Granny Joan's Hitek Lady Blog

Time Zone Dilemma

2012-02-08T17:50:00.000-07:00

Found a great article that is important to read if you are traveling in different timezones. As I travel from timezone to timezone, I have found that my iCal or Mac Calendar app is messing with my appointment times. Somehow, an appointment I set for 9AM ends up at a different time when I switch timezones. For instance, if I set an appointment reminder for an event to attend at 9AM while on the East Coast and I fly a couple of timezones away, I might miss my appointment, as the time in the calendar gets changed.

If you have this problem, be sure to check out this well-written article to understand the settings and way to handle this problem. We don't want to miss any of our appointments!

Using Prospective to Capture the Moment

2012-01-31T09:59:00.002-07:00

While visiting a sugar cane museum in Port Louis, on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, I learned a good photo tip. At the museum there was the Beau Plan's historical chimney-stack, constructed in 1895 by A. Felix, an architect that stood 33 meters (over 100 feet) tall.

I wanted to take a photo of this very tall tower or smoke stack. This presented a problem - how best to obtain this type of photo. Normally buildings are so tall that one can't really get the entire building in the photo by looking up and snapping the photo. Normally, one would step back to try and get an angle on the object that would work while photographing. The area by the smoke stack was not conducive to backing up, as we were inside an enclosure which surrounded the tower. So I attempted to just look up and snap the photo which did not work.

Then, I noticed that there was a mirror slanted along the wall of the enclosure that was tilted in such a way as to reflect the tower onto the mirror. Cleverly, I decided to take a photo of the tower using the mirror. My first attempt was not successful, as I failed to realize that I would be in the photo. I ended up with the photo shown below (a self-portrait):

Stepping further away from the mirror I was able to capture only the tower. The results below:

Still not satisfied, I stepped to the side and took the best shot by angling the camera from a completely different prospective. See best photo below:

A valuable lesson in photography is to look up, look down and change your position to get the prospective you need on the object you are photographing. You never know what you might see or capture.

Creating a Panoramic Photo from Multiple Photos using Photo Elements

2011-12-15T04:52:00.001-07:00

While on my voyage I was fortunate to take five 2 hour workshops from Raul Touzon, a National Geographic photographer. As I am new to photo taking, I found his workshops and explanations invaluable and easy to follow.

One of his suggestions was to create panoramic photos of the areas that you visit. This gives you a more realistic photo of the actual place you visit. Anyone can take a photo of a palm tree, and that palm tree could be from numerous places around the globe. But if you take a series of frames of the landscape and then use 'stitching' software to automatically create the panorama of the area you are visiting you will truly have a unique picture of that place.

I was not sure if I had the skills to try this while in Madagascar and Seychelles and since we have landed in Maputo, Mozambique just a short while ago, I decided to take a photo of the view of the harbor from my deck. I took the center frame as I normally would do to get the harbor photo. Then it occurred to me that I should take multiple frames and try out the technique that Raul had presented and encouraged us to try. So I proceeded to take frames to the right of the first center frame and then to the left. I secretly wondered if this stitching software would handle my non-sequenced photos.

I then opened up Photo Elements and tried to find the option for creating a panoramic. This option is not so obvious, so I typed in "panorama" in the help box under the help menu and the help directed me to the option. The option is under the File>New menu option:

Under that menu was the Option "Photomerge Panorama ... I then selected the six or seven frames I had taken and used those to create the first panoramic type in the list of types of panoramas. It worked! My first panorama of the harbor and dock area of Maputo, Mozambique is certainly not as glamorous as the beautiful beaches and scenes we experienced in the Seychelles and Madagascar, but it provided a new incentive for me to give this option more consideration on my upcoming journey within Africa. Thanks to Raul, I will be extending my horizons and exploring more options in photography.

Duplicating Your Original Photos from iPhoto

2011-12-14T23:48:00.000-07:00

Most people who have a Mac automatically drag and drop there photos into iPhoto or have chosen to auto import any photos from their SD cards and cameras directly into the iPhoto application.

If you wish to keep a copy of the originals of your photos and import into other editing or photo management software, then it is best to just make a folder on your hard drive and copy the photos into that folder directly from your camera or photo memory card. To disable the the auto-import option in iPhoto, select the Preferences under the iPhoto menubar. Then select the General tab and click on "no application" in the pop-up options for camera connection opening.

In most cases when people decide later to use other software for editing and managing their photos, they wish to retrieve all their original photos from iPhoto in an efficient and easy manner. iPhoto does store the originals in your iPhoto library which is located on your hard drive. These photos are usually arranged in many folders nested in many other folders that are arranged by corresponding dates for these photos. Trying to duplicate these files and organize them into another folder for using is often cumbersome and confusing and is not obvious to the user where these files are located in the numerous folders on their Mac.

If using iPhoto 11 one can find these original folders located in a folder called Masters. (Note: early versions of iPhoto have a similar folder, possibly named Originals). You can select the Pictures folder in the finder for your username and then control click to reveal package contents. Searching through this hierarchy of folders reveals multiples of folders and files within these folders. Very confusing indeed!

For the latest iPhoto app it is probably easier to just run iPhoto, select all your photos and then use the export option to export all your folders to a new folder on your hard drive. To insure that you will be getting the original photo, be sure to select Maximum quality, Full Size, and original names. This will export all your photos to a new folder, thus duplicating your original photos. This of course means that you will have to resort them into various folders. Or you can select each album that is already sorted in some manner in iPhoto and export photos from each album into their own new folders on your hard drive desktop or where ever you have chosen to store them.

Remember it is best to keep an original folder of all your photos as an archive, working with a duplicate of your files is always wise. That way if your photo editing goes awry, you will have an original file that you can use to edit again.

iMessage Solution for Activation

2011-11-22T00:38:00.000-07:00

iMessage suddenly quit working on my iPad 2 and iPhone 3GS, yesterday. I am traveling and was very frustrated with the fact that I was not able to iMessage from overseas. As it turns out, I tried everything. I updated my iPhone to OS5.0.1, but left the iPad at 5.0 (just in case). I tried reboot, repowering and even reset my apple id and password. All that did not work.

As I was forced to change my password to meet the new 8 character, capital, number format - this caused panic in accessing emails, mobile me and other things. Resolved those issues, but iMessage still would not verify or activate. I tried resetting Facetime settings, iMessage settings and numerous other settings.

Alas, the solution was to turn off location and set my time zone to automatic. I have had to adjust the timezone manually as I am traveling and do not have satellite access all the time.

This works, finally my iMessage and Facetime were activated.

Hope this helps someone else. Suggest making sure your time zone is correct before trying to verify or activate before changing a bunch of settings and passwords.

Using Photo Booth on MacBook Air to Take Photos for Facebook

2011-11-15T05:01:00.003-07:00

As I travel the world, I find that it is so convenient to use my iPad and iPhone to take photos and then use an app like Twitpic to post photos to Twitter or upload to Facebook. Today, I was using my MacBook Air to email family and friends a progress report of today's activities when I remembered that I had a camera on my MacBook Air.

Normally I take some photos with my camera and upload with the handy card slot on my MacBook Air and then email the photos or post via the internet to sites like Twitter and Facebook. I decided to use Photo Booth on my MacBook Air to take a quick shot out the window of the rolling seas that I am encountering this day.

This is a conveninent way to take a quick shot. Photo Booth also has an option to share the photo to your iPhoto albums or to email to others. I decided to upload to iPhoto where I could then post them to Facebook. Don't forget you can use Photo Booth and your MacBook Air to take photos while traveling.

Once the photo is in iPhoto it is also easy to post to Twitter as well.

How to Remove Yourself from Lists on Twitter

2011-11-08T02:07:00.001-07:00

Recently, I was receiving a lot of spam emails, that I suspect originated from Twitter. I am also assuming that some of the 'twitter' followers are robots of sorts and decided this morning to check out Lists.

Lists is a feature that allows others to create separate lists for various friends, business acquaintances or people they follow with like interests or such. Anyone can create a list and place you on their list. I decided to check who had included me on their list and for what type of list. I decided that one or two of the lists were not something that I wanted to be on, so I decided that there must be a way to remove myself from these lists.

Researching online, I found that you can remove yourself from a list by merely blocking the person and then unblocking the person (if you still want to allow that person to follow you). It worked. I got rid of my name from the unwanted list and now will see if the unwanted emails and spam soon disappear as well.

Whoops! I Deleted My Documents Folder from My Dock!

2011-10-25T12:09:00.001-07:00

Today, I decided to back up my documents folder (which resides on my dock across the bottom) to an external hard drive. I thought that I could merely drag it to the external hard drive.

In the process of doing this drag, I dropped it on my desktop and Poof!, it was gone. So I decided the logical thing to do was to drag the documents folder from the left-side of my finder window to the dock to replace the one that I had deleted accidentally.

Alas, this all lead to panic, as I saw that the icon that appeared on my dock was not the nice folder that had once resided on my dock. In my frustration, I proceeded to perform numerous steps to recreate that folder called Documents on my desktop. I created a new folder, then dragged the contents from the finder to that new folder, but I forgot to hold down the option key so that it would just make a copy of the stuff, but instead it moved it. Wow. I noticed that my original Documents folder was now empty. Eek!

More panic as I thought that I had lost everything.

To make a long story short, here is what you do when you accidentally remove your documents folder from your dock. (Poof!):

Drag your documents folder from the left-side of your finder to the dock, it will be added to the dock. This is an alias and no files are physically copied. Now control-click the documents icon on the doc to select the view you want "Folder" and the option to Epand/Fan or Automatic view contents in folder when clicked.

Whew! I need to take a break from this before I truly do loose my stuff!

Using blogger app on my iPad

2011-10-21T01:49:00.001-07:00

This is a test of the iPhone app called blogger to post to my blog.

This is a photo. In settings be sure to set the size of images you wish to post to meet your column widths correctly.

Yes, Custom Text Tones for Individuals Using iOS 5

2011-10-16T12:39:00.003-07:00

iOS 5 has allowed us to select a different text tone for each of our contacts from a list of default tones for use when they message us. But as it always happens, users always want MORE than what is offered.

Since I had already had custom ringtones set up on my iPhone, it was no problem selecting one of these custom tones for the text tone. If you haven't tried setting tones on your iPhone for your family and friends, that is accomplished by going into your Contacts app (Addressbook) and selecting Edit. If you scroll down the items in the edit field, you should come across the field where you select a Text Tone. If you have installed some custom ringtones, they should appear in the list along with the default text tones that Apple offers. Select which one you wish to use as that special text tone and be sure to click the Save and Done buttons to preserve your choices.

I did not see these same custom ringtones on my iPad. I remembered that there was no real reason to add custom ringtones on my iPad 2 originally as I did not have "phone" capability and there was not an option to set different tones or such.

So I just selected some of my custom ringtones in iTunes and synced to my iPad 2. These now show up as options for Text Tones under the Contacts on my iPad. So now I have some pretty funky text tones for incoming messages on my iPad. I also read online that some suggest that these tones need to be 15 seconds or less. Guess it might be annoying to have a long ringtone. Or it might be that anything longer than 15 seconds might not work. I haven't tested that theory yet.

Some Great New Features in iOS 5 - be sure to check them out

2011-10-16T09:51:00.002-07:00

Here are some features worth checking out on your mobile devices using iOS 5:

• Creating albums and moving photos into albums

• Video formats that are now supported on the device

• Setting individual text tones for your family and friends

• Setting up iMessage to use for FREE texting to fellow iphone/ipad users

• Setting up special vibration tones for you iPhone

• Enhancing photos right in the Photos app: also rotate, crop and red-eye elimination

• New app for reminders tat can be synced across devices. Reminders can send alert when you are near a location.

• Accessing magazines on a newstand shelf.

• Tabs in Safari on your iPad devices

• Set up custom gestures and keyboard shortcuts

• New search features in Mail app

• New Reader in Safari to bookmark and read articles later.

• Use your volume button as a shutter button for your camera. Access camera from the lock home page.

• Swipe to view all your notifications and alerts and text messages and email subject titles from one central location. On iPhone also see stock and weather in this notification window.

• More gestures, wifi sync, pc free, icloud capable photo streaming, find your friends, airplay ....

• and text style like bold, underline, italic and suggestion for spelling in Mail app

iOS 5 Tip: Don't Overlook the New Alert Sounds

2011-10-13T10:45:00.001-07:00

The new iOS 5 for our mobile devices now includes the ability to set special sounds or tones for your alerts. Check out the Settings > General> Sounds> now available to customize.

iOS 5 Tip: Create Your Own Gestures on Mobile Devices

2011-10-13T10:41:00.001-07:00

For those who want to get creative with gestures they use on their iPad or iPhone, try selecting the Settings> General>Accessibility> Assistive Touch> Custom Gestures > Create New Gesture.

Your new gestures are recorded and accessed through a Favorites Menu.

iOS 5 Tip: Creating Your Own Keyboard Shortcut on iPhone, iPad

2011-10-13T10:25:00.001-07:00

You can create your own keyboard shortcuts by going to the Settings on your iPhone or iPad that has been updated to iOS 5.

Select the Add Shortcut, enter some keys and the corresponding message or phrase that will replace that text shortcut when you type a message or note.

Making An Album and Adding to Existing Album with iOS 5 Devices

2011-10-13T09:56:00.001-07:00

With the new iOS 5 for iPhone and iPad devices, comes some pretty cool features for photos. We've all wanted to be able to make albums on our iPhones and iPads and now we can do so.

Select the photo app icon on your device which brings up your camera roll of photos. Select the curved/share icon on the right side upper bar and then select the photos you wish to put in a new album or to put in an existing album.

If you select the option to create a new album, you will enter the name for that album and those photos will be organized in that new album. You, will also be given an option to put photos in an existing album and you merely select the name of the album where you place these photos.

Also with the iCloud option implemented your photos will be 'streamed' to the cloud and all your devices for seamless backup and access. I haven't impemented the iCloud as yet. If you connect your camera to your device via a camera connection kit, the photos will be automatically handled by the cloud if that option has been selected.

All of this seems to be pretty confusing at first, but Apple has some support documents or how-to's posted for situations that might arise. Check here for How to Reset Your Photostream and How to Remove photos from devices, Macs and PCs.

Where do my devices live?

2011-10-05T15:45:00.002-07:00

When I turn on my MacBook Air occasionally it comes up with the message that it's IP address is being used by another device or something to that effect. Thought I could check the IP address for all the devices around here and see if there is a conflict.

It was necessary to look up the IP Address for all my mobile devices, computers and gadgets, as well as the ones my husband has. Now, that is a lot of IP Addresses.

How to Find IP Address for future reference

To find the IP address for your computer, select System Preferences, Network. Select the Wi-Fi Connected on the left hand side and you should see the IP address listed in the first section under the words Status: Connected.

To find the IP address for your mobile devices, select the Settings icon and then click the blue arrow next to the Network name the device is connected to and you will see the IP address listed under DHCP tab.

To find the IP Address for the Airport Express and Airport Extreme devices, run Airport Utility from your computer and then on the left hand side, select or highlight each of the devices one at a time and then on the right hand side you will see the name of the device, the IP Address, version and Airport ID.

For most users that is probably the extent of their devices. But we have others around here including our Disklavier Piano which connects to iPhone/iPad apps, our computers and to its own remote device. We also have some cameras that we have been testing.

To find the IP Address for the piano, run DKVBrowser and the IP address will appear on the opening screen as you connect. If you are already connected and running the piano, you can find the IP address under the DKVBrowser menu> Preferences.

To find the IP Address of the IZON cameras, click on the blue arrow next to the camera icon in the camera screen, which will bring up the IZON Settings page for that camera, scroll to the bottom of the screen to the Advanced Section and click the arrow next to the Configuration Data. The IP address for that device (icon camera) will be listed next to IP address.

2011-09-03T08:26:00.004-07:00

Just returned from a great trip to Europe visiting Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium and France. The weather started out rainy in Germany and The Netherlands, but eventually the sun did come out and the temperatures during the entire trip were pleasant and tolerable for summertime.

I used the iPad 2 to keep track of all my documents, itineraries, maps, phone numbers and travel plans. I also had my iPhone along, but found the handy iPad screen to be easier to see and zoom in on the various city maps. I kept my iPhone in airplane mode and used only with wifi connections to avoid any large data download fees that would be associated with 3Gs network mode. I felt confident that if needed for that emergency call, that it could be retrieved from my pocket and used. My son also reminded me that I could always use a hotel or restaurant to call a cab when needed.

My husband had purchased the maps for Europe for his handheld GPS unit. On the occasions when I didn't go along with him and my daughter, they managed to get lost. Once he forgot to turn off the GPS unit while they were out exploring Amsterdam's many museums. They walked in the wrong direction when leaving the museum only to realize that my daughter had dropped her paper map somewhere along the walk, and he had no power left to consult his GPS. When I was along, I was able to wake up my iPad, run GoodReader app where I had conveniently downloaded the city maps in pdf form for offline viewing. We were always able to find our way.

I find that the best way to travel is to pre-plan by finding city maps, travel ideas and such from the internet sites and uploading these to Google Docs. I am then able to download these to my devices as needed for the cities that we visit using wifi or pre-load all of them prior to leaving the US. I also kept my other itineraries for accommodations and travel loaded for easy access. All the important confirmation numbers an such were very easy to access online or offline from my iPad or iPhone. If you have the mobile me email account, you can also email any pdf files to yourself before you leave and have access to those documents offline as well from your iPhone or iPad. I would have liked to use my iPhone with some of the travel apps I had downloaded while out and about, but didn't want to take a chance on incurring large fees on my phone bill, so I studied suggestions while using wifi in advance of the days outings.

We all downloaded an mp3 guide to the Louvre Museum and tried using our headsets to listen to the tour while exploring the museum. The Louvre is a great museum to see and we saw Mona and Venus, the two attractions that draw the most crowds. Everyone was crowded around the Mona Lisa trying to take an iPhone photo alongside. The number of iPhones I saw on this trip was astounding.

Here is a photo, my granddaughter took while in The Louvre Museum with my iPhone - she called it - "Baby World."

And of course, on the ten hour flight from the US to Europe and back, the granddaughters were easily entertained with Talking Tom, coloring apps and some favorite games. They also texted messages from the ship to their family while using wifi and the TextFree app. The ship we were on had excellent wifi coverage, so we were always connected via iPad, iPhones and MacBook Airs.

As I sit here today, I am longing for the new iOS 5 that will allow me more features for my future travels. I am envisioning that life abroad can be entirely possible if I am able to stay connected to family, friends and the internet.

Trying out the TwitPic Widget

2011-09-02T06:59:00.001-07:00

Updating ALL apps in iTunes Solution

2011-07-28T11:10:00.002-07:00

For several weeks now, I have been noticing that I have not been able to update ALL the apps (200+) in my iTunes for my Mac. I was consistently receiving a message that the connection with the store was not working or timing out and to try back later. Finally today, I noticed someone on the Yahoo iPhone forum was also experiencing this problem. So, as I often do, I sought out the solution. I have been able normally just to pick each app individually and update in that manner, but that can be time consuming when you have 200+ apps.

As I had installed Lion recently, I thought maybe this was the culprit, but didn't want to blame the new system for something without thoroughly testing some ideas. So, as I scoured the preferences in iTunes, I noticed under the advanced settings an option to Reset the iTunes Store Cache. So I thought what can I lose, so I clicked on the Reset Cache button next to this option. IT WORKED. My apps are being updated ALL at once.

So if you are having trouble updating ALL your apps at once in the iTunes store, you might try this solution. Be sure to let me know if it worked for you or if you have an alternate solution you wish to share. Happy updating to you.

International Charges on iPhone

2011-07-25T14:59:00.001-07:00

I've decided to outline some of the things I learned today, about using your iPhone abroad.

If you wish to use your iPhone for voice, text messaging, email, surfing the web or using apps that access the internet, while you are in Edge or 3G mode, then you will be charged.

If you receive a VoiceMail, you will be billed per minute and if you listen to that voicemail, you will be billed per minute. Note: You can have this Voicemail disabled by calling AT&T. It is nice to have this feature, assuming you don't have a lot of friends calling and leaving you messages all the time. A good reason to consider leaving this option enabled would be if you need to hear from someone back home.
Any calls you make overseas to overseas or the US will incur a charge per minute for each call based on the roaming fees associated with that country. To receive discounted per minute roaming rates, you can take out a World Traveler Plan costing $5.99 per month or you can be charged the standard rates for that country which a generally higher rate for the countries without taking out this plan. Therefore, if you just plan to make a few calls or only for emergency, it might not benefit you to also have the additional $5.99 monthly plan.
Text messages are received and billed as well. Check the ATT site for international costs and plans. Usually text message options will offer a cheaper alternative to incurring costs for lengthy voice calls.
When using email, surfing the web, streaming movies, or using apps that rely on data transmission you can rack up some pretty hefty charges. If you do not use these services on your iPhone while in the voice mode and only while using wifi, you can avoid these added costs. You should try to take advantage of free hotspots and inexpensive wifi services in cafes, hotels and restaurants during your trip. If you plan to access these services while under Edge or 3G, then it is advisable to get a plan offered for international usage which currently includes:

50 MB for $24.99 Monthly Charge

125 MB for $49.99 Monthly Charge

225 MB for $99.99 Monthly Charge

800 MB for 199.99 Monthly Charge.

Once you exceed the data by 1MB, you will be billed $10 for an additional 10MB

Note: The only way to keep your iPhone from automatically transmitting data is to keep both the "Data Roaming" and the "Fetch New Data" settings to OFF. Even if you change these settings to the OFF position, you will still be able to use your phone for voice and text. You also have the option of using wifi when available. To turn off data roaming please select Settings-General-Network-Data Roaming. To turn off data fetch Settings, Mail-Contacts-Calenders, Fetch New Data, Change push to off and select to Fetch Manually.

Note: The monthly plans for discounted rates per minute on voice calls and plans for data downloads can be added or removed at any time and do not involve a cancellation fee.

You are able to add and remove international features by accessing your online account or calling AT&T International Care at 1-800-335-4685. or if you are out of country you can dial 001-916-843-4685.

Note:

If you need to speak to an International Care Representative you can always chat with one online at the AT&T site. You can also send us an email by logging onto your online account at att.com/mywireless>contact us. Or you can reach a representative by dialing +1-916-843-4685 while you are outside of the country.

To reduce costs while overseas consider using wifi when available, using Skype or FaceTime type apps when wifi is available to make your calls, emailing or texting while using wifi. If you need navigation, see if your current handheld GPS devices are up-to-date with maps of the regions you plan to visit and use instead of incurring charges for downloading maps while using 3G or edge connection on your iPhone. Yes, Google Maps can be expensive to use while on data roaming charges are incurring for large data downloads of maps. I often download maps and use with GoodReader in the form of pdf file. That way, I can zoom in on city maps much like we did when we used paper maps. This can also be done by storing your pdf maps in your iBooks and can be accessed without using wifi or expensive data roaming plans.

Happy traveling. Remember with a little pre-planning you can enjoy your trip and avoid any unexpected expenses or surprises when you get home.

DKVBrowser Hiccup with Lion System

2011-07-20T18:59:00.001-07:00

I updated my Mac with the new Lion System today and have experienced a few problems with some of my applications. My Office programs like Excel, Word and Adobe Acrobat Standard no longer work. I also had a few hiccups with some of the other applications like FaceTime and Mail. Both of these are working fine, after installing the latest updates and rebooting my computer after a few forced quits.

I decided that I needed to test out controlling my Yamaha Disklavier Pianos, using DKVBrowser application. I clicked on DKVBrowser and received a message to the effect that I needed to update my java script. I clicked on the button to start the download and install. That seemed to work fine, but the DKVBrowser screen came up saying the connection failed. It could not locate the correct IP address which may have be reset not due to Lion, but to a power outage this morning. Anyway, entering the DKV###### into the IP Address box was accepted and everything working fine as usual now.

Always great when I can turn on my piano and pick a great song and listen to the music all from my downstairs office.

I have tried twice to run the virtual remote software from Yamaha on my Mac, but am receiving a message and error log. I will check it out and it report on it later. Need to check my notes to see the procedure.

I Can Sing with Songify iPhone App - It's Easy

2011-07-09T15:18:00.000-07:00

This morning I kept receiving singing messages from my children who were out and about exploring and having a good time. They have been keeping me up to date on their daily adventures from having breakfast to traveling on a ferry to go to the beach. Something very cool about hearing an audio message instead of just reading an email, especially when that message is set to the beat of music.

The iphone app Songify is available in the apps store for free and has several installed musical genres and songs that you can use with your recorded message. The software analyzes your voice and composes music to match. I've never been able to rap, but now I might. The software also allows you to buy various other tunes for options. Even if you can't sing it still works great. You also have options to allow duets and sharing with Facebook and Twitter, as well as emailing to your friends.

Check it out. Click here for iTunes link. It is marvelous and fun and a very clever app - I know you will love it!

Here is a sample: http://khu.sh/usersong_4e18cf5070a30

What Happened to My App Store Icon?

2011-07-04T12:03:00.001-07:00

Today my daughter wasn't able to find the App Store icon on her iPad. This seemed odd as this is one of the icons that represent applications that come with the iPad system software. Normally, it is understood these apps can not be deleted, but can be moved to other pages and into folders on your iPad.

My daughter searched on other pages and in folders, but could not find the icon. I suggested typing in "app store" in the search box on her iPad. Again, there was no resulting app store icon. Oddly, it appeared to not be accessible on her iPad.

Finally, I suggested that she check her settings. She could see the App Store in the settings menu on the left hand-side of the iPad settings screen. She was logged in to the app store and everything appeared normal under the settings, but still no app store icon available on the home or other screens of her iPad. Next, under Settings> General> Restrictions -- it was noted that the restrictions were enabled and both deleting and installing apps were set to OFF. Once she set these back to ON, the app icon magically reappeared.

Will You Be Walking on Cloud 9?

2011-06-26T11:59:00.005-07:00

I remember back to third grade when I was first introduced to cloud terminology. Even though this has been many many years ago, I still remember the words Cumulus, Altostratus and Cumulonimbus and Cirrus. Each of the terms brings to mind a picture of a type of cloud like a puffy cloud, a thin or wispy cloud or a rain cloud. The terminology can also relate to the cloud's position in the sky. Alto referring to those clouds in the middle of the sky at an altitude of 6000+ to 20000 feet, a Cirrus cloud that lies above 18,000+ feet, or a Stratus or Stratocumulus cloud that is located below 6,000 feet.

Today, I ponder all the new cloud terminology in hopes that it can be visually represented and as easy to learn. Since the hottest topic today seems to be cloud computing, it might be good to review the terminology around this newest phenomena. So here goes, my interpretation:

A cloud or residing in the cloud is a term used for a place to store your stuff like documents, photos, music, and so on. This is a concept that most MobileMe users understand, at least those that have used the iDisk from Apple in the past few years.

Cloud Computing is the ability to use combined applications and services provided by data centers in the cloud. For example: those who use a service like Google mail or Yahoo mail online are already using cloud computing. You are using a mail application from the service provider either Google or Yahoo. Ideally, A large corporation or individual that uses these services, does so without having to employee a special IT group to maintain the application or worry about storage. Another advantage is that the mail is accessible from anywhere and anytime, as long as you can access the cloud or the internet.

I definitely remember the time my son informed me that this phenomenon was coming, that was at least 20 years ago. It is here and has been for awhile. Most of us have already experienced the cloud and cloud computing in some form already.

Many questions will be hashed about and analyzed. Will it simplify the way we access, store and handle our data? Will we have a means to backup data, access data and save data securely? Will we be able to manipulate this data using shared applications based in the clouds? Will these applications be maintained and upgraded seamlessly without any of us worrying about taking care of these things ourselves? What will be the costs for services, costs for maintaining, reliability and security issues, and how will we access and share data with others? If we all move to the cloud, will the immense amount of data (e.g. Big Data Theory) be unlimited and infinite?

The final question to ponder - Have you made your moving plans yet? Many of us will be looking for the right cloud to meet our needs. Those of us who have iWeb sites and MobileMe Galleries will need to move our stuff in a year's time to a secure cloud. Where and what Cloud have you decided to use? Will you be walking on Cloud 9?

Credits: Photo taken by my husband, from an airplane over South Africa.

Top 10 Reasons People Don't Use the Internet

2011-06-25T12:47:00.000-07:00

1.) They don't know how to use it.
Whether they find it confusing or are simply set in their old-school ways, some simply haven't taken the time to stay up-to-date on the latest technology.

2.) They fear the internet.
With all of the sensationalized news reports of stolen identities, sexual predators, hacking, and viruses, many believe that they are erring on the side of caution by avoiding the internet.

3.) It's intimidating.
Some people are simply intimidated by new technology, including the internet. The idea of using the technical marvels of the internet is far from appealing, so it is avoided altogether.

4.) The internet isn't available.
Even in the United States, there are some places where the internet simply isn't accessible. Furthermore, some of the more rural areas only offer dial-up internet, and many feel that the high price for slow speeds and unreliable connections simply isn't worthwhile.

5.) They don't have a computer.
About one in five American households simply doesn't have a computer. Without a computer, internet use is fairly close to impossible.

6.) It's too expensive.
Many living below the poverty line are constantly struggling just to keep their heads above water. When faced with the choice between having access to food and having access to pictures of pets captioned in humorously poor grammar, the need for food usually wins out.

7.) The internet is too impersonal.
Written letters are more meaningful than email, and nothing compares to the feel of book pages turning under your hands. Some simply prefer the more personal touch of traditional communication methods.

8.) They don't see the purpose.
Just as some people never made the transition to television when it became available, some simply don't see the purpose of the internet and, accordingly, don't use it. With the internet's plethora of time-wasting social media sites, coupled with the hodgepodge of pointless games, they may have a point.

9.) They just physically can't use the internet.
It can literally be impossible for some people with physical impairments or disabilities to access the internet. Thankfully, there have been advances in accessibility technology over the last few years, but the technology can be expensive and difficult to learn and operate.

10.) The internet is the Devil.
Some particularly conservative religious sects exist that believe that playing card games or going to a movie theater can be the first step on the path of evil. The internet is perceived as the Devil's ultimate playground, and is shunned entirely. It might not be too difficult to sympathize, as nearly any innocent-seeming web search can ultimately result in some less-than-pure results.