Carlette DeLeon

Tech: IT Easy - 'Touchy' and Cheap

2012-01-05T18:42:00.001-05:00

Yup, AlCatel. I know you know the name. They make great modems and wireless routers. But they barely break the list of top 10 mobile-phone manufacturers. With the new One Touch 890, they are looking to change our perception of their brand.

The phone is cute, small and fashionable. But none of that speaks to what it can (or cannot do). The biggest, most notable feature is the Push WiFi. The handset will automatically alert you when you are in a WiFi Hotspot. If open, like the Flow Unplugged Hotspots, you can then get your data fix over the Internet, rather than a sometimes pricey and sometimes slow mobile network. Hmm. Considering Alcatel is known for their wireless routers, this is a really logical feature.

Outside of the Push WiFi, the OT 890 is an Android-powered mobile phone. What that means is that the whole suite of Google apps work really well on the phone. Google Maps and Latitude are great! I can't tell you how many times I have been lost, searched maps and got turn-by-turn directions to where I needed to go. And yes, it does work in Jamaica for free!

Google Talk, GMail, YouTube and the Android Market all open and operate smoothly on this palm-sized phone, that is clearly more than a phone.

Speaking of phones, if you're like me, you use your 'phone' less to make phone calls and more to network socially. Update your Facebook status, post to Twitter and keep up on all the feeds on the small-but-capable touch screen.

Read the full article.

Tech: IT Easy - BlackBerry outage cripples users worldwide

2011-10-22T12:32:00.002-04:00

It just goes to show just how much we depend on our smartphones for work and fun. Last week, the worldwide BlackBerry outage affected Jamaica for just over a day, and it also showed just how many smartphone users are really dumb.

Let's back up for a second and explore what happened. Part of the reason that BlackBerry is so popular is because it's so secure and part of the reason BlackBerry is so secure is because it uses a private network to move data (your email, browsing history and instant messages).

As it happened, one computer in the RIM network failed. This is not normally a problem, RIM, the maker of BlackBerry, has thousands of computers (which it calls servers) all around the world to back up the data flow if one crashes. Unfortunately, when all the data from the crashed server hit the data in the new server, the doubled up data caused the new server to crash; and so on.

The failure 'cascaded' around the world leading to longer outages in Europe than in North America. Here in Jamaica, we were out for about a day and half. Quite frankly, a day and half too long!

But, we are smart right? We know exactly how to fix the problem! We send a broadcast message over BBM with some nonsensical number and that will make BB work again. Right? Wrong!

Read the full article

Revisit Facebook Gaming: Simple, additive and free

2011-10-22T11:57:00.000-04:00

So, how many hours a day do you spend on Facebook? Are you already playing games like Farmville for more hours than you care to admit to? Worry not, ‘cause you are not alone.

As Facebook exploded, so did gaming on the platform used by half a billion people worldwide. The games are hugely popular because they are easy, addictive and free.

Unlike console games which require a sizable investment in both hardware and game tiles, these online games require no specialized equipment. After all, you already have the PC/Mac for a number of other applications. No special, expensive controllers are needed either. Facebook games take advantage what you already have for Facebook.

And, most game titles are free. There is no fee required to initially access and play the games. Within the games, there are optional upgrade costs but, they are just that, optional.

The next thing that makes them popular is how easy the games are. You know gamers, or thing you do, they are geeks that scour the internet for cheat sheets and complex tricks to truly enjoy the games. But by contrast, Facebook games are super easy to learn and play.

Popular titles like Farmville, Mafia Wars, FrontierVille, Bejeweled Blitz and Texas Hold ‘Em Poker are all the rave on the social network. And, don’t think you play these games alone. Facebook is the perfect place to rope in your friends; invite them to play against you or with you, beg them for help or just sympathy if you need.

The social nature of the games makes the interactivity more fun and more engaging. And I mean really engaging. Nearly half of all Facebook users play games for up to seven hours a week (at work I am sure). There are also more women than men playing games too! Talk about the demolishing the perception of gamers.

If that wasn’t enough, Facebook made some changes recently to make gaming even better. First up, games are now available in full screen mode. The increased real estate opens up the gamers view allowing for more involved game play.

Then, the transformed the ticker to provide real time gaming updates from other players feed in a steady stream.

In recent months, Facebook gaming has declined slightly in terms of users and number of hours of game play. This nominal decline is most likely the result of great, cheap, easy mobile games for smartphones and tablets. In addition to the Facebook changes, there are a new slew of games coming from developers to Facebook to sweeten the experience. This is the time to check out the new, free options. Most games are great for all, but a few are really just for adults. If you’re a parent, weary of those games.

Log in and have fun on Facebook.

Tech: IT Easy - Back to School Technology

2011-09-01T11:48:00.002-04:00

If you're a parent, aunt, uncle or cousin, I bet your pocket is already hurting from back-to-school shopping. Books, backpacks, writing instruments and a slew of other necessities probably took priority on your list of things to get for school. But let's face it, we live in a technology-driven world, so you've gotta get some tech for your little child, niece or nephew heading back to school next week.

Hardware always has a cost and, sometimes, that cost can be high. But students with the right hardware are much more likely to perform better in school. Some options to consider include:

Computer: PC or Mac, Desktop or Notebook, Tablet or Netbook, the choice of form is a personal decision, but it all starts here.

Printer/Copier/Scanner: Email and other forms of electronic submission are increasing in popularity, but paper is still the dominant form of communication.

Portable storage device: A simple flash drive will do for some, an external hard drive is needed by others; but the very nature of school means that students have to do work from multiple locations so portable storage is essential.

Digital Dictaphone: This one may not be a necessity, but it sure makes life easier to record lectures, study sessions, oral language practices. Many smartphones are great Dictaphones as well.

Not so necessary but really cool: All work and no play made Carlette a dull girl, if I were back in school my must have list would be augmented with a digital camera, a Sling Box, a TV, a DVD/Blu-ray disc player, external speakers, an MP3 player and a handheld game console.

Read the full article

Tech IT Easy: Windows 8 Late

2011-08-12T19:26:00.000-04:00

Microsoft is yet to announce the release date of its still-in- development operating system, Windows 8. But, during a preview earlier this year, the company revealed plans that it hopes will help it gain and keep the business tablet market.

Tablets, made popular by the category leader iPad, have changed the way many consume content. Books, movies, music - and not just entertainment - PDF files, spreadsheets, email and more, became immediately available in the palm of your hands, thanks to tablets.

Inspired by the tablet revolution and the rise of other touch-based devices like the popular, if not successful, Windows Phone 7, Microsoft has developed a cross-platform OS with touch in mind for all devices. Instead of having to learn a new OS or work with different operating systems for your PC, tablet and phone, Windows 8 offers one OS for all devices.

On the PC, Windows 8 issues a death certificate to the traditional Windows Start Button in favour of live tiles, inspired by Windows Phone 7. Instead, live tiles ‹ updated with content from the app the tile represents ‹ replace the now-antiquated start menu. This has been ripped directly from WP7, which some would argue was ripped from iPhone.

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Tech: IT Easy - TV is Internet, Internet is TV

2011-07-31T20:27:00.000-04:00

I can't wait, really, I am so excited to have my TV on my iPad or laptop. Every since my friend got a Slingbox, I have been intrigued by the idea of being able to access my TV from anywhere across the island or across the world over the Internet.

Working late and want to watch the news? Go right ahead. Travelling on business and want to watch your favourite local TV show? Nothing stopping you. It's your home cable box, effectively streamed to your computer so you can control it remotely.

Effectively, you have TV everywhere. Which is the name of the new service coming soon from Flow, Flow Everywhere. They will take it up a notch. In addition to streaming of your cable box to your PC, the Everywhere service will stream to other Internet-enabled devices likes iPads and smartphones. That means live TV content on your phone.

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Tech IT Easy: Get Animated | Cartoons Go Local

2011-07-02T09:54:00.000-04:00

If you're a fan of American animated sitcoms like South Park and Family Guy, you are going to love Cabbie Chronicles.

Here it is: a group of local actors, scriptwriters and animators took a look at Jamaican life and made it funny with cartoons. In reality, it wasn't that simple, but Cabbie Chronicles does showcase the absolutely hilarious interactions that are truly Jamaican.

And it's not easy. Each episode of Cabbie Chronicles is roughly five minutes long but takes months to make. It starts with the characters, story, the script and the storyboard. This is a heart and soul of the project; this is where the true Jamaican personality comes out to shine.

Next, the team moves to the studio to voice all the characters and, in some cases, create original music for the TV/Internet series.

Then, the really time-consuming work begins. Graphic artists, now animators, spend months creating the images needed for the animation. Locked down in dark rooms with advanced equipment and cutting-edge software, the animators string together hundreds of thousands of images in a precise and specific sequence to give the illusion of movement.

Read the full article

Tech Check: BlackBerry Trivia Challenge Competition Terms and Conditions

2011-06-08T19:45:00.000-04:00

Mechanics
Visit: http://wildfireapp.com/website/6/contests/125850 and take the Tech Check: Blackberry Trivia Challenge. Answer true or false to seven questions correctly for a chance to win. Only entries which have answered all seven questions correctly are eligible for the random draw.

Prizes
The grand prize is a BlackBerry Pearl 3G phone provided by LIME.

Conditions of this Promotion

To participate entrants must be 18 years or older to enter.
Open to all residents of Jamaica except for Employees and family of employees of Breakthrough Communications and Headline Entertainment.
Breakthrough Communications reserves the right to publish the name, address and photograph of winners.
By entering the Contest, participants agree (to the extent possible under the law) to hold harmless the Promoters, its advertising and promotional agencies, the affiliates of the foregoing and all of their respective directors, officers, owners, partners, employees, agents, representatives, successors and assigns (collectively, the “Released Parties”), against any and all liability, damages or causes of action (however named or described) with respect to or arising out of: (i) participant’s participation in the Contest; (ii) the receipt or use of the Prize awarded therein, and (iii) the administration of the Contest and the distribution of the Prize awarded therein. Participants hereby release, waive and discharge any and all claims of damage, loss or causes of action (including negligence) including but not limited to death, personal injury or loss or damage to property which the entrant, his/her guests, and their respective representatives, heirs, next of kin or assignees (“Participant’s Representatives”) may have or which may hereinafter accrue to the entrant or Entrant’s Representatives against the Released Parties or as a result of the Participant’s participation in the Contest or use of the Prize awarded herein.
This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook. Entrants understand that they are providing their information to the Promoter and not to Facebook. The information you provide will only be used for the explicit delivery of prizes.
By entering the Promotion, participants agree to abide by the rules set out here and the decisions of the Promoters with respect to all aspects of the Promotion, which are final. Participants who have not complied with these rules are subject to disqualification.
The Prize is not transferable and must be accepted as awarded with no substitutions in cash or otherwise, except at Promoter’s sole discretion. The Promoters reserve the right to substitute a prize of equivalent value if the Prize or a component of it cannot be awarded as described. The Promoters and the Released Parties are not responsible, whether as a result of human error or otherwise, for failure to contact any potential winner, and will not be responsible for contacting or awarding the Prize to any selected entrant that provides incorrect or incomplete information.
The promoter reserves the right to withdraw or amend this promotion in the event of any unforeseen circumstances outside their reasonable control.
All entries in this Promotion will be automatically disqualified without notice if an entrant promotes this Promotion through unsolicited commercial e-mail or multiple postings.
The Promoters and the Released Parties will not be responsible for late, lost, illegible, falsified, delayed, incomplete or destroyed entries and all such entries are void, The Promoters does not assume any responsibility for incorrect or inaccurate capture of entry information, technical malfunctions, human or technical error, lost delayed or garbled data or transmissions, omissions, interruptions, deletion, defect or failures of any telephone or computer lines or networks, computer equipment, software or any combination thereof. Entry materials/data that have been tampered with or altered are void.
The Promoter is not liable for any problems, errors, or negligence that may arise or occur in connection with this Promotion, including but not limited to, any damage to the entrant’s computer or another other technical device, or software, as a result of the entrant’s participation in this Promotion.
All entries become the property of the Promoters and will not be returned. No correspondence will be entered into with any entrant except with the entrant selected as a potential Prize winner
Unless otherwise agreed by the Promoters in writing, all intellectual property rights in or over all submitted entries will become the property of the Promoters rights to reproduce, rights to the resale of the entry itself and any reproductions of it will become the sole and unencumbered property of the Promoter.
The Promoters reserve the right to delay, terminate or amend this Promotion at any time with prior notice if any factor interferes with its proper conduct as contemplated by these rules, including, without limitation the entry by persons outside the jurisdiction of Jamaica or persons under the age of 18 years, or failure in whole, or in part of the facebook.com web-site or any related component or module, or an order by an applicable governmental authority.
The Promotion and Mechanics shall be exclusively governed and construed in accordance of the laws of Jamaica.
By accepting the Prize, the Winner and his/her guests consent to the use of his/her name, address, voice, statement and photographs or other likenesses for publicity purposes in any media or format without further compensation now or hereafter.
If for any reason this promotion is not capable of running as planned including (but not limited to) infection by computer virus, bugs, tampering, unauthorised intervention, fraud, technical failures, war, terrorism or any other causes beyond the control of the Promoters which corrupts or affect the administration security, fairness, integrity or proper conduct of this promotion, the Promoter reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any entrant who tampers with the entry process, and to cancel, terminate, modify or suspend the promotion subject to state regulations.
Should winners refuse to participate in the Promoter’s public relations campaign; Promoters reserve the right to with old prize(s).
All winners must provide a valid proof of identification i.e. passport, national voter’s identification or a driver’s licence to collect their prize.
In the event that upon redemption a winner is under 18 years of age the entry becomes null and void.
In the event that upon redemption a winner does not have valid ID, then Breakthrough Communications reserves the right to refuse to hand over prize(s) until the required verification can be made.
Prizes are not redeemable for cash.
By participating in this promotion you give Breakthrough Communications the right to contact you for future promotion.
All transactions and winners are subject to the rules, regulations and process of the Promoters.
Entrants are deemed to have accepted these terms and conditions by participating in this promotion.

Tech Time: Protecting Blackberry Data

2011-05-24T22:25:00.000-04:00

BlackBerry's are the number one smart phone in Jamaica. We store a treasure trove of both business and personal information on our handsets, so protection of that data should be important. Yet, all too often, you hear of someone saying that they lost their phone and in many cases, their livelihood along with it.

Fortunately, RIM has provided two ways to backup and store your most precious data.

BlackBerry Protect
Similar to services long since available to iOS and Android users, BlackBerry now offers a free remote backup service that is integrated with the handset. If the app icon is not available on your screen, then visit the BlackBerry website and download it.

After the download, you can configure your account to backup your contacts, calendar, tasks, memos, bookmarks and texts. Unfortunately, you can't browse this data online, but you can restore it to a handset when needed, like after a catastrophic crash or after replacing a phone.

BlackBerry Desktop Manager
To backup your media and third party apps, download and install the free BlackBerry Desktop Manager for both PC and Mac. This software allows for a complete syncing with your organizer and media, a complete restore of all settings including passwords, it facilities software and OS updates, it manages apps and if you ever need to switch a device, this is the way to do it.

Both options are free and easy, certainly much easier than loosing all your data and having to start over from scratch.

Tech Time airs every Tuesday morning on FAME FM at 8:00 AM EST www.CarletteDeLeon.com | www.fame95fm.fm

2011-05-17T08:00:00.001-04:00

In less than a decade, Facebook has amassed over half a billion users and has become an integral part of our lives. Many of us spend hours on Facebook for business and pleasure. But there was time before Facebook, and most importantly, there will be a time after.

Social networks have been around for as long as there have been people. There are countless social groupings big and small that cater to both niche and general needs. When traditional social networks went digital, an opportunity was created for sites like Hi5, Bebo and MySpace.

Sites like YouTube and Flickr embedded social networking features into their platforms. Then came Facebook, which arguably claimed the social networking space, soon to be joined by Twitter. But despite the dominance of these platforms, there are other social networks poised to be the next big thing.

Using geolocation tools, FourSqaure and Gowalla have made an impact on social networking. Taking it further, Groupon uses both geolocation and social integration to offer shopping deals. And LinkedIn has emerged as a Facebook for grown-ups looking exclusively for business networking.

Some social networking sites have already made their impact such as: Plaxo, Tagged and WAYN. Some never did, like Microsoft Spaces and Google Buzz. While others remain popular, if under the radar like Flixter, Ning, StumbleUpon and Yelp.

No one can predict if a social networking bubble is approaching, but for now, the trend remains strong.

Tech Time airs every Tuesday morning on FAME FM at 8:00 AM EST www.CarletteDeLeon.com | www.fame95fm.fm

Tech Time: Banned from Facebook

2011-05-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

Half a billion users take advantage of Facebook as a social media platform for both personal and professional reasons. With such a diversity of people, it’s hard for Facebook to fulfill its mandate to, “strike a balance between giving people freedom to express their viewpoints and maintain a safe and trusted environment.” Sometimes, good people get ‘banned from Facebook’.

Unfortunately, a Facebook account may be suspended or deactivated with or without warning from the administrators for various reasons.

Spamming and Phishing

To prevent users from taking advantage of the platform, Facebook routinely deactivates the accounts of users who send too many friends requests, post too many identical wall posts, poke too many people or post too many promotional links. Problem is, no one knows how much is too much, or too much too soon.

Offensive Content

Facebook's rules state users “will not post content that is hateful, threatening, or pornographic, or that incites violence, or contains nudity or graphic or gratuitous violence.” But this interpretation can be very broad. Facebook has been known to censor images of persons post surgery, naked babies in a tub, pregnant women inspired by Demi Moore and even classic art.

Other violations

Having multiple accounts, using a fake (or celebrity name even if its your real name) or posting material that is in violation of copyright laws will also get an account ‘banned’.

Facebook routinely monitors as many pages as it can to identify and ‘punish’ offenders of its policies, but it also relies on its users to report offensive and inappropriate content. Every user is empowered to tag content as inappropriate with the simple click of a mouse. Unfortunately, this too can be abused.

Suspended accounts can be restored, but it is not a simple or fast process. Worse, the process is not guaranteed. Users must email Facebook and plead their case in the most eloquent way possible. Emails to Facebook are routinely not answered (in part because of the sheer volume), so banned users must be prepared to send multiple, personalized emails over time (because multiple generic emails all at once will be considered spam and not considered for a response).

It is then decidedly better not to have an account deactivated, rather then try to have a suspended account restored.

Tech Time airs every Tuesday morning on FAME FM at 8:00 AM EST. www.CarletteDeLeon.com | www.fame95fm.fm

Tech: IT Easy - There's An App for You

2011-05-05T12:00:00.000-04:00

I am sure you've heard the expression, "there's an app for that!" It's the tag line for the Apple AppStore. The AppStore is filled with over 350,000 apps (small software programmes designed specifically for smartphones), apps for games, for business, for learning, for everything!

Moving from Apple to Android, the Android Market is expected to eclipse the AppStore in just a few months. Nokia's apps store, Ovi, is likely to give way to the Windows Phone Market, which also boasts thousands of premium apps.

Apple, Android? What about the BlackBerry? Jamaica is BlackBerry territory. Based on the sheer volume of BB handsets in use on island, we think BlackBerry is the best (and only) smartphone out there. So, BlackBerry's App World must have the best apps, right? Wrong.

RIM introduced App World in 2009 to create a space for easy distribution of platform-specific applications from third-party developers to handsets. The store is filled with cool apps like Twitter for BlackBerry, FourSquare, Facebook for BlackBerry, Whats App, Windows Live Messenger, Documents to Go, and useful tools. Of course, App World is a an app itself and it's free with every BlackBerry handset.

Read the full article

Tech: IT Easy - Stalking Made Easy

2011-04-28T12:00:00.000-04:00

Mobile phones better than police tracking

It was big news last week when a couple of developers identified a 'secret, unencrypted file' on iPhones and 3G iPad that track everywhere the device goes and, by extension, everywhere YOU go. This shouldn't really be a surprise; Android and Windows Phone 7 handsets do this too.

Smartphones have really evolved; using data from cell sites, WiFi hotspots and even built-in GPS, your smartphone can identify your physical location within just a few metres (or yards if you are old school like me). The tech term for this feature is: geo-location.

Geo-location services can be so cool. Using geo-location services, we can get directions to where we want to go on interactive maps (i.e. Google Maps), we can post tips on places we visit, find friends wherever in the world they may be (i.e. Foursquare), and we can know exactly where a specific panoramic shot was taken (i.e. picture properties). Soon, Jamaica will further exploit the potential of geo-location services to track traffic and offer coupons based on businesses and stores we frequent.

Read the full article

Tech Time: Facebook Expert

2011-04-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

In less than a decade, Facebook has become almost ubiquitous to social human communication in the developed countries and is challenging traditional business communications as well. Yet, there are some Facebook holdouts and worse, passive Facebook users that do not harness the full potential of medium.

Master the Zuckerberg brainchild with this first round of tips:

Selectively Hide Status Updates

Moms and bosses may not be friends in real life, but as online friends, they have access to your most personal status updates if you do not carefully tweak your privacy settings. Click on Account Settings, then Customise and under “Posts by Me”, limit who can and can’t see that you are having a bad day.

Link Up With Friends

Expand the “range of your posts” and get your friends involved by tagging them in your posts. Much like Twitter, bring up the “@” sign in the update and a self populated list will popup allowing your to select the friends, pages or events you wish to tag. Visitors you’re your profile can then instantly hyperlink to your tagged friends AND your post automatically appears in their timeline.

Icon Up

It’s hard to believe that Facebook does not automatically convert :) into the corresponding ☺ smiley. If you’re a geek, that won’t bother you at all, simply hold down the ALT key while keying in the corresponding number sequence for the emoticon you wish to share. If that’s too much effort, just copy and past the desired symbol from: http://copypastecharacter.com/ or http://facebook-symbols.com/characters/ into your post.

Block Bad News

By default, Facebook’s News Feed filters Top News, posts that receive the most likes, comments or from profiles/pages your interact with the most including stuff from people you would rather not see. Take control of the News Feed by clicking Most Recent, then Edit Options to hide posts from profiles or pages that have become an annoyance to you. No need to un-friend or un-like; this option just quietly prevents their rubbish from cluttering your stream and no one has to know.

Tech Time airs every Tuesday morning on FAME FM at 8:00 AM EST. www.CarletteDeLeon.com | www.fame95fm.fm

Tech Time: Amateur DJ Software & iPad Apps

2011-04-19T08:00:00.001-04:00

Everybody wants to play music, but not everyone is a DJ. However, with advanced amateur DJ software, aspiring turntablists can be one step closer to that dream.

There are lots of great DJ software applications that give you some of the same powers as a professional DJ and these include consumer versions of pro DJ software. Popular titles include Zulu, PCDJ, Virtual DJ and DJ Mixer Pro.

Certainly features vary by programme, but generally, DJ software allows users to mount tracks from an iTunes library, add gimmicks, samples, distortion, delay and reverb on the fly and output music to speakers/headphone or burn to a CD.

To truly impress a crowd, a DJ has to mix! Software substitute ears with built in BPM matching and key selection to keep mixes on point. Crossfade and track preview are advanced mixing features for smooth transitions.

In addition to sourcing files from the users existing iTunes library, premium DJ software can import and convert a number of file formats or can make use of an external audio mixer for greater control. Many amateur DJ’s mix for karaoke and live video, which can be supported by DJ software. Expect to pay between US$140 and US4140 depending on the software, or try the free versions.

Moving from the desktop/laptop, to tablets like the iPad, a whole slew of DJ apps have emerged to bring power and performance to the portable devices. djay currently holds the title of most popular reviews, but Mixr is expected to hit the platform soon and rival its dominance.

Free apps are available, but budget at least US$10 for the best apps in the App Store.

Tech Time airs every Tuesday morning on FAME FM at 8:00 AM EST. www.CarletteDeLeon.com | www.fame95fm.fm

Tech Time: Radio Controlled (RC) Vehicles

2011-04-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

Sometimes referred to as remote control or radio controlled, self-powered model vehicles are operated from a distance using a special transmitter. Though cars and trucks are most popular, helicopters, planes, blimps, boats, submarines and tanks are also available.

RC vehicles are crafted to scale, operate on multiple radio frequencies from a hand-held dashboard controller and are often very detailed die cast models of actual vehicles.

In a world of options, RC’s are powered by either batteries or fuel cells (sometimes referred to as Nitro RC’s), may be designed for on or off road and fit into two broad categories – toy and hobby.

Newbies start with the toy grade RC; they are easy to operate, have low top speeds but are often un-repairable. The clean running, low noise electrics are recommended for newbies. More experienced RC enthusiasts graduate to the hobby grade. Hobby RC’s generally offer longer life spans, superior performance, more speed control, more fuel options and have user serviceable parts, which can be interchanged or tweaked.

For the cars and trucks, RC’s are built to be enjoyed either on road or off. On road RC’s race at high speeds, have a sleek body and require a smooth surface to operate best. Conversely, off road (sometimes called off-track) cars and trucks have full suspensions, large, rubberized tires, high chassis and shock absorbers fitted to function well on unpredictable terrain.

Regardless of category, all RC’s are done to scales ranging from the littlest 1:64 to the largest 1:4 with 1:8, 1:10 and 1:12 being the most popular scales. Again, regardless of design, RC’s have four basic parts:

Transmitter: sends remote radio waves to the receiver and is otherwise known as the remote control. This hand-held device generally operates in a frequency range of 27-49 MHz. Full function controllers have options for forward, reverse, forward left, forward right, reverse left and reverse right for precision movements.

Receiver: antenna or circuit board on the vehicle receives the signals and activates the motor.

Motor: turns the wheels/wings, propellers/engines

Power source: pushes electric or fuel based power

For more on RC vehicles visit:

Tech Time airs every Tuesday morning on FAME FM at 8:00 AM EST. www.CarletteDeLeon.com | www.fame95fm.fm

Tech Time: Alternative Fuel Cars

2011-04-05T08:00:00.001-04:00

Car tech applies to more than just car stereos. With new technology, traditional gas vehicles may give way to alternative fuel vehicles, sometimes called green cars. Green cars are becoming more popular due to increasing environmental concerns and increasing oil prices.

There is no clear standard alternative fuel technology. Options include: flexible fuel, natural gas, neat-ethanol, hybrid electric, plug-in electric, solar, bio-diesel and hydrogen. Countries like Brazil, Canada, the US, Sweden, Pakistan, Argentina, India and Japan are leading the “charge” in the adoption of alternative fuel vehicles.

Currently, there are a wide range of alternative fuel cars available for purchase including the popular Toyota Pirus, Lincoln MK2, Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, Ford Taurus and VW Flex with more models coming soon including the Ford Focus, Toyota Rav 4 and Honda Fit EV.

Depending on the point of view, the choice may be considered diverse or limited. Regardless, the three alternative fuel technologies that are most prolific are electric, hybrid and flex-fuel.

Electric cars are relatively low range cars with a driving distance of approximately 40 miles. They require long recharging sessions of up to eight hours on a home 240v charger. Charging stations, like gas stations, are not yet available. With no gas tank, these cars have an unlimited MPG rating.

Hybrid cars use both a battery and gas engine for separate power trains. The battery pack is charges from excess engine energy and braking. In some, hybrid hybrids, the battery pack may also be charged by plugging in the vehicle. At low speeds and heavy traffic the car uses only the battery cells and calls on the gas engine only at speeds toping 25 MPH. Hybrids boast a 50-MPG rating.

Most modern cars can work on a blend of up to 15% ethanol with traditional gas; this flexible fuel is called E10 or E15. Ethanol has a higher octane rating, which is beneficial to high compression ratio engines, but has lower fuel economy. The lower fuel economy is offset by the relatively lower cost.

Only gas and diesel, ethanol, which is made from corn or sugar cane, is a renewable resource. It reduces the need for fossil fuels and produces less carbon monoxide. In Brazil, special flex-fuel cars can use up to 100% ethanol or an ethanol gas blend for the greatest savings.

Tech Time airs every Tuesday morning on FAME FM at 8:00 AM EST. www.CarletteDeLeon.com | www.fame95fm.fm

Tech IT Easy: Digital Money - Calling Out Cash

2011-03-31T11:49:00.001-04:00

There was a time when I would get paid on a fortnight Friday, and spend all day Saturday paying bills; I'd fight the traffic, the lines and the dangers of walking around with my hard-earned cash. Then I would spend my Saturday evening reviewing all the receipts I had collected and reworking my budget for the cycle ahead. I absolutely do not miss the old days.

Today, all my bills are sent to me by email. No paper, no postal delays. And instead of joining long lines, I pay my bills online. My advice is to skip the individual utilities and creditors - they do allow you to pay them directly - and consolidate all your bill payments through your commercial bank. No bank? No problem. Log into BillExpress or PayMaster to accomplish the same goal.

Real savings, at least in terms of time, come with paying taxes online. Kudos to Inland Revenue for improvements that reduce wait times, but still, I would rather avoid the office altogether.

With the time (and transportation costs) I have saved, I shop online; something else not possible a few years ago.

In addition to the still popular credit card, Jamaicans can take advantage of online deals by paying with the locally based VCard (a prepaid access card), the ubiquitous PayPal or Google Check-Out. American Express launched yet another option, Serve, expected to be available later this year.

Setting up a PayPal account is easy and it is accepted by thousands of merchants on the Internet. Of course, you will need a credit card to transfer funds into you PayPal account and it could take several days to activate.

All this talk of virtual payments is great, but humans live in the real world. We leave our computers at home and buy goods and services from physical 'brick and mortar' stores. And there has never been a more exciting time to shop! Ditch your purse or wallet, grab your phone and hit the mall!

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Tech Time: Car Stereo Features

2011-03-29T10:40:00.003-04:00

It’s not uncommon to see a broken down old car with a kicking stereo in Jamaica. Jamaican’s love music and will install the best stereo that their money can buy. Yesterday, it was all about sound quality; stereo enthusiasts looked at nominal impedance levels, frequency response and dynamic peak power. Features like a digital clock, remote control, anti-skip mechanism, EQ pre-sets and controls for bass, treble, balance and fader were common.

But today, car stereos are held to a new standard, they are expected to do much more! AM/FM receivers are joined by satellite and HD radio receivers on many new car stereo models. Higher end models also boast multi-media and DVD playback, while iOS integration along with RCA, USB, AUX and SD Card inputs are increasingly common.

As for control, remote controls and steering wheel controls compete with touch screen interfaces for true mastery of the stereos. Then, there is voice control. Several new car stereo models utilize voice commands to navigate everything from basic controls, to song selection.

Voice control also facilitates hands-free communication where the stereo is paired with a smartphone via Bluetooth®. Taking is a step further, Bluetooth® streaming also allows the users to wirelessly stream songs, podcasts and other audio from the owners phone to the car stereo for a rich listening experience.

The word “stereo” is still used to describe what amounts to an entertainment, communication and information centre. Yet a modern car “stereo” can also facilitate the feed from a rear-view camera.

Really, car stereos are mini-computers sometimes even with their own hard drive and Internet access. In addition to storing media files on the included hard drive, often the hard drive contains navigation data for GPS while 3G Internet access bring a wealth of other services such as real time Facebook status updates.

Of course checking you Facebook status while driving can prove dangerous, so new car stereos have safety features that lock out attention hogging activities while the car is in motion. In order to achieve this level of safety and functionality, modern day car stereos should be installed by a professional who can tap into the car’s parking break sensor, vehicle speed pulse sensor and reverse light power lead, can mount a microphone and GPS antenna and make all other necessary connections.

With so many features, there are plethora of design options and brands from which to choose. Stereos may be single or double din in dash or external, have colour touch screen interfaces with high-resolution monitors and motorised faceplates. Pioneer, Alpine, Kenwood, Sony, Pyramid and Boss Audio are some of the popular brands.

Tech Time airs every Tuesday morning on FAME FM at 8:15 AM EST. www.CarletteDeLeon.com | www.fame95fm.fm

Tech Time: Cool Car Tech: Vehicle Tracking

2011-03-22T07:40:00.002-04:00

Once reserved for commercial applications, real-time, 24/7 vehicle tracking is now a practical security option for private individuals.

The process starts with the discrete installation of a tracking device in the car. The device can take up to two to three hours to install and uses GPS and mobile phone technology (meaning a dedicated SIM card) to monitor and transmit the location of the vehicle to a base station. Thanks to the internet, that base station can be just about any internet enabled device.

Service is offered island wide, save for a few black spots due to Jamaica’s hilly terrain.

Several local companies offer the service with various benefits and costs including King Alarm, Hawkeye and Guardsman. Each provides real time monitoring and once an alarm has been sounded, will dispatch a team working with local police to retrieve the lost vehicle. Recovery rates vary, but are high in all cases with some clearing 100%. The quick response also leaves very little time to strip or damage the vehicle, so cars, SUV’s, mini vans and buses are often recovered in good condition.

The alarm may be triggered by a panic button in the car or may be trigged by a phone call or special emergency call signal from outside the vehicle as well. This includes an authorized third party.

In addition to the obvious benefits, like peace of mind and reduced insurance costs, vehicle tracking has some special benefits as well. Using the internet tracking options, parents can see exactly where children go when they borrow the car, children can afford elderly parents and sense of security when on the road and husbands can quickly assist wives who may be lost, have a flat tire or otherwise disabled on the road.

Tech Time airs every Tuesday morning on FAME FM at 8:15 AM EST. www.CarletteDeLeon.com | www.fame95fm.fm

Tech Time: Blackberry Media Sync

2011-02-15T06:51:00.003-05:00

For many Blackberry owners, the handset is always on and always available. This convenience makes the Blackberry the perfect replacement for a CD or MP3 player. The Blackberry media player allows the user to multitask while listening to music on the handset, which uses a standard or Bluetooth headset for listening. It also boasts standard controls (play, pause, rewind, restart, ect.) in addition to repeat and shuffle functions.

There are a variety of ways to transfer music to the Blackberry handset – single song transfer via Bluetooth or multi-song transfer using a micro-SD card as external storage.

However, the simplest, most effective method is by using Blackberry MediaSync, available as a component of Blackberry Desktop Manager, for free. Blackberry MediaSync integrates seamlessly with iTunes (also free) to transfer playlists, albums, songs and even album art if available from your computer to your handset. The software is available for both PC and Mac.

Blackberry MediaSync replaces the somewhat clunky and much less effective Roxio Media Manager that was previously standard on Blackberry Desktop Manager.

Follow these steps to synchronise music from the computer to the Blackberry handset using Blackberry MediaSync:

Download and install iTunes (if not already installed and in use). Import music and organize playlists
Download and install the latest version of Blackberry Desktop software, connect the Blackberry via USB cable and launch the software (if not done automatically on connection)
On the left panel, below “MediaSync”, select “Music”
Tweak settings - choose individual songs, albums, playlists, all music or random music
Click “Sync” and allow the songs to be transferred

Note that some music formats will not play on a Blackberry handset; neither will DRM protected audio files.

Tech Time airs every Tuesday morning on FAME FM at 8:15 AM EST www.CarletteDeLeon.com | www.fame95fm.fm

Tech: IT Easy - Demand Convenience

2011-02-03T14:00:00.000-05:00

The revolution is being televised! Television is a great technological device and it has changed so much over the years.

Its basic purpose, to show moving images, remains the same. But how we get those moving images now is just remarkable.

Previously, we received content passively. TV shows, movies and news were provided on a schedule, a schedule set by the 'powers that be' and we had to comply. Watch when 'they' say we should watch.

Then came devices like AppleTV (which I still love) and Roku along with services like Hulu and NetFlix. No need to leave work early, beat the traffic, go to the video store, rent the movie, watch it quickly and return it before late fees applied. These devices and services delivered content to us when we wanted it.

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Tech: IT Easy - 7 for 2011 for Free

2011-01-06T17:25:00.002-05:00

It is the dawn of a new year and a new decade. I bet you made a long list of new year resolutions - lose weight, quit smoking, buy a house, and so on. I really hope you have some tech resolutions on that list, too. Resolve to set your PC right, protect it from virus and make it run as efficiently as possible.

Let's start with your OS - operating system. Regardless of which version of Microsoft Windows you are using, make sure it is up to date. Windows is very powerful, but it is not infallible. Patches and updates, released on a periodic basis, fixes security holes and bugs that could compromise your machine.

Prevent hacks and crashes (or at least try to) by running Windows Update at the start of the year.

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Tech: IT Easy - Loose the Console, Keep the Phone

2010-12-30T17:29:00.001-05:00

Hand-held electronic gaming is not new. From the single game devices of the past, to game changing (pun intended) Nintendo Gameboy, to the now popular PSP (that's PlayStation Portable) and Nintendo DSi, mobile arcade-quality games are common place.

Many gamers could boast having a hand-held game device that allowed them to play some of the same games available on consoles like the Nintendo Wii, Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) and the Microsoft Xbox. Some of these games even boasted wireless communications via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi.

Then came the iPhone. With a brilliant screen, an accelerometer, simple controls and premium game titles, the iPhone turned mobile gaming on its face. It was no longer necessary for game geeks to travel with multiple devices to make calls and enjoy a superior game experience. With the iPhone everything fits into one neat package.

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Tech: IT Easy - Trinity of Choice

2010-12-23T17:32:00.000-05:00

You can save the world! Or a least a virtual version of it.

Despite all sorts of challenges, interest in video games is actually growing. Today's games are rich in graphics and storylines; I mean, truly engrossing. And, you don't need to be a geek to truly appreciate a good gaming experience.

There are three consoles that provide an awesome gaming experience. The other game console offerings are there, but don't rise to the title of awesome.

Sadly, I can't definitively say which is 'the best' because they are all really good. So, let's get right to it.

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