies comment, she let me know that this was a credit card size computer (bare bones) that runs Linux. Cost is $25 or $35 depending on memory and ports. You provide the TV (one with HDMI or composite input), Keyboard, Mouse, Operating System (Linux Debian recommended, though others will work), and power supply are extra. You actually load the Linux on an SD card that can provide storage and other program files. The company making this product is a charity based in the UK and did this to encourage students to learn about computers. Here is a link to their site: http://www.raspberrypi.org/
